Hong Kong: 9 imported virus cases found

The Centre for Health Protection today said it is investigating nine additional imported COVID-19 cases involving five men and four women.

Five of the patients arrived from high-risk places with enhanced surveillance and the other four flew in from high-risk places.

All nine cases involve the two mutant strains of N501Y and T478K. Four patients tested positive upon arrival at the airport while the others tested positive during quarantine.

Three patients are close contacts of two imported cases confirmed previously, the centre added.

One of them, a 42-year-old woman with case no. 12602, is a local aircrew member. She lives at Tower 7, Phase 1, Park Avenue, 18 Hoi Ting Road, Mong Kok. She left Hong Kong on December 22 for Australia, after testing negative on December 21.

She is a co-worker of an earlier confirmed patient with case no. 12586. Both arrived in Hong Kong on December 24 from Australia via flight CX138.

She tested negative upon arrival at the airport but tested positive on December 25 during quarantine at the Pennys Bay Quarantine Centre. She is asymptomatic and her specimen carried the N501Y and T478K mutant strains.

As a prudent measure, the places where the woman stayed or visited in Hong Kong during the incubation periods have been included in a compulsory testing notice. People who were at the relevant venues at specified periods need to undergo compulsory testing on a specified date.

Separately, the centre is investigating a COVID-19 case confirmed in Shanghai that involves a 26-year-old man who lives at Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East.

He travelled to Shanghai on December 19 on flight MU508. He developed symptoms on December 22 and tested positive there on December 24. He had received two doses of the Sinovac vaccine in the Mainland earlier this year.

The places where he stayed, worked and visited in Hong Kong during the incubation period have been included in a compulsory testing notice.

Meanwhile, the whole genome sequencing analysis of 14 previous cases conducted by the Governments Public Health Laboratory Services Branch confirmed that they carry the Omicron variant.

There are so far 58 Omicron cases in Hong Kong.

Additionally, people linked to Cheung Hing Building in Yau Ma Tei, Block 18A, Serenity Villa in Tai Po and G/F-1/F, 392 Ho Pui Tsuen, Pat Heung in Yuen Long are reminded to undergo compulsory testing in accordance with the compulsory testing notice tomorrow.

A total of 101 cases have been reported in the past 14 days. One of them is an import-related case and the rest are imported cases.

For information and health advice on COVID-19, visit the Governments dedicated webpage.

This story has been published on: 2021-12-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Hong Kong: Shek Tong Tsui restricted area set

The Government made a restriction-testing declaration at One South Lane in Shek Tong Tsui effective from 10.30 this evening, requesting people within this specified restricted area to undergo compulsory testing.

It explained that the risk of infection in the building is assessed to be likely higher, after a preliminary positive case who lived there was detected today, and the preliminary test result involved a mutant strain.

As such, the Government decided to make a restriction-testing declaration for the relevant area after the test result was found to be positive.

Citizens in the restricted area have to get tested before 2am on December 28. The Government aims to finish the exercise at around 7am tomorrow.

Those in the restricted area who have undergone virus testing from December 25 to 27 and are able to provide a proof are not required to take the test again.

However, people who had been in One South Lane for more than two hours from December 5 to 27, even if they were not present in the restricted area at the time when the declaration took effect, must undergo compulsory testing on or before December 29. Vaccinated people will not be exempted.

This story has been published on: 2021-12-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
RTHK: Russia increases jail sentence for Gulag historian

A Russian court on Monday increased to 15 years the jail sentence of a prominent Gulag historian who supporters say is being targeted for exposing horrors from the Soviet era.

In 2020, Yury Dmitriyev was sentenced to 13 years in prison on a controversial child sex charge in north-western Russia. In December, prosecutors requested that his sentence be extended by two years.

Dmitriyev, 65, is also the local head of rights group Memorial in the region of Karelia. The organisation, which has chronicled Stalin-era purges and contemporary political persecutions, says it may be shut down by Russian courts this week.

On Monday, a court in the north-western city of Petrozavodsk granted the prosecutors' request to extend the historian's sentence.

"Fifteen years to Yury Dmitriyev," Memorial said on Twitter.

Anatoly Razumov, a historian who studied Soviet-era repression, said the Gulag researcher was a victim of injustice, adding he was convinced Dmitriyev would be rehabilitated one day.

"I am ashamed of what's happening," Razumov said.

Asked to comment, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the court ruling was not part of the Kremlin's agenda.

Dmitriyev spent decades locating and exhuming mass graves of people killed under Joseph Stalin and set up a memorial to them in Russia's northwest.

Over the past few years, he has faced a series of trials on a number of charges, including sexually abusing his adopted daughter. He has pleaded not guilty.

He was arrested in 2016 and charged with child pornography over several nude photos of his adopted daughter that he said he took to monitor her growth. A court acquitted him in 2018.

In a stunning turnaround, the not-guilty verdict was later overturned by a higher court and Dmitriyev was put back on trial, accused of forced sexual acts involving a child.

He was sentenced to three and a half years in jail in July 2020, most of which he had already spent in pre-trial detention.

Prosecutors appealed against the verdict, asking for a harsher sentence.

As a result, the supreme court in Karelia in September 2020 ordered him to a high-security penal colony for 13 years.

Memorial has declared Dmitriyev a political prisoner and says "his activity in preserving the memory of political repressions" is the real reason for his prosecution.

On Tuesday, Russia's top court will consider a request to shut down Memorial International, the group's central structure, over breaching its designation as a "foreign agent."

In a separate case, prosecutors are demanding that a court in Moscow close Memorial's Human Rights Centre, accusing it of condoning "terrorism and extremism" in addition to breaches of the "foreign agent" legislation.

A new hearing in that case is set for Wednesday. (AFP)

This story has been published on: 2021-12-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
News

HCM City hits back at Omicron case rumours
Russian national detained for questioning over cannabis cultivation

The police of the southern province of Binh Thuan have detained a Russian national on a charge of illegally planting and storing cannabis in his lodging house.









Shedko Dmitri (left) has been caught red handed planting and making Cannabis in his lodging house in Phan Thiet city of Binh Thuan province, southern Vietnam, (Photo: tienphong.vn)





Shedko Dmitri, 33, who holds Russian citizenship, has temporarily been detained for investigations linked to cannabis cultivation and production in his lodging house in Ham Tien ward of Phan Thiet city, said local police.



During a police raid on Dmitris house on December 25, the investigation agency found 27 cannabis plants planted in his bedroom equipped with irrigation, electric lighting and air conditioning systems to nourish the plants.



They also seized 3 kg of dried cannabis and other exhibits related to cannabis cultivation and production.



Dmitri confessed that he had acquired experience of planting and producing cannabis before entering Vietnam.



Two months ago he bought cannabis seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, and cannabis making tools on social networks and then brought them home for planting and production in his house.



The amount of cannabis produced is both used by Dmitri himself and distributed among his friends living in Phan Thiet city.



Further investigations are underway.
News  Headlines

Vietnam Airlines sells airfares for commercial flights to Japan
U.S. airlines call off more flights as Omicron variant advances

Xinhua) 08:18, December 27, 2021

Photo taken on Dec. 4, 2021 shows a passenger wearing a face mask taking the escalator at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)

The flight cancellations, roughly 740 on Sunday after nearly 1,000 on Christmas Day, came as U.S. officials focused on ensuring there were enough staff and resources to make sure "we don't get an overrun on hospitals," said Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser.

NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines canceled more than 750 flights combined on Christmas Day, and cancellations were set to drag on through Sunday, upending plans during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, major U.S. media reported.

"All four airlines said Omicron cases among staff were driving cancellations," said USA Today on Sunday. "A combination of issues, including but not limited to inclement weather in some areas of the country and the impact of the Omicron variant, are driving cancellations and potential delays," said Delta in a statement.

"Holiday travel is generally a stressful enterprise, but a rapid surge in cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant have caused hundreds of flight cancellations, adding another layer of difficulty to the proceedings," reported NBC, noting that several major airlines are dealing with a shortage of workers.

"Major U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of more flights on Sunday, the third day in a row of mass cancellations and delays over Christmas weekend, as staff and crew call out sick amid the Omicron surge," reported CNN, adding that almost 700 U.S. flights were canceled and another 1,300 were delayed on Sunday.

Photo taken on Dec. 1, 2021 shows travellers arriving at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, the United States. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

MORE FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS

Delta Air Lines said it expected to cancel more than 300 flights on Sunday, on top of 368 scratched on Saturday. United Airlines canceled nearly 100 mainline flights on Sunday due to staffing concerns, while roughly 25 percent of its customers have been able to re-book to arrive earlier than their original plan.

JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski was quoted as saying that the airline has seen an "increasing number" of sick calls due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, despite entering the holiday season with the highest staffing levels since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the company was "working hard" to re-book customers quickly. United Airlines spokesperson Maddie King said the airline was also working to re-book as many people as possible "and get them on their way for the holidays."

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas, according to FlightAware, a flight tracker website. That included about 1,700 flights within, into or out of the United States.

Photo taken on Dec. 22, 2021 shows people lining up to receive COVID-19 test in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

MORE PANDEMIC CASES

In an effort to head off staffing shortages and flight cancellations, U.S. carriers have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce recommended isolation periods for fully vaccinated people recovering from COVID-19, reported The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

The flight cancellations, roughly 740 on Sunday after nearly 1,000 on Christmas Day, came as U.S. officials focused on ensuring there were enough staff and resources to make sure "we don't get an overrun on hospitals," Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, was quoted as saying.

"The president's multipart component of the response is to make sure that we have adequate backup for hospitals with military personnel, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, making sure that there's enough (personal protective equipment) and that if needed, there's enough ventilators in the national strategic stockpile," Fauci said.

"As of Sunday, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases eclipsed the peak set during the Delta variant's earlier march through the country," said the report, noting that the average reached 184,302 as of Dec. 25, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
U.S. Xinjiang-related act economic bullying, against int'l law, analysts say

Xinhua) 08:19, December 27, 2021

Amar Aziz drives a cotton picker in his own cotton field in Gezkum Town of Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 25, 2021. Amar Aziz lives in Xayar County, Aksu Prefecture, which is an important cotton-producing area in Xinjiang. (Xinhua/Ma Kai)

When the United States accused China of "forced labor," it never produced any convincing evidence, said Sergei Sanakoyev, president of the Russian-Chinese Analytical Center.

The U.S. attempt is to provoke conflicts among ethnic groups and religions in China, destabilize the situation and curb China's development, he added.

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The United States' signing of the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" into law which bans imports from China's Xinjiang region is economic bullying and another attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs, analysts told Xinhua.

This law, based on ill-informed information and prejudicial to China, is "sheer interference in Chinese internal affairs and a severe violation of international law," said Muhammad Asif Noor, director of the Islamabad-based think tank Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies.

U.S. foreign policy has been tilted towards interfering in the internal affairs of countries, yet the world is no longer blind, Noor pointed out.

Abdul-Raziq Ziyada, a Sudanese political analyst, sees the American decision as "a clear violation of the international law governing the relations among countries."

Aerial photo taken on Oct. 24, 2021 shows cotton pickers working in one of farmer Erkin Rehim's fields in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

The signing of the so-called act is a "continuation of U.S. longstanding disinformation about Chinese living in Xinjiang and a clear attempt to superimpose politics onto economic relations" between China and the United States, according to Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar.

The U.S. administration's sanctions against Xinjiang may lead to a situation where American and Chinese businesses and consumers must contend with the ramifications of "poisonous politics" instead of enjoying the dividends of economic globalization, Adhere said.

President of the Russian-Chinese Analytical Center Sergei Sanakoyev believes that Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues at all, but anti-terrorism and anti-secession issues.

When the United States accused China of "forced labor," it never produced any convincing evidence, he argued, adding that the U.S. attempt is to provoke conflicts among ethnic groups and religions in China, destabilize the situation and curb China's development.

A tourist takes selfie at a resort in Urumqi, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Dec. 10, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Fei)

Murata Tadayoshi, honorary professor at Japan's Yokohama National University, expressed regret that the United States has slandered China with accusations of "genocide."

Statistics of the continued growth of the Uygur population in Xinjiang can disprove the "genocide" lie and the tangible results are backed up by detailed data, he said.

Jorge Valero, former permanent representative of Venezuela to the United Nations in Geneva, said he visited Xinjiang at the invitation of the Chinese government and saw the progress made by Xinjiang people under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of China and the local government.

He expressed appreciation of China's comprehensive measures to prevent terrorism in accordance with the United Nations global counter-terrorism strategy.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts exit core module for second extravehicular activities

Xinhua) 08:22, December 27, 2021

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang exiting the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening.

The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively.

The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport.

Wang Yaping stayed inside to work with the ground control center to operate the mechanical arm and support the pair in conducting the extravehicular operations.

The CMSA noted that extravehicular operations are becoming the normal work of the space station flight missions.

Chinese taikonauts will carry out more EVAs which are more complex to provide strong support for the successful completion of the construction and the stable operation of the space station, the CMSA added.

The Shenzhou-13 crew conducted the first EVAs on Nov. 7.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Destruction of expired COVID-19 vaccines in Africa a shame for the West

By Global Times editorial (Global Times) 08:43, December 27, 2021

Nigeria has recently had to destroy more than 1.06 million doses of expired AstraZeneca vaccines. Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria's National Primary Health Care Development Agency, condemned that "We had developed countries that procured these vaccines and hoarded them. At the point they were about to expire, they offered them for donation." He also announced recently that Nigeria would no longer accept such donations. Previously, some media outlets had disclosed that through the WHO's COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), some of the doses arrived in Nigeria from Europe within four to six weeks of expiry, and could not be used in time.

This is not an isolated case. Reports showed that Senegal is likely to destroy approximately 400,000 doses of expired COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this year. Malawi burned nearly 20,000 doses of expired COVID-19 vaccines in May, and the Democratic Republic of Congo also returned in April 1.3 million doses of vaccines for the same reason. The African Vaccine Acquisition Trust, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and COVAX recently issued a joint statement, calling for the improvement of the quality of COVID-19 vaccine donations to African countries.

To a large extent, this is the result of the early crazed hoarding of vaccines by the US and its partners. They rushed to order a variety of vaccines in 2020 when the vaccines were still in the development stage. By June 2021, the total number of vaccines hoarded in the US had far exceeded its domestic demand. According to statistics, the US and its partners also hold about 240 million COVID-19 vaccine doses that are about to expire. They would rather leave the surplus vaccines in warehouses than provide them to countries that really need them. These countries will not think of selling or "donating" them to developing regions such as Africa until the vaccines are about to expire. In this way, the US and its partners "fulfill" the promises they made about vaccine donation, squeezing out the very last value of the vaccines about to expire.

The WHO-led vaccine distribution mechanism has disclosed that the majority of the vaccine donations made to date to African countries have been ad hoc, provided with very short notice and even shorter shelf lives. The result is that many developing countries not only do not receive the much-needed help, but also have to instead become "large-scale vaccine waste treatment plants" for the US and the West. The US and its partners' hypocritical strategy against the pandemic is hampering the world's COVID-19 fight. Many experts have warned that the emergence of Omicron is the consequence of the over-hoarding of vaccines by and in wealthy countries, and the emergence of new variants has made these countries continue to hoard vaccines, leading the COVID-19 fight into a vicious circle.

Illustration:Liu Rui/GT

Today, the Omicron variant has surpassed Delta as the leading cause of the COVID-19 infection in the US. This is a reminder to the US and its allies that no matter how many doses they give to their nationals, the virus will still come after them if global vaccination rates do not rise. As of today, only 7.5 percent of the 1.3 billion people in Africa have been fully vaccinated, while the US and its allies are still stockpiling vaccines even though it has been on the market for a year. Former British prime minister Gordon Brown warned in September that by the end of this year, 100 million doses of the vaccines will be anticipated to have been wasted worldwide in developed countries.

The US and its allies have some nerve playing "saviors" despite their obvious selfishness. US President Joe Biden has proclaimed, "Just as in World War II America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, our nation is going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world." But it turns out that both "arsenals" constitute massive lies and hypocrisy from the US to the world. As the US emphasizes its renewed "leadership" in the fight against the pandemic, its "leadership" has been destroyed along with the expired vaccines to African countries.

In sharp contrast, China, on which they have put on the label "vaccine diplomacy," has provided more than 180 million doses of vaccines to 53 African countries and the African Union Commission. It's worth noting that China's foreign vaccine delivery is synchronized with domestic vaccination, in contrast with some Western countries that stockpile large quantities of vaccines at first and then "donate" them when they are coming to expire.

During the recent 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China pledged to provide an additional 1 billion doses of vaccines to Africa, including 600 million doses as a donation. To date, China has provided nearly 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to more than 120 countries and international organizations, being the world's largest provider of vaccines to foreign countries and regions. China is committed to its pledge to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The coronavirus disease sees no borders, so the end of this pandemic will depend upon the weakest country in prevention. Some comments say that Africa has become one of the "key battlegrounds" in the global fight against the pandemic. If the US and its allies really want to contribute to this fight, they should stop treating Africa as a "large vaccine waste treatment plant," stop putting geopolitics above science, and stop the "vaccine nationalism" that harms both others and themselves.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
No forced labor in Xinjiang but Western exploitation: report

By Cui Fandi (Global Times) 10:11, December 27, 2021

A cotton picking machine moves in a cotton field in Dolatbag Town of Bachu County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (File photo: Xinhua)

Three days after the US signed the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law, which maliciously denigrates the human rights situation in China's Xinjiang, Chinese scholars countered it with detailed field researches and contrary conclusions.

On Sunday, a group of scholars from Jinan University in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province published a paper on the real situation of cotton production in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the impacts of the US' Xinjiang-related sanctions on the global cotton industry chain.

The US' cotton-related sanctions in Xinjiang are false justice, and Chinese cotton textile and garment companies are actually being forced to work and exploited by the Western capitalist globalization system, said the report.

The research team spent more than three months in Xinjiang's Aksu and Kashi, and 17 counties and cities in Guangdong, doing research and interviewing more than 70 people, including cotton farmers, companies and heads of cotton textile and garment enterprises.

During the process, researchers found that cotton field operations in Xinjiang are highly mechanized, employment is standardized, and there are no signs of forced labor. Sowing, management, picking and other aspects are gradually achieving full mechanization.

The local community has spontaneously formed a labor ecosystem in which large planters employ local villagers as helpers, and both parties sign labor contracts, said Li Hua, first author of the report. "The rights and interests of both parties are protected during the employment period."

The US' sanctions on Xinjiang did not have a significant impact on China's cotton manufacturing chain, Li said.

According to farmers in Xinjiang, under the protection of the government, enterprises and agricultural cooperatives, Xinjiang cotton growers are not worried about the risk of US sanctions, and still hope to continue to expand production. Thanks to the strong resilience of China's market, the domestic cotton processing and manufacturing links work well.

Li pointed out that China's cotton industry is the central link in the global cotton industry chain. Therefore, an attempt to destroy the Chinese cotton industry is equivalent to doing that to the global cotton industry chain.

"A large number of facts prove that the US' sanctions caused a blow to the global cotton industry chain, and increased the transaction costs of each link on the chain. Such cost increases are ultimately borne by US importers and consumers," said Li.

In the US-led capitalist global economic system, Chinese cotton enterprises are actually at the bottom of the value chain and are "forced and exploited to labor" by the Western capitalist globalization system, according to the research.

The US' cotton-related sanctions are "false justice," which in the name of maintaining the trade order destroyed the global industry chain, it said.

"The results of this investigation, which was published three days after the US signed the Xinjiang-related act, can be seen as a rebuke to the unjustified accusations of the US," Li told the Global Times. "We actually visited the cotton fields in Xinjiang and saw the real situation, which is opposite to the US' claims."

On Thursday, the US signed the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law, maliciously denigrating the human rights situation in Xinjiang in disregard of facts and truth. It seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, to which China has expressed firm rejection.

"The US' smear campaign against emerging industries in other countries is a common tactic," said Cao Wei, a researcher at Institute for Central Asian Studies at Lanzhou University in Northwest China's Gansu Province. "It intends to suppress trade in one country, but in fact destroys the global market."

Li said that the research group will now focus its research on the oral history of the victims and those who lived through the terrorist violence in Xinjiang.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Water supply of SW China's Guizhou greatly improved thanks to efforts of past five years

People's Daily Online) 10:50, December 27, 2021

Photo shows the Xiangjiang River in Zunyi city, Guizhou Province. (Photo/Liu Meiling)

Southwest China's Guizhou province has improved its water supply system over the past five years, providing cleaner and safer water for over 7.4 million people.

With a total investment of 168 billion yuan (about $26.37 billion) in water conservancy projects, the province has built 376 key water source projects, implemented 241 projects to harness small and medium-sized rivers, reinforced 185 dilapidated reservoirs, and brought under control soil erosion on 13,393 square kilometers of land.

Qingzhen city in the province built a holistic water supply network covering both its rural and urban areas. Supported by the network, which includes three major water plants, namely Xiguan, Yingyan, and Lianhuashan, the city has a daily supply of 90,000 tonnes of water.

Photo shows the Xiguan Water Plant in Qingzhen city. (Photo/Liu Meiling)

Thanks to the Xiguan Water Plant, residents in Shiniu village have gained access to safe drinking water. According to a villager, there is hardly any incrustation now. And the price has fallen to 2 yuan per cubic meter from 2.5 yuan.

The improvement of water quality is a huge leap for rural residents, remarked Zhao Xianlun, head of the water authority of Qingzhen.

In addition, Zunyi city in the province built the Xinhuadagou Reservoir and regulated waterways. The Xinhuadagou Reservoir is the first key water source project in the citys Honghuagang district over the past 38 years, introduced Zhu Sheng, director of a service center for major water sources in the district. Zhu added that the project provided drinking water for 21,000 people and irrigation water for over 5,000 mu of fields (about 333.33 hectares).

Photo shows the Hailong Reservoir in Zunyi city. (Photo/Liu Meiling)

With this newly-built project, residents of Jindingshan town, who used to suffer from frequent water outages, now have a consistent water supply.

Besides, Honghuagang district invested over 470 million yuan to relocate 4,756 residents from the areas near the Hongyan and Hailong Reservoirs, which provide water for the central urban area of Zunyi, guaranteeing the quality of drinking water.

Photo shows the Xinhuadagou Reservoir in Zunyi city. (Photo/Liu Meiling)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
China's first GW-level offshore wind farm starts power generation

Ecns.cn) 13:53, December 27, 2021

The photo taken in August 2021 demonstrates Shaba offshore wind farm, the largest single-capacity of its kind in Asia, is under construction in Yangjiang, south Chinas Guangdong Province. (Photo/China Three Gorges Renewables provided to China News Service)

Shaba offshore wind farm, the nation's first million-kilowatt offshore wind farm, was connected to the power grid at full capacity and started generating electricity on Saturday.

Invested and constructed by China Three Gorges New Energy (Group) Co., Ltd, the Shaba Project has a total installed capacity of 1.7 million kilowatts.

It can generate about 4.7 billion kWh of electricity annually, which is enough to power about 2 million households in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 4 million tons per year.

(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
During the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic from June until September 2021, several fashion brands began to gradually move production and orders away from Vietnam.





Illustrative photo.

This decision was made so as to reduce transport costs and adjust to the disruption in the supply chain, which has become a serious concern for many export-import businesses. Nonetheless, Vietnam still remains a huge manufacturing hub for several global fashion giants.

Vietnam role in supply chain

The Japanese fashion brand Uniqlo is familiar to many Vietnamese consumers. It opened its first shop in Vietnam in December 2019, and it has since opened nine retail shops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, along with a recently opened online shop. Uniqlo will certainly expand its business in Vietnam in the next few years, because Vietnam is considered a big market by the company due to its large young population, high per capita income, and a growing middle class. Furthermore, Vietnam is the second biggest manufacturing base for Uniqlo. In particular, Uniqlo purchases products of 45 Vietnamese apparel companies for the domestic and international markets. The company highly values the improved quality of the Vietnamese workforce.

The Vietnamese textile and footwear industry has become more and more important in the global supply chain of several international giants. The world famous brands Nike and Adidas are buyers from about 200 Vietnamese suppliers. For instance, Vietnam provides 30% of the products that Adidas supplies to the global market. Even during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Southern Vietnam, Nike still trusted the Vietnamese suppliers the most. Viettien Garment Corporation, for instance, has not lost a single order from Nike despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest figures from the World Trade Statistical Review 2021 released by the World Trade Organization show that Vietnam has overtaken Bangladesh to becoming the world's second largest exporter of readymade garments, reaching a market value of USD 29 bn in 2020, just behind China. Garments made in Vietnam make up 4.6% of the world market. Vietnam has recently produced lots of high quality garments because of the improved quality of its workforce.

Together with the garment sector, the Vietnamese footwear products are playing a more and more important role on the world stage. The Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Centre of the Ministry of Industry and Trade cited data from the World Footwear Yearbook, showing that Vietnam ranked second in the world in footwear exports, reaching 1.23 billion pairs in 2020.

With this result, for the first time Vietnam surpassed 10% of the world total footwear exports by reaching 10.2%, and increasing by 4.4 times compared to 2011 when it was just 2.3%, with 316 million pairs of shoes being exported. Vietnam has become the world's largest exporter of canvas shoes in terms of value, outstripping even China. This is the first time that China has not led the export of a particular type of footwear.

Several world famous footwear brands like Nike, Adidas, Reebok and Puma have had large quantities of their products made in Vietnam. The prospect of the Vietnamese footwear industry is very likely to go even further, since China continues to reduce incentives for investments in footwear in order to focus on high-tech technology, making international footwear orders move from China to Vietnam.

Commitment of Vietnamese companies

Despite the advantage of lower labor costs at a reasonable level, businesses are also making great efforts to invest more in technology to meet the increasingly strict requirements of buying partners.

Mr. Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, explained why Nike has not moved any orders previously placed at Viettien Garment Corporation, because as of October when we reopened, Nike had not yet found another manufacturer capable of meeting its requirements in terms of time, quality and quality control like the ones in Vietnam. He also pointed out that only when the pressure of delivery time is too high, making it impossible to balance the delivery and sales time, do famous brands move their orders to manufacturers in countries that can satisfy these requirements.

However, a number of seasonal orders have been moved out of Vietnam to ensure the year end shopping season deliveries to major markets. Mr. Vu Duc Giang said that during the social distancing period, Vietnamese textile and garment companies could not meet the delivery schedule, so a certain number of orders for delivery in November and December were moved away, about an estimated 13% to 14%. Yet now there are signs of orders coming back. Similarly, the footwear industry also saw a small number of seasonal orders moved out of Vietnam.

The commitment and reputation of Vietnamese companies could also be one of the most important factors for foreign partners to feel secure for long term cooperation. The fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic that lasted from June until September in Vietnam obviously proved this point. As soon as businesses reopened in early October, factories immediately let workers work overtime, and some even arranged for products to be delivered by air at a cost several times higher than by sea, in order to have their products delivered as per the schedule, especially for the holiday season and coming new year.

In the long term, Vietnam's participation in many major Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) such as CPTPP or EVFTA will also be the reason why globally famous brands will prioritize Vietnam as a vital production base, because they can enjoy the tax incentives under these FTAs when products are exported from Vietnam. Buying partners also give priority to Vietnamese suppliers because of assurance of on time delivery, despite the many disruptions to the supply chain because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Thanh Dung
A train carrying 33 refrigerated containers departs from the Tengjun International Land Port in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, for Laos, Dec. 4, 2021. (Xinhua) - "China is very important for the global supply chain. And in most cases it's faster (than the ocean shipping). Therefore, it's a useful alternative to use the train, and it's reliable," said Axel Mattern, joint chief executive officer of Port of Hamburg Marketing. - As of Dec. 16, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the Belt and Road with 145 countries and 32 international organizations. BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Though the world remains haunted by the still ravaging COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2021, the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has seen a boom in promoting world connectivity. Under the BRI framework, railway construction is expanding across the global landscape. The iconic China-Europe Railway Express, the China-Laos railway and the railway line in Tanzania have all recorded milestone achievements over the past year. These important railway projects provide important pillars for the BRI, and also contribute their due share to improving the global supply chain and the COVID-19 fight. Railway staff members check a Yuxin'ou (Chongqing-Xinjiang-Europe) China-Europe freight train before it leaves the Tuanjie Village Station of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, March 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Tang Yi) LINE OF HEALTH AND GIFTS During days just before Christmas, when people in Western countries are worrying that they may not be able to receive their Christmas gifts on time due to clogged shipping lanes, China-Europe trains from different regions were sending products to Europe without delay. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of China-Europe freight trains. By the end of October, the China-Europe freight trains plying along 73 routes have reached 175 cities in 23 European countries with more than 50,000 kinds of goods. Amid the pandemic, the number of China-Europe express trains as well as the volume of freight have continued to break new records. Data from China's National Development and Reform Commission shows that during the January-November period, the railway service linking the two sides operated 13,817 trains, carrying 1.332 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), an increase of 23 percent and 30 percent respectively compared with the year 2020. A woman views Christmas ornaments made in China in a Christmas market at Trafalgar Square in London, Britain, Dec. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Li Ying) At the end of November, the cumulative number of anti-epidemic equipment transported by the China-Europe freight trains reached 13.43 million pieces and 103,000 tons. "China is very important for the global supply chain. And in most cases it's faster (than the ocean shipping). Therefore, it's a useful alternative to use the train, and it's reliable," said Axel Mattern, joint chief executive officer of Port of Hamburg Marketing. According to global logistics company MEDILINK, the initial freight rate of the China-Europe rail network is often two-thirds higher than that of sea freight, but the current price is very competitive. The current freight rates of the China-Europe freight trains are basically the same as those of sea freight, but it only takes nearly half the time, said Logistics industry insiders. A Lao railway staff member welcomes passengers to board Lane Xang electric multiple unit (EMU) train of the China-Laos Railway at Vientiane Railway Station in Vientiane, Laos, Dec. 3, 2021. (Photo by Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua) KEY FOR TRANS-ASIAN CONNECTIVITY On Dec. 3, the China-Laos Railway officially started operation. It marks a crucial step for the trans-Asian railway network, which has been brewing for more than half a century. Since then, the journey from Vientiane to the border with China has been reduced from 2 days to 3 hours, and the journey to Kunming, capital of China's Yunnan Province, can be made in a day. "The China-Laos railway is conducive to promoting the development of areas that are located along the line. Countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion, including Thailand, Laos and China, will benefit from trade, agricultural products, consumer products, investment and tourism," said Pichet Kunadhamraks, deputy director-general of the Department of Rail Transport under the Thai Ministry of Transport, in an interview with Xinhua. The railway is expected to reduce transport costs between Vientiane and Kunming by 40 to 50 percent, said a World Bank report, noting transport costs from Thailand's Laem Chabang port to Kunming are expected to fall by at least 32 percent. It is estimated that by 2030, the annual volume of commercial goods in transit through the Laos section of the China-Laos Railway will reach 3.9 million tons, it added. This year coincides with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue relations, and the two sides are advancing the BRI and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity 2025. On Jan. 1, 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will officially enter into force. Experts believe that the BRI will lead to the construction of the trans-Asian rail network and promote regional connectivity. Passengers are seen at Nairobi station of Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, Nov. 17, 2021. (Xinhua/Dong Jianghui) ROAD OF DEVELOPMENT In mid-June this year, a ceremony was held to launch the Ithaca-Mwanza section of the Standard Gauge Railway of Tanzania's Central Line, the construction of which is undertaken by a Chinese company. After the completion of this project, it will become an important route connecting Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and other countries, providing a pathway to the Indian Ocean. It is of great importance for promoting the economic development of the countries in the region and improving the living conditions of the people. From the Tanzania-Zambia railway built in the 1970s, to the Djibouti-Ethiopia and Mombasa-Nairobi railways, and the Standard Gauge Railway of Tanzania's Central Line, the joint efforts of China and Africa have created jobs, trade opportunities and a better investment environment, thereby contributing to local prosperity as well as to the improvement of the living conditions of the local residents. As of Dec. 16, China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents for the joint construction of the Belt and Road with 145 countries and 32 international organizations, and financial institutions such as China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Silk Road Fund have expanded financing channels for infrastructure construction. According to Bambang Suryono, chairman of Indonesian think tank Asia Innovation Study Center, for many countries, a major obstacle to escape poverty is the weakness of transport infrastructure, and in this regard, China's success can set an example.
By Cheng Anqi

Anger may be what the EU has felt most in the diplomatic arena over the past year, and one of the reasons for that is the US, its so-called ally. What the US has done in the past year, from tapping the leaders of European allies to pulling troops out of Afghanistan without prior notice to stealing Australias nuclear submarine contract from France, has increasingly made the EU realize its lack of strategic independence. But can it become strategically independent?

Strategic independence as a priority

The US left its European allies and pulled back from Afghanistan at the end of August this year under the Talibans ultimatum. Later it and the UK formed a trilateral security partnership with Australia and helped the latter build nuclear submarines, prompting Canberra to call off its nuclear submarine contract with France.

According to Professor Wang Shuo at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy, Beijing Foreign Studies University, the EU has been planning to form a rapid reaction force for a long time, but still hasnt taken any substantial action because of the lack of motivation. Americas pullback from Afghanistan once again exposed Biden administrations American-style self-centrism and stimulated the EU to take accelerated actions toward strategic independence.

Tian Dewen, deputy director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, held that the dual shocks from Brexit and COVID-19 have taken a toll on the EUs global influence that it used to pride itself on. At this moment, the US is obviously shifting its strategic focus to the Indo-Pacific, putting Europe in such a dilemma that it has to rely on the US for military security but cannot totally count on it. Threatened by the risk of geopolitical oblivion, the EU is pressured to realize strategic independence as soon as possible to continue playing a unique leading role on the international stage.

A consensus is hard to reach within the EU

The EU is just a union of sovereign states that has no independent authority in security and defense policies, on which point the member states vary greatly. Therefore, its hard to reach a consensus within the union on the contents and progress of strategic independence, said Tian Dewen.

He analyzed that France and Germany, the two engines of European integration, have wide divergences on the topic. Germany, for historical reasons, doesnt hope to see the EUs strategic independence contradict NATOs collective defense. Besides, Central and Eastern European countries and some Nordic countries are more trustful of Americas commitment to security and military protection.

Wang held that although EU as a whole has a stronger wish for strategic independence, its only natural that the multiple member states vary from each other in capability, demand and strategic goals  such differences are what EU needs to smooth out first if it is to achieve strategic independence. Considering the uneven development speed and serious divergences on the distribution of interests among member states, the EU has proposed to streamline the decision-making procedures and allow for a Europe of various tracks. However, that makes many Central and Eastern European countries worry that they may be reduced to the second class within the Union.

Change of mindset required to realize strategic independence

Americas attitude is vital among all the factors that may hinder the EUs progress toward strategic independence. What the US needs is a Europe that is capable of taking actions as an ally, but not one thats totally independent and uncontrollable, said Wang Shuo. Major-country competition has become Americas strategic priority in recent years. However, it will neither give free rein for the EU to foster strategic independence, nor make more military investment in Europe, or give up its dominance over Europes defense. Under such circumstances, the US will make use of the Unions internal conflict to divide it and consequently influence or even control the tempo of its efforts toward strategic independence and defense integration.

Tian explained that strategic independence is a process for the EU. What its doing now is just quantitative accumulation. To achieve a qualitative change, it has to abandon the Cold-War mindset and stick to its position and function as a supra-national entity  to safeguard peace and prosperity in Europe rather than seek confrontation with other countries. Only when it changes its strategic mindset will it be possible to make breakthroughs on its way toward strategic independence.


Group photo of the PLA Navys first escort taskforce  destroyers Wuhan and Haikou, comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu, and a ship-borne helicopter (Photo by Li Tang)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 -- The year 2021 marks the 13th anniversary of the PLA Navy performing escort missions at the Gulf of Aden, to where the PLA Navy has now dispatched 39 batches of escort taskforces.

On December 26, 2008, in accordance with relevant resolution of the UN Security Council (UNSC) and with the approval of the Chinese State Council and Central Military Commission (CMC), a Chinese PLA naval escort taskforce comprising the guided-missile destroyers Haikou (Hull 171) and Wuhan (Hull169), as well as the comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu (Hull 887), set out from a military port in Sanya, south Chinas Hainan province, to perform escort missions at the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somalian coast. It was the first time that China sent military forces overseas to safeguard the nations strategic interests, the first time the Chinese military organized maritime combat forces to fulfill international humanitarian obligations overseas, and the first time that the PLA Navy protected an important transport route in the open sea.

On January 29, 2009, a helicopter and some special operations members dispatched from the destroyer Wuhan successfully saved a Greek merchant ship besieged by pirates, the first time for them to save a trapped merchant ship.

On September 10, 2009, the guided-missile frigate Zhoushan (Hull 529) of the third PLA naval escort taskforce and the Russian Navys large anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Tributs jointly performed the escort mission at the Gulf of Aden, marking the first joint mission of the PLAN escorting force with a foreign vessel.

On September 18, 2009, the third PLA naval escort taskforce and its Russian counterpart carried out the joint maritime anti-piracy exercise code-named Peace Blue Shield 2009, the first joint exercise with a foreign taskforce in the mission waters.

On March 7, 2011, the guided-missile frigates Wenzhou(Hull 526) and Maanshan (Hull 525) of the 8th PLA naval escort taskforce berthed at the Port of Karachi, Pakistan, and participated in the multilateral maritime exercise Peace 2011, as well as international maritime conferences and seminars.

From March 26 to April 7, 2015, the 19th PLA naval escort taskforce was assigned to Yemen for an evacuation mission. The taskforce passed three countries, four ports and one island within ten days, and successfully evacuated five batches of 897 Chinese and foreign citizens in total. It was the first time that China mobilized military vessels to evacuate overseas Chinese at foreign ports, the first time China evacuated foreign nationals, and the first time China performed the evacuation mission under the threat of gunfire.

From April 3, 2015, to February 5, 2016, the 20th PLA naval escort taskforce comprising the guided-missile destroyer Jinan(Hull105), the guided-missile frigate Yiyang (Hull 548) and the comprehensive supply ship Qiandaohu (Hull 886) made a round-the-world voyage through 13 countries  Sudan, Egypt, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Portugal, the US, Cuba, Mexico, Australia, East Timor, and Indonesia  after accomplishing the four-month-long escort mission at the Gulf of Aden and in waters off the Somalian coast and a visit to Indias Mumbai. The 309-day mission brought the taskforce to 18 ports in 16 countries, through three oceans and five continents, and across 13 straits and three canals, making a marvelous record in its history.

The future escort missions remain a long and hard journey filled with unpredictable risks. But the Chinese PLA Navy, having embarked on its journey, will continue to show the world with top-grade performance that its pace forward is unstoppable.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has proposed to hold a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12, when a NATO military committee is meeting in Brussels, TASS news agency reported on Sunday, citing the alliance's press service.

"The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on 12 January 2022 in his capacity as the Chair of the NATO-Russia Council. We are in contact with Russia as regards the meeting," TASS quoted the press service as saying.

Moscow has received the proposal and is considering it, the agency reported, citing a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry.

The United States says Russia may be preparing an invasion of its ex-Soviet neighbor Ukraine. Russia denies that and says it is Ukraine's growing relationship with NATO that has caused the standoff to escalate. It has compared it to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the world came to the brink of nuclear war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday his country wanted to avoid conflict but needed an "immediate" response from the United States and its allies to its demands for security guarantees. Moscow has said it expects talks with U.S. officials on the subject to start in January in Geneva.

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration has said some of Russia's security proposals are obviously unacceptable, but that Washington will respond with more concrete ideas on the format of any talks.

In an interview on CBS' Face The Nation television show, Vice President Kamala Harris said Washington has been in direct conversations with Moscow about the issue and reiterated the U.S. commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

"We've been very clear that we are prepared to issue sanctions like you've not seen before," Harris said, but declined to elaborate on the specifics of the sanctions.

(With input from Reuters)
China's Foreign Ministry on Monday called on Canada to abandon its misperceptions about China and pursue a positive and pragmatic policy toward China.

In a year-end interview aired on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused China of "playing" Western countries against each other and using "coercive diplomacy."

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the remarks did not match the facts, and were full of misunderstanding and misjudgment of China.

China is committed to peaceful development, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with all countries in the world, Zhao added.

He said China's diplomacy is open and upright, and never engages in instigation or coercion.

China is the victim of coercive diplomacy by the United States and other Western countries, said Zhao, citing the case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, which he said the U.S. fabricated in an attempt to contain and suppress Chinese high-tech companies, and interference into China's internal affairs on issues related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang by a small number of countries led by the U.S. under the pretext of "human rights" and "democracy."

Zhao said relations between China and Canada are now at a crossroads, and the Canadian side has to figure out whether it sees China as a partner or a rival.

"We hope the Canadian side can meet China halfway and bring China-Canada relations back onto the right track of development," he said.
The Defense Ministry is drafting a new plan to thwart a full-fledged North Korean military offensive and occupy Pyongyang within weeks without waiting for U.S. troop reinforcements.

The ministry on Monday briefed President Moon Jae-in on its key objectives and vowed to formulate an "aggressive wartime action plan led by our military."

Cheong Wa Dae quoted Moon as saying, "Push for reform of the military structure to meet the requirements of modern warfare so that it can quickly switch to an offensive posture in case North Korea stages a provocation that crosses the line or attacks the capital region."

He also urged ministry officials "to further improve the military's mobility, landing abilities and air defense capabilities." A military source said the gist of the plan is "the mobilization of airborne troops and Marines to infiltrate Pyongyang to quickly bring down the North Korean regime."

Vice Defense Minister Suh Choo-suk told reporters, "In the event of an invasion from the North, we will engage in an aggressive, deep-offensive operation" inside North Korea. The ultimate aim is to keep any war as brief as possible.
Asked to specify what Moscow's response could be, he said in comments aired by Russian state TV on Dec. 26 that "it could be diverse," adding: "It will depend on what proposals our military experts submit to me." He did not elaborate.

Speaking at his annual news conference last week, Putin urged the West to meet the demands "immediately," listing off a litany of grievances about Ukraine and NATO. He warned that Moscow would have to take adequate measures if the West continues its "aggressive" course "on the threshold of our home."

Moscow earlier this month submitted draft security documents demanding an end to NATO's eastward expansion and military cooperation with countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, among other things.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he would ponder various options if the West fails to meet Moscow's demands for security guarantees, amid heightened tensions involving a massive deployment of Russian troops near Ukraine.

U.S. officials have said publicly that they were willing to hold talks on the Russian demands. Privately, however, officials in Washington and elsewhere have said some of the demands are either unworkable, impossible, or fundamentally contrary to Western values.

The United States and its allies have agreed, however, to launch security talks with Moscow next month to discuss its concerns. On Dec. 25, a NATO official was quoted as saying Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12 and that the alliance was in contact with Russia on the matter.

Russia's Foreign Ministry said the proposal was still under consideration, with the format and timing needing clarification. It would be the first meeting of the council in 2 1/2 years. Kyiv and its Western backers accuse Russia of having massed around 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders in a possible prelude to an invasion. The United States and the European Union have threatened Moscow with harsh consequences in the event of a military escalation.

Russia has denied intending to launch an invasion. Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and shortly after threw its support behind separatists battling Ukrainian government forces in the country's east in a conflict that has claimed more than 13,200 lives since April 2014.

Russia's Defense Ministry announced on Dec. 25 that more than 10,000 troops had finished monthlong drills near Ukraine, and that the soldiers involved were returning to their permanent bases. The ministry said in a statement that the exercises for Southern Military District forces had taken place in a host of southern Russian regions such as Rostov and Krasnodar, and further afield, including in Stavropol, Astrakhan, and the North Caucasus.

Combat training sessions were also held in Russia's ally Armenia, occupied Crimea, and the Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it said.
Korea's economy is on course to consolidate its position as the 10th biggest in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund on Sunday.

The IMF projects the country's total GDP to tally US$1.824 trillion this year, which is most likely to keep it in 10th place.

Next year GDP is expected to grow to $1.9 trillion, which again would make it the 10th biggest for a third year in a row.

Korea first broke into the top 10 in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, in large part thanks to the smaller economic losses it endured than other countries that locked down harder.
TV personality Lee Ji-hye welcomed her second child on Christmas Eve.

Her agency said Lee gave birth to a baby girl at a hospital in Seoul, and both mother and baby are in good health.

Lee, who was a member of '90s group The Sharp, posted a photo of herself on her Instagram account preparing to give birth on Dec. 23. Her fans are leaving congratulatory comments on the post.

She married a tax accountant in 2017 and had a baby girl a year later.


In an interview with Voice of America last Saturday, Robert Abrams, who was USFK commander until July this year, warned the Chinese People's Liberation Army has increased its presence around the Korean Peninsula since 2010 "significantly."

A former chief of the U.S. Forces Korea has called for South Korea and the U.S. to draw up a new war plan that takes in China as the U.S. intensifies its cold war against the world's most populous country.

Just in the last three years, there has been a 300-percent increase in China's incursions into South Korea's Air Defense Identification Zone and fleets of Chinese trawlers illegally fishing along the Northern Limit Line in the West Sea, he added. He insisted all these ought to be accounted for in a new war plan.

At the bilateral Security Consultative Meeting on Dec. 2, the two allies agreed to draw up a new operational plan or OPLAN that focuses on preemptive strikes on key facilities in North Korea in a war.

Abrams called for including a plan for a response to China. Washington is keen to make the USFK more flexible so it can be roped into its campaign to contain China's rising military might.

Abrams also complained that South Korea is "not supportive" for the plan and added that "no specific reasons were given." He recalled that he called for a new plan during his first joint exercise with South Korea after he assumed command of the USFK in November 2018.

A government source here said, "At the time, the U.S. asked for revising the war plan with more focus on containing China, but the government in Seoul didn't accept it."

But a Defense Ministry spokesman said, "We won't comment officially on a personal opinion from a former USFK commander," adding, "No mention of China has been made in the latest discussions."
Plan sets domestic plane development schedule

From:ChinaDaily | 2021-12-22 07:53

Between 2022 and 2024, China plans to certify its domestically built narrow-body passenger jet C919 and launch commercial flights, according to a new plan issued by Shanghai authorities.

During the three-year period, China will also push forward the serialized development of its first domestically made regional passenger jetliner ARJ21. Additionally, the country aims to begin detailed design of the CR929, a long-haul widebody aircraft undergoing research and development by China and Russia, according to the three-year action plan for Shanghai's civil aviation industry chain construction.

The plan was issued by the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization, the Shanghai Development and Reform Commission and other related authorities on Monday.

"The serialized development of the ARJ21 means that based on the basic passenger jet model, China aims to develop other ARJ21-related models such as freighters, business jets and aircraft suitable for taking off and landing in high-altitude regions, and thus the aircraft type can adapt to more markets and assume more tasks," said Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst and a columnist at Carnoc, a major civil aviation website in China.

"For the C919, China aims to set up an operational benchmark of domestically built civil aircraft and make the model profitable. When it comes to the CR929, China and Russia plan to finish all the design work in the next three years after completing the initial design. Details include the design of all parts and the production process of different components," Lin said.

Meanwhile, the government will support the innovation of general aviation aircraft, especially the development of amphibious aircraft and fixed-wing multirole aircraft. The government will also support manufacturers to develop small-scale general aviation aircraft into medium-sized and larger equivalents with more than 10 seats, and introduce more medium-sized light helicopters and rotorcraft from abroad, the plan said.

In addition, China plans to improve its services in processing airworthiness certifications, and support the airworthiness approval center in Shanghai to further elevate its abilities. It includes improvements in technical research and validation, management and efficiency, and the introduction of more professional talent, thus allowing it to help accelerate the airworthiness certification process for domestically built aircraft, according to the plan.

Over the next three years, China will improve aircraft operation and maintenance services as well as establish a collaborative mechanism between flight tests and commercial aircraft operations. Besides, the country will support the construction of delivery centers for large-scale passenger jets.

Large-scale passenger aircraft manufacturing involves a complex industrial chain. For instance, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has some 4,500 suppliers globally in about 50 countries, according to the company.

"China's manufacturing of large-scale passenger jets is in a stage of growing from scratch. The issuance of the supportive policy at this moment is expected to help the domestic large passenger jet sector better complete its industrial chain development," Lin said.

"At the same time, it will guide upstream and downstream industries in Shanghai to better lay out their businesses, and give full play to an agglomeration effect. Thus, the aircraft manufacturer, parts suppliers and local economies can all achieve growth," he added.
Science Grandma Wu Yuren: there can be no digital divide for the elderly

By:Eastday | From:english.eastday.com | 2021-12-27 10:38

(Editors note: There are only a few days left of 2021. In that time Eastday.com will tell the story of five people in Shanghai, who epitomise the citys transformation and its future. In the first article, we sat down with Science Grandma, a retired physics professor whose name is Wu Yuren.)

In 2021, a retired professor in Shanghai became an idol of many young people. Called Granny Wu by netizens, 72-year-old Wu Yuren went viral for her hardcore yet entertaining videos about physics. In her opinion, learning physics isn't just about finishing written exercises.

On Oct. 27, Shanghai issued a five-year plan to further promote urban digital transformation, in which it proposed the concept of elderly care with digitalization.

How can elderly people keep up with the times in the citys digital transformation? In the face of the surging wave of digitalization, Granny Wu said calmly that there cannot be a digital divide for the elderly.

Adept at Photoshop tools

Many scenes of Wus videos are shot in a science base for future young scientists, which is a testing ground for scientific wisdom.

The videographer is Li Haorong, who shoots videos and posts them on online platforms. At first, he invited different teachers to explain scientific concepts by doing experiments in the video. He noticed Granny Wus, videos always caused an online sensation.

(Granny Wu shoots her videos in the science base, with Li Haorong as the videographer.)

Granny Wu is awesome, attracting many followers, said Li. When working with Wu, he is always amazed by the elderly lady. Many people worry that older adults may have technical problems when making short videos. But no worries for Granny Wu. She is more adept at using such apps as Photoshop than us.

Li believes the success of Wu is not an accident.

She treats her work seriously. Before shooting a video, she writes the script by herself, said Li. To better explain physical theories by using items in daily use, she will try every means to look for proper props.

Will it be better if I say like this? After a number of modifications of her script, Wu will check with Li again. Then she picks up the prop and asks, Is it clear in the video whether I put it on or above the desk?

Raising curiosity in a fun way

Granny Wu told us an interesting story: Once I hailed a taxi on an app, and there were many young white-collar workers surrounding me. When the driver arrived, he asked almost all the young people who hailed the taxi. Finally, he looked incredulously at me. Yes, I, a 70-year-old woman, hailed a taxi by myself.

People say there is a digital divide for the elderly. But for us, there may not necessarily be a divide, said Wu.

As one of the three million or so senior citizens of Shanghai, Granny Wu is telling people that there can be no digital divide for elderly people and they are able to utilize digitalization.

There is no doubt that short video is one of the digital tools Granny Wu is most adept at. She said she has been an enthusiast of short videos since a long time ago.

Ive been following videos on Douyin about physical experiments, said Wu, who believes that the videos are good but not good enough. Some videos end with principles, but theres a lack of explanation. For some who do not understand physics, after watching the videos, they can hardly relate the principles to reality.

So, what I want to do is explain, said Wu. It is difficult to explain sometimes, as some principles cannot be explained clearly in just one or two minutes, and some phenomena happen not just because of one principle. However, if the video is too long, few people are patient enough to watch.

(Granny Wu talks with her assistant about how to explain a physical principle)

Digitization is a tool to promote urbanization. For educators like Granny Wu, it has also become a blackboard to spread knowledge.

Actually, most of the physical principles come from the details in real life, said Wu, hoping to encourage more people to look at life with curiosity through digital tools.

As she said, kids are most curious but some forget the habit of being curious which is a pity. One persons ability is limited, but she is glad to make use of her capabilities to encourage certain people, if not all, to look at physics and life in a different way.

Looking back on the past year, Wu said she is happy. I have retired, but I feel enriched every day. In terms of being a science blogger, she said she is still pondering upon what she would do next. Ive got many ideas. Lets wait and see.

Q&As

Q: How has your 2021 been? What did you do this year?

A: I have had a very happy year. You have seen what I have done. I have a poor memory, so I cant tell you exactly what Ive done. But the main purpose of doing this [making science popularization videos] is to spread scientists spirit of doing research and seeking knowledge.

Q: How do you review what you have done this year?

A: To be honest, if you ask me if I really want to be a live-streamer, my answer is no. I can still impart knowledge if I give lectures to school students or play with the kids and teachers in the science base. But I am anxious about the situation. A few years ago, some people on the Internet said physics exams were not necessary. I cant help but want to do some education, so I have to be thick-skinned. When shooting the videos, I have to be emotional, rather than acting like a rigid teacher. Otherwise, no one will listen to me. Sometimes, Prof. Lu (a colleague and partner of Wu before they retired from Tongji University) helps me with it. It is complicated, but I have to.

But I cant reverse everyones thinking about physics, which I understand very well. The videos I make are about small things in life. These small phenomena may be of great use in the future. Of course, it requires researchers to have interest. Take the IgNobel Prizes for example. Many scientists have won the prizes. Some are Nobel Prize winners, but they do some fun experiments. When interest comes, you cannot stop it.

Q: What is your resolution for the new year?

A: Stimulating childrens interest in learning physics, which is definitely what I will keep doing. You do not have to work in the area of physics after learning physics. No matter what you do in the future, you need to learn physics, because it reflects the basic laws of nature and involves a wide range of areas. Physics exists in almost all walks of life. Whats more, there are social physics and economic physics. If you learn physics well, life can be easier. Im also considering whether it is possible to teach longer courses. But what will be their effect? I have to think more about it.

Story by Wei Yifei, Bian Yinghao, Ren Xue'er (Intern)



Translated by Wu Qiong


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Press Release

December 27, 2021 Humanity lost another shining light and beacon of hope in Bishop Desmond Tutu: Pangilinan "The Most Reverend Desmond Mpilu Tutu of South Africa was born in a time and place where color of the skin condemns a whole people into a life of oppression, servitude, and violence. As a man of God, he served his fellowmen to the utmost of his abilities and many times dared fate and history to try and extinguish his life and his light. Though donning the frock of the church, he was a warrior who stood in the middle of a war without fear. He and his fellow warrior Nelson Mandela stood with their people and faced the most violent and fearsome forces of their time -- men who had the power and were willing to kill other men because of their skin color. Though he did his heaviest and most dangerous work in South Africa, his actions were felt all over the world, especially in those dark corners where people struggled under the yoke of tyranny. Be it in Africa, Latin America, Asia, or the Philippines which have also been under a cruel and corrupt dictatorship, this gentle and soft-spoken man emboldened all oppressed peoples to rise and revolt, not only against impunity and iron rule, he also called on the people to struggle and not lose their humanity. For though he was always sounding the call for battle, the battle was not against the oppressors, but against the act of oppression. When tyranny began to fall in many nations, when dictators were being led to the gallows, Reverend Desmond Tutu called for love and forgiveness -- against the former oppressors! For him the battle was not about the color of the skin, it was about whether all of us living -- oppressors and oppressed -- can still find the real color of our hearts. Reverend Father Tutu, thank you for saving us from a black and white view if the world, thank you for showing us that God may have given us different skin colors, but he also gave us all golden hearts. Your golden heart and shining deeds will remain in our memory as we continue the fight against darkness, as we continue the fight armed with radical love. Thank you, dear Father Desmond Tutu."
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By LI XIAOYUN and BA FENG

SHI YU/CHINA DAILY

The COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world since 2020 has hit the economic growth of Africa. There is hope for Africa to recover from the crisis as the continent enjoys an abundance of natural and human resources. But fluctuations in international markets and weak domestic governance will continue to be constraints on its economic development.

The colonial exploitation history and dependence on developed countries in the past is responsible for African countries' narrow economic bases. As a result, economic reforms and industrialization promoting progress in Africa do not follow traditional patterns. Most African countries give priority to the service sector rather than industry, and the sector is the major driver of their GDP growth. This development model is referred to as premature de-industrialization or structural transformation without industrialization.

In recent years, Africa has seen tourism and retail booms and it is claiming a new role in the global consumer market. This untraditional development path emphasizing on tertiary industries has triggered speculation about further economic reforms. Some wonder whether those African countries can catch up with the world by merely transforming the service industry. The limited infrastructure conditions, incomplete trade policies and excessive government debts have a detrimental effect on African countries' resistance to the risks of the imbalances in their economic structures as well as external risks. The outbreak of COVID-19 has expectedly triggered the worst economic downturn in Africa in nearly five decades.

In 2020, Africa's GDP fell by 2.1 percent. Different regions reported different growth rates on the basis of how the pandemic affected them. Southern Africa, which was hit hardest by the virus, is estimated to have registered a decline of 6.4 percent. GDP in western and central Africa contracted by 1.5 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. Thanks to its decreasing dependency on primary commodities and an increased variety of commodities, East Africa registered the best performance, with a GDP growth of around 0.7 percent. The recession also took place in different industries to different extents. For instance, economies such as Mauritius, which are dependent on tourism, saw the biggest fall in 2020; the GDP of oil exporters is expected to have shrunk by 1.5 percent in 2020.

In 2021, Africa's economy has shown a trend toward recovery. The economic growth in some countries has exceeded expectations, and exports of some economies have increased significantly. Credit for the performance goes to raw material exports and the service industry but is subject to commodity prices, the international capital market, natural disasters, the shortage of vaccines and national security. So the growth is far less robust and resilient than that of developed and some emerging economies.

Rich and diverse natural resources and a young population build economic potential in Africa. The continent embraces nearly half of the world's rare minerals, precious metals and other resources, being the largest repository of gold, diamonds and bauxite. However, due to the plunder by the international energy market and inefficient policies and weak governance in Africa, income from selling resources has not been properly used, and the countries still lag behind other industrialized nations. So common is this phenomenon that it even has its own namethe "resource curse".

A demographic dividend is a vital strategy for Africa's economic development. Since 2015, its population has been growing rapidly, at an average rate of about 2.5 percent. People aged below 15 and between 15 and 24 account for over 40 percent and 20 percent of the population respectively, making Africa the youngest continent. The young demography creates new opportunities and a large middle class. But African countries are also faced with problems such as rising urban poverty rates, imperfect government institutions and inadequate governance capacity.

The economic development in Africa is a complex economic and social change. China, in the middle and later periods of industrialization, can share its experience with African countries, thus laying a solid foundation for cooperation. Cooperative relations are helpful for those countries to take advantage of their resources and population to promote the transformation of economic structure and achieve green recovery.

The two sides need to explore new cooperation sectors and forms. In terms of the economy and trade, China-Africa trade reveals strong vitality and resilience although the pandemic has dealt a huge blow to global trade. Apart from traditional areas such as trade, infrastructure and industrial parks, the cooperation should extend to fintech, e-commerce, communications, clean energy and big data to enhance Africa's manufacturing and its position in the global value chain.

China's development provides a plan for Africa's green economic transformation. As of 2021, it has cooperated with African countries in clean energy, environmental protection and sustainable development. The two sides have made positive progress in responding to climate change by jointly building wind power, solar energy and biogas projects. The training in hydropower, solar energy and wind power provided to countries such as Morocco and Cameroon by Chinese experts also contributes to the green transformation of local industries in Africa.

African countries have a smaller vaccinated population against COVID-19 compared to most other countries, which hinders the continent from returning to the normal track and causes social and livelihood problems, thus affecting its economic recovery. This is also where China can help in the local production of the COVID-19 vaccines in Africa.

Li Xiaoyun is lead chair professor of China Agricultural University and honorary dean of the College of International Development and Global Agriculture. Ba Feng is a lecturer at the College of International Development and Global Agriculture. The authors contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn

China Daily Dec. 27th, 2021







 
BENI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people have died in a suicide bomber explosion late Saturday, in the middle of the Christmas celebration, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), said hospital sources on Sunday morning.

In a provisional assessment provided on Saturday night by General Ekenge Sylvain, spokesman for the governor of the North Kivu province, at least six people, including the suicide bomber, were killed and 13 others wounded in this "terrorist attack" in the city of Beni.

According to the update delivered this Sunday morning by the medical director of the General Hospital of Beni, two other people died from the serious injuries caused by the explosion, adding that 14 other people were wounded, some in serious condition.

The explosion of the bomb took place at around 20:00 local time, at the entrance of a busy bar. The suicide bomber, stopped by the guards from entering the bar crowded with customers, activated the bomb at the entrance of another bar next door, according to Sylvain Ekenge.

All night from Saturday to Sunday, the security services have been patrolling the city and the surroundings of the site of the explosion in search of clues. According to the local security sources, several pieces of the explosive device were collected at the scene of the incident by deminers supported by the UN's mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO).

In a statement made late Saturday on the national TV channel (RTNC), Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya condemned the suicide bombing that caused loss of life.

President Felix Tshisekedi said he had learned with dismay the news of the terrorist attack that hit the city of Beni on Christmas Day and he strongly condemned this heinous act.

While paying tribute to the victims and offering his condolences to the bereaved families, the president promised that these crimes would not go unpunished and that their perpetrators would be hunted down and annihilated.

The territory of Beni, which has been under siege since early May as part of the exceptional measures taken on two provinces, also including Ituri, is constantly under attack by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which have been active in this part of the country for decades.

In June 2021, two bomb explosions, including one carried out by a suicide bomber, struck Beni, causing at least one death and several injuries. According to the DR Congo authorities, the suicide bomber was an active member of the ADF in charge of recruitment.

Since November 30, the Uganda People's Defense Forces, in collaboration with the Congolese army, has officially launched air and artillery operations against several ADF rebel positions in northeastern DR Congo. Enditem
KHARTOUM, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese protesters on Saturday managed to reach the presidential palace in Khartoum to demand civilian rule, official SUNA news agency reported.

"The protesters reached the vicinity of the Republican Palace amid chants through which they affirmed rejection to the political agreement signed between the Chairman of the Transitional Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the Transitional Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok," the report said.

Thousands of Sudanese citizens demonstrated in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Saturday.

The Sudanese authorities interrupted internal communications and the internet service before the start of Saturday's demonstrations. According to eyewitnesses, hundreds of Sudanese army soldiers and the Rapid Support Forces have been deployed at the entrances to the bridges linking the three major cities of the capital, including Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri.

On Friday, the Sudanese Professionals Association, the body leading the protests, urged the citizens to take part in protests set for Saturday to demand full civilian authority.

Khartoum State's security committee, meanwhile, announced in a press release the closure of the bridges linking Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman cities as of Friday evening, excluding Suba and Halfaya bridges.

The committee said deviating from peacefulness, approaching and violating the sovereign and strategic sites in central Khartoum would be regarded as a violation of the laws, noting that "chaos and violations will be dealt with."

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis after General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on Oct. 25 and dissolved the sovereign council and government.

However, on Nov. 21, Al-Burhan and the then removed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed a political declaration, which included reinstating Hamdok as prime minister, but the deal has so far failed to calm the street. Enditem
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Home Regional News East
Bir Lehlou (Saharawi Republic) 27 December 2021 (SPS)- The President of the Saharawi Republic and Secretary General of Frente Polisario, H.E. Brahim Ghali, sent a letter of condolences to the President of South Africa, H.E. Cyril Ramaphosa, presenting his condolences on the passing of the late Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who died yesterday.

We have learnt with heavy hearts of the passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who has contributed enormously in the struggle against the evil of Apartheid, and has played a significant role in the democratic dispensations of post-Apartheid South Africa, global peace and the apostolic and faith based community, President Ghalib regretted.

He extended to President Ramaphosa his most heartfelt condolences, to you personally, to the people of South Africa, the government of South Africa, and to the family of the Archbishop the letter reads.

He affirmed that Archbishop Tutu will be always remembered for his fight for justice, peace and reconciliation.

He further asserted that the Saharawi government and Polisario Front will be ever grateful for his stand with the Saharawi people and for freedom and human rights in all the world. May he rest in eternal peace with honour and glory.

The late Archbishop is a great African spiritual leader most known for his support of all just causes around the world, and mainly in Africa. He strongly supported African struggles against Apartheid and colonialism of all its sorts, including in Western Sahara. (SPS)

090/500/60 (SPS)
A Christmas Victory

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Life Legal Defense Foundation

Dec. 27, 2021

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 27, 2021 /Standard Newswire/ -- On December 23, a federal court granted Life Legal's motion to "enjoin" or block enforcement of a California law that criminalizes First Amendment activity outside most abortion clinics.

The law, SB 742, makes it illegal to approach a person or occupied vehicle within 30 feet of the entrance to a "vaccination site" for the purpose of obstructing, injuring, harassing, intimidating, or interfering with that person. A "vaccination site" is defined as a location offering any type of vaccine services, which includes Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities that dispense Gardasil and other STD vaccines.

We sued California Attorney General Rob Bonta as soon as the law was passed on behalf of pro-life sidewalk counselors who regularly speak with women entering "vaccination site" abortion clinics, and who provide literature and display signs offering help with abortion alternatives  all activities that could be illegal under the new law.

Last week's court order is the first step in permanently striking down the law. We will be back in court to argue specifically how the law violates the Constitution. In the meantime, the court ruled that SB 742 is unconstitutionally broad because "it would be nearly impossible to have any sort of conversation or exchange within a 30-foot buffer zone." The court also held that the law is not "content-neutral" because it targets only certain types of speech. Laws that are not content neutral are subject to the highest level of judicial scrutiny.

SB 742 has also been challenged in another California case in which the court only enjoined the prohibition on harassing, but left the rest of the law and its harsh criminal penalties in place. In contrast, the court in Life Legal's case ruled that because our lawsuit challenged all of the law's provisions, "SB 742 must be enjoined in its entirety to protect the First Amendment interests of Plaintiffs and the public."

"Life Legal is pleased that the court has carefully considered our arguments and has determined that we are likely to succeed in our lawsuit challenging this unprecedented suppression of speech on public sidewalks," said Life Legal Chief Legal Officer Katie Short. "We are confident that California's assault on the First Amendment will be permanently struck down."

About Life Legal Defense Foundation

Life Legal Defense Foundation was established in 1989, and is a nonprofit organization composed of attorneys and other concerned citizens committed to giving helpless and innocent human beings of any age, and their advocates, a trained and committed voice in the courtrooms of our nation. For more information about the Life Legal Defense Foundation, visit www.lldf.org.

SOURCE Life Legal Defense Foundation

CONTACT: Alexandra Snyder, 202-717-7371
By Trend

Georgias imports from Azerbaijan from January through November 2021 amounted to $509 million, Trend reports via National Statistics Office (Geostat).

According to Geostat, the current figure increased by 12.7 percent, compared to $451.6 million over the same period of 2020.

TOP-5 exporting goods from Azerbaijan to Georgia (Jan. through Nov. 2021):

Fuels and lubricants  $340.9 million;

Industrial supplies  $129.6 million;

Food and beverages  $26.3 million;

Capital goods  $5.7 million;

Transport equipment  $3.6 million.

Thus, Azerbaijan ranks 5 among Georgias top trading partners by imports over the first 11 months of 2021, with a 5.7 percent share in total Georgian imports, Geostat said.

Meanwhile, Georgias imports from January through November 2021 amounted to $8.9 billion, which is an increase of 24.5 percent, compared to $7.2 billion over the reporting period of 2020.
By Trend

Conditions will be created for the signing of new important economic and transport contracts between Iran and Azerbaijan, Governor of Ardabil Province Hamed Amili told reporters, Trend reports citing Iranian media.

The comprehensive plan presented to the Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyed Abbas Mousavi will create an opportunity for the signing of new important economic and transport contracts between Iran and Azerbaijan.

According to the governor, in this regard, a comprehensive plan was presented to the Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Seyed Abbas Mousavi.

He also added that Iranian delegations are expected to visit Azerbaijan to discuss the plan with Azerbaijani officials.

Amili emphasized that Iran has relations with Azerbaijan in many areas. These relations have had a positive impact on the development of economic and trade relations with both countries.
By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Experts have described the creation of commando brigades in Azerbaijan as a new stage in the national army building. It was also assessed as a clear message for supporters of revanchist ideas in Armenia.

To recap, on December 24, Azerbaijani President, Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, and their son Heydar Aliyev visited liberated Khojavand region's Hadrut village to open a military unit of commando forces. As Aliyev noted Azerbaijan to create many commando brigades across the country.

New stage in army building

Turkish military and political expert Abdullah Aghar told Trend that the commando is one of the most important figures in the modern military sphere.

He said that one of the greatest lessons learned during last year's 44-day war with Armenia was the operation in the mountains and the units that were supposed to carry out operations in mountains.

"Many regions of Azerbaijan, in particular, Karabakh, are mountainous. In these mountainous areas, units are needed that will create obstacles and fight if necessary. For this reason, the commando brigade was created. They must show high intelligence, spirit, physical ability and courage, as well as be able to use modern technology," noted Aghar.

The expert said that Hadrut is a special territory in this regard. Because it is a significant area due to its demographic and topographic structure, and one of the most important victories in the war was won in Hadrut.

"Hadrut is surrounded by mountains and therefore is one of the most important places in Karabakh. For all these reasons, having commando brigades is a very sure, significant and important achievement. Establishing a commando brigade is an important step in achieving the desired success in any possible battle," he said.

Military and political observer Ramil Mammadli told Trend that the commando forces are high-alert units designed to perform special tasks.

"It is planned to increase the number of commando military units. They are designed to perform various combat missions. This event can be called a new stage in the construction of the Azerbaijani army. Despite the end of the war, the Azerbaijani army is further strengthened and modernized under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief [Ilham Aliyev]," Mammadli said.

The expert said that last year's war showed that new modern wars are already being waged.

"And in these wars, the role of mobile groups, which are special-purpose units, is indispensable, especially in mountainous areas, these units can have their say. The opening of the commando military unit in Hadrut became a clear message for supporters of revanchist ideas in Armenia," the expert added.

Transition to dynamic model

Turkish general in reserve Yucel Karauz said that as a result of Aliyev's activities, Azerbaijan has become a strong state in the region and it is decisively moving towards further modernization of military equipment, continues to improve its army.

"I note that the ground forces consist of conventional military formations carrying out combat missions and commando units with high mobility, which are equipped with special equipment for actions, regardless of the terrain and climate conditions, including night vision systems, to overcome obstacles in mountainous terrain, and so on. And also this is special forces, which is a more advanced form of commando. These forces are organized in accordance with the terms of the operations carried out by the army. It seems that Azerbaijan, given its geography most needs commando units. This became especially evident during the 44-day second Karabakh War, in particular during the liberation of Hadrut and the city of Shusha," he said.

Karauz stressed that dynamic activities are required to meet modern requirements in the areas of management, doctrine and defence industry.

"There is such a concept in military affairs: re-formalization and reorganization. Azerbaijan faced the need to increase the number of commandos as a result of the experience gained in the Second Karabakh War, as well as taking into account the borders and geography of neighboring countries. Within a year, new commando brigades were also created. At the same time, the changes also affected the management of the army, with the transition to a dynamic model. As a result, in a short time, the Azerbaijani armed forces were brought into line with the requirements of the present, such factors as the geography and capabilities of the armies of neighboring countries," he said.

Speaking about the country's defence industry, the general noted cooperation conducted with all countries that have modern technology.

"Naturally, in times of war, weapons systems can be both successful and unsuccessful. In the post-war period, these issues are being considered and steps are being taken to further improve weapons systems. There are two main conditions for success here: first, not to depend on one country in this matter, and second, to avoid excessive diversity in weapons systems, since serious problems in their coordination may arise. In the light of the experience of the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan continues its activities in connection with the existing drones, electronic systems, taking into account the requirements of fifth-generation wars, hybrid wars, and, as noted in the Shusha Declaration, cooperates in the field of joint production with Turkey and other countries. This is an important factor in terms of expanding the capabilities of the army, as well as the sale of military equipment to other countries," Karauz added.

As a result of a successful counter-offensive launched by the Azerbaijani army on September 27, 2020, Hadrut and eight more settlements were liberated from Armenian occupation on October 9, 2020. The liberation of Hadrut is considered one of the turning points in the 44-day war. As a result of the Hadrut operation, the Azerbaijani army destroyed the Armenian army's large amount of enemy soldiers and equipment. Hadrut's liberation was not only a heavy defeat for the Armenian army but also a major psychological blow to the Armenians. The occupants did not recover from this defeat, and the way of the Azerbaijani army to Shusha opened.
By Trend

Azerbaijan and Iran will further strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations in various sectors, including economic, trade, energy, transit and so on, within the framework of regional organizations, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told Trend.

The minister pointed out he was happy the Tehran-Baku relations entered a new stage of development.

Amir Abdollahian reminded that the presidents of both countries met in the Ashgabat and have shown will to develop the relations between the two countries in all the sectors.

One of such, he said, is the economic sector.

"In the economic sphere, both countries pay special attention to energy sector, transit. In the energy sector, Iran and Azerbaijan have taken the first step by signing a contract on the swap of Turkmen gas to Azerbaijan via Iran," he said.

Along with to the opening of various routes in the transit sector between the two countries, as well as, the construction of a new bridge (over the Astarachay River on the border of Iran-Azerbaijan), Iran is interested in reviving the railway transport network that once existed in South Caucasus," Amir Abdollahian said.

"All this will greatly contribute to economic, trade and energy sectors of the two countries, as well as, our region and regional organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO)," the minister said.
By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that in 2021 Azerbaijan continued its policy based on the country's national interests.

He made the remarks at a press conference dedicated to the results of the year.

Our foreign policy was aimed at protecting and representing the interests of the Azerbaijani state and people, he added.

Speaking about the implementation of the trilateral statement on Karabakh signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders in 2020, Bayramov noted that the Foreign Ministry held relevant events and meetings within the framework of the established platforms to ensure regional peace and security in 2021.

The agenda includes issues of unblocking communications, delimitation and demarcation of borders, as well as issues of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and starting the development of a document on the basis of which the peace will be built. In addition, the priority task is to restore the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. In this process, we are facing challenges and threats, in particular, due to a large number of mines, he said.

Azerbaijan is ready to start the process of delimitation and demarcation of the borders, he said, adding that there is no exact date as it is a mutual procedure.

The Azerbaijani side has stated its position and is ready to start this process. We hope that Armenia will understand that this process is inevitable, complies with international norms and principles, and that there is no alternative to demarcating the border between the states. We think that a positive message will come from Armenia in the near future. On the other hand, the fact that this issue is already included in the trilateral Sochi statement means that the Armenian side accepts it too, Bayramov said.

The minister also noted that in 2021, Azerbaijan continued to file lawsuits against Armenia at the international level, a number of which were satisfied.

He added that Azerbaijan will apply to international courts on a number of conventions shortly. Specifically, conventions on the damage caused to the ecology of the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, as well as on the illegal use of energy resources and natural resources.

"The main priority of foreign policy is the development of relations both in bilateral and multilateral formats and in the context of the new realities that have arisen after the 44-day Patriotic War," he finalized.

On December 14 in Brussels, Azerbaijan and Armenia came to an agreement on the establishment of a temporary working group on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.
By Ayya Lmahamad

Some 139 mines and munitions were found and defused on Azerbaijan's liberated territories from December 20 to December 25, the Mine Action Agency has reported on its official Twitter page.

The agency found and defused two anti-personnel and 25 anti-tank mines, as well as 112 unexploded ordnances in Tartar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Shusha, Gubadli, Jabrayil and Zangilan regions during the reported period.

Overall, 97 hectares were cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance in this period.

Meanwhile, the Emergencies Ministry special risk rescue service deputy chief, Maj-Genl Maharram Hasanov, stated that the most important issue now is the demining of Azerbaijan's liberated lands and the return of citizens to their native lands.

He made the remarks during the training "The role of media in educating the population about the mine threat".

Noting that the demining work on the liberated territories continues, Hasanov stated that huge areas were mined, therefore specially trained dogs have been involved in the demining process. He added that currently, 10 such dogs are involved in it.

Since January 2021, groups of pyrotechnics have been participating in demining in the Aghdam and Fuzuli directions. Our employees have international certificates in the field of mine clearance and participate in the process at a high level," he said.

Earlier it was reported that 10,456 anti-personnel and 4,683 anti-tank mines, as well as 12,659 unexploded ordnances, were found and defused on the abovementioned territories from November 10, 2020, to November 30, 2021.

Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan all mine maps of Azerbaijan's liberated territories as a result of talks held through the Russian Defence Ministry's mediation on December 4, 2021.

On December 12, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters that mine maps provided by Armenia so far are not fully accurate.

"New minefield maps given by Armenia are being analyzed by the experts. It will take time. We can prevent the growing number of deaths as a result of mine explosions," he said.

It should be noted that Azerbaijans Mine Action Agency (ANAMA), along with the partner countries, carries out demining activities on its liberated territories.

Armenia deliberately and constantly planted mines on Azerbaijani territories, in violation of the 1949 Geneva Convention, thereby being a major threat to regional peace, security and cooperation.

On December 9, the Prosecutor-General's Office has reported that 29 civilians and seven military servicemen were killed, as well as 109 servicemen and 44 civilians received injuries of varying severity as a result of mine explosions in the countrys lands since November 10, 2020.

Previously, on June 12, Azerbaijan handed over 15 Armenian prisoners in exchange for a map detailing the location of 97,000 mines in formerly-occupied Aghdam.

On July 3, Armenia submitted to Azerbaijan maps of about 92,000 anti-tank and anti-personnel mines planted during the occupation of Fuzuli and Zangilan regions.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a Russia-brokered peace agreement on November 10, 2020, to end 44 days of fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution.
By Sabina Mammadli

Azerbaijani servicemen have returned to their motherland after successfully completing regular commando training courses in Turkey's Isparta, The Defence Ministry has reported.

The training was conducted in the city of Isparta within the framework of an agreement on cooperation in the field of military education signed between Azerbaijan and Turkey.

It should be noted that the main purpose of the participation of Azerbaijani servicemen in relevant courses within the existing military cooperation between the two countries is to further improve the combat capability and professionalism of the operations commando military units

On December 24, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, and their son Heydar Aliyev visited the liberated Khojavand region's Hadrut village to open a military unit of commando forces. As Aliyev noted, Azerbaijan to create many commando brigades across the country. President Aliyev described the creation of the commando brigade unit in Hadrut as a significant event of strategic importance.

Experts described the creation of commando brigades in Azerbaijan as a new stage in the national army building. It was also assessed as a clear message for supporters of revanchist ideas in Armenia.
By Azernews

By Vugar Khalilov

President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree on awarding a group of Azerbaijani servicemen distinguished in thwarting Armenian provocations on the state border in mid-November, Azertag reported on December 27.

Under paragraph 23 of the Azerbaijani Constitution, Aliyev awarded a group of servicemen, who successfully fulfilled their combat mission to prevent Armenias provocations and attacks on the state border in liberated Kalbajar and Lachin regions on November 16, 2021, as well as to protect and secure the state border by fulfilling their official duties, the report added.

Over 90 servicemen of Azerbaijans Defence Ministry who have shown courage and self-sacrifice in the performance of their duties were awarded in line with the presidential decree.

The escalation of tension was registered on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border on November 16. As a result, seven Azerbaijani servicemen were killed and 10 were wounded during military operations in Kalbajar and Lachin on the state border with Armenia on November 16.

The trilateral ceasefire deal signed by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders on November 10, 2020, ended the three-decade conflict over Azerbaijans Karabakh region which along with the seven adjacent districts came under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.

On January 11, 2021, the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders signed the second statement since the end of the 44-day war. The newly-signed statement was set to implement clause 9 of the November 2020 statement related to the unblocking of all economic and transport communications in the region.

On November 26, 2021, the three leaders signed a statement and agreed on a number of issues, including the demarcation and delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border by late 2021, some points related to humanitarian issues and the issue of unblocking of transport corridors which applies to the railway and to automobile communications.

It should be noted that as part of President Aliyev's visit to Brussels on December 14-15, 2021, the demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the opening of communications, humanitarian issues and other topics were discussed.

As a result of the trilateral meeting between Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, EU Council President Charles Michel which took place at the latter's initiative on December 14 in Brussels, as well as a bilateral meeting between Aliyev and Michel, through the EU mediation, Azerbaijan handed over to Armenia 10 Armenian servicemen on December 19.

The transferred persons were detained on November 16, 2021, while preventing a provocation by the Armenian armed forces on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev sent a letter of condolences to President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou on December 27.

Dear Madame President,

I was deeply saddened by the news of the demise of the former President of the Hellenic Republic, a distinguished statesman and social-political figure, Karolos Papoulias.

I highly appreciate Karolos Papouliass contribution to the development of Azerbaijan-Greece relations and always recall our meetings with fond impressions.

I share your sorrow due to this grave loss and offer my profound condolences to you, to the family of the deceased and the people of Greece.

Ilham Aliyev

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Baku, 27 December 2021
By Trend

The illegal visit to Azerbaijans Khankandi city by head of the Ile-de-France region, Republican Party candidate in the upcoming presidential election Valerie Pecresse does not correspond to Frances policy, Azerbaijani MP Soltan Mammadov said at a plenary session of the Azerbaijani parliament, Trend reports.

"This political provocation contradicts the spirit of relations between Azerbaijan and France, as well as the efforts to ensure peace and stability in the region," Mammadov said.

The MP stressed that the position taken by France during the second Karabakh war raised great doubts about the impartiality of this country, which took on such an important mission of the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"We have recently witnessed some initiatives aimed at restoring trust in the relationship," Mammadov added. "The French government has announced that it would like to contribute to the mine clearance process of the Azerbaijani lands liberated from the Armenian occupation."

The MP stressed that an informal meeting was organized between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the initiative of incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron.

"These steps are regarded as Frances attempt to participate in the creation of an atmosphere of peace and cooperation in the South Caucasus," Mammadov said.

The MP said that however, Pecresses illegal visit to the Azerbaijani lands does not correspond to the policy declared by France.

"By the way, I would like to stress that the French certain political circles regretted about this secret and illegal visit," Mammadov said.

"While making a special statement in the National Assembly (the lower house of the French parliament), Vice-President of the Azerbaijan-France Friendship Group, President of the Association of Friends of Azerbaijan Jerome Lambert called on France and its representatives to respect the elementary norms of international law for the sake of lasting peace and not to commit the biased actions," the MP said.

"We can understand certain tactical actions of the candidates for president in France during the election campaign, but Azerbaijans territorial integrity, sovereignty, the fundamental principles of international law can not be used as an element of this campaign," MP said.

Mammadov said that this is disrespect of a candidate, first of all, for their own country, as well as for international law.

"The whole world admits that after the 44-day second Armenia-Azerbaijan Karabakh war, completely different realities have been created in the region, as well as the situation with security has been changed," the MP said.

Mammadov said that the leading countries, including France, can play an important role in creating an atmosphere of trust and the process of renewing economic, political, humanitarian and cultural ties.

"A very good basis for historical cooperation has been created today in Azerbaijan-France relations," the MP said. "Proceeding from this, the work on the development of relations not only will benefit both countries but will also serve security and prosperity in the region."

Head of the Ile-de-France region, candidate for president in France from the Republican Party Valerie Pecresse illegally visited Azerbaijans Khankandi city on Dec. 22. In this regard, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry sent a note of protest to France.
By Osman Ozgan

Turkeys Justice and Development Party (AKP) is preparing to activate a digital system that will prevent cheating at the ballot box during the 2023 June elections, Yeni Shafak has reported.

Thanks to the system, ballot box officials will be able to access the decisions made by the Supreme Election Council (YSK) on the objected issue from the most recent date to the past, the report added.

It noted that with the application, which is planned to be integrated into the AK Election (AK Secim) system (which was implemented before) all the decisions made by the Supreme Election Council so far will be classified and uploaded to this system. The ballot box officials will also be able to reach these decisions via the system developed with special software.

Thus, polling officials will be able to use these decisions as a precedent both at the ballot box and in objections to the committees, which in turn, will enable them to prepare a more comprehensive and effective appeal petition.

Moreover, the petitions prepared and uploaded to the system will be followed by the AK Party Headquarters. By checking the existence of deficiencies and procedural errors in the prepared petitions, the Headquarters will prevent errors and delays in the process.

As part of the preparations initiated for the 2023 June election, the AK Party took the provincial election heads to the training camp. Under the coordination of the Presidency of Election Affairs, the consultation meeting of the provincial election heads was held on December 23-26 in Ankara.

At the camp, training sessions were given on subjects such as election committees, ballot box committees and officials, establishment and working principles of election coordination centers.

At the meetings, the rate of polling officers who took part in the 2018 elections was also evaluated. Accordingly, it was stated that the rate of those who served at the ballot box was 98.2 percent in the lists submitted to the YSK, and the party aimed to increase this figure to over 99 percent.

General elections are scheduled to occur in June 2023 in Turkey. Voters will elect a new president, as well as 600 members of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, each for a term of five years.
By News Center

Turkeys Canakkale 1915 Bridge, one of the mega projects that will connect Asia and Europe, is full of symbols from its length to its height, from its color to its viaducts, Yeni Shafak has reported.

The project is expected to open in early 2022. This is after the solemn ceremony where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tightened the bolt of its last plate in November 2021, the report added.

The bridge has been equipped with codes related to both the Canakkale War and the Turkish history.

The bridge reflects some Turkish-Islamic motifs, as well as draws inspirations from Ottoman architecture. The vertical lines, which stand out in many historical works of Turkish-Islamic architecture, also were used in the tie-beams of the bridge.

It is possible to see the vertical lines that Mimar Sinan brought to Ottoman architecture in many works. The similar vertical lines, which can be noticed in the Selimiye and the Suleymaniye mosques, as well as in the Buyukcekmece Bridge, add a historical atmosphere to the bridge.

Moreover, critical dates are included in the figures regarding the length and height of the bridge. The 2023-meter middle span between the two steel towers of the suspended tower marks the 100th anniversary of the Turkish republic.

By using red and white colors representing the colors of the Turkish flag on the four towers of the bridge, it is aimed to reflect the memory of the martyrs and national values in the best way and to be visible from everywhere.

Another important detail on the bridge is that the viaducts reflect the Canakkale Martyrs' Monument. Viaduct feet symbolize the monument's four-leg shape.

The steel towers, designed as 318 meters in height, represent the Canakkale Victory on March 18, 1918 (03.18), which was a turning point in Turkish and world history.

A cannonball will be placed on the top of the steel towers, to glorify the cannonball that Seyit Onbasi (one of the heroes of the Canakkale War) carried. The towers will reach a height of 334 meters above sea level, together with 16-meter architectural cannonball figures.
The National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) has won the Global Brand Awards 2021 for the Best Corporate Banking Brand  Bahrain and the Best Retail Banking Brand  Bahrain.

NBB was evaluated based on research that looked at the banks offered services, global footprint, consistent financial performance, corporate strategy, brand promise and customer experience.

Due to the banks continuous growth over the past year, the awards also assessed its prominence in Bahrain and the ongoing strides NBB has made to contribute to the corporate sector and to better serve its customer base.

With its long-standing accomplishments, NBB has stood proud as the pillar of the kingdoms banking industry since its inception over 60 years ago as the countrys first locally-owned bank. In order to broaden the banks base, substantial investments have been made in three core verticals  people, business and brand  which has contributed to the immense progress and results achieved in a short span of time.

Amidst a challenging year, NBB achieved several strategic milestones on both a corporate and retail level. The bank launched its new digital mobile application to better serve its customers as part of its digital transformation journey.

Furthermore, in conjunction with its loan deferment pledge, NBB extended its relief measures towards its Commercial and SME clientele to help minimise the impact on their businesses during the past year.

NBBs ongoing progress is powered by its people and fuelled by a shared passion for business success. With an investment in its human capital, NBB launched various initiatives that served to strengthen its workforce and create future brand ambassadors and award winners that exemplify the core of the banks brand identity.

Commenting on the banks latest achievement Hisham Al Kurdi, Group Chief Executive - Corporate & Institutional Investment Banking at NBB, said: On our transformational journey, we have adopted a client first approach; we have developed our coverage model, products capabilities and digital channels all with our corporate clients requirements at the centre of our efforts.

Today, NBB lives by its motto and is closer than ever to its clients. We are the bank of choice for our corporate clients, possessing the necessary products, skills and resources to assist them with large strategic projects as well as the day to day operation of their businesses. Over the past few years, NBB has significantly improved its offering on all fronts, from large public mandates and strategic projects, to digital channels to working capital and treasury solutions. As a result, NBB is now viewed as a solid banking partner capable of adding value to regional corporates and GREs.

Arif Janahi, Head of Commercial and SMEs at NBB, added: As a major component towards the structure of our organisation, NBB has remained dedicated to supporting and funding corporate and SMEs across the kingdom. This year alone we welcomed hundreds of new clients, and launched Tamweel Al Watani as a means to provide the necessary access for SMEs during these challenging times.

We additionally worked hand in hand with local banks, the Central Bank of Bahrain and the Bahrain Chamber as part of the kingdoms Liquidity Support Fund, launched in 2019, facilitating the Corporates banking transactions and truly becoming closer to them. Being the national bank of choice, and as part of our responsibility towards realising Vision 2030, it is our duty to strengthen the local economy as we bring this vision to fruition.

Subah Al Zayani, Chief Executive of Retail Banking at NBB, stated: Since our establishment, NBB has built a strong brand. In line with keeping our brand promise of enriching the lives of generations, we have introduced a number of customer-centric products and services with a long-term positive effect, such as Alwatani Savings Scheme, Mazaya and Joint Housing real estate loans, Solar Financing, among others. Furthermore, our state-of-the-art digital app provides accessibility to our numerous financial services while also enabling financial inclusion. We remain committed to our philosophy of keeping our customers at the forefront of our decisions, and this has resonated throughout the entire organisation and enhanced our performance as the national bank of choice.

Jay Reddy, Head of Branding from Global Brand Awards Magazine said: "Despite being one of the banks indigenous to the region, The National Bank of Bahrain has continued to excel not only as a traditional consumer bank, but also as a modern pioneer, diversifying its focus to include its people, business and brand as it encompasses different aspects of the banking sector. We're particularly impressed with NBB's dynamic ability to evolve with both its retail and corporate customers, meeting both local and regional needs, and become one of the leading, most recognised banks in the region."

NBB has a consistent drive to deliver on its brand promise, pushing the bank to make more investments in humanising its customer interactions and bringing the voice of its customers into the organisation.

These investments have ensured the bank remains solid, agile and susceptible to adapting to changes in the market dynamics while also mitigating any risks. Furthermore, NBB has embarked on a solid sustainability journey, gradually integrating material ESG considerations into its business transformation story, reflecting its core values as an institution.-- TradeArabia News Service
Sedco Capital, a global shariah-compliant and ethically led asset management and investment advisory firm, has announced that it has successfully completed the additional offering of Sedco Capital real estate investment traded (REIT) fund.

Launched in 2018, the Sedco Capital REIT Fund is a closed-ended, shariah-compliant REIT, which aims to achieve periodic cash distribution for unitholders by investing in high quality income-generating real estate assets across various sectors, including hospitality, commercial, office, residential and education. Investments are mainly focused in the main Saudi cities of Jeddah, Riyadh, and Dammam.

Through this additional offering, Sedco Capital is increasing the funds total asset value by 64% to SR1.8 billion ($479 million) across in-kind and cash subscriptions and additional Shariah-compliant financing.

According to Sedco Capital, the Fund received 78,231 subscription requests from 227,192 individual and institutional investors. In addition, it offered up to SR325 million through in-kind subscriptions.

The successful offering resulted in a 339% oversubscription with a total value of SR 848 million.

The units will be allocated to the unitholders within a maximum of 15 business days from the closing date of the additional offering period in accordance with the allocation mechanism disclosed in the supplementary appendix of the Funds terms & conditions.

The proceeds from the additional capital raise will be used to acquire eight properties in the Education and Commercial sectors, located across Riyadh and Dammam.

Sedco Capital REIT Fund post acquisition portfolio is expected to generate a gross rental income of SAR 49.4 million per annum, which translates into a rental yield of 7.5%. The net targeted return in total asset value is expected to exceed 7.0%.

On the additional REIT offering, CEO Samer Abu Aker said: "We are very pleased with the result of the additional offering, reflecting the strong participation demand in the Sedco Capital REIT Fund. This oversubscribed offering represents a robust vote of confidence by existing and new subscribers in our Saudi real estate investment strategy."

Chief Business Development Officer Abdulwahhab Abed said: "Since its inception, we have always managed the SEDCO Capital REIT Fund in a manner that provides investors with access to compelling real estate assets across key cities in Saudi Arabia."

"This additional offering increases the Funds exposure to income-generating properties in more diverse sectors across the Kingdom, including the Education sector. The Fund also aims to increase the percentage of long-term lease contracts with escalation in rents with credible tenants, which in our view contributes to achieving stability and growth and will enhance the Funds long-term risk-return profile, overall. We believe the oversubscription illustrates the appreciation that investors have for our investment approach," he added.
Tenable, the Cyber Exposure company, has celebrated its recognition as a premier workplace in 2021. Most recently, the company was honoured by Comparably for the following categories throughout December:

Best Company Culture: Tenable given an A+ overall culture score.

Best CEO: Amit Yoran was ranked in the top 5% of CEOs for similarly sized companies.

Best Company for Women: Tenables Gender Score, which tracks how positively women rate their experience at a company, was ranked in the top 5% for similarly sized companies.

Best Company for Diversity: Tenables Diversity Score, which tracks how positively diverse employees rate their experience at a company, was ranked in the top 10% for similarly sized companies.

On the heels of such a challenging past couple of years, its been more important than ever to prioritise our team as people, not just employees, said Bridgett Paradise, Chief People Officer, Tenable. Ending the year on such a positive note with the Comparably recognitions motivates us to make Tenable an even better place to work in the new year.

Earlier this year, Comparably also recognised Tenable for its employee happiness and competitive compensation. The company was also named a 2021 Top Workplace by the Washington Post, based on ratings from employees for the third year in a row.-- TradeArabia News Service
AD Ports Group aims to explore opportunities and partnerships in regional and international markets by signing international partnership agreements, said its Managing Director and Group CEO.



The group's investments will help improve the emirate's stature as a key supporter of international trade and logistical services, in line with the group's five joint strategic partnerships with the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) in Jordan, Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi was quoted as saying in report by the Emirates News Agency (WAM).



AD Ports Group supports the national economy, accounting for 13.7 percent of Abu Dhabis non-oil GDP in 2020, and providing over 200,000 jobs in the UAE, as well as managing 55 percent of overall industrial zones in the country, he added.



The strategic partnership agreements signed with the ADC aims to strengthen the deep-rooted ties between the UAE and Jordan, as well as support AD Ports Groups global expansion plans by capitalising on the strategic location of Aqaba as a regional hub in the Red Sea to attract tourism from Europe, Al Shamisi said, noting that tourists are always keen to visit Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra in Jordan.



Al Shamisi affirmed that mutual investments between the UAE and Jordan are valued at nearly $20 billion, and new projects will boost the value of Emirati investments in the kingdom.



"AD Ports Group is committed to strengthening our partnership with leading companies in Jordan and helping achieve their aspirations to reinforce Aqabas stature as a regional hub for trade, logistics, transport and tourism. We are confident that these projects are just the beginning of a fruitful future cooperation," he added.
Transguard Group, the UAEs premier business solutions provider, has secured AED2 billion ($540 million) in new and renewed contracts for the calendar year 2021 and launched multiple products and services. Transguards financial year ends on March 31, 2022.

While the previous year was unprecedented in practically every way imaginable, 2021 has resulted in significant growth and renewal for the company.

No matter what Covid-19 threw at us, Transguard Group maintained an unwavering focus on our core values, explained Dr Greg Ward, Managing Director. Because of this commitment to the well-being of our employees and the needs of our clients, 2021 has been an incredibly successful year of growth and renewal. Our portfolio across the business has grown in depth and scope, and in parallel, the size of our workforce has also increased.

With noteworthy accomplishments across every division of the company, some of Transguards stand-out achievements include hiring 15,000 new employees, winning AED102 million in contracts for Expo 2020 Dubai, which sees 3,000 plus Transguard employees support 17 pavilions and multiple sustainability achievements, including the production of 1,233 MWh of clean energy thanks to solar panels, savings of 3 million kWh of electricity and 22 million gallons of water.

Besides, the company won five major awards -- Transguard Cash: Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Awards for Business, Business Innovation and Customer Excellence; Transformation: UAE Innovation Award and CSR: Dubai Chamber CSR Advanced Label.

Transguard installed 5,300+ Smart Cash Deposit Machines, launched the Transguard Living app for iOS and Android and opened Transguard's dedicated vehicle workshop.

Our team has actively demonstrated unparalleled dedication during these dynamic times, and their hard work has paid off in so many ways, concluded Dr Ward, adding: Im proud of where Transguard has been and where were going, and I am very much looking forward to revealing whats next for us in the new year.-- TradeArabia News Service
The RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC), a not-for-profit membership organisation, joined leaders and experts in a series of hybrid conferences recently in Dubai to support the development of Internet infrastructure in the Arab region.



The Telecom Review Leaders Summit, e-AGE21 and the Arab Digital Cooperation and Development Forum (ADCDF) were held simultaneously to tackle various vital issues for the development of the Internet and its governance, the digital ecosystem, data regulation and digital collaboration. The RIPE NCC, as the Regional Internet Registry for the Middle East, Europe and parts of Central Asia, contributed valuable insights, data and analytics at these high-level events.



The Internet landscape in the Gulf region has experienced tremendous growth in a relatively short period of time. Although markets were later to develop than in parts of the world like Europe and North America, the region has prioritised digitisation and made huge strides in achieving its digital transformation goals.



Governments and service providers have each had a role to play. Removing regulatory barriers has made it easier to establish Internet exchange points and deploy IPv6. A more diverse field of service providers are acquiring Internet address resources and running their own networks.



The 15th edition of the Telecom Review Leaders' Summit, the industry's most prominent information and communications technology (ICT) event, was held at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City. With the theme It's All About Smart Networking, the summit convened industry professionals and decision-makers to discuss the role of new technologies such as AI, IoT, cloud computing and others during the pandemic and post-pandemic periods.



The in-depth panel discussions revolved around crucial industry topics, including 5G monetisation, network infrastructure, IPv6 deployment, digital transformation and emerging technologies.



In another set of events, the RIPE NCC attended and sponsored the 11th edition of e-AGE21, which took place virtually from 13 to 15 December with the theme e-Infrastructure for Science and Beyond. This event highlighted NRENs, national research and education networks, which are dedicated to supporting the needs of research and academic communities.



The first session, NRENs, Services, and Future, centred the spotlight on the need to encourage a culture of innovation and creativity. During the session, Gergana Petrova, External Relations Officer at the RIPE NCC, emphasised how the future of employment needs upskilling to keep pace with the integration of cloud computing, Internet protocols, IoT and big data, among others. She also expressed the RIPE NCC's commitment to helping professionals and students learn in-demand skills through certified courses in certain areas.



The RIPE NCC also took part in the ESCWA-hosted Digital Cooperation and Development Forum, in association with the League of Arab States and other key players, including the International Telecommunication Union, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.



The RIPE NCC joined on the second day of the 10-day forum, which witnessed various policy dialogues and advocacy on critical digital development and cooperation issues. In the first session, on 16 December, the panel discussed the Internet ecosystem's legal, policy and regulatory framework. Chafic Chaya, Regional Communications Manager at RIPE NCC, highlighted the progress in regional Internet regulations and how the RIPE NCC provided continuing support to governments and regulators in the region, helping them to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals and to advance their digital economy.



Meanwhile, the second session focused on How the Internet Works and highlighted vital information about Internet fundamentals, governing organisations, Internet protocols (IP) and the Domain Name System (DNS). Gergana Petrova spearheaded this lecture on the fundamentals of the Internet that was aimed at engaging the youth and students.



The virtual event also featured William Johnson, Instructional Designer at the RIPE NCC. He demonstrated and explained various online capacity-building programmes, academic efforts and Certified Professionals programmes offered by the RIPE NCC. These certification programmes are focused on assisting the youth and the Internet community at large.  TradeArabia News Service
The Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) joined Gulf government statistics organisations in celebrating GCC Statistics Day, which falls on December 24.

This years theme, Statistics for Extraordinary Circumstances, highlights what regional and global statistics organisations learned from the impact the Covid-19) pandemic had on their work, the economy and business. These economic challenges increased demand for a certain type of data and highlighted the need for proactive statistical studies.

iGA Chief Executive Mohammed Ali Al Qaed congratulated everyone working in the field of statistics in Bahrain and the GCC, expressing his appreciation for their efforts to provide reliable and trusted data that can be used in decision-making and the formulation of national strategies.

Al Qaed highlighted the iGAs achievements in statistics, adding that it continued to conduct the Kingdoms census despite the challenges of the pandemic. In 2020, Bahrain became one of the first countries to use administrative records in its General Census of Population, Housing, and Establishments.

Bahrain was also one of the first countries to conduct a national census during the pandemic. The Kingdom is traditionally a regional pioneer in censuses, its first being conducted in 1941. In 2010, it became the first country in the region to replace costly field surveys with information collected from databases of ministries and government entities.

Other 2021 accomplishments revealed by Al Qaed included the launch of Bahrains Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) platforms, a report on implementing the New Urban Agenda prepared by the National Committee for Information and Population, and Bahrain's first Voluntary National Review on the 2030 SDGs.

The iGA also met the requirements of the Enhanced General Data Dissemination System, which improves the transparency of data and its governance by generating the data needed to analyse economic conditions.

The system disseminates data via a unified platform to increase the efficiency of data exchange; carries out a number of statistical projects such as surveys of economic establishments and foreign investment; issues a comprehensive statistical resource detailing the history of the Kingdoms tourism statistics system; and produces indicators that play a major role in monitoring and evaluating current economic conditions and contributing to the formulation of post-crisis economic recovery plans.

During the pandemic, Gulf statistics organisations and the GCC Statistical Center sought to help overcome challenges by providing official data swiftly to decision makers, assisting them in setting the policies needed to alleviate the pandemics negative impact on their communities and economies as well as preparing for recovery.

GCC Statistics Day was announced as per a GCC Ministerial Committees decision at its 141st session held on November 24, 2016 in Manama.-TradeArabia News Service
Vietnamese Foodies, the fresh, healthy Vietnamese cuisine in Dubai, is now open in Nakheel Mall.

The opening comes just before the family-owned business will celebrate four years of operations, after their first location in January 2018 in JLT, followed by branches in Downtown Dubai in April 2019, and most recently, an outpost within Time Out Market Dubai.

Located on the Fashion Level of Nakheel Mall on The Palm Jumeirah, the 60-seat restaurants design pays homage to authentic Vietnamese fares simple preparation and complex flavours, a statement from the business said.

Featuring the same menus as their JLT and Downtown Dubai locations, including Pho, simmered for 14 hours, Banh Mi and other favourites, Vietnamese Foodies Nakheel Mall location features an open kitchen with pho stove, salad bar, and a private dining area for eight people.

According to Lily Hoa Nguyen, Owner and Executive Chef of Vietnamese Foodies, the location is part of their mission to bring authentic and healthy Vietnamese food to more UAE residents.

She said: As a family-owned and operated restaurant, our customers remain close to our hearts, and we thank them for the support they have shown us from the very start. We are beyond delighted to open our fourth location and bring more authentic Vietnamese food to more people in Dubai. It really is a dream come true.

All Vietnamese Foodies dishes at all locations are inspired by the culinary diversity of the Vietnamese capital, Ho Chi Minh City, and are prepared using the fresh ingredients, with most dishes cooked in broth or water instead of oil.

Guests will be spoilt for choice, thanks to the new menu filled with affordable, healthy, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, dairy- and gluten-free options.-TradeArabia News Service
UAEs Etihad Airways and Chinas Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO) aim to jointly create an Air Silk Road between Henan Province and Abu Dhabi, as well as expanding CGO airport into an air freight hub in the region.

Etihad Airways also plans to operate freighter operations between Zhengzhou and Abu Dhabi in 2022 subject to regulatory approvals.

Etihad Airways and Henan Province Airport Group, the parent company of CGO, an important domestic aviation hub and the gateway to the central region of China, thus will establish a strategic partnership to strengthen aviation ties between the UAE and China.

This follows the signing of a virtual Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) during the virtual Zhengzhou Week event hosted by Expo 2020 Dubai China Pavilion starting from December 27, 2021.

The MoU contains plans for Etihads potential operation of regular cargo services between Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and CGO to create the Air Silk Road between Henan Province and the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

The MoU also covers scope of cooperation between the two parties to build the CGO airport into an air freight hub in the region, and to diversify product sales and cargo distribution channels at Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport.

Martin Drew, Senior Vice President Sales and Cargo, Etihad Airways said: Etihad is very excited to see the potential to further expand its cargo footprint in China, and to create the Air Silk Road between the emirate and Central China together with Henan Province Airport Group. This will greatly improve the diversification of product sales and cargo distribution channels in this region and strengthen economic and trade links between the UAE and China, and beyond.

As the national airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways has played a key role in the transportation of vaccines and medical supplies within and outside the UAE, based on its professional medical logistics solutions. Since the start of the pandemic, Etihad Cargo has operated 1,042 flights out of Shanghai and Beijing, carrying over 65,000 tonnes on its Boeing 777 freighters and passenger freighters, among which 50% of the flights were medical supplies to support the global fight against Covid-19 and equip frontline medical professionals.

Driven by the huge demand for medical supplies, Etihad Cargo has performed strongly in the past year. Etihad Cargo has restored 90% of its destinations compared with before the pandemic in the same period in 2019, while its capacity has increased by 20%.

Kang Xingzhen, Chairman of Henan Airport Group Co Ltd lauded the cooperation: Today, we are very pleased to sign the MoU with Etihad Airways, a key airline player in the Middle East region with extensive network to Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa, to explore various opportunities under the Air Silk Road aviation initiative inspired by the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

Driven by the dramatic growth of Zhengzhou Xinzheng Airport in recent years, the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone (ZAEZ) has become the first and, to date, the only aerotropolis in China to simultaneously address business, multimodal surface transportation, airport and urban objectives as an integrated whole.

Supported by Zhengzhou Airports 51 air cargo routes, the ZAEZ has not only become a manufactured product export dynamo, but also Central Chinas largest foreign-origin meat port as well as a leading Chinese distribution point for a multitude of other imported food perishables. We sincerely hope to see Etihad Airways scheduled freight flights land into the CGO in the not-too-distant future.

Taking full advantage of Abu Dhabis natural position as a global logistics centre to promote the growth of the air cargo high-value product market segmentation, Etihad Cargo provides several commercial services to meet the diverse needs of the high-end product market segmentation, and has created specialist products and services with dedicated teams to make sure that every single detail is taken care of, including PharmaLife, FreshForward, SkyStables, LiveAnimals, FlightValet, FlyCulture, SafeGuard and AirMail.-- TradeArabia News Service
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The festival, titled Veethi Virudhu Vizha (The Street Award Ceremony) in its ninth year, has provided a platform for Dalit and other marginalized artists to showcase their art forms that are considered defunct by the mainstream, and honour these artists by presenting them with a memento & certificate, and provide a monetary award to senior artists.

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CHENNAI  The capital city of Tamil Nadu will host and honour folk artists from Dalit and other marginalized communities in a 2-days festival on January 2-3, 2022. The festival, titled Veethi Virudhu Vizha (The Street Award Ceremony) in its ninth year, has provided a platform for Dalit and other marginalized artists to showcase their art forms that are considered defunct by the mainstream, and honour these artists by presenting them with a memento & certificate, and provide a monetary award to senior artists.

The award ceremony is hosted in Loyola College by Alternative Media Center (AMC) for showcasing and creating awareness about the traditional folk art forms in Tamil Nadu. Veethi Virudhu Vizha is a brainchild of AMC, a media centre that caters to marginalized folk artists all over the state.

Artists are set to perform over 140 different art forms like Maattukombu Attam, Karagattam, Kavadiattam, Paraiattam, Sattaikuchi Attam, Oyilattam, Kondathattam, Adhivasiattam, etc,.

AMC in collaboration with Illam Thedi Kalvi and Loyola College has scheduled the event for the 2nd and 3rd of January. Illam Thedi Kalvi (Education at Doorstep) is a pilot project initiated by the government of Tamil Nadu during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide after-school lessons for students of classes 1-8 in rural areas.

Dr Kaleeswaran, the founder of AMC and coordinator of the Arts and Literary Unit, Loyola College, has managed to provide a platform for these artists inside the college campus. He has also helped 4,000 traditional folk artists to volunteer themselves in the Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme as tutors to inculcate the knowledge of folk arts among students, and the artists will also receive incentives for volunteering.

In its first year in 2013, Veethi Virudhu Vizha was conducted in a marriage hall and around 500 artists participated. This year we are planning to host 10,000 traditional folk artists across Tamil Nadu, said Dr Kaleeswaran.

Dr Kaleeswaran emphasized that folk arts, especially the percussion family of instruments made out of calfskin or cowhide, when played are danced most often by Dalits as their everyday sustenance depends on negotiation with caste and oppression.

The caste system in India has long ensured a monopolized hereditary of occupations to sustain the status quo and the interventions made by Dravidian ideologues in Tamil Nadu to the music and cultural atmosphere through the Tamil Isai (music) movement in the 1940s did nothing to the exclusivity of Dalits from the mainstream. And for the same reason, Dr Kaleeswran believes that a congregation of traditional folk artists is the need of the hour followed by the lockdown.

This years theme Peridaraal Izhantha Kalaiyai.Penikkaappom (lets preserve the art thats hindered by calamity) focuses on bringing out the struggles of the folk artists in Covid and their loss of livelihood and education.

The second day of the event has always been an important one since the artists parade from Valluvar Kottam to Loyola College, decked with makeup and artistic attires and setting out their unmet demands. Their major demand is to include a traditional folk artist in the judging committee of Kalamamani award, given by the Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu; to appoint a separate minister in the cabinet to handle the matters of art and culture, and to appoint two different chairmen for the Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram and Directorate of Arts and Culture for better efficiency  presently both the committee is headed by Vagai Chandrasekar, the television actor and politician.

Dr Kaleeswaran said that there are nearly 7 lakh traditional folk artists in Tamil Nadu and only 45,000 of them have been officially registered. The rest of them cannot avail of any government provisions or the ex gratia provided during the lockdown. Even then, during the lockdown, the government did not provide any monetary support to senior artists as they are already receiving a pension.

AMC is also trying its utmost to raise Rs. 30 lakh rupees to conduct the event. Sandhya along with her friends, who are under the mentorship of Dr Kaleeswaran takes to different streets in Chennai by dusk to raise money for the event.

In some areas like Vadapalani, Porur and Chinamaya Nagar, people are aware that we do this every year and donate at least 50 rupees. In a few areas, people are affected by the lockdown too, so they openly curse us for asking for money when they need it as well, says Sandhya.

Sandhya, orphaned at a very young age, was sheltered by Agram, an educational foundation run by Tamil film actor Surya. She got introduced to Dr Kaleeswaran in 2016 as he used to engage in after-school lessons in Agram, and she wanted to follow in his footsteps. She is preparing for civil service exams. I have known Kaleeswaran Iyya for the last 3 years and I know the amount of consciousness this Vizha has brought among the youth.

Additionally, this year, Veethi Viruthu Vizha is also providing monetary support to the artists families who have faced deaths due to Covid-19, and to the families who lost their relatives to suicide due to severe financial constraints in lockdown.

A 76-year-old veteran folk artist, Natrajan, from Trichy lost his wife Mangalam to Covid-19. She received the prestigious Kalamamani award only this year in June after a long battle, but death is inevitable. She couldnt escape it, said Natrajan. He is overwhelmed by the sense of belonging this event brings to every artist.

Post Script: To sponsor or support the event, one can contact Dr Kaleeswaran here: 9094799688.

Shalini S is a SEED-Fellow with TwoCircles.net. She tweets at @_Shalini_Nathan.
Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe meets with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi via video link in Beijing on the afternoon of December 27, 2021. (Photo by Li Xiaowei)

Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe meets with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi via video link in Beijing on the afternoon of December 27, 2021. (Photo by Li Xiaowei)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 -- Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe held video talks with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi on Monday.

Wei said that China and Japan are important neighbors and cooperative partners, and share a long history of friendly exchanges. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. The two sides should follow the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries to enhance strategic mutual trust, handle differences properly and achieve win-win cooperation.

Speaking of issues on the East China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands, General Wei stressed that China will firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. He called on both sides to bear in mind the big picture of bilateral relations and make joint efforts to maintain stability in the East China Sea. On historical issues, Japan should face history squarely and learn from history, which is the correct attitude and wise choice.

Wei pointed out that, the defense departments of both sides should strengthen high-level exchanges and practical cooperation, further expand the content of the maritime and air liaison mechanism, jointly control risks, prevent the escalation of conflicts, and continuously improve the level of defense cooperation. Wei also clarified China's principled position on multiple issues, including the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, the Taiwan question, and the South China Sea issue.

Kishi said that strengthening bilateral defense exchanges and cooperation is of great significance to the development of bilateral relations and the maintenance of regional stability. Japan is willing to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to overcome the impact of the pandemic, strengthen strategic communication and crisis management, and promote the establishment of the direct telephone line under the maritime and air liaison mechanism, in a bid to build a constructive and stable bilateral relationship.
Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism.
(HBO)  The National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) has issued decisions on the allocation of COVID-19 vaccines in three phases. Accordingly, Hoa Binh province will receive 77,370 doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.

Cadres from the provincial Centre for Disease Control and the provincial Military Command receive COVID-19 vaccine.





Under the institutes Decision No. 1712/QD-VSDTTU, issued on December 9, the 101st phase of allocation covers 4,912,830 doses of the Pfizer vaccine bought using the State budget, while the 102nd phase 5,276,700 doses of the Pfizer vaccine donated by the COVAX Facility and 1,698,270 tubes of solvent to the disease control centres of provinces and cities.





Of the amount, the NIHE will provide Hoa Binh with 14,040 vaccine doses and 2,340 solvent tubes in the 101st phase, along with 57,330 vaccine doses and 9,560 solvent tubes in the 102nd phase.





Also on December 9, the NIHE issued Decision No. 1713/QD-VSDTTU on the 103rd phase of allocation involving 466,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine brought using the State budget via the Vietnam Vaccine joint Stock Company. Hoa Binh will be given 6,000 vaccine doses among them.




Meta Chicago, formerly Facebook Chicago, will fully open its offices at the end of January and require employees to return to the office at least 50% of the time, said Chief Culture Officer Nikki Newsome. But employees will have options. Those options include being able to take advantage of a deferral program announced in December that would put off their mandatory return until as late as the end of June 2022 if they have, for example, young children who are not eligible to be vaccinated. Employees can also defer if there are other reasons they are not prepared to make the transition yet, Newsome said. Employees also will have the choice of going completely remote in certain positions.
If you are unvaccinated and you get very sick, youll be filling a bed that would have been available for your ailing spouse or your parent or your child, or someone elses child, someone with cancer, or a heart attack, or seriously injured in a car accident, Pritzker said at a downtown Chicago news conference. If we are forced to move to a crisis standard of care in our hospitals, it will be because massive numbers of unvaccinated people chose to let others go without quality care, (and) even more people will die.
Kasama is not just the epicenter of modern Filipino food in Chicago right now. The bakery and cafe, with a stunning new contemporary tasting menu dinner, does indeed resonate with echoes of the Philippines. The experience as a whole, however, sets an extraordinary standard, which honors the culture while evolving beyond it into one of the best restaurants in the world right now.
How is the gore nice, exactly? Its in the eye of the beholder. First-time feature film director Egor Abramenko proves himself an astute judge of when, how much and how many seconds to show his slithering extraterrestrial parasite yanking some poor Soviet-era convicts head off and feasting on human brains, mostly in quick, yecccccchy digital effects. Just as often, we imagine more than we actually see, by way of stupefied reaction shots of the human onlookers.
Feeding America (feedingamerica.org): A national umbrella organization of food banks. According to their estimates, during the pandemic, 60 million food insecure Americans turned to food banks for help last year. Through their website, you can donate money to your local food bank. Enter your ZIP code into the Feeding America website to find your closest member of their network.
The riot began when a young Black man, Marquette Frye, was arrested by a white highway patrol officer in the Los Angeles area. After Frye failed a sobriety test, he resisted arrest, which drew a large crowd to the scene. Frye was hit in the head by one of the officers, causing him to bleed. Accusations of police abuse circulated, followed by several days of unrest and the deployment of the California National Guard.
District courts have granted motions for bond pending appeal while maintaining the correctness of their original rulings, according to the motion. Courts have also considered the fact that a sentence of 21 months is short enough that it may be wholly or substantially served by the time the appeal is briefed, argued and decided, causing the defendant-appellant to serve time for which he may not be compensated if his appeal results in a judgment of acquittal or new trial.
Ambassador Roy,

President Chi Wang,

Ladies and Gentleman,

I wish to extend sincere congratulations to the 26th anniversary of the US-China Policy Foundation, and great appreciation for the Foundations long time efforts in strengthening communication and mutual understanding of the two countries.

Over the past few years, the China-US relationship has gone through serious difficulties. This is not in the fundamental interests of the two peoples. China's development is aimed at meeting the people's aspiration for a better life, not to enter into a win-lose competition with any country. In fact, China's sustained and stable development is not a threat to the United States. It is a major opportunity and benefit. Common development should become a major consensus of China and the US. We hope that the US will respect the Chinese peoples right to pursue a better life and accept Chinas development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The China-US relationship is at a critical juncture. Last month, President Xi Jinping held a virtual meeting with President Joe Biden. As President Xi pointed out in the meeting, the most important event in international relations over the past 50 years was the reopening and development of China-US relations. The most important event in international relations in the coming 50 years will be for China and the US to find the right way to get along. He stressed in particular that China and the US should respect each other, coexist peacefully and carry out win-win cooperation.

I hope all of you will pool wisdom, jointly explore how our two countries can get along with each other, and how to take China-US relations back to the right track of healthy and stable development.

Thank you.
A truck loads containers at Tangshan Port, North China's Hebei province, April 16, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's efforts to make more contributions to the forming of new, high-standard international economic and trade rules, while aligning with existing rules, will create more market opportunities to benefit world economic growth, according to experts and business leaders.

As China continues to expand opening-up at a higher level, Chinese enterprises should become more active in the formation of new international economic and trade rules in order to better contribute to establishing an open world economy, they said.

Their comments came after Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce, said on Saturday that China will proactively work to deepen domestic reform and fully align with the high-standard rules of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement.

"The nation will make higher-level commitments to openness regarding market entry, and by providing more market entry opportunities with commercial interests, it aims to share the dividends from the opening-up of its market with members of the free trade agreements," Wang said.

Wang made the remarks in a video speech to the APEC China CEO Forum, an event celebrating the 30th anniversary of China's accession to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The CPTPP is an 11-nation, high-standard free trade agreement covering almost all aspects of trade and investment, and DEPA is a new type of trade partnership agreement on digital trade.

China officially applied to join the two economic pacts in September and November, respectively.

Analysts said the CPTPP represents one of the highest standards in trade and market access in the world, and DEPA, apart from including the CPTPP provisions on e-commerce, has covered many new areas such as artificial intelligence, fintech, digital identity, digital inclusion, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Maintaining a firm stance over opening-up, China has been stepping up efforts to align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, while also trying to contribute to the establishment of new international rules based on experience accumulated in its domestic practices," said Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"Such an open-minded and multilateral approach will bring about more market opportunities for domestic and foreign enterprises to better satisfy consumers' demand at home and abroad," Zhou said.

Over the years, China has adopted many measures to expand its opening-up and actively taken part in international economic cooperation.

Such measures include shortening the negative lists for foreign investment in order to expand market access for foreign investors in various sectors, increasing experiments in pilot free trade zones to help deepen domestic reform, and signing and updating more free trade agreements to enlarge its free trade area network.

Wang said China will further reduce items on the negative lists for foreign investment this year. It will expand market entry for foreign investors and strengthen promotion and protection of investment, he added.

"China will deepen reform and expand opening-up with concrete actions, to pursue high-quality development and make more contributions to the world economy," he said.

Sun Xiao, secretary-general of the APEC China Business Council, said that Chinese enterprises need to take on a more proactive role in the formation of international economic and trade rules, to make their voices better heard on international markets as they provide good-quality products.

The Chinese business community will strengthen efforts to promote multilateralism, as well as trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, Sun said.

The Chinese business community will also advance green transformation and actively take part in global initiatives for the creation of a more sustainable and inclusive development environment, he said.

Chinese enterprises will also accelerate digital transformation and technological innovation to pursue innovation-driven development and create more development momentum, he added.
Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Ye Guangfu exiting the space station core module Tianhe. [Photo/Xinhua]

Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their extravehicular activities (EVAs) and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said on early hours of Monday.

This was the fourth time that the taikonauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success.

The CMSA said the pair returned to the core module at 0:55 a.m. (Beijing Time) after about six hours of EVAs. They completed tasks such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport.

The EVAs further tested the function and performance of the core module airlock cabin, extravehicular suit and mechanical arm, and assessed the technologies related to EVAs, the coordination of taikonauts inside and outside the space station, and the coordination between space and Earth.

The Shenzhou-13 crew will continue their in-orbit work to welcome the coming new year. This is also the first time that Chinese taikonauts welcome a new year in space, the CMSA added.

The CMSA noted that extravehicular operations are becoming the normal work of the space station flight missions. Chinese taikonauts will carry out more EVAs which are more complex to provide strong support for the successful completion of the construction and the stable operation of the space station.

China launched the Shenzhou-13 spaceship on Oct. 16, sending three taikonauts on a six-month mission to construct its space station. The crew conducted the first EVAs on Nov. 7.
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Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines canceled more than 750 flights combined on Christmas Day, and cancellations were set to drag on through Sunday, upending plans during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, major U.S. media reported.



"All four airlines said Omicron cases among staff were driving cancellations," said USA Today on Sunday. "A combination of issues, including but not limited to inclement weather in some areas of the country and the impact of the Omicron variant, are driving cancellations and potential delays," said Delta in a statement.

"Holiday travel is generally a stressful enterprise, but a rapid surge in cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant have caused hundreds of flight cancellations, adding another layer of difficulty to the proceedings," reported NBC, noting that several major airlines are dealing with a shortage of workers.

"Major U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of more flights on Sunday, the third day in a row of mass cancellations and delays over Christmas weekend, as staff and crew call out sick amid the Omicron surge," reported CNN, adding that almost 700 U.S. flights were canceled and another 1,300 were delayed on Sunday.

More cancellations

Delta Air Lines said it expected to cancel more than 300 flights on Sunday, on top of 368 scratched on Saturday. United Airlines canceled nearly 100 mainline flights on Sunday due to staffing concerns, while roughly 25 percent of its customers have been able to re-book to arrive earlier than their original plan.

JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski was quoted as saying that the airline has seen an "increasing number" of sick calls due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, despite entering the holiday season with the highest staffing levels since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the company was "working hard" to re-book customers quickly. United Airlines spokesperson Maddie King said the airline was also working to re-book as many people as possible "and get them on their way for the holidays."

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas, according to FlightAware, a flight tracker website. That included about 1,700 flights within, into or out of the United States.

More pandemic cases

In an effort to head off staffing shortages and flight cancellations, U.S. carriers have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce recommended isolation periods for fully vaccinated people recovering from COVID-19, reported The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

The flight cancellations, roughly 740 on Sunday after nearly 1,000 on Christmas Day, came as U.S. officials focused on ensuring there were enough staff and resources to make sure "we don't get an overrun on hospitals," Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, was quoted as saying.

"The president's multipart component of the response is to make sure that we have adequate backup for hospitals with military personnel, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, making sure that there's enough (personal protective equipment) and that if needed, there's enough ventilators in the national strategic stockpile," Fauci said.

"As of Sunday, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases eclipsed the peak set during the Delta variant's earlier march through the country," said the report, noting that the average reached 184,302 as of Dec. 25, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
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A senior Iraqi government official and head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Iraq discussed on Sunday NATO's support for Iraqi forces and ways to enhance stability in the region.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-Araji and head of NATO's Mission in Iraq Michael Anker Lollesgaard "discussed ways to enhance security and stability in the region, as well as NATO's support to Iraq in the field of advice and training for Iraqi forces," according to a statement from al-Araji's media office.

During the meeting, al-Araji said the Iraqi government is responsible for protecting Iraq and keeping it away from any regional conflict, and reiterated "Iraq's refusal to use its lands, airspace and waters as a launching pad for any aggression against any country."

The meeting came as the coalition forces led by the United States are withdrawing from Iraq, and the task of the remaining foreign soldiers' mission is shifting to giving advice, help, and empowerment to Iraqi security forces.

On Jan. 5, 2020, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution requiring the government to end the presence of foreign forces in the country.

In July this year, the United States and Iraq held a session of strategic dialogue, during which the two countries agreed on withdrawing all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Dec. 31.
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The United States' signing of the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" into law which bans imports from China's Xinjiang region is economic bullying and another attempt to interfere in China's internal affairs, analysts told Xinhua.

This law, based on ill-informed information and prejudicial to China, is "sheer interference in Chinese internal affairs and a severe violation of international law," said Muhammad Asif Noor, director of the Islamabad-based think tank Institute of Peace and Diplomatic Studies.

U.S. foreign policy has been tilted towards interfering in the internal affairs of countries, yet the world is no longer blind, Noor pointed out.

Abdul-Raziq Ziyada, a Sudanese political analyst, sees the American decision as "a clear violation of the international law governing the relations among countries."

The signing of the so-called act is a "continuation of U.S. longstanding disinformation about Chinese living in Xinjiang and a clear attempt to superimpose politics onto economic relations" between China and the United States, according to Cavince Adhere, a Kenya-based international relations scholar.

The U.S. administration's sanctions against Xinjiang may lead to a situation where American and Chinese businesses and consumers must contend with the ramifications of "poisonous politics" instead of enjoying the dividends of economic globalization, Adhere said.

President of the Russian-Chinese Analytical Center Sergei Sanakoyev believes that Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues at all, but anti-terrorism and anti-secession issues.

When the United States accused China of "forced labor," it never produced any convincing evidence, he argued, adding that the U.S. attempt is to provoke conflicts among ethnic groups and religions in China, destabilize the situation and curb China's development.

Murata Tadayoshi, honorary professor at Japan's Yokohama National University, expressed regret that the United States has slandered China with accusations of "genocide."

Statistics of the continued growth of the Uygur population in Xinjiang can disprove the "genocide" lie and the tangible results are backed up by detailed data, he said.

Jorge Valero, former permanent representative of Venezuela to the United Nations in Geneva, said he visited Xinjiang at the invitation of the Chinese government and saw the progress made by Xinjiang people under the wise leadership of the Communist Party of China and the local government.

He expressed appreciation of China's comprehensive measures to prevent terrorism in accordance with the United Nations global counter-terrorism strategy.
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United States President Joe Biden's signing into law of the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act" has been described by overseas experts as an infringement on the sovereignty of China, a "dangerous machination" and far-fetched propaganda serving only to "tarnish the image of China in the global arena".

China declared on Friday that it deplores and opposes the US approving legislation that bans imports from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region due to concerns over so-called forced labor, and it called on Washington to stop using related issues to contain China's development, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Dennis Munene, executive director of the China-Africa Center at the Kenya-based Africa Policy Institute, said the act is an infringement on the sovereignty of China's progressive democracy and amounts to an act of economic sabotage and discrimination against the Xinjiang community.

The document, which bans products made in China's Xinjiang, citing "oppression" of Uygurs and other minority populations, is by itself a violation of the rights of the Xinjiang community and, as a whole, of Chinese civilization, Munene said.

Gerald Mbanda, a Rwandan researcher and publisher, said it is "a politically motivated move and an act of provocation aimed at destabilizing and isolating China".

"The so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is a lie that US authorities invented and want to sell to the world, aimed at tarnishing the image of China in the global arena," Mbanda said.

Junichiro Kusumoto, a law professor at Toyo University in Tokyo, said a nation has sovereignty and cannot allow other nations to interfere in its internal affairs.

"Therefore, liberal regimes use basic human rights as a shield to exert pressure through means beyond the framework of the state," said the professor.

Imtiaz Gul, executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Pakistan, said that the US act is "further proof of how the US wants to up the ante against China".

"The ban on products from Xinjiang is again a political ploy to keep up the pressure on China, and it is one example of the political unilateralism as well as exceptionalism of the US. So they (US politicians) pick and choose wherever and whatever suits them," Gul said.

Mushahid Hussain Syed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate's Defense Committee, said the US ban on Xinjiang products is motivated by geopolitics as part of a campaign to demonize China.

He said the purpose of the US move is to pressure China over its Xinjiang region, make Xinjiang into a global issue and mobilize US public opinion against China, in order to create a consensus within the US system on this one issue, in an otherwise dysfunctional and divided political system.

Mbanda, the Rwandan researcher, said the US is known in history for inhuman use of forced labor and profiteering from the slave trade.

According to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, between the 16th and 19th centuries, an estimated 35 million men, women and children were brought from Africa to what is now the United States to provide free labor in fields, working under grueling conditions.

The US also falsely accuses China of the very crimes it committed against the indigenous people in the US, Mbanda said.

The researcher cited data from Russell Thornton's book American Indian Holocaust and Survival: a Population History Since 1492, saying that around 12 million indigenous people died within present US geographical boundaries between 1492 and 1900.

"The forced labor claim is simply a creation by the US used as a convenient excuse to continue the trade wars of stopping Chinese goods from accessing the American markets," Mbanda said. "The US has deliberately distorted the challenges faced in the Xinjiang region to fit into their own interests.

"The claim of genocide against the Uygurs, therefore, is a dangerous machination and propaganda that only embarrasses the US administration before the international community," Mbanda added.
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The U.S. government has redoubled its efforts to blacklist Chinese tech startups and research institutions. It is paying a great price for little reward.

One can find in the ever-expanding Entity List, made by the U.S. Department of Commerce, China's supercomputer makers, quantum tech pioneers, 5G-tech suppliers, robot producers, AI camera manufacturers and many STEM colleges that train skilled technicians for the world's factory.

It is hard to ignore, beneath its shiny veneer, the top tech powerhouse's increasing angst over losing its tech supremacy, despite its empty cries of national security threats, potential dual-use, intellectual property theft and human right abuses.

Wanting to secure its tech supremacy is understandable. But the only tactics the U.S. government brings to the playing field are blocking and blacklisting. Washington is quick to scapegoat China, but rather slow to revitalize its domestic infrastructure that props up emerging technologies.

It is akin to two cyclists racing uphill. The leader stops and casts his bike aside, choosing instead to hurl a monkey wrench at his closing competitor.

The latest example is that the United States has managed to form a clique of allies in developing 6G, the next-generation wireless technology, in an attempt to outmaneuver China.

A 6G landscape without China will be forever incomplete. Nikkei Asia, after surveying around 20,000 patent applications for nine core 6G technologies, found that China topped the list with over 40 percent of all 6G patent filings.

A world with two telecom standards would surely hamper global economic growth and also deprive U.S. companies of plentiful business opportunities in China.

The U.S. tech companies have suffered in their domestic market as well. As the telecom equipment provided by Chinese suppliers was banned in the country, small U.S. telecom providers are struggling to survive, threatening even the basic broadband services in the country's remote areas.

The tremendous efforts by the United States to churn out bills and executive orders to curb China's technological advances could have been redirected at serving the people.

China's 5G network is expanding to sustain its digital prosperity. But it is developed with the domestic market in mind, not some imagined foreign enemy.

China's tech ambition is also open to global participation. Its space station under construction will become an important near-earth lab in the coming decade.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told Newsweek in September that he wished China would cooperate with the U.S. space agency. However, the Wolf Amendment passed by U.S. Congress in 2011 is removing any possibility for collaboration.

Now, the blacklist makes cooperative prospects even worse. It brings few benefits to the United States, only helping to pick out, as a side effect, the most vibrant industries in China, contrary to the list-maker's initial intention.
URUMQI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region recorded around 261.8 billion yuan (about 41 billion U.S. dollars) in foreign trade with the European Union countries in the first 11 months of this year, up 30 percent year on year, the local customs said on Monday.

According to Urumqi Customs, Xinjiang's exports to the EU hit 197.9 billion yuan, up 27.7 percent year on year in the January-November period, while its imports rose by 37.6 percent to reach 63.9 billion yuan.

Sun Tao, deputy director of the statistics and analysis department of the customs, attributed the robust figures to the booming China-Europe freight train services via ports in Xinjiang, the trade growth of mechanical and electrical products and the surge in the export of clean energy equipment and products.

In the first 11 months, a total of 11,156 China-Europe freight train trips were recorded by land ports in Xinjiang, a year-on-year increase of 26.8 percent. The total freight volume hit 1.1 million tonnes, up 30.2 percent year on year. Significant increases in trade have been seen with Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France and Hungary.

During the period, Xinjiang ports exported 158 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products to the EU, up 32.9 percent year on year, accounting for 79.9 percent of the total exports. Meanwhile, Xinjiang ports also saw a 29.2 percent increase in the import of mechanical and electrical products from the EU, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total imports.

"During the period, the exports of raw plastics, electric vehicles and polysilicon have doubled. Among exported labor-intensive products, plastic products, shoes and furniture have seen significant growth," Sun said. Enditem
Photo taken on Dec. 26, 2021 shows the site of a suicide bomb attack in Beni, northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). At least eight people have died in a suicide bomber explosion here late Saturday, in the middle of the Christmas celebration, said hospital sources on Sunday morning. (Photo by Zanem Nety Zaidi/Xinhua)

A security agent works at the site of a suicide bomb attack in Beni, northeast Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Dec. 26, 2021. At least eight people have died in a suicide bomber explosion here late Saturday, in the middle of the Christmas celebration, said hospital sources on Sunday morning. (Photo by Zanem Nety Zaidi/Xinhua)
TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that the eighth round of Vienna nuclear talks between Iran and the remaining parties to the 2015 nuclear deal will begin on Monday and focus on a "new and joint document."

"Today we have a joint and acceptable document on the table of negotiators in Vienna," Amir Abdollahian told reporters in Tehran on the sidelines of a conference about the history of Iran's foreign relations on Monday.

Therefore, the earlier document reached in June was set aside and the next round of negotiations will focus on a new and joint document, which is both about the removal of sanctions and nuclear issue, reached in the previous round of meeting between Iran and the P4+1, he said.

The Iranian diplomat noted that the issue of guarantees and verification is one of the topics of this round of talks, adding that "the most important issue for us is to reach a point ... where firstly Iranian oil is sold easily without any borders, and the oil money should be deposited in foreign currency in Iran's bank accounts and we should use all the economic benefits in different sectors."

The opening meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) joint commission will begin in the next few hours with the presence of senior diplomats of Iran and the P4+1 group, including Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, as well as the European Union representative.

The seventh rounds of nuclear talks, which began on Nov. 29 in Vienna after a nearly six months of hiatus, has been the scene of intense discussions on two proposals from Iran. Enditem
An employee works at Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 20, 2021. Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications. (Xinhua/Shadati)

by Zeynep Cermen

ISTANBUL, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications.

The Istanbul-based Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM) has been synthesizing the boron mineral and producing borophene for the last one and a half years. It recently directed its studies to energy applications.

Mert Umut Ozkaynak, Vice Director and Head of Strategy and Business Development at SUNUM, said Turkey, which has large boron deposits, aims to develop cooperation and establish partnerships with China, mainly in the production of new generation batteries and carbon zero products.

Ozkaynak said the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd (CATL), China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd (CALB), and Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer EVE Energy are specifically on the radar of SUNUM.

"At this point, we really want to be a part of their product development processes and have relations with the Chinese industry," Ozkaynak told Xinhua at the laboratory on the Asian side of the city.

Ozkaynak pointed out that China is the market leader in EV and lithium-ion battery production, and SUNUM is good at producing borophene, which has the potential to meet the material needs emerging in energy systems.

"With the collaboration (of Turkey and China), we can have carbon zero efficient products and more valuable outcomes," he stressed.

SUNUM is also interested in boosting cooperation with some Chinese companies already operating in Turkey, like Huawei, one of the major global companies investing in R&D in the country.

"We can work together to have clean 5G technologies and also faster and long-life batteries," Ozkaynak noted, speaking of the collaboration possibilities with Huawei.

The assistant director also argued that the location of his country is offering remarkable possibilities for Chinese investors in helping them open up to other parts of the world through Turkey.

"The supply chain is now in a critical situation, and it is the main problem of the world," he continued. But Turkey, located between Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, has the potential to ease this problem, being a transit hub and a gate to the rest of the world, Ozkaynak added.

SUNUM, founded in 2010, was selected as one of the four National Research Infrastructures in 2017 in Turkey and continues its activities under the Industry and Technology Ministry.

Ozgur Ekin Felek, business development executive of SUNUM, said borophene created quite a stir in the technology world and was described as a "new super material" due to its features.

"The main application area is in the energy sector. It can be used in batteries, supercapacitors, hydrogen storage and also in micro-nano sensors, and various defense industry applications," he told Xinhua.

According to Felek, SUNUM researchers observed that the specific capacity of lithium-ion batteries increased by 20 to 30 percent when they added 3 percent of the borophene to a standard graphite-based battery system.

With the addition of 10 percent of the borophene to supercapacitors, the specific capacitance increases by 75 percent. Enditem

Ozgur Ekin Felek, business development executive of Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, speaks in a interview with Xinhua in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 20, 2021. Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Mert Umut Ozkaynak, Vice Director and Head of Strategy and Business Development at Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, speaks in a interview with Xinhua in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 20, 2021. Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications. (Xinhua/Shadati)

An employee works at Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 20, 2021. Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications. (Xinhua/Shadati)

Mert Umut Ozkaynak, Vice Director and Head of Strategy and Business Development at Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center, speaks in a interview with Xinhua in Istanbul, Turkey, on Dec. 20, 2021. Turkey's leading nanotechnology laboratory has been striving to join forces with its Chinese counterparts within a win-win framework in the commercialization of the boron mineral, especially in the field of energy storage applications. (Xinhua/Shadati)
by Dana Halawi

BEIRUT, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's hotels suffered from a steep decline in occupancy rate over the past year, but the New Year vacation brings a glimpse of hope for the sector as reservations saw a slight increase in the past few days, Pierre Ashkar, head of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners in Lebanon, told Xinhua.

Ashkar said that the monthly average occupancy rate over the past year stood at around 23 percent but reservations in Beirut hotels for the period extending from Dec. 28, 2021 to Jan. 1, 2022 increased to around 50 percent.

He noted that reservations in the very few hotels in Faraya and Faqra, villages mostly known for their snow slopes, stand at around 75 percent in New Year.

"Most of the demand on hotel rooms in Beirut and in mountain areas during the festive season come from Lebanese expatriates arriving from the Gulf and African countries," Ashkar said.

Ashkar attributes the low occupancy rate in hotels to political instability which forced the United States, Canada and many countries in Europe, to warn their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.

He added that the diplomatic row with Saudi Arabia deprived Lebanon from Gulf tourists who used to spend at least 15 days in the country while allocating a big budget for spending during the Christmas and New Year festive season.

"It's a pity to have lost a big number of tourists from different places," he said.

Ashkar noted that the tourism sector used to generate around 10 billion U.S. dollars in yearly revenues which have dropped to 3 billion U.S. dollars in light of political instability and the outbreak of COVID-19.

"A big number of hotels shut down instead of maintaining their operations and incurring increased losses in the absence of tourists amid the current increase in expenses," Ashkar said.

Hotels interviewed by Xinhua reported a steep decline in occupancy throughout the year except for the New Year's five-day vacation which has seen a recent increase in demand on hotel rooms.

"We have suffered throughout this past year to be able to register an occupancy rate of 35 percent at our hotel, but demand for rooms during the New Year vacation is acceptable," Ayman Nasreddine, operations manager at Cavalier Hotel, a four-star hotel in Hamra, told Xinhua.

"Most of the demand comes from Egyptians at an average room rate at 70 U.S. dollars per night compared to 120 U.S. dollars in the past," Nasreddine said.

Likewise, Rami Fakhreddine, head of Front Desk office at 35 Rooms Hotel in Beirut, told Xinhua that most of the demand for New Year at his hotel comes from Egyptians who now find Lebanon an affordable destination given the collapse of the local currency compared to the U.S. dollars.

"There have also been a lot of packages to Lebanon which saw a great demand by Egyptians," he said.

Dalia Doumani, head of reservations at Riviera, a five-star hotel in Beirut, told Xinhua that reservations at her hotel for New Year reached around 60 percent so far and they are expected to go higher in the coming days.

She noted that even Lebanese expatriates who are paid in U.S. dollars consider prices too high when they convert them into Lebanese pounds in light of the collapse of the local currency which also explains the lower occupancy rates compared to previous years. Enditem
MACAO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Monday reported its first imported COVID-19 case of Omicron variant, bringing the SAR's total number of confirmed cases to 78.

The new case was a 23-year-old male Macao resident who departed the United States on Thursday and arrived in the SAR on Saturday via Singapore, said the Novel Coronavirus Response and Coordination Center of Macao.

The man tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Macao and developed symptoms of coughing and phlegm on Monday, the center said.

The health authority of Macao tested the genome sequence of the virus and found it was of the Omicron variant.

The center called on Macao residents overseas to reduce unnecessary traveling as much as possible. Enditem
UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for global solidarity to stop infectious diseases.

In his video message for the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, which falls on Dec. 27, the UN chief said that building global solidarity would "give every country a fighting chance to stop infectious diseases in their tracks."

COVID-19 continues to demonstrate how quickly "an infectious disease can sweep across the world," pushing health systems to the brink and upending daily life for all of humanity, the UN chief said.

"It also revealed our failure to learn the lessons of recent health emergencies like SARS, avian influenza, Zika, Ebola and others," said the secretary-general.

"And it reminded us that the world remains woefully unprepared to stop localized outbreaks from spilling across borders, and spiraling into a global pandemic," he said.

Noting that infectious diseases remain "a clear and present danger to every country," Guterres maintained that COVID-19 would not be the last pandemic for humanity.

Even as the world responds to this health crisis, he spelled out the need to prepare for the next one.

"This means scaling-up investments in better monitoring, early detection and rapid response plans in every country - especially the most vulnerable," he said.

"It means strengthening primary health care at the local level to prevent collapse... ensuring equitable access to lifesaving interventions, like vaccines for all people and ... achieving universal health coverage."

The first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness, marked on Dec. 27, 2020, was called for by the UN General Assembly to advocate the importance of the prevention of, preparedness for and partnership against epidemics. Enditem
VIENNA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A senior Chinese envoy called for expanding consensus, properly handling differences and jointly promoting new breakthroughs in the eighth round of Iran nuclear talks which resumed here on Monday.

"On Iran nuclear issue and related nuclear non-proliferation issues, 'pragmatism' and double standards should not be adopted in pursuit of one's selfish interests," said Wang Qun, the Chinese envoy to the United Nations and other international organizations in Vienna.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed concern over a pact among Australia, Britain and the United States (AUKUS) under which Washington and London will support Canberra in building nuclear-powered submarines, marking the first time for a non-nuclear weapons state to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

"Sanctions should also not be used for threatening casually and new sanctions should not be introduced against Iran during the negotiations," he noted.

The Joe Biden administration imposed fresh sanctions on two Iranian government agencies and several officials on Dec. 7, on the sidelines of the last round of talks, which aimed at bringing the United States back to the Iran nuclear deal.

The parties resume the eighth round of negotiations during the Christmas and New Year holidays, and this in itself fully reflected the sense of urgency on all parties to resume negotiations, said Wang.

Since early April this year, representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran have held seven rounds of negotiations in the Austrian capital, with the United States involved indirectly.

Despite different interpretations of the seventh round of negotiations, China, like most of the participants, believes that the negotiations have achieved positive results, Wang noted.

The parties have forged a new "common text" on nuclear issues and a "common understanding" on lifting sanctions, Wang said, adding that the parties agreed to keep on negotiating thoroughly, with a focus on these key points, during their eighth round of talks. All these consensuses laid a solid foundation for this round of talks, he said.

At present, all parties concerned should focus on consensus, especially the existing ones, and work hard to expand consensus on this basis, Wang said, stressing that differences must be properly handled.

"We hope that all parties can take practical measures to jointly safeguard the current momentum and atmosphere of the negotiations and push for an early conclusion of a package solution," Wang said.

China will continue to firmly support the resumption of negotiations between the United States and Iran on implementing the agreement, participate constructively in the follow-up negotiations, and work with all parties to push for results, said the Chinese envoy.

The U.S. government under Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018 and unilaterally re-imposed sanctions on Iran. In response, Iran has gradually stopped implementing parts of its commitments to the deal since May 2019. Enditem
KHARTOUM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Sunday condemned Yemen's Houthi rebels' Friday night missile attack on Saudi Arabia's Jazan region, which left two people killed and seven others injured.

The condemnation by the Sudanese foreign ministry in a statement also voiced Sudan's support to all measures taken by Saudi Arabia to preserve its security and stability and the safety of its citizens and residents.

A Saudi citizen and a Yemeni migrant worker were killed after the Houthi missile attack on Friday night hit a car maintenance workshop in Samtah, according to the Saudi state media.

Shrapnel also smashed into nearby cars and buildings, causing damage to two shops and 12 vehicles, the Saudi Press Agency reported. Enditem
ACCRA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Ghanaian charity and several Chinese companies on Sunday donated batches of daily necessities to worse-off communities in the Ashanti Region.

The items, including bags of rice, cooking oil, sardines, and beverages, were donated to certain groups of people at Kramokrom and Adumkrom, two poverty-stricken communities in the region.

Laud Ofori Afrifa, a representative of the Community Connect Network, a private charitable organization in Ghana, said that it is hoped that the donations will help those in need.

Ding Ling, a Chinese entrepreneur who joined the Ghanaian charity group to make the donation, said that she has the children in mind during the festive season.

Janet Asantewaa, a resident of Adumkrom, expressed appreciation for the donation, saying that it will support them a great deal.

She also expressed optimism that the relationship among locals, the charity, and the Chinese communities in Ghana will continue. Enditem
MANILA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 318 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, pushing the number of confirmed cases in the Southeast Asian country to 2,838,792.

The DOH also reported that 11 more people died from COVID-19 complications, bringing the country's death toll to 51,211.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country's average daily COVID-19 cases "remain lower" in the recent week, adding the country is still at "minimal risk."

However, she told an online briefing that the DOH has observed increases in cases and positivity in the recent week in Metro Manila.

"We see an uptick in cases, but it is not significant yet. It is an alarm, a warning for all of us that cases might start to increase," she added.

Vergeire said the country's fourth Omicron case was detected in a traveler from the United States. The case was a 38-year-old female who arrived in Manila on Dec. 10 via Philippine Airlines.

Vergeire said the woman initially experienced throat itchiness and cold on Dec. 13. She is now asymptomatic and isolated at home.

The DOH and experts said the people's increased mobility might have caused a slight spike during the holiday season.

The ministry reported its highest caseload on Sept. 11, with 26,303 cases, as the country grappled with the third wave of infections driven by Delta variant.

The Philippines, which has around 110 million population, has tested more than 23.5 million people since the outbreak of the pandemic. Enditem
PARIS, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- France reported on Saturday 104,611 new cases of COVID-19, the highest daily record since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, bringing its cumulative caseload to 9,088,371.

According to French Public Health Agency, a total of COVID-19 16,162 patients are currently hospitalised and 3,282 of them are in intensive care.

With an additional 84 COVID-19 deaths recorded, the national death toll has reached 122,546, the agency added.

The French Health Ministry said that 52,712,462 people have received at least one vaccine dose, accounting for about 78.2 percent of the whole population.

On Thursday, the French Scientific Council advised the French government on the ongoing rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

"Its progression is extremely rapid, especially among the 20-29 years olds. In January, we are expecting hundreds of thousands of new cases a day," said Arnaud Fontanet, an epidemiologist and member of the scientific council.

French President Emmanuel Macron will hold on Monday a meeting of the Health Defence Council. An urgent meeting of the Council of Ministers is expected to adopt a draft bill to transform the current health pass to a vaccination pass. In order to get the new pass, French citizens must be vaccinated. Enditem
"When my heart is full of doubt

Feels like faith is running out

I've come too far to turn around

I know

God will work it out

God will work it out"

- God Will Work It Out by Maverick City Music

This song has been a soothing balm for my soul since the start of this year.

We are now at the end of it and there have been many moments of reflection.

Looking back on the plans we had, the things that fell through, the missed opportunities, the relationships that are no longer, the money that slipped away, the persons that left before we could say all we should have said, all these things and more can easily fill us with deep feelings of regret, disappointment and sadness.

But forget all that- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." (Isaiah chapter 43 verses 18-19)

We all know that it is possible and quite beneficial to learn from our past experiences and those of others but the point being made here is that we are not to dwell on the past because better is coming... God will work it out.

What is the purpose of making plans?

2022 is right around the corner, have you made your new year resolutions yet?

The past two years have shown the entire world that things can change in the blink of an eye and even the best laid plans can blow up in smoke before we even get a chance to take the first step.

If Gods will is sovereign and He does what He wants any way then does it make sense for us to make plans?

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your hearts desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. (Psalm chapter 37 verse 5

It makes sense for us to make plans because God has instructed us to do so. Its as simple as that. Does this give us license to just throw together a bunch of our whims and fancies?

No it does not.

God helps us and gives us the desires of our hearts when we take delight in Him, commit everything to Him and trust Him.

Now I'm sure you can identify things in your life that you most certainly cannot commit to God with a clear conscience.

Thats a good place to start, even if you cant itemise goals for the new year, look at how you can eliminate the things you know God is disapproving of.

Gods goodness doesnt always feel good

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Matthew 7 chapter 11

Our heavenly Father wants to give us good gifts. Our definition of good quite often does not line up with His and so in receiving answers to our prayers, when they dont fit the outline weve created we feel rejected, betrayed, ignored and bitter.

We will never know the full story, never hear all perspectives and never know the end from the beginning but God does. So you see when certain doors close, relationships end, promotions dont work out, income does not come it takes us a minute after weve been rocked to our core, to remember that God is working it all out for our good.

That no that you received as a slap in the face was actually a no not that one I have something better. That long wait that simply felt cruel was actually the required processing time for the next step God had in store completely blew your mind.

Write the vision, make it plain.

At the end of 2018 I made a vision board for the first time. I'm a visual learner and so referring to images and brightly coloured lettering resonates more with me than a checklist.

Did I achieve all that I set out to do that year?

No.

Did I feel like a failure?

No.

It is extremely deflating to look or think about all your to dos and realise a number of the boxes have not been checked off. What I found in referring to my vision board was that a number of my objectives and goals actually did get accomplished just not in the time frame or way I had envisioned.

When I created my vision board I had just come out of an extended season of hospital admissions. I had transitioned from being bedridden to using a walker to using a cane and I had not been able to drive for about 2 years (at that time).

In that state of limited mobility I prayerfully put the following on my vision board

- complete a 5k walk/run

- go on a road trip

- drive again

Can I tell you, none of those things occurred that year, in fact I ended up back in the hospital a few more times. It was devastating but glancing up at my wall and remembering the desires I had at the beginning of the year offered little glimmers of hope when I was tempted to stop praying about anything.

Guess what?

At the time of this writing I am pleased to tell you that at the beginning of 2020 my family and I participated in the largest fundraising 5k walk in the Caribbean. I walked the whole thing from start to finish.

Between last year and this year I've been on several road trips AND have been driving up a storm.

Now did creating a vision board magically make these things occur?

Of course not.

However it allowed me to be focused in my prayer times, it kept certain things at the forefront of my thoughts so that when opportunities arose I was able to connect certain dots and latch on.

At the end of the past few years, even though I've acknowledged all the disappointments (pandemic life has certainly brought many) I didn't dwell on them because I had visual evidence of God's faithfulness in my life. He opened doors I had forgotten Id knocked on, He created doorways when there seemed to be no way at all.

As the year draws to a close, with so many things up in the air and several gaps to fill my almost three year old vision board is still motivating me and reminding me of Gods goodness and that fact that He will indeed work it out.

Make your plans, submit them to God and watch His hand at work in your life.
My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I will also ignore your children. (Hosea chapter 4, verse 6).

Let me set the scene.

A call is sent out from a leader to his followers, asking  no  instructing them to come to the ark because a flood is coming and whoever is not inside the ark will be destroyed. They are told to leave their cell phones at home wrapped in aluminum foil. His followers call him father and he refers to them as his children. Did I mention the organization that hes leading? Hes the pastor of a church.

Oh, another important fact  he has managed to convince his followers that he is God, complete with the ability to resurrect them from the dead. And it was with this knowledge that a certain lady essentially consented to her throat being slashed, because of course, she was anticipating being resurrected. No to be callous but I believe shes still on ice right now.

I didnt make this up, nor is this the plot of some poorly written sci-fi or horror movie. This actually happened in Montego Bay, Jamaica a couple weeks ago. And this was just a glimpse of a long and bizarre series of events that left the entire country shaking our collective heads.

More questions than answers

This has certainly left us with more questions than answers. Did they not have bibles? Did they have no idea of who God is as told to us in His written word? What about the many red flags that should have been raised when these followers saw that a lot of the teachings coming from their leader did not line up with Scripture? But the number one question that Ive been asking is How? How could people have allowed themselves to be so easily deceived by this blatantly false doctrine?

There are so many takeaways from that series of events but there are two major issues that I want to examine.

Placing trust in an entity that has not earned it

Knowing God through others

Trusting in man

There was a time when people would tell me that I have trust issues and I would readily agree. After all, in my experience mankind have proven themselves to be untrustworthy, unreliable, dishonest and downright evil. Therefore, it was not the easiest thing for me to take someone at their word. It took me a couple years to realize that nowhere in the bible did I ever see any mention of trusting in man.

According to Romans chapter 13 verse 8 Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. I am required to love you come what may, not trust you. Now dont misunderstand me, there is some level of trust that we place in our fellow men. You hope and trust that the chef at the restaurant didnt poison your dinner in the same way that you trust that the captain in charge of your flight is actually a trained pilot who has the competence to get you to your destination safely.

But if you see something moving on your plate when you ordered roast chicken, you will be alarmed irrespective of how many stars the restaurant has and how highly recommended the chef came. Well, I hope you would be alarmed.

It should be no different when it comes to people professing to be ministers of the gospel and servants of God. As a matter of fact, it is most important to not merely be aware of red flags but to act on them when it comes to spiritual things.

Take your leaders off that pedestal

The only one who belongs on the throne of your heart is God. No exceptions.It is ok to respect our leaders, it is ok to admire their service, their zeal or whatever it is you see in them that reflects the love and grace of our Lord and Saviour. But it is never ok to think that they are any more or less human than you are. It is never ok to think that they are without fault, without the same limitations you have. It is downright dangerous to think that these are perfect people who can do no wrong.

The minute you begin to revere these mortal men to the point where you never question their words or actions, you have effectively equated them to God, making them an idol and this is absolutely dangerous territory. The second you realize that your church leaders are ordinary people chosen by an extraordinary God to be His representatives here on earth it will help you to look at them with the right perspective.It is even more important that you are able to discern who actually belongs to the Church.

What if you found out that your pastor was homosexual? Or the director of the womens ministry was having a relationship with a fifteen year old boy? Will you turn a blind eye? Or would you convince yourself that these abominations are somehow now acceptable?

Or maybe you would go the route of distancing yourself from not only the individual who was caught in a transgression but the entire Church. And by Church, I mean the entire body of Christ.

Anyone who associates with Christianity would now become persona non grata to you irrespective of where they live or worship, whether or not they are known to you either in person or by reputation.

The very principles you used to live by would now be called into question every time they are mentioned. All because you had this one person so highly placed in your eyes that you are unable to reconcile the fact that the actions of your self-appointed idol are not a reflection of the God you claimed to love and serve.

If this is you, then you need to ask yourself why you were there to begin with. What falling out did you have with God? How has He failed you that should abandon your faith? Were you there because of the charisma the pastor exudes, or the notes the worship leader can hit?

When the reason behind your faith is God and the redemptive work that He did to secure your eternity, the entire assembly of believers could be failing you, your mother and father could forsake you, the building could be burnt to ash, you will be firmly anchored to the Rock of Ages, the Lord of your life who is completely able to keep you from falling.

Try the spirits

Jesus did a complete work of salvation on the cross so Hes not coming back to save anyone. Hes not coming back as a man to walk among us, but as the King of kings and Lord of lords that He is. He is coming back to finish what was started in Eden many years ago.

Just as He promised, like a thief in the night His coming will not be announced.Anyone who says otherwise is not a messenger of God.

We were toldin Matthew chapter 24, verse 11 that and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.

Jesus warned us again in the same chapter and other places in scripture to be on our guard and be aware of the tactics the enemy of our souls will employ to deceive us into losing out on our heavenly inheritance. We therefore should not be at a disadvantage when these things happen.

At that time if anyone says to you, Look, here is the Messiah! or, There he is! do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time. (Matthew chapter 24, verses 22-25).

It is critical to examine the actions and words of people who profess to be of God to see how their doctrines line up with Gods word. God will not send a messenger to give you instructions that are contrary to His written word. Someone who is acting in a manner that brings glory to themself instead of God is not a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is not double minded to give us written instructions and then turn around and tell us through His servant to do the opposite.

As children of God, we have the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us in all things just as Jesus promised and once you are connected to the Holy Spirit, He will tell you when something or someone is not adding up. Do not ignore Him. Do not wait to see how red the flags will get because it could literally cost your life and even more tragic, your soul.

It is important that your idea of God comes from the scriptures and from your personal relationship with Him. It is vital to know the attributes of God as He has shown us in the Bible. We cannot as children of God abandon spending time with Him in prayer and the reading of His word and rely on our pastor to tell us what the bible says.

If the members of this congregation were doing as John and as the Lord Himself warned us, they would not have been this easily deceived and defrauded. My encouragement today is to know God for yourself and the only way to know someone is to spend time with them. So spend time with Him, get to know Him for yourself because there is great power to be found.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. (1 John chapter 4, verses 1-3).

With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him. (Daniel chapter 11, verse32).
Dermatology Devices Market Growth & Trends

The global dermatology devices market size is expected to reach USD 42.2 billion by 2028, according to a new study by Grand View Research, Inc. It is expected to expand at a CAGR of 19.9% from 2021 to 2028., registering a CAGR of 15.1% over the forecast period. The product demand is expected to increase owing to rise in skin conditions and growing influence of social media.

Increasing incidences of skin disorders such as psoriasis, acne, eczema, and skin lesions across the globe are attributed to irregular lifestyles and food habits. Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer that arises due to overexposure to the sun. Dermatology diagnostic equipment help in the early diagnosis of melanoma. High prevalence of this skin condition is anticipated to contribute to the market growth. For instance, in 2019, nearly 7,800 Canadians were estimated to be diagnosed with melanoma and nearly 1,300 Canadians were estimated to die due to melanoma.

Moreover, obesity has rapidly become a major health concern. Hence, fat removal procedures are increasingly being adopted. Liposuction is considered an effective treatment for obesity, which, in turn, drives the product demand. Rising disposable income and increased financial independence among women are also driving market growth. In addition, technological advancements in laser treatments increase its application scope, subsequently driving the product demand over the forecast period.

North America is projected to be the largest market globally through the forecast period. This is attributed to growing incidences of conditions such as eczema, which can be treated dermatologically. Growing popularity of cosmetic procedures such as cellulite and fat removal and scar removal is also projected to drive the growth of the regional market. On the other hand, Asia Pacific is projected to witness the fastest growth rate over the forecast period. Factors such as high medical tourism and increasing R&D activities are driving the Asia Pacific market.

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Dermatology Devices Market Report Highlights

Treatment devices dominated the market in 2019 owing to the rise in awareness regarding various aesthetic procedures and products, which, in turn, leads to a rise in adoption of both surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures

Laser devices accounted for the largest share in 2019 due to their wide application in a variety of disease and cosmetic treatments

Skin cancer diagnosis held a substantial market share in 2019 owing to the high prevalence of this disease condition, particularly melanoma

Skin rejuvenation is expected to witness lucrative growth over the forecast period owing to the increasing popularity of this treatment procedure

Hospitals accounted for the largest share in 2019 owing to the rise in adoption of advanced infrastructure and enhanced services in these settings

North America dominated the global dermatology devices market in 2019 due to increasing awareness of aesthetic procedures and rising beauty consciousness among the population

Key market players include Alma Lasers GmbH; Cynosure, Inc.; Solta Medical, Inc.; Cutera, Inc.; Syneron Medical Ltd.; Canfield Scientific, Inc.; 3Gen; Aesthetic Group; Ambicare Health; and Image Derm, Inc.

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Dermatology Devices Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global dermatology devices market on the basis of product, application, end use, and region:

Dermatology Devices Market Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Diagnostic Devices Dermatoscopes Microscopes Other Imaging Devices Biopsy Devices

Treatment Devices Light Therapy Devices Lasers Electrosurgical Equipment Liposuction Devices Microdermabrasion Devices Cryotherapy Devices



Dermatology Devices Market Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Diagnostic Devices Skin Cancer Diagnosis Other

Treatment Devices Hair Removal Skin Rejuvenation Acne, Psoriasis, & Tattoo Removal Wrinkle Removal & Skin Resurfacing Body Contouring and Fat Removal Cellulite Reduction Vascular and Pigmented Lesion Removal Others



Dermatology Devices Market End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Hospitals

Clinics

Others

Dermatology Devices Market Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

North America US. Canada

Europe Germany UK. France Italy Spain Switzerland The Netherlands Belgium

Asia Pacific China Japan India Australia South Korea Thailand Malaysia Singapore Indonesia Philippines

Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia Chile

MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia UAE Israel Turkey



List of Key Players of Dermatology Devices Market

Alma Lasers GmbH

Cynosure, Inc.

Solta Medical, Inc.

Cutera, Inc.

Syneron Medical Ltd.

Canfield Scientific, Inc.

3Gen

Aesthetic Group

Ambicare Health

Image Derm, Inc.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
In Vitro Fertilization Market Growth & Trends

The global in vitro fertilization market size is expected to reach USD 33.9 billion by 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 6.5% over the forecast period, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The market is driven by the continuous efforts of the market players, government initiatives for better reimbursement policies, and an increase in the incidence of infertility due to lifestyle changes. Expansion of fertility procedures, such as ICSI for treating infertility, is expected to positively impact the market growth in the near future.

Moreover, the availability of genomic testing facilities that enable the prevention of the transfer of genetic disorders during in vitro fertilization (IVF) is further expected to drive the market. The insurance companies are providing coverage to IVF procedures owing to an increase in the number of IVF treatments. This has led to competitive pricing and has moderated the IVF treatment costs as the procedure has been a successfully practiced technology, driving the market with more treatment automation and standardization.

A decline in the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is a result of factors, such as a behavioral shift in society, a shift from rural to urban societies, increased age of first-time mothers or the age at which women give birth to their first child, an increasing number of women in the labor force, postponement of marriage, and lower marriage rates.

The in-person fertility treatments in the U.S. and Canada were suspended in March 2020 by the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, treatments are resuming in many countries with the ease of restrictions, including the developing nations. For instance, in July 2020, Medicover Fertility, an IVF center in India, announced to resume the IVF procedures after the initial COVID-19 risk assessment.

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In Vitro Fertilization Market Report Highlights

Culture media dominated the IVF market in 2020 accounting for the maximum revenue share. Several research activities are being undertaken to improve the efficiency of culture media

For instance, Vitrolife showcased its research on SpermFreeze solution at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) that established the effectiveness of its solution for sperm recovery & sperm-hyaluronic acid-binding

Europe dominated the global market with the highest revenue share in 2020 due to the availability of affordable treatments, adherence to medical standards, and quick adoption of advanced technologies, such as time-lapse microscopy by the clinics in the region

The APAC region is expected to witness an increased demand for IVF owing to fertility tourism and the availability of funding for the treatment. In Japan, eligible couples can apply for co-funding for a maximum of three cycles with USD 1,920 for each cycle

The developing countries in the APAC region are undertaking legal reforms to promote treatment adoption in the region. For instance, in February 2020, the Government of India approved a bill for the regulation of clinics offering reproduction assistance services, including IVF, artificial insemination, and surrogacy

In January 2020, Merck received Marketing Authorization (MA) from the European Commission (EC) for its recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone, GONAL-f (follitropin alfa) 150 IU pen

Access Press Release@ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-ivf-market

In Vitro Fertilization Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global in vitro fertilization market on the basis of type, end use, instrument, and region:

IVF Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Fresh Non-donor

Frozen Non-donor

Fresh Donor

Frozen Donor

IVF End-use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Fertility Clinics

Hospitals & Others Settings

IVF Instrument Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Culture Media

Disposable Devices

Capital Equipment

IVF Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

North America US. Canada

Europe France Germany Italy Spain UK. Belgium The Netherlands Switzerland

Asia Pacific Japan China India

Latin America Brazil Mexico

Middle East & Africa (MEA) South Africa



List of Key Players of In Vitro Fertilization Market

OvaScience

EMD Serono, Inc.

Vitrolife AB

Irvine Scientific

Cook Medical, Inc.

Cooper Surgical, Inc.

Genea Biomedx

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

Progyny, Inc.

Boston IVF

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
Stethoscope Market Growth & Trends

The global stethoscope market size is anticipated to reach USD 826.72 million by 2028, expanding at a CAGR of 5.8%, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing prevalence of cardiovascular and respiratory disorders, and increasing geriatric population are driving the market. Increase in incidence of numerous cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases in several countries is anticipated to impact market growth over the forecast period. Stethoscope is widely used for heart auscultation (listening to the heart sound) during diagnosis of cardiac illness. It is also used to primarily examine the condition of phlegm in the respiratory tract.

Moreover, growing elderly population has increased the demand for the medical device for the primary diagnosis of numerous chronic health ailments. According to the CDC, people aged above 65 years are at a higher risk of developing several chronic diseases. In addition, the world population aged 60 years and above is expected to increase from 900 million in 2015 to 2 billion in 2050 from. This is expected to boost the market.

Furthermore, several government initiatives, the introduction of new products, and incorporation of new technologies by market players, are likely to boost the market during the forecast period. For instance, 3M has launched Single-Patient Stethoscope to overcome the issues related to disposable stethoscopes such as, inadequate audibility and discomfort faced by healthcare professionals. The device helps in minimizing the risk of cross-contamination while enhancing patient care.

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Stethoscope Market Report Highlights

In terms of revenue, the teaching type segment dominated the market in 2019. The device is widely used for teaching/training purposes and is ideal for instructors and medical students

The electronic type segment is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 5.5% from 2020 to 2027 owing to advanced features offered by the medical device such as, electronically amplified sound quality, audio recording, and reduced background noises for improved diagnosis

North America dominated the market with the highest revenue share in 2019 owing to the presence of well-established healthcare facilities and increasing prevalence of numerous heart and lung associated diseases

In Latin America, the market is expected to witness the highest CAGR of 5.3% from 2020 to 2027 due to increasing healthcare expenditure in most of the countries in the region.

Access Press Release@ https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-stethoscope-market

Stethoscope Market Segmentation

Grand View Research has segmented the global stethoscope market on the basis of technology, sales channel, end-use, and region:

Stethoscope Technology Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Electronic/Digital

Smart Stethoscope

Traditional Acoustic Stethoscope

Stethoscope Sales Channel Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Distributors

E-commerce

Direct Purchase

Stethoscope Technology & Sales Channel, Criss-cross Matrix (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Electronic/Digital Distributors E-commerce Direct Purchase

Smart Stethoscope Distributors E-commerce Direct Purchase

Traditional Acoustic Stethoscope Distributors E-commerce Direct Purchase



Stethoscope End-use Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Home healthcare

Hospitals Urgent Care Surgery Centers

Standalone Clinics Cardiologists General Practitioners Others

Nurse Practitioners

EMT/ First Responders

Veterinary

Stethoscope Technology & End-use Criss-cross Matrix (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

Electronic/Digital Home healthcare Hospitals Standalone Clinics Nurse Practitioners EMT/ First Responders

Smart Stethoscope Home healthcare Hospitals Standalone Clinics Nurse Practitioners EMT/ First Responders

Traditional Acoustic Stethoscope Home healthcare Hospitals Standalone Clinics Nurse Practitioners EMT/ First Responders



Stethoscope Regional Outlook (Volume, Units; Revenue, USD Million, 2016 - 2028)

North America US. Canada

Europe Germany UK. France Italy Spain

Asia Pacific China Japan India Australia South Korea

Latin America Brazil Mexico Argentina Colombia

Middle East & Africa South Africa Saudi Arabia Kuwait UAE Oman Yemen



List of Key Players of Stethoscope Market

3M

Medline Industries Inc.

Welch Allyn (Hill-rom Holdings, Inc.)

Eko Devices Inc.

GF Health Products, Inc.

Rudolf Riester GmbH, (Halma Plc)

American Diagnostics Corporation

Cardionics

Heine Optotechnik Gmbh & Co.

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.
The new Thermistor Kits Market report offers a comprehensive study of the current scenario of the market including major market dynamics. Also, it highlights the in-depth marketing research with the newest trends, drivers, and segments with reference to regional and country. Further, this report profiles top key players and analyze their market share, strategic development, and other development across the world.

The research report also covers the comprehensive profiles of the key players in the market and an in-depth view of the competitive landscape worldwide. The major players in the thermistor kits market include Ametherm Inc, Amphenol Advanced Sensors, TDK Corporation, Vishay; Bourns Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated, Murata Manufacturing Co. Ltd, STMicroelectronics. This section consists of a holistic view of the competitive landscape that includes various strategic developments such as key mergers & acquisitions, future capacities, partnerships, financial overviews, collaborations, new product developments, new product launches, and other developments.

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Market Dynamics

A surge in the application of temperature sensors in industries like consumer electronics, healthcare and the automotive sector is the vital aspect propelling the Thermistors Kits market growth. Rising adoption in home and building automation systems is another crucial factor boosting the market demand. Thermistors are easy to install and offer cost and power-saving benefits; this factor will likely propel the market growth. Manufacturers are focusing on improving the accuracy and functionality of devices and developing more capable thermistors kits for specific applications as per the demand and utilisation. The manufacturers are also looking for opportunities to establish their expertise in new application areas. The market players are adopting strategies like mergers and acquisitions for market expansion. However, the high initial cost will likely affect the manufacturing and logistics of thermistors kits.

The research report covers Porters Five Forces Model, Market Attractiveness Analysis, and Value Chain analysis. These tools help to get a clear picture of the industrys structure and evaluate the competition attractiveness at a global level. Additionally, these tools also give an inclusive assessment of each segment in the global market of thermistor kits. The growth and trends of thermistor kits industry provide a holistic approach to this study.

Browse Global Thermistor Kits Market Research Report with detailed TOC at https://www.valuemarketresearch.com/report/thermistor-kits-market

Market Segmentation

This section of the thermistor kits market report provides detailed data on the segments at country and regional level, thereby assisting the strategist in identifying the target demographics for the respective product or services with the upcoming opportunities.

By Kit Type

 Negative Temperature Coefficient (Ntc) Thermistor Kits

 Positive Temperature Coefficient (Ptc) Thermistor Kits

By Application

 Automotive

 Gaming

 Environment

 Safety

 Test And Measurement

 Metallurgy

 Oil And Gas

 Healthcare

 Other Application Areas

Regional Analysis

This section covers the regional outlook, which accentuates current and future demand for the Thermistor Kits market across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Further, the report focuses on demand, estimation, and forecast for individual application segments across all the prominent regions.

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A user going by name Siddu Cherukuri tweeted, In Telugu film industry, movie director and hero are the main characters. They take the maximum share. What do other people get.  Representational image/DC

TIRUPATI: Even as many big Tollywood actors, producers, technicians and exhibitors have remained silent over Andhra Pradesh governments raids on cinema halls to ensure implementation of fixed rates for movie tickets, some young and small heroes have raised their voice against the governments move.

Soon after actor Siddharth turned out to be the first voice against ticket pricing, another actor Nani too voiced his criticism. openly Now, young actor Nikhil Siddartha has urged AP government to help theatres out over pricing of tickets.

Ahead of his film Shyam Singha Roy, Nani maintained that the governments decision is illogical. When a Kirana shop owner outside a theatre makes more money than the theatre owner, it is an insult to cine goers, he commented.

Nanis comments have, however, sparked a controversy in the states political and film circles. Countering the actors remarks, minister Botcha Satyanarayana said they are trying to bring down ticket rates in the interests of public. Another minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav wondered why actors are not lowering their remunerations.

Amid the cinema ticket pricing controversy, people close to top actors say these stars are happy that Nani has voiced his opinion without any second thought. Top stars are essentially maintaining silence, as anything they say might invite trouble from YSR Congress government, they explained.

In a series of tweets, actor Siddharth criticised ministers saying, We are taxpayers and we pay for all your luxuries. Politicians earn lakhs and crores of rupees through corruption. Reduce your luxuries and give us our discount.

Nani tweeted, Theatres are like a temple to me. They always give joy and happiness to people. It is heartbreaking to see theatres closing down. Glad and thankful to see the Telangana government supporting the film industry; hoping AP government too helps theatres reach their past glory in a similar way, he tweeted.

These tweets have also invited adverse reactions from netizens. A user going by name Siddu Cherukuri tweeted, In Telugu film industry, movie director and hero are the main characters. They take the maximum share. What do other people get.

Another user Ravindra Kurapati posted a picture of movie tickets questioning actor Nikhil,  150 per ticket is price at Raj Yuvaraj theatre in Vijayawada town. Is this not sufficient for you?
Dehradun: BJP MLA Umesh Sharma Kau, who had been assigned the task of dissuading Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat amid reports about his likely resignation, said on Saturday that Rawat's grievance has been addressed and no one is going anywhere.

He said the issue has been settled with the intervention of the central leadership and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

His proposal for a medical college in Kotdwar has been accepted and he has also been assured that the budget for the project will be released by Monday, Kau said.

When asked whether Rawat had agreed not to resign, the MLA from Raipur said "no one was going anywhere".

"We will all work as true soldiers of the BJP," Kau said.

Pradesh BJP president Madan Kaushik also refuted reports about Rawat's resignation, saying "all is well".

Rawat left a cabinet meeting in a huff late on Friday night, triggering speculation that he might resign from Dhami's cabinet.

Sources said Rawat left the meeting as he was angry that a proposal for a medical college in his assembly constituency Kotdwar was not being cleared by the cabinet.

However, the Pradesh BJP president denied that Rawat had resigned, telling a news channel that reports about his resignation were just a rumour.

There was also talk about the resignation of Kau. However, the MLA's son Gaurav Sharma denied this saying they were surprised when the news was flashed by some TV channels on Friday night.

Interestingly, Kau received a call from Delhi soon after the speculations began and he went to meet Rawat apparently to dissuade him.

Both Harak Singh Rawat and Kau were among ten MLAs who had rebelled against Harish Rawat in 2016 and crossed over to the BJP.

Harak Singh Rawat is the forest minister in Dhami's cabinet.
Hyderabad: The police on Monday arrested Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy and prevented him from proceeding to Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao's farmhouse in Erravelli to conduct Rachabanda with farmers on paddy cultivation and stage a protest there against the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government's decision not to procure paddy in rabi.

The police placed Revanth under house arrest early on Monday and a huge police force was deployed at his residence in Jubilee Hills.

As soon as the TPCC chief emerged from his house, the police forcibly took him to a vehicle, leading to strong protest from Congress workers who had gathered there. High tension prevailed as they tried to stop a police vehicle carrying their leader. This led to pushing and jostling between the two sides. Later, Revanth Reddy and others were shifted to Amberpet police station.

The Congress workers, however, gave a slip to police and managed to reach Chief Minister's farmhouse. Later, they were arrested and shifted to different police stations in Siddipet.

Around 5 am on Monday, the Jubilee Hills police, along with the Task Force and other wings, rushed to Road No 44 in Jubilee Hills.

All roads leading to Road No 44 of Jubilee Hills were blocked by the police erecting barricades and no one was allowed towards Revanth Reddy's residence. The followers, who reached the place, were also denied entry by the police to Revanth Reddy's residence. With a number of activists and followers squatting at the place, the police put Revanth Reddy under house arrest asking him not to come out of his residence in view of law and order issues.

Around 12.30 pm, Revanth Reddy came out of his residence and had discussions with the police. As the police prevented him from coming out of his residence, the TPCC president explained that he would go to Gandhi Bhavan. As police did not allow him to go out, Revanth Reddy and his followers tried to break the police cordon.

Heavy police forces deployed at the place lifted Revanth Reddy and others. However, the activists sat in front of the police vehicle in which Revanth Reddy was being carrying and demanded release of Revanth Reddy. The police detained a number of activists and shifted them to Amberpet police station as preventive measures.

Minutes after Revanth Reddy was shifted to Amberpet police station, Congress activists thronged the station and staged a dharna. Vehicular movement partially came to a standstill at Amberpet after the activists staged a rasta roko in front of the Amberpet police station.

Similarly, the police put state women Congress president Sunita Rao under house arrest in the city. Former MLA Ram Mohan Reddy was also put under house arrest at Manikonda.

Meanwhile, the Congress leaders and activists managed to reach the Chief Minister's farm house in Erravalli by giving a slip to the police.

The Murkook police of Siddipet, who deployed heavy forces, could not control the mob. Tight security was placed at the main road leading to Erravalli and barricades were erected.

The police only allowed residents to enter the place by verifying identity cards. The police allowed only locals based on their identity. If any new person was found, the police detained them as a precautionary measure. Congress activists reached the farmhouse of the Chief Minister on foot and some of them rode bicycles. As many as 60 Congress activists led by Siddipet district Congress president T. Narsa Reddy were taken into custody by the police.
Kakinada: The RSS should strengthen itself at the grassroots level through its Sakhas and make an earnest attempt to bring those who have been converted to other religions back to the Hindu fold, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday.

He was speaking at a meeting with RSS workers in Palakollu in West Godavari district on Sunday evening. He said, Ghar Wapasi (reconversion to Hinduism) should be encouraged and those going to other religions should be persuaded to stay on in Hindu religion. The development and welfare of the country depended on the propagation of Hindutva which is a Universal religion with certain values such as environmental protection at its core.

He said Hindu religion is not a dogmatic one like other religions and it is well-suited to adapt itself to the changing situations. Therefore, in the land of its origin, the Hindu religion should be protected and propagated by all sections of the people, he said, and added that many people are showing their interest towards RSS and they should be encouraged by Sakhas.

RSS workers should take responsibility on his shoulder to bring the (deserters) back to the Hindu fold without any discrimination and they should keep it as their main goal. They should educate the people and also the converts properly on that line. As per our tradition, though we speak various languages and have various food habits, we will think alike, that Bharat should remain forever at the highest level. In order to reach that goal, we have to face so many difficult situations, Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief requested the people to help eradicate terrorism and other anti-social activities and protect Bharat from pollution of its cultures, and protect the Dharma, for which everyone has to visit villages. Then only will we attain the goal of Akhanda Bharat.

He said that as per the Hindu tradition, there is no specific issue with regard to a change of religion. Hindus will not think other religious people are our enemies and we never ever feel that other religions should be destroyed. As for other religions across the world, their main aim is destruction. We never make any attempt to convert other people to Hindu religion.

If Akhanda Bharat is our goal, everyone would attend RSS Shakha and become a leader by strengthening his personality. For this, we have to give time and contact all the people of all villages and towns by mingling with the people and strengthening the RSS ideology. This will show the path for resolving so many unresolved issues.

One has to dedicate his life to the cause by giving much time for strengthening the organisation and resolving various issues, he said.

In our Bharat, when any person purchases rice or fruits, the vendor gives a little more than the actual weight by way of goodwill. In Telugu it is called Kosaru. This kind of a practice is there across India. We do not see such a practice anywhere in the rest of the world. This practice shows that the people of Bharat followed true Dharma, the RSS chief said.
New Delhi: With feedback suggesting that the Akhilesh Yadavled Samajwadi Partys (SP) attempts to woo the upper caste vote bank, including the Brahmins, in Uttar Pradesh have so far failed to make any impact, the BJP on Sunday held a strategy meeting with its Brahmin leaders from the pollbound state to make sure that its upper caste vote bank remains intact.

The meeting was chaired by Union minister Dharmandra Pradhan, who is the election in-charge of the party in the state. The party has formed a 16- member committee to woo the Brahmin vote bank.

The committee also includes Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, who has been facing the Oppositions and farmers unions wrath for his sons involvement in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where protesting farmers were run over.

Amidst reports that Brahmins were unhappy with the Yogi Adityanath government, the BJP top brass inducted Brahmin faces in both the state government and the council of ministers at the Centre. The SP had been targeting the community through various prabuddha sammelans but with Yadavs Jinnah remark and his partys stand on OBC census and reservation, the upper caste is said to be not in a mood to go along with the SP.
This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices.
Jared Schmeck, an Oregon caller who said "Let's go, Brandon" as he hung up on President Joe Biden on Christmas Eve last week, now claims he's being "attacked" for what he claims was a "joke."

Schmeck said he's been receiving vague, but threatening phone calls since his call to Biden on Friday was live-streamed and reported in the media. The live-streamed call gained media attention in part because Biden said, "'Let's go, Brandon,' I agree," although the president's detractors have mocked the phrase.

Oregon man received threats after pranking Joe Biden

The father of four insisted on Saturday that he had no grudges toward the president, even if he feels Biden "could be doing a better job." Schmeck said he and his family were phoning into the NORAD Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve, as is their habit, and had no idea the call would be live-streamed.

According to The Oregonian, a person on the other end claimed first lady Jill Biden would be receiving calls, but Schmeck thought it was a tape of the first lady, not a real phone conversation.

Biden was intrigued to learn that one of Schmeck's children had the same name as the president's son, Hunter, when the president and the first lady began engaging with Schmeck's family.

Per Fox News, the Bidens and Schmecks then talked about what the Schmeck kids wanted for Christmas, with Schmeck expressing his wish for "a quiet night."

The White House has not replied to calls for comment on the event, but the interaction sparked an outpouring of outrage on social media almost immediately. Conservative commentators were divided on the episode, with some finding Biden's repeating of the remark amusing, while others claiming the prank was in terrible taste.

The slogan had gained traction among followers of former President Donald Trump, who sparked outrage on social media in 2018 when he made a Christmas Eve phone call to children.

Read Also: Joe Biden, Anthony Fauci Claim COVID-19 Vaccine Will Let Americans Celebrate Holidays; President Urges Boosters Amid Omicron Surge

The Bidens scaled back Christmas tradition

Collman Lloyd, a seven-year-old from South Carolina, was asked by Donald Trump if she still believed in Santa "because at seven it's marginal, right?" Lloyd later informed the press that she did believe in Santa Claus and had no clue what the term "marginal" meant.

Brandon Brown has voiced his concern about his name being used in an anti-Biden campaign. Biden and his wife, unusually, spent their first Christmas at the White House this year.

Biden has been chastised in the past for spending most weekends at his Delaware residence, piling up a sizable Secret Service expense. However, staying at the White House may have been a gesture to the country's increasing COVID-19 rates to prevent promoting tourism.

The Bidens have already scaled back their traditional Christmas celebrations. Presidents and first ladies used to throw roughly two dozen holiday parties and receptions every day, often two per day, with plenty of eggnog and wine.

This year, all of it was scrapped. Instead, groups of up to 100 individuals were invited to see the White House's decor on the ground and state floors. There was no food or drink available. There was no photo opportunity with the Bidens, who were unable to attend, as per The Daily Telegraph via MSN.

Related Article: Joe Biden's Net Worth: Facts You Need To Know About the 46th US President's Wealth

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South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who was known as the country's anti-apartheid hero and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died at 90 years old on Sunday.

In 1984, Tutu won the Nobel prize in recognition of his non-violent opposition to white minority rule in South Africa. He also witnessed the end of that regime a decade later and chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was set up to unearth atrocities that were committed under it.

Who Was Desmond Tutu?

With his outspoken nature, Tutu spent his life preaching against the tyranny of the white minority. He then called the Black political elite to account after apartheid ended, with the same level of passion as he had the Afrikaners. However, he always showed his enduring spirit of reconciliation.

In a televised address, South African President Cyril Ramaphisa described Tutu as "one of our nation's finest patriots." The official added that the anti-apartheid hero's death was a loss for the nation and was considered to be a "global bereavement," Reuters reported.

When he first voted in South Africa's first democratic election in 1994, Tutu described the feeling as similar to "falling in love." His remarks embodied both his humor and his profound emotions after spending decades fighting against apartheid.

Read Also: Viral Photo Claims People Were Jailed For Not Wearing Face Masks During the Spanish Flu

In his final years of life, Tutu said he regretted not achieving his dream of a "Rainbow Nation" for the country of South Africa. On the international stage, the human rights activist was outspoken on various topics, including Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories to gay rights, climate change, and assisted death. His views on these issues cemented his broad appeal among people worldwide.

The symbolic head of Tutu's Anglican Communion, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said that the human rights activist was a "prophet and priest, a man of words and action." Another prominent name, Richard Branson, a British billionaire, called Tutu a "brave leader, a mischievous delight, a profound thinker, and a dear friend," Yahoo News reported.

Human Rights Activist

President Ramaphosa confirmed Tutu's cause of death to be cancer; the human rights activist died while he was in a care facility. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 and was hospitalized several times in the years after due to fears that his disease could spread.

Archbishop Tutu was a leader of the South African Council of Churches and led the church to the forefront of Black South Africans' decades-long struggle for freedom. At the time that he gathered testimony documenting the viciousness of apartheid, his commission offered amnesty in return for an honest accounting of past crimes. "You are overwhelmed by the extent of evil", Tutu told enforcers of the policy, adding that it was necessary to open the would to cleanse it in what he called the principle of restorative justice.

Tutu described the policy of apartheid as dehumanizing to oppressors as it was to the oppressed. Within South Africa, he sought to build a bridge to put Blacks and Whites closer to each other. Internationally, he urged to impose economic sanctions against the South African government to force authorities to change policies.

Tutu accused former President Thabo Mbeki in 2004 of pursuing policies that sought to enrich a tiny elite white while "many, too many, of our people, live in grueling, demeaning, dehumanizing poverty," the New York Times reported.



Related Article: Trump Continues To Gain Praise From The Left Despite a Slew of Controversies, Including Jan. 6 Investigation

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United States Representative Pramila Jayapal, a leading liberal House Democrat, urged U.S. President Joe Biden to continue his fight for the Build Back Better Act and use executive action despite opposition from fellow Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin and his public rejection of the plan.

On Sunday, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) wrote in an opinion piece that the CPC will soon release a plan that will propose lower costs, protection of families' health, and tackle climate change. Jayapal said that the caucus will continue to support the Build Back Better and keep it as close to the agreed-upon framework.

Build Back Better

In a recent public address, West Virginia Senator Manchin declared his opposition to Biden's Build Back Better legislation. The Democrat's announcement caused investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) to lower its forecasts for U.S. economic growth. It also threatened to scuttle hundreds of billions of dollars worth of funding aimed at fighting climate change and meeting the federal government's climate goals, Reuters reported.

The situation comes as Sen. Ben Cardin said on Sunday that he was not entirely convinced that Biden's Build Back Better legislation was dead despite Manchin's rejection. During an interview, he stated that there was unanimity in his caucus to get the bill to the president and were working on the contents of the bill. Cardin added that President Biden was directly involved in the negotiations regarding the bill.

Read Also: Trump Continues To Gain Praise From The Left Despite a Slew of Controversies, Including Jan. 6 Investigation

The official said that he had hope that the Build Back Better bill would be resurrected in 2022 despite Manchin's vote being in line with all 50 Senate Republicans. Despite the expected turnout of the bill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent out a letter last week, announcing that they would still be holding a vote for the legislation.

"We are prepared to move; we just need to make sure we have unanimity in our caucus and that's what we are working on and we will start on that next week when we return," said Cardin, Politico reported.

Joe Manchin's Opposition

Manchin's statement opposing Biden's Build Back Better legislation did not come as a surprise to members of "the Squad," a group of staunch progressives in the House. They had long warned that the West Virginia senator could derail the massive social spending plan.

The Democrat had previously been vocal about his concerns of Biden's Build Back Better bill, repeatedly demanding lawmakers to trim it down. Progressive lobbied Democratic leaders in an attempt to pressure the moderate senator to support the legislation. They worked on keeping the bill linked to a vote on a massive infrastructure package known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, which is one of Manchin's priorities.

For weeks, lawmakers coupled the bill but eventually separated them due to pressure from House moderates and Biden's assurance that he would get Manchin to vote yes to his Build Back Better legislation. While the majority of House progressives voted in favor of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework, the six House members belonging to "the Squad" were the only ones in the CPC to vote against it, Vox reported.



Related Article: Joe Biden's Net Worth: Facts You Need To Know About the 46th US President's Wealth

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Kamala Harris has been under critics calling her the worst vice president in the office with the worst poll numbers than President Biden.

Saying that staying in Washington due to the pandemic is her excuse for not dealing with domestic issues but was not cutting it her with critics. Her inaction was, according to observers in this crisis, the past year was lamentable, and all she just laughed it off.

Harris had been traveling outside the US

The real failure is not traveling, which she said was the problem, and several of these problems were domestic. It concerned the US Southern border that came under assault by an immigrant from South America, reported the Express UK.

The President gave her the task to deal with the US-Mexican border in the early days of 2021, many of her detractors said her inaction worsened the problems. It added to the low poll number of the White House in the handling of the border problem.

Ex-President Donald Trump, whose visit was more substantial, cited The Texas Tribune. He lamented what the Biden administration did to his policies. Still, the Vice-President never provided any serious input besides laughs when asked about it.

One of the alleged networks partial to the current government, CBS 'Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan dared the VP during a prerecorded interview broadcasted last Sunday. When asked by the host what her biggest error is the entire year over all the many mistakes heaped on her governance that left much to be desired.

Kamala Harris said to the host that she was in the nation's capital most of the time. She admitted there were several reasons that she defended.

Read Also: Joe Biden's Dismissive Attitude, Failed Policies Fails the Democratic Party As Voters Want Him Out of White House

The COVID-19 pandemic was to blame, saying that it lessened her and the president's chances to travel.

US vice president blames coronavirus

She said they were in the White House doing Zooms when they could not go out, limiting her chances of going out. Promoting voting rights, childcare, and women's health was her primary concern.

She spoke of what she did as critically important, enough to forget about the heaping looming problems and many asking for definitive action.

From the start of the border crisis, which was one of the issues closest to the American people, only got one visit from the vice-president. She visited the region in March but was not substantial.

She spent more time in California for a weekend than spending more time in El Paso, Texas. The job of fixing the border was not considered a high priority. What followed next was the volley of bi-partisan critique that scoured her for such inaction.

According to Texas Democrat Henry Cuellar, the New York Times commented that she is avoiding the border. On one occasion, Harris went to Guatemala and Mexico to discuss why the migrants were coming to the US, noted Fox News.

Went to US allies in Asia to signify support for them as the CCP is has become more active due to the US failure in Afghanistan. Another of her high-profile trips was going to France to discuss with President Emmanuel Macron the AUKUS pact.

Vice President Kamala Harris has shrunk in the eyes of her party for adding to its woes, even pro-White House outlets are turning on her and want her out.

Related Article: News Host Pans Vice President Kamala Harris' Failed Performance Would Set Up Democrats Massacre in 2024

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According to Russia, the natural gas supplies due to Yamal-Europe pipeline getting is usual supply not getting the normal amount as meant for West Europe. Instead, the gas gets diverted to Poland that sends prices up.

Since the gas supply became affected by the decisions from the Kremlin, the EU has been trying to pressure the continual supply with no interruption.

Vladimir Putin disregarded the weaponization of gas, citing it's up to the clients of Gazprom to negotiate. The Russian government has no say, leaving the European Union squirming to replenish its dwindling supply this winter.

The EU's dwindling gas supply

The focus of the conflict is on the Yamal-Europe pipeline that is crucial for Western Europe, and the German network operator Cascade is alarmed by the diversion of natural gas back to Poland. For six days, this has been happening, and the EU's energy crunch continues,reported the Express UK.

A total of 1.2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh/h) flowed back to Poland based on the Mallnow metering point placed at the German-Polish border.

Gascade is Russian and German ownership, suffering from a political problem between the owners. Wiga owns the firm, which is co-venture of Gazprom and Wintershell DEA, jointly operated German chemicals group BASF and Russian LetterOne, cited TechnoCharger.

Russia gas supplies diverts to Poland

Russian made it clear that the firm decided to reverse the gas supplies to Poland is a commercial decision.

Read Also: EU Got Blindsided by Biden-Putin Negotiations Over Ukraine After Assurances They Would Be in the Loop

Last Thursday, President Vladimir Putin told Berlin it's their fault why gas prices have risen. He charged that Russian gas sold to Ukraine and Poland is done, instead of adding the amount, noted the Business Times.

Putin said Germany gets supplies through the Yamal and Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Due to the Yamal pipeline diversion that kicked up the gas prices in Europe very high, almost 90 percent from December 1 that was more expensive per megawatt-hour.

The UK saw a moderate 50 percent price hike, but the bloc is in the stranglehold of the Kremlin. Peter McNally, an expert, knows that the EU's dilemma is mostly the subject of the problem.

Most Western European nations have tied themselves to Russian gas, and there is more needed now than ever. The Kremlin is the one to talk to, and no one else. It's that or freezes in the winter.

The UK, meanwhile, gets the majority of its imports from Norway, making it less dependant on Russia.

Mr. McNaly state that Norway is where the gas is plentiful, but the UK gets its source from there, so it's less traumatic.

Whatever the complaints of the bloc, they said as Mr. Putin has stated that Gazprom is fulfilling its contracts. All the shortened supplies are due to the EU not making arrangements for gas deliveries.

Supplies would be given to those countries if there is a contract; via the Yamal pipeline, but none were provided. If the request is not long-term via the Yamal and Ukraine channels, there are more costs.

This December, there is no additional request from Gazprom for Yamal. Reversal of the Yamal is when the Nord Stream 2 adds supply in the Baltic Sea.

Russia gas supplies are getting diverted to Poland as a commercial decision due to no requests for more, while the EU is suffering high prices.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Strikes Again, Reminds the Bloc Who Controls the Gas Supplies in Europe After Threatening Sanctions on Russia

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The top infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said that Americans should not even consider taking off their masks when on an airplane.

United States President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser made his comments during an interview on Sunday after being asked about a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel. Fauci said that the federal government wanted to make sure that travelers kept their masks on while traveling on airplanes.

Vaccine Mandate on Airplanes

On the other hand, Jonathan Karl, the host of ABC's This Week, said that despite airline CEOs suggesting that American travelers could now take off their masks; Fauci disagreed with the idea. The comment was a reference to a U.S. Senate panel hearing on Dec. 15, when Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said that face masks did not add much protection against the coronavirus infection on airplanes, Fox News reported.

Fauci also said that a vaccine mandate on airplanes would be another mechanism that could urge Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus infection. The medical professional said that he welcomed anything that could encourage people to get inoculated.

During an MSNBC interview earlier this week, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that a vaccine mandate on airplanes could result in delayed flights. However, she added that the Biden administration would take the step if the health benefits were overwhelming.

Read Also: Omicron Vs. Delta Variant: Which Could Harm Our Health Worse?

During a Dec. 3 press conference, a reporter asked President Biden whether or not he was considering imposing vaccine mandates for domestic travel, to which the Democrat answered no. "I think I know a fair amount about this issue. But I'm not a scientist. So I continue to rely on the scientists. Right now, they're saying no," said Biden, Fortune reported.

Delayed or Canceled Flights

The situation comes as more than 7,300 flights across the United States were delayed or canceled on Sunday due to the recent surge in coronavirus infections related to the Omicron variant. Of the 7,300 flight schedules, roughly 1,400 flights that were entering, leaving, or flying within the region were canceled while about 5,900 others were delayed, based on data from the tracking website FlightAware.

On Christmas Day, more than 4,000 flights were either delayed or canceled, marking continuous days of scheduling nightmares that have left travelers scrambling. Various airlines, including Delta, United, and JetBlue, have blamed the Omicron coronavirus variant for the recent scheduling issues.

A spokesperson for United, Maddie King, said that the situation was an unexpected turn of events. This year, airlines have experienced a recurring theme of flight delays and cancellations as they try to increase schedules to make up for the losses they suffered.

Thousands of workers were forced out of the industry last year when the aviation industry collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The resurgence in demand has greatly outpaced the staffing efforts of companies worldwide.

Fauci's comments on a vaccine mandate for air travel come as many airlines in the United States require their workers to be fully vaccinated. The situation has sparked controversy among staff members as it is not required for most domestic passengers, USA Today reported.



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Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister of Canada, accused China of cleverly manipulating Western nations and urged democratic countries to respond to the danger as a united front. China's Communist Party, according to Trudeau, is leveraging its wealth to push nations against one another and hide political realities under economic obligations.

Since Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada in 2018 on a US extradition warrant, relations between Beijing and Ottawa have deteriorated. He believes that Western nations should unite against China's expanding "coercive diplomacy," NY Post reported.

Trudeau has urged Western nations to remain strong against China

China responded by detaining two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, on national security grounds. Meng, who was sought on fraud charges, struck out a deal with US authorities, and the two were freed in September. Trudeau, who has long campaigned for improved relations between Canada and China, views the nation in a new light as a result of his experience as Prime Minister.

In some aspects, President Xi Jinping's China is "no longer the China that we imagined about 10 or even five years ago," he remarked. Other concerns, such as climate change and trade, will need Canada to collaborate with China, the world's second biggest economy.

Since the imprisonment of Huawei's top financial officer and oldest daughter, Meng Wanzhou, in 2018 on suspicion of breaking US trade restrictions with Iran, Canada's relationship with China, has been tense. China jailed two Canadian nationals on national-security accusations for over three years in retaliation for her imprisonment. Both countries have already clashed over China's human-rights record, even before Meng's detention, as per Business Insider.

Read Also: Boris Johnson's Leadership in Jeopardy as Lord Frost's Resignation Sparks Fresh Tory Concern Amid UK's COVID-19 Omicron Battle

Canada, allies announce boycott on 2022 Beijing Olympics

More recently, Canada and many of its allies, including the US and the UK, announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, citing the country's human-rights record. China recently dismissed a flurry of boycotts, stating that they are useless because the authorities calling for a boycott were never invited to begin with.

Furthermore, the Canadian Prime Minister stated that the issues develop when western nations seek access to Chinese markets, resulting in Beijing demanding conditions and forcing them to compete against one another. Canada said earlier this month that it will not have diplomatic representation at the upcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in China.

Per Republic World, Canada said earlier this month that it will not have diplomatic representation at the upcoming Winter Olympics and Paralympics in China. The decision was made in response to allegations of suspected human rights violations in China. "Canada remains deeply disturbed by reports of human rights violations in China." Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet announcing the decision.

As a result, no representatives will be sent to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. "We'll continue to support our athletes who work so hard to compete on the international stage." Canada's decision follows similar boycotts of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing by the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.

Related Article: US Passes Import Ban on Chinese Uyghur Region To Step Up Pressure on China Over Human Rights Violations

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Los Angeles police identified the 14-year-old girl who was accidentally shot dead by officers while inside a dressing room during an encounter with a 24-year-old armed male suspect, an incident that the city's police chief called "tragic."

Officials reported that two people were fatally shot during the shootout when police opened fire at a suspect who was found at a clothing store. The LA County Coroner said the victim was Valentina Orellana Peralta. They did not offer additional information regarding the cause of death but police said on Thursday that the initial belief was that she was struck by a stray bullet.

14-Year-Old Victim

"This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl's life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family," said police chief Michel Moore in a statement, ABC News reported.

The suspect was later identified to be Daniel Elena Lopez and was killed by police during the shootout at the clothing store. After the encounter, police discovered a hole in the wall behind where the suspect was standing and found Peralta on the other side with a gunshot wound to her chest.

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The young girl, who was to turn 15 years old in May, was at the clothing store looking for a dress to wear for her quinceanera and was with her mother when she was accidentally shot. Police said that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the mayor's "crisis response team," and the city council member Monica Rodriguez, were assisting the victim's family.

An LAPD spokesman, Stacy Spells, said that the officer responsible for firing shots was put on paid leave after the incident, which was consistent with department protocols. Spells, who refused to identify the police officer, said that they will be required to undergo a psychological evaluation and review by the chief of police before being allowed to go back to the line of duty, The Washington Post reported.

Stray Bullet

The incident began when officers responded to multiple radio calls about an assault with a deadly weapon and a potential shooting at a Burlington store on Victory Boulevard, said police. Officers said that when they arrived, they discovered a man assaulting a woman and quickly fired at him, who was later identified as Lopez.

Officials took the unidentified woman who was the victim of the assault to a hospital to be treated for injuries to her head and arms. During a news conference on Thursday, assistant chief of the LAPD, Dominic H. Choi, said that officers found a heavy metal lock near the man but no gun.

A professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and a former New York City police officer, Eugene O'Donnell, said that investigations into shootings involving the police hinge on what the officer "reasonably could have known." Investigations of the incident will look into the officer's tactics during the shooting, perceptions of the threat and weapons, the officer's history, and interviews with other officers who were at the scene of the incident, the New York Times reported.

Related Article: Joe Biden's Net Worth: Facts You Need To Know About the 46th US President's Wealth

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Authorities and a report said the man who reportedly shot his parents at their Long Island mansion Christmas morning was identified as a 29-year-old bodybuilder from Brooklyn on Sunday.

Dino Tomassetti is accused of shooting his 65-year-old father in the back and his 64-year-old mother in the head soon after 10 am at their posh Hewlett Harbor home. Nassau County detectives said it happened on Saturday.

Bodybuilder shot his millionaire parents

Both victims, Rocco and Vincenza Tomassetti, had to have surgery for their wounds, according to law enforcement sources who spoke to the Daily Voice in New Jersey. The father was stated to be in critical condition. According to real-estate Web sites, the couple owns the home, valued at $3.2 million.

After the gunshots, Dino, a 5'9", 235-pound muscleman, escaped to New Jersey in a Cadillac Escalade, according to police sources. The New York State Police used GPS to follow his luxury car, and when he arrived in Mahwah, they contacted the Mahwah Police Department for assistance, according to sources. Dino was apprehended without incident just after 2 pm, according to sources, NY Post reported.

According to the outlet, he will stay in detention in Bergen County as a fugitive from justice until extradition to Nassau County. His parents' condition will eventually determine his charges in New York.

Dino, a personal trainer, was apprehended in Mahwah after fleeing the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, according to police sources. Hundreds of photos and videos of him lifting weights at the gym can be seen on his social media profiles.

Per The Daily Voice, the Tomassetti family operates a construction firm responsible for several of New York City's buildings. The Goldman Sachs and Bank of America headquarters in Manhattan are examples of their work. Dino's grandfather was suspected of being involved in organized crime.

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Shooting crimes increase in New York

In New York City, 1,828 individuals have been shot so far in 2021, exceeding the 1,821 shot in the same time period in 2020, the worst crime rise year in more than a decade. According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), there were 1,526 gunshot incidences in the city's five boroughs as of December 19, up from 1,490 the previous year.

Shootings continued in the days after December 19, with five individuals shot on Christmas Eve in two separate incidents in Brooklyn, and a 27-year-old NYPD school safety agent shot dead on Thursday in Queens, with two others injured in the same incident. As a result, this year will see a significant increase in the number of gunshot victims and incidents.

The city recorded 1,868 shooting victims in 2020, up from 923 in 2019, a 102 percent increase, while shooting occurrences increased by 97 percent from 777 to 1,531. According to NYPD data, gunshot victims in 2020 were mostly minorities, with 73.9 percent being black and 22.5 percent being Hispanic. In 2020, black people made up 65.0 percent of murder victims in New York City, while Hispanics made up 26.4 percent, as per News Track Live.

Related Article: Illinois Woman Sentenced to 10 Years After Pouring Sleeping Boyfriend with Boiling Water, Posting Incident in Snapchat

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London police said a man armed with a crossbow was caught after attempting to break into Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth was enjoying Christmas and is being held under the Mental Health Act.

The 19-year-old from Southampton, England, was apprehended just seconds after entering the castle's grounds on Christmas morning, authorities said, and he did not break into any buildings.

Intruder threatens to assassinate Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth spends Christmas with her son, Prince Charles, his wife, Camilla, and other close family members at Windsor Castle, where she has spent most of the COVID-19 pandemic. The arrested teen used a rope ladder to scale a metal fence, SCMP reported.

Royal houses are seldom breached in terms of security. During the queen's reign, the most serious incident occurred in 1982 when an intruder scaled a wall to gain access to Buckingham Palace, her London residence, and entered a chamber where she was sleeping.

On Saturday, the queen did not appear in public. She talked about her husband, Prince Philip, who died in April at the age of 99 in a pre-recorded Christmas greeting to the nation. For 73 years, the couple had been married.

Minutes before police descended on him on Christmas Day, and chilling footage shows the masked man threatening to "assassinate the Queen." "Something's gone wrong" with his son, according to the father of a youngster accused of ascending Windsor Castle with a crossbow today.

Following the release of a new video showing the crossbow-wielding attacker who stormed into Windsor Castle, calls for increased Royal security have been raised. A video of a masked guy brandishing a crossbow and threatening to "assassinate the Queen" has surfaced.

On Twitter, royal correspondent Angela Levin reacted to the footage, advocating for increased security measures to safeguard the monarch. The account of the break-in was "horrifying," she claimed, and the message in the video was chilling. "Something's gone wrong with our son," his father, Jasbir Singh Chail, told MailOnline. "We're trying to figure out what."

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Suspect's father speaks about the incident

Per The Sun, Chail grew up in a 500,000 semi-detached house in a gated community in North Baddesley, Southampton. Chail, 57, and his mother, 51, are both listed as directors of an IT company. He may also have a 19-year-old sister who still lives on the premises.

Jaswant's father is a well-spoken software developer who runs his company out of his house. Their child is said to have grown up in a pleasant, loving atmosphere, surrounded by his family in the middle-class suburb just north of Southampton where they live.

Jas, as he was known to his pals, is reported to have used a filter to distort his voice and donned a hoodie and mask, maybe inspired by Star Wars. Sith might reference Star Wars' main antagonists, while Darth Jones could be a reference to Darth Vader's voice actor, James Earl Jones. In the backdrop of the video, a framed image of Star Wars figure Darth Malgus could be seen.

British soldiers in India killed 379 demonstrators and injured 1,200 others in the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar Massacre. The culprit, who the police have not identified, was apprehended soon after 8.30 am yesterday after being seen on CCTV exploring the grounds after scaling an exterior wall. He was eventually committed to a mental institution under the Mental Health Act.

Scotland Yard said police were looking into the film shared on social media before the incident at the Queen's Berkshire residence on Christmas Day. After the police apprehended the intruder in the castle grounds while the Queen was in residence, police verified the discovery of a crossbow.

There is no evidence that the intruder, who has not been identified, had previously threatened any members of the Royal Family. According to insiders, the adolescent didn't know what to do with himself after gaining entrance to the royal estate and was swiftly apprehended. However, it is evident that the situation is being treated with considerable caution. The Metropolitan Police Service is conducting an investigation and has notified the Home Office.

Related Article: Queen Elizabeth's Secret: How the Monarch Handles Challenges With Grace Despite Her 'Stoic' Nature

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A new Samsung leak unveiled a tri-fold phone that can be transformed into a tablet-sized device when unfolded.

Surprisingly, the Samsung tri-fold phone also speculates to include a camera under its flexible screen.

Samsung Leak Unveils Tri-fold Phone

Samsung has perfected the art of manufacturing folding smartphones with devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Since then, several Chinese companies have announced one or more foldable smartphone models.

In line with this, it appears that the South Korea-based technology company is ready to introduce additional foldable phone to its variety based on a newly published patent.

The patent, which was discovered by LetsGoDigital, shows a device with three independent display elements that merge to form one large screen, per Tech Radar. The newly Samsung leak appears that the device folds into a Z form, therefore one display panel remains visible as a screen when everything is folded up.

In the documentation released by LetsGoDigital, it has unveiled that the Samsung Tri-fold phone will use two distinct hinges to make it work. The said Samsung device seems to have a screen that folds inwards, like the Galaxy Z Fold 3, while the other folds outwards, like the Huawei Mate X.

"The user has a large tablet-sized display at his disposal, in order to be able to work extra productively," LetsGoDigital furthered.

However, when folded, the Samsung leaked device appears to have the same proportions as a standard phone. Additionally, the phone is considerably thicker and heavier due to the three display pieces stacked on top of each other.

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The Z form factor eliminates the need for a separate front display.

When the phone is folded, the first display section of the flexible screen becomes the front screen.

Samsung Tri-Fold Specs and Display

Samsung Display, the company's display department, presented last May a prototype of a Galaxy S-Foldable with a double hinge that allows it to fold inwards and outwards.

Eventually, they have displayed the functional identical prototype three months later. Although there are a few significant variations, the patented design has similarities to the Samsung tri-fold gadget.

However, the biggest difference is the camera's position since it was attached to the flexible screen in the Samsung Display prototype.

Samsung Electronics, on the other hand, appears to be planning a triple camera setup on the back which has the same style as the Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Under the flexible screen, there is also a camera. This is positioned in the first display portion so it can be used for both the folded and completely unfolded modes of the device.

In the current Z Fold 3, Samsung has already adopted such under-display camera technology.

Although the 4MP under-panel camera still has space for development, Samsung is likely to perfect this type of technology to be able to use it in future models.

Furthermore, adding a display to the back of the phone gives the user even more possibilities for capturing high-resolution selfies.

This latest patent application provides a lot more information on the gadget, including the location of the circuit boards and the fingerprint sensor built into one of the screen panels.

Samsung has even managed to squeeze in an HDMI port and a USB-C port. However, it is worth noting that these patents are not often translated into actual goods that are sold to consumers.

Tri-fold cellphones have already made its first appearance, but only in prototype form. It is unclear when one will be available, but Samsung may launch it alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 4 in mid-2022.

Related Article: Samsung Galaxy S22 Leaks Hint Dark Red Color and More, Up to 512 GB Storage, Price; But There's a Big Problem
Due to Facebook trust issues, the social media giant was named "The Worst Company of The Year" in a recent poll conducted by Yahoo!

In relation to this, several applicants are scared of working at the company since the firm has lost its public trust.

Facebook Trust Issues Places Social Media Giant as 'The Worst Company Of The Year'

From the Facebook whistle-blower to its rebranding, 2021 seems to have been a terrible year for the social media giant. While the rebranding may assist in the long run, there is still a problem with Facebook's trust.

Just a few days ago, a Yahoo Finance poll named Facebook "The Worst Company In 2021."

The open-ended survey, which ran from December 4 to 5, was conducted on Survey Monkey through the Yahoo! Finance main page and garnered 1,541 responses, per New York Post.

According to Yahoo, Facebook/Meta earned eight percent of the write-in votes, with the social networking giant receiving 50 percent more votes than the runner-up, Alibaba, a Chinese e-commerce business.

For background information, Facebook has been involved in a lot of scandals.

Aside from this, the company is also under antitrust scrutiny after a whistleblower claimed that Facebook neglected safety concerns in the name of growth.

At the same time, other critics claimed that Facebook has over-controlled the platform's speech, suppressing users' voices. Meanwhile, other critics believe that Facebook permits disinformation to propagate.

In addition to the conducted poll of Yahoo, a Washington Post poll also revealed that 72 percent of internet users are distrustful about Facebook.

With regards to Facebook employees, the research published by Business Insider showed that Facebook needs to pay its employees more in order to work at the said firm.

Additionally, employees defined Facebook as a "black mark" on their resumes, which explains why this is the case.

Read Also: Samsung Leak Reveals Tri-Fold Phone: Specs, Screen Size, How Does It Work

Why Applicants Are Scared of Working at Facebook?

According to one tech recruiter featured in the Business Insider article, Facebook should first pay a "brand tax" to hire employees.

When a brand rises in popularity, it is believed that its brand value would attract talented employees to seek jobs there.

For a detailed explanation of what brand tax is, Medium described it is an extra investment that well-known businesses spend on brand promotion and product delivery.

In the case of Facebook, however, the opposite occurs.

According to internal data leaked to the public, the corporation had over 4,300 available positions with decreasing candidates.

In 2021, numerous senior executives of Facebook left the firm. Through this, the employee equity and base salary have also been generously enhanced by the corporation, which the employees called the "cost of losing public trust."

Facebook trust issues are the result of the Facebook brand tax.

The brand tax, on the other hand, is likely to hinder the social media giant's efforts to recover public confidence. It has now become a vicious cycle, and rebranding and public relations are one of the company's ways to stop it.

Is It Possible for Facebook to Recover from Trust Issues?

According to Yahoo, around 30 percent of Yahoo Finance readers who participated in the poll thought Facebook or Meta could save the company.

One responder stated that Facebook might redeem itself by admitting and apologizing for what it did, as well as donating a "significant portion" of its income to a charity to assist the harm it caused.

Meanwhile, one way it might make up for dissatisfied investors would be to raise its stock price.

Related Article: Facebook, Instagram Year in Review 2021 Tips to See What Happened in Your Life for the Last 12 Months
After years of delay, the James Webb Telescope launch finally happened on Christmas. Replays are available for the $10 billion space project.

NASA celebrated its Christmas with the historic launch of James Webb Telescope. This highly anticipated event carries the hopes and dreams of astronomers, astrophysicists, planetary scientists and other space fans from around the world.

Where to Watch James Webb Telescope Launch

According to NASA, the most powerful space telescope ever built launched at 7:20 AM EST. It rode aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana. The Official NASA Broadcast for the event took two hours and 17 minutes to complete.



NASA tweeted the liftoff highlight in a 32-second video. They described the event as a mission to "unfold the universe" and revolutionize the study of space science.

We have LIFTOFF of the @NASAWebb Space Telescope!



At 7:20am ET (12:20 UTC), the beginning of a new, exciting decade of science climbed to the sky. Webbs mission to #UnfoldTheUniverse will change our understanding of space as we know it. pic.twitter.com/Al8Wi5c0K6  NASA (@NASA) December 25, 2021

NASA also greeted the fans watching the event during the holidays. They said "Merry Christmas! We got you a new telescope... Today (is the) beginning of a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past."

Merry Christmas! We got you a new telescope.



The James Webb Space Telescope launched today, beginning a one-million-mile journey to see 13.5 billion years into the past. Follow @NASAWebb and join the quest to #UnfoldTheUniverse: https://t.co/TlYpoUHdJu pic.twitter.com/ilwWPuIJun  NASA (@NASA) December 25, 2021

Read Also: Elon Musk Tweets Video of Epic Starship Super Heavy Steering Test; Teases Power of Raptor Engine!

James Webb Telescope Mission and Other Features

It is worth noting that James Webb Telescope is a project between hundreds of scientists alongside 300 universities, organizations and companies from 29 U.S. states and 14 other countries.

According to Webb Deputy Senior Project Scientist Jonathan Gardner, James Webb is also the "the most complex thing, by far, that NASA has ever done (and) arguably the biggest pure science project that the United States has ever done," per Space.

Ideally, James Webb is a telescope capable of observing stars and galaxies formed within the first few hundred million years of the universe's existence. Studying these historical traces should definitely contribute to massive breakthroughs in space studies.

However, right after the launch, James Webb has yet to complete its biggest challenge. The space observatory will unfold like an origami in the next 29 days.

James Webb Telescope Deployment Plan

Full details for the deployment plan are revealed in this article. It discusses how James Webb would unfold in the middle of space, a million miles away, with no backup plans and no second chances.

The concept is due to the fact that no space rocket could carry a highly sensitive telescope when it is fully deployed. So researchers fixed the problem by temporarily folding James Webb during the launch and travel.

Once James Webb is floating in space, it will execute approximately 50 major deployment mechanisms and 178 release mechanisms. It will also have 70 hinge assemblies, 400 pullies, 90 cables, eight deployment motors, bearings, springs and gears. All mechanisms must work in perfect condition, or else it could risk a total system breakdown.

NASA further explained the challenge in an eight-minute video.

Weve never done any of this before.



For the 29 days after liftoff, our @NASAWebb Space Telescope will unfold like origami step by step so it can begin telling the origin story of the universe. There are no second chances: https://t.co/4JOcch1XiU pic.twitter.com/WV87kFARbe  NASA (@NASA) October 18, 2021

Although James Webb finally launched in space, the space mission challenge is far from over. Fans should look forward to what NASA calls as the "29 days on the edge."

Related Article: NASA Hubble Camera Snaps Picture of 'Titanic Explosion' in Spiral Galaxy
Ruling party presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, left, speaks during his appearance on 3ProTV's YouTube channel aired on Dec. 25. Main opposition party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap



By Anna J. Park



As the presidential election nears, rival candidates have each come up with their own election promises and views on how to improve local capital markets, aiming to attract votes from active retail investors.



The main opposition People Power Party's (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol vowed to completely abolish the securities transaction tax by 2023. He made the comment during his capital market policy announcement held at PPP headquarters on Yeouido, Monday.



"Although one in five people in the country is participating in the local stock market, the stock markets haven't yet functioned properly to share listed companies' growth with retail shareholders," Yoon said, adding that he pledges to focus on creating a fairer market system where the values of local companies are well-acknowledged, and both companies and investors can enjoy a win-win situation.



On top of the abolishment of the securities transaction tax in 2023, Yoon also vowed to lower a capital gains tax to be introduced in the local stock market the same year.



The conservative presidential candidate also vowed to reform the short-selling system, so that retail investors won't be put in an inferior position compared to foreign and institutional investors.



The former prosecutor-turned-politician also aims to strengthen sanctions on securities crimes, in order to raise transparency of accounting and public disclosures.



The ruling Democratic Party of Korea's presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung has also been stressing his willingness to strengthen the local capital market.



During his recent YouTube appearance on 3ProTV channel  one of the most popular economic channels among local retail investors  Lee said the nation's benchmark index KOSPI could easily rise above 4,500 points, if it overcomes the Korea discount  the tendency to receive lower valuations compared to actual corporate value on stock markets. The index has long been trapped in a boxed range of somewhere around 3,000 points during the past year.



"While the country's weight in the global capital market is somewhat significant, the Korea discount is just too much. Achieving 5,000 points on the KOSPI shouldn't be that difficult," Lee said during the YouTube appearance, uploaded on Dec. 25. "When it's compared to major global countries, the local stock market is just too undervalued. If it becomes normalized (from the Korea discount), the KOSPI could easily exceed 4,500 points," Lee added.



Lee explained that he thinks the core reason behind the Korea discount is no longer about geopolitical concerns surrounding the Korean Peninsula, but now more about lack of market transparency.



"The rate of imposing sanctions on stock price manipulation is too low, and punishments are too weak. This created distrust of the market," Lee said, vowing to severely punish any attempts at stock price manipulation.



The former Seongnam mayor also said the National Pension Service should increase the portion of domestic stocks in its investment portfolio, while stressing the short-selling system should be improved.


Vincent Koen



By Vincent Koen



In 2021, Korea celebrated the 25th anniversary of its OECD membership. There is indeed much to be proud of, even though momentous challenges, old and new, loom large.



Korea joined the OECD in 1996, after over three decades of stellar growth based on its export-oriented economy, its hard-working and increasingly well-educated workforce and high savings and investment rates. The so-called "Miracle on the Han River" had transformed one of the world's poorest countries at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War into an economy where per-capita income matched that of some European countries.



Nevertheless, it was still far below the OECD average in 1996. Over the past 25 years, Korea has carried out major economic reforms, aligned its policies on OECD best practices in many areas, increased its integration into the global economy and further enhanced its technological and human potential. GDP per capita converged to the OECD average and overtook Japan's, and Korea became the world's 10th-largest economy.



GDP per capita has caught up with the OECD average



Constant 1995 prices, in PPP dollars / Source: OECD National Accounts database
Medical staff wearing protective gear work in an intensive care unit for COVID-19 patients at Hyemin Hospital in Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps



Korea to introduce Pfizer's oral treatments from January



By Lee Hyo-jin



Medical experts showed mixed reactions to whether the introduction of oral COVID-19 treatment pills, scheduled for mid-January, will be a "game changer" in the country's battle against the coronavirus.



The experts were also divided on whether enough doses for 604,000 people, which the government has secured so far, will be sufficient to curb the current wave of infections.



The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Monday that it has secured enough antiviral drugs for 604,000 people, including doses for 362,000 people of Paxlovid developed by Pfizer and doses for 242,000 people of Molnupiravir from Merck.



The pills will be gradually introduced from mid-January beginning with initial supplies of Paxlovid to be used to treat patients who are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms.



The announcement came shortly after the country's drug regulator gave Paxlovid the green light for emergency use, making it the first oral COVID-19 pill to be available in the country.



Paxlovid is administered as three co-packaged tablets  two nirmatrelvir tablets and one ritonavir tablet  which work together to inhibit the replication process of the coronavirus.



The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety cleared the pill for patients aged 12 and older weighing at least 40 kilograms. It said the pills should be prescribed as soon as possible after a COVID-19 diagnosis and within five days of the onset of symptoms, to be taken every 12 hours for five days.



Chon Eun-mi, a respiratory disease specialist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, viewed the introduction of the easy-to-use pills as a major step forward in the fight against the pandemic.









"Considering its high efficacy shown during clinical trials, ease of shipment, storage and administration, if used with the right strategy, the oral pills will much help the country tackle the COVID-19 crisis," she told The Korea Times.





Food and Drug Safety Minister Kim Gang-lip speaks during a briefing on emergency use authorization for Pfizer's oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid, at the ministry headquarters in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, Monday. Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in poses with outgoing U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Robert Abrams after conferring the Tongil Medal of the Order, the highest national security merit, on Abrams at Cheong Wa Dae in this July 1 photo. Joint Press Corps



By Kang Seung-woo



Deep-seated tension between the South Korean government and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) is coming into public view, as a former American four-star general has belittled the Moon Jae-in administration's security pledges, struck back by Cheong Wa Dae and the defense ministry.



Robert Abrams, who led the USFK from 2018 to 2021, told Voice of America, Saturday (local time), that South Korea's military capabilities were not sufficient to take over wartime operational control (OPCON) of South Korean forces from the United States, while questioning the intentions of the Moon administration's push for an end-of-war declaration.



In 2014, Seoul and Washington agreed upon a conditions-based OPCON transition, and President Moon had sought to complete the task before his term ends in May 2022, although the plan has fallen through due to a lack of adequate assessment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.



"What we do say publicly is that condition one is the Republic of Korea must acquire the critical military capabilities to lead the combined defense that translates into 26 discrete systems. In addition, there's a couple of additional tasks for condition one, which includes certifying that the future CFC (Combined Forces Command) led by a Korean four-star general would be capable of leading the combined defense," Abrams said. The Republic of Korea is the official name of South Korea.



"Condition two is the Republic of Korea must acquire a strategic strength capability and develop and field a Korean integrated air and missile defense capability. And that one frankly, we're furthest behind on."



Regarding the suggestion to formally declare an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, the retired general called the plan into question, saying, "I'm very unclear what it is we're trying to accomplish by declaring an end of war, but I think, any premature declaration of an end of war, you open up the possibility for people who will then claim if the war is ended, then it's time for us to revisit some of those Security Council resolutions from the summer of 1950. And, and then, then it becomes what we call here a slippery slope."



Since Moon resurrected his proposal about the declaration in September, South Korean and U.S. diplomats have met with each other frequently to discuss the move, but some are critical of the Moon administration being too hasty in its drive.



In response, Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication, expressed displeasure, Sunday, with the former USFK commander's criticism.



"I am confident that the Moon administration has worked harder on boosting military capabilities than any other government, as illustrated by Korea being the world's sixth-most powerful military and its nurturing of the local defense industry," he wrote on Facebook.



Defense ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan also said, "While South Korea and the U.S. came up with tangible results from their latest Security Consultative Meeting (on Dec. 2) through close coordination between the allies, we cannot figure out his intentions."



He added that it was not appropriate for the ministry to comment on the private opinions of a retired general.



Tensions between the South Korean government and Abrams are nothing new, as he frequently spoke against the Moon administration's OPCON plan and complained of a lack of combined training between the allies, scaled down in part due to both sides' hopes to engage North Korea diplomatically.



Gen. Paul LaCamera, Abrams' successor, also expressed his objection in November, saying the OPCON plan needs some adjustment.






Kim Beom-su, the founder of South Korean internet giant Kakao Corp., and members of his family were accused by a civic group Monday of a massive tax evasion in a past corporate merger process.







Spec Watch Korea lodged the accusation against Kim and his family members, including his brother-in-law, with the National Police Agency, alleging they evaded a total of 886.3 billion won ($747.6 million) of taxes in the process of Kakao's merger with internet portal Daum Communications Corp. in 2014.







The group claimed K Cube Holdings, Kakao's de facto holding firm owned by Kim, dodged a corporate tax of 363.9 billion won by falsifying its capital gain from the merger. Including this, Kim and his family "deliberately" evaded the taxes in violation of multiple laws, including the capital markets act, the group alleged.







It called on tax authorities to slap a fine of nearly 6.4 trillion won on the accused, five times the amount evaded as dictated by the law that allows an aggravated fine of up to five times the amount of tax evaded in serious tax evasion cases. (Yonhap)






Late former President Chun Doo-hwan described a military document recommending a crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju as a "good idea," a fact-finding panel said Monday.







Marking the second anniversary of its launch, the May 18 Democratization Movement Truth Commission released interim results of a probe into the clampdown that led to the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the city, now the cradle of the country's democracy.







The commission said the document, written by South Korea's Second Army Command, showed "his excellency" had called the recommendation of the military operation against protesters a "good idea."







The commission said the expression, "his excellency," apparently referred to Chun, then defense security commander, rather than then President Choi Kyu-hah, as past military records mentioned the general as "his Excellency, Chun."







The commission also found that in May 1980, the directive for the Jindogae 1 combat posture, a high alert level, had been relayed to airborne troops.







Under the posture, live ammunition can be distributed for military operations.







Past military documents related to airborne units deployed to the crackdown did not contain any records about the issuance of the Jindogae 1 posture.







The commission said it has been trying to ascertain why such records had been omitted.







Launched under a special act on finding the truth behind the bloody crackdown, the commission is aimed at investigating the command system and firing order associated with the crackdown, and disclosing human rights violations, including civilian casualties. (Yonhap)


Members of a civic coalition against the work permit system hold a press conference in front of the Constitutional Court in central Seoul, Dec. 23. Yonhap



By Lee Hae-rin



Migrant workers' groups are criticizing the Constitutional Court's Dec. 23 ruling in favor of the government restriction on foreign workers changing workplaces, saying the decision is against international human rights norms to abolish racial discrimination and ban forced labor.



The court announced a 7-2 judgment against the petition by five migrant workers filed in March 2020, which claimed that restriction on changing workplaces infringes on migrant workers' freedom to human dignity and the pursuit of happiness.



Under the law, migrant workers who come here under the employment permit system (EPS) cannot change workplaces in principle during their stays lasting up to four years and 10 months. They can take a new job in only limited cases, such as when the employer wants to terminate the contract or closes the business, or when the employer treats the employee unfairly making the employee unable to continue working there according to social norms, such as sexual abuse. And they are limited to changing jobs no more than three times under the system.



For other causes, migrant workers wanting to change workplaces need to get approval from the previous employer or prove they are not responsible for the conditions under which they would seek to change jobs. This rule has made it difficult for migrant workers to change workplaces despite various forms of abuse and unfair treatment, virtually treating them as "forced labor," according to civic groups.



The court, however, said the relevant clauses on the law do not infringe on migrant workers' basic rights. It said the system was adopted to relieve employee shortages in industries having difficulty securing workers, and if they are allowed to seek new employers, it could leave industries more vulnerable to worker shortages.





Justices sit at the Constitutional Court room in Seoul, Dec. 23, to decide on the petition filed by migrant workers on alleged human rights infringement by the employment permit system. Seven out of the nine justices voted in favor of the restriction on foreign workers' workplace change. Yonhap
Yoon Suk-yeol, the presidential candidate of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), holds a press conference to announce his policy promises on the capital market sector, at the PPP's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Joint Press Corps



By Jung Da-min



The main opposition conservative People Power Party (PPP) and its presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol are facing a dilemma over how to respond to last week's presidential decision on a special pardon for former President Park Geun-hye who had been jailed over a massive corruption scandal.



As Park still has influence in the conservative PPP's home turf of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province while Yoon, as senior prosecutor, led the investigation into the scandal that ended with her imprisonment, he and the party are at a loss over whether they should make a more conciliatory gesture toward the former president to embrace her supporters, or keep their distance from her so as not to lose support from centrist voters, especially around the planned regional visit later this week.



The visit had been arranged before the government announced its decision to pardon the former president, citing mainly health reasons, while she was serving her 22-year prison term for multiple charges including corruption. Since her arrest in March 2017, she has received treatment for shoulder and back pain and recently for psychological anxiety.



Park had long represented a district in Daegu, and sympathy for the jailed former president has been relatively high among residents in the city and the surrounding provinces compared to other regions.



With Park's pardon decision being made just ahead of Yoon's visit to the region from Wednesday to Thursday, Yoon's plan to draw support from residents there faces an unexpected uphill battle as many Park supporters regard Yoon as one of the main figures behind Park's downfall  Yoon, who had clashed with Park under her tenure, later led the investigation into the scandal as a member of the special counsel team, and was tapped as prosecutor general for the current Moon Jae-in administration.





Members of a liberal civic organization hold a press conference to protest the Moon Jae-in government's decision to pardon former President Park Geun-hye, in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul's Jongno District, Monday. Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in shakes hands with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong during a luncheon with the leaders of six domestic conglomerates at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. On the left is POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo. Yonhap









By Nam Hyun-woo







President Moon Jae-in emphasized the role of businesses in tackling the youth unemployment issue during a meeting with the chiefs of the nation's top conglomerates, Monday, asking the corporate leaders to create more quality jobs for young jobseekers.







He invited chiefs of the country's top six business conglomerates including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to Cheong Wa Dae to express his gratitude for their job creation efforts and to seek further efforts.







Moon's meeting with Lee came just three days after the President pardoned his ousted and jailed predecessor Park Geun-hye. Given that the Samsung chief served a prison term and was released on parole in August due to his involvement in the 2016 influence-peddling scandal of Park, the meeting and Park's pardon combined are interpreted as Moon's move to help the ruling bloc gain the support of conservative voters ahead of next year's presidential election.







According to Cheong Wa Dae, Moon had lunch with Lee, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo at the presidential office and thanked the business leaders for their promises to create 179,000 jobs over the next three years.







"The six groups have promised that they will create nearly 180,000 jobs for young people and provide support for job training," Moon said during the luncheon. "With those pledges, businesses can secure talented workforces and jobseekers will have broader opportunities to pursue their dreams. I want to express my gratitude for the companies' decisions.







"Basically, creating jobs is the role of businesses and the government's role is providing maximum support," Moon said, asking for stronger partnerships between the private and public sectors to create jobs.






Time to overhaul anti-corruption agency



The state anti-corruption agency expressed regret over allegations that it made multiple requests to obtain the phone records of journalists, politicians and members of the public. In a statement Friday, the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) said it regrets causing public controversy by following the investigative practices of a bygone era without sufficient forethought.



Yet it remains to be seen whether the CIO's expression of regret will calm the uproar triggered by the alleged surveillance activities. In fact, the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) urged Kim Jin-wook, the head of the CIO, to resign even after the agency expressed regret.



The agency's request for the phone records came to light in early December when Kim Kyeong-yul, an accountant critical of the Moon Jae-in administration, revealed that the anti-corruption office requested his phone data from telecom companies. Subsequently, the CIO was found to have requested the phone data of scores of reporters at over 10 media organizations who mainly covered scandals involving the CIO itself, prompting suspicions that the journalists may have been targeted for writing stories critical of the agency.



What's puzzling is that the CIO's requests for the phone records of reporters at the conservative cable channel, TV Chosun, did not stop at the journalists themselves, but were extended to their family members. The PPP also revealed that the phone records of at least 26 of its lawmakers were collected by the agency.



The latest controversy should be a wake-up call for the CIO, which was launched in January vowing to be an independent agency respecting human rights. One cannot but wonder if it has exerted its authority humbly and moderately. The reality is that the agency has turned a deaf ear to the abuse of power argument, simply stating that the requests for data "followed established legal procedures for the purpose of checking the suspects' phone contacts." The CIO should be completely overhauled and it needs to respond to the surveillance allegations sincerely and transparently. It's also necessary to re-examine the current practice that allows law enforcement agencies to seek phone records from telecom companies without a warrant.


Candidates should do more to avoid 'family risks'



The wife of main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol made a belated apology Sunday over allegations that she had falsified credentials for lecturing posts in colleges. During a press briefing at the PPP headquarters, Kim Keon-hee acknowledged she exaggerated or falsified her career to stand out and felt ashamed of such misdeeds.



It is unprecedented for the wife of a leading presidential candidate to make a public appearance for an apology. Kim blamed herself for exaggerating her career in job applications. She came under pressure from the PPP to apologize as her husband's support rate was declining at a rapid pace. Yet her apology was called into question due to a lack of sincerity in her remarks. She appeared to be focused more on defending Yoon than on reflecting on what she did. So one cannot but raise doubts about her real intention, because of her expression of concerns about the falling popularity of her husband.



Even though she repented for falsifying her resumes, she invited criticism by stopping short of specifying what she had done wrong. This means she made only a "superficial" apology probably at the request of the PPP to shore up her husband's support rate, which was certainly dented by the controversy surrounding her. This also betrays the people's wish to hear a frank and detailed apology from her over a series of suspicions.



Kim offered her apology belatedly 12 days after a local cable channel raised the allegations about her falsified records. But she spent much of the briefing highlighting the merits of her husband, describing him as a soft and amicable spouse. She was apparently trying to woo voters for her husband by revealing her experience of a miscarriage. She even said she would like to disappear if she could to help Yoon get a proper assessment. For this, Kim deserves criticism for defending her husband instead of extending a genuine apology.



Fairness should be held dear. As the wife of a leading presidential candidate, Kim was supposed to candidly admit her faults and take due responsibility. If not, Yoon will fail to regain public support. Kim is facing lawsuits filed by many educational institutes for her falsified credentials. Investigators should get to the bottom of her case regardless of her apology.



Presidential candidates should pay more heed to potential misdeeds by their family members. Earlier, Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), also faced allegations that his son was involved in illegal gambling. Yet, he managed to mitigate the repercussion by making a prompt apology, vowing not to have his son repeat such misconduct.



Yoon is also bracing for a family risk since his mother-in-law was found guilty by a court recently for fabricating a bank account document and illegally founding a nursing home and receiving medical fees from the state health insurance system. Yoon should manage his family affairs more strictly.






President Moon Jae-in speaks at a luncheon with major conglomerate heads at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday. From left, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Moon, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun and KT CEO Ku Hyun-mo. Korea Times photo by Wang Tae-seog





By Kim Hyun-bin







President Moon Jae-in invited the heads of six major conglomerates to Cheong Wa Dae for lunch, Monday, and exchanged opinions on issues such as 6G communication technology, electric vehicles, vaccines, OLED TVs, and hydrogen-reduced steel.







President Moon also thanked the corporate chiefs for their contributions to the local economy.







Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong emphasized the importance of building infrastructure for 6G networks, the next-generation of mobile communication technology, and nurturing workers in the semiconductor industry.







When asked about 6G-related research and development, Lee was quoted by presidential spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee as saying, "Telecommunication is an important infrastructure that is similar to vaccines and it can be utilized after establishing infrastructure through preemptive investments. Our company is preparing for the 6G era."







The Samsung chief added, "The semiconductor industry is filled with uncertainties, with new technologies continuing to emerge requiring us to work harder to keep up."







Moon also expressed hope that Samsung and Hyundai boost cooperation in the area of automotive semiconductors.






In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pauses during his and Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca's joint news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 30. AP-Yonhap



Talks between Russia and the United States on Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine will start immediately after New Year holidays, Russia's top diplomat announced Monday.



''It is with the U.S. that we will carry out the main work of negotiations, which will take place immediately after the New Year holidays end,'' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview Monday. The holidays in Russia will last for 10 days, through Jan. 9.



Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies have refused to provide such pledges, but said they are ready for the talks.



The demands, contained in a proposed Russia-U.S. security treaty and a security agreement between Moscow and NATO, were drafted amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stoked fears of a possible invasion. Russia has denied it has plans to attack its neighbor but pressed for legal guarantees that would rule out NATO expansion and weapons deployment there.



Lavrov said last week that, in addition to talks with the U.S., Moscow will start separate talks with NATO on the issue, as well as separate negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.



It is important that "our proposals aren't wound up in endless discussions, which the West is famous for and which it knows how to do, that there is a result of all these diplomatic efforts," Lavrov said Monday.



NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12, a NATO official said Saturday, adding that the bloc was in touch with Russia about the meeting.



Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday confirmed the meeting will take place, calling talks with NATO "important," but said the details of the meeting are ''in the works'' and the date is still to be confirmed. (AP)




A staff member walks past a mural of the Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen and Coca Cola-branded refrigerators at the Winter Olympic Village in Beijing, Dec. 24. AP-Yonhap





An all-out battle to eliminate hotspots has been waged for months. Each time the Delta variant of the coronavirus has escaped into the community in China, authorities have moved in hard and fast to cut the chain of transmission.



Communities have been shut down, mass testing rolled out and contacts traced. The measures add up to the country's zero-COVID strategy, an epidemiological full-court press that has been used time and again, from Guangzhou in the south to Inner Mongolia in the north.



In most cases, the outbreaks have been contained within a month but with Omicron, a more transmissible variant, sweeping the globe and the Beijing Winter Olympics just weeks away, all eyes are on whether this will continue to be the case.



So far China has reported nine COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant, including two who were infected by a man returning from Canada. The National Health Commission has pledged tougher controls at the borders in land, sea and customs checkpoints, with measures including more frequent testing and extended quarantine if imported cases are found in quarantine.



Experts say China is at a greater risk of Omicron outbreaks and, although the zero-COVID approach might still work against the new variant, gaps need to be plugged and resources allocated to meet the greater challenge.



The arrival of the Winter Games means an easing in some of the border restrictions that have shielded the country from an onslaught of imported cases. Thousands of athletes and delegates will be able to enter China without quarantine if they have been fully inoculated. Booster doses are encouraged but not required.



However, studies indicate that primary immunization is not enough to protect people against the Omicron variant.



The Beijing municipal government said earlier this month that outbreaks at the Olympics were expected but they were confident of containing the cases within the "closed loops".



Nevertheless, limiting Omicron's spread will be a challenge, according to Professor Kwok Kin-on, a public health epidemiologist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.



"China will have a certain level of opening to overseas athletes and coronaviruses might be introduced across the border and that can easily spread," Kwok said.



"The epidemic control at the border is excellent but there are still loopholes."



Professor Jin Dong-yan, a virologist from the University of Hong Kong, said recent outbreaks showed the border was not solid and China was at risk of big outbreaks.



Part of the problem was that cases were not detected until quite a late stage.



"The recent outbreaks in China, like Zhejiang province and in Inner Mongolia, were picked up when dozens of people were already infected and community outbreaks," Jin said, adding the source of the outbreaks could not be traced because the infections were already generations away.



He said later discovery of cases could mean months-long outbreaks, as was the situation in Taiwan in the middle of the year or has been the case in Vietnam since June.



"This might come again and again, posing a challenge to the zero-tolerance policy, but that's the reality," Jin said.





Workers deliver a cart loaded with equipment to a commercial plaza at the Winter Olympic Village in Beijing, Dec. 24. AP-Yonhap



As fast as health authorities have moved in the era of the Delta variant, Omicron could mean they will have to move even quicker.



Kwok said Omicron's high transmissibility resulted in cases doubling in about two to three days, posing a big problem for contact tracing.



"We have seen an instant response, including a partial lockdown, once an outbreak is identified in China, but when China faces the challenge of Omicron due to the short doubling time, contact tracing cannot be done easily," he said.



"That means [authorities] have to spend more resources, money to trace the cases.



"A lot of resources will have to be spent to make sure the epidemic can be kept well under control. It may take a longer time to halt the spread of the Omicron epidemic."



Cracks are also apparent in another bulwark against the coronavirus  vaccination.



Roughly 85 percent of the country's population has received at least one dose of a vaccine, with jabs available to children as young as three years old.



But two doses of an inactivated vaccine, the variety mostly used in China's vaccination drive, can only offer a very weak, if not almost no, antibody response against the Omicron variant, according to various non-peer-reviewed studies.



For example, researchers at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong said last week that in a joint study, three doses of the Sinovac vaccine did not produce enough protective antibodies to combat the Omicron variant infection.



And it is unclear how well the inactivated doses prevent severe illness or death, a job more for the cellular immunity induced by vaccines.



Jerome Kim, director general of the International Vaccine Institute, said the data so far was limited.



"Theoretically the use of the whole-virus vaccines [such as inactivated vaccines] may generate responses that might provide better cross protection against variants, but we don't know enough right now about which cellular responses are a correlate of protection," Kim said.



Kim said booster shots were already needed for broader control of the Delta variant and data suggested that Omicron, with an unprecedented amount of mutations on the coronavirus's spike protein  the part that enables infection  was even harder for existing vaccines to fend off.



Vaccination reduced the risk of infection, hospitalization and death, but there was not a lot of data on the effectiveness of the inactivated Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines widely used in China, particularly during the Delta wave, he added.





A Chinese flag and a Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics flag flutter at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games village in Beijing on Dec. 24. AFP-Yonhap




The new United Nations special envoy to Myanmar on Monday said she was "deeply concerned" by escalating violence in the country and called for a new year ceasefire between the military and its opponents.







Special envoy Noeleen Heyzer "is deeply concerned by the continued escalation of violence in Kayin State and other parts of Myanmar," she said in her first statement since she was appointed in October.







Nationwide protests against the military's February coup have been met with a bloody crackdown, with more than 1,300 people killed and over 11,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.







Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis led by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian nations have so far made little headway, with the generals refusing to engage with opponents of their power grab.







In October UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres named Singaporean sociologist Heyzer as the new special envoy to Myanmar, replacing Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener.







On Sunday a UN official said he was "horrified" by credible reports that at least 35 civilians were killed and their bodies burned in an attack on Christmas Eve in the east of the country, and demanded the government launch an investigation.







Two workers for non-profit group Save the Children remain missing after their vehicle was among several that were attacked and burned in the incident in eastern Kayah state.







The charity said Monday it was still investigating the incident. (AFP)




Description

Requisition ID 19049 - Posted 12/22/2021 - CareOregon - Full Time - Permanent - Seaside

To protect the health and well-being of our members, employees and community, CareOregon requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exception as a qualification of employment. Candidates who receive an offer of employment by CareOregon, must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination or submit a medical or religious exception request, which will be evaluated in accordance with CareOregon's standard accommodation process. Position Title: Advisory Council and Member Outreach Coordinator - Bilingual Department: Columbia Pacific CCO Title of Manager: Director, Community Health Partnerships Supervises: Non-Supervisory Exemption Status: Non-Exempt Requisition ID: 19049 Job Summary This position is responsible for providing council and member support for a Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). Core work includes coordinating recruitment and membership activities of regional Community Advisory Councils, as well as helping members and community partners understand and navigate the Health Plan in community-based, face-to-face settings. Also, this position coordinates activities and assists with regional Advisory Councils, health plan members retention and engagement strategies through mentorship, collaborative problems-solving and excellent customer service. Essential Responsibilities Council Coordination Maintain confidentiality of all sensitive information using appropriate discretion and judgment.

Serve as primary resource for Community Advisory Council information and regulatory requirements for reporting on Advisory Council activities.

Coordinate, schedule, and organize meetings (online, in-person, and multi-stakeholders) for Advisory Council members, including outside guests, speakers, and interpreters for meetings that support the regulatory requirements for the CCO 2.0 contract.

Provide support to the Advisory Council meetings, such as scheduling, material creation/collation of agendas and minutes, distribution of minute summaries, assist with the membership role matrix and Advisory Council rosters, include follow-up on meeting space and catering needs.

Draft, produce, and proofread a variety of documents related to supporting Advisory Council meetings with minimal oversight.

Use standard word processing and spreadsheet software to enter and track data, as well as produce documents, spreadsheets, charts and graphs; apply excellent attention to detail.

Create or update presentation and materials as directed by Advisory Council members.

Record, distribute, and store meeting minutes and other meeting materials.

Organize and maintain files to assure timely retrieval of information. Assure Advisory Council members are engaged, trained, supported and developed to help ensure State requirements of their membership and represent the diversity of the service region.

Support and arrange for Advisory Council members who are mono-lingual to participate in meetings and community activities by preparing agendas and schedules for meetings with minimal supervision; collect, prepare, and distribute appropriate materials for meetings.

Identify and recruit health plan and community partner Advisory Council members. Establish and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external contacts.

Work with CCO staff to develop and support activities and projects identified by Advisory Council members. Member Outreach and Navigation Identify community engagement activities that support community-based health plan navigation efforts.

Coordinate with community and clinical partners as needed to support the health plan and help members understand their health plan eligibility and help to access primary care, behavioral health care and the social safety net.

Convey routine and complex information to health plan members, providers and community partners regarding health plans, their systems and technical information.

Asist members and the public with navigation through disseminating information regarding DHS and OHP benefit structures.

Participate in CareOregon customer service training; implement customer service in community based, face-to-face settings. Organizational Responsibilities Perform work in alignment with the organization's mission, vision, and values.



Strive to meet annual business goals in support the organization's strategic goals.

Adhere to the organization's policies, procedures, and other relevant compliance needs.

Perform other duties as needed. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required

Knowledge of basic managed care concepts, benefits, and the Oregon Health Plan

Knowledge of basic concepts to CareOregon Medicare benefits

Knowledge of basic concepts of Social Security, Social Security Disability, and Department of Human Services benefit structures

Excellent listening, written and verbal communication skills



Advanced skills in Microsoft Office Suite or related software; project management software may be helpful

Excellent organizational and record keeping skills; strong attention to detail

Advanced understanding of clerical and operational procedures and systems such as recordkeeping, filing, and department workflows

Ability to effectively manage multiple responsibilities with changing priorities Ability to use good judgment and take initiative, with minimal supervision Ability to work independently and collaboratively, including problem solving abilities

Ability to anticipate, prepare for and meet deadlines



Ability to build and maintain professional relationships with community stakeholders

Ability to diffuse stressful situations with humor and tact Requires irregular work hours and monthly travel (e.g., evening meetings and weekend activities) Physical Skills and Abilities

Lifting/Carrying up to 20 Pounds Pushing/Pulling up to 0 Pounds Pinching/Retrieving Small Objects Crouching/Crawling Reaching Climbing Stairs Repetitive Finger/Wrist/Elbow/ Shoulder/Neck Movement 1-3 hours/day 0 hours/day 0 hours/day 0 hours/day 0 hours/day 0 hours/day 3-6 hours/day Standing Walking Sitting Bending Seeing Reading Hearing Speaking Clearly 0 hours/day 0 hours/day 1-3 hours/day 0 hours/day More than 6 hours/day 1-3 hours/day 3-6 hours/day 3-6 hours/day Ability to operate an automobile Cognitive and Other Skills and Abilities Ability to focus on and comprehend information, learn new skills and abilities, assess a situation and seek or determine appropriate resolution, accept managerial direction and feedback, and tolerate and manage stress. Required: Minimum 3 years' experience in service coordination, administrative support, or community outreach, including 1 year of customer service experience

DHS certification to enroll members in SNAP Food Stamp benefits or ability to complete certification within 6 months in the position

Traditional Health Worker certification or ability to obtain within 18 months in the position (can be as Community Health worker or Navigator)

Valid driver's license, acceptable driving record, and automobile liability coverage or access to an insured vehicle

Fluency through language testing in a second language relevant to the population served Preferred: Experience in the healthcare field

Experience with social services resources Working Conditions Environment: This position's primary responsibilities typically take place in the following environment(s) (check all that apply on a regular basis): Inside/office Clinics/health facilities Member homes Other: Community Based Settings Travel: This position requires frequent travel outside of the workplace, in which the employee's personal vehicle may be used. Driving infractions will be monitored in accordance with organizational policy.

Equipment: General office equipment and/or mobile technology

Hazards: OSHA Category I - Assigned tasks may involve exposure to communicable diseases, blood, body fluids or tissues. Candidates of color are strongly encouraged to apply. CareOregon is committed to building a linguistically and culturally diverse and inclusive work environment Veterans are strongly encouraged to apply. Equal opportunity employer. This company considers all candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

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Le Bureau du Directeur des Poursuites Publiques a publie une edition speciale de sa newsletter electronique pour parler sur divers sujets dactualites.

Satyajit Boolell, SC, DPP, a evoque les accidents qui coutent des vies mais aussi des frais medicaux aux familles, a letat ainsi quuax assurances.

2021 witnessed an alarming rise of fatal accidents on our roads. In the first half of the year, road traffic accidents

caused 53 deaths and I am given to understand that we have crossed the bar of one hundred at the time of writing. And the figures are likely to rise as we enter the festive season. Each dangerous road accident carries a broker family, a family searching solace in the face of tragedy. The criminal justice system regrettably does not provide quick relief to victims of road traffic offences.

Le lancement du Mauritius Criminal Law Review Edition 2021 a aussi une place de choix dans la newsletter.

As we look back on another prosperous and illustrious year at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, it is only fitting that we include the launching of the 2021 edition of the Mauritius Criminal Law Review (MCLR) in this special edition newsletter of 2021.

The 2021 edition of the MCLR provided a fabulous opportunity for the Office of the DPP to achieve two goals; firstly, to pay a tribute to late Pierre Rosario Domingue, an eminent lawyer and close collaborator of the DPP who was also an assiduous member of the editorial board of the MCLR. The second goal was to set up a platform for law officers to review some selected landmark cases in the area of Constitutional Law in Mauritius.

Newsletter December 2021 Special Edition (1)


ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Security forces in Ethiopia's Oromia regional state have neutralized 18 suspected Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebel fighters, state-owned media outlet Oromia Broadcasting Network (OBN) reported on Monday.

The OBN reported 18 suspected OLA fighters were neutralized and four other suspected OLA fighters arrested during a recent security operation in Mieso locality, West Hararghe zone of Oromia regional state.

"Eleven Kalashnikov rifles and 14 rifle magazines were also captured during the recent security operation in the area," it reported.

The OLA is a breakaway faction of the ex-rebel group, Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). The OLF is an opposition political party claiming to fight for the rights of ethnic Oromos who make up about 35 percent of Ethiopia's 110 million-plus population.

The OLF was designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament in 2011. It was removed from the terror list in July 2018 to help facilitate negotiations and foster reconciliation.

However, a breakaway faction estimated to have around nearly 3,000 fighters operates in the western and southern parts of Oromia regional state, the principal homeland of ethnic Oromos.

In May, the Ethiopian parliament voted to designate the OLA as a terrorist group. Enditem
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Eight years ago, during a live-stream, Wang Yaping was playing with her food. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Chinese taikonaut as she reached out to spin a floating "zongzi," a leaf-wrapped rice dumpling, in zero gravity whilst on board the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft. The idea to include this snack on the space mission's menu came directly from President Xi Jinping.

Zongzi is traditionally eaten during Duanwu Jie (Dragon Boat Festival), which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar. In 2013, the festival coincided with the Shenzhou-10 manned space mission. Before the launch, Xi said that the taikonauts should be able to celebrate the festival, too, and requested that zongzi be added to the spaceship pantry.

Every time Xi has held video calls with the country's orbiting taikonauts, their well-being has been his priority. He discusses their health, work and living conditions, and is sure to tell them, "We all care about you very much."

On June 11, 2013, not long after entering office as the Chinese president, Xi visited Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, to see off the Shenzhou-10 mission taikonauts. Three years later, despite being overseas on official business, Xi sent congratulations after the successful launch of the Shenzhou-11 mission.

Xi may have his feet firmly on the ground, but he has his eyes on the stars. In a letter replying to veteran scientists in 2020, he recalled the day 50 years ago China launched its first man-made satellite Dongfanghong-1. He wrote: "I was thrilled when the news reached me in Liangjiahe," referring to the small, rural village in northwestern China, where he spent part of his formative years.

"The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger," Xi said eight years ago during his first video call to orbiting taikonauts. "With the development of space programs, the Chinese people will take bigger strides to explore further into space."

In the years since this statement, China now has its own global navigation satellite network; its moon probe brought back lunar samples; it landed a rover on Mars, and its taikonauts are currently constructing a Chinese space station.

"You [taikonauts] represent all those who are striving to make China a strong aerospace nation," Xi has told orbiting taikonauts.

This respect and passion is shared by millions who, when they look to the skies every night, see that their dreams are in reach. Enditem
Tsitsi Machingauta, Founder and National Coordinator of the Women's Farming Syndicate (WFS), shows handicrafts made by women in Domboshava, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

by Tafara Mugwara

HARARE, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Early in the morning in Domboshava, a village near Harare, two women were gathering herbs in a lush green forest.

A branch at a time, the women carefully pruned the shrubs, making sure they leave the plants in good health.

Locally known as Zumbani, or Lippia Javanica by its botanical name, the plant is believed to possess medicinal value, and has become widely sought after during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it is believed to be helpful in treating flu-like symptoms.

A stone's throw away, by a rocky mountain edge, two women could be seen plucking flowery plants from the ground.

As clouds gathered from a distance, they continued picking the herbs before dashing back home with their treasured collections.

At their workstation, two elderly women sorted dried plant roots from traditional handmade weaved baskets. Another woman effortlessly pounded some baobab fruit seeds using traditional handcrafted wooden mortar and pestle.

The women are members of the Women's Farming Syndicate (WFS), an organization that aims to eradicate poverty among rural women through sustainable agribusiness and the use of traditional knowledge systems.

Their wide range of products include traditional herbs, tea, spices, traditional handicrafts and various products made from wild plants and fruits.

The products are natural with no artificial additives and are handmade by rural women.

Tsitsi Machingauta, Founder and National Coordinator of WFS, said the goal of the organization is to create value by harnessing resources widely available in the community.

"As the Woman's Farming Syndicate we are using what is readily available within our environments to create products that are marketable both locally, and internationally to actually generate sustainable livelihoods for ourselves," Machingauta told Xinhua.

Inspired by her grandmother, who had vast knowledge of plants, Machingauta said the idea to commercialize traditional knowledge systems came about out of a need to find a sustainable income.

While indigenous knowledge systems in treating diseases remain one of the most valuable intellectual resources owned by rural communities in Zimbabwe, Machingauta said it has been the least mobilized resource for sustainable development.

"So I realized that if we then leverage on these traditional knowledge systems to have sustainable livelihoods for women, it means that women can actually have decent lives where they are, with what they have within their communities, at their fingertips," Machingauta said.

"Through this initiative, the women's farming syndicate has enabled women to have decent livelihoods and to have a living wage, through the traditional knowledge systems, and through being able to commercialize it," she added.

PRESERVING TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Local people have a long history of plant usage for medicinal purposes.

In most cases, practitioners, who are usually senior citizens, provide services based on traditional medicinal knowledge of local plants free of charge, or for a small fee.

Despite the increasing acceptance of traditional medicine, the rich indigenous knowledge is not adequately documented and is mostly passed on from generation to generation.

While the Zimbabwean government formally recognizes traditional medicine, traditional healers have remained largely marginalized in most medical circles.

Machingauta said indigenous knowledge systems are a valuable national resource. Therefore, ensuring their protection should be a national priority.

She said China offers valuable lessons on how traditional knowledge systems can be used in the modern era, saying the Asian country has managed to preserve traditional knowledge for centuries.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Machingauta believed that the best way to preserve the natural environment is to ensure that ordinary people reap economic benefits from their immediate surroundings.

She said since the community started to financially benefit from her initiative, people have started to cherish their natural environment.

And this also encouraged people in local communities to also start to appreciate the value of forests, traditional fruits, and vegetables, because they are now generating an income for the community, Machingauta said.

"We are key custodians of the environment, and this really shows that we are key players in decision making," she said.

Machingauta said given the benefits of traditional knowledge systems, it is imperative that they are promoted for wider use. Enditem

Members of the Women's Farming Syndicate (WFS) roast baobab fruit seeds in Domboshava, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

Members of the Women's Farming Syndicate (WFS) prepare traditional herbs in Domboshava, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

Tsitsi Machingauta (2nd L), Founder and National Coordinator of the Women's Farming Syndicate (WFS), pounds traditional herbs in Domboshava, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)

A woman pounds traditional herbs in Domboshava, Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Photo by Shaun Jusa/Xinhua)
JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced on Sunday a multi-million-dollar plan to develop the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, including the establishment of two new settlements.

In a special cabinet meeting held in the Golan, the ministers approved a plan to strengthen the Israeli settlements in the originally-Syrian territory, according to a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office.

Under the plan, two new settlements, Asif and Matar, will be established in the disputed territory, each with about 2,000 new housing units.

The ministers also decided to allocate 576 million shekels (about 183 million U.S. dollars) to build 7,300 new housing units over the next five years in the town of Katzrin and the Golan Regional Council, according to the office.

The goal of the investment is to double the number of residents in Katzrin, and "significantly increase" the number of residents in the small communities of the Golan Regional Council, it added.

Some 322 million shekels will be invested in improving transportation, education, health and other infrastructures, in addition to developing tourism, research and development centers, and small businesses.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in the 1980s, but the international community has never recognized the move.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced in March 2019 that he recognizes Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

On Nov. 5, 2020, the UN General Assembly confirmed Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since the battle in June 1967. Enditem
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in the Vienna talks Ali Bagheri Kani speaks to reporters after a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)

TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, on Monday urged the parties to Vienna nuclear talks to attend the negotiations with the "determination to reach a good agreement."

Talking to reporters during his weekly press conference, Khatibzadeh said that Iran will not accept the demands beyond 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and will persist on its interests within the accord.

Calling for "serious plans "of the European troika of Britain, France and Germany, during the imminent meetings, he said that if Iran's interests are met within the JCPOA framework, "we will see a good result in this round."

Asked about the threats by Israel against Iran's nuclear program, Khatibzadeh said Iran's response to the military threats of Tel Aviv is the recent military drills of "Great Prophet 17" in Iran's southern coasts.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) staged 5-day military drills last week, with its commanders calling the goals of the drill a display of Iran's responsive power to Israel's threats.

The seventh round of nuclear talks, which began on Nov. 29 in Vienna after a nearly six months of hiatus, has been the scene of intense discussions on two proposals from Iran. The eighth round of talks is scheduled to begin on Monday. Enditem

Photo taken on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria. (EU Delegation in Vienna/Handout via Xinhua)

Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service, speaks to reporters after a meeting of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Joint Commission in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 27, 2021. (Xinhua/Guo Chen)
RIYADH, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen accused on Sunday Lebanon's Hezbollah of targeting Saudi Arabia through Sanaa International Airport, Al Arabiya News reported.

The coalition Spokesperson Turki al-Malki highlighted at a press conference some evidence of the involvement of Hezbollah in Yemen.

The press conference showcased pictures of Hezbollah's members training the Houthi militia to launch explosive-laden drones.

The spokesman said that since the beginning of the war in Yemen in March 2015, Houthis attacked the kingdom with 430 ballistic missiles and 851 bomb-laden drones, causing the deaths of 59 Saudi civilians.

Houthis have been targeting various areas in Saudi Arabia, especially border cities and vital establishments, such as energy facilities and airports.

Most of these attacks had been intercepted before reaching their targets.

Recently, the coalition has been air-striking military targets of Houthis in Yemen to deter the militia from launching attacks. Enditem
BERLIN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- German companies are mostly optimistic about the coming year 2022 despite the COVID-19 pandemic and supply bottlenecks, the German Economic Institute (IW) said on Monday.

Most of the country's trade associations reported an improved business situation compared to the end of 2020 and feel confident about the new year, according to a survey conducted by the IW.

None of the 48 associations surveyed expected a decline in production, and 39 of them even expected production to increase.

After a 4.6 percent drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 and a projected 2.7 percent growth in 2021, the German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE), an official advisory body to the government, said it expected GDP to grow by 4.6 percent in 2022.

The IW survey found that the most of the "pessimists" are companies that have been "severely affected" by the COVID-19 pandemic. Rubber and paper companies, as well as glass and leather industries, have been heavily affected by a shortage of raw materials.

The country's trade show industry is even worse off than in 2020 and it is "still not foreseeable when the situation will normalize again," the IW noted.

Many other sectors and industries, such as the services sector and the steel, chemical, metal, mechanical and construction industries, reported an improvement compared to 2020, according to the survey.

Germany's construction industry in particular has "very good business prospects" as the country's new government aims to build 400,000 new homes per year, the IW noted. Enditem
Christian Prisoners In Iran Get Rare 10-Day Holiday Leave

12/27/21

Source: RFE/RL

Iran's judiciary has granted Christian prisoners 10 days' leave to spend the holidays at home with their families, in a rare move toward members of the Islamic republic's Christian minority.



Photos: Christmas at "Saint Gregory The Illuminator" Cathedral in Tehran

(map)

"The decision is to mark the New Year 2022 and the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said on December 26.

The website said that the head of the judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejehi instructed authorities across the country to issue the dispensation. But it wasn't clear when the 10-day period starts, or how many Christian prisoners will benefit from the furlough.

According to Mizan Online, the measure doesn't apply to inmates convicted for undermining security, organized crime, abductions, armed robberies, and those sentenced to death.

Most Christians in Iran are ethnic Armenians who celebrate Christmas on January 6.

Around that time of year, some shops in major cities put up decorations, including Christmas trees while people dressed up as Santa Claus stand outside stores.

Christians represent less than one percent of Iran's total population of 83 million, the majority of whom are Shi'ite Muslims.

Based on reporting by AFP and tasnimnews.com
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Al Jazeera English, December 26, 2021

In Afghanistan, the Taliban authorities say women seeking to travel long distances should not be allowed on road transport unless they are accompanied by a close male relative.

The guidance issued on Sunday by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which also called on vehicle owners to refuse rides to women not wearing headscarves, has drawn condemnation from rights activists.

The move followed the Taliban barring many women in public-sector roles from returning to work in the wake of their August 15 seizure of power, and as girls remain largely cut off from secondary schooling.

It also came despite the group seeking to project a moderate image internationally in a bid to restore aid suspended when the previous government imploded during the final stages of a chaotic military withdrawal by the United States.

Women travelling for more than 72km (45 miles) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member, ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir said, specifying that the companion must be male.

The new guidance, circulated on social media networks, also asked people to stop playing music in their vehicles.

Weeks ago, the ministry asked Afghanistans television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring female actors. It also called on female TV journalists to wear headscarves while presenting.

Muhajir said on Sunday the hijab would likewise be required for women seeking transport.

The Talibans definition of the hijab  which can range from a hair covering to a face veil or full-body covering  is unclear, and most Afghan women already wear headscarves.

Making women prisoners

Human Rights Watch has slammed the guidance.

This new order essentially moves  further in the direction of making women prisoners, Heather Barr, the groups associate director of womens rights, told the AFP news agency.

It shuts off opportunities for them to be able to move about freely, to travel to another city, to do business, (or) to be able to flee if they are facing violence in the home, Barr added.

Earlier this month, the Taliban issued a decree in the name of their supreme leader, instructing the government to enforce womens rights, but it did not mention girls access to education.

On Sunday, Afghanistans Minister for Higher Education Abdul Baqi Haqqani said the authorities were discussing the issue.

The Islamic Emirate is not against womens education but it is against co-education, Haqqani told reporters.

We are working on building an Islamic environment where women could study  it might take some time, he said, without specifying when girls might return to school and university classes across the country.

Womens rights were severely curtailed during the Talibans previous stint in power in the 1990s.

They were forced to wear the burqa, a full-body veil that covers the face as well, could only leave home with a male chaperone and were banned from work and education.

Respect for womens rights has repeatedly been cited by key global donors as a condition for restoring aid.

The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan faces an avalanche of hunger this winter, estimating that 22 million citizens face acute food shortages.

Source: AFP
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday embarked on a visit to Mandi, also known as 'Chhoti Kashi', and inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of hydropower projects worth Rs 11,000 crore that will help boost the state's economy and provide additional power to the states.

One project that has been lying pending for around three decades will prove to be beneficial for Delhi, which will be able to receive around 500 million cubic metre water supply per year.

Donning a long woollen coat and hand gloves amidst chilly weather, Modi presided over the second groundbreaking ceremony of the Himachal Pradesh Global Investors' Meet that is expected to give a boost to investment in the region through the start of projects worth around Rs 28,000 crore.

The first groundbreaking ceremony was held in the state capital in December 2019 amid the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. A total of nearly 100 investors were present on the occasion.

State Chief Minister Jairam Thakur welcomed the Prime Minister by offering a Himachali cap and a shawl. A traditional artifact of Chamba made on silver was presented to Modi, who was accompanying his Cabinet minister Anurag Thakur, who belongs to the state.

Amidst recitation of Sanskrit 'shlokas', the events also marked the completion of the four years of the BJP government.

An official statement said the Prime Minister has constantly focussed on fully utilising the untapped potential of the resources available in the country and one of the steps in this regard has been to utilise optimally the hydropower potential in the Himalayan region.

The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of Renukaji Dam project. Lying pending for around three decades, the project was made possible through the "vision of cooperative federalism" of the Prime Minister, when six states -- Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi -- were brought together by the Centre for making the project possible.

The 40 MW project will be built at a cost of around Rs 7,000 crore. It will generate electricity for the hill state and will provide 500 million cubic metre water supply per year to the national capital.

The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project. The 210 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 1,800 crore. It will lead to generation of over 750 million units of electricity per year.

The modern and dependable grid support will prove beneficial to the surrounding states of the region as well.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project. This will be the first hydropower project of Hamirpur district. The 66 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 680 crore.

It will lead to generation of over 300 million units of electricity per year.

The Prime Minister inaugurated the Sawra-Kuddu Hydro Power Project. The 111 MW project has been built at a cost of around Rs 2,080 crore. It will lead to generation of over 380 million units of electricity per year, and help the state earn revenue worth over Rs 120 crore annually.

Himachal Pradesh is a special category state. Accordingly, it is entitled to financial assistance from the Centre in the ratio of 90 per cent grant and 10 per cent loan unlike non-special category states, which get a Central aid in the ratio of 30 per cent grant and 70 per cent loan.

The social indicators like literacy rate and rate of infant mortality at birth indicate that the state has better literacy rate and infant mortality rate than the all-India average.

Besides hydropower, the hill state's economy largely depends upon tourism and horticulture.
National President of the BJP Yuva Morcha, Tejasvi Surya on Monday withdrew his controversial statements on 'Ghar wapsi'.

"At a programme held in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt two days ago, I spoke on the subject of 'Hindu Revival in Bharat'. Certain statements from my speech have regrettably created an avoidable controversy. I therefore unconditionally withdraw the statements," he stated.

Tejasvi on Saturday (December 25) stated that the estranged Hindus, who have embraced other religions, must be brought back to the Hindu religion. "There is no other way than ensuring the 'Ghar wapsi' of Hindus who have converted to Islam and Christianity."

He further had stated that those who have gone to Pakistan embracing Islam should also be brought back to the Hindu religion. Those who have gone to China and Japan must also be brought back to Sanatan Dharma (Hindu religion). The Hindu religion must be revived, he had said.

"There is nothing in the world that is impossible. 'Ghar wapsi' should be taken up in neighbourhoods, villages. The dreams should be bigger. Ram Mandir has been established in this nation, Article 370 in Kashmir has been abrogated. Those converted to Islam in Pakistan have to be brought back to Hinduism. Religious mutts, temples should take a lead in this regard.

"Only option left for Hindus is to reconvert all those who have gone out of Hindu fold. There is no other solution for Hindus. We cannot think of bringing those back to Hinduism, we have to make evolution with this concept and get adapted to the thought of bringing all Hindus back.

"The metamorphosis should come in our DNA. This is the only way. For a thousand years, either by force or by fraud, through threat or allurement, the Hindu has been taken out from his mother religion. There is only one solution for their anomaly. Those who left mother religion for socio-politico-economic aspects over the course of Indian history must be brought back in a whole to the mother faith," Tejasvi had said.

He further stated that "What we should do in this regard? Every temple, mutts have set targets regarding bringing back people who have gone to other religions to the fold of Hinduism," he had stated.

The statements went viral on social media and drew sharp criticism also.
In another round of signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) in Gandhinagar, the state government inked a pact on Monday with the Taj group of hotels for the construction of a hotel at the Statue of Unity fame Kevadiya.

Industries and mining Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Rajeev Kumar Gupta inked the pact with the hotel conglomerate in the presence of Revenue Minister Rajendra Trivedi and the Minister of State (MoS), industries, Hrishikesh Patel.

Other major MoUs signed are for setting up a 70 MW hybrid renewable energy park, for specialty chemicals and radar parts manufacturing, insecticide formulation plant, defence thermal camera, defence accessories manufacturing and more in sectors like waste to energy, waste to oil, air pollution prevention, anti-bacterial patented equipment manufacturing and more.

During the last four weeks, 80 MoUs have been signed. A total of 16 MoUs were signed on Monday. As many as 95 MoUs have been signed till now in pre-Vibrant Summit.
Night curfew will be re-imposed again in the national capital from Monday amid rising fresh Covid infections on daily basis.

The curfew will be imposed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Delhi on Sunday recorded 290 fresh Covid infection which is highest single day rise after June 10. According to the Health Department, the city had recorded 305 Covid cases on June 10.

The Covid positivity rate has also climbed to 0.55 per cent, against 0.67 per cent Covid positivity on June 4.

The number of active Covid cases have also crossed 1,000 mark in the city and currently stand at 1,103 which is highest after July 1, when there were 1,357 active Covid cases, as per the Health Department.

One Covid death has also been reported in the city in last 24 hours, taking the death tally to 25,105.

Delhi has so far detected 79 cases of new Covid variant Omicron. Of these, 23 have been discharged from the hospital, according to officials.
As Qatar and Turkey seek to take control of operations at the Kabul airport, Afghan businessmen are urging the government to sign a contract with a company from the United Arab Emirates instead, as many Afghans have investments in the UAE and they fear access will be restricted, Tolo News reported.

According to the traders, over 200,000 Afghans are settled there and have millions of dollars invested in the UAE, the report said.

Last Thursday, Qatari and Turkish officials visited Kabul to discuss the management of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul with Islamic Emirate officials.

"This contract is important for the Afghans who are living here. This contract should be given to the UAE. If the flights between Kabul- UAE are halted, the traders will face serious problems," said Obaidullah Sadar Khail, head of the Afghanistan traders' council in the UAE.

Traders said that around 10 flights a day were being operated between Afghanistan and the UAE before the fall of the former government.

"We call on the Islamic Emirate to give the management of the airports to the UAE as this will help develop the country," said Farid Ruhani, a trader, the report said.

But some former members of the Afghanistan Aviation Authority gave a different opinion.

"The international norms and other measures should be observed so that Afghanistan can provide good air aviation services and facilitate revenue," said Imam Mohammad Wrimach, the former deputy minister of transport.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transportation said that it had not reached an agreement with any company to run the Kabul airport.

"Our technical team had a meeting with them (Qatari and Turkish delegates). The meetings will continue until we reach a good agreement," said Imamuddin Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation, the report added.
Edison, NJ -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/27/2021 -- The Latest research study released by HTF MI "Moving Company Software Market" with 100+ pages of analysis on business Strategy taken up by key and emerging industry players and delivers know how of the current market development, landscape, technologies, drivers, opportunities, market viewpoint and status. Understanding the segments helps in identifying the importance of different factors that aid the market growth. Some of the Major Companies covered in this Research are Telogis, WorkWave Route Manager, ClearPathGPS, RTA Fleet Management, Dossier Fleet Maintenance, Linxup, High Point GPS, OPT Runner, StreetEagle, Fleet Manager, GPS Insight, Fleetmatics REVEAL, Route4Me, Titan GPS, RASTRAC, Verizon Expressfleet etc.



Click here for free sample + related graphs of the report @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/3755124-moving-company-software-market-1



Browse market information, tables and figures extent in-depth TOC on "Moving Company Software Market by Application (Large Enterprise & SMB), by Product Type (, Cloud based & On premise), Business scope, Manufacturing and Outlook  Estimate to 2025".



for more information or any query mail at sales@htfmarketreport.com



At last, all parts of the Moving Company Software Market are quantitatively also subjectively valued to think about the Global just as regional market equally. This market study presents basic data and true figures about the market giving a deep analysis of this market based on market trends, market drivers, constraints and its future prospects. The report supplies the worldwide monetary challenge with the help of Porter's Five Forces Analysis and SWOT Analysis.



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Customization of the Report: The report can be customized as per your needs for added data up to 3 businesses or countries or 2 analyst hours.



On the basis of report- titled segments and sub-segment of the market are highlighted below:

Moving Company Software Market By Application/End-User (Value and Volume from 2021 to 2026) : Large Enterprise & SMB



Market By Type (Value and Volume from 2021 to 2026) : , Cloud based & On premise



Moving Company Software Market by Key Players: Telogis, WorkWave Route Manager, ClearPathGPS, RTA Fleet Management, Dossier Fleet Maintenance, Linxup, High Point GPS, OPT Runner, StreetEagle, Fleet Manager, GPS Insight, Fleetmatics REVEAL, Route4Me, Titan GPS, RASTRAC, Verizon Expressfleet



Geographically, this report is segmented into some key Regions, with manufacture, depletion, revenue (million USD), and market share and growth rate of Moving Company Software in these regions, from 2015 to 2026 (forecast), covering China, USA, Europe, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia & South America and its Share (%) and CAGR for the forecasted period 2021 to 2026.



Informational Takeaways from the Market Study: The report Moving Company Software matches the completely examined and evaluated data of the noticeable companies and their situation in the market considering impact of Coronavirus. The measured tools including SWOT analysis, Porter's five powers analysis, and assumption return debt were utilized while separating the improvement of the key players performing in the market.



Key Development's in the Market: This segment of the Moving Company Software report fuses the major developments of the market that contains confirmations, composed endeavors, R&D, new thing dispatch, joint endeavours, and relationship of driving members working in the market.



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Some of the important question for stakeholders and business professional for expanding their position in the Moving Company Software Market:

Q 1. Which Region offers the most rewarding open doors for the market Ahead of 2021?

Q 2. What are the business threats and Impact of latest scenario Over the market Growth and Estimation?

Q 3. What are probably the most encouraging, high-development scenarios for Moving Company Software movement showcase by applications, types and regions?

Q 4.What segments grab most noteworthy attention in Moving Company Software Market in 2020 and beyond?

Q 5. Who are the significant players confronting and developing in Moving Company Software Market?



For More Information Read Table of Content @: https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/3755124-moving-company-software-market-1



Key poles of the TOC:

Chapter 1 Moving Company Software Market Business Overview

Chapter 2 Major Breakdown by Type [, Cloud based & On premise]

Chapter 3 Major Application Wise Breakdown (Revenue & Volume)

Chapter 4 Manufacture Market Breakdown

Chapter 5 Sales & Estimates Market Study

Chapter 6 Key Manufacturers Production and Sales Market Comparison Breakdown

..

Chapter 8 Manufacturers, Deals and Closings Market Evaluation & Aggressiveness

Chapter 9 Key Companies Breakdown by Overall Market Size & Revenue by Type

..

Chapter 11 Business / Industry Chain (Value & Supply Chain Analysis)

Chapter 12 Conclusions & Appendix



Thanks for reading this article; you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, LATAM, Europe or Southeast Asia.



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Berlin, Germany -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/27/2021 -- The past year has been a difficult time for those in the financial services industry. Even burgeoning areas such as fintech have faced challenges. Germany's N26 digital bank is one of those that has had to remain flexible in the face of change as the year has continued. Almost two and a half years ago N26 launched its operations in America but as of November this year the digital bank announced that it was scaling back and shutting down its base in the US. There are currently 500,000 N26 customers in America and, as of January 2022, those customers will no longer be able to access the digital bank's app. At its most recent funding round, N26 - which is based in Berlin - was valued at $9 billion. Nevertheless, the bank's exit from the US follows on from it leaving the UK market earlier this year, something that N26 blamed on Brexit.



Selby Jennings is one of Europe's leading financial services recruitment agencies with a presence across the country in Germany, including major locations such as Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Cologne. Established in 2004, the firm has grown alongside the banking and financial services sector in Europe and is focused on helping individuals and organisations overcome the key challenge of talent. With a database of more than a million mid-to-senior professionals and connections at enterprises of all types, Selby Jennings has a wealth of resources to offer to ensure that the right connections are made. With a reputation as one of the most comprehensive financial services recruitment agencies, the firm provides support for hiring across a broad spectrum of fields, including corporate and investment banking, private wealth management, quantitative research and trading and financial technology. A range of permanent, contract and multi-hire solutions ensures that recruitment options can be created for every situation.



Clients and candidates enjoy a range of benefits from working with one of Europe's leading specialist financial services recruitment agencies. Key among these are the international connections that the firm has. In addition to the nationwide reach that is well established in Germany, the team here is also part of a 1,000+ strong worldwide workforce. Plus, it is the recruitment partner of choice to hundreds of world-leading companies as part of the Phaidon International group, which operates across 6 countries. This access to global networks is a huge advantage for enterprises looking to recruit for resilience and growth and for individuals keen to take a career-defining next step. The firm values its own people highly - consultants at the firm receive regular ongoing training and work with best-in-class recruitment technology and strategies. As one of Germany's most prominent financial services recruitment agencies there are many roles available via Selby Jennings today, including KYC Specialist, Data Protection Correspondent, PE Generalist and Senior UX Researcher [SaaS].



"Like for many sectors, 2020 marked a defining moment for recruitment. Challenged by uncertainty, but unwavering in our commitment to our clients, we have endured through 2021 with a sense of duty to clients and candidates", commented Matt Nicholson, Managing Director at Selby Jennings Europe. He went onto say, "as we reflect on the challenges of virtually securing and retaining talent, we're inspired by a team who have demonstrated a remarkable ability to adapt and continue to help all our clients secure top talent on a global scale."



To find out more information about financial services recruitment agencies in Germany visit



https://www.selbyjennings.de



For any media enquiries please contact Gary Elliott at Iconic Digital  020 7100 0726.



For all other enquiries please contact Selby Jennings: +49 30 72 62 11 444.



For more information about Selby Jennings services, please go to https://www.selbyjennings.de



About Selby Jennings

Selby Jennings knows that building the right team isn't easy. However, with the support of the right hiring partner, access to key networks and contacts,it's possible to reimagine the process of recruitment to make it more positive, satisfying and productive.
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Danish special event

Members of the Danish DX Group (DDXG) will activate the special event station OZ50DDXG to celebrate their club's 50th anniversary founding on May 27th, 1972.

Activity will be on CW, SSB and the Digital modes during the year 2022.

Three special awards are available (Gold, Silver, Bronze). See QRZ.com for details.

QSL via OZ1ACB

OPDX
Uzbekistan has inaugurated its $3.6 billion state-of-the-art GTL (gas-to-liquids) plant, one of the largest and most advanced plants of its kind in the world, in the Qashqadaryo Region.

Full operational capacity is expected in the first half of 2022 when Uzbekistan GTL will process 3.6 (billion cubic metres) bcm of gas annually.

Using the latest technology and engineering, Uzbekistan GTL (UzGTL) converts domestic natural gas into clean, high-quality liquid fuels and products with import substitution potential estimated at over $1 billion annually.

When fully operational, the plant will produce over 1.5 million tonnes of high quality, environment-friendly synthetic liquid fuel annually, under the brand name Oltin Yo'l GTL (Golden Way)  a symbol of the new path Uzbekistan is taking towards a more sustainable, prosperous, and environment-friendly future.

The project, designed using modern gas and petrochemical technologies from such leading companies as Sasol (South Africa), Haldor Topsoe (Denmark) and Chevron (USA), was implemented by a consortium including Korean companies Hyundai Engineering and Hyundai Engineering & Construction, and Uzbekistans Enter Engineering.

Opening the plant, Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said: With the launch of the plant, 1,300 specialists will be provided with permanent high-paying jobs. It is especially pleasing that about 80% of the specialists who participated in the construction of the plant are our local people, including young people who are striving to work in a new way, full of strength and energy. These youth are the youth of New Uzbekistan.

Visiting dignitaries were shown around the facility and briefed on the plants immense potential as a key contributor to the countrys economic future. Among them were President of Hyundai Engineering Kim Chang Hag, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprombank Alexei Matveev and President of Air Products and Chemicals Seyfi Gasimi.

Marking this important milestone for the energy sector and the whole country, Minister of Energy, Alisher Sultanov, said: Uzbekistan GTL is a testament to a truly international effort and a great example of our commitment to build a new Uzbekistan with a cleaner environment and self-reliant economy, - a country our children would be happy to live in.

Our main goal is to expand Uzbekistans capacity for the deep processing of domestic natural gas; significantly decrease imports of hydrocarbons; satisfy local demand for high-quality and environment-friendly fuel; and provide the market with strategic value-added products made from our own raw materials.

Together with all our partners, licensors, lenders, EPC contractors, legal and financial advisers, state officials, workers, suppliers, some of whom are here today, we are proud of this huge accomplishment.

Uzbekistan GTL General Director, Fakhritdin Abdurasulov said: Today is the culmination of several years dedicated work by representatives from many countries, all united in a joint effort to complete the project on time and on budget. We look forward to continuing our cooperation through the commissioning and operational phases and delivering high quality fuels and products to domestic and international markets for decades to come. Uzbekistan GTL will become one of the jewels of our economy, offering employment to thousands, bringing significant revenues to the country and producing many important value-added products.

Shukhrat Arziev, Project Director for Enter Engineering, said: We are honoured to be part of this truly international project of such magnitude, not only for Uzbekistan but the whole region. As with any modern and technologically complex construction project, UzGTL has not been without its challenges, and the last two years were particularly testing due to the global pandemic. In July 2020, only 244 working personnel were present at the construction site due to imposed restrictions. As of December 2020, there were over 13,000 people and 810 pieces of equipment. In our work, challenges come with the territory; we are delighted with the result and very grateful to our team and everyone who contributed to our joint success.

Besides producing cleaner fuels including synthetic kerosene, diesel, aviation jet fuel and LPG for the transport and aviation sectors, the plant will also supply synthetic naphtha from UzGTL to the Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex, which will be expanded in the near future. The creation of a local petrochemical cluster will make it possible to produce an additional line of products and organise waste-free production with maximum local processing.

Some installations have already been commissioned and several pre-commissioning works, as well as the testing of pipelines and equipment are under way in all technological zones of the complex. The plant's central control panel and the central laboratory are undergoing national and international accreditation.-- TradeArabia News Service
The economic recovery in the Mena region and Pakistan has bolstered the growth of Careem, a leading multi-service platform, with mobility of people transactions growing by 2.6x compared to December 2020.



Mobility of things and mobility of money grew 2.4x and 2x respectively during Careem said in its 2021 customer and business trends from across its Rides, Intercity Travel, Careem Bike, Food and Grocery Delivery, Careem Express, and Careem Pay services.



Ride Hailing: The total number of rides completed across Careems 13 markets reached 109 million where seven markets recorded more trips than the previous year. The longest trip recorded in all countries in 2021 was a roundtrip between Jubail to Riyadh and covered 1,020 km where the return trip was via Business Limo from Riyadh in April 2021. As for Egypt, the longest trip covered 993 km from Alexandria in northern Egypt to Sharm El Sheikh in Sinai.



Mudassir Sheikha, CEO and co-Founder at Careem, commented: This year, we started simplifying the lives of people in more ways than just seamless transportation. More and more customers used Careem for multiple different daily needs, proving that the opportunity to simplify peoples lives with the convenience of one app is huge and we are just at the beginning of our journey.



Airport Transport: The airports with the most Careem journeys in 2021 were Jeddah (257,000 trips), Karachi (211,000 trips), and Dubai (207,000 trips). 218,000 Customers used Careems city-to-city service, which expanded in early 2021.



Careem Express: Careems last mile delivery service for businesses experienced 150% growth in daily deliveries from January to November 2021 with eCommerce growing 250% year-on-year, the fastest growing segment of Careem Express. Careem Egypt also witnessed 60% increase year-on year and is planning to increase by the same percent in 2022. Black Friday week was the peak period with daily deliveries crossing 45,000 per day. With more than 4,000 daily active Captains across the UAE, KSA and Egypt, Careem Express guaranteed instant or same-day delivery to Customers for businesses, enabling Captains to earn consistently even out of peak hours.



Careem Care: In 2021, Careems 1,200+ Care agents across ten locations received an average of 40,650 Customer service queries per day, and the most frequently-asked-question on social media in Egypt and across other countries was: How do I become a Captain?. The Careem Egypt Care team received an average of 5,700 daily queries from both customers and captains and a total of 1.9 million queries for the full year where 8 out of 10 of our customers were happy with Careem Care in 2021.



In addition, Careems Care agents were supported by 14 chatbots in three languages and five different dialects. 12,000 Covid-related concerns were resolved, including sick pay compensations for Careem Captains. The most unique item lost and recovered was a bag of AED 900,000 cash in the UAE, and in Egypt, wallets and mobile phones were among the lost items, which were returned to their customers through Careem captains.



Careem Rewards Programme: In 2021, Careem Customers globally donated $370,000 towards social causes via the Careem Rewards programme with the highest donations coming from UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The highest value of donation went to the World Food Programmes Share the Meal campaign. Careem customers in Egypt were able to use their loyalty program points and donate to Egyptian NGOs through the Careem Rewards programme a total amount of EGP 600,000.



Careem Pay registered over 66 million transactions across six core markets in 2021. Careem Captains topped-up their phones 32.6 million times in 2021, amounting to a total of $1.5 billion.



Food & Grocery: Daily food orders in the UAE grew 90% from last year, powered by the addition of 1,016 new restaurants. The laziest market was Pakistan, with 1 in every 6 Food orders less than 1 km away. Grocery orders were healthier with most orders coming from the fruits and vegetables category.  TradeArabia News Service
Hamad International Airports (HIA) Oryx Airport Hotel has replaced all its plastic water bottles with eco-friendly containers, which is the latest among various green initiatives implemented at the facility over the past two years, in its effort to achieve 100 per cent eco-friendly operations.

In line with its sustainability commitments as well aligning itself to the Qatar National Vision 2030 which encourages the nation to preserve and protect the environment, the hotel has entered into a new partnership with Italian manufacturer LY Company Italia, to offer eco-friendly water containers to guests, according to a statement from the hotel.

Dhiafatina Hotels Director of Operations Philippe Anric said: We are striving to find methods to decrease the negative impacts on the environment. On average, 100,000 plastic bottles and caps were disposed of every year at the Oryx Airport Hotel.

"We are now moving away from plastic water bottles to eco-friendly alternatives that are recyclable and will reduce single-use plastic waste through our partnership with LY Company Italia. Our goal is to continue to deliver Qatari hospitality to travellers, while preserving our nations environment and ensuring sustainability.

The containers are created from 76% vegetable origin, which is recyclable. The paper is made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified forests and managed plantations that generate cellulose to develop paper. Additionally, the caps and the protective layers are composed of cane sugar derived polymers.

The hotel has also replaced all guestroom keycards with bamboo cards. Other green initiatives include the adoption of recycled paper for all hotel printing collaterals and operations, and the substitution of plastic bags with biodegradable bags.

For hotel room amenities, plastic cotton buds have been replaced with bamboo buds packaged in cardboard boxes, plastic coffee cups switched with recyclable paper cups, and plastic lids replaced with polylactic acid (PLA) lids derived from plants.

Plastic bottles for shampoos and body lotions have also been replaced with EcoPure PET bio-degradable bottles. Plastic dental and shaving kits have also been replaced with starch toothbrushes and shaving utilities, while plastic slippers, combs, and shower caps are now available in eco-friendly forms.

Dining options have also been reinforced with sustainable measures, such as paper straws and wooden cutlery.-TradeArabia News Service
The 19th Abu Dhabi Festival, to be held under the theme Crafting the Emirates State of Mind: Creation, Innovation and Joy, and in partnership with the Italian Embassy, presents Roberto Bolle and Friends, a UAE premiere ballet gala at the Emirates Palace Auditorium on January 9, 2022.

Founder of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF) as well as Founder and Artistic Director of Abu Dhabi Festival Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo said: For nearly two decades, the festival has been a home of the leading stars in ballet. At this editions line-up, we are proud to present Bolle in a ballet gala, including The Nutcracker, Dorian Gray and The Talisman, and share the beauty of this dancers talent, his technical skill and artistic expression to Abu Dhabis audience.

Italian Ambassador Nicola Lener said: Ballet traces its origins to the Italian Renaissance and continues to be part of our cultural life. Bolle, the first dancer in the world to be both Etoile of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and Principal Dancer of the American Ballet Theatre in New York, has been indeed the first artist to turn dance into a tool to foster dialogue and mutual understanding among people from different backgrounds and social classes.

"Thanks to the collaboration with ADMAF, the Embassy of Italy is glad to offer to the Abu Dhabi public a Ballet Gala performed by Bolle & Friends. This event will provide the occasion to enjoy the performance of some famous dancers in the world, who will feature a selection of beautiful ballets from the 19th and 20th century. I am sure that it will be an amazing evening for the Abu Dhabi cultural life.

In this performance, taking place at the Emirates Palace Auditorium in Abu Dhabi, Bolle has invited five famous etoiles to dance with him on the Abu Dhabi Festival stage. The gala will feature nine ballet dances including: Two, The Talisman, Kazimirs Colours, The Nutcracker, Waves, Giselle  Pas de deux from Act II, Thais, Don Quixote  Pas de deux Act III, and Dorian Gray.

Bolle said: It is a great honour to represent Italy with my gala 'Roberto Bolle and Friends' here in Abu Dhabi, a great pleasure to be here for the first time! I am happy and proud to bring Italian art and culture once again beyond the borders, and to be able to show the beauty and communicative power of the dance, universal language that unites people and cultures all over the world.

The Abu Dhabi Festival 2022 will be held under the patronage of Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan and supported by Lead Partner Mubadala Investment Company and Energy Partner GS Energy. With more than 1,000 participating artists from around the world to present more than 300 performances and events, the 19th edition will also include two world tours and 17 world premieres.

The Festival programme is part of the contribution that ADMAF makes to the UAE capitals designation as a UNESCO City of Music.-TradeArabia News Service


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DAR ES SALAAM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian wildlife authorities said on Wednesday they have started capturing 20 roan antelopes to be trans-located to Kenya.

"The capturing of the animals will take about five days before it is completed," Allan Kijazi, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.

Kijazi said all the 20 roan antelopes will be captured from Rungwa game reserve, a protected area in central Tanzania that covers an area of 9,000 square kilometers.

The translocation of the 20 roan antelopes follows an agreement on Dec. 10 between Tanzania and Kenya to exchange roan antelopes and female black rhinos in a move aimed at boosting the reproduction of the two species.

Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan offered Kenya the 20 roan antelopes at a request by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Tanzania has currently about 4,000 roan antelopes while Kenya has only 12 of the species, according to President Hassan.

President Hassan said President Kenyatta had accepted Tanzania's request for black female rhinos that will be sent to northern Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where there are two black male rhinos, to boost reproduction. Enditem
A farmer clears snow from fruit trees in the rural area of Lianyuan City, central China's Hunan Province, Dec. 26, 2021. (Photo by Zhang Yang/Xinhua)

CHANGSHA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Several cities in central China's Hunan Province have ordered schools to suspend classes due to blizzard conditions.

The provincial weather station issued an orange alert for low temperatures and freezing rain and snow at 4 p.m. Sunday and a yellow alert for snowstorms at 6 a.m. Sunday. The first snow of this winter has hit many parts of the province since Saturday evening.

As of 2 p.m. Sunday, 17 counties, cities, or districts had seen the depth of the accumulated snow exceed 10 cm.

To ensure the safety of teachers and students, the cities of Loudi, Huaihua, and Shaoyang, and the Tujia-Miao Prefecture of Xiangxi, have issued a circular to suspend schools.

China has a four-tier, color-coded weather warning system, with red representing the most severe weather, followed by orange, yellow, and blue. 
DAMASCUS, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- As many as 241 civilians have been killed in 2021 by landmines and other explosive materials left in previous war zones across Syria, a war monitor said Sunday.

The number includes 114 children and 19 women as a result of the explosions, most of which occurred in the first quarter, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog called on the concerned international organizations to help remove the war leftovers from Syria and to raise the awareness of the Syrians about the danger of such materials.

State news agency SANA has reported many incidents in which civilians were killed by landmines, saying terror groups had planted them in areas they used to control during the 10-year-long Syrian war. Enditem
AMMAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) holds great potential for boosting Arab-Chinese cooperation and mutual learning, bringing more benefits to the peoples of both sides, according to a Jordanian expert.

"In my opinion, the closer the Arabs cooperate with China, the closer they will achieve their own revival and rejuvenation," said Samer Khair Ahmed, a Jordanian writer and expert on Arab-China relations, in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

Ahmed has been continuously following China's development and is committed to advancing the Arab world's understanding of China and the BRI.

He published two books on China and Arab-China relations, shedding light on China's rejuvenation and future cooperation for both civilizations under the BRI, attracting widespread interest in the region.

Ahmed said the BRI has become a central topic on how to build closer cooperation between China and the international community, including the Middle East. He called on more regional participation in the BRI to share the fruits of China's development.

Having visited China several times with the first trip coming in 2007, the Jordanian expert noted his confidence in the BRI stems from his firsthand experience in the Asian country.

"The tremendous development China has made, and the Chinese people's enthusiasm of forging ahead to realize national rejuvenation has deeply impressed me," he said.

After returning to Jordan, Ahmed incorporated his own experience into his first book on China, which has been cited by a number of Arab media outlets and was nominated for the "Sheikh Zayed Book Award," a significant award in the field of Arabic literature.

Ahmed said he believes that Arab countries could facilitate their technological and industrial progress and accelerate their own rejuvenation by participating in the BRI.

China is committed to peace, equality, and mutual benefits, the expert continued, stressing that fostering economic and cultural ties with China will produce substantial results.

"It is notable that some Western countries refused to see a closer Arab-Chinese relationship. Some Western media distorted and discredited China's image, trying to prevent the people of Arab countries from knowing the real China, thus alienating China and the BRI," he said.

For this reason, Ahmed's second book on China has a chapter describing the BRI and its significant opportunities for the Arab world.

"I believe the BRI will boost win-win cooperation between Arab countries and China," he added. Enditem
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Canada should replace its wrong perception of China with an objective and rational view, and work with China to bring bilateral relations back onto the right track of development, the Chinese Foreign Ministry's spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Monday.

Zhao made the remarks when asked to comment on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim that like-minded nations must show a united front against China's "coercive diplomacy" and moves to play democratic countries off one another.

The remarks made by the Canadian leader are inconsistent with facts and full of misunderstanding and misjudgment about China, Zhao said.

China is committed to the path of peaceful development and seeks peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation with all countries. China's diplomacy is aboveboard without any involvement of coercion or acts of sowing discord, Zhao said.

"In fact, China is a victim of 'coercive diplomacy' carried out by the U.S. and other Western countries," he said, citing examples that the U.S. government plotted the Meng Wanzhou incident in an attempt to contain and suppress China's high-tech industry.

He also said a handful of countries led by the United States wantonly interfered in China's internal affairs on issues related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang in the name of human rights and democracy, trying to impose their "rules" on China.

"This is flat-out coercive diplomacy," Zhao said.

Noting that the China-Canada relations are at a crossroads, Zhao said Canada must think clearly "whether it regards China as a partner or a rival."

He said that China attaches importance to developing ties with Canada and stands ready to develop bilateral ties on the basis of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit.

"Canada should abandon its wrong perception of China, adopt an objective and rational view of China, pursue a positive and pragmatic China policy, and work with China to bring bilateral relations back onto the right track of development," Zhao said. Enditem
HONG KONG, Dec. 20, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Nov. 24, 2021 shows a view of Hong Kong, south China. (Xinhua/Wang Shen)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A spokesperson with China's central government on Monday slammed some politicians and media comments from the United States and other Western countries for their biased and narrow views on Hong Kong-related issues.

Their incapability of getting a clear understanding of Hong Kong-related issues is pathetic, said the spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

Refuting some politicians and media opinions, the spokesperson said their assertion that "the UK secured universal suffrage for Hong Kong" is nothing but fictitious.

No mention is made of universal suffrage or democracy in the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the spokesperson said, stressing that for the good of Hong Kong's long-term development, the Chinese government set as the ultimate goal that the chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will be selected and the legislature constituted by universal suffrage.

It is the anti-China forces in Hong Kong that obstructed the goal of electing the chief executive by universal suffrage, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson added that the national security law in Hong Kong only targets an extremely small number of people damaging national security, noting that only some 150 people were arrested on suspicion of violating the law.

The improved electoral system excludes nobody but those anti-China elements in Hong Kong, and all Hong Kong residents living up to the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" have the opportunity to stand for election, said the spokesperson.

The just-completed election of the seventh-term Legislative Council of the HKSAR saw unprecedented diversity of the background of candidates, and the nominees come from different political groups and factions, the spokesperson added.

The white paper on the development of democracy in the HKSAR released by China's State Council Information Office presents a comprehensive review of the birth and development of democracy in Hong Kong with detailed facts and data, and expounds on the principle and stance of the central government, said the spokesperson, calling on the U.S. and Western politicians and media outlets to learn speaking with facts. Enditem
KHARTOUM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sudan on Sunday condemned the Friday looting of the base of the outgoing United Nations- African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), which left one person dead.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the attacks on and looting of the UNAMID camp in El Fasher on Friday," the Sudanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding the attackers looted some equipment donated by the mission to the government of Darfur states.

The statement voiced Sudan's commitment to provide necessary protection for the UNAMID camp, its assets and all international staff until the mission's final exit.

In December last year, the UN Security Council terminated UNAMID's mandate. The United Nations has donated the assets of UNAMID to the local governments in the Darfur regions for civilian use. Enditem
TEHRAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Health Ministry on Monday reported 1,967 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's total infections to 6,186,729.

The pandemic also claimed 34 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the overall tally since its outbreak in February 2020 to 131,434, said the update by the Iranian ministry.

A total of 6,028,495 people have recovered from the disease or been discharged from hospitals across the country, while 2,766 remain in intensive care units, according to the ministry.

By Monday, 59,592,770 Iranians have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccines, and 51,402,858 of them have taken two jabs. Meanwhile, 6,344,796 people in the country have received the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The report added that 41,592,984 tests have so far been carried out across the country.

Earlier on the day, the Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that "I hope with good observance of the protocols, there will be no need to impose new restrictions, but if the Omicron variant spreads, we may have to impose new restrictions."

On Saturday, Iran's national anti-coronavirus headquarter and the Interior Ministry announced that Iran's land borders with the neighboring countries have been closed for 15 days from Dec. 25 to prevent the spread of Omicron in the country. Enditem




BENI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people have died in a suicide bombing late Saturday, during the Christmas celebration, in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), said hospital sources on Sunday morning.

In a provisional assessment provided on Saturday night by General Ekenge Sylvain, spokesman for the governor of the North Kivu province, at least six people, including the suicide bomber, were killed and 13 others wounded in this "terrorist attack" in the city of Beni.

According to the update delivered this Sunday morning by the medical director of the General Hospital of Beni, two other people died from the serious injuries caused by the explosion, adding that 14 other people were wounded, some in serious condition.

The explosion of the bomb took place at around 20:00 local time, at the entrance of a busy bar. The suicide bomber, stopped by the guards from entering the bar crowded with customers, activated the bomb at the entrance of another bar next door, according to Sylvain Ekenge.

All night from Saturday to Sunday, the security services had patrolled the city and the surroundings of the site of the explosion in search of clues. According to the local security sources, several pieces of the explosive device were collected at the scene of the incident by deminers supported by the UN's mission in DR Congo (MONUSCO).

In a statement made late Saturday on the national TV channel (RTNC), Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya condemned the suicide bombing that caused loss of life.

President Felix Tshisekedi said he had learned with dismay the news of the terrorist attack that hit the city of Beni on Christmas Day and he strongly condemned this heinous act.

While paying tribute to the victims and offering his condolences to the bereaved families, the president promised that these crimes would not go unpunished and that their perpetrators would be hunted down and annihilated.

The territory of Beni, which has been under siege since early May as part of the exceptional measures taken on two provinces, also including Ituri, is constantly under attack by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which have been active in this part of the country for decades.

In June 2021, two bomb explosions, including one carried out by a suicide bomber, struck Beni, causing at least one death and several injuries. According to the DR Congo authorities, the suicide bomber was an active member of the ADF in charge of recruitment.

Since November 30, the Uganda People's Defense Forces, in collaboration with the Congolese army, has officially launched air and artillery operations against several ADF rebel positions in northeastern DR Congo.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BAGHDAD, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four militants of the extremist Islamic State (IS) group were killed on Sunday in airstrikes in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala, a security source said.

Acting on intelligence reports, the Iraqi aircraft conducted 14 airstrikes on IS positions and hideouts in Himreen mountain range in the north of the provincial capital Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, Mohammed al-Azawi, a local leader of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, told Xinhua.

The airstrikes resulted in the killings of four IS militants, al-Azawi said.

The airstrikes came after the Iraqi security launched a major offensive in the early morning to hunt down IS militants in Himreen mountain range, al-Azawi said, adding that the offensive will continue to eliminate IS militants from the mountainous area.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi security forces, backed by Iraqi aircraft, launched an offensive aimed at hunting down IS militants, destroying their hideouts, and securing the mountain range of Himreen, according to a statement by the Iraqi army.

Over the past few months, IS militants have intensified attacks on Iraqi security forces in the provinces where the militants previously controlled, leaving dozens dead and wounded.

The security situation in Iraq has been improving since the Iraqi forces defeated IS in 2017. However, IS remnants have since melted into urban centers, deserts, and rugged areas, carrying out frequent guerilla attacks against security forces and civilians. Enditem
Israeli soldiers take part in a drill in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Oct. 26, 2021. (Photo by Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israel announced on Sunday a multi-million-dollar plan to develop the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, including the establishment of two new settlements.

In a special cabinet meeting held in the Golan, the ministers approved a plan to strengthen the Israeli settlements in the originally-Syrian territory, according to a statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office.

An Israeli soldier stands guard at the Quneitra crossing between Syria's Quneitra and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, on March 1, 2021. (Ayal Margolin/JINI via Xinhua)

Under the plan, two new settlements, Asif and Matar, will be established in the disputed territory, each with about 2,000 new housing units.

The ministers also decided to allocate 576 million shekels (about 183 million U.S. dollars) to build 7,300 new housing units over the next five years in the town of Katzrin and the Golan Regional Council, according to the office.

The goal of the investment is to double the number of residents in Katzrin, and "significantly increase" the number of residents in the small communities of the Golan Regional Council, it added.

Some 322 million shekels will be invested in improving transportation, education, health and other infrastructures, in addition to developing tourism, research and development centers, and small businesses.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in the 1980s, but the international community has never recognized the move.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump announced in March 2019 that he recognizes Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

On Nov. 5, 2020, the UN General Assembly confirmed Syria's sovereignty over the Golan Heights occupied by Israel since the battle in June 1967. 
Local people fetch donated items in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, on Dec. 26, 2021. A Ghanaian charity and several Chinese companies on Sunday donated batches of daily necessities to worse-off communities in the Ashanti Region. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)

ACCRA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- A Ghanaian charity and several Chinese companies on Sunday donated batches of daily necessities to worse-off communities in the Ashanti Region.

The items, including bags of rice, cooking oil, sardines, and beverages, were donated to certain groups of people at Kramokrom and Adumkrom, two poverty-stricken communities in the region.

Laud Ofori Afrifa, a representative of the Community Connect Network, a private charitable organization in Ghana, said that it is hoped that the donations will help those in need.

Ding Ling, a Chinese entrepreneur who joined the Ghanaian charity group to make the donation, said that she has the children in mind during the festive season.

Janet Asantewaa, a resident of Adumkrom, expressed appreciation for the donation, saying that it will support them a great deal.

She also expressed optimism that the relationship among locals, the charity, and the Chinese communities in Ghana will continue. Enditem

A child has her face painted during a donation ceremony in the Ashanti Region, Ghana, Dec. 26, 2021. A Ghanaian charity and several Chinese companies on Sunday donated batches of daily necessities to worse-off communities in the Ashanti Region. (Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson on Monday confirmed that the Chinese side has received visa applications from relevant U.S. personnel with regard to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian confirmed this at a press briefing, when asked to comment on the reports that said the U.S. government has recently requested to send 18 officials, mainly from the State Department and the Pentagon, to China to provide security and medical support for U.S. athletes during the Beijing Winter Olympics, and may submit visa applications for another 40 officials at a later date.

Zhao noted that the U.S. side, driven by political manipulation, has earlier directed and staged a farce of not sending a diplomatic or official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics even though no invitation had been extended.

The Chinese side will handle the U.S. request to send a team of government officials to China and their visa applications in accordance with international customary practices, relevant regulations and the principle of reciprocity, the spokesperson said

"Once again we urge the U.S. to follow the Olympic spirit in practice, refrain from politicizing sports, and stop erroneous words and acts that disrupt or undermine the Beijing Winter Olympics," Zhao said. Enditem
BAGHDAD, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ratified on Monday the results of the country's snap parliamentary elections, paving the way for the Iraqi outgoing president to call on the new parliament to hold its first session, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

The federal court ratified the results during its session, in which the court rejected an appeal against the Oct. 10 election results and a request to stop the procedures for ratifying the election results, according to INA.

Earlier in the day, a judge read out a verdict at the federal court headquarters in Baghdad, rejecting an appeal submitted earlier by Hadi al-Meri, head of the al-Fateh (Conquest) Alliance.

On Nov. 30, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the elections' final result, which showed that the Sadrist Movement, led by prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, took the lead with 73 seats, while the al-Fateh Coalition garnered 17 seats compared with 47 in the 2018 elections.

The political blocs, which lost their leading status in the elections, did not give up easily and began demonstrations and sit-ins, describing the election results as "manipulation and fraud."

According to the Iraqi constitution, the ratification of the results entails President Barham Salih to call on the new parliament to hold its first session under the chairmanship of the eldest parliament member within 15 days from the court's ratification, to elect a president of the parliament and then the president of the country, who will ask the largest alliance to form a government within 30 days.

The Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were held in advance in response to months of protests against corruption, poor governance, and a lack of public services. A total of 3,249 candidates within 167 parties and coalitions competed for 329 parliamentary seats in the elections. Enditem
A community worker writes encouraging words on the protective suit of government worker Lu Chenyang in Yanta District of Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Dec. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of government workers have joined the frontline across the city to stamp out coronavirus in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

Government worker Lu Chenyang (2nd L) guides residents to take a nucleic acid test in Yanta District of Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Dec. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of government workers have joined the frontline across the city to stamp out coronavirus in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)

Government worker Lu Chenyang (R) guides residents to take a nucleic acid test in Yanta District of Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Dec. 27, 2021. Tens of thousands of government workers have joined the frontline across the city to stamp out coronavirus in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Bowen)
ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has grappled with a turbulent 2021 as a year-long armed conflict between the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) in the northern Tigray region has continued to afflict the northern parts of the East African nation.

Despite the country's scramble to bring an end to the conflict, fighting had expanded during the year to even more areas, including the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions, eventually pushing millions into urgent humanitarian need and misery.

YEAR-LONG CONFLICT

The conflict, due to what the government said was an attack on the Northern military command by the TPLF rebel forces, flared up in early November 2020. The TPLF, however, claimed that the attack was a "pre-emptive strike" against the government forces' prior preparations that it believed were intended to oust the regional government and deploy forces along the regional borders. The Ethiopian government denied any of such claims.

The TPLF, an entity designated as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian parliament, controls much of the Tigray region. It used to lead a political coalition called the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) from 1989 to 2018, and established a new government in May 1991 that ruled Ethiopia until it was ousted from power in the federal government in 2018.

Prior to the conflict, the Ethiopian government had been blaming the TPLF, one of the four coalition fronts of Ethiopia's former ruling party EPRDF, for masterminding various terrorist acts across different parts of the country with an overarching goal of destabilizing the country.

Over the past month, the ENDF jointly with regional forces and militia fighters has intensified its push, eventually controlling strategic areas across Amhara and Afar regions, reversing months of battlefield gains by the rebel forces.

On Wednesday, the government announced that its army has been ordered to keep its stronghold in recently liberated areas without further proceeding.

The move, which came on the backdrop of the TPLF's decision to halt its military engagements in neighboring regions, has reignited hope over a possible end to the year-long conflict.

LARGE-SCALE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Early predictions have shown devastating impacts inflicted on public and private infrastructure as well as the livelihoods of affected communities as a result of the conflict.

Eyob Belachew, an Ethiopian-based international relations and political analyst, said the conflict has sparked a large-scale humanitarian crisis that has captivated global attention.

"The war has taken a tremendous human and economic toll, and it is expanding beyond Tigray, with adverse repercussions for the country's overall growth and development," Belachew told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Last month, the Amhara regional state announced property damage amounting to 279.5 billion Ethiopian birr (about 5.7 billion U.S. dollars) in areas that were controlled by the rebel forces across the region.

The regional government accused rebel forces of vandalizing water, electricity, road and healthcare infrastructure, in which at least 1,466 hospitals and health care facilities were fully or partially damaged, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporate (FBC) reported, citing Anmut Belete, Amhara Region Plan and Development Bureau Head.

According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Education, preliminary information showed that more than 4,000 schools have been damaged in the Amhara region alone, leaving over 1.9 million school children out of school.

Dina Mufti, a spokesperson for Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters earlier this month that the spillover effect of the conflict in the Amhara and Afar regions is estimated to have displaced more than 1.8 million people while leaving 8.3 million people food insecure in the two regions.

According to the UN, the conflict continues to increase humanitarian needs due to displacement, loss of livelihoods, and lack of access to markets, food, and basic services.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has disclosed that about 9.4 million people are being targeted through humanitarian support initiatives in the three conflict-affected regions, while the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said the complex and fluid security situation is hindering the effective delivery of life-saving assistance to the most affected populations.

FOR BETTER OR WORSE?

Costantinos Bt. Costantinos, professor of public policy at the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, said the growing trend of foreign interference and pressure would have a detrimental effect on future engagements among parties to the conflict.

Noting that foreign interference had been distractive both in practice and essence so far, Costantinos argued that continued foreign interference would prolong the conflict.

Analysts say western countries, mainly the United States, have been exerting pressure on the Ethiopian government regarding the conflict, including removing Ethiopia from a U.S. trade program - the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) as well as sanctioning Ethiopian officials.

The United States' handling of the situation, has received strong accusations from the Ethiopian government and general public, questioning its impartiality in handling the matter.

According to Belachew, foreign interference is in most cases what aggravates domestic conflicts and may easily be avoided via dialogue or other means. He argued Western meddling have worsened the dynamics of the conflict in Ethiopia.

"The rebel-led conflict in northern Ethiopia appears to look like civil conflict at some stage. However, it goes much beyond rhetoric and is part of a bigger context in which international actors are strongly engaged in a hybrid war against Ethiopia," Belachew said.

Albeit the growing challenges, however, optimism has grown that the East African country would once again find its peace and stability through reconciliation and march in the path of development.

"Now it seems there is an ever-growing peace and certainty over the future of the country which seemed unlikely about a month ago. There is rising optimism that the country will get back to the normal path of development and stability with an intended national dialogue and extensive negotiation creating an environment for reconciliation and rehabilitation," Belachew said. Enditem
TAIYUAN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Six people have been confirmed dead in a deserted mine in north China's Shanxi Province, local authorities said Monday.

At 3:54 a.m. on Monday, the public security bureau of Jiangxian County of Yuncheng City received a report from a person surnamed Li who said that six people went to a suspected mine on around Dec. 23 and they could not be contacted.

After receiving the report, city and county-level governments immediately dispatched rescuers to the site. They found the six people in the deserted mine at around 3:40 p.m. Monday.

At around 5:40 p.m. on Monday, they were all confirmed dead by on-site medics.

Further investigation is underway. Enditem
SANAA, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 soldiers were killed on Sunday in fighting between the Yemeni army and Houthi militia in Yemen's central province of Marib, government military source said.

"Eighteen soldiers were killed today in the battle in the desert area of al-Balak al-Sharki in southern Marib," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"There were also many Houthis killed in the battle by airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition," he said, without giving a specific number.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported 16 coalition airstrikes on al-Balak al-Sharki area without providing further details.

The Houthi militia have made major advances in the past months in Marib, seizing control of several districts around the government-controlled central city.

In February, the Iran-backed group began a major offensive to capture the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government. Enditem
XI'AN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- A train set off from Hanzhong City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Sunday bound for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, marking the launch of a new China-Europe freight train service from the city.

The train by way of the provincial capital of Xi'an carried 767 tonnes of merchandise including baby carriages, clothes, stationery, ceramic tea sets and sanitary wares. It is expected to leave China via the land port of Horgos in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region en route to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

In the future, freight train services via Hanzhong City are expected to be used to facilitate more Chinese exports of agricultural products such as tea, rice and oranges, according to a local logistics firm involved in freight train transport.

Since March this year, Hanzhong City has exported tea to a number of countries including Russia and the Netherlands via China-Europe freight train services. Enditem
BEIRUT, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants on Monday condemned Friday's Houthi attack on Samtah, a town in Saudi Arabia's southwestern Jazan region.

The ministry affirmed in a statement "Lebanon's permanent support for the government and people of the sisterly Saudi Arabia against everything that affects its security, stability and the safety of its citizens."

It also expressed condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery for the injured.

A Saudi citizen and a Yemeni resident were killed after a Houthi projectile hit Jazan on Friday. Enditem
People walk past the European Commission building in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

As 2021 draws to a close, the unfolding consequences of Brexit, speculations over a Polish exit from the EU, and the lingering migrant crisis have continued to weigh heavily on EU member states' sense of cohesion and solidarity.

The European Commission has proposed to make 2022 the European Year of Youth, hoping the younger generation will strengthen European solidarity and build a better future -- a mission already taken by some.

BRUSSELS, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Europe has persevered through a year of challenges in 2021, in the wake of Brexit and amid painstaking efforts towards economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the year draws to a close, the unfolding consequences of Brexit, speculations over a Polish exit from the European Union (EU), and the lingering migrant crisis have continued to weigh heavily on EU member states' sense of cohesion and solidarity.





THORNY POST-BREXIT ISSUES

In one of the most heart-breaking headlines, 27 undocumented migrants died in an English Channel boat accident on Nov. 24 while trying to reach the UK from France. The accident triggered a squabble between the two countries, which blamed each other for the tragedy.

The channel shipwreck further aggravated Anglo-French relations, which had already been strained following London's signing of the AUKUS pact with the United States and Australia in September, and the dispute over licenses for French fishermen to fish in British waters after Brexit.

Another major post-Brexit row concerns the Northern Ireland protocol, a deal agreed by the UK and the EU to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods.

But the arrangement has led to checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, creating a barrier to trade within the UK. After six months of unfruitful negotiations, the row will continue in 2022.

Analysts interpret Brexit as a warning sign for European integration, following which new divisions could be created between EU member states, notably between Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries, net-payers and net-recipients from the EU budget, and between member states in the north and south, and east and west.

"The threat of European disintegration following Brexit has reversed the seemingly irreversible course of 'ever closer union'," said University of Cambridge PhD candidate Ugur Tekiner in an article, adding that the EU needs effective leadership to set a clear trajectory for the integration process.

An EU flag is seen in front of a UK flag outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, on Jan. 17, 2019. (Xinhua/Tim Ireland)





"POLEXIT"?

Poland was in the limelight again in October after its top court ruled primacy of national constitution over EU law -- a ruling that challenged the supremacy of EU law, considered as a central pillar of European integration.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ruling called EU foundations into question, "a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order."

Critics of Poland's government feared the ruling would push the country further on the way out of the EU, though the government dismissed the idea as "fake news."

As the absolute majority of Poland's citizens strongly support its EU membership, only a few believe that the country, the largest beneficiary of EU funding, is leaving the EU.

The Polish government, led by the conservative Law and Justice party, has been in conflict with EU officials since it took power in 2015. The dispute is mainly over changes to the Polish judicial system, which give the ruling party more power over the courts.

Polish authorities say they aim to reform what they describe as a corrupt and inefficient justice system, whereas the European Commission believes such changes erode the country's democratic system of checks and balances and is holding up billions of euros to Poland earmarked in a pandemic recovery plan.

The commission announced last week that it was taking legal action against Poland for violating EU law and compromising judicial independence of Polish judges, prompting a rebuke from Warsaw.

People walk near the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, May 19, 2021. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)





MIGRANT CRISIS

Meanwhile, a months-long standoff at the border between Poland and Belarus lasted from summer into winter. The border crisis escalated last month, when large groups of migrants tried to cross from Belarus into the EU, raising the specter of a humanitarian emergency.

The EU blamed Belarus for sending migrants over the border as retaliation for EU sanctions, whereas Minsk denied the accusation.

The European Commission put forward a set of temporary asylum and return measures to assist Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, three EU members bordering Belarus, in addressing the emergency. According to the proposal, migrants could be held in closed camps at the border for up to four months and faster deportations will explicitly be authorized.

The move, however, came under immediate criticism from some members of the European Parliament and rights groups, who said the new approach was unacceptable and "putting politics over people's lives," especially at a time when Belarus had already evacuated the main camps at its border with Poland and expatriated hundreds of asylum seekers.

The EU's -- and its individual member states' -- approach to migration has created what appears to be a permanent crisis of solidarity. This is a heated and increasingly divisive issue within the bloc and even within the member states, prompting the EU to tackle the crisis from its root.

The European Commission has proposed to make 2022 the European Year of Youth, hoping the younger generation will strengthen European solidarity and build a better future -- a mission already taken by some.

Since the age of 18, British humanitarian aid worker Mary Finn has been involved in sea rescue operations for migrants off the coasts of Greece, Turkey and Libya. Now at 24, she bears witness to the situation of refugees in Europe and its consequences on European politics.

"We are not alone, there is a generation of young people who are not willing to stand by and watch humanity and our planet fall apart," she said in an Instagram posting after the premiere of a documentary on the experience of herself and her peers at Cannes Film Festival in July.

A child is seen at a refugee camp near the Belarusian-Polish border in Belarus, Nov. 14, 2021. (Photo by Henadz Zhinkov/Xinhua)
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism cooperation between Brunei and China continues to strengthen, Haji Ali, Brunei's Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism, said on Monday.

During the closing ceremony of Brunei-China Year of Tourism 2020 held virtually, the minister said in a pre-recorded remarks that as the two countries embarked into the "new normal," tourism activities were organized via online platforms, including a virtual training program held in November 2020 for Brunei's local tour guides and tourism professionals to further improve their Chinese and communication skills.

He said the country is also grateful to the support extended by the Chinese government for Brunei's national carrier Royal Brunei Airlines to operate in China's Beijing, Changsha, Haikou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Nanning and Shanghai.

"These connections have further led to increased economic activities and opportunities in the areas of tourism, agriculture, construction, maritime and others," the minister said.

"With over 74,000 tourist arrivals in 2019, China has always been regarded as one of the top three source markets for Brunei. We hope to welcome more tourist arrivals once travel resumes in the near future," the minister added.

Yu Hong, Chinese ambassador to Brunei said at the ceremony that the event would bring a successful conclusion to this year's series of celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries as well as the China-Brunei Year of Tourism 2020.

"Although the pandemic has hindered us from celebrating face-to-face, it cannot stop the kind wishes of both peoples to deepen mutual understanding," the ambassador said.

According to a press release from Brunei's Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, the Brunei-China Year of Tourism 2020, which had been postponed due to the pandemic, provided a unique platform to increase tourism cooperation through people-to-people exchange, enhance bilateral cooperations, capacity building and furthering collaboration and partnership between both countries.

The joint initiative has proven successful in improving the understanding between both countries, encouraging more Bruneian and Chinese people to discover and appreciate each other's cultures and traditions, and stimulating new business and investment opportunities between the two countries," the ministry said. Enditem
Read the original article on Business Insider.

President Joe Biden's decision to end the US war in Afghanistan ended in disaster: a drone strike that killed 10 innocent civilians, including children. But a new report finds that such airstrikes, overall, have dramatically fallen in Biden's first year.

"The biggest take-home is that Biden has significantly decreased US military action across the globe," the monitoring group Airwars said in the report released Wednesday. That, in turn, has resulted in "far lower numbers of civilians allegedly killed by the US strikes."

The US military has, overall, carried out 439 aerial attacks in 2021, a 54% drop from the year before under former President Donald Trump, Airwars data showed.

The group said the biggest drop came in Yemen, where there were no officially declared strikes in 2021, compared to 18 in 2020. Airstrikes also fell by 88% in Somalia, where the US has for years fought an al-Qaeda linked insurgency, as well as 71% in Iraq and Syria, reflecting the military defeat of the Islamic State.

The vast majority of military strikes under Biden happened in Afghanistan before US forces left in August. Excluding those attacks, the US declared just 67 airstrikes, Airwars said, citing official US military data.

The caveat is that this is official data  it does not include, for example, clandestine CIA strikes. But it does reflect what has been reported as a broad reconsideration of US military actions around the world.

A month into Biden's presidency, Insider reported that there had been no apparent drone strikes or otherwise high-profile military actions, a stark contrast from his predecessor, who began his administration with a botched raid in Yemen that killed an 8-year-old US citizen.

The New York Times later revealed that the White House had curtailed drone strikes as part of a broad policy review.

Drones had been one of the most controversial aspects of former President Barack Obama's administration, killing scores of civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the US war on the Taliban. Before leaving office, Obama imposed new restrictions on when and where such strikes could be carried out. He also signed an executive order requiring civilian deaths to be reported to Congress, a move that Trump reversed.

Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International's director of security with human rights, told Insider the reduction in airstrikes "is a very hopeful sign that the Biden administration is trying to reduce the catastrophic impact of war on civilians."

But she cautioned that it was too early to say whether it reflects a definitive change in policy. And, she said, we can't forget the past.

"We sadly saw a huge uptick in air strikes and civilian casualties under the Trump administration, and the US government can't just turn a blind eye to what happened," Eviatar said. "Part of moving forward will require looking back, learning from the past, and making amends."
The leader of the National Unity Platform (NUP) Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine has expressed concern that many of his party members, including MPs, have had Christmas while under incarceration.

Speaking to the media shortly after Christmas prayers at Our lady of Good Counsel Catholic Parish Church in Gayaza, Kyagulanyi vowed not to give up until these who were arrested in connection with the spate of murders in the Greater Masaka are released unconditionally.

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"We are brethren. Let's work together, let's unite, let's interact with one another, let's forgive one another and also let's pray for one another," said Kyagulanyi.

He called upon different religious leaders and churches to pray for the peace as Ugandans usher in 2022.

For those in jail, Kyagulanyi said they will continue to fight for their freedoms.

"We are celebrating Christmas but many of our members have been abducted. Others were murdered while others are still in prison without any crime. Their only crime is supporting National Unity Platform. We continue to pray for them. We continue to demand for their unconditional release," he said.
Senate has said that the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) now Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NPRA) must account for the interest that accrued to the N34 billion placed in fixed deposit.

The Senate through its Committee on Public Committee chaired by Senator Mathew Urhoghide, accused the agency of not remitting fully the interest that accrued from the N34 billion in fixed deposit.

But, the agency claimed to have remitted the interest to the Federation Account in a letter to the committee.

However, addressing newsmen on the issue, Urhoghide said that the agency must present evidence of remitting N182 million that accrued from N34 billion placed in a fixed deposit.

He added that whether the agency changes name or not, the agency must appear before the committee and account for the interest that accrued to N34 billion in the fixed deposit account.

According to him, PEF must account for the outstanding of N100 million that is remaining in the interest accrued to N34 billion placed in the fixed deposit account or else the committee will sustain the position of Auditor-General of the Federation against the agency.

The query reads, "At the Petroleum Equalization Fund (Management) Board, it was revealed that in 2015, the Board placed the sum of N34,003,057,534.22 (Thirty-four billion, three million, fifty-seven thousand, five hundred and thirty-four naira, twenty-two kobo) in fixed deposit accounts in various banks which yielded interest in the sum of N182,400,810.74 (One hundred and eighty-two million, four hundred thousand, eight hundred and ten naira, seventy-four kobo).

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"However, the Board remitted only the sum of N82,263,824.31 to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, leaving a balance of N100,136,986.43 unaccounted for.

"This act is a contravention of the provision of Financial Regulation 222 which stipulates that 'interest earned on bank accounts must be properly classified to the appropriate revenue head of Accounts and paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.'

"The executive secretary should remit the outstanding interest yield of N100,136,986.43 immediately to the Consolidated Revenue Fund and furnish evidence of remittance for my verification.

"Failure to comply should attract appropriate sanctions in line with Financial Regulation 3112 which stipulates that 'where an officer fails to give satisfactory reply to an audit query within 7 days for his failure to account for government revenue, such officer shall be surcharged for the full amount involved and such officer handed over to either the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)'."
Nairobi  A survey conducted by research and consulting firm, Infotrak has placed Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga as the preferred president of choice at 33 percent followed by Deputy President William Ruto who scored 32 percent.

The poll conducted between December 17 and 22 among 1600 respondents indicates a 12 percent loss for DP Ruto who scored 44 percent during a similar period last year.

It's also a 20 percent gain for Raila who scored 13 percent in 2020 with Angela Ambitho, Infotrak's CEO attributing the increase to his official declaration to run for President.

DP Ruto received the highest support in Central Kenya at 42 percent compared to Raila who scored 16 percent while in Nairobi they had 32 percent and 28 percent respectively.

Thirty three percent of the respondents further listed United Democratic Alliance (UDA) as their preferred of their choice compared to ODM which was listed by 32 percent of the respondents.

Twenty eight percent of those interviewed said they were not aware of the existence of OKA.

The poll further revealed that 52 percent of the respondents want OKA dissolved and support either Raila or Ruto compared to 20 percent who opposed the move.

Of all those who want OKA dissolved, 55percent want Odinga supported by the OKA principals while another 45 percent want Ruto to be supported.

Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi was listed as the ideal OKA principal who should be considered for a runningmate position (46 percent) followed by Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka(46pc), Kenya African National Union (KANU) boss Gideon Moi(11pc) and Ford Kenya leader Moses Wetangula(3pc)
El apoyo economico para las/os deudos de victimas mortales y heridos de protestas de fines de 2020, es una medida justa que reconoce sus DDHH, lograda gracias a @MinjusDH_Peru, @MEF_Peru y al pdte @PedroCastilloTe. Complementa la necesaria investigacion y sancion a responsables. pic.twitter.com/a4LBdoH2hI
#RegionPiura ?? | ?El presidente @PedroCastilloTe, junto con los titulares del @MinemPeru y @MindefPeru, participo en la ceremonia de recepcion del Lote I de Talara y reinicio de las operaciones de @petroperu_sa en la produccion de petroleo y gas, despues de 25 anos. pic.twitter.com/Kq1tUqUfBf
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The former chief of the aviation authority of Armenia Shahen Petrosyan says he is positively appreciating the reports on potential re-opening of the Yerevan-Istanbul flights.

Petrosyan served as Director of the General Department of Civil Aviation from 1993 to 1996.

Speaking to ARMENPRESS, he revealed a few details from the history of establishment of air connection between Armenia and Turkey in the early 90s, noting that at that time it was the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) that forced Turkey to open its airspace with Armenia.

Petrosyan said that when he was first appointed as GDCA chief in 1993, he asked specialists to elaborate why the Armenia-Turkey air border was closed, and it turned out that when Armenia gained its independence the aviation authorities did not warn that air borders are subject to confirmation as well. The Armenian government applied to ECAC, and meanwhile President Levon-Ter Petrosyan and his chief advisor Gerard Libaridian were engaged in negotiations with Turkeys leadership.

I notified the government about this and said that this issue must somehow be resolved because in addition to being in a land blockade we were also in an air blockade. And Turkey didnt have the right to do so. Turkey was bringing forward justifications saying the border which we have is the border of the Soviet Union, and the Soviet Union doesnt exist anymore. And we were forced to approve that this is the border of Armenia. The ECAC helped us a lot. We struggled for it for more than a year, and eventually ECAC forced Turkey to open its air border with Armenia. The process was very difficult because of the absence of diplomatic relations. And suddenly one day my Turkish counterpart called me and said Efendi Petrosyan, can you come? Weve already prepared the paperwork to open the air border. I answered perhaps you could come? He said no, weve already finalized everything.

A large Armenian delegation then took off from Yerevan on a small YAK-40 to Ankara and on April 20, 1995 the agreement on opening of the air border was signed between Armenia and Turkey, Petrosyan said.

At that time we had two air corridors, the H50 and H51. One of them was passing above Mount Ararat, and the other above Kars. This was very beneficial for Armenia because transit aircraft began using this route when flying from Europe to the Far East. Armenia was getting 1 million dollars yearly for aero-navigation thanks to this, Petrosyan said.

Thus, in May 1995 Armenian Airlines started regular, twice-a-week flights from Yerevan to Istanbul. There were plans to start the Gyumri-Kars flights, but the project failed.

From the early 2000s to 2016 the Turkish Pegasus airline was operating the Istanbul-Yerevan flights, but the flights were cancelled when the situation around Nagorno Karabakh flared-up when the 2016 April War began.

The Turkish authorities earlier announced that Pegasus will re-launch Yerevan flights, and meanwhile the Armenian aviation authorities confirmed that FlyOne Armenia airline will also operate the Yerevan-Istanbul flights.

Interview by Aram Sargsyan
YEREVAN, 27 DECEMBER, ARMENPRESS. Switzerland expressed readiness to provide a platform for holding of Russia  NATO Summit, if there will be its necessity, ARMENPRESS reports official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland Valentin Clivaz told RIA Novosti.



That includes implementation of the role of a host country by Switzerland or provision of support for organization of conferences and meetings, Clivaz said.



Clivaz mentioned that due to the principle of confidentiality, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesnt comment the requests of the parties.



Earlier the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg made a decision to convene a Russia-NATO Summit.
The European Union demands Russia cancel or adjusts several measures that are seen by it as violating the World Trade Organizations (WTO) rules; reports that it allegedly demands Russia pay 290 billion are not true, the press service of the Russian ministry of economic development said on Sunday.

December 27, 2021, 10:05 Reports that EU demands Russia pay 290 bln are untrue

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 27, ARTSAKHPRESS: "Reports that the European Union demands Russia pay 290 billion under a dispute are not true. The EU demands are reduced to cancelling or adjusting several measures the EU considers as violating the WTO rules. The European Union estimates Russias supply market at 290 billion, but not the damage to the EU," it said.

According to the ministry, WTO rules do not provide for the payment of any compensations.

"During earlier consultations with the European Union, Russia gave the European Union detailed explanations concerning full compliance of these measures with Russias commitments within the WTO," the ministry said, adding it will continue to protect the Russian procurement rules "within the corresponding court procedures."
Russia has never demonstrated some "imperial ambitions" and it has no plans for reviving the Soviet Union, the speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Valentina Matviyenko told a news conference on Monday when asked for a comment regarding allegations Russia had plans for recreating the Soviet Union, Tass informs.

December 27, 2021, 17:47 Russia has no plans for reviving Soviet Union  Federation Councils speaker

STEPANAKERT, DECEMBER 27, ARTSAKHPRESS: "First, even if somebody might wish to do this, it would be impossible. Second, we have never demonstrated any imperial ambitions. The train is gone. These days it is essential to develop mutually beneficial cooperation on a new basis. We have no such plans and we will be living in peace, accord, love and friendship with our neighbors and brothers in all former union states," she said.

US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland at the beginning of December said Washington was concerned about what she described as Moscows intention to recreate the Soviet Union. It was not the first time that Washington voiced suspicion Moscows aim was to restore the USSR. Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told TASS in February 2021 that Russia sought equitable cooperation with all CIS member-states and had no intention of recreating the Soviet Union, contrary to the Wests allegations. Also, he drew attention to fact the West was trying to turn the post-Soviet space into a "zone of permanent conflicts and tensions".
As 2021 draws to a close, I want to take this opportunity to thank the residents of Cayuga County for the many ways you have helped to make it a successful year for the American Red Cross of Western New York. Whether through a lifesaving blood or financial donation, or offering your time and talents as a Red Cross volunteer, your contribution allows us to continue our mission of alleviating human suffering in the face of emergencies here in Cayuga County and across the 27 counties we are proud to serve.

Despite a year of challenges, from a global pandemic to a billion-dollar disaster season and the lowest blood inventory levels weve seen in a decade, our staff and more than 2,100 dedicated volunteers who make up 90 percent of our workforce have risen to the occasion, delivering help and hope to those in need time and time again.

It is because of them  and you, that we have been able to:

Conduct 936 disaster response operations within our region

Assist 1,597 impacted by disasters providing shelter, food, clothing and financial support

Hold 5,752 blood drives hosted at Red Cross sites or our community partners

Collect more than 122,000 units of lifesaving blood through the generosity of donors

Provide 3,487 case services to support our active military members, veterans and their families

Trained 37,735 individuals in lifesaving First Aid, CPR/AED, Aquatics and Caregiving

The selflessness and sacrifice necessary to ensure that these mission-critical services and much more are delivered each and every day is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

As 2022 will bring with it a fresh start for us all and undoubtedly a new set of challenges, I invite you to learn more about our mission, and resolve to make the Red Cross part of your new year. Put your time and talents to use volunteering to support a local blood drive, helping families recover from some of their darkest hours or teaching others lifesaving skills right here in our community. Make it a goal to become a blood donor or resolve to donate blood or platelets one more time in 2022  the process takes just minutes and helps to save countless lives. Or, lend your support by making a financial donation. Your generous donation helps to support families whose lives have been turned upside down by devastating disasters.

Emergencies dont stop, and neither do we. In these final days of our 140th year, I encourage you to view highlights of the impact our volunteer workforce has had right here within our community by visiting www.redcross.org/wnyholiday2021 and remember that we will be there for you in 2022 and beyond. Until then, thank you again for your continued support and I wish you a safe and healthy new year!

Nick Bond is regional chief executive officer for the American Red Cross Western New York Region. For more information, call (315) 234-2200 or visit redcross.org.

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The biggest challenge that the automobile firms will face in 2022 will be to sustain business operations as well as to ensure financial health amid various challenges such as global semiconductor shortage, a top MG Motor India official told PTI.

While the domestic market is witnessing an increased demand, it is also impacted by the global semiconductor shortage, which has hit production activities of various OEMs around the world.

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"With the industry having exhibited resilience over the last two years, we are looking towards 2022 with cautious optimism," said MG Motor India President and Managing Director, Rajeev Chaba.

(Also read | MG Motor eyes more affordable EVs for India, expects demand for cars to persist)

He added that the situation will remain fluidic in 2022 due to unpredictable factors such as Covid-19, global semiconductor shortage, freight cost and rising input costs. He also noted that the company is putting efforts to meet the high customer demand and is investing to enhance the plant capacity to reduce the waiting time further. "The company is trying to meet the growing demand and working towards strengthening the MG family in India," he said.

(Also read | MG Motor India successfully recycles its first electric vehicle battery)

Chaba highlighted that MG Motor India has been witnessing signs of positive consumer sentiment due to pent-up demand and expects the demand to increase in the coming year. The company witnessed a year-to-date growth of 56 per cent by selling 37,723 units during the January to November period as compared to 24,152 units sold in the same period last year. However, the company's production level currently remains impacted due to parts shortage and might remain the same in the next quarter as well.

Speaking about the electric revolution in the auto industry, MG said that it will soon bring its second EV to the country thanks the government's clarity on its EV road map. "We are aligned to play our part in seeing that the direction meets reality sooner rather than later," Chaba said.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- Chinas navigation giant, NavInfo, announced that it had received a procurement order from Ford Motor for its Location Based Services (LBS).

Photo credit: NavInfo

The deal specifies that during next year, the two companies will co-establish a compliant LBS platform dedicated to future intelligent connected vehicles, elevating Ford Motors lawful vehicle location data utilization. The partners aim to improve the function application situation of intelligent connected vehicles, leading the industry by example.

The specific trade sum is inclusive of the development fee and will be based on software development volume and cloud resource demand.

NavInfo believed that with the ongoing transformation of vehicle intelligence, automotive data security is a growing issue that must be addressed. This year, local authorities in charge have successively released corresponding regulations and provisions regarding data security on vehicles.

Under the premise, Ford Motor continued to layout in the data compliance area. Building on NavInfos prime quality and capabilities, the two partners will conduct LBS-related application, data analysis, and model training to build a comprehensive closed-loop of data collection, transmission, storage, application, and service. The closed-loop will, in turn, feed back to the partners application capabilities, providing users with iterative and quality services.
Scott McClelland knows the joys of a laid back dining experience with friends. Sure, everyone appreciates a special meal once in a while  tables laid with white cloths, china and fussy food. But where we hang out with friends in flip flops to shoot the breeze, tip one back and eat what makes us grin is what makes it all worthwhile.

Perhaps that propelled the restauranteur to turn from the chic settings that upheld his culinary experience to open Tiki Grill and offer guests a place on the sand where he had found happiness.

The aim is attentive, caring service, good tunes and cocktails, McClelland said.

He added, Its a chill vibe in a cool setting with the same high caliber of food, served in paper boats with flip flops and board shorts.

Routinely, McClelland had sought out the beach bar and grill atmosphere on the North Carolina coast. Its laid-back ambiance, good company and good tunes appealed to him. Along the way, he owned a fine dining establishment for five years and then landed in San Diego. After a stint as executive chef on a yacht, he was killing time in Arizona with friends and fell into running off-road tours at the Grand Canyon.

McClelland had arrived at a crossroads  he couldnt get Northern Arizona out of his blood nor the desire for a tropical retreat. He floated the notion of a seafood and sandals spot in Flagstaff and was encouraged to go forward with his plans. The tiki hut in the high country opened its doors in June serving comfort food and cocktails.

The menu is beach food meets soul food meets health food and great flavors with a heavy lean to seafood, he said.

The burgers, of course, are hugely popular. The Pittsburger pays homage to the town where McClelland gained his culinary training, as well a well-known diner there, which piles an Angus patty with fries, coleslaw, cheese and tomato. Sandwiches, like the lump crab cake and pork belly cheese melt, catfish, sea scallops or veggie black bean and quinoa, are signature sellers for the scratch kitchen.

Tacos are another perfect handhold and filled with fish or shrimp  grilled, blackened or fried  or as an ahi poke hoice with soy, citrus, sesame and ginger-dressed cuts of yellow-fin tuna. Its the latest fave at Tiki Grill.

Just need a nosh with that beer? Try the dry-rubbed wings or the high country poutine. Wisconsin cheese curds go one better with pork belly gravy over fries. Or make a meal of it with the whole fish. Two pounds of snapper are dredged in flour and buttermilk and served with two sides.

The menu is simple, indulgent and seafood forward with a large array of sides. These range from typical fries and onion rings to sweet potato biscuits, ratatouille, slaw and salads.

Dessert is a childs delight of yellow cake with a butter crust and cream cheese sugar topping. Try the ooey, gooey butter bar with ice cream, caramel drizzle and cherries for the full dream or build your own float.

This neighborhood spot has gathered a nice base of folks, according to McClelland. Daily media posts and word of mouth has given Tiki Grill the biggest boost forward, and he is grateful.

We count on everyone, who comes through the door, he said. When you surround yourself with good people, you have joy from the company you keep from staff to customers.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  New Mexico health officials on Wednesday warned that COVID-19 transmission rates remain high across the state and they urged people to be cautious over the holiday weekend, acknowledging that the public will need to learn to live with the virus and take action to reduce risks for older people.

The warning comes as workplace safety regulators are investigating the death of a third employee of Santa Fes local bus system who was infected with COVID-19.

State health officials said during a virtual briefing that New Mexico's death toll since the pandemic began has reached 5,700 and that every county is experiencing high rates of spread. That's despite having a statewide mask mandate in place for public indoor spaces and a vaccination rate of more than 75% among adults. Nearly one-third of adults also have received boosters.

The officials also noted that while the omicron variant has been reported in New Mexico, delta continues to be the dominant variant in the state right now.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross said there are several specimens that are awaiting sequencing at the state laboratory to determine if they are omicron cases and that the state is monitoring the situation closely.

Overall, she said New Mexico is sitting at what appears to be a very high uncomfortable plateau" when it comes to COVID-19 cases. She said the surge began in July when the delta variant became prominent.

"We have been dealing with this ongoing high level of cases for several months now and we do see some decrease in our seven-day moving average most recently," she said. We certainly hope that trend continues downward, but I think we need more time to follow that trend out and see where it's going to head.

Ross said the state's goal is to reduce risk, whether it be by encouraging vaccination, getting more people tested or reminding them about social distancing and avoiding crowds.

The state said it will be embarking on a pilot program aimed at expanding access to home tests.

In Santa Fe, the worker who died Monday was a supervisor with the citys transit department.

Stephanie Stringer, deputy cabinet secretary of operations for the state Environment Department, has said that if the state finds the city did not take steps to prevent worker exposure to COVID-19, the department can take enforcement action and seek corrective measures.

City spokesman Dave Herndon Herndon said Santa Fe follows state guidelines, provides workers with personal protective equipment and regularly cleans and sanitizes buildings and equipment.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Although some may fear sharks when swimming in open waters, these often misunderstood creatures may hold a way to help protect us from the coronavirus, new research suggests.

As one of the oceans top predators, sharks have antibody-like proteins that can stop the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study published Dec. 16.

These antibodies, called VNARs, are a natural part of the sharks immune system and may guard against COVID-19 variants  such as delta  and related coronaviruses, according to a news release from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which collaborated on the study.

Within a tank at the universitys lab, four swimming nurse sharks, all named after James Bond villains, are being studied in connection with the coronavirus research, Aaron LeBeau, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor and one of the lead researchers, told McClatchy News via email.

The juvenile sharks names are Sir Hugo Drax, Goldfinger, Mr. Stamper and Nick Nack.

Although the shark antibodies arent ready for testing in humans, they can help prepare for future coronavirus outbreaks, the news release noted.

The big issue is there are a number of coronaviruses that are poised for emergence in humans, LeBeau said in a statement.

What were doing is preparing an arsenal of shark VNAR therapeutics that could be used down the road for future SARS outbreaks. Its a kind of insurance against the future.

How can shark antibodies help fight COVID?

This latest study found that the shark antibodies can neutralize WIV1-CoV, a coronavirus that is capable of infecting human cells but currently circulates only in bats, where SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, likely originated, the news release explained.

The antibodies are extremely tiny, one-tenth the size of those found in humans, according to the university.

These small antibody-like proteins can get into nooks and crannies that human antibodies cannot access, Lebeau said in the release.

They can bind to infectious proteins, which allows them to recognize structures in proteins that our human antibodies cannot, the professor added.

The VNARS were found to also neutralize similar coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-1, responsible for the 2003 coronavirus outbreak that emerged in China, according to the study.

The sharks blood was drawn once every seven weeks for studying, LeBeau told KCRA 3, and was done without them experiencing pain.

All of them are male since they are smaller and less aggressive than females and we do not want any breeding to occur, LeBeau told McClatchy News.

The university is studying only nurse sharks, LeBeau said, describing them as very docile and easy to work with.

We have trained them, so they are basically like dogs.

LeBeau explained that shark antibodies come in four types, and nurse sharks have all four.

Great whites only have two types and hammerheads three, LeBeau added. Plus, nurse sharks are safer than those two.

It may take two to five years for a developed coronavirus therapy involving shark antibodies to be ready for testing, according to LeBeau.

For testing in humans, the earliest these antibodies could be ready is in five years, the professor said.

Shark antibodies are believed to be non-immunogenic meaning that the human immune system will recognize them as human, LeBeau explained. Thus, they can be safely administered to humans without side effects. This is because shark antibodies share many protein similarities with human antibodies.

This new class of drug is cheaper and easier to manufacture than human antibodies, the release added.

Amid the pandemic, vaccines are the bedrock of protection against the virus, the news release noted, but for those who dont respond well to the jabs, they may benefit from other treatments such as antibodies.

Future therapies would likely include a cocktail of multiple shark VNARs to maximize their effectiveness against diverse and mutating viruses, according to the release.

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PARK CITY, Utah  This mountain community  which comes alive during the winter ski season and annual Sundance Film Festival  is home to Park City Hospital, which has 460 employees. As in countless hospitals across the country, the demands of COVID-19 at times overwhelmed the facility and dramatically changed the way caregivers interact with patients.

The last year and a half has taken a toll on us, said Jodie Connelly, nurse manager of the intensive care unit at the hospital, which is part of the Intermountain Healthcare System based in Salt Lake City. Nurses have pretty thick skins, but the pandemic has tested us in ways weve never really been tested before.

The community the hospital serves noticed that strain and came up with a novel idea to help the hospitals workers. Park Citys residents raised enough money  through contributions from more than a dozen residents and two large seed donors  to fund a pop-up grocery store out of a room in the hospital that had been a private dining area.

The hospital uses about $10,000 of the donations each month to stock the store, and all goods are free to any hospital employee.

At first, the store offered ready-made pasta, chicken and mashed potatoes, and other meals, including vegetarian options, that caregivers could take home or eat during their shift. Later, grocery basics such as milk and eggs were added for employees to stock their fridge. Today, the Park City Hospital store has expanded to include nonperishable items such as cereal, sugar, oatmeal and pasta, plus a variety of fresh produce options.

Connelly said she especially appreciates convenient access to fresh fruits and vegetables. While I keep my pantry at home full of nonperishables, I would have to stop at the grocery store more often if I wasnt able to take fresh produce home with me, she said.

Selene Macotela-Garcia, a food service supervisor at the hospital who stocks the store, said she tries to find a variety of items to offer. Everyone gets excited when we bring in new items, she said. She recently added lemons, eggplant, beets and cabbage to the mix. Having sweet potatoes before Thanksgiving was especially popular, she said.

Macotela-Garcia explained that some employees pick up enough ready-made food to bring home a precooked meal for each family member instead of having to prepare something once they arrive.

The store allows the hospitals staff to avoid public places where the risk of COVID-19 transmission is high, such as grocery stores, and helps them save money. Finances have been tight; some of us need help more than people may realize, said Gregoria Taboada, a food service worker at the hospital who frequents the store.

But the store has been useful in helping the hospitals caregivers save on a commodity in especially short supply these days: time.

It means so much to me that after a 13-hour shift I dont have to stop at a grocery store to pick up the basics, Connelly said.

Work-life balance is hard to maintain as the toll from pandemic care has driven some employees to quit and those remaining are often asked to pick up the slack.

I started taking on extra shifts each week to help out, said Katie Peabody, a nurse in the hospitals intensive care unit. I frequently work 50-plus hours a week doing work that has become so physically, emotionally and mentally taxing, she said.

Grueling labor conditions are among many factors noted in a recent Mayo Clinic study showing why nurses have suicidal thoughts more frequently than people in other professions.

Sometimes there are only two nurses in the ICU with no techs or secretaries to field phone calls or help out, Peabody said.

While Utah is among the bottom half of fully vaccinated states, Park Citys Summit County is the most vaccinated in the state with 80% of its residents fully vaccinated. Because of the citys high number of tourists, however, the countys current transmission level is still rated in the highest category.

The store is also a boost to morale, workers said, especially as they cope with another change of late: patients who no longer trust or appreciate them. None of us are looking to be a hero, Connelly said, but we used to have a great relationship with our patients and their families. That has changed in many cases during the pandemic.

She noted that almost all the COVID-19 patients shes treated this year are unvaccinated and most have very strong feelings about preventive measures such as the use of masks and vaccines. She said many patients believe what they see on social media over the treatment options the hospital staff recommends.

Some dont believe they have COVID while were treating them for the disease, she lamented. Some refuse to even wear their oxygen [mask]; they argue with us about everything.  Some people are downright mean.

Although such patients may be the exception, negative interactions take a toll that staff members said the store helps make up for.

The hospital store is evidence that we are valued, Peabody added. Even when some patients tell us otherwise, every time I visit the store Im reminded that there are people out there who appreciate me and are trying to take care of me just like Im trying to take care of others.

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WARM SPRINGS, Ore.  Erland Suppah Jr. doesnt trust what comes out of his faucet.

Each week, Suppah and his girlfriend haul a half-dozen large jugs of water from a distribution center run by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs to their apartment for everything from drinking to cooking to brushing their teeth for their family of five. Its the only way they feel safe after countless boil-water notices and weekslong shutoffs on a reservation struggling with bursting pipes, failing pressure valves and a geriatric water treatment plant.

About the only thing this water is good for is cleaning my floor and flushing down the toilet, Suppah said of the tap water in the community 100 miles southeast of Portland. Thats it.

In other, more remote tribal communities across the country, running water and indoor plumbing have never been a reality.

Now, theres a glimmer of hope in the form of a massive infrastructure bill signed last month that White House officials say represents the largest single infusion of money into Indian Country. It includes $3.5 billion for the federal Indian Health Service, which provides health care to more than 2 million Native Americans and Alaska Natives, plus pots of money through other federal agencies for water projects.

Tribal leaders say the funding, while welcome, wont make up for decades of neglect from the U.S. government, which has a responsibility to tribes under treaties and other acts to ensure access to clean water. A list of sanitation deficiencies kept by the Indian Health Service has more than 1,500 projects, including wells, septic systems, water storage tanks and pipelines. Some projects would address water contamination from uranium or arsenic.

About 3,300 homes in more than 30 rural Alaska communities lack indoor plumbing, according to a 2020 report. On the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation, about one-third of the 175,000 residents are without running water.

Residents in these places haul water for basic tasks such as washing and cooking, sometimes driving long distances to reach communal water stations. Instead of indoor bathrooms, many use outhouses or lined pails called honey buckets that they drag outside to empty. Some shower or do laundry at community sites known as washeterias, but the equipment can be unreliable and the fees expensive.

You look at two billionaires competing to fly into outer space, yet were trying to get basic necessities in villages of interior Alaska, said PJ Simon, a former chairman of an Alaska Native nonprofit corporation called the Tanana Chiefs Conference.

Many more tribal communities have indoor plumbing but woefully inadequate facilities and delivery systems riddled with aging pipes.

The coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately hit Indian Country, further underscored the stark disparities in access to running water and sewage systems.

In Warm Springs, the water crisis has overlapped with COVID-19.

During a worldwide pandemic, weve had a boil-water notice. How are we supposed to wash our hands? How are we supposed to sanitize our homes to disinfect, to keep our community members safe? How can we do that ... when our water isnt even clean? said Dorothea Thurby, who oversees the distribution of free water to tribal members and food boxes to those who are quarantined.

A 2019 report by a pair of nonprofit groups, U.S. Water Alliance and Dig Deep, found Native American homes are 19 times more likely than white households to lack full plumbing. And federal officials note tribal members without indoor toilets or running water are at increased risk of respiratory tract, skin and gastrointestinal infections.

On the Navajo Nation, Eloise Sullivan uses an outhouse and often drives before dawn to beat the crowd at a water-filling station near the Arizona-Utah border to get water for the five people in her household. They use about 850 gallons a week, she estimated.

Sullivan, 56, doesnt mind hauling water, but for the younger generation, its like, Do we have to do that?

Its kind of like a big issue for them, she said.

She once asked local officials what it would cost to run a water line from the closest source about 2 miles away. She said she was told $25,000 and never pursued it.

Libby Washburn, special assistant to President Joe Biden on Native American affairs, recently told tribes the infrastructure bill included enough money to complete all of the projects on the Indian Health Service list. The agency said its consulting with tribes and wont make allocation decisions before that process is over.

Until now, tribes and outside organizations have worked to address needs with their own funding, donations or federal money, including pandemic relief.

If you live without running water, you understand the importance and the connection you have with it, deep down as a person, as a human being, said Burrell Jones, who sets up water systems and delivers water around Dilkon, Arizona, with Dig Deeps Navajo Water Project. You cant exist without water.

Andrew Marks recently moved back to Tanana, a community of about 190 people in Alaskas interior. He initially relied on a washeteria but found the equipment unreliable. He now has running water and plumbing where he lives but hauls water for family members who dont.

I believe if we had more people with water, more people connected to the grid, it would drastically improve their life, he said.

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A year ago, during one of the coldest days in recent memory, a family living just a few miles outside Beatrice lost heat in their home.

Last winter, when we got that negative 32 degree day, the kids and I went to bed and woke up, and it was freezing in my house, Nakia Howe said. We couldnt figure out why. We went to bed, and the heat worked. But it stopped working in the middle of the night.

The old house, creaky and drafty as it is, became unlivable in the cold. Howe said she scrambled to find solutions but knew, with a downed heater, the price of replacement would be overwhelming.

Being a single mom, youve got limited funds, Howe said. You cant get a whole lot.

Thanks to the work of Allen Grell, the co-founder of Habitat for Humanity of Gage County, and a patchwork of donations from groups and individuals throughout the area, Howe received a new furnace in mid-December.

But first, came the palliative, short-term solutions.

Grell, who made restoring heat to Howes home his personal project, contacted Home Depot and told them the story. Home Depot donated four space heaters that ran in the house the rest of the winter.

It kept the house nice, Howe said. It wasnt warm, but it was nice enough to get by.

Then Grell turned to finding donations for a furnace, which came in pieces. Day after day, he reached out to groups and people in his network.

Grell, who served as mayor in Beatrice, said he saw a need that called for action.

My mother always told me, If youre going to live in a community, youre got to be involved in that community, he said.

Just in time for winter, the donations rolled in, and Harleys Heating and Air Conditioning installed the furnace in mid-December.

A list of donors, provided by Allen and Linda Grell, includes Barbara Best from Omahawhos late husbands wish was to help a veteran family in needJefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, the VFW and Home Depot.

Howe, mother of three, said shes always felt supported by the community. In 2005, her husband, Darren Howe, died from injuries sustained in Iraq. Then, she was raising their 3-year-old and 1-year-old.

The community was a great help when we lost him, she said.

Grell said he was glad he and Habitat for Humanity of Gage County were involved in the project.

Its a great Christmas gift for a Gold Star Family, he said.

Howe said shes thankful for kindness and thoughtfulness of community members in her time of need.

I cant express it enough, she said. I cant thank everybody enough for what theyve done for me and my family. Hopefully, one day, Ill get a chance to pay it forward.

To donate to or find out more about Habitat for Humanity of Gage County, call Linda Grell, vice-president, at 402-228-3065.

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Gage County authorities arrested a man following a brief pursuit in Pickrell last week.

Just before 11 a.m. Wednesday deputies from the Gage County Sheriffs Office went to the Pickrell Locker in downtown Pickrell to serve an arrest warrant on 22-year-old Travis Krygowski, who worked at the location. A press release stated that when deputies entered the front of the business, they spoke with another employee, who stated Krygowski was in the back.

When Krygowski saw the uniformed deputies up front, he ran out the back door of the business.

Deputies began pursuing Krygowski on foot, ordering him to stop.

The press release stated deputies pursued directly behind him and in a parallel course out front to prevent him from getting away and were able to grab onto him when he entered another business and sat in a chair in an attempt to evade the pursuing deputies.

Krygowski was arrested on his outstanding warrants from Gage County and Iowa. he was also arrested for obstructing a peace officer and criminal mischief from breaking the fence that he scurried over.

Krygowski was also cited for false reporting stemming from a previous case, in which he gave a false identity to a Gage County Deputy.

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A dusty border town, once notorious for its beer sales, might someday become home to a health center dedicated to alcohol rehabilitation.

This past week, a nonprofit based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation purchased 48 acres of land in Whiteclay, the former home of four liquor stores that sold nearly 4 million cans of beer a year.

Whiteclay, prior to the closing of the beer stores in 2017, was known for its street people, who openly drank and urinated along its small business district. The beer sales were blamed for multiple problems on the adjacent Pine Ridge reservation just a couple of miles north across the South Dakota-Nebraska border, including rampant alcoholism and fetal alcohol syndrome.

John Maisch, an Oklahoma law professor whose video documentary helped illuminate the problems in Whiteclay, facilitated the land sale with Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. He said he hopes that a restorative health care campus could be established on the land, that could include short- and long-term substance abuse services, as well as transitional housing and trauma care.

While Thunder Valley will ultimately decide what to do with the site, Maisch said Thursday that he is hoping leaders and donors in Nebraska will embrace the idea of establishing a health center there.

My intent was to find a tribally-led entity that could help transform Whiteclay from a place of death and destruction into a place of hope and healing, Maisch said. Its the best insurance policy we have to keep the beer stores from returning to Whiteclay.

Establishing a center for rehabilitation work would be a good thing for Whiteclay, an unincorporated village that sits just south of the state line, said Lou Abold, who operates Abes New and Used Store in the village.

Catering to a Christmas rush of shoppers prevented Abold from making more comments on Thursday. The village now includes a Family Dollar store, as well as a nursing home, grocery store and takeout restaurant.

Lack of substance abuse treatment centers, and lack of staff for them, has been cited as a problem for the reservation.

It would be the first venture into health care for Thunder Valley, a tribal-led nonprofit based in Pine Ridge. According to its website, its current projects focus on housing, workforce development, child development and teaching the Lakota language.

Tatewin Means, the executive director of Thunder Valley, did not immediately return email and phone messages seeking comment. She is the former attorney general for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the daughter of the late Russell Means, a Lakota activist and prominent member of the American Indian Movement, known as AIM.

Maisch purchased the former Lakota Hope Center in Whiteclay, which is leased as office space for the Oglala Lakota Nations substance abuse treatment program, Anpetu Luta Otipi.

Maisch owned 16 acres of the land sold to the Lakota group. He had an option on the remaining acres. The site sits along Nebraska 87, just east of the tribal-owned Oglala Sioux Lakota Nursing Home.

The purchase price for the 48 acres was $152,000, according to the Sheridan County Clerks Office.

Dennis Carlson, a Lincoln attorney who was active in closing the Whiteclay beer stores, said that Native activist Frank LaMere once described Whiteclay as a place where there is life but no willingness to live.

That can change now, Carlson said.

LaMere, who first called for closure of the Whiteclay stores three decades ago, died on June 16, 2019, two years after Whiteclays beer stores were ordered closed by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. The commission cited an appalling lack of law enforcement in the unincorporated town.

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Todd even had a few months of dirtying his hands on the railroad after obtaining his bachelor's degree in Minnesota.

He attended West High School in Billings, and then moved on to McAllister College in St. Paul. He says he wasnt ready for law school after graduation, so he put his degree to use installing rail switches at the Northern Pacific railyard near the Twin Cities. He hammered rail spikes for eight hours a day.

He broke quite a few sledgehammers early on, missing the spikes and hitting the rail with the handle, but by Christmas he had mastered the trade and could drive a spike single-handed with either hand. He quit the railroad when the cold set in and the next fall he enrolled at the University Of Montana School Of Law where he graduated in 1977.

He signed on, fresh Juris Doctorate in hand, with the Gallatin County Attorneys Office trying cases under then-county attorney Don White. The job was instructional. Not only did he prosecute several criminal cases, but he filed briefs and argued cases in front of the states Supreme Court on a few occasions.

It gave me a great foundation for my civil legal practice, Todd said.
"The diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize," he said in 1993.

Less than 10% of the Earth's species have scientific names, he said, making it "a still mostly unexplored planet."

In 1979, "On Human Nature"  the third volume in a series including "The Insect Societies" and "Sociobiology"  earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with "The Ants," which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.

Among his other honors was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of America's 25 most influential people in 1996.

Wilson's sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs. nurture debate among scientists. Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has used the word multiple times, saying recently of Biden: "He's committed to working with Congress to codify the constitutional right to safe and legal abortion, as protected by Roe and subsequent Supreme Court precedent."

Vice President Kamala Harris has of late been more vocal on the topic, a possible indication that she will be the one who is more likely to speak out in the future.

To some, Biden's aim is right on, and it's born of his long experience in government and the understanding that doing too much too fast is a recipe for getting nothing at all done. He's already pushed through more of his agenda than any other president in recent memory, especially with the passage of his $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

And despite a progressive generation of Democrats who want him to raise hell over culture war issues, he's got a bigger picture he must focus on, said William Galston, a Brookings Institution fellow and author of "Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy."

"The most important objective of the Biden administration is to make sure that Donald Trump does not re-enter the Oval Office in January 2025," he said. "Everything else pales in consideration to that."
It was sheer chaos, former Shopko pharmacist Rachel Hall said. People were trying to figure out what to do, where they should send their prescriptions.

Mather, Hall and the rest of the Greenfield staff were given just one weeks notice after being told they had nothing to worry about. Their pharmacy had been among the chains fastest-growing locations.

We literally had trophies from Shopko that we threw away when we left, Hall said.

Former Shopko executives contacted by KHN declined interview requests. Shopko Optical, which operates in 11 states, said it is no longer affiliated in any way with Shopko Stores and declined to comment.

Mather and Hall didnt want to give up on Greenfield. They reached out to NuCara, a chain with 30 retail pharmacies across five states, and it agreed to help them open a drugstore in their city.

NuCara opened pharmacies in two other communities that Shopko vacated. In the Minnesota cities of Cokato and North Branch, NuCara partnered with pharmacists who had previously sold their pharmacies to Shopko, said Brett Barker, vice president of pharmacies for NuCara.
"Gosh, what a monumental figure," Tim Holmes said Sunday. "I feel so fortunate to be associated with him for more than 30 years."

Holmes said Tutu has three of his sculptures.

FitzGerald said it was during a concert in Washington, D.C., that they invited Tutu to come to Montana and boom, he accepted it.

He said two concerts were held at the Helena Civic Center. He said several state lawmakers were in the audience. Montana was one of three states at the time that did not recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. FitzGerald said Tutu spoke of MLK in such a joyful, enthusiastic way. That recognition of MLK Day came during the next legislative session.

Homes said problems with apartheid had escalated when Tutu was in Montana and he was asked how he could be so cheerful.

"He said, 'I am not in charge. We are called to be faithful and not successful,'" Holmes recalled. "He was always full of humor and graciousness."
The car on the hoist at Capital Heights Auto Clinic needs a new catalytic converter. Morgan Kraft -- an air wrench in her hands and a penlight in her mouth -- wastes little time in getting the old converter out and the new one in.

Its not something she thought shed be doing eight months ago when she started doing oil changes in the shops lube department. Shes the lone woman among seven mechanics at the shop.

In 2020, about 9% of workers in the U.S. automotive repair and maintenance industry were women, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. There are about 743,000 automotive technicians in the U.S. and less than 2% -- fewer than 15,000 -- are women.

Kraft in April joined the staff and thought shed be staying in the lube department. Her transition to what she calls actual repairs started with her boss one day saying, Go do this, Kraft said.

I figured it out, she said.

She soon found herself working on tires and brakes and doing wheel alignments. She now does exhaust work, front end repairs and lots of spark plugs.

I like it, she said. To me its like taking apart a puzzle and putting it back together.

Kraft, like many women in the auto technician field, got interested with help and guidance from a family member. Her father taught her how to change a flat, put the winter tires on and change her oil. Thats how it played out for Autumn Goecke, 22, of Bismarck, a second-year auto technician student at Bismarck State College.

He taught me all the easy stuff, oil changes, brakes, regular maintenance on your vehicle, Goecke said.

Goecke is the only woman in her class. Shes been an apprentice technician at Eide Chrysler for more than a year and said there arent any barriers that would keep a woman from advancing in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field.

Its all on ability and how well you work, she said.

Veterans in the industry seem to agree. Women in the automotive repair field often bring -- in addition to mechanic skills -- a certain comfort level with customers, especially women, said Peter Mandt, associate professor at the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton.

They understand the viewpoint, he said.

Theres a perception about the old-fashioned mechanic that steers some young people away from the field, Mandt said. It often takes someone to spark their interest and show them the rewards. Thats what led three young women to enroll in BSCs auto collision course. Hannah Deicherts grandfather and stepfather are mechanics, but her interest in body work came up when her mothers co-worker backed into her car. She was a senior in high school and got to work on her own car in the auto body class.

I realized this is pretty fun, Deichert, 18, said. I like seeing the finished project, putting the hard work into it and making it look good.

It was much the same for Carly Seidler, whose interest in cars started when she was small. She attended car shows with her grandfather and liked the satisfaction of taking something not so great and you fix it up and make it look brand new, she said.

Alexys Kramber, 18, of Garrison, brings experience with an airbrush to the body shop. She painted fishing lures with her father, which made her realize what can be accomplished with a paint gun. Women should get outside their comfort zone and just do what they gotta do, Kramber said.

You cant be bad at something you never try, and you cant be good at something youre never willing to learn, she said.

Seidler and Kramber plan to take their studies another step. Seidler is eyeing an auto technician associate degree, and Kamber wants to add upholstery skills to her resume. Both said paying attention to details is one of the traits that set women apart from men. Bismarck and Mandan Tire and Auto Center owner Rachel Gietzen agrees. She said thats one reason shed not hesitate to hire a woman for her shop.

Everyone has different strengths they bring to the table, man or woman, Gietzen said. To me, a good team is a diverse team.

The demand for auto technicians is high and the supply is short, Gietzen said. The field is "very different than that of yesteryear," because mechanics have to have computer knowledge, understand complicated vehicle systems and adapt to changes as new models are produced.

"They're not just tightening bolts," she said. "It's a field where you can make a great career."

The collision students have studied a number of subjects including metal finishing, welding, surface preparation and cost estimating. No woman in this or previous classes would have to take a backseat to anyone, said instructor Richard Bahm.

Theyre right up to snuff with anybody, he said.

Kraft has eased into her role at Capital Heights and said the men she works with are always willing to answer questions. More women should give the field a try, she said.

Its kinda cool that you know what youre talking about when it comes to vehicles, she said.

The men and women in the collision class get along fine, encourage and compliment each other on their work, Kamber said. There is some banter, to be sure, but Kamber said the women often stay one step ahead of the men.

Sometimes they (the men) dont even know what to say, she said.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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Two high-profile homicides dominated crime news in the Bismarck-Mandan area this year, but there were several other notable cases.

They included bank fraud, sex crimes, drugs hidden in boxes of ramen noodles and a jury trial incident in which a judge used a famous movie line to scold a prosecutor, who was fired before the verdict came in.

The trial of a man accused of shooting and stabbing four people to death in Mandan in 2019 brought national attention to the Morton County Courthouse in August.

The guilty verdict in the case of Chad Isaak, 47, leads the list of crime stories in the region in 2021. A jury deliberated 4  hours over two days before finding the Washburn chiropractor guilty of four counts of murder and three lesser charges. He was charged in April 2019 in the deaths of RJR Maintenance and Management co-owner Robert Fakler, 52; and employees Adam Fuehrer, 42; Bill Cobb, 50; and Lois Cobb, 45. The Cobbs were married.

Their deaths were detailed in a three-week trial through crime scene and autopsy photos, DNA and fiber evidence, and video that prosecutors said showed Isaak planned and carried out the crimes. Three of the victims were shot, and the four suffered more than 100 stab wounds that the prosecution team, led by Assistant Morton County State's Attorney Gabrielle Goter, said were dealt by someone with a medical background. Isaak, a former Navy medic, owned a home that sat on property managed by RJR, but no clear motive for the killings was established.

Defense attorneys called the case one of confirmation bias, suggesting that investigators just days after the killings identified Isaak as the killer and focused their efforts only on him. Defense attorney Bruce Quick said authorities overlooked or ignored other potential suspects, including angry tenants, the ex-husband of a woman with whom Robert Fakler had a longtime affair, and members of a motorcycle gang who had been kicked out of an RJR party.

The murder charges carry potential life sentences without the possibility of parole. Isaak's sentencing is Tuesday.

The trial of two people accused of killing a Bismarck man two years ago will instead be a trial of one. Earl Howard, 43, of Belwood, Ontario, in October pleaded guilty to arson, as well as murder, arson and evidence tampering conspiracy charges in the death of Chad Entzel, 42. He was to stand trial as a co-defendant with Nikkisue Entzel, 40, Chad Entzels wife. The two were accused of killing Chad Entzel in what authorities said was a love triangle with plans to cash in on a life insurance policy.

Howard entered into a plea agreement that will put him behind bars for 25 years with decades more possible if he violates probation after his release. Hell be sentenced Jan. 21. Nikkisue Entzels trial on charges of murder conspiracy, arson conspiracy, and evidence tampering conspiracy starts Feb. 28.

Other notable crime

Prosecutors after reviewing a state Bureau of Criminal Investigation report cleared a North Dakota Highway Patrol trooper who shot and killed a man on Interstate 94 west of Mandan in October. Trooper Steven Mayer was justified in discharging his firearm in defense of self and others, said Goter, the Morton County prosecutor. Mayer fired when Craig Knutson, 45, of Billings, Montana, waved a revolver and pointed it at Mayer. The shooting followed a chase at highway speeds.

Three western North Dakota bank employees were indicted in November by a federal grand jury for misapplication of funds and other charges. Authorities say Brady Torgerson, 34, attempted to defraud The Union Bank in Glen Ullin and First Security Bank-West in Beulah by issuing funds to people not entitled to them, failing to register transactions, creating fraudulent loan obligations and covering up the activities. His father, Brent Torgerson, 60, is accused of issuing a $724,000 cashiers check to his son without proper paperwork. Kelly Huffman allegedly issued a $125,000 check advance to another bank at Brady Torgersons request.

Mandan police officer and K9 handler Scott Warzecha pleaded guilty to shooting video of a person under age 18 with a hidden cellphone. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Authorities investigated after responding to a 911 call that Warzecha was threatening to harm himself following the discovery of his actions. The incident was not work-related.

Lance Jacobson, 65, and Jiang Jennings, 57, were sentenced to two years on probation after pleading guilty to facilitating prostitution. The charges were filed after a September 2020 raid at the Hong Kong Spa in Bismarck. Spa owner Craig Grorud pleaded guilty to misdemeanor promoting prostitution and was sentenced to two years on probation.

Clancey Lone Fight, 34, was sentenced to seven years in prison for leading authorities on a January chase that ended in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Passenger Gabriella Perez-Goodbird, 19, suffered severe frostbite but survived two nights in the park in subzero wind chills after the two separated.

Also of note

Former Mandan City Commissioner and Morton County Commissioner Robert Christensen, 64, and another man were sentenced to probation and ordered to make restitution to a woman whose bank account they used for their own purposes.

Attorneys in September reached a settlement in the sixth day of a civil trial stemming from a fatal 2016 home explosion north of Mandan. An attorney representing the children of Clyde and Elizabeth Howe said details of the settlement are confidential.

Diego Ashton, 29, of Bismarck, in September was sentenced to 43 years in prison for shooting Robert Becker 11 times in October 2020. Ashton told authorities he'd "had enough" of Becker's comments about his mental health issues.

Dawson Rouse, 22, of Bismarck, in December entered into a plea agreement on 21 federal child sex charges. Authorities say he befriended girls on social media, harassed some until they sent him inappropriate images, and allegedly had sex with six of them. Hell be sentenced in April.

A judge in September ordered a new trial for a man convicted in 2019 of raping a Lyft customer. South Central District Judge Bobbi Weiler said Corey Wickhams constitutional rights were violated when his attorney failed to object to police testimony that later impacted the jurys decision.

A 22-year-old Bismarck man accused of ramming a Bismarck gun shop and stealing weapons was also charged with shooting electrical equipment that caused an outage for 1,000 Mandan households. Tjaden Smith faces multiple charges in Burleigh and Morton counties.

A judge sentenced 86-year-old Bertha Harper to two years on probation stemming from a June 2020 crash in which pedestrian Amber Rebel was killed.

Frank Gasper, the North Dakota FBI agent who brought Jamaican lottery scammers to justice, retired in April after 25 years with the bureau.

The unusual

Less serious but still of interest are cases that took unexpected turns in 2021.

A tattoo artist was acquitted of causing $18,000 in graffiti damage, and an assistant prosecutor was fired during the trial. Richard Hudson, 33, was accused of spray painting the word CRAN -- his tag or logo -- on a number of Bismarck businesses. Jurors after 10 minutes of deliberation returned a verdict of not guilty, but Assistant Burleigh County States Attorney Scott Miller was not in the courtroom to hear it. States Attorney Julie Lawyer fired him after he sparred with and was scolded by Judge John Grinsteiner, who at one point borrowed a phrase from the movie Top Gun when Miller tried to interrupt him, telling the prosecutor negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

A Bismarck police officer was reprimanded for using harsh language while attempting to arrest a man who longboarded down State Street in August. Officer Mark Muscha received a verbal reprimand, and skateboarder Seth Voegele, 32, was charged with preventing arrest. Three months later, Mandan police used a Taser on Voegele when he allegedly fled and resisted arrest after riding his skateboard in front of traffic.

North Dakota state troopers in September arrested two people after finding 10 pounds of marijuana hidden in a delivery van loaded with three pallets of ramen noodles. Tariq Alexander, 28, and Latifah Rivers, 24, both of Philadelphia, told troopers they were hauling the noodles from Washington to New York and didnt know the marijuana was there.

A Bismarck man started an apartment fire when he allegedly boiled cooking oil to throw on gang members who were trying to enter his apartment. John Linder, 33, pleaded not guilty to endangering by fire.

The North Dakota Supreme Court granted a jury trial to a Wisconsin Trump supporter accused of an infraction for using public grounds to sell Trump wares. The trial date for Eric Smith is not scheduled in court documents.

Reach Travis Svihovec at 701-250-8260 or Travis.Svihovec@bismarcktribune.com

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Federal coronavirus aid has increased grant funding for establishing more addiction treatment programs in North Dakota, specifically where services are lacking.

Bismarck-based Heartview Foundation is pursuing a grant to establish services in Dickinson.

The Legislature during its special session last month approved adding $3 million of Rescue Plan aid to the $2 million previously approved this year for establishing residential treatment programs of 16 beds or fewer in underserved areas of the state. Lawmakers also increased the grants from a maximum two to four.

The state Department of Human Services opened an application period this month for the $5 million. The deadline is Jan. 7.

'Where people live'

The goal is to bring services to people who otherwise must travel great distances for treatment, according to state Behavioral Health Division Director Pamela Sagness.

Seeking treatment far from home can disrupt a person's family and work.

"What we want to do is ensure that as many of the levels of care are available for outpatient services, intensive outpatient services, residential services -- we want all of those services to be available closer to where people live," she said.

The money is one-time funding for start-up costs such as identifying a location, covering renovation costs and recruiting staff, according to Sagness.

Shortages of treatment services are throughout the state. But areas such as Dickinson, Williston and Wahpeton are places "we would anticipate will be the applicants that will be applying for the funding," she said.

"They have an opportunity to share in their application why the area is underserved, and then share some data and numbers and information," Sagness said.

Heartview eyes Dickinson

Heartview Foundation will seek a grant for establishing services on the fourth floor of St. Joe's Plaza in Dickinson, Executive Director Kurt Snyder said.

At any given time, 30-50% of people in Heartview's residential programs in Bismarck are from western North Dakota, he said.

At a Dickinson location, "The foundation would be a 16-bed residential (facility), but I would love to develop the opioid-specific services," he said. "Stepdown" transitional services are important, too, he said.

"We would definitely look to develop a full continuum of care in Dickinson if we can," Snyder said.

Heartview has nearly 500 patients in its services at any time, and it served people from 39 of 53 counties last year.

In 2015, the organization established a 16-bed residential treatment facility in Cando, population 1,117, in northeastern North Dakota.

A Towner County Medical Center executive and the Dakota Medical Foundation approached Heartview about a vacant building that previously housed drug and alcohol treatment.

"The opportunity was that Dakota Medical Foundation gifted the amount of money needed to buy the facility to us with a caveat that we would need to run it for five years and then we would fully own it," Snyder said.

The arrangement helped fill a need in the northeast for medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction, he said.

Heartview in Cando offers mental health services, day treatment and outpatient services.

Counselors from the previous treatment center helped staff the Cando facility, along with Bismarck staff given incentives to work closer to their hometowns up north.

Workforce -- specifically addiction counselors -- is "the top barrier" in setting up treatment programs, according to Snyder.

"It's about being able to attract, retain, grow your own, help people that join your workforce in a different capacity to see themselves possibly becoming licensed and taking a different role," he said.

A startup "takes resources, time, energy, money," he said. And the $5 million in state grants "is by no means excessive," he added.

Heartview estimates a $950,000 renovation cost for a Dickinson facility. Snyder noted the Cando center had about $250,000 in other startup costs once the building was acquired. And there would be ongoing costs for leasing, utilities and staffing.

A new program also may take six months to a year to cash flow due to having few patients initially and a turnaround time for billing, he said. And payroll and other expenses need to be paid in that period.

"I feel very good about our opportunity to make it work, but we have an advantage: We did this before," Snyder said.

'No silver bullet'

Key lawmakers say the grants are a step in combating a behavioral health crisis in North Dakota, bringing services closer to people, many of whom often go to Fargo for treatment.

The grants made the final cut from $9 billion of proposals from state agencies, lawmakers and the governor for North Dakota's $1 billion of Rescue Plan aid.

Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, cited a state prison system presentation that showed high behavioral health needs among inmates: At least 85% of people entering prison have an active addiction diagnosis and are referred to treatment, including 95% of women last year.

"Dealing with those issues makes a big difference in public safety and reducing the need for incarceration," Dever said.

Dever and Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, lead the Legislature's interim Acute Psychiatric Treatment Committee, which is studying behavior health and treatment needs in the state.

Nelson noted the committee's focuses on the potential for setting up a program "to get some homegrown talent in these areas" and on a review of licensing issues.

"There's probably no silver bullet in this whole area, but if we keep attacking it from different angles maybe we can start to make some difference," he said.

The Legislature earlier this year approved $15 million for the substance use disorder voucher program, which is used to cover gaps in people's abilities to access services close to them.

Addiction and recovery have grown as a public health focus in recent years in North Dakota, with champions as powerful as the governor and first lady, herself a recovering alcoholic.

'Taken a toll'

Record drug overdose deaths have occurred during the nearly two-year-old coronavirus pandemic, which has kept many people isolated and delayed them from seeking important care, Sagness said.

Last year, North Dakota logged a recent record 118 drug-related deaths of residents, the most in a decade and a 49% increase from 2019, according to the state Division of Vital Records. Accidental deaths from narcotics were the most common type of drug-related death, at 49 instances.

Whether it's losing a job or grieving a loss, the pandemic has impacted people's mental health, according to Sagness.

People have lost loved ones. Families have changed. Some couples' marriages didn't weather the pandemic well, she said.

"It's just taken a toll on every aspect of life for many individuals," Sagness said.

The Legislature also approved $4 million in Rescue Plan aid for community-based behavioral health services, such as peer support and the Free Through Recovery program.

"It really helps with the things that are 'who do you call at 10 o'clock at night on a Saturday?'" Sagness said.

Reach Jack Dura at 701-250-8225 or jack.dura@bismarcktribune.com.

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The state has reposted the job opening for North Dakota's next land commissioner to expand the field of candidates after receiving five applications.

The last time North Dakota was looking for a new leader for the Department of Trust Lands in 2017, it received 32 applications, according to Tribune archives. The Board of University and School Lands ultimately chose Jodi Smith for the role.

Smith announced in October that she had accepted another job and would resign, though she planned to stay on with the state for a while to help with the transition. Her new job is with the group managing the Red River diversion project.

Mike Nowatzki, a spokesperson for Gov. Doug Burgum who chairs the Land Board, said that four of the five recent applicants met the minimum qualifications for the job. The job posting lists the salary range as $130,000 to $145,000 per year. The new application deadline is Jan. 14, Nowatzki said. A search committee tasked with vetting candidates is slated to next meet on Wednesday, he said.

The Department of Trust Lands is tasked with managing educational trust funds and assets, including 700,000 state-owned surface acres and 2.6 million mineral acres. Revenue from oil development and livestock grazing on state-owned land benefits public education. The department has 30 full-time employees, according to the land commissioner job posting.

The department and Land Board have come under scrutiny in recent years amid a high-profile dispute over oil and gas royalties. The department is attempting to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties from oil and gas companies following a state Supreme Court ruling. A legal battle over the issue is ongoing, and the matter spurred legislation this year to place a cap on the amount of interest and penalties the state can collect.

Reach Amy R. Sisk at 701-250-8252 or amy.sisk@bismarcktribune.com.

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This is Up and Down, where we give a brief thumbs up or thumbs down on the issues from the past week.

Up

A tradition at Bismarcks Legacy United Methodist Church will support homelessness services in the community. Church members are encouraged to donate half of their Christmas gift budget through an initiative called Half-a-Christmas. The congregations goal is to donate $40,000 to the Missouri Slope Areawide United Way and the Missouri Valley Coalition for Homeless People for this Christmas season. The Rev. Brandon Vetter said the program, which is in its 13th year, is a way to help church members have a different focus on Christmas.

Down

North Dakota health officials confirmed the first known cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in the state. The four cases announced last week were in Burleigh, Ward and Cass counties, all involving people under 50. Two of the people did not indicate traveling out of state, pointing to community transmission of omicron in North Dakota. Three of the four people were fully vaccinated but had not received booster shots. One was unvaccinated. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week that omicron is now the dominant coronavirus strain in the U.S.

Up

Members of the Bismarck Firefighters Local 2468 once again delivered toys for children who were hospitalized over Christmas. Although the firefighters couldnt deliver directly to pediatric wards at Sanford Health and CHI St. Alexius Health hospitals due to COVID-19 restrictions, they brought toys to be distributed by hospital staff. About $4,000 was raised from fire department personnel, 14 local businesses and a seventh grade class at Horizon Middle School. Pilots for Kids also delivered toys and other donations last week to Sanford Health Foundation. The items were distributed to families in need.

Down

Hospitals nationwide are struggling with burnout among doctors, nurses and other health care workers due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health Director Renae Moch is urging people to get tested for COVID-19 before and after holiday gatherings to prevent a surge in cases. Moch cited the omicron variant as a reason to be extra vigilant. Public health officials also urged people to get vaccinated, including a booster dose, to prevent severe illness.

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Stars made of antimatter? Humans arrived in North America during the last ice age? These are just two of the mind-boggling discoveries of 2021 that Science News claims that "if true, could shake up science." Of course, more evidence is needed for these bold findings and others shared by Science News:

Antistarry night

Scientists may have spotted stars made of antimatter. Finding antistars challenges a basic tenet of cosmology  that the vast majority of the universe's antimatter, matter's oppositely charged doppelganger, was destroyed long ago.

Misbehaving muons

Researchers with the Muon g2 experiment at Fermilab in Batavia, Ill., flung billions of muons around the lab's giant magnet and found that the rate at which the orientation of the muons' magnetic poles wobbled strayed from theoretical predictions. The odd behavior suggests that hidden particles are influencing the muons' magnetic properties[]

Cosmic curve ball

In other news that may upend our understanding of the cosmos, scientists detected a giant arc of galaxies stretching across more than 3 billion light-years. Such a finding is counter to the assumption that matter in the universe is evenly distributed on large scales[]

Early arrival



This year brought new evidence that humans arrived in the Americas more than 15,000 years earlier than traditionally thought, throwing support behind last year's claim that humans reached North America by about 33,000 years ago[]

Extragalactic planet

Astronomers may have detected the first known planet outside of the Milky Way, in a galaxy about 28 million light-years from Earth[]
Last week, a Delta Air Lines flight from Seattle to Shanghai turned around halfway through the trip, inexplicably returning passengers to the airport they had just left. Now we know why.

Apparently, Shanghai Pudong International Airport had just announced new Covid cleaning rules that weren't "viable" for Delta.

In an email statement, Delta said the Shanghai airport's new cleaning mandates "require significantly extended ground time and are not operationally viable for Delta."

According to AP, China Airlines and EVA Air cut back on flights to Shanghai "citing new disinfection procedures that will take longer to complete." But Delta seems to be the only flight that actually canceled a flight mid-air when they realized they'd have to spend more time (translation: more money) than planned at the airport. Their unexpected post-takeoff cancelation " left passengers with expired COVID-19 test results and U.S. visas."
Please refer to my dispatch from Thursday before reading the following.

"You are?" I asked, stunned.

"Yes. I am the man who had Piotr evicted from his apartment after he caused me mental anguish many years ago in Los Angeles. Even though he was forced to flee back to his home country in shame, I felt he deserved further humiliation. So ever since then, I've been biding my time, waiting for a chance to pay him back for his insolence. Because of you, I have my chance. Work with me and I will make you richer than you can imagine."

"How?"

"There are many secrets that are encoded in junk mail that only I can understand. I want to give you the key to my power. But first I need you to do me a favor."

"What kind of favor?" I have to admit I was intrigued by the unctuous gentleman's offer, having long suspected myself that junk mail served some kind of higher purpose.

"There is a man that works for me. For the last fourteen years, I have sent him to Hawaii for a vacation, where he can indulge himself in all manner of sensory pleasures. His name is Stephen. I want you to give him this extension cord."

The man who loved junk mail reached into a large pocket of his overcoat and retrieved a bulky envelope and handed it to me. I lifted the flap and peered inside. It contained a fake Hawaii driver's license with my photo on it and a plane ticket to Honolulu. There was also a book of matches from a bar called Kokichi's Reef, two business cards for a surfboard rental shop, a surfboard wax kit, $5,000 in cash, and a Woods SlimLine Flat Plug Indoor Extension Cord.

"How did you get my photo on this driver's license?" I asked.

"When you are as rich as I am, you can make things happen faster than you might think," he said with a shrug and a pout.

"I don't understand how my traveling to Hawaii to give a man an extension cord will accomplish your goal of revenge against Piotr?"

"Enough questions. It is not necessary for you to know the details. Suffice it to say that your innocent action will trigger a cascade of events that will result in Piotr's death, marking the end of my years-long feud with the vile tailor, and it is all thanks to you."

Death? I wanted no part of this man's revenge fantasy.

"I'm not interested in helping you," I said. I stood up and started to walk away.

"That would be a mistake," said the man.

Against my better judgment, I stopped and turned to face him.

"And why is that?" I asked.

The man who loved junk mail said, "I have another gift for you."

He reached into his overcoat again and produced a small wooden box. He handed it to me.

"What is this?"

"Open it."

I did. It contained a long mass of curly human hair.

"Is this a beard?"

"It's a trophy. You see, in addition to collecting junk mail, I collect souvenirs from people who cross me."

"I don't understand," I said.

"Let me put it this way. The city of Pock is rid of one person who doesn't know how to give proper respect."
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, protected a sex trafficking ring in Northern Virginia while receiving free use of its "services", claims a lawsuit filed by one of its victims. Two now-former officers are namedMichael O. Barbazette of Manassas and Jason J. Mardocco of Gainesvilleand a third says internal efforts to investigate the ring resulted in threats from high-ranking officers.

when she arrived in the U.S. in late 2010, the woman who ran the trafficking ring, Hazel Sanchez Cerdas, took her passport and forced her to engage in commercial sex. When the woman said she wanted to leave, Sanchez alternately threatened to harm the woman's family in Costa Rica or tell the family she was a prostitute, according to the lawsuit. Sanchez pleaded guilty in federal court in Alexandria to running the prostitution ring and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. Prosecutors in that case said women in Sanchez's operation were required to have sex with up to 17 customers a day, and instructed to comply with requests even for particularly humiliating or dangerous sex acts.

Here's an interesting part of the case: the now-resigned police chief, said to be among those protecting the ring, was attempting to reform the force after one of its officers killed an unarmed man. He was ousted just a few months ago after police "unions" organized no-confidence votes against him. Though the obvious conclusion might be "see, ACAB", the ugly sight of cop fraternities crudely pulling the strings while all this shakes out should encourage a very thorough investigation of everyone's activities.
NASA has been convening two dozen theologians to advise on how the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrials may shake up various religious doctrines and those who believe in them. One of the researchers is Cambridge University priest and religious scholar Andrew Davison who joined Princeton's Center of Theological Inquiry to participate in the project.

"I am researching and writing a survey of the main topics in Christian belief  what is sometimes called 'systematic theology'  from the perspective of life elsewhere in the universe," Davison writes in a report. "I am thinking about its bearing on the doctrines of creation, sin, the person and work of Jesus, redemption, revelation, eschatology, and so on."

From the New York Post:

Research published in 2017 found that people with a strong desire to find meaning, but a low adherence to a particular religion, are more likely to believe aliens exist  indicating that faith in either theory may come from the same human impulse[] According to the Times, Davison's book [Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, due out next year,] notes that a "large number of people would turn to their religions traditions for guidance" if extraterrestrials were found, and what that means "for the standing and dignity of human life."
A NASA website (or should I say Webbsite?) shows how far the historic James Webb Space Telescope is from reaching orbit.

On it, you can check out the telescope's distance from Earth, distance until L2 (when it's orbiting the sun), and cruising speed. Last I checked, it was going 3480 mph, or nearly a mile per second. It's a fun tab to bookmark!

The launch occurred at 7:20am ET on Christmas morning from French Guiana, but the telescope is not close to its destination yet. For the first 29 days, it will be traveling about one million miles and unfolding its mirrors and sunshield which are so big that they had to be folded up like origami for the launch.

The long-awaited telescope has been in development since 1996 (when Macarena was the top song on the radio!).

Webb will peer into the very atmospheres of exoplanets, some of which are potentially habitable, and it could uncover clues in the ongoing search for life outside of Earth. CNN

Check out the 'Where is Webb' website here!
The last time his grandparents were apart this long was when Albert was in the Korean War. The two also weren't together for their 71st wedding anniversary, on Nov. 4.

"Knowing that they can't be independent and then dealing with trying to get them together in the same place, I never in a million years thought it would be this difficult to find a place," Kolb said. "It's been over six months at this point trying to get them together, so they can just be together again."

Ripple effect

Capacity-strained hospitals also are desperate for nursing homes to open up more beds.

Case management teams at the region's hospitals have been constantly searching for available beds across New York and sometimes into neighboring states for patients who no longer require hospitalization but need to be in nursing homes, rehab facilities or group settings. Hospitals refer to them as Alternate Level of Care patients.

Why are local hospitals filling up? It's not just because of Covid There are other factors pressuring local hospitals, from employee shortages to difficulties discharging patients who need to be in long-term care facilities that don't have room.
As new Covid-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant continue to rise in New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul is getting ready to unveil a revised winter surge strategy.

"Winter Surge 2.0," she called it. Details, which are being ironed out this week, will be discussed Friday.

Erie County sets record for daily Covid cases as Omicron takes hold The county's Health Department confirmed 1,137 cases for Thursday, crushing the previous pandemic daily high of 981 cases on Dec. 3.

During a briefing Monday morning, Hochul urged calm amid the spread of Omicron and made clear that her ultimate goal is to avoid shutting down New York's economy and institutions, especially schools.

"We're preparing for all scenarios, including the worst-case scenarios, which we're not at. But, I have said from the very beginning, I want to have the ability to deploy whatever actions need to be taken if we get to a crisis situation," Hochul said. "We are not there yet."

Statistics for new daily cases were skewed because of the Christmas holidays, Hochul said. But they remain high, with 36,000 new cases reported on Christmas, and 26,737 reported Sunday. More accurate numbers will be released Tuesday, she added.

0:12 10 stories that shaped Buffalo Niagara in 2021: Covid's wrath, a new governor and more As 2021 draws to a close, one thing is indisputable: There were stories in Western New York that will live on in our memories for a long time.

The numbers are "continuing to climb," the governor said. "This has not been a surprise to us."
The state's highest court has upheld the 2019 conviction of one of three Hamburg sisters found guilty of abusing their father.

In a 6-1 ruling, the state Court of Appeals agreed with an appellate court's ruling affirming Grace M. Pietrocarlo's assault conviction for a September 2017 beating of Michael Pietrocarlo.

Grace Pietrocarlo contended the trial evidence didn't support her conviction.

At the trial, prosecutors presented testimony from the father that his daughter, along with several other members of his family, confronted and repeatedly kicked him from both sides after he fell to the ground. Although he could not specifically identify who delivered each blow, he did identify the assailants  including Grace Pietrocarlo  at trial, according to the Court of Appeals decision.

"This evidence, along with other circumstantial proof presented at trial, was sufficient for a reasonable factfinder to infer that defendant shared a community of purpose with the other assailants," according to the decision. "As such, there was a valid line of reasoning and permissible inferences that could lead a rational person to conclude that every element of the charged crime has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Attendance at state parks in Niagara Falls and elsewhere in the region vastly improved last year over 2020.

But officials say park use hasn't bounced back to the pre-pandemic numbers of 2019.

State Parks officials said 2019 remains the year by which all others must be measured.

"I will remind everybody that 2019 was a record year for us. We were certainly very hopeful that those numbers were going to keep trending upward," Ron Peters, deputy director of Niagara Region State Parks, said at a recent meeting of the Niagara Region Parks Commission.

"We can only guess where it might have been now. Still, were coming back. A little bit more to go to get back to some level of normalcy," Peters said.

The announced visitorship at Niagara Reservation State Park, by far the largest of the parks, reached nearly 8.5 million from April 1 through Nov. 30, up from 5.45 million in 2020. But in the last pre-pandemic year, the state claimed 9.5 million visitors for that park.

This year's increase doesn't surprise those in the tourist attraction field.
Latest Covid-19 report shows growing impact of Omicron in NY The report said 36,454 state residents tested positive for the virus Saturday, with a positivity rate of 14.17%.

As of Sunday, 27.3% of 5- to 11-year-old children in New York had received at least once vaccine dose, and 16.4% were fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, 71.8% of 12- to 17-year-olds had received at least one dose, and 64.1% were fully vaccinated.

"With respect to our young people: Parents, we are calling on you," Hochul said. "This is the time you have the kids home from school. There's plenty of vaccination opportunities, from your pediatrician, to a site set up by the state of New York, our urgent care centers, so many places, drugstores, where you can go get your child vaccinated before they get back to school."

While the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was authorized for emergency use in children ages 5-11 in late October, those under the age of 5 are not yet eligible to be vaccinated. Pfizer and BioNTech on Dec. 17 said they could submit data to regulators to support emergency use for children 6 months to 5 years old in the first half of 2022.

Cases and hospitalizations among the youngest population will remain a concern.

Since Dec. 15, Turkovich said 16 children have been admitted to Oishei for Covid-19, including seven who were under 5 years old.

0:12 10 stories that shaped Buffalo Niagara in 2021: Covid's wrath, a new governor and more As 2021 draws to a close, one thing is indisputable: There were stories in Western New York that will live on in our memories for a long time.
Anyone who has received a health insurance denial knows something about the cost cutting pressures in the health care system. I have good employer sponsored insurance, but just received my second denial in two years of breathing support I need to live. Given my severe neuromuscular diagnosis, its outrageous that I have to go through an appeal again.

The arguments in a recent Another Voice column and a responding letter ignore the economic pressures that too often deny needed health care and home care to individuals and families. The column asks, Would they want to die in their sleep, comfortable, surrounded by loved ones? Or would they rather be hooked up to hospital machines for days, suffering, falsely indicating that we dont already have the right to refuse machines and hospitals in favor of palliative care that lets us die in our sleep. The proponent letter in response admits this, but tries to leverage current legal options into a why not argument for assisted suicide.
Lately, some writers to this column have protested the use of the term: Bills Mafia when referring to the high-spirited Buffalo Bills fans. Although the word Mafia has negative connotations as it is commonly used based on the reputation of a ruthless organized crime syndicate, the actual origins of the word mafia are thus: The word mafia derives from the Sicilian adjective mafiusu, which, roughly translated, means swagger, but can also be translated as boldness or bravado. On that basis, swagger, boldness and bravado are very fitting monikers for Buffalo Bills fans.

These are dedicated fans who have endured rain, sleet, hail, snow, wind and freezing cold temperatures in an uncomfortable roof-less stadium for decades. They have remained loyal throughout years and years of discouraging seasons only to return the following year with renewed hope and optimism for a winning season  I say kudos to all of them.

I am of Sicilian descent, and I know the Mafia from days of old, are not a part of my (or anyone I know) heritage and they do not represent my Italian identity in any way, no more than any other criminal element is representative of any other ethnic group  and there have been plenty throughout the years.
Social Security is a lifeline for millions of retirees and other older Americans who are still in the workforce. Making sure you qualify for every dollar youve got coming to you is not a step you want to skip  and believe it or not, Social Security is not guaranteed. In fact, there are more than a half-dozen ways that you could miss out on benefits that you were counting on and that you paid for with your tax dollars.

Find Out: All You Need To Know About Collecting Social Security While Still Working

Read More: The Biggest Problems Facing Social Security

You Failed the Social Security Earnings Test

Early claimers who are still working have to pass the Social Security earnings test in order to qualify for benefits. There is no such test once you reach full retirement age. In 2021, the Social Security Administration (SSA) temporarily withholds $1 in benefits for every $2 earned over $18,960, although theres a more forgiving monthly test for those entering the year of full retirement.

Find Out: The Average Social Security Check the Year You Were Born

You Came Up Short on Credits

In order to receive Social Security payments, you have to first work for a certain amount of time, pay taxes into the system and build up enough credits to qualify for benefits. In 2021, you get one credit for every $1,470 in income earned, up to one credit per quarter or four credits per year. Most people must have 40 credits to receive Social Security benefits, which means you have to work for 10 years before youre eligible.

Read More: Next Years Social Security Checks Could Get Biggest COLA Bump in 13 Years

You Have Debt That Qualifies For Garnishment

Its hard for private lenders to snatch your Social Security payments, but your benefits can be garnished to satisfy certain kinds of other debts. Among them are alimony, child support and restitution, but the states determine what constitutes a valid order for garnishment. If your benefits have been garnished for any of these reasons, contact the appropriate state agency, not the SSA.

Story continues

If you guessed that tax debt is one of the other exceptions, you would be correct. The Department of the Treasury can garnish up to 15% of your Social Security benefits every month until your tax debt is paid. The Treasury Department can also garnish your benefits for nontax debt, including any federal student loans you might have defaulted on.

Poll: Are Social Security Benefits Big Enough?

Youre Covered Under the Civil Service Retirement System

Instead of paying into Social Security, some federal employees hired before 1984 have instead been contributing to the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). The CSRS was formed as part of the 1920 Civil Service Retirement Act and was replaced by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) in 1987. CSRS recipients do not receive Social Security benefits unless theyre eligible through another job or through a spouse.

Are You Doomed To Work Forever? What You Can Do If Your Social Security Isnt Enough

Youre Covered By the Railroad Retirement Act

Some railroad workers are also covered by a retirement system outside of Social Security and are ineligible for benefits. People who participate in the Railroad Retirement Act pay more of their salaries into the fund but receive higher payments when they retire  particularly career employees with at least 30 years on the job.

When Social Security Runs Out: What the Program Will Look Like in 2035

You Dont Qualify For a Divorced Spouses Benefits

Some people are eligible to receive benefits on their former spouses records, but they have to meet certain qualifications first. You must have been married for 10 years or longer and you must not be remarried, although you can still qualify if your former spouse remarries. There are other requirements, too, so if you were planning on applying for benefits on a former spouses record, make sure you qualify first.

You Moved  Like, Far  in Retirement

In most cases, you can collect Social Security in another country if you live abroad in retirement, although you have to follow strict and specific rules from both the SSA and your host country. The SSA, however, is generally forbidden from sending payments to a handful of countries, but dont worry. None of them are exactly beacons for U.S. retirees.

They include Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Some exceptions can be made for some eligible retirees in those countries, but you can never collect Social Security in Cuba and North Korea.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 7 Reasons You Might Not Receive Social Security Benefits
Editors note: This is a first in a series of features on our selections of our Best Books of 2021.

This year witnessed a richness of publications. We have not one, but two groundbreaking anthologies centered on women-loving-women, as well as the second short story collection of one of the countrys premier fiction writers. Tingle: An Anthology of Pinay Lesbian Writing (Anvil Press), Wildfire: Filipina Lesbian Writings (Gantala Press), and Pics or It Didnt Happen and Actual Stories (UP Press) are all testaments to the notable skill of Filipino writers and their capacity to distill lifetimes of experiences and emotions in a few, glittering pages.

What makes you tingle as a lesbian?

Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, the anthologys editor, introduces the book by recognizing how long-overdue the book is. Ladlad, the pioneering anthology of Philippine gay writing, has already produced three volumes and a best-of anthology. Meanwhile, the first publication to center lesbians, Tibok: Heartbeat of the Filipino Lesbian edited by Anna Leah Sarabia, came out in 1998 and received only one review in an academic publication. Cruz talks about how it was a collective effort to become visible in literature, but the literary system refused to look at the women who had laid themselves out for the cause of visibility.

WATCH: A new Filipino anthology shines light on stories by women loving women

Cruz and an assortment of writers have tried to remedy the lack of visibility with this wonderful anthology. Tingle presents a delicious diversity of literary pieces on women-loving-women, encompassing everything from the carnal to the sublime. The collection is arranged in seven sections, each section handling a particular aspect of lesbian life. How It Begins shows the first tentative, potent pulses of female desire, while Unrequited deals with the perpetual problem of loving someone who does not love you back. The collection skillfully transitions from hot-and-heavy scenes of burgeoning love, to the more somber, bittersweet conclusion of a life-changing romance.

And what a wealth of works we have. The collection opens with Rayji de Guias Here Come the Women, a sly and subversive feminist retelling of Nick Joaquins The Summer Solstice. Ocean Ghost by Nina Matalam Alvarez celebrates the liberating force of a womans first time with her lover: As limbs moved upon limbs, tongues danced in salty skin and hands slipped into secret places, I felt free. Roselle Pineda uses primal, elemental language to convey the intensity of her longing for the beloved, so that even the reader is swept away by her desire: She, who comes to me like wildfire, burning incense within me. She, who comes to me like strange rain, cold, trickling beautifully against my parched body, quenching every crevice, every secret of it.

"The collection also reminds the reader that being a lesbian is more than desire and romance; it also means struggling and defying a world that tries to erase ones existence."

The collection also reminds the reader that being a lesbian is more than desire and romance; it also means struggling and defying a world that tries to erase ones existence. Germaine Leonins Daughter shows a grown womans complicated relationship with her mother, who now needs assisted living to survive. The rebels in Kei Valmoria Bughaws Rebirth face both the sweet possibility of love and the brutal misogyny of state forces, sanctioned and emboldened by the current president. Andyleen Fejes Stereotypes 101: How to Write a Pseudo-Lesbian Story is a clever metafictional piece that lambasts societal standards and expectations of what lesbians and lesbian stories should be. One of the anthologys standouts is the prize-winning Welts (Latay sa Laman) written by Melinda Babaran and translated by Jhoanna Lynn Cruz, about a young lesbian choosing the life of an OFW to escape her violent household.

WATCH: In Taiwan, a Filipino factory worker wins prestigious literary award

Wildfire is a multilingual anthology, with works in English, Filipino, and Hiligaynon. Like Tingle, it effectively expresses the rich variety of lesbian life in the Philippines. The first work in the anthology is a poem Oo, Tibo Ako by Melinda Babaran, that also doubles as an attack against close-minded, deadbeat dads and boyfriends: Oo, tibo ako, pero heto ako ngayon, / Tumatayong magulang sa anak na iniwan mo noon. The persona also addresses the girlfriend abandoned by the boyfriend: Kaya kahit ang sakit mong mahalin, andito pa rin ako, / Araw-araw kang pinipili, minamahal nang totoo. Kert Tandogs Siya is an insightful and illuminating essay about what its like to grow up non-binary, not falling into the prescribed gender categories of male and female. Libay Cantors June is a lovely letter from a mother to her daughter, who has two mothers and no lack of love.

In addition to written pieces, Wildfire has several worthwhile works of visual art. Shinnen Cahandigs My Amaryllis shows a tender, pastoral image of two girls cuddling amongst the flowers, while Carla Franciscos On Secret Identities and the Power of Pride puts a queer twist to the superhero and their one weakness. The collection concludes with a comic from GALANG Philippines, about an indomitable lesbian who works as an organizer and mediator in a Metro Manila community.

***

A book doesnt need multiple writers to convey the variety of life. A singular, skilled writer can craft a collection of meaningful experiences that linger in the readers mind, and Anna Felicia Sanchez accomplishes this task beautifully. As we face new variants of COVID that make the possibility of normal life even more remote, it would be easy to fall into nostalgia, to remember the past as a perfect place free of pain and confusion. But Pics or It Didnt Happen channels a force more powerful than nostalgia; in Sanchezs stories, the past is a different country, full of happiness but full of heartbreak as well. The stories are filled with teenagers and young adults making the kind of embarrassing mistakes wed like to forget: spilling a drink on a stranger, messing up a class activity, pining over someone unattainable. And Sanchezs gaze doesnt flinch when it comes to discussing even heavier topics. A flighty woman returns home to say goodbye to her ailing father; three college students discuss mental illness and suicide. But Sanchez imbibes every success and tragedy with warm humanity. Each character, no matter how grave their mistakes, becomes a living person with dreams and motivations not much different from our own. Her characters are the distillations of our triumphs and failures, rendered even more real and lifelike in her limpid, gorgeous prose.

Its beautiful here. Thats why it can hurt, says Reese, the main character in the collections stunning opening story, Lucky. Reese is a second-year student at the state university, who befriends two classmates in a literature class. Sanchez paints their daily lives with palpable detail: they eat fish-balls, read books, play pusoy dos, tambay in library steps. She powerfully evokes meaningful, mundane joys of student life before the pandemic, the long, idle hours just wandering around the campus with friends, blissfully unaware that such moments wont be available forever. But Sanchez avoids easy nostalgia. She delicately but directly confronts the tangled web of mental, economic, and social constraints that infests college life. Reese, Jerome, and Lexy fight depression, unfair expectations, an uncaring educational system. In the closing moments of the story, they talk about their previous suicide attempts. Its a raw, harrowing scene. But in the end, what remains is friendship  these three people having found each other. Their friendship is not a cure-all for all the suffering theyve undergone, but it does ferry them to a better place than where they were before. The friendship could lead to beauty and to pain, but Reese recognizes that there could be no beauty without the risk of pain, particularly the pain of losing the beauty over time.

Tingle, Wildfire, and Pics or It Didnt Happen are all transformative books. Reading them is an immersive opportunity to live the lives of others and to experience the tang and sting of such vivid, ordinary lives. They show the magnitude of the skill of Filipino writers, and the treasury of stories that readers can still discover.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  Local government units ravaged by Typhoon Odette will secure more financial assistance amounting to 5 billion before the year ends, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

The DBM said it would disburse another 1 billion for areas hit hard by the deadly typhoon on Monday.

The agency initially released 1 billion last Friday, almost a week after Odette left hundreds dead, with damage to infrastructure and agriculture reaching tens of billions of pesos.

According to DBM Acting Sec. Tina Rose Marie Canda, the first 2 billion came from President Rodrigo Duterte's contingent fund, adding that another 4 billion will be released within the week.

"Bago matapos ang taon, maglalabas din kami ng 4 billion na ayuda para sa mga LGU na ipapahatid nila sa mga mamamayan na naapektuhan ng bagyong Odette," Canda said.

[Translation: Before the end of the year, we will also release 4 billion in aid for LGUs, which will be used to help people affected by Typhoon Odette.]

Canda said the additional financial assistance will come from "different sources." She explained that unlike quick response funds, the DBM could not immediately tap the calamity fund as it requires assessment reports.

"Kaya ang gagamitin ng mga ahensiya ay quick response funds," she said.

[Translation: So the agencies will use quick response funds.]

The DBM official said that once the quick response funds are depleted, agencies can send requests for additional financial support.

"Automatic 'yan, ire-release sa kanila [That's automatic, it will be released to them)," she said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  The Department of Health will no longer publish its usual daily COVID-19 case bulletin on social media beginning Jan. 1, 2022.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire on Monday said the public can instead access the data via the DOH's website.

DOH later explained its decision, assuring the information included in the bulletin will be available on the website.

"This public tracker, which has been operational since the start of the pandemic, contains all information being provided in the case bulletin and daily situation report. Hence, to streamline public communication, the case bulletin and the daily situation report will no longer be issued separately as social media card and as PDF file, respectively," it said in a statement.

DOH has issued over 650 of these bulletins to the public via their social media pages and Viber groups at 4 p.m. The bulletin contains the new coronavirus infections, deaths, recoveries, active cases, and activities of testing laboratories.

Some 2022 election aspirants and OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David questioned the timing as the country records an uptick in new cases amid the holiday season and detects more cases of the feared Omicron variant.

"All the more it is imperative that the number of cases and the situation should be closely monitored. Complacency will be disastrous in dealing with this pandemic," senatorial aspirant JV Ejercito said.

Senator and vice presidential hopeful Kiko Pangilinan added, "Daily bulletins are necessary means of providing accurate, timely information to the public at large."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  President Rodrigo Duterte blamed a law that hindered him from immediately declaring a state of calamity in areas hit by Typhoon Odette.

Duterte declared a state of calamity in six regions, mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao, on Dec. 21, five days after the powerful typhoon had already made several landfalls in the country.

"It must be based on the assessment, evaluation, and report of the government on the ground. Ang problema yung [The problem is the] assessment and evaluation," said Duterte during his weekly national address on Monday.

Duterte did not specifically cite the law, but Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, mandates the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to recommend to the president such declaration of state of calamity after its appreciation of the situation.

Poor communication signals in affected areas due to stalled power and network lines, however, prevented concerned officials to immediately report the conditions on the ground.

The NDRRMC has released figures of casualties and damage due to the typhoon, but most of its data were still undergoing validation.

Duterte appealed to the next president and lawmakers to take a critical look into the law to prevent such late post-calamity response in the future.

"An emergency is an emergency," the President added.

The latest NDRRMC situation report recorded 389 deaths, 1,146 injuries, and 64 individuals missing due to Odette. Of these numbers, only 52 deaths, 73 injuries, and 15 missing person cases have been validated.

Over 4.2 million people or one million families were affected by the powerful typhoon, with 570,906 displaced residents and 506,404 damaged houses.

Estimated costs of damage to agriculture and infrastructure are pinned at 5.3 billion and 16.7 billion, respectively.
(CNN)  In a year that has brought profound change to to much of the world, the conflict-ravaged Middle East appeared to be finally turning a page. A diplomatic spree that sought to patch up long rifts bore fruit. Iraq transformed from the region's epicenter of violence to one of progress, for example, brokering rare talks between old rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Emerging from the crushing blows of the pandemic and four years of global turbulence during the presidency of Donald Trump, many of the Middle East's nations have shown signs that this level of conflict simply cannot go on.

But as the year grinds to an end, and as a whirlwind of diplomacy picks up speed, another geopolitical fault-line has appeared  the Middle East has become a political and economic battleground for the US and China, despite its continuous attempts to keep out of this powerhouse rivalry.

In comments that show just how anxious this is making the Middle East's leaders, a high-level Emirati official earlier this month expressed a sense of hopelessness over the showdown between the US and China.

"What we are worried about is this fine line between acute competition, and a new Cold War," Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE leadership, said in remarks to the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington last week.

"Because I think we, as a small state, will be affected negatively by this, but will not have the ability in any way to affect this competition, even positively really."

Gargash confirmed reports that the UAE  a key regional US ally  had shuttered a Chinese facility over US allegations that the site was being used as a military base. He made clear that Abu Dhabi was merely paying lip service to US intelligence  the UAE didn't actually agree with Washington's characterization of the site. Abu Dhabi simply did not want to upset a strategic ally.

CNN has reached out to China's foreign ministry for comment.

But the US won't always win the battle for influence in the country. Days after Gargash's remarks, Abu Dhabi apparently decided to stop humoring America. It was suspending a multi-billion dollar purchase of US-made F-35 aircraft, the first deal of its kind with an Arab country. The US had made the sale conditional on the UAE dropping China's Huawei Technologies Co. from its telecommunications network. Washington claimed the technology posed a security risk for its weapons systems, especially for an aircraft the US dubs its "crown jewel."

Abu Dhabi disagrees. An Emirati official said a "cost/benefit analysis" was behind their decision to stick with Huawei at the expense of the F-35s. And while US officials have tried to downplay the significance of the event and insists that the sale has not been killed, Abu Dhabi had set a new tone Abu Dhabi does not intend to always bow to US demands over China, and it is dismissing Washington's notions about Chinese trade deals disguised as covert military activity.

It's an event could set the stage, not just for the Gulf powerhouse, but for an entire region where China's rapidly growing trade relationships transcend old geopolitical rivalries, and where the US' long-running hegemony could be coming to an end.

'A theater of competition'

The Middle East has been rocked by geopolitical tensions arguably since Western colonial powers carved the resource-rich region into spheres of influence over a century ago.

But the region had rarely seen violence on the scale of the 2010s, when simultaneous wars in four different countries  Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq  as well as long-running violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, turned vast swathes of the Arab world into a bloodbath.

It was a period that coincided with a momentous political shift  the US was deprioritizing the Middle East as it became laser-focused on China. The subsequent chaos was unprecedented and appeared to anticipate a major power vacuum in Washington's wake.

The flurry of regional diplomacy that came after  rushed and sometimes haphazard  also appeared to be hinged on a perceived US departure from the region. Throughout it all, China, once ideologically reviled by powerhouses like Saudi Arabia, was working in the Middle East's shadows.

Beijing forged wide-ranging economic partnerships with the likes of Riyadh and Tehran. It deepened its foothold in economies that were already strong trading partners, such as the UAE, where it is on its way to becoming the fulcrum of its telecommunication networks.

Used to being targeted with accusations of human rights violations, Beijing promised to stay quiet on those in the Middle East, and to keep out of its conflicts. It has made the Middle East a key part of its Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructural project that connects East Asia to Europe (Egypt's Suez Canal is the project's only maritime connection). And most of all, it presented an opportunity to hedge the region's bets in the event of an American exit.

"You've got this scenario where this preponderant extra-regional power looks like it's leaving and then you have China, a top trading partner," said Jonathan Fulton, senior non-resident fellow at The Atlantic Council. "The region looks like a theater of competition. This looks like the way it's going to play out."

Analysts argue that if Washington forces the region to choose between the US and China, the answer will be a no-brainer  the US' friends in the region are loath to draw the ire of the superpower, especially while its military presence in the Middle East remains expansive. But ultimately, the region may have no choice but to take the Chinese carrot even if it means subjecting itself to the American stick.

The region's gravitation towards China, argues Fulton, is "the law of nature. That's how it's going probably going to be for the next century."

US needs 'real cash on the table'

The main weakness in the US' proposition regarding China in the Middle East is that Washington offers no alternatives to Beijing's lucrative deals.

The US can try to coerce the UAE, for example, to withdraw from its Huawei deal, but it is unwilling to give them a competitive second option. At the start of Lebanon's financial tailspin in 2020, the US pressured Beirut to resist turning to Beijing for investments in Lebanon's decaying infrastructure, with US Ambassador Dorothy Shea issuing televised warnings about the dangers of Chinese "debt traps." The government of former Prime Minster Hassan Diab bowed to pressure, while the US largely spurned his government, which it believed to be backed by Hezbollah, and Western cooperation with the flailing economy has been little to none.

"US pressure has intensified in recent years, and especially since the start of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013," said Tin Hinane El Kadi, an associate fellow at the think tank Chatham House. "However, in international politics, you can only pressure countries when you have substantive power and the means to really offer another deal."

He added: "If the US really wants to pressure countries and win this so-called new cold war, it would have to move away from discursive play, and really start to put real projects, and some real cash on the table,"

Nor can the US claim the moral high-ground on human rights issues or on the espionage it accuses Chinese companies such as Huawei of conducting. Recent scandals around Facebook, for example, weakens that position, argued Fulton.

"We've been watching what Facebook does ... and after (whistleblower Edward) Snowden ... it's hard for them to say you can trust us because we're reliable," said Fulton. "If we do it for liberal reasons and they do it for authoritarian reasons, it's not really a case to make here."

In the absence of a Western competitive alternative to Chinese cooperation, the writing appears to be on the wall. China's roots in the region will only become deeper and are only set to rapidly expand. Countries that have been embroiled in largely wasteful conflicts will choose options that serve their economic interests. And as Abu Dhabi's anxieties about being caught in the middle of rising tensions between larger powers has illustrated, the appetite for conflict is quickly dissipating.

"Even though the US right now, with very little leverage, is forcing countries to choose between the US and China, the fact that countries have more options, more loans that they can take from a variety of choices is a good thing," Kadi said.

"Having more alternatives in the global scene can only be a good thing for the region and its stability."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "The Middle East is stuck in the crosshairs of a worsening US-China rivalry."
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  Despite earlier reports of low turnout during its opening day, organizers of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) said holding the event amid a pandemic is already an achievement.

The fact na nakapag MMFF tayo despite the pandemic ay isang malaking achievement na at magandang unang hakbang sa pagbabalik ng kumpiyansa ng mga tao at producers na nandito tayo na nakasuporta sa industriyang naipatigil, naisantabi at hindi itinuring na essential ng halos dalawang taon, said MMFF spokesperson Noel Ferrer in a Facebook post on Sunday.

[Translation: The fact that we were able to have an MMFF despite a pandemic is already an achievement itself and its the first step to encourage the public and producers that there is support for an industry that was halted, disregarded, and not considered essential for almost two years.]

This year marked the return of MMFF to the big screen after the government allowed movie houses to reopen after more than a year. Last years film festival was done via an online streaming platform.

Ferrer said cinema operators said the MMFF opening on Dec. 25 was their highest grossing day so far since cinemas reopened.

Not even the big Hollywood films (like Eternals) are able to approximate the gross that MMFF 2021 has generated so far, he said.

In fact, the first day gross alone this year covered one-third of the total MMFF online gross (in its entire run) last year. With more people going to the cinemas by the day, sa first three to four days pa lang, puwede nang malampasan ang total gross last year. Wala pang major sakit ng ulong problema sa piracy, Ferrer added.

[Translation: In fact, the first day gross alone this year covered 1/3 of the total MMFF Online gross (in its entire run) last year. With more people going to the cinemas by the day, the first three to four days of the festival could surpass the total gross last year. We dont even have to worry about movie piracy.]

With the switch to digital streaming due to the pandemic, it was reported that MMFF only earned less than 50 million compared to the 955 million in 2019.

Ferrer asked the public to support the movie industry amid the ongoing health crisis.

Ang industriya ng pelikula ay binagyo at dumapa rin. Ang hinihinging suporta ay ang pagbabalik sa mga sinehan para panoorin ang mga likhang sariling atin. Ito ang tulong/ayuda na inaasahan sa bawat isa, he said.

[Translation: The movie industry also slumped. The support it needs is the return to cinemas so that many people could watch our very own films. This is the assistance we are seeking for.]

Hindi lang ito para sa kabuhayan ng mga tao kundi ang patuloy na paglikha ng sining - sa gitna ng pandemya, he added.

[Translation: This is not just about livelihood but the continuity of making art in the middle of pandemic.]

MMFF will run from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7, 2022. There are eight movie entries this year.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines Life, Dec. 27)  This week, revisit J.R.R. Tolkiens drawings, attend an indie rock bands single launch, watch a K-drama about exes reuniting after five years, and view a virtual exhibition by the UP Vargas Museum.

Spend a magical time with Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien

Ive always thought of Christmas as J.R.R. Tolkien time, having spent three years giddily anticipating the theatrical adaptations of The Lord of the Rings (back when finales werent split in two films). Since then it has been an annual tradition to either watch the films (or the extended editions of the films) or read a Tolkien book. This year, my Tolkien collection gets an update with the reissue of Pictures by J.R.R. Tolkien, a compendium of pencil drawings and sketches made by the author himself. The book collects many of his major drawings, some of which have appeared on book covers, illustrated editions, and calendars. This is the first time the book appears in print after almost 30 years and it benefits from the vibrant colors via todays coloring technology. Not many know that Tolkien is an established artist himself and the book is a great testament to that. As I am reading Beren and Luthien from his Great Tales trilogy (edited by his son Christopher who has fastidiously expanded the Tolkien universe with many many posthumously books on his fathers work) I was drawn to the illustrations of the heralds of many characters from The Silmarilion as well as how some illustrations of woodland realms and other landscapes were retooled thereafter for both "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion." Another curious artefact is the detail of The Book of Mazarbul, the thick tome Gandalf picks up in the Mines of Moria that details the last struggle of the dwarves before the orcs and the Balrog wiped them out. Fly, you fools!  DON JAUCIAN

Available at Fully Booked.

Attend this indie rock bands single and music video launch

On Dec. 29, indie rock band Spacedog Spacecat is holding an online launch for their new single, Seeking A Friend. The band, is a project of Jam Lorenzo (of indie band The Geeks) and RJ Mabilin (of The Axel Pinpin Propaganda Machine and owner of the recently-closed Redverb Studio) and their friends Jerros Dolino, Marc Inting, Evee Simon, and Janine Samaniego. The new single is an ode to new beginnings inspired by apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction and likely will be an appropriate way to ring in another year of the pandemic.  CNN PHILIPPINES LIFE STAFF

Pre-save the song here and RSVP to the launch event here.

Watch Our Beloved Summer for the post-Christmas feels

How does one feel pain for a relationship they never lived through? Still searching for closure after finishing Yumis Cells earlier this month, I decided to look for something lighthearted and funny to cheer me up this holiday season. Our Beloved Summer was unfortunately not that choice, but the enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-(presumably)-lovers premise I got from the teaser trailer intrigued me enough to watch the first episode when it dropped on Netflix.

The drama serves as the on-screen reunion of Choi Wooshik (Parasite, Time to Hunt) and Kim Dami (Itaewon Class), who last starred together in the 2018 horror-thriller film The Witch as exes who are forced to work together again five years after their break-up.

As students, Choi Ung (Choi Wooshik) and Kook Yeon Su (Kim Dami) were in a viral documentary that showcased their love-hate relationship at school. Set in present day, the drama follows the former couple after they reunite to film a follow-up documentary, with Ung now a famous incognito artist and Yeon Su a relatively successful PR head. What we get is a narrative that captures the growing pains of a long-term relationship, as well as the complicated feelings and unresolved tensions that can only be blamed on timing and circumstance.

You can tell that the team behind the drama paid attention to every minute detail  from the episode titles and plotlines that are odes to classic romance films and television shows (my personal favorite has to be episode three, 10 Things I Hate About You), and the excellently curated OST (BTS member Vs OST Christmas Tree plays at all the right moments for Peak Devastation), to the easter egg-matchy outfits that both characters appear in when they coincidentally bump into each other.

Though officially classified as a romcom, each episode had me running to the bathroom for tissues I didnt think Id need. This week marks the seriess halfway point, but the drama is already joining Nevertheless and Yumis Cells on my growing list of Webtoon-Adapted Korean Dramas That Depict All the Complications of Real Life Relationships.  GABY GLORIA

New episodes of Our Beloved Summer drop on Mondays and Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m. on Netflix Philippines.

View a virtual exhibition curated by the UP Vargas Museums interns

The latest installation of the UP Vargas Museums "@Home: Navigating Domestic Spaces" virtual exhibition is an auditory experience. Mga Tinig ng Tahanan is exactly what the title suggests  what curator Doms Cordero calls an online compilation of sounds and noises usually heard in and around the household often taken for granted. The exhibit is curated by the museums third batch of work-from-home interns including Cordero and Ryan Cacho, Corinne Garcia, JC Garcia, Sarah Imao, Lk Rigor, Maja Sollegue, and Hadrian Vaydal.

Access the exhibit through the museum website at vargasmuseum.org/vargasmuseum-org-online-exhibition.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  Two signature Filipino foods are among the worlds best dishes this year, according to an online travel guide.

Adobo and sisig are among Taste Atlass 100 Best Dishes in the World this 2021. The list features emblematic national and regional dishes based on over 100,000 ratings on the platform.

RELATED: DTI forms panel on national standards for adobo, sisig, other local dishes

With 4.33 stars, Pampangas famous sisig bagged the 72nd spot in the list.

The Kapampangan dish features boiled, chopped, and grilled pig head parts like ears, cheeks, and jowls seasoned with salt, pepper, and vinegar, explained Taste Atlas. Fried onions, chili, and chicken livers are then added, it said.

The name of the dish is believed to derive from the word sisigan, meaning to make sour. It was used as an early remedy for nausea and hangovers, because its sour flavor was considered a vomit suppressant, and that is why today sisig is almost always paired with an ice-cold beer on the side, read Taste Atlass writeup for the dish.

What started as a simple sour salad has crossed land and sea to become one of the favorite dishes of beer drinkers worldwide, it added, recalling how sisig was first described as salad of guava or green papaya according to Fr. Diego Berganos 1732 Kapampangan dictionary.

The dish is best enjoyed in Angeles City-based Aling Lucings Sisig, Taste Atlas recommended.

Meanwhile, Taste Atlas ranked adobo 81st out of the globes best dishes. Described as the countrys closest thing to a national dish, it got 4.29 stars.

Seared and browned chunks of meat, seafood, vegetables or fruit with white vinegar, soy sauce or both, adobo also contains bay leaves, garlic, salt, sugar, oil and black pepper. Onions, ginger, lemongrass, chili peppers and coconut milk can also be added to the mix.

The combination of these ingredients is left to simmer over low heat, resulting in succulent, juicy, and tender ingredients covered in thick, rich, and savory sauce. Adobo got its name from the Spanish word adobar, meaning marinade or pickling sauce, explained Taste Atlas.

In English, the word adobo translates to braised in vinegar. With its rise in popularity, it is no wonder that there are a number of varieties of the dish, so adobo can be made in spicy, mild, saucy, or dry versions, it further said.

Local favorites chicken, beef, and pork are known as the most popular versions of adobo  while other variants include the likes of white adobo, crispy adobo, squid adobo, and water spinach adobo.

The dish is traditionally served over white rice, an ideal accompaniment that absorbs the tangy sauce, said Taste Atlas, who recommends the adobo is best tried in Cafe Adriatico in Manila.

Mexican pork dish cochinita pibil topped this years 100 Best Dishes according to Travel Atlas, awarding it 4.69 stars. Its best in Mexico Citys Taqueria El Turix, it added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines)  These are no ordinary times, but the things we love about Christmas stay the same. Hidilyn Diaz, who set a record-breaking lift at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, never misses a plate of kare-kare and calderata during Noche Buena, while actress Iza Calzado likes indulging in hotdogs and slices of Christmas ham.

These women are no strangers to the challenges brought by the pandemic: Calzado had a health scare in 2020 after getting infected with the coronavirus, while Diaz and her team of trainers that included a nutritionist and psychologist were locked down in Malaysia at the onset of the health crisis.

Still, it turned out well eventually. Diaz became the first Filipino to win Olympic gold, and Calzado healed and accepted new acting gigs, including landing a role in the upcoming Darna series.

"Anumang mangyari, basta kasama ko ang mga mahal ko sa buhay, masaya ang Pasko," Calzado said. "My parents are no longer with us so it takes certain kinds of food that kind of make me feel that my parents are still around," she added.

Calzado said Purefoods Tender Juicy Hotdogs, Purefoods Fiesta Ham, and Purefoods Corned Beef, in particular, bring her back memorable times with her parents. "So when I think of Purefoods, I think of my childhood, I think of my parents," she added.

Diaz, meanwhile, is fond of Pinoy dishes like kare-kare and caldereta.

"Siyempre medyo busy na ako ngayon lalo na nung nanalo ako ng gold sa Olympics, medyo hindi na nakakaluto," Diaz shared. "So good choice 'yun na mayroon na tayong ready-to-eat (viands) sa Purefoods," she added. With the ready-to-eat meals from Purefoods, your Noche Buena can be ready in 15 minutes.

Calzado and Diaz both admired Purefoods' advocacy of sharing Noche Buena bundles to the less fortunate this holiday season. For a limited time, Purefoods offered holiday bundles at an affordable cost that included Purefoods Fiesta Ham, Tender Juicy Hotdogs, Tender Juicy Spaghetti Sauce, and ready-to-eat viands Crispy Fried Chicken, Beef Caldereta, Kare-Kare, and other variants.

Indeed, there are still a lot of things we should be thankful for, like celebrating them over food this Christmas with your favorite Purefoods products and ready-to-eat meals this holiday season!
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 26)  A commander of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) was killed Sunday morning in an encounter with government troops in Maguindanao, the Philippine Army said.

It identified the slain leader as Zukarno Guilil, also known as "Motorola," the commander of the 8th division and acting chief of staff of the BIFF Karialan faction.

The Army also reported clashing with "at least 50" combatants led by Guilil in Barangay Ganta, Shariff Saydona Mustapha town before he was killed.

The BIFF, a militant organization, is a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which currently leads the Bangsamoro Transition Authority. According to the military, the Karialan faction operates in Shariff Aguak, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Mamasapano, and Datu Salibo, also known as the SPMS box.

It added "numerous violent atrocities" were attributed to the faction, and that Guilil faced multiple warrants of arrest in Mindanao.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  President Rodrigo Duterte asked for more time to review the proposed 5.024-trillion budget for next year, Senator Bong Go said on Monday.

Go said the president may sign the national budget into law on Dec. 30 from the Dec. 28 initial target. The senator was the president's former aide.

RELATED: Duterte expected to sign 2022 budget next week officials

The proposed spending is the biggest in the country's history as it still faces the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week, Senate Finance Committee chairman Sonny Angara said the proposed budget seeks to provide higher allocations for the Department of Health and hospitals, as well as funds for agencies like the Department of Social Welfare and Development, in anticipation of a possible spike in cases that could lead to tighter restrictions.

The Department of Education is also set to secure more funds next year in preparation for in-person classes.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  The risk level of Metro Manila's COVID-19 situation was raised from "very low" to "low risk" due to an uptick in the infection pace or what is called reproduction number (R0), an independent monitoring group said Monday.

The region's R0 doubled to 0.85 this week from 0.42 two weeks ago, OCTA fellow Guido David said. R0 refers to the average number of people that a single COVID-19 case will likely infect.

"Because of this, we have now reclassified NCR (National Capital Region) as low risk. It went up from very low risk to low risk," David told The Source on Monday.

He added the R0 level "is something that we have to be mindful of."

The data expert also said the positivity rate also doubled to 1.4 percent this week from 0.6 percent last week, indicating a rise in infections in the region. He added the increase may be brought about by parties and gatherings during the holiday season, he said.

Davis said OCTA is "not that concerned" over the uptick similar to last year.

"That is a possibility right now  that it would be a temporary uptick and by January, things would be back to normal once parties and the social gatherings cease or at least die down," he said.

But OCTA is not ruling out the possibility that new cases will continue to soar in the next few weeks since a number of COVID-19 testing laboratories are closed either due to the holidays or the aftermath of Typhoon Odette, David said.

David also said it is possible the country could experience a case surge driven by the Omicron variant, adding that people should remain vigilant.

Meanwhile, based on the Department of Health assessment, all regions, including Metro Manila, remain under minimal risk for COVID-19. However, DOH also observed an upward trend in the case and positivity rates in 14 areas in Metro Manila, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media briefing. But these have not yet translated to increases in hospital admissions so far, she said.
(CNN)  An armed 19-year-old man arrested Saturday morning for trespassing at Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II is staying for Christmas, has been detained by police under the Mental Health Act, London's Metropolitan Police said Sunday.

According to the statement, a crossbow was recovered following a search of the intruder.

"The man was taken into custody and has undergone a mental health assessment -- he has since been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and remains in the care of medical professionals," police said.

"Enquiries into the full circumstances of this incident are being progressed by Metropolitan Police Specialist Operations," the statement added.

The man did not enter any buildings, officials have said.

The Queen, 95, was celebrating Christmas at Windsor Castle after making the decision not to travel to Sandringham, her usual Christmas destination, because of the pandemic. She was accompanied at Windsor by her son, Prince Charles, and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

While not common, intrusions into Royal palaces do occasionally happen. Perhaps the most famous incident dates back to 1982 when a man named Michael Fagan, who was 31 at the time, climbed a wall of Buckingham Palace, crawled through an open window and made his way to the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth II, who was sleeping.

The Queen was unharmed, although the intrusion sparked serious questions about palace security, especially when it emerged that her repeated attempts to summon help were ignored.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Windsor Castle intruder with crossbow detained under Mental Health Act, police say."
GRAND ISLAND  The annual Toys for Tots event last week at Fonner Park, via Heartland United Way, provided some holiday joy for less-fortunate children in the Grand Island area.

Among the store-bought toys and games were handmade wood cradles provided by teacher Dave Wamburg.

Wamburg has been industrial arts teacher at Central Citys Nebraska Christian since 1999, and was a teacher for 28 years in Fullerton.

I didnt get out of teaching, I just keep going, he said. I retired for 45 minutes, is what I did.

The cradles are made as part of a production class. Every year, Wamburg and his students craft about 30 cradles to donate for the yearly event.

Wamburg has been making these cradles for nearly 20 years.

The first two years I didnt do cradles, but then I started doing them, and I kind of got away from it, but the cradles were such a big hit and they were high-demand and everybody wanted them again, he said. Weve been doing cradles exclusively for the last 15 or 16 years.

Wamburg donates the money himself to buy the pine used for the cradles, about $300 every year for materials.

Dolls are provided by Terry Holcomb, Grand Island Walmart general manager, and small blankets are made by various local crafters.

Each cradle has the bedtime prayer printed on the side: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

On the other side is an image of a praying baby angel.

We have a laser-engraved, so we design it on the computer, press print and it lasers out the nice designs and words on there to make them really professionally done, he said.

Wamburgs students learn about manufacturing from the class.

Were actually mass producing them, he said. Ive got some kids who are cutting them out, some kids sanding, some doing laser, some kids putting them together. We just kind of have a little factory going on.

There are two classes who work on the cradles, two days each week per Wamburgs part-time schedule.

It is also an opportunity for the students to learn about charity and community.

Im trying to get the kids aware of their surroundings and that people just need a helping hand sometimes, he said.

Those students become a part of a legacy.

I put together a PowerPoint, and every year to get them into it I show them all pictures of the past, and it gives them a good idea, he said. Later on, Ill have pictures of this year added to my PowerPoint. We just keep it growing.

Wamburg brought six students from Nebraska Christian to Fonner Park to help set up for the yearly event.

Wamburg has been working with Heartland United Way and President Karen Rathke since 2000 to provide cradles for Toys for Tots, he said.

He enjoys contributing to the day and brightening the holidays for others.

It gets in your blood, he said. Even if I wasnt at the school Id be building all of these in my garage. Id still end up doing it as long as I could. Ill be in the nursing home cutting out cradles someday.

He added, Its very rewarding. With charity work, it just happens.

Rathke applauded Wamburg and Nebraska Christians students for their efforts.

We are very grateful that Dave has done these cradles, just made such a precious gift for little children to have a handmade cradle, she said. The really cool part is that these cradles are made by students for younger children to enjoy."

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Binance Gets an Approval from Bahrain and a Fine from Turkey + More News

Source: AdobeStock / burdun

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news  investigating the stories flying under the radar of todays crypto news.

__________

Exchanges news

Binance received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to establish itself as a cryptoasset service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The in-principle approval from CBB still requires Binance to complete the full application process, which is expected to be completed in due course.

received in-principle approval from the (CBB) to establish itself as a cryptoasset service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The in-principle approval from CBB still requires Binance to complete the full application process, which is expected to be completed in due course. Turkeys Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) has fined Binance Turkey TRL 8m (nearly USD 750,000) after the crypto exchange failed the financial watchdogs audit for monitoring Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance, per local outlet Anadolu Agency. With this, Binance reportedly becomes the first crypto business to get fined by the Turkish government.

Legal news

Indian Additional Commissioner of Police Shikha Goel warned Indian citizens during an event hosted by the Hyderabad city police about the rise in cybercrime, suggesting not to transfer cryptocurrencies to unauthorized private wallets. After explaining the fraud, Goel also highlighted that sixteen such cases have been registered involving cryptocurrencies.

Mining news

Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty, or the measure of how hard it is to compete for mining rewards, came quite close to its all-time high of 25.05 T recorded in mid-May. On Christmas day, it went up 0.32%, which followed a previous rise of 8.33% recorded two weeks prior  and which together brought the mining difficulty to 24.27 T. The hashrate, or the computational power of the network, has been steadily climbing as well.

Metaverse news

Polygon (MATIC)-based, luxury marketplace UNXD and Ethereum (ETH)-based Decentraland plan to offer a metaverse fashion week that will include catwalk shows, pop-up shops, and after-parties, according to a tweet. The event is planned for March 24-27. Decentraland called for designers, brands, and fashionistas to present their virtual collections during the fashion week.

Wallets news
The end of the year brings to a close Tim Scotts two decades of service to Carlisle.

Scott was first elected to serve on Carlisle borough council in 2001 and was reelected in 2005 and 2009. He became the boroughs first Black mayor with his election in 2013. He was reelected in 2017 and chose not to run again this year.

Deputy Mayor Sean Shultz, who will become Carlisles next mayor in January, toasted his colleague at the borough councils December meeting, commenting not only on Scotts accomplishments as mayor but also on Scotts calm demeanor and his ability to navigate contentious meetings.

Shultz recalled that as the borough moved to home rule in 2016, Scott gave away the power of controlling the police department, which is a key duty of the office for most boroughs in the state. He also thanked Scott for seeing the office of deputy mayor as a partnership.

You put Carlisle before yourself, he said.

The tribute included a video featuring stories from Scotts mother, Martha Thomas, as well as from relatives and colleagues throughout the year.

Youve had to overcome obstacles that Im sure I could never possibly imagine and do it with class every day, Shultz told Scott.

In todays five questions, The Sentinel gave Scott a chance to reflect on his tenure.

Q. Of the councils actions during your tenure, which ones are you most proud of?

A. If I had to pick my top three (in no particular order), they would be:

Creation of the Student Ambassador Program in collaboration with Dickinson College and Penn State Dickinson School of Law.

Creation of the boroughs Human Relations Commission.

Creation of the boroughs Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Q. What are the most challenging and/or rewarding aspects of being a member of the borough council?

A. One of the most challenging (and also most rewarding) aspects of serving as a local official is the ability to help solve constituent problems. This is where the staff really shines. Most people dont really expect you to do anything for them. They simply want to be heard and understood. Actually solving the problem or correcting the issue is like getting the bonus question on a test right.

Q. In a statement after your election in 2013, you said, As a progressive leader, I will work with council to ensure justice, equity and shared opportunity for all. How would you say you did on that pledge?

A. Promises made. Promises kept. The TIGER Grant that we successfully lobbied the Obama administration for was used to kick start the reclamation of three major brownfields in the borough where a hotel, retail and housing will soon be. In the realm of public safety (which is rightfully on peoples minds a lot lately), we have a more community-minded police force with the introduction of ride-alongs with a patrol officer on his/her shift. Plus, the borough was nominated and won the 2016 Strongest Town Contest. And finally, council increased opportunity for all by passing an anti-discrimination ordinance that includes protections for LGBTQ individuals and held a town hall on racism in early 2021.

Q. What advice would you give someone running for public office on the local level?

A. Getting out and talking to people in a sincere and honest way, and not just when youre campaigning. If people know youre on their side, they will support you and your objectives every time.

Q. Whats next?

A. Im going to enjoy being an ordinary citizen for awhile. I also plan to help other candidates running for office in the immediate future. As for my future in politics and leadership, you never know what fate has in store.

Email Tammie at tgitt@cumberlink.com. Follow her on Twitter @TammieGitt.

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Its an experience like no other.

Artist Vincent Van Goghs thoughts, dreams, words and remarkable artwork combine to make an unforgettable experience in the Starry Night Pavilion on the grounds of Saint Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights.

This narrative-type art exhibit provides guests with views of Van Goghs artwork through projection-swathed walls wrapped in light and color that dances, swirls and transitions into vibrant landscapes, cafes, portraits, flowers and more.

When guests first enter the exhibit, they see excerpts of Van Goghs handwriting and read about his life. They learn that Van Gogh moved to Paris in 1886 to reunite with his brother Theo.

The City of Light is then home to the Impressionists: their use of colour and sense of freedom set Van Gogh on a path towards light, looser brushstrokes and unbridled expression, one panel explained.

Another panel noted that in 1888, Van Gogh told Theo,  I always think that what we need is sunshine and fine weather and blue air as the most dependable remedy.

Later that year, the city and its chaotic lifestyle began to weigh heavily on Van Gogh. His desire to live in the countryside pushed him to move to Arles in the South of France.

I have a lot of trouble painting because of the wind, but I fix my easel to pegs stuck in the ground and work anyway, its too beautiful, Van Gogh wrote to his brother.

Van Gogh considered portraits as one of the highest forms of art and aspired to be a portraitist. So he painted friends and acquaintances.

The artist enjoyed rural day-to-day life. He based his inspiration on the people, places and things around him and said if one truly loves nature, one finds beauty everywhere.

He used rich colors and depth to transform the ordinary into something ordinary.

He wrote in October 1889, I plough on my canvases as they do in their fields.

It was in 1889 that Van Gogh cut his own ear off and then committed himself to an asylum. But he continued to work and create some of his most famous masterpieces, including The Starry Night, which was inspired by his view from his window at the asylum.

The artist struggled all of his life to earn a living from his artwork. Unfortunately, he disappeared just as his artwork began to earn recognition.

As they advance through this exhibit, patrons view more than 300 of Van Goghs masterpieces, including his instantly recognizable Cafe Terrace at Night and Sunflowers. They experience the intensity of his darker periods as well as brighter, more dynamic progressions.

Van Goghs artwork comes to life by appearing and disappearing, flowing across the walls and floor in immense detail. Beautiful musical compositions are paired perfectly with the creations.

The mesmerizing finale is The Starry Night, when active swirls of blue and white fill the walls and floor and transform into the kaleidoscope of colors of the famous painting.

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience now runs through Jan. 30 in St. Louis. The exhibit was extended due to high demand.

Hours for the exhibition are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Four entry times are available each hour.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.vangoghstlouis.com. Parking is free. Children 5 and under receive free admission. Group tickets are available for eight or more people. Discounts are available for seniors and military personnel.

French-Canadian Creative Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreals world-renowned Normal Studio created this immersive experience which takes art lovers on a three-dimensional exploration of Van Goghs work.

Beyond Exhibitions is the company of talented team members who combined their skills and creativity to then merge art and music with technological elements to bring Van Goghs story to life in such a powerful presentation that has never before been done.

Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience is certainly an unforgettable adventure. Its guaranteed to be relaxing yet inspiring, emotional and captivating. And it will be one of the most memorable ways to experience the life and artwork of artist Vincent Van Gogh.

Pam Clifton is a contributing writer for the Daily Journal

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Dockins Broadcast Group received the Missouri Community College Associations (MCCA) News Media Award at the organizations annual convention, held Nov. 10-12 in Branson.

The award is said to be presented to members of the media whose work promotes understanding and appreciation of community colleges mission, students, faculty, staff, and administrators, as well as the unique challenges and opportunities facing community colleges.

Mineral Area College (MAC) nominated Dockins Broadcast Group for the award in recognition of their willingness to help tell the MAC story on-air and for their dedication to several fundraising initiatives over the past several years, including the Motors 4 MAC car show.

The Motors 4 MAC car show has become an annual summer event, said MAC President Dr. Joe Gilgour. It has raised thousands of dollars in scholarships to help students with financial barriers gain access to a college education.

The award also recognized Dockins Broadcast Groups partnership on the MAC Radio Takeover of KHITS 94.3, a fundraiser for the MAC Foundations annual Enhancement Grant Campaign. Twice now, Dockins has donated broadcast time for a 24-hour radiothon hosted by Gilgour, during which sponsors, community organizations and MAC programs had the opportunity to share news and updates.

The event has raised about $5,000 each year, which was then part of a 3-for-1 state match, increasing the purchasing power to nearly $20,000 annually for needed equipment and supplies for college programs.

Fred Dockins, the owner of Dockins Broadcast Group, was not able to attend the MCCA convention in November. When he came to campus to accept his award, he surprised Gilgour by presenting the first-ever Community Betterment Award from Dockins Broadcast Group.

Dockins Broadcast Group observed as Dr. Gilgour took on the role as president of the college, he faced unprecedented challenges with the pandemic, said Dockins. His positive leadership focused on the goal at hand, making sure that the students of Mineral Area College could and would receive their education. His never-ending commitment was evident through fundraising efforts to provide necessary financial help for students at MAC.

Dockins said he has been impressed with Gilgours passion for the college in many ways, including the 24 hours Gilgour spent on the air to raise funds for MAC programs.

Dr. Joe, maybe not tirelessly, managed to stay on the air 24 straight hours last year and again this year, certainly a feat I could not obtain in my almost 50 years of broadcasting, said Dockins. We could not think of a better recipient of this award.

Were thankful to Fred Dockins and his team for their support for MAC over the past couple of years, said Gilgour. Im surprised and humbled to receive an award from them. I look forward to continuing to build relationships with partners in our community for the benefit of MAC students!

The Dockins Broadcast Group has 31 radio stations and one television station in Missouri and Florida. They are the largest locally-owned and operated broadcast company in Southeast Missouri.

The Missouri Community College Association is a statewide organization for Missouris community colleges. MCCA provides advocacy, information, professional development, and networking opportunities for community college faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees.

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After a proposal was made by County Auditor Louie Seiberlich during the Wednesday meeting of the St. Francois County Commission, county employees will be reimbursed for unused sick leave beginning in 2022.

Commissioners, a nice perk for county employees is our sick leave program as outlined in our county policy, Seiberlich said. There are two classifications of sick leave that Im going to go over  the 35-hour employee who accrues 10.5 hours per month up to 700 hours, and a 40-hour employee who accrues 12 hours per month up to 800 hours.

"Any hours past those levels means that the employee can use them with pay, they can donate the hours to the sick leave bank, or they ultimately lose any excessive hours. As of Dec. 6, there were eight employees that were close to the 700-hour level and six of them were at the maximum. At the 800-level there were seven employees very close, with 13 of them at the maximum level.

I would propose that the sick leave policy include a section that would pay the employee who exceeds the maximum threshold a reward for their work ethic. Effective Jan. 1 and continuing through Nov. 30 of next year, the overage hours would be reimbursed 60% of the current pay rate. This would be paid on the second pay period of December 2022. The cycle would then begin Dec. 1, 2022, and continue through Nov. 30 of 2023, to include then a whole 12 months. We do not encourage employees to come to work sick. Its a burden to other staff members to pick up the slack when an employee is absent. I have talked with other government agencies as well as private businesses and found that they have a similar program.

Seiberlich told the commissioners he had discovered in his research that there were other first-class counties like St. Francois that dont offer their employees sick leave.

So, we are in an elite group, I believe, he said. I think we should inspire our employees to work at a higher level and I think they should be rewarded as such. I highly suggest the commission consider this proposal  compensation of 60% with the hours that exceed the maximum threshold for the period of Jan. 1, 2022, to Nov. 30, 2022, to be paid in December of next year.

Following the motion, several questions were taken from the crowd regarding details of the proposed change in the countys sick leave policy. When the vote was taken, commissioners passed the proposal unanimously.

After hearing a request from Road and Bridge Highway Administrator John Gross, several bids were accepted for an addition to the Road and Bridge building at 1640 E. Woodlawn for a total amount of $752,553. Among the approved bids were DWS for plumbing, Crystal Heating and Cooling for HVAC, and Meyer Electric for electrical work. The general contractor for the project is Brockmiller Construction. All of the accepted bids were the lowest received.

A request was heard from county IT Director Jared Faulkner for separate bids to be taken on two projects at the jail. The first is for the installation of 22 cameras throughout the jail complex. Faulkner told the commissioners that, because the purchase of the cameras had already been approved, the bid would only be for wiring the cameras.

The second project bid would be for wiring the jails phone system. Faulkner added that anyone wanting to submit bids on either project should contact the sheriffs department.

The motion to allow bids to be taken on both projects was unanimously approved by the commissioners. The bids will be opened Jan. 6.

The commissioners also unanimously approved sealed bids to be taken for a reroofing project at the county jail for mechanical, plumbing, electrical and general work to be performed, with Brockmiller serving as the general contractor. These bids will also be opened on Jan. 6.

Kevin R. Jenkins is the managing editor of the Farmington Press and can be reached at 573-783-9667 or kjenkins@farmingtonpressonline.com

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The women of the Missouri Senate are telling their own stories through a forthcoming childrens book that chronicles the journeys of lawmakers past and present.

Titled, You Can, Too!, the book recounts the stories of the 36 women who have served in the state Senate over the course of the chambers history. The book is the product of a bipartisan effort of Missouris women senators to improve literacy rates across the state.

In a chamber thats been increasingly wrought by tension and infighting, the group of 11 senators also hopes it can be a testament to the type of collaboration thats possible across party lines.

Were showing kids that no matter your background and where youve come from, that you can find your dreams and reach your dreams, Sen. Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, said. Each one of us became members of the Senate. And each one of us came from very different backgrounds and experiences.

The idea was first raised over dinner the women senators had together earlier this year where they bounced off ideas on how to work together. Its also the most recent example of how the group has forged relationships and fostered collaboration.

They call themselves The Eleven.

The name, signed onto a letter sent this month to senators about requesting copies of the book, is in reference to the historic number of 11 women serving in the Missouri Senate at once  in a chamber where the first woman served nearly 50 years ago.

Its reminiscent of collaboration fostered by an informal education working group and of women senators forging a path forward for the renewal of an essential tax on hospitals, nursing homes and pharmacies, known as the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), earlier this year during a special session.

The Senate was deadlocked over a fight between a group of Republicans who wanted to include a ban on public funding for Planned Parenthood and certain contraceptives in the FRA and others who wanted to pass it without those provisions. The impasse was broken when the bipartisan group of women decided to intervene.

The women of the Senate consider that night historic, said Sen. Elaine Gannon, R-De Soto, on the FRAs renewal. She later added: We came to a consensus on what we thought was the right thing to do. And thats how we voted. And it felt good.

With a foreword from First Lady Teresa Parson and Second Lady Claudia Kehoe, the book features short stories on how each woman made their way to the Senate, from Sen. Jeanie Riddles experience with spinal meningitis as a young girl that inspired her to make the most of life to the impression Sunday school left on Schupp and her desire to help ensure others dont go hungry.

With many of us it was never on our bucket list, Riddle, a Callaway County Republican, said of serving in the Senate. But just the footsteps that we took that got us here.

The book also discusses how women earned the right to vote, and includes activities like a treasure hunt buried in the books pages.

Roughly 10,000 copies will be printed by the magazine and publishing company Missouri Life, with production costs being paid for by the Missouri Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities that aims to build a more thoughtful, informed, and civil society.

The goal is to have books distributed to fourth grade classrooms across the state, in addition to libraries, pediatricians offices and any other place where kids may read.

Everybody saw the importance of our young children learning to read, and also (were) aware of the fact that there are also children, especially through this pandemic, that have not had the opportunity to have access to books at home, Gannon said.

As the youngest of 11 children, Gannon discovered her love of reading in the classroom and as an adult always had a book in hand whenever she had a spare moment. Gannon and Sen. Lauren Arthur, D-Kansas City, both said theyre looking forward to getting to return to the classroom and hand out copies of the books to students.

I hope that its well received in its intended purpose to promote literacy, but also we know that representation matters and to show girls and women across the state that they have a place in the legislature, Arthur said. And we need them to run.

The senators hope to travel to each others districts to distribute the book, and plan to brainstorm potential legislation they could propose on the topic of literacy. On the first day of the upcoming session, Riddle has invited surviving senators to come to the Capitol to celebrate the books launch and for them to receive their copies.

My hope is years down the road, Riddle said, theyll do a volume two of the females that serve.

Its not personal or petty

It was a gathering of the women of the Senate that ultimately shepherded the FRAs renewal through the Senate during this summers special session.

Schupp and Riddle, the longest-serving women in the Senate, gathered their fellow senators in Riddles office where lawmakers said they were able to have a frank, open discussion about where lawmakers discomfort lied with the potential consequences of proposals to ban Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid provider and to limit taxpayer dollars from funding certain forms of contraceptives  proposals that would most impact women.

Schupp said shes proud of how the women came together to renew the FRA tax without the provisions.

I dont think it would have happened in quite that way, or maybe not at all, Schupp said, but for the fact that the women legislators had been working so closely together.

Lawmakers said their efforts to get to know each other  beyond their political affiliations  have made a difference and contributed to friendships and a mutual respect the women hold for each other. While they may not agree on every issue, its given them an opportunity to open the door to have deeper conversations on their views.

Gannon said its been one of the bright spots of working on the book together.

Schupp said as Democratic member of a GOP-dominated legislature, she may not win, but at least Ill know that Ive been able to make my case and that somebody has tried to hear my perspective. And sometimes thats the best we can do. I hope we can go beyond that, but just knowing we can have that starting place is phenomenal.

Tensions are still high after the legislative session, in which both Republican and Democratic senators felt promises had been broken. Last week, a meeting among Republican senators excluded members of the conservative caucus, reigniting the Republican factional infighting that has marked the chamber over the last year.

But women members have expressed hope that the bipartisanship theyve fostered will continue throughout the upcoming session that begins next month.

I feel like The Eleven offer the best hope for getting things done and working together, Arthur said, later adding: Its going to be a very contentious start to the session, and I think the difference is that with the women, its not personal or petty. Well try to remain focused on the policy at hand and getting things done.

With hundreds of bills prefiled and the chances of passage slim for many, Sen. Cindy OLaughlin wrote in a Facebook post earlier this month that she predicted the women of the senate will play a big part if anything is to get done.

We can all sit in the same room and talk like adults. And laugh and work it out if theres any common ground at all, she wrote. I like all my colleagues but the women do add a special touch I think.

Riddle said the sense of bipartisan collaboration has always existed in her time in the legislature, and its become more pronounced with more women serving.

When Riddle was first elected to the Missouri Senate in 2014, she was the only Republican woman serving in the chamber. She said she became fast friends with Democratic women whose desks were near hers on the Senate floor.

For me, its been that way all along, just because there were good people serving when I came in, Riddle said, and theres still good people serving when I leave.

Schupp and Riddle have served their entire 13 years together in the House and Senate, both getting elected to each chamber the same year. Now in their final year in the legislature due to term limits, getting to memorialize the accomplishments of the women who have come before them was especially meaningful, they said.

It will be a memory she and I will share for the rest of our lives, Schupp said of working with Riddle to bring the book to fruition. And it will be one that I share with The Eleven. And even with the 36.

The book ends on a page that represents a mirror  and like the title imparts  let kids reading know that: you can, too.

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Amy Henecke, dean of professional and technical studies and workforce development for Germanna, said cybersecurity jobs are very difficult to fill.

So its important to start that pipeline earlier, she said. With the dual enrollment program, students can start to earn credentials and apply for college credit.

Tate is partnering with a Germanna professor to teach this years first dual-enrollment course. Students come to Spotsylvania Career and Tech Center from their home high schools every other day for half the day, and they earn credits that will transfer to Germanna or any other Virginia community college.

They can also apply to transfer them to a four-year college.

Even with this one class that they have, they could graduate (high school) and go into the workforce if thats what they decided to do, Henecke said.

Tate, who has been teaching computer systems courses for 13 years, said about 25 percent of his graduates do go straight into the workforce, anywhere from entry-level Geek Squad tech support jobs to local cybersecurity firms that contract with the Department of Defense.
Sweeney has learned a lot firsthand about adaptive living in the past decade.

It started when he went to work on a Monday with some back pains. He was an avid runner and rock climber, so he thought those pains were a result of exercising too much.

I had a stroke in my spine. Its kind of unusual and it leads up into your brain so its like being in both places. They figured it out and put me in a medically induced coma, he said. When I got out of it, thats when I had to figure out what my life was going to be going forward. It just devastates a family, especially when something like this happens suddenly.

Sweeney, now 67, was single at the time he was trying to find a place to live. He ended up on the first floor of his parents house because ramps could be built to get into the house.

His first renovation of a fully adaptive home was for himself, a couple of years after the stroke. He has since renovated his current home in the Westover Hills neighborhood. He also oversaw renovations of two other homes for clients.
VTEC is in the second year of a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Adams said. In the first year, they signed a partnership agreement with King William County and plan to work with seven school systems this year. In the third year, they are hoping to work with 95 different school districts.

From my perspective, the more student Native students we can reach, the better VTEC performs, Adams said. If you look at the history of education, we are now part of the process to provide professional development for teachers when it comes to native culture, history and language. That wasnt happening before.

Adams said that many in his family had had to leave Virginia to get a high school education. Public schools were not available to Native Americans and Virginia Indians until the 1960s after schools were integrated. The Racial Integrity Act of 1924 required Native Americans to register their racial status as colored, a paper genocide that erased many from public records.

The 20th century was not that good to Virginia Indians except for the latter part of the century, Adams said. Education today is a strong piece of what Indians do, because we know that without it, we wont succeed in this climate of today. But it took us a long time to get here.
The time has come to reopen the Internet and allow for the free flow of ideas and expression without censorship, Nunes said in a press release. The United States of America made the dream of the Internet a reality and it will be an American company that restores the dream. Im humbled and honored President Trump has asked me to lead the mission and the world class team that will deliver on this promise.

Although Nunes will soon be leaving office, his Virginia defamation lawsuit appeal remains alive, for the time being. According to media law experts, people serving in elected positions of power typically have a higher threshold of proof for defamation. It remains to be seen whether Nunes tendency to sue critics will continue as he takes on his new, less public position.

The lawsuit and appeal both cite a May 2018 article from The Fresno Bee  initially titled A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event  that details a 2016 lawsuit filed against Alpha Omega Winery, a California organization partially owned by Nunes.

In the suit, a former employee alleged she suffered civil rights violations, intentional infliction of emotional distress and sexual harassment while working a charity cruise.
The combined telecommunications industrial revenue in China rose 8.1 percent year on year to over 1.35 trillion yuan (about 212 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-November period, registering robust growth.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's three telecom giants - China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom - had over 1.64 billion mobile phone users, a net increase of 47.92 million users by the end of November, compared with the end of last year.

The number of 5G mobile subscribers reached 497 million, up 298 million from the end of last year, according to the ministry.

Chinese official media reported that the three telecom companies also saw a steady increase in the number of fixed broadband internet users by the end of November, with subscribers rising by 51.85 million from the end of last year to stand at 535 million.

Meanwhile, a report by ResearchAndMarkets.com said that the Chinese telecommunications industry remains steady thanks to the defensiveness nature of the industry, amid the political uncertainties and an uncertain economic outlook due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The publisher forecasts that mobile subscriptions and fixed broadband subscribers will continue to fuel the telecoms sector growth in the 2022-27 period. More than 380m people became Internet users over the last seven years and another 380m more Internet users are expected to come online over the next six years by 2027.
China Telecoms US unit China Telecom Americas (CTA)announced that it plans to continue providing some services in the US in 2022 after a regulator revoked its authorisation to operate telecommunications in the country, citing espionage concerns.

CTA said in a filing that its business-focused telecommunications operations in the U.S. arent common-carrier services as the Federal Communications Commission categorized them so the agencys order doesnt affect those services.

According to a report by Reuters, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October voted to revoke the authorization. The FCC said China Telecom (Americas) (CTA) "is subject to exploitation, influence, and control by the Chinese government."

CTA offers consumers mobile service under the brand name "CTExcel." The FCC said CTExcel customers needed to switch to a new provider by Jan. 3, the report noted.

CTA intends to continue offering them on a private-carrier basis after January 3, 2022, to honor its contractual obligations and avoid undue disruption to its customers operations, China Telecom said in a Dec. 20 letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel as per a report in Bloomberg.

China Telecom had been authorized for 20 years to provide U.S. telecommunications services.
Its sad to lose somebody like this, Weaver said last year, and the one thing that Ive learned is, as my mother said, to treat people like its the last time youll see them because you never know when it will be.

The killer storm leveled the mobile home park and crossed Alabama Highway 69 South, where it destroyed the then-under construction Winn-Dixie MarketPlace shopping center.

It was here where resident Joe Hayes, whose home was at the northern edge of the Hinton Place neighborhood, watched as the tornado tore through the new grocery store and came for his house.

He told The News in 2000 that he watched as it rolled a pickup truck over and over, throwing its occupants from the vehicle.

I could see tin and trees and all kinds of things up in the air, he said.

Hayes yelled for family members to get in the basement. As he tried to close the front door, he was thrown against a wall and his house crumbled around him.

The storm continued on toward Skyland Boulevard, where reports of damage in the residential area near the Coca-Cola bottling plant and structural damage at the JVC plant soon emerged.
Where can our souls find lessons of ethics in music and not just the esthetic pleasure that one normally gets from it? An example to which I have drawn my students attention is a song by Josh Groban titled Hidden Away. The scene in his video involves four primary characters: his girlfriend Maria for whom he leaves a note in the door when he leaves the apartment; a young executive who leaves his office exhausted at the end of the day and who is late to a meeting that he has with his girlfriend; a typical teenage girl who is waiting on a bench for her friends to meet her; and the most poignant character in his video who is a little girl of maybe 6 years of age who is wearing her angel clothing with her little wings and who is sitting on the steps waiting for her daddy.

While at different ages and at different stages of their lives, each of them is waiting for something and that something is kindness, love, and reinforcement that they have value and they are looking to the other meaningful people in their lives to confirm that value.
Vietnam to give all adults third Covid shot by next March

Cities and provinces have been ordered to complete vaccinating all people over 18 with the third Covid-19 dose within the next quarter.

Speaking at a Ministry of Healths meeting held in response to the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness in Hanoi on Monday, Deputy Minister Nguyen Truong Son said cities and provinces must boost the progress to inoculate all adults with the third Covid-19 jab and cross the finish line within the first quarter of 2022.

"Vietnam's vaccination rate and vaccine coverage rate have reached a high level compared to other countries in the region and around the world."

With the current vaccination rate, by the end of this month, Vietnam will guarantee coverage for all people aged 18 and above with the first dose and have 90 percent of them inoculated with the second dose, he said.

For now, 98 percent of the adult population have received at least one shot, and 86 percent, two shots.

By Tuesday, over 65.9 million people of Vietnam's 96 million population have been vaccinated with two doses, and more than 2.5 million have received the third dose.

Vietnam allowed mass administration of the third Covid-19 vaccine shot on Dec. 1.

On Dec. 17, the health ministry issued a new guideline to reduce the waiting time for the third Covid-19 vaccine shot from six months to three.
Frigate mackerel, red soldier fish, yellow fin and bigeye tuna are no longer jumping as they once did in Vietnams East Sea.

There's fear among fishermen that their thousands of years of tradition are quietly slipping away due to overfishing and China's unlawful maritime expansion in the Spratly Islands.

This churning sea has long been contested among neighboring countries, but the harvesting of the once more than 3,000 species of marine life has been challenged by China's control of these waters, including the ramming and sinking of Vietnam's colorful traditional wooden fishing vessels, climate change, coral reef destruction and pollution.

However there's plenty of blame to spread around for the pending ecological crisis that is leading to a fishery collapse. During this pandemic, all regional fishermen appear to be operating from the premise that there's lax maritime enforcement and backslide into illegal fishing operations. Recent reports indicate that out of control and illegal fishing has caused fish stocks in the East Sea to plunge almost 95 percent since the early 1950s. With the declining fish stocks, fierce disputes among competing fishing nations have only succeeded in inflaming the disputes.

To be clear, China's expansive maritime and territorial claims in the South China Sea continue to place their paramilitary steel-hulled vessels in waters at odds with other claimants in this area.

Chinese vessels are seen at Whitsun Reef, South China Sea, March 27, 2021. Photo by Philippine Coast Guard/National Task Force-West Philippine Sea/Handout via Reuters

Chinese fishing and coast guard boats continue to operate without permission in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of other nations, especially those of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. This is in direct violation of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that defines an EEZ as an area generally extending 200 nautical miles from shore.

A lot is at stake in fishery revenues and livelihoods for more than 3.7 million people engaged in the fishing industry in the contested waters. According to Seafood Source, Vietnam had almost $10.5 billion in exports from seafood products two years ago, up by 23 percent compared to 2017 figures. Vietnam Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) believes that the country also has one of the fastest growing fishing fleets in the world increasing from 40,000 in 1990 to nearly 108,500 in 2018.

Meanwhile, China, who shares a deeply rooted and complex history with Vietnam, is not only the world's largest seafood exporter, but the nation's population also accounts for more than a third of all fish consumption worldwide. China's global fishing fleet range anywhere from 200,000 to 800,000 fishing boats, representing nearly half of the world's fishing activity.

If Vietnam and others in the region are to deliver a credible fisheries management regime, that can return fishing efforts to sustainable levels and eradicate the bulk of illegal fishing by its fleet, they must all take steps to target the illegal operators in both domestic and international waters. This includes compliance with vessel monitoring systems that specify the placement location on board the vessel.

But this is not an easy task. For that matter, no one really knows how badly the fishing grounds have been depleted or when the red line has been reached and the fish are no longer there. Marine biologists, oceanographers and policy experts agree that access to fish stocks can only lead to conflict. The facts underscore the perilous state: the South China Sea accounts for 12 percent of the global fish catch with more that 50 percent of the world's fishing fleets operating in this region.

Geopolitics and the ensuing nationalism continue to wreck havoc on the fragile ecosystem. Coral reefs responsible for plankton for fish to feed on have also shrunk by as much as 17 percent because of a failure among all claimant nations to address giant clam harvesting, dredging and artificial island building.

Time is running out to set aside political and governance factors and to widely acknowledge that the South China Sea is a part of the global commons. The fishing crisis can only be averted if there's science cooperation and that includes the adoption of agreed upon marine protected area in the shared commons.

Marine protected areas or MPAs are defined as "areas of the ocean designated to enhance conservation of marine resources."

Professor John McManus, marine biologist and ecologist at the University of Miami, understands that environmental security is shaping a new narrative about the South China Sea ecological challenges.

"Territorial disputes have led to the establishment of environmentally destructive, socially and economically costly military outposts on many of the islands. Given the rapid proliferation of international peace parks around the world. It is time to take positive steps toward the establishment of a Spratly Islands Marine Peace Park," claims the tireless scientist for science cooperation.

Policymakers may do well to take a lesson or two from nature as they examine how best to negotiate the complex and myriad of sovereignty claims. The marriage of policy and science is essential to navigating these perilous geopolitical waters. Even the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Working Group on Coastal and Marine Environment recognizes that the region faces enormous challenges to sustainability in coastal and shared ocean regions. Unless a scientific approach is adopted, trans-boundary conflicts in marine areas can and will get worse.

The encouraging news is that the Philippines and Vietnam have recently announced the resumption of scientific cooperation in 2022. They first attempted bilateral joint marine surveys between 1996 and 2006, known as Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea (JOMSRE-SCS).

From recent conferences and webinars, there appears to be a rising chorus among Chinese and Vietnamese marine scientists who view the South China Sea as an ideal platform for promoting regional cooperation. The tide is lifting science-research survey vessels above the din of politics and sovereignty claims.

The world knows that our oceans no longer offer up an inexhaustible source of food and industrial or even pharmaceutical products. To share the ocean commons requires a better understanding of how we must use ocean resources responsibly and sustainably.

*James Borton, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University Foreign Policy Institute, has recently completed his latest book, "Dispatches from the South China Sea: Navigating to Common Ground." The opinions are his own.
Khanh Hoa welcomes first bunch of Russian tourists in nearly 2 years

A charter flight brought 226 Russian tourists to the central coastal Khanh Hoa Province on Sunday under an ongoing vaccine passport trial program.

The first Russian tourists visiting the province since the country partially reopened its borders last month after nearly two years are staying at Vinpearl Resort Nha Trang, Selectum Noa Resort and Cam Ranh Riviera Beach Resort, and will visit tourist attractions such as Yang Bay eco-tourism sites, Nha Phu Lagoon, Hoa Lan (Orchid) Island, and some shopping destinations.

Nguyen Duc Tan, director of tour operator Anex Vietnam, which has brought the tourists to Vietnam, said they would enjoy a vacation in Khanh Hoa for one week to 25 days before returning home also by charter flights operated by Russian carrier Azur Air.

A Russian tourist wearing the Vietnamese non la (conical hat) arrives in Cam Ranh Airport, Khanh Hoa Province, on December 26, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Xuan Ngoc

All were required to furnish certificates showing they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid and tested negative within 72 hours before departure.

They were required to make health declaration on arrival and told to install the IGOVN and PC-Covid health declaration applications on their phones.

Natalia Rukavichkina, 37, said her family has visited Nha Trang six times before but this is their first visit to Vietnam since Covid broke out.

"I realized pandemic prevention measures are in place, making me feel secure about my vacation."

Russia and China are traditionally the biggest tourism markets for Khanh Hoa, home to popular beach towns Nha Trang and Cam Ranh and high-end resorts stretching along their beaches.

In 2019, the year before the onset of Covid, Khanh Hoa received over seven million tourists, half of them foreigners.

It is one of five localities to get the green light from the government to allow in fully immunized tourists from November along with Quang Nam, Kien Giang and Quang Ninh provinces and Da Nang.

In the month since the country partially reopened 3,500 foreign visitors have come on package tours, Nguyen Trung Khanh, head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, said at a seminar Friday on reviving tourism.

Vietnam expects to receive five million foreign visitors under the vaccine passport program in 2022.
The annual networking dinner which gathers European Christian youth from all over Europe in Brussels for a time of reflection, encouragement and inspiration.

Speakers:

Lukas Mandl, MEP

John Cotton Richmond, former US Ambassador-at-large to monitor and combat human trafficking for the US Dept. of State

Peter Smits, ECPYouth President

The annual Cornerstone dinner took place again in Brussels, after a hiatus last year, caused by the pandemic restrictions. Nearly fifty young professionals had the opportunity to meet, network, and discuss the ways they can implement Jesus principles in European politics.

MEP Lukas Mandl shared personal experiences from his work in the European Parliament as well as from his involvement with Parliamentary Prayer Breakfasts across Europe. He underlined several traits of the person and character of Jesus and discussed how these characteristics could be translated into political action and participation in society. Justice, freedom, human dignity, love were values preached and enacted by Jesus and His followers and also the foundation of our democratic societies.

Ambassador Richmond spoke about the importance of knowing your name and who you belong to; of knowing your identity. He exemplified the importance of that for every person, by providing a story from his work with human trafficking survivors where in the process of enslaving and dehumanizing them, their captors changed their names. Once free, the survivors found getting their names back and being called by their real names an essential step in their recovery and reintegration.

Finally, ECPYouth President Pieter Smits presented the youth groups vision and work when it comes to young peoples participation in European affairs. The aim of their work is to equip and connect young professionals from all over Europe interested in working and leading in accordance with Christian-Democratic principles. He also informed attendees about the upcoming projects and events of ECPYouth.
ELKO  An Elko man wanted on multiple warrants fled a traffic stop, waded across the icy Humboldt River and held a SWAT team at bay in a strangers home for more than four hours.

The incident began around 9:30 p.m. Thursday when an Elko Police Department officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle with an expired Nevada vehicle registration tag.

Four adults were in the vehicle.

During the officers investigation, a male passenger in the vehicle opened the door and fled across Idaho Street toward the JC Penney store, police reported.

A back-up officer chased the fleeing subject on foot but encountered a patch of ice and fell, dislocating his right shoulder and injuring his left hamstring.

Officers were able to identify the suspect as 42-year-old Michael W. Elizondo of Elko. A records check revealed four active warrants for his arrest.

At approximately 1:10 a.m. Friday morning, Elko County Sheriffs deputies received calls saying a suspicious person who identified himself as Michael was knocking on doors in a neighborhood off of Last Chance Road.

Sheriffs deputies and Elko police officers followed footprints in the snow to a residence in the same Last Chance Road neighborhood. The resident told them that someone named Michael knocked on the door and claimed he had been involved in an argument with a friend and was seeking assistance.

Officers determined Elizondo was inside the home and that there were numerous firearms inside. They helped move the resident to safety and surrounded the residence.

Officers ordered Elizondo to exit the home and surrender, however, he did not respond. Because he was a wanted felon with access to unsecured firearms, the Elko SWAT Team was summoned.

After an approximately 4 1/2 hour standoff, Elizondo surrendered to authorities.

Elizondo was provided medical care, as he had been exposed to cold temperatures and was wet from fleeing through the Humboldt River when he ran from the initial traffic stop.

He was booked into the Elko County Jail without further incident on four bench warrants, a warrant for selling or transferring document or personal ID to establish false status, and making a false statement to obstruct a public officer.

His bail was listed at $37,140.

According to Elko District Court records, Elizondo was a resident of Carson City when he pleaded guilty in May to a charge of attempted grand larceny.

He was given a suspended prison sentence by Judge Al Kacin, placed on probation for 18 months and was ordered to serve 30 days in jail.



Elko County crime reports:

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LAS VEGAS (AP)  Las Vegas police announced the start of a homicide investigation Sunday after human remains were discovered inside a stolen truck.

The Law Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that they found the remains after recovering two previously stolen trucks in the aftermath of a police chase.

Agency officers arrested 57-year-old Eric Holland in connection with the chase, pending arrest warrants and subsequent investigation into an apparent homicide. They said in a news release that Holland fled when officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop Friday, switching from one stolen vehicle to another before being arrested at an apartment complex in central Las Vegas.

Holland was being held Sunday at the Clark County Detention Center on a homicide charge as well charges related to past warrants, according the detention documents and a jail attendant.

Holland could not be reached for comment while awaiting a court appearance. It was unclear whether Holland has been assigned an attorney.

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RENO  The boundaries of STEAM education continue to expand in the Silver State as the Nevada Museum of Art, in partnership with DRIs Science Alive program, announces the 2022 NV STEAM Conference.

Presented Feb. 2-5, the theme for the conference is Constructing Creativity aimed at teaching skills in the classroom that translate to the workforce.

The 2022 NV STEAM Conference will feature keynote presentations by Doreen Gehry Nelson, who will discuss her most recent publication, Cultivating Creativity and her Design-Based Learning teaching methodology. Renowned artist, designer and founder of Counterforce Lab, Rebeca Mendez will discuss the intersections of art, design and science in a second keynote offering.

Workshops will include a presentation by Sean Lane of Focus 5 Inc. and a look at the Kennedy Center model of Arts Integration with support from the Smith Center for Performing Arts; Dr. Punya Mishra and Dr. Danah Henriksen will share methodologies for developing creativity and risk-taking in education; Jessica Heim of UCLAs Center X will explore the Design-Based Learning model; and Standfords d.school Initiative will present on new technology integrations in creative classroom practices. Additional workshops will be presented by the DISCOVERY Childrens Museum and the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, DRI, and the Nevada Museum of Art.

Aiming to inspire innovation through engaging, hands-on virtual workshops and nationally recognized keynote speakers, the Conference hosts more than 600 educators from across the Silver State. The NV STEAM Conference is the leading statewide event for exploring ideas and strategies that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math into pioneering classroom practices that foster student creativity.

The Nevada Museum of Art is proud to lead conversations around STEAM education and the intersections of art and design. said Claire Munoz, Charles N. Mathewson Senior Director of Education at the Nevada Museum of Art. By continuing to present the NV STEAM conference virtually, we are able to create strong connections with our educators, peers and colleagues across the state and across the disciplines. Most importantly, we hope to unite and arm our teachers as with the resources and tools to support critical, creative and interdisciplinary thinking while putting the imagination of tomorrows leaders to work.

The NV STEAM Conference is Nevadas largest event dedicated to the exploration of ideas and strategies to implement Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math into classroom practices. Nevada Museum of Art has partnered with DRI since the conferences inception in 2015. This partnership highlights the commitment of both institutions to advancing STEAM education for Nevadas youth.

Over the past seven years, the collaborative efforts between DRI (a Scientific Research Institute) and the Nevada Museum of Art (a Cultural Institute) have truly produced the most memorable and meaningful professional development conferences for educators throughout Nevada, said Craig Rosen, Community Engagement and Professional Development Administrator at DRI, Office of Education. We are delighted to partner again in a much different virtual setting to bring STEAM education to life and to inspire hundreds more educators to integrate science and art.

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Medical staff administer COVID-19 vaccine to pupils in District 1,

Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: VnExpress)

He made the suggestion during a meeting in response to the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness held at the Ministry of Health (MoH), on December 27.

According to the MoH Deputy Minister, the whole country has injected nearly 144 million doses of vaccine of a total of more than 166 million doses distributed, as of December 24. At least 79% of the population received the first dose, and 66% received two injections. In which, 98% of the group aged 18 or over received at least one injection and 86% received two injections.

Vietnam's vaccination rate and coverage rate have reached a high level in the region and in the world, he said, adding that by the end of December, the whole country will ensure coverage of the first dose for the population aged 18 or over and basic coverage of the second dose (about 90%), and at the same time, ensure coverage of basic doses for children from 12 years old.

Therefore, he asked localities to speed up the injection of the basic doses and the third dose to ensure public health and return the country to a new normal. In addition, the Deputy Minister requested localities to make a list and immediately vaccinate people in high-risk groups, ensuring that people in the risk group are not missed.

The Ministry of Health allows the third injection from December 1, after 3 months from the last dose of the basic dose, and immediately for people who have recovered from COVID-19, with priority given to the frontline forces, people at high risk, pandemic-affected areas, large urban areas with high population density, industrial parks and traffic hubs.

On December 16, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested the completion of the third injection for people over 18 years old by the end of January 2022, and the second injection for people aged 18 or over by the end of December 2021 at the latest, and shorten the time to complete the third injection for adults in Vietnam from mid-2022 to the beginning of the year.

The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness was held worldwide for the first time, as an initiative of Vietnam proposed to the United Nations General Assembly. The focus of this year's message is on strengthening risk group management and communication about the importance and role of vaccination./.
Swans are seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

Swans are seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

Swans are seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

Swans are seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

A swan is seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

A swan is seen in the Yellow River wetland in Guide County, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Dec. 24, 2021. Hundreds of swans have flied to Guide to spend the winter recently. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)

Editor: WXY
Photo taken on Dec. 4, 2021 shows a passenger wearing a face mask taking the escalator at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)

The flight cancellations, roughly 740 on Sunday after nearly 1,000 on Christmas Day, came as U.S. officials focused on ensuring there were enough staff and resources to make sure "we don't get an overrun on hospitals," said Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser.

NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines canceled more than 750 flights combined on Christmas Day, and cancellations were set to drag on through Sunday, upending plans during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, major U.S. media reported.

"All four airlines said Omicron cases among staff were driving cancellations," said USA Today on Sunday. "A combination of issues, including but not limited to inclement weather in some areas of the country and the impact of the Omicron variant, are driving cancellations and potential delays," said Delta in a statement.

"Holiday travel is generally a stressful enterprise, but a rapid surge in cases of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant have caused hundreds of flight cancellations, adding another layer of difficulty to the proceedings," reported NBC, noting that several major airlines are dealing with a shortage of workers.

"Major U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of more flights on Sunday, the third day in a row of mass cancellations and delays over Christmas weekend, as staff and crew call out sick amid the Omicron surge," reported CNN, adding that almost 700 U.S. flights were canceled and another 1,300 were delayed on Sunday.

Photo taken on Dec. 1, 2021 shows travellers arriving at the San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, the United States. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

MORE FLIGHT CANCELLATIONS

Delta Air Lines said it expected to cancel more than 300 flights on Sunday, on top of 368 scratched on Saturday. United Airlines canceled nearly 100 mainline flights on Sunday due to staffing concerns, while roughly 25 percent of its customers have been able to re-book to arrive earlier than their original plan.

JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski was quoted as saying that the airline has seen an "increasing number" of sick calls due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, despite entering the holiday season with the highest staffing levels since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the company was "working hard" to re-book customers quickly. United Airlines spokesperson Maddie King said the airline was also working to re-book as many people as possible "and get them on their way for the holidays."

Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas, according to FlightAware, a flight tracker website. That included about 1,700 flights within, into or out of the United States.

Photo taken on Dec. 22, 2021 shows people lining up to receive COVID-19 test in Arlington, Virginia, the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

MORE PANDEMIC CASES

In an effort to head off staffing shortages and flight cancellations, U.S. carriers have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce recommended isolation periods for fully vaccinated people recovering from COVID-19, reported The Wall Street Journal on Sunday.

The flight cancellations, roughly 740 on Sunday after nearly 1,000 on Christmas Day, came as U.S. officials focused on ensuring there were enough staff and resources to make sure "we don't get an overrun on hospitals," Anthony Fauci, U.S. President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, was quoted as saying.

"The president's multipart component of the response is to make sure that we have adequate backup for hospitals with military personnel, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, making sure that there's enough (personal protective equipment) and that if needed, there's enough ventilators in the national strategic stockpile," Fauci said.

"As of Sunday, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases eclipsed the peak set during the Delta variant's earlier march through the country," said the report, noting that the average reached 184,302 as of Dec. 25, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Editor: GSY
Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang exiting the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening.

The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively.

The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport.

Wang Yaping stayed inside to work with the ground control center to operate the mechanical arm and support the pair in conducting the extravehicular operations.

The CMSA noted that extravehicular operations are becoming the normal work of the space station flight missions.

Chinese taikonauts will carry out more EVAs which are more complex to provide strong support for the successful completion of the construction and the stable operation of the space station, the CMSA added.

The Shenzhou-13 crew conducted the first EVAs on Nov. 7.

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Wang Yaping working in the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Ye Guangfu exiting the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Ye Guangfu exiting the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang exiting the space station core module Tianhe. China's Shenzhou-13 taikonauts Ye Guangfu and Zhai Zhigang have been out of the space station core module Tianhe to start extravehicular activities (EVAs), the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said on Sunday evening. The CMSA said Ye opened the hatch of Tianhe's node cabin at 6:44 p.m. (Beijing Time). Ye and Zhai, donning China-developed Feitian spacesuits, got out of the core module from its node cabin at 6:50 p.m. and 7:37 p.m. respectively. The pair will conduct a series of operations such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Editor: ZAD
BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers on Friday voted to adopt a law revision to further advance innovation in science and technology.

Lawmakers approved the revision to the Law on Progress of Science and Technology at a session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which started Monday.

The revised law encourages sci-tech research and development, to support the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions and achieving carbon neutrality.

It also demands establishing and improving a sound laboratory system led by national laboratories, with national key laboratories as supporting forces.

Awards in the sci-tech fields, including the country's top science and technology award, have been enshrined in the newly revised law, which highlights national support for institutions of higher education in developing basic research, as well as cultivating talents in the area.

In terms of advancing regional sci-tech innovation, the law calls on all localities to leverage regional advantages to choose a development path with regional characteristics.

It also stipulates that governments at all levels, enterprises and institutions should improve the mechanism for training, assessing and motivating female scientists, care for female sci-tech workers during their nursing period, as well as encourage and support female sci-tech workers to play a greater role in sci-tech progress.

The newly revised law will take effect from Jan. 1, 2022.

Editor: ZAD
CHANGSHA, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- A handover ceremony of Chang'e-5 lunar samples, used for backup storage, was held Saturday in Shaoshan, central China's Hunan Province, which is also the home city of the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

The samples, brought back by the Chang'e-5 probe, were handed over to Hunan University by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and will be stored in the newly constructed base, the country's sole one dedicated to lunar sample backup storage.

The lunar samples collected by China for the first time is a significant accomplishment jointly achieved by tens of thousands of sci-tech workers, said Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA.

Storing the lunar samples in Chairman Mao's hometown is a profound tribute to his contributions to the Chinese nation and the people of the world, and it honors his long-cherished dream of reaching the moon, Zhang said.

The storage base, which was approved to be built in 2014, was completed by Hunan University and passed the technical evaluation this July. Located in a village, the courtyard-style building is decorated in grey and white and surrounded by trees.

It will facilitate the long-term safe storage of lunar samples and avoid the impact of extreme conditions such as natural disasters on the samples, the CNSA noted.

To safely and stably store the lunar samples, the conditions are demanding, said Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China's lunar exploration program.

He introduced that the backup storage device was designed and developed to be filled with nitrogen, and the internal pressure was slightly higher than atmospheric pressure.

On Dec. 17, 2020, the Chang'e-5 probe returned to Earth, retrieving a total of 1,731 grams of lunar samples, mainly rocks and soil from the moon's surface.

According to China's lunar sample management regulations, the lunar samples will be generally used for four purposes, namely permanent storage, backup permanent storage, research and public welfare.

In July, China delivered the first batch of lunar samples, weighing about 17 grams, to 13 institutions. And later in October, the second batch weighing about 17.9 grams was distributed to scientists from 17 research institutions.

The fourth phase of the lunar exploration program is underway. The CNSA will actively promote scientists at home and abroad to conduct in-depth research on lunar samples and to strive for greater scientific achievements, Zhang said.

Editor: ZAD
Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang exiting the space station core module Tianhe. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

BEIJING, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Taikonauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their extravehicular activities (EVAs) and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said on early hours of Monday.

This was the fourth time that the taikonauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success.

The CMSA said the pair returned to the core module at 0:55 a.m. (Beijing Time) after about six hours of EVAs. They completed tasks such as lifting panoramic camera and testing goods transport.

The EVAs further tested the function and performance of the core module airlock cabin, extravehicular suit and mechanical arm, and assessed the technologies related to EVAs, the coordination of taikonauts inside and outside the space station, and the coordination between space and Earth.

The Shenzhou-13 crew will continue their in-orbit work to welcome the coming new year. This is also the first time that Chinese taikonauts welcome a new year in space, the CMSA added.

The CMSA noted that extravehicular operations are becoming the normal work of the space station flight missions. Chinese taikonauts will carry out more EVAs which are more complex to provide strong support for the successful completion of the construction and the stable operation of the space station.

China launched the Shenzhou-13 spaceship on Oct. 16, sending three taikonauts on a six-month mission to construct its space station. The crew conducted the first EVAs on Nov. 7.

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a Chinese astronaut returning to the space station core module Tianhe after completing extravehicular activities (EVAs). Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their EVAs and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said early Monday. This was the fourth time that Chinese astronauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a Chinese astronaut returning to the space station core module Tianhe after completing extravehicular activities (EVAs). Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their EVAs and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said early Monday. This was the fourth time that Chinese astronauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a Chinese astronaut returning to the space station core module Tianhe after completing extravehicular activities (EVAs). Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their EVAs and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said early Monday. This was the fourth time that Chinese astronauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 27, 2021 shows a Chinese astronaut returning to the space station core module Tianhe after completing extravehicular activities (EVAs). Astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Ye Guangfu have completed their EVAs and returned to the space station core module Tianhe, the China Manned Space Agency said early Monday. This was the fourth time that Chinese astronauts conducted EVAs during the construction of the country's space station and the second by the Shenzhou-13 crew. The CMSA has declared the EVAs a complete success. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Wang Yaping working in the space station core module Tianhe. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Ye Guangfu exiting the space station core module Tianhe. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Ye Guangfu exiting the space station core module Tianhe. (Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Screen image taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Dec. 26, 2021 shows Chinese taikonaut Zhai Zhigang exiting the space station core module Tianhe.(Xinhua/Guo Zhongzheng)

Editor: ZAD
KUNMING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Yunnan Province reported six confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, local health authorities said Saturday.

Of the total, two are imported cases who arrived from Myanmar and Laos and four are locally transmitted cases in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, the provincial health commission said.

On Friday, the province also reported four asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers who all arrived from Laos.

As of Friday, the province had 96 confirmed COVID-19 cases undergoing treatment, including 68 imported cases, the commission said. Enditem

Editor: Zhang Zhou
Yevgeniy Zakharov, Board Chairman of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, Director of the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group



On 20 December 2021 SBI and SBU notified Petro Poroshenko by mail of suspicion of treason. Later the text of the suspicion appeared in media.

As it turned out, Petro Poroshenko is accused of treason (Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and aiding and abetting the activities of a terrorist organization (Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Essence of the suspicion

The investigation maintains that several high-ranking officials, Ukrainian citizens, have conspired to promote terrorist organizations in order to harm Ukraines territorial integrity, inviolability and defence capabilities. These high-ranking officials were Petro Poroshenko, Viktor Medvedchuk, former Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn, and Serhiy Kuzyara, allegedly responsible for communication with the LPR/DPR.

According to the investigation, in October 2014, representatives of the top military and political leadership of the Russian Federation decided to involve Viktor Medvedchuk in criminal activities.

Medvedchuk, assessing the complexity of the tasks set by the Russian Federation, under circumstances not established by the investigation, involved the then President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, in the subversive activities.

The main subject of Poroshenkos treason is the purchase of coal from Ukrainian enterprises, which they mined in the temporarily occupied territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.

According to the suspicion, Ukraine was critically dependent on coal mined by L/DPR, and the loss of part of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts threatened a major energy crisis. To avoid a crisis, the government has decided to establish coal supplies from South Africa so as not to buy coal in the Russian Federation..

When the first consignments of coal from South Africa arrived in Ukraine in October and November, Medvedchuk and high-ranking Russian officials decided to cut off supplies from South Africa and establish supplies from L/DPR.

To implement this plan, Medvedchuk enlisted Poroshenko, who was to coordinate all decisions and exert administrative influence on executive officials who opposed the plan.

To implement this plan, Poroshenko convened a meeting of the National Security and Defence Council on November 4, 2014, where he questioned the quality of coal from South Africa. He allegedly gave verbal instructions to law enforcement agencies to check the quality of coal and the contract for the supply of coal. After the meeting of the National Security and Defence Council, law enforcement agencies began to check the contract and the quality of coal.

Because of that South Africa refused to supply coal to Ukraine.

According to the investigation, such actions of Poroshenko and Medvedchuk were aimed at organizing the supply of coal from L/DPR.

Volodymyr Demchyshyn, who was not against the purchase of coal from the temporarily occupied territories, was appointed Minister of Energy to organize coal supplies with L/DPR. Two mines were found in the temporarily occupied territory, they were officially registered in Ukraine, contracts were signed and coal was purchased.

Serhiy Kuzyara, whose actions were coordinated by Medvedchuk, was directly involved in the agreements with the L/DPR representatives in the temporarily occupied territories.

We would like to recall that Poroshenko is involved in about 20 criminal proceedings  from receiving a Tomos of OCU to bringing a collection of paintings to Ukraine. Only one case concerning Poroshenko appointing Serhiy Semochko as the first deputy head of the Foreign Intelligence Service made its way to the indictment. All, without exception, criminal proceedings were initiated after the coming to power of Volodymyr Zelenskys team.

Analysis of the validity of the suspicion

Surprisingly, the 32-page suspicion concerning the events of 2014-2015 begins with a lengthy account of the creation of the United Nations in 1945. Three pages of text in the suspicion are given to the constituent documents of the UN, which have nothing to do with the subject of criminal proceedings. The next 13 pages describe the history of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the purpose and objectives of the L/DPR, the Constitution is quoted, as well as the regulations that have been adopted in connection with Russias armed aggression. The description of the actions allegedly committed by Petro Poroshenko and their legal qualification begins only on page 17. More than 50% of the text of the suspicion, which either has nothing to do with the case or has an indirect relationship, already raises doubts about its validity.

Lets move directly to the crimes incriminated to Petro Poroshenko. In particular, we are talking about crimes under Part 1 of Art. 111 and Part 1 of Art. 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine provides for liability for an act intentionally committed by a citizen of Ukraine to the detriment of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability, defence, state, economic or information security of Ukraine: transition to the enemy in martial law or armed conflict, spying, providing a foreign state, foreign organization or their representatives assistance in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine.

Mandatory element of the crime under Part 1 of Art. 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is a direct intention to harm the sovereignty, territorial integrity, defence or security of Ukraine. That is, the person had to be aware of the danger of their action, understand its consequences and directly want such consequences. Treason committed through negligence (in any of its subspecies), as well as with indirect intent, will not be considered a crime.

According to the investigation, Poroshenkos main intention is to satisfy his own political interests, prevent the fall of political ratings and the level of trust as a result of a possible further aggravation of relations with the aggressor state  the Russian Federation. That is, Poroshenkos intent to commit treason is not seen even from the formulation of intent in the suspicion.

It is difficult to prove direct intent, as it is necessary to specifically justify the persons subjective perception of certain circumstances. Especially in the case where the suspect committed acts that belonged to the scope of his powers and tasks. In turn, the suspicion, where 3 pages are devoted to UN statutory documents and 13 pages to the history of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the goals and objectives of L/DPR, citing the Constitution and regulations adopted in connection with Russias armed aggression, does not devote any paragraph to justifying the existence of direct intent to commit treason in the actions of Petro Poroshenko.

Similar is the situation with Part 1 of Art. 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which provides for responsibility for the creation of a terrorist group or organization, its leadership, participation in it, or assistance in the creation or operation of a terrorist group or terrorist organization. The mandatory element for the formation of a crime under this article is the presence of direct intent to promote the activities of a terrorist organization, while the published suspicion does not substantiate that Petro Poroshenko was guided by such motives, and not, for example, overcoming the energy crisis, which took place in autumn 2014.

We would like to recall that in autumn of 2014 an energy crisis began in Ukraine, due to military aggression and economic blockade by Russia, which led to power outages. State mines producing anthracite coal were in the temporarily occupied territory. Coal from South Africa, which was supposed to save the situation, according to examinations conducted as part of the pre-trial investigation, was not of the required quality and was unreasonably expensive. Coal from the temporarily occupied territories was both cheaper and much better. It was common for Ukrainian thermal power plants.

The suspicion does not provide any argument in favour of Poroshenkos goal of treason and aiding terrorism, and not the states position aimed at providing Ukraine with heat and electricity, primarily the provision of two heating plants  Zmiivska and Trypilska, to which investigators refer in suspicion.

The then Prosecutor General Vitaliy Yarema notes that in 2014-2015, the Prosecutor Generals Office did investigate criminal proceedings related to the delivery of low-quality coal to Ukraine from South Africa. Investigative actions were carried out, which included several examinations and interviews with experts, as well as specialists in the coal and heat industries. Several investigative experiments were conducted with the combustion of coal delivered from South Africa, which showed that in thermal power plants, coal delivered from South Africa does not burn on its own and does not create the necessary temperature for the operation of thermal power plants.

The investigation is trying to claim in the suspicion that the examinations that took place in the pre-trial investigation in 2014-2015 were conducted in poor quality or forged. However, there are no criminal proceedings against experts, investigators and others involved in the pre-trial investigation. In addition, the suspicion does not provide any argument in favour of the fact that the examinations are fake or of poor quality.

It should be noted that the suspicion lacks specifics. The most frequently used words in the text of suspicion after the word Poroshenko are the words unknown and not established. In particular, the following is constantly mentioned: at an unknown time, in an unknown place, unidentified circumstances, unidentified persons, etc., there is no specific date. Suspicion cannot be justified when most of the details of the alleged crime are unknown. Because of so much of the unknown, this suspicion is more like a story than a suspicion. It is impossible to consider Poroshenkos direct intention to commit treason and aid a terrorist organization justified with such a large number of gaps in the facts.

As for serving the suspicion

The SBI tried to serve the suspicion to Poroshenko on December 17, 2021. However, he ignored attempts by investigators to serve the suspicion and flew to Turkey. On the same day, December 17, 2021, the news appeared on the official website of the political party European Solidarity. After that, 4 news items appeared on the official website of the European Solidarity Party from December 18 to 19, 2021, covering Poroshenkos international meetings, which reflected where, when and with whom he met[1]. That is, his whereabouts were known from public sources. It is incomprehensible to try to serve a suspicion as soon as possible, when it is well known about the persons whereabouts and the reason for his trip..

Later, the SBI and the SBU reported that they had served the suspicion to Poroshenko by mail, however, the CPC does not provide for such a method. The notice of suspicion is the message itself, i.e. informing about its essence, so the moment of serving the suspicion must be consistent with the principle of legal certainty. Thus, the suspicion can be considered served only from the moment the person actually receives such notification. This principle cannot be observed in the case of formal sending of a notice of suspicion by mail, without evidence of receipt by the future suspect of such notice.

It is also worth noting who signed the suspicion of Petro Poroshenko. According to the CPC, the Prosecutor General or his/her deputy has to sign the suspicion of the Peoples Deputy. However, it so happened that both Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova and her first deputy Roman Hovda were on vacation, and the suspicion was signed by Deputy Prosecutor General Oleksiy Symonenko. In our opinion, this may indicate that I. Venediktova and her first deputy do not want to be involved in this case.

It should also be noted that Poroshenkos suspicion was signed on December 20, 2021, although it was first attempted to be served on December 17, 2021.

In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 278 of the CPC, a written notice of suspicion is served on the day of its preparation by the investigator or prosecutor, and in case of impossibility of serving it in such a way  in the manner prescribed by this Code for service of notices. The CPC does not specify such cases. On December 17, 2021, investigators tried unsuccessfully to serve a notice of suspicion to Poroshenko, and on December 20, 2021, investigators allegedly served the same suspicion, but by mail, but it was dated December 20, 2021. There are two possible options: either the investigators did not comply with the CPCs requirements and violated the law, or they are two different suspicions.

Signs of the political persecution

Volodymyr Zelensky, starting with the election campaign, has constantly spoken directly or indirectly about the need to imprison Petro Poroshenko. The slogan when spring comes we will imprison was, first of all, addressed to Poroshenko. Later, such statements began to be made by the Prosecutor General, MPs and other high-ranking officials. This is a clear sign of the political motives for the persecution of Petro Poroshenko.

Thus, the President of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, MPs of Ukraine in their statements made direct or indirect accusations against Petro Poroshenko before the conviction, contrary to the principles of fair trial set forth in Article 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms.

Thus, according to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the right of every accused person to be presumed innocent and to impose on the prosecution the burden of proof is a general notion of a fair trial within the meaning of Article 6  1, which is applied to the procedure of delivering the sentence (Grayson and Burnham v. the United Kingdom,  37 and 39).

At the same time, Article 6  2 of the Convention seeks to prevent the violation of the right to a fair trial by prejudicial statements directly related to the trial (Ismoilov and Others v. Russia,  160). Thus, the presumption of innocence may be disregarded not only by a judge or a court, but also by other public authorities (Allenet de Ribemont v. France,  3). This applies, for example, to police officers (Allenet de Ribemont v. France,  37 and 41), the President of the Republic (Pesa v. Croatia,  149). Speaker of Parliament (Butkevicius v. Lithuania,  53), prosecutor (Daktaras v. Lithuania,  42), etc.

Article 6  2 of the Convention prohibits any statements by officials of public authorities concerning an ongoing criminal investigation which would give the public grounds to convict the suspect and would prejudge the views of the facts by the relevant judicial authorities (Ismoilov and Others v. Russia,  161). The ECtHR emphasized the importance of choosing the words used by officials in statements concerning a person who has not yet been convicted and recognized as guilty of a criminal offence (Daktaras v. Lithuania,  41). At the same time, the prosecutors biased remarks in themselves raise issues under Article 6  2 of the Convention, notwithstanding other considerations under Article 6  1, such as those relating to unfavourable pre-trial publicity (Turyev v. Russia,  21).

Given the above, it is typical that Poroshenkos criminal prosecution has hidden political motives. Such motives are: the elimination of the main opposition candidates for the post of the next President of Ukraine, the prevention of opposition non-pro-governmental rhetoric and the implementation of election promises of the current government and the increasing of its political rating. If the state successfully attempts to detain Poroshenko and place him in custody, Article 18 in conjunction with Article 5 of the Convention will be violated. The ECtHR has already recognized human rights violations in the criminal prosecution of opposition figures in Ukraine, in particular Articles 5 and 18 of the Convention in cases Tymoshenko v. Ukraine and Lutsenko v. Ukraine.

Conclusions

In conclusion, in our opinion, the investigation did not substantiate the suspicion of treason and aiding and abetting the activities of a terrorist organization, as it did not provide any arguments as to whether Petro Poroshenko intended to commit these acts. The investigation illegally tried to hand over this unfounded suspicion to Petro Poroshenko. Even the event of a crime under Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (treason) and Article 258-3 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (assistance to a terrorist organization) is not seen in the case.

[1] https://eurosolidarity.org/2021/12/18/poroshenko-obgovoryv-iz-vselenskym-patriarhom-podalshyj-rozvytok-pczu-jogo-vsesvyatist-peredav-blagoslovinnya-ukrayinskomu-narodu/

https://eurosolidarity.org/2021/12/18/petro-poroshenko-pro-zustrich-iz-vselenskym-patriarhom-my-skoordynuvaly-nashi-diyi-na-2022-rik-dlya-podalshogo-vyznannya-pczu-u-sviti/

https://eurosolidarity.org/2021/12/19/poroshenko-domovlenosti-na-umovah-kremlya-nebezpechni-i-dlya-ukrayiny-i-dlya-nashyh-susidiv-i-dlya-vsogo-vilnogo-svitu/

https://eurosolidarity.org/2021/12/19/petro-poroshenko-u-polshhi-vizme-uchast-u-mizhnarodnij-konferencziyi-z-pytan-bezpeky/
Head of the Servant of the People party Olena Shuliak believes that members of their parliamentary faction who have decided to join interfactional association "Reasonable Politics" should first hand over their parliamentary mandates and only after that participate in the creation of new political brands.

"I hope that everyone has already crossed over. However, I would like to appeal to my colleagues who also intend [to join MFO 'Reasonable Politics']: hand over your mandates and then create your own political brands, do not make use the names of others people. Let you be elected honestly, then you will participate in the work of the parliament," Shuliak told Interfax-Ukraine.

She also said the MFO "Reasonable Policy" significantly affects the activities of the Servant of the People party and the mood within the political force.

"Particularly, are the members of MFO 'Reasonable Politics' negotiating with other representatives of our political force in parliament? Yes, they are. Do representatives of MFO 'Reasonable Politics' come to the regions and work with representatives of our regional organizations? They work. That is, this is a rather serious story. We must admit that there are people who create their own political power, and to achieve this goal they will use different means and methods, we need to be ready for this," the politician said.

According to her, the possibility of depriving former chairman Dmytro Razumkov of his mandate "theoretically remains, but legally it is a rather difficult decision."

"Therefore, we believe that the best solution for Dmytro Oleksandrovych as a responsible politician, whom he calls himself, is to hand over the mandate himself. This is a matter of political culture, but, surely, Razumkov is not going to do this," Shuliak said.
Sea of Azov may become springboard for Russia-Ukraine possible armed conflict  media

At present, the Sea of Azov has already become an area of possible armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Washington Post said.

According to the publication "There is a case to be made that the Azov's shoreline is of more strategic and economic value to Russia than Ukraine's war-battered eastern border regions."

The publication said the U.S. intelligence has warned that the Kremlin could be planning "a multipronged military attack against Ukraine" as soon as early next year.

According to the article, for all the international attention paid to "the concentration of Russian troops on Ukraine's land borders, if an invasion originates from the sea, Ukrainian forces are largely powerless."

This, the newspaper writes, acknowledged Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba.

"In terms of security, the Sea of Azov is dominated by Russia. And in case of war, it will be heavily used by them to put pressure on our southern cities on the Azov shore," he told the newspaper.

The minister said: "Under the current circumstances, of course Russia dictates the situation in the Azov and basically uses it as a war theater."
Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg decided to convene the NATO-Russia Council on January 12, 2022, the DPA agency said, citing the NATO press service.

This meeting may become the first in two and a half years, the DPA publication said.

Earlier it was reported that on January 12 and 13, Brussels will host a meeting of the NATO Military Committee at the level of the chiefs of general staff of the alliance member states.

According to media reports, at the meeting, the participants intend to discuss issues related to the situation around Ukraine due to reports of the buildup of Russian troops on the Ukrainian border.
A territorial defense headquarters is being established in Kyiv; the capital's terrorist defense system should be deployed in the near future, Deputy Head of Kyiv City State Administration Andriy Kryschenko has said.

According to Kyiv City State Administration press service, the recruitment of reservists for Kyiv territorial defense brigade continues.

In January, it is planned to hold command-staff exercises for the territorial defense of the Ukrainian capital.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko held a meeting with the deputy heads of Kyiv City State Administration, heads of the department of municipal security, the territorial defense brigade of the capital, the prosecutor's office and the SBU of Kyiv, representatives of the Main Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv police.

"The statements and threats of Russia, the buildup of aggressor troops on the borders of our state urge us to prepare for various possible scenarios of events. In particular, for the worst. We must have a clear plan of action in a critical situation, coordinated and worked out the actions of all services and structural units," Klitschko said.

The mayor also noted the need for special attention to the safety of critical infrastructure facilities in the city. "There are over 500 such facilities in Kyiv. In case of an emergency, they are taken under protection by various departments. In particular, the National Police, military, territorial defense units," the press service said.
A Lebanese mountain town home to 70,000 Syrian refugees declared a "fuel emergency" Thursday, warning that soaring heating fuel prices would spell tragedy as winter starts to bite.
The UK is investing over $97 million in Upper Egypts Benban Solar Park, set to be the largest solar installation in the world, the British Embassy announced on Monday.

In an official statement, the embassy said the investment by CDC Group, the UKs development finance institution, is a part of an International Financial Cooperation (IFC)-led consortium providing a $653 million debt package to fund 13 new solar-power plants  the Nubian Suns  in the Southern Egyptian city of Aswan.

I am proud the UK is investing in a project that will provide clean power to over 350,000 residential customers and generate up to 6,000 jobs," UK Ambassador to Egypt John Casson said.

"Todays announcement reflects our commitment to support Egypt as its number one partner with a new wave of investments that support its development, provide new job opportunities and paint a brighter future for its generations, he said.

On Sunday, Egypt signed agreements for the construction of 13 solar-power plants in Aswan, financed by the IFC, which is a member of the World Bank Group.

The 13 solar power plants, which are expected to generate 590 megawatts, will cost $823 million in total, with the IFC providing $653 million, Egypt's investment ministry said in a statement.

Upon completion, the facilities will comprise the largest solar installation in the world, with a planned total capacity of 1.8 GW.

Egypt has been working to upgrade its power plant capacity and renewable energy projects in order to meet rising electricity demand. It aims to shift 22 percent of the country's energy consumption to renewable sources by 2020.

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Egypt said its Benban solar field in Aswan, set to be largest in the world upon completion at 1.8 GW total capacity, is set to operate at full capacity in 2019.

The World Bank group's new president, who toured the solar field, praised the countrys reforms in energy.

In a statement, Egypts investment ministry said that the WB group chief David Malbas visited the solar park with Investment Minister Sahar Nasr, Social Solidarity Minister Ghana Wali, and other WB officials.

The reforms in energy made by Egypt have "opened a door for strong investments by the private sector," Malbas said during his first visit to Egypt as head of the group.

Nasr said that the project comes as the country is taking unprecedented steps to create a modern legislative framework to attract foreign investments.

The project was granted the best project award by the WB group last March, the first time Egypt won such an award.

The WB's International Financial Corporation has provided $653 million for the construction of the installation.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also providing financing for 16 projects in Benban as part of its $500 million framework for financing renewable energy in Egypt, the bank said in 2017.

The Benban project was decreed by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in 2015 and allocated a 37-square-kilometer plot.

Egypt aims to increase its use of renewable energy to 22 percent of all domestically produced energy by 2020 and up to 42 percent by 2035.

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Six power plants in the Benban Solar Park in Egypts southern governorate of Aswan have now been finished and connected to the national grid, the company in charge of the project announced on Sunday.

The announcement was made by Salah Ghobrial, CEO of Gama Construction, an Egypt-based company that provides engineering and construction services for industrial buildings and infrastructure projects.

We have completed the construction of the 390 MW solar power plants and successfully connected them to the national grid within the set time frame and to international standards. This achievement is a demonstration of Egyptian companies potential and capability in playing an active role in executing mega-projects, especially in the field of renewable energy, Ghobrial said.

The power park, which has a total capacity of 1.8 GW, making it the worlds largest solar park when completed, is subdivided into 41 plots, each given to a power company to generate solar energy.

The plants are then to be connected to the national grid. The list of companies that have power plants on the site includes a consortium of Hassan Allam and TAQA Arabia, as well as Scatec Solar, Al-Sewedy Electric, and Germanys Ib Vogt.

Work on the park started in 2015, according to a presidential decree, and it is built on 27 square km. While many of the plants in the park have started commercial operations during the past six months, the official inauguration of the park as a whole took place this week.

In May, World Bank Group Chief David Malbas visited the solar park and praised reforms in the Egyptian energy sector, saying it was opening a door to strong investments by the private sector.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also providing financing for 16 projects in Benban as part of its $500 million framework for financing renewable energy in Egypt.

According to Egypts Vision 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy, the government has issued a renewables feed-in tariff law to encourage private investments in this sector.

The goal by 2030 is to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

Egypt aims to produce 20 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2022 and 42 per cent by 2035.

Salah Arafa, AUC professor of physics, told Al-Ahram Weekly that expanding the use of solar energy is an important step that took so long to be achieved.

As Egypt is still suffering from energy shortages, which is crucial to serve developmental purposes, the need for clean and renewable energy is inevitable, Arafa said.

Arafa argued that Egypt needs to increase awareness about solar and renewable energy so that people understand that they can get it either directly or indirectly. An example of a direct source of energy is putting solar energy panels on a house roof to generate power that is sold to the national grid. Indirect sources include wind energy and agricultural waste such as biogas.

A 2018 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concluded that Egypt has already achieved remarkable progress in developing an enabling policy, regulatory and institutional framework for the deployment of renewable energy.

IRENA also praised the countrys success in gaining experience in the implementation of a wide range of renewable projects, particularly for solar and wind electricity generation.

Yet, the report also gave a number of policy recommendations, including facilitating access to data and information for project developers with respect to on-site solar and wind resource assessments, land-allocation procedures, and the performance of existing renewable energy power plants under sometimes difficult environmental conditions.

It also called on Egypt to develop specific capacity targets for the deployment of solar thermal systems and explore different options for supporting the accelerated penetration of solar thermal systems in the residential and industrial sectors.

Other recommendations included creating a national master plan for the development of local job creation in the renewable energy industry, with a specific set of actions defined for solar photovoltaic and wind energy technologies.

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The campaign started from Fayoum governorate

The Ministry State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates' Affairs has launched presidential initiative " Survival Boats" to curb the risks of illegal migration as part of a media awareness campaign across the governorates.

Minister of State for Emigration and Egyptians' Expatriates Nabila Makram said in statements Monday that that the campaign started from Fayoum governorate.

Makram had said in previous statements the 'Survival Boats' initiative, launched by President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi, has contributed to the success of combating illegal emigration along Egyptian shores.

Egypt's efforts in this respect have been greatly praised, she added.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has reiterated the necessity of resuming the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating track soon to reach a just and comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian issue based on the two-state solution.

Shoukry said in a meeting with Israeli Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Cairo on Thursday that Egypt is unwavering in its efforts to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.

Egypt has repeatedly called for the two-state solution that involves the establishment of an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital as per relevant international resolutions.

Egypt has been in talks with several regional and international players to revive the long-frozen Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Shoukry said Cairo will continue contacting all parties to reach an atmosphere conducive to resuscitating the desired political track, a statement by the Egyptian foreign ministry said.

Shoukry also called for refraining from unilateral measures including the those related to the settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, noting that such measures hinder chances at peace and the two-state solution, a statement released following the meeting said.

Egypt's top diplomat reviewed Egyptian efforts to reconstruct the Gaza Strip and support the development demands of the Palestinians in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

He emphasised the importance of the international communitys support to Egypt in this regard, which helps secure peace and stability in the region.

After mediating a ceasefire between the Israeli and Palestinian sides that ended the hostilities in May, Egypt allocated $500 million to reconstruct the strip.

In recent months, Israel has stiffened restrictions on the enclave, barring the entry of construction materials and fuel. According to media reports, several challenges now face Gaza's reconstruction given the complicated political conditions.

Egypt and Qatar have signed agreements to supply fuel and basic construction materials to the Gaza Strip.

The agreement, announced by the Qatari foreign ministry in November, aims to alleviate the economic crises in the Palestinian territories on the heels of the Israeli war on Gaza in May, the pandemic, and delays in the salary payments by the Palestinian Authority.

Egyptian smuggled antiquities

During his meeting with Shoukry, Lapid handed back 95 smuggled antiques from Egypt that were seized by Israeli authorities.

The antiques were returned in the presence of officials from the Egyptian and Israeli antiquities ministries.

Lapid, who landed in Cairo earlier today, met with Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ahead of Shoukry's talks.

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The Decent Life Foundation (DLF) has sent food and medical convoys - carrying up to 7,000 food boxes as well as comprising specialised medical teams that provide free tests and treatment to needy citizens - to Aswan and Qena governorates in Upper Egypt.

The convoys were organised by the Decent Life Foundation (DLF) in cooperation with the Egyptian Food Bank, a statement by the DLF said on Friday.

The DLF's field team distributed 5,000 food boxes to five villages in Waqf township in Qena, including 2,000 boxes to the Al-Marashda village, 1,200 to the Waqf village, 1,000 to the Qalamina village, and 800 boxes to the Al-Abal and Al-Hamoudi.

The team also distributed 2,000 food boxes to the Gharb Suhail village in Aswan.

The DLF also dispatched a convoy of 10 medical teams to the Al-Marashda village to provide free examination and treatment of various illnesses as well as coronavirus tests.

The medical convoy  sent in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Population  comprised a host of medical specialties, including gastroenterologists, surgeons, and pediatricians.

Decent Life, meaning Hayah Karima in Arabic, comprises a series of countryside-focused national infrastructure projects.

The initiative was first launched in 2019 by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi who tasked the Ministry of Social Solidarity with developing Egypts poorest 1,000 villages.

In December 2020, El-Sisi expanded the initiative to include another 4,500 villages within the framework of the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt's Vision 2030.

The foundation regularly sends food and medical convoys to various governorates to help needy citizens nationwide.

In November, the DLF sent aid convoys to Aswan to help citizens affected by heavy rain and flooding that hit the southern Egyptian governorate and caused the collapse of tens of homes and the death of three citizens.

It also distributed batches of appliances and furniture to afflicted families.

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Egypt mourned the death of South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Egypt expresses its deep sadness and extreme sorrow for the loss of archbishop, primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, the statement added.

Tutu, 90, passed away on Sunday after a long struggle with illness.

Egypt asserts that Archbishop Desmond Tutu was without a doubt a bright icon of the struggle against the apartheid system and one of the most prominent freedom and human rights fighters in the world and he will be immortalised by his shinning place in history as a role model for combating all kinds of racism while upholding the values of democracy and freedom, the statement continued.

Tutu gave a lesson to humanity about tolerance and the insistence to uphold peace, the ministry said.

The archbishop's peaceful struggle against all sorts of discrimination, inequality, and racism will remain a source of inspiration to the world, the ministry added.

The late archbishop was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1984 for his role in the struggle to abolish the apartheid system in South Africa.

Famously outspoken, even after the fall of the racist apartheid regime, Tutu never shied away from confronting South Africa's shortcomings or injustices as well as injustices in other places in the world, including his unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.

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Turkey urged Russia on Monday to drop "one-sided" demands and adopt a more constructive approach in its standoff with Western powers and NATO over Ukraine.

NATO member Turkey has irritated Moscow by supplying combat drones to Ukraine that Russia fears could be used by Kiev in its conflict with separatists in two eastern regions.

But Turkey has also upset Washington and NATO by acquiring an advanced missile defence system from Russia that resulted in sanctions from the United States.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Moscow and the Western defence alliance to air their differences in direct negotiations proposed by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Russia wants NATO to provide Moscow with a binding security guarantee and withdraw its forces to positions they held before a wave of eastward expansion that began after the Soviet Union's collapse.

"For any proposal to be accepted, it should be acceptable by both sides. Russia made some proposals. But maybe NATO seeks the same kind of guarantees from Russia. This is not a one-sided issue," Cavusoglu told reporters.

"If the requests are maximalist-I'm not saying that Russia is maximalist in any case,both sides must be constructive," he said. "They should come to the table with proposals that both sides can accept."

A NATO spokesman said the Brussels-based alliance had been "in touch" with Moscow about holding a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on January 12.

Russia has not yet formally accepted the offer.

"If Russia has any certain specific expectation or issue from Turkey regarding reducing tensions between Russia and NATO, Turkey will evaluate this positively because our objective is clear," said Cavusoglu.

"Everyone would be affected, God forbid, by conflict in the region."

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Iraq's top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October. The development marked another boost for an influential Shiite cleric who had been confirmed as the winner of the vote.

The appeal was submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, head of a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the Oct. 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraq's electoral commission had confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr secured 73 out of Parliament's 329 seats. The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance, which represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, secured 17 seats _ down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Supreme Court had not ratified the election results, pending the appeal filed earlier this month by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition. Monday's verdict read out by Judge Jassim Mohammed rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited alleged technical and legal violations.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the court's decision. Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city. The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs through Iran-backed militias.

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Egypt's parliament approved Monday amending three laws that regulate the Renewable Energy Authority, universities, and the Academy of Arts.

The first law states that the Hydroelectric Stations Authority will be phased out and replaced by the Renewable Energy Authority, according to Hossam Awadallah, chairman of the parliaments energy committee.

"As a result, the assets of the Hydroelectric Authority will be transferred to the Renewable Energy Authority, which will be responsible for implementing all kinds of electric projects in Egypt, including hydroelectric ones, in light of the drop in world prices of renewable energy technology and in a bid to encourage the private sector to play a greater role in generating electricity from renewable energy projects," said Awadallah.

The House also approved amending the law regulating universities, doubling the financial sum granted to professors when they reach retirement age and become emeritus professors.

Chairman of the House's Education Committee Sami Hashem said the objective of the amendment is to legally allow highly-experienced university professors to stay in service as emeritus professors after they reach the retirement age of 60.

"To attain this end, the amendment states that emeritus professors will obtain a financial bonus in addition to their pension salary, which is a good financial package," said Hashem.

MP Amira Abu Shoka said the amended law opens the door for Egyptian universities to seek the service of highly-experienced and gifted professors who reach retirement age.

"The law gives good financial incentive for such professors to stay in service and ensure that they make use of their experience in upgrading educational systems in Egyptian universities," said Abu Shoka.

MPs also gave the thumbs up for a third law regulating the Academy of Arts.

Chairwoman of the House's Culture and Media Committee Doreya Sharafeddin said the law regulating the performance of the Academy of Arts was amended to open the door for members of the academy's teaching board who reach retirement age to stay in service and get a financial bonus plus the pension salary.

"Emeritus professors will have all the financial privileges granted to members of the teaching board, except assuming administrative posts," said Sharafeddin, adding that "the objective of this amendment is to keep highly-experienced professors in service by granting them a generous financial package."

Parliament speaker Hanafi Gibali said the three laws will be put up for a final vote in a later session.

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Mali's military-dominated government on Monday launched a four-day national forum on returning the country to civilian rule following the country's August 2020 military takeover.

The authorities have showcased the "National Conference on Reform" as a chance for the public to foster change, but major groups have already lashed the project and said they will boycott it.

The meeting "will make an unflinching assessment of the state of the nation (and) draw the best lessons from it," Mali's transitional president, Colonel Assimi Goita, said at an opening ceremony.

"It will also be your task to make concrete proposals, to devise a solution for ending the crisis," he said.

One of the poorest countries in the world, Mali has enjoyed only brief spells of political stability since it gained independence from France in 1960.

In August 2020, young officers led by Goita toppled the country's elected president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, after weeks of street protests over perceived corruption and his handling of a bloody jihadist insurgency.

Under pressure from France and Mali's neighbours, Goita pledged Mali would return to civilian rule in February 2022 after holding presidential and legislative elections.

But in May this year, he staged a de facto second coup, forcing out an interim civilian government and disrupting the timetable.

On December 12, Goita told the West African regional bloc ECOWAS that he would provide it with a new election schedule by January 31.

Mali has a long history of national consultations to discuss problems and recommend solutions.

But several major parties and social organisations have snubbed the process this time, demanding the swift holding of elections or criticising the discussions as fruitless.

The national forum follows meetings at local level, which were held in 51 out of 60 areas, the exceptions being in the jihadist-hit northern regions of Kidal and Menaka. They were also held in 26 foreign locations for the Malian diaspora.

Mali spiralled into bloodshed in 2012 when Tuareg rebels launched an insurgency in northern Mali, abetted by jihadists.

After being scattered by French military intervention, the jihadists regrouped and took their campaign into central Mali, an ethnic powder keg, and then into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso.

Thousands of people have died and hundreds of thousands have fled their homes.

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I have no doubt that these questions have been prompted, in no small measure, by the messiness of the withdrawal, the nightmarish and chaotic scenes at the airport, the tragic human stories of those left behind, and the speed with which the American-friendly government collapsed followed by the Talibans takeover of the country.

That said, in each instance I have cautioned those who asked these questions to take note of the fact that Americas problems in the greater Middle East didnt begin with the withdrawal. Our decline began twenty years earlier with the reckless, costly, and disastrous decisions of the Bush administration to invade both Afghanistan and Iraq followed by the decision to occupy them and attempt to create democracies that would support our interests.



These wars were reckless because in both instances the Bush administration was advised by experts in the intelligence community and career-level State Department and military officials that these were not wars we could win or governments we could fashion to our liking. In both cases, Bush, ignored those who knew Afghanistan and Iraq and listened instead to influential neoconservatives who had become the dominant force in his cabinet. Because these ideologues did not know the culture, makeup, or histories of either country, they allowed ideology to trump reality. As a result, these efforts were, from the outset, doomed to failure.



Both wars were also costly in lives and treasure for the United States, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The Iraqi and Afghani losses were incalculable and devastating. In the US case, we lost more than 6,000 troops, with tens of thousands more left physically and/or mentally maimed for life. Its also important to note that in each year since the end of active combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq, weve lost more than 6,000 more US veterans to suicide  an average of 20+ per day! In addition, there are tens of thousands more whove joined the ranks of the homeless and those addicted to drugs  all the result of war-induced trauma. The morale of the military has been affected. These two wars and the treatment of veterans, those maimed, affected by PTSD, and addicted, has so far cost us more than three trillion dollars. This is one key reason why the US military leadership was loathe to commit significant ground forces to fight in Syria.



And these wars were disastrous because they accomplished none of their goals. Extremism wasnt defeated. Instead, it has metastasized into more lethal forms and spread to many more countries threatening the security and stability of countries across the greater Middle East and North Africa and even taking root in some European countries as well. Another disastrous byproduct of these wars is the fact that Iran has now been unleashed on the region and become emboldened to meddle into the affairs of others. The prestige of the US has been weakened. And while the goal of the neoconservatives was to decisively win these wars, demonstrating American power and resolve, thereby ensuring a century of US hegemony in a unipolar world, instead we now see the emergence of a multipolar world with regional and other global powers playing out their strategic ambitions in country after country across the Middle East.



So, whether we stayed in Afghanistan or not, a new reality has already taken hold across the Middle East. Other powers are already either replacing us or competing with us for influence, and some key regional allies, wearied by our blunders and miscalculations, are pursuing their own interests independent of ours. As a result, our leverage is more limited than it was. That said, the US cannot be written off as a has been power. We still have influence in the Middle East  economic, military, and cultural. We remain the worlds most successful economy, we still have significant deterrent capabilities that can defend allies, and our too often underestimated soft power remains our most important asset.



As disastrous as the US departure may have been, we had no option but to limit our loses and leave Afghanistan and end our active combat role in Iraq. But making these decisions in no ways means we are abandoning the region. It simply means that we recognized the realities neoconservatives TRAGICALLY ignored. What is needed now is a clearheaded examination of the damage done by both wars and a recalibration of our regional posture that realistically matches our needs with our capacities so that we can best protect our interests and THOSE OF our allies

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A trilateral ministerial meeting was held in Cairo on Monday between Egypt, Jordan, and Palestine in Cairo to discuss proposals to break the current stalemate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The meeting was held between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, and Palestinian Civil Aviation Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh, where they discussed the recent developments in the Palestinian issue.

The meeting was also attended by the intelligence chiefs of the three countries.

The Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs, headed by Al-Sheikh, is in charge of mediating between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli authorities.

The meeting also discussed enhancing relations between the three countries, developments regarding the peace process, and strengthening the unity of the Palestinian ranks, the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The participants also "assessed the situation on the ground in the Palestinian state in light of the continuation of the illegal measures that undermine the chances of achieving a fair peace in the occupied Palestinian lands, including East Jerusalem," the statement said.

Egypt, Jordan, as well as European powers and the US have frequently condemned Israeli moves to build new homes on occupied Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem. They have affirmed that such moves undermine regional peace efforts.





Consolidating ceasefire, Gaza reconstruction

The Cairo meeting discussed finding a political roadmap to achieve a fair and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution.

The two-state solution involves the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with the currently occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international law and the Arab Peace Initiative, the statement said.

In May, Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza enclave, ending 11 days of Israeli aggression that killed more than 250 Palestinians and injured thousands.

Egypt also allocated $500 million for the reconstruction of the strip.

Head of Egypts General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel visited Israel and the Palestinian territories in May and August and met with officials from both sides to consolidate the ceasefire.

Earlier this month, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi received Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, where he highlighted Egypts continued efforts to prevent tensions between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh in September, El-Sisi underscored the importance of international support for Egyptian reconstruction efforts in the Palestinian territories.

This was the first visit by Bennett to Egypt as prime minister, as well as the first visit by any Israeli prime minister to Egypt since 2011.

Trilateral coordination

The Cairo meeting today "stemmed from the desire of the three countries to intensify the continued coordination between them to unify the efforts related to the developments and challenges facing the Palestinian cause," the statement said.

The meeting also aimed to coordinate stances and visions on how to follow up on the outcome of the trilateral summit between the leaders of the three countries in Cairo last September.

El-Sisi, Jordan's King Abdullah II, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas emphasised the importance of unifying all partners' efforts to revive the long-frozen peace process between Palestine and Israel during their September summit.

The summit also affirmed the "firm" positions of Egypt and Jordan in supporting the Palestine state and President Abbas against any measures that would affect the right of the Palestinian people to obtain their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

During the meeting today, the ministers discussed the contacts made by the three countries on the regional and international levels, and tackled means of activating the international frameworks related to the situation in the Palestinian territories and the path of peaceful settlement.

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Egypt reported 823 new coronavirus cases on Sunday bringing the total infection tally officially to 381,343 since the outbreak began in February 2020.

Egypts Health Ministry of Health and Population said in its daily coronavirus statement that 37 new deaths related to COVID-19 complications were recorded in the past 24 hours nationwide, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus to 21,608.

The statement added that 543 patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to 317,199.

Egypt has been witnessing a fourth wave of coronavirus pandemic since early August.

However, Presidential Adviser for Health Affairs Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din has said The fourth wave has not reached its peak yet, but he assured that the situation in Egypt is under control.

Cairo International Airport received on Saturday shipment of over 2.3 million doses of the Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca vaccines.

The shipment, provided by COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), included 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccines, 460,000 doses of the Moderna vaccines, and 350,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Egypt has obtained over 116.8 million imported doses of the Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Sputnik V, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Moderna vaccines. It has also locally produced millions of doses of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine.

Approximately 20 million Egyptians are fully vaccinated and 33.8 million others partially vaccinated, the health ministry said on Thursday, adding that an average of 350,000 doses is administered daily.

The Egyptian government is looking to inoculate at least 40 million of the 102-million population by 31 December.

The health ministry has started inoculaing people who received their first doses six months ago with the booster shot.

The ministry expects to secure up to 23 million booster shots by 30 June 2022.

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President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said on Monday that Egypt aims to join the ranks of developed states in the production of electric power and renewable energy as well as electricity linkage projects with neighboring countries.

We aim to place Egypt on the level of developed countries in the generation of electric power and renewable energy, El-Sisi said as he inspected the Benban Solar Power Park in Aswan in Upper Egypt, which is set to be one of the worlds largest solar power parks in the world upon completion, and inaugurated several electric power projects in the south of the country.

The president highlighted during his inspection of the massive project the importance of electricity linkage projects with neighboring countries, adding that that states which are not ready for such grids will miss out on such a key development in the energy field."

El-Sisi explained that the power crisis that crippled the country in 2013 and 2014 left the government no other choice but to immediately allocate a massive $2 billion to solve the intense power shortages.

The president highlighted that Egypt succeeded in overcoming its own power crisis when some other states failed to solve theirs.

Egypt has dealt with the power crisis as "a national security issue," he added.

El-Sisi stressed that data related to developments achieved in the energy field in the country in the past several years should be made accessible to the public in order for people to appreciate the scope of achievements.

The president said that people who have been complaining of high electricity prices need to understand that this is due to higher production costs.

Its a matter of being able to collect the costs [of producing electricity] from citizens. If the state isnt able to collect it, then it will have to pay for the difference when the state already shoulders considerable burdens, El-Sisi said.

In July of this year, Egypt raised electricity prices for residential units by between eight and 26 percent depending based on consumption brackets as part of a five-year energy subsidies' phasing-out plan that started in 2015, which is part of a wider economic reform programme.

However, following the re-pricing of the Egyptian pound in late 2016, the government postponed the completion of the plan to the end of 2021.

The $4 billion massive Benban Solar Power Park was launched in 2019 and will generate 1.8 GW via 32 power plants operated by various companies when completed.

The first phase of the project was connected to the country's national electricity grid in December of that year.

Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker presented at the event on the country's accomplishments in the past several years in establishing multiple state-of-the-arts new power plants in Upper Egypt and nationwide - with a focus on producing renewable energy - to end all shortages in electricity and ensure a stable supply of power to various development projects.

The electricity minister also discussed the role of the German energy giant Siemens in developing the country's electricity production capacities.

He also presented on the ongoing efforts to connect the country's electricity grid with neighbouring countries in all directions, as part of plans to make Egypt a regional power and energy hub.

Minister Mohamed Shaker presenting on electricity projects and plans at the event

In 2015, the government allocated a 37-square-kilometer plot for the construction of Benban as the country began to tackle power shortages with an eye on producing renewable energy as part of larger plans for green transformation.

Egypt aims to produce 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2022 and 42 percent by 2035.

Benban is built in participation with the private sector and international partners, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as well as British and Saudi capital among others.

Benban

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Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi took a tour on Monday of the Nubian village of Gharb Suhail, which is part of the presidential initiative Haya Karima (Decent Life) to develop rural communities.

El-Sisi launched the Haya Karima project in July to improve standards of living, infrastructure, and services in villages nationwide.

The initiative targets 58 percent of Egypts 102-million population, who live in 4,658 villages across the country.

During his tour, El-Sisi held an open dialogue with some residents of the village in Upper Egypt's Aswan, sharing a Nubian lunch with them, according to an official statement.

The president also visited the tourist market in the village, where he was received by Nubian folkloric songs. He also visited the local market and met with the owners of market stalls and handicraft shops.

El-Sisi praised the generosity of the Nubian people, and stressed that the state is keen on providing all basic services to the town as part of the Haya Karima initiative.

Work is currently underway in 52 cities in 20 governorates as part of the initiative, El-Sisi said.

President El-Sisi ordered the inclusion of Aswani villages in the Haya Karima Initiative during an inspection tour of the areas most affected by flash floods and storms that hit the Upper Egyptian governorate in November.

El-Sisi has inaugurated a number of national projects in Upper Egyptian governorates over the past few days, including land reclamation projects in Toshka, south of Aswan, as well as two industrial complexes in Qena and a gasoline complex in Assiut.

El-Sisi also inspected the Benban Solar Power Park in Aswan earlier on Monday.

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Ethiopia says it is unhappy with the U.S. decision to revoke duty-free access for the East African country's exports.

The statement by Ethiopia's trade ministry on Monday came after the Biden administration on Dec. 23 terminated Ethiopia's eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The US cited its disapproval of the war in the Tigray region for the action.

``The Ethiopian government is saddened over the decision by the US to remove it,`` from the preferential trade benefits, the ministry said. It asked the US to reconsider its decision.

``Ethiopia is carrying out various initiatives aimed at bringing peace and stability, political consensus and economic development in addition to conducting reforms in line with the longstanding relationship between the two countries,'' the statement said.

The US stopped Ethiopia's eligibility for the trade benefits despite pleas by a few US legislators and Ethiopian lobby groups who asked the Biden administration to give the country more time to comply with US demands.

The decision against the African nation was made over its failure to end a nearly yearlong war in the Tigray region that has led to ``gross violations'' of human rights, said the Biden statement. The action also stops Guinea and Mali from receiving the trade benefits as of January 1.

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act provides sub-Saharan African nations duty-free access to the United States on the condition they meet certain requirements, including eliminating barriers to US trade and investment and making progress toward political pluralism.

The US and the United Nations say Ethiopian authorities have prevented trucks from delivering desperately needed food and other aid into Tigray. Scores of people have starved to death, The Associated Press has reported.

In September Biden warned that his administration would levy sanctions if Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not take steps to wind down the war in Tigray and other regions.

On November 3, Ethiopia's foreign ministry labeled the move as ``misguided'' and ``unjustified intimidation'' and said the decision could affect the livelihoods of more than 200,000 low-income Ethiopians who work for companies that benefit from the preferential trade access.

Some Ethiopian companies are already showing signs of a downturn in their export business.

``Several companies have already started leaving and we don't know what is next,'' a textile worker at the Hawassa Industrial Park, some 270 kilometers (168 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa, told the AP by phone on condition of anonymity fearing for his workplace safety.

Ethiopia in recent years had one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, but the war in Tigray has dampened that momentum.

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Libya's parliament on Monday refused to fix a date for presidential elections meant to have taken place last week, leaving question marks over the fate of the poll.

The vote, set for Friday, was meant to be the culmination of United Nations-led efforts to drag Libya out of a decade of conflict since a 2011 revolt. But it was derailed by bitter arguments over divisive candidates and a disputed legal framework.

On Monday the parliamentary committee charged with overseeing the election presented a report saying it would be risky to set a new date at this stage.

That was a direct rebuff to the electoral commission which had suggested holding the vote on January 24.

The parliamentary committee is part of an assembly based in eastern Libya since 2014, reflecting the country's deep divisions.

The committee recommended laying out "a new, realistic and applicable roadmap, with defined stages, rather than fixing new dates and repeating the same errors".

The report, read to members of parliament by committee president Al-Haid al-Sghayer, also suggested setting up a committee to draft a new constitution to replace the one scrapped by dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 1969.

It also called for a reshuffle of the interim government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah, whose mandate was meant to end with Friday's elections.

The parliament has yet to debate the proposals.

Dbeibah heads a unity administration based in the capital Tripoli, in the country's west, and which was tasked with leading the North African country to the elections.

The vote, after a year of relative calm, was to have been Libya's first ever direct presidential ballot.

But months of disputes finally saw the vote postponed just two days before it was to take place, when the committee overseeing the election declared holding it impossible on the scheduled date.

The electoral commission has yet to announce a finalised list of candidates for the presidential poll. Its work was hobbled by court cases against the bids of several divisive figures seen as unacceptable to one section or another of Libyan society.

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Talks between Russia and the United States on Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine will start immediately after the new year holiday period, Russia's top diplomat announced Monday.

``It is with the US that we will carry out the main work of negotiations, which will take place immediately after the new year holidays end,'' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview Monday. The holidays in Russia will last for 10 days, through Jan. 9.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

Washington and its allies have refused to provide such pledges, but said they are ready for the talks.

The demands, contained in a proposed Russia-US security treaty and a security agreement between Moscow and NATO, were drafted amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stoked fears of a possible invasion.

Russia has denied it has plans to attack its neighbor but pressed for legal guarantees that would rule out NATO expansion and weapons deployment there.

Lavrov said last week that, in addition to talks with the US, Moscow will start separate talks with NATO on the issue, as well as separate negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It is important that ``our proposals aren't wound up in endless discussions, which the West is famous for and which it knows how to do, that there is a result of all these diplomatic efforts,'' Lavrov said Monday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12, a NATO official said Saturday, adding that the bloc was in touch with Russia about the meeting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday confirmed the meeting will take place, calling talks with NATO ``important,'' but said the details of the meeting are ``in the works'' and the date is still to be confirmed.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin on Monday told a briefing of military attaches and representatives of foreign embassies that NATO's ``continued confrontational stance towards Russia'' forced Moscow to demand the security guarantees.

``The alliance has consistently ignored Russian interests and shied away from an equitable discussion of existing problems,'' Fomin said.

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France will order companies to impose at least three work-from-home days a week for employees whenever possible to stem a fifth wave of Covid infections, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Monday.

The new measure, which will be in place for at least three weeks, is one of several announced after a crisis cabinet meeting on the new Omicron variant, which is again threatening to overwhelm hospitals.

The meeting came after France reported Saturday over 100,000 daily Covid cases, a record since the pandemic erupted nearly two years ago, with many experts warning the number would rapidly increase over the coming weeks.

"It all seems like a never-ending movie... but today thanks to our collective mobilisation, we are one of the most vaccinated countries in the world," he said at a press conference in Paris.

The pillar of France's Covid fight would remain a push for widespread vaccination, he said, which could allow the government to avoid more restrictive measures like curfews or business closures that could pummel the economy.

Castex said the country's "health pass" for access to restaurants, cinemas and more would now only be available to fully vaccinated people -- a recent negative Covid test for the unvaccinated will no longer be valid.

He also said that standing would be prohibited in cafes and bars, where only table seating will be permitted, for three weeks -- though he held off on a curfew for New Year's Eve festivities.

Several French media reports had suggested such a move was under consideration.

Currently 78 percent of the country has had at least one shot, a figure the government says represents 90 percent of those eligible -- currently everyone older than five.

Castex also reiterated a call for people to get booster shots, which will now be available just three months after receipt of the initial injections.

Minister Tests Positive

The average number of daily Covid deaths in hospitals has jumped to 162 each day, with the toll in France now 122,642 victims since the start of the pandemic.

And the new measures came as Environment Minister Barbara Pompili announced on Twitter that she had tested positive for Covid after coming down with symptoms, and was self-isolating.

Face masks, already required in most indoor public spaces, could soon be mandatory outdoors on city streets as well, Castex said.

And capacity limits will be reimposed for concerts, sporting matches and other events at 2,000 people indoors, and 5,000 outside -- with no standing areas allowed.

No eating or drinking will be authorised in theatres, sporting venues, cinemas or public transport, including long-distance train travel, he added.

But the government held off on postponing a return to class for students on January 3 after the holidays, a measure sought by some 50 doctors and health workers in an open letter published over the weekend.

And in a bid to avoid labour shortages in essential sectors such as education and health care as the number of cases soars, Castex said the government would soon reduce the number of quarantine days required for fully vaccinated people who are exposed to infected individuals.

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Egypt has been speeding up its green transition while also preparing to host next years COP27 meeting on climate change.

Countries around the world are stepping up their transition to clean energy and green economies to face the threats of climate change and achieve sustainable development.

A report issued in August by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis was a wake-up call for immediate action to avoid what the report described as the catastrophic warming of the planet as a result of climate change driven by increasing carbon emissions.

The 3,500-page report warned of more extreme weather events, including extended heat waves, droughts, floods, and higher sea levels that will affect people living in coastal areas. It highlighted the urgent need for nations to accelerate plans to decarbonise and transition to renewable energy resources.

The UN Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26) meeting that took place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November also saw promises by world leaders to end deforestation by 2030. Trees play an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a driver of climate change, and forests act as carbon sinks, a term used to describe an area that absorbs large amounts of carbon emissions.

More than 100 countries, including the US and the European Union, signed the Global Methane Pledge, which aims to slash emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas by 2030. More than 40 countries also agreed during COP26 to shift away from coal and limit the burning of the fossil fuel to reduce global temperature rises.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said that the full implementation of all the net-zero pledges made at COP26 and the Global Methane Pledge by signatories will limit global warming to 1.8 C by 2100.

In 2015, 197 countries signed the Paris Agreement that aimed to keep global warming below 2 C, and to aim for 1.5 C in order to avoid a climate catastrophe. Countries have to keep cutting emissions and reach net zero by 2050 in order to achieve that goal through radical changes in industry, transport, agriculture and construction.

Egypt is also drawing up plans to help to save the planet, and during the COP26 meeting Yasmine Fouad, Egypts minister of environment, announced the launch of Egypts National Climate Change Strategy 2050, with five main objectives including cutting the emissions of various sectors to maintain sustainable economic growth, promoting the use of renewable energy sources, producing energy from waste, and using alternative energy forms like green hydrogen.

As Egypt prepares to host the COP27 meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2022, Fouad explained that the countrys strategy will enable it to support the goals of Vision 2030 and effectively address the effects and repercussions of climate change by adopting a flexible, low-emissions approach, as well as improving the efficiency of thermal power plants and transmission and distribution networks.

The strategy also aims to protect natural resources and ecosystems, preserve state resources and assets from the effects of climate change, improve infrastructure, implement risk-reduction concepts, and establish early warning systems, she said.

It requires improving the infrastructure for financing climate-change projects and the promotion of scientific research, technology transfer, knowledge management, and awareness to combat climate change, Fouad said.

According to the strategy, innovative financing tools such as green bonds will be utilised alongside conventional financing instruments such as soft loans and grants from multilateral development banks. A national verification system will be established to monitor all forms of climate action.

Egypt launched green bonds worth $750 million in late 2020, one of the first countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to finance green projects, especially in the field of clean transportation.

Climate finance, or the money provided to help poorer countries cut emissions and protect themselves from climate-change impacts, is a debated issue at every COP meeting since the developed countries have failed to meet their promise to mobilise $100 billion in climate finance annually by 2020 to help the developing nations cope with mitigation and adaptation efforts.

The IPCC has said that between $1.6 and $3.8 trillion are needed annually for the transformation of energy systems alone between 2016 and 2050.

ADAPTATION EFFORTS

But even before Egypt launched its National Climate Change Strategy at COP26, it was already implementing projects to enhance its ability to adapt to climate change.

These include projects to protect Alexandria and the northern coastline from rising sea levels, rehabilitating and cultivating 1.5 million feddans of land to achieve food security and compensate for land degradation and the erosion of the Nile Delta, in addition to modernising traditional irrigation methods and improving the efficiency of water resource use, and wastewater treatment and reuse projects.

Climate-related challenges, Minister of Planning Hala Al-Said has been quoted as saying, pose significant risks to water, agriculture, and food security in Egypt.

Despite its low contribution to global greenhouse-gas emissions, estimated at about 0.6 per cent of total world emissions, Egypts transition to renewable energy and a green economy has been fast-tracked and become one of the integral parts of the countrys comprehensive development plans, including the National Hydrogen Strategy, the National Water Resources Strategy, and economic incentives to promote green transformation.

One development in Egypts transition towards green energy was President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis directive in July to prepare an integrated national strategy for the production of hydrogen in the light of the growing international interest in this green fuel. Egypt signed several agreements in 2021 to develop its green hydrogen industry.

Green hydrogen is hydrogen fuel created by using renewable energy instead of fossil fuel. It is said to enable energy-intensive industries to become more environmentally-friendly.

Egypts National Hydrogen Strategy is currently being prepared. An action plan is being written as well as studies exploring opportunities to localise the hydrogen industry in Egypt. The Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy has announced that green hydrogen will be an important alternative for energy production in the coming years and will be part of the countrys energy mix.

According to the Ministry of Planning, about 30 per cent of investment projects for fiscal year 2021-22 are planned as green projects, up from 15 per cent in the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Egypts portfolio of eligible green projects amounted to about $2 billion by the end of 2020, of which 16 per cent are in the field of renewable energy, 19 per cent for clean transportation, 26 per cent for water and sanitation, and 39 per cent in the field of pollution reduction.

All this helped Egypt advance from 26th place in 2020 to 20th place among the worlds top 40 markets in the Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (RECAI) for 2021.

Egypts 2035 energy strategy aims to generate 61 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy, 31 GW of which are from solar energy, while concentrated solar power will constitute 12 GW and the remaining 18 GW will come from wind energy. One GW equals 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power.

According to Mohamed Shaker, Egypts minister of electricity and energy, the total installed capacity for renewable energy as of the end of 2021 will amount to 6,378 MW, representing about 20 per cent of total generated capacity, a target that was intended initially to be reached by the end of 2022.

It is expected that the installed capacity of renewable energy will reach about 10,000 megawatts by the end of 2023, he said.

According to the ministry, the increase in electricity production from renewable sources contributed to the saving of more than 750,000 tons of oil equivalent during fiscal year 2020-21, in addition to avoiding emissions of more than 2,230 megatons of carbon dioxide.

The implementation of the Benban Project, which houses more than 32 solar energy projects from photovoltaic cells, with a total capacity of about 1,465 megawatts, as well as giant wind farms with a capacity exceeding 1,500 megawatts, has resulted in the growing confidence of global companies in investing in Egypt, said Mohamed Al-Khayat, head of Egypts New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA).

All these renewable sources of energy are aimed at increasing the contribution of clean and renewable energy to more than 42 per cent of total generated capacity in Egypt by 2035.

The sun shines in Egypt for between nine and 11 hours a day, and the wind speed in some areas reaches 10 metres per second, such as at the Zafarana Wind Farm in the Gulf of Suez. This makes Egypt one of the top countries most suitable for solar-energy applications.

The energy sector represents about 13.1 per cent of Egypts GDP, according to government data.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 23 December, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.

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A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days.

People enjoy Kite Hill in the snow at Gas Works Park on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Seattle.[Photo: Ken Lambert /The Seattle Times via AP]

Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car pileup on Interstate 395, where drivers described limited visibility on Sunday. Further west, a 70-mile (112-kilometer) stretch of Interstate 80 was shut until at least Monday from Colfax, California, through the Lake Tahoe region to the Nevada state line.

The California Department of Transportation also closed many other roads while warning of slippery conditions for motorists.

Expect major travel delays on all roads, the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada, said Sunday on Twitter. Today is the type of day to just stay home if you can. More snow is on the way too!

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for greater Lake Tahoe until 1 a.m. Tuesday because of possible widespread whiteout conditions and wind gusts that could top 45 mph (72 kph).

Turbulent weather stretched from San Diego to Seattle. More than a foot (0.3 meters) of snow was reported near Port Angeles on Washington state's Puget Sound. Portland, Oregon received a dusting, but the city was expected to get another 2.5 inches (6 centimeters) by Monday morning, according to the weather service.

In California, rockslides caused by heavy rain closed more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) of coastal Highway 1 in the Big Sur region south of the San Francisco Bay Area. There was no estimate for the reopening of the scenic stretch that is frequently shut after wet weather.

The latest in a series of blustery storms hit Southern California with heavy rain and wind that flooded streets and knocked down power lines late Saturday. Powerful gusts toppled trees, damaged carports and blew a track-and-field shed from a Goleta high school into a front yard two blocks away, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. No injuries were reported.

More than 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) of rain fell over 24 hours in Santa Barbara County's San Marcos pass, while Rocky Butte in San Luis Obispo County recorded 1.61 inches (4 centimeters), the weather service said.

Los Angeles International Airport said a storm-related electrical issue forced a partial closure of Terminal 5, causing post-Christmas passengers to divert to other terminals for certain services.

Cancellations and delays are possible, so it will be important to check your flight status today if flying through Terminal 5, LAX tweeted.

In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, crews were repairing a section of State Route 18 that washed down a hillside after heavy rain late Thursday. The closure of the major route into the Big Bear ski resort area could last for weeks, officials said.

The continuing storms were welcomed in parched California, where the Sierra snowpack had been at dangerously low levels after weeks for dry weather. But the state Department of Water Resources reported on Christmas Eve that the snowpack was between 114% and 137% of normal across the range with more snow expected.

Up to 8 feet (2.4 meters) of snow was predicted at the highest elevations of the Sierra.

Before Sunday, 20 inches (50 centimeters) of snow already had fallen at Homewood on Lake Tahoes west shore. About a foot (30 centimeters) was reported at Northstar near Truckee, California, and 10 inches (25 centimeters) at the Mount Rose ski resort on the southwest edge of Reno.
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2021 - 14:07 | Others

The U.S. forces in Japan have begun testing their personnel for coronavirus infections before departing from the United States, the Japanese government said Monday, after they were found to be exempt from doing so against Japan's border control measures.

The gap in antivirus steps came to light after a group infection was reported at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Hansen in Okinawa Prefecture earlier in the month. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said he has been told the number of people found infected with the novel coronavirus at Camp Hansen has risen to 258.

"We will continue to ask the U.S. side to thoroughly implement measures for preventing the spread of infections," Matsuno said at a regular news conference. The U.S. forces started testing for virus infections on Sunday.

In addition to the testing 72 hours ahead of departure, the U.S. forces in Okinawa have also tightened their rules on wearing face masks within and outside of base facilities, according to Matsuno.

Under an agreement between Japan and the United States, quarantine measures for U.S. military personnel on arrival are carried out by the United States, which means they are not subject to Japanese quarantine rules at airports.

According to the Japanese government, the U.S. Defense Department had exempted its personnel from undergoing PCR tests because of the progress in vaccinations in the military and lower infection cases globally.

The Japanese government implemented strict border controls on Nov. 30 in an attempt to stop the Omicron variant from entering by banning the entry of nonresident foreign nationals and toughening quarantine measures for Japanese citizens and foreign residents who have recently been to certain countries or regions.

Related coverage:

All U.S. forces in Japan exempted from virus tests since Sept.

U.S. military personnel had no virus tests before coming to Japan






KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2021 - 13:26 | All, Japan

A drill Japan conducted in November at a remote southwestern island was conducted under the assumption that foreign forces had occupied the Senkaku Islands, a group of Japanese-administered islands claimed by China, according to several government sources.

The drill involving the Self-Defense Forces, Japan Coast Guard and police took place at an uninhabited island in Nagasaki Prefecture with land features resembling Uotsuri Island, one of the islets that make up the Senkakus in the East China Sea, the sources said.

Following the two-day drill from Nov. 20 on Tsutara Island in Goto, Nagasaki Prefecture, the government had said the exercise was aimed at improving Japan's response to emergency situations in the country's island areas, and was "not intended for a specific island or a country."

The Senkakus are a group of uninhabited islets which China calls Diaoyu. Relations between Japan and China have been frayed over the islets, with Beijing frequently sending coast guard ships to their vicinity despite Tokyo's protests.

China has expanded its territorial claims in recent years and Japan has been concerned over a possible occupation of the islets by armed Chinese maritime militia forces. Ostensibly operating as fishermen, militia members have received a certain degree of military training and operate alongside Chinese official vessels.

According to the sources, the exercise was aimed at improving the cooperation between organizations including the SDF and the coast guard to prepare for "gray zone" situations that stop short of full-fledged military attacks on Japan.

The government selected Tsutara to hold the drill because its coastal shape and its steep cliffs are similar to the characteristics of Uotsuri, the sources said.

Using helicopters and boats, the participants held landing drills and went over the roles and coordination of different entities, including a remote-island defense unit of the Ground Self-Defense Force, they said.

The 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters based in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture and the prefectural police's team tasked with guarding remote islands also joined the exercise.

In Japan, the coast guard and the police are in charge of maintaining the security of territorial land and waters, but the SDF will step in when a situation escalates.

The Cabinet Secretariat said on Nov. 22 that about 400 people took part in the drill. It was the first time the secretariat had revealed that an exercise involving the Self-Defense Forces, the coast guard and police took place.

Related coverage:

Japan's defense budget for 2022 hits record for 8th year

Japan to pay 75 bil. yen more under new 5-yr deal to host U.S. troops
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2021 - 14:38 | All, World

Municipal leaders from some European countries including Britain, France and Germany plan to hold a meeting in support of banning nuclear weapons in March in Vienna, the mayor of Hannover has said.

It will be timed with the first meeting of signatories to a U.N. treaty banning nuclear arms in the Austrian capital from March 22 to 24, Belit Onay, the mayor of the German city, said in an online interview with Kyodo News on Sunday.

Onay said the mayoral meeting is aimed at encouraging European countries to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in January this year, adding he hopes the heads of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of the two Japanese cities in 1945, will join the event.

"They will be able to report and document about their experiences," he said. "The voices of the survivors should serve as a reminder."

Officials in the two cities in Japan, the only country in the world to have suffered the devastation of atomic bombings, welcomed the idea of organizing such a meeting and voiced hope to be part of the event if possible.

Hannover is a sister city to Hiroshima and one of the vice presidents in Mayors for Peace, a nongovernmental organization composed of over 8,000 cities in 165 countries and regions.

Touching on the scrapping of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a 1987 key arms control pact between the United States and Russia, Onay said, "Fatal military and warlike consequences cannot be ruled out anymore, especially for Europe."

"At the same time, the potential for armed conflict is also increasing dramatically," he said as nuclear disarmament efforts are "not working or not really taking effect."

The new U.N. treaty completely outlaws the development, testing, possession and use of nuclear weapons. But it only binds states that have formally signed and ratified it.

More than 50 countries, including Austria, Malaysia, New Zealand and South Africa, have ratified the accord. But nuclear weapon states, including Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, are not signatories.

Japan and Germany, in consideration of their alliances with the United States, have also refrained from signing the treaty.

Related coverage:

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U.S. urges Japan not to join nuclear ban treaty meeting: sources
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2021 - 22:11 | All, Japan

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said Monday he agreed with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe to start operating a hotline between their officials amid tensions over disputed islets in the East China Sea.

Kishi also said at a press conference after holding a videoconference with Wei that peace and stability on the Taiwan Strait are vital for Japan's security, and Tokyo will closely monitor developments there.

"We confirmed that the early establishment of a hotline between Japanese and Chinese defense authorities is important," Kishi said, adding he expressed "extreme grave concern" over Chinese coast guard ships' activities in waters surrounding the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which Beijing claims and calls Diaoyu.

The Chinese Defense Ministry quoted Wei as telling Kishi that China will "firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty as well as maritime rights and interests" over issues surrounding the Senkaku Islands.

China and Japan should "jointly manage and control risks" while focusing on the overall situation of bilateral relations and striving to maintain stability in the East China Sea, Wei was quoted as saying by the ministry.

During their first talks since December last year, which lasted for about two hours, Kishi said the hotline will enhance the efficiency of a communication mechanism that the two countries launched in 2018 to avoid accidental clashes at sea and in the air.

Related coverage:

U.S. forces in Japan begin pre-departure virus tests of personnel

Japan held drill in Nov. assuming foreign occupation of Senkakus

Japan's defense budget for 2022 hits record for 8th year

"Since there are (unresolved) issues with China, we need to try and keep having candid communication so we can promote exchanges and foster mutual understanding and confidence," Kishi said.

Kishi said he "strongly demanded" Beijing's explanation on the contents of its new coast guard law, implemented on Feb. 1, which explicitly allows the Chinese coast guard to use weapons against foreign ships that it deems as illegally entering its waters.

Kishi originally requested talks with Wei in February following the enactment of the controversial law.
KYODO NEWS - Dec 27, 2021 - 20:07 | All, Japan

Heavy snow continued to hit areas on the Sea of Japan coast from the country's north to west on Monday, with many vehicles stranded, air and railway traffic disrupted and some cities in western Japan seeing record snowfall due to a strong winter pressure pattern.

Hikone in Shiga Prefecture saw 68 centimeters of snow accumulate while Asago in Hyogo Prefecture got 71 cm in a 24-hour period through early Monday, both the most ever since such statistics started being compiled, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The agency warned that heavy snowfall as well as icy roads and high waves could continue through Tuesday, and also cautioned against possible lightning and strong wind gusts due to extremely unstable atmospheric conditions in some places.

Elsewhere, the deepest snowfall was recorded at Aomori in the northeastern prefecture of Aomori at 200 centimeters, while snow also accumulated in the cities of Kyoto, Nagoya and Hiroshima.

As of Monday afternoon, a total of 10 people had been injured due to the blizzard from over the weekend, including two who sustained serious injuries in relation to snow clearing work.

A vehicle struck another car from behind at around 6:30 a.m. on the Maizuru-Wakasa Expressway in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, while a truck waiting for the accident to be cleared got stuck in snow, causing a traffic jam of around 20 vehicles.

The road operator, West Nippon Expressway Co., closed both outbound and inbound lanes of the expressway until snow was removed. The expressway was fully reopened after noon.

On a section of the National Route 8 in Hikone, a large truck got stuck just before dawn. The incident at one point caused a backup of traffic stretching for about 2 kilometers.

A 44-year old man was stranded in nearby Toyosato on his way to work in Hikone after encountering other stranded vehicles. "I have not moved for four hours."

Local residents were seen in the morning clearing snow from the road on the Toyosato section of the highway.

One of them, a 47-year old man, said around 60 cm had accumulated by morning. "It has been a while since I've seen this much snow."

The snow also led to partial closures of other major transport networks such as the Meishin Expressway connecting the Nagoya and Kobe metro areas.

Flights in and out of the Sea of Japan coastline and the northern island of Hokkaido were also canceled, while train services were also disrupted.

Heavy snow caused the Tokaido Shinkansen Line that runs between Tokyo and Osaka to operate at slower speeds.

A car was stuck at a railway crossing on West Japan Railway Co.'s Biwako Line at around 12:20 a.m. Monday, causing seven rail lines including a special rapid service to experience delays for up to four hours.

The railway company also suspended on Monday services for 52 limited express trains, including those connecting to cities like Kyoto, Nagoya and Kanazawa.
A man wearing a face mask walks in front of a mural dedicated to frontline medical workers fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 29, 2021. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

-- Asia-Pacific walks a tightrope amid pandemic, and many valuable lessons have been learned this year;

-- China has helped many developing countries in Asia-Pacific in their vaccination drives;

-- Multilateralism is essential to the fight against COVID-19.

by Xinhua writer Wu Junyi

HONG KONG, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- Just as the world paused for breath following almost two years in the thrall of COVID-19, the more contagious Omicron variant cropped up and plunged the world back into uncertainty.

Asia-Pacific countries are once again forced to tighten restrictions on travel, restrict mass gatherings and impose workplace protocols.

Governments are faced with difficult choices. There are pros and cons on both sides: reimposition of strict controls or continued normalization of society.

Many valuable lessons have been learned in the past two years, with many Asia-Pacific countries scrambling to establish formats of contact-tracing, nucleic acid testing, medical treatment and mass vaccination, in which China has been lending a helping hand with vaccines and medical support to those in need.

As the pandemic heads into a third year, the Asia-Pacific walks a tightrope.

People standing with empty medical oxygen cylinders to get them filled for COVID-19 patients at a plant in Patna, India, April 27, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)

HOPE FOR BEST, PREPARE FOR WORST

Shutdowns and lockdowns were widely imposed across the world this year, and access to vaccines is widely considered a key to economic recovery.

India reported fewer than 10,000 new daily infections in December, compared to over 400,000 new cases with 4,000 new deaths for several days in May, a clear sign of the efficacy of the preventive measures the Indian government has been taking and the success of the ongoing vaccination program.

Japan, with about 78 percent of its population double-vaccinated, remains cautious on Omicron. The country experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases during the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, hitting 25,000 daily in August. Since then, there has been a dramatic decline in cases.

People walk past the Olympic Rings near the new National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan on July 8, 2021. (Photo by Christopher Jue/Xinhua)

Early in December, Japan banned inbound flight bookings, but quickly withdrew the instruction after facing massive criticism. Currently, new entry of foreign nationals is being suspended.

Japan's economy declined an annualized 3.6 percent in the third quarter, worse than its preliminary reading, due to a larger fall in private consumption amid COVID-19, the latest official data showed.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to "prepare for the worst" in dealing with the Omicron variant, while hoping for getting the economy back on track.

File photo taken on Jan. 26, 2021 shows a man standing beside a social distancing notice board at Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

In contrast, Australians have not broken stride since they began the march to reopening the economy. People endured extended lockdowns this year before the country gradually reopened in November when 80 percent of the population had been vaccinated.

"We're not going back to lockdowns," Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Dec. 21. "We're not going back to shutting down peoples' lives."

Overseas students and skilled workers can now enter Australia for the first time since March 2020, subject to quarantine requirements.

Road blocks are seen at the Sanur beach tourism site as part of local COVID-19 restriction measures in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, July 3, 2021. (Photo by Bisinglasi/Xinhua)

Many Asian countries have faced a long wait for the return of visitors. Tourism brings a huge amount of money into the economies of the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Millions of jobs depend on a steady flow of foreign guests, a flow that has dried to a trickle during the pandemic.

Indonesia, Southeast Asia's biggest economy, has reopened for international tourists with flights from 19 countries allowed to travel to its world-renown holiday island of Bali since mid-October.

Foreign tourists, however, are still hesitant to visit Bali due to a lack of direct flights, extended quarantine and other uncertainties posed by Omicron.

A citizen receives the COVID-19 vaccine in Samut Prakan, Thailand, on Aug. 9, 2021. (Photo by Rachen Sageamsak/Xinhua)

DRIVING FORCE

Most of the Asia-Pacific region began vaccination drives early in the year. Many people are double-vaccinated and booster shots are becoming widely available.

Some poorer countries found themselves short of vaccines as richer countries hoarded supplies.

China calls for the rejection of vaccine nationalism and is committed to making vaccines a "global public good" and improving accessibility and affordability in developing countries.

A medical worker shows China's COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 3, 2021. (Photo by Umar Qayyum/Xinhua)

Besides donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) and expert support, China has put its weight behind vaccination drives wherever possible.

China has helped many developing countries in Asia-Pacific in their vaccination drives through donations, bilateral procurements and technology transfer which enabled some of them, including Malaysia and Pakistan, to roll out locally packed Chinese vaccines.

Pakistan started its vaccination drive at the beginning of February with China-donated vaccines which had arrived just one day before. It was also the China-donated vaccines that helped the Philippines kick-start a national vaccination on March 1.

Ho Kham, a 101-year-old Cambodian woman, receives her second dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation site in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on July 2, 2021. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

In addition, Chinese vaccines have been largely behind Cambodia's astonishingly effective campaign. So far, more than 85 percent of Cambodia's 16 million people have been fully vaccinated.

Far from being a wealthy nation, Cambodia now enjoys one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, thanks to which, the country's daily COVID-19 cases fell to a single digit for the first time on Dec. 15, the lowest since February.

"China's vaccine supply to Cambodia and other countries is a testament to China's commitment to promoting COVID-19 vaccines as the global public goods and to campaigns against COVID-19," Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said in November.

Staff members unload COVID-19 vaccines and syringes donated by the Chinese government at Kabul international airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Dec. 8, 2021. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua)

Afghanistan has problems aplenty to deal with, but the pandemic cannot just be ignored. A batch of supplies from China was handed over to Afghanistan in June.

Since then, the political situation in Afghanistan may have changed, but China has never stopped lending a helping hand, announcing to donate 3 million doses of vaccines and other medical supplies to Afghanistan. A new batch of doses arrived in Kabul on Dec. 8.

When India faced a critical situation in April and May, with hospitals overwhelmed, China provided India with tons of medicine, thousands of ventilators and oxygen generators, along with millions of face masks.

A technician operates during a test run of the "fill and finish" process for CanSino vaccine at Solution Biologics factory in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Sept. 8, 2021. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

MULTILATERALISM ESSENTIAL

It seems unlikely that Omicron will be the last variant, and COVID-19 will certainly not be the last public health crisis the world faces.

China has been calling for the unity of the world with a vision of a global community of health for all, based on solidarity and cooperation.

In April, when a new wave of the pandemic broke out in South Asia, foreign ministers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka met online to deepen cooperation.

Cambodia on Dec. 13, 2021 receives another batch of Chinese-made Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX Facility. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

Pakistan and Bangladesh in August received their first batches of COVID-19 vaccine that China provided for the COVAX, the WHO-led initiative for equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the world. As of Nov. 12, China has supplied more than 70 million vaccine doses to COVAX.

China has pledged to donate 100 million vaccine doses to other developing countries, in addition to donations worth 100 million U.S. dollars to the COVAX Facility.

Regionally, China and ASEAN have determinedly supported each other by providing vaccines, medical supplies and sharing experiences.

Cargos containing the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines are seen upon arrival in Manila, the Philippines, Aug. 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

At the special summit to commemorate the 30th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations about a month ago, China spoke of the need for a "health shield" for the region.

In addition to more than 300 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine that China has provided to ASEAN countries, China is ready to donate 150 million more doses to ASEAN member states, contribute an additional sum of 5 million U.S. dollars to the COVID-19 ASEAN Response Fund, and step up joint vaccine production and technology transfers.

"ASEAN as a whole is looking keenly towards China for its own economic revitalization," Malaysian political analyst Azmi Hassan said.

Key to China's plans is providing other countries with the skills and technology to produce their own vaccines.

A vendor prepares fruits at a market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 17, 2021. (Photo by Phearum/Xinhua)

Late in November, a virtual Asia-Europe summit saw leaders of Asian and European countries affirm their universal commitment to research and development, technology transfer, and manufacturing and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as well as other relevant medical supplies.

"Beyond the Asia and Europe continents, China has played a crucial role in the establishment of a new multi-polar world, in promoting multilateralism and win-win cooperation for inclusive and sustainable growth and development, and in the fight against COVID-19," Kin Phea, director-general of the International Relations Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, told Xinhua recently.
A live-streamer promotes cotton via a live show in Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Oct. 12, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhao Ge)

URUMQI, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Residents in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region shared stories about their employment and entrepreneurship on Sunday at a press conference held by the regional government.

In recent years, Xinjiang has taken innovation as a new engine to expand employment, lowered the market entry threshold, and continued policies to support entrepreneurship, said Gul Ablim, the conference moderator.

Ebiljan Rahman from Shaya County, Aksu Prefecture, started his business in the county with his friends doing home-decoration. "Local authorities provide three years' rent-free housing, helping more entrepreneurs to realize their dreams."

Nurali Kidirali, a man from the Kirgiz ethnic group, applied for interest-free loans after graduating from university and opened a cultural media company.

"The monthly income of employees in our company can reach nearly 9,000 yuan (about 1,414 U.S. dollars). I want to make the company bigger and become an excellent director in the future," Nurali Kidirali said. 
KAMPALA, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan police on Monday announced that there will be no fireworks allowed to usher in the New Year over the weekend.

Fred Enanga, police spokesperson told reporters here that for the second year running, fireworks are canceled due to the uncertainties caused by COVID-19.

Enanga said the public is urged to celebrate in small groups rather than large ones which may lead to the spread of COVID-19.

He said in efforts to avoid crowding, churches are also banned from holding night prayers to usher in the New Year.

"We expect Ugandans to be in the precincts of their homes or in their neighborhood. Since the New Year falls within curfew time, we shall be very strict during that time," the police spokesperson said.

Uganda's ministry of health recently warned that the country was facing an upsurge of COVID-19 cases with over 10 percent of tested people turning positive.

Results of COVID-19 tests done on Dec. 25 confirmed 743 new cases out of 6,017 people tested. The cumulative confirmed cases are 135,091, according to ministry figures. Enditem
New Delhi :

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group who recently promised on social media that he would ban plastic bottles in the boardroom with the re-fillable ones.

Today, he shared another picture of the boardroom where new re-fillable bottles could be seen instead of the plastic ones.He wrote, "Our in-house 'Mahindra retail synergies group' has come up with these re-fillable bottles to replace plastic bottles In our meeting rooms entirely.

Functional but also aesthetic, I think''.It was quite appreciated by the Netizens and was liked by more than 23,000 Twitter users and retweeted more than 2.5k times.

One person commented, ''Indeed a laudable innovation by your team. Please send me a few of these as a souvenir from Mahindra and I promise never ever to keep plastic bottles in my fridge. If this is fine with you I can give my address in DM''.

''This is nice. Use copper bottles and those made of matti. Good for health and farmers too'', another wrote.

Recently, PM Narendra Modi is planning to eradicate plastic use completely by 2022 and is set to launch a ban as many as on six items on October 2, as per a report of news agency Reuters.

Our in-house Mahindra retail synergies group has come up with these re-fillable bottles to replace plastic bottles In our meeting rooms entirely. Functional but also aesthetic, I think.. Dhanyavaad Team! pic.twitter.com/C0M2DUgchA  anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) September 13, 2019

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New Delhi:

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was Thursday ridiculed on Twitter after he made an epic gaffe while explaining how Prime Minster Narendra Modis mega promise of doubling the size of the economy to USD 5 trillion will be achieved when the growth was way below the required rate to reach the goal.

Speaking at a meeting of the Board of Trade, Goyal said that one should not get into the maths as it didnt help Albert Einstein to discover gravity. People were quick to grab the goof-up and made fun of the minister as the gravity was discovered by Isaac Newton and not Einstein.

"Do not get into the calculations that you see on television...Oh if you are looking at USD 5 trillion economy, the country will have to grow at 12 per cent, today it is growing at 6-7 per cent. This maths did not help Einstein discover gravity.." he said while wrongly attributing the discovery of gravity to renowned scientist Einstein, who gave the theory of relativity.

This has come just two days after his colleague and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman blamed millennials and not government policies for the unprecedented slump in auto industry. Some users even linked the remarks of Sitharaman and Goyal.

The Opposition Congress also quipped on his remarks and said: "Former Finance Minister Piyush Goyal is correct, Einstein did not require maths to discover gravity, but Sir Isaac Newton did. FYI, maths is also required to #FixTheEconomy."

After facing intense mocking, the minister came out with a clarification and said that his remark was taken out of the context. He also shared his exact qoute but this time, thankfully some would say, he removed the Einstein claim.

#WATCH Union Minister Piyush Goyal's clarification on his recent comments: The comment that I made had a certain context. Unfortunately some friends have sought to remove the context, pickup one line and create a very mischievous narrative. pic.twitter.com/bzugSwSTyi  ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2019

Below are some of the Twitter reactions on Piyush Goyal's Einstein remark:

Former Finance Minister @PiyushGoyal is correct, Einstein did not require maths to discover gravity, but Sir Isaac Newton did.



FYI, maths is also required to #FixTheEconomy. pic.twitter.com/Nr3QyYbPpA  Congress (@INCIndia) September 12, 2019

1. Einstein didn't discover gravity.



2. Newton did.



3. Gravity was discovered based on Mathematical work of laws of motion, not falling apple. pic.twitter.com/9Ydsw8FE2W  Sumit Kashyap (@sumitkashyapjha) September 12, 2019

Einstein just arrived in Manesar, Haryana to check the gravity of crisis in Maruti plant. pic.twitter.com/UVc69EOuDq  Rofl Gandhi 2.0 (@RoflGandhi_) September 12, 2019

The govt shouldn't wait for an apple to fall on its head before it realises that the Math about the economy is all bad. It doesn't even need an Einstein (due apologies to Newton) to tell us that. Instead of focusing on distant dreams, minister would do well to focus on reality. https://t.co/rhegLhpcIf  Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) September 12, 2019

Rare picture of Albert Einstein when he discovered gravity.

*#PiyushGoyal knows maths and gravity* pic.twitter.com/r9jYT0CKHA  Riaz Ahmed (@karmariaz) September 12, 2019

Newton just turned in his grave and said- Bhai Einstein ye video dekh. pic.twitter.com/31Kf9HnAIm  Scotchy (@scotchism) September 12, 2019

Why should Nirmala have all the fun? Piyush Goyal has just delivered a blockbuster dialogue



"Don't get into calculations about the economy. Don't get into maths. Maths never helped Einstein discover Gravity" Y



Millennials and Maths are the problem. Not Modi Govt. Understood? pic.twitter.com/JCoCIbdoxp  Srivatsa (@srivatsayb) September 12, 2019

Dont get into Maths about Economy. Maths didnt help Einstein discover Gravity. Yogi Adityanath should quickly rename Newton to Einstein to justify @PiyushGoyals foolishness pic.twitter.com/BnhrNBj9Af  Joy (@Joydas) September 12, 2019

Piyush Goyal : Maths is useless. It never helped Einstein discover Gravity.



Media : But sir Einstein didnt discover Gravity. Newton did.



Piyush : Precisely. The whole point is that Bharat Mata ki Jai.



Media : YYAAAYYAAA



#YoPiyushHatesMaths  aEa aAAAaAAAEa aEaAAA saAAAEYa EEs OaaaaaEE (@puntinational) September 12, 2019

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New Delhi:

American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has made a shocking revelation that apparently threatens the survival of the planet Earth. While expressing his views about Tesla chief Elon Musks idea of nuking mars, Tyson revealed that the Earth is in the shooting path of thousands of asteroids and comets.

The American astrophysicist, credited by NASA for his work in space exploration, said that there is another way than Musks idea to colonise the Red Planet. I dont think we should think of the idea as a literal thing, but more a general principle of what we want to accomplish, Tyson said while speaking on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.

Also Read: Asteroid Apophis: Lesser Known Facts Of Deadliest Space Rock That May Hit Earth on THIS Date

Also Read: NASA Asteroid Alert: Two Space Rocks 2000 QW7, 2010 CO1 To Approach THIS Close to Earth, May Hit

You want to warm it [Mars], you want to protect what could be the future of biochemistry and then you seed it. Then you wait, you dont want to wait too long, you want to wake it up and then you terraform Mars, he said.

Tyson claimed that the goal to colonise Mars could be achieved by using an asteroid or a comet. And this is when he made a terrifying claim. There are comets everywhere, we know how to do it but there is no real incentive. It happens with or without us as we are in the shooting path of thousands of asteroids and comets, He said.

Earth has always been at risk of coming in the shooting path of the easteroids. In 2013 an asteroid strike took the world by surprise when it entered the atmosphere undetected. The strike gave a wake-up call to NASA when the so-called Chelyabinsk Meteor highlighted the need for better defences.

The US space agency is currently involved in the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), a mission meant to test NASAs ability to push away asteroids headed for Earth. Together, the two space agencies have dubbed their efforts the Asteroid Impact Deflection Assessment or AIDA for short. But the one space expert fears that the work being done to protect Earth from deep-space threats is simply not enough.

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highlights Nitin Gadkari stressed need of strict law for public and road safety in India

Severe rules and penalties are needed to create the repect of laws: Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari ruled out cutting the rate of penalties for traffic violations

New Delhi:

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that there should not be any politics over public safety. He reiterated his stance on Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Act 2019 saying the nation needs a strict traffic law. In an exclusive chat with News Nation, Gadkari stressed the need of a strict law for public and road safety in India. Amid reports of many state governments asking for fines to be lowered under the new traffic rules, Gadkari ruled out cutting the rate of penalties.

When asked about the reduction in fines by many state governments, Gadkari said that state goverments have the right to reduce the severity of the fines. The law provides for 500 rupees penalty on first mistake and then 1500 on the next one. State governemnts can change it 100, 200 or 500.

He, however, added that these state governments will be responsible for any deaths that happen due to traffic rule violations.

While the heavy fines are necessary to force people to follow these rules, the big penalties have also caused a sense of fear and dismay among the common people.

Gadkari said that there is not much fear or respect for rules at present in our society.

"People run away when stopped by traffic police. These severe rules and penalties are needed to create the repect and fear among people. These rules are not for making revenue but for public safety. People should take them seriously."

He added that people are not lining up to get pollution certificates, fitness certificates, license and other necessary documents. This shows that people are getting more aware and this awareness is a direct result of these strict lawas. This saves lives. This is a positive sign.

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New Delhi:

An asteroid called 2000 QW7, almost as big as the worlds tallest building Burj Khalifa, is approaching towards the Earth. The space rock is likely to pass the planet at a speed of 23,112 kilometres per hour (KPH) this weekend. According to reports, it will zip past our planet on September 14.

The space rock, measuring between 290 and 650 metres, is larger than The Shard in London. Currently, the NASA's Centre for Near Earth Object Studies is monitoring its activities.

Also Read: NASA asteroid alert: 2,100-feet monstrous space rock hurtling towards Earth at 14,000mph, humans in grave danger

Reports, however, suggest that 2000 QW7 will not be a danger to the Earth as the asteroid will pass within 0.03564 astronomical units of the Earth - or 5.3 million km away from the surface.

Also Read: NASA Asteroid Alert: Two Space Rocks 2000 QW7, 2010 CO1 To Approach THIS Close to Earth, May Hit

Space materials are considered near-Earth objects if they pass within 1.3 astronomical units of Earth. An astronomical unit is the distance from Earth to the sun, or 149.6 million km.

Also Read: NASA asteroid alert: 3,248 feet city-killer space rock dangerously heading towards Earth on THIS date, may hit

Meanwhile, a supermassive asteroid named as 162082 (1998 HL1) is approaching towards the Earth at a speed of 25,000 miles per hour. According to the NASA, the approaching space rock has an estimated diameter of about 3,248 feet and the asteroid can easily wipe out an entire city.

Also Read: Asteroid Ryugus surface looks exactly like rocks from meteorites that crashed Earth: View PICS

Yes, you read it right. At least three times bigger than the Eiffel Tower, asteroid 162082 (1998 HL1) will come very close to our planet on October 25, 2019. However, asteroid 1998 HL1 will not hit the Earth as it will zoom past our planet and we are fully safe. It is to be noted that asteroids, if hit Earth, can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic.

It is worth mentioning here that in recent times, many giant asteroids including 2019 OK, 2019 OD, 2015 HM10, 2019 OE, 2019 NN3, 2019 MB4, 2019 MT2, 2006 QV89, 2016 NO56M, RF12 and others approached towards the Earth, fortunately did not hit our planet. It is said that Earth will reach to its end one day and one of the possible reason for this could be an asteroid.

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Mumbai:

As many as 12 persons drowned during immersion of Ganesh idols in Maharashtra on Thursday as the ten-day Ganesh festival came to an end. Two persons drowned in Nashik district, while three others were rescued, police said. Another person was missing.

The deceased were identified as Prashant Patil (38), who drowned near Ramkund, a bathing ghat on the bank of the Godavari river, in Nashik city, and Yuvraj Rathod (28), who met with watery grave in a pond at Pahine village near the temple town of Trimbakeshwar.

One college-going youth was missing, the police said. Lifeguards and fire brigade jawans rescued three persons near Someshwar Waterfall in Nashik.

One Soma Shivanakar drowned in a pond at Dolsar village of Bhandara district, a police official said.

At Watole Shukleshwar village in Amravati district, at least four devotees were washed away in the Purna river.

Chaitnya Shinde (20), a resident of Malkapur, was washed away in the Koyana river at Karad in Satara district.

In Akola, Vicky More (27) was feared drowned during immersion in a water-filled quarry. The area had been fenced off but devotees cut the fence and immersed idols in the quarry, a police official said.

Two persons drowned during immersion in Sindhudurg district, three in Ratnagiri, two in Satara district, one each in Dhule, Buldhana and Bhandara and four persons were missing in Amravati district. A boy was feared drowned in Shahapur in Thane district.
highlights HPCL is a Navratna Status, and a Forbes 2000 company.

This is second such explosion at a petrochemical plant.

Earlier, a blaze had broken out at ONGC gas plant in Navi Mumbai.

New Delhi:

A gas tank exploded at the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Plant in Uttar Pradeshs Unnao on Thursday. Exact cause of the blast is not known yet. News Nation has learnt that as a precautionary measure, nearby villages are being evacuated. Fire tenders have rushed to the spot and the rescue work is underway. Three persons were injured in the explosion. The Hindustan Petroleum has not issued any official statement so far. Trains on way to and Sonik railway stations and trains to Lucknow were stopped at Uanno station. Besides, all roads leading to the plant area were sealed. The injured were rushed to the district hospital here for treatment, Chief Medical Superintendent Mewa Lal said. HPCL is a Navratna Status, and a Forbes 2000 company. It had originally been incorporated as a company under the Indian Companies Act 1913. HPCL has the second largest share of product pipelines in India with a pipeline network of more than 3370 kms for transportation of petroleum products.

This is second such explosion at a petrochemical plant. On September 3, a massive fire had broken out at the ONGC gas plant in Navi Mumbai's Uran. According to the Mumbai Police, 1 ONGC officer and 3 CISF personnel died in the blaze. 3 people also sustained injuries in the accident.

A fire broke out at ONGC gas plant around 7 am today, 1 Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) officer&3 Central Industrial Security Force personnel have died. 3 people have been injured but they are out of danger (sic), Navi Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (CP), Ashok Dudhe was quoted as saying by News Agency ANI.

The crisis management team of the ONGC was immediately pressed into action. It is being reported that there is no impact on Oil processing. As a precautionary measure, the gas from Uran Plant is being diverted to Hazira Plant.

The blaze erupted around 7 am in a processing plant of the ONGC located in Uran area of neighbouring Navi Mumbai, the police said.

Nearly 22 fire brigade tenders, including that of the ONGC, Navi Mumbai civic body and other agencies, were at the spot, the police official added.

In a similar incident, 40 people had lost their lives in a fire that broke out at a refinery of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltds (BPCL) refinery in Chembur, suburban Mumbai in 2018. The fire had sparked in the compressor shed at BPCL Mahul refinery, where the crude oil is refined.

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highlights Kumar was heading the SIT formed by West Bengal government to probe Saradha Ponzi scheme cases.

Mamata Banerjee came in the defence of Kumar and started a sit-in to protest against the Centre's move.

The Supreme Court on February 5 had prevented the agency from any coercive action against Kumar.

New Delhi:

In a major setback for former Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar, Calcutta High Court on Friday withdrew the protection from arrest. Kumar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, was heading the SIT formed by West Bengal government to probe Saradha and other similar Ponzi scheme cases. Later, the CBI took over the case and said that Kumar was not cooperating in the probe. The agency wants custodial interrogation of Kumar in connection with Rs 2500 crore Saradha ponzi scam. Earlier, the CBI had told the Supreme Court that custodial interrogation of Kumar was necessary as he was not cooperating with the probe and he was evasive and arrogant in answering queries put to him during his questioning by the agency.

In the last week of January, the Centre and West Bengal government faced an unprecedented stand off after a CBI team which reached the residence of Kumar, then Kolkata police commissioner, for questioning him had to retreat after local police refused to let it enter and detained its officers. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came in the defence of Kumar and started a sit-in to protest against the Centre's move.

The Supreme Court on February 5 had prevented the agency from any coercive action against Kumar and directed him to appear and co-operate in CBI questioning at a "neutral place".

He was questioned by the CBI for nearly five days at its office in Shillong from February 9 onwards. The Saradha group of companies duped lakhs of customers promising higher rates of returns on their investment, the CBI has alleged.

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highlights PM Modi said that this was just a trailer and entire movie is yet to come.

He claimed that India never saw such rapid growth in development before.

The prime minister was in Jharkhand, where elections are due later this year.

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised the work done by his government in the first 100 days of his second tenure and claimed that the country has never seen such rapid development, even as the India's GDP growth came down to 7-year-low of five per cent. The prime minister boasted the work done during the first 100 days of his second tenure, syaing that this was just trailer and the entire movie was yet to come.

"Before the elections, I had promised to create a strong and work-oriented government -- a government that will work at a speed that's even faster than the earlier one, a government that will strive to make all your aspirations come true. Our 100 days in governance was just a trailer, the entire movie is yet to come," Modi said while addressing an election rally in Jharkhand's Ranchi.

He claimed that the country never saw such rapid development growth before. "Development is our promise and intention too. The country has never seen such rapid pace of development before," he said, even as the GDP growth came crashing down to five per cent.

"At the same time, a massive crackdown on corruption has begun. The people who try to loot the public will be put in their place," he said in a reference to the arrest of Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambarams in INX Media case.

The prime minister had made similar claims during a rally in Haryana's Rohtak on Sunday. "The 130 crore people of this country were the inspiration behind whatever big decisions were taken in the past 100 days. Poor people remain the BJP's first priority, whether it is ruling at the state or central level," he had said.

However, the Opposition Congress said that there was no development in the first 100 days of the Modi government and criticised it for lack of leadership and plans to tackle the economic crisis. Modis nemesis and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, taking a jab, congratulated Modi on "100 days of no development".

"Congratulations to the Modi Govt on #100DaysNoVikas, the continued subversion of democracy, a firmer stranglehold on a submissive media to drown out criticism and a glaring lack of leadership, direction & plans where its needed the most - to turnaround our ravaged economy," Gandhi said.

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New Delhi:

Security forces have increased patrolling after small rubber boats were spotted near terror launch pads along the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir. According to sources, intelligence agencies have asked security forces to strengthen patrolling around small water bodies.

Some reports suggest that 13 small water bodies near the International Border in Akhnoor, Samba, and Kathua in Jammu division have been identified by the intelligence agencies to intensify patrolling.

Meanwhile, Gurej sector - a Valley through which the Kishanganga River run and houses the road to Gilgit - is on high alert. According to intelligence inputs, terrorists may use the Krishna Ghati river for infiltration.

Earlier in August, the Border Security Force (BSF) found two Pakistani fishing boats abandoned in the Harami Nala creek area along the Indo-Pak border near Kutch district of Gujarat.

A thorough search operation was launched after two single-engine fitted Pakistani boats were found abandoned in the Harami Nala, but nothing suspicious was recovered from the area, he said.

Harami Nala is a sluggish and shallow water channel in the Sir Creek area from where the Border Security Force reports cases of seizure of Pakistani fishermen or abandoned boats.

In May this year, the BSF captured a Pakistani fishing boat from the area while the fishermen on board managed to escape.

Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir Governor's advisor Farooq Khan said the number of active terrorists in the Valley had declined to 150 or 200 from thousands earlier. However, he said the terrorists would either have to go to jail or get prepared to face the consequences

"Pakistan is making attempts on Kashmir since 1947. Expecting good from it will be the biggest mistake and every citizen of the state need to remain cautious," Khan told reporters on the sidelines of a function.

Lauding the role of people in helping the security forces to deal with terrorists over the past three decades, he said "they are our eyes and ears as they know everything what is happening and where.

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New Delhi:

The Calcutta University has declared B.A./ B.Sc. Part-II result for honours/major exam on September 12, 2019. The candidates who have appeared for the examinations can now check the provisional pre-publication status of marks for B.A./ B.Sc. Part-II (Honours/Major) Examination, 2019 on the official site of WB Results at wbresults.nic.in. The examination was conducted in the month of June-July 2019. The declaration of the results has sealed the fate of lakhs of students who have appeared for the examination.

For the convenience of the students, we have mentioned the steps through which the candidates can check the results:

Visit the official site of Calcutta University at wbresults.nic.in.

Click on B.A./ B.Sc. Part-II result link available on the official home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the roll number.

Click on submit.

Your result will be displayed on the screen.

Check the result and keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

About University of Calcutta

University of Calcutta was found on January 24, 1857. CU is a collegiate public state university located in Kolkata, West Bengal. The university has a total of 14 campuses spread over the city of Kolkata and its suburbs. Candidates can visit the official website of University of Calcutta for more exam related information.
highlights Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that Chidambaram is already in judicial custody.

Kapil Sibal contended that the EDs submission is mala fide and intended to make him suffer.

Sibal said ED had come to Chidambarams house to arrest him on August 20 and 21.

New Delhi:

A Delhi court Thursday reserved for tomorrow its order on a plea by former finance minister P Chidambaram, lodged in Tihar jail in the INX Media corruption case, seeking to surrender in the EDs money laundering case.

Special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar was informed by the Enforcement Directorate that Chidambarams arrest in the INX Media money laundering case is necessary but it will be done at an appropriate time.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that Chidambaram is already in judicial custody in the CBIs corruption case and not in a position to tamper with the evidence.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Chidambaram, contended that the EDs submission is mala fide and intended to make him suffer.

He also told the court that Chidambaram can surrender whenever he wants to as its his right.

Sibal said ED had come to Chidambarams house to arrest him on August 20 and 21 but now they do not want to do so just to ensure that he remains in judicial custody.

The court was hearing Chidambarams plea to surrender in EDs money laundering case related to INX Media.

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highlights Delhi has been battling severe air pollution in recent times.

In January, Delhi was designated as most polluted city in the world.

Pollution levels hit 500 in some parts of Delhi with poor visibility.

New Delhi:

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that the Odd-Even scheme is not needed in Delhi. The swift reaction came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced the re-introduction of odd-even scheme in the National Capital. No, I don't think it is needed. The Ring Road we have built has significantly reduced pollution in the city and our planned schemes will free Delhi of pollution in the next two years, Gadkari was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari also slammed Kejriwal for the announcement and said it was just a trick to hide the failure of AAP government.

Earlier on Friday, Chief Minister Kejriwal said the odd-even road rationing scheme will be implemented in Delhi from November 4 to 15. Kejriwal said the move was aimed at combating high levels of air pollution in winters when crop burning takes place in neighbouring states.

The chief minister announced his seven-point action plan to tackle pollution due to crop burning which includes distribution of masks, mechanised sweeping of roads, tree plantation, and special plans for 12 pollution hot spots in the city. Under the scheme, odd and even numbered vehicles ply on alternate days.

Earlier in January, the Supreme Court had said that it is better not to live in New Delhi, as the national Capital resembles a gas chamber. The court was hearing a matter related to air pollution in the National Capital Region, PTI reported.

In the morning and evening, there is so much pollution and traffic congestion, Justice Arun Mishra said during the hearing. It is better not to be in Delhi. I do not wish to settle in Delhi. It is difficult to live in Delhi.

Delhi has been battling severe air pollution in recent times. In January this year, Delhi was designated as the most polluted city in the world. Pollution levels hit 500 in some parts of Delhi, and there was very poor visibility in some areas. Last year the high was 450 on 23 December. India is home to the worlds 14 most polluted cities, with Delhi the sixth worst, the World Health Organization has said. Toxic air caused 1.24 million deaths in India in 2017, or 12.5% of the total, according to a study published in Lancet Planetary Health.
highlights DL Shivakumar was arrested by the ED on Spetember 3 in an alleged laundering money case.

The ED has accused DK Shivakumar of laundering money on a regular basis.

The agency has also served a notice to DK Shivakumar's daughter in the case.

New Delhi:

A Delhi court on Friday extended Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumars custodial interrogation till September 17. Shivakumar, arrested on September 3 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case, was produced before special court on the expiry of his 9-day custodial interrogation.

Appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, ASG KM Natraj sought five more days of Shivakumars custody, claiming that the agency has collected voluminous documents, which he needs to be confronted with.

The ED also alleged that many of Shivakumars properties were benami and that he diverted more than Rs 200 crore of tainted money through 317 bank accounts.

Many of Shivakumars properties are benami. Tainted money diverted through 317 bank accounts. As per probe against Shivakumar, tainted money is more than Rs 200 crore and there is Rs 800 crore worth benami properties ASG Natraj told the court.

Hearing EDs plea, special judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar told the ED that it should take care of Shivakumars medical requirements first and only then ask him questions. Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Shivakumar, had asked the court to send his client to a hospital, citing his very serious health condition.

Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on September 3 in connection with a money laundering case that surfaced following an I-T raid in 2017. The I-T department has accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate SK Sharma of transporting huge amount of unaccounted cash on a regular basis through hawala channels with the help of three other accused.

The Congress leader, however, categorically denied the allegations levelled against him and termed his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of money laundering politically motivated. He said that he is a victim of the ruling BJPs politics of vengeance and vendetta.

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New Delhi :

The International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, on Friday issued an arrest warrant against fugitive billionaire Nirav Modi's brother Nehal Deepk Modi in connection to the USD 2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. The development comes after the Enforcement Directorate requested law enforcement agencies across the world to locate and provisionally arrest Nehal wherever he is founded. Nehal Deepak Modi was born in Antwerp, Belgium and he knows languages such as English, Gujarati and Hindi, according to the Red Corner Notice (RCN).

While Nirav Modi was arrested in London and extradition process is pending, the whereabouts of his brother Nehal and another accused, Subhash Parab, an executive of Modi's firm, were not known. The ED has alleged that Nehal along with other family members had helped his brother in cheating the state-run PNB and destroying evidence.

READ | Mehul Choksi's property worth Rs 24.77 crore attached by ED in PNB fraud case

PNB fruad prime accused Nirav Modi

Meanwhile, the ED, in a separate development, has filed an application before a special court in Mumbai, seeking permission to sell the paintings and other valuables of Nirav Modi, seized during raids. The plea is scheduled to come up for hearing on September 5.

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) application, the paintings the agency wants to sell include those seized by the Income Tax department valued at Rs 57.72 crore and the ones recovered by the financial investigation agency from Nirav Modi's house, "Samudra Mahal", in Mumbai. Besides the paintings, the other seized items belonging to Nirav Modi, included high-end watches, bags and luxury cars, the ED said.

READ | Nirav Modi's remand extended till Sept 19, UK extradition trial expected in May 2020

Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the promoter of Gitanjali Group, are the prime accused in the case which is related to alleged fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking which caused a loss of over USD 2 billion to PNB, a public sector bank. Modi, the fugitive jeweller, and his entire family fled India in January, 2018, weeks before the multibillion PNB scam case came to the light.

An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to the applicant. In case of default, the bank issuing the LoU has to pay the liability to the credit-giving bank, along with the interest accrued. On Wednesday, the CBI had sought permission from the special court to attach Nirav Modi's properties.

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highlights On July 17, ICJ had ordered Pakistan to grant consular access to India.

The verdict went India's way by a resounding 15 votes to one.

Despite embarrassment, Pakistan remains adamant in its approach.

New Delhi:

In a major setback for Kulbhushan Jadhav, Pakistan today ruled out second consular access to the Indian national. Dr Mohammad Faisal, Spokesperson, Pakistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs conformed the news. The development comes almost a fortnight after Islamabad gave consular access to India and allowed senior envoy to meet Jadhav. On September 3, India had formally accepted Pakistans offer for consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav. India's Charge d'affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia met the former navy officer. In a statement after the September 3 meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that Jadhav appears to be under extreme pressure to parrot Pakistan's false narrative. "While we await a comprehensive report, it was clear that he appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Paks untenable claims. We"ll decide a further course of action after receiving a detailed report from our Charge d Affaires and determining the extent of conformity to the ICJ directives," the ministry said.

On September 2, Islamabad had said that in line with Vienna Convention on Consular relations, the officials have decided to grant consular access to India. Jadhav was arrested in Pakistans restive province of Balochistan in 2016 and is accused of terrorism, spying, and fomenting trouble in the region. He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in 2017.

However, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague, Netherlands, directed Pakistan to stay his execution and allow him consular access, in a 15-1 decision on July 17.

On August 1, Pakistan Foreign Office said the retired Indian Navy officer on death row will be granted consular access the next day.

However, the meeting, which was scheduled for 3 pm on August 2, did not materialise amid differences between India and Pakistan on the terms of the consular access to Jadhav. Earlier, Faisal said Pakistan and India were in contact on the "issue of granting consular access" to Jadhav.

On July 17, the ICJ ordered Pakistan to undertake an "effective review and reconsideration" of the conviction and sentence of Jadhav and also to grant consular access to India without further delay. One of the conditions put by Pakistan reportedly was the presence of a Pakistani official when Jadhav is allowed to meet Indian officials as part of the consular access.

India did not agree to the condition, making clear its position that the consular access must be "unimpeded" and should be in the light of the judgement by the ICJ. Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.

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highlights Sonia Gandhi attacked Modi government over economic slowdown

She was given the top post after her son, Rahul Gandhi resigned

She reiterated, Congress government successfully generated jobs

New Delhi:

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday attacked the Modi government over economic slowdown and accused it of indulging in vendetta politics. Addressing the party workers in the All India Congress Committee meeting, Sonia said that country is pitched against economic slowdown and government is targetting the opposition. She also recalled UPAs efforts in dealing with the economic slowdown that hit the country in 2007-09, say party sources.

She reiterated that during UPA regime, Congress government successfully generated jobs. She added that the current dispensation has failed on the front on employment generation and has not been able to generate jobs.

According to sources, Congress is set to appoint 'preraks' who will act as messengers to carry forward the partys message on various issues, ideological standings and to bust any myth surrounding the Grand Old Party.

Three 'preraks' are likely to be appointed at divisional level. Out of the three, one will be a woman and one from SC/ST/Minority/ OBC background, where each division will constitute of 4-5 districts.

This was her first meeting with senior leaders after she was elected as partys interim president. She was given the top post after her son, Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of party president.

The top decision-making body of the Congress - the Working Committee - had accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation. However, several members of the Working Committee had once again urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision but he firmly declined to continue as party chief.

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Bengaluru:

Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Thursday said the current economic situation in the country was "challenging" but expressed the hope that the measures taken by the Union government to address it would see India quickly progress ahead 'in a very short time'.

"In 2008-09 also we had seen global slowdown, but during the time of economic slowdown, the measures taken by the administrative machinery is important as it plays a crucial role. I agree that our GDP, that was 8.2 per cent, has now come down to five per cent. This is certainly a challenge for the administration," Gowda said.

Pointing out that the union government has taken a slew of measures like for the automobile sector, infusion of funds to banks and addressing of liquidity issues concerning MSMEs, he said these were to address the notion of financial instability.

"Because of several such reform measures, in a very short time we will progress ahead," he said, noting that in the past too India had faced even more challenging times, but the country has "come back".

Gowda was addressing a press conference in Bengaluru to showcase the hundred days achievement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led NDA 2 government. The more the employment is generated, the further push it would give to the financial sector, the Minister said and pointed out that the government was also giving an impetus to self-employment through schemes like Mudra loan.

To a question on the delay in release of central funds for Karnataka that was hit by incessant rains and floods, Gowda, who hails from the state, said it would be released at the earliest, but did not specify any time-frame.

SDRF funds to be released in December has already been released, he said, as he clarified that the Centre has not released any flood relief funds to any affected state so far.

"All major work for restoration and rehabilitation will only start once the rain stops. For immediate rescue and relief work, the state is using available funds," he said, as he expressed confidence that central funds would also be released at the earliest.

As many as 103 taluks in 22 districts were affected by the recent floods in many parts of Karnataka and the government has sought Rs 38,000 crore as relief from the Centre.

Rejecting the charges of the opposition and a section of the public that union Ministers and MPs from Karnataka "lack courage" to question the Prime Minister on the "delay" in granting central relief, Gowda said "it is far from the truth."

He pointed out that during every cabinet meeting on Wednesdays, Minister scan raise issues concerning their states with the Prime Minister directly.

"Last week also I had shared with him the information I had gathered from Karnataka on the situation in the affected areas."

BJP governments at both the centre and the state have been facing flak from the opposition Congress and JDS on the "delay" in grant of central funds, despite Home Minister Amit Shah and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman visiting the affected regions.

The Opposition parties have accused the Modi government of showing its "apathy" towards Karnataka, despite the state sending 25 BJP MPs. To a question on criticism of the steep fine amounts under the amended MV Act, Gowda said the intention behind the act was to control accidents and protect lives, but states can change it as they are the implementing authority.

He referred to Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkaris recent statement on the matter that accidents have drastically reduced after implementation of the act and new fines. Gowda, the Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers said his ministry has no plans to set up any new fertiliser plant.

The government was reviving four fertiliser plant sat Ramagundam, Sindri, Barauni and Gorakhpur at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore and once operational, "we will able to fulfill the 22 per cent that we are importing right now," he said.

Noting that many private players have evinced interest in setting up fetrtilizer plants, he said the Karnataka state Marketing Federation has come forward to invest Rs 6,000 crore for a plant in Devangere and they were also in talks with a private player.

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New Delhi:

The polling for four positions of Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) is underway at 52 polling centres on Thursday, with 16 candidates in the fray and over 1.3 lakh students eligible to cast their votes. The polling began at 9.30 am.

National Students' Union of India claimed its joint secretary candidate Abhishek Chaprana was denied entry to polling booths in Dayal Singh College in south Delhi. The student outfit claimed Chaprana was illegally detained.

However, police said he was canvassing for votes outside the college, which is not allowed.

When he was asked not to canvass, he "misbehaved" with policemen and had to be detained, police said.

NSUI outfit also alleged malfunctioning of EVM at a college.

Ruchi Gupta, NSUI national in-charge tweeted, "Again, in Aryabhatt college, EVM is malfunctioning as usual AGAINST NSUI. When ballot is pressed for NSUI candidate, EVM does not light up to indicate registration of vote. Our rep is getting more details."

An election committee member said the votes were being cast but there was some problem with the light that glows. The was replaced, he said, adding 152 votes had been cast.

Over 1.3 lakh students are eligible to cast their vote in this election. Out of the 16 candidates in fray, there are only four women in contention, while two of them are contesting independently.

Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has fielded Akshit Dahiya for the post of DUSU president, Pradeep Tanwar for the vice president's post, Yogit Rathee for the general secretary's post and Shivangi Kherwal for the post of joint secretary.

The National Students Union of India (NSUI) has pitted Chetna Tyagi against Dahiya, Ankit Bharti for the vice president, Ashish Lamba for the secretary's post and Abhishek Chaprana for the post of joint secretary.

Left-backed AISA's Damini Kain is standing for the post of president. Last year, the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad had won three posts while the NSUI won one post.
BENGALURU: Tejasvi Surya, the National President of the BJP Yuva Morcha, rescinded his controversial statements on 'Ghar wapsi' on Monday.

"I talked on the subject of 'Hindu Revival in Bharat' at a programme conducted two days ago in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt." Certain parts of my speech have unfortunately sparked unwarranted criticism. As a result, I unconditionally retract my words," he said.

Tejasvi declared on Saturday (December 25) that exiled Hindus who have converted to other religions must be brought back to Hinduism. "The only way to ensure the 'Ghar wapsi' of Hindus who have converted to Islam and Christianity is to ensure the 'Ghar wapsi' of Hindus who have converted to Islam and Christianity." He further remarked that individuals who converted to Islam in Pakistan should be returned to Hinduism. Those who have travelled to China and Japan must return to Sanatan Dharma (Hindu religion). He had stated that the Hindu religion needed to be restored.

"There is nothing impossible in this world." 'Ghar wapsi' should be implemented in communities and villages. The ambitions should be higher. Article 370 in Kashmir has been repealed, and a Ram Mandir has been built in this country. Those who have converted to Islam in Pakistan must be reintroduced to Hinduism. In this approach, religious mutts and temples should take the lead.

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After suspected militants killed at least 41 members of a government-backed civilian militia in the country's desert north this week, authorities in Burkina Faso have announced a two-day period of mourning.

Authorities stated on Saturday that a column of civilian fighters from the Homeland Defence Volunteers (VDP), a group that the government pays and trains to combat Islamist insurgents, was attacked on Thursday while patrolling a rural region in northern Loroum province. It was one of the biggest single-day losses the civilian militia has ever suffered, and it came just a month after a gendarmerie post attack killed 53 people, the worst attack on Burkinabe security personnel in years.

"In this terrible scenario, and as a respect to the courageous VDP and citizens who died in defence of the motherland, the President of Burkina Faso proclaims a forty-eight-hour national mourning period, beginning Sunday," said government spokesperson Alkassoum Maiga in a statement.

Authorities have faced recurrent protests in recent months over their alleged inability to stop a four-year Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds and driven over a million people to abandon their homes throughout Africa's Sahel region.

Militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State have killed troops in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali virtually every week in irregular strikes. Hundreds of troops from Burkina Faso and Niger were involved in a coordinated attack earlier this month that killed nearly 100 terrorists and captured rifles, improvised explosive devices, and hundreds of motorbikes says the Burkinabe army.

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BAGHDAD  Four extremist Islamic State (IS) terrorists were killed in airstrikes in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala on Sunday, according to a security source.

Iraqi aircraft reportedly carried out 14 airstrikes on IS positions and hideouts in the Himreen mountain range in the north of the provincial capital Baquba, about 65 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, based on intelligence reports. According to al-Azawi, four IS fighters were killed as a result of the airstrikes.The airstrikes came as Iraqi security launched a significant offensive in the early morning to hunt down IS terrorists in the Himreen mountain range. The offensive will continue to eradicate IS militants from the hilly area.

According to an Iraqi army statement, earlier in the day, Iraqi security forces, backed by Iraqi aircraft, launched an attack targeted at tracking down IS terrorists, demolishing their hideouts, and seizing the Himreen mountain range.

IS terrorists have up their attacks on Iraqi security forces in the areas they previously ruled in recent months, killing and wounding dozens of people. Since Iraqi forces destroyed ISIS in 2017, the security situation in the country has improved. IS remnants, on the other hand, have disappeared into metropolitan centres, deserts, and harsh areas, launching guerilla strikes against security personnel and civilians on a regular basis.

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RIYADH: The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen has accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of striking Riyadh through Sanaa International Airport, according to reports. In a press conference on Sunday, coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki highlighted some proof of Hezbollah's involvement in Yemen.

He showed photographs of Hezbollah members instructing the Houthi militia to launch explosive-laden drones at the news briefing. According to the spokesman, the Houthis have assaulted Saudi Arabia with 430 ballistic missiles and 851 bomb-laden drones since the war began in March 2015, killing 59 Saudi civilians.

The Houthis have been attacking different locations in Saudi Arabia, particularly border cities and vital infrastructure such as oil plants and airports. The majority of these attacks were intercepted before they could reach their intended targets. To prevent the Houthis from undertaking attacks, the coalition has recently been air striking military sites in Yemen.

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BAGHDAD: A senior Iraqi government official and the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) mission in Iraq on Sunday addressed NATO's support for Iraqi forces as well as methods to improve regional stability.

According to a statement from Iraqi National Security Adviser Qasim al-media Araji's office, al-Araji and Michael Anker Lollesgaard, head of NATO's Mission in Iraq, "discussed ways to enhance security and stability in the region, as well as NATO's support to Iraq in the field of advice and training for Iraqi forces."

According to sources, al-Araji remarked during the meeting that the Iraqi government is responsible for protecting Iraq and keeping it out of regional conflicts, and reaffirmed "Iraq's rejection to use its lands, airspace, and waterways as a launching pad for any assault against any country."

The meeting took place as the US-led coalition forces withdraw from Iraq, and the remaining foreign soldiers' mission shifts to providing advise, assistance, and empowerment to Iraqi security forces.

The Iraqi parliament passed a resolution on January 5, 2020, mandating the administration to remove foreign forces from the nation. The US and Iraq convened a strategic discussion conference in July this year, during which the two countries agreed to withdraw all US combat forces from Iraq by December 31.

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According to the Russian foreign ministry, Russia is contemplating a NATO request to discuss its security concerns. The tensions between Russia and Ukraine are now putting the western world on edge. Russia has up its military presence along its Ukrainian border. Russia released a wish list of security measures last week. Among the demands is that NATO cease all military operations in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. "We have received this (NATO) offer and are considering it," the foreign ministry said.

Russia may be preparing an attack of its former Soviet neighbour, according to the United States and Ukraine. Russia rejects this, claiming that the escalated stalemate is due to Ukraine's developing connection with NATO. It has been compared to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, during which the world was on the verge of nuclear war.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia wished to avoid violence but required a "immediate" response to its requests for security assurances from the US and its allies. Moscow has stated that negotiations with US authorities on the matter will begin in Geneva in January.

Some of Russia's security recommendations are manifestly unacceptable, according to US President Joe Biden's administration, but Washington will react with more precise views on the framework of any negotiations.Vice President Kamala Harris stated in an interview with CBS' "Face The Nation" that Washington has been in direct talks with Moscow about the matter and reiterated the US commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity.

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Pakistan: Pakistan will unveil its first-ever National Security Policy on Monday during a conference when civil and military authorities would discuss internal and external security challenges, according to reports.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee, according to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, which will be attended by senior military officials, including Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum. "It will be the first-ever National Security Policy to be agreed at the meeting," the Minister said, adding that it would be made public later.

Regarding the policy's key characteristics, he said it will address all aspects of internal and external security, including the situation in Afghanistan and its implications for Pakistan and India, among other things.

The draught prioritises economic and military security, as well as the challenges and opportunities that Pakistan will face in the next years. According to The Express Tribune, it would also provide policy guidance for mitigating risks and realising potential through a "whole-of-government approach."

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MANILA: The dead toll from Typhoon Rai in the Philippines has risen to 389, with 64 people still missing, according to a government disaster agency. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the typhoon, which hit the Philippines on December 16, has injured 1,146 people.

The storm has impacted more than 4.2 million people in 11 regions across the Philippines, including parts of the major Luzon Island, according to the NDRRMC. The typhoon, the country's 15th and most powerful this year, prompted locals to spend their holiday season days in evacuation centers due to damage to their homes. Nearly 315,000 of the more than 570,000 displaced people are being temporarily housed in 1,179 evacuation centers, according to the UN. Over 500,000 homes were obliterated.

Agriculture and infrastructure damage from the typhoon has totaled more than 22 billion pesos (USD 440 million). In five districts impacted hard by the storm, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire told an online conference that the hurricane damaged 141 health institutions, including hospitals.

In typhoon-affected areas, the Department of Health (DOH) has been monitoring food and water-borne ailments such as diarrhoea and acute gastroenteritis.

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Kabnul: The Taliban detained Haji Arif Noori, the owner of an Afghanistan-based satellite television network, from his home in Kabul on Sunday, according to local media.

"Haji Arif Noori, the proprietor of Noorin TV, was detained by Islamic Emirate soldiers from his home in Kabul's PD4 this afternoon, according to Hujatullah Mujadedi, the head of the Afghan Independent Journalists Association. It's unclear why he was detained, according to Mujadedi "Tolo News sent out a tweet. Following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, attacks on the media have risen. Javid Yousufi, a Kabul-based reporter, was stabbed multiple times earlier this month.

At least five incidences of violence against journalists were reported earlier this month in several districts, according to reports, citing Afghanistan's National Journalists Union.

The incidents were reported in the provinces of Kabul, Balk, Takhar, and Kunduz, according to the union. On August 15, the Taliban took control of Kabul, and the country has since been ravaged by escalating economic, humanitarian, and security crises.

The suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions against the Taliban have thrown an already impoverished country into a full-fledged economic crisis. The international world has been assisting the Afghan people in many ways, ranging from governments to non-governmental groups.

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Sunday that he will visit Iran shortly to seal new cooperation agreements with the Middle Eastern country, which has emerged as Venezuela's most important ally in expanding oil output in the face of US sanctions.

Since last year, Venezuela and Iran have expanded their ties. Iran has provided essential technology to Maduro's government for its oil industry, in exchange for petroleum and other main resources from the South American country. In 2021, Iran will be critical to Venezuela's expanding oil production.

"I'm going to Teheran very soon for a visit that President (Ebrahim) Raisi has offered me, so that we can meet in person, have conversations, sign new agreements... and speed up processes of cooperation," Maduro said in a Spanish-language interview with satellite news broadcaster Al Mayadeen, which was later broadcast on Venezuelan state television. Maduro claimed he spoke with Iran's president on the phone twice and that they agreed to work on new plans, but he didn't elaborate. He didn't specify a specific date for the visit, but referred to the two countries as "fighters."

Maduro stated that "they adore us in the Arab world, I know that Arab governments and peoples love Venezuela," and that "in 2022, Venezuela would strive to revitalise ways of collaboration with Arab countries."

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A Moscow court on Friday imposed an unprecedented heavy fine on Google for repeated failures to remove illegal material. Russian authorities have also put pressure on foreign tech giants, but the court has imposed a fine for not following it. Telegram is said to have been fined 7.2 billion rubles ($98 million, 86 million euros) by the court's press service.

According to media reports, Russia has recently fined the world's largest tech companies for not moderatetheir content properly and interfering in the country's cases.

However, Meta Facebook, Twitter, Google (Meta(Facebook), Twitter, Google) and other foreign tech giants have been fined not in bilions but up to millions rubles. Media reports say the fine amount was fixed on the basis of the percentage of annual income of the Google. Meta who is soon to be heard in court on the same charges. He has also been warned of revenue-based fines.

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Ram Karan Mandal and his wife Sanju are worried. Winter is here and they are not ready to battle the cold waves. The couple, along with three children, live in a small shack in Hansapur municipality in Dhanusha in southeastern Nepal. The hut has holes everywhere, and it is almost impossible to keep warm inside.

They have patched up the mud hut, but it still has a lot of holes, both on the ceiling and the walls. Inside the hut is a small temporary bed that has a stack of hay on it. Below the bed is another stack of hay where the family sleeps to stay warm.

For possession, the family only has a few old kitchen utensils and clothes donated by others. This year, they have also received an old blanket which they hope will keep them warm.

We make sure that we cover ourselves with all clothes we have. But, due to our home having so many openings, the cold seeps in. Its just so hard to sleep as the wind comes in from everywhere, says Sanju.

Three years ago, things were different for this family. Despite being poor, they had around 360 square feet of land. But one day, Ram Karan suddenly fell ill. As he was the sole breadwinner of the family, they had to sell the land for his operation.

Now, the family has rented out a small space for Rs 500 a month and has built a small shack. As Ram Karan cannot work, Sanju goes to the nearby villages to work as a labourer. But, most of the money she makes goes on food.

Its hard you know when your sons complain that its cold. It breaks my heart that I cant offer them warm clothes, says Sanju.

This is just one example. There are hundreds of families in the Terai belt (Nepals southern plains) who fear for their lives during the winter. Almost all of them make beds with hay to keep warm. Almost none of them have money to buy warm clothes and are dependent on either humanitarians or the government to battle the cold waves that hit this region every year, but the authorities do not have any plan to solve this.

The continuous chill

In the past five years, 75 people in Province 2 have died due to the cold waves, the most being in 2017 when 55 people lost their lives. Last year, a further 10 people died due to the cold waves.

Ram Karan Mandal and his wife Sanju at their hut in Hasanpur.

But people from the area say the number is even higher. A lot more people have died due to the effects of the cold waves, says activist Bhola Paswan.

People fall ill due to the cold and as they dont have money for a cure, they die, says Paswan, adding that no one has data of people who died due to the effects of cold waves.

To know if a person really died due to cold, a postmortem should take place but in these cases, rarely does that happen. It takes a lot of money to do that and as we dont get support from the government, we rarely do a postmortem of a body, says Paswan.

The provincial government knows this. The officials are aware that thousands of people in the province do not have blankets or warm clothes. The provincial planning commission says that 15 per cent of people in the province are worried about how they will cope with the cold waves as they live every day fearing for their lives.

Around 900,000 people in the province are directly affected by the cold waves. Most of them dont even have hay to lay and sleep on, says Bhogendra Jha, the commissions vice-chairperson.

Most of the people in the 15 per cent are either Dalits or from the marginalised communities. It is mostly them who die due to cold waves every year. Even though the official statement on their death certificates states death by cold waves, experts say that the actual reason for their death is their poverty.

Year-round woes

A house of a person from the Musahar community in Province 2. Apparently, it is insufficient to keep the family safe from cold waves.

It is not just the cold waves that these people need to worry about. During the summer, most faint and die due to extreme heat while during the monsoon, floods and storms make their lives miserable. While many do not care about the heat and rain, they cannot do so with the cold as many do not have means to keep themselves warm.

Local governments of Province 2 say these people who do not have the means to keep warm are the ones that they list as those from the marginalised community.

The provincial government says that around 48 per cent of people in the province live below the poverty line. Jha from the Planning Commission says that out of all provinces, Province 2 is the most prone to disasters.

Its hard to control these disasters because there is no prior planning by all three levels of the government, says Jha.

Authorities ad hocism

This is proven by vague answers given by the provinces Chief Minister Lalbabu Raut, who says talks are ongoing to deal with this issue.

Ive tried to arrange blankets and firewood for these people along with other essential items to deal with the winter. Ive talked with the council of ministers about this as well, he says.

To deal with cold waves, Province 2 in 2018 even drafted an act that would identify these people and help them. But, locals say the act has not been implemented as they would have liked.

The state guarantees food, shelter and clothes, but those are just words to these people, says Dalit rights activist Paswan. Its honestly disgusting how the state treats these people.

Paswan says a humanitarian campaign is needed to help these people out. He says that if one rich person can look after one poor person, these poor people will not have to die due to cold waves.

Families use hay as a mattress to keep warm against the cold waves during the winter months.

As winter has started, some officials are planning to call meetings of the disaster management committees. Sirahas CDO Lal Babu Kabari says his district is planning to hold one soon as they plan to distribute clothes, blankets and wood to the needy. But, in many areas including Dhanusha, things are dire.

We were busy with the general conventions of several political parties here. Now, that its over; well make sure we sit down and come up with a plan to help these people, says Dhanusas CDO Bandhu Prasad Bastola.

Other CDOs also sing the same song as they say they will hold meetings and ensure that these people have enough firewood and warm clothes to last the winter. They also add they have asked humanitarian organisations for help.
Home  Just In  Yeju Chocolate Nepal: This sweet startup, with a short history, wants Nepalis to taste local

Saloni Shakya (21) and Saurav Mani Shakya (24) met through a Buddhist club in Patan. Saurav was on the executive committee of the club whereas Saloni was one among dozens of general members. Nonetheless, they do not know how they got closer to each other, but it was a different kind of closeness.

The duo used to only talk about business whenever they met. They say they always wanted to do something of their own. However, they did not have any business idea, which is why it used to be the most discussed issue between them.

However, following months of discussion, Saurav proposed establishing a chocolate brand as Saloni had done a diploma course in confectionery products after completing her school. Saloni also easily agreed.

After six long months of research as well as trials and errors, the duo finally decided to start a premium Nepali chocolate brand, named Yeju Chocolate Nepal, in November 2020. In the past year, the brand has been able to establish itself in a market dominated by foreign brands with a unique identity.

Luck during the lockdown

Saloni had just joined her bachelors and Saurav was in the final semester of BBA when the first Covid-19 lockdown started in Nepal in March 2020. They say they actually had nothing to do at that time. Meanwhile, they participated in virtual sessions when several startup entrepreneurs of Nepal shared their experiences, thanks to a casual suggestion from Salonis aunt, who is also an entrepreneur.

Chocolates from Yeju Chocolate Nepal. Photo: Yeju Chocolate Nepal

Chocolates from Yeju Chocolate Nepal. Photo: Yeju Chocolate Nepal

Listening to them, we got exposed to the possibility of different business ideas in Nepal. It also motivated us to concretise our idea and execute it, shares Saurav.

After that, the duo researched different FMCG products (fast-moving consumer goods) that could be manufactured in Nepal. It is when Saurav proposed chocolates and they ended up with Yeju Chocolate Nepal.

They also thought of bringing some franchises of international chocolate brands but dropped it later deciding it was not easy. We also realised if we can make quality chocolate here itself, there is no need to bring such a franchise, says Saurav.

Most Nepalis are used to the taste of limited chocolate brands like Dairy Milk and KitKat whereas they are still unaware of the multiple varieties of chocolates such as bonbons and truffles that the international market offers.

We thought if we could offer a new taste to chocolate lovers of Nepal, it would work out. Also, there arent any shops dedicated to chocolates in Nepal. There are shops for sweets, but not chocolates, Saurav says. All of these showed us the scope of the chocolate business in Nepal. Hence, Yeju Chocolate Nepal is born.

They named it Yeju which means loved ones in the Newa language as people generally give chocolates to the people they love, according to Saloni.

Challenges galore

Nonetheless, the one-year journey of Yeju Chocolate Nepal did not become as sweet as its products. Saloni says it was quite difficult to make her family okay with her getting involved in her own business as all of them were in salary-paying jobs.

Nonetheless, I had my mothers support from the beginning.

Saurav, whose family is in the jewellery business, shares, Although my family did doubt our business idea a bit initially, they fully back us now.

cocoa beans. Photo: Yeju Chocolate Nepal

It was somehow difficult to make them come out of the 10-to-5 mentality. They didnt understand how much time and dedication operating a business required, expresses Saloni, I faced some problems there. However, they are used to it now and are very supportive of what we do.

Although Saloni had a related diploma, Yeju Chocolate Nepal found it difficult to implement the right ideas about chocolate making, ingredients, and places to source the ingredients. After researching for quite a while, we knew that we needed to import raw materials from India, says Saurav.

For this, they say they contacted one of their friends in India and imported them. Still, we were not able to make quality chocolates; we wasted many chocolates and resources during that phase, he recalls, As we didnt have a tempering machine, the texture of chocolates would not come smooth and perfect to match the quality of international chocolates.

The duo, in total, invested around Rs 50,000 initially into Yeju Chocolate Nepal. Later, they also reinvested the earnings into it. Within one year of operation, the company has just reached the breakeven point.

By now, we have imported a tempering machine to perfect the texture of the chocolate. Meanwhile, we also perfected chocolate-making skills by learning from online videos and experimenting, says Saurav.

Slow and steady progress

Yeju Chocolate Nepal had started its operation with only three varieties, and today, it has over 20 types. The cost varies from Rs 30 to Rs 400.

In the beginning, we gave it to our family, friends and relatives to try. They all liked it and supported our business through the word of mouth, informs Saloni.

Customised wrappers of Yeju Chocolate Nepal. Photo: Yeju Chocolate Nepal

Chocolates from Yeju Chocolate Nepal. Photo: Yeju Chocolate Nepal

Saurav adds,  We also participated in events held at Labim Mall on different occasions. Since then, we feel our reach has broadened. After that, many people started coming to us for chocolates. We also got corporate orders.

In the meantime, Yeju Chocolate Nepal received an order on the occasion of Teachers Day; the customers wanted it to do something special. Then, we decided to customise wrappers, says Saurav. We then printed the teachers photo on it along with some written messages then.

Besides such occasions, the company has sold more chocolates in the wedding season also. Because it depends on the occasion, the sale, overall, regularly fluctuates.
" " Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton coined many expressions, including "It was a dark and stormy night" and "The pen is mightier than the sword." Bettman/Getty Images

"It was a dark and stormy night." The line has become such a cliche, it's inspired an annual fiction-writing contest for the worst opening line of a novel. The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest honors English author and playwright Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel "Paul Clifford" begins with that deathless phrase.

Bulwer-Lytton coined famous expressions like "the great unwashed," "pursuit of the almighty dollar," "the pen is mightier than the sword" and "dweller on the threshold." But "It was a dark and stormy night" is the one he is most known for.

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If you want to get the full flavor of his writing, here is the whole first sentence from "Paul Clifford":

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the house-tops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.

Bulwer-Lytton's namesake contest was founded in 1982 by English professor Scott E. Rice at San Jose State University in California and celebrates the creation of purple prose. This is flowery and ornate language that serves little meaningful purpose in a piece. The competition challenges participants to (in the words of the website) "write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written."

The grand prize-winning sentence is chosen by a "Panel of Undistinguished Judges" from thousands of entries sent in from all over the world. The winning phrase of the 2021 contest was written by Stu Duval of Auckland, New Zealand and goes like this: "A lecherous sunrise flaunted itself over a flatulent sea, ripping the obsidian bodice of night asunder with its rapacious fingers of gold, thus exposing her dusky bosom to the dawn's ogling stare."

The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest accepts submissions every day of the year, but the deadline for each year's contest is June 30. Each entry must consist of a single sentence of any length, but it's strongly recommended you don't exceed 50 or 60 words. You can enter as many times as you wish.

Further guidelines can be found on the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest website. According to the official rules, the prize for winning the contest is "a pittance (and bragging rights)."

HowStuffWorks earns a small affiliate commission when you purchase through links on our site.

Now That's Interesting The Peanuts comic strip beagle Snoopy is renowned for typing "It was a dark and stormy night" whenever he begins a novel.
The late Nobel laureate and respected anti-apartheid leader, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, receives an honorary degree in 2005 at the University of North Florida. He previously taught at UNF and also donated his collection of manuscripts and other documents to the university.

The late Nobel laureate and renowned anti-apartheid leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu had strong ties to Jacksonville, especially the University of North Florida where he served as a scholar in residence for a semester.

John Delaney, former Jacksonville mayor and past UNF president, was among those mourning the passing of the global civil rights leader on Sunday.

Tutu was a man of integrity, wisdom and compassion with a sense of humor, Delaney told The Florida Times-Union.

"We lost greatness today," Delaney said.

Tutu had brilliance and compassion that never dimmed.

"He could say something funny and profound and religious in one sentence. He knew what he was and what he believed. And he had an instinct to find the right way to convey it," Delaney said.

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Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. The South African cleric's ties to UNF dated back to 1999 when he first came to the university to deliver a Presidential Lecture.

In 2003 he returned to UNF as a scholar in residence for a semester teaching classes for students as well as speaking at numerous Jacksonville churches, schools and community activities. He emphasized helping those less fortunate.

Tutu came back in 2005 to accept an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree. Delaney presented the degree to him.

"He had a grin, and a wit and a sense of humor about him and was whip-smart. He was just a fascinating man, just a giant," said Delaney, who was mayor when he first met the archbishop.

In 2018 Tutu donated a collection of his most significant writings  manuscripts, letters and notes  to UNF's Thomas G. Carpenter Library. Tutu authored many of the writings while he was a scholar in residence there.

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Story continues

A special connection between Tutu and Delaney

Retired and in frail health, Tutu was unable to travel to Jacksonville from Cape Town to make the presentation.

But his representative told the audience that Tutu was giving the writings to UNF in honor of Delaney whom Tutu described as "a wonderful friend." The donation came as Delaney was preparing to retire from UNF after guiding it for 15 years.

Humbled by that praise, Delaney said Sunday that despite his respect and admiration for Tutu, "it would be too presumptuous of me to say Tutu was a friend."

But in those short few hours and days that Delaney knew Tutu, he said "I loved the guy."

Tutu kept in touch with Delaney over the years.

"I just marveled that I'd get a text or an email once or twice a year just kind of out of the blue from him for no reason," Delaney said. "It would be just a quick sentence or two maybe."

"Mr. Prez is how he'd start it," he said. "Of the hundreds of thousands of people in the world that he knew, why he would do that. We didn't go into long exchanges, but he would say 'God bless or thanks,' and then six to nine months later, another one would pop up."

The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu gets a warm welcome in 1999 during the Presidential Lecture Series at the University of North Florida including by UNF President Anne Hopkins in the background.

Tutu spoke his mind

Tutu never backed down from speaking the truth about contentious subjects, Delaney and others said.

Jimmy Midyette, a Jacksonville attorney, North Florida Development Officer for Equality Florida and Jacksonville Coalition for Equality leader, recalled Tutu's graciousness.

"Ill never forget when Archbishop Tutu spent some time teaching at @UofNorthFlorida. And he was so gracious - he wrote a letter in support of the #jaxHRO when asked by@JaxEquality," Midyette said on Twitter.

Delaney recalled Tutu noted that Jesus didn't speak on sexuality except to condemn lust and adultery.

Delaney also quoted Tutu as saying "who would choose to be among the most hated people in the world. Clearly, it's not a choice. It's how gay people are born and God loves all the people."

Delaney added that Tutu voiced his beliefs "so simply and succinctly with clarity. He knew who he was and what he thought."

Tutu's manuscripts became part of the UNF librarys permanent collection.

He wanted his writings placed in the university's archives and made available for institutional research by faculty and students, his longtime friend, Kamele "Oupa" Seane, UNF associate director of outreach for the Commission on Diversity and Inclusion, said at that time.

The late Archbishop Desmond Tutu laughs after answering a question about local reaction to his speech at a peace rally in Jacksonville in 2003. Tutu spent a semester as a visiting scholar at the University of North Florida.

The collection includes:

Two book manuscripts  These are rough drafts of his books Number Two to Tutu: A Memoir" by Michael Nuttall and God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time," by Desmond Tutu, which he wrote while teaching at UNF. Both books originally were published in 2003.

Handwritten notes.

Class notes while teaching at UNF.

Speeches he made around the world at the time.

Correspondence with his friends and his assistant.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville leaders mourn the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until February 7, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Berkeley Lights, Inc. (NASDAQ:BLI), if they purchased the Company's shares between July 17, 2020 and September 14, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

What You May Do

If you purchased shares of Berkeley Lights and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-bli/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by February 7, 2022 .

About the Lawsuit

Berkeley Lights and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On September 15, 2021, Scorpion Capital reported a wide range of criticisms against the Company purportedly based on extensive research and interviews of former employees and end-users, including that its machines were onerous, unusable, a waste of money, and had an error rate 50% higher than standard lab equipment, and that a negligible addressable market and negative customer experiences had further hindered the Company's growth potential, among other things.

On this news, shares of Berkeley Lights plummeted nearly 30% over two trading days to close at $23.53 on September 16, 2021, on abnormally high trading volume.

The case is Ng v. Berkeley Lights, Inc., No. 21-cv-09497.

Story continues

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

LogoDescription automatically generated

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC





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You just got your hands on a new phone. Naturally, your first inclination is to head to the App Store or the Google Play Store to download your favorite apps to your shiny new device. While the Engadget team tries to keep our phones relatively unencumbered, there are some apps we can't live without because they make our work and daily lives easier. Below you'll find a dozen of the best we think you should try.

1Password

1Password for iOS

If you only take one piece of advice away from this article, it's that you should download a password manager. It doesn't have to be the one we recommend here. However, we like 1Password for a handful of reasons. Not only will it let you generate strong passwords for all your online accounts, but it also has built-in support for two-factor authentication. That means you don't need to download a separate app like Authy to make your logins as secure as possible. If you have access to a Fastmail account, you can also use 1Password to generate random emails for your logins, giving you another way to protect your privacy. It's also just a well-designed app that's a pleasure to use.

FireFox

Firefox

If it's been a few years since you last used Firefox, now is a great time to revisit it. Partway through last year, Mozilla overhauled the Android version of its browser to bring over many of its best desktop features to mobile. That release saw Mozilla add more robust support for third-party add-ons. It also brought over its Enhanced Tracking Protection feature, which stops trackers from misusing your browsing data. Separately, with Apple allowing you to change your default browser since the release of iOS 14, there's never been a better time for iPhone users to liberate themselves from Safari.

Headspace

Headspace

I subscribed to Headspace at the start of the pandemic. Since then, it's become one of the few apps I use every day. Yes, Headspace is a meditation and mindfulness app, but it's also so much more than that. You'll find it also has a mix of music designed to help you focus and workouts for unwinding at the end of a long day. Across the board, everything it offers is excellent, and you'll find yourself turning to it for more than just peace of mind.

Hopper

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Hopper app

If you plan to fly somewhere soon, install Hopper on your phone. While it has grown over the years to include a variety of features, at its core, Hopper is one of the best ways to save money on plane tickets. Once you tell the app where and when you want to fly, itll tell you whether you should book your flight now or wait. In the latter case, itll notify you when it estimates you'll get the best deal. The beauty of Hopper is it will save you from constantly checking websites like Google Flights and Kayak.

Libby

Libby

If you want to do more reading in 2022, forget about buying books through Amazon and download Libby instead. If you're not familiar with the app, it allows you to borrow ebooks, digital magazines and graphic novels from your local library. All you need is a library card, which most systems across the US offer for free. Sometimes you have to wait to borrow the books you want to read most, but you'll find Libby will dramatically expand your reading list.

Open Table

Open Table

With restaurants reopening in cities throughout the US and the rest of the world, there's a good chance you plan to eat out sometime soon  and so does nearly everyone else. That means you'll likely need a reservation to dine at some of the most popular spots in your city. In North America, the closest you'll find to a single platform that nearly every restaurant uses is Open Table. For that reason alone, it's a must-download if you eat out a lot. It's also a handy tool for discovering new spots to visit since you can filter by cuisine and area.

Transit

Transit app

There's nothing worse than waiting for a bus on a cold winters day or watching three go by one after another. Avoid both situations with one of the best public transit planning apps on Android and iOS. Transit excels where other apps in the category fail thanks to its clean, easy-to-use interface that highlights all the options near you. It also has one of the better algorithms for predicting departure times, so you'll know exactly when you need to run out of your house or apartment to catch the next bus, train or streetcar.

Paprika

Paprika recipe app

Paprika is the best $5 you can spend to make feeding yourself even easier. At its core, it allows you to download recipes from your favorite websites and make them accessible on all your devices. You can also use it to scale the size of the meal you're about to cook and convert between metric and imperial measurements. Add to that a meal planner, shopping lists and a tool for tracking the ingredients in your pantry, and you have an indispensable app for home cooks.

Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts app

With podcasts becoming ever more popular with each passing year, there's a good chance you already have a handful of favorite shows you listen to every week. As much as Spotify would like to convince you it has the best podcast app, that distinction goes to Pocket Casts. We like it because it offers a consistently great experience across every system it supports. And if you use a mix of platforms from Apple, Google and Microsoft, you don't have to worry about syncing, either. Its also nice to use software that doesnt feel caught between two worlds in the way that Spotify does. Pocket Casts isnt trying to be anything more than an app for listening to podcasts. Thats not something you can say of Spotify, and its often a source of frustration for those who turn to it for music.

Pocket

Pocket app

Another way to read more in 2022 is to download Pocket. It's among the most popular read-it-later apps out there, allowing you to save articles you find online. Much like Pocket Casts, what makes this app compelling is that it offers a consistently excellent device-agnostic experience, making it a great option for those who haven't gone all-in on one ecosystem. Whether you use Chrome, Safari or Edge, you can install a browser extension to save articles you stumble upon. You can then read them later without distractions on your phone or tablet. Just don't forget to make a dent in your Pocket reading list occasionally.

Telegram / Signal

Telegram app

We understand, asking your friends and family to install another messaging app on their phone can sometimes feel like a Sisyphean task, but the effort has also never been more worth it. In Telegram and Signal, you'll find two of the most secure chat apps on the market. We especially like Telegram here at Engadget because of how complete it feels from a feature standpoint. For example, it includes an edit feature that comes in handy when you make a typo, and a Secret Chat tool for when you want messages to disappear. If you do make the switch to Telegram or Signal, you'll also free yourself of the Meta ecosystem. That might not seem like much, but when Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp went down earlier this year, it left many people without a way to communicate with their friends and loved ones.

Tunnelbear

Tunnelbear for Android

After a Password manager, one of the best tools you can use to safeguard your online privacy is a VPN. Again, there are many options out there, but we like TunnelBear for its simplicity and whimsical ursine theme. A VPN isn't as essential as a password manager, but you'll want to get one if you frequently find yourself traveling or using the public WiFi at places like cafes and libraries. Using a VPN in those contexts will ensure your connection is protected with encryption so that any information you send over remains safe and private.

Snapseed

Snapseed

Most recent phones come with great cameras. Still, even with the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel, almost every photo can benefit from an edit before you share it. The options you have for photo editing apps are nearly endless, but if you want something that works well, look no further than Snapseed. It's an old favorite that offers a comprehensive suite of editing options but never gets bogged down in too many sliders and dials. Best of all, it makes it easy to save edits to your camera roll and upload them to apps like Instagram.
Beekeepers in Honduras

Beekeepers in Honduras express gratitude for receiving resources from FFPC for income generation.

Beekeepers in Honduras express gratitude for receiving resources from FFPC for income generation.

TORONTO, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In 2021, Canadians came alongside Food For The Poor Canada (FFPC) and their partners in Canada and on the ground, delivering humanitarian aid and building sustainable communities across the Caribbean and Latin America; work was done in the areas of food security, housing, education, health, emergency response, and income-generating projects.



Food For The Poor Canadas Executive Director Samantha Mahfood thanked the team that made this possible: All this great work is a direct result of 636 Canadians who gave generously, 5 staff who worked passionately, and a board of 10 that led with clarity. We get to do this incredible work because our partners in Canada and in the Caribbean and Latin America are fierce and have a heart for the lives they impact. We are more than grateful.

FFPC provided vulnerable families with 2.6 million meals this year. Some of the food security response directly supported Haitians following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that devastated Haiti. In partnership with Ontario Christian Gleaners, FFPC sent Haiti meals of dried vegetable soup mix, barley, yams, and almonds; one shipment of 800,000 meals arrived days after the earthquake. In the Bahamas, FFPC supported a lunch program for 90 students, many of whom were displaced after Hurricane Dorian. In Jamaica, FFPC donors supported school lunch programs, as well as supplying prisons, hospitals, and orphanages with food.

In emergency response, following the eruption of La Soufriere, FFPC supported relief efforts and clean-up.

In Derac, Haiti, 30 families have new homes this year. This sustainable community development will have a community centre, school, health clinic, 120 homes, a community garden, and more built over the next few years.

In 2021, FFPC constructed two schools - a vocational training school in San Antonio, Honduras and an Early Childhood School in Jamaica. Centro Basico Vocacional allows children to extend their education beyond Grade 6 up to Grade 9, and learn employable skills in agriculture; the Goodwill Early Childhood Learning Center in Jamaica, built in collaboration with Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation, gives 3 to 6 year-olds a strong educational start.

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In Baramita, Guyana, Canadians built and stocked a library inside the recently built Community Centre. In San Antonio, Honduras, women received empowerment training and will receive support for a community business to be set up; local farmers received materials and technical assistance to produce honey and grow coffee. Through comprehensive agricultural training, farmers can now generate income and become self-sustainable.

In Jamaica, FFPC supported the countrys largest orphanage, Maxfield Park Childrens Home, with updated kitchen and laundry appliances, made possible by a generous donation directed by the Sean Paul Foundation.

In 2022, Food For The Poor Canada will continue to work with Canadians to impact lives across the Caribbean and Latin America.

About Food For The Poor Canada

Food For The Poor Canada (FFPC) empowers communities in Latin America and the Caribbean through five areas of investment: food, health, housing, education, and income-generating projects.

FFPC responds to urgent needs while building community and social infrastructure. FFPC utilizes the pre-existing networks of local affiliated organizations to better sustain and grow the communities they serve. Through trusted partners, FFPC has strengthened its emergency preparedness and responds effectively to emergencies and natural disasters when they occur.

Over the last 13 years, FFPC and its donors have built 173 homes, 36 schools, as well as shipped and distributed $42,000,000 in food, educational and medical supplies to communities in LAC.

For interviews or more information, contact:

Samantha Mahfood

Executive Director

(416) 921-4008

Samantham@foodforthepoor.ca

www.foodforthepoor.ca

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a7ee736b-034c-4844-885a-f993ce95b1ac




(Bloomberg) -- China Evergrande Group said it has resumed construction at most of its housing projects as the chairman, Hui Ka Yan, urged the cash-strapped developer to meet its target of delivering 39,000 units of apartments in December.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chinas central bank pledged greater support for the real economy, and reiterated its aim to promote healthy growth in the property sector and protect home buyers rights.

Evergrande has coupons on two bonds due Tuesday. The firm was labeled a defaulter for the first time earlier this month. Its shares have plunged 90% this year amid a rout in Chinese property stocks. The parent of developer Yango Group Co. defaulted on a dollar bond after missing an interest payment.

Key Developments:

Evergrande Races to Restart Projects as Debt Repayments Loom

Yangos Parent Is Newest China Defaulter as Property Woes Deepen

Evergrande Vows to Ensure Delivery of 39,000 Apartments in Dec.

Chinas Central Bank Vows Greater Support for Real Economy

Trickle of China Developer Bond Sales Shows Selective Demand

Post-Default Dollar Bond Coupon Test Faced (4:15 p.m. NY)

Evergrande will face an initial interest payment deadline for two dollar bonds Tuesday, in the property giants first major test of investor confidence after it was officially labeled a debt defaulter.

The embattled firm has $50.4 million worth of coupon due on a 7.5% 2023 bond and another $204.8 million tied to a 8.75% 2025 note, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Evergrande has a 30-day grace period to deliver the payments before a default can be declared, according to a bond issuance document seen by Bloomberg News.

Story continues

Yangos Parent Defaults on Dollar Bonds (2:47 p.m. HK)

The parent of Yango Group Co. has become the latest victim of Chinas crackdown on the nations indebted property sector, defaulting on a dollar bond after missing an interest payment.

Fujian Yango Group Co. hasnt paid the coupon on its 11.875% $296 million note maturing in 2023 following a 30-day grace period, it said in a filing dated Dec. 25 to the Singapore stock exchange. Failure to pay the interest after the grace period constitutes an event of default, according to the bonds issuance document seen by Bloomberg News.

Evergrande Resumes Most Housing Projects (2:41 p.m. HK)

Evergrande said it has restarted nearly 92% of its property projects, compared with just about 50% at the beginning of September, according to a company statement released Sunday night. The number of workers involved in the projects that have resumed building has risen 31% from September to 89,000.

Guangzhou Home Sales Worst in Top 4 (10:51 a.m. HK)

Guangzhous new home sales fell the most among Chinas four first-tier cities in terms of floor space last week, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from China Real Estate Information Corp. on Dec. 26. Guangzhou sales decreased 142,982 square meters to 164,725.

PBOC Pledges to Support Economy (8:21 a.m. HK)

Chinas central bank pledged greater support for the real economy, and said it will make monetary policy more forward-looking and targeted.

There will be more proactive use of monetary policy tools, the Peoples Bank of China said in a statement on Saturday.

The monetary policy committee held a meeting on Friday that was chaired by Governor Yi Gang. The central bank also reiterated its aim to promote the property sectors healthy growth and protect home buyers rights, as well as work to better meet housing demand.

Evergrande Vows Home Deliveries (8:17 a.m. HK)

Evergrande must sprint at full speed to meet the target of delivering 39,000 units of apartments in December, chairman Hui Ka Yan said in a meeting held Sunday night, according to a company statement.

More than 80% of decoration partners and long-term material suppliers have resumed cooperation with Evergrande, the company said. Hui said the firm can restart sales and operations and pay off debts as long as it makes every effort to resume projects and deliver to home buyers.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 26, 2021 /The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, announces that it is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Nuvei Corporation ("Nuvei" or "the Company") (NASDAQ:NVEI) for violations of the securities laws.

The investigation focuses on whether the Company issued false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose information pertinent to investors. Nuvei is the subject of a short-seller report published by Spruce Point Capital on December 8, 2021. The report alleges serious inaccuracies in the Company's claims of organic growth. The report claims: "we find evidence that between 2010 and 2018, the Company experienced practically no growth. Our research points to challenges in the North American market that engendered mid-double-digit organic revenue decline in 2020 and Nuvei's push into Europe via acquisitions such as SafeCharge (2019) and Smart2Pay (2020)." Among other allegations, Spruce Point Capital claims that the Company's executives and other associated figures come from questionable backgrounds. Based on this report, shares of Nuvei fell almost 41% in morning trading on the same day.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com.

The class in this case has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

Story continues

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

info@schallfirm.com

SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm





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Japans Retail Sales Rise for Third Month as Shoppers Catch Up

(Bloomberg) -- Japans retail sales increased for a third straight month, as easing virus concerns fueled spending by consumers before the emergence of the omicron variant.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Sales advanced 1.2% in November from the previous month, as shoppers spent more on clothing and motor vehicles, the industry ministry reported Monday. Economists had expected a 1.3% overall gain.

While Japans consumption hasnt jumped to the extent that it has in places like the U.S., spending has increased since a fall in virus cases in September allowed state of emergency restrictions to be lifted at the end of that month. The increase shows the importance of keeping the spread of omicron under control if consumption is to drive the economys recovery.

Its not the sort of rebound in spending that was hoped for before the state of emergency was lifted, but were seeing a gradual come back, said economist Yuichi Kodama at Meiji Yasuda Research Institute.

Kodama sees the economy returning to growth this quarter largely thanks to consumer spending, with some continued support from trade with the U.S. and Europe.

The consensus forecast among analysts is for Japan to grow at an annualized pace of 6.1% in the final three months of 2021.

Read More: Japan Sticks With Budget Balance Goal Despite Record Spending

While Japan has so far managed to avoid a mass outbreak of omicron even as it rampages in the U.S. and the U.K., the situation could swiftly change.

After finding the first case of community spread of omicron last week in western Osaka prefecture, another case was found Thursday in neighboring Kyoto with other cases confirmed elsewhere over the weekend.

Story continues

The countrys program for vaccine booster shots is yet to get into full swing, though nearly 80% of the population has been fully vaccinated so far.

More details from the report:

Spending on clothing rose more than 7%, as did outlays for motor vehicles

Sales of food and drink rose 0.6% from October

Spending on fuel fell 2.9%

Compared with a year ago, retail sales increased 1.9%

(Adds economists comments.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2021 Bloomberg L.P.
JAKARTA, Indonesia, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Kopi Kenangan, Indonesia's fastest growing New Retail F&B chain, well-known for its great tasting coffee, today announced that it has raised $96m in the first closing of a Series C funding, giving the company a valuation of more than $1bn. The oversubscribed Series C round was led by Tybourne Capital Management, with participation from existing investors including Horizons Ventures, Kunlun, and B Capital, and new investor Falcon Edge Capital.

The funding round comes as Kopi Kenangan is seeing strong domestic demand for its expanded product offerings such as its bread brand Cerita Roti, its "chicken on the go" brand Chigo, and soft-cookies brand Kenangan Manis, as well as the continued rapid growth of its home-grown coffee brand including the latest topping addition, Sultan Boba. The company has delivered strong top-line growth during the past 12 months, with year-on-year sales more than doubling and it has maintained profitability due to its robust store-level margins and attractive store-level payback period. Over the past year, Kopi Kenangan's app has become the most downloaded and best-rated coffee app in Indonesia.

With the latest round of funding, Kopi Kenangan will accelerate the expansion of its new brands, Cerita Roti, Chigo and Kenangan Manis across Indonesia, and will continue to build the Kopi Kenangan network and broaden its footprint internationally.

Edward Tirtanata, Co-founder and CEO of Kopi Kenangan said: "I am very pleased to announce this fundraising, which positions us as the first New Retail F&B Unicorn from Southeast Asia. The continuing support of our investors, as well as the new backers in this funding round, is a testament to our continued focus on increasing store productivity and using technology to create the best user experience for our customers. Our mission is to be the most-loved consumer brand in Southeast Asia and, as part of our five-year vision, we remain committed to rapidly expanding our footprint to thousands of stores across Southeast Asia and broadening our offerings."

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Kopi Kenangan was founded in 2017 by Edward Tirtanata, James Prananto, and Cynthia Chaerunnisa, targeting a gap in the market in Indonesia between the high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains, and the instant coffee sold in the country's many street stalls. Customers were offered the convenience of ordering through an app and either having coffee delivered to their doorstep or picking it up at one of Kopi Kenangan's many stores across the country. This new retail online and offline model has been embraced by consumers and in a little over 4 years Kopi Kenangan has grown to employ more than 3,000 staff in over 600 stores across 45 cities. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the company learnt to quickly adapt to the changing business environment and challenges by employing new strategies, such as adopting contactless booking requests which accelerated its revenue and user base. It has served 40 million cups of coffee in the last 12 months and is expected to serve 5.5 million cups per month in Q1 2022.

Bosun Hau, Managing Director of Tybourne Capital Management said: "In a few short years, Edward and James, together with the highly experienced management team, have grown the business significantly and helped it navigate the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. We are extremely excited about the potential of Kopi Kenangan as it continues to tap into the rapidly growing F&B market in Southeast Asia. The strength of the Kopi Kenangan team, coupled with their entrepreneurial spirit, deep knowledge of the F&B industry and their ability to use technology to retain and engage with customers and improve efficiency and sales, bodes well for the future of this new Indonesian unicorn."

About Kopi Kenangan

Kopi Kenangan is Indonesia's fastest growing New Retail F&B chain well-known for its great tasting coffee, with over 600 outlets across 45 cities. Kopi Kenangan was founded in 2017, targeting a gap in the market between high-priced coffee served by international coffee chains and instant coffee sold at many of the country's roadside kiosks and street stalls. In 2020, Kopi Kenangan expanded into the food industry by launching a bread brand called Cerita Roti, and later in 2021, launched a "chicken on the go" brand named Chigo and soft-cookies brand Kenangan Manis. Through understanding and exploring local flavors as well as a 'new retail' online and offline model that focuses on the customer experience, Kopi Kenangan has a vision to become the largest food and beverage business in Indonesia, and Southeast Asia, through affordable quality products, fast and friendly service, quality control, and creative business development. Kopi Kenangan has raised over $[240m] to date from high quality investors such as Sequoia Capital India, Verlinvest, Sofina, Horizon Ventures, B Capital and more.

For more information, please visit www.kopikenangan.com and follow our journey on Facebook: Kopi Kenangan, Instagram: @kopikenangan.id, Twitter: @kopikenangan_id and Linkedin: Kopi Kenangan.

About Tybourne Capital Management

Tybourne Capital Management is a global growth investor in public and private equity markets, focusing on investments in the Consumer, Financials, Healthcare and TMT sectors. The firm was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Hong Kong with an office in San Francisco. Tybourne manages long duration capital on behalf of prominent non-profits, university endowments, sovereigns, corporate pensions and family offices.

SOURCE Kopi Kenangan
NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until January 11, 2022 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Novavax, Inc. (NasdaqGS:NVAX), if they purchased the Company's securities between March 2, 2021 and October 19, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.

What You May Do

If you purchased securities of Novavax and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nasdaqgs-nvax/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by January 11, 2022 .

About the Lawsuit

Novavax and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.

On August 5, 2021, the Company disclosed another delay in filing the Emergency Use Authorization ("EUA") for its COVID-19 vaccine product candidate, NVX-CoV2373, from the third quarter of 2021 to the fourth quarter of 2021. On this news, Novavax's stock price fell $46.31 per share, or 19.61%, to close at $189.89 per share on August 6, 2021. Then, on October 19, 2021, Politico reported that anonymous sources stated that manufacturing issues could delay regulatory authorizations and approvals for NVX-CoV2373 until the end of 2022.

On this news, Novavax's shares plummeted $23.69 per share, or 14.76%, to close at $136.86 per share on October 20, 2021.

The case is Sinnathurai v. Novavax, et al., 21-cv-02910.

Story continues

About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

KSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.

To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com.

Contact:

LogoDescription automatically generated

Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC

Lewis Kahn, Managing Partner

lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com

1-877-515-1850

1100 Poydras St., Suite 3200

New Orleans, LA 70163

SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/679752/NOVAVAX-SHAREHOLDER-ALERT-BY-FORMER-LOUISIANA-ATTORNEY-GENERAL-KAHN-SWICK-FOTI-LLC-REMINDS-INVESTORS-WITH-LOSSES-IN-EXCESS-OF-100000-of-Lead-Plaintiff-Deadline-in-Class-Action-Lawsuit-Against-Novavax-Inc--NVAX




LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / The Schall Law Firm, a national shareholder rights litigation firm, reminds investors of a class action lawsuit against Berkeley Lights, Inc. ("Berkeley Lights" or "the Company") (NASDAQ:BLI) for violations of 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors who purchased the Company's securities between July 17, 2020 and September 14, 2021, inclusive (the ''Class Period''), are encouraged to contact the firm before February 7, 2022.

If you are a shareholder who suffered a loss, click here to participate.

We also encourage you to contact Brian Schall of the Schall Law Firm, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2460, Los Angeles, CA 90067, at 310-301-3335, to discuss your rights free of charge. You can also reach us through the firm's website at www.schallfirm.com, or by email at brian@schallfirm.com.

The class, in this case, has not yet been certified, and until certification occurs, you are not represented by an attorney. If you choose to take no action, you can remain an absent class member.

According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. Berkeley Lights' primary instrument, the Beacon, suffered from a considerable number of problems ranging from manufacturing defects and breakdowns to high error rates. The Company received many customer complaints not only on the instrument's effectiveness, but also on its design and production quality. The actual market for the Beacon instrument is a small percentage of the $23 billion the Company touted to the market due in part to these design and production problems. Based on these facts, the Company's public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about Berkeley Lights, investors suffered damages.

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Join the case to recover your losses.

The Schall Law Firm represents investors around the world and specializes in securities class action lawsuits and shareholder rights litigation.

This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some jurisdictions under the applicable law and rules of ethics.

CONTACT:

The Schall Law Firm

Brian Schall, Esq.,

www.schallfirm.com

Office: 310-301-3335

info@schallfirm.com

SOURCE: The Schall Law Firm





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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / Labaton Sucharow, a nationally ranked and award-winning shareholder rights law firm, announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against DocuSign, Inc. ("DocuSign" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:DOCU) on behalf of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired DocuSign securities between March 27, 2020, and December 2, 2021, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors have until February 22, 2022, to apply to be appointed as lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The Company is accused of minimizing the impact of the pandemic and the "return to normal" on its business prospects. On December 2, 2021, DocuSign announced disappointing year-end projections. On this news, its stock fell more than 40%.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired DOCU securities during the Class Period and want to receive additional information and protect your investments free of charge, please contact David J. Schwartz using the toll-free number (800) 321-0476, via email at david@labaton.com, or by filling out this form.

About the Firm

Labaton Sucharow LLP is one of the world's leading complex litigation firms representing clients in securities, antitrust, corporate governance and shareholder rights, and consumer cybersecurity and data privacy litigation. Labaton Sucharow has been recognized for its excellence by the courts and peers, and it is consistently ranked in leading industry publications. Offices are located in New York, NY, Wilmington, DE, and Washington, D.C. More information about Labaton Sucharow is available at labaton.com.

CONTACT:

David J. Schwartz

(800) 321-0476

david@labaton.com

SOURCE: Labaton Sucharow LLP





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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 26, 2021 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of ReneSola Ltd. ("ReneSola" or the "Company") (NYSE:SOL). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.comor 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether ReneSola and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On December 2, 2021, Grizzly Research ("Grizzly") published a research report on ReneSola entitled "We believe ReneSola is a Fraudulent Company; Most Projects Never Existed." Citing "on the ground due diligence, lings review, and communications with local municipalities in Europe", The Grizzly report alleged, among other things, "that ReneSola has been vastly misrepresenting its project development pipeline."

On this news, ReneSola's stock price fell $0.50 per share, or 7.62%, to close at $6.06 per share on December 2, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP





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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 26, 2021 / Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Meta Materials Inc. f/k/a Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. ("Meta" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:MMAT). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 7980.

The investigation concerns whether Meta Materials and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

On December 14, 2021, Kerrisdale Capital ("Kerrisdale") published a report titled "Meta Materials, Inc. (MMAT): A Photonics' Company That's an Optical Illusion." The report alleged numerous issues at including: "[d]isappearing segments, misleading product claims, fake medical devices, research funding for subsidiaries that don't exist, and circumstances so questionable around a penny stock reverse merger that it's now the subject of an SEC Enforcement subpoena."

Following publication of the Kerrisdale report, Meta's stock price fell $0.18 per share, or 5.83%, to close at $2.91 per share on December 14, 2021.

Pomerantz LLP, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Paris, and Tel Aviv, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, Pomerantz pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 85 years later, Pomerantz continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomlaw.com

SOURCE: Pomerantz LLP





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Teledynes infrared detectors are the "eyes" of the worlds most advanced space telescope

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., December 27, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Teledyne Technologies Incorporated (NYSE:TDY) congratulates NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Teledyne provided 15 extremely sensitive H2RG infrared detectors that are used in three of the four science instruments of JWST: the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), the Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS), and the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). Ten Teledyne detectors in NIRCam will study the structure and morphology of the universe. Three Teledyne detectors in FGS will be used to point and stabilize the telescope. Two Teledyne detectors in NIRSpec will reveal information about chemical composition, temperature, and velocity of what JWST observes. Teledyne also provided the SIDECAR ASIC focal plane electronics that operate the H2RG detectors.

Teledyne is proud to provide most of the detectors for NASAs flagship astronomy missions. JWSTs predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, uses Teledyne detectors for imaging in ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light. JWST, however, will concentrate solely on infrared imaging and spectroscopy. This is because JWST will explore the very distant universe, for which ultraviolet and visible emissions have been stretched by the expansion of the universe into infrared wavelengths, a process known as redshift. Teledynes infrared detectors enable JWST to observe the first stars and galaxies, allowing scientists to understand the early evolution of the universe. In 2027, NASA will launch its next flagship astrophysics mission, the Roman Space Telescope, for which Teledyne recently delivered the infrared detectors.

"Teledyne is extremely proud to have provided the detectors that are the eyes of groundbreaking astronomy and astrophysics missions," said Robert Mehrabian, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Teledyne. "For decades, scientists have used our ground-based and space-based detectors to look outward to our solar system, to the stars and exoplanets of the Milky Way, and to galaxies millions and billions of light years from Earth. More recently, our detectors have been extensively used to look down upon the Earth, monitoring pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and enabling environmental science and climatology."

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For example, Teledyne provided imaging detectors for the Advanced Baseline Imager in the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), and NASAs Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2). Teledyne sensors are also included in multiple European Union Sentinel satellites, including the anthropogenic CO2 emissions monitoring (CO2M) mission and the Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment (CHIME).

In addition to imaging sensors, a Teledyne system provides the electricity that operates the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars Rovers; the electrical power is produced by Teledynes Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG).

Teledyne is a leading provider of sophisticated digital imaging products and software, instrumentation, aerospace and defense electronics, and engineered systems. Teledynes operations are primarily located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Western and Northern Europe. For more information, visit Teledynes website at www.teledyne.com.

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Contacts

Investor Contact:

Jason VanWees

(805) 373-4542
Announcement of Periodic Review: Moody's announces completion of a periodic review of ratings of Whirlpool CorporationGlobal Credit Research - 14 Dec 2021New York, December 14, 2021 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has completed a periodic review of the ratings of Whirlpool Corporation and other ratings that are associated with the same analytical unit. The review was conducted through a portfolio review discussion held on 6 December 2021 in which Moody's reassessed the appropriateness of the ratings in the context of the relevant principal methodology(ies), recent developments, and a comparison of the financial and operating profile to similarly rated peers. The review did not involve a rating committee. Since 1 January 2019, Moody's practice has been to issue a press release following each periodic review to announce its completion.This publication does not announce a credit rating action and is not an indication of whether or not a credit rating action is likely in the near future. Credit ratings and outlook/review status cannot be changed in a portfolio review and hence are not impacted by this announcement. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history.Key rating considerations are summarized below.Whirlpool's Baa1 senior unsecured rating reflects its significant scale with 2020 revenue of approximately $19.5 billion, considerable geographic diversification, strong brand names, and very good liquidity. The company also benefits from a strong track record of product innovation and execution of initiatives focused on margin expansion through a range of global economic environments. The ratings are constrained by the highly cyclical nature of the consumer appliance business and variability in raw material costs which can result in sharply lower earnings and cash flow during the weak part of economic cycles.This document summarizes Moody's view as of the publication date and will not be updated until the next periodic review announcement, which will incorporate material changes in credit circumstances (if any) during the intervening period.The principal methodology used for this review was Consumer Durables published in September 2021. Please see the Rating Methodologies page on www.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.This announcement applies only to EU rated, UK rated, EU endorsed and UK endorsed ratings. Non EU rated, non UK rated, non EU endorsed and non UK endorsed ratings may be referenced above to the extent necessary, if they are part of the same analytical unit.This publication does not announce a credit rating action. For any credit ratings referenced in this publication, please see the ratings tab on the issuer/entity page on www.moodys.com for the most updated credit rating action information and rating history. Maria Iarriccio Vice President - Senior Analyst Corporate Finance Group Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 John E. Puchalla, CFA Associate Managing Director Corporate Finance Group JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653 Releasing Office: Moody's Investors Service, Inc. 250 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10007 U.S.A. JOURNALISTS: 1 212 553 0376 Client Service: 1 212 553 1653  2021 Moodys Corporation, Moodys Investors Service, Inc., Moodys Analytics, Inc. and/or their licensors and affiliates (collectively, MOODYS). All rights reserved.CREDIT RATINGS ISSUED BY MOODY'S CREDIT RATINGS AFFILIATES ARE THEIR CURRENT OPINIONS OF THE RELATIVE FUTURE CREDIT RISK OF ENTITIES, CREDIT COMMITMENTS, OR DEBT OR DEBT-LIKE SECURITIES, AND MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY MOODYS (COLLECTIVELY, PUBLICATIONS) MAY INCLUDE SUCH CURRENT OPINIONS. MOODYS DEFINES CREDIT RISK AS THE RISK THAT AN ENTITY MAY NOT MEET ITS CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS AS THEY COME DUE AND ANY ESTIMATED FINANCIAL LOSS IN THE EVENT OF DEFAULT OR IMPAIRMENT. SEE APPLICABLE MOODYS RATING SYMBOLS AND DEFINITIONS PUBLICATION FOR INFORMATION ON THE TYPES OF CONTRACTUAL FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS ADDRESSED BY MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS. CREDIT RATINGS DO NOT ADDRESS ANY OTHER RISK, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: LIQUIDITY RISK, MARKET VALUE RISK, OR PRICE VOLATILITY. CREDIT RATINGS, NON-CREDIT ASSESSMENTS (ASSESSMENTS), AND OTHER OPINIONS INCLUDED IN MOODYS PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT STATEMENTS OF CURRENT OR HISTORICAL FACT. MOODYS PUBLICATIONS MAY ALSO INCLUDE QUANTITATIVE MODEL-BASED ESTIMATES OF CREDIT RISK AND RELATED OPINIONS OR COMMENTARY PUBLISHED BY MOODYS ANALYTICS, INC. AND/OR ITS AFFILIATES. MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS DO NOT CONSTITUTE OR PROVIDE INVESTMENT OR FINANCIAL ADVICE, AND MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT AND DO NOT PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO PURCHASE, SELL, OR HOLD PARTICULAR SECURITIES. MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS DO NOT COMMENT ON THE SUITABILITY OF AN INVESTMENT FOR ANY PARTICULAR INVESTOR. MOODYS ISSUES ITS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS AND OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLISHES ITS PUBLICATIONS WITH THE EXPECTATION AND UNDERSTANDING THAT EACH INVESTOR WILL, WITH DUE CARE, MAKE ITS OWN STUDY AND EVALUATION OF EACH SECURITY THAT IS UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR PURCHASE, HOLDING, OR SALE.MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS, AND PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY RETAIL INVESTORS AND IT WOULD BE RECKLESS AND INAPPROPRIATE FOR RETAIL INVESTORS TO USE MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS OR PUBLICATIONS WHEN MAKING AN INVESTMENT DECISION. IF IN DOUBT YOU SHOULD CONTACT YOUR FINANCIAL OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL ADVISER.ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS PROTECTED BY LAW, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, COPYRIGHT LAW, AND NONE OF SUCH INFORMATION MAY BE COPIED OR OTHERWISE REPRODUCED, REPACKAGED, FURTHER TRANSMITTED, TRANSFERRED, DISSEMINATED, REDISTRIBUTED OR RESOLD, OR STORED FOR SUBSEQUENT USE FOR ANY SUCH PURPOSE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN ANY FORM OR MANNER OR BY ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER, BY ANY PERSON WITHOUT MOODYS PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT.MOODYS CREDIT RATINGS, ASSESSMENTS, OTHER OPINIONS AND PUBLICATIONS ARE NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY ANY PERSON AS A BENCHMARK AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED FOR REGULATORY PURPOSES AND MUST NOT BE USED IN ANY WAY THAT COULD RESULT IN THEM BEING CONSIDERED A BENCHMARK.All information contained herein is obtained by MOODYS from sources believed by it to be accurate and reliable. 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MCO and Moodys Investors Service also maintain policies and procedures to address the independence of Moodys Investors Service credit ratings and credit rating processes. Information regarding certain affiliations that may exist between directors of MCO and rated entities, and between entities who hold credit ratings from Moodys Investors Service and have also publicly reported to the SEC an ownership interest in MCO of more than 5%, is posted annually at www.moodys.com under the heading Investor Relations  Corporate Governance  Director and Shareholder Affiliation Policy.Additional terms for Australia only: Any publication into Australia of this document is pursuant to the Australian Financial Services License of MOODYS affiliate, Moodys Investors Service Pty Limited ABN 61 003 399 657AFSL 336969 and/or Moodys Analytics Australia Pty Ltd ABN 94 105 136 972 AFSL 383569 (as applicable). This document is intended to be provided only to wholesale clients within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act 2001. By continuing to access this document from within Australia, you represent to MOODYS that you are, or are accessing the document as a representative of, a wholesale client and that neither you nor the entity you represent will directly or indirectly disseminate this document or its contents to retail clients within the meaning of section 761G of the Corporations Act 2001. MOODYS credit rating is an opinion as to the creditworthiness of a debt obligation of the issuer, not on the equity securities of the issuer or any form of security that is available to retail investors.Additional terms for Japan only: Moody's Japan K.K. (MJKK) is a wholly-owned credit rating agency subsidiary of Moody's Group Japan G.K., which is wholly-owned by Moodys Overseas Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of MCO. Moodys SF Japan K.K. (MSFJ) is a wholly-owned credit rating agency subsidiary of MJKK. MSFJ is not a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO). Therefore, credit ratings assigned by MSFJ are Non-NRSRO Credit Ratings. Non-NRSRO Credit Ratings are assigned by an entity that is not a NRSRO and, consequently, the rated obligation will not qualify for certain types of treatment under U.S. laws. MJKK and MSFJ are credit rating agencies registered with the Japan Financial Services Agency and their registration numbers are FSA Commissioner (Ratings) No. 2 and 3 respectively.MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) hereby disclose that most issuers of debt securities (including corporate and municipal bonds, debentures, notes and commercial paper) and preferred stock rated by MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) have, prior to assignment of any credit rating, agreed to pay to MJKK or MSFJ (as applicable) for credit ratings opinions and services rendered by it fees ranging from JPY125,000 to approximately JPY550,000,000.MJKK and MSFJ also maintain policies and procedures to address Japanese regulatory requirements. 
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PLATTSMOUTH  A Florida man who allegedly stole multiple credit cards and checks learned Monday morning that his Cass County bond would be reduced.

Rommario R. OConnor, 25, took part in an arraignment hearing in Cass County District Court. OConnor pled not guilty to a Class IIA felony charge of criminal possession of four or more financial transaction devices. The court set a pre-trial conference date of March 21 with a potential jury trial in April.

Defense attorney Julie Bear asked the court to consider reducing OConnors bond from its current level of $100,000, 10 percent. She requested a lower bond of $75,000, 10 percent. She said both co-defendants in the case had already been released from Cass County Jail on their bonds.

Deputy County Attorney Richard Fedde asked the court to keep the bond at $100,000. He said OConnor had left his home in North Lauderdale, Fla., this past fall and had allegedly stolen many credit cards and checks from people in Missouri and Iowa. He and two other co-defendants had allegedly broken into cars in both states.

A Cass County Sheriffs Office deputy stopped the rental car OConnor was traveling in on Oct. 18. The driver had committed a traffic infraction as the car merged onto the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 from Nebraska Highway 63. Fedde said authorities allegedly found stolen credit cards hidden under the fuse box and air filter of the car.

OConnor has been in Cass County Jail since Oct. 18. Fedde said OConnors criminal history dates back to 2006 and includes convictions of burglary, robbery, criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and battery.

Judge Michael Smith reduced the bond to $75,000, 10 percent. He warned OConnor that he needed to appear for all future court dates.

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Aref Nouri, the head of Afghanistan's private Nourin television network, has been arrested by the Taliban authorities for unspecified reasons.

Nouri's son, Roman Nouri, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on December 27 that Taliban security forces arrived at the family's home in Kabul the day earlier and took his father away.

The younger Nouri said no arrest warrant was presented when officers wearing national security service uniforms surrounded and entered the home and that they refused to say where his father was being taken.

"We have no idea where he is being held," Roman Nouri said, adding that the Taliban later confirmed it had carried out the arrest.

The Association of Free Journalists cited a Taliban government spokesman as saying the arrest was not related to Nouri's media activities.

Hojjatullah Mujaddidi, the association's executive director, said it has thus far failed to determine where Nouri is being held and has requested information from the authorities.

Four journalists have been arrested or beaten by the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan in recent days, according to the association, and the fate of two of them is unknown.

The Taliban, which employed a strict interpretation of Islamic Shari'a law during its last stint in power from 1996 to 2001, retook power in Kabul in mid-August, prompting concerns about the future of free media and human rights in the country.
The William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center, which opened in mid-2020 on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs campus, is owned by the university and partly-rented by Centura Health. The center was intended to attract users from around the country, but its three branches  sports performance, sports medicine and academics  are open to the public.
About the series

This ongoing series from The Gazette delves into Colorados broken mental health care system. In this series, a team of Gazette journalists investigate the gaps in care for children, for veterans, and for the community at large. The series also focuses on solutions that might come as state officials and community leaders sharpen their focus on what for many is a vicious cycle of despair and ruin.

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1619 Project author ripped for saying parents should have no say in school curriculum
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'We have more work to do,' Biden says, pledges more COVID tests
All of us need reliable friends. We take companionship where we can find it. In some cases, that camaraderie comes in the form of correspondence. Ergo, the term pen pal.
The owners of Dos Santos Tacos, a traditional sit-down restaurant, are bringing a fast-casual, grab-and-go concept to downtown Colorado Springs.

Dos Dos, as the new restaurant will be called, will take over an empty storefront at 131 N. Tejon St. in downtown Colorado Springs.

The space, on the southeast corner of Tejon and Bijou streets and across from Acacia Park, was the longtime home of a Subway sandwich shop that's been vacant since it closed in 2020.

Dos Dos will be a spinoff of Dos Santos Tacos, said Jason Wallenta, a co-owner of Dos Santos with his wife, Riley O'Brien, and his brother, Kris. Dos Santos opened in 2015 in Denver; it expanded to downtown Colorado Springs in 2018 as one of several restaurants in the remodeled Trolley Building in the 500 block of South Tejon.

Dos Dos will be "burrito driven," Jason Wallenta said  breakfast burritos in the morning and more traditional burritos during the day.

Another signature item will be tacos al pastor  a taco made with pork that's cooked on a rotated, vertical spit. The item is popular in Mexico, Wallenta said.

"It's a soft taco that literally nobody in the Springs is doing," he said.

Other menu fare will include nachos, bowls and salads. Though Dos Dos will be related to Dos Santos Tacos, it will have all new recipes, Wallenta added.

The Dos Santos owners have looked for a downtown Colorado Springs space to launch a spinoff that would cater more to a casual crowd, with grab-and-go fare, Wallenta said.

The former Subway location was a perfect fit, he said. Not only is it across from Acacia Park, but it's about a block from Palmer High School. It's also is the heart of the Tejon Street retail corridor frequented by office workers and tourists.

"There's tons of college kids and office people and offices where they don't have time to go down to Dos Santos and get a whole taco meal," Wallenta said. "But you can run down the block to get a burrito to go or a salad, some nachos or some al pastor tacos."

Though Dos Dos will have grab-and-go items, it also will have indoor seating for 30 to 40 people; customers can walk in, order food at a counter, pick it up and sit down, Wallenta said.

A full-service, indoor-outdoor cocktail bar and an expanded, updated patio also will be major restaurant amenities, Wallenta said.

"You could just grab burritos to go or you could grab a seat at the bar and have a bartender wait on you and order food and order drinks," he said.

The former Subway space will get a makeover as part of the new restaurant, according to a proposal submitted to city government planners by YOW Architects of Colorado Springs.

The building's exterior will be stripped down to its original brick facade, the proposal shows. New windows and doors, metal accents and a west-facing, garage door on the building's front also are planned.

"This project shall update the existing bland facade that faces Acacia Park (and become) a prominent feature for the downtown area," YOW Architects' proposal says.

Wallenta said he expects building construction to begin in mid to late January, and Dos Dos is targeted to open in the summer.

If Dos Dos does well, the owners will look to open additional locations, he said.

Dos Dos would be the latest venture for the Wallentas, who have a long background in the restaurant industry.

Growing up in New Haven, Conn., Jason and Kris talked about opening their own restaurant, according to the Dos Santos Tacos website. They moved to Colorado in the early 1990s, attended college here and decided to stay after falling in love with the state, Jason said.

Kris spent time in Mexico with an aunt and uncle who operated a restaurant, then attended the French Culinary Institute in New York before he opened his first restaurant in 2008 in Mexico. Jason later joined Kris in Mexico, where they opened a second restaurant in 2010.

The brothers returned to Denver and opened Dos Santos Tacos in July 2015.

In 2017, they opened White Pie Pizzeria in Denver; in early 2021, they expanded the White Pie concept to downtown Colorado Springs with a location at 330 S. Nevada Ave.

Their latest Dos Santos Tacos is slated to open in mid-January in Castle Rock.
The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research recently announced its search for a president, a new position created by the board of trustees.

To aid in the transition process, Betty Jo Foster will serve as interim president for the newly formed role. Current Executive Director Mark Gignac will continue with certain administrative and operational responsibilities under the new structure. The expansion of executive leadership is a result of extensive growth in the level of activity of the Institute, as well as strategic succession planning.

The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research has served as a regional catalyst for economic growth and transformation of Southern Virginia since 2002, and we are committed to ensuring this legacy continues for many more decades to come, said Roy Ford Jr., chair of the Institute board of trustees. While the board recognizes and appreciates the accomplishments of IALR under the leadership of Mark Gignac, our recent completion of a seven-month strategic planning process uncovered the need for expanded top management resources to provide increased strategic leadership. The addition of a President will help better balance and focus responsibilities while fulfilling our strategy of intentional, well-executed succession planning.

The Institute has formed a seven-member search committee to identify, interview and recommend candidates for the position. It has also chosen Korn Ferry in Washington, D.C., to conduct a national search. The firm will work with community stakeholders to gather input regarding the preferred attributes and qualifications for the new president. The president will provide high-level, strategic leadership and the goal is to fill the position in 2022.

Foster will serve as interim president effective Jan. 5. She brings leadership experience to the role which includes time as former chair of the Institute board of trustees. She also has served as interim president for both Danville Community College and Central Virginia Community College. In addition, she was the interim president and CEO for the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Betty Jo Foster as Interim President and look forward to the keen insight and strategic oversight she will provide, Ford said. Her valuable experience and deep knowledge of our areas challenges and opportunities will aid our efforts to establish an expanded leadership structure and continue driving successful economic transformation throughout Southern Virginia.
With a barrage of questions still looming from Pittsylvania County residents over soaring property values, the court system has approved an extension in the reassessment process.

Last week, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors passed a motion asking 90 extra days which was granted by circuit court.

Some residents likely experienced sticker shock last month when they realized the new assessed value of their property jumped sharply. On Nov. 19, the county sent notices to all property owners following a reassessment process that spanned more than a year. By law, localities with more than 50,000 residents must conduct reassessment every four years.

County leaders contracted with Brightminds to gather data on the properties. The company used many avenues to determine values, including drone technology.

There have been many unusual circumstances that have impacted Pittsylvania Countys 2022 reassessment process, Bob Warren, chairman of the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors, said in a statement. With the drastic rise in property values, we believe that this 90-day extension will ensure that adequate review can occur and will allow more property owners to have appeals meetings with Brightminds.

The extra time also allows the county to work with the Virginia Department of Taxation and give residents more options to meet with Brightminds for appeals.

The county is required to finish reassessment by the end of the calendar year. However, the extension  allowed under state code  means itll be March 31 before the new property values are certified and moved into county records, a news release stated.

The county cited staffing impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic as one reason for the extension request in addition the unprecedented increase in property values over the past four years, the news release stated.

County leaders put the blame on supply and demand shifts from the pandemic for spike in property values, a trend playing out across the nation.

In the first half of December, Brightminds held more than 1,000 meetings with property owners. However, the company wasnt able to talk with everyone who requested a session and some people havent yet heard from Brightminds. The 90-extension will allow the county to work with Brightminds to schedule additional meetings in January.

Providing excellent customer service is a top priority for Pittsylvania County government in all areas, and that is especially true during this reassessment process, said Vic Ingram, Tunstall District Supervisor who made the motion to authorize the extension. We believe that this extension will allow us to adequately serve our residents and property owners by giving more time for these appeals meetings.

The informal appeal meetings with Brightminds serve as a substitute for the board of assessors, an alternative reassessment appeals method that Pittsylvania County utilized in the past, the news release stated. Anyone still not satisfied with the process can make a formal appeal to the county board of equalization, which is expected to convene in the spring.

The November reassessment notices werent bills. Instead, the information was distributed to residents to let them know the propertys updated value that will be used for tax purposes over the next four years, Ayers said.

However, that doesnt automatically translate into a higher tax bill. In fact, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors expected the higher values and anticipates lowering the tax rate in an effort to balance the burden on residents.
With only half of the Danville and Pittsylvania County population fully vaccinated  and fewer than 1-in-5 individuals boosted  the local health department is continuing efforts to get more shots in more arms.

The Pittsylvania-Danville Health District will host two vaccine clinics in January at Danville elementary schools.

Being vaccinated and boosted is especially important now with the rise in cases caused by the omicron variant of the virus, Dr. Scott Spillmann, director of the local health district, said in a statement. These more contagious strains can spread quickly and vaccines are our best hope to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

A vaccine doesnt guarantee a person wont get COVID-19, Spillmann said, however the shots are proven to prevent severe illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths.

The clinics will provide free first, second and booster doses for the public, a news release explained. Vaccines are available to anyone 5 and older.

In Danville and Pittsylvania County, only 4% of children ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated and only 30% of those 12 to 15 years old have had the proper doses. Overall, only half the population is protected with vaccinations.

Boosters  viewed by medical experts as a needed extra layer of protection against COVID-19  are slowly flowing into the arms of residents. In Danville, 18% have rolled up their sleeves again for a booster dose. In Pittsylvania County, only 16% have the extra shot.

The Pfizer vaccine is available for anyone 5 and older, but a parent or guardian must accompany anyone under 18. The Moderna vaccine and the single-dose Johnson & Johnson are available for anyone 18 and older.

The Pfizer booster may be obtained by anyone 16 and older at least six months from their second injection. The Moderna version is on the same timeframe, but only those 18 and older may receive a booster. For the one-shot Johnson and Johnson version, anyone 18 and older may receive a booster dose at least two months from the original vaccine.

Residents may choose which booster to receive, meaning its possible to mix and match. However, the Virginia Department of Health urges individuals to talk with a doctor or health care provider to make the right decision.

The clinics are set from 9 to 11 a.m. Jan. 8 at Johnson Elementary School located 680 Arnett Blvd. and from 9 to 11 a.m. Jan. 15 at Park Avenue Elementary School located at 661 Park Ave.

While walk-ins are welcome, health leaders recommend making an appointment by registering in advance at vase.vdh.virginia.gov. If anyone has issues online they may call 1-877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1).

Those with an appointment should arrive no earlier than 20 minutes. Anyone coming for a second or booster dose should bring their vaccine card.

The experience of getting a COVID-19 vaccine will be very similar to other routine vaccines, the health department explained.
But later that night, a vote of the majority of judges on the 15-person Court of Appeals reversed the panels decision and allowed candidate filing to resume.

In both decisions, the judges used a lesser-known conference process where they are free to discuss the issues at hand privately and then announce a ruling publicly without providing a tally of how the vote went.

Soon after, though, the state Supreme Court suspended candidate filing and ordered the 2022 primary election to be delayed by 10 weeks  from March 8 to May 17  as lower courts examined whether the GOP-drawn legislative and congressional maps were done unlawfully and for pure partisan gain.

Bishop believes Democrats and Republicans alike should demand transparency for all three decisions and said he is particularly interested to know the vote of Jimmy Ervin, a Democratic justice on the N.C. Supreme Court who filed for office before possibly voting shortly thereafter to halt candidate filing.

The high courts order did not disclose how each of the seven justices voted.

In his lawsuit, Bishop notes that Amy Funderburk, clerk of the state Supreme Court, told him by email that Justice Tamara Barringer, a registered Republican, signed the order postponing the election. Bishop claims that neither Barringer nor any other Supreme Court worker responded to his request for a breakdown of how the seven justices voted.
The type of virus circulating this year tends to cause the largest amount of severe disease, especially in the elderly and the very young, Brammer said.

Last year's break from the flu made it more challenging to plan for this year's flu vaccine. So far, it looks like what's circulating is in a slightly different subgroup from what the vaccine targets, but it's really too early to know whether that will blunt the vaccine's effectiveness, Brammer said.

Well have to see what the impact of these little changes" will be, Brammer said. Flu vaccine is your best way to protect yourself against flu.

There are early signs that fewer people are getting flu shots compared with last year. With hospitals already stretched by COVID-19, it's more important than ever to get a flu shot and take other precautions, Brammer said.
RALEIGH  N.C. State University students and employees who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 must get tested when returning to campus this spring as COVID-19 cases have surged with the spread of the highly infectious omicron variant.

All students living in campus dorms and apartments or in Greek Village must also get tested, regardless of vaccination or booster status, the university announced Monday.

Students, faculty and staff must provide a negative PCR test or two negative antigen tests taken within 72 hours before or after returning to campus. They can upload a screenshot, PDF file or photo of negative test results in the HealthyPack Portal if getting tested off campus.

The university will also continue to enforce COVID-19 safety measures, including face masks and weekly testing for those who are unvaccinated, for at least the first few weeks of the spring semester.

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NCSU strongly recommends getting vaccinated or a booster shot before returning to campus, and vaccination appointments are available on campus for students, faculty, staff, alumni and their immediate families.

Other local universities are also taking precautions heading into the spring semester.
CHARLOTTE  A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer has been hospitalized with non-life-threatening wounds after being shot in east Charlotte, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Monday morning.

The suspect is 14 years old and is in custody, officials said. He will be charged with robbery and attempted murder of a police officer.

The incident happened around 7:20 a.m. and began with a call about a car break-in near the 6100 block of Winged Elm Court, authorities said. Thats in the Woodland Estates Apartments south of Albemarle Road.

Officers arrived and a foot chase ensued, officials said.

The suspect fired at police while he was being chased and hit one officer, Deputy Chief Coerte Voorhees said. He said that officer returned fire but didnt hit the suspect or anyone else.

A second officer took the suspect into custody and a gun was recovered from the suspect, police said. It was not immediately known what kind of gun was recovered.
A North Carolina man awaiting trial on charges he assaulted two police officers during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol had an assault rifle and ammunition in his vehicle when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving earlier this month, according to prosecutors.

Justice Department prosecutors have asked a federal judge in Washington, D.C., to revoke 29-year-old James Tate Grants pretrial release and order him detained after his recent arrest. One of the conditions of Grants pretrial release in the Jan. 6 riot case was that he not possess a firearm or any other weapon.

The judge didnt immediately rule on Thursdays request by prosecutors.

On Dec. 7, a police officer in Garner, North Carolina, responding to a report of a suicide threat found Grant pulling out of a restaurants parking lot, according to prosecutors. Grant, who appeared to be intoxicated, told the officer about his involvement in the January 6th incident, then tried to flee while the officer placed him under arrest, prosecutors said.

He then dropped to the ground and stated something to the effect of Just kill me now. He then stated, Its over, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Court records show Morgan pleaded guilty in 2015 to driving without a commercial vehicle operator license in Iredell County. He paid a fine but was not given jail time. From that same case, he was cited with a federal safety inspection violation, but the charge was dismissed under a plea deal, public records show.

In 2008 and 2014, Morgan was cited for speeding but in both cases had the charges reduced to improper equipment, court records show.

In a statement late Thursday, Morgans attorney extended his condolences to Goodwins family.

I cant begin to imagine the devasting (sic) impact that this tragic accident will have on her husband and three young children, Charlotte attorney Harold Cogdell Jr. said in an email. There are no words that can express the extent of my sorrow.

The driver of the other truck, a 2016 Freightliner, was transported to a hospital after his interview with detectives for an elevated heart rate, police said. Its not known if that driver will face charges.

Goodwin joined CMPD in October 2015 and had just returned from maternity leave. She is survived by her husband Brenton, a Charlotte firefighter, and three children, ages 3, 1 and 4 months old.

Details about funeral arrangements have not been released. The local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police is accepting donations for her family, and two GoFundMe pages also have been set up for them.
President Biden has attempted to tamp down the frustration many feel over his inability to crush the pandemic, as he promised he would do when campaigning for the office he now holds.

In a Tuesday afternoon address from the White House, the president promised to ramp up testing sites and the number of free tests that will be made available to those who want them. He said a website will soon be established through which people can request test kits to be sent to their homes. And its all free, he repeated. He sounded like those Medicare supplement adds that just ended after open-enrollment season closed.

I have several questions about these kits, which the president said would number 500 million. First, what happens when they run out? The at-home kits I have seen contain a limited number of swabs. When they are used, do you order more and for how long? Will the government pay for these, too? If so, will it continue to pay for them and for how long? Taxpayers have a right to know, given the deepening debt.
That battle has unspooled in public school classrooms, waged by people who misguidedly want to preserve a very specific version of our national story, one that prioritizes white and privileged voices over those who have been marginalized for too long. But to do that is to defy the reality of history. Its impossible to tell the full American story without including the voices of its native people, the enslaved and formerly enslaved, upon whose backs the country was painfully brought to life.

That battle has also moved into our courtrooms, before a U.S. Supreme Court that seems perfectly ready to strip bodily autonomy from half our population.

As those brass plaques along the bridge make clear, we were once a nation that celebrated science. One particularly makes note of Thomas Edison helping to bring the nation out of darkness in 1879, by building his first light bulb. Nearly a century-and-a-half on, the president of the United States pleaded with the American people last week to follow basic science and get vaccinated against a virus that has so far killed more than 800,000 of their fellow citizens.

We see it in attacks on voting rights and the legitimacy of our elections.
A group of residents, business people and government and elected officials are seeking nearly $46 million to help with improvements to the Silos Recreation Area that hugs the southwestern shore of Canyon Ferry Reservoir in Broadwater County.

The group met recently with Rep. Matt Rosendale to discuss the multi-phased proposal outlined in a 2021 master plan, which includes building a new access road, excavation work on bays, redeveloping campground loops, developing campsites, development of the northern day-use area and completing shoreline and interior trail systems, water systems, a drain filed, pump stations and a visitor center.

Rosendale said he would have to look into the best funding source for such a project.

Quite frankly, when you push as much money out the door as the federal government has in the past year, they dont even know where it is all going, he said, adding it would be up to him and his staff to find the best source. Im going to have to do some research myself and see what kind of sources are available, and what kind of limitations are placed on that

He said it would lead to more discussions about the possibilities.

The Silos Recreation Area, known as the SRA, is seven miles north of Townsend and on federal land owned by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) and managed by Broadwater County. The Bureau of Reclamation built the 35,181-acre reservoir on the Missouri River in 1953 as a unit of its Pick-Sloan Missouri River, according to a 2021 master plan for the Silos.

The area is named for two silo towers, which are just a few items that remain of the A.B. Cook ranching enterprise on the west side of the Missouri River. Cook was a prominent Montana railroad contractor, real estate magnate, state auditor, cattle breeder, sheep rancher and politician. In Broadwater County, he also was one of the largest landowners at one point, according to a 2012 story in the Helena Independent Record.

The reservoir is known for its walleye and trout fishing in addition to boating and recreation. The lake shore Bureau of Reclamation campground has 86 dry sites (for both RVs and tents), four gazebos, handicapped accessible restrooms and five boat ramps which are available to the public for either a daily or seasonal fee. Broadwater Bay also has a marina which has 77 boat slips for daily or seasonal rent.

This is a big step for us and what weve done here, Al Christophersen of Citizens Action group for the Silos Recreation Area said at the beginning of the meeting that included county commissioners, the Broadwater County Trust Board, campground officials, Bureau of Reclamation employees, the Townsend Area Chamber of Commerce and residents of the subdivision at the Silos just off state Route 287.

The Dec. 17 meeting with Rosendale was at the request of the Republican congressman, Christophersen said, adding the group had reached out to all three members of Montanas delegation and Rosendale was the first to respond. Those at the meeting went through the history of the area and how the 66-page master plan came into fruition.

Christophersen said Broadwater Bay was excavated 15 years ago and a boat ramp was installed.

That has been the biggest success story, I think, recreation-wise, out here. It has drawn lots and lots of folks out here, he said.

But he said the use is getting to the point of sparking some problems as tempers get short from all the boats trying to get in and out of the reservoir.

Christophersen said a master plan was developed by Robert Peccia and Associates in Helena. It called for five phases and an estimated cost was attached to each phase, bringing the total to $45.8 million.

That is a big number, Christophersen said, but that is a huge, huge area.

The proposal also stated that grants, volunteer help and local organizations may lessen costs.

Here is a brief description of the phases, along with the cost.

Phase 1: ($2.6 million) Build a new access road designed to maximize the length of the SRA and aid in development of other phases.

Phase 2: ($15.2 million) This phase is expensive as it requires excavation work in all eight bays in the SRA. Several are deep bays which allow boater access during the fall and spring seasons of low water levels. This includes construction of new multiple lane standard boat ramps with a parking area and Americans with Disabilities Act access.

Phase 2B: ($14.9 million) Development of three campground loops containing electrical and water services, roads and state-of-the-art campsite designs.

Phase 3: ($7.9 million) This is for development of Engineers Bay campsites and two more campground loops.

Phase 4: ($2.2 million) This is for development of the northern day use area and Americans With Disabilities Act fishing access, day-use pavilions and shoreline area.

Phase 5: ($2.9 million) This completes on-site shoreline and interior trail systems, landscaping and water systems, irrigation, drain field and dump stations and a visitors center.

Several of those at the Dec. 17 meeting said the project may have to be financed from several sources and done in phases.

Christophersen said now it is the time to implement the plan and said this is an opportunity to take an existing facility and expand.

Rosendale asked for hard numbers from the group -- who is coming to the Silos, how many people and where they are coming from.

He also said national parks such as Yellowstone and Glacier and other recreation areas are seeing more visitors due to people seeking open space during COVID-19.

If COVID-19 has done nothing else,  it has introduced the great outdoors to people who didnt utilize it, Rosendale said.

Several at the meeting noted the Silos is positioned about halfway between Glacier and Yellowstone parks.

Rosendale said the master plan was an incredible step and said they should start building community support for the BOR and project.

Christophersen said they could start developing portfolios of support.

Esther Fishbaugh, concessionaire at Silos Marina and Campground, said after the meeting it was good to bring Rosendale into the loop, though working through the federal government can be a long journey.

It never hurts to sew a lot of seeds in a very broad manner, but we have to keep working locally, she said, adding it would not hurt to have Rosendale be able to let them know of grants they can pursue.

In November, Rosendale voted against the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, saying it favored liberal priorities with just a portion spent on hard infrastructure projects like roads, bridges and water systems.

Broadwater County Commissioner Debi Randolph attended the meeting along with Commissioner Darrel Folkvord.

She called the discussion a wonderful first step.

Randolph said it would take a mix of funds to see the master plan through, but said the lions share would have to come from the federal government.

Its too big for the state and county to take care of, she said.

To read the 2021 master plan, go to: https://bit.ly/3qjsDKE.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Road to recreational cannabis After the medical marijuana industry navigated a winding route of regulatory overhauls, federal raids and Supreme Court rulings, Montanans started the next part of the states journey when 58% of voters approved recreational cannabis in the 2020 election. For this seven-part series, the Montana State News Bureau's Seaborn Larson and Thom Bridge have documented the route providers, local regulators and law enforcement have taken as they prepare for the new cannabis landscape in Montana. The series will conclude with a first-day look at recreational sales on Jan. 1

FOUR CORNERS  Anticipation for Jan. 1 hangs in the air of a parking lot here where four cannabis dispensaries sit shoulder-to-shoulder.

Next month could mean a budding business plan blossoming into its full potential, or it could bring possible failure in an industry as crowded as this lot.

Its kind of like charging into the dark, said Cody Lundmark, co-owner of Sacred Sun Farms, one of the four shops of the Four Corners cluster.

Montana will launch recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 1. The road to recreational use has been thrust onward by Montanas voters, who legalized medical use in 2004 and then took the full plunge in 2020. In last years election, 58% of voters enshrined cannabis use in the state Constitution alongside alcohol.

In the final weeks ahead of recreational sales, providers have been ramping up their production, specializing their craft and bracing for the unknowns like what demand will be.

Local governments, meanwhile, have been trying to balance the voters will with regulatory framework rolled out by the state Legislature, along with feedback from the industry.

In this lot, providers are nervous and excited, but their position in the weeks leading up to recreational sales makes all the difference in determining who is confident and who is keeping their options open.

New market opportunities

Sacred Sun Farms has 11 greenhouses and a high-end laboratory to engineer concentrate products like oils, and Lundmark doesnt expect their shelves will go bare in the first wave of recreational sales. He said Sacred Sun is working on contracts to wholesale some of their concentrates to other dispensaries and let the product advertise itself in regions where Sacred Sun doesnt have retail.

Wholesaling is arguably the second-largest shift in the industry come Jan. 1, behind recreational sales. Previously, cannabis providers had to be vertically integrated, meaning must they grow, manufacture and retail their entire product line.

In order to provide edibles, like cookies, concentrates and oils, dispensaries had to make huge investments in their equipment and quality control.

But under the new regulatory structure, providers can be horizontally integrated. That means they can run growing, manufacturing or retail operations, or any combination of the three. Theoretically, that could make a provider better able to play whatever hand theyre dealt in terms of size, location and access to cash investments.

It changes the whole infrastructure of the market, said Kate Cholewa, government affairs representative at the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, a trade group thats long been involved in policymaking around cannabis. "Wholesaling can help some of the smaller producers keep their store shelves with product on it. It also means smaller folks are letting go of their concentrate production, which is an expensive piece."

Across the lot from Sacred Sun, Chris Paradise with Supherb Wellness said recreational sales could mean boom or bust for his business.

The most recent shift in Montanas medical cannabis regulations untethered patients from a single provider, allowing them to shop freely across Montanas dispensaries. Since that change in 2020, Paradise said a loyal customer base has kept Supherb Wellness on its feet. But along with untethering, license fees have climbed.

Its brutal, Paradise said. (Im) just trying to pay the bills and keep options open to doing something else.

Paradise said if recreational sales, along with a new shop on Four Corners main drag, doesnt boost his business, selling his product wholesale to another provider could give him a chance to stay in the industry. He, like others who spoke to the Montana State News Bureau for this story, have had offers from out-of-state prospectors. Paradise, like many others, turned them down.

Id rather go wholesale and stay the boss, he said.

Then theres Bloom. The provider has 24 dispensaries, 220 employees statewide and a Tier 12 license, the largest growing capacity available to providers.

Based in Helena, co-owner John Hoofman said Bloom began preparing for a recreational market in mid-2020, on a wager Bloom and several other providers bet that voters would approve legalization. Since then the business has built out its cultivation and retail infrastructure, keeping their processes dialed each step of the way.

Its really just organizing and analyzing the processes to make sure you have things in order to be able to execute, Hoofman said. You try to anticipate moving parts to the best of your ability.

The question of quantity

The demand for recreational sales remains the industrys great mystery of 2022. Several providers who spoke to the Montana State News Bureau for this story said, after looking at other states that approved recreational cannabis use, theyre preparing for a 30-40% increase in sales from their annual medical sales.

But trying to accurately grow what an unknown consumer base will buy is like trying to fix a time machine before its ever launched someone to a different era.

The Governor's Office of Budget and Program Planning projected $130 million in recreational sales in 2022, climbing to $195.5 million in 2023 once the moratorium on new businesses ends. These numbers were based on earlier projections by the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, and adjusted downward to account for initial supply limitations as a result of the moratorium on new cannabis businesses until mid-2023.

The growth rates into future years was based on the increase of recreational cannabis sales in Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Nevada and Alaska.

J.D. Pepper Petersen, president and CEO of the Montana Cannabis Guild, another trade group in Montana, is not optimistic about providers meeting demand. The medical industry was geared to produce no more than what registered cardholders were consuming, and Petersen doesn't believe the industry has had enough time to ramp up for an expanded market. Add in the millions of tourists that visit Montana each year, and supply-and-demand becomes hard to reconcile.

"I just don't see how we're going to be able to keep up," Petersen said. "Our capacity might be there in November when the tourists leave."

Some providers, whether theyre stalwarts of Montanas marijuana industry or new to the scene, are going to feel out the market before scaling their businesses.

Gallatin Valley Organics, a Tier 1 shop in Bozeman, is waiting it out to see where theyll fit best in the market, said manager Theresa Upp. In the coming months, Gallatin Valley Organics will have a kitchen up and running to offer edibles, but with a small-scale growing capacity, they are studious about the quality of their flower.

Add in their location  a block off Main Street, prime real estate in a booming town  and the small shop has mighty staying power in a potentially chaotic market.

Weve been a little slower than others, but were being calculated about it, Upp said.

In Missoula, Glenn Broughton of Starrbuds said hes remained a Tier 2 provider, but hadnt previously maxed out his grow facility. Starrbuds has a healthy revenue at its current size, he said, and filling out his square footage for cultivation feels like a good cushion. Broughton considered scaling up if he needs to meet demand, but doesnt foresee a huge wave of customers around the corner.

Weve been medical here since 2004, the whole novelty  its not near as enticing to people, he said. Its going to be the first week or two thats going to be the busiest.

Government regulations

Local governments, meanwhile, are busy setting the table for recreational sales to begin next year.

The Legislatures final framework for legalization allowed counties that did not approve recreational cannabis sales to continue that prohibition on business, despite recreational cannabis use still being lawful statewide. The result is a patchwork of green counties, which largely cover the western part of the state, and red counties, which mostly populate the east side of the state. Counties then have some levers to control things locally, like whether to flip to a red or green county, or to impose an additional tax on cannabis sales, or how to weave the upcoming industry into its community fabric.

Not every market looks awash in cannabis like Four Corners. Dispensaries have in some cases filled out spaces in communities where other businesses have fallen away, populating a former drive-in restaurant in Missoula or a shuttered storefront on main street downtown.

Gallatin County has the largest number of dispensaries at 76, but since 2013 only 20 have been allowed in Bozeman city limits.

In October, the Bozeman City Commission voted to remove that cap, a new arrangement city officials said would reflect the countys overwhelming vote to legalize recreational use and roll back restrictions to allow the state to take a more controlling role over the industry.

Nearly half of the providers located in the city sued the next month to reinstate the cap, claiming it devalued their city licenses and would create the same congestion as seen in Four Corners, which is in the county.

Missoulas city council never created a cap, but did set a 500-foot buffer between dispensaries.

Billings, meanwhile, is having a near identity crisis. In Yellowstone County, 53% of voters approved marijuana.

Months ago, voters in Billings, where 60% of the county lives, decided to keep recreational sales out of city limits. Medical storefronts were already banned in the city. Following a public hearing earlier this month, the Yellowstone County Commission put the entire notion of recreational cannabis back to the voters this coming June, to possibly reverse their decision in 2020.

Tribal framework

Montanas tribes, meanwhile, were promised equal footing when the state Legislature passed its vision for a recreational marijuana market.

Each of the eight tribal governments were given a combined-use license  in industry terms, a vertical license  that allowed tribes to sell cannabis 150 air miles from the reservation border.

Those terms allowed tribes into the market without fear of losing federal contracts on reservation lands, since cannabis is still illegal at the federal level.

The rules also allow tribes to put a dispensary in a county where recreational sales are legal and within the 150 air-mile range if the reservation borders a county that did not approve recreational sales in 2020.

But tribes opportunity looked to be dashed by the final language in the Legislatures framework bill, until an administrative fix earlier this month.

The legislation allocated tribes a Tier 1 license, the smallest growing capacity available. The law didnt specifically allow tribes to scale up to reap much profit, considering theyd have to develop each step in the process as vertically integrated.

The Montana Department of Revenue, which is the regulatory agency for recreational and medical cannabis, said this month they had not received any notice of interest from tribes in engaging with the combined-use licenses.

Jason Small, a Republican state senator from the Northern Cheyenne community of Busby who was influential in ensuring the licenses for tribes, said that uncertainty around state regulations may have been enough to keep tribes from making a play in the cannabis market.

Im led to believe that without that change, it wasnt that viable an option, Small said.

But in early December, an interim legislative committee and the Department of Revenue clarified the rules to say state tribes could scale up their operations.

Its a hell of an opportunity, if someone wants to use it, Small said.

Coming Tuesday: "Red counties," and whos caught in the limbo state lawmakers passed as a compromise.

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Media coverage of the debate over Build Back Better, President Joe Bidens $1.75 trillion social policy and climate plan currently stalled in Congress, has focused so much on legislative strategy and the political drama between Biden and Sen. Joe Manchin that the most crucial element  what the package would actually do  has gotten lost in the noise.

In a nutshell, it would bring America in line with most of the advanced world in terms of policies that make life better for families with children, while confronting the existential threat to humanity posed by global warming. Among provisions in the bill already passed by the House are family-leave benefits, extension of the child care tax credit, universal pre-kindergarten, tax incentives for electric vehicles and solar panels, rental assistance, drug price reduction and Medicare and Medicaid expansion.

But that cornucopia of strong progressive goals in the bill is, as it turns out, its weakness. The numerous unrelated ornaments hung on this Christmas tree of a measure threaten to tip it over. It has become clear that loading Santa down with these disparate policy issues together in an attempt to get them all down the chimney at once has actually hindered delivery of these crucial gifts to America.

Its worth reviewing just whats at stake.

Families and children: The package would provide four weeks of paid leave for workers who are sick, who are caring for family members who are sick, or who are new parents. America today is one of the few advanced countries in the world that doesnt provide paid family and sick leave.

Health care: The measure would continue the current enhanced benefits under the Affordable Care Act, which will otherwise expire at the end of next year, affecting medical insurance coverage of more than 3 million Americans. It would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices, bringing down prescription costs. It would add hearing-aid coverage to Medicare, improve home care services under Medicaid, and limit insulin costs for diabetics to $35 per month.

Environment and climate: The legislation would invest hundreds of billions in clean energy initiatives. It would provide up to $12,500 to families for electric vehicle purchases, with other incentives for purchasing home solar panels. It would pay utility companies to increase their renewable energy supply  and fine those that dont. It would provide financial incentives for the manufacture of wind turbines and would create a Civilian Climate Corps to put 300,000 people to work restoring forests.

Other provisions: Under Bidens proposal, billions of new dollars would be steered toward low-income housing, rental assistance and down-payment assistance, Pell Grant expansion for college students, community violence programs and more.

The Democratic-controlled House passed its version of the package last month, but its hung up in the Senate, where Democrats have a whisper-thin majority and cant afford to lose even one Democratic vote. The situation has (not for the first time) put enormous power in the hands of Manchin, the West Virginia centrist Democrat, who was negotiating with the Biden administration to trim back what he viewed as an overly expansive bill. The negotiations fell apart last week, possibly dooming the entire measure.

The price tag has moved around but has generally been described as near $2 trillion. However, thats a deceptively high number because its spread over a decade, and its paid for (or mostly paid for, depending on who is doing the analyzing) by tax hikes on corporations and the wealthy.

Yet that $2 trillion phrase keepings popping up as the central focus of debate, offering a fat target to Republican opponents  which is galling, given that the GOPs 2017 tax cuts for the wealthy actually did load almost $2 trillion onto the deficit, and without making life better for most Americans.

In addition, tying so many different issues together inevitably makes it easier for opponents to justify their opposition. Lawmakers who might hesitate to vote against child tax credits alone, for example, are able to find cover if they can tell their constituents they were voting against what they claim is wasteful spending on climate change mitigation.

To the extent that any of Bidens "Build Back Better" agenda is still salvageable, it may be best salvaged in smaller, more politically digestible pieces. That would present smaller price tags as targets and would force opponents to debate each idea on its merits. The merits are many.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Its really nice seeing him help other people, the restaurant manager said. It makes you feel good. You never know when youre going to be in that situation and youre going to need help.

He brightens your day. Even when we get busy, he pitches in to help.

A heart of gold

Opportunities to serve others often arise when Dunn is least expecting it.

Like the time a customer had a flat tire in the restaurant parking lot in Abingdon.

We werent able to fix the rim of the tire, and she didnt have money to get it repaired. So we had her vehicle towed and gave her the money to get it fixed. That woman visits us every year since that happened, Dunn said.

He said sometimes the money comes from his own pocket, but most of the time its donations from customers that help pay for his acts of kindness.

We have a strong group of customers who want to help, Dunn said.

Then, theres the time he met a woman at the restaurant whose son had terminal brain cancer.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Gov. Tony Evers said he might support efforts to overhaul Wisconsin's bail system, which came under scrutiny following the Waukesha Christmas parade deaths.

The Democratic governor told WISC-TV in a year-end interview published Monday that he might support changing the bail system to raise the amounts that violent offenders have to pay to stay free pending trial. But he said everyone needs to take a breath after the Waukesha incident and that all stakeholders would have to be involved in any discussions.

Prosecutors say Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into the parade last month, killing six people and injuring dozens of others. Court records show that he had been arrested for allegedly running over the mother of his child several weeks prior. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's office requested $1,000 cash bail for him in that case. He paid it and was released two days before the parade.
The cadaver dogs were busy performing the grim duties of their training when the opportunists leapt into action.

They couldnt let a catastrophic loss of human life get in the way of pitching a hefty dose of politically expedient, anti-science rhetoric. To which countless others shook our heads and asked, Is nothing sacred?

The deaths and devastation by tornadoes across multiple states, but especially in Kentucky, are hard to comprehend.

Its one thing to know the escalating number of fatalities  more than 80 at this writing, with dozens still missing  and to also assess the leveled blocks of homes and businesses. But to carry the grief, the economic consequences and simply the sense of helplessness of such a tragedy, well, thats impossible for anyone but the people living it.

Coping with something of that magnitude is personal. That fact alone ought to make it somewhat sacrosanct.

Which is why the easy takes, the slaps at old rivals, were so numbingly predictable and at the same time, disappointing.

The attacks cut both ways; hard left and hard right.
Stakeholders from many quarters are doing their best to get their minds around the changes the incoming configuration of state government will bring  and what it meant that these changes were even set in motion.

Referring back to Terry McAuliffes run as the Democratic candidate for governor in 2013, when he eaked out a win against hardcore social conservative (and science skeptic) Ken Cuccinelli, Holsworth floated this what-if, condensed here for clarity: If I had told you before the election that Terry McAuliffe would more than double his margin in Loudoun County, that he would add eight points to his margin in Fairfax County, that he would add to his margin in Prince William County, that he would add to his margin in Henrico County and that he would halve his deficit in Chesterfield County from eight points to four points  if I told you all of that was going to happen, how many of you would have placed your theoretical bets on Glenn Youngkin?
The Hickory community waits to find out what will happen with Tangela and Eric Parker. As of December, trial dates have not been set and plea arrangements have not been made. They are both scheduled to return to court in February 2022.

District Attorney Scott Reilly said he is unsure if the case involving the Parkers will be resolved in 2022.

Reilly said his goal is to work through the countys oldest murder cases first. He also takes into consideration if the defendant is in custody, if there are victims that are waiting for justice and the seriousness of a case.

We still have five murders that happened in 2020, Reilly said.

Zakylen Harris shot and killed while with his mother

Zakylen Harris died on the night of April 21 after being shot in the neck while in the passenger seat of a car his mother was driving on Tate Boulevard.

He was pronounced dead at Catawba Valley Medical Center.

Surveillance video Hickory Police released during their investigation showed the victims vehicle turn onto Tate Boulevard at the 15th Street SE intersection. The suspects vehicle followed in the same direction.
CINCINNATI (AP)  Nancy Keating, a charitable volunteer and matriarch of a large family with deep and philanthropic ties to the Cincinnati area, has died. She was 94.

She died peacefully at her home Friday, son Mike Keating said in an email.

Keating was the wife of the late William J. Keating, who after leaving Congress in the 1970s spent three decades as an Ohio newspaper executive and served on the board of The Associated Press. Her brother-in-law Charles Keating was a finance executive who was a key figure in the 1980s national savings and loan crisis.

Mom was very kind, very wise and had a wonderful sense of humor," Mike Keating wrote. "She was always patient and calm with us. As they say, you cant pick your parents, but we were so blessed and so fortunate to have mom and dad as our parents.

Nancy Keating was president of her senior class and valedictorian at St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. She attended the University of Cincinnati, where she was active in student politics.

She christened the submarine USS Cincinnati in 1977 and served on the commission that marked Cincinnatis 200th birthday. She was a longtime soup kitchen and Meals on Wheels volunteer, her son wrote.
27 December 2021

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Labor & Employment New Year Round-Up

What to Expect in 2022

Several new pieces of California legislation have either recently gone into effect or will take effect in 2022, impacting nearly all employers and how they handle employment agreements, disability related to COVID, training, rehiring and retention, and a range of other practices. A new presidential administration also means a shift in the political landscape and the role played by the NLRB, OSHA and other regulatory bodies.

Our round-up will help you determine which key issues may impact you in 2022; contact us to be sure youre ready for all these upcoming changes. Click the read more link for each topic to see a comprehensive summary.

Expansions to the California Family Rights Act

Effective January 1, 2022, AB 1033 adds parent-in-law to the list of persons that an employee may take time off to care for, pursuant to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). It also recasts the notice provisions of the small employer family leave mediation pilot program to require the DFEH to notify an employee of the requirement for mediation prior to filing a civil action, and requires the employee to contact the DFEHs dispute resolution division prior to filing an action.

What this means for employers: Employers should review family leave policies to ensure they are compliant with AB 1033. Although the law adds a new category of person an employee may take time off to care for, it does not expand the total amount of leave an employee is entitled to take per 12 month period. Small employers should be aware of their ability to request mediation, and should consult with labor and employment counsel immediately upon receiving notice by a plaintiff or the DFEH that a plaintiff is seeking a civil lawsuitthe deadline to request a mediation is only 30 days from receipt of notice.

Read the full article.

Changes to the Fair Employment and Housing Act

Effective January 1, 2022, SB 807 amends various statutes concerning the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) procedures when enforcing Californias civil rights lawnotably, the FEHA. These changes include tolling the deadline for the DFEH to file a civil action under the FEHA while a dispute resolution is pending, increasing the amount of time employers must keep certain records, and authorizing the DFEH to appeal court decisions.

What this means for employers: Employers should review their current record retention policies and amend them as necessary. This also provides an opportunity to ensure that employers are retaining all the necessary records so that they do not face unnecessary penalties or subject themselves to avoidable liability. SB 807s tolling of the statute of limitations deadline provides additional leeway to employees who are seeking redress, and the authorization for the DFEH to appeal decisions grants it additional flexibility when pursing actions against employers.

Read the full article.

COVID-19 Rehiring and Retention Requirements for Employers

Effective April 16, 2021, SB 93 requires employers in certain industries to notify former employees laid off due to COVID-19 about job openings for which the former employees are eligible within five days of establishing the open position; they must offer the open position to laid-off employees based on a preference system. SB 93 also requires that if an employer declines to recall a laid-off employee based on lack of qualifications and hires someone else, that employer must provide the laid-off employee written notice within 30 days detailing the specific reasons for the employers decision. The bill also contains a collective bargaining agreement waiver provision, providing that the waiver of recall rights must be expressly stated in the collective bargaining agreement.

What this means for employers: Employers subject to SB 93 must create processes and procedures for complying with the new law. Employers with collective bargaining agreements should review the agreements and, if they desire at the next opportunity, negotiate an express waiver of the recall rights set out in SB 93.

Read the full article.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Determines That COVID-19 Can be a Disability

On December 14, 2021, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its guidance regarding COVID-19. The EEOC found that COVID-19 can bebut is not always considered a disability under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The question that must be answered is: are the employees COVID-19 symptoms a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities?

What this means for employers: The updated guidelines highlight the importance for employers to have COVID-19 protocols in place. Those protocols, in addition to helping foster a safe working environment, will help ensure that employers do not create unnecessary liability for themselves. Employers must also be mindful of taking adverse employment actions against employees who have COVID-19 and are experiencing symptoms. Employers should consult with labor and employment lawyers experienced in handling ADA claims prior to taking such adverse employment actions.

Read the full article.

Employers Must Brace Themselves for the NLRBs Shift Back to a Pro-Union Agenda

Major changes are on the horizon for both union and non-union private sector employers alike as the new Democratic majority under the Biden administration settles in at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). On August 12, 2021, the newly-confirmed NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, nominated by President Biden, released a General Counsel Memorandum providing a detailed roadmap for the Boards return to a pro-union, more worker-friendly agenda. While the Board is prone to change every four to eight years as political control shifts in the White House, this memo truly highlights how volatile Board law can be for employers.

What this means for employers: Abruzzos memo foreshadows significant changes on the horizon and broad implications for employers across all industries. Given the changing tide, many practices which employers currently take for granted, including those required by law, will likely warrant revision or require bargaining with the union. Employers, both union and non-union, should brace themselves for the changes to come and consult with employment counsel early on in order to make appropriate updates to their policies and practices and to ensure they remain compliant with applicable law.

Read the full article.

Joint Employment Pendulum Swings Left Again

Policymakers and courts continue to expand the application of labor and employment laws to independent contractors and employees of franchisees. Rules regarding employee classification and collective bargaining are shifting away from regulations put in place during the previous presidential administration, and challenges to Californias ABC are still pending.

What this means for employers: Businesses should bear in mind the current trend toward classifying all workers as employees of the entity to whom they provide service, regardless of the true nature of the relationship, and take steps to mitigate the downside risk of judicial reclassification, such as contracting only with entities, rather than people, for services and having written indemnity agreements with those entities.

Read the full article.

California Further Limits Employers Ability to Negotiate Employee Silence in Settlements

SB 331 prevents employers from prohibiting employees and former employees from disclosing alleged facts related to harassment, discrimination and other specified unlawful conduct. Further, the law requires additional protections for employees entering into separation agreements.

What this means for employers: Employers are advised to review and revise any form offer letters, employment agreements, severance agreements and settlement agreements to conform to SB 331s changes. Any provisions contrary to the law will be void as a matter of law and public policy.

Read the full article.

Employers Cannot Make Employees Sign Arbitration Agreements as a Condition of Employment . . . or Can They?

Employers are once again prohibited from requiring an employee or prospective employee to sign an arbitration agreement for certain California employment-related claims. In 2019, California passed AB 51, making it unlawful for employers to require employees and prospective employees to agree to arbitrate claims arising under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and/or the California Labor Code as a condition of employment or continued employment. Before AB 51 could take effect, however, the Chamber of Commerce successfully sought a temporary restraining order halting its enforcement. which was followed shortly by a preliminary injunction against enforcement of AB 51. It is expected that the Ninth Circuits ruling will be challenged, and AB 51 may again be enjoined in its entirety pending further legal proceedings.

What this means for employers: Employers should consult with legal counsel to explore how best to modify standard arbitration agreements for new hires and ensure compliance; based on careful crafting by counsel, there are various ways an employer may lawfully obtain enforceable agreements. Despite the changing legal landscape in California, arbitration agreements are still recommended as an effective tool to avoid public and lengthy litigation of certain claims and guard against unreasonable jury verdicts.

Read the full article.

More Than a Late Payment Penalty  Failure to Promptly Pay Arbitration Invoices Results in Waiver of Right to Compel Arbitration

Beginning in 2022, an arbitration provider must immediately issue to the employer an invoice for any fees and costs required before the arbitration can proceed upon initiation of arbitration. Similarly, if the arbitration agreement does not specify timing of payments while the arbitration is pending, invoices for any fees and costs required for the arbitration proceeding to continue must also be issued as due upon receipt.

What this means for employers: Employers should be very careful to pay all arbitration invoices immediately to avoid significant negative consequences. Employers should also consult with counsel to evaluate what revisions might be made to existing arbitration agreements to moderate these risks.

Read the full article.

Are You Personally Liable for Your Employers Wage and Hour Violations?

California law enacted in 2016 creates individual personal liability for wage and hour violations for an owner, director, officer, or managing agent of an employer in which the individual had personal involvement and can be said to have been acting on behalf of an employer. A recent case clarifies that an owner has no personal liability in such lawsuits, if they have limited involvement in the day-to-day operations of the company.

What this means for employers: While a hands-on owner or other managing agent who participates in the day-to-day operations or wage and hour policy decisions affecting aggrieved employees may face personal liability, those who do not have such close involvement or decisional authority are now more likely to avoid personal liability. All business owners, directors, officers, and managing agents should determine with counsel whether or not their conduct exposes them to personal liability for wage and hour violations.

Read the full article.

New Criminal Penalties for Wage Theft

California has passed AB 1003, creating a new offense for the intentional theft of wages by an employer. The offense may be punished as a misdemeanor or a felony, and the offense specifically authorizes restitution of wages, gratuities, benefits or other compensation that is the subject of prosecution.

What this means for employers: Employers should review their policies and pay practices to ensure that they comply with relevant California Labor Code sections. One step employers can take is to obtain employees signatures on acknowledgment forms to provide evidence of the employees receipt of a specific policy and understanding of the substance of the policy. Employers can also implement regular auditing of policies and pay practices. If you have any doubt about a certain practice, you should contact qualified labor and employment counsel for advice.

Read the full article.

How Soon is Now? Its Time to Review the Independent Contractor/Employee Status of Your Workers

Its time to review all of your independent contractor arrangements. Californias statute governing the classification of independent contractors underwent fundamental changes when changes to it became law. These exemptions and revisions apply to business-to-business relationships, referral agencies, professional services, performance artists, and other classifications. Many more California workers are exempted from the well-known ABC test for determining independent contractors  in all, 109 categories of workers.

What this means for employers: Additional carve-outs of the rigid ABC test do not necessarily provide safe harbors for businesses seeking to use independent contractors instead of employees for specified roles and aspects of their business. Companies are encouraged to contact qualified labor and employment counsel when bringing on new workers, especially those who are residents of or who will be working in the State of California, as either independent contractors or employees.

Read the full article.

Bidens Vaccine Mandate for Large Employers Faces an Uncertain Future  Large Employers Should Prepare for Compliance by January 10

On November 5, 2021, Federal OSHA published new Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) which implemented a nationwide COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers with 100 or more employees. Within 24 hours of publishing, dozens of lawsuits were filed in an attempt to block the ETS from taking effect, challenging it on a number of constitutional and procedural grounds. On November 6, 2021, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay, putting the implementation of the vaccine mandate on hold. However, on December 17, 2021, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay and revived the ETS.

What this means for employers: Until Cal/OSHA issues new guidance, (despite this state of limbo) the Federal OSHA ETS is currently legally required. As such, California employers who would be covered by this vaccine mandate should prepare to implement new policies and procedures by January 10, 2022. Given the complexities inherent in the 490 pages of the federal mandate, employers are highly encouraged to consult with legal counsel in order to ensure these preparation steps are properly handled.

Read the full article.

Work Quota Requirements for Warehouse and Distribution Centers

Beginning January 1, 2022, AB 701 creates new requirements for warehouse distribution centers who employ or exercise control over 100+ employees at a single warehouse distribution center, or over 1,000+ employees at one or more warehouse distribution centers in California. AB 701 requires that warehouse distribution centers must provide each employee with a written description of each quota which the employee subject to, and prohibits the establishment of quotas that would prevent compliance with meal or rest periods and use of bathrooms, among other health and safety laws. Warehouse distribution centers must also maintain work speed data for each employee operating under a quota.

What this means for employers: Employers who believe that they may be considered a warehouse distribution center should immediately consult with qualified labor and employment counsel for advice. Employers should evaluate their current quotas and create a written description of each quota in existence. Employers should ensure that the applicable quotas enable employees to use the restroom and take meal and rest periods. Employers must also create a system for tracking individual employees personal work rate data, as well as a system for responding to requests for information from employees.

Read the full article.

New Implicit Bias Course Requirement for Nurses

Effective on January 1, 2023, AB 1407 requires approved schools of nursing or approved nursing programs to include direct participation in one hour of implicit bias training in their curriculum. AB 1407 also requires hospitals to implement an evidence-based implicit bias program as part of its new graduate program. Nurses who obtained their license within the last two years are required to undergo one hour implicit bias training.

What this means for employers: Hospitals should begin plans to implement the required evidence-based implicit bias programs sooner, rather than later. While hospitals have until January 1, 2023 to implement the programs, creating such a course will not occur overnight and falling behind is preventable, given the timeline set forth.

Read the full article.

Additional Power Granted to the Labor Commissioner

Effective January 1, 2021, SB 572 authorizes the Labor Commissioner, as an alternative to a judgment lien, to create a lien on real property to secure amounts due under any final citation, findings, or decision. The requirements to do so are laid out, as well as the process for releasing the lien once amounts owed are paid.

What this means for employers: SB 572s impact is straightforward, enabling the Labor Commissioner an alternative means of collecting on amounts owed. The practical effects of having judgment lien or a real property lien recording against an employer are limited, but it is important to be aware of the various tools the Labor Commissioner may implement.

Read the full article.

Additional Powers Granted to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health

Effective January 1, 2022, SB 606 creates a rebuttable presumption that OSHA violations committed by an employer with multiple worksites are enterprise-wide if the employer has a written policy or procedure that violates the California Labor Code, or if the Division of Occupational Safety and Health has evidence of a pattern or practice of the same violation at more than one worksite. The Division is authorized to issue an enterprise-wide citation if the employer fails to rebut the presumption.

What this means for employers: SB 606 has the potential to greatly expand liability for certain employers with multiple worksites in California. Typically employers use a single employee handbook (or identical workplace policies) for employees within a single state. Thus, even if an unlawful practice is limited to a single worksite, SB 606 may result in liability extending to all of its Californias worksites. Employers must continue to ensure that they are not subjecting their employees to unsafe work environmentsa single bad apple is now more costly than ever.

Read the full article.

JMBMs Labor and Employment attorneys counsel businesses and management on workplace issues, helping to establish policies that address problems and reduce job-related lawsuits. We act quickly to resolve claims and aggressively defend our clients in all federal and state courts, before the Department of Labor, the NLRB, and other federal, state and local agencies, as well as in private arbitration forums. We represent employers in collective bargaining negotiations and arbitration.

This is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and founding partner of JMBM and JMBMs Global Hospitality Group. We provide business and legal advice to hotel owners, developers, independent operators and investors. This advice covers critical hotel issues such as hotel purchase, sale, development, financing, franchise, management, ADA, and IP matters. We also have compelling experience in hotel litigation, union avoidance and union negotiations, and cybersecurity & data privacy.

JMBMs Global Hospitality Group has helped clients around the world with more than 4,500 hospitality properties worth more than $112 billion. Contact me at +1-310-201-3526 or jbutler@jmbm.com to discuss how we can help.

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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP)  A Missouri woman has been charged with killing her boyfriend with a sword on Christmas Eve.

Cape Girardeau Police said 32-year-old Brittany Wilson was found outside the home she shared with her boyfriend Friday night with blood on her clothing, and a sword was lying in the front yard. Cape Girardeau is in southeast Missouri about 115 miles (185.07 kilometers) south of St. Louis.

KFVS television reported that a woman had called police shortly after 11 p.m. Friday to report that she had killed her boyfriend with a sword.

After officers arrested Wilson, they went inside the home and found her boyfriend, 34-year-old Harrison Stephen Foster, dead with several fresh stab wounds.

Wilson told police that she and Foster had taken methamphetamine earlier in the day. She also told investigators that she believed Foster had several other entities living in his body, and she was setting him free by stabbing him.

Wilson was being held Sunday in lieu of $2 million bond. She has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. It was not immediately known if Wilson had an attorney to speak on her behalf.

***
Kwanzaa, the weeklong holiday that honors African American roots and traditions, has been celebrated for more than half a century.

Running through Jan. 1 this year, Kwanzaa was created in 1966, one year after the Watts Riot. In one of the largest and costliest riots of the civil rights era, more than 30 people died and more than $40 million worth of property was damaged.

The riot began when a young Black man, Marquette Frye, was arrested by a white highway patrol officer in the Los Angeles area. After Frye failed a sobriety test, he resisted arrest, which drew a large crowd to the scene. Frye was hit in the head by one of the officers, causing him to bleed. Accusations of police abuse circulated, followed by several days of unrest and the deployment of the California National Guard.

Maulana Karenga, an author, educator and activist, created Kwanzaa to strengthen the bonds within the African American community. He believed connecting people with their African roots through the expression of Nguzo Saba  the seven principles of building community  was a way for them to embrace their heritage.

Kwanzaa is traditionally celebrated by lighting the kinara, a seven-branched candleholder. The red, green and black candles represent the colors of the African American community.

Each day, a new candle is lit, representing the seven principles: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichaguilia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba) and faith (imani).

Throughout the week, the community celebrates Kwanzaa through storytelling, music (particularly drumming), food and gifts.'

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MERRILLVILLE, Ind.  A woman was wounded in an apparent accidental shooting last week at a Northwest Indiana gun range, police said.

Merrillville police were dispatched about 6:40 p.m. Wednesday to Shoot Point Blank in the 8700 block of Louisiana Street for a report of a gunshot victim, Assistant Police Chief Kosta Nuses said.

Officers arrived and found a woman had been shot in the head inside the gun range, he said.

Two off-duty paramedics, who happened to be in the range, immediately administered first aid for the woman. They continued until on-duty paramedics arrived and took the woman to a hospital, he said.

Police reviewed video footage from the range and determined the shooting appeared to be accidental, Nuses said. There was no indication of "malicious intent," he said.

The shooting remained under investigation.

Nuses said he did not have updated information Sunday on the woman's condition.

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Winston-Salem leaders plan to start pushing hard in the coming year to bring back passenger rail service to the city, but say it will be neither a quick nor easy journey.

One thing the city has in its favor is the recent passage by Congress of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that earmarks $66 billion for Amtrak, the nations passenger rail operator, in what has been described as the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak some 50 years ago.

But there are big obstacles too, Mayor Allen Joines is saying. The city has to get some of those rail transportation dollars to come this way, for starters.

We also have got to convince the railroad that it makes sense for them, Joines said. What I have been told is that the railroads have not included us on the list because of their concerns about the marketability of it.

Joines and members of the city council talked about their rail goal during a recent meeting of the councils Finance Committee, which was discussing their priorities for federal spending requests.
U.S. democracy

Dana Milbanks Dec. 20 column We are too close to civil war, on the likelihood of civil war in the United States, contained a puzzling passage. According to an index used to measure the quality of a democracy, the United States has become a partial democracy under former President Trump for the first time since 1800. You mean to tell me the United States was a full democracy when Franklin D. Roosevelt interred an entire race of people in concentration camps because they all might be Japanese spies? We were considered a full democracy when, until our first Civil War, Black people were literally property? Did someone with even a drop of melanin have any part in designing this index?
Theres nothing else it can do, Roper said.

We dont want to get rid of them. We dont feel like we have the authority to do that.

That patience can pay off. About a decade ago, a man contacted the funeral home, ready to claim the cremated remains of his parents, who had died in the 1960s, Roper said.

The son had known where the ashes were; he just hadnt been ready for them yet.

He was just now at that point of coming to terms with the fact that both of his folks had passed, and he came and picked them up. Im absolutely thrilled when that happens.

After hearing from the funeral home, Hansen contacted Cooks great-great nephew in Scottsbluff.

Good news, he said.

Miner Perkins has no memories of Cook, but the family had long wondered what had happened to his ashes.

Its a big deal for us. We didnt know where they were for so long, its really exciting to find him now.

Cooks niece collected his ashes on Veterans Day. And the reunions timing was fitting, Perkins said.
Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday. She was 76.

Susan Hays, Weddington's former student and colleague, said she died in her sleep early Sunday morning at her Austin home. Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.

Raised as a minister's daughter in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas. A couple years after graduating, she and a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.

The case of "Jane Roe," whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.

Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.
He was a big part of starting that and getting that finalized, which is a very proud moment in his life, Bradfield said.

Bradfield worked with Miller to surprise the rest of his family by having the motorcycle at his dads service.

That really, really pulled at our heartstrings when I was able to get it to the celebration of life, he said.

The story of the patriotic trike goes back to its original owner, Tom Dasenbrock of Venice, who purchased it from Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson in Omaha in 2005.

Then, it was just a white motorcycle. Dasenbrock, a Vietnam veteran, decided to convert it into a trike and add a patriotic paint job.

I have a great love for the flag, he said. Theres a lot of motorcycles that are patriotic and I wanted to make it over the top and turn the whole thing into a flag.

Dasenbrock said he enjoyed riding the bike until he traded it in in 2012.

Wherever we went, it was a showstopper because it was so unusual, he said.

The bike was then bought by Mahler, who owned it until 2016.
A two-year spree of recklessly joyriding in stolen cars, some taken during home burglaries as their owners slept, came to an end Tuesday for a Madison man when a judge sentenced him to eight years in prison.

Circuit Judge Ellen Berz said the sentence for Treveon Thurman was the first time outside a homicide or child sexual assault case that she had ever sentenced someone to prison for their first adult convictions.

Sir, you need to go to prison, she said.

Thurman, 20, pleaded guilty in September to charges in eight of the 26 felony cases he started accumulating a month after he left the Lincoln Hills School, where he had been incarcerated for juvenile crimes. He pleaded guilty to four counts of operating a motor vehicle without the owners consent, two counts of taking and driving a motor vehicle without the owners consent and two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment. All of the crimes occurred in 2019 and 2020, starting when he was 17.

Thurman would sometimes broadcast live video of himself while speeding around the Madison area in stolen cars, sometimes showing the speedometer at speeds over 100 mph. In one instance he broadcast himself going about 140 mph in a stolen car.

In statements to Berz, the victims of those crimes implored her to send Thurman to prison, where, most hoped, he would mature and come out a better person. Most said what they endured went beyond mere property theft  they lost the feeling of safety and security they had before their homes were burglarized as they slept and their cars were taken.

One woman, a real estate agent, said her car was essentially her office and not having it impaired her ability to make a living.

She said Kwik Trip wanted money from her after her car was filled up with stolen gas. The car eventually came back to her in shambles, costing more than $16,000 to repair. But her insurer wont pay to re-key the car to keep it from being stolen again, because her car key is still out there somewhere, and she has been unable to sell it.

Treveon took something that didnt belong to him and left it destroyed, another woman said. She was frustrated that police kept catching him and he would be released from jail over and over, only to go back to what he was doing.

A construction company project manager who was staying in Madison for work at Veterans Hospital was struck in his vehicle at 55 mph by Thurman, who had been going 85 mph in a stolen car on Mineral Point Road at Glenway Street. A veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq, he was never injured while in the Air Force but because of the crash he now has a metal rod in one of his legs and a lifelong disability.

I fully believe he should spend the next few years thinking it over in prison, the man said. Maybe use the time to become a productive member of society.

Thurmans time in prison will be reduced by the 617 days he has spent during different stints in jail while his cases were pending. Assistant District Attorney Patrick Winter asked for a 6-year prison sentence while Thurmans attorney, Nils Wyosnick, asked for a four-year sentence.

But Berz said that wasnt enough, and said, in essence, that Thurman had burned her trust in him after she had reduced his bail earlier, when the jail population was being reduced as a countermeasure to COVID-19 spread.

Within hours of his release, Thurman had broken Berzs order that he remain at home at all times and was committing new crimes involving stolen cars.

Youve shown us clearly that if you are released into the community you will harm people, Berz said. I have learned.

Among the eight cases, Berz structured a complex sentence that will keep Thurman in prison for eight years, followed by eight years of extended supervision. Prison sentences in some of his cases were stayed and converted to five years of probation that will begin once his extended supervision ends. But a return to crime while on probation could send Thurman immediately back to prison to serve those stayed prison sentences under the sentence structured by Berz.

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An unfunded victim-rights law, a pandemic-driven case backlog and an uptick in violent crime have created a perfect storm of workload challenges for Dane County prosecutors and public defenders, leading to what the District Attorneys Office is calling a staffing crisis.

Prosecutors and staff at the Dane County District Attorneys Office have been stretched thin by the extra services they need to provide for victims due to Marsys Law, a state constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2020 that gave greater rights to crime victims, said Amy Brown, director of the offices Victim Witness Unit.

At the same time, the stalling of trials during the pandemic created a substantial backlog in criminal cases and felony cases have increased because of a rise in violent crime, Brown said. Felony cases typically take up more time and resources to argue out in court.

I dont like to use this word loosely, but it has caused a staffing crisis, Brown said. Its caused really just an absolute need for more resources.

Public defenders in Dane County and beyond have also been grappling with the unintended consequences of Marsys Law, the pandemic and heavy felony case loads, said Adam Plotkin, legislative liaison at the Wisconsin State Public Defenders Office. The office is also facing recruitment and retention issues amid nationwide staffing shortages.

When you have the pandemic combined with  other issues that would have made it difficult in even a normal year, its kind of like this perfect storm, Plotkin said.

Additional funding coming for the DAs office in the 2022 county budget and federal funding for a 10% increase in staffing for the state public defenders office should help address the crisis. But it wont solve all of the problems.

It will help a great deal, Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said. What (the county) did for us was very helpful. It was not everything.

Stretched thin

Marsys Law has affected DAs office and public defenders in different ways, but has hit the countys prosecutors the hardest.

In April 2020, about 75% of Wisconsin voters approved Marsys Law in a referendum after a more than $1 million lobbying effort. It is named for Marsalee Marsy Nicholas, a California woman killed in 1983 by her ex-boyfriend, who was released from jail without notification to Nicholas. Versions of the law have been enacted in several states.

Supporters of Marsys Law say it makes the rights of alleged victims just as strong as those of the accused, while opponents have argued the rights of defendants could be undermined. So far, Plotkin said his office has mostly seen delays for defendants rather than the erosion of their rights, but fears victims rights could be at odds with defendants in some situations.

The law added 16 additional constitutional protections for victims, including the right to privacy, to speak at proceedings, and to timely notification of court dates and any release or escape of the accused. It also removed a provision allowing victims to be kept out of a courtroom if necessary to assure a fair trial for an accused person.

Since it was approved by referendum, Marsys Law went into effect as soon as voters passed it, which didnt give us any time to get ready, Brown said. The law also didnt include any funding for the DAs office to ensure victims needs were met.

We had to take the same amount of resources and stretch them out so that we could reach every single victim, Brown said.

Thrown for a tailspin

In the past, the DAs Office would reach out to victims affected by homicide cases ahead of the first court appearance, but now they have to notify victims in every type of criminal case. Thats something the office just didnt have the resources for, Brown said.

To meet the need, the office had to cut back on some specialized services for victims who have gone through high levels of trauma and violence, Brown said. Victims of sensitive crimes are now not getting as much time and attention because those extra services arent required by law.

Its an unfunded mandate and it inevitably has unintended consequences because of that, Brown said.

The DAs office has stopped attending community meetings and forensic interviews at Safe Harbor, which interviews child crime victims, Brown said. Prosecutors and staff now take longer to return calls and emails. And with trials sometimes double or triple booked, case managers often get switched around and are not always working with the same victims.

Plotkin said Marsys Law has thrown the criminal legal system for a tailspin.

When you throw that much change into it, its creating these significant delays  which disadvantages everyone, not just our clients, Plotkin said. It creates delay, it makes it harder to make appointments, it makes it harder to get discovery, it makes it harder to schedule future court appearances.

Because of the new privacy rights in the law, Plotkin said, public defenders would get discovery materials that were so redacted they couldnt figure out the identity of the codefendant or the victim. That made it nearly impossible to appoint an attorney because the office couldnt determine whether theres a conflict of interest. That issue has mostly been sorted out, but the delays are still a problem.

Case loads higher

Meanwhile, attorneys are facing higher case loads.

In-person jury trials were suspended from March 2020 until June 2021 due to the pandemic, causing hundreds of criminal cases to stall. The court system has started moving through the cases, but Plotkin said for many counties it could take years to address the backlog.

Theres so many pending and backlogged cases, but there arent enough existing resources to deal with it, Plotkin said. So were looking at, in some counties, two to four years, before were caught back up.

Assistant state public defender Laura Breun, who represents adult defendants in the Dane County criminal court system, said normally she has around 90 to 100 cases, but right now she has more than 200.

Its impossible to keep on top of all of them, Breun said.

The temporary closure of in-person court decreased the amount of victim services and witness management the DAs office had to provide, such as lining up witnesses for jury trials, giving tips for testifying, and making travel and work arrangements to get victims to the courthouse, Brown said. The pause on those services allowed staff to focus on Marsys Law, but now they have to do everything at the same time.

When we came back into the courthouse and jury trials started up again, this really became an overwhelming task for the victim witness unit to manage, Brown said.

Theres also been more homicides, gun violence, traffic fatalities and other violent crimes  felony cases that are more time-consuming for attorneys, Plotkin and Brown said.

Plotkin said in some counties, cases are down in the aggregate, but its all coming off of misdemeanors. So the workload is often higher because of the jump in the filing of felony cases.

Another challenge, Plotkin said, is the state budgets in the last two years have added a total of 72 assistant district attorneys statewide, making it harder for public defenders to keep up.

More staff coming

Brown said the DAs office has had to rely on limited-term employees and overtime to fill the gaps.

At some point, it doesnt matter how much overtime youre willing to pay, theres only so much people can do, Ozanne said. Are we gonna burn our staff out?

Plotkin said his office has had problems with retaining public defenders, hiring new ones and finding private attorneys to take cases.

Weve never before had all three at once, Plotkin said, noting that staffing shortages nationwide are in part to blame. It has become a huge problem.

The State Public Defenders Office was given federal COVID-19 funding to create 36 new positions over two years statewide, about a 10% increase in staffing in the trial division.

Plotkin said thats definitely a positive. But he noted just because we got the positions authorized doesnt necessarily mean that were going to be able to fill them  at least quickly.

To address case loads, public defenders could also work with prosecutors to get more cases dismissed or divert some people to drug court, treatment or other diversion programs.

The 2022 Dane County budget gave the DAs Office $227,000 for a crime response trauma specialist, a case manager for victims and witnesses and a part-time legal assistant.

Ozanne said that will help his office get back to some of the trauma specialist care that we were giving victims prior to Marsys Law. But he noted the positions dont get here until next year.

Marsys Law could go away

Even with challenges, Ozanne said Marsys Law is still a great thing because its important to reach out to victims sooner and have them more involved in the court process.

Its not whether or not its a good thing, its whether or not we have the ability to actually, in a sense fulfill, the promise that this state made to victims now, making Marsys Law a part of our constitution, Ozanne said.

Plotkin called the law an unfilled promise to victims.

It offers all of these rights, but it offers no way to provide or ensure that those rights are being fulfilled, he said.Marsys Law could end up getting nullified because of an ongoing lawsuit, but its unclear when or if that would happen.

In 2019, the Wisconsin Justice Initiative filed a lawsuit challenging the wording of the Marsys Law referendum because it didnt explain to voters how the law would diminish the rights of the accused. Last year, Circuit Judge Frank Remington called the wording of the referendum a mistake of constitutional proportions, but put his ruling on the lawsuit on hold pending an appeal.

Briefs in the case have been filed with the state 3rd District Court of Appeals, which asked the Supreme Court to take the case directly because theres not sufficient precedent for the appeals court to decide it.

In the meantime, Marsys Law is all but certain to remain in effect until the Supreme Court weighs in.Even if its nixed, Plotkin said he thinks it will take years to sort out all the issues the legal system is facing right now.

Like with any significant problem, people hope theres a magic bullet, and I really dont think there is for this one, Plotkin said. Its going to be the kind of thing that takes buy-in and collaboration from all actors because every sector of the legal system has a hand in helping to work through the backlog.

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MADISON  Almost a quarter of the jobs within the state Department of Corrections are unfilled, according to agency data.

Wisconsin Public Radio reported last week that about 1,100 jobs remain open and maximum-security facilities in Portage and Waupun are operating with only half their staff. Officials were forced to close a cell hall at Waupun last year and now have resorted to moving about two dozen guards each pay period to Waupun from other facilities to handle the workload.

We just passed legislation to allow the Department of Corrections to advertise on billboards that they need people to serve as guards in the prison system, said state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, earlier this month during a panel hosted by Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce at the DeKoven Center earlier this month.

That legislation has not actually fully passed as Wanggaard said, but has been in committee, having last been officially discussed Dec. 7. It was proposed by a bipartisan group of legislators, including Wanggaard.

Wanggaard said Waupun has a 49% job vacancy rate.

Inmates say theyre spending longer hours locked in their cells because facilities lack personnel to watch them when theyre out. Corrections spokesman John Beard said the amount of time inmates get outside their cells varies on what programs they participate in, but acknowledged recreation time at Portage has been canceled occasionally due to a staff shortage.

Corrections Secretary Kevin Carr said low pay and fears of contracting COVID-19 are keeping people from applying for positions.

Legislators approved raising guards pay from $16.65 to $19.03 per hour in the last two-year state budget in hopes of filling vacancies. Theyre also considering a bill that would raise minimum wages by 50 cents per hour on top of an annual 2% wage increase or boost all pay rates by $5 an hour, although that option would require legislators to approve additional funding.

Jails have faced similar issues.

Pay for jail guards and other essential positions was raised by Racine County in August  with increases varying between $2.93 and $7.83 more per hour depending on the position. That change, according to what Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave told WPR in a Dec. 21 report, immediately alleviated the jails shortage.

That followed the jail reporting it had a 112% staffing turnover between 2019 and summer 2020.
For the second time in less than a decade, classroom space within Gateway Technical Colleges Law Enforcement Academy will undergo a remodeling project to meet contemporary conditions.

The colleges District Board on Dec. 16 authorized the project for the Kenosha campus, 3520 30th Ave., which has an estimated $173,000 price tag.

Gateway last made changes to the academys classroom space about a half-decade ago for more specialized instruction related to crime scene investigations. However, state officials have since taken over many aspects of the CSI curriculum for certification.

Were really trying to make an efficient use of our space and an efficient use of our resources, Tom Cousino, associate vice president of facilities and security, said of the planned changes.

In a memo, Facilities Director John Thielen said the changes will provide opportunities for a simulator lab, which train police recruits in real world actions and prepare them to complete these actions under stress.

The science of reactions under stress has shown the best training to prepare recruits for their career in law enforcement is to provide as realistic scenario training as possible, the project proposal states.

The planned changes will affect an estimated 1,340 square feet of classroom space within the Law Enforcement Academys space on the Kenosha campus.

This is just another way to invest in our Law Enforcement Academy and make sure that were offering a state-of-the-art training facility, Cousino said.

Gateway President/CEO Bryan Albrecht, who had an opportunity to experience the simulator lab through the Racine Police Departments own setup, spoke highly of its role in the broader academy curriculum.

Its very realistic, Albrecht said. I did a demonstration with the Racine Police Department. You actually feel the impact that an officer would feel.

Enrollment in Gateways Law Enforcement Academy program has held steady in recent years. This year, 71 students have been in the program, compared to 67 students in 2020, 80 students in 2019 and 64 students in 2018.

Other business

The Gateway District Board earlier this month also:

Heard a report from Albrecht on spring instruction plans amid ongoing COVID-19 mitigation measures. Beginning with the upcoming spring semester, Albrecht indicated class sizes will return to pre-pandemic levels. Were going to see an increase in the number of students, per class, Albrecht said. Were still monitoring very closely the impacts of COVID and all of the variants that go along with it. But we do recognize that we are trying to move ourselves forward and are trying to learn how to live better with the virus.

Approved a budget forecasting plan as the early stages of assembling Gateways 2022-23 school year spending plan get underway. Jason Nygard, director of budget and internal audit, presented the board with a number of budgetary assumptions for the next school year. Based on preliminary information, Nygard said the budget is being prepared with the assumption enrollment will remain flat in year-over-year comparisons. The current tuition rate of $141 per credit also is expected to stay the same.

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A man reported missing on Saturday around the W.R. Wadewitz Nature Camp on Buena Park Road just outside Waterford was found safe later that evening, according to a news release late Saturday from the Racine County Sheriffs Office.

First-responder agencies from Racine, Milwaukee, Walworth and Kenosha counties were searching Saturday afternoon, and into Saturday evening, for John J. Egan, 43, around the W.R. Wadewitz Nature Camp on Buena Park Road just outside Waterford.

According to a news release early Saturday evening from the RCSO, Egan walked away from his group home in Rochester at about 7:45 a.m. Saturday.

John is autistic and goes on daily walks in the Waterford/Rochester area, the release stated. He often engages in conversation with people he sees while on these walks. He is not known to be aggressive.
1. Crime. Too much violence, too many shootings. Police have to get a handle on it.

2. Coronavirus. The omicron variant and others to follow threaten the community.

3. Roads. Killeen-area roads are still a mess after last years storm  a serious problem.

4.Government. Elections are on the horizon, and voters will have hard choices to make.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say which single issue will stand out at this point.

Vote

View Results
The La Crosse County Historical Society (LCHS) was founded in 1898, making it probably the oldest nonprofit organization still active in the region. It was a time when, throughout the upper Midwest, the first early white settlers from New England and their descendants were responding to an urge to memorialize and document their own history as nation-builders.

Over the years, LCHSs mission has evolved, its structure has developed and its location has changed several times. Indeed for many of its early years, LCHS had no actual home but met in a variety of public spaces. It was only in 1965, with the donation of the home of Gideon and Ellen Hixon at 429 7th St. N., that LCHS acquired an actual physical address of its own.

Today LCHS operates out of three locations. The Hixon House is a wonderfully restored house museum that illustrates themes of early life in the growing city of La Crosse and the decorative arts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It also tells the story of Gideon and Ellen Hixon, sometimes called La Crosses first power couple, who were instrumental in creating the city we know today.

Our offices and artifact storage remain at 145 West Ave. S. This building  the former home of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, and generously donated by Tye and Sandy Schwalbe  proved to be unadaptable to the needs of a public museum space. It has no parking, and the buildings interior includes many different levels that make meeting ADA code impossible. The beautiful sanctuary windows render the space unusable for display galleries as well.

We now maintain a public museum of local history in a rented space in downtown La Crosse called the La Crosse Area Heritage Center, which we created in 2020 during the pandemic shutdown. The Heritage Center replaces a previous museum in the Fish Hatchery building in Riverside Park.

Although it is not the ultimate museum we envision for the Coulee Region, its a step in that direction. It features some of the same themes we will be developing for a larger facility dedicated to the history of La Crosse County and the surrounding region. These include the stories of the many different peoples who have lived here across time, and the interaction and connections between natural history and human history. New people are still coming to live here, and people still influence the natural world and are influenced by it. These stories are intertwined and ongoing, and being able to experience this history is an important part of belonging to a place and understanding it.

LCHS offers other ways to learn about local history as well. Our longest-running program is the annual Discover the Silent City walking tour in Oak Grove Cemetery. Every year we choose a theme and illustrate it through the lives of people buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, with original scripts researched and written by staff and volunteers and performed by local actors.

For the last two years, we have served as the fiscal sponsor for the Enduring Families Project. This group has brought to light new (or ignored) information about the Black families who settled here and built lives in the Coulee Region. Their live performances at schools and various public events have now been preserved on video.

LCHS is a member-governed nonprofit, and membership brings with it a subscription to our quarterly newsletter, Past, Present & Future, in which we publish research on a variety of topics relating to local history. You can learn about the history of African-American settlement in southwestern Wisconsin, early German shooting clubs, the lives of early settlers like John and Augusta Levy, the now gone but once-booming photo finishing industry  you never know what we will feature!

In 2022 we will be continuing to grow a new endeavor, Guide School, with the intention of training new guides and docents while also offering to the general public the opportunity to learn about local history in a series of classes and presentations by local history experts. We will cover everything from the stories of the Ho-Chunk as they suffered removal from ancestral lands to a primer on the old buildings in downtown La Crosse. Watch for more information on scheduling for Guide School.

This is a good opportunity to clear up some common misunderstandings around how LCHS is funded: We are not a part of either city or county government. Like other private nonprofit corporations, we depend on a mix of admissions and programming fees, grants and donations from foundations and private individuals. In a normal year, the La Crosse County Board of Supervisors does makes an annual grant to LCHS that is roughly 5% of our operating budget.

2022 is slightly different. With financial support from both the city and the county of La Crosse, LCHS has just embarked on the next step towards our goal of a permanent home that will provide space for artifacts and people, with storage, exhibit development, offices, galleries and public programming areas all in one place. Together with engaged community members, we are working with FEH Design out of Dubuque and Lord Cultural Resources of Toronto on a series of strategic plans that will help us define what we need to achieve our vision, what the community will support, and how we should move forward. It is possible that by May of 2022, we will have selected at least one or possibly two to three potential sites and be ready to start planning a capital campaign.

Over time, our mission to preserve and share local history has blossomed and grown to be inclusive of all the cultures represented here, while at the same time staying true to our faith in historic artifacts to tell stories and bring to life a shared understanding of what it is to be human in this place we call home.

Visitor information Hixon House 429 Seventh St. N., La Crosse

Presently closed for the winter, with tours by appointment only La Crosse Area Heritage Center 506 Main St., La Crosse

Winter hours: Friday-Sunday, 10 AM to 5 PM For more information on either museum, call 608-782-1980

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As he prepares to retire in a few weeks, Randy Hughes is proud to have been brewmaster at the City Brewery in La Crosse for the past 24 years.
Authorities have identified the pregnant woman who was killed in a head-on crash near Weyauwega in northeastern Wisconsin on Thursday.

The State Patrol identified the woman killed in the crash about 9:25 a.m. Thursday as Genesis Stanton, 26, of Appleton. Her unborn child did not survive.

Sgt. Rhae Stertz said in a statement that Stanton was driving a 2011 Chevrolet Malibu east in the westbound lanes of Highway 10 near Reek Road when the Malibu collided head-on with 2012 Mini-Cooper that was passing a 2019 Freightliner semi-trailer. The cars then hit the front driver side of the semi-trailer.

The driver of the second car, Lianna Eve Kalenuik, 19, of Milwaukee, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Her passengers, Levi D. Kalenuik, 41, and a 15-year-old boy, both from South Milwaukee, also were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The semi driver, Mamuka Dzhaniashvili, 43, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was not injured.

The Waupaca County Sheriffs Office, Weyauwega Police Department, and Gold Cross Ambulance also responded to the crash.

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Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said he may support proposed changes to the states bail system, which has been the subject of criticism after the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy that left six people dead last month.

Evers told WISC-TV he could support raising the bail amounts violent offenders have to pay to remain free while pending trial, but added everyone needs to take a breath after the Waukesha incident. Evers also said all stakeholders need to be involved in any discussions on bail reform.

The governors comments come after Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul told the Wisconsin State Journal he supported strengthening Wisconsins bail system. Kaul said the state should consider aligning Wisconsins bail system with that of the federal government, which detains offenders before trial if they are deemed a threat to the public or a flight risk.

I think that as lawmakers consider our system, they should look to the federal system as a model, Kaul said. I also would say that we do need to continue to invest in our communities and into our criminal justice system. Its been significantly underfunded for decades in Wisconsin and while there have been some important investments made recently, theres more investment that needs to be made to make sure that we have the resources in our communities.

Prosecutors say Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into the parade last month, killing six people and injuring dozens of others. Court records show that he had been arrested for allegedly running over the mother of his child several weeks prior. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholms office requested $1,000 cash bail for him in that case. Brooks paid it and was released two days before the parade.

Chisholm has said Brooks low bail was the result of an oversight, but Republicans have taken aim at the Democratic district attorney, alleging that he enabled the parade attack.

A group of Milwaukee taxpayers filed a complaint against Chisholm with Evers earlier this month, triggering a process that could end with Evers removing Chisholm from office. The governor said his office was reviewing the complaints authenticity.

However, Kaul noted that voters should make the choice on whether or not to remove Chisholm from office. Evers, who has said last week he was reviewing the complaint against Chisholm, alluded to Kauls comments earlier this month.

My focus has been on how we can strengthen our system to make sure that people who are dangerous are detained pretrial and are released when they shouldnt be, Kaul said earlier this month. Ultimately, its up to the voters to decide with respect to particular elected officials.

Election laws

Evers also told the Associated Press he plans to fight a constitutional amendment backed by conservatives that would change Wisconsin election laws, even though such a proposal could come before voters without the governors approval.

Evers said he also opposed handing election duties to the nearly powerless secretary of states office as Rep. Amy Loudenbeck, R-Clinton  a candidate for the state office  has proposed.

We have a good system, Evers told the Associated Press. Its my goal to keep it.

Only five people in Wisconsin have been charged with election fraud following the 2020 election. An Associated Press review of every potential case of voter fraud in the six battleground states disputed by former President Donald Trump has found fewer than 475  a number that would have made no difference in last years presidential election.

Reviews by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau and conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty also did not find widespread fraud, but have recommended changes in how elections are run. Republicans are proposing more sweeping changes, including making it harder to cast an absentee ballot.

Clearly they want to change things so fewer people vote, Evers said. Its my goal that we make sure that it is a fair system, a secure system just like it is now.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told the State Journal earlier this month he hopes to restrict the bipartisan state elections commission to follow only what state statute allows or go through the GOP-controlled Legislature. Vos also continued to question whether widespread voter fraud occurred in the state last year despite such claims having been repeatedly debunked.

Vos earlier this year hired former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to investigate the 2020 election. Vos has said Gablemans probe is likely to carry over into next year and cost more than the $676,000 in taxpayer funds already allocated to the probe, though he has not provided an estimate on the increased cost.

Roe v. Wade

Evers also told WISC-TV that he wants to use his political clout to remove Wisconsins abortion ban from the books. The law would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a national right to abortion.

Evers could advocate for removing the ban from statute, but Republicans control the Legislature and have advocated primarily for more abortion restrictions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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After shifting Wisconsins State of the State address online earlier this year due to the ongoing pandemic, Gov. Tony Evers plans to return to the Capitol for next years speech.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate President Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, sent Evers a joint letter Monday inviting the governor to hold the 2022 State of the State address live and in-person during a joint session of the state Legislature in the Assembly chambers at 7 p.m. Feb. 15. The letter comes after Evers sent the Republican leaders a letter last week requesting a joint session for the purposes of holding the annual address.

The speech will be Evers final state of the state address before his run for a second term next November.

Evers said last week he plans to focus much of his reelection campaign on the successes of his first term as governor, including increased spending on roads and broadband expansion, as well as income tax cuts in the 2021-23 biennial budget drafted by Republicans and signed by Evers.

I will be running on things that weve accomplished, and have we accomplished this with the help of Republicans? Yes, yes we have and thats an important distinction, Evers said. We have to focus on what the people of Wisconsin want.

Earlier this year, Evers became the first governor in 74 years to not be physically present in the Capitol to deliver his address, which he delivered in a video message. Legislative Republicans viewed Evers address at the Capitol last year, with Vos delivering the GOP response from the Assembly dais where the governor usually speaks, another break from tradition.

Evers dedicated last years speech to the 5,000 Wisconsin residents who had died from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Monday, the pandemics death toll had risen to 9,928 Wisconsinites, according to the state Department of Health Services.

In the letter to Evers Monday, Vos and Kapenga pointed to the states ongoing labor shortage challenges as one of the biggest struggles across our state.

We welcome your input on how you plan to best address the challenges facing the state of Wisconsin, the lawmakers said. In addition, citizens would like to get an updated balance of the federal dollars under your unilateral control.

The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development announced earlier this month that the states unemployment rate had dropped to 3% in November, according to preliminary data, matching the previous record low set in November 2018.

Wisconsin received close to $2.5 billion in federal relief funds through the American Rescue Plan Act. All told, the state has been allocated more than $4.5 billion in federal coronavirus stimulus funds.

Of those funds, more than $2 billion has been spent on state emergency response efforts, public health measures and economic support programs, according to a breakdown provided by the governors office in August.

Other announced or planned ARPA allocations include $200 million for infrastructure projects such as broadband expansion, $650 million in small-business grants, just over $100 million for the tourism industry, $130 million for workforce and unemployment programs, $510 million for economic recovery programs and $80 million to update the states unemployment system.

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HUTCHINSON, Minn. (AP)  A Minnesota man who attacked a Menards employee after the worker told him to wear a mask and then assaulted a responding police officer with a hammer has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Luke Oeltjenbruns, 61, of Hutchinson, pleaded guilty to charges of first- and second-degree assault for the April incident. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to serve ten years of probation, perform community service, attend therapy and write letters of apology to the victims.

Oeltjenbruns is accused of hitting the lumber store employee multiple times in the head with a piece of wood after the employee would not check him out unless he put on a mask. Later, following a slow-speed case in the suspect's pickup truck, Officer Steven Sickmann got up on the trucks running board and reached through the window. Oeltjenbruns closed the window on his arm, trapping him, and hit Sickmann in the head with a hammer.

Robbie Lynn Oeltjenbruns said during sentencing that her husband suffers from depression, anxiety and PTSD from his time in the military.

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BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)  A winter storm made life in North Dakota and Minnesota tough Monday morning.

The Bismarck Tribune reported the storm dumped 6 inches of snow on Bismarck on Sunday. Authorities closed Interstate 94 between Bismarck and Fargo and Interstate 29 from Grand Forks to the South Dakota border. The entire interstate system in the state had reopened by 4 p.m.

The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for much of the southeastern portion of North Dakota and a winter storm warning for the eastern and central parts of the state through Monday evening.

Authorities were still advising people not to travel across much of the state and complained that motorists were getting stuck on secondary roads that were not plowed. Many county offices were closed expect for emergency services.

Most flights at the Bismarck Airport were still on time but most of the flights at Fargo's airport were either canceled or delayed.

Forecasts call for frigid temperatures after the storm moves through, with Friday highs in Bismarck expected to top out at minus 10.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported snowfall totals ranging from less than 2 inches to almost 3 inches in the Twin Cities. Freezing temperatures and drizzle have glazed the new snow with ice, making for slow going on roads and treacherous footing on sidewalks.

Other areas in central and northern Minnesota got more snow. Little Falls reported 5 inches and Grand Marais reported 13 inches.

Highs in the Twin Cities are expected to range from 10 degrees to minus 10 the rest of the week.

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MILWAUKEE (AP)  Scores of people are wondering when they can return to their Milwaukee apartment building after a fire authorities say was deliberately set forced them to flee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the fire broke out Sunday morning. The blaze was contained to one unit, fire officials said, but other apartments suffered extensive water and smoke damage and nearly 140 people were forced to flee. No injuries were reported.

Officials havent given an update on when residents can return to their apartments. The American Red Cross of Wisconsin said the building had no power as of Sunday night as many as 20 people from 15 apartments remained displaced.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in connection with the fire. Prosecutors are expected to file charges against him in the coming days.

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There was so much to look forward to at the start of 2021.

The question was when, and not if, the health crisis that spread from a market in Wuhan, China would finally end.

Scientists developed two highly effective vaccines against the coronavirus in record time. Several more were waiting for approval.

Vaccines

Governments in the United States, Europe, and Israel spent billions of dollars to start the biggest vaccination program in history. The effort included vaccines from drug companies Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and others.

China and Russia developed their own vaccines. And the UN-backed COVAX program purchased shots for developing and poor countries around the world.

In May, the U.S. and Western nations expanded the program to vaccinate young children. Health officials issued new guidelines advising that fully vaccinated people no longer needed to wear face coverings in most situations. The move was seen as the first step toward returning to normal conditions that existed before the pandemic.



Variants

But, scientists began to worry about the new versions of the coronavirus, called variants, soon after people started to receive the new vaccines.

It is normal for viruses to mutate, or change, over time. A mutation that strengthens the virus helps it to spread by pushing out the weaker versions. In February, the head of Britains vaccination effort said the world faced around 4,000 variants of the virus that causes COVID-19. But only some would raise concern.

There were so many variants of concern with hard-to-remember scientific names that the World Health Organization (WHO) started to name them after the letters of the Greek alphabet. The two most worrisome variants now are Delta and Omicron.

In the early days of the pandemic, many Asian countries appeared to have successfully fought the virus with strong measures. By July, countries, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand, were setting records for new cases and deaths. The Delta variant appeared at a difficult time. When it started being reported, vaccination rates remained low in many countries. And officials were moving quickly to reopen economies. Then, infections of the Delta variant became widespread. Governments, businesses, and schools reacted with more vaccination requirements and restrictions.



Some countries started to restrict international travelers and closed borders over concerns about the fast-spreading Omicron variant. The U.S., Israel, Britain, and other nations now advised their citizens to get an additional shot, called a booster, to fight the new variant.

Will it ever disappear?

After another year of face coverings, restrictions, vaccines and variants, people are beginning to wonder whether this pandemic will ever go away.

The answer is yes and no.

Many scientists believe that the new coronavirus is here to stay. In February, the science publication Nature reported the results of a study involving more than 100 scientists. Eighty-nine percent said they believed the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the one that causes COVID-19 disease, will become endemic. Endemic means the virus will continue to exist in some areas for years to come.

For example, Malaria is considered endemic to many warm, wet areas across countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. But it is not a problem in the United States or other Western nations.



The way to end a pandemic is to reach herd immunity. Herd immunity is when many people in a community either have recovered from an infection or have been vaccinated. It does not mean everyone is protected from the virus. However, when herd immunity is reached, the virus can no longer spread easily, which helps protect those who are at risk.

As nations joined together to fight the pandemic, health officials started to sound the alarm about another public health crisis: mental health.

The U.S. Surgeon General said the pandemics high number of deaths, forced social distancing, and lockdowns of the economies have created new pressure, especially on young people.

He wrote, It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place.



Hopeful signs

There is hope, however.

In early November, American drug-maker Pfizer reported that its experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 cuts hospitalizations and death rates by nearly 90 percent in high-risk adults. This came after Merck had reported success in testing its version of the COVID-19 pill a month earlier.

Although health officials have already approved several treatments for COVID-19, all of them must be injected by healthcare workers. But pills can be taken at home and are easier to send around the world.

Both companies have since agreed to provide other drug-makers with special permission to produce the COVID pills. The move is aimed at helping people in poorer countries get the drug.

Im Caty Weaver. And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Hai Do wrote this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

Quiz -- Another Year of COVID-19, Variants and Restrictions Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

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Words in This Story

allow v. to permit something to happen, for example, to be used or sold

pill n. a small, rounded object that you swallow and that contains medicine, vitamins, or some treatment

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The United Nations estimates that half of Somalias population, about 7.7 million people, will require humanitarian assistance and protection in 2022.

The U.N. is asking for $1.5 billion to assist 5.5 million of those considered most at-risk.

Many years of conflict, severe weather, disease and increasing poverty have badly harmed the lives of people in Somalia. Many are facing severe hunger. The country faces a famine because of a lack of rainfall for a third year straight.

Adam Abdelmoula is the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia. He says 80 percent of the country is affected by drought.

He told VOA that 169,000 people have left their homes in search of water, food, and land for their farm animals.

When I visited the countryside, I saw many dead animals," he said. "The people I met with...and the elderly people I met with, told me they had not seen this level of drought since the 1970s and 80s.

Abdelmoula said Somalia has been overlooked because of developing crises in other parts of the world, especially in the Tigray area of northern Ethiopia and in Afghanistan.

He added that the international community would be making a big mistake were it to overlook Somalia.

Abdelmoula said that in the 1990s, Somalia faced similar mass migration, starvation and famine. He also noted the rise of the al-Shabab militant group, political unrest and widespread illegal trade during that time.

Recent estimates suggest that drought could force up to 1.4 million Somalis to leave their homes in the next six months. That number is addition to the nearly 3 million people already displaced by conflict and natural disasters.

Abdelmoula says at least 1.2 million children under the age of five are likely to be severely malnourished in 2022. He warns that about 300,000 children are at risk of dying without immediate assistance.

Im Jonathan Evans.

Lisa Schlein reported on this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted this story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

drought  n. a long period of time during which there is very little or no rain

elderly  adj. old or rather old; past middle age

displace(d)  v. to force people or animals to leave the area where they live

malnourished  adj. not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poorly nourished
Ancient bells and organ pipes from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem gave researchers the idea to re-create music as it may have sounded almost 800 years ago.

David Catalunya, a researcher from the universities of Oxford, England, and Wuerzburg, Germany, is leading a project to build copies of the instruments.

Catalunya said that mid-13th century soldiers, known as Crusaders, buried the 13 bronze bells near the church because they were worried that the instruments might be destroyed. They covered the instruments in animal fat to protect them from rust, he said.

Catalunya described re-creating the bells as "a very long process.

With early research complete, he estimates it will take about five years to make fully usable copies.



Meanwhile, a touch of the hand is enough to bring a clear, high-pitched sound from the originals. The Custody of the Holy Land for the Roman Catholic church holds the rare objects and recently showed them to the Reuters news agency.

"It's half of the original sound, (which) was much richer and louder and a little bit lower," Catalunya said.

The bells were part of a set that played while people sang inside the church, said Franciscan friar Father Stephane, the Custody's liturgist. A liturgist leads church members in ritual prayer.

The bells were discovered in the early 20th century, along with 222 medieval copper pipes from the Church of the Nativity's organ, Father Stephane said. He added that the discovery happened during a building project at the church's Franciscan compound.

The collection also includes the scepter of the Bishop of Bethlehem and candlesticks from the 12th century which, Catalunya said, were made in France.

This suggests a shared source with the bells and organ pipes, which Father Stephane says are the oldest in Christendom.

Father Stephane said he hoped the collection would be displayed, and played, at a Jerusalem museum the Custody plans to open by 2024. He used the term significant  meaning very important  when talking about the bells.

"These bells are very significant for us because they are the bells of Bethlehem (and a) symbol of Nativity in the Christian world," he said.

Im John Russell.

Rinat Harash reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.

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Words in This Story

organ  n. a musical instrument that has a keyboard and pipes of different lengths and that makes sound by pushing air through the pipes

original  n. a document, film, painting, etc., which is created by someone and from which a copy or translation is made

scepter  n. a long decorated stick

symbol n. an action, object, event, etc., that expresses or represents a particular idea or quality
The year 2021 saw some important developments in the exploration of Mars as well as a rise in American-based space tourism.

In February, the American space agency NASA announced that its Mars explorer, Perseverance, landed successfully on the Red Planet. Perseverance is on a mission to collect Martian soil and rocks as part of a search for signs of ancient life.

Perseverance landed in an area of Mars called Jezero Crater. Scientists believe the area contains a large ancient lakebed. NASA considers the area a promising place to find possible signs of microbial life. Scientists believe if life ever existed on Mars, it would have been present 3 to 4 billion years ago, when water flowed on the planet. Perseverance is NASAs fifth rover to explore Mars.

Perseverance carried to Mars a small experimental helicopter named Ingenuity. In April, NASA announced Ingenuity had successfully completed a takeoff and landing on the planet. It said the flight was historic; it marked the first time any aircraft had performed a powered, controlled flight on another planet.

Ingenuity was meant to demonstrate such flights are possible. NASA says similar helicopters and other aircraft could be used in the future to assist astronauts in search and collection operations.

Only a few test flights were planned, but the Ingenuity team said the first ones were so successful that they decided to extend the number of experimental flights. So far, Ingenuity has completed at least 17 flights, with flights progressing in length and distance.

This year, both China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent their first spacecraft to Mars.

In May, China announced that its Tianwen-1 spacecraft had successfully landed on Mars after a seven-month trip. The vehicle landed at Utopia Planitia, a large flat area in the northern half of the planet. The six-wheeled explorer is studying the planets surface soil and atmosphere in search for signs of ancient life.

The UAEs Hope Probe spacecraft was sent to an extremely high orbit to study Mars. The Emirates Mars Mission aims to study atmospheric and weather conditions around Mars. Among other things, it seeks to help scientists understand how hydrogen and oxygen react in the planets upper atmosphere.

In February, scientists announced they had created a new map that aims to identify the best sources of water on Mars. Water is considered a critical resource to support future exploration activities on Mars. The map identifies two specific areas on Mars where subsurface ice could likely be found.

In July, British billionaire Richard Branson launched into space on a rocket plane built by Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company he created. Branson joined two pilots and three other mission specialists on the flight. Virgin Galactic aims to fly private citizens to the edge of space to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and observe Earth.

A little over a week later, American billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space on a rocket built by his company, Blue Origin. Three other people took the quick trip with him: Bezos brother, a Dutch teenager and an 82-year-old pilot.

The flights by Branson and Bezos officially launched a new industry that promises any citizen the chance to visit space. Such trips will be costly, however. Virgin Galactics price for a single flight is $250,000. Blue Origin has not publicly announced its price. Both businesses have established operating bases, called spaceports, in rural areas of the U.S.

And earlier this month, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa arrived for a 12-day stay at the International Space Station (ISS). The businessman arrived along with an assistant aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The price of that trip has not been made public, but some reports say it cost up to $50 million.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

Quiz - 2021 Saw Progress on Mars, Rise in Space Tourists Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz



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Words in This Story

mission  n. an important project or trip, especially involving space travel

microbial  adj. relating to microbes (very small living things)

tourism  n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure
When corals are mentioned, many people think of rock-life forms in the sea filled with colorful fish. But corals are made up of hundreds of thousands of small organisms which live and feed like any other sea life.

For the past five years, researchers in Hawaii and Australia have been engineering corals inside a lab to see if they could better resist the effects of climate change.

They say it is now time to see how their creations perform in nature.

The scientists say climate change linked to human causes has led to warming oceans that can harm sea life. They say if the more heat-resistant corals they developed do well in the ocean, the method can be used to help save suffering and dying reefs.

The team tested three methods for making corals that would be strong and healthy in nature.

One was the method of selective breeding. This method involves scientists choosing parents with desirable characteristics for reproductive purposes. The goal is to produce babies with the same desirable characteristics.

A second method subjected the corals to increasing temperatures to condition them to be able to survive in warm ocean environments. The third involved making changes to the algae that provide corals with necessary nutrients.

The leader of the project, University of Hawaii researcher Kira Hughes, said all the methods proved successful in the lab.

She told The Associated Press that some scientists might worry that such methods go against the natural processes of nature. But with the planet continuing to warm more and more, she does not see any better options.

We have to intervene in order to make a change for coral reefs to survive into the future, Hughes said.

When ocean temperatures rise, corals release algae that supplies nutrients and gives them color. This causes them to turn white, a process called bleaching. When this happens, corals can quickly become sick and die.

But for years, scientists have been observing corals that have survived bleaching, even when others have died on the same reef. They are now centering on those healthy survivors and hoping to further increase their resistance to heat. Those corals were used as the parents for the newly created kinds.

A recent study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other research organizations took a close look at bleaching events. It found them to be the biggest current threat to the world's coral reefs. Scientists found that between 2009 and 2018, the world lost about 14 percent of its corals.

Corals are threatened worldwide by a lot of stressors, but increasing temperatures are probably the most severe, said Crawford Drury. He is the chief scientist at Hawaiis Coral Resilience Lab.

Madeleine van Oppen is a research scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science. She told the AP there were concerns about whether the experiments could result in a loss of genetic diversity. And there were critics who said the scientists were playing god by making such changes to the reef.

Well, you know, (humans) have already intervened with the reef for very long periods of time, van Oppen said. All were trying to do is to repair the damage.

Rather than editing genes or creating anything unnatural, the researchers are just attempting to begin what could already happen in the ocean, van Oppen added. In this way, she said, the team can center on a small area to keep and enhance what is already there.

Im Bryan Lynn.

The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

coral  n. a hard, usually pink or white substance produced by a type of very small sea animal

reef  n. a chain of rocks or coral or a ridge of sand at or near the surface of water

characteristic  n. a typical quality that makes one person or thing different from others

algae  n. usually small plants that grow in or near water and do not have typical leaves of roots

stressor  n. something that causes stress (great worry or emotional difficulty

diversity  n. a situation in which many different kinds of things or people are included in something

enhance  v. to improve the quality, amount or strength of something
Scientists drilled a small, deep hole in the Goldfields-Esperance area of Western Australia and found a true millipede.

The word millipede means a thousand feet, but until now, no insect had ever been found with that many legs, or feet.

The millipede in Australia had 1,306 legs.

The scientists are calling it Eumillipes persephone.

Paul Marek studies insects for Virginia Tech University. He is the lead author of a study recently published in Scientific Reports.

Mareks co-writer is Bruno Buzatto, a biologist in Perth, Australia. He called the discovery a stunning animal, a marvel of evolution.

The name means true thousand feet and uses the name of Persephone, the queen of the underworld in Greek mythology.

The scientists said one of the females had 1,306 legs. Another had 998. The males did not have as many legs. Scientists said the number of legs is not always the same because the insects molt, which means to lose their outer layer as they grow. They add more legs throughout their lives.

The writers said the insects need all the legs to move through small openings in the deep soil. They live about 60 meters underground and are about 95 millimeters long with a width of less than 1 millimeter.

Until now, the longest-known millipede was from California. It had 750 legs.

Buzatto said the insect comes from a harsh, dry area in Australia where it is hard to find any millipedes on the surface.

The millipedes do not have eyes. Instead they use touch and smell to move through their environment. They come from a species of insects that eat fungi.

The Goldfields-Esperance area in Australia is known for mining the metals gold, lithium and vanadium.

Scientists say millipedes first appeared 400 million years ago.

There are about 13,000 species known.

The insects play a key role in their environments by eating plants and fungi. They leave behind sugar, carbon and nitrogen.

These nutrients can then be used by future generations of life, Marek said.

Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reporting by the Reuters news agency. Susan Shand was the editor.

How would you react to seeing a creature with so many legs? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

drill - v. to make a hole in something with a drill (a tool used for making holes in hard substances)

author - n. a person who has written something

stunning  adj. ideas that are believed by many people but that are not true

mythology  n. ideas that are believed by many people but that are not true

harsh  adj. severe or cruel : not kind, unpleasant

marvel  n. someone or something that is extremely good, skillful, etc. : a wonderful or marvelous person or thing

fungi  n. (plural of fungus) any one of a group of living things (such as molds, mushrooms, or yeasts) that often look like plants but have no flowers and that live on dead or decaying things

role - n. a part that someone or something has in a particular activity or situation
South African human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu died Sunday. He was 90 years old.

Tutus legacy of activism for equality continues to influence young South Africans, many of whom were not born when the clergyman battled apartheid. Apartheid was a governing system that kept whites and blacks separate and guaranteed controlling power for the white minority in South Africa.

Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts to gain full rights for South Africas Black majority. South Africa is holding a week of mourning for the retired leader of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It documented the bad treatment Black people experienced during apartheid. It also sought to support national reconciliation. Tutu also became one of the worlds most well-known religious leaders to champion LGBTQ rights.



Some young South Africans spoke to The Associated Press on Monday. They said, although they did not know much about him, they thought Tutu was important in the countrys efforts for democracy.

Sixteen-year-old Zinhle Gamede said she found out on social media out that Tutu had died. She learned much more about him over the following 24 hours.

I found (out) about his death yesterday on TV and on Facebook. People were saying that he is one of the people that fought for our freedom, she said.

Today I am living my life freely, unlike in the olden days (when) there was no freedom.

Tutus death moved her to learn more about South Africas history, especially the struggle against white minority rule.

Twenty-five-year-old Lesley Morake said he knew about Tutu through the clergyman's strong support for LGBTQ rights.

As a gay person, it is rare to hear people from the church speaking openly about gay issues, but I found out about him through gay activists who sometimes use his quotes during campaigns, Morake said. That is how I knew about him, and that is what I will remember about him.

Tshepo Nkatlo said he is paying attention to the good things he is hearing about Tutu. He said he found out that on social media some people criticized Tutu for not seeking to punish whites during the years of the Truth and Reconciliation commission.

But mostly I have been hearing positive things about him, said Nkatlo.

Bells rang at midday Monday from St. Georges Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town to honor Tutu. The bells at the peoples cathedral where Tutu worked to unite South Africans of all races against apartheid, are to ring for 10 minutes at noon for five days to mark Tutus life.

We ask all who hear the bells to pause their busy schedules for a moment in tribute to Archbishop Tutu, said the current Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba.

Several services in South Africa are being planned to honor Tutus life, as messages honoring him came in from around the world.

Tutus body will lie in state at the cathedral in Cape Town on Friday. This will permit the public to see the simplicity with which he asked to be buried, said Makgoba in a statement.

A special service will be held Saturday. Tutus ashes will be placed in the cathedrals burial area, church officials said Monday.

In addition, a mixed religious service will be held for Tutu on Thursday in South Africas capital, Pretoria.

South Africans are placing flowers at the cathedral, in front of Tutus home in Cape Towns Milnerton area, and in front of his former home in Soweto.

He knew that apartheid would end, that democracy would come, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said of Tutu, in a nationally broadcast speech Sunday night.

He knew that our people would be free, the president said. He added that South Africas flags will be flown at half-staff this week.

Ramaphosa urged all South Africans to pay respects to the departed and to celebrate life withthe purpose of our beloved Archbishop. May we follow in his footsteps.

Im Caty Weaver.

Mogomotsi Magome and Andrew Meldrum reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

__________________________________________________

Words in This Story

legacy n. something that is received or handed down from someone who has died

reconciliation n. the act of causing two people or groups to become friendly again after an argument or disagreement

positive adj. good or useful

LGBTQ adj. lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (one's sexual or gender identity)

pause v. to stop for a period of time

tribute n. something that you say, give, or do to show respect for someone

schedule n. a plan of things that need to be done and the times they will be done

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.
Twenty-nine-year-old Bushra started her trip to Europe from Erbil, Iraq in late September.

The Syrian and ethnic Kurd was a student at the university in Deir el-Zour when the civil war started in her country in 2011.

She moved to another university in Syria when Islamic State fighters took control of areas near her. She still did not feel safe. During one two-year period, she did not leave home often.

She got work with an international aid group. During that time, she saved all her money so she would be able to leave and go to Europe.

Ten years after the war started in her country, she began her trip.

Why she left

Bushra left because the economy was not good in Syria. For example, her fathers job paid about $100 a month at the start of the war. Today, the same amount of money is only worth about $15. The minimum wage in Syria can only buy about 2.3 kilograms of meat a month. Some months, people cannot get that much because it is not available.

She left because she feared Islamic State fighters who recently carried out eight kidnappings in a town close to where she lived.

And she left because she reported on local officials in a corruption case. She worried the people she reported on might hurt her.

Her parents worried about a woman in her 20s making a long trip by herself. But in the end, they agreed she should leave and try to find a better life in Europe. Bushra said she had no future in Syria.

She recently spoke with the Associated Press. She said she worried security forces would target her for the rest of her life. For that reason, she did not give her last name.

A difficult trip

She wanted to get to safety in Germany. So, she started the trip. The last part included a long walk through the Eastern European country of Belarus to the Polish border.

One time she made it to the border but was chased away by Polish guards. At that time, a friend got so scared she fainted. The group she was with tried to hide in ditches and behind trees so they would not get caught. But the guards found the migrants and took them back to Belarus.

But Bushra tried a second time.

Along the way, she hurt her leg.

She slept outside with other travelers on cold nights. One night it was so cold that a friend broke a tooth because her teeth were chattering so much.

At last, she reached a village in Poland where people took them to Germany in a car.

I put up with unbearable pain, Bushra said. She added, Running away from something is sometimes the easiest thing.

Almost 80,000 Syrians applied for asylum in Europe in 2021. That is 70 percent more than last year. Of the 500,000 migrants who came to Europe in 2021, Syrians are the second largest group behind Afghans.

About 90 percent of people in Syria are very poor. Twenty percent more people need help this year, a total of 13 million. The Syrian government cannot help them. Inside of Syria, almost 7 million people are considered internally displaced, which means they are no longer living in their homes.

I will go to where I can live.

Syrian people are going to Europe although many countries in Eastern Europe do not want them. Among those who tried to make it to Europe through Belarus, 15 people died.

Bushra said she is surprised that she was able to put up with the whole trip.

But it was worth it, she said.

When you lose hope, you follow a path more dangerous than where you started.

She said she is trying to live a free life. I am done with restrictions.

Bushra said if she does not get permission to stay in Germany, she will try somewhere else.

She said, If I cant get to where I want to go, I will go to where I can live.

Im John Russell. And Im Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell wrote this story for Learning English a report from the Associated Press. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor.

Do you know people who have a story like Bushra? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page.

__________________________________________________

Words in This Story

minimum  adj. as little as possible or the lowest that is permitted

faint  v. to suddenly become unconscious

ditch  n. a long, narrow hole often along a road that carries water away

unbearable  adj. too bad or difficult to be accepted or suffered

chatter v. to make a noise from two things knocking together (such as teeth when a person is cold)

desperate  adj. very sad and upset because of having little or no hope
Mid-Willamette Valley residents woke up to a winter wonderland the day after Christmas as a storm dumped three inches or more of snow on the area.

In neighborhoods near Timber Ridge School in Albany, children and the young at heart engaged in snowball fights, sledded down driveways (with varying degrees of success) and the population surged thanks to a plethora of newly created snowmen.

Juliano Castillo, a junior at South Albany High School, said he absolutely had to build a snowman Sunday morning.

This is my first time being in the snow, said Castillo, who moved from California about two years ago. Its interesting for sure, he added.

Emmett Wolfe, 10, his little brother Judah Wolfe, 5, and his father Nathan Wolfe made snowmen in their front yard. I cant believe we got snow here, exclaimed Emmett, as he munched on a piece of snow and prepared to head inside to warm up. Theres so much!

The familys biggest snowman looked regal with deer antlers as headgear, courtesy of Emmetts dad.

Engaged couple Mitchell Brouhard and Karla Garrett built a classic looking snowman together, complete with a carrot nose, sticks for arms, ornaments plucked from the tree for eyes and a Santa cap. They were hoping to see snow before they went to bed on Christmas. When we woke up, its crazy how much there was, Garrett said.

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Its like a white Christmas one day late, she said.

Of course, the snow meant hard work for some residents, who shoveled sidewalks for safety in front of their houses, such as Joe Rose.

This is kid stuff. Im from New York. In New York if we didnt clear the sidewalk, youd get in a lot of trouble. Right now, its just important to get out and do some exercise, Rose said.

A short time later, fluffy white flakes were floating down and swirling in the wind.

And more snow could be on the way, according to the National Weather Service.

The agency has issued a winter storm warning for areas including Alsea, Corvallis, Albany, Lebanon and Sweet Home through 4 a.m. Monday.

But Monday nights forecast for Corvallis and Albany also includes a likelihood of snow, though less than a half-inch is expected. A slight chance of snow is predicted for Tuesday night, and Wednesday night brings a 20 percent chance of snow. Overnight lows are predicted to remain in the mid-20s through Tuesday night for Corvallis, Albany and surrounding communities, then dip to a frosty 19 degrees overnight on Wednesday.

Oregon State University announced Sunday night that it would close its Corvallis campus on Monday due to the prediction of sub-freezing temperatures and continued snowfall.

A chance of snow remains in the forecast for Alsea and other areas in the central Coast Range and Sweet Home and spots in the Cascades foothills through Thursday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.

Kyle Odegard can be contacted at 541-812-6077 or kyle.odegard@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter via @KyleOdegard.

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For someone with one of the most famous names in agriculture, not a lot is known about John Deere the man.

Neil Dahlstrom, an archivist, manages the John Deere heritage properties and wrote a book about the man. It took a lot of work to ferret out information about the personal life of the inventor and innovator, he said. He found details in letters, in his will and other legal documents.

Photographs are few as well, as Deere, who was born in 1804, died in 1886 long before action shots or selfies.

Deere was inducted into the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Hall of Fame in 2012, the year his company celebrated its 175th anniversary.

He is among 66 people who have been honored by AEM since 2008 for inventing, managing, building and leading the off-road equipment industry.

Individually and collectively, they represent some of the best, brightest and most influential minds in the history of the ag equipment industry, AEM said of its Hall of Famers.

Deere was a leader in his day in innovation and improving the quality of life for his fellow citizens. His influence has been felt for almost two centuries, his Hall of Fame entry says.

From the time John Deere moved from New England to Grand Detour in Illinois, his blacksmith skills were in demand. However, soil conditions were different in the Midwest than in Vermont. Deere listened to what farmers needed to manage the soil here and used his blacksmith skills and ingenuity to create it.

He had pretty good listening skills, Dahlstrom said.

Deere had a moment of inspiration when he visited a local saw mill and saw a broken saw blade that eventually led to his concept for the steel plow.

His genius combined projects and business, said Dahlstrom, the co-author of The John Deere Story: A Biography of Plowmakers John & Charles Deere with his brother Jeremy Dahlstrom.

Deere dissolved an early partnership and moved on to Moline to start his factory near where the first railroad bridge crossed the Mississippi River. When he filed a patent for his plow in 1864, he didnt patent the design because that was not really enforceable in Illinois at the time. He patented the process to build the plow, Dahlstrom said.

Customers talked about John Deeres inventions.

His name meant something, Dahlstrom said.

His products were known for quality and durability, the historian said.

Most of his life he spent on product development, Dahlstrom said. Anecdotal stories tell of him hammering at 3 a.m. and waking neighbors.

People might not know that John Deere was the first mayor of Moline. His son Charles took over leading the company in 1860, freeing John for more time to work in his community.

I was surprised how well-rounded he was, Dahlstrom said.

John Deere is depicted as an uneducated blacksmith. However, he did a four-year apprenticeship in Vermont, which is the equivalent to a masters degree today, he said. He was a subscriber to the Scientific American Journal and influential in the development of Moline. He introduced gas lighting in town to make the area safe to walk, Dahlstrom said.

He and his wife had nine children.

Hes a real person, not just a legend, Dahlstrom said.

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It was a year that began with shutdowns and masks and ended with skyrocketing land prices and input costs.

A year ago, everyone was looking forward to the end of 2020  2021 couldnt help but be better. In most ways it was, but its probably safe to say that December of 2021 doesnt look like what most farmers pictured a year ago.

Unpredictable might be the best word to describe 2021, says Craig Hill, outgoing president of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation.

Some of that unpredictability was good. Yields were good for most farmers. Commodity prices were good. The world is in a better place in regards to COVID than it was a year ago. Land prices are going up.

But it was a also a year of uncertain weather, of a slower-than expected recovery from COVID, and of surprising supply chain difficulties and increases in farm input costs.

COVID recoveryThe world has recovered from some of the worst of COVID and vaccines have become widely available, but many Americans have decided not to get vaccinated and there have been political battles over both vaccines and other mitigation methods, such as the wearing of masks. All of that has slowed the recovery, and COVID has not completely gone away.

PoliticsThe year began with a crowd of people attacking the U.S. Capitol in what appeared to be a failed attempt to stop the naming of a new president on Jan. 6. But Joe Biden was inaugurated two weeks later, and that meant a change in agricultural leadership. Tom Vilsack returned for a second stint as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.

Many farmers were concerned about whether the Biden administration would enact onerous new taxes or regulations. But after a year, leaders of most farm organizations said those things appeared unlikely, and they were able to work with the Biden administration.

Thats not to say there arent political battles happening in Washington, D.C. Issues such as the Waters of the United States and the Renewable Fuel Standard continue to be hotly debated.

The Biden administration pushed a COVID relief bill through Congress early in the year, and an infrastructure bill late in the year. There is still debate over the so-called Build Back Better Act, which includes infrastructure funding and money for an assortment of items ranging from climate to preschool education.

The good news for farmers, according to Iowa State University Economist Chad Hart, is that the infrastructure bill included a number of important items for agriculture. Just about every president comes to the White House pledging to pass an infrastructure bill, he says. Biden succeeded.

Trade and pricesWhile China may not meet the Phase 1 levels of its agreement with the United States, trade with China was brisk in 2021 and the tension of the two-year trade war seemed to wane. Worldwide demand for agricultural goods picked up as COVID receded and prices soared.

Land values also shot up. As an example, last years land price survey from Iowa State University showed an increase in farmland values in the state by 1.7%. This December, ISU officials announced values were up 29% over the previous year. Unfortunately, input costs are also going up.

WeatherThis year brought lots of weather variety for farmers across the Midwest. In Missouri, heavy spring rains delayed planting or forced replanting, and many farmers planted soybeans in late July or even early August after floodwaters receded. The late soybeans did relatively well.

We had the right weather, says Mark Scott, who farms in Lincoln and St. Charles counties in east central Missouri. We didnt get a freeze for a long time. They were able to completely mature before we got a frost. Im thankful for what I got.

In Iowa, 76.16% of the state was in drought by June 22, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. More than half of the state remained in drought for most of the summer, and at times in the fall. In August, more than 10% of the state was in the Drought Monitors level 3 Extreme Drought.

Fortunately we got some late rain, otherwise itd be really dry, says Gentry Sorenson, an Iowa State University agronomist based in north central Iowa.

Illinois saw a mix, with parts of the state seeing drought throughout the growing season while others saw significant rainfall.

Livestock opportunitiesThis year saw announcements that the local packing capacity would be expanding. In June, the Cattlemens Heritage Beef Company announced it would build a 1,500 head per day beef processing plant in Mills County, Iowa. In November, American Foods Group announced it plans to build a new beef processing facility in Warren County, Missouri, which would process 2,400 cattle per day once it is fully operational.

Livestock specialists say the processing plants give producers more opportunities to finish cattle and maybe realize more profit.

Having a company like this in Missouri will undoubtedly help producers here and in surrounding states, Mike Deering, executive vice president of the Missouri Cattlemens Association, says of the Warren County plant.

Supply chain challengesThe ag industry has faced supply chain issues in 2021, with difficulty getting equipment and materials at times.

Some of its still COVID-related, Hart says. Some of its issues that were problems before COVID, but COVID really increased them. And then theres some that had nothing to do with COVID.

Jayson Lusk, head of the ag economics department at Purdue University, says the challenge of finding labor is a key factor.

One of the big impacts is on labor issues, the challenge of trying to find workers, and when you can find them having to pay them more, he says.

Implement dealers have struggled to get equipment on the lot to sell.

Kurt Childs, manager at the Ennis Implement Case-IH dealership in Mexico, Missouri, says it has been tough keeping both new and used equipment on the lot.

Were low on both, he says. New equipment is slow coming in, and weve had several orders get canceled. Most of the new things we have, have been sold.

Childs says uncertainty and things being different has been the story of 2021.

This years been really strange, he says.

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BOISE  A group of former Idaho government, business and agriculture leaders has created a new political action committee designed to oust extremists from the Idaho Legislature.

One of Take Back Idaho PACs strategies is to support candidates who support schools and public education.

Jennifer Ellis, a rancher and former president of the Idaho Cattle Association, is the chairwoman of the Take Back Idaho PAC. Other members of the political action committee include former Speaker of the Idaho House Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley; former Idaho Senate President Pro Tem Bob Geddes, R-Soda Springs; former Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa and former Idaho attorney general and retired Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones, and former Weiser School District Superintendent Wil Overgaard.

The committee plans to support and try to help elect candidates in legislative races starting in 2022, particularly candidates who will support education. The committee also plans to oppose incumbent legislators who attack education and who Take Back Idaho PAC members view as extremist in their views and policy positions.

The Take Back Idaho Committee does plan to raise and spend campaign money, Newcomb said.

First and foremost, we want to groom candidates and make sure they are financed and supported and help them in every way we can to get elected, Newcomb said in a telephone interview. Thats the goal here, to get people that really are concerned and support our schools and our communities.

Other new groups oppose extremism in Idaho as well

Take Back Idaho PAC isnt the only group created to push back against the far right and the nonprofit Idaho Freedom Foundation.

Boiseans Nathaniel Hoffman and Emily Walton formed the Idaho 97 Project LLC to oppose extremism, hold legislators accountable, engage Idahoans and support education.

The nonpartisan group Reclaim Idaho led the effort behind the successful 2018 Medicaid expansion ballot initiative and is now working to qualify an education ballot initiative for the 2022 general election.

And this fall, the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, a business lobbying group that represents some 300 Idaho businesses, pushed back against the Legislatures efforts to pass bills placing restrictions or liabilities on businesses regarding vaccines.

Take Back Idaho leaders formed the PAC out of concern for the influence the conservative Idaho Freedom Foundation was having on the Idaho Legislature, particularly the Idaho House of Representatives, Newcomb said. During the 2021 session, far right members of the Idaho House aligned with the freedom foundation led the effort to cut $2.5 million from the higher education budget and sidetrack the public school budget for teacher salaries after legislators alleged public school students were being indoctrinated with social justice programs and rejected $6 million in federal funding for preschool.

That is just not acceptable, Newcomb said. It never was and its definitely not now, especially after going through a pandemic and people trying to catch up and make up for lost time.

Several Take Back Idaho PAC members said the pushback against education was the last straw for them.

The recent disruptive legislative sessions have pointed to the desperate need to replace dangerous extremists in the Legislature, Ellis said in a written statement. Instead of putting forward positive ideas to improve the everyday lives of Idahoans, these politicians waste valuable time and taxpayer money. This vocal minority has replaced civility and common sense with conspiracy theories, fringe views, and cheap political theater.

The primary election for statewide and legislative races will be held in May if Idahos redistricting maps, which created new legislative and congressional districts after the 2020 census information became available, arent delayed by several legal challenges. The general election will be held in November.

More information about the Take Back Idaho Committee and the issues its members will highlight is available on its website.

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BOISE  The state was ablaze with the delta coronavirus variant in early August, when Connie visited her hometown in eastern Idaho. Connie  who asked we use only her first name due to concerns about blowback on her family  was fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Much of her family was not, including her octogenarian parents.

When she got to Rockland, a tiny farming town with fewer than 300 residents, there was a community picnic at a park. And not a mask in sight.

For me, coming from California, I was just shocked, Connie said in an interview this month. And at this point, I started thinking to myself, This is not good.

Connie spent her visit trying in vain to persuade her 80-year-old mother that COVID-19 vaccines were safe. By the end of the month, her mother was one of more than 4,000 Idahoans to die of COVID-19.

Public health officials have pleaded with Idahoans for a year to get vaccinated. But a flood of false and unsupported health claims have drowned out their pleas.

How did Idaho reach this point, where an 80-year-old woman refuses protection against a virus that has killed off 3% of Idahoans in her age group?

In dozens of Idaho Capital Sun interviews this year, experts in public health, the law, medicine and media literacy said the pandemic shone a light on the fabric of public trust in Idaho. What it exposed was the wear and tear of decades of health misinformation, deregulation and spotty oversight.

How did we get here? This is the second of three stories from the Idaho Capital Sun on health misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and distrust in Idaho. The Idaho Capital Sun interviewed dozens of people, asking how the state ended up on a path to catastrophe  and what, if anything, can turn it around. State legislators, public health officials, lawyers, health care workers and a media scholar all described one common theme: distrust, fueled by forces within Idaho and beyond. Read the previous story in Sunday's newspaper or at Magicvalley.com. Coming Tuesday in the Times-News and Magicvalley.com, the Sun takes a look at Idahos path to crisis in 2020 and 2021.

She was being terrorized about the vaccine

As in Idahos other remote communities, the coronavirus arrived late in Rockland. The first real outbreak in all of Power County wasnt until July 2020, according to public health case data.

Connies parents were, like many Idahoans, devout members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Senior leaders of the church took the COVID-19 vaccine in January, and the church publicized it. The week of Connies visit to Rockland, the churchs prophet and his counselors issued a statement urging Latter-day Saints to get vaccinated and to wear masks.

We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders, they wrote in the Aug. 12 message.

That resonated with Connies father. He went with her to a pharmacy for his first dose. But months of emails, forwarded memes, text messages and disinformation on television and social media had convinced Connies mom that COVID-19 vaccines were deadly, she said.

It was just on her phone, 24/7, coming at her from people she trusted, community members.  And then she would see validation on Fox News, Connie said. She was being terrorized about the vaccine. Just terrorized.

It wasnt limited to Idaho. People around the U.S. and the globe consumed false information about COVID-19 and vaccines  be it disinformation spread deliberately, or accidental misinformation.

Misinformation about health care topics is nothing new, but social media, the polarization of news sources, and the pace of scientific development on COVID-19 have all contributed to an environment that makes it easier than ever for ambiguous information, misinterpretation, and deliberate disinformation to spread, the Kaiser Family Foundation wrote last month, after surveying about 1,500 adults.

Nearly 80% of adults said theyd heard at least one of the major myths surrounding COVID-19, and either believed the myths to be true or didnt know if they were true or false, the survey found.

A survey commissioned this fall by the Frank Church Institute at Boise State University found that 83% of adults in the Rocky Mountain West  Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming  believed misinformation and misrepresentation of facts are threats to democracy.

Where they seemed to disagree, though, was on what constitutes misinformation. Republicans surveyed were more than twice as likely to say there is a lot of misinformation spread on news media, the institutes report said. About 33% of those surveyed said they get their news from social media.

Health care in Idaho underwent a subtle transformation

Throughout the pandemic, health officials have urged Idahoans to seek information on COVID-19 from trusted sources.

The publics most trusted sources of health information are doctors. People with less access to them turn to the internet first, according to national surveys before and during the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week published a report showing that people were more likely to be vaccinated if their health care provider recommended it.

Idaho has a dire shortage of those trusted health advisers.

There are 1,034 Idahoans for every primary care doctor in the state, according to a Sun analysis of data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and census data. Idaho ranks 49th in the nation for primary care physicians per capita.

Idaho lawmakers tried in the past two decades to narrow that gap  from giving nurse practitioners the ability to work independently as primary care providers, to committing to help create more medical residencies and supporting Idahos first medical school.

Other changes, though, eroded trust in the medical community, according to Susie Keller, CEO of the Idaho Medical Association.

I think our state in particular, because we have kind of held ourselves out as a low regulation state, I think nationally we are a target, Keller said in a July interview. So, when a group of health care professionals wants to expand their scope nationally, Idaho is among the states they target, because we have this reputation.

For example, Keller said, in the last legislative session before COVID-19 reached Idaho, optometrists pushed for a bill giving them authority to perform laser surgeries  procedures done by ophthalmologists, who are medical doctors.

There also in recent years has been a chilling effect on regulating acts of health care providers, Keller said.

A U.S. Supreme Court case involving a dentistry board in North Carolina ended in a 2015 decision that, for some professional licensing boards, it is a potential antitrust violation to limit what other professions do.

The case sent ripples throughout the country, Keller said. That has really tamped down any licensure boards that were going to be proactive about defending their scope. That really took that (movement) back several steps.

Medical and osteopathic doctors have seen a dissolution and redistribution of their scope of practice over the past 15 or more years, as well as the dilution of their clinical authority, a 2018 Idaho Medical Association resolution said.

Idaho gives patients few avenues to hold doctors accountable for harm. But for other professions, there are nascent to limited systems for the vetting of adverse outcomes or complications for  incidents with patients, clients or customers, the resolution said.

For example, chiropractors in Idaho have a wide scope of practice. They can prescribe on a limited basis, hook up patients to IV drips, and act as primary care providers. Many Idaho chiropractors advertise treatments for autism, chronic fatigue or even clogged arteries.

They also treat fictional disorders, such as rope worms. Co-founded by a local chiropractor, Meridian company Microbe Formulas sells a package for $907 that includes a gut and immune support line of products. In product reviews, customers share photographs of rope worms they believe to be parasites.

I have large and small critters exiting daily, one customer wrote.

Released from the body in long, stringy bowel movements, the worms are actually fecal matter and mucus. A substance in some gut-cleanse products thickens into a snake-like mold of the intestines.

Rope worm, or Funis vermis, is not yet a scientifically confirmed parasite, the Microbe Formulas website says. (Funis vermis isnt an official scientific name for the excretions; its rope worm in Latin.)

Marketing representatives told the Sun on Tuesday they were unable to comment, and that Microbe Formulas owners were unavailable.

Idaho as a beacon and proving ground for health freedom

As officials toured the state in 2019 to hear public comment on regulations, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare was bombarded with comments from people who opposed vaccine rules.

More than two dozen people testified that they moved to Idaho because of the states limited regulation  specifically, the ease of getting a vaccine exemption for schoolchildren, the Idaho Statesman reported in February 2020.

Several people who testified at hearings or via email described themselves as a refugee of their former state. They urged lawmakers and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare not to change Idahos permissive rules, the Statesman article said. Neighboring states like California and Washington have tightened the rules for vaccine exemptions in response to outbreaks of diseases like the measles.

Several people the Sun interviewed from the Idaho Legislature, health care community and academia said Idaho has cultivated that reputation  and is attracting newcomers who believe they will find a deregulated nirvana.

Gov. Brad Little announced in December 2019, just before the pandemic, that Idaho had become the least regulated state in the U.S.

Regulatory reform was among Littles projects when he took office in January 2019. Some of Idahos rules were redundant, antiquated or useless. Within months, state officials had eliminated 40% of Idahos regulations.

Little told the Idaho Statesman that the White House, federal and state government officials came up to us and said, What is happening in Idaho? We are hearing about all the rules. And I am more than a little proud about that, according to Statesman reporting from July 2019.

Long before that, though, Idaho lawmakers set some of the most lax vaccination rules in the U.S. Parents in Idaho can send children to public school without immunizations, for any reason.

The Idaho Legislature this year changed the law. It now requires schools to explain, in any communication to parents and guardians regarding immunization, that they can exempt their child from vaccination for any reason.

During the pandemic, legislators also changed laws to pull state funding from public health departments, and to give elected politicians veto power over public health mandates.

I couldnt undo the damage  the fear that they caused

Connie left Rockland on a Sunday in mid-August. She begged her mother and father not to attend church that day. She figured they would, so she gave them N95 masks to wear.

They went to church and didnt keep the masks on, she told the Sun.

A week later, her mother and father tested positive for COVID-19.

Her father recovered quickly, even though he was exposed to the virus just a few days after his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Connies mother developed pneumonia. Her oxygen levels plummeted, and she was admitted to the hospital.

Her condition worsened. Doctors told her she needed a ventilator.

But misinformation got in the way. Connies mother refused.

She had been exposed to the myth that ventilators kill COVID-19 patients  a misinterpretation of the high mortality rates among patients who are sick enough with COVID-19 to require ventilators.

My mom is dead, and she shouldnt be, Connie said. And I couldnt help her. I couldnt. I couldnt undo the damage of the people who were misrepresenting the facts. The fear that they caused. COVID didnt kill my mother. That fear killed my mother. She was murdered with misinformation.

Many people do not survive after intubation. Patients who need to be intubated and placed on a ventilator are already gravely ill. Their doctors have determined they need an external lung to breathe for them, in order to have a chance of leaving the hospital alive.

Connies mother died on Aug. 30, one of the 11 Idahoans with COVID-19 to die that day.
Theres nothing even slightly funny or acceptable about public discourse that calls for young people to ambush a major public figure and finish him off with a kill shot. When a Missouri Democratic state senator, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, publicly wished for President Donald Trumps assassination, her fellow Democrats led the charge for her to be censured. They joined Republicans in demanding her resignation. Because there are certain lines that people in a civilized society simply do not ever cross.

But when the person invoking the language of an assassination is a prominent Fox News host, the rules apparently go out the window. Fox News host Jesse Watters crossed so far over the line of acceptability that he not only deserves to be fired but also to receive a visit from the FBI with an eye toward prosecution for inciting violence.

Watters, speaking onstage to a conservative audience, urged young Republicans to stage an ambush and fire a rhetorical kill shot to bring down Dr. Anthony Fauci, the infectious-disease expert who advised Trump and, now, President Joe Biden. Watters said it in the context of asking confrontational questions, but the language of violence he used insistently, and with strong emphasis on a death result, could incite worse.

You got to ambush a guy like Fauci, he said, apparently referring to a style of confrontational interview.

Now youre going for the kill shot. The kill shot with an ambush is deadly because he doesnt see it coming. ... Boom, he is dead! He is dead! Watters tells would-be shooters to record the ambush. Now you get that footage to us. You get it to Fox so the assailants can make a name for yourselves. Audience members giggled in response.

Fauci told CNN he believes Watters should be fired on the spot but conceded thats unlikely. The only thing that I have ever done throughout these two years is to encourage people to practice good (pandemic) public health practices Fauci said. ... And for that, you have some guy out there saying that people should be giving me a kill shot to ambush me? I mean, what kind of craziness is there in society these days?

The network says it wont take disciplinary action, labeling Watters remarks as a metaphor. A metaphor that lasted eight minutes, followed by instructions on going after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Even if Watters was joking, there are nut cases out there who dont think its a joke. A right-wing militia in Michigan plotted an armed operation to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 after Trump attacked her. A Texas gunman, echoing Trumps words about an immigrant invasion, shot 22 people dead in an El Paso Walmart in 2019, later saying he was targeting Mexicans. And five people died after a mob took Trump seriously on Jan. 6 when he told them to fight like hell and pointed them to Capitol Hill.

So, yes, people take such words seriously, and they act on it. Which is why Watters deserves an FBI visit soon.

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The Virginia Board of Education announces two virtual public hearings for the proposed Data Science Standards of Learning: Tuesday, Jan. 11, and Thursday, Jan. 20.

Information on each public hearing is listed below.

People who wish to participate should register in advance. To address the Board on the proposed Data Science Standards of Learning, email vdoe.mathematics@doe.virginia.gov and let them know which public hearing you plan to address the Board on the proposed Standards.

Both public hearings are open to the public and will be livestreamed on the VDOE YouTube Channel.

Data Science SOL Virtual Public Hearing #1 will be held at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 11. To register, visit https://doe-virginia-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lKQSQYdFTlqnV4KKK8tvrA.

Data Science SOL Virtual Public Hearing #2 will be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 20. To register, visit https://doe-virginia-gov.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DPwEYXnjQwiFOAh-DB2QNg.

More information about the proposed Data Science Standards of Learning can be found at www.doe.virginia.gov/boe/meetings/2021/11-nov/item-j.docx. In summary:

The Proposed Data Science Standards of Learning and the Proposed Data Science Standards of Learning Curriculum Framework include the following strands:

Data and Society - Understanding data science facilitates critical examination of questions in different parts of society and supports informed data-driven decision making.

Data and Ethics - Ethical implications may result from the types of methods used for data collection, processing, representation, analysis, and use.

Data and Communication - Data visualizations are used to communicate insights about complex data sets to support an audience in making decisions.

Data Modeling - Mathematical models are used to predict future, unobserved data values.

Data and Computing - Technology is used to effectively prepare, analyze, and communicate with data.

The document states: "Using technology tools, such as CODAP, Python, or Excel/Google Sheets, students will be collecting and cleaning data, representing and analyzing data, and building models that will allow for the examination of problems in society. Students will examine problems for which data sets may already exist, or may collect data around an authentic problem or situation."

Questions about the public hearing should be directed to vdoe.mathematics@doe.virginia.gov.
The court on Monday also heard video testimony from the vice chairman of Suu Kyi's party, Zaw Myint Maung, in another case against her involving alleged violation of COVID-19 restrictions during last year's election campaign, the legal official said.

Zaw Myint Maung, who had been unable to appear in court earlier for health reasons, testified that people had gathered to see her when she visited Shwe Kyar Pin Ward during the campaign because they respect her, and it wasn't a violation of virus restrictions, the official said.

The offense falls under the Natural Disaster Management Law and the maximum penalty is three years in prison and a fine.

She is also being tried in the same court on five counts of corruption. The maximum penalty for each count is 15 years in prison and a fine. A sixth corruption charge, in which Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint are accused of granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter, has not yet gone to trial.

In separate proceedings, she is accused of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum term of 14 years.
It quickly became apparent that it was not the time capsule historians expected to find. The box was the wrong material, the wrong size and in the wrong location.

So after the masonry crew had removed every stone of the pedestal Wednesday  all 632 of them, Spence said  the search resumed. The foundation of the statue  rocks, mortar and boulders  still remained.

On Monday morning, a crew returned and slowly picked away at the foundation. At the bottom of the northeast corner, they found harder, fabricated material.

"Obviously it was trying to protect something," Spence said. "That was our theory."

Using an excavator, they slid a 3,000-pound stone to the side  and there it was, the other time capsule. Devon Henry, the project's contractor, called for all the workers to stop. Spence, who was standing near the perimeter at the time, walked bristly  you never run on a construction site, he said  to see what had been discovered.

What they found isn't a perfect match to the 1887 newspaper descriptions, but it's close.
The recent disclosures of text messages sent by the hosts of two leading shows on Fox News Channel to the chief of staff to President Trump urging a speech to the nation at the height of the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol has again raised ethical questions over personal involvement in presidential decision-making.

Both Sean Hannity and his colleague Laura Ingraham sent frantic messages to Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, imploring a presidential address urging the protestors to leave the Capitol.

Their messages warned the riot was inflicting major damage on Trump and would destroy his legacy.

Both justified their private messages as nothing different from what theyd already said repeatedly on the air. Why, then, did each feel it crucial to use private back channels to offer advice if not for a self-serving desire to play a significant role in a history-making  albeit disgraceful  event?

Granted, neither Hannity nor Ingraham went as far over the line as Cuomo, but their efforts to insert themselves into the center of the riveting events swirling around them smacked of personal aggrandizement and self-promotion.
Algeria has granted a $300 million credit facility to Tunisia to help the North African country navigate economic distress.

The deal for the credit according to Tunisias national gazette, was signed on Dec. 09 during the visit of the Algerian Premier Aimene Benabderrahmane.

The announcement of the deal came Tuesday, a day before visit of the Algerian President Abdelmajid Tebboune on Dec. 15-16, at the invitation of his Tunisian counterpart Kais Saied.

This visit, Saieds office said, will be an opportunity to strengthen the historical ties of brotherhood between Tunisia and Algeria and to anchor the traditions of consultation and coordination between the leaders of both countries on regional and international issues of the day.

It will also be an opportunity to consolidate the relations of cooperation and partnership established between the two countries, the statement added.

Tunisia is going through deep economic crisis worsened by political uncertainty after Saied seized on July 25 the executive, judiciary and legislature power.

Saudi Arabia and Libya, Tunisie Numerique reported in November citing a source knowledgeable of the matter, are expected to provide Tunisia a loan of $500 million each attached with affordable interests to help the North African country to overcome economic woes amid the ongoing political crisis.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, will set up a joint venture with Dubai-headquartered Tabreed to invest $400 million in India over the next five years, Zawya reports.

Both sides, media notes, signed partnership agreement for the venture to run Tabreed India which currently a wholly owned subsidiary of Tabreed.

Under the partnership deal, Tabreed India, will be transferred to a new holding company established in Singapore, in which Tabreed will hold a 75 percent stake and IFC will have 25 percent.

Also per the agreement, the holding company will be set up with initial equity commitments from the partners of $100 million with a mandate to invest in projects of up to approximately $400 million over the next five years.

The investment will target a portfolio of approximately 100,000 refrigeration tons (RT) servicing industrial, commercial and retail developments across India, Zawya adds citing a filing by Tabreed on the Dubai Financial Market.

In addition, IFC and Tabreed have agreed investment eligibility criteria which include robust environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) requirements for projects in these geographies.

Public environment and sustainability (E&S) disclosures will be made by IFC prior to investing in each project. Tabreed provides district cooling in the UAE and across the Gulf Cooperation Council. The company in 2019, signed a 30-year concession for a contracted cooling capacity of 20,000 RTs with Indias Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority to build, own, operate and transfer Indias first district cooling system in Amaravati  the new capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Qatars sovereign wealth fund has acquired 10 per cent of Rolls-Royces low-carbon nuclear business that has lured 490 million pounds.

The Gulf country in exchange will inject 85 million pounds ($112.12 million) in project, Zawya reports.

This investment is a clear vote of confidence in the UKs global leadership in nuclear innovation, British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said in a statement.

The new investment comes following an announcement by both partners last month they would team up in a multi-billion pound project to develop and invest in green technology start-ups.
The World Bank has granted Turkey two loans worth $300 million to support the development of renewable energy by tapping heat sources deep underground as part of the Geothermal Development Project, Daily Sabah reports citing the Washington-based financial institution.

The financing, additional of two initial loans worth $250 million, will help finance electricity generation, drilling capacity and steam-field development, as well as geothermal direct-use applications, the bank noted.

The project, in addition, plans to finance a total of over 380 megawatts (MW) of new geothermal capacity, mobilize about $555 million of private capital and contribute to the countrys climate commitments by preventing about 30 million tons of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the geothermal projects.

The loans have been backed by a $39.8 million grant from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and a $350,000 grant from the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).

Turkey in recent years has increased initiatives to transition towards renewal energy generation.
In Libya, after the announcement of the postponement of the presidential election that should have been held this Friday, December 24  the 70th anniversary of independence  the Parliament appointed a commission to prepare a new roadmap for the transition. Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibahs mandate officially ends on December 24, according to the Geneva political agreement.

On Monday, December 27, Parliament will consider a government reshuffle to appoint a new executive until the presidential election, which is not expected to take place in a month, but rather in a window of six to 12 months. This is according to parliamentary sources working on this new roadmap.

Parliament will consider on Monday the Electoral Commissions proposal to hold the election on January 24, but the adoption of this date is far from certain, given the internal divisions and the tug of war between the Parliament, which is based in Toubrouk, in the east, and the authorities in Tripoli.

While Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah is sending signals that he wants to keep his post, forces in the west and east believe he should not be extended.

The new electoral timetable to be established by parliament will therefore necessarily include a call for a government reshuffle.
Bahrain Shura Council Sunday trashed two bills that sought to amend the Civil Service Law to reserve all jobs under the public sector, including contract jobs for Bahrainis, confirming the Gulf countrys policy to replace expats working in government by citizens.

The council, reports say, voted by a majority to reject the bills following recommendation from the legislative and Legal Affairs committee.

The council stressed that foreigners can be hired for jobs in case of not finding a suitable Bahraini candidate who meets the qualifications to occupy the required position.

The Gulf country according to Ahmed Zayed, Head of the Civil Service Bureau, has employed 25,000 Bahrainis, including 4,598 in government, in 6,300 different institutions, trained 12,100 since the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

Over 1,815 foreign contracts have been terminated, Bahraini official reportedly told the council.

The move, Zayed noted, confirmed the Gulf countrys efforts to empower local workforce.

There are currently 7, 2000 expats still working in the government, including 3,800 in the education sector.
Head of state Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Farmajo, announced in a statement on Sunday night (December 26) and Monday (December 27) that he was suspending his Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble from office following allegations of corruption. The two men are engaged in a tug-of-war over the conduct of elections that should lead to the appointment of a new head of state.

The Prime Minister was accused a few days ago by the coast guard commander, who is close to the president, of profiting from the seizure of navy land, an accusation vigorously denied by the coast guard commander and several ministers involved. Villa Somalias statement referred to an attempt by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense to interfere with the militarys investigation into the allegations.

Despite the suspension of the Prime Minister, the communique states that the other members of the government will continue to perform their duties.

In a second statement minutes later, the president also ordered the suspension of the commander of the Somali Navy, Brigadier General Abdihamid Mohamed Dirir.

The rift between the two men stems from the fate of the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Ikran Tahlil Farah, a young intelligence officer, in June. The Prime Minister dismissed the internal intelligence investigation, blaming it on the shebab jihadists, and dismissed its director. This came at a time when the victims family openly accused Ikran Tahlil Farahs hierarchy of being protected by the presidency.

This sensitive case will be handled by the civilian courts, not by a commission of inquiry as ordered by the Prime Minister, or by the military justice system as desired by the president.
A suicide bomber detonated his bomb on Christmas Day in Beni, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), killing seven people and wounding 20, authorities said.

The first official toll on Saturday was five people killed in the suicide bombers explosion at a restaurant in the center of Beni, in North Kivu province.

The authorities immediately accused the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels of being responsible for the attack.

At present, the provisional death toll stands at eight, including a captain of the 22nd brigade who was at the restaurant with his wife and children, as well as the suicide bomber, said Patrick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and spokesman for the Congolese government, at a press conference.

There are also 20 wounded, including two girls, two boys, two women with fractured lower limbs, two women with serious injuries, and two local administrative officials, he added.

As for the suicide bomber, his identification is difficult, said Lieutenant-General Constant Ndima, military governor of North Kivu.

We could only recover his head. He was completely shredded by the explosion. But were going to get there because we have a data bank, he told the press. Lieutenant-General Ndima invited his constituents to be strong and vigilant because no part of the country will be given up to the enemy ADF, which wants to install a caliphate in the Great Lakes region.
Mali has denied any deployment of mercenaries from the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, announced by some 15 Western powers.

The government of Mali formally denies these baseless allegations on an alleged deployment of elements of a private security company in Mali, it said in a statement issued Friday evening.

Some 15 Western powers had announced Thursday in a statement the deployment in Mali, with the help of Moscow, of the Wagner group, denouncing the involvement of these mercenaries who are already operating in Ukraine, Syria, Libya and several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Malian government demands that proof be brought to it by independent sources of the presence of this group, said the statement signed by government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, also Minister of Territorial Administration.

He wishes to make it clear that, like the European Training Mission (EUTM), Russian trainers are present in Mali as part of the reinforcement of the operational capacities of the national defense and security forces.

Bamako asks to be judged on acts rather than rumors and wishes to recall that the Malian state is only committed to a state-to-state partnership with the Russian Federation, its historical partner, the statement said.

On Thursday, several Western countries, including France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, had strongly condemned the deployment of mercenaries on Malian territory, and denounced the involvement of the government of the Russian Federation in providing material support to the deployment of the Wagner group in Mali.

Mali has been the scene of operations by jihadist groups linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group since 2012, as well as violence by self-defense militias and bandits. The regular forces themselves have been accused of abuses.

The violence that began in the north in 2012 spread to the center and then to neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced, despite the deployment of UN, French and African forces.
Myelin sheath. Credit: Wikipedia.

Tomsk State University (TSU) neurobiologists are studying congenital brain anomalies in the human prenatal and postnatal periods. While studying agenesis of the corpus callosum (complete or partial absence of the structure that connects the two hemispheres of the brain), the scientists discovered that its functions can be compensated for by other brain structures. The child's cognitive abilities remain intact. This new data can drastically change clinical practice and reduce the number of pregnancy terminations. The project is supported by the Russian Science Foundation.

The scientists used myelin mapping technology, a unique non-invasive technology created by neurobiologists at TSU. Myelin is a substance that surrounds nerve cell axons, and the amount of it is an important criterion in assessing the child's or fetus's brain development. TSU scientists and specialists from the International Tomography Center, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (ITC SB RAS, Novosibirsk) are studying the earliest stages of myelin formation during the prenatal development.

We chose corpus callosum for this study because anomalies in its development are frequent," explains Aleksandra Korostyshevskaya, senior researcher, chief of the Medical Diagnostics Department of ITC SB RAS, Doctor of Medical Science. "Anomalies of midline brain structures make up 47% of all brain development pathologies, and of all of them 40% are connected with underdevelopment (agenesis) of the corpus callosum. It is hard to say what life has in store for these children. Doctors and parents face a difficult choice: To risk giving birth to an intellectually disabled child or to terminate pregnancy."

It is not always possible to detect the anomaly's details through prenatal ultrasounding. In almost half of the cases, an MRI of the fetus is needed to determine the agenesis of the corpus callosum. However, this is complicated because the fetus constantly moves in amniotic fluid. Specialists at the ITC SB RAS were some of the first to introduce this method of diagnosis in 2008, and have been perfecting it for more than 13 years.

In collaboration with TSU, the ITB SB RAS scientists developed a new step in global practicea method of quantitative myelin mapping in a fetus's brain.

"We gathered a representative sample of fetuses with agenesis of the corpus callosum," explains Vasily Yarnykh, research adviser of the Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics, TSU, and a professor at TSU and University of Washington. "We compared them to a sample without anomalies and discovered that myelin in central brain structures forms faster in children without the corpus callosum. That means that absence or partial absence of one brain structure is compensated by others, and they connect two hemispheres instead of the corpus callosum."

This evidence of human brain neuroplasticity explains why people with agenesis of corpus callosum can function well in the absence of other anomalies. During examinations, clinicians encountered patients 50-70 years old without corpus callosum. They live a normal life and are well-integrated into society. At the time of their birth, MRI and ultrasounding were unavailable, and parents did not know of their children's anomaly. The brains of these people compensated for the absence of corpus callosum by "turning on" other parts. To understand the mechanism of neuroplasticity, scientists need to figure out what structures can perform other parts' functions.

"We study fetuses on that stage of development when myelin only starts forming," says Vasily Yarnykh. "On myelin maps, we can see that with agenesis of the corpus callosum, myelin forms faster in the medulla and spreads to the cerebellum. It is likely that hindbrain structures connect hemispheres in the absence of corpus callosum. Previously it was considered that in that case the functions of the corpus callosum are performed by other zones which form myelin after the child is already born. Our fundamental discovery changes our understanding of brain structures' interactions."

New quantitative evidence from TSU and ITC SB RAS can alter existing clinical practice and give a chance at life to children who previously were promised intellectual limitations and social inadaptability.

"The agenesis of the corpus callosum was previously considered a fatal flaw, and if it was discovered before the 21st-23rd week, the pregnancy could be terminated," says Aleksandra Korostyshevskaya. "It is evident now that if corpus callosum is absent, we should check the accompanying diseases: Central neural system pathologies and genetic syndromes. If everything is in order, the fetus has a chance to develop normally. Naturally, we need more large-scale studies, but even the data we have now drastically changed the approach to agenesis of corpus callosum."

At the beginning of 2022, the scientists will give an oral presentation on the results of their studies at the International Pediatric Radiology Congress of the American Society of Pediatric Neuroradiology.

Explore further A malformation illustrates the incredible plasticity of the brain
Credit: Pixabay/Pete Linforth.

A team of researchers at the University of Adelaide has found a link between the way that cells produce energy for brain function and the mutated genes found in Alzheimer's disease.

The discovery published in Disease Models and Mechanisms has prompted further examination of the link as a fundamental, early driver of Alzheimer's disease in humans.

In the study, the researchers analysed the young adult brains of zebrafish with gene mutations associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Zebrafish were chosen for the study because they produce very large families, which makes it easier to detect subtle effects.

The team used cutting-edge gene technology and mathematical analysis to compare gene activity and detect subtle differences between the normal fish and those with the mutations.

While the researchers found different mutations in different genes have many different effects on brain cell function, they also found Alzheimer's disease mutations affect one very important cell function in commonthe use of oxygen within cells to produce energy.

Lead researcher Dr. Karissa Barthelson from the University of Adelaide's Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Laboratory said: "This is very interesting because we know when Alzheimer's disease eventually develops, people's brains become severely deficient in energy production.

"When we realised this common link we took our research one step further and re-analysed data from another research group that had studied an important Alzheimer's disease gene in mice.

"We could see a similar effect, and this reinforces our confidence that we have found a fundamental, early driver of Alzheimer's disease in humans."

Brains are made up of many different types of cells that have complicated ways of producing and sharing energy. The Adelaide research group now wants to examine how Alzheimer's disease mutations affect those different cell types.

"It is very satisfying to have found this important common, early factor driving the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The researchers say the costs of Alzheimer's disease to society are huge, not only in caring for those who cannot care for themselves but also in lost relationships with loved ones as memories and cognition fade.

"Energy production is the most fundamentally important cellular activity supporting all other functions, particularly in highly active organs such as brains," said Dr. Barthelson.

"If we can understand in detail what is going wrong with oxygen use and energy production, we may see ways of stopping the disease before it startsand that would enormously benefit our ageing population."
(Left) Schematic illustration depicting the developed microneedles, which absorb the interstitial fluid beneath the skin and release the pre-loaded drug. (Right) Side-view image of a microneedle loaded with rhodamine B (pink dye), which diffuses after piercing a porcine skin sample; the yellow dot lines indicate where the needles pierced the skin. Credit: Kazuaki Matsumura from JAIST

The painful feeling of receiving an injection through a hypodermic needle or with the unpleasant sensation of swallowing a large pill is a globally familiar sensation. But what if a revolutionary and gentler way of administering drugs was in the works? For over two decades, researchers have been investigating various types of microneedles as a minimally invasive method for transdermal drug delivery. Arrays of microneedles can be designed to be loaded with a drug or chemical, which they then release over time onto the blood stream after piercing slightly beyond the skin layers.

Microneedles offer several advantages compared to other types of drug delivery. First, they are painless and cause virtually no damage to the skin nor bleeding. Second, they can be self-administered. Third, unlike traditional needles, the disposal of microneedles is much easier as they don't leave behind hazardous waste. Unfortunately, there are still a few challenges that need to be addressed before microneedles become the next big thing in healthcare. One is their fabrication cost, which generally involves expensive molds, materials, and machinery. Another issue is the aggregation and degradation of proteins when microneedles are pre-loaded with a protein-based medicine, as these molecules are quite sensitive to external conditions such as temperature, acidity and salt concentration.

In a recent study published in Biomacromolecules, two research teams from Japan and Thailand collaborated to address the main limitations of existing microneedles. On the one side, Prof. Kazuaki Matsumura from the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST) and Ph.D. student Harit Pitakjakpipop from JAIST-SIIT developed and applied a functional polymer that effectively suppresses protein aggregation. On the other side, Dr. Paisan Khanchaitit and his team at the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NANOTEC), Thailand, perfected a microneedle fabrication method suitable for the industrial scale based on photolithography. By combining these two efforts, the teams managed to produce microneedles patches with several attractive properties and potential scalability to clinical settings.

The microneedles themselves are made of a non-degradable, biocompatible hydrogel that also contains zwitterionic poly-sulfobetaine (poly-SPB). As reported in previous studies by the same authors, this polymer suppresses protein aggregation. Thus, the researchers incorporated it during the fabrication process and showed that the proteins pre-loaded in the microneedles were stable even when subjected to various external stresses.

Additionally, the scientists developed a straightforward and cost-effective way to fabricate microneedle arrays made from the abovementioned materials. They resorted to photolithography, a process in which a photomask is used to selectively block UV light from reaching a target surface to control chemical reactions locally, as Dr. Khanchaitit explains: "UV light passing through the photomask generates free radicals in the polymer resin during the fabrication process, resulting in photopolymerization and the subsequent formation of 3D microneedle structure patterns on a clear and flexible substrate." This fabrication procedure requires inexpensive equipment only and takes about five minutes, yet produces four-point star-shaped microneedles with remarkable mechanical strength.

To test the performance of these microneedle arrays for drug delivery, the researchers loaded them with 50 microliters of drug solutions containing rhodamine B as a dye alongside lysozyme and insulin as example proteins. Through various experiments on porcine skin, the teams verified that their microneedle patches offered both high drug-loading capacity and high drug-release rate. Moreover, they confirmed that the microneedles could both load and preserve various water-soluble drugs and proteins simultaneously, eliminating the need for refrigeration.

Overall, the proposed microneedle arrays seem to be a remarkably promising platform for administering therapeutic drugs and vaccines, as Prof. Matsumura concludes: "The superior characteristics of our microneedles may change the way drugs are administered and could enable the development and delivery of advanced protein-based drugs for the treatment of various disorders." Who knows what other revolutionary innovations in medicine wait for us in the future?

Explore further Researchers devise a new, inexpensive way to fabricate microneedles

More information: Harit Pitakjakpipop et al, Facile Photolithographic Fabrication of Zwitterionic Polymer Microneedles with Protein Aggregation Inhibition for Transdermal Drug Delivery, Biomacromolecules (2021). Journal information: Biomacromolecules Harit Pitakjakpipop et al, Facile Photolithographic Fabrication of Zwitterionic Polymer Microneedles with Protein Aggregation Inhibition for Transdermal Drug Delivery,(2021). DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.1c01325

Provided by Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- The COVID virus strain circulating in the United States during the pandemic's first wave spread so fast because it most often started with a cough, according to a new study.

It's likely that people with that strain -- D614G -- coughed and spread the virus before they were laid low by fever, the most common second symptom of infection, researchers explained.

"Studying the likely order of symptoms may increase our understanding of how disease spreads and further inform future research and health care on how individuals are likely to experience disease," study author Joseph Larsen said in a University of Southern California news release. He's a graduate researcher and doctoral candidate at USC.

COVID-19 is most often spread through respiratory droplets, such as those expelled when a person coughs.

In contrast to the United States, people in China who were infected with the virus circulating there during the initial outbreak -- the Wuhan reference strain -- likely first developed fever, then a cough, the researchers said.

In Japan, it's likely that fever was the first symptom when the Wuhan strain was dominant, but a cough replaced it when D614G became the main strain, according to the authors of the study.

The findings were published Dec. 16 in the journal PLOS Computational Biology.

The predicted symptom order was not affected by region, weather, patient age or other health conditions.

The USC-led study did not answer whether the order of symptoms that occurred during the pandemic's initial waves is the same for current variants.

"With the emergence of new variants and the likelihood COVID-19 becomes endemic in the population, it's important that researchers continue to show how viral variants affect progression of symptoms and disease in individuals and populations," said study author Peter Kuhn, director of the Michaelson Center for Convergent Bioscience at USC.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 symptoms.

SOURCE: University of Southern California, news release, Dec. 16, 2021

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MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Genes in human embryos become active far sooner than once thought, according to a study that provides fresh insight into development.

Contrary to the old view that gene activity begins two to three days after conception when the embryo is made up of four to eight cells, researchers found that it actually begins at the one-cell stage.

One-cell embryos have hundreds of active genes, but previous techniques have not been sensitive enough to detect that small amount of activity. State-of-the art RNA-sequencing used in this study could do so, according to the British authors.

"This is the first good look at the beginning of a biological process that we all go through -- the transit through the one-cell embryo stage," said study co-leader Anthony Perry, a professor of biology and biochemistry at the University of Bath.

One-cell embryos without gene activity don't continue to develop, so gene activity is "a fundamental step," Perry noted in a university news release.

His team also found that many genes activated in one-cell embryos remain switched on until the four-to-eight cell stage. At that point, they are switched off.

"It looks as if there is a sort of genetic shift-work in early embryos: The first shift starts soon after fertilization, in one-cell embryos, and a second shift takes over at the eight-cell stage," Perry said.

Some of the activated genes in one-cell embryos might be expected to play roles in early embryos, but the roles of other activated genes are unknown and could point to embryonic events not yet understood, according to the findings. The study was published Dec. 21 in the journal Cell Stem Cell.

"Although the trigger for activation is thought to come from the egg, it's not known how," Perry said. "Now we know which genes are involved, we can locate their addresses and use molecular techniques to find out."

The natural, healthy role of some gene-activation factors that go awry and cause cancer may be to awaken genes in one-cell embryos, researchers suggested. If that proves true, the study could boost understanding of how cancer begins and lead to new ways to prevent and diagnose it.

The study may also provide new insight into inherited traits, such as obesity. It's not known how such traits are passed from parents to children, but altered gene activation after fertilization is a possible mechanism, according to the researchers.

"If true, we should be able to see this altered gene activation signature at the one-cell stage," said study co-leader Giles Yeo, principal research associate at the University of Cambridge.

More information

The U.S. Office on Women's Health outlines the stages of pregnancy.

SOURCE: University of Bath, news release, Dec. 21, 2021

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MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Add heat waves to the many health threats facing homeless people.

Last year, the United States had 580,000 homeless people  28% of them in California, where seven in 10 live outdoors. That's nearly nine times more than in any other state.

"The same weather that makes living unsheltered possible in California also exposes people experiencing homelessness to a higher risk of a wide range of heat-induced health conditions that can result in end-organ damage and even death," said Tarik Benmarhnia. He is an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and senior author of a new study of homelessness and emergency department visits.

"People that experience homelessness are considered to be among the most vulnerable to extreme weather impacts, due to their exposure to the elements and high rates of preexisting health conditions such as mental illness, as well as higher rates of smoking, drug and alcohol use," Benmarhnia added in a university news release.

For the new study, his team analyzed emergency department data from two hospitals in San Diego  which has the nation's fifth-largest homeless population  along with temperature data for the city.

Of more than 242,000 emergency department visits between 2012 through 2019, nearly 25,000 were by homeless people, the findings showed.

The study focused on the warm season  May to September. During those months, homeless people visited ERs 1.29 times more during the most extreme two-day heat waves studied. Visits increased during longer heat waves with more extreme temperatures, according to findings published online Dec. 22 in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers reported that having a mental illness tripled a homeless person's risk of heat-related illness, perhaps because these folks are less able to recognize symptoms of heat exposure, seek a cool space and rehydrate.

According to study co-author Edward Castillo, "Activating heat action plans to protect persons experiencing homelessness from heat waves is not only justified, it is necessary." Castillo is a professor of emergency medicine at UCSD.

"Adapting interventions to specific subgroups can effectively decrease the burden on both patients and health care systems from this increasingly prevalent exposure," Castillo added.

The study authors warned that climate change will increase homeless people's risk of heat illnesses.

"As the threat of increasingly frequent and intense heat waves continues to rise in the United States, particularly in California, understanding and prioritizing the needs of this rapidly growing vulnerable population will be a critical action in developing and deploying effective adaptation strategies such as heat action plans to attenuate this burden," said study first author Lara Schwarz, a doctoral student in public health.

More information

Global Citizen outlines ways to help homeless people during heat waves.

SOURCE: University of California, San Diego, news release, Dec. 22, 2021

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MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Taking to the skies for a long-awaited holiday?

Choose your seat on the plane wisely and don't overlook familiar steps like keeping your mask on to reduce your odds for getting COVID-19 or another contagious disease, experts suggest.

Spacing is an obvious challenge on airplanes, especially when the planes are filled at or near capacity over the holiday season. So anything that can be done to reduce risk is a smart choice for everybody, study author Sheldon Jacobson said in a news release from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He's a professor in the College of Engineering.

Jacobson and his university colleagues used the latest data on aerosol spread to model the most desirable seating assignments on common Boeing airplanes.

Most protective seating arrangements? Leaving middle seats open and skipping some rows.

The researchers also found that the plane's very last rows had less transmission because fewer people were behind them. That suggests that on a fuller flight, back rows could be filled, as well as roomier seats in higher classes, they said.

Another way airlines can reduce overall risk: Seat families or household groups together.

Traveler groups often are split up, but if airlines can prioritize keeping the members near each other, then you group those dependent risks together and reduce the overall risk of a transmission on the plane, said study co-author Ian Ludden, a graduate student in computer science.

And, of course, don't forget your mask. Federal law requires you to wear one on the plane. And, the study found that wearing a mask consistently reduced the risk of COVID transmission by 30% -- regardless of seating arrangement.

Your individual risk of contracting or spreading the virus depends on how good that barrier is and whether you remove it," Jacobson said.

Opening the air vents above your seat will provide additional protection. Then, cross your fingers and enjoy your trip.

"Risk reduction is possible," Jacobson said, "But risk cannot be completely eliminated."

The findings were recently published in the Journal of Air Transport Management.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on COVID-19 prevention.

SOURCE: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, news release, Dec. 21, 2021

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The most popular local story on Missoulian.com in 2021 was Brian D'Ambrosio's feature about the film "Sooyii," which was shot in Blackfoot language and entirely on Blackfeet land.

Director Jesse DesRosier said of the movie, I believe that 'Sooyii' is a message to Hollywood, to directors, to producers, and, even to our own people, to set the bar by including Indigenous language in film.

2) A law passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte prohibited performance venues from asking for proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results. In response, musician Jeffrey Foucault announced he was canceling any stops of his tour in Montana.

3) Novelist, philanthropist and billionaire MacKenzie Scott gave Blackfeet Community College the largest donation in the school's history earlier this year. The amount was not disclosed, but the college's president, Karla Bird, said it was enough to ensure the long-term success of the school.

4) One of our most-viewed items wasn't a story, but a photo gallery. In April, a Big Sky High School student posted a video making racist statements. More than 100 students around Missoula walked out of school in protest.

5) On Jan. 6, the same day that former President Donald Trump's supporters were attacking the Capitol, local Trump supporters staged a protest in front of the Missoula County Courthouse. The protesters' grievances included what they felt was a "stolen" election and the county's intention to maintain the mask mandate.

6) A female grizzly bear with cubs, the first confirmed in the Missoula Valley, wasted no time in getting herself and her family into trouble. Our first reproducing female with cubs has already been taught to break doors and find garbage, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear manager Jamie Jonkel said.

7) Stories about grizzly bears are always popular with readers, and an item about the bears wandering out of their recovery areas  defined 30 years ago  was no different. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee is having to restructure its strategy in response to the bears' movements.

8) Another photo gallery that was very popular with our readers was the unveiling of the long-anticipated new Missoula Public Library. The opening was delayed by the pandemic, but readers' response to seeing the brand-new building and amenities it offered showed it was worth the wait.

9) Back in March, the Missoulian announced that its printing press would close down for good. The newspaper, in existence for over 150 years and at its current location since 1985, made the difficult decision to move printing operations to Helena.

10) Montanans and out-of-staters alike flock to Montana's campsites. Problem is, because these camping sites are so coveted, some people have gone as far as creating bots to digitally hack the process on recreation.gov. Another issue is folks spending a large amount of money on site reservations, reserving them for a couple of weeks then only staying a couple of days, leaving prime spots empty and unavailable to other campers.

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BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqs top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October. The development marked another boost for an influential Shiite cleric who had been confirmed as the winner of the vote.

The appeal was submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, head of a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the Oct. 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraqs electoral commission had confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr secured 73 out of Parliaments 329 seats. The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance, which represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, secured 17 seats  down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Supreme Court had not ratified the election results, pending the appeal filed earlier this month by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition. Mondays verdict read out by Judge Jassim Mohammed rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited alleged technical and legal violations.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the courts decision. Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city. The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraqs newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraqs affairs through Iran-backed militias.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Artist Wayne Thiebaud, whose luscious, colorful paintings of cakes and San Francisco cityscapes combined sensuousness, nostalgia and a hint of melancholy, has died. He was 101.

His death was confirmed in a statement Sunday by his gallery, Acquavella, which didn't say where or when Thiebaud died.

Even at 101 years old, he still spent most days in the studio, driven by, as he described with his characteristic humility, this almost neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint, the gallery's statement said.

The dean of California painters, Thiebaud drew upon his earlier career as a Disney animator, sign painter and commercial artist.

While some took his hot dogs, bakery counters, gum ball machines and candy apples to be examples of pop art, Thiebaud never considered himself to be in the mold of Andy Warhol, and he did not treat his subjects with the irony the pop movement championed.

Of course, youre thankful when anyone ever calls you anything, he once said. But I never felt much a part of it. I must say I never really liked pop art very much.

The real subject, many critics said, was paint and the act of painting itself: the shimmering color and sensuous texture of the thickly applied paint.

He laid on the paint so heavily that he often carved his signature into the painting instead of putting it on with the brush.

The oil paint is made to look like meringue, said Marla Prather, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York who helped organize a 2001 retrospective of the artists work. And with the cakes, you get this great sense of texture with the frosting. You just want to step close and lick it.

Many of his painted images were outlined in neon pinks and blues that made the objects appear to glow. Shadows were often a rich blue.

Its joyful, while a lot of modern art is angst-ridden, Prather said in a 2001 Associated Press interview.

Thiebaud told PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 2000 that the subject of food was fun and humorous, and thats dangerous in the art world, I think. Its a world that takes itself very seriously, and of course, it is a serious enterprise, but I think also theres room for wit and humor because humor gives us, I think, a sense of perspective.

Gum ball machines were a favorite theme, he said, because a big round globe is so beautiful, and its really a kind of orchestration of circles of all kinds. But its also very sensuous, I think, and it offers wonderful opportunities for painting something like, almost like a bouquet of flowers.

In 2004, a New York Times writer praised his wry vision of modern consumerism and said, No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half century than did Mr. Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products.

Thiebaud told the NewsHour he preferred calling himself a painter, rather than an artist, because its like a priest referring to himself as a saint. Maybe its a little too early or hes not the one to decide that ... Being an artist I think is a very rare thing.

Along with the sensuousness, there was sometimes an emptiness and melancholy reminiscent of Edward Hopper. He likened the feeling to the bright pathos of a circus clown.

In landscape, his most famous subject was the city of San Francisco, whose steep hills he portrayed in a fantasy-like way, with spectacular angles and stark shadows.

Originally, I painted right on the streets, trying to get some of the kind of drama I felt about the city and its vertiginous (dizzying) character, he told the NewsHour.

But that didnt seem to work ... The reality was one thing but the fantasy or the exploration of it was another.

Thiebaud was born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1920 and grew up in Sacramento, California. He started out as an animator for Walt Disney and later worked as a poster designer and commercial artist in California and New York before becoming a painter.

He also was a longtime professor at the University of California, Davis. He officially retired in 1991 but continued teaching one class a year.

___

Former AP writer Polly Anderson contributed biographical information to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Ken Burns, the documentarian, has famously claimed that Americas National Parks are our greatest idea. I agree that our parks are wonderful, a huge ongoing benefit to the people, but I think there is an even greater idea: American public schools. I think they are our greatest idea, a treasure, and believe they are the means and formula for keeping our republic intact and healthy.

The USA is a hugely diverse nation, and all who come here (and all who have ever come here) need to learn to swim in the pool of American society, a growing and changing mixture of cultural beliefs and practices. The quickest and best way to do that is to involve all American young people in a common effort; public school. There young people see and hear and work with their fellow Americans, often cheek by jowl, shoulder to shoulder, and gain understanding firsthand about all that we have in common. No other organizational idea comes close to accomplishing this so well.

The virtues of American public schools are many, and noteworthy among them are these: cost (a fraction of private schools or charter schools), practicality (already exist in every American municipality), community centers (used for far more than just classroom instruction), diversity (kids from various backgrounds work together), academic opportunities (a wider breadth of offerings than any specialty school), and expertise (teacher qualifications for public school teachers mean expertise of faculty).

Somehow, this honorable idea, this cornerstone of our common futures, has become a political hot issue. Our state has an Office of Public Instruction, headed by Elsie Arntzen, a former teacher and former Republican legislator, designed to promote and oversee Montanas public schools. Mrs. Arntzen likes to listen to parents across Montana, but mostly she likes to listen to parents who want their children to go to parochial schools, or home school, or who find nothing but fault in public schools.

Mrs. Arntzen recently received a letter from local superintendents requesting that she strive to get her office in order because its disorder negatively affects their ability to do their jobs. Predictably, a swell of support from Arntzens supporters has now arisen. In the suddenly hyper-political howling, the very idea of supporting public schools seems to be in jeopardy. What I wonder is this: will public schools survive as an institution, or will they atrophy from lack of support until they are no more than a vestige of what they once were, but could still be?

Mrs. Arntzen is well-connected in Helena. Has she used those connections to increase funding for public schools and increase their standing and value in every community in Montana? Has she gone to the Legislature and orated passionately in favor of more support for schools? Has she reminded her constituents that public schools are one of the states greatest assets, which find themselves under relentless attack by those who see government as unneeded or evil? Has she promoted Indian Education for all, especially off-reservation schools?

Has she reminded the state that the Constitution does indeed have a separation between church and state, and has she vigorously defended that constitutional position? Has she fostered a positive and professional office environment? After all, her title is Superintendent of Public Instruction. Shes entrusted with a great responsibility. These things are the least she should have been doing all along, if she is doing her job.

Dan Sieckman is a retired Missoula County Public Schools English teacher.

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Arson suspected in local fire

Police said today that a fire, which gutted the front downstairs half of the Western North Carolina Fur Company on Burkemont Avenue in Morganton, may have been the work of an arsonist. Although at last word, Chief Carol Sullivan of the Morganton Fire Department said he thought the fire was caused by an electrical short, investigations by firefighters and police officers turned up evidence suggesting the possibility that the fire was set. Several observers commented on the quick action and tremendous job the firefighters did.

Car crash brings 20th fatality of the year

Burke Countys 20th highway fatality occurred at 9 p.m. Sunday 7.9 miles north of Morganton on Pea Ridge Road. David Cook, 27, of Route 5 in Morganton, was killed instantly after his vehicle flew 27 feet through the air and struck a large tree. Troopers on the scene said Cook was headed west at an apparent high rate of speed when he lost control of the car in a curve, ran off the road on the left side over a slight embankment and hit the tree, which was 32 feet from the road. Members of the Burke County Rescue Squad and the Oak Hill Volunteer Fire Department worked an hour and a half to free Cooks body from the wreckage.
Maybe Deaver could set his next thriller in the Arboretum, even using the unsolved 1966 murder of Suellen Evans as a backdrop.

Presently, he is concentrating on promoting Midnight Lock. There is a lot to promote  434 pages of Lincoln Rhymes complicated adventures, beginning with his chemical testimony that meant to tie a murder defendant to the site of the crime. His careful analysis failed to convince the jury. The NYPD terminates his position as a consultant and forbids him from working on any case.

That situation handicaps him but does not ultimately keep him from solving the books central and most interesting crime.

A man who becomes known simply as The Locksmith has gained entrance to the heavily locked homes of two women. Undetected by the women, he leaves messages that taunt his victims, the police and Rhyme.

In several chapters, Deaver uses Locksmiths voice to tell his side of the story and to educate readers about the inner workings and history of locks. Locksmith also describes how he uses Facebook-like computer programs to get detailed information that helps him select his victims and plan his exploitation of them.

At the end of the book, the reader has been entertained, educated and amazed, just as Deaver, the North Carolina author, intended.

D.G. Martin hosted North Carolina Bookwatch, for more than 20 years. To view archived programs go to video.pbsnc.org/show/nc-bookwatch/episodes.
The 49th annual Livestock Seminar will be held Saturday, January 8, in Deer Lodge

The seminar, sponsored by the Deer Lodge Valley and North Powell Conservation Districts, will be held at the community center in Deer Lodge at 416 Cottonwood Ave. Registration is from 12:30 to 1 p.m. and the seminar is free. Presentations by guest speakers will feature cost effective ways to improve your ranch through grazing management, grizzly bear management with electric fencing, virtual fence technology Vence to manage grazing and the Deer Lodge Valley Conservation Districts temporary electric fence program.

Josh Schrencengost, Supervisory District Conservationist, NRCS, will discuss what has been learned in a two-year intensive grazing project near Gold Creek using temporary electric fencing. He will also discuss the Conservation Districts temporary electric fence trial program where livestock producers can borrow electric fencing supplies from the district to assess if it could be a good tool for their ranch.

Phillips County rancher Leo Barthelmess will talk about experiences his family has had using virtual fence technology to manage grazing on their property as they strive to find cost effective ways to regenerate soil, rangeland health, wildlife habitat and to be profitable.

Eric Graham, Wildlife Program Coordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge and Ovando rancher and Blackfoot Challenge Board Chair, Jim Stone, will explain methods that can prevent grizzly bears from accessing areas around homes, buildings and calving areas.

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Its no surprise that sledding was a popular activity in Butte a hundred twelve years ago. It still is. But in 1910, the Anaconda Standard devoted a full page to coasting, which was called the royal winter sport.

January 1910 saw a chinook after a heavy snow, creating an icy surface ideal for sledding. In some places, kids poured buckets of water onto the street to make the runs faster, and although this was decried by pedestrians and even the city council, it was generally acknowledged that it was all in fun, that no anti-sledding rules could be enforced anyway, and every councilman recalled fondly his childhood days sledding around Butte.

Dakota Street was the sled hill of choice, an eight-block stretch from Park to the Ophir Dump, near Dakota and Iron Street today. In mid-January 1910, the Anaconda Standard reported at least 300 people enjoying the Dakota Street ride, with the gongs on big bob sleds making a clamor that might have been confused with fire trucks. Some bob sleds, which wed probably call toboggans today, carried 10 to 15 riders.

Some kids took turns skipping the ride so they could bring a horse to the lower limit of the run, using the horse to pull their big sleds back uphill. Others headed over to Montana Street and took the streetcar up the hill with their smaller sleds. This was typically an evening activity, in the dark unless there was a bright full moon. Such crowds gathered to watch the coasting that police had to order the starting point moved down from Park Street to Galena.

In 1910 there was a childrens curfew at 9:00 p.m., signaled by a booming from the City Hall clock tower, but older youngsters and adults continued sledding for hours more.

In Walkerville, Rev. Frederick Spencer of the Mt. Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church on Main Street built a large bob sled called the Junior Epworth League Sled. The Epworth League was a Methodist organization begun in 1889 in Cleveland, essentially a somewhat secular Sunday school for older children. It evolved into a Methodist young adult association for ages 18-35.

Jack Corrigans bob sled disputed the right of way with an automobile driven by City Clerk R. B. Lewis at Birch and Fourth Streets in Anaconda, but one bumped head was the extent of injury, and they kept coasting despite the sleds handrail being splintered. But on the same Birch Street hill a nine-year-old boy named Carson broke his leg when his sled crashed into a delivery vehicle, throwing him under the horses.

Before Christmas it paid to shop around. The Copper City Store (begun as Hennessys branch in Anaconda) put their $3.50 sleds on sale at $2.75. Symons had specials on White Beauty and Red Racer models  very strong, low cut, well painted  at $1.65 each. Hennessys Dandy Sled was $1.25, and Connells had 200 3-foot steel runner sleds at $1.00. Eventually, Copper City had some sleds as cheap as 45 cents each.

Local geologist and historian Dick Gibson has lived in Butte since 2003 and has worked as a tour guide for various organizations and museums. He can be reached at rigibson@earthlink.net.

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Its that time of year  much like the dog days of summer  when people really would rather be thinking about something besides the ever-snarling pit of political strife. And why not? Our citizens are exhausted from dealing with the very real issues facing them on a daily basis in their personal lives and, quite frankly, theyre getting more than a little worn out by politicians bent on stoking civil strife for their own murky, often unfounded and inexplicable reasons.

But for normal people living normal lives, its a time to reflect not so much on what we lack or who to hate or blame for real or imagined transgressions, but to appreciate what weve had and have  our families and friends, having love in our lives, and the incredible beauty of Montana that greets us every day.

While that might sound corny to those caught in the churning maelstrom of the 24-7 news cycle, the fact is youd probably be a lot happier if you turned it off for a few days. In reality, Congress is out, the White House is in holiday mode, Montanas governor remains primarily invisible and, who knows, maybe even our attorney general has decided to go back up to his hometown of Culbertson to take a break from worrying about the Texas border for awhile.

The simple truth is that theres still a tremendous amount of good will among Montanans  and we remain a place where no one asks you what political party you identify with or belong to before helping each other out of a snowbank. It is, in part, because of the sheer physicality of where we live. Here, Mother Nature still calls the shots in our big and largely empty spaces and we still rely on each other far more often than city dwellers to deal with whatever Nature throws our way.

We do not live in the urban canyons where the sky is some patch of gray stuffed between the peaks of skyscrapers. Theres still real ground beneath our feet  the kind that actually grows life  instead of cement and asphalt covering every inch. Our night sky still reminds us in all its horizon-to-horizon glory that we are, after all, just one tiny blue dot in the vast expanse of the universe. Thankfully, we can still see the stars, a forgotten spectacle now mostly lost in the glaring lights of our cities  a loss not really experienced by humans in most of our existence and one that may have ramifications far beyond what we now know or expect.

Within a few minutes of any Montana city we can be in forest-clad mountains or vast rolling prairies, sharing the beauty with almost all the species that were here when Lewis and Clark passed through more than 200 years ago. That, in and of itself, is somewhat of a miracle in our modern world where progress has brutally pushed non-human species aside  a terrible error we can still strive to avoid.

So you know, dont hesitate to just kick it back until 2022 gets here. Turn off the news and turn up the tunes. Bust out the good stuff and share a cup of kindness with friends without worrying about who voted for whom, what the latest political scandal exposes, or the constant drumbeat to stir up civil contention. You wont miss a thing. Itll all be here next year, as will the pandemic, the politicians, and their endless, and often pointless, debates over public policy. For now, we can all just be Montanans  and be grateful for that.

George Ochenski writes from Helena. His column appears each Monday on the Missoulian's opinion page.

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We asked our readers to vote for their favorites from the first year of Feast and Field. This is what you said.

Feature Story of the Year

Our writers and photographers traveled from coast to coast to put together profiles that captured the hearts of the makers who produce some of Americas finest food and drink. The nominees were:

 And the winner is:

Best Issue of the Year

From artisan cheese and heritage pork to organic wine and craft beer, this year our 42 issues covered many of Americas top culinary products. The nominees were:

 And the winner is:

Issue No. 36: Holiday pies across the US A true American tradition, pie is a staple of holiday dessert tables across the U.S. We talk to one expert baker who is redefining the meaning of local with a pie business that offers national appeal.

Favorite Recipe

Breakfast, lunch, dinner and more! Our top 7 recipes of the year cover all meals, tastes, and cooking skills and styles. The nominees were:

 We had a tie! The winners are:

Grapefruit Honey Scones Building your brunch menu? Dont miss these citrus scones with a moist texture from pastry chef Sofia Tejeda.

Perfect Roast Turkey Dont sweat the main Thanksgiving event. Georgias White Oak Pasture farm brings you a classic roast turkey recipe that delivers flavor and quality.

Top Cocktail

Whiskey is the star in our top 5 cocktails of the year. The nominees were:

 And the winner is:

Cherry Smash This whiskey smash recipe is elevated with a few twists, like cherry-infused whiskey, for a crisp, sweet and refreshing cocktail.

Most dynamic destination

We were wowed by every place we visited in 2021. The nominees were:

 And the winner is:

Issue No. 8: Oyster farming in Virginia Feast and Field learns about Cherrystone Aqua-Farms innovative shellfish production, how you can make sustainable seafood choices, and an oyster flavor guide.

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No matter where we traveled in 2021, our sources never ceased to amaze us with their incredible knowledge of the industry. Were so grateful for all we learned this year. Here are just 25 of the many, many insights we gained.

1. Over half the worlds cranberries come from Wisconsin. (Mind blown.)

2. Pecan trees can grow up to 130 feet tall. Yes, thats three school buses stacked on top of each other.

3. Microgreens are a superfood with up to 40 times more vital nutrients than their fully grown counterparts.

4. Though you may think otherwise, according to Meehans Bartenders Manual by Jim Meehan, the color of rum tells you little about its age.

5. When cooking pasta, its best to start with cold, fresh water in the pot.

6. The most important tip for pumpkin picking (whether for cooking or decorating) is to make sure that the pumpkin is attached to a healthy stem.

7. Although cherry varieties are not as well-known as the many apple varieties, there are actually more than 1,000 different types of cherries grown in the United States alone.

8. European-style butter is the gold standard for pie, as it contains more fat and less water than American butter.

9. When picking a watermelon, you want a melon thats symmetrical. Lopsided watermelons can indicate the fruit was picked too early.

10. All beer is either an ale or a lager.

11. Bison and buffalo are NOT the same thing. Bison have a protruding hump near their shoulders and a long goatee. Oh, and their horns are shorter and they have larger heads than buffalo.

12. A beehive houses a queen bee and her brood, comprising one very big family. At a honey farm like Fat Head Farm, Queen Bees will lay up to 2,500 eggs daily, which are nurtured for 21 days until they hatch.

13. The American Academy of Dermatology reports that apple cider vinegars astringent properties may help neutralize the itch and discomfort associated with poison ivy, bee stings and sunburn.

14. When making bread, resist the urge to improvise; baking bread involves complex chemical reactions that can create aromatic loaves as easily as disasters.

15. A heavy, fragrant tomato indicates better texture and rich flavor.

16. Oysters require far less human interaction and produce less waste to grow and harvest than many other species of fish, making them highly sustainable.

17. Charcuterie is actually a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, ballotines, pates and confit, primarily from pork.

18. Cow dung is rich in minerals with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and can support the growth of beneficial microorganisms when mixed with soil.

19. Olive oil is stored in heavier, dark glass to protect against oxidation that can be caused by sunlight, heat and oxygen  all of which can reduce the shelf life of a true olive oil.

20. During salmon season in Southeast Alaska, fishers devoted to sustainability of resources catch each fish individually by hook and line before taking them back to town to be flash frozen.

21. Maple sugar season only lasts six to eight weeks each spring, but its intense and weather-dependent. Farmers need nights below freezing followed by days above 40 degrees in order to get a strong sap run.

22. Illinois is tremendous, botanically. It offers far greater diversity than the mountains, thanks to overlapping ecoregions. (Again, mind blown.)

23. Pigs' arrival in the United States can be traced back to Queen Isabella of Spain, Christopher Columbus and Hernando De Soto. In 1539, De Soto brought the first pigs to the States to what is now Tampa Bay, Florida.

24. A push for sustainability helped oats gain popularity. Unlike almonds, which require about a gallon of water to grow a single nut, oats require about six times less water to grow.

25. Sparkling wine is typically white or rose, although there can be red varieties made from Lambrusco or Shiraz grapes.

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It showed that the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge by far had the most travel. The Centennial Bridge, connecting Davenport and Rock Island, had the second-highest density of desire lines, but it was also a toll bridge at the time, which Bulat said may have affected people's decision to use it.

The major investment study ended in 1998, and it was determined that something needed to be done about the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. However, they looked at other avenues before deciding a new bridge was needed.

"It was an iterative process, where you could see that there was interest, there was a need, there was a lack of capacity..." Bulat said. "It wasn't until after [the study] it was determined it really needed to be reconstructed."

Unlike in the 1930s, getting approval and funding for a new bridge over the Mississippi River took more than just drafting bills and asking for approval. From 1999 to 2005 they conducted an environmental impact study to show what sort of footprint doing away with one bridge and adding another would have on the local ecosystem. This is where the mussels came in.
Our MDMR staff have worked diligently on this project, and so far, the results have exceeded our expectations, Joe Spraggins, the department's executive director, said in a news release.

He said the $62,200 cost worked out to half a penny per baby oyster. The money came from Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP and codefendants.

The department did not pay for the larvae, said Rick Burris, the department's chief scientific officer. Expenses included staffing, boat usage, equipment and supplies, including the oyster shells. The department will review the results to decide whether to continue.

The likely cost of larvae has not been evaluated but will be a factor in deciding whether to continue, Burris said in an email.

About 2% of the spat put into the bay may survive to adulthood, but there were far more on the shells than is likely in the wild, Burris wrote.

The remote setting process takes away a lot of the mortality that occurs in the wild larval stage, he said.
I really dont find myself that fascinating, to be honest with you, he said in a 1985 radio interview. ... It just isnt that fascinating to tell people who I am. I think Ive done that musically, to a point. And also its obvious I want to preserve my privacy.

So, when he would visit kin in Peoria, he would keep a low profile.

Im deeply honored that the people in Peoria are excited that were coming in to play, he told this paper in 1995. I just dont want everyone making too big of a deal of this. Just come to the show and listen to what I can do. Thats what its really about.

In that way, as far as a public persona, he always stayed the same, almost stuck (or at least, slowed) in time.

Locally, that phenomenon was reinforced by the nostalgia underpinning two of his biggest hits, Same Old Lang Syne and Leader of the Band. Those songs, both of which hit No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart, are deeply steeped in Peoria inspiration.

Outsiders and non-fans wouldnt have any clues as to the characters and settings of those songs. But Peoria knows  and savors  those connections, especially Same Old Lang Syne, each December.
OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP)  Police said Friday that they were searching for a man suspected of taking part in a shootout at a crowded suburban Chicago shopping mall in which four people were wounded, including another suspected gunman who was taken into custody.

The shootout at the Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook was between two men who apparently knew each other, Oak Brook police Chief James Kruger said. It happened at around 5:45 p.m. Thursday in a corridor of the mall, which was crowded with Christmas shoppers.

The suspected gunman who was in custody underwent surgery for gunshot wounds to his legs and back and was expected to survive, police said. Three women who were bystanders suffered non-life-threatening wounds to their legs or feet and a fourth woman broke her ankle while fleeing, said police.

This is just a very unfortunate incident that is completely out of character for our area, Kruger said.

The outdoor mall is a major shopping destination about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of Chicago.

Around 100 police officers, including SWAT teams, rushed to the mall and went store to store in search of the other shooter, Kruger said.
We kept being told he was on a list of degrees of severity, and his number had not come up, said Jenifer Owenson, of Des Moines, who is one of Weeks twin daughters and one of his four children.

He was aware of the situation, Owenson said.

He was like, Why cant something be done? she said.

Representatives of the hospitals declined to comment on Weeks case but acknowledged the frustration caused by hospital crowding.

Marcy Peterson, spokesperson for the MercyOne system that operates the Newton hospital, said hospitals across the U.S. are dealing with the spread of the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants but also other cases of trauma and illness.

Weeks was transported to the University of Iowa hospital system on Nov. 17, where doctors concluded on Nov. 25 that he needed surgery to deal with a severe infection in an artery near his stomach, his daughters said. The next day's surgery lasted 17 hours, but Weeks continued to struggle, and a second, shorter surgery didn't halt his decline.

Although Weeks might have died had he been admitted immediately to a larger medical center sooner, his other twin daughter, Julia Simanski of Ankeny, said: "I think it would have given us a fairer chance.

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As yet another year is nearing its conclusion, many Napa County residents are making plans to ring in the New Year of 2022. This tradition has been practiced locally since the earliest days of Napa Countys pioneer settlement era, 1836 to the 1840s. Thrown into that mix of traditional New Year celebrations were the occasional moments that proved awkward and even embarrassing.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the place to be seen was the grand New Year Eve ball, many of which were masquerades. Prior to the 1880 completion of the Napa Opera House on Main Street, downtown Napas Maple Skating Rink was the venue for these exuberant fetes. To add to the excitement, the masked and costume-attired participants also wore roller-skates. Can you imagine the challenge of trying to maintain ones social propriety while skating, wearing a vision-impairing mask and constricting corsets as well as petticoats and pantaloons?

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Part of the grand opening of the Napa Opera House in Jan. 1880 was a grand masquerade ball - no skates, however. Based on The Napa Register article reviewing the extravaganza, it was quite the sight to behold. In grand Victorian style, the Opera House interior was festooned with floral garlands and gilded cages filled with songbirds. Subsequent years were not as ornate in their decor. Also, they were frequently fundraisers for the local volunteer firefighter companies. But, regardless of these differences, they were equal in the degree of creativity of the participants costumes. For instance, one year, The Napa Daily Journal devoted a considerable amount of space to describing one young womans handmade masquerade gown. It had been created entirely out of Journal newspapers.

All of these grand balls began at 9 p.m. and ended shortly before the first sunrise of each New Year. To keep the celebrants in good form, abundant midnight buffets were available to refuel those attendees so they could continue dancing to the melodies performed by local bands or orchestras.

These large, exuberant events became passe as did their venues with the rising popularity of movies. Also, the younger generations of the new and modern 20th century rebelled against the old-fashioned tradition of the outdated 19th century balls.

While all this high-styled yet socially acceptable grandeur was enjoyed by many Napa County residents and their guests, other locals chose different options, intentionally or otherwise, to ring in a new year. The following examples, which took place in Napa during the 1870s, were reported by the local newspapers without identifying their subjects by name. However, with the local population being so small, the newspaper readers of that time were fully aware of those individuals identities.

The first is a fairly brief Reporter article. It seems one well-respected and widely known gentleman had indulged a bit too much in holiday cheer at a fraternal organizations party. When he arrived home in the wee small hours of the morning, his family was fast asleep. Before he retired for the night, the gent felt he needed one last, but little, drink for the sake of his stomach, the newspaper wrote. So he went to the cabinet where his tonic was usually stored. But the bottle was empty. Not wanting to wake his family, he chose not to light a lamp and, in the dark, he fumbled through the pantry until he reached what he thought was a new bottle of his tonic. He then poured himself a large dose, but much to his distress, he could not keep it down. Shortly thereafter, he began to feel absolutely horrible. Thinking someone had poisoned him, he stumbled upstairs to wake his wife. The Reporter continued, She gasped and exclaimed, Oh my goodness! This is our daughters medicine. Her doctor said she could only have one tablespoon a day. She added, It is no wonder you feel so sickly!. After a few days of recovery, this Napan returned to his usual routine and a lot of ribbing from his friends.

Napa Register article reported another New Year escapade with the headline of The Wild Woman of East Napa. The story began at a local bar where a group of a dozen or so young Napa men congregated. A few of these 20-somethings told their contemporaries of their recent and odd experience of encountering a wild woman living within the hills east of Napa, now known as Alta Heights. They spoke of her dire situation and condition. About half of this group felt compelled to come to this poor souls aid by capturing and bringing her into town. The remainder of the group, including the storytellers, turned that noble quest into a wager. It was agreed whoever could catch a wild woman was the victor and could name their reward at the losers cost.

Much to the noble mens surprise, their damsel in distress was unusually agile, fast, and strong for a woman of their era. Finally, those noble young gents cornered the wild woman only to be surprised to discover she was not a woman but one of their buddies dressed in disguise. With the wager clearly stating a woman had to be captured, the pranksters were the victors. As a result, they thoroughly enjoyed being served their favorite libations at their counterparts expense.

Wishing you a New Year filled with laughter, happiness, and good health!
Thats because the Napa City Council, citing the importance of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions created by idling cars, voted to finalize denial of the projects drive-thru this month.

The project, in the works for about two years, became the centerpiece of a discussion about potentially banning future drive-thrus in the city of Napa this year.

The planned restaurant spot for the project now has no tenant. No drive-thru-dependent restaurant  such as the once-planned Raising Canes Chicken Fingers or Chick-fil-A  will be filling that spot.

The project, approved by the city council, is currently planned to include a Kohls department store that would replace the Kohls downtown, a retail building, and a sit-down restaurant.

Environmental pushback related to the drive-thru first materialized at a city planning commission meeting in August. At that point, Canadian developer Ronmor Real Estate LLC had already revamped the projects building design and environmental sustainability, following a chilly reception to the plan in April.

And Ronmor dropped Chick-fil-A from the project in July  after community members expressed opposition to the restaurant because of the company and owners history of donating to charities with anti-LGBTQ stances.

Though commission members expressed discontent with the drive-thru, Ronmor chairman Doug Porozni said the developer wasnt willing to move forward without it because the drive-thru restaurant was the financial centerpiece of the project.

He added that drive-thrus have sustained businesses that otherwise wouldnt have survived during the COVID-19 pandemic, with 70% of sales coming from the drive-thrus in some cases.

That is our most valuable corner, the site at Gasser and Soscol, Porozni previously said. And its generated the best return to support the Kohls development, which is not as profitable or, if you want to say, as investment-worthy as the drive-thru is.

The commission only moved to approve the project at the August meeting after the developer offered up environmental concessions  constructing the buildings to at least the equivalent of LEED silver environmental building standards, to add five extra electric charging stations and to add on recycled water connections to the building.

The approval was 4-1, with dissenting commissioner Bob Massaro citing the drive-thru as the reason he didnt want to move forward with the project. Massaro also said hed like to see Napa ban the future construction of drive-thrus in the city.

I cant in good conscience vote yes with the drive-thru, Massaro said.

Local environmental group Napa Climate NOW! followed up on Massaros comments by filing an appeal of the commissions approval of the drive-thru, also asking for a ban on future drive-thrus.

Group member Bayard Fox said at the time that decreasing greenhouse gas emissions is vital, especially in light of a report this year from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

For us, in this day and age, especially with the updated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, something like a drive-thru just seems so appallingly, drastically wrong, Fox said. And its going to leave an incredible, immeasurable impact on our local environment for the next 50 years. This just cant be a legacy we can maintain.

The appeal sent the question to the city council. The council, after delaying the decision for a month, ultimately voted to uphold the appeal and deny the drive-thru on a 3-1 vote.

Council member Bernie Narvaez wanted to approve the drive-thru because a representative of the Raising Canes Chicken Fingers restaurant  the chosen tenant at the time  said it only took 2.5 minutes on average before its drive-thru customers received their food.

Narvaez said that could actually reduce emissions because people would want to go to the Raising Canes drive-thru instead of the other, older drive-thrus in the area.

But the other council members said it was time for the city to put its words about taking on climate change into action.

At this point, I just cant in good conscience say, one more, whats one more going to do, Sedgley said.

As a result of the council decision, Ronmor requested the three environmental conditions added on at the planning commission level be removed from the project.

Scott Klingbeil, a representative for Ronmor, said the developer believed the conditions had come from a negotiation for keeping the now-denied drive-thru.

In the applicants opinion, the things that were agreed to were based on the approval of having a drive-thru in place, Klingbeil said. So without the drive-thru in place, it seemed logical that these conditions may not apply.

But the council, despite talk of the conditions potentially killing the project, voted to reinstate those conditions this month.

The broader conversation of a drive-thru ban  along with talk of how to minimize the greenhouse gas emissions of idling vehicles as a whole  is set to resume with the citys upcoming general plan update early next year.
One hundred and seventy-four years ago, the first rescue crew arrived at Donner Lake, encountering a scene of carnage that still shocks all this time later.

Eighty-seven men, women and children entered the Sierra Nevada Mountains in October 1846. Known as the Donner Party, led by George Donner and James F. Reed, they were victims of bad luck and bad leadership.

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Their biggest mistake was taking a new "shortcut" called the Hastings Cutoff, which led them through Utah and across the Great Salt Lake. Crossing the blistering Great Salt Lake took its toll on the cattle and the people; the party was three weeks behind schedule and low on supplies as they approached the Sierra Nevada Mountains. (A fascinating historical aside here: Lansford Hastings, the man who invented and promoted the shortcut without even trying it first, later died while trying to colonize Brazil with Confederate sympathizers.)

Then, bad luck came into play. A brutal winter storm descended on them, blocking the pass and trapping the Donner Party near today's Donner Lake. Some families set up camp while others donned makeshift snowshoes to try to walk to Sutter's Fort in present-day Sacramento for help. In the three weeks those desperate souls braved the woods, eight died, most of them cannibalized by the others. Only a handful made it to a Miwok village alive.

The rescue party left Sutter's Fort on Jan. 31, 1847, and found the survivors at Donner Lake on Feb. 18. Forty-six starving, half-dead people made it out alive.

Despite their infamy, because the Donner Party arrived ahead of the Gold Rush, they became some of the first white leaders in newly founded communities across the state. Their names still grace streets, schools and even a town, and the villain of the expedition was the first man to introduce lager to California.

Here are the fates of some of the most well-known members of the Donner Party.

The Reed family

The Reed family had an inauspicious start to their lives in the west, but modern-day San Jose was partly shaped by them. Patriarch James, 46, was the leader of the party for some time, but he was banished in Nevada when he fatally stabbed oxen teamster John Snyder during a dispute. Reed arrived in Sutter's Fort ahead of the Donner Party and raised money for rescue efforts when it became clear his family was trapped somewhere in the woods. The Reeds were only one of two families to survive the winter intact.

The Reeds moved first to Napa to recover from the ordeal while James served as the sheriff of Sonoma. In 1847, they settled in San Jose, where James managed a fruit farm. He became even wealthier in 1848 when he struck gold in Placerville. Back in San Jose, James bought 500 acres of land, some of which was later donated to create San Jose State University.

Reed, Margaret, Virginia, Carrie, Patterson, Lewis, Keyes and Martha streets in San Jose are named after members of the Reed family. Virginia, who was 13 at the time of the expedition, kept cookies or candy in her pocket until she died at age 87.

"We have left everything, but I don't care for that," she wrote a cousin shortly after their rescue. "We have got through with our lives. Don't let this letter dishearten anybody. Remember, never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can."

The Murphy family

The tale of many of the girls and women of the Donner Party is one of great suffering even after survival. Because most were left without a male patriarch who could financially provide for them, even young girls married almost immediately to keep from starving again in their new home state.

Mary Murphy was one of them. Her mother, Levinah Jackson Murphy, was already a widow when she and her seven children, some married adults, joined with the Donners. Levinah, then 50, cared for the children as group after group departed for safety, eventually dying before she herself could be rescued.

"Mrs. Murphy was so kind to the little children that we remember her affectionately," Georgia Donner wrote years later. "... [As the children left with a rescue party,] Mrs. Murphy walked to her bed, laid down, turned her face toward the wall. One of the men gave her a handful of dried meat. She seemed to realize that we were leaving her, that her work was finished."

Although just 13 when she was rescued, Mary Murphy married William Johnson three months later. "I hope I shall not live long for I am tired of this troublesome world and I want to go to my mother," she wrote in 1847. Young, orphaned and afraid, Mary suffered abuse at Johnson's hands until the courageous teenager divorced him.

She then married French immigrant Charles Covillaud in 1848. Covillaud had made his fortune mining gold and became a prominent landowner. In 1850, he helped lay out a new city. He named it Marysville after his wife. Mary died at the age of 35 at her home there. Obituaries did not record her cause of death, but called her "a woman of more than ordinary intellect, and possessed a kind, generous and noble disposition. All who knew her, loved her."

Brother William G. Murphy, 10, tried to hike through the snow to safety but, without snowshoes, he had to turn back. Brother Lemuel, 13, went on and later died and was cannibalized. William survived long enough, cared for by Mary, that he was rescued.

William became a leading citizen in adulthood. As a teen, he learned Spanish and also spoke a Native American dialect well enough to work as an interpreter at Bidwell's Bar. He attended law school at the University of Missouri and was admitted to the bar in 1863. He went on to serve as the district attorney of Yuba County and city attorney of Marysville.

In 1896, William Murphy gave the keynote address at the 50th anniversary memorial ceremony for the Donner Party. "They all, with me, had hopes, ambitions, daydreams, fond anticipations as to what they would accomplish when they reached that fairy land of promise," he told a crowd of hundreds in Truckee. "... But there are memoirs of the past, mostly sad, burned into our very natures, that will not down at our bidding though fifty years have passed."

William died in 1904 at age 68 after a long illness and is buried in the Yuba City Cemetery.

Lewis Keseberg

Few today claim relation to Lewis Keseberg, the villain of the Donner Party.

Keseberg, a German immigrant, became the saga's most infamous alleged murderer after the final rescue party arrived at Donner Camp in April 1847 and found only Keseberg living. Tamsen Donner, wife of the Donner Party leader, was dead. Accusations were rampant that Keseberg murdered and ate her. Additionally, Keseberg was found to be in possession of George Donner's jewelry and $250 in gold. Newspaper reports record that people taunted Keseberg in the streets.

However, Keseberg's legacy as a brewer endures. In 1853, he founded Sacramento's Phoenix Brewery, the first to introduce lagers to the region. The Sacramento Bee referred to him as "the first brewer in Sacramento."

In 1879, historian C.F. McGlashan, who attempted to talk to every surviving member of the Donner Party, came out in defense of Keseberg. According to McGlashan, a "wretched Dutchman" living near Truckee impersonated Keseberg for years and was the actual source of many of the grisly legends about his villainy.

"Scores of residents living in that town remember the man, and have often been horrified at his recitals of his fiendish, ghoul-like exploits," McGlashan wrote in an op-ed. "Nothing delighted him more than to repeat to a gathered crowd tales of ghastly feasts on quivering human flesh."

The truth of those dark months died with Keseberg, who perished penniless in a hospital for the poor in 1895. His burial place is unknown.

The Graves family

Mary Graves was 19 when her parents took their nine children west. She joined what became known as "The Forlorn Hope," the last party to depart camp for help. Over the course of 33 days, the handful of adults and children, the youngest just 10, slowly made their way from Truckee Lake out of the mountains. Nine survivors stumbled into a group Native Americans, who fed and clothed them. The strongest, William Eddy, then headed further west to raise the alarm for help.

By the time Mary Graves reached safety, both her parents were dead, her mother and a brother partly cannibalized. "I wish I could cry but I cannot," she is recorded as saying. "If I could forget the tragedy, perhaps I would know how to cry again."

Mary wed three months later. Her husband, Edward Pyle, was murdered the next year in 1848. Some historians claim his killer was the first person hanged in California under U.S. law.

She died in 1891 of pneumonia at her home in Tulare County.

Sister Nancy Graves was only 9 years old during the deadly winter and was unknowingly fed flesh from her dead mother, a fact she only learned later. Understandably, she refused to speak of the horrible events again. She joined the Methodist church in 1852 and married Rev. Williamson in 1855, who preached at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Santa Rosa. They had five children, including son George, who was an artist in Virginia City, and settled in Sebastopol. She lived to be 69 and is buried at Sebastopol Memorial Lawn Cemetery.

The Donner family

The Donner children lost both of their parents in the tragedy. George Donner accidentally cut his hand, which became infected and spread gangrene up his arm. He died in March 1847 in between relief parties. Wife Tamsen died shortly after.

Three-year-old Eliza Donner was among the last to be rescued, along with sisters Frances, 6, and Georgia, 4. Upon arrival at Sutter's Fort, Eliza and Georgia were taken in by a Swiss couple while Frances went to live with the Reeds. The couple kept custody of Georgia, while young Eliza moved in with her half-sister Elitha (for whom Elitha Donner Elementary School in Elk Grove is named) when Elitha was able to care for her. For one year, she attended St. Catherine's Academy in Benicia, a girls-only school run by Dominican nuns.

In 1861, she married politician Sherman Otis Houghton, who had recently been widowed by his first wife, another Donner Party survivor Mary Martha Donner. Houghton was a member of the San Jose Common Council and served as the fourth mayor of the city from 1855-56. He also represented California in the 42nd and 43rd U.S. Congress.

Eliza went on to publish "The Expedition of the Donner Party and its Tragic Fate" in 1911, a wrenching account of a little girl watching her loved ones die one by one. "During the bitterest weather we little ones were kept in bed, and my place was always in the middle where Frances and Georgia, snuggling up close, gave me of their warmth," she wrote, "and from them I learned many things which I could neither have understood nor remembered had they not made them plain."

Eliza lived a long life, dying at the age of 78 in Los Angeles, where she is buried at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery.

The McCutchen family

William "Big Bill" McCutchen, from Tennessee, brought his wife Amanda and his baby daughter Harriett with him on the long journey west. They were invited to join the Donner Party in Wyoming. McCutchen was part of several rescue efforts, but he couldn't save his daughter, who died at Donner Lake.

McCutchen and his wife settled in San Jose, where William was elected sheriff in 1853. One story recounts the time McCutchen and a San Jose alderman decided to race their horses through the streets of San Jose; McCutchen won a bottle of whiskey but was fined $10 by the mayor for his rash adventure.

Son Edward McCutchen's legacy can still be felt in the city today. He became a well-known attorney in San Francisco and founded the firm McCutchen, Doyle, Brown and Enerson. The firm merged with Bingham Dana in 2002 to form Bingham McCutchen, which had 850 attorneys in offices all over the country, including at Embarcadero Center, until it shuttered in 2014.

The Breen family

The other family to suffer no deaths that winter, the Breens moved to San Juan Bautista where father Patrick became a wealthy rancher. Isabella, barely a year old, was the only infant to survive the Donner Party. She lived to be nearly 90 and was the last member of the fated expedition to die, passing away in 1935.

Her obituary said she "never wished to talk of the story" and "fled from the room when elders spoke of that which she sensed to have been terrible." Her death, the Oakland Tribune wrote, "snapped the only human link we have with an epic story."

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The discussions that followed my December 24 interview on the Nagorno-Karabakh [(NK)] peace process revealed a number of falsifications, the recording of which is extremely important. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote this on Facebook, and he enumerated these falsifications, noting as follows:

1. The participation of the Azerbaijani population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast [(NKAO)] in the determination of the final status of NK as part of the modern-day population of NK is recorded in the Madrid Principles, which the Armenian side has accepted as a basis for negotiations since 2007. Fortunately or unfortunately, we cannot say that any politician of Armenia or Artsakh [(Nagorno-Karabakh)] was not aware of it because the Madrid Principles are published on the Internet since a long time ago, before I became Prime Minister. This begs the question: why have the former high-ranking [Armenian] officials not risen up against this?

2. Do you remember that after November 9, the topic arose that there was an opportunity to stop the 44-day [Artsakh] war [last] in exchange for guaranteeing the right of Azerbaijanis living in [Artsakhs] Shushi [city] during the NKAO and/or their family members to return to Shushi? Today's same circles were saying in the fall of 2020 that thus, there was a chance to keep Shushi Armenian and I did not go for it, to which I countered that 90 percent of the population of Shushi in the NKAO was Azerbaijani, how do you imagine an Armenian settlement with a 90-percent Azerbaijani population? And at that time I was accused of saying that Shushi is not Armenian. Why are those same people upset now when the content of the negotiations that existed before I became Prime Minister is being talked about? In the fall of 2020, they were in favor of the return of Azerbaijanis living in Shushi, now against? Were they in favor in 2007, nowagainst?

3. And now they keep repeating that only the authorities elected by the people of Artsakh can represent the people of Artsakh in the negotiation process. Who is arguing? This is one of my most important theses since 2018. Another question arises. Why didn't those same people make a fuss when Artsakh was being removed from the negotiation process by the hands of [then Armenian President] R. Kocharyan in 1998? But now do not suddenly think that they want to return Artsakh to the negotiating table. They want to remove Armenia from the negotiating table. Taking this opportunity, let me reveal a secret. [Armenian ex-President] Serzh Sargsyan and the [former ruling] RPA [party] accuse me that after I became Prime Minister, I demanded from the mediators the return of NK to the negotiating table, whereby I allegedly worsened our negotiation situation. In 2016, Serzh Sargsyan himself demanded from the mediators to immediately engage NK in the negotiation process. Has our negotiating position worsened with that? By the way, at that same time Serzh Sargsyan attempted to substantiate that the Azerbaijanis living in the NKAO should participate in the issue of determining the future status of Artsakh in the same proportion as they lived in the NKAO in 1988. Why did he do this? Because he realized that by the logic of the negotiation content, at the time of the supposed referendum which may take place 100 years later, the Azerbaijanis may be a majority in NK. And was he able to solve this problem? Of course not, and this is the reason why in April 2018 he voiced the hopeless state of the negotiation process, the stalemate, and the impending war.

4. The propaganda of well-known circles in our scene has instilled a misunderstanding that the terms "final status of NK," "self-determination" definitely means the independence of NK. Of course, this is not the case because autonomous province is a status, too, region is a status, too, independence is a status, too. Does the content of my inherited negotiations clarify these issues? Does it clarify what is meant by saying status? Of course not. The Armenian side has always been proud of the provision that the question or questions being put on the potential referendum on the specification of the status of NK shall not have any wording restrictions and can presuppose any status. Any status, yes, can mean independence. But any status can also mean a province within Azerbaijan. If we add to this the fact that the content of the negotiations does not specify in which area the referendum should take place, does not specify who should word the issue to be put to the referendum, it turns out that according to my inherited negotiation content, the following question also could have been put the referendum: Do you agree that NK should be an autonomous province within Azerbaijan? The content of the negotiation does not clarify also if people vote "no," what does it mean? Independence? Or 0 status?

By the way, there is also a very legitimate question in the core of the discussions. What is the purpose of talking now about the provisions concerning the Azerbaijani population of NK in the content of the negotiations? The goal is one: to protect the right of Artsakh people displaced as a result of the 44-day war to live in Artsakh under Armenian jurisdiction. But this is a matter of negotiation tactics and a matter for further discussion.
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In the field of security, I consider it a complete failure for Armenia, as no issue has improved this year. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated this during his year-end press conference Monday (PHOTOS).

"Loss of territories. Authorities also acknowledge that more than 40 square kilometers are under the adversarys control. But in reality, we do not control much larger areas.

The [Armenian-Azerbaijani border] demarcation with that GPS led to the fact that the Azerbaijani troops have been positioned along the mouth of their supposed border, we had to retreat from 500 meters to 1-1.5 km, a little more in some places. The same happened not only in the Vardenis-Araks section, but also in the Nakhichevan section even before the [Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)] war [last year]. You remember that the Azerbaijani troops advanced in very large areas. We do not control the whole area from their positions to our positions. In fact, we have lost control not only over those 40-45 km, but over ten times larger areas," he said.

According to Kocharyan, this year the Armenian side has lost the opportunity to use the most important roads.

"We have had about 36 casualties, 30 wounded, and more than 30 new prisoners of war over the course of this year.

Nothing was done during the year to increase the army's combat-readiness. Having more than 30 captives during combat operations for 2-3 positions speaks of most serious problems in the army. This can be explained by some things. And the main explanation can be the following that our soldiers were under the impression of the expression of the first person of the country [i.e., Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan]. We are not going to fight for one mountain, are we? Our country is made up of mountains. It is the same as the Arabs saying, We are not going to fight for the desert, are we? This is also an invitation to some extent, a welcome here for the Azerbaijanis. You say we are not going to war for uninhabited mountains. If the first person thinks so, why do we think that an army major or a contract soldier should think differently? It's one of the best ways to reduce the combat-readiness of the army," the second president said.

He stated that nothing was done last year to restore the army's armament as well.

"The death toll [in last years war] has not been announced yet. This is a disgrace! We should have a memoir; this would have been an approach towards the casualties, their families. That was the duty of the state. It is abnormal to leave this matter so vague after a year.

It is also a factand all the polls showthat 70-80% of the population is seriously concerned about security issues. The country cannot develop normally when 80% of the population thinks that they live in an unsafe country.

With all these issues, we enter next year in a worse way. The army budget is not such that we can hope that these issues will be resolved next year. It is impossible to resolve such issues with this military budget," Robert Kocharyan emphasized.
Turkey was not at all in the Meghri option for the settlement of the Karabakh issue. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated this during his year-end press conference Mondayand referring to the question of how the Meghri option, which was proposed during his rule as a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, differs from the option that is being implemented now, and which the Azerbaijanis call the "Zangezur corridor."

"And do you not see the difference? There are no edges. At that time, it was about joining Karabakh to Armenia. The Key West agreement supposed that Karabakh would join Armenia through a corridor that also would have the same status as Karabakh. The width of the corridor, which is not written in those documents, but from the point of view of security at that time I had worded it as follows: a 21-2142km corridor on both sides of the range of the Grad [missiles]. Now compare it with the current situation, with the current uncertainty and security and the status of Karabakh. The difference is in that," said the second president.

To the question why the Meghri option was not implemented, Kocharyan responded: "The [then] president of Azerbaijan refused to sign at the last moment in Key West. I have written about it in detail in my book. He said that he could not convince even his family members, he said that he considered that he overestimated his capability to influence [Azerbaijani] public opinion."

Also, the second president of Armenia emphasized that the Meghri option was only about the right of road, and there was no talk about the railway.

"It was about a motorwayan overpass tunnel," Robert Kocharyan added.
Turkey has always posited three preconditions before Armenia to normalize relations: The territorial integrity of Azerbaijanincluding Karabakh, the unconditional return of seven regions, and not to manifest enthusiasm in connection with the international recognition of the Armenian Genocideor in other words, passing that matter on to historians. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Mondayand responding to Armenian News-NEWS.am's question on how the process of establishing relations with Turkey today differ from the respective processes of his time in office.

"Now the precondition of the Zangezur corridor has increased. Look at what happened to those preconditions. Our approach has always been the following: We [i.e., Armenia] are ready to build relations [with Turkey] without preconditions. Even when they were talking from the border, we were saying the [Armenian-Turkish] border is open on our side, closed on the other side. What happened to those three preconditions?

Let's start with the second. Not [just] seven districts were returned, but [also] Shushi and Hadrut [cities of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)]with a bonus. In fact, this precondition no longer exists. In connection with the Genocide, Armenia is so weak today that to think it can succeed in the Genocide recognition matter, perhaps in the distant future, but today the Armenian authorities have left that issue entirely to the offices of the Armenian National Committee. Second, such matters may be petitioned to countries that may have a some interest in punishing Turkey at one time or another. There is no other resource. In fact, two of the three preconditions have been successfully resolved for them," Kocharyan stated.

As for the precondition of recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, ex-President Kocharyan reminded that before the Brussels meeting, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the National Assembly that as of 2016, there is not even a theoretical option for Karabakh not being part of Azerbaijan.

"What does this mean? This means that yes, the first person of Armenia says that he does not see any option, any status outside [being part of] Azerbaijan. He reaffirmed it during this last press conference [of his]. Now all three preconditions [of Turkey] have been met [by Armenia]. And when they say we are ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions, it is difficult to invent a bigger hypocrisy. You have fulfilled all the preconditions; moreover, you are discussing the issue of the [Zangezur] corridor," Kocharyan said.

And reflecting on the Armenian-Turkish relations during his presidency, Kocharyan said: "In my time, yes, there were contacts. When [Turkish President] Erdogan's party won the parliamentary elections in 2002, the first [Turkish] foreign minister was Abdullah Gul. There was a multi-faceted event with him in Madrid. [Then Armenian FM] Vartan Oskanian was quite excited. He called me and said that the Turkish side was ready for negotiations without preconditions. I said, Vartan, I do not believe, they are still new [in power], they are hot, they probably have not realized that Azerbaijan will hinder them. Do not make a big fuss about it, it does not turn out that we are creating expectations.

Gul said without preconditions. Do you recall they were putting forward a notion that We are zeroing the problems with all our neighbors? As a result, they had much deeper problems with all the neighbors.

After the second meeting, Oskanian told me that they were somehow retreating [from the talks]. And during the third meeting, we completely returned to where we started. This was an encouraging moment in Armenian-Turkish relations, which lasted 6-7 months, no more."
Throughout the history of the Karabakh conflict, statements distorting the essence of the problem are periodically exaggerated, which complicate and confuse the process of a comprehensive and final settlement of the conflict, the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh reported.

"We consider inadmissible any statement by various political forces and figures that casts doubt on or belittles the subjectivity of the Republic of Artsakh and its Armenian future. It is puzzling that the last such statement was made on December 24 by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, answering questions from representatives of the media and public organizations.

'"The fate of Artsakh was not and will not be a monopoly of any political force. Representing the opinion and position of broad public and political circles of the Republic of Artsakh, we express our disagreement and indignation at a number of dangerous and distorted formulations and ideas voiced during the interview.

"Concern is also caused by the fact that against the background of the results of the national liberation struggle of 1988 - the Karabakh movement - formulations are voiced that cast doubt on the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Republic of Artsakh), proclaimed on September 2, 1991 and formed in full accordance with the norms international law, and its long struggle to achieve international recognition.

"The legal and political foundations of the Armenian parties in the negotiation process in previous years and the protection of our national interests in this context did not enter into any contradiction with the positions of international structures and mediators.

"The fact that the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh has never been ignored in the proposals previously submitted by the mediators is confirmed by the explanations of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

"Speculations about the working options discussed in the negotiation process over the years and a possible change in the format of the negotiations cause concern and concern.

"We consider unacceptable statements that question the belonging of Artsakh to the Armenians and emphasize the importance of the presence of possible extraneous elements, which are rejected and condemned in memory of the thousands of Armenians who sacrificed their lives for the freedom and independence of Artsakh.

"Admiring all the victims of the Artsakh liberation struggle, we simultaneously express our gratitude to all Armenians, in particular to our compatriots from the Republic of Armenia, for standing next to Artsakh, sharing its suffering and hardships.

"The fraternal relations between the two Armenian republics have been based on a resolution adopted on July 8, 1992 by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Armenia, which clearly defined the attitude of the Republic of Armenia, as a full member of the international community, to the Republic of Artsakh striving for international recognition. According to this resolution, Armenia undertakes to "consistently support the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and protect the rights of its population", and it is also established that "any international or domestic document in which the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic will be indicated as a part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable for the Republic of Armenia." This formula is still valid today.

"The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh, reaffirming the adherence of the people and the authorities of Artsakh to the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Artsakh, declares that it is inadmissible to express any position without taking into account the point of view of the authorities of Artsakh, since only the legal authorities formed by the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh through elections have the right to make decisions regarding the future of the Republic of Artsakh."
The tension between Russia and the West has led us to a point where there is a markedly narrow opportunity for complementarism, and it almost doesnt exist. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Monday.

During my presidency, we declared a policy of complementarism, but at the time, with regard to Russia-NATO relations, Russia had more plans with NATO than Armenia did. There was a special NATO-Russia Council. This means Armenia should orientate in a more comprehensible manner and state what it wants.

To this day, I havent understood the logic and course of Armenias foreign policy. For instance, the U.S> hosts a so-called democracy summit, and its clear that this is an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese project. What is Armenia doing there? This is an attempt to revitalize a trend that was rather powerful after the collapse of the USSR. At the time, the idea was that we were going to have a more predictable and safer world by democratizing the whole world, but then there were color revolutions with devastating consequences. The world has changed, and we cant do things like this, Kocharyan declared.

Kocharyan emphasized that if the West-Russia relations escalate further and there are extreme manifestations, this may harm Armenia, if it doesnt have a strong army and powerful security system. According to him, the aim of the West is to remove Russia from this region or at least reduce its influence in this region essentially.

For a rather long time, Russia would keep a distance from Armenia and Azerbaijan, and this was in Russias interests. However, the situation has changed in the South Caucasus after the war. I am certain that we are in a process that we can describe as geopolitical transformation in the South Caucasus. When Turkey entered the process and the Turkey-Azerbaijan tandem became totally different, it is hard to maintain equal distancing between Armenia and Azerbaijan, he said. According to him, Armenia has lost the status of a country with the most combat-ready army and now it constantly needs protection.

Asked if this means that Armenias foreign vector needs to be geared only towards Russia, Kocharyan said the following: Why is Armenia participating in anti-Russian and anti-Chinese events? There are several other formats in which there is no anti-Russianism. Of course, the balance needs to be maintained, but do the people who need to maintain that balance understand what that balance is?

Kocharyan also surprisingly asked why Armenia is serving Turkeys interests in the region.
Tension in relations between Azerbaijan and Iran has been completely eliminated, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told at the final press conference on Monday.

It's no secret that some time ago there was tension, certain misunderstandings between the two countries (Azerbaijan - Iran), but they were eliminated, the minister said.

According to him, a meeting of the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan took place in Ashgabat, during which a wide range of issues were discussed. During the Baku meeting last week, the parties agreed to hold political consultations at least once every six months.

He also noted that a meeting of the Azerbaijani-Iranian intergovernmental economic commission will be held in the near future: "Within the framework of this meeting, a roadmap will be agreed and adopted on the implementation of new projects in the economic sphere between Azerbaijan and Iran."
Weren't the Madrid Principles better than the package version and than what we have today? Wasn't the Kazan document better than the phased version in 1997 and than what we have today? I think the answer is obvious. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated this during his year-end press conference Mondayand referring to the question of how it turned out that the positions and opportunities of the Armenian side did not increase as a result of prolonging the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, and whether the package version was not better than what we have now.

Referring to the accusation that during his tenure Karabakh was left out of the peace negotiations as a full-fledged party, Kocharyan said as follows, in particular: "The last substantive discussion within the framework of the [OSCE] Minsk Group took place in October 1996, [when] I was the President of Karabakh. After that, there was one meeting that did not reach the content part. And that meeting took place on April 1, 1997, when I was the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia appointed 10 days ago.

In January 1997, the Co-Chairs changed, and the troikaRussia, the US, and Francewas formed. Before that there was Russia, and the other countries were changingFinland, Sweden. And the main discussions were within the framework of the Minsk Group. Ambassadors from nine countries were gathering, there was a discussion. They were more mental exercises. Turkey was there too.

The Co-Chairs decided in January 1997 to hold another meeting in the format of the Minsk Groupbut the troika was already chairing that meeting. And on the last day of that meeting they announced that they were moving to shuttle diplomacy. They saw that the issue did not move forward in the format of the Minsk Group, and [therefore] changed the format of participation. The co-chairs have not assembled a Minsk Group since then. If the Armenian authorities do not know about it, it is the peak of cosmic ignorance. If they know, they do not say, they deceive, it is a knavery. I do not know which version it is.

They have not gathered the Minsk Group anymore. I had the next meeting with the president of Azerbaijan on April 1, 1999, in Russia, through the mediation of [then Russian President] Yeltsin. After that, a meeting took place during the NATO summit in late April.

() it was the decision of the troika not to assemble the Minsk Group anymore, they announced that they were pursuing shuttle diplomacy, and Karabakh has always been an active participant in it. During my 10 years [of tenure], there has not been a case when they [i.e., the mediators] came to Armenia and did not go to Karabakh," Kocharyan stated.

"Yes, Karabakh participated, but then that format disappeared altogether. The Minsk Group remained, but the discussions began to take a different format. If the co-chairs had gathered the same format, Karabakh would have been sitting at that table in the same way. They considered it ineffective and, to be honest, they considered it right," the second president of Armenia stated.
Generally speaking, I dont think its right for every government to come and write the Constitution the way it sees fit. The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan stated about this during his year-end press conference Monday, in response to the question whether he would support the amendments to the Constitution, if it was proposed to make the transition to the system of government that he proposed in 2005, that is, the semi-presidential system.

First of all, to make constitutional reforms, it is necessary to explain what is wrong with the current Constitution since making constitutional reforms is a serious step. When I was in power, we made constitutional reforms because we believed European integration was important for Armenia. We joined the Council of Europe and had expressed the commitment to make constitutional reforms, Kocharyan said.

According to him, at the time, it was clear what was unacceptable in the existing Constitution, i.e. the fact that the President could solely dissolve the National Assembly after consulting with the parliamentary speaker and the Prime Minister.

Kocharyan said he supports the semi-presidential system of government. Yes, I support this system, but Im against making constitutional reforms this way. In general, I dont think its right for every government to come and write the Constitution the way it sees fit, he added.

Kocharyan also said no president in Armenia has had so many powers as the Prime Minister does today which, in his opinion, is not normal, and it is safe to redistribute powers.
Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 27.12.21:

The second president of Armenia, leader of the opposition "Armenia" Bloc Robert Kocharyan held a year-end press conference on Monday.

During the briefing, he referred to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and noted that "we lost control not only over those 40 - 45 km but over ten times larger areas."

"In the field of security, I consider it a complete failure for Armenia, as no issue has improved this year," he noted.

"Loss of territories. Authorities also acknowledge that more than 40 square kilometers are under the adversarys control. But in reality, we do not control much larger areas," the second president added.

According to Kocharyan, this year the Armenian side has lost the opportunity to use the most important roads.

"We have had about 36 casualties, 30 wounded, and more than 30 new prisoners of war over the course of this year.

He said that nothing was done last year to restore the army's armament as well.

Artsakh parliament and president as well as Artsakh and Armenian human rights chiefs criticized distorted formulations of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan on the Nagorno-Karabakh situation.

During an online interview on Friday, Pashinyan said in particular that a disaster had occurred in the negotiation process in 2016. In January of that year, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs handed over a package of proposals, in which, although it was indicated that there is a parliament, a judiciary, etc. in Nagorno-Karabakh, the issue of clarifying the intermediate status was transferred to the UN Security Council. This meant that, according to the proposals, the solution to the issue that was previously within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship was transferred to the UN Security Council. This meant that the NKR was part of Azerbaijan.

The prime minister also argued in an interview that the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was not considered as an exclusively Armenian territorial union at any stage of the negotiations. According to the prime minister, in the talks it was recorded that the Azerbaijani population also lived in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the protection of their interests was on the agenda of the negotiations.

The first meeting of the representatives of Armenia and Turkey on the normalization of relations will take place in Moscow, said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, RIA Novosti reports.

Special envoys for normalization with Armenia have been appointed. The first meeting will be in Moscow. We hope that Armenia will act within the framework of international law, Cavusoglu told journalists in Ankara.

The minister also said that the first Istanbul-Yerevan flight will take place in the coming days.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization is concerned about the continuing instability on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said CSTO boss Stanislav Zas.

"For obvious reasons, we are primarily concerned about the growing crisis phenomena on the borders of the CSTO member states."

According to him, the organization closely monitors the development of the situation in the South Caucasus and is in constant contact with the Armenian side. The Secretary General recalled that he returned from Yerevan a few days ago, where he thoroughly discussed the current situation with the leadership of Armenia.

Azerbaijan will file two more claims against Armenia in international arbitration, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said.

"In 2021, interstate lawsuits between Azerbaijan and Armenia took place for the first time. Work in this direction has already begun, during this year Azerbaijan filed a lawsuit against Armenia to the European Court of Human Rights, at the same time, within the framework of the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of Any Forms of Racial Discrimination - to the UN International Court of Justice," Bayramov said.

As of Monday morning, 59 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 344,540 in the country, Armenian News-NEWS.am has learned from the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, seven more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 7,950 cases.
Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Zakir Hasanov today convened a consultation.

As reported Azerbaijani presses, citing the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, the consultation was held with deputy ministers, commanders of military subdivisions, chiefs of general departments, as well as heads of departments and services of the Ministry of Defense.

Hasanov called the attendees attention to the tasks that the President of Azerbaijan set forth during his visit to the occupied Armenian region of Hadrut.

During the meeting, the participants of the consultation analyzed the situation on the state border and in the territories for temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, referring to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Positively assessing the military exercises held by the troops for raising the level of combat-readiness of the subdivisions even higher, the minister assigned to conduct various kinds of exercises and drills in accordance with the conditions for real combats during daytime and at night, the press release reads.
President of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Arayik Harutyunyan today received representatives of the Russian community of Artsakh led by head of the community Aleksandr Bordov.

The press service of the President of Artsakh reported that the President and representatives discussed issues related to community life, as well as the programs underway in the educational and cultural sectors.

The head of state inquired about the communitys problems and needs, listened to the representatives opinions and recommendations in order to take care of the issues and assured the attendees that the Government of Artsakh will always keep the Russian community in its focus. He also stressed that the members of the Russian community are full-fledged citizens of Artsakh who equally participate in the sacred act of defending the homeland and the development of the remaining spheres of activity.

Harutyunyan emphasized that Artsakh highly appreciates the efforts that the Russian Federation has made for settlement of the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict and the mission that the Russian peacekeeping forces are currently carrying out.
The decision of the Constitutional Court under the claim filed by opposition deputies of the National Assembly for disputing the constitutionality of certain provisions of the order of the Minister of Health of Armenia on mandatory vaccinations and testing has been posted on the website of the Constitutional Court.

The Constitutional Court had left in effect the provision of the ministers order according to which employers need to demand from employees a coronavirus vaccination certificate or a negative PCR test result (twice a month) and/or medical statement of information stating that vaccination is contraindicated for the employee. At the same time, the Constitutional Court declared the word-combination at his or her expense in the sentence the employee gets the PCR test at his or her expense as contradicting particular articles of the Constitution and invalid, taking into consideration the fact that establishment of the scope of employees with the duty to pay for the PCR test service is beyond the scope of powers prescribed for the health minister by law.

Representative of the plaintiff under the case, deputy of the opposition Armenia Faction of the National Assembly Aram Vardevanyan wrote the following on his Facebook page, touching upon the decision of the Constitutional Court:

The decision of the Constitutional Court is promulgated. The Minister of Health or any government official is obliged to perceive the ILLEGAL and UNCONSTITUTIONAL line of conduct against Armenians and the consequences need to be inevitable:

(1) the Constitutional Court clearly says that the burden of expenses couldnt be placed on employees under the order, but as to whom the burden should be placed on, this is not the function of the Constitutional Court, and this is natural.

(2) the order has other problematic provisions that have been thoroughly touched upon.

(3) the Constitutional Court recorded that the State may cover the expenses for PCR tests and it may not cover the expenses, but the situation IMPLIES public support, with the agenda of social solidarity

(4) the Constitutional Court, rightly so, also attached importance to the vaccination policy and, to a certain extent, indicated the existing shortcomings of the policy in Armenia.
The Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia granted the appeal of a prosecutor and ruled to arrest Major Narek Yeremyan (Yeremyan has returned from captivity) for two months, Yeremyans advocate Carmen Poghosyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

A court had rejected the motion for arrest of deputy commander of a battalion of a military unit, Major Narek Yeremyan, after which the prosecutor had applied to the Criminal Court of Appeal. Advocate Karmen Poghosyan labeled the justifications presented by the prosecutor as weak and groundless and added that she is preparing to file a cassation appeal.

Narek Yeremyan is charged with violating the rules of on-duty combat service or combat service, but doesnt accept the charge brought against him.

Five servicemen are arrested under this case and are charged with violating the rules of combat service. They face 3-7 years in prison. As for Narek Yeremyan, he faces 3-8 years in prison.
Story Highlights Six in 10 Americans approve of job Roberts is doing on the high court

Slim majorities also approve of Jerome Powell and Dr. Anthony Fauci

Mitch McConnell has worst approval rating

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Chief Justice John Roberts earns the highest job approval rating of 11 U.S. leaders rated in a Dec. 1-16 Gallup poll with 60% approving of how he is handling his role.

Only two other leaders on the list are reviewed positively by majorities of Americans -- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (53%) and Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Dr. Anthony Fauci (52%).

U.S. Leader Job Approval Ratings, 2021 Do you approve or disapprove of the way each of the following is handling their job? Approve Disapprove % % U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts 60 34 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell 53 40 Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease Dr. Anthony Fauci 52 47 Secretary of State Antony Blinken 49 43 Attorney General Merrick Garland 49 43 House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy 46 49 Vice President Kamala Harris 44 54 Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer 44 53 President Joe Biden 43 51 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi 40 58 Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell 34 63 Gallup, Dec. 1-16, 2021

The poll finds the public divided in their evaluations of the job that two high-profile members of the Biden Administration are doing -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Attorney General Merrick Garland. Both appointees receive 49% job approval ratings with 43% disapproving.

Views of House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy are also closely split but lean slightly negative with 46% approving and 49% disapproving.

Americans' impressions of the bottom four ranking figures are decidedly more negative.

The slight majority of adults disapprove of the jobs Vice President Kamala Harris (54%) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (53%) are doing, while 44% approve of each. Harris' approval rating is on par with President Joe Biden's 43% in the same poll.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is viewed slightly more negatively than Harris and Biden, with 58% disapproving and 40% approving.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell receives the worst ratings of the 11 measured, with 63% disapproving and 34% approving.

Gallup has limited trends on these job approval ratings, but it's noteworthy that Harris' approval rating has declined from 49% since September; at the same time, Biden's has been steady at 43%. Her disapproval rating has increased from 49% to 54%.

Only Roberts Enjoys Bipartisan Approval

Roberts is the only one of the leaders rated this year who receives majority approval from Republicans (57%) and Democrats (55%) in addition to political independents (64%). Most of the other leaders are viewed positively by two-thirds or more of one party versus less than a quarter of the other.

A key exception is McConnell, whose performance is approved of by less than half of Republicans (46%). At the same time, he receives the lowest ratings of the 11 from Democrats (21%) and independents (35%). Strikingly, majorities of all three groups disapprove of McConnell: 75% of Democrats, 64% of independents and 52% of Republicans.

The Senate Republican leader's counterpart in the House of Representatives, McCarthy, sparks a more typical partisan reaction, with 71% of Republicans, 48% of independents and 23% of Democrats approving of his performance.

Unlike McConnell, who has had a falling out with former President Donald Trump since he left office, McCarthy maintains a cordial relationship with Trump. McConnell and McCarthy have also taken different approaches to lifting the debt ceiling, with McCarthy opting out of supporting a bipartisan deal that McConnell backed. But it's not the first time McConnell has been unpopular with Republicans -- Gallup found party members viewing him unfavorably in 2015 when Republicans were frustrated with a lack of legislative successes in Congress.

All other figures in the poll are viewed more positively by Democrats than Republicans. These include Biden appointees Powell, Garland and Blinken, Democratic members of Congress Schumer and Pelosi, and the Democratic vice president (Harris). Although Biden renominated Powell earlier this year, he was originally tapped to head the Federal Reserve by Trump, perhaps explaining his relatively high rating among Republicans (30%).

Fauci's job approval is particularly skewed by party, with a 66-percentage-point gap between Democrats' (85%) and Republicans' (19%) ratings. Although Fauci has served as director of NIAID across four Democratic and three Republican administrations since he was appointed during Ronald Reagan's presidency in 1984, clashes between him and several conservative voices (including Trump) over COVID-19 policies have strongly politicized his public image.

U.S. Leader Job Approval Ratings by Party, 2021 % Approve Republicans Independents Democrats Net Republican % % % pct. pts. Kevin McCarthy 71 48 23 +48 Mitch McConnell 46 35 21 +25 John Roberts 57 64 55 +2 Jerome Powell 30 55 67 -37 Merrick Garland 26 51 66 -40 Antony Blinken 22 49 73 -51 Chuck Schumer 11 40 76 -65 Nancy Pelosi 6 38 71 -65 Dr. Anthony Fauci 19 48 85 -66 Kamala Harris 7 42 77 -70 Gallup, Dec. 1-16, 2021

Bottom Line

Chief Justice Roberts is in a unique position as the sole public leader of the 11 evaluated who enjoys majority-level approval from Americans in all party groups. The only other public figure in the poll who partisans agree on is Sen. minority leader McConnell, but in his case, it's a consensus of disapproval.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of public officials, the leaders rated were selected based on being some of this year's more high-profile figures in the federal government. The strongly partisan cast to most of the ratings is expected in today's political environment. But the fact that half of the leaders receive higher approval than disapproval from Americans as a whole is evidence of some national harmony. It is also a counterpoint to Americans' general disapproval of Congress and the Supreme Court in recent polling, as well as their broader lack of confidence in the federal government and politicians.

To stay up to date with the latest Gallup News insights and updates, follow us on Twitter.

Explore President Biden's approval ratings and compare them with those of past presidents in the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

Learn more about how the Gallup Poll Social Series works.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).
'Economy must come before universal suffrage target'

'Economy must come before universal suffrage target'

A top legal scholar in Beijing said on Monday that the target of allowing Hong Kong to select its chief executive and all members of the legislature by universal suffrage hasnt changed, but the city should focus on developing its economy and improve peoples livelihood first.



Speaking at a briefing on Beijings recent white paper on Hong Kongs democratic development, Wang Zhenmin, the vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said the "One Country, Two Systems" principle had at one stage deviated greatly from its original intent.



He noted that some people were worried about whether the central government would be angry and change its policy towards Hong Kong.



He said the white paper, issued by Beijing after this month's Legislative Council election, states clearly that the central government is determined to continue to implement the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.



Wang added that Beijing had done a lot in the past two years to save Hong Kong and its democratic system, and to fight against anti-China forces intent on causing trouble in the SAR.



He cited the white paper as saying that the SARs target of achieving dual universal suffrage, as stipulated in the Basic Law, hadnt changed.



But he said Hong Kong needs time to recuperate after serious political turmoil.



We have paid a high price for the new democratic system today. My feeling is that people have been longing for stability," he said.



"Society needs to recuperate and resources should be used to develop the economy and improve peoples livelihood. A strong economic and societal basis is needed for Hong Kongs democratic development."
Holiday chaos as Covid cases surge, flights scrapped

President Biden said on Monday some US hospitals could be "overrun," but that Americans needn't "panic." Photo: AFP

Global travel chaos that convulsed the Christmas weekend spilled into Monday with major flight cancellations impacting millions returning from the holiday break, as Covid-19 cases surge to record levels in Europe and half a dozen US states.



Some 11,000 flights have been scrapped worldwide since Friday, and tens of thousands more delayed, during one of the year's busiest travel periods - with multiple airlines saying spikes in cases of the Omicron variant have caused staffing shortages.



Effects rippled worldwide, with about 2,500 flights already cancelled on Monday and 800 more on Tuesday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.



The highly transmissible Omicron strain has sent cases skyrocketing, once again disrupting lives and a global economy battered by almost two years of the pandemic - with England's Premier League the latest to announce that a record 103 players and staff had tested positive in the past week.



As several countries revive unpopular lockdowns, France's President Emmanuel Macron was set to announce new measures to combat the surge after nationwide infections hit record-high figures - in line with Denmark and Iceland which also reported record daily cases.



Governments worldwide are scrambling to boost vaccination - stressing that the overwhelming majority of hospitalisations and deaths are occurring among the unvaccinated.



But in the United States, cases are already on track to reach record highs in January, fuelled by large pockets of unvaccinated residents as well as lack of access to quick and easy testing.



President Joe Biden said on Monday some US hospitals could be "overrun," but that the country is generally well prepared to meet the latest surge and Americans needn't "panic."



In a virtual meeting hosted by the White House with a couple of dozen state governors and top health advisers, Biden stressed that the rapid spread of the Omicron variant would not have the same impact as the initial outbreak of Covid-19 a year ago or the Delta surge this year.



"Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic," he said.



Biden's administration has vowed to ramp up the availability of tests in coming weeks - and the president repeated that pledge on Monday.



US states including Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, as well as the island territory of Puerto Rico, have reported more coronavirus cases in the past seven days than at any other point in the pandemic, according to data compiled by The New York Times.



"Clearly we're on a vertical climb right up," top White House pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci told National Public Radio on Monday, addressing the Times data.



Nationwide, the United States is closing in on the daily high of 250,000 cases recorded last January in the world's most affected nation, which has lost more than 816,000 people to the pandemic.



New York's health department said Covid pediatric hospitalisations have risen four-fold over the past two weeks as Omicron took hold.



In Florida - a global hub for the cruise industry, where new cases quadrupled in the week to December 23 - authorities are monitoring dozens of ships after at least two vessels recorded Covid outbreaks.



Brenda Hammer, who was set to board the Odyssey of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, said: "I'm a little nervous about it. I wasn't sure I still wanted to come."



Earlier this week, 55 people on the ship tested positive for Covid, despite 95 percent of people on board being vaccinated, the company said. (AFP)
According to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee which will be attended, among others, by senior military officials, including Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum.

"It will be the first-ever National Security Policy to be approved at the meeting and later it will be made public," the Minister said.

When asked about salient features of the policy, he said the policy would cover all internal and external security aspects, including the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on Pakistan and India, among others.

The draft puts economic and military security at the core of policy and outlines the challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan in the coming years.

In addition, it would provide policy guidelines for mitigation and actualising opportunities through a "whole-of-government approach", The Express Tribune reported.

--IANS san/ksk/

( 194 Words)

2021-12-27-12:32:05 (IANS)
Dubai (UAE), December 27 (ANI/GIPR): Dr Jitendra Matlani Dubai business tycoon and famous social icon of Dubai has been awarded the most prestigious Bharat Gaurav Award. The award function was held at one of the most prestigious location Atlantis the Palm Island Dubai in which eminent and iconic personalities from abroad and country were recognised and awarded. His Excellency Awad Mohammed Sheikh Mogrin was the chief guest of the event. Sheikh Awad in his speech praised Dr Jitendra Matlani for his relentless service towards the community he said Dr Jitendra Matlani apart from his business has been actively participating in social services, specially during the covid pandemic he served the society with his full heart by sending 400 Indians by charter flights from UAE to India when there were no flights and many more things from food and shelter to oxygen concentrators to various part of India. All guests of honour were present at the event Mohamed Al Ali Managing director First Abu Dhabi Bank. Mr Mohammed Al Banna Senior advisor and group CEO of His Highness Sheikh JumaBIn Maktoum Al Maktoum praised and congratulated Dr Jitendra Matlani for his selfless service towards society. At the same time, Dr Jitendra Matlani thanked Pandit Suresh Mishra President Sanskriti Yuva Sanstha for Nominating his name and awarding him with the most prestigious Bharat Gaurav Award. This was the 8th edition of Bharat Gaurav award SanskritiYuva Sanstha recognise the most prestigious personalities from the world every year and honours them. The previous events were held at Parliament and London, and United Nations in America. The Principal Patron of Sanskriti Yuva Sanstha, Lokendra Singh Kalvi mentioned that Indians are making their mark in the whole world. we are honored standing under our tricolor national flag and chanting the national anthem in Dubai, we definitely feel proud of the success of Indians in Dubai. While conducting the program on the occasion, Assistant Director, DPR Rajasthan, Govind Pareek, addressed and said that through this Bharat Gaurav Award ceremony, such hidden talents have been brought to the fore, and praised. Those who have made the countryman proud by making a different identity in the whole world. This story is provided by GIPR. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GIPR)
New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI/ATK): GCPA (Global Child Prodigy Awards), the world's first child prodigy initiative that aims at recognizing young talents, has just announced the names of the top 100 child prodigies for the year 2022. These awardees will soon be felicitated at a grand event that is scheduled to take place in Dubai during February 2022. Global Child Prodigy Awards is a unified platform that has a unique initiative of recognizing, honoring, and encouraging young and budding talents from around the world. The team has just announced the top 100 child prodigies for this year, providing them with a global platform to shine. To know more about GCPA, log on to www.gcpawards.com. Around 97% of children are not in a position to nurture their talents to the next level after the age of 15; that's where GCPA precisely comes into the picture, to enable such child performers, excel in their respective field of passion. Following the announcement of GCPA 2022, the website received thousands of applications from 68 countries across the world. After a thorough evaluation, the selection committee has now shortlisted the top 100 child prodigies under the age of 15 across 48 different categories, including sports, education, technology, astronomy, innovation, and dance to name a few. GCPA Ceremony 2022 The winners of the Global Child Prodigy Awards 2022 will be felicitated at a grand ceremony that is scheduled to be held in Dubai during February 2022. The top 100 child prodigies will receive awards from prominent personalities from around the world. The team will also launch a book on the same day, which will feature stories of the successful child prodigies who have made it to the 'Top 100' list and it will be circulated across 150 countries. The book will be available to the top libraries of the world. Prashant Pandey, the CEO of GCP Awards, who was super-excited on this occasion, told the media spokesperson - "We, at GCPA, are happy to announce the names of GCP awardees for 2022. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the parents of all the children for their immense support throughout and for the encouragement they have given to their wards to reach such great heights. Without their support, it would not have been possible to realize the potential of these budding talents." GCPA: World's First Child Prodigy Initiative The GCPA initiative was announced for the first time in 2017 by the Oscar awardee A. R. Rahman. In 2020, the website of GCP Awards was launched by H.E Erik Solheim, the sixth United Nations Environment Executive Director and Under-Secretary-General at the United Nations. Following this, the team curated a list of global child talents for 2020 and felicitated the winners at a grand event in Delhi in 2020 in the presence of dignitaries such as Dr Kiran Bedi, Former Honorable Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, and Dr Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate. Dr K Abdul Ghani, the mentor of GCPA, popularly known as the Green Man of India, addressed the media saying - "Through this initiative, we aim at giving young talents the much-deserved global exposure and providing them the right opportunities at the right time to ensure that they create a significant impact on society." GCPA is an incredible platform that helps talented kids prove their mettle in various fields. The team looks forward to bigger collaborations, partnerships, and sponsorships to take this initiative to the next level. After raising their seed round from Glowworms Ventures, Global Child Prodigy Awards is also in the process of raising their next funding round in 2022. GCPA is a unique platform that aims at recognizing talented children in various categories from around the world and giving them the recognition and encouragement they deserve. This is the first initiative of its kind. Log on to www.gcpawards.com for further information or email info@gcpawards.com for any collaboration requests. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK)
New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI/TPT): On Sunday, UJP founding member Kanak Dhanai met with ex-soldiers at a hotel in Raiwala to discuss electoral strategy. His goal is to enlist the help of 11 hundred ex-soldiers prior to the upcoming legislative elections. The officials appealed to ex-soldiers to cooperate in the upcoming elections. As the assembly elections in Uttarakhand approach, regional parties and organizations have begun to become active. On the occasion, village head Khand Shankar Dayal Dhane, Ajay Dhanai, Dinesh Chand Saklani, Hukum Singh Jaddhari, Harish Chand Danu, Vishnu Bahadur Thapa, Bhupendra, Vijaypal, Mahesh Bahuguna, Mitthan Singh Kandiyal, Dinesh Rawat, Sabal Singh Tadiyal, Ten Singh 2 Sajwan were present. Although the Uttarakhand Janata Party began at a regional level, it is continually striving to improve so that it might become a national party and contribute to the nation's progress. "Being in a position of power entails a lot of responsibility," Kanak says of what has pushed him to continue working as a philanthropist. As a leader, it is my responsibility to devote all of my energies and resources to the well-being of the people who have placed such faith in me and elected me as their leader." Kanak Dhanai, a founding member of the Uttarakhand Janekta Party (UJP), has worked relentlessly to ensure that Uttarakhand has a brighter future. He has proposed new policies and welfare plans to provide the state with a new direction and speed of development, ensuring that possibilities for the development of all citizens are available. Kanak Dhanai aspires to set the groundwork for a bright and prosperous future by utilizing political involvement. In the minds of the public, his party is constantly creating trust. He is establishing a relationship with the general people by granting membership, with the goal of not only making political interventions but also participating in the growth of the state and the nation. He continued further, "Uttrakhand is a great area, and I adore living here. I want future generations to be able to experience the same environment in which we were raised. The Uttarakhand Jan Ekta Party's goal is to "create a better future for the state so that it can become a developed and successful location with basic amenities for the hill people." Kanak Dhanai worked with the Project Finance team at Legis Legal (Maharani Bagh, Delhi) in 2014 and completed a research note on "Corporate Social Responsibility." Kanak Dhanai has been able to transform the state of Uttarakhand, making it a vibrant place, thanks to all of these efforts and the formulation of highly powerful policies. This story is provided by TPT. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/TPT)
The Fifth Generation or 5G telecom services are set to be rolled out in selected cities in India in 2022. The cities which are set to get the 5G telecom services in 2022 include Gurugram, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, and Gandhinagar. Leading telecom service providers Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea, have established 5G trials sites in these cities. "These Metros and big cities would be the first places for launch of 5G services in the country, next year," the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on Monday. The fifth-generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks. While 4G was a great leap forward, allowing people to stream music and video on the go, 5G is designed to connect many more types of devices than smartphones and offers far higher speed and capacity. Apart from the leading telecom operators and smartphone manufacturers, the government is also involved actively to facilitate the rollout of 5G services. The Department of Telecom has roped in leading research institutions for development and testing of 5G technology. Eight agencies - Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, Indian Institute of Science (IISC) Bangalore, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT) - are involved in the research project called ''Indigenous 5G Test bed project''. The Indigenous 5G Test bed project started in 2018 and is set to be completed by December 31, 2021. The project has been funded by the Department of Telecom. The department has spent Rs224 crore on this project. "Costing Rs 224 crore, the project is likely to be completed by December 31, 2021, paving the way for end-to-end testing of 5G User Equipments (UEs) and network equipment by 5G stakeholders developing 5G products/services/usecases, including indigenous start-ups, SMEs, Academia and Industry in the country," the Department of Telecom said. The indigenous 5G test bed, a visionary technology development project initiated in telecom space, will enable development, testing and proliferation of 5G technology system components, cross-sectoral use cases, besides setting up the foundation for the development of "6G Technology landscape" in the country, it added. Earlier this month, Telecom Secretary K Rajaraman expressed hope that 5G test bed would be rolled out in early January. "We hope to roll out this 5G test bed in early January which will enable SMEs and other parts of industries to come and test their solution on a working platform," Rajaraman said at India Mobile Congress on December 9. Test bed refers to creating a specific environment for testing the products or services. It includes hardware, software, operating system, and network configuration. As the testing is in the final stage, allocation of the spectrum would be critical in deciding the fate of the commercial launch of 5G in the country. The Department of Telecom has allocated spectrum to Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and MTNL for 5G trials. Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and Mavenir also engaged in the trials. In September 2021, the Department of Telecom (DoT) sent a reference to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), seeking recommendations for the auction of spectrum identified for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)/ 5G with regard to a reserve price, band plan, block size, the quantum of spectrum to be auctioned and conditions of auctions in 526-698 MHZ,700 MHZ, 800 MHZ, 900 MHZ, 1800 MHZ, 2100 MHZ, 2300 MHZ, 2500 MHZ, 3300-3670 MHZ, and 24.25-28.5 GHZ bands for 5G public as well as private 5G networks, for meeting the spectrum requirements of captive 5G applications of the industry (Industry 4.0). "Process of assignment of frequencies to TSPs would be initiated at the earliest possible," DoT said. 5G mainly works in 3 bands, low, mid, and high-frequency spectrum. In the low band spectrum, the speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second). The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals. Internet speed in the high-band spectrum goes up to 20 Gbps (giga bits per second). The highest internet speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps. While 4G networks are mostly designed for phones, 5G networks is designed for much more flexible use, replacing the need for many special-purpose networks. They can even function as many separate networks - all at the same time. (ANI)
Gurugram (Haryana) [India], December 27 (ANI/Heylin Spark): Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Netherlands Chapter organised 9th edition of the "India Symposium 2021" on the 9th of December 2021 conceptualised by Dr Vikas Chaturvedi, Chairman, ICAI Netherlands Chapter & India Dutch Financial Corridor (IDFC) and CEO, Valuecent Group together with Prachee Van Brandenburg, Vice Chairman, India Dutch Financial Corridor (IDFC). The event was supported by India Dutch Financial Corridor (IDFC), Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) and the State of Haryana as the official partners. The special topic of this year's Online Symposium was "The New Kids on the Block: Fintech & Artificial Intelligence". In his keynote speech H.E. Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, stated the bilateral water relationship was further strengthened and encouraged ICAI members to set up a truly global Indian accounting firm potentially based out of The Netherlands. Arnoud Besseling, Executive Director for India Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) focused on the doing business angle between Netherlands and India showcasing the wide spectrum of Artificial Intelligence companies based out of The Netherlands. Munish Chandan Head State e-Gov Mission Team, Department of IT, Electronics and Communications, Haryana Government Official showcased the opportunities for fintech in Haryana and invited European Companies to invest in the State. A line up of eminent CEO's that are making waves in their fields were also speakers at the India Symposium: Amit Kumar, Founder Addverb Technologies, shared different warehousing solutions that are being used with AI technology a transition that may one day allow you to think it and see it take shape. Don Ginsel, CEO Holland FinTech, illustrated how the Fintech sector in The Netherlands has grown exponentially in just last 5-6 years and that strong start-up ecosystem is present that serves as a catalyst for further growth. Krish Subramanium, Co-founder & CEO Chargebee explained the importance today of retaining an existing customer as much as acquiring a new customer for subscription model businesses to continue to grow as well as highlighting the journey of Chargebee to its current global presence. Ashwin Chawwla (CEO & Founder, Escrowpay) highlighted what the benefits of digital escrow accounts are, for example, the speed of setting them up, and how they are looking at expanding further internationally. The President of ICAI Nihar Niranjan Jambusaria spoke on the Role of Accountants in Artificial Intelligence and Fintech pointing out that it is not sufficient to simply do audits in a manual form only, thus technology is the need of the hour. This edition has launched two more European Representative Offices of ICAI in Denmark (Copenhagen) headed by Padhya and Sweden (Stockholm) headed by Gandhi. Next to the existing ICAI Netherlands Chapter, this brings the total number of ICAI Representative Offices in Europe to Ten. These others are located in Ireland, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Mahavir Singhvi, Joint Secretary Minister of External Affairs, congratulated the new representative office and suggested closer collaboration between the various offices now in Europe and beyond would help in supporting selfreliant India. Radha Nikhada thanked all the participants and speakers on behalf of the organizers bringing the programme to its end. This story is provided by Heylin Spark. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Heylin Spark)
New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): SRAM & MRAM Group, a United Kingdom-based business conglomerate, has shared the future roadmap of its strategic investment plans in the Malaysian economy. Currently, the company has a footprint in Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, South Africa, Indonesia, Bahrain, and Georgia. In Malaysia, the company has a strong presence in varied sectors and employs a local workforce. In 2022, the company aims to take Indo-Malaysian business and community relations to a new high through its deepened business operations in Malaysia. In a recent event, hosted by the Overseas Friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party (OFBJP) - Malaysia Chapter to welcome Indian high commissioner B. Nagabhushana Reddy and wife Lalita Devi. The strong bond is stronger than ever between Indian expatriates and their Malaysian friends. There is plenty of camaraderie between the two as Indian delegates/professionals and high commission staff joined their local ethnic community during a dinner reception. It is also to generate a feeling of oneness and brotherhood, with the philosophy of integral humanism. OFBJP was created to foster a cordial relationship between the expatriates and locals via direct communication channels. Elaborating upon the business roadmap, Pardeep Batra, Director SRAM & MRAM Group, President OFBJP quoted, "Malaysia is the largest and one of the fastest-growing economies in Southeast Asia. SRAM & MRAM Group has enjoyed favourable economic policies, cordial Government relations, and good support from our business partners and customers in Malaysia. Moreover, the Indo-Malaysian bilateral relations provide us with an added advantage. Given the current business environment, we believe that we are well-poised to strengthen our footprint in the country." Apart from its multi-pronged business operations, SRAM & MRAM Group has also been at the forefront of humanitarian efforts to help the communities impacted by COVID-19. It assisted stranded Indian nationals in Malaysia, to return home. The company equally supported the communities back home in India by donating world-class oxygen generator plants, oxygen concentrators, and other COVID-19 relief material. Amidst the 2nd wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SRAM & MRAM Group helped the nation by sending 1 million oxygen concentrators and 40 generators. Besides this, the group has been instrumental in setting up Oxygen Plants all across the nation. This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)
New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI/BusinessWire India): Godfrey Phillips India Limited (GPI), one of India's largest FMCG companies, today announced the appointment of Sharad Aggarwal as Chief Executive Officer. He will be reporting to Dr Bina Modi, President and Managing Director. The Board had met on 16 September 2021 and unanimously approved the appointment of Sharad Aggarwal (50) currently serving as the COO and Whole Time Director of Godfrey Phillips. He will be taking over from Bhisham Wadhera, who has been at the helm of the company from 2015, as he has demitted office on 26th December 2021. However, Wadhera will continue to guide the organisation as an Advisor and a Mentor. Speaking on the appointment, Dr Bina Modi, President and Managing Director, Godfrey Phillips India expressed her pleasure: "Sharad has been with the organisation since 1994 and has exceptional credentials of delivering results. He has proven himself as an inspiring leader and led transformational changes in the organisation, and I firmly believe he is the right choice to unleash the potential, of Godfrey Phillips to the fullest, create sustainable business with sales and profit growth and value for all stakeholders. Sharad has shared his vision for the organization that includes agility in adoption of technology, innovation and data science. He has the appropriate balance of Growth and P & L orientation. His people philosophy includes nurturing an inclusive and uniform culture of productivity and collaboration. He believes in furthering a sense of belongingness and ownership across the organisation. We will surely reach new heights under his dynamic and energetic leadership." Bhisham Wadhera, the outgoing CEO, GPI added, "I am delighted with the appointment of Sharad as the CEO for Godfrey Phillips India; in last two years that I have worked closely with him, as a COO. Sharad has provided great value to Godfrey Phillips with an exceptional mix of strategic and people management skills, professional expertise and superior understanding of processes and technology. I wish him the very best for the future. His ascendence speaks volumes about the GPI culture and succession planning." As COO of Godfrey Phillips India, Sharad has ensured that the company invests in the best international technology, processes and certifications for its state-of-art manufacturing facilities across India. Recognized for his growth orientation, innovation and managing complex business problems. All through his career he has motivated work force across the factories and head office with equal aplomb. Sharad is also an Executive Committee Member of FICCI, core member of PHD Environment Committee and serves as a Governing Council member of GMA, a body committed to local causes and development of Ghaziabad Industries and Institutions. Reacting to his appointment, Sharad said, "I thank the Board and Dr Modi to have vested this faith and confidence in me. With the support of my dynamic team, I am confident of fulfilling the expectations of leadership and the organisation. I also take this opportunity to thank MrWadhera for his contribution that has helped the Company reach scale new heights. I certainly have big shoes to fill." Sharad is an alumnus of the Harvard Business School. He also holds a degree in Electronics from REC, Nagpur, a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management with Gold Medal from IMT, Ghaziabad, and is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt. This story is provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/BusinessWire India)
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], December 27 (ANI/Heylin Spark): ConsepsIndia is a premium interior designing brand that turns your house into a home. With over 52 years of experience in handling Commercial interior turnkey projects for more than 300 multinational clients, ConsepsIndia has set an industry benchmark. The team at ConsepsIndia envisions providing the state-of-the-art finish, high-quality craft, and on-time completion at the most competitive costs. With a vision to provide augmented services with client satisfaction as the primary goal, ConsepsIndia manages and executes the complete project. Having helped several clients in getting their dream home ready, ConsepsIndia walks all the miles to deliver the best output. Banashree Sarkar, Founder & CEO of ConsepsIndia sensed the gap in the residential interior sector and decided to take a plunge. Construction Enterprises was founded by Late Thappan Sarkar and Late Partho, 52 years back in Kolkata which was a pioneer in commercial interiors. Banashree Sarkar wanted to bridge the gap in residential interiors and incepted ConsepsIndia which is much more than an interior designing brand. She believes that a home is a reflection of one's personality and must be well designed to lead a quality life. By amalgamating new ideas with technology, she designs homes that blend well with the Indian lifestyle. ConsepsIndia takes pride in being associated with over 8 international architects and over 35 Indian architects. More than 62% of the employees possess over 20 years of experience. As a customer-centric company, the team prioritizes the needs of the clients and delivers the best. The team of architects, project engineers, quality control engineers, and skilled contractors ensure that the highest possible standards are met. Besides, the team ensures that only branded materials are used in the projects. ConsepsIndia also provides a 10-year structural warranty on all building projects, as well as a 1-year seepage guarantee on all construction services and six months of general assurance for plumbing, electrical, or carpentry. Once the client is onboarded, the team manages every step, right from plan approval to the final delivery. With comprehensive plans and monthly plans, the project deadline is set. Weekly reports are regularly distributed to keep clients updated on the progress. As a progressive move, ConsepsIndia is planning to expand its services to Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, and Hyderabad by Mid -2022. With a mission to help the common man get their dream homes, ConsepsIndia has embarked on its journey. Click http://www.consepsindia.com/ for more information. This story is provided by Heylin Spark. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Heylin Spark)
Veteran actor and filmmaker Mahesh Manjrekar was all praises for Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on his 56th birthday. "I have worked so many times in the past with Salman Khan and my experience of working with him has always been different. I was unwell and as an actor, Salman is a phenomenal co-star and encouraged me to do a lot of improvisations. He is never insecure, he allows you to grow as an actor," Mahesh Manjrekar shared. The two have worked in many films such as 'Wanted', 'Jai Ho', and 'Dabangg 3'. Recently, Mahesh Manjrekar directed him in 'Antim'. Recalling working with him in 'Antim: The Final Truth', which was rereleased on ZEE5 on December 24, Mahesh Manjrekar said, "it was a brilliant experience working with him as an actor and now here I was a director and he was an actor. From day 1, I wanted to represent a different Salman from what people had seen and I was very confident that the audience would love what they saw, once I saw the difference in Salman. Yes, he did surprise me as he did a great job. I feel it is a fantastic role which is done according to my liking and it was absolutely a great experience working with him on this film." Salman will next be seen in 'Tiger 3', which also features Katrina Kaif. (ANI)
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle has received a printed apology from the publishers of a British tabloid newspaper after years of legal battle. According to Deadline, the London High Court had ordered the UK tabloid to print a front-page apology for breaching Markle's privacy in February 2019 by printing parts of a five-page letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. "The Duchess of Sussex wins her legal case for copyright infringement against Associated Newspapers for articles published in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online," Sunday's front page notice read. The apology continued, "Following a hearing on 19-20 January 2021, and a further hearing on 5 May 2021, the Court has given judgment for the Duchess of Sussex on her claim for copyright infringement. The Court found that Associated Newspapers infringed her copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father in The Mail on Sunday and on Mail Online. Financial remedies have been agreed." The High Court forced the tabloid on Sunday to print a longer notice inside the paper under the headline 'The Duchess Of Sussex' detailing their legal culpability. Additionally, the Court ordered the apology be printed on the tabloid's homepage "for a period of one week" with a hyperlink to the full, official judgment. Alongside various printed apologies, Markle will also be compensated nearly USD 1.7 million, 90 per cent of her legal fees for fighting the UK publisher. Shortly after the December 2 ruling, Markle had stated, "This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what's right." "While this win is precedent-setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create," she added, as per Deadline. (ANI)
Artist Wayne Thiebaud, whose luscious, colourful paintings of cakes and San Francisco cityscapes combined sensuousness, nostalgia and a hint of melancholy, has died at the age of 101. According to The Hollywood Reporter, his death was confirmed in a statement on Sunday by his gallery, Acquavella, which didn't say where or when Thiebaud died. "Even at 101 years old, he still spent most days in the studio, driven by, as he described with his characteristic humility, 'this almost neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint,'" the gallery's statement said. The dean of California painters, Thiebaud drew upon his earlier career as a Disney animator, sign painter and commercial artist. While some took his hot dogs, bakery counters, gumball machines and candy apples to be examples of pop art, Thiebaud never considered himself to be in the mold of American artist Andy Warhol, and he did not treat his subjects with the irony the pop movement championed. He had once said, "Of course, you're thankful when anyone ever calls you anything. But I never felt much a part of it. I must say I never really liked pop art very much." The real subject, many critics said, was paint and the act of painting itself: the shimmering colour and sensuous texture of the thickly applied paint. He laid on the paint so heavily that he often carved his signature into the painting instead of putting it on with the brush. "The oil paint is made to look like meringue. And with the cakes, you get this great sense of texture with the frosting. You just want to step close and lick it," said Marla Prather, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York who helped organize a 2001 retrospective of the artist's work. Many of his painted images were outlined in neon pinks and blues that made the objects appear to glow. Shadows were often a rich blue. In 2004, a news outlet's writer had praised his "wry vision of modern consumerism" and said, "No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half-century than did Mr Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products." Thiebaud was born in Mesa, Arizona, in the year 1920 and grew up in Sacramento, California. He started out as an animator for Walt Disney and later worked as a poster designer and commercial artist in California and New York before becoming a painter. He also was a longtime professor at the University of California, Davis. He officially retired in 1991 but continued teaching one class a year, as per The Hollywood Reporter. (ANI)
A research has found that environmental exposure to low levels of the toxic metals arsenic, cadmium and titanium appears to increase the risk of plaque buildup in arteries in the neck, heart and legs. The study has been published in the 'Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Journal'. Traces of metal may enter the body through contaminated soil that infiltrates food, through drinking water, air pollutants or tobacco smoke. There is strong evidence that toxic metals, such as arsenic and cadmium, are cardiovascular risk factors. Arsenic and cadmium are often found in tobacco and food, while arsenic is also found in water. Titanium exposure is mainly derived from dental and orthopaedic implants, screws, pacemaker encasings, cosmetic products and some foods. "Metals are ubiquitous in the environment, and people are chronically exposed to low levels of metal," said lead investigator of the study Maria Grau-Perez, M.Sc., of the Institute for Biomedical Research Hospital Clinic de Valencia INCLIVA in Valencia, Spain, and a PhD candidate in the department of preventive medicine, public health and microbiology at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, in Spain. "According to the World Health Organization, 31 per cent of the cardiovascular disease burden in the world could be avoided if we could eliminate environmental pollutants," she added. Atherosclerosis developed when fatty deposits, or plaque, build up in the arteries causing them to narrow, weaken and stiffen. Depending on the arteries affected, it can lead to a heart attack, stroke, angina, peripheral artery disease or kidney disease. Prior research on the impact of metal exposure on atherosclerosis has traditionally centred on the carotid arteries, the major arteries in the neck. This study focused on subclinical atherosclerosis -- before symptoms are present -- and examined the impact of metal exposure on the carotid, femoral and coronary arteries. Previous research suggested that imaging of the femoral artery, which is the main artery supplying blood to the lower body, may lead to earlier detection of atherosclerosis. Researchers evaluated 1,873 adults (97 per cent men) in the Aragon Workers Health Study. The study participants worked at an auto assembly factory in Spain and ranged in age from 40 to 55. Researchers measured participants' environmental exposure to nine toxic metals -- arsenic, barium, uranium, cadmium, chromium, antimony, titanium, vanadium and tungsten -- and the exposure's association with the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis in the carotid, femoral and coronary artery regions. The study explored the potential role of individual metals and metal mixtures on the development of atherosclerosis. During the participants' annual occupational health visits between 2011 and 2014, socioeconomic and health information for each participant were recorded, including education level, smoking status and medication use. Each person in the study had a medical examination to measure body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels and more. Urine samples were collected to assess metal exposure from air, water and food. Researchers performed carotid and femoral ultrasounds, as well as coronary calcium scoring tests. The analysis found: 1. Older study participants had higher levels of most of the metals measured in the urine. 2. The few female participants in the study had higher metal levels compared to men when levels were measured in the urine. 3. Adults who had smoked at any time showed higher levels of arsenic, cadmium, chromium and titanium than the people who had never smoked. 4. Higher levels of arsenic, cadmium, titanium, and potentially antimony were associated with a higher probability of having subclinical atherosclerosis. 5. Arsenic and cadmium appeared to be most closely associated with increased plaque levels in the carotid arteries; cadmium and titanium are of greater concern for the femoral arteries; and titanium, and possibly cadmium and antimony, are of more concern for the coronary arteries. 6. Arsenic may be more toxic for the arteries when found in combination with cadmium and titanium. "This study supports that exposure to toxic metals in the environment, even at low levels of exposure, is toxic for cardiovascular health," said study co-author Maria Tellez-Plaza, M.D., PhD, a senior scientist at the National Center for Epidemiology and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III in Madrid, Spain. "The levels of metals in our study population were generally lower compared to other published studies. Metals, and in particular arsenic, cadmium, and titanium, likely are relevant risk factors for atherosclerosis, even at the lowest exposure levels and among middle-aged working individuals," she added. The study included a very specific population of mostly men in one area of Spain, so the results may not be completely extrapolated to women or other populations worldwide. Additional research is needed to understand the mechanisms involved in the development of atherosclerosis based on associations to metals. "Current global environmental, occupational and food safety standards for cadmium, arsenic and other metals may be insufficient to protect the population from metal-related adverse health effects," said Tellez-Plaza. "Metal exposure prevention and mitigation have the potential to substantially improve the way we prevent and treat cardiovascular disease," she concluded. (ANI)
Rwanda has achieved the World Health Organization's (WHO) target of vaccinating 40 per cent of its entire population by December 2021, the Ministry of Health said in a statement. According to the Ministry, as of December 24, a total of 7,556,466 of the targeted Rwandan population aged over 12, have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 5,313,421 were fully inoculated. "Vaccinating 40 per cent of our country's total population before the end of 2021 is a great milestone. This is attributed to our country's leadership, partnership, coordination and community engagement," Daniel Ngamije, Rwandan Health Minister told Xinhua news agency on Sunday. He added that the country has already achieved its Covid-19 vaccination target of covering 30 per cent of the total population with two doses by end of 2021. According to him, the target is to vaccinate 70 per cent of the total population by December 2022. The country's total population is over 12.6 million, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR). Vaccination rate also exceeded the 30 per cent target Rwanda had set to achieve by the end of this year, according to the ministry. Last week, the government of Rwanda imposed restrictions for unvaccinated people in the country, excluding them from indoor restaurants, worship places, public transport in order to minimize the spread of coronavirus and encourage vaccine sceptics to get their jabs. The measures were announced by the office of the Prime Minister last week and will be reviewed upon health assessment. The country prohibited wedding-related receptions while traditional, civil and religious weddings should not exceed 40 persons. Parties and any other kind of celebrations are prohibited. The government also instructed business owners countrywide to ensure their employees are fully vaccinated. The Ministry of Health may temporarily close public or private premises with identified clusters of people infected with Covid-19, the statement warned. The government urged all citizens and Rwandan residents to get fully vaccinated, and frequently tested. --IANS ksk/ ( 339 Words) 2021-12-27-11:30:02 (IANS)
Reacting to the reports of 4488 healthcare workers not being administered even with the first dose of the COVID vaccine, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said that efforts are being made to vaccinate the remaining population of the state at a fast pace. However, the Opposition termed the incident a "criminal act" of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to have left out the healthcare workers from the vaccination process. Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Panday said, "Till now, about 9 crore 70 lakh COVID vaccine doses have been administered to the people in the state. The first dose has been administered to more than 5 crore 71 lakh population and the second dose has reached 4 crore." "Bihar is among the top 5 states in terms of vaccination. If some people including healthcare workers are still unvaccinated, then, we'll conduct targeted vaccination drives", the health minister added. Meanwhile, hitting out at the state government, Rashtriya Janata Dal senior leader Shivanand Tiwari said that not administering the first dose to the frontline workers is a "criminal act" and sought an apology from the Chief Minister on the matter. "Chief Minister Nitish himself has said the rate of vaccination was the fastest in Bihar. The first dose was administered to the frontline workers. How were the 4488 health workers left out of the vaccination process? It is shocking that they have not been administered with the first dose. This is the criminal act of the Bihar government. Nitish Kumar should seek an apology from the people of Bihar and vaccinate the remaining health workers on priority. The health workers should stop working until they are fully vaccinated." Tiwari further said that the administration of the state is presenting false statistics to the Chief Minister with regard to the COVID vaccination drive. "It is being perceived that Nitish Kumar is running a good government but on the contrary, this is the condition under his rule. So I would say that he has no control over the administration. The administration of Bihar deceives Nitish Kumar by presenting false statistics on the COVID vaccination drive in front of him. when the country is starting to administer the third dose against COVID," the RJD leader said. However, speaking to ANI, the healthcare workers of a city hospital said that all the staff members of their hospital have been fully vaccinated and further appealed to the unvaccinated section of the population to get fully vaccinated at the soonest. Amid the Omicron scare and surge in cases in various parts of the country, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that multi-disciplinary Central teams would be deployed in ten identified states. "A decision has been taken to deploy multi-disciplinary Central teams to 10 identified States some of which are either reporting an increasing number of Omicron and COVID-19 cases or slow vaccination pace," says Union Health Ministry in an official statement Multi-disciplinary Central teams are to be deployed in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab. (ANI)
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has said that the state is marching on the path of industrial development powered by the metals and mineral sector and has ranked amongst the top states in terms of live manufacturing investments in India. Addressing after the inauguration of the Indian Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON-2021) on Sunday, Patnaik said, "Odisha has been marching ahead on the path of industrial development powered by the metals and mineral sector. We have consistently been ranked amongst the top States in terms of live manufacturing investments in India." The Chief Minister highlighted the efforts taken by his government to diversify the industry portfolio of the state and said that the Chemicals and Petrochemicals sector has been identified as a key focus sector. "As we look towards the future, we have taken concerted efforts to diversify the industry portfolio of the State. In view of this, my Government has identified the Chemicals and Petrochemicals sector as a key focus sector," he said. "Taking the mantra of "infrastructure-led-development", we are coming up with Petroleum, Chemicals and Petrochemicals Investment Region in Paradeep and port-related industrial complex at Dhamra and Gopalpur that will further aid the growth of the Chemicals sector in the State," he added. The Chief Minister further hoped that the Congress will come up with new and innovative ideas towards more sustainable ways of resource utilization in the chemical and mineral sector and urged the attending entrepreneurs to explore Odisha. "I hope that CHEMCON-2021 will come up with new and innovative ideas towards even more sustainable ways of resource utilization in the chemical and mineral sector that will further aid our efforts in developing Odisha into a global player in the Chemicals sector," he said. "I would also request all the entrepreneurs attending the event to explore Odisha. If you consider Odisha as your next investment destination, I assure you, the Government of Odisha will provide you the best-in-class facilitation and enabling environment for growth," Patnaik added. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday has announced to vaccinate the children of the age group of 15 to 18 years on January 3, 2022, in consonance with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement, and had instructed the concerned officials to ensure availability of jabs. Similarly, from January 10, 2022, all corona warriors, healthcare and frontline workers and citizens with co-morbidities above 60 years of age will be given a precautionary dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on the advice of their doctor, while addressing the officials at a COVID-19 review meeting. A massive awareness campaign should be conducted for the immunization of adolescents, he added. Uttar Pradesh has conducted more than 19.40 crore COVID-19 vaccinations and more than 9.20 crore tests. Here more than 6.8 crore people have been provided with the security cover of COVID-19 by giving both doses of the vaccine. 12. 51 lakh people have received the first dose of the vaccine. In this way, about 85 percent of the total population of the state eligible for vaccination has received both doses. Vaccination needs to be accelerated, said the Chief Minister. The situation in the state is under control due to the proper implementation of the policy of tracing, testing, treatment and vaccination to protect against COVID-19, he added. (ANI)
Union Minister of AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal has said that the AYUSH industry has succeeded in establishing a market of USD18 million in India and the world adding that the food supplements produced by the department are regularly gaining popularity. Sonowal also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts in "popularising Yoga in the entire world" and said that it is his efforts because of which World Health Organisation has decided to establish Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India. Speaking to ANI on Sunday, Sonowal said, "The food supplements produced by the Ayush department are regularly gaining popularity. Ayush Industry has succeeded in establishing a market of USD18 million in India and the world." The minister further informed that various programmes of the Ayush Ministry will be implemented in eight states of the Northeast along with other states in India and urged the chief minister of the states to extend their support for the same. "Various programmes of the Ayush Ministry will be implemented in eight states of the Northeast along with other states in India. So I urge all the chief ministers of the Northeastern states to support us on the matter. I appeal to the people also to extend their support to us," Sonowal said. "Various steps have been taken by the Ayush Ministry not only for Assam but for the entire country. The Ayush department has developed a lot in the last seven years. PM Modi's steps have popularised Yoga in the entire world. UN member nations celebrate 21 June as International Yoga Day. Because of which the WHO has decided to establish Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India. This is the first Centre of its kind in the world. It is because of the contribution of PM Modi," he said. (ANI)
Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait on Sunday said that farmers do not want an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi adding that they do not want to tarnish his image abroad. His statement comes days after the Centre repealed the three agricultural laws against which several farmers' unions had been protesting for nearly a year. "We do not want the Prime Minister to apologize. We don't want to tarnish his reputation abroad. If any decision would be taken, it would not be done without the consent of farmers. We honestly cultivate the fields but Delhi did not pay attention to our demands," the BKU leader said in a tweet (roughly translated from Hindi). Reacting to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar's recent statement over three repealed farm laws, Tikait had said that the remark was intended to deceive farmers and would also humiliate the Prime Minister. Tomar at an event in Nagpur had said: "We brought the farm laws. Some people did not like it. But the government is not disappointed. We moved a step back and we will move forward again because farmers are India's backbone and if the backbone is strengthened, the country will become stronger." However, the minister later clarified that the Centre has no plan to reintroduce farm laws adding that his statement during a programme was misquoted. Tikait has threatened to restart agitation if the farm laws are re-introduced by the Centre. The three farm laws were repealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 19. These bills were passed during the winter session of Parliament which began on November 23. The farmers, who had been protesting on the borders of Delhi against the three laws for almost a year, have suspended their agitation and returned to their homes. (ANI)
The Goa Aam Aadmi Party Vice president Party National Executive Member Captain Venzy Viegas has slammed South Goa Congress MP Francisco Sardinha for saying that no party can provide corruption-free governance and challenged Sardinha to take a trip with him to Delhi to "learn" to run a corruption-free government. On Friday Francisco Sardinha had given a statement stating that corruption-free governance was not possible, according to a statement by the AAP Goa unit on Sunday. "Goa is facing tremendous corruption under the Bharatiya Janata Party whether it is an Oxygen scam or the massive jobs scam spanning multiple Ministries and departments. Many Goan Youths have lost their future due to the massive corruption in job allocation with Ministers demanding lakhs of rupees for jobs. During the second COVID wave, many Goenkars lost their lives due to lack of Oxygen due to corruption and a scam on Oxygen supply," said the statement. The statement further claimed that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has shown the country how to run a corruption-free Government. "The fact is that Arvind Kejriwal has shown the country how to run a corruption-free Government. And this is not just us saying it but the CAG who has said this as well. AAP has put in mechanisms and systems in place to prevent any corruption and disruption to the lives of the common man. And if we can do this in Delhi there is no reason why we can't do this in Goa," Viegas said. AAP has put in many schemes to prevent Corruption. All Sardinha has to do is study them," said AAP Goa leader Domnic Gaonkar. "I cordially invite Sardinha to fly to Delhi, I will arrange his ticket and will personally accompany him to study Arvind Kejriwal's Corruption free model" added Viegas. Goa is slated to go to Assembly polls next year. (ANI)
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh also called on party president JP Nadda today at Delhi, ahead of the Assembly polls.

According to sources, BJP on Sunday constituted a committee that will look after the party's campaign on wooing Brahmin voters in the UP elections. Today's meeting will finalize the blueprint on the working of that committee.

Union Minister and BJP UP polls in charge of Uttar Pradesh Dharmendra Pradhan, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Mahesh Sharma, Brijesh Pathak, Shrikant Sharma, Anand Swarup organization minister Sunil Bansal, among other leaders are present in the meeting.

Uttar Pradesh is slated to go to Assembly polls early next year.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 312 seats out of the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly while Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 19 and Congress could manage to win only seven seats. The rest of the seats were bagged by other candidates. (ANI)
According to police, the accused was arrested on the suspicion that he produced forged identification documents.

He has been remanded to police custody till January 3, 2022, police said.

On December 25 midnight, Kolkata Police nabbed one Bijoy Kr Roy, 41, of Jatrapur, Nadia from his residence in connection with a case registered at the Anandapur police station (case against accused being Bangladesh national, according to a statement issued by the police.

"He is suspected of producing forged documents like voter ID card, Adhar card, etc. Police have seized a portion of documents from his custody. He was produced before court where he was remanded to police custody till January 3, 2022. An investigation is on," the police added. (ANI)
In its earlier hearing, Shukla abstained from the hearing and had filed an affidavit asking for time to depose before the commission.

"Rashmi Shukla had sought time during her previous appearance before the commission, a fresh application was filed by the lawyer of the commission to issue fresh summons to Rashmi Shukla. The commission has allowed that application and has asked her to appear on January 18," said Advocate Ashish Satpute, the lawyer for the inquiry commission.

On January 1, 2018, violence had erupted during the 200th-anniversary celebrations of the Bhima-Koregaon battle. One person had lost his life while several others were injured in the incident.

The police had filed 58 cases against 162 people in the matter. (ANI)
On 23 December, the MLAs of BJP were protesting against the government sitting on the steps of the Vidhan Bhavan, when Aaditya Thackeray passed by at the same time, following which Rane allegedly made the sound.

Also, BJP legislators protested at the Maharashtra Assembly on various issues including TET paper leak, Maratha reservation, and unemployment, during the ongoing Assembly Winter Session.

Earlier in the day, leaders of all parties participated in a meeting on the issue of OBC reservation at the State Assembly.

The State Government has also called for an urgent cabinet meeting at Vidhan Bhavan today afternoon on the issue of the election of Maharashtra Assembly Speaker, the State Government has called for an urgent cabinet meeting at Vidhan Bhavan today afternoon.

Meanwhile, 35 people including police personnel and government employees test positive for COVID19 during the RT-PCR testing of 2,300 people conducted in the last 2 days during the Winter Session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. (ANI)
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya has "unconditionally withdrawn" remarks he made at event in Udipi in which he urged for the reconversion of "all those who've gone out of the Hindu fold." "At a program held in Udupi Sri Krishna Matha two days ago, I spoke on the subject of 'Hindu Revival in Bharat'. Certain statements from my speech have regrettably created an avoidable controversy. I therefore unconditionally withdraw the statements," Surya tweeted this morning. The Karnataka MP and the National President of BJP Yuva Morcha Surya on Saturday in an event held at Sri Krishna Mutt of Udupi said that those who have "left their mother religion" must be brought back on priority. "Only option left for Hindus is to reconvert all those people who've gone out of the Hindu fold...those who've left their mother religion must be brought back," said the MP from Bengaluru South. During his speech at the event, Surya also said that annual targets must be given to mutts and temples to reconvert all those who left the Hindu religion. (ANI)
"Sixteen accused have been confirmed in the case so far but the numbers can rise further. There are more people behind the conspiracy," said Jayadev.

Jayadev further said, "We need to look into the conspiracy and find out other involvement as well. We can only confirm it with more proof and statements."

"Seven people have been arrested in the preliminary investigation but it is a major feat, it will need further investigation," he added.

Kerala Police on Saturday arrested seven more people in connection with the murder of KS Shaan. So far, a total of 10 accused have been arrested in the SDPI leader's murder case.

According to the police, Shaan was on a two-wheeler when a gang in a car attacked him on Saturday night. SDPI has alleged that RSS workers are behind this attack.

Earlier, an RSS worker S Sanjith was hacked to death allegedly by the workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the PFI, on November 15. (ANI)
As per sources, the Election Commission and Health Ministry will also hold another meeting in January next year.

Sources told ANI, "In today's meeting, ECI and Health Ministry discussed the rising number of cases across India, especially in the states going to assembly polls early next year as well as vaccine scenario.'

Assembly elections are slated to be held in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab next year.

Earlier, amid the Omicron scare, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday had requested the Election Commission of India to immediately postpone the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh for 1-2 months.

The court also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ECI to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties in the state. (ANI)
It's a Snapdragon 460 powered device equipped with a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD that refreshes at 90Hz and a 5,000 mAh battery with 18W charging, reported GSM Arena.

A11s also brings a 13MP main camera around the back alongside 2MP depth and 2MP macro cameras. The 8MP selfie shooter is housed in a punch-hole cutout. There is also a capacitive fingerprint scanner that lives around the back.

The phone's listed dimensions come in at 163.9 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm while the phone weighs 188 grams. It comes in black and white colours. The software side is covered by Android 10 with Oppo's ColorOS 7.2 on top.

Oppo A11s starts at CNY 999 in its 4GB RAM and 64GB storage trim while the 8/128GB version is going for CNY 1,199. The phone is now available on Oppo's online shop and partnering retailers across China. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday chaired the third apex level meeting of the Narco Coordination Centre in New Delhi. Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla, Director of Information Bureau Arvind Kumar, Narcotics Control Bureau Chief SN Pradhan, Director General of Border Security Force and Services Selection Board (SSB), Chief Secretaries and Director-General of Police (DGP)s of states and their representatives, and administrators in Union Territories also took part in the meeting. (ANI)
As Omicron cases continue to rise across the country, Karnataka has imposed a night curfew in the state. "Night curfew has been imposed in the state in the interest of public health," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said while speaking to media persons on Monday. He said, "Solatium is being paid to BPL families of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19 in all districts and taluks. A programme in this regard is being held in Bengaluru as well." Reacting to displeasure among the business community against the night curfew he said, "the measure has been taken in the interest of public health. People would have to strictly follow COVID-19 norms at tourist spots." On December 2, Karnataka reported the country's first Omicron case in Bengaluru. Further, India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. As per the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload stands at 75,841. "Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578. The Chief Minister said that the BJP State Executive Committee meeting, which is to be held in Hubballi, would discuss issues related to party organisation and other developments. The meeting, which is held once every two months, would take important decisions, he said. Replying to a question about much-expected cabinet expansion, Bommai said that it is an internal matter of the party and the party high command would take a call on that. "There is good coordination between the party and the administration. The government will come up with more good programmes in the days ahead and seek a public mandate in 2023 on the basis of its good work for the people," he said. (ANI)
The five accused were presented before the Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain today.

They were presented before the Court on the expiry of their three days of police custody.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Court also allowed the Police plea seeking voice samples of two accused Amit Kumar Manjhi and Nishant Singh Rana as per law. Sub Inspector Muneesh Kumar has moved an application for seeking a voice sample of these two accused.

However, advocate Rajendra Kumar Panigarhi, appearing for, Amit Kumar Manjhi and Nishant Singh, has opposed the police plea.

Delhi Police had earlier apprised the Court that four of these accused were arrested from Noida and one was arrested from Delhi for making extortion calls.

Following the complaint, Delhi Police lodged an FIR in the matter. The police told the Court that most of the calls were made by accused Amit.

Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra is a prime accused in Lakhimpur Kheri violence that led to the death of eight people including four farmers. (ANI)
Blatantly defying the law-enforcers, a three-member gang of persons wanted in connection with a shootout killing, opened fire at a police team led by Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Krishna Prakash late last night, officials said here on Monday. The shocking incident happened after 11.30 p.m. on Sunday when the police team laid a trap to nab three wanted killers, believed to be lurking in a forested spot around 35 kms from Chakan, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone I), Manchak Ipper. "We had received a specific intel tip-off of the accused hiding in the vicinity and the police team led by CoP, an ACP and others lay in wait for them. Suddenly, they started firing in the direction of police party which shot back in self-defence. There are no injuries in the firing," Ipper told IANS. He discounted reports in a section of local media that the CoP Prakash and another policeman had been targeted in the bullets, and said that they had sustained injuries while chasing the criminals in darkness in the jungle. After retaliatory firing of several rounds by both sides for over half an hour, the police team finally managed to apprehend the accused trio in the wee hours of today (Monday), said the officer. Ipper added that the accused were absconding after committing the murder of a local gangster Yogesh R. Jagtap, 37, on Saturday at Katepuram Chowk in Pimple-Gurav area. So far, the police have nabbed at least 10 persons in connection with Jagtap's killing and further investigations are underway by four police special squads. --IANS qn/shb/ ( 275 Words) 2021-12-27-12:52:04 (IANS)
In the wake of a spike in the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the national capital amid the emergence of the new Omicron variant, the BJP on Monday asked the Delhi government to prepare a roadmap to contain the spread of the virus and close all educational institutes. On Monday, schools up to class 5, which were shut earlier this month due to the deteriorating air quality, reopened as the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi improved marginally from 'severe' to 'very poor'. Classes for students from class 6 and above had begun on December 18 Taking to Twitter, Delhi BJP President Adesh Gupta, said: "Coronavirus cases have been increasing in Delhi from the past few days. We demand Delhi government to close all the educational institutions keeping in mind the health of the children. I demand the Delhi government to call an all-party meeting and share the roadmap to save Delhi from Covid." In an effort to curb the rising cases, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government has imposed a night curfew from Monday from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. The national capital on Sunday recorded 290 fresh Covid cases, the highest single-day spike since June 10, which increased the the national capital's overall infection tally to 14,43,352. According to the Delhi health department, the city had recorded 305 Covid cases in a single day on June 10. In the past 24 hours, one person succumbed to the virus, pushing the death toll at 25,105. The positivity rate has also climbed to 0.55 per cent. Delhi has, so far, detected 79 cases of the new Omicron variant. Of these, 23 have been discharged from the hospital. --IANS rdk/sks/ksk/ ( 295 Words) 2021-12-27-12:54:03 (IANS)
A Kanpur court has sent businessman Piyush Jain to 14 days of judicial custody after raids at his residence led to the recovery of over Rs 194.45 crores of cash, 23 kg gold and 600 kg sandalwood. The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has searched for the residential and factory premises of Odochem Industries at Kannauj. During the searches at Kannauj, the officers have recovered an amount of about Rs 17 crores in cash. In addition, recovery of approximately 23 kgs of gold and huge unaccounted raw materials used in the manufacture of perfumery compounds, including more than 600 kgs of sandalwood oil hidden in underground storage, having a market value of about Rs 6 crores, have been made. The raid in the residential and factory premises of Odochem Industries is still underway. Meanwhile, the DGGI had informed that the accused has admitted that cash recovered from his premises was related to the sale of goods without payment of taxes. "After intercepting four trucks operated by M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, carrying pan masala and tobacco of said brand cleared without payment of GST, the officers tallied the actual stock available in the factory with the stock recorded in the books and found the shortage of raw materials and finished products. This further corroborated that the manufacturer was indulging in the clandestine removal of goods with the help of a transporter who used to issue fake invoices to manage the transportation of said goods. The officers have also seized more than 200 such fake invoices. The manufacturers of Shikhar brand of pan masala/tobacco products have admitted and deposited an amount of Rs 3.09 crores towards their tax liability," the DGGI said in its release. "The evidences collected during the searches conducted in the last five days are being investigated thoroughly to unravel the tax evasion," it added. The DGGI arrested businessman Piyush Jain after recovering unaccounted cash sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores from him. This is the biggest cash seizure in the history of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the apex body of the investigation agency Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) who is conducting the search. (ANI)
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Chahal has called a meeting on Monday with Health and Ward officers on the rising number of COVID-19 Omicron cases. India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. As per the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload stands at 75,841. "Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578. The Ministry further informed that as many as 7,141 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recovered patients since the beginning of the pandemic to 3,42,37,495. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020. "India has so far conducted over 67.29 crore cumulative tests," said the Ministry. As per the release, the weekly positivity rate at 0.63 per cent remains less than 1 per cent for the last 43 days now. While the daily positivity rate has been reported to be 0.87 per cent. "The daily positivity rate has remained below 2 per cent for last 84 days," stated the Ministry. On Sunday, Maharashtra reported 1,648 new cases of COVID-19. 31 new cases of the Omicron variant of the virus were also detected. A total of 141 Omicron cases have been reported in the state so far, as per the bulletin provided by the state health department on Sunday. With this, the total count of COVID-19 cases in the state has gone up to 66,57,888. There are currently 9,813 active COVID-19 cases in the state. (ANI)
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief A. Revanth Reddy was arrested here on Monday as he was leaving for Erravalli village to lead a protest at the farmhouse of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. High tension prevailed outside the residence of Revanth Reddy at Jubilee Hills as scores of his supporters tried to resist their leader's arrest. As soon as the TPCC chief emerged from his house, police officers stopped him. They forcibly took him to a police vehicle, leading to strong protest from Congress workers who had gathered there. They tried to stop a police vehicle carrying their leader. This led to pushing and jostling between the two sides. Amid the melee, police shifted Revanth Reddy to a police station. Revanth Reddy, who is also a Member of Parliament, was placed under house arrest early Monday. Large number of policemen were deployed around Revanth Reddy's house in view of the call given by him to organise Rachabanda programme over what he calls the failure of the state and central governments in procuring paddy from farmers. Several Congress leaders were either placed under house arrest or were detained while they were heading to Erravalli in Siddipet district from various parts of the state. Earlier, Revanth Reddy vowed to go ahead with the protest despite restrictions imposed by the police. "Is Erravalli a prohibited area? Why are we being prevented from going to that village?" the Congress leader asked. He claimed that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was afraid of their visit. The TPCC chief slammed both the TRS and BJP over the issue of paddy procurement. He said both the parties have a secret understanding to mislead the farmers. He claimed that the visit by a delegation of state ministers to Delhi and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay's hunger strike over unemployment were part of the secret understanding between the two parties. Revanth Reddy had on Sunday released photographs of paddy cultivated at the chief minister's farmhouse. "On one hand the chief minister is saying that the government will not procure paddy from farmers while on the other he has taken up paddy cultivation over 150 acres at his farmhouse," the Congress leader said. Senior Congress leader Mallu Ravi clarified that they were not going to Erravalli to lay siege to the chief minister's farmhouse but they were still stopped. He said the protest at the village was part of the state-wide programme being organised by the party. He condemned the arrests of Congress leaders and alleged that the police were acting as KCR's private army. --IANS ms/skp/ ( 441 Words) 2021-12-27-13:54:04 (IANS)
"We are preparing to inoculate 15-18-year-olds from January 3 by organising vaccination drives at schools. Primary Health Care (PHCs) asked to be prepared for administering 'precautionary dose' to those above 60 years of age with co-morbidities from Jan 10, 2022", CM Bommai told reporters.

CM Basavaraj Bommai also issued a compensation cheque of Rs 1,00,000 to the families of Below Poverty Level (BPL) people who lost their lives to COVID-19 in the limits of Bangalore urban district and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits.

Karnataka CM had informed earlier that the state is prepared to tackle the possible third wave of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, due to a rise in Omicron cases, the Karnataka government has decided to impose a night curfew from December 28 from 10 pm to 5 am for ten days.

On December 2, Karnataka reported the country's first Omicron case in Bengaluru.

Further, India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. As per the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload stands at 75,841. "Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578. (ANI)
Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of common people, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi said while slamming Uttar Pradesh government on Monday. "Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of the common man. Given Uttar Pradesh's limited healthcare systems, we have to honestly decide whether our priority is to stop the spread of the dreaded Omicron or show electoral power," he tweeted. Meanwhile, In the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to take out 'Jan Vishwas Yatra' from six places in the state. The six Yatras were inaugurated by the BJP's top leaders including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other union ministers from Bijnor, Mathura, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Ambedkar Nagar, and Ballia. Further, India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. As per the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload stands at 75,841. "Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578. (ANI)
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), which seized Rs 194.45 crores of cash, 23 kg gold and 600 kg sandalwood from businessman Peeyush Jain's possession, on Monday informed that the accused has admitted that cash recovered was related to the sale of goods without payment of taxes. "After intercepting four trucks operated by M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, carrying pan masala and tobacco of said brand cleared without payment of GST, the officers tallied the actual stock available in the factory with the stock recorded in the books and found the shortage of raw materials and finished products. This further corroborated that the manufacturer was indulging in clandestine removal of goods with the help of transporter who used to issue fake invoices to manage the transportation of said goods," a statement issued by the DGGI said. The DGGI further stated that it has seized more than 200 such fake invoices. "The manufacturers of Shikhar brand of pan masala/tobacco products have admitted and deposited an amount of Rs 3.09 crores towards their tax liability," the agency said. "The statement of Peeyush Jain has been recorded wherein he has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to the sale of goods without payment of GST," it said. "The evidences collected during the searches conducted in the last five days are being investigated thoroughly to unravel the tax evasion," it added. The Kanpur-based businessman was arrested on Sunday under Section 67 of the CGST Act after the recovery of unaccounted cash, gold and sandalwood. The accused has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody by a Kanpur court in the matter. (ANI)
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that it refused to renew the FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) on December 25 after it received adverse inputs while adding that it did not freeze any accounts of MoC. In a statement, the MHA said that the renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity was refused on December 25, 2021, for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011. No request/revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal, the ministry said. "Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up to October 31, 2021. The validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal applications were pending renewal," the statement reads. The MHA said that considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved, it added. "The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," the MHA said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee criticised the Centre over the issue. Taking Twitter, Mamata Banerjee said, "Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients and employees have been left without food and medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised." (ANI)
BJP national general secretary in charge for Telangana Tarun Chug on Monday challenged Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for an open debate on the performance of the central and state governments during the last seven years. He said BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar was ready for a debate with the chief minister on the performance of Narendra Modi government at the Centre and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the state. Tarun Chug was addressing the BJP workers at Bandi Sanjay's day-long protest programme 'Nirudyoga Deeksha' to demand the state government to fill all vacancies. Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament, was sitting on day-long fast at the BJP state office in Nampally area here. The BJP had planned to organise the protest at Indira Park but police denied the permission for the same, forcing the saffron party to change the venue. Tarun Chug alleged that 600 youth in Telangana committed suicide as the TRS government failed to provide them jobs. He recalled that Chief Minister KCR had assured the youth after formation of Telangana their life will change for better and had promised a job for every house. The BJP leader said KCR and his government will not escape from the curse of 600 families. Claiming that anger is brewing among youth across the state, he remarked that a volcano is set to erupt. Tarun Chug said the TRS government should spell out as to how many of two lakh vacancies in government departments were filled. He alleged that KCR had also gone back on his promise to pay Rs 3,016 monthly unemployment allowance to every unemployed youth. He said KCR had promised jobs for every house and a golden Telangana but only his family has benefited in Telangana state. Stating that BJP is the only alternative to TRS, he asked the party cadres to go to people and highlight the failures of the TRS government. Actor politician Vijayshanti, former minister Eatala Rajender and other leaders attended the protest programme. Earlier, while slamming Bandi Sanjay for his hunger strike, state minister for industry and information technology K. T Rama Rao alleged that he was indulging in opportunistic politics since BJP leaders were unable to explain to the people the Centre's failure to provide jobs. Rama Rao, who is also TRS working president, alleged that the BJP leader was trying to instigate the youth and divert their attention from their education and job searches. In an open letter to state BJP chief, minister KTR claimed that the state government provided more jobs than promised. He advised Sanjay to undertake 'deeksha' at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and question Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why 15 lakh vacancies were pending at the national level. --IANS ms/shb/ ( 471 Words) 2021-12-27-15:26:05 (IANS)
A group of Brahmins who had assembled at former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's residence in Patna on Monday, alleged that they were manhandled by his supporters. A large number of Brahmins assembled at the residence of Manjhi to eat at a Brahmin-Dalit Ekta Bhoj (unity banquet) organised by the former. They were served Chura (flattened rice), curd, tilkut (a kind of sweet made of sesame seeds) and vegetables for the feast. Suddenly, one of the Brahmins alleged that he was manhandled by the supporters of Manjhi's party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). He alleged that HAM men forced him and others to eat the meal even as they did not want to. "We raised strong objection over the way they served food to us. They cannot force us to eat the meal. If they would not respect us, why would we eat food there? Hence, we boycotted the Bhoj (feast) and came out from his residence," Yash Raj, one of the leaders of the Brahmin community who to the residence of Manjhi, said. Yash Raj was the one who spearheaded the protest against Jitan Ram Manjhi on December 23. He along with several others went there and also organised Satyanarain Puja (worship of Lord Vishnu). On that day, he claimed that his group would go to the house of Manjhi to eat. Many Brahmin leaders claimed that the ruckus started after some of them asked questions to Manjhi. "Manjhi had organised conditional Brahmin-Dalit Ekta Bhoj. He put conditions on the people of our community that those who do not eat non-vegetarian food, do not drink liquor or are not involved in any crime, are invited for the Bhoj. We asked Manjhi to clarify who is he to ask people what we eat and what we should not. After this question, the supporters of Manjhi manhandled us," Yash Raj said. When the situation turned ugly, some of the supporters including national spokesperson Danish Rizwan requested the Brahmins to continue eating. If they have any objection, it can be resolved through dialogue, he said. However, the Brahmins did not listen to them and boycotted the Bhoj. They also accused Manjhi of inviting them for the Bhoj and doing politics over it. Jitan Ram Manjhi, while addressing Dalits in Patna on December 19, had made derogatory remarks against Brahmins. He said that Brahmins used to do Satyanarain Puja in our houses but they do not eat food in their houses. Instead of food, they demand money from us. Manjhi, after his abusive remark, publicly apologized twice and took back his words. He also said that he is not against Brahmins but against Brahminism. --IANS ajk/skp/bg ( 454 Words) 2021-12-27-16:00:03 (IANS)
Ahead of his Kanpur visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the development works being launched in the city will improve urban infrastructure and boost 'ease of living' for the people. PM Modi will inaugurate the completed section of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project on Tuesday. Taking to Twitter, the Prime Minister said, "I look forward to being among the people of Kanpur tomorrow, December 28. I will address the convocation at IIT Kanpur after which I will inaugurate the completed section of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project. The Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project will also be inaugurated. The development works being launched in Kanpur will improve urban infra and boost 'Ease of Living' for the people." According to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), improving urban mobility has been one of the key focus areas of PM Modi. The completed 9 km long section of Kanpur Metro Rail Project stretches from IIT Kanpur to Moti Jheel. Prime Minister Modi will also inspect the Metro Rail Project and undertake a metro ride from the IIT metro station to Geeta Nagar. The entire length of the Kanpur Metro Rail Project is 32 km and is being built at a cost of over Rs 11,000 crore. Besides, the Metro Rail Project, Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project. As per the PMO, the 356 Km long Bina-Panki Multiproduct Pipeline Project has a capacity of around 3.45 million metric tonnes per annum. Prior to this, PM Modi will also attend the 54th Convocation Ceremony of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. At the convocation, all the students will be issued digital degrees through an in-house blockchain-driven technology developed at the Institute under the National Blockchain Project. The Prime Minister will launch the blockchain-based digital degrees. These digital degrees can be verified globally and are unforgeable. (ANI)
In a tweet, Sarma said that he has directed officials to make arrangements to bring the body to Majuli.

"On receiving news of the death of one Parag Saikia, a 23-year youth of Majuli, working as a guard in Hyderabad, I directed officials to make arrangements to bring the body to Majuli. The body has reached Guwahati today. My sincere condolences! Committed to stand by our people always!" the Chief Minister tweeted. (ANI)
Amid the controversy over freezing the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari on Monday demanded the apology of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for allegedly spreading false news while calling her the "most communal force". Speaking to ANI, Adhikari said, "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should apologize immediately. She spread false news on social media. Following this, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a clarification. Mamata Banerjee resorted to dirty politics. She is also trying to divide the people in the name of religion in Goa. Mamata Banerjee is the most communal force." Earlier today, West Bengal Chief Minister criticised the Centre over the Missionaries of Charity issue. Taking to Twitter, Mamata Banerjee said, "Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients and employees have been left without food and medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised." Meanwhile, Missionaries of Charity issued a statement on Monday informing that its Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration has been neither suspended nor cancelled. Further, it clarified that there is no freeze ordered by the Union Home Ministry on any of its bank accounts. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday said that it refused to renew the FCRA license of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) on December 25 after it received adverse inputs while adding that it did not freeze any accounts of MoC. In a statement, the MHA said that the renewal application under the FCRA for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity was refused on December 25, 2021, for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011. No request/revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal, the ministry said. The MHA said that considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved, it added. "The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021. MHA did not freeze any accounts of MoC. State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," the MHA said. (ANI)
The Army inquiry team, which is probing the firing incident in Nagaland that led to the death of 13 civilians, will visit the incident site in Mon district on December 29. "In reference to Indian Army inquiry into December 4 incident at Oting, Nagaland, the Army Inquiry Team will visit the incident site on December 29. The team will also be present at Tizit Police Station, Mon District on the same day," Defence PRO Kohima said in a tweet. "Indian Army Inquiry Team solicits from the public at large any primary information (not forwarded or not from secondary source) pertaining to the incident. Any person having such info and desirous of deposing before the Inquiry is requested to do so at Tizit PS," the PRO added. The incident took place on December 4. The government had said earlier that it was a case of mistaken identity as Army had received information on the movement of extremists in Oting, in Mon district. It had said that a special investigation team has been constituted and has been directed to complete the probe within a month. (ANI)
As per the Ministry, "More than 65 lakh (65,20,037) COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Monday. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight."

It further said, 83,80,04,579 people were given the first dose of the vaccine till Monday while 83,80,04,579 were given their second dose.

The Ministry said 14,16,852 people were given the first dose of the vaccine on Monday while 51,03,185 were given their second dose.

Meanwhile, India reported 6,987 fresh COVID-19 cases and 162 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday.The country's active caseload currently stands at 76,766, the lowest since March 2020. (ANI)
Delhi Gym Association has written a letter to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal regarding Graded Response Action Plan for COVID-19 wherein the gymnasiums are asked to be closed in the yellow zone with 0.5 per cent positivity rate. Chirag Sethi, Vice President, Delhi Gym Association said, "We all know that Omicron is a mild virus and no impact of the variant is seen on people. When such news comes into the public, then members get scared as they think that their money will go in vain if they invest in gyms. There is an atmosphere of panic for members as well as gym owners thinking that a lockdown will be imposed soon". "That is why, we request the government that the way they are allowing restaurants, bars, they must allow gyms also with 50 per cent capacity. Why shut down gyms? We know that there is no evidence saying that opening up gyms will spread COVID-19 or gyms do not adhere to SoPs," Sethi added. Delhi Gym Association requested the government to reconsider the decision. "It shouldn't be just based on the positivity rate. They must consider several cases and oxygen beds capacity too. As Maharashtra did, that if the demand for oxygen beds reaches a certain number, then lockdown should be imposed," the association said. The night curfew order was issued on a day when Delhi on Sunday reported 290 fresh COVID-19 cases. The positivity rate had jumped to 0.55 per cent in the national capital. As per Delhi's Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, a 'yellow' alert will be sounded in the national capital if the positivity rate remains 0.5 per cent or more on two successive days, new cases touch 1,500--mark or oxygenated bed occupancy reaches 500. As soon as the yellow alert is sounded, several restrictions will come into force in Delhi including night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, reduction of seating capacity in Metro trains and buses to half, and restrictions on the opening of non-essential shops and malls. (ANI)
In a significant development, the central government has frozen all the bank accounts of Missionaries of Charity -- the non-profit organisation formed by Mother Teresa to help the people. The central authorities issued orders on Sunday evening to cease all transactions through these bank accounts across India, leaving 22,000 patients and people without any treatment and food. Though the authorities of Missionaries of Charity were not ready to say anything, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock at the behaviour of the central government. "Shocked to hear that on Christmas, the Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. "While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," she wrote on her verified Twitter account. CPM leader Surya Kanta Mishra wrote on Twitter, "Yesterday, Christmas Day the Union Ministry FROZED ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. The Govt has frozen all the accounts in India, including cash in hand. Their 22,000 patients, including employees, are left without food and medicines." Though the Missionaries of Charity was not ready to say anything, sources privy to the development said that there were some complaints against the organisation and the central government was keeping an eye on some of its bank accounts. The central government froze all the accounts of the organisation to carry on with the investigation. --IANS sbg/bg ( 250 Words) 2021-12-27-18:00:03 (IANS)
Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Narayan Rane, on Monday strongly defended his son Nitesh Rane, the MLA from Kankavli Assembly constituency, who has been charged with attempt to murder by the Kankavli police in Maharashtra. The police have issued summons to Nitesh Rane with regard to an attempt to murder case registered by them. "Nitesh has nothing to do with the assault. He has been framed with a malicious intent to gain advantage in the ensuing district bank elections," Rane alleged. When asked whether Nitesh Rane is on the run, Narayan Rane said: "We don't need to go into hiding. He is an MLA and he is very much in Sindhudurg." The opposition is trying to frame Nitesh Rane in criminal cases as they have realised that they will lose in the upcoming district cooperative bank elections, the Union minister alleged. He also hinted that the Rane familty will approach the court over the assault allegations against Nitesh Rane. "We will have to go to the court if such false charges are levelled against Nitesh. He did not beat anyone and was not involved in any of the incidents," he added. --IANS joseph/arm ( 209 Words) 2021-12-27-19:14:04 (IANS)
AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that a mere FIR against those who called for genocide of Muslims at the Dharam Sansad at Haridwar will not help and demanded their arrest. The Hyderabad MP told reporters here that the organisations who gave the call should be banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). Haridwar police on Saturday named two more persons in the First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the alleged hate speeches. The police earlier booked Wasim Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi, and others under Section 153A Indian Penal Code in the case. Owaisi said the silence of the Samajwadi Party and Congress on the issue had exposed them. He said both the parties worried that they will not get the 'other vote' in ensuing elections. "They (speakers at Haridwar meet) even called for killing Manmohan Singh, who is former Prime Minister of this country. When will you react," he asked Congress leaders. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President said all political parties who believe in the Constitution and the rule of law have to break their silence because the Dharma Sanasad gave an open call for genocide of Muslims. "They said that the Rohingyas in Myanmar were killed and made homeless, Muslims in India should be dealt in similar way," he said. Owaisi alleged that Dharam Sansad was held and such things were spoken there with the blessing and full support of the BJP government in Uttarakhand. He also tweeted that Dharam Sansad at Raipur was also not possible without the support of the Congress government in Chhttisgarh. He pointed out that Ramsunder Das, who is the Chairman of Chhattisgarh Gau-Seva Commission and has a cabinet rank, was the chief patron of the Dharam Sansad. Reacting to reports that Ramsunder Das walked off stage when Sant Kalicharan Maharaj was abusing Mahatma Gandhi, the MP made series of tweets. He referred to Kalicharan's remarks that the MP, MLA, minister and Prime Minister should be hardcore Hidutvawadi, that if people don't cast votes, Islam will dominate the country and the remark that people should vote in maximum numbers to choose a rule who is staunch Hindutvawadi, no matter which political party he comes from. "Didn't Ram Sundar find this statement objectionable? Isn't this statement condemnable? Congress leader Pramod Dubey, BJP leaders Satchidanand Upasane and Nandkumar Sai were also present in the audience when Kalicharan was delivering this speech. No one broke his silence," wrote Owaisi. Owaisi said the talks of Hindu Rashtra, massacre of Muslims, love jihad took place under the patronage of a leader of the rank of cabinet minister of Congress. "The FIR has been registered only on the statement of Gandhiji. Does this mean the talk of our carnage is not a matter of concern," he asked. The AIMIM leader also took a dig at Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. "Baghel ji can stage a dharna in Uttar Pradesh, but what is happening in his own state in the name of religion? Everyone is in this race that who is the biggest Hindu," he said --IANS ms/vd ( 527 Words) 2021-12-27-19:58:04 (IANS)
Resident doctors of several hospitals staged a march near Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on Monday evening in protest against the delay in holding NEET-PG counselling. AIIMS Resident Doctors Association said in its official statement that they "condemned the violent act of police today against the doctors, who were protesting peacefully for expediting NEET-PG counselling." "By brutally thrashing and detaining the doctors, the Government and Police have reached a new low. The medical fraternity has shown exemplary sacrifice for the sake of this nation at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was running a carnage," it read AIIMS Resident Doctors Association labelled this day as a Black-Day for the entire nation. "The same workforce feels backstabbed and betrayed by the duplicity of the lawmakers and the police on the issue of NEET counselling. Today's incident will be seen as an enormous blow to the zeal and enthusiasm of the medical fraternity in their fight against COVID. Hence it should be labelled as a Black-Day for the entire nation," the statement said. AIIMS RDA strongly condemned alleged "brutality" of the Police and the insensitivity of the Government towards the medical fraternity and demanded immediate release of all the doctors detained with unconditional apology from the government and the police. Prominent Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said in a tweet, "Showering flowers was show off PR. In reality, injustice is pouring in. I stand with #CovidWarriors against the atrocities of the Central Government. #NEETPG" On December 24, Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the NEET-PG counselling crisis and augment manpower to face a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections. It is pertinent to note that the original NEET PG exam was scheduled in January 2021 but postponed in view of the first and second wave of COVID-19 and held on September 12, 2021, said the letter. However, due to the legal impediments of the Supreme Court now the Counselling is withheld resulting in a shortage of 45000 doctors in the frontline, added the letter. "IMA is in pain to see our younger children are forced to be in the streets, fighting for the cause of the community and genuine interest in the Covid care of our country," according to the letter. "So, on behalf of the 3.5 lacs doctors of this country, we explicitly express our moral support to the resident doctors who are fighting for their rights and we herewith request the Hon'ble Ministry of Health to resolve this matter quickly with compassionate advice and intervention of Hon'ble Prime Minister to restore normalcy lest Indian Medical Association will be forced to adopt direct democratic participation along with the Resident doctors," stated the letter. "IMA request our Prime Minister of India to resolve the PG Counselling crisis and augment manpower to face the imminent third wave. Indian Medical Association is concerned about the ongoing strike of the Resident doctors and their genuine demands for expediting the PG counselling. It is pertinent to note that the original NEET PG exam was scheduled in January 2021 but postponed in view of the first and second wave of COVID-19 and held on September 12, 2021," said the letter. "However, due to the legal impediments of the Supreme Court now the Counselling is withheld resulting in a shortage of 45000 doctors in the frontline. Indian Medical Association has constantly raised the issue of manpower development in COVID-19 care in particular and in the healthcare delivery system in total," it added. "We express our gratitude to Prime Minister for making too much infrastructure development and we appeal once again that the Hon'ble Prime Minister should personally intervene and help the country to build manpower. The Resident doctors are raising the genuine demands and till now it is not been properly resolved," the letter stated. (ANI)
Maharashtra's Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari again appeared to be at loggerheads - this time on the issue of election to the post of the Assembly Speaker. The MVA government has written three letters to the Governor seeking his approval for conducting the Speaker's elections by a voice-vote or show of hands instead of secret ballot. However, MVA leaders say that there has been no clear response yet from the Governor's side even as the government mulls conducting the polls on Tuesday - the final day of the ongoing week-long Winter Session of the Legislature. Unofficially, MVA leaders hint that the Governor is reportedly disinclined over the proposal, but has sought legal opinion and will study it before giving his decision. Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party state President Chandrakant Patil warned that the issue could lead to the imposition of President' Rule in the state. Simultaneously, Thackeray chaired a meeting of the state cabinet and the government has taken the opinion of the state Advocate-General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni on the issue. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that what matters in a democracy is "listening to the voice of the people". "As per the Constitution, the Governor has to abide by the recommendations of the state Cabinet," a grim Raut told media persons. Similarly, state Congress President Nana Patole said that the decision to conduct the elections by voice vote in not "unconstitutional" and said the government plans to hold the polls on Tuesday itself. He added that the legislature has the power to amend the rules and accordingly, the rules for conducting the election to the Speaker's post were amended, and the process is on the lines of the Lok Sabha and in other states. Patole accused the opposition BJP of pursuing its hidden agenda and creating obstacles for the MVA government by keeping the Governor in the front. The MVA has sent 3 letters to the Governor - the first one on Friday, following by a second letter handed over by a 3-ministerial delegation, and the third one handed on Monday on the issue. At the Sunday meeting, Koshyari sought details of the amendments to the legislative rules and assured he would seek more details, take the views of legal experts before conveying his decision by today. The post has been lying vacant since Feb this year after Patole resigned following his appointment as state party President, and the fort was being held by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal. --IANS qn/vd ( 432 Words) 2021-12-27-20:20:02 (IANS)
North Tripura District police on Monday seized contraband items valued at more than Rs 3 crore in two separate raids conducted at Churaibari and Panisahar in the state. The raids were launched based on a tip-off received by the police, said North Tripura District SP Bhanupada Chakraborty. According to Chakraborty, the police had conducted a raid on two separate locations from which three persons and contraband items with an estimated market value of more than Rs 3 crores were seized. The recovery of the contraband items in Tripura-Assam borders once again pinpointed the unabated rise of smuggling nexus in the region. "Separate police teams raided two spots at Churaibari and Panisagar area of North district. In the first raid in Churaibari which shares the border with Assam, police seized 25,000 bottles of banned cough syrup Phensedyl from a heavily loaded Assam bound lorry. We have also arrested a person identified as Sabaaj Ali (24). After preliminary investigation it is known that he is a resident of Gaya, Bihar", Chakraborty said. On the other hand, acting on tip-off police at Panisagar district intercepted a vehicle and seized 4,655 bottles of the same cough syrup and a total of 31,824 tablets. "We have also arrested two persons identified as Askib Ahmed and Amir Ahmed. We have seized 4,655 bottles of cough syrup and more than 31,000 tablets from the possession of the sibling duo. The total seizure would be more than around Rs 30 crores including two vehicles. And, a total of three persons were arrested. We have registered specific cases under NDPS Act", SP Chakraborty added. (ANI)
The resident doctors association of government-run hospitals has called for a complete shutdown of all healthcare institutions starting Monday after doctors were detained by the Delhi Police during the protest march against delay in NEET-PG counselling. A protest march was held near Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on Monday evening following which the police said that seven cops were injured in the march near ITO and consequently registered an FIR under section 188 and other sections for causing obstruction in the duty of police personnel, and damaging public property. Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) in a statement claimed "police brutality" and called it a "black day in the history of the medical fraternity". It also said that resident doctors were protesting "peacefully" and alleged that they were "brutally thrashed, dragged and detained by the cops." "There will be a complete shutdown of all Healthcare Institutions today onwards. We strongly condemn this brutality and demand immediate release of FORDA Representatives and Resident doctors," the statement issued on Monday read. Meanwhile, AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) has called for a strike on December 29 including the shutdown of all non-emergency services if no "adequate" response from the government is received over allleged police brutality in the protest march. The AIIMS RDA has demanded immediate release of detained doctors with an apology from the government and the police over alleged police brutality in the protest march. AIIMS RDA in a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday said that it "strongly condemns this brutality of the police and the insensitivity of the government towards the medical fraternity and demands immediate release of all the detained doctors, with an apology from the government and the police." AIIMS RDA also demanded the government to release a report of what has been done till date, and government's plans moving forward, for expediting NEET PG counselling. "If no adequate response from the governrnent is received within 24 hrs, AIIMS RDA shall proceed with a token strike on December 29 induding shutdown of all non-emergency services. RDA, AIIMS does not believe in hampering of patient care services and hopes that the government will address the grievances in an appropriate and timely manner, and shall not force us to escalate the protest further," the statement read. It further stated that the day will be "remembered as a black day for the medical fraternity." Meanwhile, Delhi Police said that a total of seven cops got injured during the protest of resident doctors near ITO. "FIR registered under Section 188 and other sections for causing obstruction in the duty of police personnel, and damaging public property during the protest," it added. On December 24, Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the NEET-PG counselling crisis and augment manpower to face a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections. It is pertinent to note that the original NEET PG exam was scheduled in January 2021 but postponed in view of the first and second wave of COVID-19 and held on September 12, 2021, said the letter. However, due to the legal impediments of the Supreme Court now the Counselling is withheld resulting in a shortage of 45000 doctors in the frontline, added the letter. (ANI)
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed Centre for alleged police brutality against resident doctors, who were protesting in Delhi over delay in NEET-PG counselling, and said that it is "raining injustice." "Showering of flower petals was a show-off of PR (Public Relations). In reality, it is raining injustice. I stand with Covid Warriors against the tyranny of the central government," Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. The Congress leader made a reference to the government's expression of gratitude towards doctors and healthcare workers during the nationwide lockdown last year amid COVID-19 when it had showered flower petals on them thanking them for their contribution in tackling the pandemic. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also took to Twirtter to condemn police action. "In the time of COVID-19, these young doctors supported the citizens of the whole country by staying away from their loved ones. Now is the time to stand with the doctors and wake up the @narendramodi ji who used police force on them and ignored their demands. Doctors need respect and entitlement, not false PR," she tweeted in Hindi. Resident doctors of government-run hospitals on Monday intensified their protest over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling and took out a march in the national capital. Following the protest the police said that seven cops were injured in the protest march near ITO and consequently registered an FIR under section 188 and other sections for causing obstruction in the duty of police personnel, and damaging public property. Meanwhile, FORDA has called for a complete shutdown of all healthcare institutions starting Monday after doctors were detained by the Delhi Police during the protest march. (ANI)
The video originally posted on Douyin, the Chinese version of Tiktok, showed the lookalike dressed in a black coat while standing next to a black car.

The man, apparently Chinese, quickly went viral on social media with many dubbing him as 'Yi Long Musk'. However, the video first appeared on the video-sharing platform TikTok and then spread to other social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

The Tesla CEO responded to a side-by-side photo of himself and his purported doppelganger which was posted by a user on Twitter. "Maybe I'm partially Chinese!" wrote Musk.

"China has its own version of everything," wrote a user.

"They say somewhere in the world there's a twin out there of yourselfor it is a simulation," wrote another.

Many other Twitter users also debated if the video is a deep fake. "Best deep fake ever!" wrote a Twitter user. "Sweet dude," posted another.

Local publication The Global Times suggested Musk's Asian lookalike may have used AI technology to mimic the features of the billionaire.

"In Hindu mythology, the belief is that in the world, there are seven similar looking people. So every person has 7 doppelgangers and they may never come across each other in a lifetime (sic)," wrote another.

--IANS wh/bg

( 254 Words)

2021-12-27-17:24:04 (IANS)
According to Tolo News, the protestors carrying the dead body called on the Taliban to hold the perpetrators accountable. The protestors said that the Taliban forces shot dead an innocent resident in Anaba district of the province.

"As the governor, is he governing or killing the people?" a protestor said.

The protestors said that the Taliban should ensure justice and prosecute the perpetrators.

The head of Panjshir's security department, Abdul Hameed Khurasani, confirmed that a resident was killed by the Islamic Emirate forces due to misinformation, Tolo News reported.

"He was killed by security forces based on the wrong information they had received. The people protested and came in front of the governor's office. The Islamic Emirate leadership team's promise to the people is that anyone who commits such actions will be prosecuted," he said.

According to Khurasani, the local officials talked to the protestors and the protest ended on Sunday evening, Tolo News reported. (ANI)
Washington DC [US], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have expressed condolences over the death of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, South African Anglican archbishop, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Tutu passed away on Sunday at the age of 90, in Cape Town, according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who said that the activist's death "is another chapter of bereavement in our nation's farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans." Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama have both expressed condolences over Tutu's death. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "deeply saddened" by the passing of the "towering global figure for peace and justice." UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Tutu will be remembered for his "spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humor." "On behalf of the Biden family, we send our deepest condolences to his wife Leah and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And on behalf of the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to the people of South Africa who are mourning the loss of one of their most important founding fathers," the Bidens said in a Sunday statement. According to the White House release, the Bidens had spent time with Tutu on several occasions and were "heartbroken" after learning of his passing. "And, just a few months ago, we joined the world in celebrating his 90th birthday and reflecting on the power of his message of justice, equality, truth, and reconciliation as we confront racism and extremism in our time today," Joe Biden and his wife said. Tutu is widely known for his staunch opposition to apartheid, which resulted in him receiving a Nobel Prize in 1984, but he has spoken out on many other causes as well. The archbishop also served as the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the abolition of apartheid and is known for coining the term "Rainbow Nation" to describe post-apartheid South Africa. (ANI/Sputnik)
A counterfeit version of Captagon, which is highly addictive, has become the drug of choice among young people in the oil-rich countries of the Arab Gulf and mainly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. As it is much cheaper than cocaine, many people call it: "poor man's cocaine." Hardly a week goes by without an announcement that Customs or other authorities in various countries have confiscated millions of counterfeit Captagon pills. It should be noted, however, that as a rule the drugs seized by authorities are less than one-tenth of the illicitly imported Captagon pills, that have become the new rage in the region. Captagon was first produced in Germany to treat narcolepsy and depression, among other things. It was banned in the 1980s when doctors decided that its addictiveness outweighed its benefits. Asfenethylline, the amphetamine used in the long-banned brand name version, has been a controlled substance for decades now and is presently quite difficult to obtain legally, the illicit manufacturers use other amphetamines in the counterfeit version. Unlike cocaine and heroin, the base ingredients of counterfeit Captagon are easy to get hold of and so it is much cheaper to produce than the other two drugs. The pills often contain amphetamine and caffeine or, less frequently, methamphetamine and ephedrine. A Captagon pill costs just a few cents to produce in Syria or Lebanon and can be sold for up to 20 US dollars. So, smugglers and pushers can earn billions of dollars every year. In 2020 the value of pills seized that originated in Syria was estimated to be $3.46 billion. Manufacturing Captagon pills has become a major, albeit illegal, industry for Syria and Lebanon which in 2019 had other combined total exports worth less than $5 billion. On 1 December Saudi Authorities seized a huge quantity of 30,3 million tablets of the drug which was hidden in imported cardamon. Dubai police on 23 December uncovered $15.8 million worth of captagon pills hidden in a shipment of Lemons. In November Dubai Customs foiled an attempt to smuggle about 80,000 Captagon pills hidden in the inner body of a car trunk. Earlier this year, Customs officers in Kuwait foiled an attempt to smuggle more than three million Captagon pills in a container that arrived in the country. In Qatar, the Ruwais Port Customs thwarted the smuggling of prohibited Captagon narcotic pills after an inspector became suspicious of a refrigerator truck engine. A total of 7,330 tablets were seized during the inspection. Greece's Coast Guard intercepted a ship flying the flag of Syria on 5 December as it passed the island of Crete. After a search, they seized Captagonpills and hashish that were hidden in double-bottom shipping containers amid spices, coffee, and sawdust. The value of the confiscated drugs exceeds 100 million US dollars. The biggest haul of the Captagon amounting to 14 tons and having a street value of more than 1.16 billion US dollars- was made in July last year in the port of Salerno in containers destined for Dubai. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC], between 2015 and 2019 more than half of all Captagon pills seized in the Middle East were in Saudi Arabia. The Saudis have insinuated that Lebanon's Hezbollah is behind the production and transportation of cannabis and Captagon which find their way into the Kingdom. Captagon became popular in the Middle East during the war in Syria, as it numbed fear and helped combatants stay awake and endure hard battles. That's why some people also call it "the Jihadi magic potion". The BBC said it was "the drug fueling conflict in Syria. The drug provides a boost of energy, enhances a person's ability to do dangerous things, helps people stay awake for longer periods of time, and produces a feeling of euphoria, which can be useful in combat conditions. On the downside, Captagon is highly addictive. As the war in Syria dragged on, the different sides in the conflict started manufacturing and trafficking Captagon because it generated considerable revenue and helped them finance their wars. Eventually, the drug trade created its own shadow economy both in Syria and the areas under the control of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Some government officials in these two countries are believed to turn a blind eye to the trafficking of Captagon as it brings much-needed foreign currency and has even become much more important than other exports. The Saudi government last October banned exports from Lebanon, dealing a heavy blow on the government in Beirut, which is facing a crippling political and economic crisis. Riyadh wants the Lebanese government to curb Hezbollah, which Saudis believe is behind the drug exports from Lebanon. Saudi Arabia slammed Lebanon's failure to "stop the export of the scourge of drugs... to the kingdom, especially in the light of the terrorist Hezbollah's control of all ports." It should be said, however, that Hezbollah categorically denies that it is involved in the drug trade. Some researchers believe that boredom and social restrictions are the main cause of drug use in the oil-rich Gulf states and suggest that easing these restrictions could help a lot in preventing the creation of new addicts. According to the World Drug Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Saudi Arabia alone accounts for more than one-third of global amphetamines seizures a year, and three-quarters of patients treated for drug problems there are addicted to amphetamines, almost exclusively in the form of Captagon. Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE have reported similar spikes in multimillion-tablet seizures of the drug in the past two years. As Captagon is generating huge profits for illicit manufacturers and drug smugglers and is relatively cheap it will continue to be widely used in the rich Arab states in the Gulf and in the next few years could become a major problem for these states. (Disclaimer: The author of this opinion article is John Solomou, who writes on West Asia politics. Views are personal) (ANI)
Kabul residents are less interested in COVID-19 vaccination, according to mobile teams. Pajhwok Afghan News visited a number of vaccination teams in mosques but the teams complained about low interest among people for getting the vaccine. This comes as the COVID-19 vaccine is about to expire and the Ministry of Public Health is asking people to get the shots. Zarmina, a vaccinator who was administering COVID-19 vaccine in Jabir Mosque in Khair Khana area of Kabul, said, "We come to this mosque since last three days, but we vaccinated less than 70 people during the period, the population is high and we thought that we would not be able to manage the process, but very little people come here." She said that mobile vaccination teams were on job from 9 am to 3 pm every day. Nijat Ayar, another vaccinator in SafidKhwaja Mosque, in the 15th police district of Kabul city also complained about a fewer number of people interested in taking the doses. She said that in the past three days, around 100 people, including men and women, visited the mosque for vaccination, reported Pajhwok Afghan News. "When COVID-19 vaccine arrived for the first time, there were so many people in the vaccination centers, so many people were getting the vaccine and we had no time to eat, but now all of us are waiting for people from morning to afternoon," she said. She called on citizens to get the vaccine and protect themselves and their families against deadly diseases. Abdul Wasay Saeed, imam of Idris Mosque in Kulula Pushta area of Kabul, told Pajhwok that mobile vaccination teams twice visited the mosque and called on people to get the doses in the last one month. He said that a number of men and women had received the vaccine, but considering the population of the region, many of them ignored it due to various reasons. There is no problem in getting the vaccine from the Islamic point of view and there are no legal issues as well, so people should get vaccinated for the safety of their lives and their families, he said. Pajhwok talked with a number of people about the reason why they refuse to get vaccinated. Matiulla Azimi, head of Chahardehi Center in Kabul, who also is unvaccinated, said, "Corona has finished, it was a project and gone, why we should get into trouble by taking the vaccine, those who got it are struggling with fever and body pain." Ahmad Wali, a Kabul resident who owns a booth shop, told Pajhwok that he had not received the vaccine yet. "Death comes from God. If there is the order of death for someone, the corona vaccine will not be able to prevent it, and that is why I did not and will not get the vaccine," he said. Zakirullah, another shopkeeper in the Kampani area of Kabul city, said, "I did not receive the vaccine because corona can do nothing if God does not want it." Karima Noori, a resident of the Khair Khana area, said, "They are mad, where is the corona, there is nothing like corona, not even a single member of our family is infected with it, we do not believe in it." She termed COVID-19 a project and said false figures were published for the attraction of aid. Four months ago, the Ministry of Public Health had said that Afghanistan needed 42 million doses of coronavirus vaccine, of which 500,000 doses of Indian vaccine, 468,000 doses of COVAX and 700,000 of China vaccine had been so far assisted. The United States also promised to provide three million doses of the Johnson vaccine to the Afghan people after the spread of the Delta variant of the virus in Afghanistan. The US later provided 1.5 million doses of the vaccine on July 9. At the time, Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 37 million, received more than a million vaccines five months ago. According to official figures from the Ministry of Public Health, more than 156,000 people are infected by coronavirus disease and 7,280 others have died since the outbreak of the pandemic in Afghanistan, reported Pajhwok. (ANI)
This announcement will be made at a meeting of top civilian and military leadership of the country, Dawn newspaper reported.

On Sunday, Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had announced that Imran Khan had summoned a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to review the country's first-ever national security policy on December 27.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of the National Security Council tomorrow, in which the first national security policy in the history of the country will be presented for approval," the Pak minister had said in a tweet.

The NSC is Pakistan's highest forum for coordination on security matters and is attended by key federal ministers, the national security adviser, services chiefs and intelligence officials.

This will be Pakistan's first-ever National Security Policy in a documented form, The Express Tribune reported.

The Pakistani publication said that the draft puts economic and military security at the core of policy and outlines the challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan in the coming years.

Aside from the military and economic issues, the document throws light on Pakistan's water security as well as population growth, terrorism and foreign policy. (ANI)
Japan's Defense Ministry on Sunday said that five vessels sailed north, from the Pacific Ocean to the East China Sea, through the waters. They are believed to be returning to China after ending a series of exercises, reported the japan times.

The Liaoning-led fleet sailed south in the waters between the Okinawa main island and Miyakojima on December 16.

This was the first time since April for the Liaoning to sail back and forth in the waters between the main island of Okinawa and Miyakojima, reported the japan times.

Over two days from December 19, fighter jets and a helicopter repeatedly practiced landing on and taking off from the Liaoning in the high seas near the Okinawa islands of Kitadaitojima and Okidaitojima.

Japanese ships including the Izumo destroyer of the Maritime Self-Defense Force were sent on a surveillance mission, reported the japan times.

The Japanese ministry is on high alert because China is believed to be trying to beef up its military's operational capabilities. (ANI)
Amid the growing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan, a senior Russian diplomat has said that UN personnel are forced to bring in cash to the country because the banking system is not working due to US sanctions. "By the end of the year, donors have pledged to transfer USD 1.2 billion to humanitarian organizations, nearly double the USD 606 million originally requested by the UN. At the same time, the banking system in Afghanistan is not functioning, so it is impossible to transfer the promised money to the country's population," Petr Ilichev, Director of the Department of International Organizations at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Sputnik. "UN personnel have to bring cash with them," he added. Earlier this month, the US had said that it was allowing certain transactions involving the Taliban or Haqqani Network for governmental and non-governmental organizations doing humanitarian work in Afghanistan. The UN Security Council last week unanimously adopted a resolution clearing the way for aid to reach Afghans in desperate need of basic support while preventing funds from falling into the hands of the Taliban. UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, who is also Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, described the Council's passage of resolution 2615 as "evidence of how seriously Member States take the shocking levels of need and suffering in the country." Key provisions of the resolution allow for the processing and payment of funds, other financial assets or economic resources, and the provision of goods and services necessary to ensure the timely delivery of assistance. According to Griffiths, humanitarian operations in Afghanistan are set to be the largest anywhere in the world in 2022, reaching some 22 million people. Some 160 national and international organizations are providing critical food and health assistance, as well as education, water and sanitation, and support to agriculture. "We urgently need to ramp up this work," he stressed. (ANI)
Kapila Bandara, writing in the Sunday Times said that Sri Lanka's trade with China, including tea shipments, steadily declined in 2020. Separately, its meagre bilateral trade with wealthy Hong Kong, a world-leading trade and financial services centre, has fallen sharply in the five years to 2020.

Sri Lanka's exports to China in 2020 have dropped to USD 223 million, from USD 229.06m in 2019, and down from USD 230.59 million in 2018, data from Sri Lanka Customs, Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Export Development Board show, reported the Sunday Times.

Out of Sri Lanka's total trade, China accounted for just 2.22 per cent in 2020, compared with the United States absorbing 24.9 per cent, the UK taking up 9.06 per cent and Germany buying 5.68 per cent of goods.

Sri Lanka's biggest trade imbalance is with China at a negative USD 3.35 billion in 2020. Imports from China have swelled to USD 3.57 billion compared with just USD 223 million goods China buys from Sri Lanka. Trade data does not show any purchases of fruit from Sri Lanka, said Bandara.

The worsened trade picture reflects the foreign debt binge that began with the Mahinda Rajapaksa government issuing Sri Lanka's first international sovereign bond of USD 500 million in 2007 at a fixed annual coupon of 8.25 per cent, and which inevitably birthed the 'economic Halloween' that scared the life out of Sri Lankans, thousands of whom are leaving, reported the Sunday Times.

On December 17, Fitch Ratings downgraded Sri Lanka's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to 'CC', from 'CCC', citing "an increased probability of a default event in coming months''. Moody's downgraded Sri Lanka in October.

This weaker trade picture with Hong Kong emerges from Census and Statistics Department data cited by Hong Kong Trade Development Council, an agency reputed for its integrity and research excellence.

Hong Kong's merchandise exports to Sri Lanka fell by 10.3 per cent from 2016 to 2020; from USD 511.7 million (Rs 103.11 billion; calculated at a bank exchange rate of Rs 201.50 per US dollar) in 2016, to USD 431.1 million (Rs 86.82 billion) in 2020.

Hong Kong's imports from Sri Lanka have also dropped by 20.9 per cent from 2016 to 2020, sliding from USD 122.9 million in 2016 to USD 107.3 million in 2020, said Bandara. (ANI)
The Dhabeji industrial zone (DIZ) project in Thatta has been delayed as the Sindh High Court (SHC) has reserved judgement on a petition challenging the award of a contract for developing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority project in the area. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Affairs Khalid Mansoor on Sunday expressed his displeasure over the delay and said that three other special economic zones (SEZs) are part of the corridor project were near completion, reported Dawn. Mansoor, who is also the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, told Dawn that the judgement reserved by the SHC on December 6 is yet to be announced. According to a notification, the winter holidays of the high court started on Sunday and will continue until January 9. "It is believed that the judgement will be announced after winter vacations of the court," a senior official of Sindh Economic Zones Management Company (SEZMC) said. The CPEC Authority has already submitted an official statement to the SHC, expressing satisfaction over the bidding process and that no irregularity had been committed in the award of the contract. A SEZMC document shows the Dhabeji industrial zone will be declared a special economic zone later since it is a part of the CPEC, reported Dawn. The project, spread over 1,500 acres, is being executed in a joint collaboration with the federal government, the Sindh government and the CPEC Authority to make it a hub of major economic activity in the province. The award of the contract was challenged in the SHC with the plea that SEZ rules had not been followed in awarding the contract. The Sindh government is of the view that since the DIZ has not been given the status of an SEZ, the rules of special economic zones were not applied to it, reported Dawn. Sources said the successful bidder had not yet signed an agreement with the Sindh government amid litigation. Under the contract, the successful firm will undertake designing, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the Dhabeji industrial zone on a build, own, operate and transfer basis. The DIZ is located near the port city of Karachi, some 35 kilometres from the M-9 motorway, close to seaports of Bin Qasim Port and Karachi Port. (ANI)
Russia, China and Iran are among "hostile nations" that pose cyber security concerns to the UK, said the country's Minister of State for Security and Borders Damian Hinds and accused these countries of launching disinformation campaigns. "The three countries that I mentioned to you have the physical human capability, they have a big cyber presence, they're able to deploy at scale," Hinds told UK's The Telegraph, as quoted by Russian news agency Sputnik. The minister said the above three countries "are involved in multiple ways" in terms of spies on the ground, cyber-attacks, soldiers on standby, and disinformation campaigns. He also added that North Korea is a fourth hostile state. The UK spy chief last month had said MI6 will have to become "more open to stay secret" and work with tech companies to counter threats posed by countries like Russia who seek to gain an advantage by mastering emerging technologies. Moore added that the UK was seeing serious threats emanating from Russia and was going to make every effort to contain and repel the threats. Later, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the provocative statements by the head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service about the threats emanating from Russia have hampered the chances of a possible bilateral dialogue. (ANI)
A silent revolt is brewing among young workers in China, which largely escaped the world's notice due to China's stringent control over all social media platforms, according to a media report. 2021 saw the initial stirrings of a silent revolt among young workers in the country, a signal that a major pillar of economic competitiveness, may be weaker than they seem. This protest started in August this year with the "Workers Lives Matter" movement that lamented the exploitative work practices common across the country's biggest companies. This movement brought to light the infamous 996 work schedule that has persisted in Chinese companies for years despite ongoing public outcry. Despite ample support for the movement, references to it on social media disappeared off the internet. According to Taiwan News, the dissatisfaction with jobs in China has revealed how unhappy young people in the country really are. Popular trends on social media like "involution," "lying flat," and "sang culture" show young Chinese people's dissatisfaction. Oxford University anthropologist Xiang Biao has described involution as single-minded market competition becoming a way of life, a fundamental method for organizing society, and a way of allocating resources. Experts believe that the ruling Chinese Communist Party regime is directly responsible for this. Xiang Biao has argued that subcultures like involution are the direct result of Chinese policies. "Everyone in China has the same goals: Earn more money, buy a home of more than 100 square meters, own a car, start a family, and so on," Xiang told Sixth Tone in an interview. "This route is very well-marked, and everyone is highly integrated. People are all fighting for the same things within this market," he went on. Xiang explained how heated competition began in the '90s; the reason people are raising the question of involution now is that the 'last bus' (being afraid of missing out and being left behind) has passed. "The lower class still hopes to change its fate, but the middle and upper classes aren't so much looking upward, and they are marked by a deep fear of falling downward. Their greater fear is perhaps losing what they already have." (ANI)
A 60-foot-wide main stage has been decorated with tri-colour party flags, banners and life-size portraits of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and other central leaders of the party, reported Dawn.

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other key leaders will be addressing participants at Bhuttos' mausoleum consisting of party workers and admirers of the Benazir who had started pouring in from different corners of the country.

Homage was paid to the slain PPP chairperson at a programme titled 'Yaad-i-Benazir Conference' held under the auspices of the party's youth wing at the Sir Shahnawaz Bhutto Memorial Library, reported Dawn.

Speakers said that the October 18 (Karsaz) and December 27 (Benazir's assassination) tragedies were part of a single conspiracy, and demanded inclusion of the names of then Pakistan president Gen Pervez Musharraf and Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim in the investigation.

Presiding over the conference, Sindh PPP President Nisar Khuhro said that in order to gag the voice of people and snatch their right to rule, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was implicated in a false case and hanged. His daughter Benazir Bhutto was also assassinated to achieve the same objective, he said, reported Dawn.

On the eve of the 14th death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto, a book authored by the former interior minister and senior PPP leader Senator A Rehman Malik was also launched in Islamabad on Sunday.

Titled The Assassination of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, the book revealed the conspiracy and facts behind the high-profile murder.

Published in English and Urdu, the book consists of 28 chapters carrying details of characters involved in the Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi, incident. It is available to people for free, reported Dawn.

Earlier, Sindh Government announced a public holiday on December 27.

Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, while attending a rally in Rawalpindi.

Benazir Bhutto, who has been the only female prime minister in Pakistan, was assassinated on December 27, 2007, during a rally in Rawalpindi. (ANI)
After the nadir of 2020, alas there was little improvement in the COVID-19 pandemic this past year. Although China continued to deny culpability for its spread from Wuhan, the virus left its indelible imprint on world affairs. For communist China's part, it maintained a great wall of quarantine. Presently, Xian's 13 million inhabitants are under lockdown as the Chinese city struggles to cope with a Delta outbreak. The nation adopted a strict COVID-19 elimination policy, even though it has failed everywhere else. To date, China has confirmed more than 113,000 COVID-19 cases and 4,849 deaths. However, the toll is likely higher than this, because many believe Beijing has played down the figures. It is understandable why China is attempting a zero-cases policy, since domestic vaccines are not effective against emerging variants like Omicron, especially compared to Western vaccines that use mRNA. This is particularly ominous for China, because COVID could spread like wildfire amongst a population where thereis little natural immunity. China may have to administer a new vaccine to 1.4 billion citizens. Moving on from COVID-19, there was hardening international denunciation of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2021, continuing a trend that intensified last year. Various reasons for opprobrium include China's aggressive "wolf warrior" diplomacy, trade wars and diplomatic bullying of countries like Lithuania, brutal treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and its subjugation of Hong Kong. China is conducting a ferocious propaganda campaign against those who censure its suppression of Xinjiang, where more than a million Uighurs are forcibly incarcerated in concentration camps. Muslims, in what many claim is genocide, are imprisoned without trial for indeterminate periods, families are rent asunder, and Islamic and ethnic practices are systematically being eradicated. An expose of official documents indicates that Chairman Xi Jinping bears full responsibility for this pogrom, with Chen Quanguo as its chief architect. Interestingly, after five years as CCP secretary in Xinjiang, in late December it was announcedChen would be replaced. It is unknown what his next post will be, but it will presumably be a reward for his draconian efforts. Because of China's behavior in Xinjiang, international pressure has ramped up. The USA passed the Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act in December, effectively banning importation of materials like cotton, tomatoes and polysilicon from the region. The USA has already imposed a diplomatic boycott on the 2022 Winter Olympics hosted by China. Other nations are doing the same, though not all are brave enough to call it a "boycott". Xi is wary of such public criticism from the global community. When Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, the CCP used it to showcase the country. The same now, Xi wants to bask in the reflected glory of next February's Olympics, and so he requires the event to pass off uneventfully. China is now vulnerable and sensitive to criticism, so expect China to react with all guns blazing and vicious rhetoric against any detractors. Boycotts represent an extreme loss of face for China, so it will do all it can to lessen the impact of any reproof leading up to the Winter Olympics. Amidst Xi's paranoia, freedoms continue to diminish in China. Next March, for instance, a law entitled Measures for Administration of Internet Religious Information Services will come into effect. It bans any unlicensed online group from spreading religious beliefs or ceremonies, such as Christmas, for example. Xi said on 4 December that religions can only be developed in the Chinese context, and that his government must "provide active guidance for the adaptation of religions to socialist society". In other words, Xi claims the right to shape religious belief to suit his vision for China. Xi also said the law was necessary to safeguard "national security". This phrase is all encompassing, but it is probably better thought of as safeguarding CCP rather than national security. The party is going to extraordinary lengths to ensure it is the onlysystem worthy of loyalty and worship; no opposition is brooked. This attitude is seen in the ongoing subjugation of Hong Kong, where a National Security Law passed on 30 June 2020 is wielded as a shotgun blast against any who dare oppose the CCP and its puppet government led by Carrie Lam. December elections were a parody of CCP control, with China deciding which "patriots" could contest seats. A mere 30.2% of the population turned out to vote. Most pro-democracy figures are either in prison on spurious charges, or have fled Hong Kong. The populace has been muzzled and, around Christmas time, Tiananmen Square monuments in various universities were removed late at night to avoid publicity and to expunge traces of the CCP's 1989 massacre. Attending the once-annual candlelight vigil for Tiananmen Square victims is now enough to earn a prison sentence. Soon there will be little difference between Hong Kong and China, as civil liberties are restricted and freedoms of expression stifled. The Hong Kong Police use this overarching National Security Law to crack down on any dissent. Hong Kong's most vocal anti-government newspaper, the Apple Daily, was forced to shut down in June 2021, and its owner Jimmy Lai is serving a months- long prison sentence. All media and all Hong Kongers have been muzzled. Similarly, the Committee to Protect Journalists gave a gloomy summary of 2021, with more reporters imprisoned than ever before. Of 293 journalists imprisoned around the world, China is the worst protagonist with 50 journalists currently in jail. Something peculiar happened when President Joe Biden convened the Summit for Democracy on 9-10 December. China, of course, was not invited, but how odd that it mounted a public relations campaign highlighting its "democratic" credentials. Beijing saw Biden's meeting as a Summit against China and, just a few days earlier, the CCP released a white paper entitled China: Democracy that Works. It alleged, in gobbledygook, "Whole-process people's democracy integrates process-oriented democracy with results-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, and people's democracy with the will of the state. It is a model of socialist democracy that covers all aspects of thedemocratic process and all sectors of society. It is a true democracy that works." Ironically, the CCP does not believe democracy and dictatorship are opposed. The white paper again: "Democracy and dictatorship appear to be a contradiction in terms, but together they ensure the people's status as masters of the country. A tiny minority is sanctioned in the interests of the great majority, and 'dictatorship' serves democracy." Nobody in their right mind could accuse China of being a democracy, so it is hard to understand why China painted itself as one, especially when it likes to spout forth the wonders of socialism with Chinese characteristics. This is typical of Chinese obfuscation, where light and dark, black and white, are interchangeable. The State Council stated that a key criterion of whether a country's political order is democratic is "whether a country's leadership echelon can orderly replace itself according to law". These words could prove fateful. Xi already rewrote theconstitution and abolished term limits on his presidency, plus he magnifies the greatness of his own personality. There is little chance that supreme leader Xi is planning for any democratic transfer of power! This personality cult glorifying Xi could boomerang against him as economic and social realities begin to bite. China made great advances when it abandoned theSoviet-style of total control and opened up the economy beginning with Deng Xiaoping. However, Xi has dramatically reversed course and returned China to absolutist central control. As economic woes grow - as growth slows and more countries impose sanctions - Xi will likely face growing hostility at home. The state of China's powerful real-estate developers - the effectively bankrupt Evergrand, for example - is emblematic of thetroubled state of the economy. The Belt and Road Initiative continues to receive considerable investment, but China cannot splash money around as freely as before. Xi's political enemies may be able to leverage China's horrendous human rights record; its plummeting relations with the likes of Australia, Europe and the USA; his personality cult; his tight control over every aspect of Chinese life; and his reversal of decades-old policies. There is plenty of ammunition for them to use. As Hong Kong academic Dr. Willy Wo-Lap Lam wrote for The Jamestown Foundation, "In sum, the Xi leadership's frantic defense of the national record on human rights and other issues - plus the 'core's' paranoia about losing his all- embracing authority - has betrayed signs of malaise that permeates the CCP's top echelons." The demise of Donald Trump's presidency did not bring about improvements in relations with the USA. President-for-life Xi perhaps hoped that Joe Biden's inauguration would give the two countries a fresh start. In fact, Biden seems just as determined as Trump to counter Chinese belligerence. More than that, Biden's inclusion of allies and more predictable trajectory could be even more harmful for Xi. Political headwinds at home also help explain Xi's resort to nationalism to rally the nation. This year, more than ever before, Beijing has threatened and browbeaten Taiwan. Its rhetoric against the island nation, and repeated military flights and naval activities, are designed primarily for the benefit of Chinese domestic consumption. Machinations of war are a way of rallying support, and fostering an "us versus them" attitude, helps take people's minds off other unpleasant realities caused by Xi's policies. However, freely playing the nationalism card is a very dangerous ploy, for it creates an expectation in the people and swings China in a martial direction. Unsurprisingly, then, Western analysts are increasingly warning that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will take aggressive action against Taiwan sometime this decade. It would be the ultimate feather in Xi's cap to bring Taiwan into the CCP's fold. However, China's bellicosity has had an opposite reaction beyond its borders, with opinion against China hardening in Taiwan, and the USA and allies like Australia and Japan contemplating how to deter Chinese military action. While an outright military invasion of Taiwan is the least likely course of action for Xi, other alternatives are open to him. Perhaps occupying an outlying Taiwanese island would send the right message, or instigate a confrontation with its maritime militia. Taiwan and its friends must therefore be on total guard against Chinese subterfuge. The PLA plows on with its modernization. Examples include two types of prototypical stealth fighters that broke cover this year - one a twin-seat version of the J-20 for the PLA Air Force, the other a new carrier-borne fighter for the PLA Navy. There was no sign of the stealthy H-20 strategic bomber in 2021, though. Actually, the most startling military revelations concerned the PLA Rocket Force. Throughout the year, several vast fields of siloes for intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) were discovered. Still under construction, these will likely accommodate nuclear-armed DF-41 ICBMs able to strike the USA. The Pentagon's 2021 China Military Power Report predicted that China will quadruple its nuclear stockpile to 1,000 weapons by 2030. Last year's Pentagon report warned of "only" a doubling of China's nuclear arsenal, so such a radical reassessment indicates a major shift in Chinese nuclear policy. No longer accepting US nuclear primacy, Beijing has moved away from the minimum deterrence to "limited deterrence" with an operational nuclear triad of land, sea and air platforms. Additionally, China will "increase the peacetime readiness" of the PLARF and move to a "launch-on-warning posture with an expanded silo-based force," the Pentagon warned. The mysterious test in July/August of a fractional orbital bombardment system, where a rocket launched a warhead into orbit around the Earth and then struck a target, also caused jaws to drop. China is pursuing exotic and sophisticated means of countering US military dominance, so expect more such surprises in the year ahead in areas like missiles, space and hypersonics.One positive point is that this past year there was no bloody confrontation along the Sino-Indian border as there had been in 2020. Neither side has backed down - for both have reinforced postures and built supporting infrastructure such as helipads and barracks - but neither has China pushed as aggressively. Nonetheless, expect China to probe to see how determined India is to defend its frontier. China's assertion of jurisdiction over the South China Sea will continue to cause trouble. In 2021, the UK sent a carrier strike group through the sea, and even Germany sent a frigate to Asia-Pacific, illustrating stiffening resolve from Europe against China's illegal claims over international waters. The US Navy's regular freedom of navigation operations near the Paracel and Spratly Islands, plus Taiwan Strait transits, left China enraged. Expect China to be robust in asserting claims in the South China Sea in 2022. In a dangerously volatile mixture of national hubris, China has increasingly demonstrated a propensity to bully, plus the PLA is spoiling for a fight. Deng Xiaoping's axiom of "hide your strength, bide your time" has been abandoned by Xi. Unfortunately, as he faces greater pressures within and without, Xi may well show even greater tolerance for military aggression. (ANI)
Farmajo accused Roble of being involved in corruption and misuse of public lands in a statement, which came a day after he accused Roble of failing to steer the electoral process to a successful conclusion.

"The work and powers of the Prime Minister have been suspended pending an investigation," Farmajo said.

Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled will be the acting prime minister, Farmajo said, noting that Roble will remain suspended until the conclusion of the investigations into Roble.

Farmajo called on all government officials to refrain from misappropriating public lands and to abide by the laws and regulations of the country.

The president's statement came hours after Roble made two appointments, which Farmajo believed to be aimed at disrupting the ongoing investigations by the defense ministry.

Analysts say the current political rift between the two top leaders will again delay the electoral process slated to conclude by early 2022. Parliamentary elections which began on Nov. 1 have already been suspended after only 24 out of 275 lawmakers have been elected.

The country's electoral body had set December 24 as the deadline for the completion of the parliamentary elections. (ANI/Xinhua)
The News International reported that a convoy of the security forces was attacked with a remote-controlled blast, leaving three soldiers and a civilian injured.

The injured were rushed to the Combined Military Hospital in Bannu, as per the publication.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is set to announce its first-ever National Security Policy today, which would cover all internal and external security aspects.

This announcement will be made at a meeting of top civilian and military leadership of the country, Dawn newspaper reported.

On Sunday, Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had announced that Imran Khan had summoned a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to review the country's first-ever national security policy on December 27. (ANI)
Pakistan's current gas supply is aggravated by a delay in Gunvor Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) cargo supply in December than it was contracted. The Singapore-based LNG trading company, Gunvor, delivered 30 per cent less LNG cargo in December than it was contracted to supply, creating acute gas shortages in the current month. But the crisis is likely to continue in the first month of the new year also as the same company has refused to provide the term cargo on January 10-11, according to News International. Further, the current crisis comes at a time when the system gas production has already dwindled by 1 billion cubic feet from 4,200mmcfd to just 3,200mmcfd. Meanwhile, the Pakistan government's failure in ensuring four spot LNG cargoes (two each in December and January) and 30 per cent default by Gunvor in December aggravated the situation, according to News International. Furthermore, it's expected that 100 per cent default by the same company on January 10-11 2022 would worsen the gas crisis next month and it's believed that this is more of a ruse for profit-taking due to unprecedented volatility in the international market. Earlier, the companies selling the term cargoes in the spot market is eyeing to reap windfall profits due to a 400 percent surge in LNG prices to USD 50 per MMBTU, and therefore not ready to commit to supplying on January 10-11 at the previously contracted rates. Further, it is against this backdrop of increased profits that the company is even ready to pay the 30 percent cost of the term cargoes, for the damage incurred instead of providing replacement cargo for another month, as sought by the Pakistan LNG Limited, according to News International. (ANI)
According to Xinhua news agency, Afghanistan's national power company statement said: "Hafiz Mohammad Amin, CEO of Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS) and his accompanying delegation have signed a contract of importing electricity with Tajik Electricity company for the year of 2022 during an official visit to Tajikistan."

The agreement was signed as a result of two-day negotiations between the two sides, the media outlet said.

During the trip, comprehensive discussions were held between the two sides on regional connectivity and development projects such as CASA 1000 and construction of 500 KV line in the energy sector, which will bring positive results in the near future, the statement cited by Xinhua read.

It added that during the visit, the Afghan delegation emphasized the importance of cooperation with Tajikistan.

Afghanistan has been facing power shortages. The mountainous country needs 850 megawatts of electricity per year, with 620 megawatts imported from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, and 230 megawatts supplied from domestic sources, according to the DABS officials. (ANI)
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's recent remarks at the 17th extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers that 'Taliban are basically - predominantly - a Pashtun movement' has not gone well with various sections of Pakistan and Afghan society. In an opinion piece in The News International, a political analyst, said that it seems that the premier has got it terribly wrong while distinguishing between ethnic movements and religious movements. Although the Afghan Taliban are ethnically Pashtuns, their movement is purely religiously oriented. This is not the first time that PM Khan has expressed his unenlightened and even ill-informed remarks on Pashtun ethnicity, Qasim Khan writes. He has been articulating 'derogatory' statements about Pashtun nationalism repeatedly on different platforms, he adds. The author highlights that it is not the first time that Imran Khan has expressed his unenlightened and even ill-informed remarks on Pashtun ethnicity. He has been articulating 'derogatory' statements about Pashtun nationalism repeatedly on different platforms, he says. Two months back, PM Imran Khan called the Pashtuns the 'most xenophobic people on earth'. Contrary to what Imran Khan has been saying, the Taliban themselves, on various occasions, consider their movement a purely religiopolitical one. "Pashtuns are not terrorists but the victims of terrorism. PM Imran Khan's consistent dubbing of the Pashtuns with an outlawed terrorist organisation has not only received anger from Pashtun nationalists across the country but also triggered disintegration," he points out. It is quite ironic that the PM has been condemning Islamophobia in the West while also 'glorifying' the Pashtun's image as that of a violent, terrorist, and xenophobic ethnic group, notes the author. "So, baseless and blatant racist generalisations - and that too by the head of government - can lead to serious consequences. Rather than resolving their issues and bringing them closer, the PM is continuously putting salt on the wounds of the aggrieved Pashtuns," he says "Pakistan cannot afford the cost of another 'alienation', and inclusiveness is the only way forward. PM Imran Khan should choose his words really carefully while speaking at public fora because every single word he says not only matters but is counted too," he adds. (ANI)
Beirut [Lebanon], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday that parliamentary elections in the country will be held on May 15, while nationals living abroad will be able to cast their votes on May 6 or 8. "I have signed a decree concerning the House of Representatives elections with following dates: elections of the territory of Lebanon will be held on May 15, 2022. Employees engaged in the elections process can cast their votes on May 12, 2022," Mawlawi posted on Twitter. Mawlawi added that Lebanese nationals living abroad can cast their votes on Friday, May 6, 2022, or on Sunday, May 8, 2022, depending on which of these two days are weekdays in specific country of residence. (ANI/Sputnik)
Activists representing 1,001 civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, staged a press conference in front of the Presidential Palace or Cheong Wa Dae earlier in the day, calling for the withdrawal of the amnesty, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"President Moon Jae-in's unilateral pardon for ex-President Park, whom the people ousted through candlelit (rallies), constitutes a challenge to South Korea's democracy," KCTU chief Yang Kyung-soo said.

"History will remember Moon as a sinner who flouted democracy and turned back the advance of the wheel of history."

The angry protesters also stressed the pardon may engender "seeds of discord" that could in turn originate "excessive social dissipation."

On December 24, the government announced special pardons for Park and some 3,000 other convicts in celebration of the new year.

The special amnesty, granted by Moon, was decided in consideration of Park's deteriorating health.

Park has been serving a combined 22-year prison sentence since March 2017 after being impeached and removed from office over far-reaching corruption charges and an influence-peddling scandal.

--IANS ksk/

( 222 Words)

2021-12-27-13:48:03 (IANS)
"Eighteen soldiers were killed today in the battle in the desert area of al-Balak al-Sharki in southern Marib," the source told Xinhua news agency late Sunday.

"There were also many Houthis killed in the battle by airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition," he said, without providing a specific number.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported 16 coalition airstrikes on al-Balak al-Sharki area without providing further details.

The Iran-backed militia have made major advances in the past months in Marib, seizing control of several districts around the government-controlled central city.

In February, the rebel group began a major offensive to capture the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

--IANS ksk/

( 150 Words)

2021-12-27-13:50:04 (IANS)
Moon made the remark during a luncheon for the executives of companies taking part in a government-led youth jobs project called "Youth Hope ON", reports Yonhap News Agency.

"South Korea's rise to an advanced nation, despite its small territory and lack of natural resources, was thanks to our well-educated and excellent talent and abundant human resources," the President said. "Talent is the surest destination of a business' investment."

The luncheon was attended by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo and POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.

Moon expressed his appreciation to Samsung and Hyundai for their respective efforts to nurture a talented workforce.

This was the first meeting between Moon and the Samsung vice chairman since Lee was released from prison on parole in August.

Moon also said the responsibility to create good jobs ultimately falls on businesses, even though the government can provide its full support.

"I ask that you become the secure support of young people, so that they do not descend into a lost generation due to Covid-19," he said.

--IANS ksk/

( 231 Words)

2021-12-27-14:06:03 (IANS)
According to Russian news agency Sputnik, a ministerial task force will be set up by Seoul to discuss the possible outcomes of joining the CPTPP, Hong noted during a meeting with trade and export officials, Sputnik reported citing the Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is aiming to finish the first step in a long and complicated admission process in mid-April 2022 by fast-track building of social consensus on the matter, Hong added.

CPTPP is a major free-trade bloc made up of 11 nations including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam with the objective of supporting sustainable and inclusive economic development.

CPTPP was launched on December 30, 2018.

Sputnik reported that according to the block's rules, the accession process is preceded by several rounds of talks, both inside the CPTPP and with the applicant state, creation of working groups and completion of necessary reforms.

At the start of September, China officially applied to join CPTPP. The UK has also formally applied to join the pact on February 1 this year, and its accession process began on June 2, it added. (ANI)
The United Nations special envoy to Myanmar on Monday expressed she is "deeply concerned" by escalating violence in the country and called for a new year ceasefire between the military and its opponents. Citing a local monitoring group, CNA media outlet reported that nationwide protests against the military's February coup have been met with a bloody crackdown, with more than 1,300 people killed and over 11,000 arrested. Special envoy Noeleen Heyzer "is deeply concerned by the continued escalation of violence in Kayin State and other parts of Myanmar", she said in her first statement since she was appointed in October. She also called for "all parties to... allow humanitarian assistance to be provided to those in need, including those forced to flee the violence", and for all sides to come to a new year ceasefire, CNA reported. Meanwhile, UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths in a statement today said that authorities in Myanmar must investigate a recent deadly attack against civilians in Kayah state. Griffiths said he was "horrified" by reports that at least 35 people, including at least one child, were killed in the attack, which occurred on Friday. They reportedly were forced from their vehicles, killed and burned. Two humanitarian workers from the aid organization Save the Children remain missing, he added, having been caught up in the violence. Their private vehicle was attacked and burned. "I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country, which are prohibited under international humanitarian law," said Griffiths. The UN continues to monitor developments in Myanmar in the wake of the military coup in February. Earlier this month, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said it was appalled by the alarming escalation of grave human rights abuses. Spokesperson Rupert Colville said serious violations are "reported daily of the rights to life, liberty and security of person, the prohibition against torture, the right to a fair trial, and freedom of expression." (ANI)
The law was passed last month with a majority vote giving total control to the provincial government over municipal organisations.

The Pak Sarzameen Party and Jamaat-i-Islami are holding their separate demonstrations, while the Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen announced a multiparty conference (MPC) scheduled to be held on Wednesday.

Only on Saturday, opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan and Grand Democratic Alliance had formed a three-party steering committee to fight PPP's new LG law and announced their first meeting for Monday.

The Sindh Local Government (Amendment) Bill 2021 has already become law despite the fact that the governor had refused to give his assent to it.

All the opposition parties have already rejected the legislation terming it a 'black law' and geared up against it in a bid to pressure the ruling PPP to reverse it.

Amid 'Go Zardari Go' slogan, PSP Chairman Syed Mustafa Kamal on Sunday announced launching what he called a decisive movement from Jan 2 against the LG law. (ANI)
The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs slipped 1.5 percentage points to 55.3 per cent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party fell 0.4 percentage points to 32.7 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party won 37.2 per cent of support last week, down 2.0 percentage points from the previous week.

The minor centre-right People's Party gained a 7.9 percent of approval score, followed by the minor centre-left Open Democratic Party with 6.4 per cent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.5 per cent.

As for the approval rating of presidential candidates, support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung advanced 1.7 percentage points over the week to 39.7 per cent last week.

Support for the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol declined 4 percentage points to 40.4 per cent last week.

The country's presidential election is scheduled for March 9, 2022.

--IANS ksk/

( 191 Words)

2021-12-27-14:44:05 (IANS)
Minsk [Belarus], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): The amendments to the Belarusian constitution published on Monday suggest that a person cannot be elected president more than for two terms. "The president of the Republic of Belarus is elected for a term of five years directly by the people on the basis of universal, free, equal and direct voting by secret ballot. The same person cannot be the president for more than two terms," the draft constitution read. Moreover, the draft suggests that the president can introduce the state of emergency in the country in the event of a coup, a massive unrest and attempts to violently change the constitutional order threatening the existence of the state and endangering Belarusian nationals. (ANI/Sputnik)
A shocking video showing a crossbow-wielding man threatening to "assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre" has emerged, after a 19-year-old who scaled the Windsor Castle's spiked fence was sectioned, the Daily Mail reported. The footage which was obtained by The Sun shows the man, thought to be the arrested suspect, holding a black crossbow and using a distorted voice as he makes threats down the camera. Jaswant Singh Chail uploaded the pre-recorded video to Snapchat on Christmas Day, 24 minutes before a man was arrested by police inside the grounds of Windsor Castle. Known to friends as Jas, he used a filter to distort his voice and wore a disturbing hoodie and mask - an outfit thought to be inspired by the 'Star Wars', the Daily Mail report said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family. This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated on because of their race. I'm an Indian Sikh, a Sith. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Jones," he says in the video. Sith may be a reference to the leading villains in Star Wars while Darth Jones may relate to James Earl Jones who voiced Darth Vader. A framed picture of Star Wars character Darth Malgus was visible in the background of the clip, the Daily Mail report said. The police confirmed that a crossbow was found after the intruder was detained on December 25 in the castle grounds while the Queen was in residence. Police will be looking at how the intruder was able to scale the spiked perimeter fence surrounding the Berkshire castle's grounds in the first place. It is believed he had a makeshift ladder to gain access from the Long Walk, which royals frequently use because of its proximity to the Queen's private apartments, the report added. Alongside the video ,a message was also sent on Snapchat which said: "I'm sorry to all of those who I have wronged or lied to. "If you have received this then my death is near. Please share this with whoever and if possible get it to the news if they're interested." The suspect, who police have not yet named, was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act. (Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in) --IANS san/ksk/ ( 434 Words) 2021-12-27-15:14:03 (IANS)
Afghanistan traders have urged the Taliban regime to hand over the contract concerning operations at the Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport to the United Arab Emirates. This comes as reports have emerged that Qatar and Turkey might control the operations at the airport. The traders believe that businessmen have been investing in the UAE and their activity may be hindered if Qatar or Turkey took control, Tolo News reported. Last Thursday, officials from Qatar and Turkey visited Afghanistan to discuss operations at the Kabul International Airport. The agreement also included airports in the provinces of Balkh, Herat, Kandahar and Khost. Afghan Transportation Ministry spokesman Imamuddin Ahmadi said the parties did not reach the agreement, adding that consultations would continue until the agreement is concluded. "This contract is important for the Afghans who are living here. This contract should be given to the UAE. If the flights between Kabul-UAE are halted, the traders will face serious problems," the head of the Afghanistan traders council in the UAE, Obaidullah Sadar Khail, said as quoted by the Afghan news agency TOLOnews. The council noted that more than 200,000 Afghans have settled in the UAE and invested millions of dollars in the country and added that daily there were about 10 flights between the countries prior to regime change. Former Afghan officials have a different point of view, saying that international norms and other measures will improve aviation services provided by the country and will increase income. (ANI)
A career diplomat from the 1989 batch of the Indian Foreign Service, Misri was appointed as India's Ambassador to Beijing in 2019. The Ministry of External Affairs had earlier this month appointed Pradeep Kumar Rawat as the next ambassador to China.

Misri has served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs, in the Prime Minister's Office in New Delhi and in various Indian missions abroad in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.

He was Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi (May 2014-July 2014) and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (October 2012-May 2014).

Misri has also been India's Ambassador to Myanmar and to Spain.

Before joining the government, he worked for three years in the private sector in the fields of advertising and advertising film-making. (ANI)
National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf during the 36th NSC meeting highlighted that Pakistan was shifting to a comprehensive national security framework while the ultimate purpose of national security was to ensure the safety and security of citizens, Dawn reported.

The meeting was informed that the policy had been devised with the consultation of all stakeholders concerned, as per the official statement.

"To ensure this citizen-centric approach to security, the NSP put economic security at the core," Yusuf said.

The security policy meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan with participation from key ministers, chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, all services chiefs, national security advisor, and senior civil and military officers, according to Dawn.

On Sunday, Pakistan Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had announced that Imran Khan had summoned a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to review the country's first-ever national security policy on December 27.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of the National Security Council tomorrow, in which the first national security policy in the history of the country will be presented for approval," the Pak minister had said in a tweet.

The NSC is Pakistan's highest forum for coordination on security matters and is attended by key federal ministers, the national security adviser, services chiefs and intelligence officials.

This will be Pakistan's first-ever National Security Policy in a documented form, The Express Tribune reported.

The Pakistani publication said that the draft puts economic and military security at the core of policy and outlines the challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan in the coming years.

Aside from the military and economic issues, the document throws light on Pakistan's water security as well as population growth, terrorism and foreign policy. (ANI)
India will chair the Counterterrorism Committee of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in January next year. This Committee was formed in September 2001 soon after the tragic terrorist attack of 9/11 in New York, while India had chaired this Committee in the Security Council in 2011-12. Earlier this year, India has been asked to Chair three important Committees of the Security Council, which include the Taliban Sanctions Committee, Counterterrorism Committee, and the Libyan Sanctions Committee. "Happy to announce that Flag of India #India will be chairing 3 key subsidiary bodies of @UN #SecurityCouncil during #IndiainUNSC (2021-22): Rightwards arrow Taliban sanctions committee, Rightwards arrow #CounterTerrorism committee (for 2022), Rightwards arrow #Libya sanctions committee," TS Tirumurti wrote in a tweet in Jaunary. "The Taliban Sanctions Committee, also called the 1988 Sanctions Committee, has always been a high priority for India. Chairing this Committee at this juncture will help keep the focus on the presence of terrorists and their sponsors, threatening the peace process in Afghanistan," Tirumurti had said in a video message attached with the tweet. "India will also chair the Counterterrorism Committee in 2022, which coincides with the 75th Anniversary of India's Independence. The chairing of this Committee has a special resonance for India, which has not only been at the forefront of fighting terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism but has also been one of its biggest victims," he had added. (ANI)
Myanmar's military 'Tatmadaw' is vulnerable to snooping from China's security agencies as the regime tries to tap Beijing's expertise in developing internet firewalls against pro-democracy forces who are seen to have the upper hand in terms of their information reach to global and local online audiences. Further, Chinese security agencies now known to be building Myanmar's firewall against the dissidents are simultaneously able to tap into the Tatmadaw's military computers and potentially access and collect sensitive information in the construction process, according to Asia Times. Further, China has plenty of incentive to tap into the information streams .....after vacillating hot and cold relations and years of mutual suspicion on a range of sensitive security issues. Myanmar military's firepower may be far superior compared to the scattered resistance armies that have popped up nationwide to fight the Tatmadaw since it staged a February 1 coup, but in cyberspace, pro-democracy forces have a tech-savvy upper hand, according to Asia Times.Whether the Tatmadaw is killing civilians, burning villages or arresting activists in the dark of night, eyewitness accounts of the abuse are almost instantaneously spread worldwide over social media. When an army truck rammed a peaceful demonstration in the old capital Yangon, killing and wounding several people, the murderous driver's picture, name and even regimental number were quickly disseminated in online forums, according to Asia Times. International internet watchdog organizations are following closely China's role in helping Myanmar's military regime develop its online blocking and snooping capabilities since the February 1 coup. Myanmar's internationally well-connected and computer-savvy dissidents may be able to detect malware, but the Tatmadaw will be vulnerable given its limited experience in the field and overall lack of cyber know-how. Ultimately, that means Myanmar officials will be cyber-dependent on the very same Chinese technicians who are spying on them, according to Asia Times. (ANI)
Protest increases in Karachi over the killing of young domestic worker at a vacant bungalow A large number of workers and civil society activists belonging to the Thar region held a protest on Sunday to demand justice for a young domestic worker who was brutally murdered in Karachi on December 8, according to News International. Earlier, during the Thar Mazdoor Ittehad's demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club, the agitators demanded that the Sindh government and the police arrest the killers of Shahid Rahimoon, who was killed at a vacant bungalow in Karachi's Khayaban-e-Bukhari area. Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also spoke to the protesters and assured them that he would take up the issue with Sindh's police chief and chief secretary as well as other officials of the provincial government to provide justice to Rahimoon's family. "I have centuries-old relations with Thar's residents, and particularly with the Rahimoon community, so I won't abandon them in such a difficult time," he said. Abdul Waheed, the protest's organiser, said 16-year-old Rahimoon had come to Karachi from Thar for employment. "Recruited as a cook, Rahimoon filled in for a guard going on leave, but on the night of December 8, he was murdered while on guard duty at a vacant house in the DHA area." Unidentified men had broken into the house, tied up Rahimoon and killed him that night. They fled the scene of the crime after the murder. A guard working at a nearby house reported seeing four men scaling the back wall to make their escape, according to reports. Thereafter, Rahimoon's friends visited the house when he had failed to return. There they found his body covered in marks of torture. The group of friends immediately reported the incident to the police. (ANI)
The London police said in a statement that after the man's arrest detectives are assessing the contents of the video.

"I am sorry. I am sorry for what I have done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family," Sputnik quoted a masked person wearing a hoodie and holding a crossbow as saying in the video in a distorted voice.

The police on Sunday had confirmed the arrest of the 19-year-old man from Southampton who was carrying a crossbow within the grounds of Windsor Castle.

The suspect went through a mental health assessment, the police said in the statement, adding that he remains in the care of medical professionals.

The security officials were triggered within the moment of the man entering the grounds, said the statement, adding, he did not enter any buildings in the Queen's residence located west of London. (ANI)
"When someone knows he is incapable of doing a job, he should not pursue his personal interests," TOLOnews quoted one of the Taliban's top members Anas Haqqani as saying at a gathering held in the southeastern province of Logar to mark the 42nd anniversary of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

His remarks came after a video emerged on social media that showed a Taliban man mistreating a former member of security forces. The Taliban fighter slapped and beat the former security forces member. As per the reports, former security member is a lieutenant colonel.

Referring to the Soviet invasion, he said that Afghans should learn how to win their political battles as successfully as they have won on the battlefield in the past.

Stressing that champions have brought independence to the country and to the people, but unfortunately, they failed in political battles, Haqqani said that those who took power were listening to the foreigners.

Haqqani also called on the Taliban forces to remain committed to the general amnesty and treat the people well.

Other top officials of the Taliban also attended the gathering in Logar.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs, called on the Afghans who fled the country to return home. (ANI)
The country in the past seven days has recorded 763,295 infections and 742 deaths, according to the official data released by the UK government.

The Omicron variant is continuously increasing the transmission among people in the country. For some days, the UK has been reporting the highest single-day COVID-19 infections across the world following the emergence of the new variant.

In the wake of the rising cases, the National Health Service in the UK has said that all adults are now eligible to book a COVID-19 booster dose.

The booster helps give you longer-term protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19, NHS added.

Meanwhile, the UK government is urging its citizens to get vaccinated.

"We know two jabs do not give you enough protection against Omicron so whether it is your first, second or booster jab I urge you to book an appointment now," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet on Monday.

He also urged the people to act cautiously given the rising number of Omicron cases.

"Most importantly I urge everyone to get their first, second or booster jab without delay to protect yourselves and your loved ones," Johnson added. (ANI)
Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said that he agreed with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe for the hotline on Monday during his virtual talks with Wei, reported Kyodo News.

Expressing grave concerns over Chinese coast guard ships' activities in waters surrounding the Japanese -administered Senkaku Islands, Kishi at a press conference after the virtual talks said that the early establishment of a hotline between Japanese and Chinese defence authorities is important.

Notably, Beijing makes claim over Senkaku Islands and calls it the Diaoyu islands.

Beijing will "firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty as well as maritime rights and interests" over issues surrounding the Senkaku Islands, the Chinese Defence Ministry quoted Wei as saying.

He also called on Tokyo and Beijing to jointly manage and control risks. The Chinese Minister also emphasised focusing on the overall situation of bilateral relations and striving to maintain stability in the East China Sea, according to Kyodo News.

With regard to the hotline, Kishi said that it will issue enhance the efficiency of the communication mechanism. He also said that since there are issues with China, Japan needs to try and keep having candid communication so Tokyo and Beijing can promote exchanges and foster mutual understanding and confidence. (ANI)
An arson fire at a Milwaukee apartment building Sunday morning displaced about 139 people, according to the Milwaukee Police Department. As of Sunday night, the American Red Cross of Wisconsin said between 18 and 20 people from about 15 units remained displaced by the fire and were being assisted by them.

Around 7:20 a.m., a suspect set an apartment building on the 3100 block of West Wisconsin Avenue on fire, Milwaukee Police said.

No injuries were reported, according to police. Several individuals were evaluated on-scene, but refused transport a hospital, said Deputy Chief William Kowalski of the Milwaukee Fire Department.

The fire appears to have been contained to one unit, Kowalski said, but there was extensive water damage to other units from extinguishing the fire. The fire affected the central part of the apartment complex, with heavy water and smoke damage on the second and third floors, according to the American Red Cross.

Late Sunday night, the organization said that the whole building is without power and has been evacuated. There is no update as to when residents can return to their homes.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter at the Alverno College Gymnasium Sunday afternoon for those affected by the fire.

The organization is providing near-term lodging, health and mental health resources, meals and hygiene items to them, according to Robert Garrett, a public affairs intern. The organization also said it's helping those displaced find permanent housing.

A 19-year-old Milwaukee man was arrested in connection to the fire, according to police. Criminal charges will be referred to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office in the upcoming days.

Contact Hannah Kirby at hannah.kirby@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HannahHopeKirby.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: About 20 people displaced after arson at Milwaukee apartment building
NEW JERSEY  As the second year with COVID and other challenges winds down, lets take a few moments to reflect about things that brought smiles to our faces.

Animals and stories about the humans helping them, are among some of 2021s bright spots to look back on.

From pups being plucked from doggie death row, to rescued swans and fawns, to the birth of a baby sloth, to cats and kittens found to have literally given engines their purr, to first responders saving a range of critters, to humming cicadas and many more, here are some unforgettable 2021 animal stories.

Chunk Takes A Swim

It wasnt just another day on Barnegat Bay on June 22, when New Jersey State Police received a report of a dog taking a dip in the bay. About two weeks earlier on June 7, the human family of Chunk, a 3-year-old golden retriever, reported him missing. In posters and social media posts about Chunk, his family cautioned he was skittish. It took the savvy of two State Troopers, Ryan Koehler and Vincent Ferdinandi, to catch up with Chunk by police vessel, creating a joyous, family reunion.

Firefighters Dive Into Third River To Rescue Pup

Another story about a doggie trying to grab a swim was in the Nutley area, Nutley firefighters wading into the Third River to pick up a dog on the run. This orphaned pup broke loose from his collar on the way to his foster home. When firefighters met up with him, he was trapped near the Chestnut Street bridge. Though one would think he would be happy to see his rescuers, he bit two of them on their fingers. Thankfully, though, he was up-to-date on vaccines and they reunited him with his caretaker.

New Jersey Fawn Rescue Dive Is TikTok Sensation

Heres another story with a misplaced creature, this time a fawn in a Toms River lagoon. On July 3, Chad and Cara Wallace noticed a fawn, its spots still on its coat, struggling to swim in a lagoon adjacent to a graduation party that they attended. After emptying his pockets and taking off his shirt, Chad Wallace, who lives in Ringwood with his wife and three sons, working full-time while raising ducks, dove in to help. After a slight struggle, he emerged with the baby, all captured on video, gaining 7 million TikTok views, the crowd cheering him on delighted as he rescued the fawn. The even greater ending to the story, is they reunited baby with mama, who was in a patch of woods near the lagoon, searching frantically for him, another video-worthy moment.

Story continues





Swan Dives Into The Afternoon Commute

Unlike Chunk who wasnt supposed to be in the bay or the other pooch in the Third River, in a another direction of the state, a swan was out of her element too. Believed to have been separated from her mate, a FedEx driver reported that a stranded swan was on Route 22 in the median one September afternoon in Bridgewater. Animal Control Officer Jesse Ostrowski and Shelter Manager Brian Bradshaw from the Somerset Regional Animal Shelter approached her in a daring rescue, eventually cornering and netting her, the effort in the video below. The swans rescuers relocated her to a nearby pond.







Hawks Given A Helping Hand

It remained a mystery why four injured hawks dropped into Chatham backyards, with residents notifying the police department in June. Chatham Township Police Chief Thomas Miller said potentially the hawks may have each eaten a poisoned rodent, but authorities were still left with questions. Patrolman Sean Lampf though, gained hands-on experience with helping the hawks, literally learning how to handle them, handing them off to the Raptor Trust, a bird rescue in Long Hill Township.

First Baby Sloth Born At Turtle Back Zoo

Births are always special to celebrate and at the Turtle Back Zoo in Essex County, it was no different when a Linneaus's two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus) emerged into the world in June. The infant girl sloth, who needed bottle-feeding every two hours for her first two weeks of life, was taken to the zoos animal shelter for supplemental fluids. The baby was expected to rejoin her parents, Boysenberry and Tayberry, to become an ambassador animal for her species.

Lemonade And Cookie Fundraiser Benefits Pets

A pair of Long Valley siblings, one of them only seven-years-old, had the drive in his heart to help fundraise for animal rescues. After watching a YouTube video on building a lemonade stand, Jessica Catalano said her sons, Sullivan and Tobin teamed up for the project, along with their dad, Rob, then used the stand in July to raise money for Eleventh Hour Rescue. The boys, their mother said, had a rescued kitten at home, along with their dog, rescued from India. At the end of the day, the brothers raised $50 by selling lemonade and cookies their mom prepared, their parents matching the donation, while the rescue raised $275 doing a social media fundraiser for them.

Cranky Morris Plains Shelter Chihuahua Becomes Star

He had a cute name, Prancer and a cute face, but Prancer hated everyone, except women. Arriving to Second Chance Pet Adoption League obese, wearing a cashmere sweater, with a bacon egg n cheese in his crate, the rescue described the dog as too terrified to have a personality. I am convinced at this point he is not a real dog, but more like a vessel for a traumatized Victorian child that now haunts our home, they also wrote. Prancers story made HuffPost, BuzzFeed and Today, the little chihuahua so intriguing to many who watched as Tyfanee Fortuna, his foster mom, attempted to bring him out of his shell.





Man Jams With Cicadas

While the return of the Brood X Cicadas annoyed some with their melodies, Professor David Rothenberg was waiting for them. Having warmed up his clarinet for their arrival in New Jersey, he's previously traveled to Ohio and Illinois to jam with them. Once you hear the sounds of nature as music, it becomes even more beautiful and alive, he told Patch.





Missing Dog Sidelines Couples Honeymoon But Makes Their Thanksgiving

Luba and Ira of Ridgewood were readying for their honeymoon to Tahiti in November, when plans changed after their pooch Presley disappeared. Their dog sitter in Jersey City told them their one-year-old fur baby had escaped from his harness by the light rail tracks near Jersey City Heights. After taping up some posters around Jersey City, a man told them he had seen Presley on the cliffs near Christ Hospital, crying by himself. The couple was able to retrieve him and immediately rushed their boy to the hospital, where he was treated for cut paws. Though they hadnt planned their honeymoon again at that point, they were happy to have their Presley home for Thanksgiving.

Dog Saved From Death Row With Hours To Spare

He appeared like he was smiling as Langdon was plucked from doggie death row this past October in North Carolina, his rescuers realizing something was special about him. Langdons only crime and why he was pushed up the list was because of his leg, which he dragged behind him. Believed to have been from an old injury, vets in North Carolina felt he was a candidate for amputation. Second Chance Pet Adoptions in the state contacted their partner in Chester, NJ South Hills Pet Rescue, their doctors checking out Langdons x-ray and realizing, his leg could be saved. Calling him very gentle and sweet, and a dog - who happens to be a Belgian Malinois - who deserved another chance" and took him off of death row two hours before he was scheduled for euthanization. Langdon was shuttled to New Jersey where he was operated on; and is now recovering with his medical foster, starting to use his leg again.

Kittens Ride Shotgun In Truck Engine

In what was considered a purr-fect ending, as two workers arrived onsite to Hackettstown from Freehold, where the new QuickChek was being built this past May, they heard meowing from one of the construction vehicles. On the Freehold property where the trucks are stored, feral kitten tend to congregate, an adult cat shooed out of one of the vehicles two days earlier. When the workers opened up the engine in Hackettstown, they found a pair of fuzzy, grey kittens. Dehydrated though expected to recover, Hackettstown Police say they brought them to the Common Sense for Animals shelter for further care.

Cat Survives Ride Under Car Hood

Heres another cat story, which had some more bumps than the kittens had. Earlier in May, a driver discovered a cat inside his car engine in Bloomfield. After bringing the boy to the Bloomfield Animal Shelter, the driver told the shelter they wasnt sure how long the cat had been riding with them. They only took their car for local rides within Bloomfield and Newark. Though he suffered some bumps and bruises himself, plus a broken jaw, the shelter reported the cat - a neutered boy who wasnt feral - was stable, able to eat and drink.

Cat Found Dying In Snowbank Finds Furever Family

It was February 2021 when a Good Samaritan found an elderly cat, weighing only three pounds, in a Manville snowbank. As he was being rehabilitated at the Somerset Regional Animal Shelter, Camper won the hearts of his foster parents, Nancy and Paul Gedbaw of Raritan. Initially intending to nurture him until he was well enough to be adopted, Nancy Gedbaw said she fell in love immediately, when Camper crawled up onto her lap and chest, then started purring. He continued to make strides, climbing over five pounds, reaching seven pounds in November. He has mouth issues which keep him on steroids, but hes a social eater and counter surfer, who Gedbaw said has brought life to our household.

Want to keep reading? Here are some more heartwarming 2021 New Jersey animal stories below:

Bald Eagle Survives Brush With Death, Lands At Turtle Back Zoo

Dog Saved In Essex County After Falling Through Pond Ice

Movement To Save Butterflies, Pollinators Growing In Essex County

Dog Lost In Woods For 2 Weeks Reunited With Bridgewater Family

Dog To Judge Morristown Chef's Food On 'Chopped'

Kittens Saved From Nor'easter Flood At Passaic Co. Vet Group

Meet Strobe, Secaucus Police Dept.'s First Police Canine

Questions or comments about this story? Have a local news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.

This article originally appeared on the Chatham Patch
A 3-year-old North Carolina girl accidentally shot herself with a handgun on Christmas, local media reported.

The Henderson County Sheriffs Office responded to a call about the incident at around 2:25 p.m. on Dec. 25, according to a news release.

The sheriffs office, fire department, emergency medical services and a medical air ambulance all responded to the incident, the release said. The child, Aylee, was transported to a hospital in Asheville via air ambulance, according to deputies and a GoFundMe page.

Aylee is undergoing treatment, the sheriffs office said.

The sheriffs office did not disclose the nature of the injury or the childs current condition, but WRAL reported that Aylee accidentally shot herself in the head. Her parents said on the GoFundMe page that the pressure on her brain is high and that the next 48 hours are very critical.

The girl is currently under heavy sedation, WLOS reported.

Deputy charged with DUI after crashing cruiser on Christmas Eve, Virginia police say

One person dead after fatal collision on train tracks in Ocean Springs

2-year-old boy in critical condition after being hit by vehicle, Garner police say
Police are searching for a shooter after a 7-year-old girl was shot and killed while riding in a car with her mom and sibling in Algiers, Louisiana, the New Orleans police department said.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of General DeGaulle Drive and Hendee Street, according to the incident statement. Gretna Police contacted the New Orleans Police Department around 8:43 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 26, about a vehicle that was shot at in the intersection.

A 7-year-old juvenile female in the vehicle sustained a gunshot wound(s) and was transported to a local hospital, where she was later declared deceased. No other injuries were reported, police said.

The girl was traveling with her mother and sibling in the car, the New Orleans Police Department told WDSU, and was struck by gunfire.

According to WDSU, the Orleans Parish Coroners Office will release the identity of the victim and conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

In the meantime, police are asking citizens to come forward if they know anything about the crime. The investigation is ongoing, according to WWL.

NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said during a news conference that the mother was driving through the intersection when she heard gunfire, and her 7-year-old daughter sustained a gunshot wound to the back, according to FOX8.

This is very disheartening, we can only imagine what this family is going through right now,  Ferguson said. Someone does know something, no matter how they might think it might be. A very tragic, horrible incident happened here tonight. Help bring some relief to this family.

Anyone with information is asked to call NOPD Homicide Det. Miles Guirreri at 504-658-5300 or Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111, according to police.

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Man set plastic wreaths on fire at a cemetery on Christmas Eve, Maryland officials say

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As a result of the rapidly-spreading Omicron variant, this week saw the biggest spike in Covid case numbers since records began in March 2020, with 119,789 positive tests reported in the 24 hours to Thursday 23 December.

On Wednesday 8 December, prime minister Boris Johnson announced that England would move to Plan B. This meant that face masks became compulsory in most indoor settings once again and people were asked to work from home. People who hadnt already had the booster vaccine were encouraged to do so and we were encouraged to take regular lateral flow tests, too.

Following this announcement, lateral flow tests were unavailable on the government website for two days in a row. On Monday last week, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said that due to exceptionally high demand, ordering lateral flow tests on gov.uk has been temporarily suspended to fulfil existing orders.

While lateral flow tests are once again available on the government website and able to be picked up from pharmacies, how accurate are these at-home tests in determining whether or not you have Covid?

According to a meta-analysis of studies by medical database the Cochrane Library, lateral flow tests detect an average of 72 per cent of symptomatic cases and 58 per cent of asymptomatic ones  which could be the reason why youre testing positive one minute and negative the next.

Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at the University of Southampton says: Lateral flow tests are very good at producing a positive result when you are infectious (and so able to transmit the virus). This can include the day or two before symptoms develop. Thus, they are a very good first line of inquiry, to be followed up with confirmation via the more sensitive PCR test.

A study published in the Clinical Epidemiology journal in October from researchers at University College London, Liverpool University, Harvard University and the University of Bath found that lateral flow tests are more than 80 per cent effective at detecting any level of Covid-19 infection are are more than 90 per cent effective at detecting Covid when people are at their most infectious.

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A study from UKHSA published on Friday 17 December found that lateral flow tests are as effective at detecting the Omicron strain of the virus as they are the Delta, which means whatever strain you may have the test should be able to pick up that its Covid.

A Cochrane review of 64 studies found that lateral flow tests correctly identify 72 per cent of infected people who have symptoms, and 78 per cent within the first week of becoming ill, GP Dr Gary Bartlett says.

What I often tell my patients is that lateral flow tests are really useful for asymptomatic screening (testing when you have no symptoms). If you have symptoms suggestive of Covid then you must get a PCR test which are the gold standard test for Covid as they are better at detecting Covid. If you have Covid symptoms, lateral flows are less reliable as they can be associated with false negatives often leading the person to believe that they dont have covid when in fact they do.

Head adds: False positive results will happen in a fraction of a per cent of occasions, but false negatives (i.e. a negative result when in fact you do have Covid-19) are more common. Therefore, if you have Covid-like symptoms but test negative on a lateral flow, it is a good idea to book in for a PCR test.

A faint line on the T indicates a positive Covid test (iStock)

What is the correct way to take a lateral flow test?

Hussain Abdeh, Clinical Director and Superintendent Pharmacist at Medicine Direct says, if you can, you should avoid eating and drinking anything for at least half an hour before you take a lateral flow test.

Similarly, do not smoke or vape for as long, he continues. Make sure the surface you are taking the test on is disinfected and make sure the kit is not damaged when you take it out of the box. Wash or sanitise your hands before handling any of the apparatus. Blow your nose then wash your hands again before starting.

Each lateral flow test kit will come with instructions on how to use it. If you need to carry out a throat swab, Abdeh says to open your mouth wide and rub the swab over the back of your throat  but dont let it touch your tongue, gums or teeth.

Following the throat swab, insert the same swab into your nose until you feel a little resistance and swab it around for about 10 seconds. Some tests will require you to take a nose swab only.

Once the swab is complete, insert the cotton end of the swab into a tube of liquid and press the swab down to the bottom of the tube. Squeeze the bottom of the tube and move the swab around so that the sample can be properly transferred into the liquid, Abdeh advises. Remove the swab from the tube, close the tubes cap and shake the liquid around a little to mix the sample with the liquid. Squeeze the stated number of drops of liquid onto the test strip and check the strip after the stated amount of time has passed.

The government website says its best to leave the test for 15 to 30 minutes before checking the result.

Does a faint line on the T mean youve tested positive?

If the result is negative for Covid-19, there will be a singular red line next to the C mark on the lateral flow test. A positive result means there is a red line next to both the C mark and the T mark  but what if the second red line is faint?

When reading lateral flow test results, two lines through both the C and T, even faint lines, indicate the test is positive, a Public Health England spokesperson says. However, a T line alone indicates the test has failed and will need to be retaken.

Is it possible to have a negative lateral flow test and a positive PCR test?

Public Health England says lateral flow tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests have different roles to play in controlling the virus, so we cant directly compare them.

The spokesperson adds that lateral flow tests are useful for finding out if the person is infected now and able to transmit the virus to others. The level of sensitivity is high enough to detect most of these cases, they add. Lateral flow tests are less likely to return a positive result outside the infectious window.

A PCR, on the other hand, is used to confirm or deny a suspected case of Covid-19 as a PCR is generally done after a person is already self-isolating following a positive lateral flow test. The higher sensitivity of PCR tests means it can identify genetic material from Covid-19 even after the active infection has passed, Public Health England adds.

If you have Covid symptoms but test negative using a lateral flow test, its worth ordering a PCR to double check.

How effective are lateral flow tests in combatting the spread of Covid-19?

According to the NHS, one in three people with Covid-19 do not show symptoms but can still infect others, which is why taking a lateral flow test regularly  even when youre vaccinated  is so important in helping to stop the spread of the virus.

The infection period for Covid-19 can start up to two days before symptoms begin to show and last for 10 days afterwards.

Most people should take a lateral flow test twice a week but if youve been in contact with someone who has caught Covid-19 you should do a daily lateral flow test for the seven days following.

Lateral flow tests are highly effective at preventing the spread of Covid, Abdeh says. First of all, you can get them ordered to your home, so if you have come into contact with someone who has tested positive, or if you are exhibiting possible symptoms, you can avoid spreading it to others by leaving the house.

Lateral flow tests are easy to do and provide results in less than 30 minutes. You can take them at home and report your results instantly online through the NHS. This means that anyone who gets a positive result can begin isolating straight away. Lateral flow tests provide accurate and quick results without the need to risk infecting others.
FRANKFORT  Shes an entrepreneur, which even she finds a bit of a surprise. She got it from her mother, sort of.

At various points in time, said Katie Clark, I remember wanting to be a vet, a teacher or a choreographer. Obviously, none of those things happened. My mom started her own small business (computer programming) when I was in middle school. So the idea of entrepreneurship wasnt foreign to me. But I dont ever really remember it being on my radar for myself.

Katie Clark runs Virtual Solutions where she writes content or creates graphics for social media for businesses.

Today shes the owner of Katie Clark Virtual Solutions.

I help business owners manage backend tasks so they can focus on growth and development, she explained. Im a one-woman show so I dont have any official title outside of owner.

Katie (Green) Clark grew up in Springfield, graduated from high school there in 2001, then Ohio University in Athens in 2005 with a degree in media and politics.

Im an only child and pretty introverted, she noted, so I spent a lot of time in imaginative solo play when I was little. I remember that often taking the form of playing business. One of my most favorite Christmas gifts was a box full of office supplies and random business forms. I would spend hours filling out pretend invoices and receipts to give to my parents.

The Internet, she continued, wasnt a thing at all until I was toward the end of high school and into college so virtual work was definitely not something I ever dreamed about doing or saw myself doing.

In 2012, Clark started her own handmade business sewing and selling headbands.

Id never done any kind of e-commerce, she noted. So there was quite a bit of behind-the-scenes work that was new territory for me. Id take the next thing in front of me, research as much as I could, and then put it into practice. There was plenty of trial and error, but I found I really enjoyed the process of learning new skills.

Then Clark attended a business conference in late 2016. It was there she got the idea for virtual assistant work.

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I noticed, she said, several of the other people in attendance mentioned they either didnt like the behind-the-scenes work involved in their businesses, were overwhelmed with learning all the necessary new skills themselves, or just didnt have enough hours in the day to do everything. I also met a few virtual assistants and hearing them talk about the work they were doing was intriguing. My wheels never really stopped turning about the idea.

Katie Clark Virtual Solutions began in April of 2021.

I do anything, she said, from writing content or creating graphics for social media, setting up and supporting e-commerce, administrative tasks, helping to create a social media strategy, managing inboxes, etc.

Katie has a unique vision for her clients virtual solutions, assessed Mary Halm of Frankfort, former owner of Envision Web Pages. She brings dedication and talent to her work, which makes for a successful and growing company.

One of my most favorite things in the world, Clark responded, is watching someone light up when they start talking about the thing that sets their soul on fire. You instantly know it when you see it. Theres a very similar light when a business owner starts talking about an idea. Thats why I do what I do. I want to use my skills and knowledge to support other small businesses. At the heart, its helping other people succeed. And theres infinite joy in that part of what I do.

If you told 18-year-old me this is where Id be, she would have laughed, Clark concluded. The path Ive taken doesnt look anything like I expected it to, but I truly love the journey Im on.

For more information, log on Facebook page Katie Clark Virtual Solutions.

About the Series

Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs  whether theyre unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Katie Clark is a one-woman show at her business
Alex Jones wife Erika Wulff Jones allegedly struck the far-right conspiracy theorist over 20 times and threatened to hit him in the head with a stone ball, causing him to "fear for his life, according to police documents reviewed by The Daily Beast.

Wulff Jones was arrested on a domestic violence charge for that Friday night altercation at the couples home outside of Austin, Texas. Following the Christmas Eve incident, Jones told the Associated Press: Its a private family matter that happened on Christmas Eve. I love my wife and care about her, and it appears to be some kind of medication imbalance.

According to the Travis County arrest affidavit, during an initial 911 phone call with police, Jones told an emergency operator that his wife had struck him over the head multiple times and was holding a polished club in her hand and attempting to hit him with it.

When police arrived at the house, Jones further claimed Wulff Jones had struck him several times, while an officer observed the far-right radio hosts hair as red and wet. Jones later told police that Erika had hit him with both closed fists and open hands on his head in front of their child, the affidavit stated.

How a Crazy Plan to Rebuild Waco Compound Gave Us Alex Jones

According to Jones, Erika had accused him of cheating on her, leading to a violent altercation as the duo bathed their child. (Jones has three other children from a previous marriage.)

Erika allegedly struck Jones over 20 times, including once over the head with a bottle, possibly shampoo, causing the contents to get on his face and cause burning to his eyes, the report continued. [Jones] stated he tried to get away from her in the master bedroom, and she followed him with a stone ball trying to strike him.

It was at this point, police wrote, that Jones was in fear for his life.

Police located a stone, weighing approximately five pounds, in the primary bedroom, consistent with the alleged weapon. Jones told police that she never hit him with the stone, but threw it at his head, missing by inches.

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Erika disputed Alexs claims, telling police that no threats were made and that no assault occurred at the scene. I spoke with Erika, a responding officer wrote, observing that she had a strong odor of alcohol on her breath. She stated Alexander was angry from trying to visit family prior. She was eventually arrested and charged with two misdemeanors: one for the alleged assault of her husband; the other for allegedly resisting arrest.

A second police affidavit reviewed by The Daily Beast claimed that Erika was adamant about not going to jail and at one point broke free of handcuffs and began swing[ing] her fists and kicking police officers called for backup, while striking at least one.

She was released Sunday morning on bond.

Alex Jones Is Melting Down and All the Supercharged Brain Force Pills Cant Save Him

According to additional court records reviewed by The Daily Beast, Jones wife was previously arrested in August 2019 after Jones hired a private investigator to tail her believing she was suicidal and intoxicated. As a result, authorities were called on Wulff Jones, and she was arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Neither Alex nor Erika Jones responded to The Daily Beasts request for comment.

Jones addressed the incident Monday afternoon on his InfoWars program, claiming his wife went to cuckoo world after mixing up medication she was prescribed following a recent surgery. Jones insisted that she took down two police officers at their Austin home on Friday night after striking him 30 times, mostly in the back of the head.

So thats what happens when someone has a chemical imbalance after surgery and the medication they had mixes together, Jones said, and they literally go to cuckoo world, cloud cuckoo.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Actor Amber Heard and Australian deputy PM Barnaby Joyce (Instagram/Getty)

Amber Heard has named her new dog after Australias deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce following a clash between the two over the countrys pet quarantine rules in May 2015.

On Sunday (26 December), Heard posted a picture with a large, white dog on social media with the caption: Meet the newest member of the Heard family, Barnaby Joyce!

Reactions to Heards social media post ranged from kinda hilarious to f***ed up on several levels.

In 2015, Heard and her then-husband Johnny Depp had been accused of violating Australias strict animal quarantine rules when they flew their two yorkshire terriers into the country on a private jet.

Joyce, then Australias agriculture minister, had threatened to euthanise Pistol and Boo if the dogs were not removed from the country within 48 hours.

If you start letting movie stars  even though theyve been the sexiest man alive twice  to come into our nation [with pets], then why dont we just break laws for everybody? he had asked at that time.

After Pistol and Boo were sent back to the US, Heard was charged with two counts of illegal importation and one count of producing a false document.

The charges were dropped after Heard and Depp released a bizarre apology video, pleading guilty to dog-smuggling. Heard was placed under a $1,000 good behaviour bond.

Joyce and several others had mocked the video, with many social media users likening it to a hostage video. I dont think hell [Depp] get an academy award for his performance... He looked like he was auditioning for The Godfather, Joyce had said at the time.

Depp and Joyce have taken multiple swipes at each other in the aftermath of the incident, with the Pirates of the Caribbean actor saying the politician looked like he was inbred with a tomato during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in 2016. Depp said: Its not a criticism, I was a little worried he might explode.

Heard and Depp were formally divorced in 2017. Thirty-five-year-old Heard is now the owner of Pistol and Boo.
Wildfire danger will highlight a week of weather extremes in North Texas

Wichita Falls set a record high temperature for Christmas Eve this year -- 91 degrees. A week later the weather will go to the opposite extreme. The National Weather Service predicts the numbers will be reversed with a low of 19 degrees New Year's night.

In between, North Texas will continue to experience unseasonably warm temperatures and critical wildfire danger. A small chance of rain enters the forecast Friday.

Friday's summer-like high temperature soared past the old Christmas Eve Record of 87 degrees in 1955, and goes into the record books as the high temperature ever recorded in the city in December.

Temperatures began moderating on Christmas Day with a high of 76 degrees, which was not quite enough to break the record of 78 degrees set in 2016.

Most of Wichita County is in a Severe Drought designation

Daytime highs in the 70s are expected to continue through Friday before a cold front Saturday brings a big chill, dropping the low to 19 degrees. Sunday's high is predicted to be just 39 degrees.

The combination of warm temperatures, strong wind and low relative humidity signals near-critical wildfire danger Tuesday and elevated fire danger Thursday and Saturday.

Wichita County is under an outdoor burn ban because of persisting conditions conducive to wildfires.

Most of Wichita County slipped into the government's Severe Drought designation over the past week. The eastern most part of the county remained in the Moderate Drought category.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Another week of crazy weather in store for region
The Athens-Clarke County Commission voted on a number of contested measures this year, including a downtown public restroom and mandatory COVID vaccinations. Here are the votes that generated the most debate, either by the public or between commissioners themselves.

Firefly Trail

The Firefly Trail was approved for expansion in Winterville in March. While commissioners supported the trail expansion, just where it would run drew weeks of public input and debate among commissioners.

Several options were pitched for the route through Winterville's Oakmont subdivision, including along the old CSX rail bed. But residents were worried about privacy, safety and environmental damage, with commissioners tasked to balance those concerns.

In the end, commissioners backed the route that would run along the rail bed near residents yards rather than another option that had the rail crossing a busy road.

More: Firefly Trail route in Winterville approved by Athens-Clarke commission

Nowhere Road Cellphone Tower

A Verizon cell phone tower on Nowhere Road was approved in April, though despite its approval, commissioners made clear their misgivings. The commission followed the counsel of County Attorney Judd Drake, who said if the vote failed, the commission would likely be held in contempt.

This was due to a decision by a judge in March that required the commission to approve the tower.

The vote was not unanimous, with Commissioners Ovita Thornton and Mike Hamby in opposition.

More: Nowhere Road cell tower approved, despite commission opposition

Homelessness in Athens

Commissioners approved the old North Athens School on Barber Street as the location for a government-sanctioned homeless encampment, the first of its kind for Athens. The idea was met with an outpouring of public comment, both for and against the encampment.

During an August meeting, Mayor Kelly Girtz was forced to break a tie vote by commissioners  five for the encampment at the Barber Street location and five against.

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His "yes" vote resulted in the camp moving forward. During public comment before the vote, most opposed the encampment, with only a few speakers in favor.

The general concern was that the encampment would draw more homeless to Athens to use the camps services.

In the end, Commissioners Jesse Houle, Carol Myers, Mariah Parker, Melissa Link and Tim Denson voted for the encampment with Russel Edwards, Ovita Thornton, Mike Hamby, Patrick Davenport and Allison Wright voting against it.

Weeks before that vote, commissioners approved a resolution to deal with homelessness, which included the proposed government-sanctioned encampment.

That vote fell along similar lines, with Edwards, Hamby, Davenport and Wright voting against the resolution. Houle, Myers, Parker, Link, Thornton and Denson voted yes.

Davenport called the camp a bandaid and Wright said it would be a huge liability.

More: Athens officials eye potential location for homeless camp, set to vote Tuesday

Internal Auditor Reappointment

The reappointment internal auditor Stephanie Maddox drew the public's attention after she alleged that high-ranking local government officials had harassed and bullied her.

One week before the commission was set to vote on whether or not to reappoint her, Maddox held a news conference where she made allegations against Girtz, and County Manager Blaine Williams.

Maddox garnered significant public support and the commission reappointed her as internal auditor in a 9-1 vote, with Wright voting against.

Later, this decision was reversed when commissioners unanimously removed her from her position.

More: Athens-Clarke County internal auditor Stephanie Maddox reappointed to position

More: Athens-Clarke County internal auditor Stephanie Maddox terminated by commission vote

Vaccine Mandate for ACC Staff

In September, the commission approved a policy requiring government employees to show proof of vaccination. Those who were fully vaccinated were eligible for a monetary incentive and paid time off, and those who did not show proof would have to practice masking and social distancing.

This policy passed 6-1, with Houle voting against it. Parker, Wright and Thornton were not present.

Before the details were finalized, commissioners had approved the mandate in August with Williams, the county manager, tasked with determining what it would look like and then presenting the policy to the commission. That initial vote to approve the mandate was unanimous, but drew an onslaught of public opposition, including from multiple employees of the local government.

One employee said she worked in an already understaffed office and asked the commissioners how they would replace her and others if they chose to not get vaccinated and are forced to leave their jobs.

More: Commission passes COVID-19 vaccine policy for Athens-Clarke County employees

Portland Loo

Downtown Athens will be getting a public restroom after commissioners voted 7-3 in October to approve the concept for a facility called a Portland Loo, to be installed at the College Avenue Parking Deck.

Commissioners Thornton, Hamby, and Wright voted against the loo and prior to the vote, several residents expressed worries about sanitation and safety and presented commissioners with reported comments from Portland, Or., residents who disliked the restroom.

Davenport, Hamby and Wright sought an alternative option which would feature multiple restrooms, but that vote failed.

Besides sanitation worries, some residents also voiced concern over the cost, a sentiment echoed by commissioners opposing the restroom.

The Portland Loo is a single-stall toilet and the initial cost of building it was an estimated $314,000, with a projected cost of $33,000 annually to maintain it  nearly $1.2 million over 20 years.

More: Athens-Clarke commissioners approve 'Portland Loo' concept for downtown public restroom

Police Civilian Oversight Board

After two hours of public comment in November, commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance establishing a civilian oversight board for local law enforcement.

The purpose of the board is to investigate complaints from members of the public concerning local public-safety departments. The oversight board will have 15 members, of which nine will be a civilian voting member.

The board will look into alleged misconduct by employees of the police department, probation services, the sheriffs office and the corrections department. The board can also review and make recommendations on policies and procedures in those departments.

More: Athens-Clarke commissioners approve civilian oversight board for law enforcement

Eviction Prevention Program

The commission moved forward with its eviction-prevention program in October and picked Athenian First Development Corporation (AFDC) to run the initiative.

In a 7-1 vote, the commission selected AFDC against staff recommendation, with Wright casting the dissenting vote. Myers was not present and Edwards could not vote because he was acting as mayor pro tem during Girtzs absence.

Government staff, among other duties, conduct research on certain agenda items and present the commission with their recommendation on how to proceed.

Staff had recommended re-opening the request process for the eviction program, citing concern over Athenian First Developments lack of experience.

Though the commission typically follows staff recommendations, they voted to move forward with AFDC to begin helping residents facing eviction.

The vote came after months of trying to get an eviction-prevention program off the ground and running.

More: Athens-Clarke moves on eviction-prevention program, picking nonprofit to run it

Drug Task Force

This month, commissioners approved renewing a grant to fund a regional drug task force, with Commissioners Parker and Houle voting against applying for the funds again.

In a 7-2 vote, with Wright not present, the routine vote renewed funding for the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force.

Prior to the vote, commissioners debated whether or not to accept the grant. Parker came out in opposition against the grant days before the vote, which prompted a response from Police Chief Cleveland Spruill in support of the grant.

When explaining their vote against the grant, Parker (who prefers the pronouns they/them) said they felt the task force disproportionately impacts Black communities.

While grant funding was approved, commissioners recognized the need for change, with Denson saying that when it's time to vote on the grant next year, he will not support it in its current form.

More: Athens-Clarke commissioners renew grant for drug task force, but call for future changes

Redistricting

Redistricting is still under way in Georgia following the release of new U.S. Census data, which is used in redrawing local voting districts.

Commissioners approved a new commission district map in a recent 6-3 vote, with Commissioners Wright, Hamby and Thornton voting against the map. Edwards presided over the meeting and did not vote.

The vote sent the map to the state level, but it was returned for requested changes.

A new map was drawn and approved this month by the commission. But not all commissioners were pleased, and Hamby and Wright again voted against the map, while Thornton abstained.

Athens-Clarke's legislative representatives have the power to redraw a map approved by the commission. The county manager warned commissioners that the legislative delegation wanted a unanimous vote on the district maps, which did not occur.

More: Redrawn Athens-Clarke County commission district map awaits state approval

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A recap of Athens-Clarke commissioners' most controversial votes in 2021
The Daily Beast

U.S. Department of JusticeA 22-year-old woman who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was drunk and driving in the wrong direction on Wednesday night when she killed a young mom and seriously injured another driver, authorities said.Emily Hernandez was driving west in the eastbound lanes in Franklin County, Missouri, just after 7 p.m. when she crashed into another car that spun into the median strip and struck cable barriers, police said. Both vehicles swerved to avoid each other, according to
A Bellevue man died Monday after he was ejected from his vehicle following a crash on Seneca County Road 34 west of Township Road 78. According to the Norwalk Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the fatal crash occurred Monday at approximately 1:20 a.m.

THOMPSON TOWNSHIP  A Bellevue man died Monday after he was ejected from his vehicle on Seneca County Road 34 west of Township Road 78.

According to the Norwalk Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the fatal crash occurred Monday at about 1:20 a.m.

Brian Sampsel, 41, of Bellevue, was driving a 2003 Dodge Caravan westbound on County Road 34 near Township Road 78.

Maxwell Alle, 22, of Bellevue was the right front passenger in the vehicle.

Evan Sampsel, 25, of Bellevue was seated in the middle seat of the second row.

According to the patrol report, Brian Sampsel drove off of the right side of the road and began to lose control.

He re-entered the roadway, overcorrected, and again drove off the right side of the roadway. The vehicle struck a tree and overturned several times, ejecting Brian Sampsel.

Brian Sampsel was not wearing a seat belt and was pronounced deceased at the scene by EMS personnel.

Evan Sampsel, was not wearing a seat belt and sustained minor injuries.

Alle was wearing a seatbelt and sustained minor injuries.

Both Evan Sampsel and Alle were transported to Fisher Titus Medical Center by North Central EMS, and were later released.

The crash remains under investigation.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol was assisted on scene by the Seneca County Sheriffs Office, Green Springs Volunteer Fire Department, North Central EMS, and Johns Welding and Towing.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Bellevue man dies in Seneca County crash
Motley Fool

Despite AT&T's (NYSE: T) merger with TimeWarner in 2018 being blamed for holding the telecom giant back over the years, the market hasn't exactly rewarded Ma Bell's decision to shed its WarnerMedia division and merge it with Discovery (NASDAQ: DISCA)(NASDAQ: DISCK). According to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, AT&T stock lost 14.5% of its value in 2021, very likely because in addition to getting rid of its media business, AT&T is also slashing its dividend in half. The TimeWarner acquisition saddled the telecom with a mountain of debt, and the spinoff is expected to net it some $43 billion, which will go a long way to paying down its debt load.
(Bloomberg) -- Oil rose in tandem with equity markets as investors weighed the rapid spread of omicron against signs it may be milder than previous variants.

Most Read from Bloomberg

West Texas Intermediate futures closed 2.4% higher on Monday, trading above $75 a barrel for the first time in a month amid a light volume session. Daily omicron infections in the U.S. surpassed those in the delta wave, while China posted the highest number of cases since January. Thousands of flight cancellations in the U.S. stemming from airline-employee illnesses were a reminder that the more infectious Covid variant could still wreak havoc.

Despite the omicron spread and airline cancellations, mobility numbers were strong over the holiday, said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital LLC. The strong economic activity has played into a rebound in petroleum demand, which we saw this morning.

Oil is heading for a yearly gain after a robust rebound from the pandemic, but the rally has wavered in recent weeks, in part due to concerns about omicron. There are some signs of softening consumption in Asia and crude markets structure has weakened significantly, indicating over-supply in the near term.

The market structure for international benchmark Brent crude is starting to show signs of optimism. The prompt time spread -- the gap between the two nearest contracts -- has returned to a bullish pattern in recent days after flipping briefly into a bearish contango structure. The spread was 38 cents in backwardation on Monday, compared with as much as 10 cents in contango about a week ago.

The fast-spreading omicron has forced airlines to cancel some services due to crew shortages, threatening a nascent rebound in jet fuel usage. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens top medical adviser, said Americans should stay vigilant against the new strain, despite evidence its symptoms may be less severe, because the volume of cases can still overwhelm hospitals.

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Meanwhile, negotiations to resurrect the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers are moving toward a state of limbo. An Iran nuclear accord could pave the way for a resumption of official crude flows. The European Union said negotiators needed to speed up efforts to resolve a standoff between Tehran and Washington.

Oil Producers Can Expect More Turbulent Years Ahead: Julian Lee

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Jason Kempin/Getty

Right-wing personality Candace Owens is urging her fans to consume a quack medical cure known for turning users skin blue.

In an Instagram video posted on Thursday, Owens praised the use of colloidal silver as a daily supplement, a treatment that comes with no valid medical use and plenty of health risks.

Yes, colloidal silver! Owens said in the video. I take colloidal silver every single day, I love colloidal silver. That is a great one. That is another one that people probably know nothing about.

While Owens and others have praised preventative use of colloidal silver as a way to stave off illness, colloidal silver has no valid medical purpose and plenty of potential dangers. In extreme cases, according to the Mayo Clinic, colloidal silver can cause seizure or organ problems.

Owens didnt respond to a request for comment.

But colloidal silvers most famous side effect is argyriaa condition that turns users skin a bluish-gray color, usually permanently. Despite those risks, colloidal silver has sometimes been embraced by political outsiders, including some libertarians seeking treatments for a variety of illnesses outside the medical system. Montana Libertarian politician Stan Jones, for example, turned his skin blue by consuming colloidal silver.

Owens laid out her colloidal silver regimen in a follow-up Instagram comment to a fan asking for more information about colloidal silver, claiming she takes a teaspoon a day and more when Im sick in a post first highlighted by liberal activist William LeGate.

As little as that one teaspoon of silver a day could be enough to cause argyria, depending on the concentration of the silver solution. According to medical research, a 56-year-old man who took a teaspoon every day for allergy and cold medication noticed that his fingernails were turning blue.

Owens isnt the only far-right figure to endorse silver as a fringe medical cure. In 2020, the FDA warned InfoWars chief Alex Jones to stop promising that silver toothpaste and other silver products sold on his website could prevent or treat the coronavirus.

Story continues

Fake Utah Doc Peddled Ingestible Silver as a Bogus COVID Cure: Feds

Owenss pro-colloidal silver video came days after a disastrous interview where Owens, who works for conservative commentator Ben Shapiros The Daily Wire, interviewed former President Donald Trump. In a surprise move, Trump rebuffed Owens criticism of the coronavirus vaccines, praising the vaccines results as very good.

In the same video in which she praised colloidal silver, Owens downplayed Trumps support for the vaccines, claiming Trump is too old to read anti-vaccine information on the internet. She also attacked vaccinations more broadly, claiming, among other things, that theres real evil behind tetanus shots.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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SheKnows

During these frigid winter temperatures, theres really nothing like hitting the ski slopes and embracing all the seasonal weather to the fullest. While some would rather take a trip to the beach and escape the cold, Paulina Gretzky opted to embrace her inner snow bunny with a trip to Aspen. The 33-year-old daughter of hockey []
Voting. Illustrated | iStock

American democratic institutions are in crisis. One of the worst flaws of the status quo is the near-powerlessness of the individual voter over the policies which determine so much of daily life. Closely related is the need to promote opportunity and choice for the poor and disadvantaged. Both these problems can be greatly alleviated by expanding opportunities for people to "vote with their feet." If you don't like state or local laws, it should be easier to escape them.

We normally think of voting at the ballot box as our principal means of exercising political choice, and ballot-box voting has great value. But it also has two severe limitations: the very low odds that an individual vote will make a difference, and the resulting incentive to make poorly informed decisions. Foot voting is superior on both dimensions.

In a presidential election, the average voter has only about a 1 in 60 million chance of affecting the outcome; higher in close swing states, but lower in strongly "red" or "blue" ones. In state and local elections, the odds are higher but still generally very low.

Yet meaningful freedom requires the ability to make a decisive choice, or at least have a high probability of doing so. It is difficult to claim a person has meaningful religious freedom if he has only a 1 in a million chance of determining which religion he will practice. Similarly, a person with only a 1 in a million chance of deciding what views she's allowed to express surely does not have meaningful freedom of speech.

What is true of freedom of speech and freedom of religion is also true of political freedom. A person with only an infinitesimal chance of affecting what kind of government policies she is subjected to has little, if any, genuine political freedom. And that is exactly the position voters find themselves facing in all but the very smallest of elections.

Because of the very low impact of their votes, ballot box voters have strong incentives to be "rationally ignorant." In a situation where there's little or no benefit to acquiring additional knowledge, it's often perfectly rational to remain largely or completely uninformed about the questions at issue.

Story continues

This is exactly what most Americans do on most political issues. Survey data consistently show voters often lack even very basic knowledge about the candidates and policy questions in any given election. For example, only about a third of American voters, in most surveys, can even name the three branches of the federal government: executive, legislative, and judicial.

Voters also often have little incentive to analyze whatever information they do learn in a logical, unbiased way. To the contrary, when there are few or no negative consequences to error, it is rational to make almost no effort to control one's biases. Irrationality becomes rational. For example, many routinely overvalue any evidence that supports their pre-existing views while downplaying or ignoring anything that cuts the other way. These tendencies towards biased evaluation of information are large and widespread among voters on both sides of the political spectrum.

The shortcomings of ballot box voting are exacerbated by the enormous size and complexity of modern government. Federal spending now accounts for a gargantuan 30 percent of U.S. GDP, a figure inflated by relief spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was an already high 21 percent in 2019. Perhaps more importantly, federal regulation now extends to cover almost every major aspect of the economy and society, including health care, education, pensions, consumer regulations, on down to shower head and toilet flows.

Even relatively well-informed voters find it virtually impossible to keep track of more than a small fraction of all of that government activity. As a result, many policies are routinely decided by politicians, bureaucrats, and narrow interest groups with little meaningful voter input.

Things are very different when people "vote with their feet." When you decide what jurisdiction to live in, that's a decision over which you have real control. That in turn creates strong incentives to seek out relevant information and evaluate it in an unbiased way. You wouldn't move to a new neighborhood, let alone a new state, without knowing what it's like.

The same applies to most consequential private-sector decisions. You probably devote more time and effort to deciding what television to buy than to deciding who to vote for in any election. And that's rational: It's not that the television is more important than who governs the country, but that your decision about the TV has more actual impact on your life.

This logic is backed by both historical evidence and laboratory experiments indicating that people faced with "foot voting" decisions seek out greater information and evaluate it more rationally than those assessing political information for use at the ballot box. Indeed, throughout American history, foot voting has provided valuable opportunities for expanding political choice, especially for the disadvantaged.

Perhaps the best-known example is the movement of millions of Black Americans from the Jim Crow-era South to the North and West, where they benefited from greater opportunity and relatively lower levels of official racial discrimination. Settlers moving westward in the 19th and early 20th centuries are another good example. These types of moves offered not only economic opportunity but also greater freedom for many disadvantaged groups. Several newly formed Western states were pioneers in granting relatively equal legal rights to women, including giving them the vote and allowing them to enter previously barred professions. In more recent times, foot voting has been a boon to gays and lesbians seeking more tolerant states and localities.

Foot voting continues to be a valuable resource for many Americans today. Recent research indicates moving to an area with lower poverty rates can have particularly large benefits for the life prospects of poor children, substantially increasing their incomes and college attendance rates, while reducing the likelihood of them becoming single parents.

Some 3 million people make interstate moves in America each year, and over 30 million  nearly one in 10 U.S. residents  move in all. That pace continued even during the pandemic of the last 18 months.

Some moves have little or no connection to differences in government policy, of course. But data consistently show a high percentage are driven by factors such as job opportunities, housing costs, and tax rates that are heavily influenced by policy. States with low taxes, relatively cheap housing, and flexible labor markets  such as Arizona, Idaho, Texas, and Florida  have consistently been among the leaders in net in-migration in recent decades, while states with the opposite set of policies (most notably, California, New York, and Illinois) have been among the net losers.

Foot voting in the private sector also has great benefits, because, in many places, private organizations offer services traditionally associated with regional and local governments. The most significant examples are private planned communities, such as condominiums and homeowners associations, which provide services such as environmental amenities, garbage disposal, education, and security.

Almost 74 million Americans lived in such communities as of 2019. That figure undercuts claims that private communities are just a tool for the wealthy to wall themselves off from society. For foot voters, private communities have important advantages over traditional state and local governments. The biggest is lower moving costs: A given area typically can fit many more private communities than political jurisdictions. As a result, it is often possible to move from one to another without giving up jobs or family connections.

Sadly, over the last several decades, foot voting in America has become more difficult and costly, especially for the poor and disadvantaged, who have the most to gain. Fortunately, much can be done to alleviate these obstacles.

The single biggest problem is the rise of exclusionary zoning, which makes it difficult or impossible to build new housing in response to demand. If people cannot afford to live in areas with economic and social opportunities, they'll remain locked out from them  often trapped in failing communities where it is difficult to escape poverty. This is an area where there is a strong, even if often unrecognized, common interest between the increasingly Republican white working class and their mostly Democratic Black and Hispanic counterparts.

Economists and land-use scholars across the political spectrum have long known that restrictive zoning cuts off millions of people from housing and job opportunities. New evidence suggests zoning restrictions inhibit mobility and economic growth even more than previously thought, which has reinforced the broad cross-ideological expert agreement on this point.

While not as severe as the impact of zoning, state-by-state occupational licensing also greatly reduces mobility and undercuts foot voting. Licensing has expanded to the point where some 30 percent of American workers need licenses to be able to do their jobs. In some states, that even includes florists and tour guides. Research also indicates most of these laws do far more to suppress competition than protect consumers.

Much can be done as well to expand foot voting opportunities in the private sector, including by breaking down regulations that inhibit the establishment of new private communities and expanding school choice options, especially for the poor. Studies show private schools included in school choice programs generally provide better educational services than public equivalents, even when controlling for the socioeconomic background of students and other similar variables. In addition, competition from private schools under voucher programs leads to improvement by public schools in the same areas.

The advantages of foot voting in education were dramatically illustrated by recent events during the COVID crisis. Numerous public schools were shut down long past the point where evidence showed schools do not pose a significant risk of spreading the disease, in many areas providing grossly inadequate "virtual" education, which was especially harmful for poor and minority students. Meanwhile, most private schools remained open and continued to serve students with little or no added COVID spread. As a result, private school enrollment grew dramatically.

Foot voting is also increasingly inhibited by the enormous growth of federal spending and regulation. It is impossible to "vote with your feet" against federal government policies except through the costly step of leaving the country entirely.

This problem can be mitigated by devolving control over more issues to state and local governments and to the private sector. Doing so can also mitigate the dangerous polarization that has done so much to poison our political system: With fewer issues decided by the federal government, people no longer need to feel so much fear at the prospect of the opposing party controlling the White House and Congress.

Within states, some progress in breaking down foot voting barriers has been made over the last several years, including on zoning reform and occupational licensing reform. California, which has some of the most severe regulatory obstacles to new housing construction, recently enacted two notable reform laws. But much remains to be done.

Foot voting can also be enhanced by giving greater autonomy to local governments and to the private sector. Often, foot voting between localities  and even more so between private-sector organizations, such as private planned communities  is cheaper and easier than that between states. It can offer a wider range of choices, too. The U.S. has many thousands of local governments and private communities, but only 50 states.

To their credit, progressives have increasingly recognized the need to reform zoning and licensing laws and have begun to promote changes. But many on the left have been slow to acknowledge the more general case for expanding foot voting opportunities, especially for minorities and the poor. The fact that leading blue states, such as California, have been losing people to red and purple states, should lead to overdue reconsideration of some of the former's policies, notwithstanding the fact that red states have many flaws of their own.

Progressives can learn some useful lessons from the housing and employment policies that have made Texas a leading magnet for foot voters, even as they rightly decry such abuses as the SB 8 anti-abortion law and that state's leaders' reprehensible role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Conservatives, too, would do well to focus more on policies that expand foot voting opportunities, as opposed to trying to use federal and state power to wage "culture wars" against those with different values.

Foot voting can't solve all the problems of American democracy. And, obviously, it cannot be the only factor considered in determining the allocation of power between different levels of government and the private sector. But expanding foot voting opportunities can do much to enhance political freedom for all Americans, particularly the poor and disadvantaged who stand to benefit most.

Parts of this article are adapted from the revised edition of Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration and Political Freedom, published this month, and from a post at the State and Local Government Blog.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday said those who test positive for Covid-19 and are asymptomatic need only isolate for five days, not 10, citing growing evidence that people are most infectious in the initial days after developing symptoms.

The announcement follows the CDCs move last week to shorten its isolation period for infected health care workers, assuming they are asymptomatic and later test negative.

Biden administration health officials have debated the policy shift in recent weeks, especially amid a surge in Omicron cases that has raised concerns about worker shortages and fueled calls to revisit the agencys quarantine guidelines.

Since the pandemic's earliest days, the CDC had recommended that Covid-positive people isolate for 10 days. Under its new guidance, the agency now advises patients to isolate for just five as long as they are asymptomatic, and then wear a mask for another five days. The policy is the same regardless of vaccination status.

The CDC also adjusted its guidance for people exposed to Covid-19 but who have not yet tested positive, recommending a five-day quarantine followed by five days of masking for those who are unvaccinated or have yet to receive their booster shot.

People who are fully vaccinated and have received a booster do not need to quarantine if exposed to Covid-19, but should wear a mask for 10 days, the CDC said.

The update comes after officials reviewed data showing most people pass on the virus within the first five days of infection. The administration also faced growing pressure to alter its quarantine guidelines as Omicrons surge threatened to leave businesses shorthanded, despite indications that the variant causes less severe illness than the Delta variant.

Multiple airlines canceled hundreds of flights this past weekend due to staff shortages.

On a call Monday morning with governors, President Joe Biden expressed openness to slashing the quarantine timeline, Gov. Chris Sununu said afterward.

Sununu, a Republican, called the potential reduction an important step in keeping our economy, supply chains and schools open and running.
Photo credit: DW Burnett

Our next issue celebrates the heroes of the automotive world. To celebrate that celebration, Road & Track is hosting a Cars & Coffee event in Malibu. If you're free in February, you should join us.

We'll be bringing some cars from the issue, like the first Shelby Cobra and Elvis Presley's Lincoln Continental Mark IV, but this is a Cars & Coffee. If you can bring your car, we have plenty of room for more. Just pick up a ticket here.

In addition to launching the issue at the event, Editor-In-Chief Mike Guy will be on hand to discuss the issue with an industry icon over coffee. After the meet, R&T will be making a donation to some local heroes, the California Wildlife Center.

It all happens at the Malibu Racquet Club on February 6. The event is limited, so secure your space today on our dedicated experiences website.

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Veolia North America's takeover of Suez Water is expected to provide millions of dollars to ratepayers with a vow to craft a plan to better serve water users, according to both companies.

The sale is expected to be completed by mid-January, according to a Veolia spokesperson. Suez would then be called Veolia.

The state's Public Service Commission approved the sale of Suez to Veolia earlier this month. In its approval, it pointed to several promised benefits for customers if the sale goes through. As part of the approval, the PSC also required a feasibility study be done to see if Rockland residents would be better off with local governments controlling their water supply instead of a private company.

A car travels on Congers Road above Lake DeForest, a Suez water company reservoir, March 5, 2019 in Congers. The reservoir is the primary source of water for Rockland County.

Veolia North America CEO Fred Van Heems said in a statement the merger brings "substantial additional benefits to customers." He stated the two companies have a wealth of experience and resources.

"Perhaps more importantly, we believe that together we can better serve the needs of our customers, while accelerating innovation to bring greater possibilities for improvements in water quality and service," he said.

Veolia touted some of the benefits from the sale:

Company shareholders will donate about the equivalent of 30% of total residential customer arrears more than 60 days overdue. It'll be designated as COVID relief.

A low income discount program will be started faster with shareholders from the merger company contributing $1.5 million toward initial costs.

A $4 million shareholder contribution toward rate relief.

About $750,000 general community support.

Once the transaction is official, Veolia will need to complete a customer service improvement plan within 120 days, according to the PSC. Veolia also vowed no personnel, operational or management changes would be made for at least 18 months.

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"With this decision, Suez can access much needed capital and managerial resources that will allow it to provide better services to its customers in Rockland County," said PSC chair Rory Christian. "Given those facts, this decision is squarely in the public interest."

Some question deal

But there are still skeptics of the deal. During a PSC public hearing to determine whether to approve the merger, community leaders and residents complained that the quality of water and service provided by Suez is poor and the costs too high.

The PSC ordered a study to be finished by June 2022 that would weigh the pros and cons between a water supply controlled under municipal control rather than private.

Longtime Rockland resident Susan Shapiro, an attorney with Rockland Environmental Group, called the water undrinkable. She questioned how Veolia's management will change anything.

"We used to have the best water in the world, in the country. It was delicious water," Shapiro said. "I say this that since Suez took it over it's dramatically gone downhill."

Congressman Mondaire Jones, who represents all of Rockland, wrote to the PSC that he had concerns about the merger. He said Rockland residents pay some of the highest rates in the state. But despite the high cost, Jones said a toxic contaminant was found in the water exceeding what New York allows in 2020.

Suez, formerly United Water, provides water and waste services to 7.5 million customers. Regionally it serves 500,000 customers in Rockland, Westchester, Tioga, Putnam, and Orange counties

Veolia North America is owned by Veolia Group, which is based in France. The company operates 8,500 water and wastewater facilities and systems across the globe and more than 550 communities in North America.

Supporters of the merger pointed to the benefits Veolia has offered the community.

Rockland Business Association CEO and President Al Samuel said his organization backed the merger because of the funds Veolia pledged and their commitment to continue infrastructure enhancements.

He thinks Suez has been a good corporate partner.

"We think the merger with Veolia will only serve to strengthen these relationships," Samuels said during the hearing.

Haverstraw Town Highway Superintendent George Wargo Jr, the president of the county's highway superintendents association, wrote to the PSC the organization enjoys a "positive and productive partnership" with Suez.

Bill Madden, a Suez's spokesperson, said the merger brings together two world leaders in environmental services.

"And this combined experience and intellectual capability will bolster our ability to provide solutions for our customers in Rockland and Westchester counties," Madden said in an email.

Reporter Nancy Cutler contributed to this article.

David Propper covers Westchester County. Reach him at dpropper@lohud.com and follow him on Twitter: dg_props. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Suez and Veolia merger signed off by NY public service commission
Lawrence Township Police Officer Sean VanDenberg died on Dec. 25, 2021 while off duty.

On one of his first stops as a Lawrence Township police officer, Sean VanDenberg pulled over a driver excessively speeding along state Route 21.

After taking the drivers information, VanDenberg walked back to his cruiser with his field training officer, Dave Brown, and asked him, What would you do?

Brown deferred, telling VanDenberg that it was his stop and his decision.

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VanDenberg decided to give the driver a warning instead of a citation.

As they left, VanDenberg asked Brown again how he would have handled the stop.

I wouldve written them a ticket because of the speed they were going, Brown recalls himself saying.

VanDenberg responded that he thought they were good people who needed a chance to do better.

Brown, now chief of the Lawrence Township Police Department, said VanDenberg never stopped believing in people.

No matter what the call was, Sean always found the good in people, Brown said. He always gave people the benefit of the doubt and did everything he could to put them in a better place. It didnt matter whether they were the victim of the crime or the suspect; he always helped them be better at that moment.

Brown, the Lawrence Township Police Department and the community this week are mourning the loss of VanDenberg, who died Saturday at age 53.

Brown said VanDenberg had been hospitalized since Dec. 4 and was battling multisystem organ failure. A week later, he began showing symptoms of COVID-19 and tested positive for COVID-19 and pneumonia on Dec. 13.

Brown believes VanDenberg likely became infected while on duty on Dec. 3 when he drove a person with COVID-19 to the county jail to be booked on felony charges.

Funeral arrangements are pending. A GoFundMe page has been started to help the VanDenberg family with their unexpected medical and funeral expenses.

The Canal Fulton resident is survived by his wife, Jeanann, four children and two grandchildren.

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VanDenberg's career as a police officer

VanDenberg, a Michigan native who was raised in the Stark County area, worked as a welder and fabricator before choosing to pursue his dream of becoming a police officer while in his mid-40s.

He began as a volunteer reserve officer with the Lawrence Township Police Department in May 2013 and was promoted to part-time officer a month later. He became a full-time officer with the department in 2014.

VanDenberg has held many official and unofficial roles in the department over the past eight years: He was a field training officer, a firearms instructor, a commercial truck enforcement officer, a trained sniper and a member of the Canton Metro SWAT Cooperative, where he partnered with many other Stark County law enforcement agencies.

He also was the guy that so many other officers considered their mentor. The one who would do the little things to help others through their day, such as wishing the dispatchers a good morning when he called in for service. He was the one whose contagious smile and laugh could lift the mood at the station.

He was a guy who would go above and beyond for anyone at any time, Brown said.

Reach Kelli at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kweirREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Lawrence Township police officer Sean VanDenberg died on Dec. 25
San Joaquin County reported 487 new coronavirus cases and 14 deaths in the past week as cases continued to surge statewide, but health officials say the numbers may not accurately reflect the true overall picture because of delays due to the Christmas holiday.

Christmas significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some cases and deaths that would have been reported last week might be reported in the coming week, which itself will have testing and reporting disrupted by New Year's. Consequently week-to-week comparisons will be skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

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San Joaquin Countys latest reported numbers are still lower than the previous week, when the county had reported 796 cases and 16 deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 110,610 cases and 1,872 deaths.

New coronavirus cases leaped in California in the week ending Sunday, rising 72.9% as 90,082 cases were reported. The previous week had 52,111 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Nearby Calaveras County reported 30 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 64 cases and two deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 4,663 cases and 91 deaths.

California ranked 31st among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47% from the week before, with 1,388,833 cases reported. With 11.87% of the country's population, California had 6.49% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 26 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

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Within California, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Los Angeles County with 520 cases per 100,000 per week; San Diego County with 295; and Alpine County with 266. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Los Angeles County, with 52,154 cases; San Diego County, with 9,839 cases; and Orange County, with 3,719. Weekly case counts rose in 17 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties.

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California ranked 10th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 82% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Thursday, California reported administering another 1,472,096 vaccine doses, including 389,181 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 1,525,038 vaccine doses, including 368,912 first doses. In all, California reported it has administered 64,690,197 total doses.

Across California, cases fell in 41 counties, with the best declines in San Bernardino County, with 2,596 cases from 3,620 a week earlier; in Riverside County, with 3,289 cases from 3,935; and in Sacramento County, with 1,227 cases from 1,778.

In California, 412 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 452 people were reported dead.

A total of 5,310,698 people in California have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 76,139 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 52,280,854 people have tested positive and 816,609 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

California's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 26.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 5,968

The week before that: 5,542

Four weeks ago: 4,869

Likely COVID-19 patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 99,084

The week before that: 90,677

Four weeks ago: 76,315

Hospitals in 18 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 29 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Coronavirus update: San Joaquin County COVID-19 cases and deaths
People supporting and opposing mandates for school children to wear masks in school attend a St. Johns County School Board meeting in St. Augustine on Tuesday, Aug. 21.

Like so many other school systems across the nation, the past year has been an exercise in fits and starts for the St. Johns County School District in navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Those students opting to return in person to the classroom for the 2020-21 school year on Aug. 16 did so at nearly the same time the coronavirus' delta variant began to peak in Northeast Florida.

By the end of August, the number of students testing positive for COVID or in quarantine had reached the hundreds, with totals rising nearly every week.

But in June, St. Johns County school officials had called an end to mandatory masking for students and staff, also doing away with desk shields and some of the social distancing measures that were in place for a good part of the 2020-21 school year.

What ensued in the months following was a hard-fought debate on both sides of the masking issue, with school board meetings becoming increasingly polarized and politicized.

Those voices fell into two camps: those pleading with school officials to protect students and staff in what they saw as an escalating public health crisis; and those who said they didn't believe in the efficacy of masks or who thought that wearing them should be an individual or family decision.

On Aug. 25, the school board ordered all staff and visitors to school buildings to wear masks over the next 30 days, an order that was not renewed on Sept. 23 as COVID positivity rates started declining across St. Johns County. Students  under parental guidance  continued to have the option of wearing facial coverings.

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At the beginning of the school year, between 25% and 40% of students regularly wore masks to school, an anecdotal estimate, according to Kyle Dresback, the district's associate superintendent for student support services.

Story continues

"And you saw as the number [of positive cases] continue to go lower, you saw that [percentage] lowering," Dresback said in a phone interview with The Record Tuesday.

When asked to describe what the shape or pattern of the COVID outbreak in the St. Johns County schools this fall to winter would look like if graphed out, Dresback said, "You saw it rise up through the middle of September and then come down really drastically, both cases in students and staff.

"So we're feeling good about where we are right now and hope these numbers continue to stay that way," Dresback added.

The coming weeks will determine  as the district goes takes its holiday break from Dec. 22 to Jan. 6  whether that remains to be true.

A new COVID-19 variant called omicron is now spreading across the country, and with it, fears of returning to more stringent measures implemented at the outbreak of the virus in the first half of 2020.

On Dec. 20, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported omicron was now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for 73% of new infections the previous week.

According to the daily dashboard issued by the school district, the number of students affected by the virus increased steadily, if not sharply, in the last week before schools let out.

On Dec. 21, 31 students were reported positive for COVID-19, with 26 quarantined. That was an increase from 27 positive on Dec. 20 and 24 quarantined. By comparison, on Dec. 15, those numbers were at 17 sick and 11 quarantined and went up incrementally over the next several days.

So far, hospitals in Northeast Florida do not seem to be inundated with new patients showing signs of the variant. But medical experts say this version of the virus could be more infectious, if not as serious, as previous ones.

"The good thing is that vaccinations are now available for school-aged children," Dresback said.

The state Department of Health has not yet informed the school district of any new protocols it may required to implement to guard against COVID, but that could change, Dresback, especially if caseloads were to increase by the time students return to class after the break.

That could include any federal, state or regional regulations that might be enacted.

In the meantime, Dresback said, "We're just keeping an eye on the numbers, but we're ready to respond in whatever wat we need to."

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County schools consider COVID protocol with omicron variant
New coronavirus cases soared in Volusia and Flagler counties in the week ending Sunday, increasing 231% and 134%, respectively, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

This comes as the omicron variant, which entered the United States earlier this month, caused cases to skyrocket in Florida, increasing 332.9% with 124,865 cases reported in the week ending Sunday. Florida reported 28,841 new coronavirus cases the previous week.

Already the variant has shown to be highly contagious, but with a milder illness than its predecessor, the delta variant, according to hospital officials.

Florida ranked ninth among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week, coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47% from the week before, with 1,388,833 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 8.99% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 26 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Christmas significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some cases and deaths that would have been reported last week might be reported in the coming week, which itself will have testing and reporting disrupted by New Year's. Consequently week-to-week comparisons will be skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

Looking ahead: Health experts: Welcome to 2022 and the omicron COVID-19 variant

Related: Is it the flu, a cold, or the omicron variant? How to know, and when to get tested for COVID

Previous coverage: Do COVID-19 boosters protect against omicron? Where and when can I get a booster in Florida?

Jasmine Nixon, 8, gets her covid vaccine shot at the Orange City office of the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021.

COVID-19 in Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns counties

Locally, cases have increased drastically over the past week, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

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Volusia County reported 974 new COVID-19 cases last week, a 231% increase from the previous week when 294 cases were reported.

"Reported cases have tripled and the positivity rate has doubled," according the the Florida Department of Health - Volusia County in an emailed statement about COVID-19 trends over the past month. "This variant is much more infectious than previous variants, so preventative measures are critical to minimizing the risk of exposure."

FDOH - Volusia County reported a 50% increase in COVID-19 testing within the past week.

Flagler County reported 173 new cases this past week, a 134% increase from the previous week's 74 new cases.

"If you are not vaccinated, this is a good time to get vaccinated to avoid serious infection," said Gretchen Smith, spokeswoman for the FDOH- Flagler County in an emailed statement. "And if its been six months since your last dose, please get a booster."

Since closing its testing sites over the holiday weekend, Smith said it's hard to say how much of an increase the local health department has seen in COVID-19 testing.

"I stopped over at the testing site this morning and they were very busy," Smith said Monday. "We are only testing Monday and Wednesday this week and will be closed Dec. 30 through Jan 2."

But there could be more testing opportunities next week.

"We evaluate every week based on demand," Smith said. "Im fairly certain we will return to testing at least three days next week. When I know for sure, I will add to our website."

St. Johns County reported 517 new COVID-19 cases this past week, a 242% increase from the 151 cases reported the previous week.

COVID case surge in Florida counties

Brevard County reported 1,214 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 298 cases. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 84,393 cases.

Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.

Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis included:

 Miami-Dade County with 1,930 COVID cases per 100,000 per week

 Broward County with 1,205

 Palm Beach County with 789

The federal Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall:

 Miami-Dade County, with 52,435 cases

 Broward County, with 23,532 cases

 Palm Beach County, with 11,812

Weekly case counts rose in 63 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Sports: Miami Hurricanes will not play Sun Bowl because of COVID protocols

What is COVID vaccination rate for Florida?

Florida ranked 19th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 74% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Thursday, Florida reported administering another 605,070 vaccine doses, including 137,227 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 827,240 vaccine doses, including 170,549 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 33,172,989 total doses.

These Florida counties had a decline in COVID cases

Across Florida, cases fell in four counties, with the best declines in Liberty County, with four cases from 10 a week earlier; in Franklin County, with three cases from eight; and in Gilchrist County, with eight cases from 11.

How many in Florida tested positive, how many died from coronavirus?

Florida reported 127 COVID-19 deaths in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 194 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,907,748 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 62,347 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 52,280,854 people have tested positive and 816,609 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 26.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 4,979

The week before that: 3,039

Four weeks ago: 2,177

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 99,084

The week before that: 90,677

Four weeks ago: 76,315

Volusia/Flagler COVID-19 hospitalizations

AdventHealth Central Florida on Monday: 145 Volusia/Flagler hospitals: 40

AdventHealth Central Florida last week: 100

Halifax Health Monday: 3

Halifax Health last week: average of 10 per day

St. Johns COVID-19 hospitalizations

Flagler Hospital this week: 3

Flagler Hospital last week: 4

Flagler Hospital in St. Johns County did not respond to requests for comments by noon Monday.

Hospitals in 18 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 29 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

Where to get a COVID test

Urgent care centers (by appointment only, not free, must pay for office visit)

CVS (free, by appointment only)

Walgreens (free, by appointment only)

Local Health Departments Volusia County: PCR testing only, 1845 Holsonback Drive, Daytona Beach and 775 Harley Strickland Blvd., Orange City. To make an appointment call 386-274-0500 Flagler County: PCR testing only, across from the Airport Professional Building, 120 Airport Road, Palm Coast. To make an appointment, call 386-437-7350.



The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

Nikki Ross covers K-12 education, health and COVID-19 for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. She can be reached at nikki.ross@news-jrnl.com or follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: COVID in Florida: Cases more than triple in Volusia, double in Flagler
Allison Dubsky, a parent of elementary school children, said enacting a mask-optional protocol would mean a poorer education for students because substitute teachers are not as in-tune with daily routines and lesson plans as regular teachers. More students and teachers will miss school because of isolation and quarantine, she predicts.

Against advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ohio Department of Health, area hospitals and the Portage County Health District, Aurora City Schools has decided to enact a mask-optional protocol, effective Jan. 25.

About 25 to 30 residents attended the board's meeting last week, including a mix of people in favor of a mask-optional protocol and against it.

More: UH doctor on holiday gatherings: Keep it small and keep it vaccinated.

Aurora Board of Education President Gerald Kohanski said he wanted an effective date of Jan. 25 because it gives the board another opportunity to address the matter if COVID-19 continues to spread between now and then.

The timing Im proposing is that this not take effect until Jan. 25, he said. That also ties into the fact that Jan. 24 we have a regular board meeting, and we can discuss it with the public if the numbers are bad or getting better.

More: Portage County Health District offering free PCR COVID-19 testing through December

Voting in favor of making masks optional were board members Kohanski, Pam Mehallis, Miriam Conner and Mike Acomb. Stephen Sabulsky dissented in the vote.

My main concern is, why now? said Sabulsky. Why are we voting to unmask at this arbitrary date?

Speaking against the mask optional protocol were Ken Brown and Michelle Dirda, both officers with the Aurora Education Association, which is the teachers union. Dirda said the 20-point data system the district has used this fall has kept students and faculty relatively safe."

Now, as cases mount due to the influx of omicron variant cases and continued delta variant surge, is not the time to loosen masking rules, she said.

The CDC is urging masks to be worn at all your gatherings over the holidays, she said. Ohio is mobilizing the National Guard to help with hospital personnel shortages and also urges mask-wearing as a way to reduce the amount of virus that a person emits.

Aurora Board of Education member Pam Mehallis said she believes students, who she claims are not as susceptible to the disease as others, should be left to develop natural immunity to COVID-19.

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I think it's time to prioritize normalcy as part of our public health policy, and I think it's time to allow those who are not at risk of dying from this disease to live their lives normally and to become immune to this disease through natural infection, she said.

Aurora resident Kent Ramsay said mask-wearing is craziness and Kabuki theater that hurts the quality of education for students and creates depression among teens.

It's a very depressing thing for kids to go to school every day, wearing masks and not seeing the faces, he said. Education has definitely been affected, including things like music education, reading and hearing the words of teachers. All this stuff is hugely impacted by this craziness of wearing masks, and, like I said, this has never been a successful strategy. If it was successful, we wouldn't be here now two years into [the pandemic]. It would have stopped.

However, Ramsay also said, children do not get [COVID-19], which is not true.

Dr. Amy Edwards, an infectious disease physician at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital, said children and young people have never been immune to COVID-19.

At no time, even with the original variant, was it ever true that children were not affected by COVID, she said. Kids have always been able to get COVID. There have been mortalities from COVID in the pediatric population going all the way back.

Cases during the current school year, and particularly in recent weeks among children and teens surpassed the worst point last year. UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, as well as other area hospitals, is getting very crowded.

Cases among children and teens from age 0 to 17 are spiking a rate more than three times as high as it was last January when masks were mandated in schools, according to data from the Portage County Health District. The seven-day average in mid-September peaked between 20 and 25 cases, compared with the spike in the seven-day average in January 2021, which was under 10 cases.

The seven-day average of cases as of Dec. 20 was nearly 35 for children age 0-17, according to county data.

Brown said he agrees with the basic premise that mask-wearing isnt optimal for education, but the only alternative he sees with a mask-optional policy is remote learning.

The only thing worse is the child not being in school, he said. If you want to compare a child wearing a mask, to a child being at home, trying to muddle through virtual learning again, that's the real loss  not being able to be in contact with friends and classmates.

Without masks, he said remote learning or a school shut down could be next. Without masks, he said, teachers would become infected. We dont have the subs; youre going to have to shut down because we dont have enough staff.

Now, as many metrics surrounding the pandemic are increasing locally, is not the time to make masks optional, he said.

Every measure, cases and infections and hospital rates are going up, and Twinsburg, 3 miles away, is back to virtual learning, and were sitting here discussing taking way protections? he said. If we want the kids to be in school, we want them to be with their friends, with their real teachers, masks have to stay.

Parent Elissa Katz said she believes the mask-optional vote was political. She questioned the basis for the decision and said its going directly against the advice of Cleveland area hospitals which took out a large advertisement this week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer asking area residents to help fight the pandemic, including using masks.

The omicron variant is spreading at two to three times the rate of the previous variant, reinfecting people who already had the virus along with infecting those that are vaccinated, she said. Kids with mild COVID spread the virus just as much as anyone else, even more so if not vaccinated and or not masked. Due to the outbreak in the last week, local businesses are closing, and local churches are canceling services.

Aurora resident John St. John claims viruses tend to become less deadly as more variants develop.

"I don't see, logically or rationally, why that should change with this virus," he said. "I'm someone that really believes that parents should have a choice. I don't believe it's reckless. I just think in America we have a choice. We have medical freedom, and that's what makes America great, and a lot of you folks here are upset about that, and my heart goes out to you. But I believe in more dangerous freedom than more restrictive measures."

According to the CDC, "more data is needed" to assess how deadly the omicron variant is for people with varying degrees of protection, either through vaccination or past infections.

Katz asked the board to defer to the experts and require masks in school.

I think everyone agrees that we want our kids and teachers to be in school, she said. We need to set the example, lead by example and put our children and teachers first. Follow the experts and mask up.

Do you have a business or healthcare story you'd like to share? Reporter Bob Gaetjens can be reached at 330-541-9440, bgaetjens@recordpub.com and @bobgaetjens_rc.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: As COVID-19 cases surge, Aurora school board votes to make masks optional in January
Kentucky National Guardsman Sgt. Daniel Smith sat in his vehicle outside the University of Louisville Hospital in Louisville, Ky. on Mar. 26, 2020. They have started maintaining shifts at the hospitals at the request of the governor to keep a presence there due to concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

After a temporary plateau, admissions of COVID-19 patients in Louisville-area hospitals are climbing, mirroring a national trend as the new omicron variant surges.

At Norton Healthcare, COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled from 87 on Dec. 1 to 176 patients on Monday, 12 of them children.

The majority of those hospitalized locally for COVID-19 continue to be unvaccinated, hospital officials said.

"We continue to encourage individuals to get vaccinated and to get a booster," said Dr. Steven Hester, chief medical officer for Norton.

Omicron in Kentucky: First case of omicron variant of COVID-19 found in Louisville, health officials say

Baptist Health also reported hospitalizations beginning to edge up over the past few weeks, with 156 COVID-19 patients at its hospitals in Louisville, LaGrange and Hardin and Floyd counties.

And University of Louisville Health currently has 78 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and is averaging 70 to 80 a day, compared to about 30 a day in mid-November, Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer, said Monday.

While local hospital officials aren't sure yet whether new admissions involve the omicron variant, its rapid spread nationwide prompted public health warnings Monday for people to scale back New Year's Eve plans to try to avoid contagion.

While there's some indication omicron may cause less severe disease, not enough is known about it  especially when it comes to unvaccinated patients, Smith said on a press call Monday.

"As hospitalized patients go, they are as severe as they ever were," Smith said. "We have patients every day that die from COVID. This hasn't gone away. This severe disease can still kill you."

Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer and trauma surgeon at UofL hospital, delivers remarks before five members of the UofL healthcare team were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Monday, December 14, 2020. Smith, himself, became the first recipient in the state of Kentucky.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday said Kentucky hasn't identified widespread omicron but said it is likely spreading, given the state's rate of positive cases has jumped to 11.8%, a sign of growing transmission of the virus.

"It's just a matter of time," he said, speaking at a news briefing.

Story continues

Also, with more than one-third of Kentuckians still unvaccinated, the highly contagious omicron variant has more potential to spread, he said.

"I know we have enough unvaccinated people that omicron is going to cause more cases," Beshear said. "We expect it to cause significantly more cases."

Health officials say individuals who are vaccinated and have a booster have the best chance of a mild illness should they get infected.

"The booster does protect you from hospitalization," Hester said.

Smith said U of L doesn't know yet whether patients are ill with omicron or the delta variant that caused the last wave of COVID-19 cases because test results are done through the state Department of Public Health and take several weeks.

Louisville health officials reported the first case of omicron on Dec. 21 in a vaccinated woman, 26, who developed symptoms but did not require hospitalization. Three days before that, Beshear said omicron also had been detected in a handful of patients in Fayette, Kenton and Campbell counties.

Smith said Monday he expects omicron to spread rapidly because it is considered much more contagious, even among those who are vaccinated.

"You are going to see an exponential spread of this as it gets a foothold in all these communities," he said.

And the spread likely will cause a surge in new infections and hospitalizations in January and February similar to that of the delta variant that began to spread in Kentucky in early July, he said.

"We've seen this before," Smith said. "We will probably see again a rapid uptick in the number of patients that are positive. We will probably see a rapid uptick in the number of patients hospitalized."

ICYMI: First came the tornadoes. Next comes COVID-19? Virus' spread stirs fears of looming crisis

Local hospitals have the capacity for more patients but Smith said the biggest concern is staffing at a time when most already are experiencing a nursing shortage, also a national problem.

"If it's in the community, our staff can get infected with this," he said.

Suelhen Nunez Lopez, 7, grimaces as receives a COVID-19 vaccine as residents brought youth to be vaccinated at Carter Traditional Elementary School at a vaccine drive Saturday morning. Nov. 13, 2021

Smith said U of L health continues to promote free vaccinations and boosters as the best defense against COVID-19.

Vaccinations are available to those age 5 or older. Booster shots are available to those 16 or older six months after both doses of the two-shot Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and two months after the single shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

"We've got an abundance of vaccine," Smith said. "We've got plenty of vaccine, which is great."

Vaccine sites are listed on the Louisville Metro Health and Wellness website and are also available at many local pharmacies.

In Kentucky, about 62% of the population is vaccinated, not enough to prevent the continued spread of COVID-19, state health officials have said.

Statewide, hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients had dropped to under 1,000 by the end of November but have been at 1,200 or more per day since mid-December.

Smith urges people to limit any upcoming activities that might expose them to COVID-19, especially as New Year's Eve approaches.

"Wear a mask, make sure you're vaccinated and if you can, stay away from large gatherings," he said. "Try not to get yourself involved in any activities that could get you exposed to COVID in the next few weeks."

Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4228. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: As omicron sweeps across US, COVID hospitalization rise in Louisville
New coronavirus cases soared in St. Johns County in the week ending Sunday, hitting 517, a 242% increase from the 151 cases reported the previous week, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.

This comes as the omicron variant, which entered the United States earlier this month, caused cases to skyrocket in Florida, increasing 332.9% with 124,865 cases reported in the week ending Sunday. Florida reported 28,841 new coronavirus cases the previous week.

Already the variant has shown to be highly contagious, but with a milder illness than its predecessor, the delta variant, according to hospital officials.

Looking back at 2021: Could the new COVID-19 variant require St. Johns County to mask up again?

COVID vaccine cocktails: A guide to mixing and matching Pfizer, Moderna, J&J booster shots

Florida ranked ninth among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week, coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47% from the week before, with 1,388,833 cases reported. With 6.45% of the country's population, Florida had 8.99% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 26 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Christmas significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some cases and deaths that would have been reported last week might be reported in the coming week, which itself will have testing and reporting disrupted by New Year's. Consequently week-to-week comparisons will be skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

COVID case surge in Florida counties

When reached for comment on Monday, the Florida Department of Health in St. Johns County told The Record that Noreen Nickola-Williams, director of the office of public health practice and policy, was out of the office and all media calls must go through her. A voicemail and email were not returned by publication.

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Volusia County reported 974 new COVID-19 cases last week, a 231% increase from the previous week when 294 cases were reported.

"Reported cases have tripled and the positivity rate has doubled," according to the Florida Department of Health - Volusia County in an emailed statement about COVID-19 trends over the past month. "This variant is much more infectious than previous variants, so preventative measures are critical to minimizing the risk of exposure."

FDOH - Volusia County reported a 50% increase in COVID-19 testing within the past week.

The latest: COVID in Florida: State records nearly 33,000 new cases, setting second one-day record in a row

More: COVID surge in Florida: Cases rise 332.9% in one week, state among fastest-spreading in US

Flagler County reported 173 new cases this past week, a 134% increase from the previous week's 74 new cases.

"If you are not vaccinated, this is a good time to get vaccinated to avoid serious infection," said Gretchen Smith, spokeswoman for the FDOH- Flagler County in an emailed statement. "And if its been six months since your last dose, please get a booster."

Since closing its testing sites over the holiday weekend, Smith said it's hard to say how much of an increase the local health department has seen in COVID-19 testing.

"I stopped over at the testing site this morning and they were very busy," Smith said Monday. "We are only testing Monday and Wednesday this week and will be closed Dec. 30 through Jan 2."

But there could be more testing opportunities next week.

"We evaluate every week based on demand," Smith said. "Im fairly certain we will return to testing at least three days next week. When I know for sure I will add to our website."

Brevard County reported 1,214 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 298 cases. Throughout the pandemic, it has reported 84,393 cases.

Florida does not directly publish county-level death data.

Within Florida, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis included:

 Miami-Dade County with 1,930 COVID cases per 100,000 per week

 Broward County with 1,205

 Palm Beach County with 789

The federal Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall:

 Miami-Dade County, with 52,435 cases

 Broward County, with 23,532 cases

 Palm Beach County, with 11,812

Weekly case counts rose in 63 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

What is COVID vaccination rate for Florida?

Florida ranked 19th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 74% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Thursday, Florida reported administering another 605,070 vaccine doses, including 137,227 first doses. In the previous week, the state-administered 827,240 vaccine doses, including 170,549 first doses. In all, Florida reported it has administered 33,172,989 total doses.

These Florida counties had a decline in COVID cases

Across Florida, cases fell in four counties, with the best declines in Liberty County, with four cases from 10 a week earlier; in Franklin County, with three cases from eight; and in Gilchrist County, with eight cases from 11.

How many in Florida tested positive, how many died from coronavirus?

Florida reported 127 COVID-19 deaths in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 194 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,907,748 people in Florida have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 62,347 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States, 52,280,854 people have tested positive and 816,609 people have died.

Florida's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 26.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 4,979

The week before that: 3,039

Four weeks ago: 2,177

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 99,084

The week before that: 90,677

Four weeks ago: 76,315

St. Johns COVID-19 hospitalizations

Flagler Hospital this week: 3

Flagler Hospital last week: 4

Volusia/Flagler COVID-19 hospitalizations

AdventHealth Central Florida on Monday: 145 Volusia/Flagler hospitals: 40

AdventHealth Central Florida last week: 100

Halifax Health Monday: 3

Halifax Health last week: average of 10 per day

Flagler Hospital in St. Johns County did not respond to requests for comments by noon Monday.

Hospitals in 18 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 29 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

Where to get a COVID test

Urgent care centers (by appointment only, not free, must pay for office visit)

CVS (free, by appointment only)

Walgreens (free, by appointment only)

The St. Johns County COVID-19 testing site at the Wind Mitigation Building is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and will be closed on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. For information, visit mdc.nomihealth.com/signup/fl/sjac.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

Nikki Ross covers K-12 education, health and COVID-19 for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. She can be reached at nikki.ross@news-jrnl.com or follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife.

This article originally appeared on St. Augustine Record: COVID in Florida: St. Johns County cases more than triple this week
North Carolina coach Hubert Davis points out instructions to the Tar Heels during last weeks victory against Appalachian State.

CHAPEL HILL  College basketball coaches have been wary about COVID-19 cases and possible pauses or shutdowns affecting their teams as players have returned from spending time with their families during Christmas.

The Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday postponed three mens games that were scheduled for Wednesday, including North Carolinas home opener in league play against Virginia Tech, due to COVID issues with the Hokies.

The ACC said Monday that No. 2 Duke at Clemson and Florida State at Boston College also are off the schedule for Wednesday, joining Virginia Techs visit to Chapel Hill. The Virginia Tech, Duke and Boston College teams are in COVID protocols, the league said.

The developments put the Tar Heels (9-3 overall, 1-0 ACC) back into COVID limbo, while casting the next game on their schedule, a New Years Day road assignment at Boston College, in doubt. Boston College hasnt played since Dec. 13 because of COVID reasons, a hiatus that wiped a Dec. 22 game at Wake Forest off the Eagles schedule.

Appalachian States Michael Eads Jr., left, defends North Carolinas RJ Davis last week at the Smith Center.

Energy, effort, toughness: UNC defeats App State to bounce back, meet demands from Hubert Davis

What happened in Vegas? Hubert Davis thanks John Calipari for reality check as UNC moves on to App State

'I'm shocked by it': Kentucky clobbering, worst loss in 10 seasons leaves UNC searching

On Dec. 16, North Carolina departed its campus to travel to the CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas unsure of whether its scheduled game against highly ranked UCLA would be played two days later due to a COVID pause impacting the Bruins.

The Tar Heels, under first-year coach Hubert Davis, ultimately matched up against nationally ranked Kentucky on the fly in the reshuffled CBS Sports Classic in Las Vegas, when positive tests within Ohio States team pulled the plug on the Buckeyes scheduled game against Kentucky in the event.

How we ended up playing Kentucky was something that Im used to after what happened last year, Davis said Dec. 18 at T-Mobile Arena, after North Carolinas blowout loss to Kentucky. And so being flexible in terms of schedule, being flexible in terms of who you play, when you play them and where you play, is something that unfortunately with the experience of last year all of us, with the exception of maybe the incoming freshmen, should be accustomed and should be used to that.

Story continues

It wouldve been an eventful back-to-back this week for Tar Heels supporters, had the basketball game against Virginia Tech not been postponed. That was scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip-off Wednesday at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, with North Carolinas football game against South Carolina in the Dukes Mayo Bowl set for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff Thursday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

ANNOUNCEMENT:



ACC Adds Shorter Isolation Period Options for Vaccinated Individuals to its Medical Advisory Group Report.



: https://t.co/4P2GU9fQSj  The ACC (@theACC) December 27, 2021

'Where we're headed': Mack Brown breaks down each recruit in UNCs highly ranked class

Trap avoided: UNC turns it on in second half to foil Furman ahead of showdown against UCLA

Big dunks, deep 3s: Caleb Loves season of growth continues in UNCs defeat of Elon

Big Four and More: Ready to read more on the ACC and college sports? Join our Big Four and More newsletter thats delivered right to your email

In North Carolinas last mens basketball game, the Tar Heels rolled past Appalachian State 70-50 on Dec. 21, before entering what was to be a seven-day holiday break between games.

The next night, Duke defeated Virginia Tech 76-65 in Durham in the last game for both of those teams, who now are paused due to COVID issues. And like the Tar Heels plans for New Years, Dukes next game, Jan. 1 at Notre Dame, also is in question.

Under the ACC medical advisory groups report in September, a person who tests positive must be isolated for at least 10 days from the date of the positive test or from the onset of symptoms. At least one day must have passed since a fever has been resolved without the use of fever medicine, and since respiratory symptoms have improved.

But that 10-day isolation period was based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the time. On Monday, the CDC recommended shortening isolation restrictions to five days for those who test positive, and a change in the ACCs policy followed suit.

Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Times-News: UNC basketball vs. Virginia Tech off due to COVID; Boston College iffy
CONNECTICUT  COVID-19 infections in the state have neared a 2021 high.

The state daily coronavirus positivity rate climbed to 10.7 percent  and the 7-day average to 9.8 percent  in the latest set of numbers released by the Department of Public Health. The daily rate is just 0.01 percent shy of the 2021 record set on Jan. 11.

Lamont said state health officials were paying close attention to how the highly-transmissible omicron variant trended in South Africa and the United Kingdom, which were early stomping grounds for the new version of the virus. In both countries, omicron case numbers have fallen off, the governor said.





The daily coronavirus positivity rate is a function of the number of tests compared to the number of cases confirmed positive each day. Over the long weekend, 14,654 positive tests were logged, out of 136,857 tests taken.

Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani said she expected the daily number "is not going to be accurate anymore" as the number of tests performed at home and not reported to DPH increases with the new availability of 3 million self-tests. Health officials announced earlier their plans to distribute the at-home rapid tests in the next two weeks.

Lamont said he foresees the distribution of the extra tests will "take a lot of the stress off" of the testing facilities, which are reported widely to be swamped, with long wait times. The state has established 400 testing sites, and close to a thousand venues to administer vaccine boosters, Lamont said.

The state will be prioritizing the first wave of at-home tests to "populations that we know may have harder access to get at-home tests on their own," state Chief-Operating Officer Josh Geballe said during a news conference Monday. Those special populations will include homeless shelters, and the distributions will be coordinated with Connecticut FoodShare and clergy, Geballe said.

COVID-19 Hospitalizations Climb

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As high as the positivity rate is, Lamont said the state pays special attention to hospitalizations, and called the 88 additional hospitalizations DPH logged over the weekend "concerning." The total number of residents hospitalized with the virus is 925, as reported Monday by the state.

Of those, 732 (79.1 percent) are not fully vaccinated.

Most of the hospitalized  273  are in Hartford County.

See also: Man Robbed At Knifepoint On Christmas: PD

Instructions on how to get COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters in Connecticut are available online, as is a list of walk-up clinics sponsored by DPH.

This article originally appeared on the Bethel Patch
Cows surrounded a vehicle after an about 13-mile chase in Barron County June 1.

The past year was filled with stories that made us laugh, too many that made us cry, and more than a few that made us go, huh?

And there were these stories. The only-in-Wisconsin, cows-blocking-traffic, cheese-curd-on-a-hamburger stories that are the answer to that question, tell me where you're from without telling me where you're from.

Here's a selection of some very Wisconsin stories from 2021, in chronological order.

This wasn't the only cow-car interaction this year (and not even the only one to make this list), but it was one of the first of the year. A few brown cows created a traffic backup  and amusing videos  after they got loose near Swallow School in Hartland as parents waited to pick up their children on Jan. 7. School staff herded the cows to safety and got traffic moo-ving again.

Before fiance-gate and immunized-gate, Aaron Rodgers was just another Wisconsinite trying to get home after work so he could crack open a cold one. On Jan. 28 TikTok user @amberdanette posted a video of someone who looked like Rodgers holding a case of Miller Lite while riding in the back of a pickup truck that was driving around Green Bay. Rodgers later confirmed on Twitter it was him in offensive tackle David Bakhtiari's GMC truck.

When a Wisconsin winter gives you ice, you skate. Three-time Olympic speedskater Brian Hansen, who lives in Bay View, took advantage of cold temperatures in February to skate on glass-like Lake Michigan ice in the harbor between Discovery World and the Milwaukee Art Museum. His friend and fellow elite-level speedskater Brent Aussprung, who lives in Whitefish Bay, captured the epic skate on a video posted to YouTube. Hansen noted that they took safety precautions, including wearing wet suits and life jackets and carrying throw ropes and ice picks.

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Minnesotan Emily Ford became an adopted daughter of Wisconsin last winter when she became the first woman, first person of color, and just the second person ever documented to complete a winter thru-hike on the Ice Age Trail in March. Ford hiked the 1,200-mile trail with a borrowed sled dog named Diggins, and both captured the attention of people around the world on their 68-day journey. A documentary film crew joined them for part of it, and a 30-minute film about their trek, "Breaking Trail," debuted at the BANFF Film Festival in November.

There are a couple things we don't mess around with in Wisconsin: When someone insults our city or state (which Stephen Colbert and Stephen A. Smith both learned this year), and when someone promises cheese and doesn't deliver. In April an Elroy woman filed a federal class action lawsuit against Kraft Heinz alleging their Bagel Bites Pizza Snacks are made with imitation mozzarella cheese and should be labeled as such. The lawsuit claims the bagel bites have cheese made with food starch instead of milk, which Wisconsin and federal regulations require to be labeled as imitation mozzarella cheese. The package, however, advertises mozzarella cheese and has the Real Dairy seal.

Ah yes, another cow-car interaction. This one was in Barron County on June 1, when police officers pursued a vehicle for 13 miles before the car came to a stop in a field. That's when the cows arrived to lend a helping hoof. A photo of the scene shows at least a dozen cows standing near the abandoned vehicle, and the Barron County Sherrif's Department thanked "the Barron County Bovine Unit for jumping into the fray when the vehicle came into their patrol area" in a post about the incident on their Facebook page.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) holds his NBA FINALS MVP Trophy as Milwaukee Bucks forward Khris Middleton (22) holds the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy after the Bucks won Game 6 of the NBA Finals at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Tuesday, July 20, 2021.

On July 20, 2021, the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in game six of the NBA Finals to win their first NBA Championship in 50 years. They were led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who grew from a skinny 18-year-old rookie from Greece into an MVP superstar who calls Milwaukee home. The Greek Freak dropped 50 points in game six after coming back from what looked like a terrible knee injury in game four, then celebrated the next day with an order of 50 chicken nuggets at Chick-fil-A (with both the championship and Finals MVP trophies in the car).

Bucks fans celebrated outside the new arena that kept the team in town, in the packed Deer District, which became a city in itself during the team's playoff run. In a sport that often sees its stars leaving small markets for bigger cities and contracts, it was the most Cinderella of stories, and cemented "Bucks in six" as a rallying cry for Wisconsinites everywhere.

For two very Wisconsin cherries on top, former Bucks guard Brandon Jennings, who started the "Bucks in six" mantra during the 2013 season, was in Milwaukee for game six and the celebratory parade after. And there was this Mishicot bar that offered free shots for every free throw Giannis made in game six  an offering that could not have anticipated his out-of-character 17-of-19 performance from the line in the game.

Golfers Daniel Berger and Justin Thomas became honorary Wisconsinites in September when they chugged beers at the Ryder Cup at Kohler's Whistling Straits course. The beers  and encouraging chants  came from the crowd during the famously raucous golf tournament, which the U.S.  captained by Wisconsin native Steve Stricker  won.

Photographer Autumn Ferreira, owner of Willow Walk Photography, took Mark Steinke and Ashley Ormes' wedding photos at a Janesville Kwik Trip.

Last year we got a proposal at Culver's, and this year we got another wedding event at the second pillar of Wisconsin businesses: Kwik Trip. Photographer Autumn Ferreira and couple Mark Steinke and Ashley Ormes are all Kwik Trip super fans and did a wedding photo shoot at one of the convenience stores in Janesville a few weeks after their summer wedding. The shoot included classic wedding shots like cutting a cake (doughnut) and cheers-ing (with Big Buddy cups).

The CurderBurger is real, and it is spectacular  or at least a fun novelty for one day. What started as a joke on April Fool's Day became a reality on National Cheese Curd Day (Oct. 15) when Culver's served up CurderBurgers at restaurants around the country. The Deluxe ButterBurger was topped with a burger-size cheese curd, what the restaurant chain called a "cheese crown." Cheese curd and burger enthusiasts lined up as early as 8 a.m. to get their hands on one, and 20% of restaurants set single-day sales records as the chain sold 136,000 of the burgers.

Culvers April Fools Day prank, The CurderBurger, becomes reality on National Cheese Curd Day. For one day only, Oct. 15, a burger topped by a giant cheese curd crown will be available at all Culvers locations.

Supper clubs and old fashioneds are a classic Wisconsin combination, and few places do it better than Ishnala on Mirror Lake in Baraboo. The restaurant  which is only open in the summer  did it in record-setting fashion this year, selling 93,738 old fashioneds in less than six months. It's the restaurant's most popular drink, and owner Robert Prosser said 40% of their guests order one. They usually have plenty of time to do so, since the restaurant doesn't take reservations and waits can be a couple hours or longer on weekends.

Oh you betcha there's a Charlie Berens story on this list real quick once. The two Wisconsin institutions teamed up in November to create a Berens Alexander, a play on the supper club classic (brandy sold separately). The mocktail, available on Kwik Trip's "secret menu," is a combination of caramel, chocolate, cream and cold brew, and is available for a limited time.

You can find the Berens Alexander at Kwik Trip for a limited time.

JR Radcliffe and Hannah Kirby contributed to this story.

Contact Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chelseylew and @TravelMJS and Facebook at Journal Sentinel Travel.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: CurderBurger, Kwik Trip wedding photos and more very Wisconsin stories from 2021
Embattled Chinese firm Evergrande will deliver almost four times the number of housing units to buyers in December than in the previous three months, its chairman said, as the real estate behemoth grapples with massive debts.

Evergrande -- drowning in $300 billion in liabilities -- has struggled to repay bondholders and investors after becoming ensnared in Beijing's deleveraging crackdown on the bloated property sector.

But the group -- which officially defaulted on a major bond payment this month -- has insisted it will be able to complete tens of thousands of units and pay off some debts.

"Since the company's troubles began, we delivered fewer than 10,000 units in September, October and November," chairman Hui Ka Yan -- known as Xu Jiayin in Mandarin -- told a company meeting Sunday evening, according to a post on Evergrande's official WeChat account.

"There are only five days left this month, we must charge full steam ahead to guarantee the delivery of 39,000 units this month."

The new homes are across 115 developments, he said.

"Absolutely nobody at Evergrande is allowed to 'lie flat'," Hui added, referring to an internet slang term for "slacking off" popular among young people.

In recent months, the company has repeatedly said it will finish its unfinished projects and deliver them to buyers in a desperate bid to salvage its debts, despite having missed a payment of more than $1.2 billion earlier this month.

Earlier struggles to pay suppliers and contractors due to the debt crisis led to sustained protests from homebuyers and investors at the group's Shenzhen headquarters in September.

Since then, the bloated firm has tried to sell off its assets and shave down its stakes in other firms, with Hui paying off some of the debts using his own considerable personal wealth.

The provincial government of Guangdong -- where the firm is headquartered -- is currently overseeing Evergrande's debt restructuring process, but Beijing has yet to roll back any of the restrictions that prompted the housing crunch.

Having already blamed the firm's woes on "poor management and blind expansion", China's central bank vowed Saturday to protect the rights of homebuyers and promote the healthy development of the real estate market.

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The gig economy was in full swing before the pandemic even arrived, but 2020 changed everything. That year, necessity and desperation forced hordes of newly unemployed or furloughed workers into Etsy shops or behind the wheels of delivery trucks to make ends meet any way they could.

In 2021, however, the side hustle grew up. Part-time entrepreneurs evolved from trying to make their hobbies pay, as they had the year before, to developing legitimate and reliable alternative income streams.

Looking back, its clear that 2021 was the year of the side hustle.

Related Read: 22 Side Gigs That Can Make You Richer Than a Full-Time Job

Also Find: 94 Money-Making Skills You Can Learn in Less Than a Year

Side Hustling Grew Out of the Hobby Phase

Some of the most closely watched data on the gig economy come from an annual research report produced by DollarSprout, a platform dedicated to side hustling and entrepreneurship. The 2021 Side Hustle Report showed a distinct departure from 2020 in the gig economy.

Last year, for example, just over one in four people were using gig income to cover their monthly bills; but, in 2021, that number has soared to 41%. Also this year, the percentage of people spending over 15 hours per week on their side gigs has more than doubled, from 12% to 27%.

Side hustlers are also bringing in much more money this year than last. The percentage of people earning $1,500 or more per month from their gigs on the side more than doubled from 2020 to 2021.

More than half of side hustlers have now tried three or more gigs  and that kind of experimentation has proven to be a good thing. The highest earners by far are those who have tried five or more side hustles.

According to a new report from the Pew Research Center, most side hustles fall into the following categories:

Driving for a ride-hailing app

Shopping for/delivering groceries or household items

Performing household tasks such as cleaning a home, assembling furniture or running errands

Making deliveries from a restaurant or store for a delivery app

Using a personal vehicle to deliver packages to others via a mobile app or website such as Amazon Flex

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More for You: 27 Most Lucrative Side Hustles for People Over 50

Side Hustling Fueled  and Was Fueled By  the Great Resignation

The rise of the side hustle coincided perfectly with the Great Resignation  and its clear that each had a reciprocal effect on the other. The growing availability of legitimate part-time contract work  often remote and online  gave fed-up employees something to run to. On the other side of the coin, side hustles launched in 2020 started bearing fruit and delivering reliable second income streams, which gave people the confidence to finally walk away from their paychecks.

In some ways, it has wiped the slate clean and generated a sense of freedom and opportunity to completely revitalize our livelihoods, said Tina Hawk, senior vice president of HR at GoodHire. The Great Resignation saw many professionals quit their jobs, often to switch gears completely or search for a role within a company with a healthier working culture. On the other hand, many took advantage of the chance to try monetizing a hobby or other side hustle.

With the mass exodus from the workplace still underway, its unclear whether the Great Resignations chicken came before the year of the side hustles egg  but it doesnt really matter.

Whether the gig economy helped drive the Great Resignation or vice versa, the past two years have encouraged many people to rethink where and how we work, said Jared Pobre, co-founder of Caldera + Lab, a performance luxury skincare brand. People are now searching for more meaningful ways of making money beyond the ingrained mentality of the morning commute to the office, in order to find more fulfillment in their lives.

Find More: 30 Odd Jobs That Pay Insanely Well

2021 Explosion Had Been Simmering for Decades

Although the pandemic was clearly the catalyst, the simultaneous rise of the gig economy and the Great Resignation was an eruption that had been building since the dawn of American cubicle culture.

We saw it all over Instagram and TikTok, said Emily King, founder of EJM Design, which created a whole lot of side-hustle websites this year. People are done with putting in long hours for employers who would replace them without a second thought. The pandemic forced us to spend a lot of time alone, reflecting on our lives  and the flexibility, autonomy and excitement of entrepreneurship drove many to pursue it.

For many, the pandemic lent a grim perspective to a longstanding sense of being unfulfilled in their work.

People want to reclaim a sense of control, freedom and work/life balance that can only be assured if you are your own boss, said Lilac Bar David, CEO and co-founder of Lili, a banking platform for freelancers. Freelancing full-time is the best way to make sure you can control your own work/life balance.

Many, of course, havent turned their side hustles into their full-time thing  yet.

I have personally taken my pandemic side hustle full-time, King said. While its not super common yet, I believe well see much more of it in the next few years.

Also See: Highest-Paying Work-From-Home Jobs

As With Everything, a Lot of It Is Generational

While 2021 was certainly the year of the side hustle, different genders and generations pursued gig income for different reasons.

Many workers aged 40-plus left the workforce due to sheer burnout, David said. They were tired of working the same job year after year if they werent passionate about what they were doing on a day-to-day basis. Younger generations like millennials and Gen Z are leaving because they have seen their friends and peers earning six-figure incomes freelancing on Fiverr or Upwork right out of school, skipping years of late nights, bad working environments and administrative work at significantly lower wages. Perhaps most significantly, 60% of our customers are women who jumped into freelancing to free themselves from toxic and unsafe workplaces that have presented challenges and glass ceilings for years.

Wonolo, an on-demand staffing platform, recently released a report titled, The State of the Gig Economy by Generation, which uses data and trends not included in Bureau of Labor Statistics reports. It found that:

Baby Boomers and Gen Xers work the most gig jobs among all age groups.

Gen X earns the most income out of any generation.

Gen Z saw the sharpest increase in earnings from gig work, with an 11.4% increase in hourly earnings from 2019 to 2021.

More Gen Zers are getting into gig work. In 2019, that age group held only 8% of gig positions compared to 22% today.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: From Need to Desire, How the Side Hustle Changed in 2021
You didnt hear much about it, but the Oregon Legislature convened a special session last week to address a few pressing needs across the state  illicit marijuana farms, rent assistance, drought relief and youth education to stem street violence in Portland.

Included on that short list was $18.2 million to help Afghan refugees settling in Oregon with housing, education, legal aid, job training and other culturally responsive services. Lane County will see a healthy portion of those funds as Oregon gears up to resettle 1,200 Afghan refugees.

In 2016, Catholic Community Services became Lane Countys official refugee resettlement agency, operating in partnership with the Refugee Resettlement Coalition of Lane County. Under Trumps presidency, refugees were seldom allowed in, so the coalition pivoted to assist asylum-seekers. Now it is serving asylum-seekers from central America and refugees arriving from Afghanistan.

RRC volunteers work directly with clients, or behind the scenes in numerous ways. Urgent needs center on housing, employment, learning English and cultural orientation. Others focus on what is necessary to make the effort sustainable: fundraising, community engagement and all the administrative details.

In between, there are continual needs: trucks for delivering home essentials, English-language tutors, drivers to medical appointments, childcare assistance and advocates who can work closely with clients to help them to integrate into our community.

Imagine coming here without friends or funds and without understanding our languages  spoken and unspoken. Add to that the trauma they endured before and during their departure. The needs are myriad.

If Lane County earns a reputation as a welcoming place for refugees, word will get out and volunteer needs will multiply. Funding and other support tends to flow toward places that demonstrate the capacity to expand their efforts.

Plans are already underway to hire a second part-time caseworker and an employment specialist, but staffing is a trailing indicator. This effort will always rely on volunteers primarily. Thats where you come in.

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New volunteers receive an overview of the work and the organizational structure, followed by specific training and support for the area where they feel they can be most useful. Those who have direct contact with clients undergo a background check, but most paperwork is kept to a minimum. Some tasks require only a few hours and can be done from home. Many hands make light work.

Current needs are listed under the Get Involved tab at www.rrclc.org but as the work expands, so do the specialized areas of expertise. The newest needs listed are for volunteers who can assist clients with cultural orientation, skill certification, employment opportunities and individual tech support.

The more the outreach expands, the more likely they will be looking for the skills and interests you can offer. Do you have a truck, patience with toddlers, tutoring talents, marketing skills, an empty room in your house, a job opening? Your time to help has arrived. If you have none of those, your time is coming soon.

Together, lets make Eugene and Lane County known for its welcoming spirit. During this holiday season, what could be better?

Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and archives past columns at www.dksez.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Don Kahle: Lets make resettling our thing
Social media posts featuring images of bald eagles claim they can gain 30 years of life and live to age 70 by retreating to a mountain and destroying their own beaks and talons to regenerate new ones. This is false; the longest recorded lifespan for a wild bald eagle in the US was 38 years, and wildlife experts say the raptors would not survive such self-mutilation.

"By the age of 40, the eagle's claws become too long and supple, and it cannot grab its prey with it. Its beak becomes too long and curved, preventing it from eating. The feathers on its wings and chest become too thick and heavy and prevent it from flying. The eagle is now faced with a choice: either death, or a long and painful period of change, lasting 150 days," says a December 17, 2021 Facebook post.

"It flies to its nest on the top of the mountain and beats its beak against the rock for a long time until the beak breaks and comes off... Then it waits for a new beak to grow and tear its claws out. When new claws grow, the eagle pulls out its over-heavy plumage on its chest and wings... And then, after 5 months of pain and torment, with a new beak, claws and plumage, the eagle is reborn and can live for another 30 years," the post says.

Screenshot of a Facebook post take December 23, 2021

The claim -- which also appeared on Facebook in December 2021 here -- has circulated since at least 2007, when it was debunked by Snopes and others.

Longevity records kept by the US Geological Survey -- which manages a program than bands wild birds -- show the longest lifespan recorded for a US bald eagle in the wild at 38 years. For golden eagles, the longest was 31 years and eight months.

A fact sheet from the US Fish & Wildlife Service says that bald eagles -- the US national bird and a protected species -- generally live 15 to 30 years in the wild.

The nonprofit Teton Raptor Center states on its web page that bald eagles may live to over 30 years in the wild and up to 50 years in captivity. Golden eagles -- which according to the organization are more closely related to hawks -- have a similar lifespan.

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Todd Katzner, a wildlife biologist with USGS who has studied eagles for 25 years and co-edited the book "The Eagle Watchers," told AFP that the social media claim is inaccurate.

While eagles' beaks can repair themselves, "anything more than a minor injury will result in a deformation. Birds absolutely cannot regrow an entire beak," Katzner said, adding that a bird without an intact beak "can't eat normally and probably has to be fed special food. It would die in the wild."

Eagle talons are comprised of a bony core with a keratin sheath, and "if the bird loses the bony core, then the keratin won't grow back," he said. "Recovery is possible from a minor injury but not a major one like losing an entire toe/claw."

Heather Huson, a professor of animal science and director of the Cornell University Raptor Program, also dismissed the claim.

"I've never heard of eagles tearing out their own claws and beaks to extend their lifespan to 70+ years," Huson said. "It just wouldn't make sense as those are two very important parts of adaptation for eagles to eat the things they do and survive."

Other experts also stated that eagles could not survive the ordeal described in the online posts.

"In order to successfully procure their prey, eagles need their sharp talons and to ingest their catch, they need their sharp pointed beaks to tear food into bite-sized pieces," said Lori Arent, assistant director of the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. "Without talons and a beak, they simply could not survive."

Rob Bierregaard, president of the Raptor Research Foundation and a research associate at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, echoed that assessment.

"They could survive missing a couple of talons (they have 8, after all), but not without a beak," he said.
FLORIDA  With COVID-19 cases increasing at an alarming rate across the country, Florida broke its single-day record for new coronavirus cases not once, but twice over the holiday weekend.

On Christmas Day, 32,850 new COVID-19 cases from Dec. 24 were reported in the Sunshine State, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That number broke the states previous record  set just the day before on Christmas Eve, when 31,758 new cases were reported from Dec. 23.

These new pandemic records far outpaced Floridas previous record for new COVID-19 cases in a single day when more than 27,000 new cases were reported in August during the height of the states delta variant surge.

The current jump in cases, like the rest of the U.S., is driven by the new omicron variant.

Omicron is 10 [times] more potent at causing reinfection than previous variants  protection from prior infection is not as good as protection from triple vaccination, Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious-disease expert at Florida International University, told the Miami Herald.

Related Story: Walgreens, CVS, Amazon Limit COVID-19 Tests For FL Shoppers

Florida had a new case positivity rate of 13.8 percent from Dec. 17-23, according to the Florida Department of Healths COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report. During that period, 125,201 new coronavirus cases and 28 deaths were reported.



Thats a significant jump from the previous week, Dec. 10-16, when Florida saw a positivity rate of just 5.4 percent with 29,568 new cases and 39 deaths, according to state data. From Dec. 3-9, only 13,530 cases, a 2.6 percent positivity rate and 36 deaths were reported.

Dr. Larry Bush, an infectious disease expert in South Florida, told WPBF that there are likely even more new COVID-19 cases in Florida than have been reported because of at-home testing kits.

Quite a few people are being diagnosed at home, are not sick enough to go to a hospital or to an urgent care, he said. Therefore, theyre not counted.

Bush expects the COVID-19 surge to continue in Florida and said there could be as many as 150,000 new cases reported daily.

This article originally appeared on the Miami Patch
By Geert De Clercq

PARIS (Reuters) -Faced with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, France will further tighten COVID-19 measures, but there will be no curfew for New Year's Eve and schools will reopen as planned in early January, the government said on Monday.

Prime Minister Jean Castex said the COVID incidence rate - the number of infections per 100,000 people per week - is now well over 700 and at a record level since the start of the pandemic, forcing his cabinet to take new measures.

From Monday and for the next three weeks, all public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events, and to 5,000 people for outdoor events, and all spectators will have to be seated at concerts.

Consumption of food and drink will be banned in public passenger transport - including long-distance transport - as well as in movie theatres, while in bars and restaurants all food and drink will have to be consumed seated, not standing. Masks are already required for passengers on public transport.

Castex also said that home working will become mandatory for at least three days per week where possible, and that mask wearing will become mandatory again outdoors in city centres, under the authority of local prefectures.

"I know that it feels like a film without ending, but a year ago we started our vaccination campaign and now we are one of the best vaccinated and best protected people in the world," Castex told a news conference following a cabinet meeting.

In order to further boost vaccinations, the government's planned vaccine pass - which will require proof of vaccination, not just a negative test, to enter public places - will take effect from Jan. 15, if parliament approves a draft government bill, Castex said.

The government is also narrowing the period until people are eligible for a booster shot to three months from four following their second jab.

On Saturday, France registered a new record of more than 100,000 new infections per day as people rushed to get tested before Christmas family gatherings. On Monday, the seven-day moving average of new infections stood at more than 72,000.

(Reporting by Geert De Clercq;Editing by Chris Reese, Philippa Fletcher and Alison Williams)
Today is tomorrow. The future is the present.

Nearly 100 years ago, a group of deep thinkers dared to ponder what life would be like in 2022. Some of their predictions fell amusingly short, but others have proved to be eerily accurate.

Join us now as we gaze into that crystal ball from 1922.

Life in the future

English author W.L. George (1882-1926) was nothing short of visionary when he imagined the amazing, remarkable world of 2022.

In a full-page article in the New York Herald, he made some startling prognostications  and its kind of spooky how many he got right.

More: Businesses we lost in 2021: Goodbye to West Hill Hardware, Highland Shoe Repair, The Devil Strip, West Hill Marathon and more

Here are some of Georges prophecies from a century ago:

 I suspect that commercial flying will have become entirely commonplace. The passenger steamer will survive on the coasts, but it will have disappeared on the main routes, and will have been replaced by flying convoys, which should cover the distance between London and New York in about 12 hours.

 The people of the year 2022 will probably never see a wire outlined against the sky: it is practically certain that wireless telegraphy and wireless telephones will have crushed the cable system long before the century is done.

English author W.L. George (1882-1926) was ahead of his time.

 Coal will not be exhausted, but our reserves will be seriously depleted, and so will those of oil. One of the world dangers a century hence will be a shortage of fuel, but it is likely that by that time a great deal of power will be obtained from tides, from the sun, probably from radium and other forms of radial energy, while it may also be that atomic energy will be harnessed.

 The movies will be more attractive, as long before 2022 they will have been replaced by the kinephone, which now exists only in the laboratory. That is the figures on the screen will not only move, but they will have their natural colors and speak with ordinary voices.

 Many buildings now standing will be preserved. It is conceivable that the Capitol at Washington, many of the universities and churches will be standing a hundred years hence, and that they will, almost unaltered, be preserved by tradition.

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Imagining the United States of 2022, one futurist predicted in 1922 that the U.S. Capitol would still be standing in Washington, D.C., and that women would be serving in Congress.

 Naturally the work of the household, which is being reduced day by day, will in 2022 be a great deal lighter. I believe that most of the cleaning required today in a house will have been done away with. In the first place, through the disappearance of coal in all places where electricity is not made there will be no more smoke, perhaps not even that of tobacco.

 In the second place I have a vision of walls, furniture and hangings made of more or less compressed papier-mache, bound with brass or taping along the edges. Thus instead of scrubbing its floors, the year 2022 will unscrew the brass edges or unstitch the tapes and peel off the dirty surface of the floor or curtains.

 It is conceivable, though not certain, that in 2022 a complete meal may be taken in the shape of four pills. This is not entirely visionary; I am convinced that corned beef hash and pumpkin pie will still exist.

 The child is likely to be taken over by the state, not only schooled but fed and clad, and at the end of its training placed in a post suitable to its abilities.

 It is practically certain that in 2022 nearly all women will have discarded the idea that they are primarily makers of men. Most fit women will then be following an individual career. All positions will be open to them and a great many women will have risen high.

 The year 2022 will probably see a large number of women in Congress, a great many on the judicial bench, many in civil service posts and perhaps some in the presidents Cabinet. But it is unlikely that women will have achieved equality with men.

 Marriage will still exist much as it is today, for mankind has an inveterate taste for the institution, but divorce will probably be as easy everywhere as it is in Nevada.

 I suspect that those wars to come will be made horrible beyond my conception by new poison gases, inextinguishable flames and lightproof smoke clouds. In those wars the airplane bomb will seem as out of date at is today the hatchet.

 As regards the United States in particular, it is likely that the country will have come to a complete settlement, with a population of about 240,000,000. The idea of North and South, East and West will have almost disappeared.

 In 2022, American literature will be a literature of culture. The battle will be over and the muzzle off. There will be no more things one cant say, and things one cant think. No doubt there will be in 2022 people who think as they would have thought in 1922, or even a little earlier, but a great liberalism of mind will prevail.

 Americans will be less enterprising and much more pleasure loving. They will have rebelled against long hours; the chances are that in 2022 few people will work more than seven hours a day, if as much. The effect of this, which I am sure sounds regrettable to many of my readers, will, in my opinion, be good.

Behold Manhattan in 2022. A New York professor predicted in 1922 that New York City would have glass towers, enclosed skywalks, moving sidewalks, electric trains and luxury airships.

New York in 2022

New York professor Ferdinand Shuler imagined Manhattan as a Utopian metropolis of skyscrapers, moving sidewalks and canals instead of streets.

Here are some of the fantastic things he predicted for New York City by 2022:

 Buildings would be 60 to 80 stories high, composed of glass, steel and concrete. They would be enclosed in double walls of glass.

 Enormous bridges would connect the gigantic buildings at different levels and help hold them up, turning the entire city into one great structure.

 People working and living in the buildings would bask in scientifically diffused light, contributing to their well being.

 Rolling sidewalks operated by electromagnetic power would connect buildings.

 Canals would replace streets, providing a place for bathing, canoeing and power boating.

 Trains would travel on glass plates and reach speeds of 200 mph.

 Anti-gravity screens would prevent airplanes from falling out of the sky.

 Luxury airships would have elevators, rolling floors, swimming pools and practically every convenience.

 Food would be selected on a scientific basis with regard to its curative properties, so that the ills of the flesh will be reduced to a minimum and few medicines taken.

 Restaurants would offer self-serving tables with meals rising from kitchens one floor below.

A century ago, scientists predicted that humans would learn to harness the sun's energy for a cleaner Earth.

Cleaner and brighter

New York scientist Charles P. Steinmetz, a proponent of electrical power, imagined a cleaner future after society adopted the chimneyless house by 2022.

It is reasonable to expect that all the domestic and industrial work of the city, all locomotion and transportation, will some time be done by electricity, and that in a not very distant future, fires and combustion will be altogether forbidden by law within city limits and dangerous and unsanitary, he noted.

He also predicted that humans would harness the suns energy.

At present, I could imagine a great structure under glass of magnifying power which could concentrate the suns rays he said. But how the power which they would generate and which they contain could be stored, I am not ready to say.

Can you read this?

We should all be wearing spectacles by now.

Edward M. Van Cline, managing director of the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness, spoke at the groups 1922 meeting in Manhattan.

Van Cline told the gathering: An English scientist prognosticates that within one hundred years every man, woman and child in the United States will be wearing glasses. He declares that the American obsession for glory, haste and the pace that kills is responsible; that our skyscrapers shut out natures light, destroying the space necessary to vision; that our brilliant lights are a menace to sight; that the American spirit is impatient of darkness, and that lack of time prevents the health exercise of walking which keeps the body in good condition.

According to one prognosticator in 1922, every person in the United States would be wearing glasses by 2022

Far from the city

Chicago futurist R.F. Kellum anticipated many changes by 2022, including a dramatic shift from city to suburb:

 Almost anybody able to pay the rent will own an automobile  cars will be that common.

 There is no reason why people should be cooped up in the heart of a city when they can live out where the ozone whisks.

 The suburbs will extend as far away as 100 miles from the center of the city.

 Office buildings will take the place of residences and everybody will live out of town.

The worm and the turtle

Wilbur E. Sutton, managing editor of the Muncie Evening Press in Indiana, lamented that a multiplicity of laws had led to paralyzing bureaucracy.

The American people, who long have boasted of their freedom, some day will have to begin tearing down some of their statutes and abolishing a few thousand commission boards, and systems, or the individual American in the year 2022 will be as spineless as an angleworm and will have about as much initiative and resourcefulness as the slow-going turtle, he wrote in 1922.

French scientists worried that the national birth rate would be zero by 2022.

Vive la France?

No one would be left to appreciate the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe.

French scientists were concerned about the nations birth rate 100 year ago. In 1860, there had been 1 million births in the country. In 1922, the number had fallen to 450,000.

As one observer noted: At the rate of decline in number of children born in that country, in the year 2022  100 years hence  there will be nobody left in France, except as they drift in from other sections of Europe. The figures show, unerringly, that the present rate of decrease, maintained for 100 years, would reduce the birthrate to zero.

Life in the country

The people of 2022 would reside in airship-houses and enjoy a life of leisure.

An opinion piece titled Big Laughs Coming appeared in dozens of U.S. newspapers in 1922. The unknown authors conclusion:

In the future, automatic machinery and inventions will free men from industrial slavery. Cheap and fast-flying airplanes will enable all to live in the country. Cities, at night, will be deserted groups of factory buildings.

We, voluntarily imprisoned in cramped apartments or small houses, will seem queer to our descendants. Daily we go to work in our prison cells, to pound typewriter keys, push a pen or perform monotonous operations with machinery  when we might all be free in the outdoors of farmland.

Will the future consider us laughable, pathetic or crazy?

High-tech machinery would surely perform household chores and lead to a life of leisure by 2022. Alas, the cigarette-lighting robot has yet to gain popularity.

The future newspaper

Charles H. Taylor Jr., manager of the Boston Globe, had no worries about journalism 100 years hence.

We newspaper men should not get pessimistic about the future newspaper, he told an interviewer in 1922. It will be all right. The radio-phone is not going to take the place of it any more than the wireless has taken the place of the telephone.

The printed word, that one can read and digest, will always be popular. The newspaper is on the earth to stay. What it will be no one can say, but this you may swear by: It will be just what the public demands, and the publisher who is wise will meet the demand.

Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com.

More: Local history: Clarkins was king in Akron area before Kmart and Walmart

More: Local history: Munchkin from Wizard of Oz found true love in Akron

More: Staff profile: Meet the Beacon Journals Mark J. Price

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Experts from 1922 made prophecies about 2022
The jury in Ghislaine Maxwells sex trafficking trial resumed deliberations on Monday morning after a four-day break over the holiday weekend, which saw the British socialite spend her 60th birthday behind bars on Christmas.

Jurors are considering six charges against Ms Maxwell, who is accused of recruiting and grooming teenage girls for convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein to abuse.

She has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and said she is being made a scapegoat for Epsteins acts after he died in prison in 2019 while awaiting his own trial.

Over about 16 hours of deliberation last week, the jury last week requested transcripts of testimony from four women who claimed Ms Maxwell facilitated Epsteins abuse and sometimes took part in it herself.

The first request came on 21 December regarding testimony from three of the women: Jane, Carolyn, and Annie Farmer. Just before the court went into recess, jurors asked for testimony from the fourth accuser, Kate, and from Juan Alessi, former house manager at Epsteins Florida estate,

US District Judge Alison J Nathan told jurors strict coronavirus protocols will be in place Monday when they reconvene, including wearing hospital-grade masks. This, keeping in view a rise in coronavirus infections.

Deliberations resume at Manhattan federal court

14:13 , Megan Sheets

A fourth day of deliberations is underway in Ms Maxwells sex trafficking trial at the federal court in lower Manhattan.

Jurors were set to arrive at the courthouse at 9am. It is unclear if they stopped in the courtroom or went straight into the deliberation chamber.

Jurors to begin fourth day of deliberations

13:12 , Chiara Giordano

Jurors will soon enter a fourth day of deliberations after returning from the Christmas holiday break.

Deliberations began late on Monday afternoon following a three-week trial.

The Manhattan federal court jury last week requested transcripts of the testimony of four women who said Ghislaine Maxwell played a crucial role in their abuse by Jeffrey Epstein.

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On Tuesday, they asked to review the testimony of three of the women: Jane, Carolyn, and Annie Farmer. Ms Maxwells lawyers had questioned the women aggressively about why their stories appeared to shift over the years.

On Wednesday, the jury asked to read transcripts of the accounts of the fourth accuser, a woman testifying under the pseudonym Kate, and Juan Alessi, the former house manager at Epsteins Palm Beach, Florida, estate who said he saw Jane at the property.

The life of the British socialite accused of sex trafficking for Jeffrey Epstein

11:26 , Chiara Giordano

The jury in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is expected to resume later today after breaking for the Christmas weekend.

My colleague Joe Sommerlad has put together this overview of the British socialites life, from her Oxford childhood as the youngest of nine born to disgraced newspaper baron Robert Maxwell, to her first encounter with Epstein and subsequent arrest last year.

A timeline of the Ghislaine Maxwell case

Most explosive revelations from the trial

07:19 , Namita Singh

Ms Maxwell, considered to be a close affiliate of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epsteins, has been accused of grooming, luring and recruiting teenage girls to have sex with the disgraced American financier over decades.

She has been charged with one each count of enticement of a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts, transportation of a minor with intent to engage in illegal sex acts, sex trafficking of a minor, and three counts of conspiracy related to the other counts. She has denied all the charges.

My colleague Bevan Hurley reports on how the case unfolded during the 12 days of testimony.

Most explosive revelations from the Ghislaine Maxwell trial

How did Epstein die and what is the controversy around his death?

07:07 , Namita Singh

Epstein died on 10 August inside the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, where he was confined ahead of a pending trial for allegedly recruiting dozens of teen girls to engage in sexual acts with him and his friends. He was facing up to 45 years in prison if he was convicted.

Authorities ruled the death suicide, after he was found with a noose made out of a bedsheet.

However, there is skepticism around the death of the 66-year-old, with speculations running rampant that he did not kill himself. His lawyer said that Epstein did seem like a despairing, despondent, suicidal person.

Investigators are still examining what happened to the disgraced financier two years after his death, reports Josh Marcus.

What happened to Jeffrey Epstein?

Jurors to meet under stricter covid protocols

04:30 , Namita Singh

The jurors are likely meet under stricter covid protocols on Monday as the US District Judge Alison J Nathan has earlier on Wednesday warned them to protect themselves against the coronavirus infection which is seeing a surge in the New York City.

The judge said the Manhattan federal courthouse will be under stricter protocols when they reconvene as she advised jurors to wear hospital-grade masks.

I need you all here and healthy on Monday, she said.

Ghislaine Maxwell, left, speaks to her defense attorney Jeffrey Pagliuca after the reading of the jury's second note during Maxwell's sex trafficking trial, Tuesday, 21 December 2021 (AP)

Jury to resume third day of deliberations

04:06 , Namita Singh

The jury will resume the third day of deliberations in the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell on Monday. The jurors finished the second full day of deliberations last Wednesday without a verdict before breaking for the Christmas holiday.

They have so far considered the matter for over 16 hours.

A courthouse police officer stands at the top of the steps to the New York City Federal Courthouse in the Southern District of New York (PA Wire)

03:40 , Namita Singh

Welcome to The Independents coverage of the Ghislaine Maxwell trial for 27 December 2021.
Since he was a young man growing up in Venezuela, Jorge Cazzorla knew he wanted to make peoples dreams come true.

His passion for architecture, design and flowers led him down a path of glitz and glamour, turning even the simplest celebration into an elegant work of art.

His creations have been featured in prominent publications like The New York Times, and hes collaborated with retailers like Macys and celebrities like Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts.

After 25 years working in event design in New York City, Cazzorla has set up shop in Pittsford, opening Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs on 50 State St. in the beginning of December.

His business now offers unique services in wedding, event and floral design.

Passion for design

Jorge Cazzorla at work in his Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs shop in Pittsford Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The business specializes in weddings, events and floral designs.

Cazzorla didnt always plan on making a career out of event design.

He studied architecture in Caracas and moved to New York City in the early '90s. There, he worked sweeping the floors of a flower and event planning shop.

I remember that one Thursday, the company had a huge event to prepare for, and it was all hands on deck, so they asked me to re-create the floral arrangements that would be the centerpiece," said Cazzorla. "They were so impressed with my work that by the following Monday, I had a desk as a designer."

Thus began his passion for flowers and event planning. In 1994, he created Celebrate Flowers, an interior design company focused on floral decorations.

Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs shop is decorated like a giant gingerbread house in Pittsford Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The business is located in Northfield Common Building F on Schoen Place in Pittsford.

He would combine his knowledge of interior design, architecture and floral arrangement to design spaces and events for world-renowned organizations like the United Nations, and even celebrities' homes and events. Hes known for his floral arrangements that go beyond the flowers in a vase.

For over 26 years, his business flourished, but after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, he saw a massive change in the industry and city, and he went looking for new things.

Not only a flower shop

Jorge Cazzorla works on a holiday arrangement in his Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs shop in Pittsford Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The business specializes in weddings, events and floral designs.

In 2020, Cazzorla was hired by a wedding planner in Rochester to design the wedding of a doctor. He spent nearly a year traveling back and forth between New York City and Rochester, staying nights at The Del Monte Lodge Renaissance Rochester Hotel & Spa in Pittsford.

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Pittsford reminded me a lot of my hometown of Valera in Venezuela. There is a clock on one of the corners of the main avenue, and its very similar to one in my hometown, and it took me back to my childhood," he said. "Im religious and believe in the signs the universe gives us as guides, and I knew that this is where I belonged."

Cazzorla spent months designing the space on State Street, and said he feels at home with the upscale environment Pittsford provides, which fits his vision.

Jorge Cazzorla works on a holiday arrangement in his Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs shop in Pittsford Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021. The business specializes in weddings, events and floral designs.

"We are not a flower shop, but we use flowers to create the ambience that the client wants," said Cazzorla.

Its not the kind of store one walks into to buy premade arrangements. Clients contact the store and rely on Cazzorla and his team to create a work of art for any event.

Cazzorla said he believes that any vision is possible. He locally sources his flowers and materials, and he also can import them from countries like Ecuador, Honduras and the Netherlands if required.

"My goal is to make dreams come true and help anyone to make their vision real for their events," said Cazzorla.

Natalia Rodriguez Medina is a bilingual reporter covering the Puerto Rican and Latino population for the Democrat and Chronicle in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on Twitter at @nataliarodmed or email her at nrodriguezmedina@gannett.com. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.

Jorge Cazzorla Event Design

Where: 50 State St, Building F 2nd Floor, Pittsford

Phone: 585-286-9031

Facebook: Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jorge Cazzorla Elegant Designs opens in Pittsford NY
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the first of three stories about food insecurity issues in Monroe and surrounding counties.

In 2020, more than 60 million people used food banks and other community programs to help them put meals on their tables, according to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization with a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, including Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington.

Nearly 1.2 million Hoosiers were food insecure at the height of the pandemic in 2020, according to Feeding Indiana's Hungry, a nonprofit formed in 2005 to maximize public-private partnerships that link hunger service providers, food producers and processors to work in a coordinated effort to help Hoosiers who are hungry.

Julio Alonso is executive director of Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

The numbers don't lie and what they tell Julio Alonso, executive director of Hoosier Hills Food Bank, is there's still a problem with people not getting enough nutritious food to eat every day.

In November, Hoosier Hills Food Bank completed a survey of food pantries, shelters and kitchens in the six counties it serves. Fifty-four of the 92 partner agencies responded:

51% said the need level at their agency is currently increasing.

45% said the need level is about the same as last year.

50% said the number of people served was higher or about the same as pre-COVID levels.

50% said the number of people served was lower than pre-COVID.

78% said they are getting enough food from Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

22% said they are not getting enough food from Hoosier Hills.

What those statistics don't tell is who needs the food and the circumstances that led them to needing help in securing enough food for themselves and their families.

Fresh Friday at Hoosier Hills Food Bank: Fresh Friday food distributions begin this month at Hoosier Hills Food Bank

Some more facts from Feeding America:

Because of the current pandemic, more than 42 million people may experience food insecurity, which means people cannot access at all times enough food for an active, healthy life for all members of their household.

Most of the people currently experiencing food insecurity have children in their homes. Before COVID-19 spread across the U.S., more than 12 million children lived in food-insecure households.

Many of the households facing food insecurity do not qualify for federal nutrition programs and must visit local food banks or other food programs to supplement what they can provide.

Story continues

George Reger, a resource specialist with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, fills bags with cereal on Nov. 23 as part of a volunteer work day for employees of the department.

What's driving food insecurity in this region, and what's aiding the hungry

The agencies responding to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank survey were asked what factors were driving the numbers of people they were seeing (they could name more than one factor). The results:

67% said continued effects of COVID.

54% said higher food prices.

43% said low wages.

Other factors mentioned included problems with access to child care, loss of federal benefits, unemployment and reduced work hours. Some agencies mentioned that increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits from the federal government, often referred to as SNAP or food stamps, were helping some clients so they needed less help from pantries, Alonso said.

"We have somewhat of a varied network," Alonso said of the agencies that are under the umbrella of Hoosier Hills Food Bank, the major food bank serving Monroe, Lawrence, Owen, Brown, Orange and Martin counties.

Hoosier Hills Food Bank distributes food to more than 100 nonprofit organizations  from emergency food shelters to long-established food kitchens and day care centers. The food goes to senior citizens, youth and families. There are four mobile food pantries that serve more than 400 households in Lawrence, Martin and Orange counties and a new food truck that Community Kitchen of Monroe County operates is reaching neighborhoods where people have mobility issues and can't easily leave their homes.

Each of the organizations Hoosier Hills Food Bank serves fills a different niche, providing food to varied groups of people, with each of the six counties having unique demographics, needs and employment situations. While each organization was working hard before COVID, Alonso is certain that each was "absolutely critical to respond to this pandemic."

"A lot of people were never in this kind of situation before," he said. "They are all helping a lot of people get through this."

Monroe County is the most urban area served by Hoosier Hills Food Bank. That means there's a higher concentration of people. But rural areas have people in need of food, too. Each county has what Alonso calls a base level of need.

"What we are finding across the board right now is that we are still in recovery," he said. "Our numbers spiked last year, higher than we thought they could go. It's not near as bad as that now. But we're still seeing higher numbers than pre-pandemic."

But getting back to the pre-pandemic numbers isn't the goal, Alonso said.

"We had high food insecurity before the pandemic. Our goal is always getting as much food as we possibly can and getting that out to our food agencies. We struggle to meet that need."

One surprise for Alonso and many others who work in food banks and agencies was the overwhelming support received when the pandemic began. At the height of the pandemic, Alonso said all of its agencies were saying they were receiving enough food from the food bank. That had never happened before.

"We were able to meet that need during the height of the pandemic," he said. "That is starting to ebb. ... We're still working at getting as much food as possible out to our partners."

Bins filled with bags of cereal to be distributed to food pantries, kitchens and other agencies served by Hoosier Hills Food Bank were filled Nov. 23 by volunteers from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. The cereal was provided by Feeding America.

In the past five to eight years, Hoosier Hills Food Bank has made a concerted effort to have at least 25% of the food it distributes be fresh produce. Most years it's been able to meet that goal, Alonso said. While much of the food that Hoosier Hills receives is large, bulk purchases of canned and nonperishable foodstuffs, providing people with variety is essential.

"They need canned goods as well as fresh produce," Alonso said. "A lot of the food we receive through donations does not have the highest nutritional content."

Donations are often of discontinued products or items that are close to the end of their shelf life and need to be used quickly.

During the pandemic, with more funds available, Alonso said the food bank was able to be more thoughtful about its purchases, such as procuring low-sodium and gluten-free items sought after by some people.

"That's a challenge when you're getting donated food," Alonso said, adding it's one reason an emphasis is placed on purchasing fresh produce. "It's one of the healthiest things we can pass on to our clients."

Finding the funds

Last year as the pandemic worsened, there were state and federal funds allocated to help people who couldn't afford food for themselves and their families. Many of those funds have or will soon disappear. That means the Hoosier Hills Food Bank will have to work harder to meet a never-ending need for food. The funds and food that are eventually distributed through the Bloomington-based food bank come from a variety of sources and in many forms.

Feeding America is one of the main sources for food and funding. Recently, Hoosier Hills Food Bank had huge boxes  big enough to hold a kitchen appliance  filled with large bags of cereal that were donated by Feeding America. While the food was donated, Alonso said Hoosier Hills had to pay the transportation costs.

George Reger and Laura Fribley, right, both employees with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, fill zipped plastic bags with cereal donated from Feeding America at Hoosier Hills Food Bank on Nov. 23. Fourteen state workers volunteered to help as part of the agency's volunteer efforts to help at one of the food banks that receive annual funding from the state.

Volunteers from the Indiana State Department of Agriculture spent Nov. 23 at Hoosier Hills Food Bank filling smaller plastic bags with the cereal so it could be distributed to pantries, kitchens and other agencies in the six counties served by Hoosier Hills. The volunteer day allowed workers to see one of the food banks funded by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, which was established in 2005 by the Indiana Legislature.

In July, Hoosier Hills Food Bank received $43,900 from ISDA's annual food bank funding. That money helped purchase about 73,000 pounds of food and provided 61,000 meals in Brown, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, Owen and Monroe counties.

This year, the Indiana Legislature designated $1 million in state funding to distribute to 11 food banks, including Hoosier Hills Food Bank. That $1 million was more than triple what had been given out in previous years, the ISDA said in a news release. The amount each food bank received was determined using the Emergency Food Assistance Program fair share percentage for Indiana, which looks at poverty and unemployment levels in each county.

Look back at book fair: This year's Hoosier Hills Food Bank Book Fair will take over 2 buildings at the fairgrounds

Hoosier Hills Food Bank also receives produce and meat through multiple U.S. Department of Agriculture food streams. Last year, it received produce and protein boxes through Fresh Connect. Currently, it is receiving produce boxes through the The Emergency Food Assistance Program. Other funding and donations come from a varied group of businesses, agencies and government entities including the United Way of Monroe County, the Monroe County Board of Commissioners and Catholic Charities of Terre Haute.

Most years, restaurants and other dining institutions provide unserved meals that Hoosier Hills Food Bank distributes as part of its Meal Share food rescue program. In March 2020, with the pandemic, that program was shuttered. This year, it's started up again but on a limited basis that only distributes food that can be delivered in bulk, thus eliminating the need for repacking by volunteers.

The consequence is that most of the food is coming from the Indiana University campus and schools. Alonso doesn't expect that to change for awhile but said he will continue to evaluate what's happening with COVID-19 as well as the number of restaurants that are operating at a more normal level.

Another source of money  fundraising at specific events and by businesses and others  took a huge hit in 2020, although special COVID funds from local, state and federal agencies as well as people who donated filled the gap, allowing Hoosier Hills Food Bank to distribute 7,089,749 pounds of food in 2020  the largest amount of food Hoosier Hills has ever distributed.

Alonso anticipates the food bank will distribute a more normal amount of food this year, although 2021 will exceed the pre-pandemic 5 million pounds handed out in 2019. By November, Hoosier Hills Food Bank already had distributed 4.58 million pounds of food in 2021.

Geneva Tyler, with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, fills zipper plastic bags with cereal at Hoosier Hills Food Bank on Nov. 23. Tyler was one of 14 state employees who spent the day volunteering at one of the food banks that receives funding through the ISDA.

Dishing out the food

Hoosier Hills Food Bank distributes the food it receives to more than 100 different agencies and groups in the six-county area it serves. The food is distributed based on a tier-based system the food bank uses to determine the weekly need at each location, according to Alonso.

Priority is given to emergency food agencies, shelters and pantries. Each of the agencies that receives food has to supply information about how many people they serve and their needs.

"Different segments have different needs," Alonso said. "In terms of stopping the bleeding, the need is every day. Pantries and kitchens are the most critical for that."

But some agencies focus on other needs, from toothpaste to life training and education  all necessary for people in need of help.

The goals, short- and long-term

Alonso knows food banks can't solve the hunger problem. Longer-term changes are needed to lessen the reasons people become food insecure.

"If people return to jobs that don't pay a living wage, it's not going to improve," Alonso said.

Hoosier Hills Food Bank is one of 11 food banks that serve Indiana's 92 counties, all part of the Feeding American network.

The food banks works with partner agencies  pantries, kitchens, youth programs and senior centers. Each agency has to meet certain standards, complying with local, state and federal guidelines for food safety and business practices.

"We do monitor our partner agencies for those standards," Alonso said. "Our main goal is to get those agencies as much food as we can."

He said there's been a shift in the past decade or so to not only help provide food but also increase the agencies' capacities for better serving people.

"We're not here to create new programs that might compete," he explained. "We help them build their capacity. Many are smaller, volunteer driven agencies."

Even doing this, Alonso explains that understanding the underlying, core issues that lead to people becoming food insecure is essential to eventually lessening the number of people who need to use the various programs.

"People don't eat in the long run. They eat every day," Alonso said. "We need long-term solutions to the problems but people have to eat every day and that's our ultimate priority."

Coming Tuesday: More than 25 locations in Monroe County offer food to people in need.

Coming Wednesday: Megan Betz new leader of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com, 812-331-4359 or @ckugler on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Hoosier Hills Food Bank helps food insecure in 6 counties
(Reuters) -A senior U.N. official called on Myanmar authorities to investigate the reported killing of at least 35 civilians that opposition activists blamed on government soldiers, saying he was "horrified" at the violence.

The ruling military has not commented on the killings near Mo So village in Kayah State on Friday and several calls since Saturday to junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.

State media reported on Sunday that soldiers had fired on and killed an unspecified number of "terrorists with weapons" in the village. It did not say anything about civilians.

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said there were credible reports the civilians, including at least one child, were forced from vehicles, killed and burned. He did not elaborate on why he considered the reports credible.

"I am horrified by reports of an attack against civilians... I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country, which are prohibited under international humanitarian law," he said in a statement.

Griffiths called for "a thorough and transparent" investigation so the perpetrators could be brought to justice.

The Save the Children aid group said two of its workers, travelling to their home villages for the year-end holiday, had been killed by the Myanmar military in the attack. It suspended operations in Kayah State and parts of neighbouring Karen State and the Magway region.

The two staff were both new fathers who were passionate about educating children, the group said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that violence against civilians was intolerable.

"The UN Security Council must convene as soon as possible to set out the steps they will take to hold those responsible to account," chief executive Inger Ashing said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the attacks and called on the international community to end the sale of arms and dual-use technology to the Myanmar military in an effort to prevent the "recurrence of atrocities".

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"The targeting of innocent people and humanitarian actors is unacceptable, and the militarys widespread atrocities against the people of Burma underscore the urgency of holding its members accountable," Blinken said in a statement, using another name for the country.

Two residents and the Karenni Human Rights Group, which operates in the area, said soldiers had killed more than 30 civilians.

They said details were sketchy but it appeared the victims had been in vehicles, including at least one truck, that were stopped on a road. They were killed and the bodies set ablaze, the residents and the rights group said.

CHARRED BODIES

A villager who declined to be identified for security reasons said he knew there had been a fire at the site on Friday but could not go there as there was shooting.

"I went to see this morning. I saw dead bodies that had been burnt and also the clothes of children and women spread around," he told Reuters by phone on Saturday.

Photographs posted by the rights group showed charred bodies, some in the back of a burned-out truck. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the pictures.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military on Feb. 1 overthrew the elected government of Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Some opponents of the military have taken up arms, some linking up with ethnic minority guerrillas who have for years been fighting the government for self-determination in various parts of the country, including Kayah State in the east.

The killings and burning of bodies in Kayah State followed similar violence https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-soldiers-accused-killing-11-after-charred-remains-found-2021-12-08 in the central Sagaing region on Dec. 7 when villagers said soldiers rounded up 11 people, shot them and then set fire to their bodies.

The military government has not commented on that incident.

Since Myanmar's military launched the coup, more than 1,300 people have been killed in crackdowns on protests and more than 11,000 have been jailed, according to a tally by the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners rights group.

The military disputes the group's death toll.

Fighting has also flared in Karen State, also in the east, between the army and the Karen National Union (KNU) insurgent group.

Thai authorities say more than 5,000 villagers from Myanmar have fled across a border river to the safety of Thai territory since Dec. 16.

(Reporting by Reuters StaffEditing by Robert Birsel, James Pearson, Nick Macfie and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
A woman walks past graffiti in Mumbai. The artworks have been used to create awareness about the dangers of spitting in public

Earlier this year, Raja and Priti Narasimhan kicked off a road trip across India armed with one message: stop spitting in public. The couple carried a loudspeaker and blared their message from inside a car covered in anti-spitting slogans.

If you have spent time in India, you know what the Narasimhans are up against. Saliva graces the streets. Sometimes plain and phlegmy, sometimes blood red from chewing tobacco-laced betel nut or paan, it decorates simple walls and mighty edifices alike. It even threatens Kolkata city's historic howrah bridge.

So the Narasimhans travel the country, aiming to protect its streets and buildings and bridges from the public spitters. They live in Pune city, and have been self-appointed warriors against the spitting scourge since 2010. Workshops, online and offline campaigns, clean-up efforts with local municipalities - they have done it all. One time, Mr Narasimhan said, they painted over the paan stains on a wall at the Pune railway station only to have people start spitting on it again in three days.

"There is no reason to spit on a wall!" he says.

Reactions to their admonishes have historically ranged from indifference to anger. Mr Narasimhan recalled one man who asked him: "What is your problem? Is it your father's property?"

But the Covid-19 wave that crashed through India has changed some things, Ms Narasimhan says. Some spitters have even apologised.

"The fear of the pandemic has got them thinking," she says.

'A spitting country'

India's battle against spit on its streets has always been half-hearted. Mumbai city has tried the hardest, with voluntary "nuisance" inspectors who scold people to not spit, litter or urinate in public. But the offence of spitting has long been largely ignored.

Some cities tried having men scrub their spit from the streets

Then came Covid, its airborne danger coupled with Indian men's love of spitting wherever they choose. Officials swung into action, penalising spitting with steeper fines and even jail time, all under the Disaster Management Act. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised his countrymen not to spit in public places - something "we always knew was wrong".

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This was a sharp contrast to 2016, when the health minister, replying to a question about the spitting menace, told parliament: "Sir, India is a spitting country. We spit when we are bored; we spit when we are tired; we spit when we are angry or we spit just like that. We spit anywhere and everywhere and we spit at all times and at odd hours."

He is right too. Spitting is a given on India's streets: men lounge on the side of the road, casually move their head a few inches, and let loose their saliva; men driving cars, bikes and auto-rickshaws don't hesitate to stick their heads out at traffic lights and spew. The act often comes with a warning - a uniquely guttural sound as they summon the offending sputum.

And the habit is an overwhelmingly male one. Indian men are comfortable with their bodies, says columnist Santosh Desai, "and everything that comes out of the body".

"There is an unselfconscious ease with relieving oneself in public," he says. "If I am uncomfortable, I will immediately act up on it, the idea of restraining yourself doesn't really really exist."

Spit is also a form of "swag" that feeds into toxic masculinity, says Uddalak Mukherjee, an associate editor at Indian newspaper the Telegraph.

"It's simply remarkable how unremarkable it is" to watch men spit in public, Mr Desai says

But why spit at all in public?

Mr Narasimhan says he has found that the reasons range from anger to "timepass" (they have nothing better to do), or simply because they can - "they feel it's their right to spit", he says.

According to the historian Mukul Kesavan, it also stems from "an Indian obsession with pollution and how to void yourself of it".

Some historians believe that this obsession can be traced to Hindu and upper-caste notions of maintaining bodily purity by discharging anything dirty outside of the home.

"Attitudes to spitting transcend questions of hygiene," Mr Mukherjee says. "A taxi driver once told me, 'I had a bad day and I wanted to eject my experience.'"

The war against spittle

It turns out, there was a time when people everywhere were spitting everywhere. In India, spitting was celebrated in royal courts, and grand spittoons were a centrepiece in many homes.

In Europe in the middle ages, you could spit during a meal, as long as it was underneath the table. Erasmus wrote that "sucking back saliva" was "unmannerly". In 1903, the British Medical Journal labelled America one of the "expectorative storm centres of the world". A Massachusetts health inspector, upon asking in 1908 why tailors spat on the floor in every factory he visited, reported receiving the reply, "Of course they spit on the floor; where do you expect them to spit, in their pockets?"

Not that things were much better in Britain, where it was common enough to spit on tram cars where people were fined and the medical community was demanding a law against it.

In the 1880s, New York became the first American city to ban spitting

It was the spread of tuberculosis that finally dealt a blow to the habit in the West. The growing awareness of germ theory in the late 19th to early 20th Century played a crucial role, says journalist Vidya Krishnan, author of the upcoming book Phantom Plague: How Tuberculosis Shaped History.

"The awareness of how germs spread gave rise to new social habits and customs. People learned to shield their sneezes and coughs, reject handshaking, and kissing a baby was frowned upon. Domestic awareness of hygiene radiated outward as well."

Ms Krishnan says the increased awareness led to "behaviour change" in men, since they were and still are the ones "who indulge in public spitting at a scale that causes infectious diseases like TB to spread".

But India has a number of obstacles to surmount, Ms Krishnan says. Its states have never tried very hard to end the habit. And spitting is still socially acceptable - be it chewing tobacco, sportsmen spiting on camera or Bollywood portrayals of men spitting while fighting each other.

Mr Narasimhan laments the modern lack of spitoons. "Even if I have to spit, where do I spit?" he says. "As a child in Kolkata, I remember spittoons tied to lampposts filled with sand. That's disappeared, and people spit everywhere."

Efforts to curb public spitting have already weakened in India

And there are bigger challenges. "No large-scale behaviour change or public health intervention can rule out caste, class and gender," Ms Krishnan says. "In India, access to bathrooms, running water and good plumbing are all matters of privilege."

Health experts have warned that merely punishing people, without attempting to understand why they spit, will not win the war against the habit. And two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, the zeal for curing this particular addiction is waning. But Raja and Priti Narasimhan are undeterred in their street battle. Most people remain unaware it could contribute to the spread of Covid-19, they say - and that is something they can at least change a little, if not fix.

"It's okay if we are wasting time, we will try," Mr Narasimhan says. "If we can create attitudinal change in even 2% people, then we have made a difference."
Israel started a trial of a fourth dose of a coronavirus vaccine Monday, becoming what's believed to be the first country to study an additional booster dose, according to AP.

Driving the news: Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett last week ordered the rollout of a fourth dose of the vaccine to certain individuals in response to the threat of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

A Health Ministry panel recommended fourth doses for residents aged over 60, medical workers and those with compromised immune systems, but the recommendation still needs final approval, per Reuters.

Details: Fourth doses were given to 150 health workers who received Pfizer-BioNTech boosters at least four months ago, according to the New York Times.

The Times noted that it's unclear whether the Health Ministry would approve fourth doses before the study is completed.

The big picture: Israel has reported more than 22,000 coronavirus cases and at least 53 deaths from the virus in the past 28 days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Go deeper: What to expect from America's third year of COVID

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(Bloomberg) -- Japan kicked off a sale of oil from its strategic reserves to combat rising prices with a modest sale, joining an unprecedented coordinated release of crude from strategic stockpiles thats been led by the U.S.

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A government tender offered Oman crude from the strategic reserves in Shibushi for delivery between March and June, the trade ministry said in a statement. The move is part of Japans plans to sell oil in coordination with other consuming nations and more sales may follow, according to a ministry official, who declined to be identified because of internal policy.

The volume offered was 100,000 kiloliters, according to a second statement. Thats equivalent to about 630,000 barrels. In 2020, Japan consumed about 3.27 million barrels a day, according to figures from BP Plc.

The Biden administration started tapping the first of its pledged 50 million barrels of reserves not long after announcing the coordinated release in late November. South Korea said last week that it will start releasing crude and oil products from its strategic reserves next month, although other countries named as part of the plan -- including China and India -- have yet to act.

At present, there are signs of weakening oil demand in Asia given the rapid spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. Brent crude, the global benchmark, traded below $76 a barrel on Monday, and its down by about 7% since the U.S.-led plan was announced.

Trade Minister Koichi Hagiuda said in November that Japan would conduct the release as it replaces oil in its stockpiles. While it does that regularly, the schedule has been moved up to support similar actions elsewhere, he added.

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(Adds kiloliter-to-barrel conversion in third paragraph)

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Nowadays, if you listen to Haitian radio stations, you will probably hear every hour or so a spot urging the population to demand justice for Jovenel Moise. Early in the morning of July 7, 2021, news of Moises assassination traveled through the country. The population was stunned by the ghastly circumstances of the event: a countrys president, murdered in his own home, in front of his wife and despite the presence of his security forces. Although a few arrests have been made, and key figures in Moises government were due to appear in Haitian courts on the matter in December, the investigation is still ongoing.

However, more than six months after the assassination, the radio spot demanding this odious crime be investigated is generally met with indifference or indignation. Indifference because most people are struggling against the difficulties of daily life, trying to get basic necessities like food, housing and schooling, or merely trying to stay alive in a country where gangs are everywhere. Indignation because the assassination of Moise is one among so many violent deaths that have become common here in Haiti. Entire neighborhoods are held hostage by the same gangs that his government used to control activists and protesters.

That a head of state could be killed so audaciously highlights the Haitian states ongoing collapse, the incompetence of the police and the weakening or destruction of state institutions. Few Haitians are interested in seeing Moises killers brought to justice because we were appalled by the way his government (supported by the U.S.) failed to act when men, women, even children were being kidnapped, raped and killed by gang members. Moises demise was tragic, but his actions have directly contributed to the horrific violence that has become a permanent feature of Haitian society.

As president, Moise promised electricity to the entire country and launched the caravan of hope to provide water and supplies to farmers. Yet despite his many promises, he left a country in turmoil, a population facing dire living conditions and constantly terrorized by armed gangs. The population saw Moise as an accomplished liar. Last year, at one of the numerous rallies against the regime, an outraged elderly woman told me, He told us lies after lies.

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Meanwhile, Moise was consolidating his power. He dismantled Haitis legislative bodies, saying at one point, After God, there is only me. If it is true that Haiti has had some autocratic leaders and chiefs of state  Francois Papa Doc Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude Baby Doc Duvalier being the most notorious  Moise was blatant in his refusal to listen to the will of the people. With Haitians increasingly politically engaged thanks to easy access to information, Moise resorted to violence to repress opposition.

Moise was the unfortunate culmination of generations of economic inequalities and social prejudices. The exclusion of large categories of people in Haitian society has long created frustrated individuals with no sense of community, who see violence and corruption as ways to get ahead.

By early 2021, Moise had lost the benign campaign-trail nickname of neg bannann nan  the plantain guy, a reference to his earlier job as a plantain exporter. In February, hundreds of thousands of protesters demanded that he step down. We also urged the U.S. and U.N. to let Haitians decide their own destiny. Yet the international community largely rallied behind the increasingly autocratic president, seemingly intent on maintaining the status quo. Today, the United States continues to support corrupt rulers from Moises political party  specifically Ariel Henry, whom Moise selected as prime minister just before his assassination. Daniel Foote, former special U.S. envoy to Haiti, was so appalled by American policy that he resigned, protesting the policy of deporting Haitians to a country essentially run by gangs and citing international puppeteering that prevents Haitians from choosing their leaders.

Haitians have consistently fought against this puppeteering and continue to do so. The recently signed Montana Agreement united hundreds of civil society organizations, political parties and prominent individuals to propose a national solution to the crisis. It is imperative that Haitians be the ones to decide on this solution, even if we do need solidarity from others.

Jovenel Moise left behind three children and a widow who was injured during the assassination. No human being deserves such a horrific death. Still, most Haitians remember him as a symbol of the politicians and business elites who use gang violence against the population to protect their own interests. Thus, despite what the radio spot admonishes, the Haitian people do not wish to involve themselves in a battle to avenge Moises death. We are mostly busy trying to stay alive.
A look at the shareholders of Lancashire Holdings Limited (LON:LRE) can tell us which group is most powerful. Generally speaking, as a company grows, institutions will increase their ownership. Conversely, insiders often decrease their ownership over time. Companies that have been privatized tend to have low insider ownership.

Lancashire Holdings isn't enormous, but it's not particularly small either. It has a market capitalization of UK1.2b, which means it would generally expect to see some institutions on the share registry. Our analysis of the ownership of the company, below, shows that institutions are noticeable on the share registry. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about Lancashire Holdings.

View our latest analysis for Lancashire Holdings

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lancashire Holdings?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Lancashire Holdings. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. If multiple institutions change their view on a stock at the same time, you could see the share price drop fast. It's therefore worth looking at Lancashire Holdings' earnings history below. Of course, the future is what really matters.

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Lancashire Holdings. Our data shows that GWL Investment Management Ltd. is the largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 7.2% and 5.1% of the stock.

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We also observed that the top 10 shareholders account for more than half of the share register, with a few smaller shareholders to balance the interests of the larger ones to a certain extent.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.

Insider Ownership Of Lancashire Holdings

The definition of company insiders can be subjective and does vary between jurisdictions. Our data reflects individual insiders, capturing board members at the very least. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that Lancashire Holdings Limited insiders own under 1% of the company. We do note, however, it is possible insiders have an indirect interest through a private company or other corporate structure. It's a big company, so even a small proportional interest can create alignment between the board and shareholders. In this case insiders own UK8.4m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

With a 25% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Lancashire Holdings. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

Our data indicates that Private Companies hold 3.9%, of the company's shares. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

It's always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Lancashire Holdings better, we need to consider many other factors. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Lancashire Holdings that you should be aware of.

Ultimately the future is most important. You can access this free report on analyst forecasts for the company.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
A Laredo Petroleum production pad

Though it has maintained a low profile, Tulsa-based Laredo Petroleum came in second in this year's Oklahoma Inc. rankings.

Behind our talented employees, in two years Laredo has fundamentally transformed our business, rapidly expanding our portfolio of high-margin oil opportunities and strengthening all aspects of our company, Laredo CEO Jason Pigott said. Our focus on capital discipline, leverage reduction, and cash flow generation will continue to drive improvements in our performance, as will our unwavering commitment to being a leader in environmental, social, and governance performance.

Laredo had a total one year return of 569% with a 29.9% increase in revenue over last year, posting a 39.4% return per share over last year.

The historic February ice storm proved a double edge sword for the firm. Ice resulted in delays impacting oil production by an estimated 5,700 BOE per day and by 1,700 barrels of oil per day.

However, Laredo stated they experienced significant sales in oil and natural gas over the same period.

A major boost to both Laredos market value and total oil production came in May when the firm purchased the assets of Sabalo Energy in Howard County, Texas, for $715 million. It has since added more acreage adjacent its holdings for an additional $11.3 million.

Offsetting the purchase, Laredo sold 37.5% of developed producing reserves in the same region to an affiliate of Sixth Street Partners LLC for $405 million.

Laredos revised 2021 capital budget thus achieved a 22% increase in completed wells and a 24% increase in completed lateral feet.

Pigott called Laredos expansion in the Permian Basin transforming for his firm, noting it gave Laredo more than 30,000 highly productive acres in Howard County,

Laredo has also streamlined management which has resulted in the layoff of 14 employees.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Laredo Petroleum finishes second in Oklahoma Inc.
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's parliament on Monday postponed a vote on how to handle the fallout from delayed national elections after a chaotic session reflecting the political crisis over the fate of the peace process.

The election was meant to have taken place on Friday as part of a wider push to end a decade of chaos and violence in Libya by installing a new president and parliament with national legitimacy, but it was delayed after disputes over the rules.

Candidates, political factions and politicians have since squabbled over how long the election should be delayed and whether Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's interim Government of National Unity (GNU) can continue in the meantime.

Monday's parliament session was the biggest since Dbeibah's government was installed in March and the first since then to bring together legislators from all of the long-divided chamber's warring factions.

Libya's electoral commission had said last week that the election could not take place, citing what it called inadequacies in the electoral legislation and the judicial appeals process and suggested delaying the election to Jan. 24.

A parliamentary committee on the elections submitted a report on Monday saying that if problems were not addressed then it would also be impossible to hold an election on that date.

The televised session broke up after shouted arguments and is expected to reconvene on Tuesday to vote on proposals including a delay to the election.

It is also likely to address the fate of the GNU and its leadership by Dbeibah, whose role as presidential candidate was one of the major causes of the electoral disputes. The parliament's electoral committee report urged changing the government.

Some argue that Dbeibah should not have been allowed to run for president after promising when he took office that he would not do so, and that it is unfair for him to take part in the election while still serving as prime minister.

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U.N. Special Adviser Stephanie Williams told Reuters on Monday that the main focus should be on the elections rather than on the fate of the GNU. However, she also said there should be a "level playing field" and no candidate should have unfair advantage from running while holding an official role.

Western powers last week said they considered the GNU valid until a handover of power to a new government after a prompt election, but they did not comment specifically on Dbeibah's role as premier.

Parliament was elected in 2014 in a poll that triggered Libya's split between warring eastern and western factions, and the main group of legislators sided with the east during the civil war.

(Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali in Tobruk and Ahmed Elumami in Tripoli; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Nick Macfie, Philippa Fletcher and Alison Williams)
A restaurant worker in Las Vegas Chinatown is recovering after being shot multiple times in what appeared to be an attempted burglary last week.



What happened: Chengyan Wang was deep-cleaning Shanghai Taste in the 4200 block of Spring Mountain Road when a man broke in around 3 a.m. on Dec. 20. The suspect, identified later as Rashawn Gaston-Anderson, shot him seven times, according to KSNV.



Wang opted to stay late on the night of Dec. 19 to perform the deep clean, which he does every week. Surveillance video reportedly showed the suspect trying to break in through multiple back doors until he reached the restaurant.

Its unclear what happened inside the business, but Wang defiantly tried to fight the suspect, according to Shanghai Taste managing partner Joe Muscaglione. The suspect fled without stealing, but they believe the incident was an attempted burglary.

Wang, who wound up outside the restaurant, reportedly suffered four shots to the abdomen, one to the shoulder, another through the neck and one on a hand. A security guard at Shanghai Plaza, where the restaurant is located, found him and called for help.







The aftermath: Wang was taken to UMC Trauma Center, where he remained in critical condition before Christmas Day. Two fundraisers have been set up to help with his medical expenses.



As Wang recovers, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department identified Gaston-Anderson, 23, as a suspect in the shooting. He is known to frequent tourist corridor areas, FOX 5 reported.

Wang lives in the U.S. by himself, sending money back to his family in China. Muscaglione described him as a polite and respectful employee who has a strong work ethic. Ive never seen anything like it. Just a good, hard, loyal worker, Muscaglione told KTNV.

In an update three days later to their original Dec. 20 Facebook post about the incident, Shanghai Taste wrote, "Wang is going to make it! He opened his eyes and has had three successful surgeries."

The Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce organized a GoFundMe page to raise money for Wangs medical bills. The Asian Community Development Council, which is also based in the city, set up a separate fundraiser via Mightycause.

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Gaston-Anderson remains at large. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call Las Vegas police at 702-828-2639 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.



Featured Image via KTNV Channel 13 Las Vegas





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Rochester, NY.  Malik Evans, mayor-elect of the city of Rochester, said finding a permanent police chief will be one of the most important decisions when he takes office Jan. 1.

The search for the perfect candidate is almost mythical, Evans admitted during a recent one-on-one interview with the Democrat and Chronicle. Finding the right person is almost like looking for a "unicorn," he said.

With the city reeling after a historically violent year, including a record-setting 81 homicides (at time of publication), Evans said there is no time to waste and the city has launched a nationwide search to find the next leader of the 720-member department.

Evans, 41, a city council member and former Rochester school board president, said the search won't be easy. Mainly because the market is intensely competitive and also because he's looking for a person that meets a specific set of criteria, and that person will most likely come from outside the ranks of the Rochester Police Department, he admitted.

"Youve got three main people in the community that people look to for leadership  the mayor, the school superintendent and the police chief. All three of those need to be working together and strong. The police chief is important, because the police chief also plays a role in economic development in the city," Evans said.

Rochester Mayor-elect Malik Evans cites "a sense of hopelessness in our community. I see it and I feel it and it breaks my heart. Its going to be very hard for me to break through that, but I am going to do everything I can."

He continued "They are one of the chief economic development officers even though they carry a badge. Why is that? Because if people have the perception that you cant trust the police or people have the perception crime is out of control, it is going to be hard to do anything in the city."

"Its very competitive in the market right now. Two weeks ago, I was just with 26 other mayors and almost all of them are looking for a new police chief. It is a competitive market out there," Evans said. "A lot of people dont want to go into the profession anymore. Were down a number of officers in Rochester. The challenge is how do you find that person that sees it as a service and can really come to Rochester and understand that theyre not just a chief but really a community ambassador."

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Violence prevention: 'Big Brothers' see school halls, basketball courts as front lines of violence prevention

An edited transcript of part of the interview follows.

Why is the right candidate for police chief so important?

Evans: The mayor has to be able to trust the person. You also have to find someone that shares our values. We want to make sure that officers are guardians and warriors and they have the respect of the men and women in uniform, that they operate with integrity, but they can also walk among the people. If you get someone who can walk among the people, and there are models like that, one of my favorite people is the mayor of Tampa, Jane Castor. Shes the former police chief there. Just the way she does things, its totally different. Is she perfect? No. But she has the way (that) she does it.

 and what have you learned from your recent visit to Newark, New Jersey; a city that has implemented some progressive solutions to curb violence?

Evans: Talk to the public safety director in Newark (New Jersey) and look at what theyre doing there. Talk to Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, and last year during the Floyd protests, they didnt have one major incident. All of last year, a police officer didnt fire one bullet, one shot in Newark. Now, this is Newark. Newark is known for being tough. How were they able to do that? They deployed a lot of the things we talked about  a sense of community, getting people together to feel as though theyre connected and involved. Are they perfect? Absolutely not. But their homicides went down 50% last year, when everybody else was going up. I look to that mayor for help on that stuff. Nothing is new under the sun, as the book of Ecclesiastes says. There are so many models of things that work. We just have to make a Rochester model that works. Because theres a sense of hopelessness in our community. I see it and I feel it and it breaks my heart. Its going to be very hard for me to break through that, but I am going to do everything I can.

According to recent numbers provided by RPD, there are nearly 50 unfilled positions within the department. How do you plan to fill those ranks? What about potentially bringing back retired officers on a temporary basis?

Evans: I think well have to deploy every tool we can. I dont know how the retiree thing would work, but thats one thing that was spun. Were going to have to look at multiple ways. Another thing well have to do is well have to empower the community to get them to be involved. We need a new 21st century PAC-TAC (Police and Citizens Together Against Crime program). Because thats how youre going to stop the graffiti and a lot of things police shouldnt be dealing with anyway. Youve got to get credible messengers in the community to start walking, youve got to find ways to pay for it. But if we empower enough people, we could have leaders who could do that.

Theres so much we can do creatively and innovatively to deal with this morass weve seen this year.

More: 'Big Brothers' see school halls, basketball courts as front lines of violence prevention

What about your support for the fully funded Police Accountability Board as it moves closer to taking complaints?

Evans: I think it's important. I think if two years from now, they're still taking a lot of complaints, we're in trouble. Because it means we're not doing the reforms we need to see. I think you'll always have the complaints. I was fully supportive of the Police Accountability Board. I joke around that Conor Reynolds is executive director because I advocated for him to be executive director. So anybody can blame me for that. But I think it's important for them to be up and functioning. They have the ability to be honest brokers. They're going to have to work at that. It's what people want. The challenge for them will be what they will do. I'm already reaching out to other police accountability boards that are around the country, just to see how they're operating. Chicago has one that I'm interested in. I've talked to someone that is chair of their board, just to see what's going on with them and how theirs is working. There are places we can learn from. It's important that they get up and running, up and operational.

In the next part of this interview, Mayor-elect Malik Evans discusses the need to address the impact of recent violence on community mental health.

Contact Will Cleveland at wcleveland@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @willcleveland13. Thanks to our subscribers for supporting quality local journalism. If you arent a subscriber, please consider a digital subscription.

Note: an earlier version of the story mistakenly described Evans as a former city council member.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Malik Evans says new RPD chief will likely come from outside the ranks
Tyrell Terry, shown here playing for Stanford in 2020, is one of three players signed by the Grizzlies to 10-day contracts under the NBA's COVID-related hardship exception.

The Memphis Grizzlies are the latest team impacted by COVID-19. Five total players are in health and safety protocols, and three entered Sunday before the win against the Sacramento Kings.

That led to the signings of Tyrell Terry and Shaq Buchanan on Sunday. The Grizzlies added Xavier Sneed on Monday.

Each player is signed to a 10-day contract under the NBA's COVID-related hardship exception. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Associated made a deal last week that allows teams to add replacement players when impacted by COVID-19.

The Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks, De'Anthony Melton and Yves Pons entered health and safety protocols Sunday.

Some teams have chosen to add young guys like the Grizzlies, and others have added veterans like Joe Johnson, Isaiah Thomas and former Grizzly Anthony Tolliver.

More: Grizzlies, Memphis and Shelby County close to agreement on how to make up team's 'shortfall'

More: Three reasons why reaction to Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant's comments were overblown

More: What to expect from Damichael Cole, new Memphis Grizzlies writer for The Commercial Appeal

Sneed played for the Greensboro Swarm in the G League and averaged 10 points and four rebounds in 14 games. Buchanan has played 61 games with the G League's Memphis Hustle. He's been one of the Hustle's top scorers, averaging 18.7 points in 13 games.

Terry may be the most popular of the bunch. He was a one-and-done freshman at Stanford two years ago. He was selected 31st  one pick behind Desmond Bane  in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. He started 13 games for the Hustle last season and averaged 14.7 points.

These players are more likely to be depth pieces than rotational fixtures. Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins used Bane, Ja Morant, Tyus Jones and John Konchar as rotational guards against the Kings. Bane scored 28 points and Konchar had 11 points and 14 rebounds in his first career start.

Contact Damichael Cole at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @damichaelc

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies sign three players with COVID hardship exception
A Milwaukee County child support worker admitted falsely releasing dozens of liens for unpaid child support in exchange for $50 bribes via a cellphone payment app, according to court records.

Daneen Marie Pope, 45, of Milwaukee, told investigators she made about $8,000 via the scheme because her county salary wasn't enough, according to a search warrant in the case. The warrant indicated the suspected offenses of theft and misconduct in public office, each a felony.

More: Wauwatosa is using federal pandemic relief funds to hire a social worker to work with police, health departments

Pope was arrested in September at the courthouse. Prosecutors said earlier this month that they don't expect to file formal charges of theft or misconduct in public office until 2022, because the investigation is ongoing.

Pope told investigators she took $50 payments to clear the liens, often from a pair of towing companies that couldn't destroy or sell vehicles with active child support liens. Sometimes, Pope indicated in the computer system that $50 had been paid, but never processed those payments.

According to the search warrant:

A July audit within Child Support Services found Pope had released way more vehicle liens in 2020 and 2021 than the two employees staffed full-time to address vehicle liens.

Pope's job as a case manager was to monitor caseloads for appropriate enforcement actions, interview participants, lawyers and others, evaluate reports, update data, and sometimes prepare legal documents. She was also authorized to negotiate lien payments with parents who owed money, and to release liens in instances where payments were actually made toward debts.

More: Rebecca Kleefisch sues state elections commissioners as Robin Vos says they 'probably' should face felonies

Pope was paid about $39,949 in 2020, and had been in the job since 2011, except for a few months when she worked for Rock County child support services in 2017.

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Pope's releases weren't properly documented within KIDS, the statewide child support information system, including two she made in other counties.

Some of the releases included backdating the liens and changing the lien holder from Child Support Services to "Advanced America."

Pope told an investigator she got paid $25 each for a towing company owner for releasing about two dozen liens under Advanced America and the names of other financial institutions.

Records in the investigation also showed Pope had twice released liens against her son.

Minutes show the County Personnel Review Board voted unanimously to uphold Pope's discharge on Sept.13, the day she was arrested. She could not be reached Monday; several phone numbers were either disconnected, had changed or had no voice mail option.

A person who answered one number hung up when a reporter asked for Pope.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County worker says she took bribes over child support liens
Happy Card Playing Day Raleigh!

First, today's weather:

Times of sun and clouds. High: 73 Low: 65.

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Here are the top five stories today in Raleigh:

NC State announced on Monday that it will be requiring proof of negative COVID-19 tests for all students returning to campus housing regardless of vaccination status. It will also require faculty, students, and staff who have not provided proof of vaccination to provide a negative test prior to returning to campus. (FOX8) Wake County reopened its testing sites on Monday morning after closing on Christmas. The five county-run sites offer free testing without ID or insurance requirements. The county's vaccination sites will also return to normal schedule beginning today at its five locations. (abc11) Artsplosure announced new restrictions for First Night on Monday morning in response to the growing omicron concerns. All indoor performances will now shift outside, and all attendees age 6+ will be required to provide vaccination proof or a negative test from an official Wake County site. Masking will also now be required even in the outdoor setting. (WRAL) A Raleigh social club is breaking the mold with its alcohol-free social events. After finding sobriety in 2020, Jacqueline Lee noticed a gap in social opportunities that didn't revolve around alcohol, and created Zero Proof Raleigh. The group has already published an event schedule for January and welcomes new group members. (Spectrum News 1) Monday was the fourth straight day of prominent flight cancellations across the country, and RDU saw delays for service to Pittsburgh and Seattle. Most airlines suggest downloading their mobile apps to access flight information or make changes. (WRAL)

Today's Raleigh Daily is brought to you in part by our friends at Ring, the home security company. Ring does a lot more than doorbells: check out their full suite of smart home products at Ring.com. And thank you Ring for helping to make local news happen in Raleigh!

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Today in Raleigh:

From my notebook:

This Card Playing Day , expand your card game horizons with Game Theory!

If you're flight is delayed, Terminal 2 at RDU is home to Raleigh Taproom and you can enjoy some local beers. (Instagram)

North Carolina has 18 laws that are set to go into effect on January 1, 2022. You can read about all of them on Patch.

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This article originally appeared on the Raleigh Patch
Ohio State Buckeyes forward E.J. Liddell (32) celebrates with teammates during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball game against the Wisconsin Badgers at Value City Arena in Columbus on Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021.

After shutting down team activities and losing two games due to a COVID-19 outbreak, there is light on the horizon for the Ohio State men's basketball team.

Sunday, the Buckeyes returned to Columbus after a holiday break, practiced for an hour and are on schedule to return to action for a scheduled Tuesday night game against New Orleans at Value City Arena.

Should the game take place, it would be the first for either team since Dec. 11. On that day, the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin 73-55 at home and New Orleans lost 82-50 at Utah State.

Buckeyes basketball: With Ohio State on COVID-19 pause, Malaki Branham getting in early extra work

Since then, both teams have had to cancel two games. The Buckeyes pulled out of a game against Kentucky in the CBSSports Classic set for Dec. 18 in Las Vegas after five players tested positive for the virus. After shutting the program down for two days, the Buckeyes underwent further testing and returned more positives, forcing the cancelation of a Dec. 21 game against Tennessee Martin. Neither game will be rescheduled.

New Orleans has had to cancel games against Dillard on Dec. 17 and Tulane on Dec. 21.

Amid the COVID pause, the Buckeyes were given a few days to return home for the holidays before being required to return to campus Sunday. All vaccinated players who test positive for the virus must quarantine for 10 days and pass a heart screening before being allowed to resume team activities.

Multiple players underwent heart screenings Sunday. Ohio State's entire roster has received two doses of the vaccine, and coach Chris Holtmann has said there is hope of getting players booster shots in the coming days.

It's not known exactly how many players contracted the virus.

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

Get more Ohio State news by listening to our podcasts

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: After COVID-19 pause, Ohio State resumes practice, New Orleans prep
The American criminal legal system rests on an important principle. If you are accused of a crime, you are presumed innocent unless proven otherwise in a court of law. Most people would agree that this essential due process protection is key to democracy.

Without it, government authorities could simply throw you in jail without cause for an indefinite period of time. In the debate around cash bail, many people seem to forget that this principle is ultimately what is at stake.

My organization, The Bail Project, has recently been under attack for a handful of cases where people we assisted with bail went on to be arrested for violent crimes. Cash bail is the practice of asking people who have not been found guilty of a crime to pay money upfront or stay in jail until they have a trial.

When we provide free bail assistance, our intention is to ensure that people who are too poor to afford bail have access to the presumption of innocence the same way that a person who is wealthy and can afford their own bail. We also connect those we help to social services as needed.

And we do all of this for free. Bail bonds agents also post bail for poor people, except theyre in it to make a profit and dont provide any social services. Their only criteria is whether you can pay their fee. Churches, parents, and grandparents post bail as well. And in some cases, those who are released through bail posted by a family member or bail bonds company go on to be rearrested.

More: Marion Superior Court ends support for The Bail Project, asks for more data on defendants

So why has The Bail Project become such a unique target? After all, we are only a charity that helps the poor, and our larger objective is to ensure the presumption of innocence applies equally to all regardless of race or wealth. Its a worthy goal. Moreover, it is not The Bail Project who sets bail. Judges do. And if they are setting bail in amounts they hope people cannot afford  thus necessitating The Bail Project  then they are undermining the intention of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits the use of excessive cash bail.

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While the unfairness of cash bail is indisputable and the solution is simple  reform the bail system so due process is not tied to how much money a person has  the root causes that drive incarceration and fill jails with people awaiting trial are complex: Drug addiction, homelessness, mental illness, intergenerational trauma, hopelessness in underserved communities.

These are larger systemic issues that are not being dealt with effectively. Instead, we keep expecting that courts and jails will somehow make them go away. The Bail Project is an easy scapegoat when we help a person who is facing these complex issues and despite our best efforts, they fall through the cracks. It is easier to blame a charity than grapple with the tragedy of our societys systemic failings, particularly when it comes to lifting under-resourced Black communities out of poverty and desperation.

Take the case of Deonta Williams, a young Black man helped by The Bail Project who was recently accused of assaulting two police officers. Williams, who had been living in a homeless shelter, received a large medical bill he could not pay, and this seems to have sent him over the edge. According to news reports, he wanted to commit suicide by cop.

This is such a profoundly tragic situation, not only for the police officers who were called as Williams was having a mental breakdown and risked their lives, but for this 20-year-old who, at an age when other young people are in college planning their future, is already homeless, burdened with medical debt, sinking into a mental health crisis, and now facing prison for the rest of his life. Instead of grappling with the systemic issues that this situation reveals, it is easier to blame our charity for helping Williams with bail in a previous case and trying to get him some help.

'I was gonna kill an officer': Man who stabbed 2 officers lured police to scene, docs show

To date, our charity has assisted nearly 1,000 low-income Hossiers who otherwise would have sat in jail without having been convicted of a crime just because they could not afford bail. Over 50% of them were unemployed. One in four had unmet medical needs. Over 70% of them are parents. Most of them are Black.

They have returned to over 95% of their court dates even though they have no financial obligation to us for the bail we pay on their behalf. This is strong evidence that cash bail is not needed for its intended purpose: to ensure people come back to court. The sooner we remove money from criminal justice, the faster we can begin addressing the real issues that drive incarceration and tie to public safety and the wellbeing of our communities: poverty, racial disparities, basic healthcare, and economic opportunity.

David Gaspar is the National Director of Operations at The Bail Project.



Have something to say about today's news? Submit a letter to the editor

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Op-Ed: The Bail Project is not the issue, cash bail in Indiana is
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden speak with the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center on Friday. Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo

Jared Schmeck spoke with Steve Bannon Monday and seemed to back Trump's debunked election claims.

"He should still be president right now," he said. "The election was 100% stolen."

Schmeck wished the Bidens a merry Christmas in phone call before saying, "Let's go, Brandon."

The Oregon father of four who wished President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden a merry Christmas before proceeding to say, "Let's go, Brandon," during a livestreamed Christmas Eve call told the ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon that the 2020 presidential election was "100% stolen" from President Donald Trump.

During a Monday interview on Bannon's "War Room" podcast, Jared Schmeck, who previously told The Oregonian that he wasn't a "Trumper" and that his comments toward the commander in chief were meant in "jest," expressed a sharp opinion on last year's presidential election.

Schmeck, who told the newspaper over the weekend that he was being "attacked" for exercising his freedom of speech, sought to defend his character against criticism he faced for using the coded insult against Biden during the call, which was part of the annual NORAD Tracks Santa program.

"For me, 'let's go, Brandon,' is  and I've said it in other articles: I am a Christian man," Schmeck said. "For me, it's God first and foremost. I don't follow any one man blindly."

He then rejected any implication that he wasn't a Trump supporter.

"That's absolutely false," he said. "Donald Trump is my president, and he should still be president right now. The election was 100% stolen. So I just want to make that clear."

He added: "'Let's go, Brandon,' is more than just 'F Joe Biden.' 'Let's go, Brandon,' encompasses the entirety of our frustration with Joe Biden, the administration, the leftist mob, the cancel culture, the mainstream media. ... They're the ones who made this a thing."

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The phrase became a rallying cry among conservatives after the NBC Sports reporter Kelli Stavast said the crowd in the background of her October interview with the NASCAR driver Brandon Brown was chanting, "Let's go, Brandon," when the audience could be heard chanting, "Fuck Joe Biden."

Many Republicans have said they feel as though the reporter who used the sanitized language to deflect from the anti-Biden chant was engaging in a form of media bias, rather than an attempt to avoid violating strict Federal Communications Commission rules against swearing during the motorway broadcast.

In an interview with The New York Times earlier this month, Brown expressed little enthusiasm for his name being attached to a divisive political debate.

"Our whole navigation is, you want to appeal to everybody, because, all in all, everybody is a consumer," Brown told the media columnist Ben Smith. "I have zero desire to be involved in politics."

Schmeck, in making his statements, appeared to be amplifying Trump's debunked claims of election malfeasance. Numerous lawsuits filed by the former president's campaign lawyers were unsuccessful in proving any sort of massive fraud tipped the election to Biden.

On the Christmas Eve call, Biden urged children to adhere to a 9 p.m. bedtime to aid Santa Claus.

"Well, have a merry Christmas. Have a wonderful Christmas," the first lady said to Schmeck.

"I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas as well," Schmeck responded.

He then added: "Merry Christmas and let's go, Brandon."

The first lady appeared to wince at the statement, but her husband responded, "Let's go, Brandon. I agree."

After the call, Schmeck, a former police officer who said the statement was meant as a joke, received a torrent of online condemnation, which prompted him to respond over the weekend.

"I understand there is a vulgar meaning to 'let's go, Brandon,' but I'm not that simple-minded, no matter how I feel about him," he said of Biden at the time.

"He seems likes he's a cordial guy. There's no animosity or anything like that. It was merely just an innocent jest to also express my God-given right to express my frustrations in a joking manner. ... I love him just like I love any other brother or sister," he added.

Read the original article on Business Insider
UPPER WEST SIDE, NY  Though the turbulence of 2020 seemed to be in the rearview mirror, 2021 offered no shortage of surprises for New York City  and for the Upper West Side.

From the early days of the vaccine rollout to a drop and subsequent rise in COVID-19 cases in the neighborhood, to local businesses struggling to rebound from the pandemic, the coronavirus lingered in the neighborhood's headlines this year.

But not all noteworthy stories were related to the ongoing crisis. As 2022 approaches, Upper West Side Patch is looking back at some of the most read and notable stories of the past year.

The roundup includes phone booths, politics, The Lucerne, weather events, new restaurants, and more. (We couldn't include everything!)

Superman's chances of finding a changing room have been narrowed to only one New York City neighborhood  the only phone booths still standing in the city are all found on the Upper West Side.

The Donald J. Trump highway beautification sign on an Upper West Side section of the West Side Highway is coming down.

The sign sits on the stretch of road just before the 79th Street Boat Basin exit.

On Monday, the Department of Transportation sent a letter to Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, who has led the push to remove the sign, saying that the contract between the DOT and the Trump Organization expired on Nov. 7.

Remnants of Hurricane Ida bombarded New York City Wednesday night, with a single hour seeing the most rainfall ever recorded in Central Park by the National Weather Service since it started keeping records.

A total of 3.15 inches fell between 8:51 and 9:51 p.m., shattering the record for the most rain to drench the famous Manhattan park in an hour.

One by one, the majority of the remaining men still living at The Lucerne temporary homeless shelter on the Upper West Side made their way out of the hotel's big wooden doors on Monday morning and onto a white bus that would take them back into the congregate shelter system.

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The men walked alone out of the Upper West Side hotel with bags draped over their shoulders into a crowd of locals, activists, and media that had formed to watch the final moments of The Lucerne saga in the 9 a.m. heat that had already passed 85 degrees.



The New York Police Department released Friday the footage of an officer-worn camera and CCTV clips of a terrifying scene on Dec. 13 when a lone gunman fired multiple shots from the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on the Upper West Side after an outdoor Christmas concert.

The shooting unfolded after the gunman, later identified as 52-year-old Luis Vasquez, walked out of a line to get inside the cathedral at 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue and onto the top steps.

A developer who built 20 stories of a 52-story tower without permission on the Upper West Side has been told they don't have to cut the building in half after a months-long court battle.

The controversial tower at 200 Amsterdam can now be completed to its original planned height.

Score one for the Upper West Side restaurant scene. The New York Post recently named Dagon, a new Israeli eatery in the neighborhood, as the city's best new restaurant.

Dagon, located on 2454 Broadway at West 91st Street, opened its doors in February after it planned to first welcome customers in March 2020  before the coronavirus pandemic pushed back plans.

Jerry Seinfeld's Upper West Side apartment in "Seinfeld" has never come under the same scrutiny as Monica and Rachel's apartment in "Friends." However, an earth-shattering discovery on Reddit might make "Seinfield" lovers lose a little sleep this week.

It turns out that Seinfeld's television apartment at 129 W. 81st St. isn't just fictional, but it literally couldn't exist by the governing laws of science.

A couple in love, a pregnant woman pretending to give birth, the New York City Fire Department, Five Guys burgers and a Broadway backdrop all made for an unforgettable proposal.

Upper West Sider Mike Matthews knew he wanted to do something special for his proposal to his girlfriend Amy.

This article originally appeared on the Upper West Side Patch
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Polands president on Monday said he has decided to veto a media bill that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling share in TVN, a Polish TV network.

President Andrzej Duda noted that the bill was unpopular with many Poles and would have dealt a blow to Polands reputation as a place to do business.
Following pressure from the EU and US, Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday vetoed a media ownership law that critics said was aimed at silencing the US-owned news channel TVN24.

"I refuse to sign the radio and television law amendment and am sending it back to parliament to be re-examined. This means that I am vetoing it," Duda said in a televised address.

The law, which was adopted by parliament this month, would have prevented companies from outside the European Economic Area from holding a controlling stake in Polish media companies.

That would have forced US group Discovery to sell a majority stake in TVN, one of Poland's biggest private TV networks, and its news channel TVN24.

The government had argued the law would protect Poland's media landscape from potentially hostile actors such as Russia.

Duda said he agreed with this principle, but that it should not be made to apply to existing business arrangements and investment treaties.

"People I've been talking to are concerned about the situation. They had different arguments. They spoke about peace and quiet... How we don't need another conflict, another problem. We have many problems already," he said.

Duda is strongly supported by Poland's ruling populist Law and Justice (PiS) party but has shown some differences with the party leadership in the past.

In 2017, he caused a storm by vetoing two judicial reforms that he believed gave too much power to the attorney general, who is also the justice minister.

- 'Pressure makes sense' -

President Joe Biden's national security advisor Jake Sullivan welcomed the development in a call with his counterpart Pawel Soloch and another senior Polish official.

Sullivan conveyed "Biden's appreciation for Polish President Duda's veto... of a controversial media amendment, noting that this sent a positive signal just before Poland takes over the Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on January 1," a White House spokeswoman said.

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The US charge d'affaires in Warsaw, Bix Aliu, thanked Duda "for his leadership and commitment to common democratic values and for protecting the investment climate in Poland".

"Allies are stronger together!" he said.

TVN's board of directors in a statement welcomed the announcement "with appreciation and joy", saying the president had "stood up for good relations with the US".

The US had urged Duda to veto the law and European Commission spokesman Christian Wigand had warned it would pose "severe risks to media freedom and pluralism in Poland".

Thousands of Poles protested against the law earlier this month outside the presidential palace in Warsaw, with many in the crowd waving EU flags and chanting "Free media!".

There were similar protests across Poland.

Former EU chief Donald Tusk, who leads the opposition Civic Platform party, said Duda's decision showed that "pressure makes sense".

PiS already controls public television broadcaster TVP, which has become a government mouthpiece, and much of the regional press.

Reporters without Borders (RSF), a media rights watchdog, said the veto was "good news for press freedom, which is in dire straits in Poland".

Since PiS was elected to power in 2015, Poland has dropped 46 places in the RSF World Press Freedom Index to reach the 64th position.

dt/amj/dl/sms/gw
New coronavirus cases leaped in Oklahoma in the week ending Sunday, rising 41.9% as 8,304 cases were reported. The previous week had 5,852 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Oklahoma ranked 35th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47% from the week before, with 1,388,833 cases reported. With 1.19% of the country's population, Oklahoma had 0.6% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 26 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Christmas significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some cases and deaths that would have been reported last week might be reported in the coming week, which itself will have testing and reporting disrupted by New Year's. Consequently week-to-week comparisons will be skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

Pottawatomie County reported 180 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 151 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 13,250 cases.

Lincoln County reported 51 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 44 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 5,215 cases.

Seminole County reported 28 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 56 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 4,150 cases.

Oklahoma does not directly publish county-level death data.

Within Oklahoma, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Cimarron County with 842 cases per 100,000 per week; Harmon County with 565; and Roger Mills County with 558. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

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Adding the most new cases overall were Oklahoma County, with 1,601 cases; Tulsa County, with 1,312 cases; and Cleveland County, with 381. Weekly case counts rose in 35 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Oklahoma, Cleveland and Grady counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Oklahoma ranked 31st among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 65.4% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Thursday, Oklahoma reported administering another 101,620 vaccine doses, including 30,185 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 102,842 vaccine doses, including 28,864 first doses. In all, Oklahoma reported it has administered 5,237,461 total doses.

Across Oklahoma, cases fell in 37 counties, with the best declines in Tulsa County, with 1,312 cases from 1,363 a week earlier; in Washington County, with 65 cases from 105; and in Rogers County, with 173 cases from 202.

In Oklahoma, 126 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 152 people were reported dead.

A total of 694,210 people in Oklahoma have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 12,348 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 52,280,854 people have tested positive and 816,609 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Oklahoma's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 26.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 1,567

The week before that: 1,525

Four weeks ago: 1,233

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 99,084

The week before that: 90,677

Four weeks ago: 76,315

Hospitals in 18 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 29 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shawnee News-Star: Pottawatomie County COVID cases increased by 180 this week
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect end time for the temporary flight restriction.

Joe Biden is spending time at his home near Rehoboth Beach this week.

Marine One landed in the Gordons Pond parking lot, at the southern end of Cape Henlopen State Park and a short distance from the Bidens' North Shores home, on Monday afternoon.

The president took part in a virtual weekly economic briefing from his beach house later that day, but no further plans have been released.

President Joe Biden steps off Marine One at Gordons Pond near Rehoboth Beach, Del., Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary flight restriction in the Rehoboth area through 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 30, indicating Biden could stay through that time.

The president last visited his Rehoboth Beach-area home for a quiet weekend in November. During a September stay, Joe and Jill Biden bicycled on the Gordons Pond trail and attended Mass at St. Edmund Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth.

MORE: Joe and Jill Biden walk on beach in Rehoboth, head back to Washington

A MOMENT IN HISTORY: See the Dolle's sign move from its iconic location in Rehoboth Beach

Motorcade vehicles roll into position outside Marine One, with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden aboard, at a landing zone at Gordons Pond near Rehoboth Beach, Del., Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: President Joe Biden arrives at Delmarva home Monday afternoon
Brooklinn Khoury

Ryan Young Brooklinn Khoury

In early November 2020, pro skateboarder and model Brooklinn Koury's cousin in Gilbert, Arizona, invited her to visit for a relaxing trip filled with girl time and hanging by the pool.

So on Nov. 3 of last year, the cousins got their nails done and ran some errands. They were in the car driving home when Khoury snapped a selfie. Self-conscious of a small zit near her mouth, she cropped her lip out of the photo.

Back at her cousin's home, Khoury was standing in the kitchen when she went to pet her cousin's dog, an 8-year-old blue nose pitbull named Diesel, who she had met many times before.

"I was like, 'You're such a good boy.' He literally sprung from a sitting position like onto my face," she recalls to PEOPLE in the latest issue. "I was standing, and he was sitting  he literally just sprung up. And he was literally, hanging  literally like arms, legs hanging off of my lip. And my first instinct was like, 'Oh my God, get on the ground with him, hold his head, go wherever he goes.' "

Whenever he pulled, she moved with him. "Finally, I felt a release. And then, something flew and hit the wall," she remembers.

Brooklinn Khoury

Brooklinn Khoury instagram Brooklinn Khoury

She stood up, took a deep breath before realizing she tasted blood: "I looked down and my whole shirt was just blood  like blood, blood, blood everywhere," she says.

She saw a pink lump on the floor, and  realizing it was her lip due to the presence of the zit she'd just cropped from her photo  she wrapped it in a napkin and rode with her cousin to the emergency room.

Despite their quick response, the surgeons, unfortunately, weren't able to save Khoury's upper lip.

Later that week, she posted a selfie from her hospital bed, writing, "hug somebody you love." She decided to document every part of her healing journey because, even in her skateboarding posts, she always showed the good and bad  including falls.

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"Life is not perfect," she says. "Instagram is a place where people can hide who they really are."

But she refuses to do that  and thinks that in life, like in skateboarding, you learn from your mistakes.

Khoury admits that "the first time seeing my face after the surgery was scary." She continues, "But I was like, 'Okay, time to love this new version of myself for now.' I want people to know that they're not alone if they're going through something like this."

For more about Brooklinn Khoury, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE.

This past year, the skateboarder  who loves pickles and overalls  has spent a lot of time trying to be happy. She still surfs and skates and hikes. She loves hanging out with her pomchi (a pomeranian mixed with a chihuahua) named Pickles. And she and girlfriend, Dance Moms alum Chloe Lukasiak, adopted a kitten named Lady.

She and Lukasiak met just days before her attack. They had a Starbucks coffee date and then carved pumpkins together.

RELATED: Wyoming Boy Who Saved Sister from Dog Attack Hangs With Tom Holland and Zendaya on Spider-Man Set

"I just fell so hard," Khoury says. She remembers worrying about their relationship while she was in the hospital. "I was like, "What if she doesn't think I'm pretty anymore?' "

But Lukasiak has stood by her and encouraged her, and every day tells her how beautiful she is.

"She's just incredible," Khoury says. "She's the best."

Brookline Khoury

Brooklinn Khoury Instagram Brookline Khoury and Chloe Lukasiak

RELATED: Dance Moms Alum Chloe Lukasiak and Brooklinn Khoury Embrace in New Photos: 'My Favorite Human'

Khoury recently had the first of five reconstructive surgeries to rebuild her upper lip. Her surgeon describes the process as an art project. The surgery was a skin graft and tissue transplant from her arm.

"It looks like a baby shark bit my arm and they had to sew my skin back on," she says.

For now, Khoury says, "I'm learning to love myself. I want to inspire as many people as I can."
As 2021 draws to a close, The Sentinel's executive editor Sarah Leach asked each reporter to pick one of our favorite stories of the year, big or small, to share again with readers.

More: Our commitment to you, in another trying year

More: Reporter's Pick: The importance of sharing history with our readers

More: Reporter's Pick: A new opportunity for students at Grand Valley State

More: Reporter's Pick: Retirement story chance to highlight unsung hero

More: Reporter's pick: Volunteers help vulnerable book their COVID-19 vaccine appointments

More: Reporter's Pick: Zeeland East senior overcomes tragedy to thrive in America

More: Reporter's Pick: No group is safe from opioid overdoses

More: Reporter's Pick: Paige Westra breaking down gender barriers

My pick: Volunteers help vulnerable book appointments with 'West Michigan Vaccine Hunters' Facebook group

It seems distant now, but early in 2021, the COVID-19 vaccines were not widely available to almost everyone like they are now. In early March, only certain groups were eligible for the vaccine, and tracking down appointments could be difficult for those who weren't well-versed in using the internet.

Arpan Lobo

nWhen I learned that volunteers, across the state and right here in West Michigan, were taking time to help older folks, more vulnerable to COVID-19, book vaccine appointments, it was uplifting, and a reminder that

For the story, I talked to Sharlene Clark, of Holland, who told me of the hoops her parents had to jump through to book appointments for their doses. It's something that a lot of us, especially with older parents, could relate to.

Clark and many others took their experience and used it to help others. Through the "West Michigan Vaccine Hunters" Facebook group, she estimated between 1,100 and 1,200 vaccine appointments had been booked, as of early March.

"I've had people cry. I've had people want to buy me gifts and we're not about that at all," Clark told me in March. "We're just volunteers, we're just helping people."

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The pandemic continues to be long, frustrating and for many, tragic. But stories like this are a sign that there are still many people willing to help others. And that alone is a reminder of the dignity that belongs to all of us.

 Contact Arpan Lobo at alobo@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @arpanlobo. Become a subscriber today.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Reporter's pick: Volunteers help vulnerable book their vaccine appointments
Happy Holidays!

I'm taking some time off this week. But Dining Notes is not.

Last week, we shared some of Jacksonville's biggest restaurant openings of the year.

Today, we're sharing some of the losses to Jacksonville's dining scene over the last year, including two Southbank landmarks: River City Brewing Co. and The Wine Cellar, the latter closing after an impressive 47-year run as one of the city's go-to restaurants for special occasions for decades.

Notable closings also extended to Baymeadows, Neptune Beach, downtown and Marietta. Read more about those and others from restaurants reporter Teresa Stepzinski. (See link below.) And then let us know about the restaurants that closed in your neighborhood that should be on our list. Email me or tweet at me using the contact information below.

But new restaurants are on the way in the new year. In the next couple of weeks, we'll take a look ahead at some of those, including some we've already reported and others that you'll read about for the first time here. So stay tuned.

As we wrap up another year, thank you for subscribing to our new Dining Notes newsletter. And for those of you who subscribe to the Times-Union/Jacksonville.com, thank you. Your support allows us to cover the most important news in our community and news that matters to you, like our city's vibrant dining scene.

And for more of that, keep reading using the links below.

Cheers to the New Year!

Gary Mills

Deputy Managing Editor

The Florida Times-Union

Email: gmills@jacksonville.com

Twitter: @garytmills

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Wine Cellar, River City: Jacksonville restaurants that closed in 2021
(Fixes typo in lede)

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian diplomats and military officials will take place in talks with the United States next month on a list of security guarantees that Moscow wants from Washington, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Lavrov made the comments in an interview live streamed on his ministry's website.

He said the talks would take place immediately after Russia's New Year holidays. The first official working day of 2022 in Russia is Jan. 10.

Russia on Sunday said it had received and was considering a separate NATO proposal to commence talks on Moscow's security concerns on Jan. 12.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn and Anton Kolodyazhnyy; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
DALLAS (AP)  Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday. She was 76.

Susan Hays, Weddingtons former student and colleague, said she died in her sleep early Sunday morning at her Austin home. Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.

Raised as a minister's daughter in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas. A couple years after graduating, she and a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.

The case of Jane Roe, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.

Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Weddingtons death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.

While that case was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives. She was elected in 1972 and served three terms as a state lawmaker, before becoming general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.

Weddington later wrote a book on Roe v. Wade, gave lectures and taught courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Woman's University on leadership, law and gender discrimination. She remained active in the political and legal worlds well into her later years, attending the 2019 signing ceremony for a New York state law meant to safeguard abortion rights should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

___

This story has corrected the name of a university where Sarah Weddington gave lectures. It is Texas Womans University, not Texas Womens University.
Windber senior basketball player Gina Gaye was voted Daily American Somerset County Female Athlete of the Week while fellow Rambler senior basketball player Caden Dusack garnered Male Athlete of the Week honors for their efforts Dec. 17-23.

In three games, Gaye tallied 49 points. She had 18 points against Rockwood and Berlin Brothersvalley.

In two games, Dusack combined for 37 points, including 20 in a non-conference victory over Cambria Heights.

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Each Monday, the Daily American will select nominees for the Male and Female Athlete of the Week in Somerset County for the winter sports season.

We will post the polls each Monday at 5 p.m., and voters will have through Wednesday at 5 p.m. to vote. Votes are limited to one per IP address or computer network.

You can also nominate an athlete via email to sports@dailyamerican.com. Please include details of their achievements for that week only, including any notable statistics or results. All email submissions will be considered but not necessarily selected as a nominee.

The winners will be featured in the Top Performers feature in this Friday's Daily American print edition.

Last week's standouts: Meyersdale, Conemaugh Township players earn Female and Male Athlete of the Week

This week's two polls are below:

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This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Windber duo earns Female and Male Athletes of the Week for Dec. 17-23
Southeast New Mexico airports shared over $3 million in federal airport infrastructure grants, according to a news release from New Mexicos congressional delegation.

The money for airports in Eddy, Lincoln, Chaves, Otero, and Lea counties was part of a $18 million grant for airports across New Mexico. The funds were part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or the Biden Infrastructure Bill, read the release.

The money can be invested in runways, taxiways, safety and sustainability projects, as well as terminal, airport-transit connections, and roadway projects, the release stated.

More: Air passenger traffic picks up in October at Cavern City Air Terminal

Artesias Municipal Airport and Carlsbads Cavern City Air Terminal received $295,000.

We are pleased to hear that the Cavern City Air Terminal is expecting $295,000 in airport infrastructure funding. The Biden Infrastructure Bill funding being allocated is similar to the entitlement funding which the City receives annually for project development, said Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway.

He said the City normally received an annual allocation of $150,000. With the extra funds, Janway said more projects could be completed at the airport south of Carlsbad.

A plane waits for takeoff at the Artesia Municipal Airport on Dec. 21, 2021. Artesia's airport and Carlsbad's Cavern City Air Terminal received a $295,000 apiece from the federal government for various improvements.

The City already has an established Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) of projects. Staff will be working with the state to re-assess the CIP in order to best incorporate the additional funding into either an existing CIP project or adding another project, he said.

Staff is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) representatives to get familiar with the funding parameters and how to access the funds, Janway said.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) said airports connect communities across New Mexico to tourism, business opportunities and commercial aviation.

More: Opening girls' eyes to careers in aviation and aerospace

Democrats in the New Mexico delegation fought hard for these historic investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will modernize our airports and allow them to better serve travelers, health care providers, and businesses all across our state, he said in the release.

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The Sierra Blanca Regional Airport in Ruidoso received $295,000 and Carrizozos Municipal Airport got $110,000 along with the Lea County airport in Jal and Lovingtons Zip Franklin Memorial Airport, the release noted.

New Mexicos 46 airports are key economic drivers for our state, said U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM). Thats why I was honored to help shape the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to ensure our states airports received the necessary funding to make these long overdue upgrades. As tourism and travel continue to grow, Im honored to join my colleagues in announcing this first round of funding that will serve New Mexicans well.

The Alamogordo-White Sands Regional Airport received $159,000 from the federal government.

The Roswell International Air Center and Lea County Regional Airport in Hobbs received $1 million each.

A sign welcomes fliers to the Artesia Municipal Airport on Dec. 21, 2021. Airports across New Mexico shared $18 million in federal money for various projects.

Both communities have commuter jet service to larger airports.

American Eagle flies from Roswell to Dallas-Fort Worth and United Airways flies out of Hobbs to Denver and Houston, read websites for the respective airports.

Our airports connect communities across the state, especially those in rural areas. We fought and voted for this historic investment in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law because we knew the impact of this funding for New Mexico, said Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM).

This $18 million will improve runways, taxiways, and other projects to revitalize New Mexico airports, grow our economy, and create good-paying jobs.

More: Artesia Airport receives $59K in American Rescue Plan funds

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: SENM airports share $3M in federal funds for improvements
The Wisconsin Badgers are in Las Vegas as we speak getting ready for Thursdays contest against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Jeff Potrykus of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported this week that the team had been affected by the recent surge of COVID-19, though there werent many specifics of who was sick.

We likely wont see those updates until close to game time. But we do now see reports from beat writers on which players are practicing in Las Vegas, which are limited and which did not make the trip.

To sum it up:

DE Matt Henningsen is not in Las Vegas, but is set to arrive Tuesday

TE Jack Eschenbach is out (inury)

OT Logan Bruss and C Joe Tippmann were limited at practice (Tanor Bortolini & Cormac Sampson were taking first-team reps)

FB John Chenal is not in Las Vegas and is out for the game

RB coach Gary Brown is not in Las Vegas (non-COVID-19 illness), though may arrive for the game

#Badgers C Joe Tippmann hasn't been doing much (injury) TE Jack Eschenbach is out for the game (injury) Former RB Garrett Groshek is a temporary hire helping coach the RBs. pic.twitter.com/ZlsEf1ma6O  Colten Bartholomew (@CBartWSJ) December 27, 2021

FB John Chenal isnt here and wont be. RB coach Gary Brown (non-COVID) is not here. Garrett Groshek is coaching the position. pic.twitter.com/DEqRStwWDi  Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) December 27, 2021

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

List
An "unruly" passenger was taken into FBI custody after an apparent argument over face masks turned ugly on a Delta flight.

The incident happened on Flight 2790 from Tampa, Florida, to Atlanta on Dec. 23.

"Situations like these are rare for the vast majority of our customers and Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior at our airports and aboard our aircraft," the airline said in a statement.

Video posted on Twitter by ATL Uncensored shows a woman standing over a fellow passenger, telling him to mask up while her own mask is pulled down below her chin.

"Sit down, Karen," the man retorts amid a slew of profanities, shouts and insults from both parties. He holds up a water bottle, saying he is "eating and drinking," when a flight attendant trying to defuse the situation tells the woman to put on her own mask.

The federal mask mandate requires passengers to wear face masks on airplanes when they are not eating or drinking.

Delta Air Lines seatback screens.

'One of the worst displays of unruly behavior': American Airlines bans passenger after flight attendant injured

Paying the price: 'Unruly' passengers who spit, punched and kicked at airline crew members face hefty fines

The woman says she'll put on her mask when the man puts on his.

The situation escalates after the man calls the woman a slur. She slaps him in the face. When he says it again, she appears to spit on him before being taken away.

"This disturbance led to the injury of fellow passengers and Delta employees," according to Atlanta police who took the woman into custody once the plane landed and handed her over to the FBI, which is handling the case.

The Federal Aviation Administration reported 5,779 unruly passenger incidents this year, as of Dec. 21. Nearly 72% were mask-related. More than 100 reports involved physical assaults.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Sit down, Karen': Woman detained after mask spat on Delta flight
LAS CRUCES - The start date for a trial of a former Las Cruces police officer accused of murder has been moved to March 2022.

Christopher Smelser, 29, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 40-year-old Antonio Valenzuela in February 2020. He was indicted on second-degree murder charges in July 2020, just as widespread protests over police violence reached a fever pitch across the U.S.

While on duty in the early morning hours of Feb. 29, 2020, Smelser put Valenzuela in a vascular neck restraint following a foot chase near the 200 block of 3 Crosses Avenue. Smelser's hold put Valenzuela to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, a first responder can't find a pulse on Valenzuela and an hour after Smelser put Valenzuela in a hold, he's declared deceased. The Office of the Medical Investigator ruled Valenzuela's death a homicide aided by methamphetamine in his system.

Smelser has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Antonio Valenzuela was killed Feb. 29, 2020, during a traffic stop during which Las Cruces Police Officer Christopher Smelser put him in a vascular neck restraint. Smelser was charged June 5 with involuntary manslaughter.

Whether a jury will find the former police officer guilty of murder remains to be seen. The trial was recently pushed from January to March at the request of the defense.

More: 2 hours and 12 minutes: A timeline from burglary call to Valenzuela's death

The case was initially continued in June 2021 because Smelser's attorney, former 3rd Judicial District Attorney Amy Orlando, said she needed more time to interview witnesses. The latest continuance was more personal.

Court records show that Orlando couldn't meet the January trial because she said she had a trip to New Zealand planned that week.

"Because the trip is planned as a group, counsel for Defendant cannot simply reschedule," Orlando said in her motion. "The trip is a one-time offer and the discount rates will not apply."

The case, which is scheduled to last 10 days, will now begin on March 14, 2022. The case is being prosecuted by the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General.

According to the prosecutor's most recent witness list, the AG's Office could call up to 92 witnesses during the case.

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The witness list includes 49 police officers, detectives, and other personnel from LCPD as well as nine first responders from LCFD, four Dona Ana County Sherriff's deputies, eight New Mexico State Police officers, and dozens of police shooting experts and personnel from the Office of the Medical Investigator.

Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com or on Twitter @Just516garc.

Others are reading:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Smelser trial moved to March 2022 to accommodate attorney's New Zealand trip
VINELAND  A 17-year-old girl has sued the local school board over an alleged sexual assault at Vineland High School.

The girl, identified only as A.T.V., contends school officials failed to protect her from a male student during an incident in December 2019.

Her suit claims the boy, also a freshman, was allowed to enter the school after classes had ended for the day without proper reason to do so and without vetting by any security personnel.

It also contends a security officer ignored video surveillance that showed the boy moving through the school and entering an unlocked computer lab where the incident occurred.

School security should be in the forefront of the mind of the community, said Bruce Zamost, a Willingboro attorney representing the girl and her parents, H.V. and F.J.

These matters are important on behalf of (A.T.V.), said Zamost, who added the girl did not know the male student.

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But theres a greater importance in that, whatever inadequacies there are with respect to security, these cases serve as a prompt for schools to reassess their security measures, he said.

The suit alleges A.T.V., now a Florida resident, was the victim of "sexual assault, sexual battery and sexual harassment"

Among other claims, it says the district failed to properly hire, train, supervise and have policy and procedures to prevent sexual assault on a student."

Defendants in the suit include Mary Gruccio, the district's superintendent at the time of the incident, and Suzette DeMarchi, the high school's principal, as well as the male student.

An attorney for the district defendants, Jeffrey Shanaberger of Princeton, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The suit, filed in state court in November, seeks unspecified damages and legal expenses for A.T.V. and her parents. It was filed in state court in November, but was moved to Camden federal court earlier this month at the district's request.

Story continues

Jim Walsh covers public safety, economic development and other beats for the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.

Support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Vineland Daily Journal: Student sues Vineland NJ school district over alleged sexual assault
Of all the things that got more expensive in 2021, inflation hit the housing market harder than just about any other section of the economy. The year was defined by high demand, low supply, intense bidding wars, and above-list sale prices.

Thats not exactly the kind of environment where buyers have the leverage to demand bargain-basement prices. Even so, those with a strategy and an eye for opportunity can always find sellers who are willing to go low.

But that doesnt mean you can just make an offer of 20% off the asking price and expect success, according to Lucas Machado, president of House Heroes LLC.

At the end of the day, the homebuyer and home seller need to settle on price and terms that work for everyone involved, said Machado. If thats achieved, all parties walk away happy. If that isnt achieved, no home sale will ever occur.

To better ensure you get the home you want for a dream price, follow these six steps from the experts.

1. Do Your Research Before House Hunting

In the end, success or failure in house hunting depends not on skill, instincts, or luck. Success depends on research. Heres what you need to know to avoid wasting your time writing offers to sellers who will only take top dollar.

Know the sellers

You need to know the sellers reason for selling, according to Mindy Jensen, podcast host, author, and community manager at BiggerPockets.com, a real estate social network and marketplace.

If they are trying to make the most money they can to take advantage of a hot market, your low-ball offer has almost no chance of being accepted, Jensen said.

She went on to say that if the home was inherited, there are out-of-state owners, or theyve tried and failed to sell the home previously, this might be a green light to a low-ball offer, she said.

Know the market

Do a lot of research on comparable properties in the area and what they sold for  and trust your findings more than the sellers asking price.

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Listing prices vary widely from extremely overpriced to well below market value, said Machado. Homebuyers  either through their own research or working with a knowledgeable local professional  should understand the value of a property and offer according to that value.

Know the property

A good strategy is to look for a property that needs some attention and care, has been on the market for months, or is distressed. Karim Wahba of Wahba Group Real Estate had clients who didnt mind lending a little blood, sweat and tears to fixing up a property if the price was right. He used this fact to find them a deal.

I made it known to the other agent that there is a lot of work that needs to be done to the home, Wahba said. I also made it clear to him that they were not in love with this home in particular, that they were considering several other options that did not need much work done to them. So I always made him feel that if the price is not right, they will choose the easier option and buy a home that was move-in ready.

In the end, the seller saw his points were reasonable and accepted an offer well below the asking price.

2. Use Cash When Buying a House

Making an all-cash offer is about as enticing to a seller as it gets, said Than Merrill, host of A&Es Flip This House and CEO and co-founder of the real estate investment education company FortuneBuilders.

If you plan to make an extremely low-ball offer, like 25% less than the asking price, you might want to consider using cash to cushion the cheap bid, Merrill said.

There are a few reasons this could work, from a seller knowing that all cash usually means a fast closing to the fact that financed offers often fall through at the last minute, he said. Obviously, not everyone can come up with an all-cash offer, so you should at least do the next best thing and get fully pre-approved.

Other terms that can be modified to improve the chances are paying closing costs and reducing the length of the inspection period, said Machado.

3. Work With a Realtor When Youre House Hunting

When buying a home, professional help is worth the expense  a good realtors commission more than makes up for itself in the experience youll gain.

A realtor can pull comps in the area to help you determine how low you can really go, said Merrill. It doesnt matter what other homes in the area [were] listed for. It matters what they sold for.

For instance, Wahba, the realtor who successfully negotiated a low offer for his clients, discovered that the sellers had unsuccessfully tried to sell the property in question a year before, so they were highly motivated. Also, through his experience, Wahba was able to gauge the amount of work that would be needed and suggest good contractors for estimates. In the end, $20,000 worth of TLC resulted in $30,000 worth of equity.

4. Use Rhetoric and Flattery

Merrill said a well-crafted offer letter goes a long way to soften the blow a low-ball offer can sometimes deliver.

Start with a little flattery and pitch to the sellers emotional side, Merrill said. The fact of the matter is that the seller needs to like you to accept your offer.

Compliment them, compliment the home, compliment yourself, Merill Continued.

You also might want to consider highlighting the similarities you have with the seller, he said. Calling attention to your similarities with the seller will create a personal connection and give you an edge over the competition.

5. Give the Seller Reasons for Your Reduced Price

If you are going to make a low-ball offer, youd better be ready to back up your reasoning with facts, according to Merrill. Is the market cold? Has the home been on the market for more than 30 days? Are there inherent damages to the home? These are all good things to point out if true, said Merrill.

It is worth it to spend a little extra money on a highly seasoned inspector, Merrill said. A professional inspector will scrutinize every corner of the home until he or she finds a problem that might help to justify a low-ball offer. If youre able to uncover something the seller may have been trying to hide, they wont have any choice other than to take your offer.

6. Be Reasonable With the Seller

Put yourself in the sellers shoes when making an offer or negotiating. Understand that they want a fair price just as much as you want a great deal, so the goal is to make sure you both feel satisfied.

You want to avoid offending the seller with an extreme low-ball offer, said Merrill. So, it is important not to put forth an offer that is outrageously below the asking price.

This is especially true for properties that are in good shape and priced fairly.

If a homeowner just spent thousands of dollars on repairs and renovation, the homeowner will not be keen on agreeing to a reduced price, said Machado.

And frankly, you probably shouldnt expect them to.

Look for words like pristine, beautiful, or immaculate, in property listings.

Those words or their synonyms indicate a property is premium and a buyer is unlikely to get a substantial reduction, Machado said.

Dont Give Up on Buying a House

Getting a great deal can take a lot of time and a lot more patience. If not, everyone would be scoring  and sometimes, that patience needs to extend beyond the negotiations, said Jensen.If you and the sellers cant agree on a price, Jensen advised asking them to keep your contact info  but be sure to keep your eye on the property. I once put a low-ball offer in on a bank-owned condo, Jensen said. They did not accept it, and we stopped watching the property. It sat for months, eventually selling for far less than what I had originally offered.

A Good Low-Ball Offer Works for Both Buyer and Seller

Done properly with care, understanding, and intelligence, making a low-ball offer can not only work out for you, but the seller as well. A good example comes from Dr. Judy Martin, an author and veterinarian in New Jersey.

Martin found a home she loved on the market for $475,000. This was the price after the home had been on the market for eight months and had been reduced from $499,000. Martin did her research and found comparable homes in the neighborhood that had sold for much less. So she made an initial offer of $375,000, explaining her reasons for the low offer.

I explained that [although] I thought this home was clearly worth the higher price in a different neighborhood, the price was not in line with the location, she said.

She also told the seller that she had a second house she was interested in if they didnt want to come down in price. The sellers saw her point and countered with $400,000. A deal was struck at $385,000 and most importantly, both parties walked away happy.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How to Successfully Make an Obscenely Low Offer on a House
A Reedley man has been identified as the suspect in a double homicide that saw his grandmother and his fathers girlfriend shot and killed and the dad fired upon at a Christmas day party.

Austin Alvarez, 23, was booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of two charges of murder and one of attempted murder, the Fresno County Sheriffs Office announced in a Sunday night news release. Bail is set at $2.5 million.

The women killed were identified as Magdalena Alvarez, 58, and Meisa Rashid, 39.

Deputies responded at 1:45 p.m. Saturday to a report of gunfire at a home in the 17000 block of Goodfellow Avenue, just outside the Reedley city limits.

Magdalena Alvarez and Rashid were both found dead inside, and deputies said they learned that the suspected shooter had fled in a GMC pickup.

The incident is believed to have begun with Austin Alvarez arriving at the house where some family members had gathered for the Christmas party.

During the visit, Alvarez fired shots striking his grandmother (Magdalena Alvarez) and his fathers girlfriend (Meisa Rashid), the sheriffs release stated. As Alvarez was leaving the house, he noticed his father in a parked vehicle. Alvarez fired shots in his direction, but did not strike him.

Officers  in a combined effort that involved sheriffs deputies, the California Highway Patrol and the Reedley, Sanger, Orange Cove and Kingsburg police departments  arrested Alvarez a short time later, about 10 miles away near American and Anchor avenues in Orange Cove.

Sheriffs detectives said a clear motive has not been established.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Det. Richard Antunez at 559-600-8221 or Valley Crime Stoppers at 559-498-7867 or www.valleycrimestoppers.org.
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NEW CASTLE  One person is charged with attempted criminal homicide, and two others are charged with illegally possessing a firearm, in connection with a Nov. 4 shooting in the city.

New Castle Police Dept. Cpl. Fred Buswell, in court papers, said Devon Rhone, 31, of Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County, shot Darece Murphy, 37, of New Castle, in the leg during a shootout.

At 4:33 p.m. Nov. 4, Murphy, a family member, her boyfriend, Tyree Sanders, and a dog were outside of the Colonial Laundromat in New Castle in a vehicle.

According to court papers, the family member said an individual, later identified as Rhone, walked up and punched Murphy through the passenger side window, and eventually fired at the vehicle.

Police later located several spent shell casings on Allen Street in front of the laundromat near the vehicle, some on Superior Street, one that went into the laundromat hitting a laundry unit, and another was found in the radiator of another vehicle.

A resident who lives on Superior Street later provided security footage from his house.

According to court papers, the video shows a male walking through the parking lot of the laundromat and out of sight, then yelling someone is hurt, with the male coming back into view and hurrying away.

Further video footage shows, a few seconds later, another male comes into view with a handgun and fires several shots towards the laundromat, with shots now being heard from the laundromat, with the original male later coming into view with a handgun firing shots at the laundromat.

The two males are then seen running from view towards West Avenue, with a third male, later identified as Sanders, and a dog running towards them with a gun, and two more shots are heard coming from West Avenue.

Video footage was obtained from the laundromat, which reportedly shows Murphy standing behind the vehicle firing several rounds from a handgun in the direction of the two males.

On Nov. 30, Murphy conducted an interview with police.

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Murphy said on the day, a male, later identified as Rhone, grabbed Murphy by the throat and started to hit her while she was in the vehicle, causing her and Sanders to go outside the car to confront Rhone.

She claims Rhone let off shots, and that she saw him and another male firing in her direction, though she believes Rhones friend might have shot her.

Murphy added Sanders and Rhone were fighting, and when Rhone backed off and started shooting, she returned fire from a gun that belonged to Sanders, and that after hitting the ground after being shot, Sanders and his dog ran after the two males, court papers state.

Rhone is charged with attempted criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

Court papers state both Murphy and Sanders were previously convicted for a felony, making them illegal to possess a firearm.

Both are charged with possession of a prohibited firearm, with Murphy additionally charged with carrying a firearm without a license.

Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times and Ellwood City Ledger. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ellwood City Ledger: Details available on Nov. 4 shooting in New Castle
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Each year in November, the TIME photo team comes together to narrow down the thousands of images made by photographers around the world since January. The ones that make the final cut for our top 10 can be striking in composition, shocking to experience, news-making moments, or all of the above. We find ourselves pausing to honor these images and their creators because we know there is so much more to the photograph than just the click of a shutter. Read More: TIMEs Top 100 Photos of 2021

The photographers in these situations care deeply for the people and environments in their images, building connections that go well beyond the single instant. Like Konstantinos Tsakalidis, who looked out for the wellbeing of the people in his photographs of the wildfires in his home country of Greece, while assessing his own safety. Or Meridith Kohut, who has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 surge, working 15-18 hour days alongside the staffsomething she says is crucial to building the kind of trust with the people in her photos and being allowed in the room when scenes unfold. Or Scott McIntyre, who simply wanted to capture the joy of Spelling Bee winner Zaila Avant-garde.

These 10 images tell a story of a year full of hardships and perseverance, a year where photographs gave us glimpses of a world that often felt out of reach. The images, and the people who made them, show us the power of great photography: to move us, to connect us, and to remind us of our shared humanity. Kim Bubello and Ciara Nugent

Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman confronts supporters of President Donald Trump who invaded the building on Jan. 6 to stop the certification of Joe Bidens 2020 election win. Goodman directs an angry mob away from the Senate chamber toward police. Christopher Lee for TIME

A Truly Horrible Day in U.S. history

Photographer Christopher Lee was on assignment for TIME in Washington on Jan. 6 to photograph President Donald Trumps Stop The Steal rally. Soon, things began to escalate, and Lee found himself weaving among groups of people fighting with Capitol police. A couple photographers and I noticed how the energy was turning towards the inside of the building, Lee recalls, and we followed along as angry Trump supporters broke down windows to get in.

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Having never been inside the Capitol before and wary of the risk to his own safety, Lee says he felt hyper alert as he moved along with the crowds, not knowing where they were going. At one point, the mob turned a corner and began shouting at a lone officerwho Lee later learnt was named Eugene Goodmanwho blocked their way and held them off. I think what made not only this particular image, but also all the images from that day, successful was creating an emotional and contextual picture of what it was like to be there at the Capitol on a truly horrible day in U.S. history, Lee says. I wanted to show not only the bravery of Officer Eugene Goodman but also who he was standing against and where he was doing it. I think all of that was in the picture.

Five people, including an officer, would die, and more than 140 officers would be injured. Months on, one of the things that has stayed with Lee was how unprepared most Americans were for the riots. We all thought this could never happen here in America. That somehow we as a country were immune to an insurrection by its own radicalized citizens. I hope that this day continues to be discussed and examined, with context as to how we got here and how we will continue as a country.

Members of the Badri 313 Battalion, a group of Taliban fighters, stand during evening prayers near Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Aug. 28. Jim HuylebroekThe New York Times/Redux

There Wouldnt Be Much Time

On Aug. 26, two suicide bombers and a gunman launched an attack on Kabul airport, where hundreds of Afghans had flocked, trying to flee their country amid the U.S. chaotic military withdrawal. More than 170 Afghan civilians were killed, along with 13 U.S. service members.

Two days later, the Taliban had gained control of parts of the airport and their guards were holding back the crowds who tried to enter. Photographer Jim Huylebroek says he was also initially turned away in a rather aggressive fashion. But as the sun began to set and the blistering temperatures dropped, people started to disperse and Huylebroek decided he would try his luck one last time at the main entrance. When I stated to the Taliban fighters manning the gate that I was a foreigner and why I was there, the commander responded to me in fluent English. That was unexpected and weirdly scary, Huylebroek says. He guided me into the airport premises, just past the gate but I wasnt allowed to photograph. It was prayer time and all the fighters lined up in their new American-style combat uniforms, so I asked if I could at least take a picture of that. The commander agreed, so I looked around for a good angle, knowing there wouldnt be much time. The Talibs had gathered under the Welcome to Kabul sign at airports purple-lit entrance gate.

In the end photography can be about perseverance, Huylebroek says. It took me all day in the blistering heat, and a few bruises to go with it to shoot only one scene, but Im happy I pushed through.

At a crematorium in New Delhi on April 27, Shivam Verma, in white PPE, and his relatives carry the body of his sister-in-law Bharti, 48, who died of COVID-19. Saumya Khandelwal for TIME

The Scale of the Tragedy

Covering Indias COVID-19 crisis in April was emotionally exhausting for Saumya Khandelwal, whose image of the devastating second wave was featured on TIMEs international cover. What we were witnessing was rare and tragic. I, as a photojournalist, had personal struggles too, she recalls. At this time, there was so much bad news about the pandemic and there were so many friends and family members who were struggling with COVID-19 themselves.

Khandelwals assignment brought her to a crematorium in New Delhi, where she watched as Shivam Verma (in white PPE) and relatives carried the body of his sister-in-law, Bharti, 48, who died of COVID-19.

A family allowed her to climb up onto their roof to capture the scene. She briefly considered waiting for more of the funeral pyres to be lit, she says, but decided against it. It was too harsh, I thought, to put out in terms of visuals. I felt I was successful in putting across the scale of the tragedy without showing very graphic visuals, she says. [It was] a learning [moment] for mewhen news is so much a cause of stress and grief for people, how do you approach it sensitively to help people deal with it?

Ethiopian National Defense Forces soldiers are held at a remote mountain detention camp for an estimated 3,000 prisoners of war south of Mekelle on June 23, after being captured during fighting the previous week by Tigray Defense Force rebels. Finbarr O'Reilly

At the Mercy of their Enemy

Ethiopias government has tried to suppress news of the civil war unfolding in the countrys northern Tigray region, in which all sides are accused of atrocities, by blocking media from entering affected areas. But in June, after covering Ethiopias election, photojournalist Finbarr OReilly and New York Times reporter Declan Walsh managed to slip through checkpoints to arrive at frontline positions held by Tigrayan rebels.

We were the only journalists to witness from the front lines a cascade of Tigrayan victories that culminated in their retaking the regions capital, altering the course of the war, says OReilly. They soon met Tigrayan leaders who claimed to have captured thousands of government troops, which the government denied. The Tigrayans granted us access and it was a remarkable scene with several thousand bedraggled Ethiopian soldiers being held under guard in a fenced, open-air compound, he explains. Id never seen anything like it. The last time I could recall anything similar were photographs of prison camps during the Balkan wars.

OReilly says he approached the images more forensically than creatively, making the most of the unusual access to document the scale of the site and the condition of individual prisoners. When the images were finally published, after a delay due to security concerns and Internet access, OReilly was unsure about how the government would react to the publication of evidence of their defeat.

I just wanted to show some of the toll that war takes on those who fight it, he says. Theres a lot of bellicose posturing from politicians and from people on social media fueling this conflict, but at its core, war comes down to moments like this, when one side or the other finds itself at the mercy of their enemy.

Tears run down the face of Emajay Driver during a protest for Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man fatally shot by a white police officer during a traffic stop hours earlier on April 11 in Brooklyn Center, Minn. Kim Potter, who said she meant to use a Taser but fired her pistol, was found guilty of first- and second-degree manslaughter on Dec. 23. Joshua LottThe Washington Post/Getty Images

You Need to See Whats Going on Here

On April 11, photographer Joshua Lott was at an event in St. Paul, Minn. for families who lost a loved one to police violence when he heard that another young man had just been shot and killed by police in nearby Brooklyn Center. Lott learned about it from John Garcia, the father of Kobe Dimock-Heisler, a 21-year-old killed in a fatal police shooting in 2019, who received an alert on his phone. When Lott arrived in Brooklyn Center, where protesters and police were gathering, a demonstrator told him that the victim was Daunte Wright.

Lott wasnt wearing any tactical gear so he went back to his car to reassess and better prepare for the situation. It was then that he came across a group of people huddling together, wrapping their arms around each other. I made a few frames and it was really difficult for me because I knew it wasnt one of those stares that was kind of like you know, stop taking pictures of me, get out of here, Lott says of Emajay Driver, a close friend of Wright and the person staring into the lens in the photograph.

I think him staring at me just kind of [said], you need to feel my pain. You need to see whats going on here and that this is happening to me one too many times here in the Minneapolis area. I felt like he was struggling to understand what just happened to his best friend. So that was pretty powerful. It really touched me.

By correctly spelling murraya, a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees, Zaila Avant-garde won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Orlando on July 8. Scott McIntyreThe New York Times/Redux

Happiness Needs to Be Photographed

Photographer Scott McIntyres assignment for The New York Times at the Scripps Spelling Bee flew by as he worked quickly to cater to the live news coverage of the competition. All of a sudden, 14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde was spelling the final word that would, if spelt correctly, make her the champion. Once the moment of the final word came, I knew that after seeing photographs from past contests, whoever wins will be showered with confetti, McIntyre says.

Using a long lens, he focused straight in on Avant-garde, and waited for the judge to say if the spelling was correct. It all happened so quickly, he recalls. Zaila jumped in the air just as the confetti started to rain over her, and the excitement became contagious. I made several photographs as she basked in victory, but I knew when she put her hands on her forehead, closed her eyes, and cheered in celebration, that her world was changing.

McIntyre was grateful for the opportunity to capture something as straightforwardly joyful as Avant-gardes victory. Photojournalism can be a heartbreaking profession at times, especially the past couple of years. Its a reminder that happiness needs to be photographed along with the hard truths of the world.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent grabs the shirt of a Haitian man while trying to stop migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border from crossing into Texas, on Sept. 19. Paul RatjeAFP/Getty Images

Criminalization of Desperate Migration

In September, a sudden spike in the arrival of migrants from Haitiwhich had been hit by a devastating earthquake in Augustcaught the Biden Administration off guard at the Texas border. Thousands of migrants gathered at a makeshift camp near Del Rio, under an international bridge, and were crossing back and forth over a dam on the Rio Grande into Mexico to buy food and water as they waited to be able to claim asylum.

On Sept. 19, photographer Paul Ratje navigated border closures imposed by U.S. authorities to make it to Ciudad Acuna on the Mexican side of the border. He was standing waist-deep in the river, photographing people making the crossing, when a group of border agents arrived on horseback on the U.S. side. When I heard Border Patrol starting to shout at the migrants to leave the banks, I knew something tense was about to happen,  Ratje says. He noticed a man in blue shorts starting to run up the bank, he adds. The border patrol agent chased after him, grabbing his shirt. They spun around in a circle and the agent eventually let the man go. I was relieved that he was released appearing uninjured, and then he just disappeared over the bank of the river, and was gone.

The image that Ratje captured of this moment appeared on news wires and made its way into publications all over the country, sparking fierce reactions from both sides of the immigration debate, including on the iconography of the long leather reins that many viewers interpreted as whips. There are so many layers to this scene. For many it echoes our countrys dark history, while for others, it angers them that migrants are crossing our borders, Ratje says.  I learned that in our day and age, everything is subject to interpretation, despite how a given photographer may perceive their own image. To me, it simply shows the criminalization of desperate migration.

With a cease-fire in effect, a Palestinian girl stands in her destroyed home in Beit Hanoun, Gaza, on May 24. Fatima ShbairGetty Images

Expressed Her Pain With Silence

On May 20, Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to a cease-fire after 11 days of the most intense fighting in years, which left 12 people in Israel and more than 250 Palestinians dead. On assignment in Gaza, photographer Fatima Shbair headed straight to the heavily bombed city of Beit Hanoun.

Shbair began speaking with families who were affected by the conflict, listening to their stories and walking through their houses to document the destruction. She met a young girl named Raghad Naseer and with her family entered their home. Raghad accompanied Shbair from room to room, clutching her teddy bear. I asked Raghad about her room and where she was sleeping, then she took me to it, Shbair says. She stood in her room in complete silence, contemplating what happened to the neighborhood through the destroyed wall of her room, as if she still could not comprehend what had happened.

Raghads family has now permanently left the neighborhood, moving to a small house far away. Taking this picture, it made me think: my home could have been like this at any moment, and I would have lived the same moment and feeling, Shbair says. Raghad expressed her pain with silence. I learned from her that sometimes through silence we are able to derive some strength to continue life.

As the ventilator keeping her husband Felipe alive was disconnected, Maria Salinas Cruz shouted, Fly high, my love! in Spanish, loud enough to be heard through the glass at LAC+USC Medical Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 28. Meridith Kohut

Show the Public Those Hard Truths

During Los Angeles Countys COVID-19 surge in January, before vaccines were widely available, Black and Latino residents died at a rate two to three times higher than that of white residents. Photojournalist Meridith Kohut spent two weeks embedded with health care staff, working 15-18 hour days to document that stark racial and economic divide for The New York Times Magazine.

Felipe Cruz, an AC technician, was admitted to the hospital on Jan. 1, 2021 his 48th birthday. He remained there for nearly a month. I met his family on Jan. 28 when doctors brought them into the ICU and explained that his organs were failing, and that there was nothing more they could do, Kohut says. Shortly after, Cruzs family made the difficult decision to remove his ventilatorand agreed to have the incredibly painful and intimate moment documented in order to show others how COVID-19 was devastating working-class Latino families in their community.

Maria, Cruzs wife, and Maritza, his daughter, watched pressed against the glass door, shouting to him how much they loved him and encouraging him to be brave, Kohut says. Maria wanted to be by his side, but doctors would not permit her inside his contaminated room, for her safety. Tears streamed down her face as she shouted fly high, my love, in Spanish as his heart rate monitor flattened.

I was reluctant to photograph such an intense moment of pain, Kohut says. I struggled to raise my camera, instead of putting it down and comforting her.

Kohut says the task of photographing dying and grieving people during the COVID-19 pandemic has taken an emotional toll, often finding the back of her camera soaked by her own tears, she says. But in a health crisis, it is the responsibility of photojournalists to report from the frontline, and show the public those hard truths, she adds. Documenting death is one of the most profound ways to get others to pay attention, take the crisis seriously, and take precautions to prevent themselves and others from getting sick, too.

On the Greek island of Evia, wildfires resulting from the countrys worst heat wave in three decades approach the home of Ritsopi Panayiota, 81, on Aug. 8. Konstantinos TsakalidisBloomberg/Getty Images

Understand What Your Limits Are

As wildfires burned uncontrollably across Greece for a week in early August, photographer Konstantinos Tsakalidis made his way to the island of Evia, where residents and tourists were being forced to evacuate. On the morning of Aug. 8, he was working in the village of Gouves, in northern Evia and decided to leave an observation point to photograph residents reacting to the sight of the fire approaching their homes. I saw from a distance a woman dressed in black moving awkwardly outside a houseone of the closest buildings to the burning forest, Tsakalidis says.

That woman was 81-year-old Panayiota KritsiopiNomidi. As Tsakalidis approached her, he heard her shouting towards her home, calling for her husband. She invited Tsakalidis into her yard. She told me about all the hard work they had put into their home, which was now in danger of being lost to the fire, and the lack of government intervention to put out the fire, he says. As she was telling me this, the flames swallowed up the pine forest behind the house. That was the moment I took the picture

Tsakalidis alerted KritsiopiNomidis neighbors to her situation to make sure she and her husband could make it out safely. (They did, and their house also escaped the fire.)

The greatest challenge in covering dangerous situations like wildfires is  to understand what your limits are in terms of safety, Tsakalidis says. I was able to keep calm, trust my instincts and function professionally, managing to capture images that convey in the best way the situation of the residents of the island, he says. That can be a hard call in a stressful situation like this, especially as it is a story from my own country with people who could have easily been members of my own family.
NEWPORT  Eileen Pollina, a graphic designer and owner of Eileen on Thames, got married just over a year ago, so she knows a thing or two about thank you cards.

Not to mention shes the owner of a brick and mortar shop that sells stationery.

The Daily News tapped Pollina to share some tips for thank you card writing, so you know how to tackle your list once youve unwrapped all your gifts this holiday season.

Graphic designer Eileen Pollina, a native of Portsmouth, recently opened Eileen on Thames in Newport.

Here are some words of advice from Pollina:

Break it up

If you have a long list of thank you cards to pen, write them in chunks. "Your hand can get tired, Pollina said.

Use a formula

Especially if you have a long list of similar thank you cards to write, Pollina advised. Plug in what youre thanking the person for, something special about the gift, how youll use it. Itll make the process go by faster, and a formula helps to lessen the pressure of coming up with something completely new, she said.

Explain how the item or whatever it is that you were given would remind you of the person, Pollina recommended. And your intentions of how to enjoy it.

Find unique cards

Theres also the option of unique cards to help do the talking for you.

I have some really cute cards in my store that have a modern take on the average greeting card, Pollina said. I incorporate a lot of humor. And you cant really find my cards in many other places outside of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. So if youre sending them beyond Newport, chances are they havent seen it before.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Thank you card advice from Eileen on Thames in Newport, RI
PORT CLINTON  As 2021 comes to a close, the New Herald is reviewing the Top 10 most notable stories in Ottawa County from the past year, counting down over the course of this week to No. 1.

Here is the first in the series looking back at some of the biggest local events and most prominent news topics in the area from 2021, beginning with stories No. 10, No. 9 and No. 8.

10. Wildlife experts warn of mystery bird illness

While new cases of the novel coronavirus continue to trend downward locally and throughout much of the country, there is a new illness emerging among one of the regions most popular kinds of wildlife  birds.

According to wildlife experts, an unknown illness affecting predominantly crows and bluejays has been reportedly spotted throughout Ohio, as well as Washington, D.C., and Virginia.

Though there are no reports of the illness having any impact on human health, wildlife experts still are taking every precaution, and encouraging others to do so as well, to prevent this illness from spreading among other birds.

Back to the Wild is a nonprofit organization that takes in injured or hurt wildlife so they can be treated, rehabilitated and eventually released back into the wild.

However, due to this mystery illness, there are several species of birds they are no longer taking in at this time, including crows, bluejays, common grackles, which many people refer to as blackbirds, and starlings.

More: Murmuration is the Movement: Panelists discuss diversity in birding

It sucks. We want to help every single animal out there, Tuttle said. We want them to come in. We want them to get better. We want to get them back out into the wild. But, sometimes in situations like this, we could cause more harm than good.

While much remains unknown about the illness. Experts cannot even call it a disease at this time as precisely what is causing the issue has not been identified.

Back to the Wild is encouraging anyone who spots a bird with an apparent eye issue, or any other health issues, to take a picture and call them as they can help identify the species of bird and report the incident to a wildlife officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, who will determine if testing the animal is warranted.

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Feeders should be regularly sanitized, Tuttle said, suggesting at least bi-weekly at minimum, which goes a long way to prevent these issues.

Tuttle emphasized the common-sense public health practices we should all be very familiar with by now.

Just like with COVID-19, making sure youre washing your hands goes a long way towards preventing diseases, she said.

9. NASAs Plum Brook Station renamed after Neil Armstrong

Though it was a major step that this particular American hero would have never asked for himself, that very reason was among the many that ultimately led to the renaming of NASAs former Plum Brook Station in Sandusky to the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility.

Earlier this year, NASA administrators and Ohios U.S. congressional leaders dedicated the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility, a 6,400-acre research site located along U.S. 250 in eastern Perkins Township, commemorating the name change recently approved by federal legislators.

We could not be more proud to name this entire campus in honor of Neil Armstrong, said Dr. Marla Perez-Davis, director of the NASA Glenn Research Center.

By honoring Neil Armstrong, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said they are renewing their commitment to stay curious, be pioneers and will continue to explore further than any human has ever gone.

Armstrong exemplified grace, humility, character and patriotism, according to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who spearheaded the legislative efforts behind the name change and had gotten to know Armstrong well.

Neils legacy lives on in many capacities across Ohio and our agency, Perez-Davis said. Neil was an American hero, accomplished astronaut, test pilot and engineer. The work we do here at the Armstrong Test Facility has and will continue to exemplify that legacy, ensuring the agency and commercial spacecraft are safe to fly and while changing the way we fly in the future.

Portman described the facilitys name change as a move to hold up not only Armstrongs unparalleled accomplishments, but also his character, as an example to future generations.

Of course, the most well-known of those unparalleled accomplishments was having been the first-ever human to step foot on the moon.

David Scott was promoted from patrol sergeant to chief late last month following the retirement of Rob Hickman, who served as police chief from 2011 to 2021.

8. New Port Clinton police chief steps in

Though he always loved visiting the area as a kid, David Scott said back then he never imagined he would end up as the chief of police in Port Clinton, a role he was recently sworn into.

Scott, who has been with the Port Clinton Police Department for nearly two decades, was promoted from patrol sergeant to chief late last month following the retirement of Rob Hickman, who served as chief from 2011-2021.

Scott, 50, who lives in Port Clinton with his wife and three children, actually began pursuing a career in law enforcement later in life than the average police academy graduate.

Having grown up in Bellevue, Scotts first job after graduating from high school was with Mission Marine, where he worked for a number of years.

Inspired by his godfather, who had served as a deputy in Sandusky County, Scott went through the police academy in 2003 at age 33.

Port Clinton Police Chief David Scott.

While Scott said he took a big pay cut to do it, there is still not a day that goes by that he regrets it.

After the academy, Scott worked as a part-time officer in Clyde for about six months before being hired by the Port Clinton Police Department in 2004.

In 2012, Scott was promoted to patrol sergeant, the position he served in up until being promoted to chief on June 28.

I am very humbled and I look forward to carrying on the professionalism of past years, he said. I felt really fortunate to get a job here as a police officer and I never imagined Id end up as the chief.

He said he wants to maintain transparency with the community throughout his tenure as police chief.

It builds trust. Thats what we need, he said. Were here to serve the community.

This article originally appeared on Port Clinton News Herald: Top stories of 2021, Part 1
Editor's Note: As 2021 comes to a close, the News Journal is looking back at the top stories of the year. Today we begin by reviewing the 10th, 9th and 8th biggest stories of 2021.

Doug and Tammy Wertz didn't waste time during the shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The people behind the Mansfield Playhouse gave the interior of the theater a makeover while it was closed.

They got an idea for the project while in the process of changing the chairs in the theater.

More: Mansfield Playhouse gets facelift during COVID-19 shutdown

"We've been thinking about seating for many years," Doug Wertz previously told the News Journal.

The chairs had not been changed since 1985. Even those weren't new. Wertz found some imprints on the chairs from 1929.

Doug Wertz sits among more than 300 chairs he purchased on eBay.

The replacement chairs number 300.

"I found these online. This gentleman had them on eBay," Wertz said. "He had them listed for 20 bucks apiece and 20 bucks for shipping."

When the owner of the chairs found out the Playhouse is a nonprofit organization, he agreed to waive shipping costs.

Wertz ordered the chairs on a Friday, and they arrived from Connecticut the following Tuesday. He and Tammy spent part of their wedding anniversary unloading them.

The next part of the project was removing the 288 existing chairs, which were anchored to the floor.

As for the new look, the Wertzes spent a few weeks on painting, going with an Art Deco style to match the chairs.

Instead of a drab gray, the woodwork now features a color combination of wine and blue-green.

Former Playhouse board president Char Hutchison passed away in December 2020. Her family asked people, in lieu of sending flowers, to make donations to the Playhouse in Hutchison's memory.

"They wanted the funds dedicated to a long-term project," Wertz said.

The Playhouse's facelift also includes new chandeliers, replacing ones that came from the Leland Hotel.

"These are a little bigger and more ornate," Wertz said.

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He said the Playhouse could not have afforded to pay for labor to do the renovations.

Top story No. 9: Blair sentenced to 45 years to life in prison

In February, 23-year-old Shelby resident Alec Blair was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for the stabbing death of his estranged wife, Gaberien "Gabe" Clevenger, 22.

Blair stabbed her 14 times on Feb. 10, 2020. Less than a week before her death, Clevenger was denied a protection order by a domestic relations court magistrate.

More: 'You are a monster': Alec Blair sentenced for stabbing wife to death

More: Blair pleads guilty as charged in stabbing death of estranged wife

Phil Naumoff, Richland County common pleas judge, said he agonized over the sentence.

"This is hard, and I have to put my feelings aside," he said in court. "I have to temper my anger with what is just. I gave you what I feel is the just sentence in this matter based on the law."

A tear falls down the face of Alec Blair before he was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing his estranged wife Gaberien "Gabe" Clevenger.

In October 2020, Blair pleaded guilty as charged in the case.

Along with aggravated murder, Blair pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, four counts of kidnapping, two counts of felonious assault, two counts of abduction and single counts of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

The first sign something was wrong happened when a friend of Clevenger became concerned that she did not show up for work at Bob Evans Restaurant.

Authorities have only Blair's word for what happened. He led them to a field on Bowman Street Road, near a cell tower in Jackson Township, where Clevenger's body was found.

Blair had lured Clevenger into his vehicle with the promise they would go the county courthouse about a divorce.

The stabbing happened in the driveway of Blair's home in the 900 block of Taylortown Road, east of Shelby.

Blair went inside his house to pick up his lunch before work. While inside, he also grabbed a knife.

After dumping her body, Blair went to his job. A ping on Clevenger's phone linked it to an area near Blair's place of employment.

He wrote a letter to the court, saying he still loves Clevenger and sometimes wishes he could wake up beside her. He called the situation a "horrible nightmare."

"I wish it wasn't real," he wrote. "I have to deal with this every day for the rest of my life."

Blair wrote that he tried to let go of Clevenger, his wife of about eight months, but could not.

"Every little thing reminded me of her, and it drove me crazy," he wrote.

Prosecutor Gary Bishop asked Naumoff to consider sentencing Blair to life without parole.

"He stabbed her 14 times," Bishop said. "He nearly severed her head from her body and dumped her in a field.

"This was a simple case of rage brought on by petty jealousy."

Bishop said Blair planned the murder.

Defense attorney Terry Hitchman made a sentencing recommendation of 35 years to life. He said Blair had been a "model inmate" at the county jail and had led a small Bible group.

"There was a grip on him of anger, of rage, of passion, of disappointment," Hitchman said. "Is this the most horrific form of aggravated murder? I'm not going to debate that."

Naumoff drew the hearing to a close.

"Mr. Blair, we were all young once in life," he said, making reference to brain development. "We all went through turmoil. We handled things differently, I guess."

Blair addressed the court.

"I will never, ever forgive myself, and I don't expect anyone else to," he said.

Blair is an inmate at London Correctional Institution. His first parole hearing is scheduled for December 2064.

Top story No. 8: Lexington woman accused of killing husband

Rebecca Harris, accused in the shooting death of her husband, is scheduled for trial on Jan. 11 in Richland County Common Pleas Court.

The 29-year-old is charged with aggravated murder, murder, three counts of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Todd Blevins, 38, was found dead April 27 in the basement at his residence at 31 Second Ave. in Lexington. Harris confessed to shooting him in the head nine days earlier, according to Lexington police.

Rebecca Harris

She told police she shot her husband in the head when he was attempting to choke her in bed on April 18, according to a Lexington police report.

Blevins' body was tied up and wrapped in a tarp, and there was recently poured concrete on the wrapped body, according to Mansfield Municipal Court records.

More: Police: Lexington woman confesses to fatally shooting husband

Lexington police received a missing persons report on Blevins on April 27.

"Throughout the course of the investigation, information was gained that the missing man's wife may have had knowledge of his disappearance. Contact was made with the wife at the couple's residence," police Chief Brett Pauley said in the news release.

"At first she was cooperative with officers and allowed them inside their home, but ended the contact and asked them (police) to leave while she picked up her children from school," Pauley said. "Officers then went outside and secured the house while a search warrant was requested. After getting the warrant, officers entered the residence and found the man deceased in the basement."

According to the police report, Harris said she was involved in a fight with her husband on April 18. Their children were home at the time.

She said her husband was being rude, picking a fight with her. The children went to bed, she went to bed soon after, and her husband came upstairs to bed around 11:30 p.m. or midnight.

The couple own a 9mm handgun, she told police. It is always stored in a gun safe, which is kept in a dresser drawer. However, when Harris went upstairs, she removed the handgun from the safe and placed it under her pillow, according to the report.

"Once Todd was in bed with Rebecca, he continued to agitate her and started kicking her out of the bed," the report said.

Harris reportedly said Blevins reached over and started choking her before she shot him. She said the children did not wake up and she went downstairs to sleep on the couch, according to the investigative report supplement.

The next day after taking the kids to school, Harris wrapped the man in the bedding and dragged him to the basement, according to police. Her intent was to put Blevins' body in the chest freezer but it would not fit, she reportedly told officers.

In the days after the murder, Harris purchased the concrete. She told officers some of the bedding was placed in the attic crawl space and she had buried a rug in the backyard, the police report said.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

Twitter: @MNJCaudill

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Mansfield News Journal's top 10 cases include two homicides
SOUTHBOROUGH  In just a few months, two centers designed to help people recover from substance abuse have opened across the street from one another.

Northstar Recovery Center, at 132 Turnpike Road (Route 9), opened in October and Paramount Recovery Centers, at 120 Turnpike Road, opened earlier this month.

"There was much need in the state's eyes for services in the MetroWest area," said Jeff Chasen, director of business development at Northstar.

Other nearby recovery centers include the Recovery Connection, at 31 Main St. in Marlborough, and the South Middlesex Opportunity Council, at 7 Bishop St. in Framingham.

Northstar Recovery Center

For Sam Lockard, starting the recovery center with business partner Steve Windward was personal.

"I lost my uncle to AIDS from intravenous drug use," Lockard said. "I lost my aunt to an overdose, and in 2017 I lost my brother to an overdose. That's really my drive and inspiration to do this."

Northstar Recovery Center in Southborough, Nov. 30, 2021.

The center helps with the recovery process by offering assistance to people who are working through recovery in a step-down setting outside of a hospital or at in-patient treatment centers.

"Not everyone is able to put their life on hold, put their job on hold, their family responsibilities on hold and go away to a traditional rehab, the Hollywood-depicted 28 days locked in a facility," said Chasen.

The recovery center offers several addiction treatment and therapy programs. It also offers partial hospitalization or intensive outpatient treatment.

Sam Lockard, left, and Steven Windward are co-founders of Northstar Recovery Center in Southborough, Nov. 30, 2021.

Therapy programs include cognitive behavioral therapy, group therapy and individual therapy.

Clinical Director Amanda Steverman said the facility is referred to as a step-down option from in-patient treatment. Northstar's programs help people to be "able to gain the life skills that they need to function out in the community."

The center has 12 patients at a single location. But it plans to expand into a suite next door by the spring to allow it to accommodate 120 patients.

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The clinic prides itself on being an in-network choice with most insurance providers.

Paramount Recovery Centers

Paramount Recovery Centers founder and Executive Director Ryan Vartanian, who is in recovery himself, said he wanted to start a program similar to one that helped him in New Hampshire.

"I probably had a decade of experience going to different treatments in and around this area," he said.

Ryan Vartanian, executive director of Paramount Recovery Center, in one of the group therapy rooms at the center's headquarters on 120 Turnpike Road, Southborough, Dec. 13, 2021.

"I just decided I wanted to provide the same level of care that I got up there, down here in this area," he said.

Like Northstar, Paramount provides partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and outpatient programs.

"We provide a lot of the same services  cognitive, behavioral therapies  but we also have more holistic services," said Program Director Vibeke Gonzalez. "We are going to doing breath work and other behavioral therapies."

In the hallway at Paramount Recovery Center, 120 Turnpike Road, Southborough, Dec. 13, 2021.

Paramount is, however, considered out-of-network with most health insurers, according to James Bradley, director of operations.

Its Southborough location opened Dec. 6 and has a handful of patients. The goal is to one day expand to other locations.

Both facilities see each other as partners.

"The opportunity to have not one, but two treatment centers to be able to help that many more people is an incredible thing for this town and this area," Bradley said.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Addiction recovery centers open within weeks of one another in Southborough
 Read the full article on Motorious

Soon, Brits will own nothing and will be happier for it

UK Government Transport Minister Trudy Harrison recently spoke at a mobility conference, addressing the future of personal mobility. In her comments, she said it was necessary to ditch the "20th-century thinking centred around private vehicle ownership and towards greater flexibility, with personal choice and low carbon shared transport." Thats right, she said the quiet part loud and showed the hand of a growing number of government officials.

Meanwhile, Dodge is eliminating a popular engine in the United States. Learn more here.

Harrison went on to praise not only public transportation but also bike share services, e-scooters, and ride sharing platforms. All of these are supposed to tune down how much carbon the UK is emitting into the atmosphere. As with all choices, this comes at a cost, particularly for those living in rural areas.

Whats more, 300 residents in Coventry recently expressed interest in giving up their personal cars. The tradeoff from the government reportedly would be a mobility credit worth up to 3,000. This mobility credit program has been going since March of this year, with 73 cars turned in and crushed. No, this isnt a joke, but I wish it were.

Understandably, many Brits are upset about this. Some have asked if they should start riding their horse instead, all the in the name of progress. Others are tying this statement by Harrison with the looming government ban of internal combustion engines for cars by 2030. After all, EVs arent exactly cheap, so what better way to force people onto public transportation than by pricing them out of the vehicle market?

Ive been calling out the elitist plan in some government circles to eliminate the private ownership of cars for some time. For many, the possibility that such a thing could be real leads to their minds lashing out at the source of such news, and so Ive been called a crazy conspiracy theorist among other things for trying to shed light on this disturbing topic. Well, time has vindicated my stance and people in the UK are starting to wake up to the very real possibility they would be completely dependent on the government to be driven anywhere.

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If you think this plan is limited to just the UK, you havent been paying attention. There have been other efforts to make private vehicle ownership a thing of the past, including a new measure in Southern California. The 2021 Regional Transportation Plan passed recently by the San Diego Association of Governments board of directors is a $160 billion initiative just for the metropolitan area to boost public transportation.

Thats a hefty price tag for such a small area, so one of the ways officials have been planning to fund it is by levying a per-mile driving tax against citizens. That was such an unpopular move it was shelved, for now. But I have a funny feeling that driving tax is going to be revisited. Critics say that and other fines, fees, etc. are designed to nuke personal vehicle ownership for all but the wealthy. Expect to see similar measures in other cities and maybe entire states/territories in North America and beyond in the near future.

As unpleasant as politics are, if car enthusiasts and really everyone who enjoys going where they please when they please in their privately-owned vehicle dont start taking a stand, our freedoms could be severely restricted in ways many have thought werent possible. Failing to do something to stop this push will end poorly for just about everyone.

Source: Express

Photos via Facebook

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The new United Nations special envoy to Myanmar on Monday said she was "deeply concerned" by escalating violence in the country and called for a new year ceasefire between the military and its opponents.

Nationwide protests against the February coup have been met with a bloody crackdown, with more than 1,300 people killed and over 11,000 arrested, according to a local monitoring group.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis led by the UN and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have made little headway so far, with the generals refusing to engage with opponents.

Special envoy Noeleen Heyzer "is deeply concerned by the continued escalation of violence in Kayin State and other parts of Myanmar", she said in her first statement since taking on the role.

She also called for "all parties to... allow humanitarian assistance to be provided to those in need, including those forced to flee the violence", and for all sides to come to a new year ceasefire.

On Sunday, a UN official said he was "horrified" by credible reports that at least 35 civilians were killed and their bodies burned in an attack on Christmas Eve in eastern Myanmar, and demanded the government launch an investigation.

Two workers for non-profit group Save the Children remain missing -- their vehicle was among several that were attacked and burned in the incident in Kayah state.

"The military reportedly forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed others and burned their bodies," it said in a statement.

The charity said Monday it was still investigating the incident.

There have also been fresh clashes in recent days between ethnic rebels and the military in Kayin state -- also known as Karen state -- sending thousands fleeing into neighbouring Thailand.

A junta spokesman told AFP last week that the military had carried out air strikes against Karen National Union fighters and members of local "People's Defence Force" groups that have sprung up to fight back against the putsch.

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- Frosty relations -

Singaporean sociologist Heyzer was appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in October, replacing Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener.

Schraner Burgener had called for the UN to take "very strong measures" against the military to bring the country back to democracy and had been the target of regular broadsides in Myanmar's state-backed media.

Since the coup, the Swiss diplomat had been blocked by the generals from visiting the country, where she had hoped to meet with former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Last week, state media reported the junta had closed her office in the country "since the activities of Ms Christine Schraner Burgener have concluded".

The junta said it had no comment yet in response to questions on whether it would allow Heyzer to open an office, or whether it would let her visit.

On Monday, a junta court again postponed giving its ruling in Suu Kyi's trial for illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, deferring the verdict to January 10.

The Nobel laureate, 76, faces a catalogue of charges that could see her jailed for decades.

bur-rma/qan
By Benoit Nyemba

KINSHASA (Reuters) - At the St Joseph COVID Treatment Centre in Kinshasa, patients lie in ramshackle rooms breathing oxygen from old tanks. The clinic has 38 beds, and all but one are occupied.

In a backyard littered with medical equipment, tents are needed to cope with the overflow.

Democratic Republic of Congo is the least vaccinated country against COVID-19 in the world. Now a fourth wave of the coronavirus threatens to put greater pressure on its rickety health system than at any time during the pandemic.

"We have experienced the three previous waves gradually, but in the fourth wave cases have jumped overnight," said Francois Kajingulu, the head of St Joseph. "On Monday we had 5-6 cases and on Saturday we went straight from 30 to 36."

The increase is part of an Africa-wide surge that saw weekly COVID cases spike 83% in mid-December, driven by the Delta and Omicron variants, although deaths remain low, the WHO said.

Congo registered 6,480 new cases in the week of Dec. 13 - more than double the number hit during its previous record week in June, World Health Organization data show.

VACCINATION DRIVE

The official infection tally in Congo, which has a young population and where few people get tested, is still low compared to many countries. But the low level of inoculations worries health officials who say that unvaccinated populations increase the risk of new variants emerging.

Fewer than 300,000 people out of a population of 90 million have received at least one dose, Reuters data indicates, lower than anywhere else. Hostile terrain, remote populations, insecurity and lack of funds have all hobbled vaccine rollouts.

The recent surge in cases has pushed authorities to ramp up inoculations, and the weekly vaccination rate https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access is at its highest yet.

A tented 'Vaccinodrome' has been erected in Kinshasa, whose province has accounted for the vast majority of Congo's 67,000-plus cases.

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Health workers at the centre are vaccinating around 200 people per day, but that is still below its 300 capacity, said coordinator Jean-Claude Masumu.

Kinshasa resident Popol Kabasale said the latest wave of infections had persuaded him to come to the centre for a shot.

"Before we were in the dark," he said after receiving a dose. "COVID really exists and to protect myself I've come to get the vaccine."

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Edward McAllister and Gareth Jones)
This map shows the non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for Indiana's 92 counties for the month of November 2021.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported an unemployment rate of 2.1% for the month of November, down from a reported 2.5% according to the state's October report.

Overall, nearly 69,500 Hoosiers were considered unemployed in November out of a labor force of more than 3.3 million Indiana residents.

The November 2021 unemployment rate, however, was significantly lower compared to the numbers in November 2020 when more than 161,000 Hoosiers were unemployed, a rate of 4.8% for the entire state.

In the four-county region in southern Indiana of Lawrence, Monroe, Morgan and Owen counties, only Owen County is found to have a higher unemployment rate compared to the entire state at a 2.2% unemployment rate, which was down from 4.3% in November 2020.

Others are reading: What time stores will be open on New Year's Eve and New Year's day.

Lawrence County showed to have an unemployment rate of 2% in November 2021, down from 4.6% one year before.

Both Monroe and Morgan counties showed 1.7% unemployment rates in November 2021.

Monroe County had an unemployment rate of 3.8% in November 2020, while Morgan County's rate was slightly lower at 3.7%.

A breakdown of the area's unemployment numbers are as followed.

Lawrence County

According to the numbers released by the state, Lawrence County had a labor force of 20,708 residents in November with 20,291 considered employed while the remaining 417 were considered unemployed.

Residents who are not working, but not actively seeking employment, are not counted as unemployed by the state.

State news: IU Health announces price freeze at first-ever hospital transparency meetings.

In November 2020, Lawrence County had 20,741 residents in the labor force, with 19,782 employed and 959 unemployed residents.

When compared to Indiana's other 92 counties, Lawrence County was listed as having the 33rd highest unemployment rate in the state.

Howard County, which includes the city of Kokomo, had the state's highest unemployment rate in November 2021 at 4.7%.

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Monroe County

In Monroe County, the state reported there was a labor force of 69,134 in November, with 67,937 considered employed and 1,197 counted as unemployed.

Back in November 2020, Monroe County had an a labor force of 69,017 with 66,400 considered employed and 2,617 counted as unemployed.

More: Indiana hunters have donated deer for 2 million meals for hungry Hoosiers in last decade.

Monroe County had the 55th highest unemployment rate in the state of Indiana this November.

Morgan County

Morgan County's labor force was determined to include 36,160 of its residents, with 35,559 considered employed while 601 were unemployed this November.

According to the state, Morgan County had a labor force of 36,153 in November 2020, with 34,826 considered employed and 1,327 being unemployed.

Morgan County had the 56th highest unemployment rate in Indiana in November 2021.

Owen County

Owen County's labor force had 9,092 residents this November, with 8,896 being employed while 196 were unemployed.

One year prior, Owen County had a labor force of 9,143 residents with 8,747 of which were considered unemployed and 396 were counted as unemployed.

Election security: Indiana Secretary of State visits Lawrence County, discusses election security.

Owen County came in with the 21st highest unemployment rate of the state's 92 counties in November 2021.

Metropolitan areas

Lawrence, Monroe and Owen counties are all part of the Bloomington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) while Morgan County is part of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson MSA.

The Bloomington MSA had a reported 1.8% unemployment rate this November, compared to a 3.9% unemployment rate in November 2020.

The Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson MSA had a slightly higher unemployment rate at 2%.

In November 2020, the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson MSA had an unemployment rate of 4.9%.

The state is anticipated to release its data employment report for the month of December 2021 at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Contact Reporter-Times editor Lance Gideon at lgideon@reporter-times.com or 765-342-1543. Follow him on Twitter: @LanceOGideon.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Jobless rates in Lawrence, Morgan counties show improvement
DETROIT (AP)  U.S. auto safety regulators have stepped up a series of investigations into engine fires that have plagued Hyundai and Kia vehicles for more than six years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a new engineering analysis investigation covers more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through 2016 model years. The agency has received 161 complaints of engine fires, some of which occurred in vehicles that had already been recalled.

Engine failures and fires have dogged the Korean automakers' vehicles since September 2015 when the company issued an engine failure recall. Since then it has issued at least eight more recalls for a host of engine problems, according to NHTSA documents posted on its website Monday.

The agency says it's opening the engineering analysis to evaluate whether previous recalls covered enough vehicles. It also will monitor the effectiveness of previous recalls as well as the long-term viability of related programs and non-safety field actions being conducted by Hyundai and Kia.

The engineering analysis could lead to further recalls.

Hyundai said it Monday that it is cooperating fully with U.S. regulators.

Hyundai has taken numerous proactive actions to address engine issues, including conducting several recalls, launching a new engine monitoring technology, providing extended warranties and enhancing our customer service response, the company said in a prepared statement. Hyundai fosters a culture of transparency and accountability as the safety of our customers is the top priority in everything we do.

Kia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The vehicle fires involve the related Korean automakers' Theta II GDI, Theta II MPI, Theta II MPI hybrid, Nu GDI and Gamma GDI engines. Models covered include Hyundai's Sonata, Santa Fe, and Elantra and as well as Kia's Sorento, Rio, Optima and Soul. Model years covered are 2011 through 2016.

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The agency says three people have reported eye and burn injuries that did not require medical treatment.

In November of 2020, NHTSA announced that Kia and Hyundai must pay $137 million in fines and for safety improvements because they moved too slowly to recall more than 1 million vehicles with engines that can fail. The fines resolve a previous probe into the companies behavior involving recalls of multiple models dating to the 2011 model year.

Kia was to pay $27 million and invest $16 million in safety performance measures. Another $27 million payment will be deferred as long as Kia meets safety conditions, NHTSA said.

Kia denied the U.S. allegations but said it wanted to avoid a protracted legal fight.

Data collected by the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety show 31 U.S. fire and engine-related recalls from Hyundai and Kia since 2015. The recalls involve more than 20 models from the 2006 through 2021 model years totaling over 8.4 million vehicles.

Many of the recalls involved manufacturing defects that stopped oil from flowing through the engine block. Many involved expensive engine replacements.

Hyundai and Kia also did a U.S. product improvement campaign covering 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures.
In this Nov. 10, 2020, file photo, Kim Tapia holds her granddaughter Amariah Lucero, 3, as she's tested at the Utah National Guard's mobile testing site for COVID-19 in Salt Lake City. Utah reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 6,006 new cases during the holiday week. The number of reported cases was down 14.4% from the previous week's tally of 7,016 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Utah reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 6,006 new cases during the holiday week. The number of reported cases was down 14.4% from the previous week's tally of 7,016 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

The number of people tested was about the same, with about 60,000 tests reported for both weeks.

Utah ranked 38th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 47% from the week before, with 1,388,833 cases reported. With 0.96% of the country's population, Utah had 0.43% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 26 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Christmas significantly disrupted who got tested, how many people got tested, what labs operated and what government agencies reported on time. Some cases and deaths that would have been reported last week might be reported in the coming week, which itself will have testing and reporting disrupted by New Year's. Consequently week-to-week comparisons will be skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

Across Utah, cases fell in five counties, with the best declines in Utah County, with 1,196 cases from 1,502 a week earlier; in Salt Lake County, with 2,313 cases from 2,555; and in Davis County, with 691 cases from 878.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Utah ranked 27th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 66.9% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 72.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Thursday, Utah reported administering another 82,651 vaccine doses, including 16,401 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 119,250 vaccine doses, including 24,498 first doses. In all, Utah reported it has administered 4,444,635 total doses.

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Within Utah, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Summit County with 384 cases per 100,000 per week; Salt Lake County with 199; and Davis County with 194. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Salt Lake County, with 2,313 cases; Utah County, with 1,196 cases; and Davis County, with 691.

In Utah, 50 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 64 people were reported dead.

A total of 623,703 people in Utah have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 3,754 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 52,280,854 people have tested positive and 816,609 people have died.

Note: For Utah, Johns Hopkins University reports data mostly by health department, such as the combined Weber-Morgan agency. Weber and Morgan counties may be marked as having no cases. The county-level data for Utah is considerably worse than it is for any other state, and county comparisons may be wildly misleading.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Utah's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Dec. 26.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 482

The week before that: 470

Four weeks ago: 505

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 99,084

The week before that: 90,677

Four weeks ago: 76,315

Hospitals in 18 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 28 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 29 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

"I was really nervous at first, but I'm fine now," said Cayden Minor, 10, of Grand Ledge, Mich., as he got his first COVID-19 vaccination Dec. 13 from Sparrow Hospital registered nurse Lori Lampman while his mother, Sherise, looks on.

This article originally appeared on St. George Spectrum & Daily News: Utah's COVID-19 case rate fell last week
A crew demolishing a 20th-century home in Utah discovered something strange inside it: Another house.

Turns out the rather plain home had been wrapped around an equally plain log cabin that dates to the 1880s, experts say. Thats before Utah became a state (in 1896).

Realizing the historic significance, the crew halted work and the city has stepped up to save the home, which sits wedged between commercial buildings.

The 1880s cabin is prepped and ready to be moved, Orem officials announced Dec. 23.

The discovery was made the first week of November by contractor Bill Fairbanks, who posted photos of the find on Facebook.

The move will take place next week (Dec 27-31). Our intent is to ultimately place this cabin at our new Heritage Park ... to help tell the story of those that settled this community.

Heritage Park is about 3 miles south of the homes current location. The park is still two years from being completed. However, city officials jumped at the chance to get the cabin when its owners, the Shimada family, offered to donate it.

The discovery was made the first week of November by contractor Bill Fairbanks, who posted photos of the find on a community Facebook page called You know youre from Orem UT if....

Wed heard that supposedly there was a cabin in the house, Fairbanks told the Daily Herald. We started pulling the house apart and chipped away at the walls. We peeled layer by layer.

Fairbanks described the discovery as an almost whole, 1881 pioneer cabin ... still sitting on its rock foundation!

The cabin is believed to have been built by a pioneer couple known as the Hansons, he said. Years later, the Shimada family bought the land and ran a fruit stand on it, reported TV station KUTV.

Orem Town Manager Steven Downs says the home, which about 550-square-feet, dates to a time when the area was a lot of orchards and multiple cabins, KSL-TV reported.

This is the home of the Hansons, but this represents the home of so many who homesteaded this property and began the legacy of hard work and entrepreneurship, Downs told the station.

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Photos shared by Orem officials show the roof had been removed as part of the demolition work, so crews rushed to add tarps to preserve the inside of the cabin.

City officials did not give specifics for when work will begin on the homes restoration.

Excavation at a battlefield cemetery in Virginia finds a buried road from the 1800s

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Desmond Tutu, the prominent Anglican bishop who fought apartheid in South Africa, visited Wisconsin several times to speak out against racial injustice.

Tutu, who died Sunday at 90, traveled the globe as he worked to bring down the apartheid regime in his country. In Wisconsin, his speaking appearances drew large, riveted crowds.

In 2003, Marquette University awarded Tutu its prestigious Pere Marquette Discovery Award, one of only five times the school has given the award. Other recipients include Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Apollo 11 astronauts.

His daughter, Naomi Tutu, has visited Wisconsin as well to discuss race relations in South Africa and the U.S.

Here are some of Desmond and Naomi Tutu's most notable trips to the state.

Then-UW-Madison Chancellor Donna Shalala joined Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 1988 for a speech at the UW Field House. The event drew a crowd of nearly 12,000 people.

May 1988

Nearly 12,000 people gathered in the University of Wisconsin Field House to hear Desmond Tutu in 1998 and gave him a "thunderous standing ovation," according to a Milwaukee Sentinel article from the time.

Speaking about racism toward Wisconsin's Native American population, Tutu urged the crowd to "be committed to racial justice here as you are committed to racial justice in South Africa."

Tutu, who had won the Nobel Peace Prize four years earlier, also detailed why Americans should not support apartheid, calling it "as evil, as unacceptable, as immoral as Nazism." He encouraged people to see each other as brothers and sisters and to find strength in diversity.

"Brothers and sisters sometimes disagree, and disagree violently, but they still remain brothers and sisters," he said, according to the Milwaukee Journal.

Tutu also delivered a homily to 500 people at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison.

February 1990

Tutu's daughter, Naomi, who at the time was pursuing a doctorate at the London School of Economics, gave a speech at Marquette University in 1990 on the evils of apartheid.

She called for continued economic sanctions on South Africa and said the release of Nelson Mandela from prison weeks earlier was "not a sign that apartheid is over."

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Dr. Naomi Tutu, daughter of retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and program director of the Race Relations Institute at Fish Universtiy, gives the keynote speech Friday, July 27, 2001, at the Church Women United 2001 at the Midwest Express Center.

"We shouldn't be happy too soon. The struggle still has a long way to go. And we still need the support of the people from this country," she said, according to a Milwaukee Journal article.

She also commented on what she saw as the poor state of race relations in the U.S.

"There is a sense ... that the fundamental racism in this country was never truly addressed," Tutu said. "That is why you are seeing a move backward in the gains Black Americans have made in this country."

Tutu also visited Milwaukee in 2001 to deliver the keynote speech at an event for Church Women United, a Christian women's movement.

May 1995

In a four-day trip to the Milwaukee area in 1995, Desmond Tutu visited sick children, met with church leaders and addressed eager crowds.

"Injustice is not just evil. It is a veritable blasphemy. To keep oppressed even one such person created in the image of God is like spitting in the face of God," he said.

At Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Tutu met patients, their families and hospital staff.

"If you are quite serious about the survival of human society, then you're going to care about the children," he told reporters during the visit.

At UW-Milwaukee, he encouraged business leaders to invest in South Africa; at an elementary school where his image was part of a mural, he led children in a peace rally.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu participates in a private round-table discussion with the winners of the Desmond Tutu Emerging Leaders award, Wed., February 12, 2003, in the Haggerty Museum, 530 N. 13th St. The awards were given to 10 Milwaukee high School and 10 Marquette University undergraduate students by a group of community judges. Marquette University bestows upon Archbishop Tutu its highest honor, the Pere Marquette Discovery Award as the school celebrates Mission Week 2003.

At an anniversary dinner for the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee, 900 attendees got to their feet for a standing ovation.

At one of the only events open to the public, Tutu's plans to speak on a street corner were foiled by rain, and untold numbers packed into the small New Life Presbyterian Church.

"I wish there was surgery we could perform to open my heart," Tutu told the crowd, according to the Journal Sentinel. "There you would see the depth of my gratitude."

During the trip, a reporter asked Tutu if South Africans and Americans had the patience for change to take place.

"It is remarkable that people seem to be aware that 400 years of oppression cannot be turned around overnight," Tutu said. "People seem to be willing to give the government enough time. Of course, the idea of `enough time' is relative. We are going to have to deliver pretty quickly.

"In the United States, I don't know. The suspicion is that there isn't. I see a growing anger and frustration building."

Feb 12. 2003 The Most Rev. Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate and Archbishop Emeritus, Cape Town, South Africa greeted Judy Mayotte, who taught at Marquette University and was also a board member of The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. He also greeted others in the crowd after speaking at Gesu Church in Milwaukee and being presented with The Pere Marquette Discovery Award from Marquette University.

February 2003

In 2003, Tutu returned to Milwaukee to receive the Pere Marquette Discovery Award for his "unwavering call for justice, forgiveness and reconciliation."

In front of a crowd of 1,200 at Gesu Church, Tutu accepted the award and urged the U.S. not to enter into war in Iraq.

"God smiles through tears to see the many who oppose this war," Tutu said, according to the Journal Sentinel.

Tutu also met with 20 high school and college students who were picked as "emerging leaders" in Milwaukee. At the roundtable discussion, he encouraged the students to help others in small ways.

"It doesn't have to be spectacular, but if you help one person, it will make a difference," he said.

Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In Desmond Tutu's visits to Wisconsin, leader spoke against apartheid
After postponing its return to the office three times, Wells Fargo has delayed its return to the office yet again, this time indefinitely, the bank said in a statement Monday.

Given the changing external environment, we are delaying our return to office plans, the bank said in a statement to the Observer. We are continuing to closely monitor the environment with the health and well-being of our employees as our priority.

The move comes as coronavirus cases have been on the rise in North Carolina and across the country as the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads. The last report on COVID-19 cases before the Christmas holiday showed a jump of 2,000 new N.C. cases in one day.

Wells Fargo said it will provide employees with updated plans in the new year. The bank had most recently set Jan. 10 as the launch date for a broad return to the office.

It is one of the biggest employers in Charlotte.

Wells Fargo is based in San Francisco but has its largest employment hub here, with more than 27,000 workers in the city. The bank employs more than 260,000 total workers.

The banks facilities remain open to vaccinated employees on a voluntary basis, Wells Fargo said. About 100,000 employees have been coming in to a Wells Fargo location throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

A number of delays at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo originally planned to start bringing employees back to in-person work just after Labor Day. Over the summer, it told workers in departments like finance, corporate risk and human resources that theyd need to be in the office a minimum of three days a week.

We are encouraging all employees to spend more time in shared workspaces, chief operating office Scott Powell said at the time in an internal memo.

But then, the COVID-19 delta variant spread rapidly through the U.S. Wells Fargo postponed the return to October, then November, then to early January.

Bank of America, Truist return to office plans

Charlottes other big banks have already brought workers back to their buildings in uptown.

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Bank of America said all vaccinated employees could voluntarily return to the office in July. Truist kicked off its return to in-person work in October and will bring back more employees next month, the bank said Monday.

Some other big employers around Charlotte also have seen workers return to their offices.

Honeywell recently invited all Charlotte employees back to its new 23-story headquarters on South Mint Street, after beginning a gradual return to the office in August. Employees returned on a flexible schedule, and worked with their managers to determine their breakdown of in-person and remote work during the week.

Honeywell is requiring that all U.S. workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. Charlottes three biggest banks Wells Fargo, Truist and Bank of America  are encouraging but not requiring that workers get their shot.
The Hill

Democrats are putting the squeeze on Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), as they race the clock to try to figure out what, if any, filibuster changes can pass muster in a 50-50 Senate. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer's decision to force a vote on changes to the rules by Jan. 17 puts Democrats on a high-profile collision course with their own colleagues absent an agreement, an effort that the New York Democrat acknowledges is an "uphill fight."...
New York State Police released the name of a trooper who was involved in the fatal shooting of a civilian Dec. 22 in the Otsego County Village of Unadilla.

State Police Troop C said Trooper Justin Miller fatally shot Mark A. Beilby, 24, after responding to a report of a domestic dispute in the village.

Miller is assigned to the Sidney barracks and has been a state trooper since 2016, state police said.

Shortly after 7 p.m. Dec. 22, Miller was dispatched to 3 Lyons St. in Unadilla, where he encountered Beilby, who was armed with a knife, inside the home, state police said.

Images of 2021: Our photographers captured a year of after

For subscribers: COVID has changed the real estate market in Binghamton. Here's how.

Education: New York's education chiefs see 'moral moment,' pursue equity, new diploma goals and more

Beilby did not comply with the troopers repeated commands to drop the knife and advanced at Miller, who then responded by firing an undisclosed number of shots from his division-issued sidearm, striking Beilby, state police reported.

Beilby was transported to Tri-Town Hospital in Sidney and then transferred to Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, where he was pronounced dead.

Officials said two knives were recovered from the scene.

The state Attorney General's Office is investigating a fatal shooting of a man by a state trooper Dec. 22, 2021 in this house on Lyons Street in the Village of Unadilla.

A gofundme account set up by a family member to pay for Beilby's funeral expenses claimed he had some mental health and developmental issues and was in a crisis situation when police were summoned to the home by a 911 call.

Miller was not placed on administrative leave following the shooting and there has been no change to his normal duties, state police said.

The Unadilla incident was one of two fatal shootings involving New York state troopers last week.

On Christmas Eve, a state trooper shot and killed a man in the Herkimer County community of Dolgeville.

In that incident, troopers and local police responded to a reported domestic dispute and confronted Carson Dobson, 24, who allegedly broke into a home and stabbed a victim several times.

Story continues

Dobson was armed with a sword and a knife, state police said, and refused to drop them and threatened officers, even after they used a stun gun on him.

Dobson died at the scene after a trooper shot him, state police said.

The state Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations is looking into both deaths under an executive order that authorizes the attorney general to investigate all situations where a law enforcement officer causes the death of another person.

Follow Jeff Murray on Twitter @SGJeffMurray. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Trooper involved in fatal Otsego County shooting named by state police
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If you're not a Statesman Journal subscriber, you're missing out.

You're missing out on exclusive government accountability work from reporters Whitney Woodworth, Claire Withycombe, Bill Poehler and Connor Radnovich.

You're missing out on columnist Capi Lynn's community storytelling, restaurant and food exclusives from Em Chan, expert outdoors tips from Zach Urness and stories about our diverse communities from equity reporter Dianne Lugo.

If you're feeling a pang of regret right now, don't worry. We have a cure for your lack of local news  you can subscribe any time. We have both digital and print subscription deals right now.

Statesman Journal subscribers get access to a growing amount of subscriber-exclusive content. Here are some of our top-read premium stories from 2020.

We hope you'll agree that local journalism like this is worth supporting with a digital subscription.

Lindsey Graham details the government action against her re-opening Glamour Salon in downtown Salem on May 15, 2020.

Oregon hair salon owner Lindsey Graham became a symbol of government overreach when she sued the state and Gov. Kate Brown, claiming COVID-19 restrictions were destroying her salon and ruining her family financially.

But in the midst of the pandemic, the self-described "Patriot Barbie" sold a house in Silverton, bought another two properties in Arizona and started several fundraising campaigns for legal fees and donations that have generated tens of thousands of dollars.

Graham financially benefitted from the shutdown when she decided to defy it, an investigation by the Statesman Journal and The Arizona Republic of public records in Oregon and Arizona and online fundraisers show.

For stories like these, subscribe to Statesman Journal today.

Independence Station sits undeveloped on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in Independence.

People in Independence call it Skeletor, The Green Monster and The Concrete Albatross."

If youve been to downtown Independence in the past 15 years, you've seen it.

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Despite the redevelopment effort that has transformed downtown over the past two decades, the black eye at 203 Monmouth Street remains a three-story monolith of broken promises in the form of concrete, steel and decaying construction materials.

When Emily Canela started working as a case manager for children with intellectual developmental disabilities with Marion Countys Health and Human Services department three years ago, she liked the job and intended to work for the county for decades.

But then COVID-19 hit.

The county for more than a year allowed many employees to work remotely to help slow the spread of the virus. But it forced all employees to return to the office on a full-time basis July 19.

Salem police officer Leon Colas stands in front of the Oregon Museum Tavern at the corner of Front and Hickory streets NE in Salem, where a gunman killed four and wounded 19 on May 7, 1981.

Four people died. Twenty were wounded.

Some of the survivors never fully recovered. Others faced years of rehabilitation.

The Museum Tavern shooting happened in 1981, long before mass shootings were commonplace and the term became part of our vernacular in America.

Angela Mosso and her son, Wyatt Tofte.

Angela Mosso lost her mother and only child in the wildfire. Peggy Mosso and Wyatt Tofte were the first of five canyon fatalities last Labor Day.

The three were separated by smoke and flames while trying to load their car and evacuate their home in the middle of the night.

Angie survived only because her longtime partner Chris Tofte ignored barricades and risked his life to try to save his family.

Nick Felton and his dog Xena prepare to move out of a homeless community in Cascades Gateway Park on Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021, in Salem, Ore. Cars and RVs were ordered to be moved out of the park by the end of the day.

Amid concerns about trash, crime and park access, hundreds of unsheltered individuals allowed to live in Salem parks and along the highway during the pandemic have been ousted from encampments over the past few months.

With the population now scattered across the city, issues are arising.

The Spring Valley trails are open to hiking or biking.

The 2020 Labor Day fires torched many of Salems favorite trails, east and northeast of town, and will keep most closed for an extended period.

Opal Creek, Shellburg Falls, Abiqua Falls and the Little North Santiam Trail  to name just a few  are closed indefinitely. Salem hikers needed to expand their horizons to enjoy spring sunshine on the trail.

To help, weve put together a list of 26 of our favorite hikes in and around the capital city.

Alia Beard Rau is the senior news editor for the Salem Statesman Journal. Reach her at arau@gannett.com Follow her on Twitter @aliarau

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 2021's best Statesman Journal stories for subscribers
There's no doubt that money can be made by owning shares of unprofitable businesses. For example, although software-as-a-service business Salesforce.com lost money for years while it grew recurring revenue, if you held shares since 2005, you'd have done very well indeed. Nonetheless, only a fool would ignore the risk that a loss making company burns through its cash too quickly.

Given this risk, we thought we'd take a look at whether Zelira Therapeutics (ASX:ZLD) shareholders should be worried about its cash burn. For the purposes of this article, cash burn is the annual rate at which an unprofitable company spends cash to fund its growth; its negative free cash flow. We'll start by comparing its cash burn with its cash reserves in order to calculate its cash runway.

See our latest analysis for Zelira Therapeutics

When Might Zelira Therapeutics Run Out Of Money?

A company's cash runway is calculated by dividing its cash hoard by its cash burn. When Zelira Therapeutics last reported its balance sheet in June 2021, it had zero debt and cash worth AU$5.0m. In the last year, its cash burn was AU$8.6m. Therefore, from June 2021 it had roughly 7 months of cash runway. That's quite a short cash runway, indicating the company must either reduce its annual cash burn or replenish its cash. Depicted below, you can see how its cash holdings have changed over time.

How Is Zelira Therapeutics' Cash Burn Changing Over Time?

Whilst it's great to see that Zelira Therapeutics has already begun generating revenue from operations, last year it only produced AU$663k, so we don't think it is generating significant revenue, at this point. Therefore, for the purposes of this analysis we'll focus on how the cash burn is tracking. With the cash burn rate up 24% in the last year, it seems that the company is ratcheting up investment in the business over time. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but investors should be mindful of the fact that will shorten the cash runway. Zelira Therapeutics makes us a little nervous due to its lack of substantial operating revenue. We prefer most of the stocks on this list of stocks that analysts expect to grow.

Story continues

How Hard Would It Be For Zelira Therapeutics To Raise More Cash For Growth?

Given its cash burn trajectory, Zelira Therapeutics shareholders should already be thinking about how easy it might be for it to raise further cash in the future. Issuing new shares, or taking on debt, are the most common ways for a listed company to raise more money for its business. Many companies end up issuing new shares to fund future growth. By looking at a company's cash burn relative to its market capitalisation, we gain insight on how much shareholders would be diluted if the company needed to raise enough cash to cover another year's cash burn.

Since it has a market capitalisation of AU$40m, Zelira Therapeutics' AU$8.6m in cash burn equates to about 22% of its market value. That's not insignificant, and if the company had to sell enough shares to fund another year's growth at the current share price, you'd likely witness fairly costly dilution.

Is Zelira Therapeutics' Cash Burn A Worry?

Zelira Therapeutics is not in a great position when it comes to its cash burn situation. Although we can understand if some shareholders find its cash burn relative to its market cap acceptable, we can't ignore the fact that we consider its cash runway to be downright troublesome. After looking at that range of measures, we think shareholders should be extremely attentive to how the company is using its cash, as the cash burn makes us uncomfortable. Taking a deeper dive, we've spotted 6 warning signs for Zelira Therapeutics you should be aware of, and 3 of them make us uncomfortable.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of companies insiders are buying, and this list of stocks growth stocks (according to analyst forecasts)

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
An 8-year-old girl died after a Christmas Eve crash in Nelson County, police said.

A Honda Odyssey minivan was traveling on U.S. 29 near Rockfish River Road when it struck a deer. As the Honda slowed, a tractor-trailer behind it was unable to stop and rear-ended the minivan, according to Virginia State Police.

The minivans driver and four passengers, including the girl, were injured. The girl succumbed to her injuries at the University of Virginia Medical Center on Christmas Day, police said.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, which was carrying 42,000 pounds of paper, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Police responded to the crash at 6:06 p.m. Dec. 24.

The driver of the tractor-trailer, Hugh D. Powell, 62, of New Britain, Connecticut, was wearing a seatbelt, police said. Charges are pending.

The crash remains under investigation.
Randolph College took a step toward highlighting a significant part of local and national history: acknowledging the land the college sits on historically belonged to the Monacan Indian Nation, the areas indigenous people now based in Amherst County.

It is the first college in the area to do so, according to those who led the effort to put together the ceremony and related history project.

A land acknowledgement ceremony last month marked the first major step in an ongoing project two Randolph students are working toward, along with history professor Gerry Sherayko and the colleges Office of Diversity, Identity, Culture and Inclusion. The Monacan Indian Nation was key in bringing about this first step forward.

Through interactive signage like that found in museums and at historic monuments, the project, called Randolph Remembers, aims to acknowledge the true history of the Randolph College property, key events in the institutions history, and individuals who significantly impacted the colleges operations and influence over time.

The first sign, currently a temporary installation holding the place of a forthcoming permanent plaque, brings to the forefront indigenous voices and an ultimately unacknowledged part of the areas story: the history of those who were there first.

Former assistant chief of the Monacan Indian Nation, Lou Branham, joined Randolph students Tomi-Lauren McGinnis, Josh Bulavko, and Sherayko to speak at the November land acknowledgement ceremony after working with them on this piece of the project.

When I did the land acknowledgement, and I saw the plaque that they plan to have made, I mean, its beautiful. The words are beautiful. But for me to be able to physically walk on that property, and touch something that has the Monacan name on it, and look around and know that the beauty of that campus is  its beautiful, Branham said.

One of the most important impacts of the land acknowledgement, Branham said, is it is a reminder that indigenous people  locally, the Monacan Indian Nation  are not a relic surviving only in the pages of history books, or museum displays, something that is long gone. They still exist today, very much alive and active despite past efforts to squelch them. They work to keep their history and culture alive, and educate the broader regional community.

Long before Randolph College and European colonizers arrived in Virginia, when deer, elk, and even buffalo roamed the region, the Monacan Indian Nation was a confederacy of several groups spanning a significant swath of Virginia, Branham and Diane Shields, a Monacan Indian Nation tribal member and historian, said.

The first documented encounter with European colonizers was in 1607. The Monacan confederacy is marked on John Smiths 1612 map of Virginia.

The concept of owning land as viewed by Europeans was foreign to Americas original residents, Branham said.

We were always stewards of the land, she said. Her people lived the land, taking only what they needed for their families and replenishing when they took, as they still do, Branham added.

In a treaty dated 1677, as the land was being divided up and claimed by settlers, Monacan people were only permitted to come so close to a colony, Shields said. The lands native inhabitants were steadily pushed away. Over time, many retreated further back into the mountains, Branham said, hoping to avoid the threat to life posed by colonization.

We always think were part of the nature. Were just in the cycle of life. We never owned anything, Shields said. We took and used what we needed, and put back, and never abused, never overused. That was the hardest thing for our people to understand when the colonists came here, because they wanted to chop it up into, This piece is mine.

Despite ravaging diseases such as smallpox, loss of land and resources, government efforts to deny or erase Native American identities in records, and suppressions such as a 1920s hit list spread along the U.S. 29 area instructing local businesses not to hire or serve indigenous residents by certain surnames, the Monacan Indian Nation persevered, Branham and Shields said, naming only a few of the factors their people had to contend with. Incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1988, the Monacan Indian Nation received Virginia state recognition in 1989 and federal recognition in 2018.

We existed, and were still existing, Shields said.

The land acknowledgement and signage project were ultimately sparked by Randolph Colleges 2019 American Culture Program, called The Struggle for Native Lands in the American West.

McGinnis, class of 2023, and Bulavko, class of 2022, were deeply impacted by the program.

[It] really inspired me to get involved and interested in American Indian issues and affairs, and I learned a lot about the Monacan Indian Nation in those courses as well, and I just wanted to learn more about where they were, where they still are, and what can be done to recognize that they are still present and surviving, Bulavko said. Thats when I started talking to Dr. Sherayko, and we started having a conversation.

McGinnis joined in on that conversation soon after, and the three brainstormed ways to bring this history and awareness to the community at large.

The students could not sit and do nothing with the information they now possessed about the Monacan nation and other indigenous people. They were driven to do something with it, starting by owning the history of the property their school came to settle on.

Sherayko was fully on board with the students vision.

McGinnis, who is a research intern under Sherayko, has been studying the history of the college, and the land. It was she who proposed the idea of a series of signs around campus detailing the places history, and she has been writing the text for each proposed sign.

Bulavko is preparing to enter a masters degree program in Indigenous Studies at the University of Kansas, and is working closely with McGinnis and Sherayko on his area of particular interest.

For me, and for the Monacan Indian Nation, its important that we build that relationship with the college. And its important to realize that indigenous people are everywhere in this country, Bulavko said. This land acknowledgement is a really important moment for the College moving forward.

By digging through Randolph Colleges archives, the Jones Memorial Library, Campbell County clerk of court records, and most importantly visiting the Monacan Indian Nation museum to speak with  and moreover, listen to  current Monacan tribal leaders and descendants, the students and Sherayko learned the honest history of the Monacan presence on the Randolph campus and beyond.

It was so encouraging to finally have these conversations, and show that thats all that it takes, really. We had read the books, we own the books, but going to see them in person was what has needed to happen for so long, and just hasnt. Im grateful that we got that opportunity, McGinnis said.

So far, a total of 15 signs have been proposed. The first and foremost acknowledges the property as Monacan land.

Additional signage, if authorized by the proper college administration channels, will highlight other major events and turning points related to Randolph Colleges history and the native lands it rests on, including that the property was once owned by people who owned people  having an enslaved past  and how the colleges founder, while a proponent of womens education ahead of his time, was also part of the Confederacy, which clung to slavery.

McGinnis hopes that by posing thought-provoking questions and ideas in the signage along with historical facts, everyone will become more aware of true local history and be encouraged to wrestle with it thoughtfully, even if it is uncomfortable to face at times.

Branham likewise noted the importance of engaging with real history.

If you think about it, and you take a society as a whole and you really analyze everything, the backbone of America, it was made off of everyone, Branham said, citing the many Asian people who built the railroads and the results of forced labor by enslaved Black and Native American people as examples.

This summer, before moving on to his masters program, Bulavko will work an internship with the Monacan Indian Nation museum cataloguing recently acquired Monacan artifacts from Fluvanna County.

No word has yet been given by college administration on approval for the other 14 signs proposed.

In my minds eye, I can see my people standing around that land, Branham said. Knowing that we were a part of that, and that someone does recognize that, that it is special, and it is important.

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With quiet efficiency, the employees roll through the process of producing their product, from mixing, stamping and sifting to wicking, labeling and pouring.

In a corner of the Albemarle County workspace, Freedia White-Tinsley fills a candle-creating wax machine while coworkers Adam and Todd, Max and Ben apply stickers to glass jars.

Once the machine has liquefied the wax, an employee will use the machines hand wand to fill the labeled jars and create the companys showcase product  scented candles.

For White-Tinsley, her current task is fun, but its not her favorite.

I really like putting the stickers on the candles, she says, scooping handfuls of shaved soy wax and dropping it into the hopper. I like working here. Its good to have a job.

This is no ordinary edge-of-the-holiday candle-creating operation. This is more than a business. This is a school, an occupational training program and a job skills education center all in one.

This is VIAble Ventures, the business and training arm of the Virginia Institute of Autisms Center for Adolescent and Adult Autism Services. The venture was spawned through a 2018 Innovation Laboratory, or i.Lab, program at the University of Virginias Darden School of Business that focused on developing microbusinesses and enterprises for nonprofits.

We started making little candles that came in metal tins, and it seemed to take off. A lot of candles were sold to friends and family. It was just transitioning into different businesses and going online when the pandemic hit, said Kate Gariepy, adult program coordinator for the center and the business supervisor.

Founded in 1996 by families looking for ways to provide education for their autistic children, the Virginia Institute of Autism works to help clients overcome challenges with individualized education, outreach and adult services.

The organizations James C. Hormel School serves students between 6 and 22 years old who come 14 central Virginia school divisions.

Its Outpatient Behavioral Services help with school readiness, social skills, emotional regulation, completion of daily living tasks, or management of difficult or aggressive behaviors.

At the center, VIAs adult clients engage in a range of programs promoting learning, personal growth and engaging with others. It also prepares clients with the skills to get and keep a job in the workaday world.

One nice aspect of VIAble Ventures is that its a way to start doing some of the job training in a setting that individuals are familiar with, said Lauren Haskins, the centers director. Then we can work on transporting employment skills into the community. This is a safe place to start.

One of the things VIAble Ventures did pre-pandemic and post-pandemic is to provide employment opportunities for adults who need extra support to be successful in a job setting, Gariepy said. We provide behavioral services and experts in autism and behavior so those things can be brought into VIAble Ventures relatively easy.

Once the pandemic eased and society opened back up, VIAble Ventures reassessed its offerings.

We officially relaunched in September and have been going strong since then, Gariepy said. We started really making candles back in June and experimenting with different jars, different scents and different labels.

VIAble Ventures currently produces several scents of candles, naturally scented sachets, and scented bath salts. The products are created by clients who work for paychecks. There are about eight paid employees and another eight VIA clients learning the skills

Our goal is to individualize instruction. For some, having a job and working and earning a paycheck are important things that theyre looking forward to, Haskins said. Its sad but about 82% of people with disabilities who are employable are either unemployed or under employed. Its a goal for VIA and VIAble Ventures to increase our support for individuals in the community as much as we can so they can start learning the skills they need to be employed in the community.

We teach the soft skills you need to be successful in a job, like getting along with co-workers, following rules and completing tasks, Gariepy said. We work on filling out forms and preparing for interviews and even practice interviews. Sometimes, for people with autism, these skills can be difficult. Most of us are expected to learn it innately, but it can be a struggle for our clients. Its hard to describe and teach soft skills.

So far, VIAble Ventures has proved successful selling to those in the know, including families, friends, staff and some folks who run across them online at shopviable.org. They hope in the next year to expand a retail presence into local stores.

That expansion would provide more sales, which would provide more jobs for VIA clients.

If a store stocks our candles, it gives another job to one of our people. The packing of the order, delivering the order, taking the inventory at that store and reporting that to the store manager and someone here would be a separate job, Gariepy said.

Every step, every process of the business, were trying to include one of the adults here, she said. Its a job skill, delivering products to a business and interacting with the manager of the store and learning those professional conversational skills.

When you buy a candle, youre not just buying a candle, Haskins said. Youre giving someone job skills, job training and youre giving someone a job. Its shopping with a purpose.
NHK has learned that laboratory tests in Japan show that two coronavirus vaccine shots are far less effective against the Omicron variant than the Delta variant.

A team led by Kitasato University Professor Katayama Kazuhiko measured levels of neutralizing antibodies in cultured cells taken from blood samples of 12 fully vaccinated people.

Neutralizing antibodies work as protection against a virus.

Six of the people had received two shots of the Pfizer vaccine and the rest were inoculated with the Moderna vaccine.

Levels of antibodies in the samples taken from people who got the second Pfizer shot three months ago were down 72 percent on average from the levels against Delta.

Levels in the samples from those who got the second Moderna shot three months ago were down 82 percent on average.

Professor Katayama says the findings in the lab experiment do not mean that vaccines are totally ineffective against Omicron.

He calls for fully vaccinated people to continue basic anti-infection measures.

Studies conducted overseas have also suggested that existing vaccines are far less effective against Omicron.
A Council Bluffs man faces seven years in prison on gun charges.

Jaime Antonio Hernandez, Jr., 28, was sentenced on Dec. 14 to 84 months in federal prison for being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Iowa. He faces three years of supervised release after prison.

According to the U.S. Attorneys Office, in June of 2020 law enforcement located Hernandez in an apartment in Council Bluffs. Hernandez was found to be in possession of a firearm, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia. Hernandez pleaded guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm in February of 2021.

Glenwood man sentenced on meth chargesA Glenwood man faces 11 years in prison on drug charges.

Joshua Matthew St. John, 42, was sentenced on Dec. 16 to 132 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He faces five years of supervised release after prison.

According to court documents, St. John pleaded guilty to the methamphetamine offense in May of 2021. His co-defendant, Sarah Diane Adams, is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 7, 2022.

On April 2, 2020, a confidential source arranged with St. John to purchase a quarter pound of methamphetamine, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. The confidential source traveled to St. Johns residence in Glenwood and was instructed by Adams to follow them to a stash location. The quarter pound of methamphetamine was measured from a larger amount and delivered by Adams to the confidential source. On April 24, 2020, the confidential source met St. John at his residence to purchase methamphetamine and reported seeing a large quantity of methamphetamine. Law enforcement executed a search warrant on St. Johns residence and recovered approximately a half pound of methamphetamine and distribution paraphernalia.

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A dusty border town, once notorious for its beer sales, might someday become home to a health center dedicated to alcohol rehabilitation.

This past week, a nonprofit based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation purchased 48 acres of land in Whiteclay, the former home of four liquor stores that sold nearly 4 million cans of beer a year.

Whiteclay, prior to the closing of the beer stores in 2017, was known for its street people, who openly drank and urinated along its small business district. The beer sales were blamed for multiple problems on the adjacent Pine Ridge reservation just a couple of miles north across the South Dakota-Nebraska border, including rampant alcoholism and fetal alcohol syndrome.

John Maisch, an Oklahoma law professor whose video documentary helped illuminate the problems in Whiteclay, facilitated the land sale with Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. He said he hopes that a restorative health care campus could be established on the land, that could include short- and long-term substance abuse services, as well as transitional housing and trauma care.

While Thunder Valley will ultimately decide what to do with the site, Maisch said Thursday that he is hoping leaders and donors in Nebraska will embrace the idea of establishing a health center there.

My intent was to find a tribally-led entity that could help transform Whiteclay from a place of death and destruction into a place of hope and healing, Maisch said. Its the best insurance policy we have to keep the beer stores from returning to Whiteclay.

Establishing a center for rehabilitation work would be a good thing for Whiteclay, an unincorporated village that sits just south of the state line, said Lou Abold, who operates Abes New and Used Store in the village.

Catering to a Christmas rush of shoppers prevented Abold from making more comments on Thursday. The village now includes a Family Dollar store, as well as a nursing home, grocery store and takeout restaurant.

Lack of substance abuse treatment centers, and lack of staff for them, has been cited as a problem for the reservation.

It would be the first venture into health care for Thunder Valley, a tribal-led nonprofit based in Pine Ridge. According to its website, its current projects focus on housing, workforce development, child development and teaching the Lakota language.

Tatewin Means, the executive director of Thunder Valley, did not immediately return email and phone messages seeking comment. She is the former attorney general for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the daughter of the late Russell Means, a Lakota activist and prominent member of the American Indian Movement, known as AIM.

Maisch purchased the former Lakota Hope Center in Whiteclay, which is leased as office space for the Oglala Lakota Nations substance abuse treatment program, Anpetu Luta Otipi.

Maisch owned 16 acres of the land sold to the Lakota group. He had an option on the remaining acres. The site sits along Nebraska 87, just east of the tribal-owned Oglala Sioux Lakota Nursing Home.

The purchase price for the 48 acres was $152,000, according to the Sheridan County Clerks Office.

Dennis Carlson, a Lincoln attorney who was active in closing the Whiteclay beer stores, said that Native activist Frank LaMere once described Whiteclay as a place where there is life but no willingness to live.

That can change now, Carlson said.

LaMere, who first called for closure of the Whiteclay stores three decades ago, died on June 16, 2019, two years after Whiteclays beer stores were ordered closed by the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. The commission cited an appalling lack of law enforcement in the unincorporated town.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart have agreed to cooperate on the Libyan crisis after the oil-rich country missed the scheduled key Christmas elections.

Both leaders held a telephone conversation Saturday, Libyan Observer reports, citing the Egyptian presidency.

The discussion according to the office of the Egyptian leader reflected a consensus on the importance of intensifying efforts and mutual coordination between Egypt and Russia to settle the Libyan crisis and achieve the desired aspirations of the Libyan people for a better future.

Both equally discussed the issue of combating and disbanding armed militias and terrorist organizations and putting an end to illegal foreign interference in Libya.

UN-backed presidential elections expected to take place on Dec. 24 to endow with the country with a central government for a decade, did not take place over several challenged faced by electoral commission.

Several countries including the U.S and the Europe called for the withdrawal of foreign fighters in the countries before the elections proceed.

Russia is accused of backing Wagner; a private security company owned by an ally of President Putin, operating in Eastern Libya.

Dozens of candidates including Saif al Islam Gaddafi; son of former and assassinated leader Muammar Gaddafi have been vetted to run the polls.

Posted by North Africa Post North Africa Post's news desk is composed of journalists and editors, who are constantly working to provide new and accurate stories to NAP readers.
After concrete phosphates and gas cooperation projects, Morocco is helping Nigeria develop electricity production from renewable energy with a solar power project spanning over 200,000 hectares of land in the state of Jigawa.

The power solar energy is an initiative of Moroccan government, in collaboration with the Federal Government and Jigawa State government specifically to improve power supply in the country, especially in states like Zamfara, Jigawa, Katsina and Yobe states, said Jigawa State Commissioner for Land, Housing, Urban and Regional Planning, Sagir Musa Ahmed.

The project is expected to assist in advancement of power generation in the aforementioned states and the country in general.

Bilateral relations have seen a positive impetus in all areas, especially following the royal visit to Nigeria in December 2016 and that of President Buhari to Morocco in June 2018.

The two countries have agreed to build a gas pipeline that will not only offer an outlet for Nigerian gas and boost Moroccos gas supply but will also be conducive to economic development in the sub-region and act as an incentive for the integration of the Western African energy market.

With the largest population in Africa, Nigeria is struggling to achieve its food security, an area in which Morocco proved to be a very useful partner through supplying the country with customized fertilizers at an affordable price to help unlock the full potential of the countrys agriculture.

In this respect, Moroccos phosphates and fertilizers producer OCP will in the short-term build a fertilizer plant worth $1.3 billion in the country along with three blending units.
About three months to the Arab summit that Algiers is supposed to host, Algerian diplomacy refuses to pull its head from the sand, spreading fake news and propaganda about the Arab Leagues decision to adopt a unified map which shows the full Moroccan Map from the Mediterranean to the Mauritanian border.

Algerias news agency APS- which has become an apparatus for fake news and hate speech- published statements by the military regime chief propagandist Amar Belani who denied that the Arab league recognized Moroccos sovereignty over the Sahara saying the map of the Arab World did not include borders.

Did Belani check the country profiles on the website of the Arab League to see in details that the pan-Arab organization recognizes Moroccos official map from Tangier to Lagouira?

As Morocco makes headway changing facts on the ground in support of its territorial integrity, the Algerian military regime seeks virtual gains using propaganda and fake news.

Hostility to a well-off neighbor that has no substantial oil and gas but could build a diversified economy has actually blinded the recycled Algerian military regime.

Fake news has become a common practice. Using images from conflicts in Ethiopia or elsewhere to purport that there is a war in Sahara or making up news to discredit Morocco has only destroyed whatever remaining credibility Algerian media aspire to.

One of the pro-establishment newspapers was rebuked by Russia after it spread false information on an alleged Russian-Moroccan standoff.

To mention but a few cases. In October 2020, the UN denied as false reports by Algerias state-run news agency Algerie Presse Service (APS) that Morocco failed to become a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

The strongly-worded denial inflicted another blow to the official news outlet, known for circulating fake news on sensitive topics.

In September 2020, the Geneva-based Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) denounced the complete fabrication by APS of a news report, claiming that the UN Dispute Tribunal in Geneva had rejected a complaint from Algerian activists in a record time of 24 hours.

In response, OHCHR spokesperson Rupert Colville lashed out at APS false information in a fiery statement.

The information contained in the article, which has been widely picked up by other media in Algeria and elsewhere, is a complete fabrication from start to finish, he said.
Americas favorite reactionary. Photo: Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images

Earlier this month, Gallup gauged American sentiment toward 11 of the nations most prominent public figures. Only one boasted majority support from both Democrats and Republicans, and he happens to be the most effective conservative politician of the modern era.

During his tenure on the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts has voted to gut the Voting Rights Act, ban limitations on corporate political spending, effectively legalize most forms of political bribery, rewrite the Affordable Care Act in a manner that cost millions of Americans access to Medicaid, restrict the capacity of consumers and workers to sue corporations that abuse them, nullify state-level school-desegregation efforts, sanction partisan gerrymandering, and carve gaping loopholes into Roe v. Wade.

And Roberts nevertheless retains the approval of 55 percent of Democratic voters (along with 57 percent of Republican voters) in Gallups new poll. No other official in the survey  not Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, either partys congressional leadership, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, or Dr. Anthony Fauci  claimed majority support in both blue and red America.

For progressives, this is a troubling finding, if not an entirely surprising one. The disconnect between the Roberts Courts reactionary jurisprudence and its benign public image is long-standing. Thanks in part to a pair of high-salience 5-4 rulings that delivered victories for liberals  Robertss decision to preserve the bulk of the Affordable Care Act in 2012 and former justice Anthony Kennedys to honor same-sex couples right to marry in 2015  Democrats actually expressed more approval than Republicans for the majority-conservative Supreme Court for much of last decade.

Still, the Roberts Court isnt what it used to be. Kennedy is gone, and Brett Kavanaugh, a longtime GOP apparatchik who cast himself as a victim of Clintonian persecution at his confirmation hearings, has taken the former swing justices place. Meanwhile, Ruth Bader Ginsburgs erstwhile seat is now occupied by Amy Coney Barrett, possibly the most right-wing justice in the Courts modern history. The conservative majority has thus grown both larger and more reactionary. And that development threatens to decide decades-long culture war battles in the rights favor.

Chief among these is the fight over reproductive freedom. The Gallup survey was conducted in the immediate aftermath of oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization. At issue in that case is whether states are constitutionally forbidden from outlawing abortion in cases where the fetus has not attained viability (which generally occurs around the 24th week of pregnancy). The Supreme Court upheld this standard in 1992s Planned Parenthood v. Casey. In 2021, however, the Courts conservatives indicated at oral arguments that they were not inclined to preserve the rights established by Roe and affirmed by Casey. And Roberts was by no means an exception.

Nevertheless, despite high-profile coverage of the case and consistent majority support for Roe in opinion polls, Roberts managed to retain his status as an exceptionally non-polarizing public official.

Which is somewhat alarming. According to one recent analysis, conservatives are now likely to retain a majority on the Supreme Court into the 2050s. If the Courts right-wing majority finds that it can continually push the boundaries of conservative judicial activism without undermining its own popular legitimacy, then the consequences for progressivism and popular democracy could be dire.

In some respects, the conservative movements focus on the courts has been a testament to its weakness. There is no popular majority for banning abortion, scaling back the welfare state, or eroding basic labor and consumer protections in the United States  and judging by the millennial and Zoomer generations political views, there never will be. Under Trump, the right responded to this reality by rapidly stocking the judiciary with as many 40-something reactionaries as it could find.

Some liberals look at this aspect of the Trump legacy and comfort themselves with the thought that the courts are a weak institution: John Roberts commands no divisions, judicial review is not in the Constitution, and, historically, the Supreme Court has adjusted its jurisprudence to match prevailing political sentiment.

But this is little consolation if the Roberts Court can abet minority rule while retaining majority approval. And to a great extent, it has already done so: The chief justice managed to gut one of the civil-rights movements signature legacies, the voting-rights bill  right after the Senate had unanimously reauthorized it  without forfeiting his aura of moderate statesmanship.

The big question looming over Americas judicial politics has been: What happens when the 6-3 court comes for Roe? Or the rights of blue states like New York to tightly regulate handgun ownership? Or various other pillars of the contemporary culture-war settlement?

There is some basis for believing that the Roberts Court is about to discover the limit of the publics tolerance for right-wing minority rule. In September of this year, shortly after the Supreme Court declined to preempt a Texas law that effectively banned abortion through vigilante justice, approval of the Supreme Court cratered in Gallups polling. As of July 2021, 49 percent of Americans approved of the Court, including 51 percent of Democrats. Two months later, those figures had fallen to 40 and 36 percent, respectively.

Gallups September poll may prove to be an outlier. Never in the pollsters history had it found such low approval for Americas high court. And the fact that just three months later it found a supermajority of Americans approving of John Roberts underscores the possibility that Septembers results mainly reflect a distorted sample.

On the other hand, it is possible that the September figures reflect discontent about the Courts initial ruling on the Texas abortion law and therefore offers a preview of a broader and more intense backlash to come.

And yet even if public opinion turns against the Court, its not clear that progressives will be in a position to translate that backlash into meaningful reform. Overturning Roe may be unpopular. But so is expanding the Supreme Court. Amid the Amy Coney Barrett hearings in 2020, a New York Times/Siena College poll found that 58 percent of Americans opposed increasing the number of justices on the high court, while 31 percent supported it. It is difficult to see how the Courts power could be meaningfully checked, at least in the medium term. To force Joe Manchins hand on Supreme Court reform, the backlash to the Roberts Court would need to extend far into red America. After the 2022 midterms, meanwhile, Republicans are likely to control at least one chamber of Congress.

In other words: Even if the Court overreaches on abortion and forfeits its popular support, the conservative judicial project is likely to endure. And given Robertss current poll numbers, its not even clear that Roes invalidation will durably erode public reverence for the judiciary.

No matter how events unfurl from here, Roberts has already established himself as the greatest Republican politician of his generation. No other conservative has managed to realize as many of the movements ideological goals at so little political cost. And if you dont think that Roberts can be fairly described as a politician, well, that only confirms the enormity of his achievement.
8 a.m.: Arrive, head to the Upper East Side of Oslo

Go to Oslo in the spring or summer. In July, the sun sets around 10 or 11 p.m. You are out fully partying in broad daylight. There are only five hours of darkness. It feels really disorienting and exciting. Winter there is a nightmare, and I think everyone is so relieved when its over that they take great advantage. I fly Norwegian Air from Los Angeles to Chicago, Chicago to Copenhagen, Copenhagen to Oslo. Its better to connect in Copenhagen than Munich because its a nicer airport. Theres a smoking room, which is really my favorite thing. So before the flight to Oslo, I smoke. It will be your last Parliament for a while. In Oslo, they have really shitty and very expensive cigarettes. From Gardermoen (Oslos airport), you take the train for 22 minutes to Oslo Central Station. There are cabs right outside of the station, but I usually walk because I want to smoke.

I like to stay near Vigeland Park in an Airbnb. Its like staying uptown, like when you go to the Upper East Side and it feels like your lungs are fuller. Absolutely classy. The park is great for a morning run. I drop my bags off and immediately go to REMA 1000. There are three big grocery-store chains. One is called Joker; that one sucks. Its like 7-Eleven. REMA 1000 is a great grocery store and theres one right where Im staying. I get Wasa bread, cucumbers, and garlic-and-chive cream cheese; its the only thing I cook when Im in Norway. Go back to the Airbnb, shower, and eat the supplies.

11 a.m.: Shake off jet lag with coffee in the park

Not one time in my life have I sat in a hotel room after arriving at a new place. I get so excited to pretend to be a different person in a different life. Ill put on a nice T-shirt and a beautiful sweatshirt, which is very much the vibe here. I always carry around a canvas tote  no one wears nice handbags unless theyre Prada nylon handbags  and pack a small blanket or a sweatshirt to sit on to read in St. Hanshaugen Park. Its a 40-minute walk from where Im staying, but its where Ill be spending the rest of my day. I walk everywhere in Oslo. Its not very big and the weather is so nice. Get a coffee at Java (Ullevalsveien 47) by the park entrance and then spend time reading in the park, which is really lush; it feels like everything has been hydrated forever. There are children running around with beautiful young parents, just living a laid-back existence. The park is also a great way to meet people. When I travel alone, its really important to go out of my comfort zone and approach someone. In Oslo, I can walk up to someone and ask, Can I have a cigarette? or Where should I go shopping? I met someone who has become a good friend of mine in this park. Its very social.

3 p.m.: Order small plates and the local pilsner

I like to get a nice lunch at Smalhans (Ullevalsveien 43), a five-minute walk from Java. Its the one place they dont really speak English. Theres not an English menu. The way the menu works is theres a special on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and a few small platters. The menu is seasonal, and ordering three things is necessary because the plates are really small. I had tuna tartare and carpaccio. They have good potatoes there, too. You can eat on the street, which I love doing in a new place so you can smoke and drink a Carlsberg-Ringnes. Its probably their equivalent of a Coors Light, but I just think its the most delicious thing in the world. I miss it.

6 p.m.: Take a synagogue selfie, head to an izakaya

I inherited a habit from my mother, which is that no matter where you are, you must go find your fellow Jews. I go to the Oslo Synagogue (Bergstien 13) and send my mom pictures. At this point, Id usually go back to my Airbnb, but Vigeland is far away. The Litteraturhuset (Wergelandsveien 29) are these beautiful little libraries surrounding the park. If Im in a pinch, I do my makeup there. I always pack my makeup bag. Then go to dinner at Izakaya (St. Olavs Gate 7). Its a 20-minute walk from the park. Its a really sexy spot thats dark and wooden and feels like the beginning of a party. To a local, it would still be considered a hidden gem. I order most of the menu. Load up on steak sticks and rice and really great kimchi, bang bang chicken, and gyoza. You cannot go wrong.

10 p.m.: Make fast friends at Merkur Bar

Ive never been to Berlin, but this is what I think it would be like. Merkur Bar (Bjerregaards gate 5A) has a beautiful tiled floor. The door to the bathroom looks like what would be on a ship. If you go to Merkur, you will absolutely meet friends and if you dont meet one, the bartender is more than willing to tell you where you can go party with him afterwards. Hes a really friendly guy. Merkurs clientele is exciting, and as a single person, it was a nice place to go. Its very small, so its not for the shy. If you want to blend in and not be American, go to a bigger place like Oslovelo (Seilduksgata 23A) in Grunerlkka. But if you want to mingle and out yourself, its a great place to go. They have a great natural-wine selection.

12 a.m.: Sneak in a swim

On the way home, right by my Airbnb, theres a public pool called Frognerbadet (Middelthuns gate 28) thats open in the summer. You need a key to get in, but Im the type of person who would wait outside this public pool and stalk the premises until you see some people do it themselves. I really believe in the power of meeting strangers in Oslo. I first got this idea while watching Joachim Triers Oslo, August 31st, then did it myself.
The real subject, many critics said, was paint and the act of painting itself: the shimmering color and sensuous texture of the thickly applied paint.

He laid on the paint so heavily that he often carved his signature into the painting instead of putting it on with the brush.

The oil paint is made to look like meringue, said Marla Prather, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York who helped organize a 2001 retrospective of the artists work. And with the cakes, you get this great sense of texture with the frosting. You just want to step close and lick it.

Many of his painted images were outlined in neon pinks and blues that made the objects appear to glow. Shadows were often a rich blue.

Its joyful, while a lot of modern art is angst-ridden, Prather said in a 2001 Associated Press interview.

Thiebaud told PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 2000 that the subject of food was fun and humorous, and thats dangerous in the art world, I think. Its a world that takes itself very seriously, and of course, it is a serious enterprise, but I think also theres room for wit and humor because humor gives us, I think, a sense of perspective.
An incredible human being. I hope he is in peace in paradise.



Losing him and Bell Hooks in the same month just hurts. Both huge inspirations to me in becoming a better and loving person 

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when certain people die, a non-believer like me wishes there were a hell for them to suffer eternally. when someone like this dies, i hope i'm wrong and that there IS a heaven of some kind and he experiences all the things that fill him with joy and peace. eternally.

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Men like this get their karma in seeing their work put into action. His paradise is seeing the fruits of his labor come to pass.

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Beautifully said.

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Yes. You said it perfectly

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very few people can truly be called a man of god. he was one.

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RIP He was a remarkable man.

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His sense of humor was the best.

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Truly left a beautiful legacy for us all. We have lost so many great people this year.

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Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ

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May his memory be a blessing.



Edited at 2021-12-27 03:04 am (UTC)

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What a loss. RIP

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I loved his interview with Craig Ferguson.





May he rest in peace and paradise.

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Im pretty agnostic but if theres a heaven, I know hed be there  Rest In Peace, sir. You truly changed the world.

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He was such a wonderful human. It makes me sad because its so final. But, he did so much in his 90 years on earth.

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General Hospital

Days of Our Lives

The Young and the Restless

The Bold and the Beautiful

This Week in Soaps history...

December 27-31, 1999

This week on the US Daytime Soaps...Sophie, who had survived Janet's bashing on the head, haunted Janet with candy canes.The Crystal Ball began. Adam drugged Stuart and went to the ball as Stuart pretending to be Adam. Adam gave Barry orders to give Jake the paper that revealed Colby's paternity after Adam and Liza left.Hayley and Mateo shared a dance. Stuart soon emerged from his drugged state and went to the ball.Jake asked Gillian to marry him, with Ryan looking on.Alexandra accepted Edmund's invitation to the ball. She was fine until she saw David. She kept imagining him to be an unknown elderly man. Thinking David was that other person, Alex pushed David down the main staircase at Wildwind.Jack asked Carly to marry him; she happily said yes. A mysterious man spied on Carly.Tom and Margo tried to figure out who could have murdered Alec.Margo had a memory and found new evidence in the case, but the judge would not accept the new evidence and reopen her case. Later, Georgia was revealed as the murderer.Ben and Denise made plans to adopt Hope, forcing Denise to admit that Andy was Hope's father. They decided not to tell Andy...for the moment.Molly found out about Chris and Abigail when she spotted them sharing a New Year's Eve kiss.Brooke visited Stephanie, and Eric urged her to let go of Thorne. Stephanie patronized Brooke's efforts to be friends and suggested that Brooke scrub the floor for her. Eric had thought he'd convinced Brooke to end it with Thorne, and using the office intercom, Eric and Ridge eavesdropped on Brooke and Thorne. The men expected Brooke to break up with Thorne, but were livid when she instead suggested that she and Thorne get away to Italy.Suzanne, a single mother put Becky on the spot when she said she thought that any mother giving her baby up for adoption was selfish. Becky tried to defend the conflicted mothers, but wound up fainting. When Suzanne took Becky home to rest, Suzanne saw that the place was plastered with pictures of Little Eric. Becky reveled that Little Eric was her son, not Amber's. Becky and Suzanne later learned that Amber, Rick, and Little Eric planned to go to Venice. Suzanne said it was fate and noted that Becky didn't even need to return to the States to get her son back."Hope" and Bo announced their engagement at midnight mass, and then she began making wedding plans with Lili. This disconcerted the rest of the family. Marlena and "Hope" argued about who Hope really was. Shawn told Belle his mom was not his mom.Lexie and Celeste went to visit Stefano at the mansion, but he was still not there. When John arrived, Lexie noticed the incision on his neck where the microchip had been inserted.Mob bookies beat up Philip, and Victor sought revenge.In Europe, Stefano tried to fix an old radio he had found to transmit signals. Hope gave him her bracelet to help. In Salem, Bo was uneasy with "Hope," as he felt real Hope's connection to him.Faison promised Felicia that he would not reveal to Mac what had gone on with her and Luke in the bunker, while Mac found Faison's videotape showing Luke and Felicia in a passionate embrace.Carly was not pleased with Jason's friendship with Elizabeth. Jason was annoyed when Carly showed up at his penthouse with Michael because he didn't want to send Michael mixed signals. Elizabeth continued to nurse Jason.Stefan realized the depth of Nikolas' feelings for Elizabeth. Sorel appeared to have plans for Elizabeth.Blake learned that nothing had ever developed between Ross and Holly. Ross, Blake, and baby Clarissa went home to pick up the pieces of their lives again.Marah acted out when she saw Josh and Olivia having breakfast. Josh told Olivia that he'd make Marah understand that there was nothing between him and Olivia. Marah meet a guy named Chad and agreed to go to a party with him; however, he attempted to sexually assault her in the Tower's garage. Olivia chased Chad off, and missed an important Lewis Construction meeting to comfort Marah. Josh demanded to know why Olivia had blown off the meeting. Per Marah's request, Olivia didn't reveal the truth behind her absence, and Josh left disillusioned.Carmen set out to comfort Matt as he kept vigil at Vanessa's bedside. Carmen secretly warned Vanessa not to wake from the coma, or Carmen would have to kill her.Phillip and Harley berated Edmond for taking advantage of the job perks at Spaulding, and Beth told him that his behavior toward her would be considered sexual harassment in his new country, the United States.Richard hid his true feelings about Reva from Cassie, and Reva decided to find Jonathan, so Richard wouldn't require Cassie to produce an heir to the throne of San Cristobel.Phillip revealed to Rick that a video recorder might have caught Phillip and Beth's desperate act after the plane crash, but the videotape was missing from the crash site. Phillip desired to confess to Harley, but Rick advised against it. For New Year's Eve, Drew threw a party at her club and invited Artee, the magician, who spent the evening spinning fantasies in the minds of the guests.Ben got a letter from the Medical Licensing Board about a hearing to revoke his license. Sam asked Ben to be his best man.Asa told Will he had sent more money to Roseanne to help keep Cristian out of town. Asa set up an account in the Cayman Islands with Will's name on it.Joey and Kelly got engaged. But later, Kevin and Kelly kissed.Dorian kicked Skye out of her house.Nora and Lindsay got into an argument, so Lindsay ripped Nora's dress. Nora ended up getting trapped in a warehouse with Bo. Bo was electrocuted.Joey and Sophia got stuck on the Palace Hotel roof. Sam went looking for Nora when she didn't show up for the weddingR.J. almost got run over by a car.Cristian arrived and took Jessica away from the party.Whitney prodded a distraught Theresa to confess everything to Ethan and be done with it. Sheridan was flustered when Hank eagerly accepted the invitation she'd meant for Luis.Ivy was desperate to be with Sam on New Year's Eve, despite Pilar's warnings. Ivy initiated a plan to trick the Bennetts and the Russells into spending New Year's Eve with her.To Timmy's horror, Tabitha revealed how she was going to kill Charity. She was going to behead her.Julian told his father no one would hear from Martin again after that night. Meanwhile, Martin escaped from the basement, ready to seek revenge on Julian.Lucy prepared for her wedding day to Scott.Julie's driver suffered a heart attack.Karen ordered a secret DNA/paternity test on Frank's blood sample.THE FINAL WEEK OF SUNSET BEACHAfter an intense showdown with Annie and Jude, Gregory is finally arrested.Carmen was ecstatic to see Ricardo alive, as she had known all along that the D.A. had been wrong about Antonio killing him.Maria ran into a mysterious man and had a nice talk with him. She then learned that his last name was English  just as her mother predicted.Olivia visited Gregory in jail then shared a heartbreaking conversation of what Gregory's life had turned into.Caitlin said she was leaving for Europe to be with Cole.Gabi announced that she was leaving Sunset Beach and then said goodbye to Ricardo, Carmen, and Antonio.Meg and Ben, and Michael and Vanessa were finally wed in a double wedding! Everyone was happy to be with their loved ones. Meg dreamed a little dream -- a fantasy sequence of the entire cast in different roles -- but woke up right there where she'd always wanted to be, in Ben's arms.With New Year's Eve approaching, Jack traveled to Albuquerque to look for Ramona.Diane left for their cruise without Michael, who had to work, and ended up on the same ship as Ashley.Thinking that Larry Warton was Victoria's obsessed fan, Nick confronted him.Ryan told Tricia that she needed to get help to get over her obsession with keeping Megan and Tony apart. Ryan and Tricia met Megan and Tony at the Colonnade Room for New Year's Eve. On the way back to the table from the restroom, Tricia ran into Tony in the hallway, slapped him, and then kissed him passionately. Source 3 and
Very excited that I got to talk to Kieran Culkin about his first time hosting #SNL and one of my favorite shows: #Succession. https://t.co/pfOk236hQr pic.twitter.com/qxIQHAl53l  Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) December 27, 2021

.@Alancumming: It's always lovely to be probed by you, Terry.

Terry Gross: I like the way you said that.

Cumming: Mercilessly probed.

Gross: Sounds like a horrible visit to the doctor's office.



Listen: https://t.co/htz2vCYN4Q pic.twitter.com/jj57uAhtgw  Fresh Air (@nprfreshair) December 21, 2021

Ending this year with the legendary @dannyelfman telling the story of how he made Whats This? from Tim Burtons classic The Nightmare Before Christmas. (with my favorite episode illustration of the year from @lerms.) Happy holidays! https://t.co/HCJbFqowRY pic.twitter.com/BOaoLgbQPw  Song Exploder (@SongExploder) December 15, 2021

#Insecure fans: I spoke with @IssaRae about that finale ... we talked bday reflections, alt endings, and choosing to be happy.



Bookmark the link and circle back to it when you're ready ...https://t.co/NCpN8EzS7D  Yvonne Villarreal (@villarrealy) December 27, 2021

NEIL YOUNG

ON BROKEN RECORD PODCAST WITH RICK RUBIN

PART 1

Listen Now!https://t.co/ghZ0HjZTrw  Neil Young Archives (@NeilYoungNYA) December 21, 2021

Conan O'Brien talks tostar,on the latest episode of. They talk about, and more! He was also on NPR'spodcast earlier this month if you need more Kieran in your life.Marc Maron interviews director,This one is from last month, but in case you missed it, SmartLess Hosts (Will Arnett, Sean Hayes, and Jason Bateman) sat down with! You can jump to 5:00 into the podcast to skip over the hosts talking and get right to Halle Berry lol (Jason Bateman is so annoying). Berry talks about winning her Oscar (and how NO scripts came in afterwards), progress in the industry, and how in 2013 she tried to move to France to escape the paparazzi to help protect her daughter. She explains that when her petition to move abroad was denied, she decided to work on changing the laws in America instead (she also reveals thatreached out to her to back her up and gave her $100,000.00 for the cause and thatshowed up to testify with her) - this discussion starts at 27:10 and is well worth listening to!sits down with Terry Gross onto talk about his life, career, mental health, sexuality, abuse, his new memoir, and so much more.Song Exploder sits down with iconic film composer,. He breaks down how he wrote "What's This?" fromis onpodcast where she talks all about thefinale! She talks about how she relates to the character of Issa, feeling conflicted about writing the finale, different scenarios considered for the ending, and how she thinks about the character's growth and happiness in the final season. She also discusses the fan reaction to the show and the ONE thing she's kicking herself over for not being included in the finale. This is a great podcast if you just finished the last season and are looking for some discussion on how it was all wrapped up.host Rick Rubin sits down within Part 1 of their interview with the musician!Source: 1
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant has been spooking the oil community at large and despite OPEC shrugging off any major demand disruption in its short-term forecasts, it remains the large downside risk factor today. This being said, the sentiment is not evenly spread out across continents, in fact, Asia looks much more robust, both in terms of its refinery runs and its overall buying activity, than most of the Atlantic Basin. The oft-mooted return of China looms large over this mood discrepancy, after all, Beijing has softened its electricity mandates, ramped up coal production, drew down its insane crude inventories, being seemingly ready for potential cold snaps coming up. It is against this background that Middle Eastern national oil companies have set their pricing for cargoes loading in January 2022.

Chart 1. Saudi Aramco Official Selling Prices for Asia vs Oman/Dubai Average (USD per barrel).

Source: Saudi Aramco.

Having decided to maintain the 400,000 b/d monthly increments despite demand concerns, Saudi Aramco set the pricing stage by hiking Asia-bound prices by 30-80 cents per barrel. Technically, the decision was well-grounded in past practice  most often than not the Saudis base their pricing on month-on-month changes in the Dubai backwardation between the front-month and M3, a metric that averaged $1.10 per barrel last month. In a peculiar twist of events, it was the heaviest grades that saw the biggest month-on-month improvement, with the Saudi NOC boosting Arab Heavy to an unprecedented $1.80 per barrel premium over the Oman/Dubai average, despite residue cracks performing quite weakly in November-December. Fearing Omicron, Saudi Aramco could have cut prices and most analysts would not blink an eye, however, the Saudi NOC doubled down on the strength of the Asian market.

Chart 2. Saudi Aramco Official Selling Prices for Asia vs ICE Bwave (USD per barrel).

Source: Saudi Aramco.

The price increases to Asia were not replicated in the cases of NW Europe and the Mediterranean. Saudi Aramco dropped European prices by $0.2-1.5 per barrel, once again with heavy grades (i.e. Arab Heavy) seeing the lowest month-on-month change, arguably because in case of market shocks sophisticated refiners would prefer to buy the heaviest barrels. Having said this, one ought to note that there were no Arab Heavy departures towards Europe in November and most probably will not be this month, too. When it comes to the United States, Saudi Aramco hiked its January 2022 OSPs by $0.4-0.6 per barrel to hit the highest levels since March 2020. This means that after the weakest month in terms of US-bound crude exports  November averaged a mere 210,000 b/d - Saudi outflows will most probably remained subdued over the upcoming months. Related: U.S. Oil Rig Count Jumps Along With Crude Prices

Chart 3. Iranian Light vs Arab Light in 2018-2022 (USD per barrel, vs Oman/Dubai average).

Source: NIOC, Saudi Aramco.

Meanwhile, the seventh round of negotiations on Irans nuclear talks have been underway in Vienna, with some early success stories. On the back of what seems to be a Russia-sponsored measure, Iran has restarted its surveillance cameras at its Karaj centrifuge facility, which, coupled with a draft wording of a potential JCPOA restoration agreement, have sparked hopes that a deal might not be that far away overall. Whilst most of international focus goes towards the nuclear talks, Iranian crude exports have been enjoying a period of stability. After the Chinese government allocated private refiners their third and fourth batches of import quotas in early October, teapots have ramped up buying of Iranian barrels, driving the total volume of crude imported in November to 650,000 b/d.

Chart 4. Middle Eastern Medium Sour Grades in 2021-2022 (USD per barrel).

Source: SOMO, NIOC, Saudi Aramco.

The active buying of Iranian crude is somewhat at odds with official Chinese customs statistics which indicate that there have been no imports from the Middle Eastern country over the past year. Even though many of these deals were concluded on a spot basis and did not follow the official OSPs, NIOC nevertheless kept in line with the Saudi-dictated pricing strategy and lifted Asia-bound prices by 60-80 cents per barrel. Corresponding to the Saudi moves, the lightest grade  Iranian Light  saw the lowest month-on-month increase to a $3.10 per barrel premium to the Oman/Dubai average. Europe-bound OSPs were decreased in line with Saudi Aramco, with NW Europe (a rare buyer of Iranian cargoes even in non-sanctionable times) witnessing cuts going beyond $1 per barrel.

Chart 5. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for United States in 2018-2022 (USD per barrel, vs ASCI).

Source: SOMO.

The January 2022 OSPs of Iraqi state oil marketer SOMO felt incomplete as next month will be the first not to have Basrah Light quotes, as we have signaled here previously Baghdad discontinued the practice, seeking to use the grade primarily as source for domestic refining. Having hiked Basrah Medium and Basrah Heavy by $0.5 and $0.6 per barrel, respectively, SOMO was fairly in line with Saudi Aramcos pricing, though there are some nuances to point out. Basrah Heavy is even heavier than Arab Heavy, i.e. whoever might be seeking a residue-heavy yield to run through secondary units would be fairly satisfied, yet its month-on-month change was 20 cents per barrel lower compared to the Saudi grade and is far from reaching any all-time high (as in the case of the latter). Its relative cheapness might put Basrah Heavy, a long-time favourite of complex Indian refiners, at a competitive advantage to heavy Saudi barrels.

Chart 6. Iraqi Official Selling Prices for Europe in 2018-2022 (USD per barrel, vs Dated BFO).

Source: SOMO.

Iraqi crude exports overall have reached their highest level in the post-pandemic times, reaching 3.25 million b/d in November. Whilst outflows to the United States have largely stagnated over the past months and exports to Europe slid down to just a little more than 300,000 b/d, it was in Asia that most of demand for Iraqi barrels came from, moving to a total of 2.5 million b/d. With this in mind, Iraqi official selling prices for Europe are once again better-positioned in their face-off with Saudi pricing. The thing is that by dropping Basrah Medium by 55 cents per barrel and Basrah Heavy by 60 cents per barrel from December 2021 OSPs, Iraq has more or less mirrored Aramco yet the reference price to which its official selling prices are pegged did change  SOMO prices are based on Dated Brent, whilst Saudi Aramco is linked to ICE Bwave, meaning that Brent increasingly flirting with contango might become a new positive reality for SOMO.

Chart 7. ADNOC Official Selling Prices in 2017-2022 (USD per barrel, set vs IFAD Murban).

Source: ADNOC.

Traditionally, the Emirati state oil company ADNOC set its January 2022 OSPs based on the monthly average of daily Singapore marker prices for its IFAD Murban futures contract, at $82.03 per barrel. One of the somewhat unexpected consequences of the Black Friday price tumble was that Murban quotes turned out to be the most resilient vis-a-vis market turbulence, rising to a premium over ICE Brent, a state they remain at the time of writing, too. This is most probably the reason behind Upper Zakum dropping once again vs Murban, with its differential to the Emirati benchmark cut by 70 cents per barrel to a -$1.65 per barrel discount, the widest it has been in years.

By Gerald Jansen for Oilprice.com

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Iran will prioritize an agreement to be able to legitimately return to exporting its oil during the new round of nuclear talks that began in Vienna today.

The most important issue for us is to reach a point where, firstly, Iranian oil can be sold easily and without hindrance, Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian was quoted as saying by Iranian media today.

The most important issue for Iran is to be able to sell its oil easily and receive the money at its banking accounts without any obstructions and the country can use all economic advantages stated in the nuclear deal, Iranian Fars News Agency quoted the foreign minister as saying.

Talks between Iran and the world powers about the potential return of Iran and the United States to the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) resumed in November in the Austrian capital, following a hiatus of several months until Iran holds a presidential election and appoints a new government.

Since the resumption of the talks last month, however, little progress has been made, and both sides have sounded pessimistic about reaching an agreement, which would ultimately lead to the lifting of the U.S. sanctions on Irans oil exports.

Iran appears to be preparing to return to exporting oil at some point next year.

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) will change from January 1 the benchmark against which it prices its crude for Europe and the Mediterraneana move which traders tell Argus could signal Irans intention to return to exporting its oil to Europe.

As of January 1, 2022, the state-controlled oil firm of the Islamic Republic will use the ICE Brent settlement for pricing the crude it would sell to the European and Mediterranean markets instead of the ICE Bwave benchmark, Argus reported earlier this month, quoting NIOCs January pricing formulas.

Yet, last week, the U.S. Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, told CNN that the time to revive the JCPOA was running out, which could lead to an escalating crisis.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Japan plans to auction in February 629,000 barrels of crude oil from its national reserves as part of a U.S.-led global effort by oil-consuming nations to lower prices.

Japans government will sell the crude to the winning bidder on or after March 20, the industry ministry said on Monday in a statement cited by Reuters.

This is the first round of the planned releases and we will conduct more auctions when we are ready and while we closely watch the international energy markets, an industry ministry official told Reuters.

Japans announcement of a government tender follows closely last weeks news from South Korea, which said it would release 3.17 million barrels of its oil reserves in the first quarter of 2022 as part of the coordinated reserve releases.

Just over 2 million barrels of the release will be crude and will go to local refiners via loan agreements, and the other 1.09 million barrels will be petroleum products released via a bidding process to the highest bidder, South Korea said on Thursday.

U.S. President Joe Biden said at the end of November that the Department of Energy would release 50 million barrels of oil from the SPR in a bid to lower high gasoline prices in a coordinated effort with other major oil-consuming nations. The SPR release from the United States will be carried out in parallel with other major energy-consuming nations, including China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the UK.

Despite the seemingly big number, 50 million barrels, the U.S. release actually equals around two and a half days of American petroleum consumption, which was at 20.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in the pre-pandemic 2019.

The other countries are going for much smaller releases, and the message seems to be that major oil consumers are coordinating efforts to try to lower high prices, while OPEC+ sticks to its guns over its oil production plan.

The oil market had already largely priced in SPR releases, with prices sliding before the official announcement. Analysts have also pointed out that one-off sales from strategic reserves cannot do much to move oil prices significantly lower.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Russias Gazprom hasnt booked transit capacity for Monday for natural gas exports via a key pipeline route to Germany, which was sending gas eastwards for a sixth consecutive day.

Gazprom has not booked transit export capacity via the Yamal-Europe pipeline via Belarus to Poland and Germany for December 27, Reuters reported on Monday, citing results from a daily auction.

At the same time, gas on the Yamal-Europe pipeline was flowing in the reverse direction from Germany to Poland for a six consecutive day on Monday.

Typically, lower Russian gas deliveries to Europe would lead to a spike in Europes benchmark gas prices, but after setting a new record early last week, gas prices in Europe plunged later in the week and continued to slide on Monday, due to forecasts of milder weather, U.S. LNG cargoes flocking to Europe, and low trading activity around the Christmas holiday.

Last Tuesday, European gas prices jumped to an all-time high after gas on the Yamal-Europe pipeline reversed flow eastward and freezing temperatures took hold in many parts of Europe. The benchmark price for Europe at the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) surged by 11 percent to a record 162.78 euros per megawatt-hour on December 21.

As prices in Europe soared to records and pushed regional LNG prices way above the Asian LNG benchmark and 14 times higher than the U.S. Henry Hub price, tankers with liquefied natural gas from the United States headed to Europe. Ten LNG tankers from the U.S. have already declared Europe as their destination while another 20 cargoes appear to be crossing the Atlantic en route to Europe, according to shipping data compiled by Bloomberg.

At least another ten LNG cargoes have been diverted from Asia to Europe as European LNG prices are now much higher than the prices in Asia, industry sources told Reuters last week.

On Monday, EU gas prices dropped further, on the back of milder weather, LNG arrivals, and very illiquid markets, Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, said, adding that European gas is still way too expensive.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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But many other people kept their plans.

Transportation Security Administration data shows that the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints so far during the holiday season went up significantly from last year  on some days double the number of fliers or even more. But the number is generally still short of 2019 levels.

The TSA has predicted that the Monday after New Year's will be one of the busiest days of the holiday season. The CDC's new guidelines could help airlines better navigate the New Year's weekend rush as staffers who got infected are able to come back to work, Harteveldt said.

The U.S. government has issued new rules relating to COVID-19 and travel in recent months, requiring foreigners coming to the U.S. to be vaccinated. It also now requires a negative COVID-19 test for both U.S. citizens and foreigners within a day of flying into the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the nation should also seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel as another way to push people to get vaccinated.
Its prime time for viewing bald eagles in Nebraska, and this weeks falling temperatures should increase the chances of spotting one, a state bird expert says.

Warm temperatures in early December kept the birds farther north, said Joel Jorgensen, nongame bird program manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

That resulted in a low bird turnout during the Dec. 14 annual Christmas Bird Count that Jorgensen coordinated at Harlan County Lake near Alma, Nebraska.

Spotters counted the fewest birds of the 13 years theyve been counting, he said.

Since then, cooler weather improved the situation for birdwatchers, and the incoming cold should bring even more birds into the state, he said.

Bald eagle numbers fluctuate from winter to winter based on weather conditions and food, he said. In general, populations are doing very well and are in better shape now than at any time in more than 100 years, Jorgensen said. This time of year, Nebraska has migrant birds from points north as well as resident birds hanging around.
Most of the passengers were unaware of the robbery. The conductor had gone toward the engine as soon as the train stopped, but Youve come far enough and better go back, shouted one of the bandits. He fired a warning shot in the direction of the conductor, who retreated. The conductor then maintained calm by instructing the brakeman and porters that if asked, they were to tell the passengers that the train was tied up by a switch engine.

John P. Maurer, however, was in the observation car and was wise to the unexpected stop. Having $486 on him, he jumped off the train and hid in the weeds until daylight and the sheriff took him into town.

Several days later, Brown Park School students John Krolik and John Swoboda and 19-year-old Frank Kudrna separately found revolvers in a gulch near the school at 19th and U Streets. Police found more evidence. They hid into the night and captured three of the five suspects when they returned to their lair.

The next afternoon in the school attic, janitors John Vavra and A.R. Bentz found six large and two small mail sacks and other items stolen in the robbery. Since the haul had been less than $1,000, the bandits likely needed a place to stash the evidence.
Lenore Sobota Education Reporter Education Reporter for The Pantagraph. Follow Lenore Sobota 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

BLOOMINGTON  More than a century ago, people would go out and see how many birds they could shoot on or around Christmas.

I think it was around 1901 or so that it was decided, lets go out and try to identify them without shooting them all, and that started the first Christmas Count in the Northeast, and its spread ever since, explained Angelo Capparella, a retired Illinois State University wildlife biology professor who is conservation chair of the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society.

His comments came near the end of a day that started at dawn and finished around sunset on Dec. 18, this years McLean County Christmas Bird Count.

It was a dreary, breezy day, with no sunshine and, at times it seemed, no birds.

The day started promising enough, despite the overcast sky. An eagle flew by as I got out of my car at the meeting place for our team at Comlara Park. That was quickly followed by a small flock of cedar waxwings. A few noisy blue jays also announced their presence.

Our party of four was one of 10 teams in the field covering a 15-mile-wide circle centered west of Towanda.

Capparella has been coordinator of the McLean County count since 2013. Before that, the late professor emeritus Dale Birkenholz led the count, which started in 1967 in McLean County.

This is a project coordinated by the National Audubon Society as a way to monitor wintering bird populations across the entire continent, said Capparella.

The objective is to cover that entire circle with field parties and feeder watchers to see just how many birds of which species we have every winter, and it allows us to track population shifts and changes, he said.

Participating groups choose a date within one week on either side of Christmas. The Bloomington-Normal chapter traditionally has selected the first Saturday within that window.

The outcome of the count in a single day in a single area might not tell you much. But years of data compiled by experienced birdwatchers across the country provide valuable information on trends and changes in where certain species are found.

The data generated by birders  could never be generated by professional ornithologists. Theres not enough of them. Theres so much area to cover, said Capparella. We have these citizen scientists  that come out to do this every year regardless of the weather.

Ah, the weather. As uncomfortable as it was this year, its been worse  a lot worse. There have been counts in McLean County when the wind chills were around zero or below. A few years ago, birders persevered through a day of freezing rain.

Michelle McKay of Bloomington was participating in her first bird count this year.

I just think its cool, she said. I like how it contributes to science. It gives you an idea of whether the numbers are increasing or decreasing.

This years count was about average, with parties identifying a total of 68 species.

Perhaps it seemed extra slow this year because last year brought a record number of 78 species.

It was pretty amazing, recalled Capparella. We had a lot of waterfowl that were still in the area  and we had these northern species come farther south than usual.

These included birds such as the common redpoll  which is more common near the Canadian border  and white-winged crossbills.

Some of them we only get once every 10 years or so, Capparella said.

Like fishermen, birders have stories of the ones that got away.

Another northern visitor, a snowy owl, was seen within the count circle four days before count day, but not spotted again.

Photo exhibit coming Jan. 3

Although people no longer shoot birds with guns to count them, avid birders shoot them with their cameras.

The Normal Public Library is hosting a bird photography exhibit Jan. 3 through Feb. 28 of birds in Central Illinois, organized by the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society.

There will be an opening reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 6 that will include two live birds of prey, a barred owl and an American kestrel, brought by Miller Park Zoo.

The reception will be family-friendly with some activities for children. Bird books will be available (it is the library, after all). Some of the photographs will be available for purchase.

IF YOU GO What: Central Illinois bird photography exhibit When: Jan. 3-Feb. 28, with opening reception held Jan. 6 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Where: Normal Public Library, 206 W. College Ave. More info: normalpl.org

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CHICAGO  A 29-year-old man has been charged for allegedly firing a handgun in the direction of two Chicago police officers who then shot at him on Christmas Eve, according to authorities.

The officers were patrolling the near West Side late Friday when they allegedly saw Nokomis Lee Jefferson remove a gun from his waistband. Authorities said he allegedly shot at the officers and they returned fire. He remained hospitalized Sunday.

Jefferson was charged with attempted murder and unlawful use of a weapon. His bail was set at $1 million, according to The Chicago Sun-Times. A listed number couldn't be located Sunday. It was immediately unclear if he had an attorney.

The officers were not wounded. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability, which investigates police shootings, said it was responding.

Initial police reports said officers saw two men with guns when Jefferson fired the shots.

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BLOOMINGTON  Central Illinois Regional Airport was spared the kind of major flight disruptions that slowed holiday air travel across the U.S. into Monday.

We are not anticipating any issues, and weve not been made aware of any problems from our airlines, said Fran Strebing, CIRAs deputy director of marketing.

According to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations, airlines have canceled roughly 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S. since Friday. Staffers calling out sick because of COVID-19, particularly since the emergence of the omicron variant, have left airlines short in recent days.

More than 100 flights at O'Hare International Airport had been cancelled on Monday as of 4 p.m. More than 400 flights were delayed.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have all said that the coronavirus was causing staffing problems, and European and Australian airlines also canceled holiday-season flights because staff were infected, but weather and other factors played a role as well.

Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday, said Alaska Airlines, and the airline expects more than 100 flight cancellations Monday. But it says that crew calling out sick because of COVID-19 is no longer a factor.

United said it canceled 115 flights Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews out with COVID-19.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been a consistent problem this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020 when air travel collapsed, and were caught short-staffed this year as air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected.

Airlines have called on the Biden administration to shorten the guidelines for the isolation period for vaccinated workers who get COVID-19, in order to ease staffing shortages. The union for flight attendants has pushed back against that, saying the isolation period should remain 10 days.

Watch now: Pritzker announces expanded testing, vaccination clinics Ive heard many people say that theyre healthy, I want to ask you at this time to please think of your neighbor, Carle BroMenn Medical Center and Carle Eureka Hospital President Colleen Kannaday said.

CIRA did not have any flight cancellations over the holiday weekend, but one flight was delayed coming in from Dallas, Strebing said.

The Dallas flight was expected to land in Bloomington on Sunday night, but it came in Monday morning instead.

While the airport is not expecting any further issues, We will only know about any issues when the airlines make us aware of them, Strebing said, adding that if cancellations become a problem, airport staff will communicate those updates.

CIRAs airlines include American Airlines, with flights to Chicago and Dallas Fort Worth; Allegiant Air, with flights to Orlando Sanford and St. Pete-Clearwater near Tampa; Frontier Airlines, with flights to Orlando and Tampa; and Delta Air Lines, with flights to Atlanta and Detroit, though the Detroit connection will be suspended starting in January.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Kelsey Watznauer at (309) 820-3254. Follow her on Twitter: @kwatznauer.

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Jamila Foundation, a subsidiary of Africa and Ghana's leading antique furniture company, Jamila Home has embarked on a charity program in Ghana and Africa (Feed the Street).



The annual charity campaign which forms part of the fast growing company's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) saw its staff distributing thousands of sumptuous cooked Jollof rice with meat and assorted drinks, hampers, gifts bags, money and more to the less privileged in some parts of Accra during the festive season.



Head porters popularity referred to as Kayayei, street children and their mothers in some parts of the capital benefited from the No 1 antique furniture company in Ghana and beyond.



Head of Marketing and Manager at Jamila Home Madam Jamila Zein said in a post-distribution interview that "management thought it prudent to share the little we have with those on the streets. We intend to do this regularly, we are motivated by the fact that we achieved our aim of putting smiles on the faces of these precious ones ,It is a season of caring,love,unity and sharing hence, the campaign-Feed the Street.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time ,we are the ones were been waiting for , we are the change that seek.



"Jamila Home presents Jamila Foundation which seeks to help the poor and needy in ghana at large and all over the continent of africa Merry Christmas and prosperous new year to you all.



"God bless Our Mother land Ghana God bless you all."



Jamila Foundation, with the slogan 'We are born to give' has reached out to millions of people across the globe through its charity projects.



Meanwhile, the Foundation has extended a helping hand to the Dodowa orphanage home with items like bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, boxes of biscuits , cases of drinks etc.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Police have revealed how a man who thought his neighbors music was too loud, shot him in the back.



Zachary Moncada, 31, was arrested Friday, December 24 and charged with the Christmas Eve attempted murder in his quiet Boca Raton neighborhood, in Florida, US according to a police report.



When police responded around 2:30 p.m., they found the victims family holding Moncada on the ground. During the struggle, Moncada was able to fire another round into the lawn.



The wife of the victim, who has not been publicly identified, took him to the hospital. As at press time the victim was in stable condition.



Moncada has been charged with first-degree premeditated attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of battery and a weapons charge for display of a firearm during a felony.



He is being held without bail.









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The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Kingsford Bagbin has expressed appreciation to Ghanaians for their support throughout the year 2021.



In a Christmas message, the Speaker said Parliament would not have made it this far, neither would I as a Speaker of Parliament, without the support of the good people of Ghana.



"With the year coming to an end and the festive season upon us, this is the time to express my appreciation to all Ghanaians for the support, love, prayers and criticisms that have combined to bring us this far" he noted.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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" " The roots of kente cloth may go back as far as 1000 B.C.E. to textile production of the Akan people of the Ivory Coast and the Ewe people of southeastern Ghana. Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images

Appearing everywhere from Wakanda to the U.S. Capitol, kente cloth is the best-known of all African textiles. It may have even helped garner Ruth Carter the Oscar for Best Costume Design for "Black Panther" in 2019.

Recognized by its bright colors and rows of bold, woven patterns, kente cloth is more than a piece of fabric. With historical roots dating back hundreds of years  and deep meaning connected to identity, family and the creation of wealth  kente cloth is often little understood even if it is consistently recognized.

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The Origins of Kente

Kente cloth is historically associated with the Asante Empire (also spelled Ashanti), a political state that began in the late 17th century in what is today the West African country of Ghana. In the capital city Kumasi, artisans of Asante and other ethnic groups converged and received royal patronage, according to "Adinkra and Kente Cloth in History, Law, and Life," by Boatema Boateng, Ph.D., published in the journal Textile Society of America Symposium Proceedings.

Legend has it that a spider taught the skill of weaving designs from a single thread to two young men. When the special cloth was presented to the first ruler of the Asante Empire, Asantehene Osei Tutu, he named it kente, which means basket. But the roots of kente cloth may go back as far as 1000 B.C.E. to textile production of the Akan people of the Ivory Coast and the Ewe people of southeastern Ghana.

Initially, kente cloth was associated with the Asantehene  the ruler  who was the only one permitted to wear it. Over time, lesser rulers gained permission, and eventually, anyone with enough money could purchase even the best cloth, although they wouldn't wear the same design as the Asantehene in his presence. Despite kente cloth's wider accessibility, it continued to be associated with "wealth, high social status and cultural sophistication."

With British colonization in the late 19th century, the Asante's political power decreased. However, the independence movement of the next century relied on support from the indigenous rulers, and the cultural importance of the Asante remained.

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Kente Cloth in the 20th Century and Beyond

In the mid-20th century, independence leaders helped popularize kente cloth, explained Dr. Patrick Mbajekwe, associate professor of history at Norfolk State University. For example, Kwame Nkrumah, who would become Ghana's first president, wore a Mmeeda kente cloth in 1951 when he was released from prison after he had served a one-year term for sedition against the colonial government. Mmeeda patterns are said to convey "'something unheard of, unprecedented, extraordinary,'" according to the Seattle Art Museum. "Wearing an Mmeeda was an omen for the next decade of Nkrumah's career as he led Ghana to independence," the website said.

" " A man weaves Kente cloth using a traditional loom in eastern Ghana. Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images

Thanks to Nkrumah, kente cloth became recognized globally. Current Ghanaian leaders wear it too, Mbajekwe says. Once only associated with Asante royalty, it has become a symbol of national pride.

This type of national pride has continued into the 21st century  and outside of Africa. As Swarthmore College assistant professor of religion James Padilioni Jr. explained in a piece for "Black Perspectives," many Black American college students wear a kente stole as they receive their diplomas. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus wore stoles to the 2018 State of the Union address in response to President Donald Trump's description of some African nations "sh--hole countries."

Padilioni wrote that he sees the wearing of kente cloth by Black Americans as weaving "together the wisdom of Africa before the Middle Passage with the persistent struggle to (re)attain knowledge of oneself that defines Black experience in the Diaspora."

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Why Kente Cloth Is Special

Each kente cloth has meaning, which is conveyed through its colors, patterns and symbols. According to International Traveller, the twelve most important colors are:

Gold  Royalty, wealth, high status, glory and spiritual purity

Silver  Serenity, purity, joy; associated with the moon

Grey  Healing and cleansing rituals

Black  Maturation and intensified spiritual energy

White  Purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions

Yellow  Preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility and beauty

Red  Political and spiritual moods; bloodshed; sacrificial rites and death

Pink  Female essence of life; a mild, gentle aspect of red

Purple  Feminine aspects of life; usually worn by women

Maroon  The color of Mother Earth; associated with healing

Green  Vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth and spiritual renewal

Blue  Peacefulness, harmony and love

In addition to the significance woven into each piece of kente, the cloth has been a method for storing and transferring wealth, especially among women. Kente is not always intended to be made into clothing. "Such cloth may be stored unsewn for years and passed on to a woman's heirs if she does not use it during her lifetime," Boateng wrote in her article.

If you walk the streets of Accra, Ghana's capital, today, you won't see many people wearing it as everyday fashion, Mbajekwe says. Instead, kente is worn with reverence for important occasions and celebrations. You wouldn't wake up in the morning and throw on some kente to go to the market.

"There is still that respect," Mbajekwe says. "There is a lot of artistic work that goes into it. It's a very beautiful piece of cloth with bright colors."

When it is worn, traditionally men wrap it over their shoulders like a toga, and women wear it in two pieces as a long dress and shawl.

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Kente Cloth Copyright

Today, you can find both handmade (read: expensive) and printed (inexpensive) kente cloth on the market. Boateng explains in her article that the printed cloth has gained acceptance, even in Ghana, and an early distinction between the uses  when and where each is appropriate  is lessening. Ghana and other African countries produce these imitations, but so does China.

What's important to know is that all kente designs and processes are protected under Ghana's 2005 Copyright Act, explains Dr. Stephen Collins, lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland, whose research focuses on postcolonial identity.

"The Act protects Ghana's folklore and specifically names kente and Adinkra symbols as falling under its protection," Collins says via email. Both the designs and the weaving processes are protected, whether the author is known or unknown, and they are protected in perpetuity. Anyone who uses them out of context, for gain and without proper attribution is liable to a fine or custodial punishment under the law.

Unfortunately, Ghana's copyright laws only apply to goods sold in Ghana, which means anyone else can take the designs and print them  on a T-shirt, for example  and sell that outside Ghana without fear of the Ghanaian authorities.

" " A vendor displays kente cloth for sale along the roadside in Bonwire near Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region in Ghana, West Africa. Education Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

"However, though it is technically legal to do so, it is morally problematic as copyright law protects the moral and economic rights of the maker," Collins says. "So someone might wear the design without ever knowing about Ghana or the centuries of artisanship that have gone into the design just because it looks 'cool' or 'African.'

"It's really difficult to police, and so there's some discussion around whether it's better to protect the process, the ways in which the cloth is made and woven, rather than the design, as the process is more difficult to replicate."

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Should You Wear Kente Cloth?

As a non-expert, you may have difficulty determining whether a piece of kente cloth is authentic or imitation. So, should you buy it or wear it?

"It's one of the biggest debates," says Mbajekwe. "On the one hand, the mass production is what makes it popular." On the other hand, the meaning behind the cloth and what it represents calls that into question. One solution might be using kente as a tool for teaching history, African culture and African arts.

"People should try to understand what it means, try to understand the history behind it," Mbajekwe explains.

" " From left, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Robin Kelly, D-Ill., and Brenda Lawrence, D-Mich., don kente cloth stoles in the Capitol rotunda before a memorial service for the late Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in Statuary Hall on Oct. 24, 2019. Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images

Collins offers similar advice. "What I'd like people outside Ghana to know is if they are choosing to wear it, then they've got great taste, but that it's as far away from fast fashion as it's possible to get and should be seen as an invitation to explore Ghana's rich cultural heritage and dynamic artistic present."

Collins would like for designers and/or producers to properly attribute the design to Ghana and even seek permission for use from the Ghana Folklore Board. "Even if they don't feel obligated to pay to support the crafts people that make it, at least this might lead consumers to learn more about it and learn more about Ghana and how great it is," Collins says.

Mbajekwe notes that the relationship created through kente between the African Diaspora and Africa is positive, and graduating students wear it with pride and reverence. It highlights the connection between America and the continent.

"That's the deeper meaning, which I think is cool," he says. "People can wear it. If they understand the history behind it, they can have more reverence for it."

Now That's Interesting Kwame Nkrumah commissioned a kente cloth piece from master kente weaver A.E. Asare, which hung outside the United Nations General Assembly building in 1960. It was replaced by a new design  Adwene Asa (meaning "consensus has been reached")  woven by his son Asare's son Kwasi Asare in 1995.
" " Combining animals like goats with yoga is all the rage across the United States and around the globe. This class was organized by Lavenderwood Farm in Thousand Oaks, California. MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

One day Megan Kibby and Jason Lewis, owners of Decatur, Georgia-based Red Wagon Goats  where you can adopt a goat, or rent one to clear property of unwanted brush  took a female kid to a friend's house for a backyard get together.

"She loved getting held the whole time," says Kibby, via email, of the tiny goat. "And each time a new person held her you could see [that person's] countenance change. We all agreed that night that if you hold a baby goat to your heart, it'll melt the pieces back together."

Kibby then had a thought: Why not incorporate goats into the yoga classes she taught? Although she wasn't the first to come up with the idea, her students loved the concept of fleece meeting spandex. Now, during any given class, 10 to 20 goats wander as Kibby's students stretch to upward-facing dog, or contort themselves into pigeon pose, head down on left foot.

"Instead of doing a lot of standing poses, we do a lot of seated stretching poses and poses lower to the ground so we're more at eye level with the goats," Kibby says. "Jason goes around during the class and puts a handful of treats (corn and grain) on people's mats, which brings the goats out to play and interact. After class, we invite people to get into table top pose [all fours] and we will put goats on people's backs to pose for photos."

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Cats, Dogs and Horses, Oh My!

Goat yoga. Cat yoga. Dog, horse, and alpaca yoga. What in the name of the Bhagavad Gita is going on? Practicing yoga with your favorite animal is all rage these days, whether it's rabbit yoga in British Columbia, or horse yoga in Argentina. And why not? Numerous studies have shown animals are great relievers of human stress (unless, of course, your cat is constantly clawing at the curtains or your dog just got into the garbage); and yoga relaxes the mind, renews the spirit and strengthens the body.

"It's such a sweet and silly and healing practice it's impossible not to laugh during it and leave with a smile," Kibby says. "I try to create a very relaxing, stress-busting class, so there's the 'yoga drunk' feeling, coupled with the warmth of these wonderful creatures."

Although it's hard to pinpoint where the idea for yoga with animals came from, cat blogger Ingrid King says the combination is a no-brainer. Cats are her spiritual animal of choice. "Yoga is good for physical and mental health, and it's a great stress reliever," she says in an email. "We also know that cats are good for our health." She could be on to something. A University of Minnesota study found that cats could actually reduce your chance of a heart attack by 40 percent.

King even puts her favorite felines to work in another healing technique  reiki. The ancient Japanese practice is based on the principle that a therapist can activate a patient's natural healing ability by means of touch. "My two current cats, Allegra and Ruby, are a little too high-strung to make good reiki assistants, but my cat, Buckley, was a regular participant in human sessions," King says. "She was what I call a healer kitty. She would intuitively know where a client needed more energy and lay on that part of the client's body for part or most of the session."

While healing the mind, invigorating the spirit and exercising the body are just some of the aspects of animal yoga, Kibby and Lewis have seen their business grow since beginning the goat yoga classes. "We've definitely been getting inquiries as a result of the classes, either the students themselves or their referrals," Kibby says.

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Even Shelters Are Doing It

Many animal shelters also use yoga with animals as a mechanism to increase adoptions. One such shelter that's capitalized on the idea Good Mews in Marietta, Georgia. The 5,500 square-foot no-kill, cage-free shelter has 40 or so cats participate in yoga classes.

"The volunteer marketing committee, which I chair, was brainstorming ideas to draw new potential adopters to the shelter," Nancy Riley, the shelter's volunteer marketing coordinator says in an email." One of the volunteers had heard about a cat yoga class in California. We thought it was a crazy idea, but why not?"

Riley says several yoga students adopted cats they met in class. One student kept going to class to interact with a shy feline named Ping Pong. It was love at first lotus position. When she showed up, the always-timid Ping Pong couldn't wait to bounce onto her mat. Eventually, the two adopted each other.

Adoptions aside, combining cats and yoga is all about the healing properties each possesses. "Not only do the students experience a relaxing, meditative yoga class, they also benefit from the interaction with the cats," Riley says. "The people seem to take satisfaction in helping to socialize shelter cats, but they also feel the peace and serenity of sharing their space with a purring cat. No one leaves disappointed. Even experienced yoga students come again and again to experience the interaction with the cats as much as the health benefits of the yoga poses."

What do the animals think of all this? No felines, billies or mares wanted to comment, but all humans agree the animals benefit  even the goats.

"Each goat has a unique personality," Kibby says. "Boeing, one of the babies born at our house, is incredibly outgoing and likes to be the star of the show. Sometimes he jumps on people's backs, licks people, especially if they're sweating, or plops down and cuddles. Others are more shy and hang out on the sidelines until we draw them in with treats. All and all the goats love it...[some] that [are] more shy seem to have opened up a good bit as a result of the peaceful exposure to humans."

Now That's Interesting Good Mews cat shelter also has a reading program where students in first through eighth grades can read to their feline friends. The program is designed to help students gain more confidence and help the cats become more social.
FILE PHOTO: Aerial view of empty roads and the Pasig river, stretching for 25 kilometers, it divides the Philippines capital of Metro Manila and its surrounding urban area into northern and southern halves. (Photo: Herman Lumanog/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

By Ditas Lopez and Ian Sayson

Century Pacific Food Inc. and Shakeys Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., owned by the Po family in the Philippines, are buying two household names in transactions that perked up the local deals scene a week before yearend.

Century Pacific, a tuna canner that has been building its portfolio, will acquire assets and intellectual property related to the manufacturing of Ligo sardines and other marine products, according to a statement on Friday.

The familys restaurant venture Shakeys will also purchase food-kiosk operator Potato Corner, known for flavored fries, according to a separate statement. The acquisition involves assets, intellectual property rights and operations of all company-owned stores and franchises. Potato Corner has over 1,000 domestic outlets and a growing international footprint.

The deal prices will be determined at a later date. Shares of Shakeys jumped as much as 17.3% before closing 8.9% higher, while Century Pacific rose as much as 4.6% before ending the session with a 1.9% gain.

Its a good shopping spree for Christopher Po, said Andrei Soriano, an analyst at AP Securities Inc. in Manila, referring to the chairman of both Shakeys and Century Pacific.

Potato Corner is anticipated to be a significant addition to Shakeys revenue while the purchase of Ligo eliminates a competitor, Soriano said. Potato Corners 2018 sales were at least one billion pesos ($20 million), about 12% of Shakeys Pizzas pre-pandemic revenue, he estimates.

Shares of Arthaland Corp., the Po familys listed property venture, also rose 3.2% as it separately announced the purchase of Cebu Lavana Land for 876 million pesos and the stake sales in two units for 516 million pesos.

 2021 Bloomberg L.P.
Schematic showing the existing substrate- and auxiliary-controlled strategies that induce high regioselectivity in transition metal-catalysed alkene dicarbofunctionalization. Credit: Nature Chemistry

NUS chemists have developed a new "catalyst control" blueprint to overcome a longstanding challenge in the site-selective dicarbofunctionalization of unactivated alkenes, by enabling the reaction to proceed in the absence of directing or activating groups to access valuable sp3-hybridized carbon frameworks.

Multicomponent catalytic processes that can form multiple carbon-carbon bonds in a single step under mild conditions are highly sought after for generating molecular complexity in chemical synthesis. One such class of reactions involves the transition-metal-catalyzed incorporation of carbogenic units across readily available alkene feedstocks. A key challenge is the ability to control the regioselectivity of olefin addition, especially in situations when the two newly introduced motifs possess similar electronic and/or steric attributes. This problem is further exacerbated in reactions involving the less reactive (unactivated) aliphatic alkenes, which suffer from poor regiochemical control. Conventionally, "substrate control" and "auxiliary control" strategies were employed to implement efficient and site-selective dicarbofunctionalizations across aliphatic olefins. Unfortunately, both approaches require contrived substrate modifications which are costlier, generate excessive waste and limit practicality.

A research team led by Prof. Koh Ming Joo, from the Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, has developed a catalytic regime that completely eliminates the need for pre-installed functionalities or directing auxiliaries. This was achieved by leveraging a dimeric nickel(I) catalyst bearing a sterically encumbered N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand, which would first react with an aryl triflate and undergo branched-selective carbonickelation via transition state TS A across the alkene, so as to minimize steric repulsions that exist between the sizable ligand and the alkene substituent(s) in the disfavored transition state TS A'. Subsequent transmetallation with a Grignard or zinc reagent and reductive elimination furnishes the desired adduct in high efficiency and site selectivity. The regiochemical outcome of these transformations is further supported by density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed by Prof. Osvaldo Gutierrez, a long-time collaborator from the University of Maryland and currently at Texas A&M University.

Schematic showing the development of a catalyst-controlled regime that promotes efficient and site-selective dicarbofunctionalization of alkenes in the absence of any activating or directing groups. Credit: Nature Chemistry

Prof. Koh said, "With the new Ni-catalyzed method, it is not necessary to pre-introduce an activating or directing unit on the alkene substrate to enhance reaction efficiency or control the regioselectivity of dicarbofunctionalization. This provides significant merits in terms of cost savings, step economy and waste reduction."

"Our catalytic system can potentially accelerate the assembly of drug-like building blocks for compound library screening in drug discovery programs. We expect the 'catalyst control' concept that we conceived in our study to pave the way for the future development of general alkene addition processes that no longer rely on activating units within the substrate for high efficiency and selectivity," he added.

The research team is currently expanding the scope of this work towards the synthesis of enantioenriched compounds.

Explore further Stereoselective alkene synthesis with non-precious nickel catalysis

More information: H. Wang et al, Directing-group-free catalytic dicarbofunctionalization of unactivated alkenes, Nature Chemistry Journal information: Nature Chemistry H. Wang et al, Directing-group-free catalytic dicarbofunctionalization of unactivated alkenes, DOI: 10.1038/s41557-021-00836-6 Published: 2021.
The different major types of disturbances of the Sun-Earth system affecting the Earth's environment can be detected via their imprints on the ionosphere and middle/upper atmosphere: space weather, terrestrial and solar magnetic field long-term variations, greenhouse gases emissions, global atmospheric electric circuit transients, seismic activity, atmospheric waves. Credit: Science China Press

Earth's ecosystems and human activities are threatened by a broad spectrum of hazards threatening ground infrastructures, space systems and space flight: Solar activity, earthquakes, atmospheric and climatic disturbances, changes in the geomagnetic field, fluctuations of the global electric circuit. These hazards leave distinguishable characteristic imprints on a critical layer of geospace: The Earth's ionosphere, middle and upper atmosphere (IMUA).

Within this layer, the neutral and plasma components of our atmosphere and the geomagnetic field are strongly coupled via complex electrodynamic interactions that permanently couple the IMUA to the regions of space located above and below it. From above, solar activity and interplanetary space disturbances produce space weather events which perturb the Earth's magnetosphere and the IMUA; disturbances propagating from below, mediated by atmospheric waves, electrodynamic coupling and electromagnetic radiation, are generated by earthquakes, the variability of solar irradiance, weather systems, and emissions of greenhouse gases. Finally, secular changes of the geomagnetic field and transient variations in the global atmospheric electric circuit also influence the IMUA.

In an article published in Science China Earth Sciences, an international team of scientists, building on the conclusions of an International Space Science InstituteBeijing (ISSI-Beijing) Forum organized in Beijing in September 2019, proposes the deployment of a global network of instruments observing the IMUA with a diversity of techniques to monitor, mitigate and possibly predict these hazards. They show that the optimal geometry for the deployment of this global observation system is a set of two great circles in quadrature: Deployment of instruments in priority along the 120E-60W great meridian circle will cover in an optimal way the dominant geographic and geomagnetic latitude variations and earthquake activity along the circum-pacific fire belt. Complementary deployment along the 30E-150W meridians will capture both the longitude variations induced by land-ocean contrasts and the regions of maximum thunderstorm activity in Central Africa.

Using the Chinese Meridian Circle (CMP) network as a template, they give a preliminary description of the combination of instruments to be integrated and deployed along the 120E-60W great circle running across China, Australia and the Americas. Deployment of this network is the objective of Phase I of the International Meridian Circle Project (IMCP), an ambitious international project led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In this project, a large volume of data produced by different and complementary types of instruments (radio, optical and geophysical) will be assimilated to produce a global dynamic image of the key parameters of the IMUA. Advanced Artificial Intelligence tools will be used to detect the characteristic signatures of geospace disturbances in this image.

The geographic and geomagnetic coverage offered by two Great Meridian Circles in quadrature, a primary 120E60W great meridian running over east Asia, west Australia and the Americas (full red vertical bars) and a secondary Great Circle 30E150W extending over central Europe, Africa, Alaska, Hawaii, Polynesia and the Pacific (dashed vertical bars), is near optimum for a simultaneous scientific investigation of the five categories of major hazards affecting geospace: Disturbance A, the Sun-Earth coupling chain and space weather; Disturbance B, lower atmosphere weather, thunderstorms and the global atmospheric electric circuit; Disturbance C, climate change effects in the upper atmosphere; Disturbance D, seismic activity; Disturbance E, long-term evolution of the geomagnetic field. Credit: Science China Press

(a) Chinese Meridian Project (CMP), at the end of its implementation phase, with its combination of low-cost instrument arrays and facility-class instruments, will provide a dense regional-scale coverage of China and monitor disturbances occurring in the polar regions. (b) the world-wide network of IMCP instruments along the two optimal great circles, primary 120E60W great meridian circle, and a secondary meridian circle 30E150W. Credit: Science China Press

Explore further Visualizing the propagation path of electromagnetic waves from space to ground

More information: William Liu et al, Scientific challenges and instrumentation for the International Meridian Circle Program, Science China Earth Sciences (2021). Journal information: Science China Earth Sciences William Liu et al, Scientific challenges and instrumentation for the International Meridian Circle Program,(2021). DOI: 10.1007/s11430-021-9841-8
The palladium nanoparticles (green) are stabilized by a core of iridium (red). Hydrogen can accumulate on their surface like a kind of chocolate glazeand can be released again by heating. Credit: DESY, Andreas Stierle

An innovative approach could turn nanoparticles into simple reservoirs for storing hydrogen. The highly volatile gas is considered a promising energy carrier for the future, which could provide climate-friendly fuels for airplanes, ships and trucks, for example, as well as allowing climate-friendly steel and cement productiondepending on how the hydrogen gas is generated. However, storing hydrogen is costly: Either the gas has to be kept in pressurized tanks, at up to 700 bar, or it must be liquified, which means cooling it down to minus 253 degrees Celsius. Both procedures consume additional energy.

A team led by Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY)'s Andreas Stierle has laid the foundations for an alternative method: Storing hydrogen in tiny nanoparticles made of the precious metal palladium, just 1.2 nanometers in diameter. The fact that palladium can absorb hydrogen like a sponge has been known for some time. "However, until now getting the hydrogen out of the material again has posed a problem," Stierle explains. "That's why we are trying palladium particles that are only about one nanometer across." A nanometer is a millionth of a millimeter.

To ensure that the tiny particles are sufficiently sturdy, they are stabilized by a core made of the rare precious metal iridium. In addition, they are attached to a graphene support, an extremely thin layer of carbon. "We are able to attach the palladium particles to the graphene at intervals of just two and a half nanometers," reports Stierle, who is the head of the DESY NanoLab. "This results in a regular, periodic structure." The team, which also includes researchers from the Universities of Cologne and Hamburg, published its findings in the American Chemical Society (ACS) journal ACS Nano.

DESY's X-ray source PETRA III was used to observe what happens when the palladium particles come into contact with hydrogen: Essentially, the hydrogen sticks to the nanoparticles' surfaces, with hardly any of it penetrating inside. The nanoparticles can be pictured as resembling chocolates: An iridium nut at the center, enveloped in a layer of palladium, rather than marzipan, and chocolate-coated on the outside by the hydrogen. All it takes to recover the stored hydrogen is for a small amount of heat to be added; the hydrogen is rapidly released from the surface of the particles, because the gas molecules don't have to push their way out from inside the cluster.

"Next, we want to find out what storage densities can be achieved using this new method," says Stierle. However, some challenges still need to be overcome before proceeding to practical applications. For example, other forms of carbon structures might be a more suitable carrier than graphenethe experts are considering using carbon sponges, containing tiny pores. Substantial amounts of the palladium nanoparticles should fit inside these.

The latest issue of DESY's research magazine, femto, looks into this and other innovative concepts for the hydrogen economy and a sustainable energy supply. The magazine explains how fundamental research can contribute to innovations for the energy transition. This is not only about using hydrogen as an energy carrier, but also about sustainable solar cells and novel forms of energy generation, as well as achieving greater energy efficiencies in research itself, when operating large particle accelerators, for instance.

Explore further Hydrogen uptake causes molecular 'avalanches' in palladium

More information: Dirk Franz et al, Hydrogen Solubility and Atomic Structure of Graphene Supported Pd Nanoclusters, ACS Nano (2021). Journal information: ACS Nano Dirk Franz et al, Hydrogen Solubility and Atomic Structure of Graphene Supported Pd Nanoclusters,(2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c01997
Officials in Warren and Washington counties on Sunday reported two new deaths from COVID-19.

Warren County Health Services said a person in their 60s who had lived at home before contracting COVID died in the hospital. The person had been vaccinated, but had a history of comorbidities, officials said in a news release.

Warren County has had 105 residents die from COVID infections.

In Washington County, officials said in a Sunday evening statement: We are saddened to report an additional COVID-19 related death of a 54-year-old member of one of our communities. Our lost resident had been hospitalized and was vaccinated earlier in December, however was not two weeks post vaccination prior to being diagnosed with/testing positive for COVID-19.

Warren County

Warren County Health Services reported 33 additional COVID-19 cases on Sunday, along with 56 recoveries.

A total of 522 active COVID cases were being monitored as of Sunday, with 509 of them involving mild illness.

Twelve Warren County residents were hospitalized as of Sunday. One vaccinated patient was in critical condition and the remainder have moderate illness. One person was moderately ill outside of the hospital.

Nine of the 12 who are hospitalized are unvaccinated, officials reported.

Thirteen of Sundays 33 new cases involved individuals who had been fully vaccinated.

A total of 50,235 Warren County residents (78.2% of the countys population) have received their first vaccine doses, and 46,533 have been fully vaccinated. A total of 72.4% of Warren County residents have completed a vaccination series, compared to the state average of 69.3%. A total of 87.7% of Warren County residents 18 and older have gotten at least one dose.

Of Warren County children 11 or younger, 1,338 (29.4% of the population, compared to state average of 27.0%) have gotten a first vaccine dose.

Warren Countys rolling seven-day average of new cases was 61.9 as of Sunday.

As of Sunday, 824 Warren County residents are under mandatory quarantine/isolation because of exposure to COVID.

Warren Countys rolling seven-day average for test positivity stood at 9.3% and the Capital Regions rate was 8.6% as of Sunday morning.

Washington County

On Sunday evening, Washington County officials reported 94 new COVID cases from Friday through Sunday. There were 135 new recoveries of active cases, with 12 current cases hospitalized.

Of the new cases added, eight had been fully vaccinated (two received the Pfizer series, five received the Moderna series and one received the J&J vaccine).

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EGG HARBOR CITY  Lloyd Wimberg, owner and manager of Wimberg Funeral Home, died on Christmas, according to an obituary on the funeral homes website.

Wimberg, a former Atlantic County freeholder, was 74.

Mayor Lisa Jiampetti, who began working with Wimberg in 2006, remembers him most for being a generous person and his dedication to the city.

Its a tremendous loss for Egg Harbor City, Jiampetti said.

The Egg Harbor City native owned two funeral homes, the first in the city and another in Galloway Township, which opened in 2001.

The first parlor was founded by his great-grandfather Heinrich Wimberg in 1881.

Wimberg owned the funeral homes Egg Harbor City location since 1971 and became its manager in 1982.

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Wimberg grew up in Atlantic County, attending St. Nicholas Grammar School, Holy Spirit High School and Atlantic Community College, according to his obituary.

He later attended the American Academy McAllister Institute for Funeral Services in New York.
Of all the years political drama, the most surprising may be the U.S. governments actions on unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs  better known as UFOs.

The opening act came in June, when the Pentagon and the director of national intelligence delivered an astonishing report to Congress addressing UAPs. Most of these phenomena turn out to have prosaic explanations  such as weather balloons, space debris and atmospheric effects in the sky  with a small percentage exhibiting unusual flight characteristics that suggest advanced technology.

The June report, however, found the opposite: It could account for only one of the 144 UAP sightings between 2004 and 2021 that it examined, including 80 observed with multiple sensors such as high-tech military radar and infrared cameras mounted on warplanes.
Making the Jersey Shore more resilient to counter storms, flooding, erosion and rising sea levels requires numerous different approaches.

Much excellent work is ongoing on projects from the Delaware Bay to Raritan Bay and beyond, and The Press has covered and supported many effects along the southern shore. Elevating buildings, building up marshlands, dredging waterways, replenishing beaches and reducing wave force are just some of the efforts involved.

Now state, federal and local leaders say its time to gather these approaches under an over-arching plan and support them with a policy campaign called Stronger Shores aimed at protecting the Jersey Shore way of life.

Among leaders at the recent launch of Stronger Shores were Rep. Jeff Van Drew; Lt. Col. Ramon Brigantti, commander of the Philadelphia District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Capt. Jonathan Theel, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay; Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman; and Brett Matik, chairperson of the Atlantic County Economic Alliance. Also present were business owners, commercial fishing representatives and the State Police.
Push students harder to win tech race

The Wall Street Journal recently published an opinion piece, The Coddling of American Children Is a Boon to Beijing. The piece was written by Habi Zheng, a Chinese doctoral student living in New Jersey and raising a son here. He opines that the school system in the U.S. is broken in that it does not challenge our youth.

His son who was initially schooled in China is in third grade and is far more advanced in mathematics and science than any of his peers. The father cites the fact that his son is given minimal homework and very rarely homework on weekends. He fears that we are creating a society that will not be able to cope with the future and definitely will be left behind in the race to dominate technology in the future.

Not only does he lambaste the elementary school system but looks at colleges with disdain because we do not challenge the students and kowtow to their demands.

He writes, Chinese citizens enjoy mocking the Western snowflakes. Less amusing is what the trend means for the U.S. as China no longer hides its enmity for America.
"We really didn't want to ask for help, but we need just a little bit," Zoei said. "Patrick's having to change jobs created a lot of pressure.

"I would like to be able to cook more than one thing at a time, a chance to bake and make something other than what we can do on the stove."

Zoei said it "would be nice to have the front screen door" and later showed the remnants of the previous door  two hinges with a five-foot portion of the frame still attached.

Patrick listened intently to Zoei and still held his Elias.

"Maybe he'll make the face," Zoei suggested.

"Oh no. Not the face," Patrick replied. "I can't take the face. He makes this face that just kills me. I can't even make that face."

"The face always gets us," Zoei added. "You just have to see it."

Patrick tried to make the face anyway. His son watched and smiled.

Zoei said these December days are a "hopeful time."

Patrick had another word.
WEDOWEE, Alabama (AP)  The Rev. Athanasius Chidi Abanulo  using skills honed in his African homeland to minister effectively in rural Alabama determines just how long he can stretch out his Sunday homilies based on who is sitting in the pews.

Seven minutes is the sweet spot for the mostly white and retired parishioners who attend the English-language Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the small town of Wedowee. If you go beyond that, you lose the attention of the people, he said.

For the Spanish-language Mass an hour later, the Nigerian-born priest  one of numerous African clergy serving in the U.S. -- knows he can quadruple his teaching time. The more you preach, the better for them, he said.

As he moves from one American post to the next, Abanulo has learned how to tailor his ministry to the culture of the communities he is serving while infusing some of the spirit of his homeland into the universal rhythms of the Mass.

Nigerian people are relaxed when they come to church, Abanulo said. They love to sing, they love to dance. The liturgy can last for two hours. They dont worry about that.
Only one medical cannabis dispensary-related item on the Rapid City Councils special meeting agenda was approved Monday afternoon.

The council voted 8-0 to uphold the Planning Commissions decision to approve a major amendment to a planned development overlay for a dispensary at 530 Cambell Street for From the Hills.

Council members Ron Weifenbach and Pat Jones were absent from the meeting.

Over the past two weeks, the council approved eight conditional use applications for medical marijuana dispensaries at two meetings. The council considered 31 conditional use applications, 30 of which the Planning Commission recommended for approval.

Finance Director Pauline Sumption said as of Monday afternoon her office has issued 29 provisional licenses, 23 for Puffy's. The rest went to Hive Collective, R&W Management, 11 Leaf Brands, From the Hills, Black Hills Cannabis Care and Rapid City Cannabis. Those applications didn't require conditional use permits.

Community Development Director Vicki Fisher said the only reason the planned development overlay application on Cambell Street came before the council is because Planned Development Overlays require a public hearing. The location meets all other requirements.

She said the location is across from the fairgrounds, which it isnt considered a public park.

Council member Jason Salamun said he would vote against any location within the 500-foot distance from a church, child care center, public park or property zoned as residential.

I dont really have a yellow zone in my mind, I have a red or green, he said. I think there are plenty of options in the green areas.

The council approved permitted and conditional use zoning at its Sept. 20 meeting for dispensaries, testing facilities, cultivation facilities and manufacturing facilities. According to the ordinances, dispensaries can operate within 500 feet of a child care center, church, public park or property zoned as residential if granted a conditional use permit.

During the Monday meeting, the council voted to reverse the Planning Commissions approval for 13 of the 15-dispensary related items, 12 of which were under Genesis Farms. Four of the items were for four different suites at 1565 Haines Avenue while four were for different suites at 1624 E. St. Patrick Street.

Emmett Reistroffer, of Sioux Falls, attended the meeting on behalf of Genesis Farms. He said the company did not plan on having multiple dispensaries next to each other, if granted licensing by the state. He said the company believes dispensaries should be spread throughout the city.

Were trying to spread access around Rapid City in areas that make sense, he said.

Council member Darla Drew said that access is important to her and people need direct access to medication.

I think we get off the track a little bit because its so related to recreation, but this is medical, she said.

Reistroffer said he had a 200-page business plan to satisfy 125 pages of rules from the state Department of Health dealing with signage, odor and security.

Genesis Farms permit applications were denied for each location, including permit applications for 709 Mountain View Road, 608 St. Joseph Street, 610 St. Joseph Street and 230 East North Street.

The council voted to affirm the Planning Commissions denial of a conditional use permit application for a location east of Tower Road and north of Hanks Drive. The commission voted to deny the permit due to topographical concerns.

Mayor Steve Allender broke two tie votes for the 709 Mountain View Road conditional use permit for Genesis Farms. The application was for a suite in the middle of Baken Park.

Allender voted to deny the permit.

Applicants needed a zoning letter of compliance in order to receive a provisional license from the city. The provisional license is required to seek a state license.

During the meeting, the council voted to approve the bill list, the second reading of a supplemental appropriation ordinance, and an agreement between the city and state Department of Transportation to accomplish the Rapid City Area Transportation Planning Process. The agreement is for $651,232.

Long-range planning manager Kip Harrington said the agreement typically comes before the council in October or November, but the state delayed the item this year.

 Contact Siandhara Bonnet at siandhara.bonnet@rapidcityjournal.com 

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Passengers traveling to and from Rapid City Regional Airport experienced some flight delays and cancellations over the holiday weekend, but an airport spokesperson said Monday most travel is going well.

"We had a very busy week with over 150 commercial flights arriving or departing from the airport," Airport Communications Manager Megan Johnson said. "We're pretty optimistic about this year's travel numbers."

Over the weekend, Rapid City Regional saw several United Airlines flights canceled, primarily from the airline's Denver hub, and at least one flight to Las Vegas was canceled by Allegiant Air. There were also a few delays with American Airlines and Delta Airlines.

Johnson said she couldn't speculate on the causes of the cancellations. The Associated Press reported that carriers had canceled at least 2,400 flights worldwide on Monday and at least 900 in the United States. Many airlines acknowledged the cause of the grounded planes were concerns and staffing issues surrounding the omicron variant of COVID-19, the Associated Press report said.

"We encourage all travelers who are using the airport to get in contact with their carriers about any flight schedules, delays or cancellations," Johnson said. "All of the carriers have mobile phone apps that are easy to use and will notify you of any changes to travel plans."

Johnson said the airport's parking lot was near capacity over the weekend and expects that to change a bit for any people traveling for the New Year's Day holiday.

"We did have overflow in the lots and had additional options that were available for users of the airport, but we expect that to ease a bit as we progress in the week," Johnson said. "If you are driving to the airport to catch your flight, be aware that you may need to arrive earlier to find parking. There are other options, like Airport Express Shuttle, that you can use to get to and from the airport."

Overall, Rapid City Regional Airport has seen record numbers of travelers in 2021.

"In November, we had about 48,000 passengers, which surpassed our previous record in 2019," Johnson said. "During this holiday season, we really didn't have too many issues other than the parking lot filling up."

Contact Nathan Thompson at nathan.thompson@rapidcityjournal.com.

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Decades of protecting and improving 320 acres of forest has earned a Piedmont couple the honor of being named the American Forest Foundations 2021 National Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year.

Bob Burns and Mary LaHood were selected from more than 70,000 certified tree farmers for their stewardship of the forest that is just west of Rapid City and surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest.

To be considered for the Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year award, individuals must exhibit exceptional forest stewardship to protect and improve our forest resources, and must promote forest stewardship within their communities, states a news release from the American Forest Foundation.

Burns' great-grandfather purchased the land in 1887 while helping build the first railroad through Piedmont Valley. The land remained vacant until Burns' father built a home on it in 1956.

Burns had been taking forestry classes at Rutgers University when his father died in 1969, which was when he became interested in managing the 320-acre property.

It wasnt until Aug. 15, 1994, that the couple, who were pregnant with their fourth child at the time, took on a larger role in forestry management. Thats when the Stagebarn Fire broke out.

It started on National Forest Service land as were surrounded by forest service on three sides, Burns recalled. As it crept down the hill it blew up when it reached our property.

At around 1 a.m., Burns drove down to the Stagebarn school, which was being used as headquarters, to see if he could be of assistance to the firefighting efforts.

Burns said he knew many of the Forest Service personnel onsite and was enlisted to guide an operator in creating a fire line through the length of the LaHood-Burns tree farm to cut off the fire that was encroaching upon a subdivision with a lone escape route.

Thanks to his bulldozing efforts and a thinned area that goes the length of their property, which was funded through a cost-sharing program with the state, the fire never reached the subdivision.

Thats where the fire dropped to the ground, Burns said.

That got us much more interested in protecting our property from fire and protecting neighboring properties. Homes were saved, lives were saved.

Since then, the familys forestry management practices have become much more extensive. Their projects over the years have included spraying and mowing for weed control, timber harvests, fencing in aspen stands to protect from deer browsing, a cut-and-chunk project to deal with pine beetle infestation, tree and shrub planting for wildlife food, pine removal, thinning and creating fuel breaks.

In some ways we do work all year, but its not every day by any means, Burns said. But were doing something every year. Sometimes its me doing the work, sometimes its the family. We also hire help through the cost-sharing program for the larger areas. Pine trees come up really thick after theyre cleared out. Were constantly trying to take care of regeneration.

LaHood said the land, which is assessed as agricultural, takes a different kind of farmer than the one that comes to mind in South Dakota.

Our harvest is every 20 to 25 years. I think it takes quite a special person to tend a crop for decades, she said. Weve just plotted out and planned out our next five years of projects. It depends on whats happening in that particular area of what we do. Maybe theyre really young trees and they need to be thinned out to a certain degree, maybe theyre getting close to being commercially harvested.

LaHood said other projects have included opening up areas for meadow enhancement by leaving just the hardwoods standing in a certain area  a project that helped water flow through an old spring, which brought an assortment of wildlife to the area, including mountain lions and elk, which the couple caught on trail cameras.

Its not flowing water like a creek like other people have, but its dripping water in this rock hollow, LaHood explained.

Such conservation efforts help boost recreation and tourism as a whole for the Black Hills, she explained.

If folks cant maintain that acreage it gets sold and broken up into housing areas. Its important for tourism too, LaHood said. I think what a lot of people dont realize is when youre driving through the Black Hills you're passing places like ours, family farms that are maintaining the aesthetics of the hills and managing it for fire protection.

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Bishop Desmond M. Tutu of South Africa, who died Sunday at age 90, came to Helena in late 1990 at the invitation of a Montana political satire singing group in an effort to raise money to help educate Native American and South African children in concerts that nearly 4,000 people attended.

In 1987, members of the Montana Logging and Ballet Company, a quartet whose parodies had social and political messages, performed an anti-apartheid song, Take the Barriers Down, that Tutu heard during a United Methodist Global Gathering in Kentucky.

Tutu, according to The New York Times, wrote notes for the album in which the song was featured. Four white men from Montana cannot sound like South Africans, he said. But they can sing about the justice that is God's intention for us all."

The group consisted of Steve Garnaas-Holmes, who wrote Take the Barriers Down, his younger brother Tim Holmes, Rusty Harper and Bob FitzGerald. They were together 38 years and performed their last public show at the Babcock Theater in Billings in 2012. Their last concert was a fundraiser for Rocky Mountain College, The Billings Gazette reported. It is where the four had met in the 1970s.

Tutu, who was awarded the peace prize in 1984, for his work to end apartheid, spent 47 hours flying from Cape Town, South Africa to the Treasure State for the Dec. 8, 1990, event

According to The New York Times, a reporter asked him, of all places, why he came to Helena.

"Of all places," Tutu responded, "it is the one with the Montana Logging and Ballet Company."

Montana Logging and Ballet reportedly raised $1 million in donations and scholarships during his visit to help educate American Indians and South Africans, Tim Holmes said.

Concert tickets were $50. There was a $500-a-plate luncheon at the Montana Club. For an extra $20, people could attend a reception, where they got a chance to meet Tutu, The New York Times reported.

FitzGerald on Sunday called meeting and knowing Tutu the highlight of his singing career.

He was relentlessly joyful, able to find that nugget of joy and nurturing in everyone, he said in a telephone interview. He had an uncanny ability to find the best in everybody and anybody and did it without fail.

He was just all in all a good person, FitzGerald said.

Tim Holmes said he had created a sculpture that he was to give to Tutu in Kentucky, and the Montana Logging and Ballet Co. was asked to perform as well. It was the beginning of a decades-long friendship with the bishop.

"Gosh, what a monumental figure," Tim Holmes said Sunday. "I feel so fortunate to be associated with him for more than 30 years."

Holmes said Tutu has three of his sculptures.

FitzGerald said it was during a concert in Washington, D.C., that they invited Tutu to come to Montana and boom, he accepted it.

He said two concerts were held at the Helena Civic Center. He said several state lawmakers were in the audience. Montana was one of three states at the time that did not recognize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. FitzGerald said Tutu spoke of MLK in such a joyful, enthusiastic way. That recognition of MLK Day came during the next legislative session.

Homes said problems with apartheid had escalated when Tutu was in Montana and he was asked how he could be so cheerful.

"He said, 'I am not in charge. We are called to be faithful and not successful,'" Holmes recalled. "He was always full of humor and graciousness."

Tutu, who had also preached at services at St. Paul's Methodist and St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral during his visit, enjoyed interacting with the public and welcomed children who would run up to him at airports and other public places, FitzGerald and Holmes said.

He included everybody, FitzGerald said. He was at ease with kings and queens, but much more at ease with the bellboy, the maintenance worker, the janitor and waitress.

Holmes said he remembered Tutu leaving the airport and seeing some workers 200 yards away who were looking at him. He ambled over to say goodbye.

"He found everyone to be equally important," Holmes recalled. "When kings and queens were to be greeted, he greeted the powerless people first."

FitzGerald said he was extremely saddened to learn of Tutus passing.

We knew this day was coming; you just didnt want it come, he said.

He was nothing but good.

You can read more about Tutu at the Montana Logging and Ballet Co. Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MLandBC/.

Assistant editor Phil Drake can be reached at 406-231-9021.

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Once again, workers believe they have found the 1887 time capsule that was put under the Robert E. Lee pedestal. But this time, the details are a closer match.

At 11:41 a.m. Monday, a crew led by Team Henry Enterprises found what appears to be a copper box underground in the northeast corner of the foundation, just as the newspapers at the time described, said Michael Spence, construction superintendent.

Once the box was out of the ground, conservator Kate Ridgway of the Department of Historic Resources covered it in bubble wrap and placed it in the back seat of a black Honda, and it was driven to their lab.

The box will be opened Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Department of Historic Resources lab on Kensington Avenue, according to a release Monday evening from Gov. Ralph Northam.

What began Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. was the third attempt to find the time capsule, which newspaper accounts said holds 60 artifacts largely from the Confederacy, including a potentially rare image of Abraham Lincoln in his grave.
RADFORD  The last of three men arrested two years ago after a fight at a party and a shooting spree  that hit no one but sent Radford police scrambling to find them  was convicted of two firearms charges.

This past week, Marquay Christopher Lee Alston, 21, of Radford, was found guilty of a felony count of firing a gun from a vehicle in a manner that endangered someone, and of reckless handling of a firearm, a misdemeanor. Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter scheduled a Jan. 3 hearing to set a date for Alstons sentencing on those charges and on an aggravated malicious wounding charge for which he was convicted in August.

Alstons charges, like those against co-defendants Terelle OShea Maurice Todd, 22, of Dublin, and Michael Antoine Lassiter, 27, of Smithfield, stem from a series of events that began at a party in the Copper Beech apartment complex on the night of Nov. 9, 2019, and continued past midnight into Nov. 10. There was a fight, then shots fired, then the three men rode around Radford with Alston and Todd shooting a pistol out the window, witnesses and Commonwealths Attorney Chris Rehak said.

At Mondays trial, Radford Detective Austin Cox testified that .40-cal. shell casings were found on the pavement in about six locations around the city. Additionally, 9mm casings were found at the site of the party, Cox said.

Joshua Turman testified that he was at the party on Sanford Street and that there was a fight, then he heard shots and ran to a friends Honda Civic. Turman said his friend was preparing to drive and he was in the passenger seat when Alston, Todd and Lassiter crowded into the back. The three men had a pistol and during a journey around Radford, fired shots perhaps 10 times, Turman said.

Turman said he was scared by the gunfire and eventually asked to be let out, then walked home.

The felony charge against Alston had an element of endangerment that defense attorney Robert Canard argued was not met, noting that Turman said Alston fired at a mountainside near the city industrial park rather than at people or toward nearby Interstate 81. But Showalter said that Turmans fear of the gunfire was enough to justify the conviction.

After Mondays trial, Rehak wrote in an email that Alstons aggravated malicious wounding charge came from a fight at the party where Alston punched a man, knocking teeth out.

Lassiter shot at someone at the party and missed, Rehak wrote. In May 2020, Lassiter was sentenced to serve four years behind bars in a plea agreement that brought him eight convictions that included attempted malicious wounding and various firearms charges.

Todd pleaded guilty in February 2020 to shooting from a moving vehicle, shooting in a public place, and reckless handling of a firearm, and received six months to serve.

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The COVID-19 virus is so new, no one really knows how many of those who are infected will end up with long-term symptoms which, because the virus attacks so many different body systems, might actually be several different conditions.

Jessica Gray, the mother of Matt Surprenants 4-year-old daughter, Gabby, has asthma, and decided in September that she wanted to get vaccinated. Gray doesnt drive and depends on him for rides.

He had planned to take her in for her shot, but was out of town for work when she asked. Three days before he could get back, Jessica called Matt and said shed been infected.

Gray spent nearly two months in the hospital, where she was put on life support and was not expected to live.

We really thought she was going to die, he said.

Surprenant, 34, said that when Gray was put on oxygen, she didnt want to let him leave the hospital room.

She thought if I went, she would never see Gabby again.

In November, Jessica had recovered enough to be sent to a rehabilitation center, where she had to learn to walk, talk and breathe again, Surprenant said. Gabby was not allowed to visit the facility, he said, but he arranged to wheel Gray to a door where Jessica saw her little girl for the first time in months.

Were close friends, he said about Gray. Were very different people, and we definitely work better as friends, but shes a great mother and a good woman.

Surprenant has been an Army medic since 2005, and served in Afghanistan from November 2010 to December 2011. He ruefully shook his head and laughed when reminiscing.

It sucked,  he said about his deployment with the 82nd Airborne Division. I cant believe Ive been in for 16 years. I feel like an old man.

Surprenant was injured when he fell down a set of stairs during a firefight, he said, and is considered 80% service-related disabled. He suffered bruising to his brain, broke one of his vertebrae and was diagnosed with PTSD. But he doesnt let any if that slow him down.

I decided I wasnt going to be a victim of my injury, he said. I try to keep my body strong.

He remains in the Army Reserve, and also works as a bodyguard. He has provided security for CEOs, celebrities, and Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, he said, but his work schedule is irregular.

Although his family helps him with child care and also has assisted financially, during Grays illness, he was completely responsible for taking care of his daughter.

I had to stop work, he said, and subsequently spent most of his savings on running his household. During this time, he said, he and Gabby became ill with COVID-19, but both recovered fairly quickly. In the meantime, Gray was in danger of becoming homeless because she couldnt pay her rent.

Surprenant wanted to do something, so he spoke to her landlord, who gave him a list of charities that might help her keep her in the residence.

I must have called 100 different places, he said. One of them was to Roanoke Area Ministries, which, through its Emergency Financial Assistance Program, offers grants to help pay for rent, utilities and prescriptions for people have an unexpected expense. The program is supported by The Roanoke Times Good Neighbors Fund.

This is a perfect example of what institutions like this are for, Surprenant said about RAM. Hes not sure what he would have done without help from the charity.

Gray was scheduled to be home by Thanksgiving, but Surprenant was worried about her managing on her own, and that she would not be able to afford food. Jessicas Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits had lapsed because she was hospitalized when it was time for her to re-enroll, he said. But his daughter will never go hungry.

I wont let that happen, he said.

Surprenant said he spends his free time working out at the gym, visiting with family, and being with Gabby. She especially loves it when he flies the drone he uses for work, he said.

Work and family are my focus.

His biggest his goal, he said, is for Gray  who previously ran an in-home day care  to get her drivers license so she could regain her independence and be a contributing member of society again. If she cant ever go back to work, he said, well get her on some kind of disability.
WINCHESTER  Four people were shot Sunday during a domestic dispute at a Virginia rest stop, police said.

Virginia State Police said several people tried to intervene when a dispute between a man and a woman turned physical at a rest area off Interstate 81 on Sunday morning, The Washington Post reported. The man, identified as Cesar Juarez Avila, 34, fired at the woman and people who tried to help, then fled in a Chevrolet Malibu, police said.

The woman and two men who tried to intervene were taken to Winchester Medical Center with injuries that werent considered life-threatening, police said. A third male victim was flown to a hospital with injuries that were serious, but not life-threatening.

The Chevrolet Malibu was spotted a few hours later, but when law enforcement forced the car to stop, they saw that shots were fired inside, police said. Avila was found in the drivers seat with a gunshot wound and was flown to a hospital, where he died, police said.

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Life reconstruction of a close-to-hatching oviraptorosaur dinosaur embryo, based on the new specimen Baby Yingliang. Credit: Lida Xing It was a good week for the study of ancient animals as a team of researchers from China, the U.K. and Canada described an exquisitely preserved embryo that was found inside of a fossilized dinosaur eggthe 72 to 66-million-year-old embryo belonged to a toothless theropod dinosaur known as an oviraptorosaur. Also, a team of researchers from several institutions in Germany and the U.S. found that the Earth's first-known giant was as big as a sperm whalejust the skull of the marine animal ichthyosaurs was found to be over two meters long. And a team at Tel Aviv University found that early humans hunted the largest available animals to extinction for 1.5 million yearsand because of that had to learn to grow food to keep themselves fed, sparking the agricultural revolution.

In technology news, a team at the Italian Institute of Technology took steps toward developing the first flying humanoid robot. Their work involved creating a framework for allowing a flying robot to better estimate thrust which is needed to control flight. Also, a team at MIT produced the world's longest flexible fiber batterya rechargeable 140-meter-long lithium-ion battery in the form of an ultra-long fiber that was woven into fabrics. And a team at the Institute for Transport Studies explored the factors that influence drivers while transitioning from highly automated driving. They found that drivers cannot be described as fully operational at the moment they grab the steering wheel back from the automation system, and because of that, assistance must be continued during the transition. Also, a team at Tokyo Tech proposed a carbon-air battery as a next-generation energy storage system.

In other news, a team at the University of Zurich discovered the mechanism behind DNA invasion of adenoviral COVID-19 vaccines. And a team at the University of CaliforniaRiverside found that the deadliest period in Earth's history was also its stinkiestgreenhouse gases emitted from Siberian volcanos led to microbes in the ocean emitting hydrogen sulfide during the planet's worst mass extinction.

And finally, if you are one of the millions of people around the world who have not yet been infected with COVID-19 and are wondering if you do catch it, whether yours will be a severe or fatal case, you may want to check out work done recently by a team affiliated with several institutions in the U.K.they pinpointed blood factors that could be linked to severe COVID cases.

 2021 Science X Network
Weddingtons death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.

While that case was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives. She was elected in 1972 and served three terms as a state lawmaker, before becoming general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.

Weddington later wrote a book on Roe v. Wade, gave lectures and taught courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Woman's University on leadership, law and gender discrimination. She remained active in the political and legal worlds well into her later years, attending the 2019 signing ceremony for a New York state law meant to safeguard abortion rights should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

This story has corrected the name of a university where Sarah Weddington gave lectures. It is Texas Womans University, not Texas Womens University.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
 Catching up on some criminal justice holiday commentary | Main | "Methods of Calculating the Marginal Cost of Incarceration: A Scoping Review" 

December 27, 2021

Early preview of SCOTUS cases considering criminal convictions for doctors opioid prescribing practices

I briefly noted the interesting federal criminal drug cases that the Supreme Court took up in early November in this post. With the top-side briefs now being submitted to SCOTUS, this local press article, headlined "U.S. Supreme Court will hear case of Alabama doctor who prescribed powerful opioids," provides a somewhat fuller preview. Here are excerpts:

Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court have agreed to hear the appeal of an Alabama pain doctor convicted of running a pill mill, a case that could change how federal prosecutors handle opioid cases. A federal judge in 2017 sentenced Dr. Xiulu Ruan of Mobile to 21 years in prison for several charges including drug distribution and money laundering related to operations at Physicians Pain Specialists of Alabama. Ruan appealed his conviction last year to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but lost. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed earlier this year to hear Ruans appeal. The doctor claims his prescriptions of fentanyl and other opioids were supposed to help patients with severe pain. In a brief, his lawyers said physicians should not risk arrest and prosecution for unconventional treatments when other approaches have failed. In Ruans case, he prescribed fentanyl approved for patients with cancer pain to people suffering from back, neck and joint pain, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.... Ruans appeal has been consolidated with another case, Dr. Shakeel Kahn, who practiced in Arizona and Wyoming. Both men were found guilty of violating the federal Controlled Substances Act and said juries were not allowed to consider a good faith defense, which is aimed at protecting doctors trying to help patients. The supreme court could uphold his conviction or send his case back to trial. Ruans criminal trial lasted seven weeks in 2017 and featured testimony from patients who supported the doctor and family members who said loved ones received dangerous doses of addictive painkillers. Prosecutors acknowledged that many patients received good care at the two clinics, but said some prescriptions fell far outside the norm. Ruan and another practitioner at the clinic, Dr. John Patrick Couch, were among the nations top prescribers of fentanyl painkillers. Couch was also convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He has also appealed his case. In its response, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice said Ruan prescribed much higher rates of opioids than other doctors and earned more than $4 million as a result. Ruan and his partner issued almost 300,000 prescriptions for controlled substances, they wrote. Prosecutors said Ruan had deep ties to drug companies that created fentanyl medications. After his conviction, they seized assets that included exotic cars, residential and commercial property.... In his brief, Ruans attorney wrote that Physicians Pain Specialists of Alabama did not operate as pill mills. The clinics only accepted patients with insurance, refused cash payment and used diagnostic tools to find the sources of patients pain. Only patients with intractable pain received fentanyl, Ruan testified at his trial. He also testified that the medication was a lifesaver for patients who would otherwise have to go to [the] ER during such an episode, the brief said. Pain patients have criticized crackdowns on pain clinics and doctors. Compassion & Choices, an organization that advocates for dying patients, submitted a brief in support of Ruan. Medical practitioners prescribing opioids to such patients in good faith are not drug pushers under the Act, according to the Compassion & Choices brief. Practitioners thus should not have to suffer the specter of criminal liability simply for treating such patients at such a vulnerable, critical, and private time in their lives.... Arguments in Ruans case are scheduled for March 1, 2022.

The briefing in Ruan v. US, No. 20-1410, is available at this SCOTUSblog link, and the brief from the defense sets up the issue this way in its Introduction:

To ensure that licensed medical professionals do not risk criminal prosecution and felony conviction based on simple malpractice, nearly all courts, construing the CSA and the implementing regulations, require that the government prove that the physician lacked a good faith basis for her prescription. See Pet. 4-5, 18-27. But not the Eleventh Circuit. According to the court of appeals, a doctor may be convicted under the CSA if her prescription fell outside of professional norms  without regard to whether she believed in good faith that the prescription served a bona fide medical purpose. That outlier position, if sustained, would result in the kind of sweeping expansion of federal criminal jurisdiction that this Court has repeatedly condemned. Kelly v. United States, 140 S. Ct. 1565, 1574 (2020) (quoting Cleveland v. United States, 531 U.S. 12, 24 (2000)); see also Bond v. United States, 572 U.S. 844, 862-865 (2014). It would also chill medical progress, disrupt the doctor-patient relationship, and criminalize prescriptions whenever a lay jury is persuaded that the physician exceeded the usual practice of medicine.

Though these cases are formally about the standards for criminal liability for these doctors, there are sentencing stories lurking here. First, of course, are the high sentencing stakes for any doctors found guilty of illegal drug distribution. Decades-long federal sentences are common  but not at all consistent as Prof Adam M. Gershowitz has detailed  and local press indicates federal prosecutors wanted sentences considerably longer than the two decades given to Drs. Ruan and Couch. But why might such extreme prison terms be needed, given that, once these doctors lose their prescribing licenses, they are functionally unable to repeat their crimes and their risk of recidivism is very low at their age? Simply put, some vision of retribution must be driving the severity of the sense, especially since deterrence of doctors is likely achieved by any criminal prosecutions and over-deterrence seems like a real risk here.

In the end, the fact that the sentencing stakes are so high likely helps explain why these cases got the Supreme Court's attention. And the debate over the whether the law requires proving a lack of good faith would, in a sense, get the the heart of the retributivist question of just how blameworthy these doctors really are. For all those reasons (and others), when oral argument takes place in a couple months, I will be interested to see if any Justices bring up any of the sentencing issues lurking beneath these cases.

Prior related post:

December 27, 2021 at 03:02 PM | Permalink

Comments

Given the massive amounts that can be made via a pill mill, I don't see how just any prosecution would be sufficient general deterrence.

I think the sentencing angle interacts with the question presented as follows: if the prescriptions were not in good faith, the defendant is just a drug dealer in a lab coat, and letting them off easier than other drug dealers creates an unwarranted sentencing disparity. Even worse, it lets the defendant who has privilege and who abused a position of trust off easier than one who likely had no such advantages.

Posted by: Jason | Dec 28, 2021 9:38:15 AM

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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said nuclear talks resuming in Vienna should focus on lifting sanctions and guarantees the US will return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

Iran said nuclear talks that are set to resume Monday in Vienna should focus on lifting sanctions on the Islamic republic and "guarantees" the US will return to the fold.

Negotiations to salvage the 2015 Iran nuclear deal resumed in late November, after a five-month hiatus following the election of ultraconservative Iran President Ebrahim Raisi.

The talks seek to bring back the United States, after it withdrew from the accord in 2018 under then president Donald Trump and began imposing sanctions on Iran.

Iran has reported progress in the talks, but European diplomats have warned they are "rapidly reaching the end of the road".

US negotiator Rob Malley has said there are only "weeks" left to revive the deal, if the Islamic republic continues its current pace of nuclear activities.

The talks are expected to get underway in the Austrian capital at 6:00 pm (1700 GMT), according to a source close to the negotiations.

Ahead of the resumption, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the agenda on Monday should be "the issue of guarantees and verification" on the lifting of US sanctions if it returns to the accord.

"The most important thing for us is to reach a point where we can verify that Iranian oil will be sold easily and without any limits, that the money for this oil will be transferred in foreign currency to Iranian bank accounts, and that we will be able to benefit from all the revenues," he said, quoted on Monday by state news agency IRNA.

The opening of the eighth round of the talks involves delegations from Iran and the other countries that remain party to the landmark accord -- Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.

The multilateral nuclear deal reached in 2015 offered Iran a lifting of economic sanctions in return for strict curbs on its nuclear activities.

The goal was to make it practically impossible for Iran to build an atomic bomb, while allowing it to pursue a civilian nuclear programme.

Story continues

But the deal started to unravel in 2018 when the Trump administration pulled out and began imposing sanctions on the Islamic republic.

US President Joe Biden has said he is willing to return to the deal as long as Iran also resumes the original terms.

- 'Positive message' -

Iran, which denies it wants to acquire a nuclear arsenal, has gradually abandoned its commitments to the accord since 2019, including by stepping up its enrichment of uranium.

The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently expressed concerns over Iran's growing stockpile of highly-enriched uranium.

Iran's arch-rival Israel, which staunchly opposes the nuclear deal, had reportedly warned in November that the Islamic republic had taken the technical steps to prepare to enrich uranium to military-grade levels of around 90 percent.

"Stopping Iran's nuclear programme is the primary challenge for Israeli foreign and security policy," Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday.

"We prefer to act through international cooperation, but if necessary, we will defend ourselves, by ourselves," he added.

On Saturday, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran director Mohammad Eslami said Tehran has no plans to enrich uranium beyond 60 percent, even if the Vienna talks fail.

Eslami said the enrichment levels were related to the needs of the country, in remarks published by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

"Our targets related to enriching uranium are meeting our industrial and production needs... and those of our people," he was quoted as saying.

Asked whether Iran plans to enrich beyond 60 percent purity if the talks fail, he said "No".

Moscow's ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, welcomed that statement on Twitter, calling it "a positive message".

In a tweet on Monday, Ulyanov said delegations from China, Iran and Russia met in the morning "to compare notes" before the talks start.

"We advise all the participants in the negotiations to come to Vienna with the will to obtain a good agreement," Iran's foreign affairs spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.

kam/hj/dv
MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 is again surging throughout the United States, with the Omicron variant already outpacing this summers Delta variant in the rate of daily cases.

However, numbers of hospitalizations have not yet reached those surging numbers this holiday season, according to CNN. That may not last, experts warn, because tens of millions of Americans continue to be at higher risk of complications and death because theyre not vaccinated.

"Although hospitalizations may be less, that doesn't mean zero. There are many places in the country where hospitalizations now are increasing," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., told CNN.

So far, 12 states have had at least a 10% increase in COVID hospitalizations this past week, according to U.S. Health and Human Services data. Overall, the country has seen a 2% increase in hospitalizations.

More than 69,000 Americans were hospitalized on Christmas Eve, the data shows. That is half last of last Januarys record high and lower than during the Delta surge, according to CNN.

The relatively low rate of hospitalizations could be due to a time lag, with hospitalizations only catching up with rising case numbers later. Researchers are still trying to determine if Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness, CNN reported. So, health experts and government officials have warned that Omicron could still overwhelm hospitals and healthcare workers.

COVID cases increased 48% over the past week. The average daily cases in the United States are now 182,682, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Prior to Christmas, testing shortages meant long lines in many metro areas.

Los Angeles County reported tripling case numbers in the last week, with 9,998 new cases for its roughly 10 million residents. Hospitalizations remained steady, CNN reported.

On the other side of the country, New York had a record-breaking 44,431 new daily cases on Friday, a 14% increase from Thursday.

"This is not a surprise," New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "This is a very, very contagious variant."

More information

The World Health Organization has more on COVID-19.

SOURCE: CNN

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STORM LAKE, Iowa -- A Sac City, Iowa, woman was arrested in Storm Lake on suspicion of selling methamphetamine.

Storm Lake Police stopped a vehicle at Eighth Street and Lake Avenue at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday for an equipment violation. After identifying the driver as Leticia Hightower, police found an active arrest warrant for escape from custody from Cerro Gordo County.

A K9 unit was brought to the scene and indicated the presence of narcotics in Hightower's vehicle. Police searching the vehicle found 15 grams of meth, a small amount of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Hightower, 43, was booked into the Buena Vista County Jail on charges of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, failure to affix a drug tax stamp, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of third-offense possession of a controlled substance. She was held without bond pending extradition to Cerro Gordo County.

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SIOUX CITY -- A Sioux City woman and a teenager face charges in connection with a hatchet attack earlier this month that left the victim hospitalized.

Police believe Mary Blair helped Malachi Bassette, of Winnebago, Nebraska, gain entry into an apartment at Dean Apartments, 1716 Nebraska St., on Dec. 18 to assault the occupant, who had earlier kicked Blair out of the apartment.

Blair, 52, was arrested Saturday on charges of first-degree burglary, willful injury causing serious injury, assault while participating in a felony and going armed with intent. She is being held in the Woodbury County Jail on a $60,000 bond.

Bassette, 16, was arrested Monday and faces the same charges. He was booked into the Woodbury County Jail and is being held in the Woodbury County Juvenile Detention Center.

According to a complaint filed in Woodbury County District Court, Blair and Bassette went to the apartment at about 6:55 a.m. Surveillance video showed Blair letting Bassette, whose face was covered with a bandana, into the locked apartment complex, have a brief conversation with him at a stairwell, then go to the victim's apartment. Blair knocked on the door and then stepped aside so Bassette could enter the apartment when the victim answered the door.

The 61-year-old victim told police he was in the apartment with his brother, who opened the door after hearing the knock. Once the door was open, Bassette struck the victim several times with the hatchet, causing a broken shoulder blade. The victim underwent surgery and has been released from the hospital.

In an interview with police, Blair said she blacked out when Bassette entered the victim's apartment. She called Bassette her protector and said he was mad that the victim had kicked her out of the apartment, court documents said.

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NEOLA, Iowa -- A Sioux City truck driver died Thursday after his rig left the road and crashed on Interstate 80 in Pottawattamie County.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, Donald Roller, 63, was exiting eastbound I-80 to westbound I-880 at 3:36 p.m., when his semi trailer ran off the road and rolled down the embankment. Roller was ejected from the truck.

His body was taken to the Iowa State Medical Examiner's office in Ankeny for an autopsy to determine if a medical condition may have contributed to the crash. The State Patrol on Monday said results had not yet been received.

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PARIS (AP)  A French tourist jailed in Iran since last year has begun a hunger strike to protest against mistreatment in prison, according to his sister and his lawyer.

Benjamin Briere, 36, was arrested in May 2020 after taking pictures in a desert area where photography is prohibited and asking questions on social media about Irans obligatory Islamic headscarf for women.

Briere was charged in March this year with spying and spreading propaganda against the system."

He began a hunger strike on Saturday after one more mistreatment after he was denied access to a phone call with his family on Christmas Day, his sister, Blandine Briere, told The Associated Press on Monday. He wants to protest ... and therefore put his health at risk to move things forward, she said.

At the moment, we dont see any move, we have no hope of change, of freedom, she deplored.

Blandine Briere described the difficult situation of her brother, who doesn't speak the local language, in the prison of the northeastern city of Mashahd, including psychological torture when guards promise him a phone call and later say no.

Physically he was doing OK (until now), but morally he has really started to sink, she said. It's getting critical. It is really a desperate call for help.

A statement from Benjamin Briere's Paris-based lawyer, Philippe Valent, said the feeling of abandonment and distress" has led him "to embark on a hunger strike in order to alert Iranian authorities and French authorities about the absurdity of his detention.

Briere has never been brought before a judge and no date for a trial has been set, the statement said. He is not a spy nor a criminal, but a tourist whose travel is continuing in an aberrant and unfair way in Iranian prisons, it added.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that French officials in Paris and Tehran have been very closely monitoring the situation and that Briere has been contacted by the French Embassy on Monday.

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

Rights groups accuse hard-liners in Irans security agencies of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West. Tehran denies it, but there have been such prisoner exchanges in the past.

In March 2020, Iran and France swapped French researcher Roland Marchal for Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad.

Marchal was arrested in June 2019 alongside fellow researcher Fariba Adelkhah, an anthropologist with dual French-Iranian citizenship. Adelkhah, who was given a five-year sentence for gathering and collusion against Irans security, was granted a furlough with no deadline in October 2020 and is required to stay at her sister's house in Tehran and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Isabel DeBre contributed to this report from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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DALLAS (AP)  Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday. She was 76.

Susan Hays, Weddingtons former student and colleague, said she died in her sleep early Sunday morning at her Austin home. Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.

Raised as a minister's daughter in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas. A couple years after graduating, she and a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.

The case of Jane Roe, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.

Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

Weddingtons death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.

While that case was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives. She was elected in 1972 and served three terms as a state lawmaker, before becoming general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.

Weddington later wrote a book on Roe v. Wade, gave lectures and taught courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Woman's University on leadership, law and gender discrimination. She remained active in the political and legal worlds well into her later years, attending the 2019 signing ceremony for a New York state law meant to safeguard abortion rights should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

This story has corrected the name of a university where Sarah Weddington gave lectures. It is Texas Womans University, not Texas Womens University.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
State Sen. Tom Brewer, a decorated veteran who knows something about overcoming adversity, is loading up another effort to obtain a victory that has eluded gun-rights advocates in Nebraska.

Brewer said he will introduce a proposal during the upcoming legislative session to allow Nebraskans to carry a concealed handgun without meeting the current requirements of a criminal background check, a $100 fee and an eight- to 16-hour class on safe gun handling.

Constitutional carry  which refers to the belief that the U.S. Constitution already gives people the right to carry concealed guns  is a hot-button issue that has previously failed in the Nebraska Legislature. But its the law in 21 states, including every state surrounding Nebraska except Colorado.

As of Nov. 1, there were more than 85,671 Nebraskans licensed to carry concealed weapons.

Earlier this year, Brewer abandoned a proposal that would have allowed Nebraska counties, with the exception of the three largest  Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties  to decide whether to allow permit-less carry of concealed handguns. Brewers decision came after a Nebraska attorney generals opinion raised serious constitutional concerns about delegating a state matter to county boards.

But Brewer, who represents Nebraskas traditionally conservative Sandhills, got a boost recently from Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Speaking during a town hall meeting organized by the National Rifle Association, Ricketts pledged to sign a statewide constitutional carry bill if it reaches his desk. While that was hardly a surprise, the pledge did reinforce the governors pro-gun credentials.

Law-abiding Nebraskans who are legally allowed to own a firearm should not have to jump through hoops to exercise their constitutional rights, Ricketts said in a statement this past week.

Brewer, who served six tours in Afghanistan and was wounded multiple times, agreed, and said that neighboring states have not reported issues with allowing concealed carry without training or background checks.

I dont see the downside of it, he said.

But the executive director of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence said she sees problems, especially for law enforcement, if people can carry concealed weapons without criminal records checks or safety courses.

The long and short of it is that guns are dangerous, said Melody Vaccaro of Lincoln. And it is not too much to ask people to go through some basic steps before carrying a loaded gun.

Passage of such a constitutional carry bill is not guaranteed, and squeezing it into a legislative agenda already loaded with several time-consuming debates will be difficult.

Here are some of the obstacles facing a constitutional carry bill in the 60-day, 2022 session that begins Jan. 5:

Its a new proposal, which will require a public hearing, advancement by a legislative committee, then three rounds of debate and approval. Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, speaker of the Legislature, has already said it will be a busy session, with debates over how to spend federal COVID-19 aid presenting another issue.

A constitutional carry bill would likely go to the Judiciary Committee, which hasnt been friendly to similar proposals. Brewer has said he will likely have to introduce a pull motion to advance the bill to the floor of the Legislature for debate without the committees consent. If the Judiciary Committee voted to kill the bill in committee, such a pull motion would require votes from 30 of the 49 state senators, instead of the usual 25 votes.

Some law enforcement agencies have concerns about removing regulation of concealed carry. While the Omaha Police Union testified in favor of Brewers 2021 gun bill because it allowed Omaha and other urban areas to retain more restrictive firearm laws, the union has concerns about allowing concealed carry statewide without training and a background check.

Sgt. Aaron Hanson, the legislative liaison for the union, said his organization is working with Brewer to find a compromise that respects the rights of law-abiding gun owners but doesnt create loopholes for criminals.

We have seen unintended consequences result from well-intentioned legislative efforts in other states, and we dont want to repeat that in Nebraska, Hanson said.

In the past, hes pointed out that gun laws differ in Omaha as compared to areas like the Sandhills. For instance, you can openly carry a firearm legally across the state, but in Omaha, a concealed carry permit is required to do that.

Gun rights are a hot-button issue, the kind of a controversial issue that some legislators would rather avoid weighing in on during an election year. That means there will likely be maneuvering to keep the bill from reaching debate by the full Legislature, and from senators taking a vote on the issue.

Brewer said he will get a priority designation for his proposal, increasing the chances that it will be debated, and has at least 25 supporters for his bill  a majority of senators, but short of 33 needed to fend off a filibuster. He thinks senators should weigh in on the issue ahead of the 2022 elections.

Well see who has the kahoonas to filibuster a Second Amendment bill during an election year, Brewer said.

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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The family of a retired school superintendent who died from an infection unrelated to COVID-19 believes he would have had a better chance of surviving had his transfer to a larger hospital not been delayed for 15 days because of the pandemic.

Dale Weeks' twin daughters told the Des Moines Register that their father stayed at the relatively small hospital in Newton, west of Des Moines, because larger hospitals couldn't spare a bed for him. Weeks died Nov. 28 at age 78.

Weeks lived in the southern Iowa town of Seymour, where he was the school superintendent before he retired in 2007. He went to the hospital in nearby Centerville on Nov. 1 thinking he might be experiencing the side effects of a flu shot or COVID-19 booster shot, but doctors diagnosed sepsis, a dangerous, blood-borne infection.

His family said the Centerville hospital did not have a bed for him, and it took that hospital until the next day to find one in Newton, 80 miles north.

He received intravenous antibiotics, but his infection didn't disappear. Family members repeatedly asked whether he could be transferred to a more advanced hospital.

We kept being told he was on a list of degrees of severity, and his number had not come up, said Jenifer Owenson, of Des Moines, who is one of Weeks twin daughters and one of his four children.

He was aware of the situation, Owenson said.

He was like, Why cant something be done? she said.

Representatives of the hospitals declined to comment on Weeks case but acknowledged the frustration caused by hospital crowding.

Marcy Peterson, spokesperson for the MercyOne system that operates the Newton hospital, said hospitals across the U.S. are dealing with the spread of the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants but also other cases of trauma and illness.

Weeks was transported to the University of Iowa hospital system on Nov. 17, where doctors concluded on Nov. 25 that he needed surgery to deal with a severe infection in an artery near his stomach, his daughters said. The next day's surgery lasted 17 hours, but Weeks continued to struggle, and a second, shorter surgery didn't halt his decline.

Although Weeks might have died had he been admitted immediately to a larger medical center sooner, his other twin daughter, Julia Simanski of Ankeny, said: "I think it would have given us a fairer chance.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A man wanted in connection with the shooting death of a toddler in suburban Kansas City has been arrested in Omaha.

Police have said the child died after a gun the 2-year-old was handling discharged Friday afternoon in Independence, Missouri.

The man fled after police went to the home to confront him about the incident. Police said they were initially told that the child was wounded by a bullet from a drive-by shooting, but investigators determined that wasnt what happened.

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said the 23-year-old Missouri man got a ride to Nebraska and made arrangements to meet someone at a restaurant in Omaha. But authorities were tipped off about the meeting, so officers were waiting for the man when he arrived Friday.

Douglas County Chief Deputy Wayne Hudson said the man was trying to break in to a pickup truck when he was arrested. He has been charged with theft in Nebraska and the sheriff's office is working with investigators in Missouri.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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The history of patriotism and military service behind one Harley Davidson motorcycle goes much deeper than the bikes American flag paint job.

The 2005 Old Glory Electra Glide has been owned by four Nebraska veterans in its lifetime, a story that came to light when the current owner rode the trike to a previous owners celebration of life earlier this month.

Bryan Miller, an Army veteran who lives in Tekamah, bought the motorcycle about four weeks ago.

I'm proud of it, he said. You pull up and people are looking at it and taking pictures of it, it makes you feel proud.

When Miller got a call about riding the motorcycle into Beemer for the bikes second owner Willis Willie Mahlers celebration of life, he didnt hesitate to help honor a fellow veteran.

It's a very humbling honor, he said. The general public looks at us as being rough, tough guys, but if you want to see big guys break down, it's at a funeral of a fallen veteran.

Mahler loved the motorcycle when he owned it, his son Adam Bradfield said. Mahler served in the Air Force and was active in honoring fellow veterans throughout his life. He helped form the American Legion Riders in Beemer in 2012, Bradfield said.

He was a big part of starting that and getting that finalized, which is a very proud moment in his life, Bradfield said.

Bradfield worked with Miller to surprise the rest of his family by having the motorcycle at his dads service.

That really, really pulled at our heartstrings when I was able to get it to the celebration of life, he said.

The story of the patriotic trike goes back to its original owner, Tom Dasenbrock of Venice, who purchased it from Dillon Brothers Harley Davidson in Omaha in 2005.

Then, it was just a white motorcycle. Dasenbrock, a Vietnam veteran, decided to convert it into a trike and add a patriotic paint job.

I have a great love for the flag, he said. Theres a lot of motorcycles that are patriotic and I wanted to make it over the top and turn the whole thing into a flag.

Dasenbrock said he enjoyed riding the bike until he traded it in in 2012.

Wherever we went, it was a showstopper because it was so unusual, he said.

The bike was then bought by Mahler, who owned it until 2016.

The bikes third owner, Reuben Dupsky of Fremont, purchased the bike in 2016 and owned it until he sold it to Miller.

Dupsky, also a Vietnam veteran, said he got a lot of use out of the bike, taking it to car shows and poker rides.

My favorite memory was just the prestige of riding it, he said.

Miller hopes to continue showing off the patriotism of the bike. He takes part in Patriot Guard rides and funerals for veterans.

Each previous owner said they are glad to see the bike has continued to be passed down among veterans. They hope the tradition continues.

I had my enjoyment out of it, and it was time for another veteran to have it and enjoy his time on it, Dupsky.

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HURON, S.D. (AP)  For the past 50 years, Shirley Apley has been the keeper of what she calls the Carr familys heritage plant  an amaryllis she received in 1971 from Jessie Carr Whittington, an aunt of Dr. E.W. Carr who founded the Carr Chiropractic Clinics in eastern South Dakota.

I grew up in Miller and Jessie just fascinated me, Apley said. She was about 80 then, and she kept journals all her life. She would tell stories of when she first got married and she and her husband homesteaded in Canada. She taught for two years in a school where all the children spoke French and she onlly spoke English. When they came back, they ended up in Miller because of the Carr family being around there.

She had amaryllis all over the place and she gave me one, she said. I kept that bugger alive and carried it all over the U.S. with me wherever I moved.

Apley returned to South Dakota in 2012, when she became director of the Huron Public Library. She plans to retire after a lifelong career as a librarian at the end of this year, the Huron Daily Plainsman reported.

I have the original plant here at the library, Apley said. Its been propagating, creating all these babies.

When Bridget Carr, whose husband is Dr. Josh Carr at Carr Chiropractic Clinic in Huron, joined the library board, Apley offered to give her some of the offspring from that original plant.

I said I bet you don know I have been caretaker for your familys heritage plant for over 50 years, she said. We were at a point where we needed to repot the plants, they were so overcrowded. I ended up with five new pots of plants.

Apley gave Bridget Carr two potted plants and many bulbs to pass out to family members.

Were hoping to keep them alive, Bridget Carr said. I thought it was amazing that she had kept them for so long and handed them back over. Im hoping we will keep the life going in them.

One of the potted plants will be heading back to the original Carr homestead north of Vayland, where the youngest daughter of Dr. E.W. Carr still lives.

I would say that plant has produced hundreds and hundreds of little bulbs, Apley said. Ive given them to family, friends, strangers. The main mother bulb no longer produces bulbs, and thats okay. We let her babies propagate. The main bulb is still here at the library.

Although she has been able to keep her amaryllis bulb alive for 50 years, that is the extent of her green thumb, Apley said.

This is the only plant Ive ever been able to keep alive, she said. I had a cactus I killed. For some reason, this one lived. Jessie taught me how to take care of it. I followed her instructions and that little bugger just kept producing babies.

I dont have any plants in my house right now because of my animals, I have two dogs, she added. One dog thinks thats lunch.

After retiring, Apley said her original plan was to pack up and move to Texas, where she could continue her research on two nonfiction books she is writing  one on the history of African American doctors in Fort Worth, and the other about a woman, Bessie, from the 1900s known for her pick-pocket skills and countless jail breaks.

But that plan changed when she received notification to report for jury duty in Sioux Falls for the month of January. Probably more toward the spring Ill put my house on the market, she said. All my research I need to do is down in Texas.

Apley has been a librarian since 1974, when she began working at the Vermillion Public Library while still in college. Her work has taken her across the country from Minnesota to Oklahoma to Texas. She had been in Texas 17 years before moving back to South Dakota and settling in Huron to be closer to her mother in her later years.

Its been a fun job, Ive enjoyed trying out new things to see how the community liked them, Apley said. Some things worked, some didnt.

A lot of people think public libraries are just for reading and its not, she added. The status of public libraries has changed  were community centers. We have crafts, games, puzzles, you can listen to live performances. We have a variety of stuff for everybody.

Apley said she will miss the library patrons that she has come to know over the years. Theres a camaraderie if youre talking about books. The other day a little girl came in shouting at the top of her lungs, Its time to collect books day. I said, Youre our kind of people.

They have been so much fun, she said. Huron has a love of reading I have not found in other communities. I hope they continue to support it with Angela (Bailey) taking over as the new director.

When she does move to Texas next spring, Apley said she plans to leave all of the amaryllis plants right where they are in the library office area, adding: Im ready to retire and start on my next adventures.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Huron Plainsman.

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OMAHA  Twitter has reversed the suspension of newly appointed State Board of Education member Kirk Penners account, saying it made the suspension in error.

In an email, the social media company told the World-Herald it had reversed the suspension and informed Penner of the error. Twitter did not immediately provide additional information on what led to the suspension.

Penner, a businessman and former member of the Aurora Public Schools board, indicated in a tweet that the suspension stemmed from a photo taken after a goose hunt.

At 10:22 p.m. Friday, Penner tweeted a screenshot appearing to show Twitter instructing him to delete his previous profile picture. The picture showed three people, dressed in camouflage, kneeling behind a row of dead geese. In the screenshot, Twitter said the picture violated its rules against graphic violence or adult content in profile images.

Goose hunting pics are not welcome on Twitter," Penner wrote in a tweet sharing the screenshot. "Been on my profile for 2 years. Had to change that goose hunting picture because evidently goose hunting is offensive. Interesting timing.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Penners appointment to the board on Thursday. Following his appointment, social media users shared screenshots of posts Penner shared, including one questioning vaccines for young children and another comparing Europes response to the pandemic to Nazi Germany.

By Friday afternoon, Penner's account had been suspended.

In a statement Sunday, Ricketts reiterated his support for Penner.

My stance on government-issued Covid vaccine mandates is clear and unwavering. While I encourage Nebraskans to get vaccinated, that remains a personal decision between individuals and their doctors. Kirk Penner has 16 years experience on the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education and is a respected member of the community. He is a great fit for the State Board of Education.

When contacted Saturday night, Penner said he had no comment.

At the top of his profile, Penner pinned an Oct. 26 tweet where he wrote, Using 5-11 year old children as guinea pigs is sad. Children are not at risk. The tweet was in response to a seven-second video from another account which showed a Food and Drug Administration official saying, Were never going to learn about how safe the vaccine is unless we start giving it.

U.S. regulators authorized Pfizers vaccine for younger children after millions of 12- to 17-year-olds received the shot. More than 5 million children ages 5 to 11 have gotten a first dose since early November, and government safety monitoring has not uncovered any surprise problems.

Separately, Penner retweeted a tweet that says, police are patrolling the streets to check peoples health papers to see if they are allowed to be there, in an apparent reference to Europes response to the coronavirus pandemic. We used to think this was only something that happened in Nazi Germany in the past.

Penner will complete the remainder of the term of Patricia Timm of Beatrice, who resigned from the District 5 seat in October, citing personal health reasons.

The term runs through Jan. 4, 2023. District 5 includes areas of Southeast Nebraska, including large parts of the south side of Lincoln.

The board and Nebraska Department of Education have faced criticism over much of the past year for their handling of proposed health education standards.

The initial draft of the standards, released in March, called for teaching elementary school children about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Gov. Pete Ricketts called for scrapping the sex education topics, saying those issues should be left to parents to address. Opponents of the standards packed board meetings and voiced objections in emails to board members.

Advocates praised the first draft of the standards, saying the language  which recognized diverse family structures, gender identities and sexual orientations  would have made those children and families feel welcome instead of ostracized.

In September, the board indefinitely postponed development of the standards.

Penner is far from the first Twitter user to have their account mistakenly suspended by the San Francisco-based company.

Earlier this year, Twitter suspended the account of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene twice in the span of about three weeks due to errors.

The Georgia Republican, who has in the past promoted violence against Democrats and conspiracy theories about QAnon and the 9/11 attacks, was unable to post to her account for multiple hours in April due to what Twitter said was a mistake by one of its automated systems.

That came roughly three weeks after Greenes account was suspended for about 12 hours in what the company also said was a mistake.

In 2016, Twitter accidentally suspended the account of company co-founder Jack Dorsey. That mistake came as Twitter suspended the accounts of several prominent members of the so-called alt-right in an apparent crackdown on accounts tied to hate speech or threats of violence.

In the wake of the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Twitter suspended the account of former President Donald Trump, citing the risk of further incitement of violence.

Twitter and other social media platforms have moved to block content and suspend accounts deemed to violate use policies.

Those decisions have opened the door to criticism from politicians, particularly Republican officials who allege the social media platforms are censoring conservatives.

GOP politicians in roughly two dozen states have introduced bills that would allow for civil lawsuits against platforms for what they call the censorship of posts. Many protest the deletion of political and religious statements, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democrats, who also have called for greater scrutiny of big tech, are sponsoring the same measures in at least two states.

Experts have said the legislative proposals are likely to run afoul of federal law, specifically Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. They said state lawmakers are wading into unconstitutional territory by trying to interfere with the editorial policies of private companies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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It will be a cold day in Sioux City, with temperatures in the 30s. The forecast calls for it to be a bitter 36 degrees. Today's forecasted low temperature is 23 degrees. Expect clear skies today. Sioux City could see periods of brisk winds today, with forecast showing winds from Northwest, clocking in at 18 mph. This report is created automatically with weather data provided by TownNews.com. Stay in the know. Visit siouxcityjournal.com for local news and weather.
2021 Arctic Report Card reveals a (human) story of cascading disruptions, extreme events and global connections

Posted on 27 December 2021 by Guest Author

This is a re-post from The Conversation

The Arctic has long been portrayed as a distant end-of-the-Earth place, disconnected from everyday common experience. But as the planet rapidly warms, what happens in this icy region, where temperatures are rising twice as fast as the rest of the globe, increasingly affects lives around the world.

On Dec. 14, 2021, a team of 111 scientists from 12 countries released the 16th annual Arctic Report Card, a yearly update on the state of the Arctic system. We are Arctic scientists and the editors of this peer-reviewed assessment. In the report, we take a diverse look across the regions interconnected physical, ecological and human components.

Like an annual checkup with a physician, the report assesses the Arctics vital signs  including surface air temperatures, sea surface temperatures, sea ice, snow cover, the Greenland ice sheet, greening of the tundra, and photosynthesis rates by ocean algae  while inquiring into other indicators of health and emerging factors that shed light on the trajectory of Arctic changes.

As the report describes, rapid and pronounced human-caused warming continues to drive most of the changes, and ultimately is paving the way for disruptions that affect ecosystems and communities far and wide.

Continued loss of ice

Arctic Sea ice  a central vital sign and one of the most iconic indicators of global climate change  is continuing to shrink under warming temperatures.

Including data from 2021, 15 of the lowest summer sea ice extents  the point when the ice is at its minimum reach for the year  have all occurred in the last 15 years, within a record dating back to 1979 when satellites began regularly monitoring the region.

The sea ice is also thinning at an alarming rate as the Arctics oldest and thickest multi-year ice disappears. This loss of sea ice diminishes the Arctics ability to cool the global climate. It can also alter lower latitude weather systems to an extent that makes previously rare and impactful weather events, like droughts, heat waves and extreme winter storms, more likely.

Similarly, the persistent melting of the Greenland ice sheet and other land-based ice is raising seas worldwide, exacerbating the severity and exposure to coastal flooding, disruptions to drinking and waste water systems, and coastal erosion for more communities around the planet.

NOAA Climate.gov/NSIDC

A warmer, wetter Arctic

This transition from ice to water and its effects are evident across the Arctic system.

The eight major Arctic rivers are discharging more freshwater into the Arctic Ocean, reflecting an Arctic-wide increase in water coming from land as a result of precipitation, permafrost thaw and ice melt. Remarkably, the summit of the Greenland ice sheet  over 10,000 feet above sea level  experienced its first-ever observed rainfall during summer 2021.

These developments point to a changed and more variable Arctic today. They also give credence to new modeling studies that show the potential for the Arctic to transition from a snow-dominated to rain-dominated system in summer and autumn by the time global temperatures rise to only 1.5 degrees Celisus (2.7 F) above pre-industrial times. The world has already warmed by 1.2 C (2.2 F).

Such a shift to more rain and less snow would further transform landscapes, fueling faster glacier retreat and permafrost loss. The thaw of permafrost not only affects ecosystems but also further adds to climate warming by allowing previously once-frozen plant and animal remains to decompose, releasing additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

This years report highlights how retreating glaciers and deteriorating permafrost are also posing growing threats to human life through abrupt and localized flooding and landslides. It urges coordinated international efforts to identify these hazards. More rain in the Arctic will further multiply these threats.

NOAA Climate.gov/CS ERA5

Rising human impact

Observed changes and disruptions in the Arctic have bearing on everyday lives and actions worldwide, either directly or as stark reminders of a range of human-caused harm to climate and ecosystems.

An Arctic Report Card essay on beavers expanding northward into Arctic tundra to exploit newly favorable conditions is a case study for how species around the world are on the move as habitats respond to climate shifts, and the need for new forms of collaborative monitoring to assess the scale of the resulting ecological transformations.

An essay on marine garbage from shipping washing ashore on the Bering Sea coast, posing an immediate threat to food security in the region, reminds us that the threat of both micro- and macro-plastics in our oceans is a preeminent challenge of our time.

A report on shipping noise increasingly infiltrating the Arctics underwater marine soundscape, to the detriment of marine mammals, is a call to conserve the integrity of natural soundscapes worldwide. For example, a recent unrelated study found that noise caused by human activities and biodiversity loss are deteriorating the spring songbird soundscapes in North America and Europe.

Jeff Erickson

Yet, an Arctic Report Card essay from members of the Indigenous Foods Knowledges Network highlights how, despite the continued climate threats to Arctic food systems, Alaska Indigenous communities weathered early pandemic disruptions to food security through their cultural values for sharing and community-first approaches.

Their cooperation and ability to adapt offer an important lesson for similarly struggling communities worldwide, while reminding everyone that the Arctic itself is a homeland; a place where large-scale disruptions are not new to its over 1 million Indigenous Peoples, and where solutions have long been found in practices of reciprocity.

An Arctic connected to the rest of the world

The Arctic Report Card compiles observations from across the circumpolar North, analyzing them within a polar projection of our planet. This puts the Arctic at the center, with all meridians extending outward to the rest of the world.

NOAA Climate.gov

In this view, the Arctic is tethered to societies worldwide through a myriad of exchanges  the natural circulation of air, ocean and contaminants, the migration of animals and invasive species, as well as human-driven transport of people, pollution, goods and natural resources. The warming of the Arctic is also allowing for greater marine access as sea ice loss permits ships to move deeper into Arctic waters and for longer periods of time.

These realities illuminate the importance for increased international cooperation in conservation, hazard mitigation and scientific research.

The Arctic has already undergone unprecedented rapid environmental and social changes. A warmer and more accessible Arctic results in a world only tethered more tightly together.<! Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --> <! End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines -->

Matthew Druckenmiller, Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder; Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Twila Moon, Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Disney+ movie Togo is about the heroic run of the titular Siberian husky, who led a team of sled dogs across hundreds of miles to deliver diphtheria antitoxin to the town of Nome, Alaska, during an outbreak of the disease in 1925. Directed by Ericson Core, with a Writers Guild Awardnominated script by Tom Flynn, Togo is based on the events of what become known as the Great Race of Mercy, or the 1925 serum run to Nome. Scenes from the run are interspersed with flashbacks to Togos origin story, showing him making repeated escapes from the kennel of musher Leonhard Seppala (Willem Dafoe).

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The title card at the beginning declares that Togo is based on a true story, but how much of this is hard history and how much is Disney magic? Was Togo really such a good boy as the movie suggests? We consulted cousins Gay Salisbury and Laney Salisburys deeply researched book about the serum race, The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic, along with what few other sources we could find, to break it all down below.

Togo

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In Disneys telling, Togos beginnings are an underdog story. As a puppy, he is a runt with little more than a fighting spirit and the endorsement of Seppalas wife, Constance (Julianne Nicholson). Seppala grumbles that Constance is too softhearted and hints that a bullet might have been the easiest solution to Togos behavioral issues. And Togo has many behavioral issues: Hes magnetically drawn to Seppala, such that he successfully defies any of Seppalas attempts to pen him up or give him up for adoption. Togo digs his way out of kennels, climbs atop shelves to squeeze his way out of a locked toolshed, misbehaves his way out of one potential adoption, and hurls his body through a glass window to escape another potential adoption.

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According to The Cruelest Miles, although Togo was the only puppy in his litter, he was indeed smaller than average, and worse, he had a painful condition that made his throat swell. The Salisburys also write that Togo was indeed difficult and mischievous, as well as resistant to being locked up. He once attempted to leap over a 7-foot-high fence and got stuck in the wiring. He was disruptive to harnessed sled dogs, just as hes shown to be in the film. Finally, Seppala did indeed attempt to give Togo away to a woman who tried to make him a house pet, and according to The Cruelest Miles, Togo really did escape by jumping through a windowpane.

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In the movie, Togo gets his first break by busting loose and harassing Seppalas harnessed team until Seppala finally gives him a chance run with the big dogs. By the time Seppala arrives at home, Togo has been moved to the lead position, and Seppala is marveling at Togos speed. According to the Salisburys, this is also true to life. The real-life Seppala was astounded at the effect of the harness: The 8-month-old Togo went from pesky to serious, and Seppala finally understood what Togo had been wanting all these months: to be a member of the team. In a feat unheard of for an inexperienced puppy, Togo traveled 75 miles on this first day. Seppala described him as an infant prodigy and a natural-born leader.

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The dog that plays the adult Togo in the movie is a so-called Seppala Siberian named Diesel (the Seppala Siberian is now its own breed) and is actually Togos great-grandson, 14 generations removed, according to the movies director. Not only is Diesel related to Togo, he also resembles Togo in coloring: Unlike many Siberians, Togo had a darker coat. Its worth mentioning that Togos own lineage wasnt too shabby: His father was Suggen, who had led Seppalas team to victory in the 1914 All Alaska Sweepstakes race.

The Diphtheria Outbreak

At the start of Togo, Seppala arrives in town after a run to find that a diphtheria outbreak has already claimed the lives of five children. Mayor George Maynard (Christopher Heyerdahl), who is also the publisher of local newspaper the Nome Nugget, and the town doctor, Curtis Welch (Richard Dormer), gather the important-looking men of the town in a saloon. Half of the meeting is logistics: Welch explains that the serum they need for the diphtheria has been found at the Fairbanks Railroad Hospital (more than 500 miles away) and that it could be put on a train to Nenana (still 483 miles away). Maynard is all in favor of getting the diphtheria antitoxin flown in by airplane, weather notwithstanding. The other half of the meeting is not-so-subtle pressure on Seppala to ride to Nenana to pick up the serum. Seppala is initially unmoved, but after peeking into the windows of the town hospital and seeing children crying and coughing, he is convinced he must go, despite the misgivings of his wife.

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In real life, things played out a bit differently. Welch and Maynard were present at the equivalent meeting, but Seppala was not present nor very much involved in the decision. Still, his reputation was perhaps even greater than the movie suggested: According to The Cruelest Miles, he was known as the fastest musher in Alaska, and his nickname was the King of the Trail. It was Seppalas boss at the Hammon Consolidated Gold Fields Company, Mark Summers, who came up with the plan to use two teams of dogs, traveling toward each other from Nenana and Nome to meet at the halfway point in Nulato. Summers is also the man who recommended Seppala for the run. He told Seppala that the ad hoc health board believed that Nomes fate lay in Seppalas hands.

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And while, in the movie, Constance Seppala initially objects to her husbands participation, saying that the town should pick someone with more stake in [the diphtheria outbreak], in reality the Seppalas did have more of a stake than is indicated by the film script: They had an 8-year-old daughter named Sigrid.

The Great Serum Race

In the movie, Seppala sets out for Nenana in the midst of a blizzard. In reality, the winds were in a rare state of calm, and Seppala had a crowd to cheer on the beginning of his journey to Nulatohalfway to Nome, but still a six-day journey encompassing a total of 630 miles. As shown in the movie, more teams were added to the relay mid-run, and so Seppala ended up traveling a total of 261 miles (170 miles to pick up the serum and 91 miles with the serum)still an enormous distance. Despite the differences in the Disney version of the storysuch as the blizzard at the beginningthe fictionalized aspects are not an exaggeration of the dangers involved. The trail between Nulato and Nome was one of Alaskas most hazardous, with most of it running along the windswept, blizzard-prone coast of Norton Sound, known to Alaskans as the ice factory, write the authors of The Cruelest Miles. The most dangerous part of this trail was the 42-mile shortcut across the sound. The safer alternative was twice as far. Beyond the possibility of getting caught in a storm or a dog injuring its paw on a shard of ice, it was also likely that the ice of the Norton Sound could break up and carry the team out to sea. It had happened to others.

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One of the most terrifying moments in the movie is the second crossing of the Norton Sound, on the way back toward Nome with the serum. Seppala and his team are crossing the sound when they find themselves stranded on an ice floe, separated from shore by a narrow but formidable strip of sea. Seppala tosses Togo ashore, and the dog somehow manages to tow the floe close enough to the coast to enable the rest of the team to follow.

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This is very close to what Seppala told the Boston Sunday Post really happened, albeit not on this particular run but on a previous trip. And while the suspense in the movie is more than adequate, Seppala described even more danger. In Seppalas account, as summarized in The Cruelest Miles, the tow rope connecting Togo and the rest of the team on the floe snapped, and the end of the rope fell into the water. Togo jumped into the water, clambered back out, wrapped the rope around his body, and pulled.

Leonhard Seppala

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In the movie, Leonhard Seppala is depicted as a stoic, hardscrabble Norwegian whose demeanor is in direct contrast to that of his softhearted Belgian wife. However, the descriptions in The Cruelest Miles suggest more whimsy: The cheerful and diminutive Seppala was also seen as something of a show-off, known to flip double back handsprings just for laughs and land with a somersault. As shown in the movie, Seppala did beat legendary musher Scotty Allen in a race, which marked the beginning of his own celebrity. One competitor described his communion with dogs as unnatural control or hypnotism.

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The mutual trust between Seppala and Togo was also as depicted. Togo was Seppalas favorite, and the musher often depended on Togos instincts and sense of smell when his own vision failed him.

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Balto

Balto makes a brief cameo in the movie: Hes the lead dog in Gunnar Kaasens team. Because Kaasen is the one who actually delivers the serum to Nome, he is the one who receives the lions share of the glory. While certain details have been changed, this is largely what happened, and explains the disproportionate fame that the real-life Balto has enjoyed; beyond the media attention, there were movie deals, a tour, and a statue.

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None of this is to say that Balto deserved no credit: Kaasens team had to drive through a blinding blizzard, and according to The Cruelest Miles, Baltos senses of smell and touch were what kept the team on the trail. And although Seppala did not seem upset on his own account (he praised Kaasen), he was reportedly upset that Togo had not received his due. According to The Cruelest Miles, Seppala wrote: I hope I shall never be the man to take away credit from any dog or driver who participated in that run. We all did our best. But when the country was roused to enthusiasm over the serum run driver, I resented the statue to Balto, for if any dog deserved special mention it was Togo.

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On the topic of unsung heroes, The Cruelest Miles also notes the deficient coverage on the contribution of the Native driverswho covered nearly two thirds of the run but were not as interesting to movie producers or reporters. As the Salisburys put it, they were considered a part of the landscape.

Togos and Seppalas Deaths

The movie leaves out several details about Togos death. By January 1927, Seppala had opened a kennel with a socialite named Elizabeth Ricker in Poland Springs, Maine, and he was traveling between Alaska and Maine. He made the decision to leave Togo behind in Maine in March 1927, concerned that the journey would be too much for the retired dog. And while the movie Seppala gets the date of Togos death right (He left us on a Thursday in December), in reality Seppala decided to put Togo to sleep, given Togos joint pain and partial blindness.

As for Seppala, he lived to be 89. While my trail has been rough at times, he wrote in his diary at age 81, the end of the course seems pretty smooth, with downhill going and a warm roadhouse in sight. And when I come to the end of the rail, I feel that along with my many friends, Togo will be waiting and I know that everything will be all right.
How to Do It is Slates sex advice column. Have a question? Send it to Stoya and Rich here. Its anonymous!

Dear How to Do It,

I have a predicament with my boyfriend. Weve been together for a few years, and from early in our relationship, he would often make sexual advances while asleep. As far as I can tell, he genuinely cannot remember anything the next morning, and while its always a little surprising on my end (Im usually asleep beforehand, too), its never risen to anything near forcible. I can easily stop him, and he usually stops on his own anyway after just a minute or two, once he wakes himself up.

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It was humorous and even felt like a compliment in the beginning. The longer weve been together, though, its bothering me more and more. Hes usually sleep-talking while hes doing this, and Im always frightened about what Im going to hear: someone elses name? Something even more out of character? Indeed, his advances are usually different while asleep than when were awakeboth in tone (a little rougher) and in focus (first finger up my ass came while asleep, for example).

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Weve talked about it, and he feels embarrassed and uncomfortable. I do too, especially because this nighttime activity feels out of sync with our waking sex and life. I feel he may be more open or expressive of his desires in this state, and I am wondering if I should take this as indicative of what he wants sexually? How he feels about me in general? Or should we leave this as an exception and focus our attention on the times were both awake and able to make intentional/active decisions about what we want and do not want? How do I encourage this as a topic of conversation rather than shame?

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Zombie

Dear Zombie,

The question of whether your boyfriend is presenting his true nature in his sleep would seem to open the door for some existential pondering about who we really are. As much as I love a good ponder on human essence, though, theres a much simpler and decisive way to approach this question: through neuroscience.

To help make this easy for us, I once again spoke to neurologist Guy Leschziner, clinical lead for the Sleep Disorders Centre at Guys Hospital in London. The way I would view the sexual behavior that this chap exhibits is probably not as an illustration of some deep-rooted desire to have sexual activity in that way, but as a function of the fact that his brain is not working normally, Leschziner told me. What follows is his reasoning.

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What your boyfriend seems to be presenting is sexsomnia, which is part of a larger group of sleep disorders known as non-REM parasomnia. These occur in deep sleep; sleepwalking is another example of one. Leschziner said that parts of a sleepwalkers brain may remain in deep sleep, while others are active. The human brain has the ability, at least in some people, to be awake and asleep at the same time, with different areas of the brain in different states simultaneously, Leschziner put it in his wonderful 2019 book The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience, and the Secret World of Sleep. The parts that remain asleep, Leschziner explained, include the frontal lobes, which is the seat of rational thinking and decision-making, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory. Among the parts that remain active is the limbic system, which is involved in motional processing and some of our basic behaviors, like eating, like sex, like fear, Leschziner said.

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Essentially, then, during parasomnias, youre witnessing not the persons essence but a distortion of it. The brain is simply not functioning in concert, as it does normally. The sum of our brain functions is what makes us our true selves, not the individual parts, which are often regulated by other parts. We have areas of our brain that are primarily programmed to generate aggressive or primitive behaviors, Leschziner said. In normal life, we also have frontal lobes that appropriately inhibit our behavior, that socialize us.

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This distorted functioning can cause vegans to eat raw meat, or people to ingest toxic substances (in cases of sleep-related eating disorders). That hardly sounds like unconscious desires finally being allowed to flourish. Theres also the famous case of Phineas Gage, the 19th-century railroad construction foreman whose entire personality changed when his frontal lobe was pierced with a tamping iron. (Gage, in fact, may have been the first person to indicate to experts that certain areas of the brain were responsible for different aspects of personality.)

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I hope this fascinates you as much as it did me. In terms of helping your boyfriend, though, perhaps it may be helpful to let him know that what he is presenting is actually a documented phenomenon, that its not his fault, and that treatment is possible (including medicine, stopping snoring, abstaining from drinking before bed, and creating an undisturbed environment). His first step should be to undergo a sleep study. Also, you should remind him that while you have been somewhat concerned by his behavior, its clearly not a deal-breaker (or at least, not yet). Youve accepted and accommodated him; getting this looked at would accommodate you. And he should.

Dear How to Do It,

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Is it wrong for me to have a fetish for my wife smoking cigarettesand to ask for her to indulge it for me? She doesnt smoke, but sometimes she will while we have sex.

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Up in Smoke

Dear Up in Smoke,

Im going to give you an unequivocal yes (its wrong!), but Im coming to you not from a sex advice columnist perspective but from that of an ex-smoker. For about seven years, I pretty much chain-smoked throughout the day. I smoked inside. I lit up upon waking up. I squirmed at the movie theater, no matter how good the film was, because I missed my fix. Quitting at age 26 was the hardest thing Ive ever done, and I would never wish that upon anyone. I dont care what it looks like; I dont care the access to the private (and shrinking) club of smokers it affordssmoking is disgusting and dangerous. Not everyone who smokes will get addicted, and it could very well be that your wife goes through the motions of scratching your fetishistic itch unscathed, but I think it is unethical to risk hooking her. Beyond the potentially addictive component to your fetish, its simply bad for her health. You are asking her effectively, Could you die a little bit for me?, every time youre asking her to light up. My prescription: stop.

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Dear How to Do It,

Im a woman in my late 20s, and somehow Ive become the gateway person to submissive sex for every partner Ive had as an adult. I dont enjoy it. For context, Im very type A/ambitious/detail-oriented. Ive always been told Im fairly forceful as a personality, and I tend to know what I want. But despite exploration and lots of vanilla sex, dom/sub sex on the submissive side is the only thing that reliably gets me off. Im apparently a competent domme, but it does very little for me sexuallythe most its been fun has been occasional novelty of being a service top with an ex-girlfriend.

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Unfortunately, I seem to explicitly attract mostly people (especially men) who want to submit, and have gotten good at bringing it up early so I can find that incompatibility and politely decline. But I still have lots of issues with people who say they want to top me or want to explore dominance who end up under me every time. Two serious ex-boyfriends who considered themselves dominant in bed now are pretty much only into submission, the aforementioned ex-girlfriend went from switch-y to not, and several one-time hookups who talked a big game about fucking me the way I want to be fucked ended up begging me to sit on their faces.

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This seems like a hot problem maybe, but its very frustrating. Ive tried rolling back my intensity and waiting patiently for the other person to make most of the moves, but usually I have to focus so hard on holding back that I cant come or enjoy myself when it does happen. Im seeing a new woman now that I really like but Ive been avoiding sleeping with her because Im not sure how to handle this. Advice?

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Topping From the Bottom

Dear Topping From the Bottom,

This is something a lot of men who have sex with men go throughthere are guys who prefer to bottom who fit the superficial template of tops in terms of their presentation, but you know what? They end up getting dick anyway. If youre not down to take requests and cant really deal with having to turn people down in the moment, I think you should get in front of it by being very explicit about what youre into on apps or in sex spaces. There are plenty of kink-leaning apps that will allow you to spell out what youre looking for in no uncertain terms. I think if youre going to keep facilitating this sex via in-person interactionsa choice that I generally agree with, though its obviously complicated in your casethen you should in fact top from the bottom. Be exacting and dont take less than what youre asking for. Having to explain what youre into, despite appearances, may be your destiny. Negotiating who we are with who people think we are can be a lifelong process, and while its frustrating, its worth sticking with if only because we have no other option in order to share our true selves with the world. Make yourself heard, and you will be by someone who matters.

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Dear How to Do It,

I hooked up with an ex-boyfriend after five years, and we started to get to it until we realized neither he nor I had condoms. After he left, I was kind of stumped, as his dick seemed much smaller than it had when we were dating. He had lost about 30 pounds and everything I could find said most guys penises seem larger because of the loss of fat at the base of the pubis, not the opposite. And it didnt just seem shorter, but less thick. Does aging do anything to shrink it or was it just psychological trick me remembering it as bigger? Since we never did anything more, I could never judge if it might have felt the same and the opportunity has never arisen to try to get together again. Since then, he met someone else, so I probably wont have the opportunity to ever find out either. Do you know if this is possible, or am I cray-cray?

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Missing Inches

Dear Missing,

Shrinkage is, indeed, a thingand it can be way longer lasting than the situational kind described on Seinfeld. Usually the change isnt too drastic, but it may be observable to the eagle-eyed connoisseur. There are a few known causes for this, which include Peyronies disease, weight gain, and prostate surgery. Another culprit: erectile dysfunction. In these cases, the thought is that the shrinkage occurs due to the loss of spontaneous and nocturnal erections, explained Dr. Charles Welliver, director of mens health at Albany Medical College. This more frequent nourishing blood keeps the penis healthy. The every-so-often erections guys get for intercourse (on average most people have sex once a week) wouldnt be enough to support good penile health and would lead to the shrinkage. The length maintenance is more about the erections and semi-elections (chubs if you will) that happen when not having sex. Welliver actually discussed this topic in more detail, including ways of treating such shrinkage, on an upcoming episode of the How to Do It podcast on the specific topic of COVID dick. So be on the lookout for that one.

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So, its possible that your ex has lost some girth. Its also possible that youre misremembering. Ive done thatevery once in a while Ill catch a FWB on the long lap and Ill be slapped in the face with the realization that my memory was extremely generous with the inches. Again, it could be that your ex experienced one of the aforementioned conditions in the intervening time, but it could also be the rose-colored funhouse mirror of nostalgia coming from inside of you.

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Im a man in his early 30s at home for the holidays from Thanksgiving to New Years. (I havent seen my family the whole pandemic, so Im staying for a while.) Im staying at my dads house, where my younger brother also lives right now after his engagement ended this year. He is an attractive kid and already has a new girlfriend who seems to come around often. Shes nice. The problem is that they are having sex constantly, and loudly, when she comes over at night. And the problem-problem is what my brother just revealed when I told him I could hear them.
Sen. Ben Cardin sounded a cautiously optimistic note on Sunday, insisting that there is still hope for the Build Back Better legislation to make a comeback. The catch? Its unlikely to make a lot of Democrats very happy. There is unanimity in our caucus that we want to get a bill to the president, and we are working to see what that bill will contain. President Biden is directly involved in these negotiations, Cardin said on Fox News Sunday. The key will be for Democrats to be able to compromise in order to move the spending plan forward. We are prepared to move. We just need to make sure we have unanimity in our caucus. And thats what were working on, and we will start on that next week when we return, the Maryland Democrat said.

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Democrats are back at the negotiating table after Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said earlier this month he would not support the current version of the bill. When host Mike Emanuel asked Cardin if there was a risk of losing support from progressives with a scaled back legislation, the senator acknowledged Democrats needed to find the right balance. I think we can reach that sweet spot. Look, a lot of us are going to be disappointed, but were not going to let perfection be the enemy of getting something done, Cardin said. I think well be pragmatic about it, but we want to make sure it deals with the issues that were facing in our communities.

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Meanwhile, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is calling on Biden to continue focusing on the spending bill while urging him to use executive action to get around Manchins opposition to the legislation. The Progressive Caucus will continue to work toward legislation for Build Back Better, focused on keeping it as close to the agreed-upon framework as possible, she wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. While discussions continue on the legislation, Biden should take executive action to immediately improve peoples lives. Doing so, will also make clear to those who hinder Build Back Better that the White House and Democrats will deliver for Americans.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, said he was stunned and dismayed by the way supporters of Donald Trump booed the former president when he revealed he had received a COVID-19 booster shot. Trump said during a live appearance in Dallas alongside former Fox News anchor Bill OReilly earlier this month that he had received the booster, and the crowd responded with boos. OReilly also revealed he got the booster shot. I was stunned by that, Fauci said on ABCs This Week. I mean, given the fact of how popular he is with that group, that they would boo him, which tells me how recalcitrant they are about being told what they should do.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci reveals he was stunned when former Pres. Trumps supporters booed him for getting booster shot, telling @jonkarl it showed how recalcitrant they are about being told what they should do. https://t.co/CxSdhhlI9G pic.twitter.com/V8q606rmrs  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 26, 2021

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OReilly later revealed that Trump wasnt happy with the reaction from the audience and claimed he had to console the former president. Even if he was shocked by the reaction, though, that didnt stop Trump from continuing to advocate for the vaccines. Many of Trumps supporters are still reeling from an interview days later with Candace Owens in which Trump pushed back against the right-wing pundits stance against the COVID-19 vaccines. The results of the vaccine are very good, Trump said. People arent dying when they take the vaccine.

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NEW: During their show in Dallas, President Trump reveals to @BillOReilly he got the vaccine booster shot. pic.twitter.com/fhkOQEeeEQ  No Spin News (@NoSpinNews) December 20, 2021

Fauci celebrated Trumps pro-vaccine comments, saying it could help convince people to get the shot. Well take anything we can get about getting people vaccinated, Fauci said. The nations top infectious disease specialist added that he hopes it isnt a temporary turn for the former president. I think that his continuing to say that people should get vaccinated and articulating that to them, in my mind, is a good thing, Fauci added. I hope he keeps it up.

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At the beginning of the administration, the beginning of the year, there were essentially no rapid point of care home tests available. Now, there are over nine of them and more coming, Dr. Fauci tells @jonkarl when pressed about test availability. https://t.co/CxSdhhlI9G pic.twitter.com/OE90ricetw  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 26, 2021

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During the interview, Fauci also acknowledged the government obviously needed to do better regarding getting at-home COVID-19 tests to people across the country. I mean, I think things will improve greatly as we get into January, but that doesnt help us today and tomorrow, he said. Fauci also warned against thinking that the apparently lower severity of the omicron variant means people dont have to worry as much about the coronavirus. The issue that we dont want to get complacent about, Jon, is that when you have such a high volume of new infections, it might override a real diminution in severity. So that if you have many, many, many more people with a less level of severity, that might kind of neutralize the positive effect of having less severity when you have so many more people, Fauci said.

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An Israeli hospital began giving a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose to a small group of health care workers as part of an effort to study the safety and effectiveness of a second booster shot amid a surge in cases due to the highly transmissible omicron variant. In what is being billed as the first study of its kind in the world, 150 health care workers who received a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least four months ago are getting a new shot. Results of the trial will be turned over to Israels Health Ministry in around two weeks.

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Many officials around the world are likely to keep close tabs on the study considering how Israel was the first to fully launch a vaccine booster program after it realized that immunity decreased over time. Even though there are hints that the omicron variant may lead to milder infections, an increase in infections around the world is already causing a surge in hospitalizations.

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The study is starting a week after a panel of medical experts recommended to the Israeli government that medical workers, people over 60, and those with compromised immune systems receive a second booster. Some have warned the recommendation was too premature considering there is no real data on a second booster shot, but officials have said the country couldnt afford to wait considering the rising cases. We cant close our eyes and think happy thoughts, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said. We have to prepare.

Nothing has been decided yet, but reports in Israeli media suggest the government may at first limit the second booster to those who are older than 70. And while they make the decision, officials say they also want to get a better handle on what kind of risk the omicron variant represents. The biggest question is, how significant is omicron? Its clear to all that it is very contagious. But whether it causes very severe illnessthats the most significant question, Gili Regev-Yochay, who is running the trial, said.
The end of the Christmas weekend didnt mark the end of headaches for travelers around the world as airlines continued canceling flights on Monday. As of Monday morning, airlines around the world had canceled 2,391 flights, with China and the United States being the most affected, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Out of that total, 874 involved flights within, into, or out of the United States.

During the holiday weekend, around 8,000 flights were canceled around the world. The cancellations continue to be in large part due to the fast spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant that led to lots of crew members testing positive for COVID-19 or isolating because they were in close contact with people who tested positive. But storms in the western United States are also complicating things for air travelers.

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On Sunday, Delta blamed winter weather in portions of the U.S. and the omicron variant for its numerous cancelations. Delta canceled 161 of its 4,155 flights scheduled for Sunday. JetBlue, meanwhile, said it had canceled 110 flights Sunday. We have seen an increasing number of sick calls from omicron, JetBlue said, adding that more cancellations were possible. United also blamed the highly transmissible COVID-19 variant for the wave of cancellations. The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation, a United spokesperson said.

Even if travelers dont suffer canceled flights, they are increasingly likely to experience delays. As of Monday morning for example, at least 6,591 flights had suffered delays around the world, including 1,735 involving the United States, according to FlightAware. That is still a fraction from Sunday, when more than 7,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States suffered delays. Southwest had the most delays on Monday, which the airline blamed on weather challenges across the country.
In November, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $1.2 trillion package includes $65 billion for broadband access, affordability, and adoption.

Its about time: Despite the pandemic calling significant attention to the gap between those with and without broadband, frequently called the digital divide, it remains firmly entrenched. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the total count for those in the country lacking access to the minimum standard of internet service is 21.3 million. Depending on how you count, however, it may be much worse: Other estimates, however, range from 42 million to 157.3 million people. (This wide range of estimates are caused by the underlying dataset of FCC maps, which is self-reported from providers and prone to over counting. Further, the FCC only collects data on the availability from providers, when we really need the numbers depicting broadband adoption.)

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This gap disproportionately affects low-income households. A June report from Pew found that 80 percent of white adults have home broadband adoption, compared with 71 percent of Black and 65 percent of Hispanic adults. The FCCs 2018 Broadband Deployment Report estimated that 35 percent of residents on Tribal lands lacked access broadband speeds of 25/3 Mbps (the FCC defines broadband as a minimum of 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds, often referred to as 25/3 Mbps), compared with 8 percent of the U.S. overall. While the funding appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is historic and will certainly narrow the divide, the money alone cannot close it. Actually closing the digital divide requires changes to the systems surrounding broadband deployment, affordability, and inclusion.

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The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act wisely requires internet service providers to adopt a broadband nutrition label or a standardized format for internet providers to disclose information about price, ancillary fees, and speeds. The package also funds the new Affordable Connectivity Program, which will provide $30 per month to qualifying low-income households and $75 in tribal areas to pay for internet service. Research by New Americas Open Technology Institute, where I work, shows that U.S. internet prices are among the worlds highest, particularly in rural and Tribal communities. (Disclosure: New America is a partner with Slate and Arizona State University in Future Tense.) Providers that receive taxpayer funding through the Affordable Connectivity Program are required to regularly report pricing data to the Federal Communications Commission. The inclusion of a label for this program is a huge win for transparency: U.S. internet providers often bury information about service and price in confusing contracts, hidden fees, and convoluted billing schemes. This requirement will help consumers understand their total cost of service and facilitate comparison-shopping. But to close the digital divide for good requires pricing data collection for every provider, not just those participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

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Closing the digital divide, especially in rural areas, will also require protecting community-owned broadband networks, which are networks that are owned and operated entirely by communities, or public-private partnerships, from state laws outlawing their existence. Currently, community broadband networks serve more than 900 communities across the country. These networks maintained by city governments, Native Nations, rural utility cooperatives, and other local institutions can bolster competition among providers, thereby reducing costs for consumers while offering faster connection speeds. Further, community networks attract new businesses and improve the current employers ability to create more jobs. A 2017 report on community-owned fiber networks showed that community broadband networks charge less for broadband service than private competitors serving the same communities. The report also found residents of 24 areas across the United States where municipal service providers were available could save anywhere from $20 to $600 annually by subscribing to the municipal option, rather than to other private competitors in the area. Despite the proven success of these networks, 25 states currently have laws to create barriers for municipal broadband networks; 18 of these states have explicit prohibitions on public broadband services.

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In addition to protecting and promoting municipal broadband networks to increase competition, the government should strengthen antitrust enforcement in the internet services market. Antitrust enforcers such as the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice need to ensure a competitive marketplace and block mergers that undermine competition. The current U.S. market for home broadband is dominated by just four companies, the wireless market by just three. This lack of choice affects the cost and quality of internet service. Research demonstrates that competition at the 1 Gbps speed level (the equivalent of 1,000 Mbps) leads to price reduction. For plans advertised between 25 Mbps and 1,000 Mbps download speed, competition on average reduces prices by $13.28 to $29.08 per month. This research also found that each additional provider offering 1 Gbps service in a market reduces prices for comparable plans by $50 to $60 per month. Stronger enforcement of antitrust laws can block anticompetitive provider practices, prevent harmful mergers, or break up providers that have become too big.

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Closing the digital divide in Native Nations requires particular attention and policymaking. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which became law in December 2020, included a $980 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program intended to expand access to broadband on Tribal Lands and support programs that promote the use of broadband access on Native Nations for remote learning, telework, or telehealth. In 2021, more than 280 Tribes have submitted requests for funding adding up to $5 billion, far exceeding the allotted amount for the program. Native Nations need more resources and access to policymaking that will create solutions that meet the particular needs of their communities.

Spectrum sovereignty is a superb example of a policy solution designed with Native Nations to solve connectivity issues in their communities. Public airwaves, or spectrum, are a range of electromagnetic frequencies used to transmit and receive information. The FCC divides spectrum into bands of frequencies and allocates the bands for purposes such as Wi-Fi, broadcasting, or mobile. In 2020, the FCC opened a priority filing window for tribal communities to apply for licenses in the 2.5GHz band prior to a commercial auction. This was an opportunity never before offered to Native Nations, and 292 applications were granted. Already, the Havasupai Tribe, located at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, has used its 2.5 GHz license to provide GED and community college classes for students on a reservation with only one elementary school, at 20 percent high school graduation rate, and no higher education opportunities. Moving forward, the tribe plans to use the license to increase telehealth and emergency service opportunities critical to a tribe located in such a remote area. Additionally, representatives from tribes across the country with 2.5 GHz licenses are gathering for Tribal Wireless Bootcamps to learn how to build wireless networks that connect buildings in their communities to broadband. But allocating spectrum to Indigenous communities doesnt have to end with the 2.5 GHz spectrum proceeding. Every year or two, the FCC allocates new spectrumand auction or not, its an opportunity for the prioritization of Native Nations. More broadly, include Indigenous voices in any conversation about policymaking to close the digital divide.

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Finally, the digital divide is further entrenched by a lack of ability to use technology and communicate digital information, otherwise known as digital literacy. The infrastructure package included the Digital Equity Act to provide funding to implement training programs that teach communities skills to access digital tools and provide technology to people needed to access broadband services. Many initiatives directly addressing digital literacy and inclusion already exist. For example, Philadelphias new Digital Navigators program helps residents better access and use technology and the internet, from sharing info on low-cost internet options to advising on device setup. Digital Navigators across the country are working to help members of their community learn to use online services that provide guidance with food support, rent, education, employment, and more. While programs funded by the infrastructure package will be instrumental in supporting this ongoing work to ensure all communities can understand and use technology, we can do more. A Digital Futures Foundation funded by a share of proceeds from spectrum auctions could continue the work to identify and support the best methods and investments in innovation to ensure all individuals can benefit from digital literacy and inclusion.

For many, the transition to life online felt, at least technologically speaking, seamless. During the height of the pandemic, those with broadband could continue distance learning, seeing their doctor virtually, working remotely, and connecting with loved ones on video calls. But while its become normal to assume that everyone has access to something as ubiquitous as the internet, that couldnt be further than the truth.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Several reasons behind the low vaccination rate in Slovakia. The Health Ministry confirms the purchase of the Lagevrio medicine.

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Good evening. Read the Monday, December 27, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia to catch up on the main news of the day in less than five minutes. We wish you a pleasant read.

One year of vaccination later, the rate is still low

Vaccination in a bus in Kosice (Source: TASR)

On December 26, Slovakia marked one year since vaccination against Covid started. Till now the nation has managed to vaccinate just half its population, amounting to some 5.5 million inhabitants.

This places Slovakia among the least-vaccinated countries in the EU, with Bulgaria and Romania being worse off.

The low vaccination rate in the country has been a source of frustration for epidemiologists and public health officials, and a reason to worry for hospital staff once again facing overflowing Covid wards and intensive care units. In fact, as the Delta wave started accelerating, healthcare professionals issued a joint call on Slovakias people to get vaccinated, though with little effect.

Observers ascribe the failure to vaccinate a critical mass of people to several poor political decisions, ambiguous political communication about the vaccines, and questioning the advice of experts, which contributed to increased vaccine reluctance. With the already above-average inclination to believe in hoaxes and disinformation, these are seen as the main reasons why just about 2.7 million people were vaccinated against the virus that has killed more than 16,400 people in Slovakia so far.

Problems with the 350 bonus for medical staff members

A medical worker in Ruzinov hospital. (Source: TASR)

More than 10,000 medical workers either failed or did not want to register for a one-off state bonus at 350 gross, which they are to receive in January 2022 along with their December salary, as the Sme daily reported. The actual number may be even higher.

The state gave doctors, nurses and other medical professions only three days to register  from Monday, December 20 to Wednesday, December 22  through an online form at the website of the National Health Information Centre (NCZI) in order to receive the money.

The Health Ministry originally planned to pay out more than 50 million to 107,000 workers in hospitals, outpatient departments and other facilities. Only 96,822 registered for the bonus.

Some medical workers addressed by Sme said that the registration period was too brief, the others indicated other problems, like the lack of official information.

Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (OLaNO) already said that the money will also be given to those who missed the deadline.

This is not the sole problem in relation to the bonus. When presenting the one-off remuneration, PM Eduard Heger and Finance Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) failed to mention that the 350 amount will be taxed, meaning that people will receive about 300.

In addition, not all people working in medical facilities are entitled to a bonus. This includes ambulance drivers and medical support staff.

For a deeper insight into current affairs, check out our Last Week in Slovakia, published earlier today. You can sign up for the newsletter here.

More Covid and vaccination developments

1,221 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 4,995 PCR tests performed on December 26. The number of people in hospitals is 2,619 , and 47 more deaths were reported on Sunday. The vaccination rate is at 49.72 percent, 2,734,731 people having received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.

out of 4,995 PCR tests performed on December 26. , and were reported on Sunday. The vaccination rate is at 49.72 percent, of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here. Slovakia will purchase nearly 35,000 packages of Lagevrio , an oral antiviral medicine containing the active substance molnupiravir. Even though the government cancelled the purchase, which was part of the joint procurement of the European Commission, the bilateral agreement with the producer is still valid, the Health Ministry said.

, an oral antiviral medicine containing the active substance molnupiravir. Even though the government cancelled the purchase, which was part of the joint procurement of the European Commission, the bilateral agreement with the producer is still valid, the Health Ministry said. The interest in the (third) booster shot of the Covid vaccine is enormous , Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (OLaNO nominee) told the TASR newswire, with most people registered in the online waiting room system waiting for the booster. In his opinion, the financial reward promised to old people who get vaccinated had the greatest impact. The interest in the first and second shots is also on the rise.

, Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky (OLaNO nominee) told the TASR newswire, with most people registered in the online waiting room system waiting for the booster. In his opinion, the financial reward promised to old people who get vaccinated had the greatest impact. The interest in the first and second shots is also on the rise. Self-governing regions will continue with vaccination against Covid before the years end. Many centres will also be open for people not registered for the shot; the list can be found on the Health Ministrys website.

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Travel information

The Czech Republic has changed the entry conditions for foreign nationals. Starting on Monday, December 27, the country will require all incomers to present a negative PCR test not older than 72 hours, even if they are vaccinated or recently recovered from the disease. The exception will be given to people vaccinated with the booster. In addition, incomers are required to fill in the Passenger Locator Form and take another PCR test after their arrival.

Picture of the day

Animals celebrated Christmas this year as well. The pictures below capture the dogs in the animal shelter in Trnava who are enjoying their gifts.

Feature story for today

Separating plastic bottles and cans from general waste will change in Slovakia as of the New Year. People will need to learn not to squeeze and trash bottles. Empty plastic (PET) bottles and cans will be collected in supermarkets and shops, with a deposit of 15 cents. Here are answers to some basic questions about returnable bottles and cans:

All you need to know about the deposit system for bottles and cans (Q&A) Read more

In other news

It is possible to meet the milestones necessary for Slovakia to ask for the first payment from the EU recovery plan , PM Eduard Heger (OLaNO) told the TASR newswire. Even though some milestones are already late, such as the new court map, the university reform and expenditure caps, there is still time, he added. The respective laws need to be approved by the cabinet by January 12, so that they can be subsequently discussed in the parliament.

, PM Eduard Heger (OLaNO) told the TASR newswire. Even though some milestones are already late, such as the new court map, the university reform and expenditure caps, there is still time, he added. The respective laws need to be approved by the cabinet by January 12, so that they can be subsequently discussed in the parliament. Altogether 87 percent of marginalised Roma households are threatened by poverty , and 52 percent face serious material deprivation , as stems from the EU SILC MRK 2020 analysis published by the Office of the Governmental Proxy for Roma Communities, in cooperation with the Slovak Statistics Office.

are threatened by , and , as stems from the EU SILC MRK 2020 analysis published by the Office of the Governmental Proxy for Roma Communities, in cooperation with the Slovak Statistics Office. FunGlass  the Centre for Functional and Surface Functionalised Glass, part of Alexander Dubcek University in Trencin, will become the centre of the International Year of Glass next year . 2022 was declared the year of glass by the United Nations Organisation, following the motion of the International Commission on Glass.

 the Centre for Functional and Surface Functionalised Glass, part of Alexander Dubcek University in Trencin, will become the . 2022 was declared the year of glass by the United Nations Organisation, following the motion of the International Commission on Glass. A second-level warning against avalanches has been declared in the Slovak mountains. Above the forest level, the steep, north-oriented gorges are especially dangerous.

has been declared in the Slovak mountains. Above the forest level, the steep, north-oriented gorges are especially dangerous. The tourist organisation in the Liptov region has launched the operation of free skibuses to the ski resorts in Jasna and Malino Brdo. One last note: The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute has issued first-level warnings against low temperatures and ground ice. The warning against low temperatures will be in place for selected districts of the Zilina Region, Banska Bystrica Region, Presov Region and Kosice Region, between 23:00 of Monday (December 27) and 8:00 of Tuesday (December 28). The warning against ground ice is in place for the entire country, from 11:00 of Tuesday (December 28) until 17:00 of Wednesday (December 29).

SHMU warnings for December 27-29, 2021. (Source: SHMU)

More on Spectator.sk:

Bojnice Castle exhibit featured in a US film starring George Clooney Read more

An ancient diploma, important for his holder, found by archaeologists in Bratislava Read more

Only champagne should be exploding in the Tatras. New Years Eve will have no firecrackers Read more

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
https://sputniknews.com/20211226/harris-says-doesnt-feel-shes-being-set-up-by-biden-reiterates-she-is-vp-1091820892.html

Harris Says Doesn't Feel She's Being 'Set Up' by Biden, Reiterates She Is VP

Harris Says Doesn't Feel She's Being 'Set Up' by Biden, Reiterates She Is VP

Harris and her boss Biden have been under fire after the latter put her in charge of seemingly thankless tasks like the border crisis, along with a range of... 26.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-26T21:52+0000

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Despite allegations from other Democrats in the US media that she was given an impossible portfolio by President Biden during their first year in office, Vice President Kamala Harris stated that she does not believe she is being "set up to fail," amid her ongoing struggle with plummeting approval ratings and staff reportedly fleeing the "bully" vice president.In an interview with Margaret Brennan of CBS, shown this Sunday, the vice president was asked whether she agreed with the assumption that President Joe Biden handed her a portfolio that is meant to work against her in terms of her political future.Moreover, Harris refused to clarify whether she thought the scrutiny she was under was because she is a Black woman.Brennan also recalled a recent episode from Harris' interview with comedian Charlamagne, in which the vice president visibly showed "a flash of anger" in response to a question about who the real president of the country is, Biden or the Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin, who last week effectively torpedoed the White House's social spending agenda.In that interview, Harris emotionally responded to the question, asking the comedian not to "act like a Republican" by asking such questions, and reminded him that Joe Biden is indeed the president, while she is "Vice President and my name is Kamala Harris."To Brennan's question, Harris responded that it was not anger, but "frustration." And that these days "injustice" fires her up.Is Democracy the Biggest Threat to Harris?In a separate segment of the interview, Harris apparently made a slip when asked by a reporter about what she saw as the "biggest national security challenge" to the country. The vice president pointed out that "frankly" speaking, it is democracy.Later in the interview, she corrected her previous remark, saying that the "fight for the integrity of our democracy" is necessary.The vice president, meanwhile, considers her greatest achievement so far, after holding the office for nearly a year, to be the fact she is the first person of her gender and ethnic background to reach the vice presidency, which she says inspires children to believe that anything is possible in terms of being who they want to be.The vice president's image and job fitness have allegedly been damaged recently by a staff exodus, fuelling rumors of a terrible work climate, which have surrounded the vice president for a large part of the year. According to those claims, Harris is a "bully" who has subjected her staffers to "a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism." One former Harris staffer reportedly claimed that there is a particularly "abusive environment" in the vice president's office, and "people often feel mistreated."In the past month, Ashley Etienne, Harris's communications director, and Symone Sanders, senior adviser to the vice president and chief spokesman, both announced their departures.And according to recent reports in the US media, some other prominent staffers working for Harris are "eyeing the exits." The White House has played down the departures, with press secretary Jen Psaki claiming it's "normal" for people to want to "move on."As Harris was seen by many as the 79-year-old Bidens successor as the Democratic standard-bearer during her campaign last year and early in her vice-presidential term, her portfolio has come under scrutiny from critics and analysts, and some have recently questioned the political future of the first woman of color in such a high position.Harris's responsibilities include, among other things, dealing with the migrant situation at the US border, voting rights, and campaigning for President Biden's major social policy bill. However, the vice president's personal approval ratings have fallen with Biden's since taking office, and even hit record lows, overtaking Biden's poll numbers in the rate at which they have declined.

https://sputniknews.com/20211226/vp-kamala-harris-faces-plummeting-ratings-amid-intense-scrutiny-as-second-in-command-1091814803.html

TruePatriot LOLOLOL. She is not being set up to fail because she is already such a failure - and that was known going on. As to VP - yep, she's that - Virtually Pointless. The lazy, inept, and incompetent clown is a disgusting embarassment for all the world to see 4

vot tak Neither biden or harris are worth anything. These are zio-quislings like trump and pence. Gofers. 3

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democrat, us, democracy, party, vice president, kamala harris
https://sputniknews.com/20211226/journo-mocked-online-for-saying-selfish-people-like-desantis-are-the-reason-for-omicron-outbreak-1091822251.html

Journo Mocked Online for Saying 'Selfish' People Like DeSantis Are the Reason for Omicron Outbreak

Journo Mocked Online for Saying 'Selfish' People Like DeSantis Are the Reason for Omicron Outbreak

Throughout the pandemic, DeSantis has been panned by American liberals and some media for refusing to impose strict lockdowns like some of his colleagues in... 26.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-26T23:23+0000

2021-12-26T23:23+0000

2021-12-26T23:23+0000

us

florida

lockdown

ron desantis

covid-19

delta variant of covid-19

omicron strain

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A Miami Herald journalist has put the blame for the omicron COVID-19 strain emergence in Florida on Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming the outbreak was caused by his own selfish acts in a recent op-ed.In a story titled "Last lesson of 2021, Florida: Omicron happens when we act selfishly, like Gov. DeSantis" and published earlier in the week, columnist Fabiola Santiago suggested that surging infection rates are all due to Floridians "giddily taking risks." Currently, the state is seeing a resurgence of hours-long COVID-19 testing lines and an increase in deaths, according to the report.Social media users did not appear to side with the columnist, with many joking about how DeSantis has also intentionally spread Omicron in other US states, and that the reasoning behind her suggestion was obviously flawed.According to independent analyses done by the New York Times and Florida authorities, while the state is indeed seeing a sharp spike in new cases of COVID-19, the death rate has declined 52% on average over the past two weeks, according to NYT.Santiago claimed that DeSantis "is still busy peddling treatment instead of prevention" and "calls giving a damn about the science of contamination 'Faucism, adding that the governor's dispute with top US epidemiologist Dr. Fauci is merely a diversion from his own political aspirations.According to the journalist, even extremely transmissible omicron has not changed how "vaccine-stagnant, mask-rejecting" Floridians have dealt with the pandemic, as Santiago called this attitude as "contagious as the virus."Santiago concluded by naming the omicron strain "the last lesson of 2021," urging Americans to "heed it, and wear the holiday smile behind the mask.""We will not let anyone ruin their businesses, and we will not let anyone close their schools, so people are going to be able to live life," DeSantis said. "They're going to be able to make their own decisions."

vot tak The israelis promoting this zio toss are literally the same war criminals who promoted the Iraq wmd lies. The same war criminals killing Syrians and Donbass people. The zionist nazi freak de santis belongs on the end pf a noose for war crimes and zio-treason. 1

vot tak The article is neocon garbage from those who are Russia's devout enemies, btw. Why are the zio-things still writing their propaganda here? 1

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Kirill Kurevlev

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Kirill Kurevlev

us, florida, lockdown, ron desantis, covid-19, delta variant of covid-19, omicron strain
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/afghan-traders-council-says-kabul-airport-contract-should-be-given-to-uae-1091840056.html

Afghan Traders Council Says Kabul Airport Contract Should Be Given to UAE

Afghan Traders Council Says Kabul Airport Contract Should Be Given to UAE

KABUL (Sputnik) - Afghanistan's traders council has urged the government to pass the contract concerning operations at the Kabul Hamid Karzai International... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T15:13+0000

2021-12-27T15:13+0000

2021-12-27T15:13+0000

asia & pacific

afghanistan

taliban

uae

kabul international airport

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The council noted that more than 200,000 Afghans have settled in the UAE and invested millions of dollars in the country and added that daily there were about 10 flights between the countries prior to regime change.Former Afghan officials have a different point of view, saying that international norms and other measures will improve aviation services provided by the country and will increase income.Last Thursday, officials from Qatar and Turkey visited Afghanistan to discuss operations at the Kabul International Airport. The agreement also included airports in the provinces of Balkh, Herat, Kandahar and Khost. Afghan Transportation Ministry spokesman Imamuddin Ahmadi said the parties did not reach the agreement, adding that consultations would continue until the agreement is concluded.In August, the Taliban* took over Afghanistan during the withdrawal of US troops from the country. In September, the Taliban announced an interim government.*The Taliban is an organisation under UN sanctions for terrorist activities

FeEisi Turkey and Qatar are supporters of ISIS in Syria when it was convenient to support them. 1

1

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asia & pacific, afghanistan, taliban, uae, kabul international airport
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/aussie-banned-from-leaving-israel-until-december-31-9999-unless-he-pays-3-mln-in-child-support-1091837197.html

Aussie Banned From Leaving Israel Until December 31, 9999 Unless He Pays $3 Mln in Child Support

Aussie Banned From Leaving Israel Until December 31, 9999 Unless He Pays $3 Mln in Child Support

Israels strict stay of exit policy allows authorities to stop anyone, including foreign nationals, from leaving the country until their debts are repaid... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T13:39+0000

2021-12-27T13:39+0000

2021-12-27T14:11+0000

israel

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0c/1b/1091837153_348:0:1793:813_1920x0_80_0_0_81c6591e5c2022f64c0ac1c63fbea451.jpg

An Australian national has reportedly been confined to Israel for 7,978 years, until 31 December 9999 unless he is able to pay a $3 million+ in child support debt, Australian and Israeli media report.Noam Huppert, a 44-year-old Australian analytical chemist, said he moved to Israel in 2012 to be closer to his two young children after his ex-wife left Australia and took them to her native land.Shortly after, Huppert says, his former spouse took him to court, which issued a stay-of-exit order against him, prohibiting him from leaving the country until he has proactively paid off his future debt of 5,000 Israeli shekels (about $1,600 US) a month until both children, who were aged five years and less than one year old at the time, turned 18.Huppert says the total child support amount calculated in 2013 was roughly 7.5 million shekels ($3.34 million US). Until the debt is paid, the man says, he wont be allowed to leave Israel for any reason, even for work.Since 2013, I am locked in Israel, he told News.com.au.Huppert believes there are "thousands" of other foreign men like him who are trapped in Israel under the "stay of exit" order, whose existence is little known and little reported on outside the country. Huppert told the outlet he hoped his story would help other Australians who may suffer this literally life-threatening experience.Israels child support laws are extremely strict, and foreign ex-spouses can not only be locked inside the country, but face imprisonment for up to three weeks at a time each time they fail to make a payment. Former spouses can, like Huppert was, be ordered to pay the entire child support amount forward until their children are adults."No Exit Order: Documentary Movie" features dozens of testimonials by foreign nationals from around the world, including Americans, Swedes, Canadians, Spaniards, and others who are trapped in Israel under the "stay of exit" order. In addition to child support, the order can be applied for a variety of other reasons, from debts big or small to overstaying on a visa. Some of the foreigners testify that in addition to being unable to leave Israel, they have been barred from doing basic things like working, claiming benefits, studying, getting a drivers license, opening a bank account, or starting a business.The US State Department has a warning on its Israel travel advisory website warning that civil and religious courts in Israel actively exercise their authority to bar certain individuals, including nonresidents, from leaving the country until debts or other legal claims against them are resolvedUS citizens, including those without Israeli citizenship, should be aware that they may be subject to involuntary and prolonged stays (and even imprisonment) in Israel if a case is filed against them in a religious court, even if their marriage took place in the United States, and regardless of whether their spouse is present in Israel.The US Embassy is unable to cancel the debt of a US citizen or guarantee their departure from Israel when they face a bar from leaving the country until debts are resolved, the State Department says.The Israeli government website features a tool allowing people preparing to travel outside the country to check whether they have a stay of exit order against them, either online or by calling a special hotline.The Israeli government does not provide any statistics on the exact number of people, including foreigners, affected by the "stay of exit" order. However, Marianne Azizi, a journalist and lawyer who has spent years investigating the matter, says hundreds of Australians may be affected, and that a source at the British Embassy told her several years ago that they were getting around 100 enquiries a month on the matter.

Bonny King Nothing but money counts for these people, eh? 2

Dang! Well if the Aussie is a captive of Nazi Israel he might as well kill his ex and 2 kids!! You're gonna die there anyway, why prolong the pain of living among white supremacist Israeli Nazis?!?! 2

6

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Ilya Tsukanov

Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

israel
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/chilling-footage-shows-alleged-crossbow-wielding-windsor-castle-intruder-threatening-to-kill-queen-1091827214.html

Chilling Footage Shows Alleged Crossbow-Wielding Windsor Castle Intruder 'Threatening to Kill Queen'

Chilling Footage Shows Alleged Crossbow-Wielding Windsor Castle Intruder 'Threatening to Kill Queen'

A video has been obtained by The Sun showing a crossbow-wielding man in a hoodie and mask threatening to assassinate the Queen in revenge for 1919 Amritsar massacre.

2021-12-27T08:21+0000

2021-12-27T08:21+0000

2021-12-27T08:21+0000

queen elizabeth ii

prince charles

prince andrew

uk

windsor castle

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https://cdnn1.img.sputniknews.com/img/07e5/0a/11/1089994292_0:0:3070:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_af41ee659299379b8a753390e42da72e.jpg

A video has been obtained by The Sun showing a crossbow-wielding man in a hoodie and mask threatening to assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Amritsar massacre.The footage emerged after a 19-year-old intruder was arrested by police inside the grounds of Windsor Castle on Christmas Day.As Jaswant Singh Chail is shown to have uploaded the pre-recorded video to Snapchat at 8:06am on Christmas Day, just 24 minutes before the arrest made inside the royal grounds, he is suggested as being the suspect.The man in the footage holds a black crossbow and using a filter to distort his voice says:It is believed that Sith is a reference to villains in Star Wars franchise, while Darth Jones could relate to James Earl Jones who voiced Darth Vader  the primary antagonist.The outfit worn by the man, as well as the framed picture of Star Wars character Darth Malgus visible in the background, add to the Star Wars motif.The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, or Massacre of Amritsar, occurred on 13 April 1919, when British troops fired on a large unarmed crowd protesting against the arrest of pro-Indian independence leaders in the Punjab region of India, killing 379 people and wounding 1,200 others.Besides the footage, the man also sent a message on Snapchat stating:According to Scotland Yard, detectives are studying the footage posted on social media ahead of the Christmas Day incident at the Queen residence.The 95-year-old monarch was marking her first Christmas without her husband of 73 years Prince Philip, who died aged 99 in April. Amid concerns about the pandemic and soaring COVID-19 cases across the nation, a decision had been taken by Buckingham Palace that the Queen should stay in Windsor Castle and not travel to Sandringham, as is traditional.Police are yet to release the name of the suspect arrested shortly after 8.30am on 25 December after he was spotted on CCTV. The man had scaled an outer wall and was crossing the grounds of Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II was spending Christmas Day in the company of her eldest son Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Camilla.Police confirmed a crossbow was found after the intruder, who, according to cited sources, appeared not to know what to do with himself was arrested.There is no indication the intruder was known for making threats to any members of the Royal Family before the incident, which is being taken extremely seriously. Crossbows require no licence or registration.Police are said to have searched the Southampton home of the suspect, where he resides with his family.Police are reportedly looking into how the man was able to breach the spiked perimeter fence of Windsor castle. The Mail on Sunday said the man had likely used a rope ladder to gain access from the Long Walk, located in an area of parkland that can be accessed by members of the public. Furthermore, an internal security review will be held after the incident.Retired chief superintendent Dai Davies, the former head of royal protection at Scotland Yard, was cited as saying:There have been similar incidents in the past. In 1982 an unemployed Londoner, Michael Fagan, entered the Queen's private chambers at Buckingham Palace while she was in bed before being apprehended by police.According to a story in The Times, Fagan climbed into the palace through an unchecked window in the offices of Vice Admiral Sir Peter Ashmore, despite recent security reviews and more than 20 officers who guarded the palace 24 hours a day.More recently, a woman posing as a guest entered the home of Prince Andrew, Royal Lodge on the Windsor Great Park estate. After first being detained by security, she was eventually sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

https://sputniknews.com/20211225/uk-police-arrest-armed-trespasser-at-windsor-castle-during-queens-christmas-get-together-1091800525.html

https://sputniknews.com/20210421/glamorous-windsor-intruder-fooled-guards-claimed-she-was-engaged-to-prince-andrew-1082689606.html

windsor castle

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Svetlana Ekimenko

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Svetlana Ekimenko

queen elizabeth ii, prince charles, prince andrew, uk, windsor castle
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/chinas-space-station-conducts-preventive-manoeuvres-to-avoid-collisions-with-elon-musks-starlink-1091835023.html

China's Space Station Conducts Preventive Manoeuvres to Avoid Collisions With Elon Musk's Starlink

China's Space Station Conducts Preventive Manoeuvres to Avoid Collisions With Elon Musk's Starlink

Billionaire SpaceX founder Elon Musk owns the Starlink satellites. SpaceX has deployed nearly 1,900 satellites to serve its Starlink broadband network to broaden its satellite-based Internet outreach worldwide.

2021-12-27T13:22+0000

2021-12-27T13:22+0000

2021-12-27T13:22+0000

international space station

space

spacex

elon musk

satellites

us

china

space

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China has slammed the US for not informing China or the United Nations about the activities of Starlink satellites, which allegedly endangered lives on board Chinas space station. The Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) has said that Starlink satellites, launched by SpaceX, had two close encounters with the China Space Station on 1 July and 21 October this year.In the words of the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna), the two instances constituted dangers to the life or health of astronauts aboard the China Space Station.As per information shared by China, the Starlink satellite had been travelling stably since 19 April 2020 in orbit at an average altitude of around 555 km. However, between 16 May and 24 June 2021, the Starlink-1095 satellite manoeuvred continuously to an orbit of around 382 km, and stayed in that orbit.The mission underlined that Chinas Space Station has travelled stably in a near-circular orbit at an altitude of around 390 km on an orbital inclination of about 41.5 degrees.The Chinese mission mentioned that the US violated Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty, which says States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entitiesChinas Manned Space Programme completed five launch missions in 2021, with the successful launch into orbit of the Tianhe core module of the China Space Station, the Tianzhou-II and Tianzhou-III cargo spacecraft, as well as the Shenzhou-XII and Shenzhou-XIII crewed spacecraft. After four crewed missions, the station is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

https://sputniknews.com/20211206/space-force-general-claims-china-moves-twice-the-rate-of-us-in-space-race-may-overtake-it-by-2030-1091300563.html

Pluto in Capricorn The United States does not abide by Law and Rules, but forces everyone else to abide by the Law and rules so threat of force. Who forces the US to behave under the same rules as everyone else? Nobody. 2

Bob Dylan Don't get your little chinese baby balls in a bunch...LOL 1

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international space station, space, spacex, elon musk, satellites, us, china, space
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/curfew-at-night-rallies-during-the-day-bjp-member-slams-own-party-for-double-standards-on-covid-1091831601.html

'Curfew at Night, Rallies During the Day': BJP Member Slams Own Party for Double Standards on COVID

'Curfew at Night, Rallies During the Day': BJP Member Slams Own Party for Double Standards on COVID

India on Monday reported 578 cases of the new Omicron strain - a hike of 37 percent from Sunday's tally of 422. Meanwhile, a total of 6,531 new cases and 7,141 recoveries have been reported over the last 24 hours since Sunday.

2021-12-27T17:27+0000

2021-12-27T17:27+0000

2021-12-27T17:27+0000

narendra modi

uttar pradesh

narendra modi

india

coronavirus

covid-19

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A parliamentarian from India's governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has slammed it for adopting double standards on COVID stringency by organising massive rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh state."Imposing curfew at night and calling hundreds of thousands of people to rallies during the day, this is beyond the comprehension of the common man", BJP Parliamentarian Varun Gandhi tweeted on Monday."In view of Uttar Pradesh's limited health infrastructure, the government has to decide if our priority is to contain the spread of the dreaded Omicron or show electoral power". Uttar Pradesh will hold legislative assembly elections in early 2022. Because of this, the state is witnessing massive electoral rallies on a daily basis. On the other hand, however, the BJP-led-state government has imposed a night curfew in many districts.Last week, a high court in Uttar Pradesh also urged the Election Commission of India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the upcoming assembly elections by a month or two amid the Omicron threat."If rallies are not stopped, results will be worse than the second wave", the Allahabad High Court stated in its observation.

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narendra modi, uttar pradesh, narendra modi, india, coronavirus, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/danish-doctors-decry-mercks-covid-pills-refuse-to-use-them-1091826558.html

Danish Doctors Decry Merck's COVID Pills, Refuse to Use Them

Danish Doctors Decry Merck's COVID Pills, Refuse to Use Them

Denmark's approval of novel COVID-19 treatment by the US pharmaceutical company Merck has run into difficulties as the country's GPs refuse to prescribe the treatment due to insufficient knowledge of how it works.

2021-12-27T06:32+0000

2021-12-27T06:32+0000

2021-12-27T06:32+0000

omicron covid strain

denmark

news

europe

medicine

scandinavia

covid-19

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The Danish Society for General Practice (DSAM), which is the professional community of general practitioners, has criticised the National Board of Health for its recommendations concerning COVID-19 treatment.Earlier, the Danish Health and Medicines Authority has approved the US drugmaker Merck's anti-COVID pill molnupiravir, which also goes by the name Lagevrio, to treat at-risk patients with symptoms, making Denmark the first EU country to do so. So far, 50,000 pills have been purchased.Explaining their reluctance to administer it, DSAM's COVID-19 spokesman Anders Beich cited the drug's poor documentation.According to him, patients may receive proper treatment too late. There is a tendency to believe that once you have received your treatment, you will do well. It may be that both doctor and patient think that now the patient is in treatment. But if the treatment is ineffective, then you will waste time, and there is a risk that the disease will get worse without action being taken, Beich mused.The same criticism was echoed by Danish Medicines Agency, an independent council that makes recommendations to the regions on the use of various drugs.According to Jan Gerstoft, professor of infectious diseases at Rigshospitalet Clinic,the problem with Merck's COVID-19 drug is that the treatment looked promising in the initial studies, but later that picture changed.Gerstoft explained that the positive effect was observed largely in South America, where special COVID-19 strains abound. By contrast, there was virtually no effect in the US and Europe, he said.Previously, the Danish Society for Infectious Diseases called on the Danish Health and Medicines Authority in its weekly newspaper to reconsider both the purchase and use of the tablets. This has been done in France, where the French health authority has decided against the rollout.The drug has also not been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) yet. However, the EMA suggested that countries may well decide to approve the pills themselves if needed.The Danish parliament has approved purchases of anti-COVID pills for a total of DKK 450 million ($69 million). This batch includes not only Merck tablets, but also Pfizer pills still under development.In recent analysis by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Mercks antiviral pill for COVID-19, molnupiravir, appeared far less effective than early results from the clinical trial first suggested. The experimental pill only cut the risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 by about 30 percent, compared to a placebo, and showed no benefit whatsoever for people with antibodies against COVID-19 from prior infections.

https://sputniknews.com/20211217/denmark-first-eu-country-to-authorise-anti-covid-pill-amid-record-spread-1091589930.html

Mark Turner "transparency" seems to be a concept alien to the big pharma and one wonders why did the danish fda approved drug that they have no idea how it works ... this surely smell of corruption rat ... 5

Eochaidh_OghaChruithne I still am unvaccinated and lick public toilet seats and restroom sink counters and eat with my fingers. I don't need no stinking pills. 4

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Igor Kuznetsov

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Igor Kuznetsov

denmark, news, europe, medicine, scandinavia, covid-19
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/defense-in-michigan-gov-whitmer-kidnapping-case-asks-to-dismiss-indictment---report-1091824854.html

Defense in Michigan Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Case Asks to Dismiss Indictment - Report

Defense in Michigan Gov. Whitmer Kidnapping Case Asks to Dismiss Indictment - Report

Men accused of conspiracy to kidnap a state governor, mostly local and allegedly affiliated with right-wing organizations, allege the FBI put them up due of their political beliefs.

2021-12-27T03:35+0000

2021-12-27T03:35+0000

2021-12-27T03:35+0000

us

michigan

kidnapping

gretchen whitmer

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Defense lawyers wrote in a coordinated attempt to scuttle the high-profile case three months before trial that the indictment against five men accused of attempting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer should be thrown out owing to "egregious overreaching" by federal investigators and informants, The Detroit News reported on Sunday.According to the report, citing the filing, FBI agents and federal prosecutors took advantage of public outrage over Whitmer's handling of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, deliberately orchestrated a plot, and entrapped five people who could face life in prison if convicted of kidnapping conspiracy.All five defense lawyers reportedly asked US District Judge Robert Jonker to dismiss the conspiracy accusation. The lawyers claimed that the move would virtually destroy the government's case and remaining counts, which are linked and reliant on the conspiracy charge.The outlet noted that such a request comes after a series of allegations and developments involving the prosecution. For instance, according to reports, FBI Special Agent Richard Trask, one of the leading faces of the investigation, was arrested on a domestic violence charge and later fired and convicted of a misdemeanor. Trask was fired while awaiting trial on a charge of assault with intent to do great bodily harm amid allegations that he smashed his wife's head against a nightstand and choked her after a dispute stemming from their attendance at a swingers' party in July, according to a Detroit News report from September. The agent was also working as a personal trainer, and it was reportedly unclear whether his FBI supervisors were aware of this or had given their approval.Moreover, FBI informant Stephen Robeson was reportedly dropped by the agency after being caught illegally possessing a sniper rifle.But according to the prosecution, the charged men were not entrapped.Earlier, the defense reportedly said that there was no kidnapping plot at all. According to the lawyers, government agents decided to continue with the kidnapping, "despite the fact that [they] knew there was no plan to kidnap, no operational plan, and no details about how a kidnapping would occur or what would happen afterward."According to the defense team, informants were the driving force behind the case, developing a "sense of patriotism and right-doing" before FBI agents arrested the men in October 2020, per the report.The federal court trial is reportedly scheduled for March 8. Adam Fox, 38, Barry Croft, 46, Kaleb Franks, 27, Daniel Harris, 24, and Brandon Caserta, 33, are the five people charged with kidnapping conspiracy in the case. Ty Garbin, 26, the sixth individual charged, earlier pled guilty and was sentenced to six years in federal prison.

https://sputniknews.com/20210724/fbi-blasted-for-saying-it-works-to-thwart-terrorist-plots-after-whitmer-kidnapping-sting-1083451755.html

vot tak Serious all involved here should be prosecuted. All are criminal garbage. 1

TruePatriot In the meantime, why has Witchmer not been arrested for her drastic overreach and draconian diktats against the people of Michigan? And, how are her recall efforts going? 1

2

michigan

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Kirill Kurevlev

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Kirill Kurevlev

us, michigan, kidnapping, gretchen whitmer
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/duda-vetoes-controversial-amendments-to-law-on-broadcasting-restricting-foreign-shares-1091833288.html

Polish President Duda Vetoes Amendments to Law on Broadcasting Restricting Foreign Shares

Polish President Duda Vetoes Amendments to Law on Broadcasting Restricting Foreign Shares

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Monday vetoed amendments to the law on broadcasting restricting shares of foreign funding in activities of media on the territory of Poland

2021-12-27T11:55+0000

2021-12-27T11:55+0000

2021-12-27T12:12+0000

europe

poland

/html/head/meta[@name='og:title']/@content /html/head/meta[@name='og:description']/@content

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"I refuse to sign amendments to the law on broadcasting and sending the bill back to the Sejm (Polish parliament) for reconsideration. This means I am vetoing the bill," Duda told journalists on Monday.The Poland's Sejm has passed amendments to the law on broadcasting. According to amendments, a company broadcasting on the territory of Poland cannot be owned by non-EU residents and the proportion of foreign shares should not be more than 49%. Amendments in Poland were seen as an attack on freedom of media and provoked a wave of protests.

Dang! Aah, looks like Duda is turning into another Tusk, who also betrayed his country and fellow Poles by selling Poland out to the EU while they gave him an EU title and included him n get rich quick corrupt EU deals!! 1

1

poland

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europe, poland
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/france-pisses-us-off-malians-hail-russian-advisers-arrival-as-paris-quits-anti-terror-war-1091846701.html

France Pisses Us Off: Malians Hail Russian Advisers Arrival as Paris Quits Anti-Terror War

France Pisses Us Off: Malians Hail Russian Advisers Arrival as Paris Quits Anti-Terror War

Frances five-nation war across Africas Sahel region is as unpopular there as it is at home, where French President Emmanuel Macron faces slagging popularity... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T22:14+0000

2021-12-27T22:14+0000

2021-12-27T22:14+0000

france

mali

russia

africa

counterterrorism

military advisers

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Malians have welcomed the reported arrival of Russian advisers in the West African country, where France has continued to disengage from a nine-year War on Terror-style campaign against Muslim rebel groups. However, over a dozen Western nations have protested Moscows help.Frances Operation Barkhane is winding down in Africas Sahel, with the French Army handing over the last of its bases in northern Mali to the Malian government earlier this month. The war, which has spanned five former French colonies, began in 2012 after a coup in the Malian capital of Bamako created a national crisis in which Tuareg rebels took over nearly half the country and declared their own state of Azawagh.However, while the war has devastated Mali and several other countries, it has failed to contain the threat from the Muslim rebel groups, which contain elements loyal to Al-Qaeda and Daesh* that have thrived in the vacuum created by the NATO-directed destruction of Libya in 2011.In October, Malian Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga told RIA Novosti that French forces have been secretly funneling support to terrorist groups like the al-Qaeda-aligned Ansar el-Din front and had no intention of winning the war.It has been in our country for 10 years or more with no results. Our children are dying, our soldiers are dying every day in the north. I welcomed the arrival of the Russian forces. If they manage to put everything in order, it will make us happy, she added.Their complaints are as old as Barkhane, which has long been protested by Malian antiwar group Yerewolo - Debout sur Les Remparts (The Worthy Sons - Standing on the Ramparts), which called large protests in June when Macron announced the end of Barkhane in reaction to the second coup in two years by Col. Assimi Goita, who is now Malis interim president.Less than half of the 5,000 troops deployed in Barkhane are actually going home, though: most are shifting south, toward the tri-border area with Burkina Faso and Niger, to fight other terrorist groups there. However, the French forces are no less hated there, and a massive French military convoy bound for southern Mali from Cote DIvoire machine-gunned its way through massive Burkinabe and Nigerian demonstrations last month.NATO Protests Africans' Turn Toward RussiaOn Thursday, France and 15 other NATO allies signed a joint statement denouncing what they claim is Bamakos contracting of foreign mercenaries in the form of the Wagner Group, a private security contracting corporation falsely stated as having connections to the Russian government. The US issued a separate protest earlier this month.Both Moscow and Bamako have denied that either Russian troops are deployed in Mali or that very real discussions with a private Russian military company earlier this year actually yielded a contract for their use.Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the Russian Foreign Ministrys Department of International Organizations, told RIA Novosti on Monday that the withdrawal of French troops from Mali has the potential to intensify terrorist activity, since neither the Sahel Five nations or Task Force Takuba have the strength to tackle the emerging threat.We believe that the fight against international terrorism in Africa is a common task for all non-regional players. In this context, abstract arguments about the traditional spheres of influence of individual states look simply inappropriate, Ilyichev added, noting that Russia and Mali have long-standing links and that Moscow would continue to protect the legitimate interests of Bamako at the UN, as well as provide active assistance to the Malian partners in the military and military-technical spheres along existing inter-state lines.Paris has levied similar accusations against Russian military advisers before: in June, Macron canceled a security training deal with the Central African Republic (CAR), another former French colony, claiming the government hadnt done enough to get rid of claimed Russian influence in the country, including the claimed presence of Wagner Group mercenaries. Last week, the EU made the same decision, citing alleged presence of Wagner Group mercenaries, which both Bangui and Moscow deny.However, due to the French cancellation, Bangui soon requested substantially more Russian advisers, which helped the countrys military to turn the war around and make substantial gains against rebel forces.

BillOwens The US and EU know that with Russians there, the terror proxies trained by the west to provide an excuse for western intervention in Africa will be in trouble. 7

wtfud I'm Shocked . . . . . NOT, The French are second only to America in their Democracy spreading. Democracy = All Your Resources Are Ours. 5

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africa

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france, mali, russia, africa, counterterrorism, military advisers
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/india-building-nuclear-hardened-storage-facilities-along-forward-posts-army-chief-engineer-1091831771.html

India Building Nuclear-Hardened Storage Facilities Along Forward Posts: Army Chief Engineer

India Building Nuclear-Hardened Storage Facilities Along Forward Posts: Army Chief Engineer

India has shown exemplary work by transporting vast quantities of ammunition, equipment, fuel, and winter supplies to Ladakh for two consecutive winters at a... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T14:56+0000

2021-12-27T14:56+0000

2021-12-27T14:56+0000

pla

roads

himalayas

border clashes

china

indian army

people's liberation army (pla) navy

india

china and india clash in new flare-up of border standoff

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With modern equipment and new technologies, the Indian Army has started constructing micro-tunnels and other facilities to store ammunition at military posts very close to the border with China and Pakistan. Lieutenant General Harpal Singh, the engineer-in-chief of the Army, has said that combat engineers have also expedited works to provide road connectivity to forward posts.He also said that the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a combat engineering arm of the 1.3 million strong army, is at the help of strategic road construction along the borders and in neighbouring countries as part of India's strategic outreach.The dual-use BRO Infrastructure of roads, tunnels and bridges is a force multiplier not only for our strategic needs but also towards development of communities along with pristine remote border locations, the chief engineer said.On 10 December, Ajay Bhatt, minister of state for defence, said that the BRO has been working on 257 road projects, including 140 along the Indo-China border and 98 along the frontier with Pakistan.Nuclear-hardened facilities are expected to provide massive support to the Army, as exposed ammunition depots and supply points have been a bane in Ladakh and other friction points. Due to the rugged slopes and terrain in the Himalayas, it takes days to move ammunition and weapons to forward posts.Since snow blocks the mountain passes into Ladakh every winter for at least four months, the Indian Army moves thousands of tonnes of material to forward posts using the Indian Air Forces large transport aircraft and helicopters. However, hostile weather conditions restrict the employment of helicopters and aircraft in border areas.In recent years, the Indian government has almost doubled the budget for vital roads and bridges along the loosely demarcated border with China in response to Beijings rapid infrastructure development on the Tibet side. In May 2020, a border stand-off resulted from infrastructural development works in the Ladakh region. It later translated into a violent clash in June 2020, leaving 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops killed during the encounter.

https://sputniknews.com/20211214/china-rolls-out-portable-shelters-for-troops-in-himalayas-amid-border-row-with-india-1091518536.html

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pla, roads, himalayas, border clashes, china, indian army, people's liberation army (pla) navy, india, china and india clash in new flare-up of border standoff
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/iran-insists-petrol-export-sanctions-be-removed-as-eighth-round-of-jcpoa-revival-talks-begin-1091845175.html

Iran Insists Petrol Export Sanctions Be Removed as Eighth Round of JCPOA Revival Talks Begin

Iran Insists Petrol Export Sanctions Be Removed as Eighth Round of JCPOA Revival Talks Begin

The eighth round of talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal began on Monday, just days after the seventh round ended. Earlier this month, US posturing that Tehrans sincerity was dubious nearly torpedoed the talks.

2021-12-27T19:43+0000

2021-12-27T19:43+0000

2021-12-27T19:43+0000

middle east

iran

us sanctions

joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa)

vienna talks

oil exports

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"Today all parties have agreed to come back to activate the eighth round of negotiations even in (the) Christmas and New Year's holiday. This in itself fully shows a greater sense of urgency on the part of all parties concerned," Wang Qun, Chinas ambassador to the United Nations institutions headquartered in Vienna, Austria, which includes the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, told reporters on Monday.China is just one of several parties to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal, who also include Russia, France, Germany, the UK, the European Union, the US, and Iran. However, since Tehran refuses direct negotiations with Washington, which is responsible for shredding the deal in 2018, the deals other parties have headed up the talks.The chief diplomat explained that the seventh round earlier this month, the first since last summer, when Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi took office, had thrown out the joint document produced by earlier rounds of talks and had produced a wholly new, mutually agreed-upon text.Tehran presented three draft documents in the seventh round, concerning, separately, the removal of US maximum pressure sanctions against Iran put in place after then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018, and Irans return to limitations on quality and quantity of purified uranium under that deal. A third text, which Amirabdollahian said is the focus of the eighth round, concerns assurances and verification for sanctions removal.Maximum Pressure SanctionsUS sanctions had intended to reduce petroleum export, which in 2018 accounted for 18% of Irans gross domestic product and 25% of government revenues, to zero. However, from a 2017 high of 2.5 million barrels per day, Irans exports have only fallen to about 650,000 barrels per day as of September, according to Iran International, with the product being sold through intermediaries and China reportedly being its largest customer.Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on December 14 that the US was fully prepared to lift sanctions inconsistent with JCPOA commitments, which would allow Iran to receive the economic benefits of the deal.Numerous other sanctions also plague the countrys economy and society, including bans on trade in other sectors, most notably financial transactions via the SWIFT bank wire transfer system. Tehran and the EU attempted to create a SWIFT bypass called the Instrument for Supporting Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), which largely failed to alleviate the pressure. As a result, Iran has been unable to buy medicine and equipment to treat rare diseases, as well as COVID-19, amplifying the pandemics death toll and forcing them to develop their own SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.Earlier this month, OilPrice.com reported that the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was preparing to shift its price benchmark to the ICE Brent settlement, a metric used for petrol sales in Europe, at the start of the new year. This has been interpreted as anticipation of oil sales to European buyers soon resuming.US Plays at ImpatienceThe talks have resumed as Washingtons impatience becomes an important part of its posturing. Last week, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said that talks could cease within weeks if the US becomes unconvinced of Irans sincerity in the negotiations - echoing a similar threat made earlier this month that nearly ended the seventh round of talks before they began.Despite official political posturing, Israels own military intelligence has said that while Irans enriched uranium has approached a fairly high purity - 60% uranium-235 - its made no parallel effort to develop the technology necessary to turn it into a bomb.A purity of at least 90% uranium-235 is necessary to produce a nuclear weapon, and while Iran has long pursued a strategy of increasing purity to pressure the US into returning to the deal, Mohammad Eslami, the head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), told Sputnik on Saturday that even if US sanctions remain, the country wont increase its uraniums purity past 60%.

Barros Iran is right. US is near a civil war. 8

Hampar Tokatlian Dumb troll that you are, at least don't use your moniker; it's not fair to Bobby. 4

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iran

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middle east, iran, us sanctions, joint comprehensive plan of action (jcpoa), vienna talks, oil exports
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/iran-says-soleimani-killing-true-example-of-state-terrorism-as-assassination-anniversary-nears-1091844771.html

Iran Says Soleimani Killing True Example of State Terrorism as Assassination Anniversary Nears

Iran Says Soleimani Killing True Example of State Terrorism as Assassination Anniversary Nears

The US killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad in January 2020. Iran retaliated by lobbing over a... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T18:52+0000

2021-12-27T18:52+0000

2021-12-27T19:03+0000

us

iran

qasem soleimani

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The assassination of Qasem Soleimani was an act of state terrorism and Iran will not rest until those who perpetrated the heinous crime are punished, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has said.The US administration has an international responsibility for this heinous act, and Iran will not refrain from any action to bring the perpetrators and advisors of this terrorist act to justice, the spokesman added.Khatibzadeh stressed that the US decision to kill Soleimani, despite or perhaps because of the commanders role in fighting terrorism across the Middle East, demonstrated the double standards and falsehoods of Washingtons claims about fighting a war on terror.In addition to being a violation of human rights and international law, Soleimanis murder was also an act of aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq, the spokesman added.Who Was Soleimani?Qasem Soleimani commanded the Revolutionary Guards elite Quds Force extraterritorial fighting force for nearly 20 years, battling Islamist groups ranging from the Taliban* and al-Qaeda** to Daesh (ISIS),** and partnering with a broad array of forces to do so, from the secular Syrian and Iraqi governments to Iraqi Shia militias and even US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces.On 3 January 2020, Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chairman of the Baghdad-allied Popular Mobilization Committee militias formed to fight Daesh, were killed in a Reaper drone strike in Baghdad. Then-president Donald Trump ordered the attack after his aides told him that the commander was responsible for an Iraqi militia groups deadly rocket attack on a Kirkuk military base housing US troops and mercenaries in December 2019 that killed a US contractor and injured four US troops. Soleimani and the militia were also blaimed for the 31 December 2019 attempted storming of of the US embassy in Baghdad.Iraqi intelligence later concluded that Daesh, not Soleimani or Iraqi militias, was likely responsible for the Kirkuk attack. The Trump administration subsequently changed its justifications for Soleimanis killing several times, first claiming that he posed an imminent threat to US troops and embassies in the region, but then admitting that there wasnt any specific intelligence pointing to any specific Soleimani plots. Later, Trump told republican donors that Soleimani was killed in part because he was saying bad things about the US and was a noted terrorist.Trump has continued to brag about taking out Soleimani, even after leaving office, recently claiming that the commander was bigger by many, many times than al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.Iran has threatened to prosecute Trump and others it suspects of involvement in Soleimanis assassination, issuing an arrest warrant against the US president in June 2020 and requesting Interpol assistance for his extradition. Iraq followed suit, with Baghdads investigative court putting an arrest warrant out on Trump in January 2021.Interpol has dismissed Irans pleas for assistance, citing a supposed prohibition on the agency from undertaking any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character. Iran and the US do not have an extradition treaty.In addition to Trump and senior administration officials, Iran suspects other actors, including a UK security firm and its regional arch-enemy Israel of involvement in the murder. Last week, former Israeli military intelligence directorate chief Tamir Hayman made the unprecedented admission that Israel was involved in the attack, hailing it as an achievement.*An organization under UN sanctions over its terrorist activities.**Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

https://sputniknews.com/20211222/idfs-former-intel-chief-hayman-admits-israel-was-involved-in-soleimanis-assassination-1091705234.html

Barros US the terrorist leader. 12

vot tak The whole israeloamerican chain of command responsible for these murders need to be publicly hanged. From the israelis who ordered it down to the americans operating the drone who did the actual murder. All involved, no exceptions. 8

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Ilya Tsukanov

Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

us, iran, qasem soleimani
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/lebanon-to-hold-parliamentary-elections-on-15-may-1091835414.html

Lebanon to Hold Parliamentary Elections on 15 May

Lebanon to Hold Parliamentary Elections on 15 May

Lebanese Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said on Monday that parliamentary elections in the country will be held on 15 May, while nationals living abroad will be able to cast their votes on 6 or 8 May.

2021-12-27T12:37+0000

2021-12-27T12:37+0000

2021-12-27T12:37+0000

middle east

lebanon

elections

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Mawlawi added that Lebanese nationals living abroad can cast their votes on Friday, 6 May 2022, or on Sunday, 8 May 2022, depending on which of these two days are weekdays in specific country of residence.

lebanon

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middle east, lebanon, elections
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/meet-barnaby-joyce-amber-heard-names-dog-after-australian-government-minister-1091844656.html

'Meet Barnaby Joyce': Amber Heard Names Dog After Australian Government Minister

'Meet Barnaby Joyce': Amber Heard Names Dog After Australian Government Minister

Barnaby Joyce himself reportedly quipped in response that he gets "a real sense of accomplishment" that he is still in Heards "head" after so much time has... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T18:59+0000

2021-12-27T18:59+0000

2021-12-27T18:59+0000

dog

name

amber heard

viral

barnaby joyce

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American film actress and ex-wife Amber Heard has delivered a not-so-subtle jab at a certain Australian politician with whom she has clashed in the past.Back in 2015, Heard was involved in a feud with Barnaby Joyce Australias minister of agriculture at the time  after Amber brought her two dogs to Queensland while visiting her then-husband Johnny Depp, who was filming one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films there.As bringing the dogs into the country apparently violated Australias strict animal quarantine laws, Joyce declared that the canines should "bugger off back to the United States", while Depp branded him as some kind of "sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia", the BBC notes.In a recent tweet of hers, Heard introduced her new dog to her social media audience, and announced that the poochs name is Barnaby Joyce.A number of social media users appeared rather amused by this development.Meanwhile, Joyce himself, who currently serves as Australias deputy prime minister, has remarked that he is "fine" with Heards move, the media outlet adds, citing The Australian.

Nevi'im Poor Dog! 0

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dog, name, amber heard, viral, barnaby joyce
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/moscow-russia-needs-to-put-an-end-to-natos-expansion-and-exclude-membership-of-ukraine-in-alliance-1091828949.html

Russia Demands NATO to Cancel Its Decision That Ukraine, Georgia Can Someday Join Alliance

Russia Demands NATO to Cancel Its Decision That Ukraine, Georgia Can Someday Join Alliance

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia needs to put an end to NATO's expansion and prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of the alliance

2021-12-27T08:14+0000

2021-12-27T08:14+0000

2021-12-27T08:54+0000

world

russia

nato

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Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia is demanding that NATO cancel its decision to accept Ukraine and Georgia as potential candidates for membership in the alliance.Ryabkov added that Russia needs to put an end to NATO's expansion and prevent Ukraine from becoming a member of the alliance."We're saying absolutely firmly that we demand an official withdrawal of the decision of the Bucharest summit. From 2008, that Ukraine and Georgia will become NATO members," Sergey Ryabkov said. According to him, all the activities of the alliance "must be rolled back to the positions that existed at the time of the signing of the Russia-NATO fundamental act".Moscows goal is to agree on security guarantees with the United States and NATO based on Russian proposals, Ryabkov has said."We can no longer postpone, let's deal with this serious issue  here and now," Ryabkov said in an interview with the Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn magazine, published on Monday.The diplomat also said that Moscow still awaits for Washingtons response on when they are ready for bilateral talks.On 26 December, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that was ready to organise a meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on 12 January.In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that Russia is considering the NATO proposal to hold the Russia-NATO council on 12 January, but many issues, including the composition of delegations are left to be resolved, as currently there are no Russian representatives in Brussels.On 17 December, Russia released draft security proposals that it wants to sign with the US and other NATO countries. The proposals include mutual security guarantees in Europe, non-deployment of short- and intermediate-range missiles within reach to each other's territory, and NATO's non-expansion eastward onto former Soviet republics surrounding Russia.Tensions around Ukraine have been aggravated over the past several weeks by an alleged Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border and claims of preparations for an invasion. Moscow has repeatedly denied the accusations, pointing to NATO's military activity near Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has also said it has the right to move forces within its own territory.

https://sputniknews.com/20211224/drawing-ukraine-into-nato-missiles-placing-near-russia-creates-military-risks-lavrov-says-1091766908.html

turgut kalfa Nato is just USA and the countries that wield to its power. Therefore it makes no sense to put USA's military power to Russia's borders. I hope the countries around Russia are smart enough. 8

Robert Gray NATO are Brain Dead. 7

13

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world, russia, nato
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/observers-blaming-eu-gas-crunch-on-russia-is-cheap--dishonest-way-to-cover-up-europes-own-faults-1091836733.html

Observers: Blaming EU Gas Crunch on Russia is Cheap & Dishonest Way to Cover-Up Europe's Own Faults

Observers: Blaming EU Gas Crunch on Russia is Cheap & Dishonest Way to Cover-Up Europe's Own Faults

Gazprom's official representative Sergei Kupriyanov shredded claims of insufficient gas supplies to Europe, saying that the Russian gas giant is ready to deliver additional volumes of fuel to the EU under existing long-term contracts.

2021-12-27T14:21+0000

2021-12-27T14:21+0000

2021-12-27T14:21+0000

nord stream

energy

world

europe

russia

opinion

gazprom

poland

germany

gas prices

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The European energy crunch has prompted the Western media to try to pin the blame on Moscow by claiming that Russia is pumping a lot less gas westward and using its hydrocarbons as leverage against the EU. The claims were dismissed as "fake news" and "lies" by Gazprom's official representative Sergei Kupriyanov on 25 December.Speaking to the broadcaster Rossiya One on Saturday, Kupriyanov revealed that this year Gazprom has already supplied 50.2 billion cubic metres (bcm) to Germany, which is 5.3 bcm more than in 2020. Similarly, the Russian gas giant has provided larger volumes of natural gas to Italy, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Finland, and Poland, according to the holding's representative. Kupriyanov made it clear that Gazprom is ready to supply additional volumes of fuel under existing long-term contracts. Gas prices under these contracts are significantly lower than spot prices, he pointed out.During his annual press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that Europe can only blame its own policies and decision to postpone the launch of Nord Stream for record gas prices and lack of fuel.Gazprom Pumping Gas to Europe at Full Speed"As European companies were very quiet, it has been difficult to understand the origin of the reduced Gazprom export flows to Europe," says Thierry Bros, professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies and a contributor to Natural Gas World, an independent specialised website. Bros cited Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom Management Committee, who specifically elaborated that 2021 production output was 515 bcm, the best figure in the last 13 years.Germany, Poland & Mystery of Reversed Gas FlowsMeanwhile, Reuters reported last Friday, citing data from German network operator Gascade, that the Yamal-Europe pipeline that usually sends Russian gas to Western Europe was flowing in reverse for a fourth day on 24 December, "pumping fuel from Germany to Poland." According to the media outlet, this has considerably added to the existing "squeeze."Vladimir Putin revealed last Thursday that it was not Russia who had reversed the gas flow, but Germany and Poland, which are apparently benefiting from the ongoing gas crisis.In light of this, Putin's bombshell revelation should have attracted the attention of European investigative journalists, according to the analyst. Doctorow notes that there are two possible explanations. First, that Germany is selling gas earlier acquired from Russia at a price which is a fourth of today's spot price or less. This means that "anybody sending it out of Germany on a commercial deal could be making maybe a billion euros in profit," the analyst underscores.The EU Commission's Green Deal is Behind the Energy CrisisMost of the factors contributing to the high energy costs are homemade in Western countries, argues Fernand Kartheiser, Luxembourg Parliament member for the Alternative Democratic Reform Party.He particularly refers to "green policies" which refute both coal and nuclear power as possible back-up sources of energy complementing naturally unreliable "renewables". As a result, the only possible alternative for the time being is natural gas, which is stepping up the demand, he explains.What's more, ecologists usually fight large storage facilities for gas or petrol products, which has further diminished the ability of Western countries to lower prices or to overcome temporary supply difficulties by liberating stored reserves, according to the politician.In addition to this, the European Commission recently proposed to end long-term contracts to import natural gas by 2049, justifying its decision by aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. This approach is nothing short of being insane, according to Thierry Bros:According to Bros, the latest energy crisis "was engineered by the IEA net-zero scenario and the EU Commission Green Deal that pushed shareholders to force companies to reduce upstream capex."Given all of the above, "blaming Russia or Gazprom for the current situation must be considered as a cheap and dishonest way of trying to divert the publics attention from ones own political mistakes," emphasises Kartheiser.Nord Stream 2: Europe Needs 'Constructive Relations' With RussiaThe geopolitical factor is also playing a huge role in the unfolding energy crunch, according to Fernand Kartheiser.According to the Luxembourg lawmaker, this irresponsible approach should be defied: the countries "should return to a spirit of shared responsibility and security in the Euro-Atlantic region.""There is no harm for the West to include energy from Russia in its supplies," says Kartheiser. "Economic cooperation and interdependence are helpful in strengthening peaceful relations between neighbours. We need to redefine our relations with Russia and put them on a much more constructive basis."The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is designed to deliver 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year to Europe, thus doubling the original Nord Stream capacity to a total of 110 bcm. The launch of Nord Stream 2 would have increased the flow of gas and sent the European benchmark gas price down, as Vladimir Putin remarked during last Thursday's presser. However, Germany opted to delay the project.Gas prices fell on 27 December amid news that dozens of tankers with liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US were heading to Europe. Some of these tankers have been diverted from Asia since European LNG prices are now considerably higher than those in Asia, according to Bloomberg. However, even after the reduction, the European benchmark gas price is still up around 400%. Meanwhile, European gas traders suggest high energy prices will persist beyond winter.

https://sputniknews.com/20211223/putin-links-european-gas-crunch-to-eu-buying-at-spot-markets-1091748541.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211226/gazprom-refrains-from-booking-yamal-europes-capacity-for-gas-transit-on-sunday---gsa-1091809616.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211225/gazprom-says-its-ready-to-send-more-gas-to-europe-under-cheaper-long-term-contracts-1091801755.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211224/putin-says-efforts-to-block-nord-stream-2-foolish-since-project-would-lower-gas-prices-1091778036.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211123/serbias-vucic-says-without-russia-belgrade-would-have-paid-up-to-1000-for-gas-1090955022.html

Russiawithlove Europe need to be told never criticize the one brought food to the table unless starving to death during the winter 6

Ladyshadow Obey the west or else mentality is getting its butt kicked, we know who is responsible for the current energy crises in the EU, they deserve it for obeying the US terrorist. 4

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Ekaterina Blinova

nord stream, energy, world, europe, russia, opinion, gazprom, poland, germany, gas prices, hydrocarbon, eu, nord stream 2
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/russian-foreign-ministry-suggests-eu-suffering-from-sadomasochism-in-wto-spat-with-russia-1091834037.html

Russian Foreign Ministry Suggests EU Suffering From Sadomasochism in WTO Spat With Russia

Russian Foreign Ministry Suggests EU Suffering From Sadomasochism in WTO Spat With Russia

Last week, the World Trade Organization agreed to review a dispute complaint submitted by the European Union against Russia. Brussels accuses Moscow of... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T12:11+0000

2021-12-27T12:11+0000

2021-12-27T12:23+0000

world trade organization (wto)

russia

maria zakharova

european union

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The EUs complaint against Russia in the WTO is absurd and exposes the stupidity and lack of independence of its own political elites, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has suggested.The EU agreed only under strong pressure from Washington, and this pressure was the result of Americas desire to inflict as much damage as possible on the Russian economy as possible, Biden stressed, noting that it was the White House effort specifically which allowed the US and the EU to unite. He didnt mention, of course, how much Brussels would pay for this, the spokeswoman added.Last week, the World Trade Organization agreed to review an EU dispute complaint alleging that Russias import substitution policies illegally discriminated against up to 290 billion euros worth of goods, and demanding that Moscow return to compliance with its WTO commitments.Specifically, Brussels suggested that EU firms had been seriously disadvantaged in tenders by Russian state-related enterprises, which allegedly required foreign equipment suppliers to submit additional paperwork. Russian companies are also accused of submitting bids 15-30 percent below their actual cost. Brussels is also concerned by a Russian government directive requiring as much as 90 percent of state orders of vehicles, medical devices, textiles and other products to be Russian-made.Bloomberg says the EUs chances of an enforceable ruling against Russia are slim to none, with an initial decision expected to take up to three years, after which Russia could take the case to the WTOs Appellate Body, which has the final say on trade disputes. The latter has been effectively defunct thanks to the ongoing multi-trillion dollar trade dispute between China and the US, with Washington blocking the appointment of new judges to the Appellate Body after it sided with China in a ruling.The EUs claims against Russia follow a similar complaint by the US Trade Representative issued last week claiming that Moscows import substitution strategy violates WTO norms. Moscow dismissed the US complaint, saying it was peculiar to hear Washington complaining about Russian import substitution measures, when at the same time that the US imposes unilateral sanctions.Russia joined the WTO in 2012 after 18 gruelling years of negotiations, with Moscow expecting membership to improve the climate for foreign direct investment, and to help Russian companies access Western technologies. The downturn in relations between Russia and the West over the crisis in Ukraine  which began when US and EU-backed politicians and right-wing nationalists overthrew the Kiev government in a coup in 2014, has dashed these hopes. Meanwhile, some Russian lawmakers have drawn up legislation to withdraw from the trade body, calculating that membership has cost the Russian economy about 12 trillion rubles ($163 billion) in losses over the years.Since 2014, the US and the EU have imposed hundreds of sanctions on Russia, targeting everything from banking and energy to the sale of high-tech industrial and drilling equipment, plus asset freezes, import and export bans, and tourism restrictions. Russia has retaliated by drastically limiting imports of food products from nations which have sanctioned it, costing EU countries hundreds of billions of euros in losses over the past seven years.

https://sputniknews.com/20210912/chinas-ambassador-to-us-reportedly-asks-biden-administration-to-please-shut-up-in-zoom-call-1089008022.html

https://sputniknews.com/20211226/vp-harris-threatens-russia-with-ukraine-sanctions-not-seen-before-1091821274.html

vot tak The issraelis, through their western colonials prevent Russia importing products through the use of sanctions, then try and extort money from Russia for making the blocked products themselves. Pure israeloamerican criminality is all this is. Disgusting. 4

Uninformed EU is really getting to be scum imo , there has been an issue right from it's conception and plenty of warnings even back then and its really getting to be ture , EU is flat out Nazi behavior and its a shame on the actual EU people but then again they vote the scum in so who is to blame? 2

3

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Ilya Tsukanov

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Ilya Tsukanov

world trade organization (wto), russia, maria zakharova, european union
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/salute-godse-indian-police-book-hindu-religious-leader-for-abusing-mahatma-gandhi-1091827483.html

'Salute Godse': Indian Police Book Hindu Religious Leader for Abusing Mahatma Gandhi

'Salute Godse': Indian Police Book Hindu Religious Leader for Abusing Mahatma Gandhi

Although the role of Nathuram Godse in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi has been legally established, a vocal section of Hindu nationalists has been urging... 27.12.2021, Sputnik International

2021-12-27T19:07+0000

2021-12-27T19:07+0000

2021-12-27T19:07+0000

mahatma gandhi

narendra modi

bharatiya janata party (bjp)

india

congress

pakistan

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Police in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh on Monday registered a complaint against Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj, a day after he hurled abuse at the country's freedom struggle icon, Mahatma Gandhi, while hailing his assassin Nathuram Godse.The central India state of Chhattisgarh is one of the few states where the Congress party, otherwise sitting in the federal opposition, is in power.During his lifetime, Gandhi was closely associated with the Indian National Congress, or the Congress party, and even led it as its president.WARNING: The video may be considered offensive by some viewers(The speaker Kalicharan Maharaj is hailing Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse in the video above. He is also using a derogatory slur against Mahatma Gandhi and accusing the Indian freedom fighter of not doing enough to stop the partition of pre-independence India [into modern day India and Pakistan]. Further, Maharaj says that had India's political leadership been more supportive, Hindus would have been allowed to threaten Muslims more freely than at present).The hardline Hindu seer also lashed out at the political leadership of the country for restraining the members of the Hindu community from taking on Muslims. The clippings of Kalicharans speech have triggered a massive row in the South Asian nation, where Mahatma Gandhi is popularly hailed as a national icon for mobilising the Indian population against the British colonialists and playing a key role in helping India attain its freedom.Meanwhile, one of the other speakers at Sundays event, Mahant Ramsundar Das, who has previously also been a Congress state legislator, opted to dissociate himself from the religious parliament after Kalicharans remarks.Reacting to the remarks against Mahatma Gandhi, Maharashtra State Minister Nawab Malik has stated that an insult to Gandhi is tantamount to an insult to our nation.In spite of Gandhis enormous popularity, a section of the population espousing Hindu nationalist ideals also blame him for not doing enough to stop pre-independent India from being partitioned into the modern-day states of India and Pakistan (in 1971, Bangladesh separated from Pakistan to form another independent nation-state).Hindu nationalist Nathuram Godse, who was a member of the hardline political party Hindu Mahasabha, assassinated Gandhi on 30 January 1948, just months after the British formally left the subcontinent.Hindu Mahasabha has been lobbying the Indian government for the legacy of Godse to be legitimised. It has even asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to re-open the Gandhi assassination case to put an end to the vilification of Godse.

https://sputniknews.com/20210111/indias-first-study-centre-dedicated-to-gandhis-killer-in-bjp-ruled-state-draws-outrage-1081729222.html

vot tak Those bjp israel quislings are as disgusting as american neocons. They remind me of the israelonazi stern gang terrorists who tried to join forces with the nazis during WW2. 1

1

india

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Dhairya Maheshwari

mahatma gandhi, narendra modi, bharatiya janata party (bjp), india, congress, pakistan
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/uk-parliament-restoration-likely-facing-14-billion-price-tag-timescale-of-over-20-years-1091829795.html

UK Parliament Restoration Likely Facing 14 Billion Price Tag, Timescale of Over 20 Years

UK Parliament Restoration Likely Facing 14 Billion Price Tag, Timescale of Over 20 Years

A refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, home to the UK Houses of Parliament, slated to begin in 2027, could cost 14 billion and force MPs out for two decades, reported The Telegraph.

2021-12-27T10:21+0000

2021-12-27T10:21+0000

2021-12-27T10:21+0000

westminster

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Estimates in 2018 had suggested the restoration would require about 4 billion, with MPs at the time voting to support a full decant proposal. In line with that, they would move into Richmond House in Whitehall for about six years. The price tag was later revised to about 7 billion.However, now, according to a government source cited by the outlet, one estimate that has been discussed was that cost of repairs could reach a whopping 14 billion.Ahead of their vote in 2018 some MPs had argued the case for rebuilding to go ahead while they remained inside the UNESCO World Heritage site.But that was dismissed as non-viable after a survey of the required building work carried out by the Restoration & Renewal Sponsor Body, comprising MPs, peers, historians and infrastructure experts, concluded that it would drag out the process for over 30 years.Accordingly, among several options mulled is one that will require MPs to relocate out of Westminster Palace for 20 years. However, the insiders are cited as suggesting this is a worst-case scenario. A more favoured option would ostensibly require the MPs and peers to leave the building for between 12 and 15 years.The debate on viable options for the renovation come as maintenance of the deteriorating building of Westminster Palace is costing an annual 127 million and rising, experts are cited as saying.Ex-speaker of the House of Lords, Lord Fowler, wrote to House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to urge the renovation plans to include relocating MPS otherwise the costs would spiral.Another problem threatening to delay restoration work is a shortage of skilled craftsmen, such as stonemasons, plasterers, etc. A survey of contractors in the heritage sector discovered that it would be a challenge to drum up the required experts in furniture, textile and painting restoration, stained glass conservation and clock making in the UK.Furthermore, some of the heritage sector crafts that would be needed for the project have either become "extinct" or "critically endangered".All the assessments come amid warnings that the building, erected in 1840, is decaying faster than it can be repaired.A ten-year-old feasibility report, entitled Restoration And Renewal Of The Palace Of Westminster, warned of so many fire risks, leaking roofs and asbestos hazards that if it were not a listed building of the highest heritage value, its owners would probably be advised to demolish and rebuild.

https://sputniknews.com/20200716/boris-johnson-suggests-relocating-parliament-to-york-during-4bln-renovation-of-westminster-palace-1079902481.html

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Svetlana Ekimenko

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westminster
https://sputniknews.com/20211227/us-lng-cargoes-to-europe-jumped-by-a-third-over-christmas-weekend---reports-1091846306.html

US LNG Cargoes to Europe Jumped by a Third Over Christmas Weekend - Reports

US LNG Cargoes to Europe Jumped by a Third Over Christmas Weekend - Reports

The number of vessels carrying US liquefied natural gas to European ports multiplied by a third over the Christmas weekend as frigid temperatures deepen the continents energy crisis, data compiled by Bloomberg showed Monday.

2021-12-27T21:42+0000

2021-12-27T21:42+0000

2021-12-27T21:42+0000

business

europe

us

lng

energy crisis

tankers

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Some 20 tankers laden with US LNG were headed for Europe over the weekend, up from 15 on the day before the Christmas Eve holiday, according to the data. Separately, another 14 vessels were headed in the general direction of Europe while awaiting further orders.European gas prices are about 10 times higher than a year ago due to an acute shortage of heating supplies this winter, despite market corrections over the past four sessions due to reports of some imminent relief coming from the US LNG cargoes.US dry gas prices, on their own, are on track to finish 2021 up 55%, after rising more than 100% at one point.

Max75 Thats great. The US companies take the gas US consumers could use, liquify it and send it to Europe. That way they get the double gouge, taking advantage of the high prices in Europe and raising prices for US consumers. 1

Bob Dylan Nice keep the orders coming. We are happy to fulfill. 1

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business, europe, us, lng, energy crisis, tankers
Tony Verruso won 23 races this season, but, arguably, none as important as the $15,000 American Harness Drivers Club Final, which he copped Sunday (Dec. 26) with his own Winneress in 1:59 at Harrah's Philadelphia.

After starting from post four, Verruso was content to sit in fourth position with Winneress while Matt Zuccarello and Shared Interest A showed the way through a :28.1 first quarter.

With Zuccarello in command as they trotted by the half in :57.4, Verruso and Winneress were traveling along the pylons and were just 1-1/2 lengths off the lead at the three-quarters while If I Must (Paul Minore) advanced to engage Shared Interest A.

"I was watching the leaders battle and was glad the passing lane was in sight," Verruso said. "And when we headed for home, my horse was strong and we zipped by the leaders on the inside and braced for a late challenge from John Calabrese and Shoemaker Hanover  but they fell short."

Take A Wish (Dawn Anderson) rallied from far back to finish third.

Verruso owns the winner, whom he claimed earlier this year. The seven-year-old Credit Winner gelding, trained by Symon Spicer, paid $5.20 to win.

BONGIORNOS DOMINATE BOXING DAY

J M Mandamin's ($3.00) scintillating 1:49 win in the Sunday afternoon (Dec. 26) feature at Harrah's Philadelphia ignited a banner day for the Bongiorno siblings: it gave trainer Jenn Bongiorno the first of her four training wins on the Boxing Day card, and it was the first of five-consecutive wins for driver Joe Bongiorno.

J M Mandamin, whom the Bongiornos campaign for owner Robert Weinstein, vaulted to the fore from his assigned outer post in the $22,500 Winners-Over Handicap Pace to control a :26.2 first quarter over Mikes Z Tam, who pushed forward at the pegs to secure the pocket. After rating a :55.1 half, J M Mandamin dug in to parry a first-over challenge from Shadow Cat through three-quarters in 1:22 before sprinting 5-1/2-lengths clear in the stretch. Shadow Cat held second over Mikes Z Tam, who gave futile chase from the pocket.

J M Mandamin, a five-year-old Mach Three gelding, recorded his 10th win of the season and the 20th of his career.

The Bongiornos also teamed up to win with Somebaddude ($6.60, 1:51.4), Captains Maid ($9.40, 1:52.2) and Ostro Hanover ($3.20, 1:50.3). Joe Bongiorno's other driving win came with Ron Burke trainee His Beats Hanover ($4.20, 1:52).

The final week of the 2021 meet at Harrah's Philadelphia commences Wednesday (Dec. 29); first post is 12:25 p.m. (EST).

(with files from American Harness Drivers Club and Harrah's Philadelphia)
Highalator (p, 1:48f), Somebeachsomewheres foremost race-winning son with 43 victories, is slated to arrive at Schwartz Boarding Farm in Berne, Ind. sometime on Tuesday (Dec. 28) in preparation for his initial season as an Indiana pacing stallion.

Highalator is from the $900,000-plus winner Higher And Higher (Western Terror-Pro Bowl Best) and is a full brother to South Beach Star, a stakes winner last year.

Highalator tested superbly last summer at New Bolton Center and should easily handle a full book of mares and should cross superbly with the preponderance of Always A Virgin and Rockin Image mares already in the Hoosier State. His initial fee will be $3,500.

(Highalator ownership and Schwartz Boarding Farm)
Last year, she also got a job at Greensgrow Farms in Kensington, which led to her developing a seed-keeping fellowship program there during which she taught eight people from the community how to keep seeds from their own cultural heritage.

When it comes to keeping the stories of seeds, Mitchell uses rice as an example. While Asian rice is most ubiquitous in the United States now, she said West African ricewhich was grown and domesticated for generationswas the first to be introduced to the Americas.

The entry of rice into the Americas was in the braid of the womens hair who stuck the seeds, stowed them away, knowing theyd be captured, she said. This is a story that has been passed down with those seeds. Anywhere where those seeds have been kept alive, this story has been kept alive ...

The story tells us the rice is our own, we can return to a good relationship with this plant. This rice, this seed, connects us to our ancestors who passed it down to us in the hopes we would survive, she said. Theres no better way to speak to my ancestors than through their seeds.
They can move anywhere they want, the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. Its giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I dont need to cut performances. Often, the cinematographer and I were like, This location sucks. Its not very nice. But, hey, thats life.

He re-teamed with Witherspoon to direct the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017, and directed Adams in 2018s Sharp Objects, also for HBO. Vallee won DGA awards for both.

I will always remember you as the sun goes down," Witherspoon wrote on Instagram along with a series of photos of the director. "Chasing the light. On a mountain in Oregon. On a beach in Monterey. Making sure we all caught a little magic in this lifetime. I love you, Jean Marc. Until we meet again.

Her Big Little Lies co-star Laura Dern on Instagram called Vallee a beloved friend who was one of our great and purest artists and dreamers.
Just in time for the winter holidays and a warm weekend forecast, the Carolina Thread Trail launched a redesign of its interactive online trail map, with support from OrthoCarolina. The map allows users to find information about nearly 500 miles of publicly accessible trails, greenways and blueways (river trails for paddling) within the Thread Trail network.

Here at the holidays, many Carolinians are looking for ways to spend time outdoors with friends and loved ones. Whether looking for places to hike, bike paddle or simply enjoy nature, the websites facelift provides information about recreation opportunities across 15 counties in the Greater Charlotte region. Residents of the Carolinas and holiday visitors to the Charlotte region are able to find an outdoor adventure on any of the Thread Trails blueways or land trails by searching for a location or filtering by type of activity, difficulty or ADA accessibility. Increased mobile functionality on the site allows users to find their next outdoor adventure while on the go.
Australia has become one of a growing number of export customers for the South Korean K9 Thunder self-propelled 155mm howitzer. Australia will modify the current K9A1, which entered service in 2018, as the Huntsman AS9. The initial order is for 30 AS9s howitzers and fifteen AS10 ARVs (armored resupply vehicles). All will be built in Australia at an existing facility of the South Korean K9 manufacturer Hanwa. That facility will be modified to build the AS9 and AS10 and the first vehicles will be available by 2024.

The AS9 also borrows design features from the Norwegian version of the K9. Norway became a partner with Hanwa in upgrading older K9s used by other NATO countries to the Norwegian K9 VIDAR standard. VIDAR adds more NATO standard subsystems and upgraded protection. Norway will assist Australia in transferring some VIDAR features to the Huntsman.

The K9 first entered service in 1999 when South Korea introduced a locally developed and manufactured replacement for the elderly American M109 self-propelled 155mm howitzers as well as even older towed and self-propelled artillery they had long used. The South Korea army initially ordered a hundred K9s but found the K9 so effective that they eventually ordered most of the 2,400 K9s built so far. The K9 provided South Korea with an artillery weapon that could match the more numerous North Korean artillery just across the border, especially the many aimed at Seoul, the South Korean capital that contains a disproportionate fraction of the national population and GDP.

The K9 proved to be a popular export item, with nine foreign nations ordering K9s or obtaining manufacturing licenses for local production for over a third of the K9s ordered so far. This includes the original model and the new K9A1 as well as local designs in Turkey (the T-155) and the Polish AHS Krab that use K9 tech and components.

Because the K9 entered service 22 years ago with the South Korean military, some of those first vehicles have worn some out and replaced with upgraded and newly manufactured models. South Korea also bought nearly 200 K10 ARVs and is upgrading all its K9s to the K9A1 standard, which adds better sensors, navigation electronics and more capable FCS (fire control system). There is also an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) that allows a stationary K9 to shut down the main engine but still be able to operate sensors and the main gun. The new FCS is more compact, automated and able to handle new types of 155mm ammo, including the rocket assisted round with a range of up to 56 kilometers.

While superficially like the American M109 the K9 is heaver (46 tons versus 28 for the M109), carries more ammo (48 rounds) and has twice the range (up to 56 kilometers) in part because of a barrel that is a third longer. There is more automation on the K9, so it has a crew of five versus six on the M-109. The K9A1 weighs 47 tons but retains the same 1,000 HP diesel engine, max speed of 67 kilometers an hour and max road range of 360 kilometers on internal fuel. Like other heavy tracked vehicles, the K9 is best moved long distances by tank transporter, tractor-trailer vehicles or railroad flatcars. The K9A2 is coming in 2022, which will add more automation and allow for a crew of three, or even just two in an emergency. The K9A2 can also be operated remotely and take on ammo from the K10 ARS more quickly. A new auto-loader for the 155mm gun will make possible max fire of up to ten rounds a minute, for short periods because of barrel overheating if continued too long.

With the K9 South Korea joins Germany in their effort to build a suitable replacement for the elderly M109 design. During performance tests by export customers to select a self-propelled howitzer the K9 regularly defeats upgrades of the M109 as well as the new Russian 42-ton 2S19 as well as the 45-ton British AS-90 and 55-ton German PzH 2000. The K9 wins based on technical capabilities, field tests and a South Korean reputation for quality and reliability. In competitions held by Scandinavian countries the K9 proved to be the only candidate that can handle the extreme cold and deep snow experienced during winter in northern Europe.

The K9 is the result of South Korea deciding to become a major weapons developer and exporter. This began in the 1990s after South Korea had become a major economic power and exporter. South Korea has been successful at this although the largest customer remains the South Korean military, which must deal with the threat from North Korea and prefers to do it with armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters, warships and infantry weapons designed and built in South Korea. All those items have found export customers, often at the expense of American systems.
Canada to join Mexico in complaint on US car-origin rules

by IANS |

Ottawa, Dec 27 (IANS) Canada plans to formally join Mexico in calling for an arbitration panel to resolve a dispute with the US over how to interpret rules governing the origin of vehicle parts, according to a media report.



The two countries expect to request in the first days of January the creation of a tribunal of experts to rule on the matter as allowed under the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Xinhua news agency reported citing a Bloomberg report as saying.



Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced pressure from business leaders to become more aggressive against what Canadians sees as growing US trade protectionism, it added.



Trudeau has instructed his top economic ministers to take "tougher positions" on trade issues amid growing disputes with the US.
Julyan Hardemans drive to work turned into a rescue mission when he said he saw a driver plow into Lake Sacajawea on Monday morning and climbed into the frigid waters to help her out.

Hardeman, 23, of Longview said around 8:50 a.m., a female driver coming toward the icy bridge on Washington Way, veered into his lane going in the other direction. He said she appeared to quickly overcorrect herself, and drove through trees and into the lake before reaching the bridge.

Longview Police Chief Robert Huhta said the driver struck two trees before hitting the water, as her speed was too fast for conditions. He said the SUV was almost completely submerged when he arrived to the scene minutes after the accident was reported.

When theres snow and ice out, you really have to slow down, Huhta said.

Snow and ice left many local roadways slippery Monday. The National Weather Service reports temperatures were around 22 degrees at the Southwest Regional Airport in Kelso around when the lake accident occurred.

Around 9:40 a.m., a semi truck also jackknifed on northbound Interstate 5 near Allen Street in Kelso, and vehicles spun out on southbound I-5 near Woodlands Dike Road, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Someone needed my help

Hardeman said when he saw the lake accident, he pulled over, threw his shoes off and entered the cold water. He said he opened her drivers side door, despite pressure from the surrounding water, and helped the woman to shore. Hardeman said the water was deep enough to sink the vehicle, but the pair could touch the ground and walk to shore a few feet away.

Carls Towing crews pulled the SUV out of the lake around 10:30 a.m., Huhta said. He said he spoke to the driver after the accident and did not see visible external injuries, but she was taken to the hospital.

Longview Public Works Director Ken Hash said officials closed the lakes outlets to the Cowlitz River after the accident, while they determine if oil or gas leaked from the vehicle. Huhta said Longview Public Works employees put up barriers to isolate any spills immediately after the accident.

Hardeman said helping others is a natural calling for the Longview native, and why he also works with developmentally disabled people.

It was kind of instinct and I just went for it, Hardeman said. I saw that someone needed my help.

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During Amazon sale big price cuts have been announced on Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, Redmi Note 10S and more.

As we are approaching the end of the year 2021, online retailers are announcing sales and the latest one to do so is Amazon. The e-commerce giant has rolled out its end-of-year sale, which is already live on its website since December 25. It will last till December 31. During this Amazon sale, great deals and offers on smartphones from brands such as Xiaomi, Samsung, Redmi, iQOO and more, have been announced. You can enjoy up to 40 percent off on smartphones.

Not just the deals and discounts, you can use Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Cards to get an instant discount of up to 1,500. You can also take advantage of great exchange deals and easy No-Cost EMI for up to 12 months. Prime Members can save up to 20,000 with Advantage Just for Prime, which includes features such as a 6-month free screen replacement and an additional 3-month No Cost EMI on HDFC Bank Debit and Credit Cards, which gives even longer EMI terms and cheaper monthly payments beginning at 1,333. Here are the best deals on smartphones from Amazon Sale.

Amazon end-year sale: Best smartphone deals

Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G Price

The newly launched Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G is under sale! You will be getting this latest phone priced at 24,500 with an instant bank discount of 2,500 with ICICI Bank Credit and Debit cards. If you want to exchange your old smartphone, then you can get it at 19,950. Besides this, you can also get up to 2,500 off on Flagship Mi phones such as Mi 11X Pro, Mi 11X.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G Price

Amazon's end-of-year sale is offering Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G at a discounted price of 39,990 against its actual price of 74,990. You can also get an additional 1,500 off with Amazon Pay ICICI Credit cards and get it for 38,490.

Redmi Note 10S Price

Get Redmi Note 10S at the price of 14,999 during the Amazon end-of-year sale, on which you can get an additional discount of 1000on ICICI Bank Credit Cards. On-exchange offer, you can get an exchange bonus of up to 13,950.

Samsung Galaxy M52 5G Price

Get the Samsung Galaxy M52 5G in its 6GB RAM and 128GB memory variant priced at 29,000 during the Amazon sale. Plus, all the available offers from Amazon such as 1,412 EMI and an additional discount of 3000 on ICICI Bank Credit Card.

iQOO smartphones Price

iQOO Z3 is available at the discounted price 15,490 for sale on Amazon, while you will be able to get iQOO Z5 priced at 19,490 including 3,000 off with coupons and a bank discount.
Google bans hidden Google Play Store app that had Joker malware in it. Google has instructed users to delete it from their phones.

Google has issued another Joker malware warning for Android phone users. One of the most-persistent malware found has been detected in an app. Worryingly, this app has already been downloaded 500,000-plus times from Google Play Store. The Research company Pradeo has shared the information in a blog post. Acting on the information, Google banned the Google Play Store app on which the Joker malware was hidden. The app with Joker malware in it is called Color Message and was available on Google Play Store.

Though the Color Message app was deleted from the Google Play Store, it has already been installed by more than half a million users. Since the app has been removed from Google Play Store, it will no longer be able to trap new users. However, the users who already have installed the app need to remove it on their own from their phones. Know what is Color Message app and how Joker malware can affect your device

What is Color Message app with hidden Joker malware that has been banned from Google Play Store

The Color Message app offers features to jazz up the users messages by providing a range of customisation options. The app makes texting easy, fun and beautiful by providing customized themes. The unique technology of this app allows users to personalize default SMS messenger. In what is even more shocking, the app had 1,800+ reviews with an average rating of four stars.

What does Joker malware do and how it affects users phones

Joker is one of the most dangerous Android malware. Categorized as a Fleecewear app, it steals SMS messages, contact lists and device information. It signs up users for premium service subscriptions without their knowledge. Additionally, it simulates clicks and intercept SMSes, including users banking messages.

Google detected the Joker malware in the year 2017 for the first time. Apart from Color Message app, there are several other Google Play Store apps like Safety AppLock, Convenient Scanner 2, Emoji Wallpaper, Separate Doc Scanner, Fingertip GameBox, Easy PDF Scanner, Super-Click VPN, Volume Booster Louder Sound Equalizer, Flashlight Flash Alert on Call and some other apps have also been detected with Joker Malware.
DALLAS (AP)  The wife of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was arrested Christmas Eve on a domestic violence charge that the right-wing provocateur said stems from a "medication imbalance.

Sheriff's deputies took Erika Wulff Jones into custody and booked her into an Austin jail around 8:45 p.m. Friday. Jail records show the 43-year-old faces misdemeanor charges of assault causing bodily injury to a family member and resisting arrest, search or transport. She had not received a bond Saturday afternoon.

Alex Jones, an Austin resident and founder of the right-wing media group Infowars, declined Saturday to say whether he'd been injured or elaborate on what happened beyond that he believes it was related to his wife's recent change of medication.

Its a private family matter that happened on Christmas Eve," Jones told The Associated Press in a brief interview. "I love my wife and care about her and it appears to be some kind of medication imbalance.

The Travis County Sheriffs Office did not immediately respond to a request Christmas Day for the report on Wulff Jones arrest and a spokeswoman said she could not provide more information. An attorney for Wulff Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fueled by the super-contagious omicron variant, new coronavirus cases in the city have rocketed from an average of about 3,400 a day in the week that ended Dec. 12 to 22,000 in the week that ended Sunday. Hospitalizations also have risen, but not as sharply.

Under the city's new rules, many more private employers will have to verify and keep a record of each workers proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Workers who have received only one shot must get a second within 45 days. Companies must display a sign affirming they're complying with the rule in a conspicuous location," under the city's mandate.

Businesses aren't required to discipline or fire non-compliant workers, but they must keep them out of the workplace. Workers seeking an accommodation on religious grounds can come to work while their request is pending.

My hope is that the city goes light on the enforcement of this because its a new mandate  it certainly is going to require some transition  and employers are dealing with a myriad of other challenges right now, said Randy Peers, the president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Earliest fashion

In "The Flintstones," Fred and Betty are clothed in furs  but archaeological evidence of what our Stone Age ancestors actually wore and how they made clothes is thin.

Fur, leather and other organic materials generally aren't preserved, especially beyond 100,000 years ago.

However, researchers say 62 bone tools used to process and smooth animal skins found in a cave in Morocco may be some of the earliest proxy evidence for clothing in the archaeological record. The tools are between 90,000 and 120,000 years old and were used to work leather  specifically to remove connective tissue. Similar bone tools are still used by some leather workers today.

Neanderthal brains

Brain matter doesn't preserve well in the fossil record, making it impossible to know how modern human brains differ from our long-extinct ancestors, the Neanderthals.

From fossilized skulls we know that their brains were big  slightly bigger than ours, in fact  but they tell us little about their neurology and development.
Researchers have discovered a new Android banking malware that targets Brazil's Itau Unibanco with the help of lookalike Google Play Store pages to carry out fraudulent financial transactions on victim devices without their knowledge.

"This application has a similar icon and name that could trick users into thinking it is a legitimate app related to Itau Unibanco," Cyble researchers said in a report published last week. "The [threat actor] has created a fake Google Play Store page and hosted the malware that targets Itau Unibanco on it under the name 'sincronizador.apk.'"

The tactic of leveraging fake app store pages as a lure is not new. In March, Meta (previously Facebook) disclosed details of an attack campaign that used its platform as part of a broader operation to spy on Uyghur Muslims using rogue third-party websites that used replica domains for popular news portals and websites designed to resemble third-party Android app stores, where attackers put fake keyboard, prayer, and dictionary apps that might appeal to the targets.

In the latest instance observed by Cyble, the fake URL not only impersonates the official Android app marketplace, but also hosts the malware-laced Itau Unibanco application, in addition to claiming that the app has had 1,895,897 downloads.

Users who install and launch the imposter app from the supposed Google Play Store page are subsequently prompted to enable accessibility services as well as other intrusive permissions that allow the malware to access notifications, retrieve window content, and perform tap and swipe gestures.

The goal of the trojan, per the researchers, is to perform fraudulent financial transactions on the legitimate Itau Unibanco application by tampering with the user's input fields, joining a long list of banking malware that abuse the accessibility API. Google, for its part, has begun imposing new limitations to restrict the use of such permissions that allow apps to capture sensitive information from Android devices.

This is far from the first time the Sao Paulo-based financial services company has come under the radar of financially-motivated threat groups. Earlier this April, ESET revealed a new banking trojan dubbed Janeleiro that was observed striking corporate users in Brazil at least since 2019 across various sectors such as engineering, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, finance, transportation, and government.

"Threat Actors constantly adapt their methods to avoid detection and find new ways to target users through increasingly sophisticated techniques. Such malicious applications often masquerade as legitimate applications to trick users into installing them," the researchers said.

"Users should install applications only after verifying their authenticity and install them exclusively from the official Google Play Store and other trusted portals to avoid such attacks."
ALBION  There hasnt been much snow yet this year across the state or at least any that has stuck around. For alfalfa, snow is a winter gift, says Brad Schick, an Extension Educator for Boone and Nance counties.

Snow helps alfalfa survive the winter, he said. Plain and simple. A warm fall has allowed some alfalfa to winterize very well and prepare for consistent cold temperatures. They do this by putting high concentrations of nutrients in the roots and crown to withstand temperatures down to 5 degrees.

Air temperature is colder than soil temperature. So even if the air is well below zero degrees, the soil will not be. With a layer of snow acting as insulation on the soil surface, the soil and roots of the alfalfa will be much warmer than bare soil and the air temperature.

This layer of snow also protects the moisture in the roots and soil from being lost to evaporation. This is especially important with new seedings of alfalfa or alfalfa and grass mixtures which need to maintain root moisture. If the soil does dry out, desiccation, frost heavingand greater swings in soil temperature can result in higher levels of winterkill across a stand.
Kyes, who just turned 78, lives nine miles north and east of Central City. He and his wife, Marilyn, have been married for 57 years.

Both graduated from Central City High School in 1962. They met and started dating their freshman year. Their first date was on Valentines Day in 1959, when they went skating in Aurora.

After high school, Kyes received a civil engineering degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

He is now a retired farmer. But he keeps his hand in. I have a son that keeps me busy, he says.

That son is Steve, who came to the Dec. 16 awards presentation with his wife, Amy.

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Ed and Marilyn have three other children. John lives in Columbus. Lee lives in Olathe, Kan., and Paula Opiela is in Katy, Texas.

Kyes started raising corn and soybeans in 1973 and was a swine producer until 1996.
Now, with both projects expected to be complete in the fall of 2022, Bullington said 2022 will again be a busy year at Prairie Commons.

Going forward, youre going to see a lot of new projects go up going up every six month or so, he said.

Prairie Commons is a 108-acre green field site about four miles north of Interstate 80, located on the southwest corner of Highway 281 and Highway 34.

The Prairie Commons master plan envisioned not only the hospital and medical offices, along with the Tabitha and Unity Eye Centers, but also a hotel and with conference space, additional medical and business offices, along with mixed use space for retail and restaurants, multi-family units, walking trails, community space and much more.

In 2022, Bullington said work will be begin on a new hotel and a new large apartment complex.

This is going to be a huge thing for Grand Island, he said. Well also start on another medical office building in the fall, along with a lot of other stuff thats in the works.
This past year has brought many challenges and changes in our communities and country.

The end of the year is always a time for personal reflection and growth as you venture into the new year. I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, and blessed holiday season and a great start to 2022!

Crop production clinics

Nebraska Extension will host its annual crop production clinics across the state in January.

These clinics highlight several topics including soil fertility, soil water and irrigation, crop pest management (insects, diseases, and weeds), cropping systems practices, agribusiness management, marketing strategies, and on-farm research.

Certified Crop Advisor credits are available for crop production, nutrient management, integrated pest management, water management and precision agriculture.

Pesticide applicator license recertifications will also be available for commercial/non-commercial applicators for the following categories: General standards, ag plant, and demonstration/research. Private pesticide applicators are also encouraged to attend to receive certification training.
A dusty border town, once notorious for its beer sales, might someday become home to a health center dedicated to alcohol rehabilitation.

This past week, a nonprofit based on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation purchased 48 acres of land in Whiteclay, the former home of four liquor stores that sold nearly 4 million cans of beer a year.

Whiteclay, prior to the closing of the beer stores in 2017, was known for its street people, who openly drank and urinated along its small business district. The beer sales were blamed for multiple problems on the adjacent Pine Ridge reservation just a couple of miles north across the South Dakota-Nebraska border, including rampant alcoholism and fetal alcohol syndrome.

John Maisch, an Oklahoma law professor whose video documentary helped illuminate the problems in Whiteclay, facilitated the land sale with Thunder Valley Community Development Corp. He said he hopes that a restorative health care campus could be established on the land, that could include short- and long-term substance abuse services, as well as transitional housing and trauma care.
Zac Holoch stated, My mother has shown me what it takes to be a great leader not only at Cornerstone Bank but also in the banking industry. I will miss working with her, but Im looking forward to this new challenge and continuing to work alongside my grandfather every day. Both of them have been and will continue to be great mentors to me. Our success is a compliment to the employees of the bank who are very talented and hardworking.

Kris Holoch started her career at Cornerstone in 2000 in the newly formed Electronic Banking Department. Through the years, she also worked in Retail Banking, was named CEO in August of 2015 and added the responsibility of President in 2018. Kris served as the Nebraska Bankers Association Chairman in 2017 and was on the Board of Directors for the American Bankers Association from 2019-2020. Kris and her late husband, Greg, have three grown children, Kylee, Cody and Zac. She also has nine grandchildren. Kris resides in York and serves as Treasurer on the York General Board of Directors and is a member at Faith Lutheran Church.
At age 20, recent Rend Lake College graduate Dakota Tate has received a patent  for his invention of a way to use discarded automotive, truck and implement tires as drainage culverts.

The average age of patent recipients is 47.

It just is not very common for a younger person to be issued a patent, explained Lorelei Ritchie, a former judge at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a current assistant professor of law at Southern Illinois University.

Ritchie understands the difficulties involved in obtaining patent protection for an invention.

It actually is a rather difficult and complex process to get a patent, she said. For anyone to get one, is not very common.

Ritchie explained that a vast majority of awarded patents go to corporations and academic institutions. The individuals who are awarded patents are usually in their 40s or 50s.

That makes Tate's accomplish significant. The 20-year-old is from the Bluford area.

For the Webber Township High School alumnus and recent graduate of Rend Lake College, securing a patent was just part of the program  the CEO program.

The culvert project started when Tate was a senior at Webber Township High School and enrolled in the Jefferson County CEO program  an academic effort that exposes students to entrepreneurship and area business leaders.

The invention got its spark from a conversation Tate had with his older brother.

He said if someone could figure out how to use old tires in a way besides grinding them up, they could make a lot of money. Then he said these three words: Trash into cash, adding that could be someones meal ticket, Tate recalled.

He said he formulated the idea not long after that, over the hood of a pickup truck, drinking a soda.

His plan was to take worn-out tires and fasten them together using discarded oil well parts. Officially, the patent describes the invention as a system and method of constructing a culvert using vehicle tires. The method teaches constructing a culvert using discarded tires. The culvert's stress points are reinforced by truck tires. Additionally, the integrity of the culvert is kept intact using a predetermined formula for every 10 feet of culvert constructed.

The method attaches the tires side-by-side to make a drainage tube strong enough to drive over. The diameter of the culvert depends on which tires are used  automobile to semi  and Tate said he can make a culvert almost any length just by using more tires.

Almost immediately, he began selling culverts to farmers in his area. He said one benefit of the invention is how it keeps tires out of landfills.

Farmers go through a lot of tires over the course of a year, Tate said. There is nothing that happens to them after they are thrown away. What we ended up doing is a cheap solution that is also environmentally friendly.

Through his involvement with CEO, Tate met Mt. Vernon-area inventor and entrepreneur Lee Bob Willingham who encouraged Tate to patent his product. Working with patent advisors, Tate filed his application and learned in October he would be receiving the patent.

To just be some farm boy from a little town and have something thats built from the truck bed in the driveway being stamped as unique by the U.S. Patent Office is just crazy, he said.

Kathy Asbery, board president of the Jefferson CEO program said efforts such as Tates are not uncommon for the program

When we have students that find their passion, we do everything we can to help them pursue that and be successful at it, she said.

Asbery said another Jefferson CEO student is currently working on a patent application as well.

Following his graduation from Webber Township High School, Tate earned an associate degree at Rend Lake College. He now is a junior at Murray State University, studying agronomy. He continues to build and sell his culverts.

After graduation he said he wants to return to Jefferson County and the family farm, while continuing to build his culvert business.

I plan to scale it up and just see where it goes, he said.

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A home on Lobster Lane in Holly Hill was damaged by a fire on Thursday morning, according to the American Red Cross.

The Red Cross is helping five people by providing financial assistance for immediate needs such as food, clothing and shelter, along with referrals to much-needed resources.

Find out how to help the Red Cross assist families by visiting www.redcross.org/HometownHero.

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(TBTCO) - Blue-chips tiep tuc chao ao trong phien hom nay nhung van con tru neo giu iem cho VN-Index tang. Tuy vay su soi ong, tham chi la rat nong, van chi tap trung trong nhom au co vua va nho. ay cung la nhung ma hut tien nhat.
Parimutuel betting is one step closer to being available at Caspers C85 Pump Room, after a decision from the Natrona County commissioners last week.

The facility is set to retain its existing staff and keep its bar, turning the liquor store portion of its north Casper building into a site for parimutuel off-track betting. The proposed location would offer betting for live racing, historic and simulcast horse racing.

Before that, though, the license has to be approved by the Wyoming Gaming Commission, which has a slightly more rigorous application process than the county.

This would be the first location in the county for Wyoming company 307 Horse Racing, but the county has several other existing spots for parimutuel betting including at several Wyoming Downs locations and at the Horse Palace on North Poplar Street.

The board of county commissioners had tabled the approval of the new location during a meeting last week after finding there were several other locations in the county that appeared to have not gone through the application process. During a meeting on Tuesday, the commissioners moved forward with the vote and approved the permit.

According to state statute, parimutuel betting permits are approved by location (typically inside bars, restaurants or other betting places like Wyoming Downs) and have to go through county government and the states gaming commission.

A pair of resolutions passed in 2014 and 2020 gave blanket approval to Wyoming Horse Racing and Wyoming Downs, respectively, to operate in any county locations. Natrona County Attorney Eric Nelson said on Thursday that the current commissioners are looking to repeal those resolutions, and review each application on a case-by-case basis going forward.

A feasibility study done by 307 Horse Racing suggested the new location could generate as much as $10 million a year in additional bets placed in Natrona County, which would translate to nearly $1 million in tax revenue between the county and the city of Casper.

In the first half of 2021, the county saw a total of $740,000 in tax revenue only from historic race betting, where players place wagers on horse races that have already been run. Casper earned an additional $410,000 from six locations.

State data shows that Evansville received $245,500 from its single Wyoming Downs location, Mills earned roughly $85,000 from two facilities and Bar Nunn brought in $260 from kiosk betting at The Hangar restaurant.

Currently, nine Wyoming cities  Casper, Cheyenne, Evanston, Evansville, Gillette, Green River, Laramie, Rock Springs and Sheridan  host off-track betting.

Follow city and crime reporter Ellen Gerst on Twitter at @ellengerst.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallee, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died. He was 58.

Vallee died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend, his representative Bumble Ward said Sunday.

Vallee was acclaimed for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, directing stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal over the past decade.

He directed Emily Blunt in 2009's The Young Victoria and became a sought-after name in Hollywood after Dallas Buyers Club, featuring Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture.

With a gentle hand and heart Jean-Marc was a true receiver  he didnt romanticize life so much as he saw life romantic  from the struggle to the pain to the wink and the whisper, love stories were everywhere in his eye, tweeted McConaughey, one of several stars paying tribute to Vallee on Monday.

Vallee often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras, giving actors freedom to improvise from the script and move around within a scenes location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's Wild."

They can move anywhere they want, the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview with The Associated Press. Its giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I dont need to cut performances. Often, the cinematographer and I were like, This location sucks. Its not very nice. But, hey, thats life.

He re-teamed with Witherspoon to direct the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017, and directed Adams in 2018s Sharp Objects, also for HBO. Vallee won DGA awards for both.

I will always remember you as the sun goes down," Witherspoon wrote on Instagram along with a series of photos of the director. "Chasing the light. On a mountain in Oregon. On a beach in Monterey. Making sure we all caught a little magic in this lifetime. I love you, Jean Marc. Until we meet again.

Her Big Little Lies co-star Laura Dern on Instagram called Vallee a beloved friend who was one of our great and purest artists and dreamers.

Leto said on Twitter that he was a filmmaking force and a true artist who changed my life.

And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted that Jean-Marc Vallees passion for filmmaking and storytelling was unmatched  so too was his talent. Through his work and with his art, he left a mark in Quebec, across Canada, and around the world.

Associated Press Writers Jake Coyle and Andrew Dalton contributed to this report.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
For a time this spring, it appeared the worst of COVID-19 might be over in Wyoming.

The surge of late 2020 that taxed the states health system and resulted in a spike hospitalizations and deaths had ended. COVID-19 vaccines were becoming widely available. Businesses were operating with few restrictions.

But while the spring of 2021 was relatively mild for infections, the arrival of the most contagious delta variant here in June spurred a second surge and a record-breaking number of hospitalizations.

The differences between spring and summer were stark. On March 14, Wyomings hospitals were collectively treating only nine COVID-19 patients. That number hovered in the 30s and 40s during the spring and much of the summer. And then cases took off again.

On July 1, there were 39 hospitalized COVID patients in Wyoming. On Aug. 1, that number had increased to 66. By the start of September, it had soared to 198. It would eventually peak on Oct. 21 at 249 patients statewide  the highest at any point in the pandemic.

We are at record high hospitalizations at Wyoming Medical Center, Natrona County Health Officer Dr. Mark Dowell told the county board of health just before the peak. Its like a war zone.

Wyoming Medical Center, the states largest hospital, was at one point treating nearly a third of Wyomings COVID-19 patients. At some points, the facility, which is licensed for 200 beds, had fewer than 10 available.

Overwhelmingly, the surge was driven by people who were not vaccinated. They made up 98% of all new cases recorded between May and October. Not only were they more likely to get sick, but they also developed more severe illnesses.

Theres no question these people are sicker, and its taking longer for them to get better, which backs up the hospital, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jeff Chapman said this fall.

Deaths tied to the virus also rose. The same week that hospitalizations peaked in Wyoming, the states health department reported 69 deaths  the highest one-week total of 2021.

This years surge differed in a key respect to the one Wyoming experienced at the tail end of 2020: the government response. The 2020 surge prompted Gov. Mark Gordon to implement a statewide mask order. But this time around, Gordon said he would not be imposing any new restrictions. Instead, he deferred those decision to local leaders.

On COVID, let me be clear that we are not going to issue any mandates, no mandates will come from this office. No face masks, no vaccination mandates, Gordon said.

Most local jurisdictions took a similar tack, recommending measures to slow infections but stopping short of any new mandates. However, some school districts did impose mask rules as cases surged as classes resumed for the fall semester.

The spike in cases did not alter Wyomings status as one of the nations most vaccine-hesitant states. The states vaccination rate picked up a bit with the arrival of the delta variant, but not enough to keep Wyoming from the bottom of the national rankings. Even now, only 47% of the states population is vaccinated, even though doses have been widely available here since the spring.

The surge began to slow in November, with the number of hospitalized COVID patients falling dramatically over the last two months of the year. As of Tuesday, hospitalizations had plummeted to 80.

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LARAMIE  Libraries and school boards across Wyoming have become the target of complaints about books that explore LGBTQ and sexual issues on their shelves.

The complaints have stirred up a growing controversy that has raised questions around free speech, censorship and the role public and school libraries should play in education.

Accusations in Gillette over the past six months attracted national attention when parents filed a complaint with the Campbell County Sheriffs Office alleging it was a criminal offense for such material to be in the childrens or teen sections of the local library.

The titles under scrutiny include This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson, Doing It by Hannah Witton, Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg and others, according to the Gillette News Record.

Some parents have argued the books cover topics that are inappropriate for younger audiences. Prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges, saying there wouldnt be a viable case against the library.

On Dec. 13, parents of students in Natrona County voiced their concerns over books on similar topics in addition to those about slavery, sex trafficking, addiction and other themes. Laramie County School District 1 also has had parents protesting certain books in school libraries.

The controversy hasnt yet made its way to Laramie, but some locals feel it could have an impact here all the same.

Katie Morgan, president of PFLAG Laramie, said LGBTQ-related books can provide an important resource for LGBTQ people, their families and friends.

Young people have enough challenges in their lives, Morgan said. To be denied access to library materials that can help them understand whats going on in their lives  its sad that theyre removing that access.

Morgan said some kids are not met with support from their families and communities when they come out as LGBTQ. Even when they do receive support, there could be a gap in resources that the books help fill. She added that the concerns over the subject material poses a threat to young LGBTQ people.

Theres no way to take that (controversy) other than a negative aspersion on who they are as individuals, Morgan said.

Albany County Commissioner Pete Gosar said he feels Laramie is a more tolerant community than Campbell, Natrona and Laramie counties, and that the local commission would handle similar complaints radically different than the others.

I think this is a dangerous thing when people go to censor books in public libraries, Gosar said. I dont think people should do that lightly.

Morgan felt that many of the books listed arent political and that people are making their own leaps of judgment about them where perhaps they shouldnt.

We know that reading a book about being LGBTQ doesnt influence you to become LGBTQ. Its not an influence on people, Morgan said. We dont fully see the reasoning to remove those books.

Some of the disputed titles arent on the shelves but are available in a digital format from the Albany County Public Library. Library Director Rachel Crocker said that she has never received a formal complaint about a book in the four years shes worked there.

While there have been questions about some titles for a variety of reasons, Crocker said those can usually be resolved through a conversation about the persons concerns and why the library chose to buy the book in question.

Crocker welcomes discussion about the materials in the library because she feels the conversations can help build new understandings. She added that learning the content of books from readers allows librarians to better recommend them to the right people.

We wish we could read every book that we put on our shelves, but we cant, Crocker said.

Instead, librarians at ACPL rely on bestseller lists, selection magazines and reviews to choose which books to buy. Selectors write out a plan for what types of books they feel should be added to the library and what resources they will use to find them. The majority of books selectors add to the library are published in recent years, if not the current year.

Crocker said selectors welcome suggestions from the public and have a purchase request form people can use to request books theyd like to see in the library.

Our colleagues in the public libraries and school libraries  have a real way of identifying which works are of the highest quality, said Cass Kvenild, associate dean of libraries at University of Wyoming. Its not an arbitrary process.  I dont think most librarians are trying to make a political point with their collections.

If a complaint ever did come up, Crocker said the public library has a formal system in place called a Collection Development Policy. Following this policy, complaints would first go to the selector of the book and then to the director. If the situation cant be resolved from there, a committee would read the title and determine where it should be placed.

The library recently updated the policy to make it more understandable as a part of a greater policy update. It will be up for public comment for 45 days in the spring.

The complaint system is slightly different for e-books, as these come from a database from the Wyoming library consortium, known as WYLD, which reaches across the state. Because e-books could have come from any library in the consortium, more groups, such as the Wyoming State Library, would be involved in that review process.

Crocker said that an important part of the selection process is making sure the community is fully represented in the library. She also emphasized the importance of including challenging titles that can lead to difficult conversations and hopes to strike a balance between the targets.

My goal is that anyone in our community could walk into this library and find books that reflect them, Crocker said. I also want books on our shelves that everyone in our community can walk in and say  Thats a new idea, (or) Thats something thats out of my comfort zone.

Kvenild said that the library at UW functions a bit differently than a public library because of its specific goals of research, education and outreach.

Kvenild said the library never removes a book but has bought additional titles in response to the ones already there at the request of community members. The library is open to the public, and all questions and requests are handled through a set vetting process.

The university has a collection of about 2 million volumes, which includes many painful and controversial topics and ideas, Kvenild said. While inclusion of these materials doesnt signal endorsement of the ideas within, the UW community uses them as educational tools and views them as an important part of the historical record.

Crocker said that one of the safest places to encounter differences is in a book, and that those issues can be used to start important conversations.

Libraries are a beautiful place of coming together in our community, and thats not always without tension, Crocker said. That tension is good if we can embrace it in a civil discourse kind of way.

Crocker said that making the community feel safe and welcome is one way to respond to potentially harmful challenges. She said library staff consider ways to do this every day through programming and content.

Some of these programs include Yak!, an after school club where all teens are welcome and there are events that focus specifically on the LGBTQ community such as Drag Queen Storytime, which takes place during Pride Month.

The beauty of the library is that literally everyone is welcome, Crocker said.

Party affiliation is a technical thing, Chadwick said. We care about public leaders that reflect our platform.

Chadwick said Newcomb has represented the platform of the Democratic party.

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It will soon cost you at least a dollar or two more to enjoy a Carib or Stag beer as bar owners say a price increase by Carib Brewery has left them with no other alternative but to charge customers more.

Carib Brewery, in a statement on Monday, announced a $1 retail price increase per bottle or can would apply to its Carib, Carib Pilsner, Stag, Carib Blue, Royal Extra Stout, Coors, Heineken, Guinness, Smirnoff Ice and Blue Moon products.
Growing up, I had to work twice as hard as my classmates because I was dyslexic.

Back then, and sadly even today, learning disabilities got mislabelled as laziness or being slow. Thankfully, I had a determined mother and dedicated teachers who took the time to learn how best to teach me. Well, not all of my teachers.
A UA graduate and longtime pharmacist committed $2.3 million before his death to the R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy to create an endowment.

John A. Andy Ware, who died March 6 at the age of 77, made the estate gift commitment to establish the John A. and Frances P. Ware Endowment, the University of Arizona announced recently.

The endowment will provide for the colleges most pressing needs in the years to come, the UA said.

Ware, who grew up in Southern California, was inspired to become a pharmacist by a family friend who owned a community drugstore. While pursuing a degree at the UA, he was a member of Phi Delta Chi, a professional organization whose core philosophy comprises service, leadership and brotherhood, the UA said in a news release.

Wares career in pharmacy spanned three decades. He worked in chain stores for 19 years before purchasing a community drugstore in California with his wife, Frances. They ran the business together while raising a family.

After Ware was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he and his wife sold the pharmacy to buy a commercial greenhouse in Florida. Twenty years later, they sold the business and retired.
Our role is to help other agencies to brainstorm but also to vociferously advocate for criminal justice reform and advocate for our clients release and for them not going to jail in the first place, he said. At the end of the day, all we can do is advocate. We cant implement policy, thats the county attorneys job.

Conover said her office intends to aid in the release of incarcerated individuals by conducting thorough reviews.

I think itll help to sort of have a more collaborative, intense effort to do a review of who is in there, to identify people who are in there on nonviolent, low-level offenses and can and should be released, Conover said.

The county attorney also said shes fully supportive of expanding the sheriffs departments ankle monitoring program to transfer inmates in custody to monitored release, a program Nanos said is deeply underutilized. According to the sheriff, housing people in the jail costs $126 a day, whereas monitoring someone with an ankle bracelet costs $15 a day.

But Liwski says the programs availability depends on the charges one is facing.
We currently have seen about a 20% loss in flow. We all expect it to get somewhat worse before stabilizing. All of the states will all have to reduce their current usage by varying amounts, except for perhaps Wyoming.

That said, some of the conclusions are overstated to make a case for dramatic use reductions and for freezing future diversions, Kightlinger said.

He faulted the report for not providing much evidence to back up its case that many new diversions are planned besides the Lake Powell pipeline.

They assert the states are not working collaboratively and are resorting to tribalism, again citing the Lake Powell pipeline as an example, he said.

But actually, Utah backed away from pushing for a speedy timetable for a federal review of the pipeline when faced with the prospect of a united Upper and Lower Basin letter challenging the project and the environmental analysis and agreed to work with the other six states on the projects analysis, he said.

Kightlinger also took issue with what he said is the reports view that the Upper Basin can only get water leftovers after the Lower Basin takes in its annual 7.5 million acre-foot water allocation.
Maxwell's lawyers said the memories of her accusers were corrupted by the passage of time and the influence of lawyers steering them toward multimillion-dollar payouts from a fund set up to compensate Epstein victims.

The jury, which deliberated two full days last week, already has asked to review the testimony of the four women, along with former Epstein housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi. They have given little hint of their overall progress on six charges, including a sex trafficking count that carries a potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison.

On Monday, jurors asked for the transcript of testimony by Matt, the pseudonym of a television actor who testified that he is the ex-boyfriend of Jane, the pseudonym of an actor who is one of the four accusers who testified against Maxwell. The judge had ruled that some witnesses in the trial could testify with only first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy.

Matt, who lived with Jane from 2007 to 2014, testified that Jane initially described Epstein as a godfather who helped her family pay bills after her father's illness and death depleted their finances. She was 14 when she met Epstein.
Photo editor

Rick Wiley is the photo editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. From 1995-2004, he was director of photography at the East Valley Tribune in Mesa. From 1988-94 he was a photographer at the Tucson Citizen. He is a graduate of ASU (yes, that ASU).
He noted that the study of ants offered insights into the state of the environment, because the welfare and diversity of ant populations might be useful as an indicator of subtle destructive changes in a seemingly normal area.

Wilson was born in 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama. As an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Wilson found comfort in nature, which he called his companion of choice.

He also had to deal with the loss of sight in one eye in a fishing accident and, in his teens, a partial hearing loss.

The Boy Scouts provided Wilson an opportunity to further his enthusiasm for nature, and by the age of 15, Wilson had risen to the rank of Eagle Scout.

He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard in 1955 and became an assistant professor there in 1956. Wilsons field research included stops in Australia, New Guinea and Sri Lanka, in addition to his ongoing work at home.
It has now been more than six months since the Tulsa City Council approved  and Mayor G.T. Bynum signed  a resolution apologizing for the violence perpetrated against Blacks during the 1921 Race Massacre.

The six-month mark is important because the resolution also includes language pledging the councilors commitment to making tangible amends for the violence and to establishing within six months a community-led process to evaluate the recommendations for reconciliation made by the states 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission two decades ago.

That deadline hasnt made much news, but its one Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper has not forgotten. Hall-Harper, the citys sole Black city councilor, said last week that she is working with Standpipe Hill Strategies, World One Development Group and others to create a process to receive public input, and hopes to announce the details in January.

Right now, I am seeking funding for those community-led conversations, and then we will go from there, Hall-Harper said.

The city councilor intends to use private funding for the initial public-engagement process to ensure that it unfolds in such a way as to fully and accurately reflect the desires of the Black community.
What church leaders are saying

Among the churches where COVID-19 or vaccines is rarely discussed, at least during their weekly Sunday sermons, is Guts Church, one of the largest Christian congregations in Tulsa.

Pastors talk to me all the time about how are you navigating this, meaning how are you navigating the pandemic  its real easy, we dont talk about it, said Guts Church Pastor Bill Scheer during a sermon this spring. I think you have enough information on it and that you dont have to come here and get more information about the virus.

He and others have preached a message advocating not worrying or fearing the disease  something that stands in contrast to the repeated warning and calls to action from the medical community over the past two years.

Look Im not making light of it, I get its a virus, Scheer said during a sermon in January. But there is no way mankind should be gripped with the fear it grips us with.  Thats the question, is God the healer, is God the provider? If you are trusting anything other than him, its a lie. Its interesting, all we need is the presence of God.
The U.S. and its allies have refused to offer Russia the kind of guarantee on Ukraine that Putin wants, citing NATOs principle that membership is open to any qualifying country. They agreed. however, to launch security talks with Russia next month to discuss its concerns.

Putin said the talks with the U.S. will be held in Geneva. In parallel, negotiations are also set to be held between Russia and NATO and broader discussions are expected under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In remarks broadcast Sunday, Putin said Russia submitted the demands in the hope of a constructive answer from the West.

We didn't do it just to see it blocked ... but for the purpose of reaching a negotiated diplomatic result that would be fixed in legally binding documents," Putin said.

He reaffirmed that NATO membership for Ukraine or the deployment of alliance weapons there is a red line for Moscow that it wouldn't allow the West to cross.
In 2004, a New York Times writer praised his wry vision of modern consumerism and said, No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half century than did Mr. Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products.

Thiebaud told the NewsHour he preferred calling himself a painter, rather than an artist, because its like a priest referring to himself as a saint. Maybe its a little too early or hes not the one to decide that ... Being an artist I think is a very rare thing.

Along with the sensuousness, there was sometimes an emptiness and melancholy reminiscent of Edward Hopper. He likened the feeling to the bright pathos of a circus clown.

In landscape, his most famous subject was the city of San Francisco, whose steep hills he portrayed in a fantasy-like way, with spectacular angles and stark shadows.

Originally, I painted right on the streets, trying to get some of the kind of drama I felt about the city and its vertiginous (dizzying) character, he told the NewsHour.

But that didnt seem to work ... The reality was one thing but the fantasy or the exploration of it was another.
The Ministry of Health announced 14,872 additional COVID-19 cases throughout Vietnam on Monday, together with 11,374 recoveries and 204 pathogen-related deaths.

The latest infections, including five imported and 14,867 domestic transmissions, were reported in 59 provinces and cities, the ministry said, noting that 10,418 patients caught the virus in the community.

Hanoi recorded 1,948 of the newest local cases, Tay Ninh Province 943, Hai Phong City 931, Khanh Hoa Province 791, Can Tho City 711, Ho Chi Minh City 560, Thua Thien-Hue Province 381, Bac Ninh Province 326, Lam Dong Province 263, Dong Nai Province 216, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province 162, Binh Thuan Province 140, Quang Ninh Province 103, Quang Nam Province 96, Da Nang 86, Binh Duong Province 77, and Bac Giang Province 40.

Vietnam had logged 15,182 locally-acquired infections on Sunday.

The country has documented 1,660,900 community transmissions in all its 63 provinces and cities since the fourth virus wave erupted on April 27. A combined 1,256,797 of them have recovered from COVID-19.

Ho Chi Minh City has been the largest epicenter with 500,617 patients, followed by Binh Duong Province with 290,240, Dong Nai Province with 97,043, Tay Ninh Province with 71,537, Dong Thap Province with 41,816, Long An Province with 40,128, Can Tho City with 39,387, Hanoi with 38,574, Tien Giang Province with 32,868, An Giang Province with 31,540, Khanh Hoa Province with 29,835, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province with 25,936, Binh Thuan Province with 24,961, and Da Nang with 10,535.

Vietnam detected a mere 1,570 locally-transmitted infections in total in the previous three waves.

The health ministry confirmed 11,374 recovered patients on Monday, elevating the total to 1,259,614.

The toll has increased to 31,418 fatalities after the ministry registered 204 deaths on the same day, including 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, 22 in An Giang Province, 17 in Dong Nai Province, 15 in Binh Duong Province, 14 in Tay Ninh Province, and the remainder in 16 other provinces and cities.

Vietnam has recorded 1,666,545 patients since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country early last year.

Health workers have administered more than 146.3 million vaccine doses, including 725,301 shots on Sunday, since vaccination was rolled out nationwide on March 8.

Upwards of 77.1 million of the countrys 98 million people have received at least one dose while over 66.4 million have been jabbed twice.

The number of third doses  including additional primary shots for immunocompromised people, boosters, and third jabs of Cubas Abdala vaccine  has increased to 2,794,380.

Vietnam aims to fully inoculate 100 percent of its adult population this year. Many provinces and cities are immunizing children aged 12-17 against COVID-19, using Pfizer-BioNTech shots.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Read what is in the news today:

Society

-- The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has stopped the operation of all inter-provincial COVID-19 checkpoints from 6:00 am on Monday.

-- Sleet fell on Mount Fansipan, the highest peak of Vietnam, on Sunday afternoon.

-- The Ministry of Transport has been granted autonomy in deciding the resumption of international commercial air routes, according to the official VGP News.

-- Authorities in the central province of Thua Thien - Hue urgently evacuated 56 people of 14 households living down Phu Gia Pass in Phu Loc District to safety on Sunday as heavy rains made the area prone to flash floods and landslides.

Business

-- As many as 325 Russian tourists with COVID-19 vaccine passports arrived at Cam Ranh International Airport in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa on Sunday to enjoy a package tour run by tour operator Anex Tour Russia.

-- Electronics giant Samsungs recent board meeting has approved the spending of some US$850 million on its business in Vietnam to manufacture flip-chip ball grid arrays (FC-BGA), according to KBS News.

Lifestyle

-- Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam has signed a decision to recognize 23 more national treasures, including the Gia Phu bronze drum belonging to Dong Son culture dating back to the second and third centuries B.C., the bronze rice cylinder container of Dong Son culture, Giong Lon golden masks of the first and third centuries B.C., which are conserved in the museums of Lao Cai, Quang Ninh, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provinces, respectively, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

-- Mai anh dao (cherry-like apricot blossoms), a signature flower of Da Lat City in Lam Dong Province, have stunningly bloomed after more than half a month of cold weather with drastic temperature turbulence.

Sports

-- Vietnam has become the former champions of the AFF Suzuki Cup after a goalless draw against Thailand in the second leg of the semifinal on Sunday night, with the War Elephants advancing to the final with an aggregate 2-0 victory.

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A hospital in Ho Chi Minh City has quashed a rumor that it had detected the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a patient.

Nguyen Thi Le Thu, marketing director of FV Hospital in District 7, affirmed that the information about an Omicron case detected at the infirmary is untrue.

The rumor that FV Hospital recorded the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in a patient following a real-time RT-PCR test went viral on social on Sunday.

The patient resides in Ward 5, District 5 and had his samples collected earlier the same day, according to this rumor, which came along with a photo of a positive COVID-19 test certificate issued by the hospital.

Thu stressed that FV Hospital does not provide any positive COVID-19 test certificate for its patients.

If someone tests positive for the novel coronavirus, the hospital will keep the patient informed and report it to the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control.

FV Hospital does not have the biological products needed to detect the Omicron variant, Thu added.

Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, deputy director of the municipal Department of Health, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that genome sequencing must be done to determine a variant of the coronavirus.

To prevent the penetration of the Omicron variant, health authorities have tasked the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, in coordination with the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, with conducting genome sequencing on all imported COVID-19 cases in the city.

First reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by South Africa on September 24, the Omicron mutant, a.k.a. the B.1.1.529 variant, was designated by WHO as a variant of concern two days later.

The variant has now been reported by over 100 countries, with health experts stating it appears to be more contagious but less virulent than previous strains.

Vietnam has yet to detect any Omicron case.

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The top of Fansipan Mountain in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai, the highest peak in Indochina, has been blanketed in snow since Sunday afternoon as temperatures plummeted due to a cold front.

Snowfall appeared on the summit of Fansipan, seated in the provinces well-known tourist town of Sa Pa, at 3:45 pm on Sunday afternoon, Nguyen Xuan Chien, director of Sun World Fansipan Legend, a tourism area in the town, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper the same day.

Currently, the temperature on the top of Fansipan is about 0 degrees Celsius and snow is falling," Chien said.

"It is forecast that tonight and tomorrow the temperature will continue to decrease, so heavier snowfall may come.

Tourists present on the top of Fansipan on Sunday afternoon were very excited to witness the scene of tiny white snowflakes falling, said Quyen Anh Tuan, a staff member of the tourist area.

Many tourists take photos and shoot wonderful moments right on the roof of Indochina, Tuan said.

A video clip shows snowfall on the Fansipan peak in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam, December 26, 2021, when the temperature dropped to around 0 degrees Celsius. Video: Nguyen Xuan Chien / Tuoi Tre

Early this year, a snowfall lasted from the morning of February 8 through the next morning on Fansipan, covering the peak with snow up to 60 centimeters deep, when the temperature plummeted to minus three degrees Celsius.

The cold weather pattern on Sunday resulted from a cold front that has been affecting most of the north-central region and some other places in the northwest area, according to the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

The cold front will gradually move southward to affect the middle- and south-central regions, the center forecast.

In the coming days, the temperature in Lao Cai will continue to decrease, said Luu Minh Hai, director of Lao Cai Hydro-Meteorological Station.

Lowland areas will turn cold while mountainous regions will be extremely cold and areas at an altitude of 2,600 meters or more are likely to experience frost and snowfall, Hai said.

Local residents, especially those in mountainous districts, need to take measures to protect young plants and livestock from possible damage caused by the cold weather in the coming days.

Due to the influence of the cold air combined with high-altitude wind convergence, the northern region and north-central Thanh Hoa Province had scattered rains and showers, while medium and heavy rains fell in the northern mountainous area on Sunday night.

The same weather conditions have been forecast for the region from Nghe An to Phu Yen Provinces on Monday.

From Monday through Tuesday, the northern and north-central regions will have temperatures from four to seven degrees Celsius in mountainous areas, and from nine to 12 degrees Celsius in other places.

High mountainous regions will have lower temperatures, even down to zero degrees Celsius, while snowfall and frost may occur during this period.

Meanwhile, the temperatures in the north-central part will range from 11 to 14 degrees Celsius.

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Gibbs & McGee head to Alaska while the team works at home to uncover the conspiracy behind the serial killer. 8:30pm Tuesday on 10.

The Great British Bake Off

The Weakest Link

Ghosts

Kenny Rogers: All for the Gambler

The Cook Up with Adam Liaw
Tales from the Cold War is one mans memoir about his service time in Germany during the Cold War. Colonel Michael D. Mahler (Ret.) first went to Germany in 1960. At the end of his service, he spent over a decade in Germany, raised his family there, and commanded the 3rd Armored Divisions cavalry squadron at Budingen. In his memoir, Mahler reflects on the lessons from the senior leaders of World War II, the building of the Berlin Wall, and the unique challenges that come with command.

At the beginning, Mahler is still a young service man, newly married. By the end, he was the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff and the Director of the Personnel Plans and Policy Division. His story is told first from the point of view of a new lieutenant, then as an experienced platoon leader, and finally, as a skilled company commander.
Azerbaijan is called the land of fire because of the incessant fires emanating from a place called Yanar Dag near the Azerbaijani capital Baku. This place is also known as Burning Mountain. Light and sparks of fire rose up to three meters. The tourist Marco Polo came here in the 13th century. Even then he saw the spark of this mysterious fire and recorded it in the travelogue, Eurasia Review writes.

Centuries later, the famous French writer Alexander Dumas also mentioned this mysterious flame. During the Soviet era, the intensity of the flame decreased with the beginning of the development of oil fields, but the fire has been burning there for thousands of years.

Today Bangladesh is well known to the world for continuing its rapid economic growth. Some call the country South Asian economic miracle. Bangladesh recognized the state independence of Azerbaijan on December 30, 1991. Bangladesh supports Azerbaijans position on the issue of Khojali genocide.

In 2013, Azerbaijan and Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between their foreign service academies. Azerbaijan and Bangladesh have shown interest in expanding trade and investment. The cotton industry has an enormous potentiality to become an important export sector in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is interested in importing Bangladeshi-made garments, medicines, leather and ceramic products. Azerbaijan is also interested in importing labor from Bangladesh in support of infrastructure development efforts.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Visited Azerbaijan in 2019 to attend the 18th NAM Summit. She met with the President Aliyev. The two leaders agreed to deepen the existing bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Azerbaijan in various fields.

In 2013, the two countries agreed to form a Joint Economic Commission (JEC) to explore unused trade, economic and investment opportunities. The Azerbaijani government has provided $ 200,000 assistance to Bangladesh under the UNESCO program of capacity building of safeguarding intangible cultural heritage of Bangladesh. In 2019, Bangladesh and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to strengthen cultural ties during the vist of Bangladesh PM to Azerbaijan, which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sees as the beginning of a journey to improve relations between the two countries.

There is an ample opportunity for potential bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Bangladesh. Bangladesh and Azerbaijan can work in the field of Islamic tourism, tackling Covid-19, terrorism etc.
Kazakhstans parliament has passed a bill that would abolish the death penalty, a measure that, if signed by the countrys president, would mark a significant policy change for Central Asias largest country, Caspian News writes.

The bill, approved by the Senate - the countrys upper chamber of its bicameral parliament, will completely exclude the death penalty from its Criminal Code. The complete abolition of the death penalty in the Republic of Kazakhstan will contribute to the harmonization of national legislation under international legal obligations and provision of human rights and guarantees of the highest constitutional value - the right to life, reads the document adopted by the Senate.

Senates approval of the bill came almost a year after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree ratifying the UNs Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This document commits signatories to abolish capital punishment. Apart from Kazakhstan, 88 other nations are members of the agreement.

The death penalty has been on the moratorium in Kazakhstan since 2003. Life imprisonment was introduced in Kazakhstan in 2004 as an alternative punishment. Yet, courts continued to sentence offenders to death for terrorism-related offenses, including plotting the assassination of former Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Since Kazakhstan established a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 2003, Ruslan Kulikbayev, who killed eight police officers and two civilians during a rampage in Kazakhstans largest city Almaty in 2016, has become the only person set to be executed for terrorism and murder charges. Kulikbayev now serves a life sentence in jail instead.

The new bill passed readings in Kazakhstans lower chamber, the Mazhilis, on December 8 before being approved by its upper chamber. The document is now expected to be signed by the countrys president.

By adopting this law, Kazakhstan joins the group of countries where the death penalty is legally prohibited. In addition, our country proves it supports the international movement aimed at the complete abolition of the death penalty, Senate Chairman Maulen Ashimbayev said.

Russia, Belarus, and Tajikistan are now the only three countries in Europe and Central Asia that havent signed or ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant On Civil and Political Rights. Russia and Tajikistan continue to observe moratoriums on executions.

Meanwhile, globally, executions fell 26 percent worldwide in 2020, showing the lowest number of executions that Amnesty International has recorded in the past decade.
Today the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen says it struck a Houthi rebel camp in the capital Sanaa, since they launched more than 400 ballistic missiles towards Saudi Arabia, Al Jazeera reports.

The coalition, which backs Yemens internationally recognised government against the Houthis in the civil war, said it destroyed weapons storehouses in the rebel-held capital. The operation in Sanaa was an immediate response to an attempt to transfer weapons from Al-Tashrifat camp in Sanaa, the official Saudi Press Agency said in a statement.

Yemen has been wracked by civil war since 2014 pitting the government against the Houthis who control much of the north. Tens of thousands of people have been killed as a result of the war, leaving the country in what the United Nations has described as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis.

Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with sophisticated weapons and its Hezbollah proxy of training the rebels, charges Tehran denies. Yesterday the coalition launched a large-scale military operation against the Houthis after missiles fired by the rebels killed two people in the kingdom. Those air raids on Saturday killed three civilians, including a child and a woman, Yemeni medics told the AFP news agency.

The coalition has intensified its air raids on Sanaa, targeting earlier this week the airport, whose operations have largely ceased because of a Saudi-led blockade since August 2016, with exemptions for aid flights.

The armed group often launches missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, aimed at its airports and oil infrastructure. The UN estimates Yemens war will have killed 377,000 people by the end of the year, directly and indirectly.

The UNs World Food Programme said it has been forced to cut aid to Yemen due to lack of funds, and warned of a surge in hunger in the country. More than 80 percent of Yemens population of about 30 million requires humanitarian assistance.
The first meeting of the Turkish and Armenian special representatives will be held in Moscow, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Speaking at a year-end evaluation of Turkey's foreign policy, Mevlut Cavusoglu said the special envoys of each country should first speak over the phone and decide on the date and place of a face-to-face meeting.

"Our impression is that the first meeting will take place in Moscow, as Armenia desires. Aside from the first meeting, we also want communication to be held directly ... We have mutually appointed special envoys to speak directly," Cavusoglu said.

He said a roadmap towards normalizing ties needed to be set, adding that this would be on the first meeting's agenda.

Noting that charter flights between Turkey and Armenia would soon begin, he reiterated that Turkey was pursuing its normalization discussions in consultation and coordination with Azerbaijan.

Armenia's rhetoric has so far been positive, said the Turkish official, adding that Turkey wanted to action, as well.

Citing the attempts in 2009 by Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations, Cavusoglu said that though this previous attempt had been conducted in "good faith," the new process was separate.

"Within the framework of this process, new steps must be taken to normalize relations. This will be important for the stability, peace, and prosperity of the Caucasus," Anadolu agency cited the diplomat as saying.

On Dec. 15, Turkey appointed Serdar Kilic, a former ambassador to the US, as its special envoy to discuss steps for normalization with Armenia. Three days later, Armenia also appointed its special representative for dialogue with Turkey, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Ruben Rubinyan.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Saeed Khatibzadeh, on Monday urged the parties to Vienna nuclear talks to attend the negotiations with the "determination to reach a good agreement."

Talking to reporters during his weekly press conference, Khatibzadeh said that Iran will not accept the demands beyond 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and will persist on its interests within the accord.

Calling for "serious plans "of the European troika of Britain, France and Germany, during the imminent meetings, he said that if Iran's interests are met within the JCPOA framework, "we will see a good result in this round."

Asked about the threats by Israel against Iran's nuclear program, Khatibzadeh said Iran's response to the military threats of Tel Aviv is the recent military drills of "Great Prophet 17" in Iran's southern coasts.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) staged 5-day military drills last week, with its commanders calling the goals of the drill a display of Iran's responsive power to Israel's threats.

The seventh round of nuclear talks, which began on Nov. 29 in Vienna after a nearly six months of hiatus, has been the scene of intense discussions on two proposals from Iran. The eighth round of talks is scheduled to begin on Monday.
Russian and U.S. presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, have built good rapport and respect each others positions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Rossiya 1 television.

"Putin and Biden have built a very good dialogue," he said in an interview for the Moscow. Krenlin. Putin program. "When they talk, they are very constructive, businesslike and very respectful in laying out for each other the points where our views are directly opposite."

"Divergence of opinions doesnt mean the conversation should be disrespectful," the spokesman said, adding that he was unsure if the presidents liked each other.

Peskov described Putin and Biden as "the most experienced politicians on this planet" and said Chinese President Xi Jinping was also on par with them.
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog held a telephone conversation on 27 December, according to the press service of the Belarusian leader.

The heads of state discussed the bilateral relations between Belarus and Israel and the areas of their development, as well as a range of humanitarian issues.

"The Israeli president and his spouse have Belarusian roots. Isaac Herzog is from Berezino, and his wife is from Gomel. The two heads of state discussed the schedule of contacts amid the pandemic. Aleksandr Lukashenko invited his counterpart to visit his small motherland," BelTA cited the press service as saying.
The European Union demands Russia cancel or adjusts several measures that are seen by it as violating the World Trade Organizations (WTO) rules; reports that it allegedly demands Russia pay 290 billion are not true, the press service of the Russian ministry of economic development said on Sunday.

"Reports that the European Union demands Russia pay 290 billion under a dispute are not true. The EU demands are reduced to cancelling or adjusting several measures the EU considers as violating the WTO rules. The European Union estimates Russias supply market at 290 billion, but not the damage to the EU," it said.

According to the ministry, WTO rules do not provide for the payment of any compensations.

"During earlier consultations with the European Union, Russia gave the European Union detailed explanations concerning full compliance of these measures with Russias commitments within the WTO," the ministry said, adding it will continue to protect the Russian procurement rules "within the corresponding court procedures."

Some Russian media reported earlier that the European Union had filed a complaint with the WTO demanding Russia pay a compensation of 290 billion for its policy of import substitution. The WTO said on its website on November 29 that Russian government-run companies had tendered bids worth about 290 billion in 2019 and cited the European Unions demand for revoking measures of Russias import substitution policy or adjusting them against the WTO rules. Russia however stressed that its measures are in full compliance with its liabilities within the WHO and expressed readiness to continue consultations with the European Union on this topic.
Airlines cancelled 1,134 U.S. flights the day after Christmas, according to flight tracker FlightAware, marking the third straight day that air travel has been disrupted by staff shortages amid an increase in coronavirus infections and snowy weather on the West Coast at one of the busiest times of the year for the airline industry.

A total of 2,821 flights have so far been canceled over the Christmas weekend within the U.S. or arriving or departing from it.

Seattle-Tacoma was the airport most affected Sunday, with 179 canceled flights, accounting for 17% of the total, and 246 delayed on Sunday afternoon amid a surge of new coronavirus infections in the surrounding area, along with snow and icy conditions.

Delta grounded 155 flights on Sunday, the most of any U.S. carrier, accounting for 5% of its total flights, followed by Jet Blue with 113 cancellations (11% of all the airlines flights) and United with 112 cancellations, or 5% of its total flights.

Worldwide, 2,780 flights were cancelled and 12,196 were delayed by Sunday afternoon, according to FlightAware.
Russia has received a NATO proposal to commence talks on Moscows security concerns on Jan. 12 and is considering it, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

We have already received this (NATO) offer, and we are considering it, TASS quoted the foreign ministry as saying.

Yesterday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has come out with an initiative to call a Russia-NATO Council meeting on January 12, 2022 when a NATO Military Committee will meet in Brussels.

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia wanted to avoid conflict but needed an immediate response from the United States and its allies to its demands for security guarantees. Moscow has said it expects talks with U.S. officials on the subject to start in January in Geneva.
The possibility of Ukraine joining NATO is as important to Moscow as it is to Kiev, Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told International Affairs magazine in an interview.

"The possibility of Ukraine joining NATO is as important - and possibly more important - to us than it is to Ukraine itself," he said.

He warned that the two sides had approached a point where "some very different factors begin to play a role."

"The significance of these factors and their fundamental importance for our self-awareness, let alone geopolitical positioning are indisputable," TASS cited him as saying.

According to the senior diplomat, those who insist on teaching Russia a lesson underestimate what may happen in the future.

"They seem to have lost the sense of reality and common sense as well, but I hope that they have not lost the sense of self-preservation," Ryabkov concluded.
More than 4.5 million Russian tourists visited Turkey from January to November 2021, Executive Director of the Russian Association of Tour Operators Maya Lomidze said.

"According to the results of 11 months of 2021, the Russian tourist flow to Turkey remains the biggest. In January-November, 4,555,047 tourist visits of Russian citizens were registered in Turkey (share in the total tourist flow - 20%)," TASS cited her as saying.



According to the director of ATOR, 3.54 million Russians spent their holidays in Antalya. Next are Istanbul, which received 724,300 tourists from Russia, and the Aegean coast resorts (278,000 people).



Lomidze added that Germany, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Iran were also among the five leading countries in the Turkish tourism market.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris threatened Russia with new sanctions the like of which it had not seen before if it invaded Ukraine, in an interview out Sunday.

Asked about the possibility of a hot war breaking out in Europe in the coming weeks, Harris said the Biden administration was having "direct conversations" with Russia. Joe Biden, she said, made it clear to President Vladimir Putin that Washington would stand up for Ukraines territorial integrity.

"We are having direct conversations with Russia. The president, as you know, met recently virtually with Putin, and we are very clear that- that Russia should not invade the sovereignty of Ukraine, that we must stand up and we are standing up for its territorial integrity," she told CBS.

"We are working with our allies in that regard, and we've been very clear that we are prepared to issue sanctions like you've not seen before," Harris stressed.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) reported that 1,555 trucks carrying exports to China are stuck in Quang Ninh as of December 25, and 4,204 in Lang Son as of December 25. Some of them have been deadlocked for a month.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Khanh attributed this to stricter delivery procedures, which prevent Vietnamese drivers from entering China. The quarantine process is also more complicated.

Khanh also pointed out several problems of Vietnams agricultural production and export: production is not well planned based on market demand, exports to China are mostly via cross border gates, and the proportion of farm produce via official channels remains modest.

Though farmers have received repeated warnings about congestion at border gates, businesses continue carrying goods to the sites, worsening congestion.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien confirmed that more trucks carrying goods are arriving in border areas, while businesses are not paying much attention to Vietnams vast domestic market.

Dien said he has asked agencies to promote the sale of farm produce in the domestic market via traditional markets, supermarkets and e-commerce platforms.

Lang Son Chair Ho Tien Thieu said that only 88 trucks can get customs clearance via two border gates of Huu Nghi and Chi Ma, while the Tan Thanh border gate has not reopened yet. This means that only eight trucks get clearance an hour. It is difficult to arrange accommodations for drivers and parking areas for tens of thousands of people.

Thieu said that 50 talks at different levels have been held over the last month. He wrote a letter to discuss the matter with leaders of Guang Xi province, asking to accelerate customs clearance.

China is pursuing a Zero Covid policy, so it is tightening anti-pandemic measures. China still accepts customs clearance during office hours, but the delivery is still stuck because of stricter anti-pandemic measures.

Lang Son province is updating information about the time and number of trucks getting customs clearance every day. It is also sending messages via Zalo to goods owners who export farm produce across border gates regularly. However, about 60-70 more trucks are still coming to Lang Son every day.

At a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh and local authorities discussing the measures to solve difficulties in import/export via northern border gates, Lang Sons leaders and experts all agreed that in the immediate time, businesses should not continue to carry goods to the border gates. They need to strengthen anti-pandemic measures by disinfecting trucks, testing drivers and establishing safe zones.

Thanh said the Government, ministries and localities have given instructions to deal with the problem, but the situation has not improved and congestion in border areas still exists.

Local authorities say that if they continue to carry goods to border gates, goods owners will suffer heavily. There should be solutions for both immediate time and long term, Thanh said. Congestion at border gates has occurred periodically in the last few years.

For immediate measures, Thanh asked the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), and MOIT, agencies and border localities to work with Chinese ministries, branches and localities to ask them to create more favorable conditions to clear the Chinese and Vietnamese goods stuck at border gates, with priority given to imports serving domestic production and container trucks now in congestion.

For example, one border gate opens for site clearance for eight hours. What if the working hours increase from eight hours now to 12 hours? he said.

Thanh asked chairs of the provinces where goods are stuck at border gates to provide information about site clearance, define the numbers of goods carrying trucks to border areas each day, and tighten control to avoid congestion.

Thanh said that its necessary to have comprehensive measures to clear trucks in congestion at border gates in Quang Ninh and Lang Son.

During this time, you have the right to notify localities and businesses to not bring goods to border areas, he said.

Regarding long-term solutions, the Ministry of Health (MOH), customs agencies and provinces need to join forces with other ministries and branches to establish green zones and green passages, i.e safe zones in border areas.

Thu Hang

When will congestion at Vietnam-China border gates end? Vietnamese exports stuck at Vietnam-China border gates has been a common sight for years.

Congestion at border gates, seaports stalls transport of farm exports Farm exports experienced a tough year in 2021 due to continued congestion at border gates. Despite this, agricultural produce still reached export turnover of $47 billion for the year.
Tran Duong Chinh, a 12th grader majoring in physics of the Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted, has become the first student from Phu Tho province to win a gold medal at the European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO).

Tran Duong Chinh wins a gold medal from EuPhO

This is the second gold medal Vietnam has won from EuPhO. As many as 220 students from 46 countries attended this years competition. Chinh was one of five students with the highest scores at the competition.

Passion

Chinh said he loved natural sciences in childhood and discovered the most interesting subject  physics - during secondary school. When he was a ninth grader, he was selected as a member of the team of excellent students to attend the provincial physics competition where he won the second prize.

Physics lectures and experiments always excited me. I always tried to learn both in practice and in theory. I had a lot of opportunities to study and interact with good teachers and friends, partly because I was a member of the selected team of excellent students. This gave me more reason to be determined to pass the exam to enter the provincial high school for the gifted, he recalled.

Chinh came in second at the entrance exam to the physics majoring class at the Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted that year, and the mathematics major class as well.

He decided to study in the physics major class and won high prizes at competitions. When he was in 10th grade, he won a gold medal at the Olympiad for coastal provinces and northern delta students, and a gold medal in physics at the Olympiad of natural sciences.

He also won third prize and then second prize at national competitions when he was in 11th and 12th grades, respectively.

With a father who is a public employee and mother a teacher, Chinh always has good favorable conditions to study.

His great love for physics inspired his younger brother, who placed first in the entrance exam to the physics major class of the Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted last year. Quan, he brother, is also a potential member of the team of selected students to attend the upcoming national competition.

Automation

Tran Duong Chinh, a 12th grader majoring in physics of the Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted, has become the first student from Phu Tho province to win a gold medal at the European Physics Olympiad (EuPhO).

I first met Chinh when he was in 9th grade and I soon realized his ability as well his passion for physics. Later, I became a head teacher of his class and accompanied him through competitions. Chinh had left good impressions about his great efforts and achievements, said Than Thi Thanh Binh, a teacher of the Hung Vuong High School for the Gifted.

The two factors that help Chinh gain the impressive achievements, according to Binh, are good scientific thinking, passion for scientific research and perseverance in learning.

Regularly reviewing for competitions and exams together with Chinh, the teacher helped Chinh supplement his knowledge. He had the chance to study with physics experts invited from the Vietnam Physics Association as well for in-depth study.

Binh also gave encouragement and advice. When attending the EuPhO selection round, Binh was affected by his failure to enter the selected team to attend a competition in Asia.

Binh then told Chinh that the competition was just a playing field which helped broaden ones knowledge. She also said that the path ahead would be more difficult to follow and there would be fewer fellow-travelers.

Asked about his learning method, Chinh said in addition to the lessons in class, he regularly reads documents and gets knowledge from other sources. He always sets plans in details and arranges his time reasonably so as to avoid pressure.

He revealed that he likes assembling models, such as magnifiers and watches. For Chinh, this is an interesting way to discover the applications of physics.

Chinh said he felt stress, but he could overcome all difficulties thanks to the encouragement from teachers.

When I have a difficult question, I would gather my strength on it until I can solve it, forgetting about the time, he said.

I am lucky as I can receive the strong support and attention from parents, who remind me that I need to both learn and play in a reasonable way, and that I should not bear the pressure of obtaining achievements, he said.

Chinh is one of five Phu Tho students who were able to go to university without having to attend entrance exams. He plans to study automation at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Ngoc Linh

All four Vietnamese students win silver at Intl informatics Olympiad All four Vietnamese students participating in the International Olympiad in Informatics 2021 brought home silver medals, according to the Ministry of Education and Trainings Quality Management Department.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, up to over 140,000 overseas Vietnamese have the need to celebrate the upcoming lunar New Year at home.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam has just sent an official document to the authorities of 8 countries and territories on resuming commercial air routes, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The agency has just got a response from Japan. Cambodia responded, but did not have a specific answer.

On December 24, Japan agreed to Vietnam's proposal and appointed Japan Airlines and All Nippons Airways to operate flights between the two countries.

Hanoi to build second airport in Southeast

Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Duong Duc Tuan said the city is choosing a location to build the second airport in the eastern and southeastern districts such as Thuong Tin, Thanh Oai or Phu Xuyen. The city previously proposed Ung Hoa district but the air conditions there are not suitable for flight operations.

According to the plan, the second airport will cover over 1,000 hectares and the construction will be implemented in 2030-2050, with an annual capacity of serving 50 million passengers.

Hanoi's Vice Chair said that the second airport can be also built in neighboring provinces in the capital region, such as Ha Nam, Ninh Binh, Thai Binh...

Le Hoa Binh assigned as HCM Citys Permanent Vice Chairman

The People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has assigned specific tasks to its Chair, Vice Chairs and other members for the term 2021-2026.

Accordingly, Chairman Phan Van Mai will direct, administer and manage all activities of the People's Committee, from strategies and master plans for socio-economic development to state budget estimates; organizational structure, personnel work, emulation and commendation tasks; security, internal affairs; foreign economic affairs, foreign affairs. He is also responsible for monitoring and directing districts 1, 7 and Can Gio, and the Departments of Planning and Investment, the Department of Home Affairs, the police forces, the HCM City Command, the Border Guard, and the Institute for Research and Development.

Vice Chairman Le Hoa Binh is assigned to be the Standing Vice Chairman, who will help the Chairman direct, handle the dossier, assign other Vice Chairs, and members of the People's Committee to attend the activities of the central agencies, the municipal Party Committee, the local People's Council, agencies and units in Ho Chi Minh City.

Other vice chairs such as Phan Thi Thang, Vo Van Hoan, Ngo Minh Chau, and Duong Anh Duc are also assigned with specific tasks.

Nguyen Minh Triet appointed President of Vietnam Student Association

Standing Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Student Association Nguyen Minh Triet has been appointed the committees President for the 2018-2023 term. Triet holds a doctoral degree and used to be the President of the Vietnamese Student Association in the UK and had many high positions in the Vietnam Youth Union and the Vietnam Student Association.

The Vietnam Student Association also has two new vice chairs, including Doan Nguyen Nhat Linh and Tran Quang Hung, who are officials of the Vietnam Youth Unions Central Committee and the Hanoi Youth Union.

Local airlines to organize 14,000 flights during upcoming Tet

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, local air carriers will provide about 14,000 flights, with about 2.7 million seats during the lunar New Year 2022 (Tet).

In the proposal just sent to the Ministry of Transport, the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam proposes to increase the frequencies of the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City route, and the routes to/from Phu Quoc and Cam Ranh in the period from December 29, 2021 until January 18, 2022 to serve the travel demand during the 2022 New Year holiday.

Ho Chi Minh City to not organize firework shows on New Year's Eve

Mr. Pham Duc Hai, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee for Covid-19 Prevention and Control, said that on New Year's Eve, Ho Chi Minh City will not organize firework shows because the pandemic is still complicated. The city's new cases are still around 1,000 and around 50 deaths per day.

Earlier, the local authorities issued a plan to welcome the new year 2022 based on epidemic levels. If the epidemic reaches level 1 and level 2, Ho Chi Minh City will organize a program to welcome the new year on the night of December 31 at the President Ho Chi Minh Monument Park, Nguyen Hue and Le Duan streets, District 1.

Drug addicts from aged 12 to 18 must attend rehab centers

The Law on Drug Prevention and Control 2021 officially took effect on January 1, 2021 with many new regulations. Particularly, drug users will be managed at home for 1 year for education and drug addicts must go to rehab centers.

Faced with the fact that the age of drug users is getting younger, the Law on Drug Prevention and Control 2021 has new regulations on sending drug addicts from 12 to under 18 years old to rehab centers. However, the law is humane as they are going to rehab centers for treatment, leaving no personal legal records.

As of November 2021, there were 246,648 drug addicts nationwide with management records. The average rate of drug addicts has increased by 3% annually in the last 5 years.

All students in Ho Chi Minh City may go to school from January 3rd 2022

Depending on the results of the pilot time of school reopening for the 9th and 12th graders, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training will propose to the HCM City People's Committee to allow the remaining students to attend class directly from January 3, 2022.

The trial time is from December 13-25. After this time, district authorities will send a review report to the Department of Education and Training and Department of Health.

After one week of school reopening, 34 Covid-19 cases were detected at schools in HCM City, including four teachers, three school staff and 27 students.

PV
Vietnam needs to prepare personnel to meet the requirements of higher positions in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, and continue to send candidates, especially female staff.

Vietnamese UN peacekeepers (Photo: VNA)

Vietnam needs to prepare personnel to meet the requirements of higher positions in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, and continue to send candidates, especially female staff, to the UN headquarters, , has said.

Colonel Mac Duc Trong, deputy head of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, stressed the need to participate more in UN peacekeeping operations, and deploy tasks in several tasks such as logistics, liaison and military police, adding that this is a long-term goal set out by the department.

According to him, participating in UN peacekeeping operations is a major policy of the Vietnamese Party and State, and also an important task of the Vietnam People's Army in the new period, contributing to realising the foreign policy of peace, cooperation, development, multilateralisation and diversification of international relations.

Vietnam's engagement in UN peacekeeping operations over the past seven years has achieved many positive results, and at the same time opened up many new directions of deployment, becoming a prominent mark in diplomatic defence, he stated.

The colonel said that recently, for the first time, Vietnam made debut a sapper unit to participate in UN peacekeeping, marking a new development step in expertise and level.

Vietnam's sapper unit No.1 and level-2 field hospital No.4 make their debut (Photo: VNA)

Compared to the level-2 field hospitals Vietnam has deployed before, the sapper unit is larger in number with 184 professional officers and soldiers. In terms of equipment, the unit will deploy about 2,000 tonnes of equipment to the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), including around 150 machines.

In the coming time, the set goal is to successfully deploy Vietnam's first sapper unit to the UN peacekeeping mission and complete all the tasks assigned by the UN for the humanitarian mission.

Vietnam must continue to keep up the good quality of its level-2 field hospitals to maintain the existing reputation among the missions, he added.

Source: VNA
Safe ride, free tow

Waco Transit System and Tow King will once again be partnering for Safe Ride Home on Friday for New Years Eve. For those needing an unexpected safe ride, Tow King is offering free vehicle tows home.

Service hours are from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.. Call 254-750-1620 to schedule a free trip or determine coverage area (within the immediate Waco area). WTS will deliver revelers safely to and from their New Years Eve destinations. Groups must be picked up and dropped off at the same location.

Free vehicle tows can be arranged by calling Tow King directly at 254-666-5484.

Bell County Museum exhibit

The Bell County Museum, 201 N. Main St. in Belton, is exhibiting Private Charles J. Miller: WWII Paintings from the South Pacific through June 10, 2022.

The museum has 120 of the rare, world-renowned paintings, along with WWII artifacts from the museums collection. Curated by the Wright Museum of World War II in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, the show presents paintings and drawings produced by Miller during his deployment in the Pacific.
When we were getting things started, it just looked like an impossible task, Bill Nowak, an activist who has been involved in the cleanup push since the 1980s, told the News. Its just incredible: you know, the amount of hope and the fact that its now a real resource instead of just a dirty body of water that you wanted to stay away from that would probably be smelling on any given day and looked like it would hurt you if you tried to go swimming in it.
Howell said his encounter with Hill began after he took pictures of his work at a deputy's home in case he needed to take legal action to get paid. Howell said Hill called him and told Howell to stop bothering the deputy.

He said, This is Victor Hill, the sheriff of Clayton County, and I kind of giggled, and he said, Whats so funny? and I said, Are you serious, who is this again? Howell said.

Howell said Hill told him that, Im going to give you one opportunity to leave my deputy alone.

The conversation soon became heated, Howell said, with both men allegedly cursing each other.

Howell said he texted Hill after the call and the sheriff warned him not to text again or a warrant for his arrest would be issued.

Howell told the newspaper that said Hill sent a Clayton County fugitive squad to search for him for two days, with Howell turning himself in after they didn't find him.

Howell said he was then handcuffed and strapped in a restraint chair for several hours, with Hill berating him.
However, the show didnt play out exactly as he expected.

In the first round, the judges couldnt make a decision and ended up keeping all four contestants. Two were eliminated in the second round.

It was pretty nerve-wracking, Arias said.

Arias crafted a 52-inch German longsword in the final episode, which was his winning ticket.

In the final round, the two contestants were sent home to their own forges, or shops, and had several days to work on their swords before flying back to Stamford, Connecticut, for testing and results.

As he stood waiting to hear who won, Arias was confident but knew that the judges had critiques for each of the two swords.

Immediately after winning, he called his parents to share the news. While they were both excited, Arias said, they had high expectations for him.

Competing on Forged in Fire had been a longtime dream for Arias.

Growing up, he had a lot of hobbies and got into blacksmithing at about 10 years old when his grandpa gave him his first coal forge.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)  A new study has concluded that licensed child care centers in Connecticut have been missing out on millions of dollars in federal funds for food and nutrition.

UConns Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health surveyed more than 230 centers in 2019 about a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that reimburses for food that meets specific nutritional standards. The program supplies qualifying child care programs with nutritious meals and snacks.

The researchers found a lack of awareness, lack of knowledge about eligibility and burdensome reporting requirements as factors that weighed against participation. The study estimated more than 20,000 children from low-income homes may have missed out on the programs benefits and that families could have saved an average of $31 per week per child.

We want more child care centers to be participating in the program, Tatiana Andreyeva, the study's lead author, told the Connecticut Post. The numbers in our state were pretty low.
Dear Readers: Last year when I wrote my annual Charity Roundup column, we were all hunkered down and experiencing a solitary holiday season, as we all coped with the prospect of a long pandemic winter.

We collectively longed for hugs and handshakes, for in-person visits with our elders, and for the creative boost of attending a live concert or theater performance.

We wanted to sing out loud again.

This year is something of a hybrid. As the global pandemic shape shifts around us, many people are still isolated, alone, fearful, hurting, hungry, heartsick, and needing a hand.

It is also important to remember that, even as the pandemic continues to flare, other human-born challenges, social ills and natural disasters still happen.

Those of us who are lucky to have enough should give away as much as we can.

Your dollars might go further if you donate to smaller organizations within your own community.

Give to your local library, historical society, theater ensemble, and the feeding ministry at a nearby house of worship. Shovel your neighbors sidewalk. Send cards and letters to elders. Encourage the children in your life by modeling compassion and kindness. Read to one another!

Below are some recommendations across various categories, to inspire your own giving. All are highly rated by Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org). Always carefully research any organization receiving your donation.

Providing emergency services to

vulnerable peopleDirect Relief (directrelief.org): This venerable institution (and perennial favorite of mine) continues to adapt its services to provide quick and competent medical care and specialized equipment for people affected by man-made or natural disasters.

Water Mission (watermission.org): This innovative organization was founded by environmental engineers George and Molly Greene, who engineered their faith into action by designing and distributing simple water supply systems, and then teaching local populations how to build and maintain their own.

World Central Kitchen (wck.org): It has been inspiring to watch this organization grow over 10 years from a single outreach by Chef Jose Andres into a worldwide emergency feeding program, partnering with hundreds of chefs, cooks, and volunteers to feed first responders and survivors of natural disasters.

Feeding America (feedingamerica.org): A national umbrella organization of food banks. According to their estimates, during the pandemic, 60 million food insecure Americans turned to food banks for help last year. Through their website, you can donate money to your local food bank. Enter your ZIP code into the Feeding America website to find your closest member of their network.

Meals On Wheels (mealsonwheelsamerica.org): Nutrition comes in many forms. Volunteers for Meals on Wheels provide food, human contact and comfort to seniors. Type your ZIP code into the search bar for your local provider.

Supporting educationProLiteracy (proliteracy.org): Literacy Volunteers of America was founded in 1960 by Ruth Colvin, who launched the charity from the basement of her Syracuse, N.Y., home. Now a global effort tackling the unique challenges of adult illiteracy, they host an annual Great American Book Sale, offering autographed books by bestselling authors.

American Indian College Fund (collegefund.org): Provides financial support for Native American students and tribal colleges and universities. Many recipients return to their communities, inspiring and empowering others.

Sandy Hook Promise (sandyhookpromise.org): Founded after the horrific murders of 20 young schoolchildren and six of their teachers, the organizations innovative Say Hello and Know the Signs programs educate children about social isolation and the warning signs of potential violence.

Donors Choose (donorschoose.org): A wonderful and fun way to fund specific classroom projects by responding to direct appeals by teachers.

Academy of American Poets (poets.org): The U.S. poet laureate, Joy Harjo writes, Without poetry, we lose our way. The pandemic has carried many people toward poetry. This organization supports poets and readers, offering its popular Poem a Day.

Supporting servicemembers

and their families:Homes for Our Troops (hfotusa.org): The work of building and adapting homes for disabled veterans continues with one of my favorite organizations.

Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (taps.org): Provides peer support, seminars, and online and in-person support for military families struggling through loss, including running grief camps for children. A donation can provide a backpack to a TAPS kid attending camp, sponsor a customized care package for a newly bereaved widow, or provide emergency financial assistance for a struggling military family.

Habitat for Humanity (habitat.org): This wonderful organization has now opened locally owned ReStores. Sales of donated items help Habitat partner with local families to build, rehabilitate and repair safe and affordable homes in your community.

You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068.

You can email Amy Dickinson at askamy@amydickinson.com or send a letter to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068.

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The Justice Department laid it right on the line.

In a report issued earlier this month, federal officials said Iowa relies far too heavily on institutions to house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The Justice Department said Iowa is almost certainly violating the Americans for Disabilities Act and if it doesnt change, the state may well face a federal lawsuit.

We hope state leaders are listening, and not just because of the threat of legal action. More importantly, because the report is a poor reflection on how the state deals with people with intellectual disabilities.

The federal governments yearlong investigation said that not only are the state-run resource centers in Glenwood and Woodward unnecessarily segregating people with disabilities from their home communities, but that the state relies too heavily on disabled people living in privately-run residential facilities and nursing homes.

The state plans, administers, and funds its public health care service system in a manner that unnecessarily segregates people with intellectual disabilities in the Resource Centers, and almost certainly many other institutions, rather than providing these services where people live, in their community, the report said.

Consider this: The Justice Department said Iowa is among five states that are the biggest users of intermediate care facilities. The states utilization rate is more than twice that of 35 other states, the Justice Department said.

The size of these facilities can vary, from 4 beds to 96 beds, but more than a quarter of them are larger than 18 beds.

Other states have worked to get people with disabilities out of institutions, cutting the number nationally by about 50% since 1982, according to the report. But in Iowa, the number has stayed roughly the same. About 1,800 Iowans with intellectual disabilities are living in private intermediate care facilities.

Separately, the Justice Department estimated that between 600 and 1,000 Iowans with intellectual disabilities, related conditions, or both, are living in nursing homes across the state, and that Iowa has the fourth-highest rate of nursing home utilization for people with disabilities. The report added that another 274 people with intellectual disabilities are living in psychiatric facilities across the state.

We think the quality of any facility, no matter its size or classification, should be judged individually. Indeed the most appropriate setting for a person with a disability must be judged on that same basis. But Iowas bias toward institutions is evident.

Its long been clear the state-run institutions at Glenwood and Woodward have had significant problems. This latest Justice Department report is the second phase of an investigation that began in 2019 with the Glenwood facility. A year ago, the Justice Department said residents there were subjected to human experiments, inadequate healthcare and werent given enough protection from harm.

Iowa recognizes it has a problem.

Kelly Garcia, the head of the Department of Human Services, acknowledged Iowa has a longstanding history of over-reliance on institutional settings. However, she promised that her team is committed to building out the array of services to ensure individuals are able to live their most independent lives as possible.

But as the Justice Department report makes clear, the state admitted to its lapses years ago. Still, the problem persists.

If its a question of funding, the state has a huge surplus that can be tapped.

It doesnt look like the federal government is willing to wait much longer for this situation to be remedied.

The Civil Rights Division will actively defend the rights of individuals with disabilities to participate fully in community life, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clark for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, said in a statement accompanying the report.

It is past time that Iowa dealt with this problem. Other states, including Illinois, have found themselves having to respond to lawsuits alleging violations of the ADA, and wed rather the Justice Department not have to take action against Iowa.

But this isnt about avoiding legal action. Most importantly, all people with intellectual disabilities deserve the right to live in the most integrated settings appropriate to their needs. Iowa officials say they recognize that. Now, its time to make it happen.

Copyright 2021 Tribune Content Agency.

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 Delaware: Fully reopened. Gov. John Carney (D) had announced that employees of the state, long-term care homes and health care facilities must show proof of vaccination by Sept. 30 or submit to weekly testing. Employees and volunteers in K-12 schools had to show proof of vaccination by Nov. 1 or submit to weekly testing. Employees and visitors to state facilities must wear a mask.

 District of Columbia: Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced the launch of a vaccine passport program. As of Jan. 15, 2022, individuals 12 and up must have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to enter indoor food establishments, fitness centers, cultural and entertainment facilities (such as movie theaters) and event or meeting establishments. By Feb. 15, individuals 12 and up must be fully vaccinated to enter. An exception applies to individuals only briefly entering, such as to pick up a food order. After lifting an indoor mask mandate in November, Bowser reinstated it. The mandate is effective at 6 a.m. on Dec. 21 until 6 a.m. on Jan. 31. Bowser also announced that all D.C. government employees, contractors, interns and grantees must be fully vaccinated and get a booster shot. On Aug. 16 she said that health care workers had to receive one dose of the vaccine by Sept. 30 and a second dose within the recommended time frame. Previously, she said that employees and volunteers in K-12 schools had to be vaccinated by Nov. 1. Students 12 and older had to be vaccinated by Nov. 1 to participate in extracurricular sports activities. Individuals may be exempted from the vaccine mandates because of religious beliefs or medical conditions.

 Florida: Fully reopened. On Sept. 22, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo dropped a requirement stating that before public school students can return to campus, they must quarantine for at least four days after being exposed to COVID-19. On July 30, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed an order protecting the right of parents to choose whether their children wear a mask in schools. In May, the governor signed a bill that prohibits vaccine passports.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced individuals must wear a mask in county facilities, regardless of vaccination status.

 Georgia: Fully reopened. On Aug. 19, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed an order that prohibits local governments from mandating COVID-19 restrictions for private businesses, such as vaccination and mask requirements. Businesses may  but arent required to  follow local ordinances. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) lifted an indoor mask mandate in November but reinstated it Dec. 21. The mandate orders individuals 10 and up to wear a mask in indoor public spaces. Previously, Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson II (D) signed an order requiring everyone over age 10 to wear a mask when inside Savannah government buildings, hospitals and early childhood centers, among other places.

 Hawaii: An order Gov. David Ige (D) signed in November that reinstated gathering and capacity restrictions expired. Ige announced that each county can implement its own rules. In Hawaii County, for example, indoor social gatherings of more than 25 people and outdoor social gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited. Previously, Ige dropped the quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated U.S. travelers. Visitors arriving in Hawaii from out of state who have been fully vaccinated for two weeks can bypass the requirements. Otherwise, visitors must either show a negative COVID-19 test result obtained within 72 hours of traveling or self-quarantine for 10 days.

A statewide mandate requires individuals 5 and older to wear a face mask in indoor public settings. Masks are not required outdoors. In August, Ige signed an order that mandates state employees to show proof of vaccination or undergo regular testing. In September, he signed an order extending that mandate to state contractors and visitors to state facilities.

 Idaho: Fully reopened. Individuals age 2 and up must wear a mask in Boise when inside city buildings, including city hall and public libraries. In April, Gov. Brad Little (R) signed an order banning all state entities from requiring people to show a vaccine passport to receive services or to enter buildings.



 Illinois: On Oct. 22, Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced that employees who work in licensed day care centers must get the COVID-19 vaccine or submit to weekly testing. Previously, Pritzker ordered health care workers to be fully vaccinated or submit to regular testing. State employees at congregate facilities (Health Department, Veterans Affairs, prisons, etc.) are also required to be fully vaccinated unless they qualify for an exemption, such as a medical condition or religious belief. As of Aug. 30, individuals 2 and older, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a mask in indoor public places, such as restaurants, gyms and grocery stores.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a vaccine passport program. As of Jan. 3, 2022, individuals 5 and older must show proof they are fully vaccinated to enter restaurants, fitness centers and entertainment venues where food or drinks are served. The requirement doesnt apply to those entering the business or venue for less than 10 minutes. Individuals with a medical or religious exemption must show proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the prior 72 hours.

 Indiana: Fully reopened. Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed a bill banning state or local governments from requiring vaccine passports.



 Iowa: Fully reopened. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed legislation that prohibits schools and local governments from issuing a mask mandate. On Sept. 13 a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order that stops the Reynolds administration from enforcing the ban in schools. It has appealed the decision. Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague issued an order that requires individuals to wear a mask when inside public spaces, such as grocery stores, and when outside if its not possible to stay 6 feet away from others.



 Kansas: Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced that employees and visitors must wear masks in indoor state buildings unless social distancing can be maintained. In 2020, Kelly said that counties should devise their own plans to reopen businesses. A statewide plan to restart the economy in phases offers guidance, but counties arent required to follow it. The state Department of Health and Environment updated a travel mandate. Unvaccinated individuals who have attended an out-of-state or in-state mass gathering of 500 people or more and who didnt wear a mask and stay socially distanced must quarantine. The length of quarantine varies depending on whether the individual has been tested. The mandate also applies to anyone who traveled on a cruise ship on or after March 15, 2020, as well as anyone who recently traveled to certain countries. Fully vaccinated people who have been asymptomatic since they traveled are not required to quarantine. The health department recommends, but doesnt require, that individuals over age 2 wear a mask in public.

 Kentucky: Fully reopened. Gov. Andy Beshear (D) encouraged workers in state health care facilities to get vaccinated by Oct. 1. Starting then, unvaccinated workers will be tested.

 Louisiana: Fully reopened. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) lifted a mask mandate in most settings. Masks are still required in K-12 schools, but a school can opt out if it adopts certain protocols. New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced individuals 12 and up must provide proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test for entry into indoor activities, such as dining, gyms and entertainment centers, as well as at outdoor events with more than 500 people.

 Maine: Fully reopened. Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced health workers must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 29. The City Council of Portland voted to implement a mask mandate. As of Jan. 5, individuals 2 and older must wear a mask in indoor public spaces. Businesses that require proof of vaccination to be on site dont need to require masks.

 Maryland: Fully reopened. On Jan. 3, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced a mask mandate for employees and visitors at state buildings. A mask mandate remains in effect in Montgomery County because of high transmission rates of COVID-19. Residents over age 2 must wear a mask in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. In Prince Georges County, individuals over age 2 must wear a mask in indoor public places, regardless of vaccination status. In Baltimore, individuals over age 5 must wear a mask in indoor public spaces, regardless of vaccination status. The health department ordered state employees who work in congregate settings to be vaccinated by Sept. 1 or submit to regular testing. A similar mandate applies to nursing home and hospital employees.



 Massachusetts: Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced long-term care providers and home care workers are among those who must be vaccinated by Oct. 31. Exemptions are available for those with certain medical conditions or sincerely held religious beliefs. Baker issued a similar order for executive branch employees.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a vaccine passport program that applies to indoor bars, restaurants, fitness centers and entertainment venues. As of Jan. 15, patrons will be required to show they have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to enter. As of Feb. 15, patrons must be fully vaccinated. Wu also announced that city workers will be required to get vaccinated by the same deadlines. She eliminated a testing opt-out. She has kept in place an indoor mask mandate in public settings within the city of Boston. It applies to individuals older than 2, regardless of vaccination status.



 Michigan: Fully reopened.

 Minnesota: Fully reopened. Gov. Tim Walz announced state agency employees must get vaccinated or submit to regular testing. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter issued a mask mandate for all employees and visitors (regardless of vaccination status) to city-owned buildings.



 Mississippi: Fully reopened.



 Missouri: Fully reopened. On Oct. 28, Gov. Mike Parson (R) issued an executive order that prohibits state executive branch agencies from compelling an individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine or penalize a business for noncompliance with the federal vaccine mandate. On Sept. 29, a circuit court judge blocked Attorney General Eric Schmitts effort to use a class-action lawsuit to ban school mask mandates across the state.

Effective July 26, the St. Louis city and county health departments require individuals age 5 and up to wear a mask in indoor public spaces and while using public transportation.

 Montana: Fully reopened. In April, Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) signed an executive order prohibiting vaccine passports in Montana.



 Nebraska: Fully reopened. On Oct. 28, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) signed an executive order that prohibits state executive branch agencies from enforcing the federal governments COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Ever since the 1970s, when Americans woke up to the dangers of government secrecy thanks to Watergate and Vietnam, the value of transparency in public policy-making has become more and more apparent. Bad things are more likely to happen in darkness, not only when it comes to crime, but also when it comes to laws made in secrecy or decisions made without public input. Thats why New Mexico enacted the Open Meetings Act.

As it says in the act itself, the Legislature recognized that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate armed with the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government, and the official acts of its officers and employees.

When the COVID pandemic hit, legislators needed to respect the need for a public meeting of the Legislature, where citizens could make public comment, witness floor and committee hearings, and have access to the legislators and to the documents that might some day become law. The Legislature put together a mechanism combining webcasts with Zoom meetings. The general public was barred from the Roundhouse, contact between legislators themselves was minimized and the number of floor sessions reduced. Masks were required.

After the session, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government conducted focus groups to determine if the absence of in-person communication and the use of virtual technology increased or diminished transparency and accountability.

A quick consensus emerged. Never again. While participants hoped that the 2021 session was the last conducted completely virtually, at the same time, all acknowledged public participation had increased since folks did not have to travel hundreds of miles to Santa Fe to testify.

This trend continued when the Citizens Redistricting Committee combined remote testimony with 16 in-person sessions. More than 2,100 citizens attended the hearings via Zoom or in person, and the committee considered 700 comments and 80 maps  an unprecedented level of civic engagement.

The hybrid model shows promise for use in both regular legislative sessions and interim legislative committees, provided modifications are made.

Processes for testifying before committees should be standardized between both chambers. Consistent committee schedules should be adhered to and interpretation software improved. Technology training is needed for legislators and citizens.

Standardizing the remote process will increase both transparency and accountability, and using it alongside in-person sessions and interim committee hearings is a win-win.

Upgrading the legislative process to expand public access requires commitment and funding, and now is the time to do it.

The Legislature has gradually acted to allow more public access. The Senate and the House now permit livestreaming of floor sessions and some committees. Conference committees are open to the public. A sunshine portal allows public access to budgets, contracts and salaries of public employees.

The public deserves this access  and more. The reason: Transparency opens the way to increased civic engagement and information reveals better solutions to public problems made by a broader, not narrower, group of decision-makers.

Strangely, COVID has backed the Legislature into a giant step forward. Now, why not make it permanent? An improved and standardized use of video, Zoom and web technologies can complement our in-person and uniquely New Mexico-style legislative sessions, and expand transparency, accountability and democracy.

This guest column is part of FOGs Transparency: the Key to Democracy Project.
TUCSON, Ariz.  Workers at state-regulated utilities in Arizona cant be fired for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a policy a state commission adopted this month.

The practical effect of the policy is unclear because it conflicts with federal vaccination mandates for corporations that go into effect in January but still face multiple legal challenges, the Arizona Daily Star reported.

The Arizona Corporation Commission approved it Dec. 15, prohibiting the state-regulated companies from developing, implementing and enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination polices as a condition of employment.

Among others, it could affect Tucson Electric Power, Arizona Public Service Co., TEP and sister rural utility UniSource Energy Services.

Approved on a party-line vote by the commissions Republican majority, the policy takes aim at the Biden administrations mandate that private companies with 100 or more employees must assure their employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to regular testing. The original Jan. 4 federal deadline recently was extended to Jan. 10.

TEP and other state-regulated utilities say they are monitoring the legal status of the mandate closely. But they have no plans of their own to mandate vaccination or testing, beyond the current workplace-safety protocols.

The policy was proposed by Republican commissioners Justin Olson and Jim OConnor, and supported by Chairwoman Lea Marquez Peterson.

Olson said the federal mandate is 100% unconstitutional and the commission has clear authority to regulate the utilities workplaces.

Democrats Sandra Kennedy and Anna Tovar voted against it. Kennedy said it was irresponsible for the commission to adopt it without consulting health-care experts while hospitals are being overwhelmed with resurgent COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Erik Bakken, vice president of systems operations for TEP and sister rural utility UniSource Energy Services, told the commission the companies are doing everything they can to maintain flexibility amid the changing legal status of the vaccinate-or-test mandate.

Just over half of the employees surveyed recently at both TEP and UES said they were fully vaccinated, Bakken said. The survey allowed workers to opt out of declaring their status, the company said in a later statement. TEP and UES have a combined workforce of about 2,100.
DENVER  The district attorneys office that prosecuted a trucker who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for an explosive crash that killed four people in suburban Denver will request a reduced term of 20 to 30 years.

Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement Thursday evening she would ask the judge during a hearing Monday to resentence Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, for the April 25, 2019, crash on Interstate 70 west of Denver.

As the jury found, Mr. Aguilera-Mederos knowingly made multiple active choices that resulted in the death of four people, serious injuries to others, and mass destruction, King said. This sentencing range reflects an appropriate outcome for that conduct, which was not an accident.

District Court Judge Bruce Jones imposed the sentence against Aguilera-Mederos on Dec. 13 after finding it was the mandatory minimum term set forth under state law.

I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence, the judge said during the hearing.

Aguilera-Mederos, who was convicted in October of vehicular homicide and other charges, testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed before he plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck. Prosecutors argued he should have used a runaway ramp designed for such situations.

Aguilera-Mederos supporters say the 110-year sentence is deeply unjust, and truck drivers around the country have taken up his cause, using hashtags like #NoTrucksToColorado and #NoTrucksColorado.
MOSCOW  Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday he would ponder a slew of options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees precluding NATOs expansion to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Kremlin presented its security demand amid tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine in recent weeks that has fueled Western fears of a possible invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin in a video call earlier this month that Russia will face severe consequences if it attacks Ukraine.

Russia has denied an intention of launching an invasion and, in its turn, accused Ukraine of hatching plans to try to reclaim control of the territories held by Moscow-backed rebels by force. Ukraine has rejected the claim.

Putin has urged the West to move quickly to meet his demands, warning that Moscow will have to take adequate military-technical measures if the West continues its aggressive course on the threshold of our home.

Asked to specify what such Moscows response could be, he said in comments aired by Russian state TV Sunday that it could be diverse, adding that it will depend on what proposals our military experts submit to me.

The U.S. and its allies have refused to offer Russia the kind of guarantee on Ukraine that Putin wants, citing NATOs principle that membership is open to any qualifying country. They agreed. however, to launch security talks with Russia next month to discuss its concerns.

Putin said the talks with the U.S. will be held in Geneva. In parallel, negotiations are also set to be held between Russia and NATO and broader discussions are expected under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In remarks broadcast Sunday, Putin said Russia submitted the demands in the hope of a constructive answer from the West.

We didnt do it just to see it blocked  but for the purpose of reaching a negotiated diplomatic result that would be fixed in legally binding documents, Putin said.

He reaffirmed that NATO membership for Ukraine or the deployment of alliance weapons there is a red line for Moscow that it wouldnt allow the West to cross.

We have nowhere to retreat, he said, adding that NATO could deploy missiles in Ukraine that would take just four or five minutes to reach Moscow. They have pushed us to a line that we cant cross. They have taken it to the point where we simply must tell them; Stop!'

He voiced concern that the U.S. and its allies could try to drag out the security talks and use them as a cover to pursue a military buildup near Russia.

He noted that Russia published its security demands to make them known to the public and raise the pressure on the U.S. and its allies to negotiate a security deal.

Putins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks broadcast Sunday that NATOs expansion to Ukraine or other ex-Soviet nations is a matter of life or death for us.

He noted that Fridays test-firing of Russias Zircon hypersonic missiles would help make Russias push for security guarantees more convincing.

Fridays launches were the latest in a series of test of Zircon, which Putin said is capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound to a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). They marked the first time Zircon missiles were launched in a salvo, indicating the completion of tests before the new missile enters service with the Russian navy next year and arms its cruisers, frigates and submarines.

Peskov on Sunday also pointed at Putins earlier warning that a Ukrainian offensive against the rebel-held territories would entail grave consequences for Ukraines statehood, adding that they know it well in Kyiv and they know it well in Washington.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and shortly after threw its support behind a separatist rebellion in the countrys east. Over more than seven years, the fighting has killed over 14,000 people and devastated Ukraines industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.  Defense attorneys want to dismiss the indictment against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of what they described as egregious overreaching by federal agents and informants, according to a court filing.

In the 20-page motion, which was filed Saturday night, defense attorneys allege FBI agents and federal prosecutors invented a conspiracy and entrapped people who could face up to life in prison. Theyre asking U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to dismiss the conspiracy charge, which would effectively knock down the federal governments case and other connected charges, according to The Detroit News.

The request comes after developments and claims about the governments team, including the conviction of Richard Trask, an FBI special agent who was arrested on a domestic violence charge and later fired and convicted of a misdemeanor.

Essentially, the evidence here demonstrates egregious overreaching by the governments agents, and by the informants those agents handled, defense attorneys wrote. When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan.

Five people are charged with kidnapping conspiracy and face a trial March 8 in Grand Rapids. They have pleaded not guilty and claim to be victims of entrapment.

Federal prosecutors have argued the men were not entrapped. The government alleged the men were upset over coronavirus restrictions when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan. Messages left Sunday with the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Justice werent immediately returned.

In January, a sixth man, 26-year-old Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty and is serving a six-year federal prison sentence.
Copyright  2021 Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerques new fire chief has steadily worked his way up the departmental ladder for the last 21 years  from pipeman to driver to lieutenant to captain to battalion chief and fire marshal, with some paramedic school and dispatch duties along the way.

But Gene Gallegos career in public service actually started far away from the lights and sirens of emergency calls. Shortly after graduating from West Mesa High School and enrolling at what was then TVI, he took his first city job washing dishes at the Los Volcanes Senior Center.

He spent about three years at the center, moving up to breakfast cook and, eventually, into a position that had him leading senior fishing and hiking trips and helping develop other interactive programming.

Gallegos, whose father had been a civilian employee at Albuquerque Fire Rescue, was biding his time until he reached the departments firefighter hiring age, which was then 21. But he said those early years working with the Senior Affairs Department continue to inform his professional and personal life.

Mostly, he said, he learned the importance of seizing the moment.

It was a very good experience and a very humbling experience to listen to their stories, to make sure that I did not turn down opportunities or did not let opportunities pass me by, Gallegos said in a recent interview from an administrative conference room at the citys fire academy.

With that in mind, Gallegos, 43, said he knew better than to turn down the 2018 offer to take the citys fire marshal job.

But he could not have known then how the position would ultimately raise his public profile. With the onset of the pandemic, the Fire Marshals Office moved full-force into the citys public health order enforcement effort, and Gallegos became a frequent presence during Mayor Tim Kellers COVID-19 media briefings.

I got enlisted to be the face of educating the public and doing our best to keep everybody safe, Gallegos said.

Under Gallegos leadership, Keller said, the Fire Marshals Office played an instrumental educational and enforcement role during the ever-evolving pandemic.

Their support and flexibility helped us keep our community safe and informed, Keller said in a statement. (Gallegos) experience and dedication to supporting our people and our city during his over 20 years with AFR are exactly what we need in a public safety leader.

When Paul Dow  fire chief since 2018  retired in April, Keller tapped Gallegos as his interim replacement. Last month, the mayor appointed Gallegos to the job on a permanent basis. The City Council confirmed him during its Dec. 20 meeting as Albuquerque Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael and some councilors sang his praises.

I know hell make us all proud because of his work ethic and the kind of person he is, Rael said prior to the vote.

Gallegos, who spent much of his AFR career working out of stations on East Central, said his goals as the department head include boosting the number of units in Southeast Albuquerque, where call volume is the highest. He also wants to recruit more paramedics  88% of AFR calls are for emergency medical services  or get more existing firefighters to go through paramedic training. Gallegos said paramedics are prone to burnout, something he hopes to combat by providing them more flexibility to change assignments within the department.

Gallegos also said he looks forward to shepherding the next generation of firefighters, likening himself to a dad hoping his kids achieve even more than he did.

I have some members and some future leaders of this department that I am so excited to see what they can do.  The future of this department is bright, he said.
You can hardly see Morris Weinstein. He is standing to the far right, almost out of range of the Albuquerque police officers lapel camera, as the officer interviews a witness to a single-car crash.

Even so, its difficult to miss Weinstein. At 86, he is a ramrod-straight 6 feet, 2 inches and a sturdy 180 pounds. He wears his long, gray-white hair tied back in a ponytail. The witness gestures toward him.

This gentleman pulled them out of the car, he tells the officer. What a brave guy. Hes strong.

A split second later, after learning Weinsteins age, the witness says, Youre kidding me.

Like an explosion

This vehicle hit the traffic island and did a torpedo into the air, at least 10 feet in the air, Weinstein said. It did a full 360 in the air. It did a 180 after it hit the ground. It was an amazing sight to see.

Weinstein, seated at a table in his home near Lomas and Tramway, is talking about the car accident on Lomas on Oct. 23. On that day, just after 10 a.m., he was taking his daughter Lauren, who recently moved to Albuquerque, to a Hyundai dealership to buy a car. They had just turned into the dealership when the accident happened.

According to the witness description on the lapel camera footage, the car was traveling east on Lomas in the extreme right lane when it suddenly went across three lanes and slammed into the median.

I heard this tremendous noise, like an explosion, Weinstein said, continuing his tale at the table. When they came down, all the windows blew out and the tires went flat.

There were two people in the car, a young man at the wheel and a young woman in the front passenger seat.

I could hear them screaming, Lauren said.

Weinstein saw steam or maybe smoke coming from the car.

He told me he was afraid the people were going to go on fire, Evelyn, Weinsteins wife, said.

Weinstein ran to the car. He tried to open the drivers door, but it was jammed. He reached through the blown-out drivers window and pulled the young man out of the car. Then he reached across to the passenger seat and pulled the young woman out of the same window.

My father was unbelievable, Lauren said. He just lifted those people out of the car like they were nothing.

The man and woman injured in the crash suffered bruises and abrasions and were treated but not hospitalized overnight.

Never been boring

Weinstein and Evelyn grew up in Brooklyn. They met at a Sweet 16 party for a friend of Evelyns.

She walked in the door, and I held my arms out to dance, Weinstein said. And that pretty much was that.

Weinstein and his wife first saw Albuquerque in 1979. They had stopped here after a business convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, to visit one of Weinsteins old Army National Guard buddies. They were impressed with the city.

First thing, you could park anywhere, Weinstein said. Evelyn liked the mountains and the weather.

They moved here in 1980 and have lived in their present home since 1982. From shortly after they settled in Albuquerque until 2008, Weinstein owned and operated Able & Willing, a wood flooring store.

On more than one occasion in his life, Weinstein has been in the right place at the right time.

When he was 14 or 15, he and a buddy were in a rowboat on Lake Huntington in New York when a wind came up and tipped over a nearby sailboat, spilling a father and his baby, 1 or 1 years old, into the water. Weinstein and his friend went into the water after them.

I went under water to get the baby, Weinstein said. My friend got the father untangled from the sailboat (rigging.) The mother was hysterical on the beach. I brought the baby, I dont know if it was a boy or a girl, to her. Both the father and the baby were OK.

And then there was the time in the early 50s when Weinstein was working in Brooklyn at his family store, a third-generation business that sold paint and wallpaper.

There was a butcher shop next door, Weinstein said. One of the owners collapsed with a heart attack. People were screaming.

Weinstein, about 18 at the time, administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, keeping the man alive until an ambulance arrived and took him to a hospital.

You do what you have to do, Weinstein said. Just like he did at the accident scene on Lomas in October.

People just stood there, he said. I took off running. I went into action.

Evelyn smiles and shakes her head.

I never know what he is going to do next, she said. Life has never been boring with Morris.

UpFront is a front-page news and opinion column. Reach Ollie at 505-823-3916, oreed@abqjournal.com.
NEW YORK  The jury considering the fate of Ghislaine Maxwell at her sex trafficking trial finished a third full day of deliberations Monday with no sign that a verdict is near and no clear signal either that there is dissension in their ranks.

Jurors in Manhattan federal court asked for multi-colored sticky notes and a white board, along with transcripts of some trial testimony, the definition of enticement and a question on the law. Judge Alison J. Nathan referred them to her legal instructions that she read to them just before they began deliberations a week ago.

The judge also requested that they deliberate an extra hour beginning Tuesday, unless that created a hardship.

The British socialite is charged with recruiting and grooming teenagers as young as 14 to be sexually assaulted by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwells lawyers say she was a U.S. government scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan federal jail cell while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell, who was behind bars for her 60th birthday Saturday, was described as a central component to Epsteins plans by four women who testified they were sexually abused as teenagers by Epstein with help from Maxwell when she was his girlfriend and afterward.

Maxwells lawyers said the memories of her accusers were corrupted by the passage of time and the influence of lawyers steering them toward multimillion-dollar payouts from a fund set up to compensate Epstein victims.

The jury, which deliberated two full days last week, already has asked to review the testimony of the four women, along with former Epstein housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi. They have given little hint of their overall progress on six charges, including a sex trafficking count that carries a potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison.

On Monday, jurors asked for the transcript of testimony by Matt, the pseudonym of a television actor who testified that he is the ex-boyfriend of Jane, the pseudonym of an actor who is one of the four accusers who testified against Maxwell. The judge had ruled that some witnesses in the trial could testify with only first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy.

Matt, who lived with Jane from 2007 to 2014, testified that Jane initially described Epstein as a godfather who helped her family pay bills after her fathers illness and death depleted their finances. She was 14 when she met Epstein.

He said she eventually told him that the help Epstein provided wasnt free, but did not provide any details about what happened.

When he was asked what her demeanor was like when he asked Jane questions about her encounters with Epstein, he testified that she was ashamed, embarrassed, horrified.

Matt said she also told him that she felt more comfortable in her encounters with Epstein because there was a woman around. Matt said he contacted Jane after Maxwells July 2020 arrest and asked her if Maxwell was the woman she had referenced as making her feel more comfortable in her dealings with Epstein.

He testified that she confirmed Maxwell was the woman.
New Mexico State Sen. Pete Campos is in the hospital and will have to undergo emergency surgery.

Chris Nordstrum, a spokesman for Senate Democrats, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Campos could have the surgery as soon as Monday.

Campos, who is in his 60s, was taken to Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque on Sunday for an undisclosed condition.

Nordstrum said, however, it has nothing to do with COVID-19. Also, Campos expects a speedy recovery and to have no issues with attending the opening of the legislative session next month.

In his own statement, Campos said he looks forward to resuming his duties for years to come.

Campos, of Las Vegas, was re-elected in November 2020 with 65% of the vote. He sits on the Senate Finance Committee and the interim Legislative Finance Committee.
GOLDEN, Colo.  A truck driver sentenced to 110 years for an explosive crash that killed four people in suburban Denver moved a step closer Monday to potentially having his prison term reduced.

Judge Bruce Jones scheduled a hearing for Jan. 13 to reconsider Rogel Aguilera-Mederos sentence following widespread outrage over the severity of his punishment and an unusual request by prosecutors to revisit the matter.

During a virtual hearing to discuss the request, one of Aguilera-Mederos lawyers, James Colgan, said the defense needed some time to do research to see if there were any similar cases that could help guide its approach.

Jones said he wanted to learn more about whether the law that allowed him to reconsider the sentence gave him discretion to set whatever sentence he wanted.

He said victims would be able to speak at the in-person hearing about whether Aguilera-Mederos should be resentenced. But he noted he did not want them to go through that stress unless they wished to.

I am a captive audience if they want to speak to me, he said.

Around 5 million people have signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. In addition to the prosecutions request to lower the sentence, Aguilera-Mederos has requested clemency from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

Last week, District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement she would seek a term of 20 to 30 years in the 2019 wreck on Interstate 70 west of Denver. She said that sentencing range reflects an appropriate outcome for Aguilera-Mederos conduct, noting that the crash was not an accident.

After Mondays hearing, King said her office made the reconsideration request to give the court the ability to impose a sentence not bound by the states mandatory sentencing laws. She said the judge, knowing the case well, was in the best position to decide a new sentence and urged people to be patient as the court process plays out.

Jones imposed the 110-year sentence against Aguilera-Mederos on Dec. 13 after finding it was the mandatory minimum term set forth under state law.

I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence, the judge said during the hearing.

Leonard Martinez, another lawyer for Aguilera-Mederos, has said the district attorneys new requested sentencing range is not consistent with similar cases in Colorado and the United States.

Colorado law allows for sentences for crimes deemed violent to be modified in cases with unusual and extenuating circumstances, but those sentences cannot take effect until 119 days after a person enters prison. King and defense lawyers believe Jones can impose a new, reduced sentence before that and have it take effect later.

Aguilera-Mederos testified that he was hauling lumber when the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he was descending a steep grade of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills on April 25, 2019. His truck plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck, setting off a chain-reaction wreck and a fireball that consumed vehicles and melted parts of the highway.

He wept as he apologized to the victims families at his Dec. 13 sentencing.

When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me, he said. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.

Prosecutors argued he should have used a runaway ramp designed for such situations. Aguilera-Mederos, for his part, said he was struggling to avoid traffic and trying to shift to slow down.

The crash killed 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison and 69-year-old Stanley Politano. Relatives of victims supported at least some prison time at his sentencing hearing.
SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - A woman was killed after she was hit by a vehicle while walking on Highway 273 Sunday night, authorities said.

California Highway Patrol said a 37-year-old woman of Douglas City was walking in the second lane of northbound Highway 273 around 8:55 p.m. Sunday.

CHP says a person was driving a white 2017 Honda Accord in the same lane at an unknown speed and crashed into the woman at Jessie Rd.

The driver of the Accord parked the vehicle on Bangian Rd. and took off from the scene.

CHP is investigating the deadly hit-and-run.
REDDING, Calif. - Police are searching for a suspect and a victim after shots were fired in Redding Monday morning, the Redding Police Department said.

Multiple calls of shots fired came in around 6:56 a.m. at an apartment complex on the 1000 block of Center St.

During an investigation, authorities said two men were walking together in the area of Prince St. near an alleyway between Center St. and California St.

The two men got into an altercation and the victim took off running south through the alleyway and the suspect chased him.

Police said the suspect fired shots at the victim as he ran through the back of an apartment complex in the direction of Center St.

At that point, police said the suspect stopped chasing the victim.

According to police, the suspect was last seen in the area of Center St. and California St. when he fired a round into the air as he walked away.

The victim and the suspect have not been located. Police said it is not clear if the victim was shot.

Police described the victim as a man who was last seen wearing a white jacket, a dark-colored shirt and pants, and was possibly walking with a limp.

Officers also located an unoccupied structure in the area that appeared to have been struck by one of the shots.

No injuries have been reported at this time. Anyone with information should contact the police department.
Pradeep Bakshi, MD & CEO, Voltas Limited, and Deba Ghoshal, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Voltas Limited, share how 2021 has been for the company. Bakshi highlights the three priorities for Voltas in 2021  Agility, Consumer Centricity, and the next level of Digitisation. Ghoshal, on the other hand, mentions how Propositions, Products, Pricing, Offers, Channel (Distribution) and Media  all elements of the marketing mix  have seen a shift towards being more relevant, immediate and meaningful.

Pradeep Bakshi, MD & CEO, Voltas Limited:

2021 will be known as the year of resilience and re-alignment with the new world, with businesses focusing on reinventing themselves. At Voltas, this year, we have focused on three priorities  Agility, Consumer Centricity, and the next level of Digitisation. We aimed to turn obstacles into opportunities and have successfully strengthened our market leadership position in Room Air Conditioners business, with the highest lead over nearest competition. We have also achieved a formidable presence and lead across all our other businesses, right from Commercial Refrigeration, Commercial Air Conditioning, Domestic & International Projects, as well as our new Home Appliances business of Voltas Beko.

Owing to the second wave of the pandemic, and an intense summer, after the lock-downs were lifted, Voltas witnessed a pent-up demand for Room Air Conditioners and its range of Cooling products like Air Coolers and Commercial Refrigeration. The pan India off-take for our products slowly started getting back after the lock down, and we witnessed a good traction especially from mini-metros and Tier 2 and 3 markets. Our sales are higher than the industry benchmarks in these markets, and this can be attributed to Voltas strong distribution network which allows us to reach our customers, wherever they are. As a part of our Smart Thinking philosophy, Voltas has the highest Brand Equity, as well as the highest Distribution Reach in the country, which has grown multiple times, to more than 24,000 consumer touch points. Additionally, during this festive season, despite an overall increase in input costs, we have witnessed an uptick in health and hygiene products like our Maha Adjustable PureAir Inverter ACs, that has a state-of-the-art UVC LED system that disinfects the indoor air. This gives us the confidence to continue investing in R&D that caters to the evolving requirements of our loyal customers.

We are optimistic that post the festival season, all categories of cooling products and home appliances will continue to gain ground as witnessed in the previous quarter. Our Home Appliances JV, Voltas Beko, successfully completed the second year of operations at the Sanand facility in FY 22. A new Washing Machine line is also being built-up on the same premises. We are pleased to share that Voltas Beko has recorded significant growth across all its categories including Refrigerators, Washing Machines and Microwave Ovens, and was also able to achieve a market leading position in Dishwashers, which saw a growth in sales post the outbreak of the pandemic. Given our new entrance in the market under tough conditions, this is a notable feat.

With the introduction of the PLI scheme for white goods, the government has strengthened the foundation for domestic manufacturing, both for domestic and export markets. We are honoured to be one of the 42 companies selected under PLI Scheme for white goods and our proposal for manufacturing of Cross Flow Fan (CFF), Heat Exchangers and Plastic Moulding components has been approved. The Government is encouraging the production of electronics and AC components completely in India to meet domestic as well as international demands. Voltas is ready to Make in India for the world with plants at Waghodia (Gujarat), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Sanand (Gujarat) and is consistently ramping up production to meet the demand, not only in the domestic market, but also for enhancing the export business. In fact, we are planning to set up a compressor manufacturing unit in partnership with an international partner and have already filed for PN3 approval. We are confident that India will soon become a hub for global manufacturing, and we look forward to proudly contributing to the nations growth story in the years to come.

Deba Ghoshal, Vice President and Head of Marketing, Voltas Limited

In 2021, the marketing landscape for consumer durables, especially cooling products and home appliances, continued to be dominated by digital. There has been a significant shift in the way marketers have reached out to consumers, by adopting an omnichannel strategy of building consumer-connect. Propositions, Products, Pricing, Offers, Channel (Distribution) and Media, all elements of the marketing mix have seen a shift towards being more relevant, immediate and meaningful, in these times of uncertainty. From a media perspective, while Electronic and Print have made a strong comeback, the biggest leap was for Digital in 2021, where brands have consistently invested. The impetus for online will continue to go up as more people continue searching online and making purchases. Our new webstore, www.voltaslounge.com, is a step forward in embracing the digital transformation, and it has already received a good response.

As we enter 2022, we will witness that the consumer will be more cautious and connected. And in order to break the inertia towards new purchases, marketers will need to continue to create propositions which are tangible and relevant. We will witness a market of end-users who have witnessed two difficult years of the pandemic, and to win the confidence of this consumer, will be a key factor for all brands in all categories. Keeping in mind the expected supply chain challenges in the industry, the pricing dynamics in the market have to be handled carefully, by creating the right value propositions.

And it goes without saying that Digital will continue to be the pivot for all decisions related to consumer outreach. Particularly, Search, Social and Influencer strategies need to be carefully crafted. In 2022, brands must continue to drive their omni-channel presence, by integrating digital, electronic, and on-ground activations. A strategic decision needs to be made by all marketers to adopt the hybrid marketing model which will allow brands to enhance their physical and digital presence to create real-time customer delight. At Voltas, in 2022, our focus would continue to be on Cooling, Comfort, Convenience, Care with an emphasis on Connectivity.
Liquid detergent brand Godrej Ezee and actress & entrepreneur Gul Panag join hands to raise awareness of winter-related hardships faced by underprivileged kids as part of Ezee Hugs. Currently, in its 12th edition, Ezee Hugs is a social campaign that aims to provide warmth to underprivileged children during harsh winters by distributing free sweaters. To flag off the initiative, Gul Panag met the kids in New Delhi and distributed new sweaters amongst them.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the human death in India due to cold waves is much higher than due to heat waves between 1980-2018. There has been a 506% increase in cold waves in India during 2010 to 2018. Thousands of underprivileged, school-going children across the Northern belt, bear the harsh winters without the warmth of woollens. Due to lack of woollen wear, the kids are also more prone to suffer from viral fever and cold. Godrej Ezee wanted to build awareness about these winter-related hardships and alleviating them. Thus, it started Ezee Hugs campaign. Over the years, Ezee Hugs has spread warmth by urging people to donate their woollens for children through this social good campaign.

Given the need to bring attention of more people on winter-hardships of children, Gul Panag has collaborated with Godrej Ezee this year. Known as an actress, entrepreneur, pilot, Gul is also a true humanitarian, and has always stood for causes close to heart. She runs an NGO  the Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation, named after a grandfather, which works in the area of education, and gender equality. Gul will use her platform to support the cause and spread awareness amongst public. While Ezee Hugs urges people to donate sweaters themselves amongst underprivileged kids, Ezee and Gul will jointly distribute more than 4000 sweaters across North India.

Speaking on this initiative, Sunil Kataria, CEO - India & SAARC, Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), Godrej Ezee has always stood for warmth, comfort and care. Ezee Hugs, a noble initiative by Ezee that began in 2011, has grown over the years with the support of multiple stakeholders. This year, we are pleased to partner with Gul Panag who is known to take up causes that matter. Her social and political activism has had her being recognized as one of the most influential voices on social media and a youth icon. Our intent is to not just donate sweaters but also bring the attention of more people on this issue. We want to ensure that no underprivileged child suffers due to lack of appropriate means to keep themselves warm.

While speaking about her association with Ezee Hugs, Gul Panag, said, For someone who has lived in North India, winter-related hardships faced by underprivileged kids is something not many talks about or even acknowledge. From health impact to school attendance, the impact of cold weather on kids with no proper woollen wear is significant. Yet, there are fewer initiatives or people talking about it. Ezee Hugs is one such initiative that has stood strong and made people aware of this issue for over 10 years now. This is why I chose to partner with Godrej Ezee so that we can reach out to more people and ensure no underprivileged kid has to be without woollens.

I have fond memories of winter, cosying up and enjoying the cold with my friends and family. I myself wear up to three layers of sweaters during this time of the year. At the same time, I realize that this is a privilege that not many of us have. Im honoured to associate with Godrej Ezee for such a thoughtful initiative. I would like to encourage people to donate as much as they can and help the children
The 8 Predictions

There is a great acceleration underwayan event in which there is mass eCommerce adoption across all industries. According to eMarketer, nearly half of consumers have shifted their spending towards online channels, across all categories ranging from apparel to electronics1. Online orders are also seeing two to three times year-on-year growth, with some retailers seeing increases of more than 20 times.

Whats more, lockdown mandates and self-isolation practices have dramatically changed consumption behaviour, and this shift is reinforced by the holiday season. Anyone, especially businesses and shoppers, know this is the busiest time of the year and a time when eCommerce activity often breaks records.

Ahead of the holiday season, Adobe had several in-depth discussions with industry insiders and investigated what businesses can expect from eCommerce over the coming months. In this report, you will see 8 predictions and insights from these experts to help businesses ensure theyre prepared for the changing environment.

PREDICTION 1

Personalisation at scale will accelerate.

For as long as retail has been around, personalisation has been at the heart of it. The ability for a store associate to suggest the perfect accessory for an outfit, give an informed opinion on which paint colour will go best with the sofa fabric or recommend the perfect wine to complement your mealthis kind of individualised human-to-human interaction has always been the definition of outstanding retail experiences.

And this holiday season, as MarTech continues to become more accessible, we will see personalisation at scale accelerate. According to a global survey conducted by Forrester Consulting, 54% of retail marketers are using AI-driven personalization across channels to drive loyalty and growthespecially vital this holiday season2.

PREDICTOR

Ben Popplestone

Head of Commerce Customer Success

Adobe DX APAC

MarTech is increasingly becoming more accessible and adopted across eCommerce businesses. We will see personalisation at scale this holiday season and it will become a big differentiator for eCommerce businesses.



The Great Acceleration | 2021 Adobe. All Rights Reserved 33



PREDICTOR

Jeremy Meltzer

Founder & CEO

i = Change

Consumers will shop for values more than ever this holiday season. Brands with a clear and authentic purpose beyond product will do better than their competition.

The Great Acceleration | 2021 Adobe. All Rights Reserved

PREDICTION 2

Brands with a meaningful purpose will race ahead.

81% of global consumers feel strongly that companies should be doing more to protect the environment. That includes manufacturing sustainably made goods and packaging, using eco-friendly transportation methods to move those goods, and more4. Whats more, the pandemic has made consumers realise the imperative for businesses to align their operations with the common good.

This holiday season will see consumers opt for brands that embody this keen sense of purpose.

PREDICTION 3

Shipping speed will become a key

PREDICTOR

Tanuj Rastogi Founder & CEO 18th Digitech deciding factor. Shipping will be a big differentiator. Due to delayed shipping, brands that offer click & collect or faster shipping will win



Last year shipping container vessels arrived on time 80% of the time, the chances of that happening now are only about 40%5. Due to the pandemic, there has been a global delay in shipping and brands need to adapt their shipping strategy and ensure global supply chain challenges do not get in the way of a successfully holiday season.

Some common strategies to cope with these problems are Click & Collect, establishing partnerships with dedicated eCommerce shipping providers and by shifting focus to customers within a closer geographical proximity.

a higher share of consumer wallets.



The Great Acceleration | 2021 Adobe. All Rights Reserved 5 5



PREDICTOR

Nathan Brown

CEO Global Marketplace

Click Frenzy

Record volumes bring in record returns. Businesses must be ready to fulfil those returns and solve consumer problems quickly to avoid consumer grievances.

The Great Acceleration | 2021 Adobe. All Rights Reserved

PREDICTION 4

Be prepared for record returns.

This year will see record shopping volumes as online shopping continues to accelerate and economies reopen. Businesses need to plan for success as well as be ready to have a robust returns strategy to cope with record volumes.

Ensure that you have your processes set in place such as a product return strategy, be it outsourcing to a 3rd party returns logistic provider, allowing customers to return directly to a physical store or in the case of eCommerce only stores, return to your warehouse. Also be sure to quickly respond to any consumer complaints to avoid backlash on social media. Let happy shoppers keep shopping, and keep unnecessary unhappiness at bay this holiday season.

PREDICTION 5

An end to the price war.

eCommerce pricing has always been a race to the bottom but given the pandemic, this years holiday season will prove different. Due to shopper appetite, shortages and supply constraints, businesses will be able to price their goods higher. Its therefore no surprise that holiday sales this year are expected to grow at least 7% compared with last year, according to forecasts from Bain, Deloitte and Mastercard6.

The shortage of goods and supply disruptions is a double-edge sword. It can prevent retailers from accessing more merchandise and inventory, but on the flipside, it also offers them pricing power over shoppers. Especially as shoppers have come to expect fewer discounts, longer shipping times and limited inventory at storesthey will be willing to fork out more.

PREDICTOR

Maurizio Stella

Director of Commerce

Ranosys Technologies

There is a shortage of goods and consumers cant go out in the world to buy them. This year we wont see deep discounting as consumers are ready to pay a reasonable price for what they need and want.



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PREDICTOR

Tom Franey

Head of E-Commerce Motorcycle Holdings

PREDICTION 6

Shoppers will crave the human touch. Consumers crave human connections and brands that can build digital experiences will see success during the holiday season. This can be done by hosting events, live commerce or contests on social media.

The Great Acceleration | 2021 Adobe. All Rights Reserved

Empathy and ingenuity bring people together. Even when apart, your brand can be the bridge that links people with their needs and wants. Whether you offer your customers VIP-centric virtual events, or run celebrity-driven campaigns7, showing that you empathise with your customers contextsworking from home, working parents, you name itwill position your brand as a highly relevant and aligned with your shoppers everyday realities.

Brands that can simulate or deliver authentic connections for customers will therefore achieve top-of-mind awareness and a visceral connection with all that is warm, fuzzy, and everything nice this holiday season.

PREDICTION 7

Be prepared for unconventional shopper journeys.

Companies that pay attention to and plan for unconventional shopper journeys, report conversion rates approaching 30%up to ten times higher than in conventional eCommerce. In 2020, the first 30 minutes of Alibabas Singles Day presales campaign on Taobao Live generated a whopping $7.5 billion in total transaction value8.

Another example: live commerce offers a way for retailers to cater for unconventional consumer journeys. It is entertaining and immersive, keeps viewers watching longer, and gets them in the mindset for relevant purchases. It offers a telescopic perspective into customer decision journeys from awareness to purchase8. These unconventional consumer journeys are non-linear and can be accelerated with time-limited tactics such as one-off coupons to generate a sense of urgency.

And this holiday season, we will see unconventional consumer journeys at play across APAC.

PREDICTOR

Priyanka Gargav

Commercial Head

SEA and HK at Adyen

Be prepared for unconventional shopper journeys that comprise of multiple channels, both online and offline.



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PREDICTOR

Rhys Thomas

Head of Partner Success

Klarna

Payment options are becoming an increasingly important type of preference, and one that is driving loyalty, repeat purchase and overall value for retailers.

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PREDICTION 8

Consumers will demand multiple payment options and rich experiences.

The past 18 months has given us 20/20 vision when it comes to

the agility required to capitalise on new opportunities and shifting landscapes. Todays consumers will increasingly expect businesses to offer highly tailored and personalised experiences and they want them easily accessible at the right time and in the right place.

Its therefore wise to ensure that youre offering a variety of payment options at the checkout and that they are available however shoppers choose to shop be it in-store or online. But it doesnt just stop at one element like payments. Making sure the entire shopping journey is smooth and frictionless is critical. Offering a rich and intuitive

experience is no longer going above and beyond, its the standard that everyone has to meet.

Get ready to accelerate your sales this holiday season.

The coming holiday season will be the biggest shopping season yet. To get ahead, retailers will need to ensure their holiday marketing connects with shoppers in the right way at the right time throughout the festive season ensuring a smooth shopping experience for all. Because its not just about the moment of purchase, its about the entire holiday shopping journeyand depending on who the consumer is, this could be a matter of months or just seconds. Through the lens of 8 industry insiders, we hope you found these predictions insightful in formulating your eCommerce strategy. Now is the time to get ready, get set, and sell.
What does it say about a civilization when it feels compelled to place a satanic display next to baby Jesus at Christmastime? As a general question, you can answer that for yourself. But among other things, in our case it means too many Americans  including judges  wouldnt know the Constitution from the Communist Manifesto.

The story here is that the baby Baphomet, a goat-like creature worshiped by satanists, has been placed alongside a Christmas tree, a Nativity and a menorah in Springfield, Illinois State Capitol Rotunda. This isnt just a one-off, either, but reflects now common insanity. It also isnt just limited to liberal states.

YouTube screengrab

For example, at the Florida State Capitol in 2015, a display showing an angel falling into flames with the message Happy Holidays from the Satanic Temple,[sic] had been erected...as a satire by an atheist group to counter a nativity scene which had already been taken down, reported Fox News at the time.

Whats more, the display the previous year, Fox tells us, included a Festivus pole in tribute to a holiday created on Seinfeld that satirizes the commercialism of Christmas and a display by the Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, which mocks beliefs that a god created the universe and argues instead that the universe was created by a plate of pasta and meatballs.

Of course, these generally arent sincere manifestations of belief but are designed, first, to mock faith. Second, the instigators likely hope to bring an end to public-arena Holy Day displays entirely by overwhelming the system with insanity and inanity. Its the Cloward-Piven strategy applied to religious observances.

Now, the Illinois Capitol Rotunda includes a sign from the government claiming that the State of Illinois is required by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution to allow temporary, public display in the state capitol so long as these displays are not paid for by taxpayer dollars." Yet while judges have certainly thus ruled, the First Amendment requires no such thing.

To analogize this, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech along with that of religion. So, if a state-funded, faith-oriented display on public property would violate freedom of religion  which is the implication here  wouldnt state-funded, speech-oriented displays violate the freedom of speech?

Yet we do have state-funded, speech-oriented displays, such as at the Lincoln Memorial, where the 16th presidents Gettysburg and Second Inaugural addresses are inscribed. The former includes the words that our nation was conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now, question: Should it be required that the display of such speech be privately funded, lest the government be guilty of infringing upon speech?

Furthermore, should the same anti-infringement imperative also mean that we must allow contrary opinions to be displayed alongside Lincolns words? How about the 1619 Project proposition that our nation was not conceived in liberty but in slavery? How about Nazi (or todays leftist equity) sentiments about how all men are not created equal?

If youd say its ridiculous to equate government display of speech with its infringement upon speech, youre right. But its equally silly to equate government display of religion with the infringement upon exercise of religion. Public-property Christian displays dont force a person to attend church any more than public-property equality-dogma displays compel him to espouse equality.

The mistake made here is as simple as it is common, and this holds whether some publicly displayed speech or religion is government- or privately-funded: We have a right to the freedom of speech and religion.

This does not mean we have a right to the equal government or public-square showcasing of our speech or religion.

Accepting otherwise would create a situation in which we could be asked to showcase literally thousands of sentiments or religious symbols ranging from the rational to the bizarre to the wicked. It could crash the entire system. And, again, thats the whole idea.

It should also be noted that the establishment of religion, prohibited by the First Amendment, only refers to compelling people to belong to a state-sanctioned church. Activist judges have perverted the concept and have illegally (jurists violate law when trampling the Constitution) expanded the prohibition far beyond its true meaning. Thus are we told that school prayer is verboten and the Ten Commandments maynt be displayed at a courthouse.

Ironically, though, as it has since its 1789 inception, Congress opens with prayers  primarily Christian ones at that  and the judges utter not a peep. So apparently it isnt just good laws/judicial overreach, such as the Ethics in Government Act, from which Congress gets a special dispensation. Its bad ones, too.

Speaking of which, the First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (emphasis added). Its quite clear that if the Founding Fathers had intended for the prohibition to apply to all levels of government, they would have written government and not specified Congress.

In fact, reflecting this correct understanding is that at our nations birth, states tended to have their own official churches; this was considered right and proper and is why the Framers never wouldve prohibited such via the national constitution.

Since then, courts have claimed, using a judicial rationalization known as the Theory of Incorporation, that the Bill of Rights must be applied to the states. Yet even if we believe this, how could anyone possibly suppose such application includes a constitutional provision that specifically states it only constrains the federal government?

This doesnt mean we legally could have official state churches today, as states tend to have constitutions that mirror our national one and thus prohibit establishment. But all these constitutional misunderstandings and unconstitutional standards  reflected in court rulings  illustrate how far weve drifted from our founding and how muddle-headed, and sometimes malevolent, so many judges have become.

In fact, Christmastime displays featuring Baphomet, a Festivus pole and everything from soup to nuts to the nutty do perfectly represent our ages spirit. They reflect a society awash in relativism and Equality Dogma and fatally confused morally, philosophically and spiritually. This should be obvious when youve reached a point where you fancy that Satan deserves equal time with God.

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The prophets of the Bible are individuals chosen by God to speak for God. Many mentions of prophets are made in the Bible. In fact, a section of the Old Testament is devoted to a collection of books by them. Their names, and quotes, appear all over the New Testament and are the subject of sermons to this day.

What they all had in common was a heart for God, an anointing to hear from Him, and the faithfulness to impart his message to others.

For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21).

Prophets speak loudly from the pages of the past, their words seem to take on greater meaning over time, are more relevant than ever and provide us with insights into the past and counsel for our present and future.

As a fan of American history, I often think of historic figures as similar to the prophets of the Bible, whose lives, experiences, achievements and words take on greater meaning over time and provide us with guidance concerning the great challenges we face today as a nation.

In my view, three such American Prophets are former Presidents George Washington, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan, each of whom presented the American people with prophetic farewell messages that speak loudly today and, if we listen closely, can provide us with guidance and counsel to guide our collective future. Today, we consider Washington.

After forming and leading the Continental Army in the War for Independence, George Washington, known for generations as The Father of Our Country, was the unanimous selection as our nations first President, after Americas new Constitution was ratified in 1783.

Washingtons farewell remarks were intended to provide the public and his peers with the knowledge that he would not be seeking a third term of office. His voluntary departure from office helped discourage the notion of an American monarchy and established the tradition of American Presidents serving no more than two terms, which was later established in the 22nd Amendment in 1947.

A sample.

Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel.

See what I mean? What I like about the paragraph above is that he positions his remarks as the honest reflections of an old friend, informed by experience, which he hopes will be considered by his fellow Americans.

Later in his remarks, Washington counsels the American people to prioritize national unity and, whether someone was born here or arrived as an immigrant, we must consider ourselves Americans first over and above any other differences.

Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.

Washington also warns us against factions  divisions within the body politic that will most certainly be exploited by those seeking to gain power and control the government at the expense of the people.

 associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

He further warns that such divisions can lead to animosity, violence, and foreign influence.

It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.

Washington also encourages his fellow citizens to be faithful to the Constitution and warns that violations or impromptu changes might be considered advantageous in the short term but in the long run, undermines free government.

If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.

Faith in God the Creator and in Providence, the guiding hand that inspired and shaped his career and the birth of a new nation, provided Washington constant courage and inspiration. It was his belief and the belief of most of his compatriots, that an abiding faith in the Almighty and a foundation of individual and collective morality was essential for the continued success of the new nation.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

As Great Britain and France hovered over the newly formed United States like vultures circling a young fawn, Washington believed in the principle of neutrality toward all nations, especially the great military powers.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave.

Washington closes by reminding his readers that he is returning home with the hope and expectation that his successors will facilitate his private life and those of his fellow citizens by governing responsibly and protecting individual freedom.

I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.

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Robert A. Heinlein wrote that "The man who eats meat cannot sneer at the butcher." While it's legal to eat meat, it's illegal to attend dog fights. If people who attend dog fights didn't pay admission fees or place bets, the hands-on perpetrators would have no incentive to abuse the dogs.

We contend similarly that any organization that supports the Black Lives Matter Global Network is vicariously (if not legally) complicit in looting, rioting, anti-Semitism, support for Hamas, and incitement of violence against law enforcement professionals and others. Support for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is similarly tacit support for synagogue and church shootings similar to those at the Tree of Life Synagogue (Robert Bowers), bombings of pizza shops and Seders, rocket attacks, eradication of Israel "from the river to the sea," and violent abuse of Jews, Christians, and Arabs whom Hamas deems to be the wrong kinds of Muslims, women, and LGBT people.

We Don't Need Nazis for Animal Rights, or BLM for Civil Rights

We know animal abuse is wrong without input from the Nazi Party. We also know that Derek Chauvin should not have knelt on George Floyd's neck, and that three yahoos should not have chased Ahmaud Arbery and then provoked a deadly confrontation, without input from an organization that promotes the following behavior.

BLM has incited looting similar to the Night of the Broken Glass, the only difference being that those on the receiving end come in all colors and religions, as opposed to only Jews. Police in Democrat-run cities have meanwhile been told to stand down the way German police stood aside during the Night of the Broken Glass.

Patrisse Cullors, while speaking in her capacity as a BLM leader, denied the right of Israel to exist. This is anti-Semitic per the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and also supports the agenda of Hamas which includes genocide or ethnic cleansing of Jews. BLM rallies have also featured anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic hate speech such as "Israel, we know you, you murder children too."

The BLM website published the libelous accusation that Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people, thus suggesting that it is okay to attempt strong-arm robbery (Joseph Rosenbaum), attempt armed robbery and aggravated assault (Anthony Huber), and chase somebody with a drawn firearm (Gaige Grosskreutz), and that the victims of these actions had better not fight back.

BLM and its associates have also made it clear that they think it is okay to point a gun at a cop's head and menace a teenage girl while armed (or unarmed per Joe Biden) with a knife -- and then they wonder why violent criminals of all races get shot by police and armed citizens of all races.

Advocacy of arson, a felony that can create the same use of deadly force situations the organization protests.

A (Caucasian) woman in a BLM hat gave an online tutorial about how to "remove" drivers from their cars, i.e. how to commit a violent felony good for a very long stay in prison, and of course for the lawful deployment of deadly force by the driver.

Misuse 501(c)(3) tax exempt resources to influence the 2020 election.

"Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon," relates to police officers in body bags, as does "Oink your last, pig," and "What do we want? Dead cops." These are the same so-called "pigs" who arrested Dylan Roof who was convicted of shooting up a Black church, and also the three yahoos who were convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery.

If we return to Robert Heinlein's original statement, any organization that stands behind BLM -- whether it's Cornell Law School faculty and graduates denouncing a professor for condemning it, Dean Eduardo Penalver saying on behalf of Cornell's Law School that denunciation of BLM is contrary to the school's values, or Hardin-Simmons University forcing out a student for a video that points out accurately that BLM does not say the names of anybody but Black people who are killed by white people -- is supporting, in the long run, the behavior depicted above regardless of intention.

My only criticism of the Hardin-Simmons student is her omission of BLM's silence when violent criminals of any race kill police officers of any race. BLM is not saying David Dorn's name, whose Black life ceased to matter the instant he put on a blue uniform. The roughly eighteen Cornell Law faculty who denounced the attack on BLM also wrote that a police officer, who is identifiable from the context, "murdered" Breonna Taylor. Cornell's Black Law Student Association also said Taylor had been "murdered" and, if Cornell's Law School does not teach its students that a false public accusation of a crime is libel per se, this might not be the best place to study this profession.

If on the other hand these faculty members and the BLSA wanted to do something useful about civil rights, they could have published widely the fact that many attorneys will take false arrest cases on a contingency basis. This would help deter the small handful of police who still stop people for driving while Black; a practice once encouraged in Democrat-run New Jersey. In addition, "Portland [a solid Blue city] police data from 2011 shows blacks are more likely to be pulled over for equipment and license violations than white drivers."

Support for BDS is Support for Hamas

It is a felony (material support for a foreign terrorist organization) to send money to Hamas but it is legal to aid Hamas by harming Israel instead, and this is the agenda of the BDS movement. The American Studies Association joined an academic boycott of Israel, the Seattle Education Association joined the BDS movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace has openly promoted BDS for quite some time. This is also the agenda of Students for Justice in Palestine (justice in Palestine would require Israel to do with Hamas what the Allies did with the Nazis in 1945), the Muslim Students Association, the Council on American Islamic Relations, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar.

Few if any of these organizations and people even criticize the behavior of "Palestinian civil society," including education of children to be suicide bombers, "pay to slay" compensation to the families of so-called martyrs, and a long litany of rocket attacks, the least of which would have drawn overwhelming retaliation from any country other than Israel. They certainly do not call for boycotts of Gaza, so it is very clear to me where they really stand.

Those who attend dog fights are partners to the organizers, those who purchase "crush videos" pay animal abusers to create them, those who download and share child pornography are partners to the hands-on exploiters of children, and those who import non-antique ivory support elephant poachers. Those who support BDS are similarly vicarious partners in the overall agenda of bombings, rocket attacks, massacres, and making the Middle East Judenrein.

Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. He or she is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter.

Image: John Wayne Lucia III

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Mao's deadly Cultural Revolution germinated in academia when students embraced it and began to terrorize their professors by accusing them of anti-Maoist wrongthink. The movement lasted for a decade, during which hundreds of thousands to millions of people died, while China's irreplaceable cultural and historical heritage was destroyed. We are experiencing a Maoist revolution in America, and, as in China, academia is ground zero for the great terror. The latest example is being visited upon Prof. Jason Kilborn, a law professor at U. Illinois-Chicago John Marshall Law School, for using the "n" word, literally, as in "n____."

Legal Insurrection has the whole story, and I urge you to visit it for the details, but I'll give the short version here. I will precede it with a short anecdote from my own years a few decades ago at law school.

In my torts class, the professor called upon an extremely shy young man to discuss a medical malpractice case that involved a woman complaining about injury to her vagina and anus during childbirth. When the student summarized the case, every time he came to those anatomical words, he choked. I've never forgotten the teacher telling the student, "When you represent a client in court, you must be able to speak firmly and without shame about anything that advances your client's interests. There is no place for shyness or sensitivity if you're to be a good lawyer."

How things have changed.

Here, verbatim, is the test question that Kilborn presented to his students, as he has for years, including the polite dashes:



Image: Prof. Kilborn test question. YouTube screen grab.

Apparently, in 2021, even an allusion to these words was too much for the Black Law Student Association (BLSA), which viciously attacked Kilborn, complaining to the school's dean and chancellor and putting up a Change.org petition. The petition called those elided words "dark and vile verbiage" that "caused unnecessary distress and anxiety" for students. It's impossible to imagine these students handling an actual case in an actual court, although I guess they'll make up in mindless viciousness what they lack in intelligence, toughness, and skill.

Later, the BLSA put out a tweet asking any student who was ever offended by anything Kilborn has ever said to speak up. Thanks to this effort, they were able to add that Kilborn had called minorities "cockroaches," a highly unlikely accusation, and to accuse him of "diminishing" a student's accent, whatever that's supposed to mean.



Image: John Marshall School of Law entryway (text added) by Mrtoren. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Kilborn, stupidly, offered a groveling apology, which fed the complaining students' sense of power. From vague demands about accountability, the students escalated to insisting he be fired. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education represented Kilborn in his dealings with the school and, in September, announced that Kilborn had reached a final resolution that, among other things, did not involve mandatory sensitivity training.

Typically for academic institutions (I've seen this before over the decades), the law school apparently didn't mean what it said. It's now barring Kilborn from teaching unless he is enrolled in Cornell University Center for Teacher Innovation's "Teaching and Learning in the Diverse Classroom Online Course."

The required course consists of eight weeks of leftist indoctrination, with 20 hours of coursework; mandatory Maoist "self-reflection" papers; and weekly 90-minute sessions with a trainer, who must assess "whether Professor Kilborn is gaining insight, learning, and competencies[.]" Even after the course ends, Kilborn must work on additional supplementary material and have another instructional adviser for more self-reflection.

Additionally, "the letter let Prof. Kilborn know that if he sued, the university (funded by taxpayers) would fight him to the death"  which is how Legal Insurrection's Prof. Jacobson characterizes a warning that any litigation would be a serious problem were Kilborn to pursue it. (He should still pursue it.)

The day I left U.C. Berkeley, I began expressing the wish that it would one day be razed and the ground salted. In the intervening years, academia across America has become infinitely worse than Berkeley ever was. Berkeley's liberal arts teaching was lousy because it was skewed by leftism, but there was still intellectual freedom. Today, though, Maoism  coerced ideological thinking that one must embrace without deviation, lest there be brutal and humiliating punishment  is the rule of the day on university campuses.

We are raising a generation of frightening, power-mad morons who operate in an environment in which faculty members are either complicit or intimidated. These young monsters then leave academia and spread their toxins into the business world, and, magically, Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory, and Transgender Theory follow them. We must clip their wings before there are even more gulags than the one in D.C., a place in which people guilty of exactly what Democrats argued for four years  namely, that an election was tainted  are relentlessly persecuted for their "wrongthink."

You can hear Prof. Kilborn tell his story in this video:

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COVID has been a blessing to nosy government bureaucrats all over the world. The specter of a "pandemic" offered them an excuse to override traditional concerns about privacy in the name of fighting a scary version of the flu that, if treated early, is a threat mostly to the elderly and those already suffering from serious health problems.

More often than not, the public remain unaware that their governments are spying on them. That was the case in Canada, where, until a couple of days ago, the public were unaware that the government was tracking their movements using cell phone location data. Swiker Oil writes in the National Post:

The Public Health Agency of Canada accessed location data from 33 million mobile devices to monitor people's movement during lockdown, the agency revealed this week.

They "revealed" it only because they were caught:

The program's existence was first brought to wider attention by Blacklock's Reporter.

(Blacklock's Reporter is a website whose slogan is "Minding Ottawa's Business.")

Once the bureaucrats were outed, they played defense:

"Due to the urgency of the pandemic, (PHAC) collected and used mobility data, such as cell-tower location data, throughout the COVID-19 response," a spokesperson told National Post.

"Urgency" is a great excuse, isn't it? But we're supposed to feel safe because

[i]n March, the Agency awarded a contract to the Telus Data For Good program to provide "de-identified and aggregated data" of movement trends in Canada. The contract expired in October, and PHAC no longer has access to the location data, the spokesperson said.

Can "de-identified" data be "re-identified"? I bet it can, because the original data have personal identities attached.

Now that they have access to the data, there are lots of other things the bureaucrats want to know about their fellow Canadians:

The Agency is planning to track population movement for roughly the next five years, including to address other public health issues, such as "other infectious diseases, chronic disease prevention and mental health," the spokesperson added.

Guarding mental health by making sure people don't come into contact with "purveyors of misinformation"? The government watching your moves to protect your mental health sounds pretty totalitarian to me, eh?

And Canadians' movements will be widely shared among government bodies:

Mobility data analysis "helps to advance public health objectives," the PHAC spokesperson said. The findings have been regularly shared with provinces and territories via the special advisory committee to "inform public health messaging, planning and policy development," the spokesperson said.

Good luck, Canadians. You're nice people, and power-hungry totalitarians eat nice people for breakfast.

Photo credit: J. Smith, CC BY-SA 2.5 license.

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We know from airport executives' testimony that the air in airplanes is so gosh-darn clean that it's virtually impossible to catch COVID while flying. But still, when the Democrat backlash began, they agreed that everyone should wear a mask while flying. Now Anthony Fauci, the man controlling America, has conceded that mandatory vaccines won't do a thing to make air travel safer  but he still wants a mandate to put even more pressure on people to get those jabs.

There's lots of authority indicating that it's quite unlikely that you'll catch COVID in a well-filtered modern airplane:

Nevertheless, we must still wear masks on those airplanes because...narrative.

When it comes to vaccinations, they also won't make airplane travel safer. That's because, as everyone but Joe Biden concedes, vaccinations do not stop people from either giving or getting COVID (although there is some evidence that they lessen the severity of symptoms from variants up to and including delta). If the vaccinated person sitting next to you sneezes in his paper mask, and all the nasties come flying out of the side of the mask, it's possible that you can catch his COVID despite the plane's air filter, even if you are also vaccinated and masked in your useless paper mask (which is as good as using a chain-link fence to block mosquitoes).

But for Fauci, the practical realities are irrelevant. He believes in government power to force people to take a vaccine that is essentially a flu shot of minimal efficacy but with some nasty side-effects. We don't have to guess. Fauci is open about his tyrannical desires.

Thus, while appearing on ABC This Week, Fauci announced that he doesn't care that vaccines are useless to protect airplane travelers. If a mandate forces people to get the jab, he's all for it:

Fauci says vaccine mandates for domestic travel wont make flights safer, but he supports it anyway:



Anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome pic.twitter.com/tFtbb6wYQM  Jewish Deplorable (@TrumpJew2) December 26, 2021

Mr. I Am the Science also continues to insist on forcing people on planes to suffocate themselves in masks, even though they provide almost no benefit and, I suspect, probably contribute greatly to rising violence on planes.

Anthony Fauci, the unelected octogenarian bureaucrat, is proving to be the greatest threat to liberty in the history of our constitutional republic. I sincerely hope that when we finally have an honest attorney general, Fauci comes under serious investigation for his conduct before and since COVID's appearance on our shores.

Image: Fauci. Twitter screen grab.

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There's an old joke that asks what the difference is between God and a doctor, the answer being that God doesn't think He's a doctor. It's funny because there's a grain of truth in it. Doctors do think well of themselves, and they want the lower run of human beings who didn't attend medical school to think well of them and to trust them. It's an attitude that extends to many health care workers, such as nurses, physician assistants, and first responders, and to a certain extent, it may even be justified. The health care worker is the one who takes care of you when you are sick. Theoretically, we are all on the same side.

That no longer appears to be the case. Health care workers are increasingly bitter towards COVID patients who are asking for non-Democrat-approved medical treatment, specifically ivermectin. The current "treatment" for a person who tests positive for COVID is to tell them to go home and quarantine themselves. If the patient feels ill, he is to go to the hospital. By then it may be too late.

There is a U.K. trial to test ivermectin as a possible COVID treatment. The World Health Organization has recommended that ivermectin be used only in clinical trials, which suggests that ivermectin as a treatment for COVID is worth exploring. Approximately 3.7 billion doses of ivermectin have been administered over the past 30 years for parasitic infections, and harmful side-effects are rare. There appears to be no valid reason not to try a medical treatment that in any case will do no harm and that may prevent a person from developing a severe case of COVID.



Image: Healthcare worker (text added). Piqsels.

Health care workers should be grateful there is a treatment that may prevent serious illness in their patients. They are not grateful. They are increasingly disgusted with patients who are not vaccinated, as if vaccination against COVID prevents a person from catching the disease (it doesn't), and they don't want patients to use ivermectin lest it slow vaccination efforts.

Hospitals are fighting so hard against giving ivermectin to patients that they are being sued across the country to provide the treatment, and the hospitals are losing their fight against giving the treatment to COVID patients. Judges are ruling that patients have the right to try ivermectin.

Health care workers are responding with rage against patients who only want to receive some treatment for their illness. A nurse in Wisconsin says of the unvaccinated, "I find it frustrating. I get angry...I wonder why they did this, why they're doing this to me. Why are they doing this to all the people that need to be away from sick people in the waiting room? I'm frustrated because I can't get them out of the frickin' waiting room."

A nurse in California complains, "Our patients don't trust us anymore. ... A year and a half ago, the emotion that came with the influx of these patients was sympathy, empathy, remorse, guilt  and that well of emotion has dried up. What is left is anger and hostility and mistrust." A doctor in Wisconsin supports mask mandates, insists that vaccines are the way to stop the virus, and wonders why patients are suspicious and hostile.

Perhaps the medicine needed most is a good dose of common sense. We have been told for almost two years that COVID is a deadly disease ravaging the planet. Common sense would dictate that if such were the case, a drug that will do no harm and might save some lives ought to be tried. At the very least, doctors prescribing medicine to patients instead of getting mad at them might get everyone on the same side again: the side of preserving good health and preventing disease.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of Future Slave, a story about a 21st-century black teenager who goes back in time and becomes a slave in the Old South.
Democrats for years have accused President Trump of being in bed with Vladimir Putin, but a new investigative report from Daniel Greenfield demonstrates pretty damningly that they're the ones who've been keeping Putin's bed warm.

Greenfield singles out Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer as Exhibit A:

Schumer, along with a number of other top Democrats, is a beneficiary of campaign contributions from top Democrat fundraiser Vincent Roberti whose lobbying firm was paid over $8.5 million by Nord Stream 2 which is owned by Putin's state-run Gazprom energy monopoly. Roberti, a former Dem politician, has maxed out his donations to Schumer and to Rep. Eric Swalwell, who may have been cheating on Fang Fang with Vladimir, and threw in a generous $171,000 to the DCCC, as part of the over $545,000 donated to the Democrat political machine. The top Dem bundler is reportedly lobbying on "issues related to the U.S. position toward the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including potential financial sanctions affecting the project." Suddenly, Schumer, who was accusing the GOP and Trump of being in bed with Putin, and demanding that they vote on sanctions, was refusing to hold a floor vote on Russia sanctions.

So Schumer took the Nord Stream 2 lobbyist cash, perhaps under the claim that he was also a bundler, collecting cash from many Democrats, and never mind that cash is fungible, and all of a sudden, he decided to block a vote on any sanctions to the Russian company, which is Putin's top instrument for luring Western Europe away from NATO and into the Russian orbit?

That curious vote-blocking from him might not be related to the lobbying cash he took from Nord Stream's man in Washington? Funny how that happens.

All of this comes against a backdrop of continuous phony accusations from him and other Democrats directed against President Trump, claiming that the man was a Russian asset, a blackmail target, and a traitor to America. They dined out on this garbage for years, while taking the lobbyist cash (and doing what the lobbyist-cum-bundler wanted for his client) on the side.

Greenfield singles out Schumer, but it's been pretty much all of them. Greenfield reports that House speaker Nancy Pelosi took the lobbyist cash, and so did her houseboy, Rep. Eric Swalwell. Other reported beneficiaries have been Senators Richard "CPUSA" Blumenthal, Patty Murray, and Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as Joe Biden himself.

If the report is right, they've all taken the king's penny, and surprise, surprise, they just coincidentally do the king's bidding.

It's disgusting. And it sure as heck doesn't serve U.S. national security interests. I'd be curious about where Bernie Sanders figures in all this  the Russians were rooting for him, not Trump, to win the 2016 as well as 2020 election. In 2016, they calculated that Hillary Clinton with all her machinations would actually do it, but they worked hard to leak bad information about her to help Bernie, which, in the end, may have drawn voters to Trump. I have no idea if he took lobbying cash or the Russians have some kind of other leverage over him, but their support for him is strange.

But we do know that the Russians had Schumer and other Democrats on their string through that bundler. (Funny how these lobbyist/bundlers turn up a lot in Russian influence affairs; they were very present in the creation and passing around of the Steele dossier, too.)

Seems the Russians know how to play the system with Democrats, through this K Street crowd. And the loudest Democrat voices against Trump were the biggest hypocrites. Hypocrite is indeed the word for this  saying one thing about the other guy but actually doing it oneself. How do these people live with themselves? And pity poor America, whose security is being sold out for a bundler's farthing.

Caricature by DonkeyHotey via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.

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The fact that Nikole Hannah-Jones has been honored with a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" and a Pulitzer Prize, and has had the New York Times backing her error-riddled and fundamentally mistaken 1619 Project as a curriculum throughout the United States, tells us that we live in an intellectually degenerate moment in history. That she has been granted an endowed chair (despite no doctorate) and is heading a new center with $20 million in funding at Howard University bespeaks a collapse of standards.

Yesterday, when featured on Meet the Press, she demonstrated genuine intellectual mediocrity. She packs a boatload of BS in this 42-second excerpt:

Nikole Hannah-Jones: Parents shouldn't be in charge of their kids' schooling: "I don't really understand this idea that parents should decide what's being taught. I'm not a professional educator. I don't have a degree in social studies." Yet she wants the 1619 Project in schools. pic.twitter.com/UAjFTCvVmg  Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 26, 2021

I don't really understand this idea that parents should decide what's being taught. I'm not a professional educator. I don't have a degree in social studies or science. We send our children to schools because we want them to be taught by people who have expertise in a subject area, and that is NOT my job. When the governor, or candidate, said that he didn't think parents should be deciding what's being taught in school, he was panned for that. But that's a fact. This is why we send our children to school and don't home school. Because these are the professional educators who have the expertise, social studies, history to teach science, to teach literature. And I think we should leave that to the educators[.]

First of all, she has disqualified herself from offering her 1619 Project as a curriculum if you take her at her word. She is not an educator, and only educators can tell children what to learn. Yet huge institutions are pushing that project to be the basis of school curricula throughout the country.

I do not think people with social studies degrees from schools of education have any special qualifications to decide what students should learn. Schools of education are notorious for the low quality of the students entering them. Even Jill Biden got a doctorate in education for a ridiculous "dissertation" featuring an embarrassing basic arithmetic error and precious little substance:

Mrs. Biden's only original research consists of interviews with two  that's right, two  ex-students and a few colleagues at Delaware Technical Community College, where she used to teach, plus the results of a vacuous questionnaire she wrote that was returned by about 150 people who worked or studied there. Oh, and she also called two nearby community colleges seeking interviews about their retention rates. One of them wouldn't answer the question; the other wouldn't assign anyone to speak to her at all. Telling us about this misadventure serves no academic purpose, though it does fill up four pages of her generously spaced paper. The transcripts of her group chats with campus figures and colleagues take up nearly 30 pages out of 129. The questionnaires eat up another 18 pages. The dissertation, Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs, shimmers with the wan, term-papery feel of middle school, although in defense of today's middle schoolers, they at least know how to use spell-checking software, unlike Mrs. Biden.

With intellectual leaders like Dr. Biden producing the "expertise" prized by Hannah-Jones, how can one grant any authority over parents to holders of Bachelor's degrees in social studies?

The idea that parents have no role in deciding what their children should be taught is a repulsive dogma of those who worship the state as a religion. She knows that expressing this view is what got Terry McAuliffe defeated in his bid to become governor of what had been a blue state, Virginia. Yet she so strongly believes in the myth of educators' expertise that she doubles down on the notion and even seems to regard homeschooling as morally wrong because parents don't have education degrees from pre-eminent institutions like the University of Delaware School of Education, Dr. Biden's doctoral alma mater. Yet homeschooling graduates outperform public school graduates on most metrics.

There is no reason why this woman deserves the influence and honors she has reaped other than serving the destructive agenda of the radical left.

Photo credit: Twitter screen grab.

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Desmond Tutu, the South African bishop known for his fight to end apartheid, is being universally lauded. I do not share that sentiment. While I will certainly acknowledge that he was a warrior against one of the great evils of his time, I believe that, on the scales of goodness, he squandered that moral virtue by being an ardent advocate of anti-Semitism and an enemy to Israel.

Over the years, I've found philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism to be good yardsticks of both nations and people. Regarding the former, it's no coincidence that, throughout history, those nations that thrive are, for their time and place, philo-Semitic, while those that fail are anti-Semitic. One can say this is God's will, or one can note that free societies benefit all citizens, and part of a free society is that it leaves its Jews alone. You don't have to love Jews; you just have to leave them be. Totalitarian societies, on the other hand, the ones that oppress their people, invariably hate their Jews, and use them as a scapegoat to distract the masses from the horrors of the regime.

When it comes to anti-Semitism, the same turns out to be true: totalitarian individuals hate Jews; freedom-oriented people don't. I happen to believe that this is because the Torah stands for absolute moral truths, justice, and a reckoning in the afterlife. Totalitarians oppose all those things.

This doesn't mean that individual Jews are all moral or just or will be rewarded in the afterlife. There have been and still are a lot of Jews who are bad people. Still, symbolically, those core virtues are Jewish ideas, and leftists back away from them like slugs from salt or vampires from the cross.

And this gets me to Desmond Tutu. I won't repeat here, because you can read it everywhere else, that he fought to end apartheid, which was, as I said, one of the great evils of the modern era. However, Desmond Tutu also practiced the African version of liberation theology  and liberation theology, quite simply, is a fusion of communism and Christianity.



Image: Desmond Tutu by Anvcomp. CC BY-SA 4.0.

As is true for all leftist ideologies, those who support liberation theology are hostile to Israel. Karl Marx, a self-hating Jewish convert, baked anti-Semitism into the communist cake, both because he personally bought into all the worst stereotypes about Jews and because he melded Jews in with capitalism, which encouraged the true believers to think overthrowing Jews was a shortcut to achieving "true" socialism.

Back in 2015, the Gatestone Institute wrote how Desmond Tutu strongly supported both liberation theology and the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest, and Sanction movement, which attempts to use economic means to destroy Israel:

A virulent global campaign by a powerful Christian lobby is trying to influence the Church and use it to delegitimize Israel. The lobbying group is the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center, with Nobel Prize Laureate and retired Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu as its patron. Tutu not only agreed to serve as Sabeel's patron but also to "assist the Palestinian Christian organization in its outreach and development work with Christian Churches around the world."

CAMERA has also commented upon Tutu's virulent hostility to Israel and the Jews  although Israel is the only religiously free nation in the Middle East, extending full civil rights to all within its borders, while the Palestinian-controlled territories are cesspools of hate, violence, murder, and oppression. Still:

Tutu alleged, for example, that Israeli Jews "dominate over Palestinians." A United Church of Christ meeting in Cleveland in 2015 cited the archbishop in support of a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) resolution aimed at companies doing business in and products from what it mistakenly labeled "Palestinian territories" and "illegal" Israeli settlements. Tutu wrote: "We grieve over Israel's decades long oppression of Palestine [Sic.] and Palestinians: The illegal occupation ... the separation wall ... the network of checkpoints and settler bypass roads ... [the] disruption of every aspect of daily life for Palestinians" ("UCC Action Seeking Peace Between Israel and Palestine," Huffingtonpost.com, July 9, 2015).

Tutu was an ignorant man, who used his tremendous reach to opine about and prescribe actions regarding a subject as to which he knew nothing.

Tutu, more than most in the modern era, always reminded me of the anti-Semitic little poem "How odd of God to choose the Jews," to which a more intelligent wit added, "But not so odd as those who choose the Jewish God but not the Jews." I will not mourn his passing.

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Senator Rand Paul (R- Ky.) recently released his annual "Festivus Report" detailing rampant waste in spending by the federal government.

For instance, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spent $11.3 million, in part, in an effort aimed at getting Vietnamese citizens to stop burning their trash. (It might just as well have burned the $11.3 million.) The federal government spent $25 million to help New York City display art projects around its boroughs. (Yes, defund the police, but make sure criminals are inspired by art.)

The federal government also reportedly donated $14 million to the Wilson Center, a Washington think-tank known for putting on parties for members of Congress. Well, Congress controls the purse strings, and what better way to use taxpayers' money than to throw itself lavish soirees?

One point three million dollars went to a study, funded in part by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), to determine how hearing good or bad news affects peoples' happiness. (Guess what! People are happier upon hearing good news than upon receiving bad news! I would have told them that for 1.3 million pennies.)

Incredibly, though the Biden administration halted construction of the wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico, Paul said the federal government saw fit to give the Department of Defense $250 million to build border walls in the Middle East and North Africa. And why do walls work in places like Hungary, China, Israel, and North Africa...but not here in the States? Why do they work when surrounding the homes of progressive politicians like Barack Obama, but not when utilized to protect their own country's borders? And why is the Department of Defense helping to defend foreign nations but not its own?

The government's National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD) awarded $361,000 to the University of Buffalo for a study that, remarkably, confirmed that children not only crave junk food, but gain weight when they eat too much of it.

The U.S. federal government, via its National Institute of Health (NIH), also gave more than $465,000 to Portland, Oregon's Reed College to fund a study on gambling that taught pigeons to play slot machines.

Sen. Paul released a statement to the Daily Wire in which he noted, "It seems like just yesterday the national debt was $20 trillion, but now the U.S. has managed to breeze past $28 trillion, spending and wasting more than we ever have."

But remember, Sen. Paul, that people are happier after hearing good news. So let's focus on the fact that we now have pigeons capable of playing slot machines.

See also: Festivus: Rand Paul fishes up the worst in government waste on Joe Biden's watch.

Photo credit: Twitter screen grab.
The Suez Canal may be a marvel of modern engineering, but there is nothing modern about digging canals. Navigable waterways have been dug since ancient times, even across deserts in Northern Africa. The Suez Canal is only the most recent of these manmade waterways that once snaked their way across Egypt. Dug under the patronage of different Egyptian pharaohs under different time periods, they connectedunlike their modern versionthe Red Sea with the Nile River.

Canal of the Pharaohs. Image by annie brocolie/Wikimedia Commons

According to Aristotle, the first attempt to dig a canal connecting the Red Sea and the Nile River was made by the legendary Egyptian Pharaoh Sesostris (who could either be Senusret III of the 12th Dynasty, circa 1800 BC, or Ramesses II of the much later 19th Dynasty, circa 1200 BC). Aristotle also notes that construction of the canal was stopped when the pharaoh discovered that the sea was higher than the land. The pharaoh feared that opening the Nile River to the Red Sea would cause the salty sea water to flow back into the river and spoil the Egyptians most important source of hydration.

According to Greek historians Strabo and Diodorus Siculus, after Sesostris, work on the canal was continued by Necho II in the late 6th century BC, but he did not live to see the canal completed. Later, Darius the Great picked up from where Necho II left, but like Sesostris, he too stopped short of the Red Sea when he was informed that the Red Sea was at a higher level and would submerge the land if an opening was made. It was finally Ptolemy II who finished the canal connecting Nile with the Red Sea. According to Strabo the canal was nearly 50 meters wide and of sufficient depth to float large ships. It began at the village of Phacusa and traversed the Bitter Lakes, emptying into the Gulf or Arabia near the the city of Cleopatris.

Route of the modern Suez Canal. Image: NCERT

However, according to Herodotus, the canal was completed by Darius and that it was wide enough for two triremes to pass each other with oars extended. By Darius's time a natural waterway passage possibly existed between Bitter Lakes and the Red Sea, but it had become blocked with silt. Darius, employing a vast army of slaves, cleared it out so as to allow navigation once again. Darius was so pleased with the results and with himself that he left several inscriptions on pink granite boasting of this accomplishment. One of these inscription discovered in the mid-19th century read:

King Darius says: I am a Persian; setting out from Persia I conquered Egypt. I ordered to dig this canal from the river that is called Nile and flows in Egypt, to the sea that begins in Persia. Therefore, when this canal had been dug as I had ordered, ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia, as I had intended.

In the late 19th century, another stela called the Stone of Pithom provides evidence that Ptolemy constructed a navigable lock, with sluices, at the Heroopolite Gulf of the Red Sea, which allowed the passage of vessels but prevented salt water from the Red Sea from mingling with the fresh water in the canal. There is evidence that in ancient times the Red Sea and its Gulf of Suez extended as far northward as the Bitter Lakes of Egypt. The Red Sea has gradually receded away over the centuries, with its coastline slowly moving southward away from Lake Timsah and the Great Bitter Lake, so that two hundred years later, the eastern end of the canal that opened in the Red Sea became chocked with silt.

Also Read: How War Marooned 15 Ships in The Suez Canal For Eight Years

The canal existed in one form or the other up to the 8th century, until it was closed shut by the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur in 767 to prevent his enemies and rebels from using the canal to ship men and supplies from Egypt to his detractors in Arabia. Lack of maintenance caused the canal to slit up and it disappeared into the desert and from peoples memory as well.

The Suez Canal in 1869. Engraving from "Appleton's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art", Wikimedia Commons

The canal was rediscovered by Napoleon in 1798 during the French campaign in Egypt and Syria. Napoleon had its motives to search for the canal, because if the canal could be reconstructed it would allow France to monopolize trade with India. With this design Napoleon instructed his chief civil engineer, Jacques-Marie Le Pere, to make a topographical survey of the Isthmus of Suez while looking for vestiges of the ancient canal. Le Pere and his fellow engineers were able to follow and eventually trace the Canal of the Pharaohs from the Red Sea all the way to the Nile. Later, when Napoleon became the Emperor, he asked his chief engineer to find a way to reopen the canal, but Le Pere, like his predecessors two thousand years ago, erroneously reported to Napoleon that the Red Sea was higher than the Mediterranean, and locks would be needed to prevent a catastrophic mingling of waters.

Construction of the Suez Canal wouldn't begin until fifty years later in 1859. Excavation was conducted using forced labor, just like under the pharaohs. Some sources estimated that tens of thousands of laborers died from diseases such as cholera and other epidemics, although a conservative estimate puts death at fewer than 3,000. The canal has no locks, for the sea level is the same. Its route, unlike the Canal of the Pharaohs goes through the isthmus passing through the Great Bitter Lakes northward until it opens in the Mediterranean near the port city of Suez.
Google has recently faced a 7.2 billion rouble ($98 million) fine in Russia over so-called banned content. Banned content is a type of content that is known as illegal by the Russian government and its courts. The fine amount is based on Googles revenue in Russia. Google has also announced that it is studying the court ruling.

The Russian government has made many efforts to restrict the Internet. In this regard, the pressure on technology companies and social networks operating in Russia to remove content and censorship has increased.

This is not the first time that Google has been fined for banned content in Russia. Dates back to May, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media of Russia, also known as Roskomnadzor, asked Google to remove over 26,000 illegal content.

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Russia has ordered companies to delete posts promoting drug abuse and dangerous pastimes, information about homemade weapons and explosives, as well as ones by groups it designates as extremist or terrorist, Reuters reports.

Moreover, content that spreads gay propaganda is also known as sensitive content and must be removed.

Of course, Russia also closely monitors the political content. Several months ago, amid widespread protests, a count in Russia asked Google to remove 12 YouTube videos related to the protests in the country.

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Russia imposing more pressure on foreign and domestic tech companies

Google is not the only foreign tech company in Russia that has faced fines over banned content. The Meta, formerly known as Facebook, and its subsidiary, Instagram, have to pay 2 billion roubles ($27.15 million) in fines to the Russian government for failing to remove banned content.

The Russian government has requested the removal of 2,000 illegal content from Meta. This number is 2,600 for Google. The government has also decided to introduce revenue-based fines to make fines heavier.

The Russian government has asked foreign tech companies to set up local servers for their online services. The possible fines for not following this law are not yet clear. But it is clear that if not accompanied, there will be restrictions for these companies. Also, further restrictions may reduce the investment of foreign companies in Russia.
ROME - The New Year celebrations at Expo Dubai 2020 have been billed as the longest in the world, checking in at 13 hours to include the time zones of all the participating countries.

The New Year's party will start at three in the afternoon local time with the first celebrations in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and will end at four in the morning of the following day with the last countries represented.

Dubai's subway network will be working non-stop and there will be two firework shows, one at midnight and the other at three in the morning, corresponding to Capodanno in Italy and the New Year in much of Europe.

Stringent anti-COVID measures will be in force. Over 90% of the local population is completely vaccinated.
TEL AVIV - The Sheba hospital in Tel Aviv will start on Monday a study on the effectiveness of the fourth dose of the anti-Covid vaccine. The study - the first in the world according to the media, in close contact with the health ministry - involves 6,000 people, including 150 health operators of the hospital.

"The research - said Professor Gili Regev-Yochay - will test the effects of the fourth dose on the levels of antibodies to prevent infection and will control its security".

Israel for the time being has suspended the start of a potential fourth vaccination campaign ahead of further testing.

In the meantime, the health ministry has authorized the emergency use of the oral drug Paxlovid of Pfizer against the virus. Israel has ordered thousands of doses with the objective of fighting the Omicron variant. The doses are expected to arrive in the country next Wednesday.
ROME - The Italian government is considering shortening a seven-day quarantine for people vaccinated against the coronavirus who have come into contact with someone with COVID-19, COVID czar Francesco Figliuolo said Monday.

The emergency commissioner said scientists were studying the move with the Higher Health Institute(ISS).

At present the quarantine for the non-jabbed is longer, 10 days, he noted.

"We are studying what measures to put into the field", said the general. The government should revise quarantine rules for those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a surge in the Omicron variant, but now is not the time for such a move, Health Undersecretary Pierpaolo Sileri said Monday.

"A revision of the quarantine rules is necessary, but now is not the time," he told Sky TG24. "I think it is to be hoped for, but probably in 10 to 15 days from today". Omicron probably accounts for more than 50-60% cases of COVID-19 in Italy now, he added.

He said that Italy may well see 100,000 daily COVID cases shortly "but if they all do not go to hospital I don't see any big problems for schools", which will reopen on schedule on January 10.

Before that date quarantine rules for children may also be revised he said.

The independent health group GIMBE said quarantine should be reduced for those who have had their third, or booster, jabs.

The gap between having the second COVID-19 jab and the booster dose will fall from six to four months from January 10, Figliuolo also said Monday.

"It will give further impetus to the vaccine rollout," said Figliuolo at a vaccination hub in Cuneo. "We are racing to try to curb the Omicron variant. "I'm still concerned by the vaccine hesitant, a few million people who could give us a hand in curbing the virus and especially these variants".
ROME - Sea Watch Italia warned authorities in a tweet on Sunday that the "Sea Watch 3 has rescued 96 people on a dinghy in great difficulty that was taking on water. A woman in the ninth month of pregnancy was among those rescued. On board were 446 shipwrecked people. The youngest was two weeks old".

The pregnant woman, a Nigerian, was evacuated last night from the Sea Watch 3, which is located some 18 miles from the coast of Lampedusa, because she needed urgent medical treatment.

Together with her two-year-old daughter, she disembarked from a coast guard cutter at the Madonnina pier and was taken to the island's health center and then by helicopter to the hospital.
ROME - With a rise in Covid infections, the holiday season is at risk for 10 million of Italians, for an expenditure of 4.1 billion euros only for national tourists, including one-third for food, souvenirs and food in restaurants and farms. The estimate has been made by farmers' association Coldiretti on the effects of growing concerns over the Omicron variant, which led in many cases to cancellations.

The highest price - stressed Coldiretti - has been paid by activities working in housing, food, transport, amusement, shopping, with the cancellation of many events connected to Christmas and New Year's celebrations in tourist destinations, including traditional public events outdoors. In the mountains, the effects can be felt by a number of tourism-related enterprises, including mountain shelters and farms, along with the food industry. Indeed many agricultural businesses count on working at the end of the year to survive - noted Coldiretti - and they have a key role for the territory to prevent hydrogeological instability and depopulation.

A growing number of Italians are rethinking their original programs, organizing a vacation in small towns close to where they live, stressed Coldiretti, enabling them to enjoy space and tranquility while avoiding crowded touristic places. This phenomenon is favored by the many small towns hosting some 24,000 farm hotels with 253,000 beds and nearly 442,000 restaurant places, according to Campagna Amica Terranostra.
Tourism: Dubai launches website for home rentals Longer stays for visitors on the rise before Covid

(ANSAmed) - NAPLES, DECEMBER 27 - Dubai has opened a website which operators can use for tourist visas as the emirate is vying to become a destination for timeshare property owners, encouraging tourists to stay longer and attract investments in the sector.



The new site, The National reported, has been developed by Dubai's Department of Economy and Tourism and allows new operators in the sector to send their applications for properties to rent, receiving a tourist visa from an authorized operator, which can be renewed each year. The website will help "pave the way for a property in the world of holidays in Dubai, also giving alternatives to tourists, encouraging them to spend longer holidays", explained Helal Al Marri, director general of the Department of Economy and Tourism. "We are firmly dedicated to implementing stronger measures and organizing the country with new rules that will allow us to remain competitive as a hub for tourists and investors in the sector".



The emirate of Dubai is working to make the cities more competitive and allow owners to use a house or villa for someone else's holiday during certain periods of the year. Before Covid-19, the local tourism industry had registered a strong increase and further growth is expected in the future.



(ANSAmed).




A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of another man in a suspected assault on Christmas Day.

Emergency services were called to an address in Sunderland Road, Newbottle, shortly before 11.20pm.

They found a man, in his 30s, who was seriously injured.

Despite efforts by paramedics, the man died at the scene, Northumbria Police said.

A murder investigation has been launched after a man died following a suspected assault in #Newbottle. Shortly before 11.20pm on Christmas Day (yesterday) officers were alerted by the ambulance service that a man had been injured at an address on Sunderland Road. (continued) pic.twitter.com/pJWZ9fLTU7  Northumbria Police (@northumbriapol) December 26, 2021

His next of kin are being supported by specialist family liaison officers at this time.

A 34-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

He remains in police custody.

An investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

A spokesperson from the force said: Our thoughts are with the victims family and friends at this devastating time.

A full investigation has been launched into the circumstances surrounding this incident.

All parties are believed to be known to each other and there is no wider threat to the public.

Officers remain in the area as they continue their investigation.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police by calling 101 quoting log NP-20211225-0752.
The Christmas period has seen the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic, according to provisional data released by the Scottish Government.

On December 25, 8,252 cases were recorded, with 11,030 positive tests recorded on December 26 and 10,562 on December 27.

These record numbers are the highest daily totals in the country since coronavirus cases were first recorded in Scotland in March 2020.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she expects case numbers will rise further over the next few days and urged people to limit socialising in person as much as possible.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is urging people in Scotland to limit their socialising in-person as much as possible over the festive period (Fraser Bremner/Daily Mail)

While the data for the three days covers tests reported in the preceding 24-hour period, the lag in reporting means that the majority of these cases will relate to tests done before the Christmas break.

With the longer turnaround time for test results, this could mean the actual number of positive Covid-19 cases is higher, the Scottish Government said.

Ms Sturgeon said: While these figures are provisional, the steep increase in cases we have been expecting is now materialising, and this reflects the significantly increased transmissibility of Omicron.

We would expect to see case numbers rise further in the days ahead  though it is worth bearing in mind that they are likely to have been even higher but for the compliance of the public with the guidance issued in the run-up to Christmas.

The First Minister said while the rate of hospital admissions associated with Omicron is much lower than previous strains, the rising cases will still put inevitable further strain on the NHS.

This level of infection will also cause a significant and severely disruptive level of sickness absence across the economy and critical services, she added.

Ms Sturgeon urged Scots to keep essential indoor gatherings to a maximum of three households over the festive period and encouraged those who have not received their Covid booster to get jagged by the bells.

The latest Scottish Government figures show 73.5% of eligible adults aged 18 and above in Scotland have received their booster or third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Scotlands Health Secretary Humza Yousaf urged people who have not had it to come forward for their booster dose.

He said: If you havent yet had your Covid booster, there is bound to be a vaccination clinic or drop-in centre near to you.

Please have a look on the online portal to book an appointment, or check your local NHS boards social media channels to find out where the vaccine is being offered, so you can join the thousands of others who have been boosted by the bells.

If youve yet to have your first or second dose, it still isnt too late for that either.

Our vaccination teams are waiting for you, so please come along. The sooner you have your first dose, the sooner you can then get your second, and then your booster, for the extra protection that gives.

Mr Yousaf visited the vaccination centre at the Dewars Centre in Perth on Monday to thank staff for their ongoing efforts over the Christmas period.
The in-flight showings of "Elf'' and "Home Alone'' are a nice touch during a flight, and the "Love Actually"-like reunions at airports are always sweet to watch.

But ask most travelers to describe flying during the holidays and they paint a picture more stressful than joyous: snaking lines at check-in, security and even at Starbucks; a scramble for chairs and power outlets at the gate; and annoying passengers who won't keep their masks on or watch movies without headphones.

And then there's the ultimate stressor: flight delays or cancellations, a common occurrence in this year of airline meltdowns. Add in wintry weather, and it's easy for travel plans to go awry.

What's a stranded traveler to do? Know your rights and alternatives and persistently pursue them, including taking airlines to task on social media.

Airlines are assailed with complaints on social media every time there is a spike in flight cancellations and delays, and every time, too many passengers are left bewildered, unsatisfied or even fuming at airlines' responses. The biggest gripes: lack of meal vouchers or hotel accommodations, a runaround for refunds and no compensation for expenses caused by a lost vacation day or workday.

'There's always some amount of uncertainty or risk': How travel insurance could protect your next trip

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There is a disconnect between what passengers think they are owed and what airlines owe them when flights plans go haywire thanks to a patchwork of federal regulations and airline policies.

Some rules, like those covering refunds for cancellations and significant flight delays by the airline, are dictated by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Others, like hotel and meal vouchers and expense reimbursement, are up to individual airline policies spelled out in dozens of pages of legalese known as a contract of carriage. Spirit's is 54 pages.

"In Europe it's uniform. In Canada it's uniform. In the United States, you are at the mercy of the contract of carriage,'' said William McGee, an aviation adviser to Consumer Reports in August. "In the past 20 years, those contracts have gotten much harder to read, they've gotten lengthier, and they've gotten much weaker from a consumer standpoint.''

A display board showing mostly canceled flights at Denver International Airport on March 13, 2021.

Airline passenger rights: Things to know when flights are canceled, delayed

 Can I get a refund if my flight is canceled?

Airlines are required by the DOT to offer a refund when they cancel a flight. It doesn't matter if the reason for the cancellation was outside their control, like weather, or within their control, like maintenance issues or flight crew shortages. And it doesn't matter what kind of ticket you bought, including nonrefundable tickets or basic economy tickets.

Airlines prefer, of course, to automatically rebook you on their next available flight, but you are under no obligation to take it. Keep in mind, though, that a refund a) might not be instant and b) probably won't cover the cost of a new last-minute ticket unless your original ticket was pricey. So in many cases, the next-available flight might be the least-expensive option for getting to your destination or back home when things go awry last minute.

If you opt for a refund, you are eligible to get your money back, not just a travel credit or voucher. Airlines are quickest to offer credits and vouchers first, so travelers who want their money back instead often have to take some extra steps. Southwest and Delta, for example, automatically issue travel credit, so travelers who want their money back have to request it.

 My flight delay is too long. Can I get a refund?

The same DOT rules apply to significant delays, meaning passengers are eligible for a refund regardless of the cause of the airline's delay. The only wrinkle here is that airlines' definitions of "significant delay" vary. American offers refunds for delays exceeding 90 minutes, Delta, Spirit and Alaska two hours, for example.

A traveler sleeps while waiting at a terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport, Dec. 23, 2020, in Los Angeles.

What if there's a storm brewing or a weather advisory?

Pay attention to your airline's website, mobile app or Facebook and Twitter accounts at the first hint of weather trouble. Airlines routinely issue travel advisories, alerts and waivers (the names vary by carrier) ahead of big storms, allowing travelers to move their flight to an eligible earlier or later date to dodge a weather mess. You won't pay a change fee or fare difference if your flight meets the criteria.

Airlines also proactively cancel flights ahead of big storms so they don't strand passengers and crew, so check your inbox regularly for updates from the airline about flight changes.

If you're already at the airport when the flight is canceled, check out airline self-service options for rebooking. The snaking line at the customer service counter or gate and the airline's reservations centers aren't the only way to book a new flight. Many airlines allow you to rebook your flight (if they haven't already or you don't like the flight they picked) on their websites and mobile apps.

 The airline can't get me on another flight until tomorrow (or later). Do they pay for a hotel?

Here's where things get trickier and involve those contracts of carriage. Airline policies generally state that they only pay for a hotel if the flight cancellation or overnight delay is their fault, and then only if you don't live in the city you're stranded in. The earlier you request one, the better, as airport hotels sell out quickly when there's flight cancellation mayhem.

Weather, of course, and air traffic control issues are outside of airlines' control, so passengers whose flights are scrubbed for those reasons generally aren't given free hotel stays. (Many airlines do offer discounted hotel rates for those impacted by weather cancellations, so be sure to ask.)

How do you know the reason for your cancellation?

"I think passengers, quite frankly, have a right to be suspicious,'' McGee said. "Airlines are not forthcoming on a lot of issues like this.''

At the same time, the former airline flight dispatcher says passengers often don't understand how weather across the country can have a ripple effect on an airline.

Savvy travelers should jot down gate announcements or conversations with employees about the reasons for the delay as well as screenshot any alerts sent about the delay via text or the airline's mobile app to plead their case for reimbursement if the airline denies hotel accommodations due to weather.

 I can't wait two days for another flight. Can I fly a different airline?

Stranded passengers are free to check options on other airlines, but whether the airline that canceled the original flight picks up the tab is another question.

Most major airlines, with the notable exception of Southwest, have so-called interline agreements with competitors so they can easily transfer passengers over when they don't have room. But airlines prefer to keep travelers on their flights, so the option isn't usually offered upfront.

Spirit and other budget carriers don't have interline agreements. Spirit's contract of carriage states: "With limited exceptions, Spirit will not reimburse guests for flights that they book on other carriers.''

 I'm hungry and airport food is expensive. Will the airline reimburse me for meals?

As with hotel stays, meal vouchers also are generally only doled out when cancellations and long delays are caused by the airline but it never hurts to ask in any situation. Some airlines, though, including Delta and Southwest, have been known to roll in snack carts or order pizza during extreme weather and other situations outside their control.

Don't expect the airline's money to go far at the airport, airport hotel, or area restaurants, if you can find one open. The going rate is $12 per passenger at American and Alaska, for example. Delta says meal money varies by city. Some airlines, including American, say the vouchers can be used for food delivery services like UberEats.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: My flight was delayed, canceled. What do airlines owe me?
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP)  The Nicaraguan government has seized the former embassy and diplomatic offices of Taiwan, saying they belong to China.

President Daniel Ortegas government broke off relations with Taiwan this month, saying it would recognize only the mainland government.

Before departing, Taiwanese diplomats attempted to donate the properties to the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Managua.

But Ortega's government said late Sunday that any such donation would be invalid and that the building in an upscale Managua neighborhood belongs to China.

The Attorney Generals Office said in a statement that the attempted donation was a manuever and subterfuge to take what doesnt belong to them.

Taiwan's Foreign Relations Ministry condemned the gravely illegal actions of the Ortega regime, saying the Nicaraguan government had violated standard procedures by giving Taiwanese diplomats just two weeks to get out of the country.

It said Taiwan also condemns the arbitrary obstruction by the Nicaraguan government of the symbolic sale of its property to the Nicaraguan Catholic church.

Msgr. Carlos Aviles, vicar of the archdiocese of Managua, told the La Prensa newspaper that a Taiwanese diplomat had offered the church the property, saying, I told him there was no problem, but the transfer was still in the legal process.

The Central American country said in early December it would officially recognize only China, which claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory.

There is only one China, the Nicaraguan government said in a statement announcing the change. The Peoples Republic of China is the only legitimate government that represents all China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory.

The move increased Taiwans diplomatic isolation on the international stage, even as the island has stepped up official exchanges with countries such as Lithuania and Slovakia, which do not formally recognize Taiwan as a country. Now, Taiwan has 14 formal diplomatic allies remaining.

China has been poaching Taiwans diplomatic allies over the past few years, reducing the number of countries that recognize the democratic island as a sovereign nation. China is against Taiwan representing itself in global forums or in diplomacy. The Solomon Islands chose to recognize China in 2019, cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

Taiwan depicts itself as a defender of democracy, while Ortega was reelected in November in what the White House called a pantomime election.

The arbitrary imprisonment of nearly 40 opposition figures since May, including seven potential presidential candidates, and the blocking of political parties from participation rigged the outcome well before election day, U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement in November.

Nicaragua established diplomatic relations with Taiwan in the 1990s, when President Violeta Chamorro assumed power after defeating Ortegas Sandinista movement at the polls. Ortega, who was elected back to to power in 2007, had maintained ies with Taipei until now.
Protestors demonstrate outside U.S. Supreme Court as the court weighs Texas abortion law, in Washington

(Reuters) - A United States appeals court has set a Jan. 7 argument date in the Texas abortion case, where the panel will hear the state's bid to push a legal question about enforcement to the state supreme court.

The challengers of Texas' near total ban on abortion contend the move will delay a merits ruling in the U.S. district court.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a ban on most abortions in Texas but allowed a legal challenge to proceed, with the fate of the Republican-backed measure that allows private citizens to enforce it still hanging in the balance.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP)  Defense attorneys want to dismiss the indictment against five men accused of plotting to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of what they described as egregious overreaching by federal agents and informants, according to a court filing.

In the 20-page motion, which was filed Saturday night, defense attorneys allege FBI agents and federal prosecutors invented a conspiracy and entrapped people who could face up to life in prison. They're asking U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker to dismiss the conspiracy charge, which would effectively knock down the federal government's case and other connected charges, according to The Detroit News.

The request comes after developments and claims about the governments team, including the conviction of Richard Trask, an FBI special agent who was arrested on a domestic violence charge and later fired and convicted of a misdemeanor.

Essentially, the evidence here demonstrates egregious overreaching by the governments agents, and by the informants those agents handled, defense attorneys wrote. "When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan.

Five people are charged with kidnapping conspiracy and face a trial March 8 in Grand Rapids. They have pleaded not guilty and claim to be victims of entrapment.

Federal prosecutors have argued the men were not entrapped. The government alleged the men were upset over coronavirus restrictions when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan. Messages left Sunday with the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Justice werent immediately returned.

In January, a sixth man, 26-year-old Ty Garbin, pleaded guilty and is serving a six-year federal prison sentence.
Any information including videos or photos can be shared through Whatsapp Messenger at +916026930283 or Army Exchange Helpline +913742388456

Kolkata: The Indian Army informed on Sunday that it's inquiry into the killings of at least 13 civilians in a botched up military operation in Nagaland earlier this month has been "progressing expeditiously." It is also "fully cooperating" with the special investigation team of the Nagaland government in the case and assured the people of the North Eastern state of "justice" amid their demand for the repeal of the AFSPA.

Dimapur-based 3 Corps of the Eastern Command stated, "Indian Army wishes a Happy New Year to the people of Nagaland & we pray for the good health, peace, happiness & prosperity for the people. We once again deeply regret the loss of lives during the 04 Dec 21 incident in Mon Dist. Loss of lives is indeed sad & unfortunate. The inquiry ordered by Army is progressing expeditiously and all efforts are being made to conclude it at the earliest."

It said, "We have taken out notices for people to come forward & assist us in the inquiry by providing any information including videos, photos or any other material from original sources and will be grateful for the same.This can be conveyed on Whatsapp Messenger at +916026930283 or Army Exchange Helpline +913742388456. The Indian Army is also fully cooperating with the Special Investigation Team(SIT) inquiry ordered by State Govt & required details are being shared in timely manner."

The 3 Corps added, "We request all brothers and sisters of Nagaland to be patient and wait for the findings of the Army inquiry. We assure you that action will be taken in accordance with the law to secure justice for all. The people of Nagaland have always cooperated and assisted the Security Forces in maintaining peace & tranquillity over the last many decades. We share a deep bond of brotherhood, trust and friendship with you. Let us work together for a brighter & better future."
The decision to constitute the committee was taken at a meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah

New Delhi: Just days after Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio urged the Centre to remove the operation of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) from the state, the Union home ministry has decided to form a panel to look into the suggestion, said the Nagaland government.

In a statement issued in Dimapur, the Nagaland government said Union home minister Amit Shah had on December 23 held a meeting to discuss the present scenario in the state. The meeting was attended by Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland deputy CM Y. Patton, and Naga Peoples Front Legislature Party leader T.R. Zeliang.

At the meeting, it was decided that a committee will be instituted to look into the withdrawal of AFSPA in Nagaland, the state government said. The state government has also urged the MHA to replace the Assam Rifles unit in Mon with immediate effect. The MHA is yet to make a formal announcement in this regard.

Briefed the media with regard to the meeting chaired by Honble @HMOIndia Shri @AmitShah on Dec 23, 2021 in New Delhi. Grateful to Amit Shah ji for taking up the matter with utmost seriousness. The State Govt appeals to all sections to continue to maintain a peaceful atmosphere, Mr Rio tweeted.

According to the Nagaland governments statement, the committee will be chaired by the additional secretary looking after the Northeast in the Union home ministry and will include the chief secretary and director-general of police of Nagaland. Other members of the panel will be IGP of Assam Rifles (North), and representatives of the CRPF. The committee has been asked to submit its report within 45 days and the withdrawal of the Disturbed Areas Act and AFSPA from Nagaland will be based on the recommendations of this committee.

The Nagaland government has said that a court of inquiry will initiate disciplinary proceedings against the Army unit and its personnel who were directly involved in the Oting incident and that action will be taken on the basis of fair inquiry and the identified persons who will face inquiry will be placed under suspension with immediate effect.

The Indian Army had on December 20 announced an inquiry into the Oting incident. In addition, the state government has set up a Special Investigation Team to investigate the killings and fix responsibility.

The state government said it will provide jobs to the next of kin of the persons who died during the firing by security forces on December 4 when 14 civilians were shot dead at Oting village of Mon district in what is seen as a botched-up anti-insurgency operation. The chief ministers of Nagaland and Meghalaya had written to the Centre seeking withdrawal of the AFSPA and sought action against the security personnel involved in the incident.

The state government appeals to all sections to remain calm and to continue to maintain a peaceful atmosphere. The democratic and peaceful nature of civil society groups, tribal hohos and mass-based organisations in our collective quest for justice and truth have been well received and has created a positive image of the Naga people to the rest of the global community, the statement said.
According to the sources, almost 10 pharma companies have completed clinical trials of antiviral pills

An experimental COVID-19 treatment pill, called molnupiravir is seen in this undated handout photo released by Merck & Co Inc. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: After reviewing all applications and data on antiviral pills, the Subject expert committee (SEC) a body under India's drug regulator will be meeting today for antiviral pill Molnupiravir recommendations, sources told to ANI.

According to the sources, almost 10 pharma companies have completed clinical trials of antiviral pills. The antiviral pill has shown a 30 per cent reduction in hospitalisation and will be useful in the treatment of Covid-19.

The SEC will review the Serum Institute of India's Covovax, the WHO has recently granted emergency use listening (EUL) to Covovax. The US-based Novovax and Serum Institute of India has already received EUA for these vaccines in the Philippines.

The SEC will also review data of the Corbevax vaccine which is produced by Hyderabad based pharmaceutical firm Biological E. The company has submitted phase-3 trials data of Corbevax and seeking EUA for same.

The centre has already made an advance payment of 1500 crore to reserve 30 crores of Corbevax in August.
The Art of Stillness was, therefore, the right book to read

It is that time of the year. A time when we reflect on the year gone by and on our hopes for the year that lies ahead. The media is full of visuals and vignettes that seek to reflect our memories and aspirations. Indians mark the beginning of a new year on different days of the international calendar, depending on ones faith and region. However, the turn of the calendar page from December to January remains a shared moment the world over for reflection and renewal.

It is with such thoughts on my mind that I browsed through the unread books on my bookshelf and picked Pico Iyers The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere (2014) for year-end reading. Going Nowhere was an apt title for a year of Covid-19s resurgence and the spread of Omicron. Iyer is no ordinary travel writer. Even so, I was intrigued by the title of this volume. Readers of Iyer have always had the good fortune of travelling with him, sharing his marvellous memories of the different worlds he has had the opportunity to inhabit and visit. Siddharth Raghavan Pico Iyer was born to a Tamil father and a Gujarati mother in Britain, grew up in California, married a Japanese woman and has travelled the world.

This book is not about a journey across space but over time. About a journey within. Journeys defined not by our restlessness to travel but by our need to reflect.

These Covid years have indeed been about travelling into our own lives, as we witnessed Murphys Law operating in full force on so many fronts. Things that could go wrong were indeed going wrong. So many loved ones departing. So much violence in society. So many livelihoods lost. The complete absence of any inspirational figure anywhere in the world, save a Dalai Lama or, indeed, a Pico Iyer.

The Art of Stillness was, therefore, the right book to read.

The idea behind going nowhere, of choosing to sit still long enough to turn inward, as Iyer puts it, is an ancient one. It has been known for ages as meditation.

Meditation and stillness imply silence. For centuries many have gone far in search of silence. To meditate, to reflect, to rejuvenate. A couple of years back Prime Minister Narendra Modi went into a cave in the Himalayas to meditate, taking a photographer with him to record his moments of silence, making much of a muchness.

Iyer reminds us that one need not travel in order to escape from the daily din of human existence. Meditation can be done here and now, as we close our eyes and travel into ourselves. From employees at Google Inc to members of the United States House of Representatives, notes Iyer, everyone is discovering the value of meditation, of stillness. Iyer reminds us of scientific studies that show that meditation can lower blood pressure, help boost our immune system, even change the architecture of our brain. The World Health Organisation has recognised meditation as a way of destressing noting that stress will be the health epidemic of the twenty-first century.

Google has a chief evangelist who, Iyer notes, is a bright-eyed, visibly spirited young soul from India; who, among other things, runs a programme called Search Inside Yourself. A useful reminder for all those googling to search the World Wide Web. The programme has demonstrated the quantifiable, scientific evidence that meditation could lead not just to clearer thinking and better health but to emotional intelligence.

As I closed the book and reflected on the here and now, I wondered if the Winter Session of Indias Parliament could have been a more productive one if all its 500-plus members had sat in silence for half our on each Monday morning during the session period, in meditation. Indeed, it would be a good idea for the respective speakers or presiding officers of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the state legislatures to take the initiative and declare half an hour of mediation each week that their House is in session, with all members from across treasury and Opposition benches sitting in silence. This moment of self-reflection, quiet contemplation and mental rejuvenation would help improve not just their emotional intelligence and legislative performance but also make them better human beings.

These thoughts were reinforced by the horror of the news reports in the week leading up to Christmas Day of hate speeches in Haridwar and a Nazi-like gathering of saffron clad hate-mongers in New Delhi, raising their hand in a Hitlerite salute and vowing to kill members of another community. Will we have fewer bigots across all religions preaching hate if all of us journeyed into ourselves through silence, stillness and meditation, in search of our conscience and peace of mind?

Meditation in silence is, after all, an idea that has inspired the greatest of sages of all lofty religions, especially Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The Bhagvada Gita advocates Dhyana Yoga, the yoga of meditation, as a means of purifying ones mind and elevating ones spiritual consciousness. Imagine if all those gathered in that brightly lit hall in New Delhi or in Haridwar, who swore to kill for their religion sat down and meditated for half hour, in silence, in stillness, with eyes closed and their mind focused inward. Would they have behaved differently?

Iyer quotes artist Bill Viola to say that its the man who steps away from the world whose sleeve is wet with tears for it. Sitting still in meditative silence is not just good for the heart and the mind, but equally for our social well-being. It kills all hate within. This is a learning from our most ancient teachings that is most relevant to these troubled times when a virus is taking many forms, including social and political, seeking not just to debilitate individuals but entire nations.

As we enter 2022, there is much that we must all reflect on. The year that comes to an end has seen much suffering and the spewing of hate across the world. Can we hope for a more peaceful year ahead?
by Melani Manel Perera

Forced by the COVID-19 crisis to cut his employees wages by half, Shantha Herbert told AsiaNews that at the shrine in Tewatta, he realised that as a Christian he could not do that, so at Christmas he decided to give them six months of back wages as a Christmas gift.

Colombo (AsiaNews)  Shantha Herbert, a 58-year-old Catholic entrepreneur, heavily cut the salaries of his employees to cope with the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. But at Christmas he regretted this choice and paid his workers six months of back wages.

Herbert lives in the Archdiocese of Colombo where he heads a company with a workforce of 75. Shortly before Christmas, he received an email from one of his employees.

The latter described the hardships she has had to face as a result of the halved salary paid in the last year at a time when prices in Sri Lanka were skyrocketing.

We have given everything to the company, we have also supported it in the emergency caused by the pandemic, but you have unfairly forgotten our commitment, wrote the employee.

These words were a challenge for me, Shantha Herbert told AsiaNews. I asked myself: Am I really Catholic? I wanted to keep the financial situation of the company stable, but I sacrificed my employees to do so.

So I went to the Basilica of Our Lady of Sri Lanka in Tewatta and asked Our Lady to enlighten me. And so it was. After I confessed, I decided to give them six months of back wages as a Christmas gift. I immediately told the accountant to do it.

Ranjani Sylvia and her family showed the same spirit of solidarity. Confronted with so with so many people affected by Sri Lankas economic crisis, the homemaker invited her family to give up unnecessary gifts and expenses for Christmas, and offer instead the money saved to the poor.

The parish priest told me that the money we saved bought dry rations for 15 families, she told AsiaNews. I feel that this is how we really celebrate Christmas.
by Mathias Hariyadi

Yahya Cholis Staquf was elected during the 34th national conference in Lampung, Sumatra. He is 55 years old and the son of a religious leader who was a former member of the NU and the elder brother of the Minister for Religious Affairs. Msgr Agus, a friend of Staquf who accompanied him on a visit to the Vatican, expresses his happiness. Staquf was attacked over a trip to Israel and meeting with Netanyahu.

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Yahya Cholis Staquf is the new president of the executive council of the Nahdlatul Ulama (Pbnu), Indonesia's most important moderate Muslim organisation with over 92 million members.

The Islamic religious leader, who in June 2018 had visited Israel and met with then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparking the ire of the radical faction, is 55 years old and took office on 24 December.

Originally from Rembang, in Central Java, he is the son of Mohamad Cholil Bisri, a charismatic religious leader and former member of the NU and elder brother of the current Minister for Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas.

A graduate of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, he did his primary and secondary education at the Al-Munawwir Islamic Boarding School, better known in Indonesia as pesantren (Islamic educational institute). His election to the chairmanship of the NU executive committee came during the 34th national conference, which was held in Lampung, Sumatra Island.

Staquf, who takes over from Prof. Said Aqil Siradj, has been a member of the Wantimpres Presidential Advisory Council since 2018 as well as holding the role of Presidential Spokesperson from 1999 to 2001, with the then Head of State Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur).

In the past, he has distinguished himself for promoting dialogue with non-Muslims, earning the appreciation of various religious figures, including Christians, such as the Archbishop of Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Msgr Agustinus Agus. The prelate brought him with him during a visit to the Vatican in 2020, where he had a constructive discussion with Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guiuso, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and met briefly with Pope Francis in St Peter's Square.

Interviewed by AsiaNews, Msgr Agus said he was "happy" that "my good friend" Staquf was the new UNPBN president and "I send him my best wishes and prayers".

During the conference the NU members also appointed Miftachul Akhyar as supreme spiritual leader (Rais Aam) for the period 2021-2026.
Since 2012, Vesco served as bishop of Oran, where Mgr Pierre Claverie was martyred. The 59-year-old Dominican will head a frontier Church in daily dialogue with Islam. I entrust everything to Gods grace.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Today, the feast of Saint John the Evangelist, Pope Francis announced the appointment of the new archbishop of Algiers, Mgr Jean-Paul Vesco, a 59-year-old Dominican who has served as bishop of the Algerian diocese of Oran since 2012.

He replaces Mgr Paul Desfarges, SJ, who leaves the Archdiocese of Algiers upon reaching the age limit.

The appointment of Bishop Vesco is very significant in terms of dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

The small Church of Algeria is a frontier Christian community, whose discreet presence in a Muslim country has led to bridges of friendship in daily life over the years.

This relationship has been equally consolidated by the testimony of the martyrs who, together with the Algerian people, experienced the dark years and massacres of the 1990s.

One of Bishop Vescos predecessors as bishop of Oran, Pierre Claverie, was killed by a car bomb at the entrance to the bishopric in 1996, and is one 19 martyrs of Algeria beatified on 8 December 2018.

Bishop Vesco was born in Lyon on 10 March 1962. He studied and practiced law before entering the novitiate of the Dominicans in 1995.

Ordained a priest in 2001, he completed his studies in Jerusalem before arriving in Algeria in 2002.

In 2010 he was elected prior provincial of the Dominicans in France before Benedict XVI appointed him as the head of the Diocese of Oran.

In a message to the faithful of Oran, the new archbishop of Algiers writes that his inauguration will be on 11 February.

"Leaving the Diocese of Oran was not really something I envisaged, but I am sure that this change will bring new richness and fruitfulness. In any case, this is my wish on the eve of the new year.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for being brothers and sisters to me. I ask forgiveness from those I might have hurt or neglected in spite of myself. I am grateful for everything we have experienced, and that is a lot. I entrust everything to Gods grace with confidence.

In another letter to his new Archdiocese of Algiers he adds: It is an office and an honour that until recently were not in my mind, but I receive them with confidence and joy.

Finally, I wish everyone a good year of mutual discovery and journey together, and I greet you fraternally.
Today's headlines: the Omicron variant advances in Asia; Delhi's reimposes a night-time curfew; Japan's government will not send an official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics; Israel wants to double its population on the Golan Heights disputed with Syria. Metropolitan Ilarion: the meeting between Pope Francis and Moscow Patriarch Kirill will be "in a third country" and "certainly after Easter".

MYANMAR

At least 38 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack by the Burmese army on a convoy in the city of Hpruso, Kayah State. The vehicles were burned. The international NGO Save the Children denounced the presence of its own local staff among the victims. The Burmese army claimed that these were clashes with local militias, a fact denied by the Karenni National Defence Force.

COVID

The Omicron variant is also advancing in Asia. In China, an outbreak in the city of Xian is spreading with 150 new cases registered. A peak is feared to coincide with the Chinese New Year festivities. In India, Delhi has reimposed a night-time curfew to stop the infection.

JAPAN-CHINA

The Japanese government will not send an official delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympics. Only a representation of the Olympic Committee, which organised the Tokyo Games, will be present. The decision taken by Prime Minister Kishida is in line with the diplomatic boycott against human rights violations already adopted by the United States, Great Britain and Australia.

ISRAEL

The Bennett government has approved a new construction plan to double the population in the Golan Heights, the region occupied in the 1967 war on the border with Syria. With this new plan, the population of the Golan Heights disputed with Syria could reach 100,000. In 2019, the Trump administration recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan while for the rest of the international community it is Syrian territory.

RUSSIA-VATICAN

Returning from his visit to the Vatican, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Ilarion (Alfeev), made it clear that the meeting being prepared between the Pope and the Patriarch of Moscow will not be held in Italy or in Russia, but "in a third country", and will take place "certainly after Easter".

KAZAKHSTAN

Demonstrations continue in Kazakhstan against the persecution of Turkish-speaking Muslims in China and "Chinese expansion" in the local economy. Protests are taking on a permanent form in these last days of the year in Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Aktobe, Symkent and other cities, with an average of 20-30 arrests a day by the police, who are threatening to use increasingly strong manners to stop the rallies. The country's authorities ignore the protests and express all the "gratitude" of the Kazakhs to their rich neighbour.
by Nirmala Carvalho

A church in Ambala was targeted. On 25 December, thousands of people of all faiths visited the church to see the nativity scene. The wooden manger in which the Prince of Peace was born was already a sign of his crucifixion, said Bishop Mascarenhas. Now we see the same sign in Ambala as well.

New Delhi (AsiaNews)  The Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Ambala, in the Indian state of Haryana, suffered an act of vandalism late on Christmas day.

The church, a historic building dating back to 1843, was closed in the evening, before the curfew imposed on the area following the latest COVID-19 wave. It was found desecrated the next morning with its big statue of Christ broken.

A First Information Report (FIR) was filed with the police against two unidentified young men who were caught by surveillance cameras climbing over the surrounding wall and trying to get inside the church without success.

On Christmas day, thousands of people of all faiths came to visit the nativity scene in the church, said Bishop Ignatius Loyola Mascarenhas of Simla-Chandigarh, speaking to AsiaNews. The church was closed at 10.30 pm because of the 11 pm curfew. We woke up to find the statue of the Redeemer in pieces and a few broken lights.

Yesterday afternoon, I presided over a reparation service during which I reminded the faithful that the wooden manger in which the Prince of Peace was born was already a sign of his crucifixion, the prelate added.

For the latter, This octave of Christmas reminds us of the feasts of martyrs such as Stephen, John and the Holy Innocents. Now we see the same sign in Ambala as well. We are deeply saddened, but we remember the words of Jesus on the cross: Father, forgive them'.

The Holy Redeemer Church is one of our earliest foundations in India, Fr Ivel Mendanha, provincial superior of the Redemptorists told AsiaNews.

In this time of light and love we feel hurt by this gesture. However, as witnesses of the Redeemer, we shall not give in to violence but will strive to offer our forgiveness and build bridges to share the love of Jesus.
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The global debate about the risks of potential killer robots is ongoing, but armed forces are researching and deploying a variety of less-threatening robots , such as ones used for carrying supplies or detecting biological threats in caves.Perhaps the cutest one to join the U.S. Army is Alfred. It may not be a kitchen chef just yet, but it performs enough food-related tasks to claim this flattering title.The Defense Logistics Agency selected Dexai Robotics, a Boston-based startup, to provide a robotic arm for food preparation. Alfred is able to see kitchen utensils and their position with the help of barcodes and uses them to prepare food at the Monarch Dining Facility at the Travis Air Force Base in California.Since this is the first robot of its kind to operate not only at this base but in the entire Army, the pioneering robots result here will be used as proof of concept.The main advantage that Alfred brings is increasing productivity by taking the burden of certain tasks off local troops. Airmen have a wide array of activities, and having more time to focus on them is always a plus. Even in the kitchen, the automated food preparation allows them to go handle more difficult tasks, such as grilling or preparing flight kitchen meals.Another major advantage in the global health context is increased hygiene. Thanks to the touchless used interface, this food preparation robot helps lower the risk of germ transmission. Yuki Yamada, Dexai Robotics Chef de Technologie, said that this unique robot can be of great help in different types of crowded dining facilities.If Alfreds work at the Travis Air Force Base proves successful, ten more robots will be installed in other military units as well. Also, its work here will be used to develop the product even further.
EV

BEV

Ad executive Jin Zhang was among the first Ford customers in China to get their Mach-E. Zhang is described by Ford as a Mustang fan, who will be using the award-winningas a family vehicle. He got the keys straight from Mark Kaufman, general manager of the Ford ChinaDivision since the Mach-E for the Chinese market is locally produced. At the moment, there are 25 stores dedicated to Ford EV sales in this huge market.The road to this Kodak moment was a bit bumpy. Only a couple of months ago, we were sharing that several Chinese customers had reportedly canceled their Mach-E orders, because of the delivery delays.This wasnt just a superficial complaint, but a serious money-leaking issue. Even though electric car owners in the country dont have to pay for license plates before purchasing them, as it is with other vehicles, theres a tight deadline for this privilege. The ones that gave up on their future EVs did so because their quotas were about to expire. Initially, the deliveries were expected by October and, instead, it looks like the first Mach-E SUVs were only delivered on December 26.Although these delays obviously didnt help, Ford is still confident in the Mustang Mach-E s record sales. Earlier this month, CEO Jim Farley stated that keeping up with the demand for the electric crossover is a challenge, considering that current reservations exceed 200,000. The carmaker even intends to focus its efforts on the Mustang-E manufacturing process, while postponing that of the electric Explorer and Lincoln Aviator models.With the first locally-manufactured Mach-E unveiled in China in October, the first deliveries to local customers mark another milestone for the Ford Mustangs journey in this huge, highly-competitive market.
EV

Its almost unbelievable to think that company co-founder Charles Rolls himself once drove a fully electric car named the Columbia in April of 1900 and immediately understood the benefits.The electric car is perfectly noiseless and clean, said Rolls. There is no smell or vibration, and they should become very useful when fixed charging stations can be arranged. But for now, I do not anticipate that they will be very serviceable  at least for many years to come.His prophecy has come full circle and Rolls-Royce is finally ready to launch their first-ever, the Spectre , in Q4 of 2023. Now, we saw a camouflaged prototype being teased by the carmaker a few months ago, but our spy photographers have just captured the car while undergoing public testing, allowing for a much closer look at its shape, size and overall road presence.Visually, we wouldnt blame you for getting a lot of Wraith vibes from this prototype, but rest assured this is an all-new car and a closer look at its body does reveal a modified design language, with a more sloping hood, split headlights (interesting touch), a wider grille (but possibly not as tall) and a different shoulder line.It still has rear-hinged suicide doors, and you can tell its a Rolls-Royce almost right away, so were not really worried about the carmaker dropping the ball in any way regarding the styling of the Spectre.As for performance, we expect a dual-motor setup with at least 600 hp. It might even be more than 600 (perhaps 650-700 hp) but the point of the Spectre wont be to out-sprint a Tesla Model S Plaid or a Rimac Nevera, but rather to be the most luxurious and comfortable electric car in existence.
The Aventador SV ended production back in July 2017 after 600 units rolled off the assembly line in SantaAgata Bolognese. Finished in Rosso Alala over Nero Cosmos with red accents and plenty of carbon-fiber tidbits for the interior, this particular Super Veloce makes do without the stock cats.Removing the catalytic converters may not be the most eco-friendly thing to do, but on the other hand, better exhaust gas flow also translates to a much nicer exhaust sound and more suck-squeeze-bang-blow shenanigans. The bang and blow parts carry over to the way this raging bull shoots blue flames that could fry a Thanksgiving turkey to a crisp with a little effort.Unfortunately for Lamborghini enthusiasts, the following video doesnt mention the cars rear-wheel horsepower and torque figures. Dubbed Essenza SCV12 , the ultimate iteration of the Aventador is rocking a de-cat exhaust as well to produce a simply ridiculous 830 PS (820 horsepower).Going forward, the Aventador will be demised in the second half of 2022 after Lamborghini finishes delivering the limited-run Countach LPI 800-4 and Ultimae. The yet-to-be-named successor of the Aventador has been confirmed to receive a brand-new V12 and a similarly new drivetrain with some kind of hybrid assistance, most likely an electric front axle of sorts.Fitting an electric motor - or two - up front would give the long-awaited replacement eAWD, and it would also eliminate the need for a driveshaft going to the front wheels. Dont, however, brace yourselves for a light supercar because lithium-ion batteries will certainly add some kilograms.
Now that even Ferrari is succumbing to the ultra-luxury SUV yearning, the final work hard bulwark across the automotive realm might be next in line for a premium attack. A virtual one, for now.

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Diehard aficionados of GMs Pontiac brand might remember the 1964-1967 Catalina 2+2 was devised as a cool superior for the companys highly popular Pontiac GTO series. Of course, its adamantly clear which of the two continued to enjoy a lengthy and successful life. But now that both are extinct, they might finally be on the same level.Or at least the same virtual playing field if Jim  the pixel master behind the jlord8 account on social media  has anything to say about it. This CGI expert might be enamored with photoshopd 1980s and 1990s classics, but he is also no stranger to proper 21st century revivals of iconic series.Not long ago he envisioned a chunky modern-day tenth-generation Chevy Impala capable of shedding at least part of the heft. Thus, he transformed it into a two-door revival of the mighty SS lineage. Now he continues along the same General Motors line, albeit with a connoisseurs niche twist. An Australian one.Because he is no stranger to garnering inspiration across the Land Down Under, he again seeks aid from an Australian-born concept car. Instead of the FPV Falcon GT prototype that morphed into a second revival for the Mercury Marauder, this time around its the 2008 Melbourne International Motor Show Holden Coupe 60 concept lending a digital helping hand.It more than naturally morphs into a modernized Pontiac 2+2 that has a decidedly muscle-car-like vibe. Complete with a feisty widebody aerodynamic kit, the always cool double side exhausts, as well as the crouching stance of something that clearly means high-performance business. All in all, not bad at all for an Aussie import thats more than a decade old...
EV

kW

The biggest problem with this proposition is the proprietary connector all Supercharger stations in the U.S. use. As it turns out, things will soon change and that will happen not only because Tesla is such a do-good company but also because it wants government money to further develop its charging-station network.The first Supercharger stations equipped with a standard CCS connector will pop up in Texas. For this to happen, Tesla will use the money from the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program (TxVEMP). Its a program that uses the settlement money from the Dieselgate scandal to fund air quality projects in Texas. These includecharging stations, with the condition they are open for business to other carmakers too.According to a filing with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality revealed on Reddit by u/mockingbird , Tesla applied for four grants already, with values ranging from $376,000 to $500,000. The company behind the Supercharger network will build four charging stations with either 9 or 17 stalls, each with a power of at least 150To qualify for the program, the stations will have to be installed in a public place, within half a mile from an Interstate, U.S., or State Highway or emergency evacuation route. Also, the new charging stations will have to offer at least one CHAdeMO or CCS connector when there is another proprietary connector included in the application. With CHAdeMO essentially dead, this means future Tesla Supercharger stations in Texas will offer a CCS coupling.This is a big change for Tesla, as the company only uses its proprietary connector for Superchargers across North America. Tesla already uses CCS as default in Europe, where they also started opening the Supercharger network to other automakers as well. It is not clear whether Tesla will use an adaptor or will have only half the stalls equipped with CCS plugs to satisfy the funding conditions.For Tesla, this means government money to extend the Supercharger network in areas with less coverage. For Tesla owners, though, it is more about busier charging stations and increased waiting time. Hopefully, with more Supercharger stations available, the problem will alleviate over time.
VinFast is a massive business conglomerate in Vietnam. After working for the Lehman Brothers Bank in Japan, Singapore, and Thailand, Thuy was hired by VinFast in November 2008. She was in charge of creating VinFasts automotive brand in 2017. At the 2018 Paris Motor Show, she was there to present the cars designed by Pininfarina . James Benjamin DeLuca  a former GM vice president  was the CEO.It seems that the idea was to have someone in charge with experience in the automotive business. This is probably why Thuy was not named CEO since the beginning. It may be the case that she was named CEO just while the company does not hire another big name from legacy carmakers. Well soon see what will happen.The official excuse for Lohscheller to leave the job and go back to Europe is personal reasons. In normal circumstances, people would question the executives decision. Being a new company, still willing to establish itself as a credible car manufacturer, Lohschellers departure will also make people wonder about the Vietnamese: it was just too (Vin)fast.The former Opel CEO was in charge of putting VinFast cars in Europe and the U.S., making it a global brand. Leaving only five months after joining the company means he did not have time to accomplish the crucial task.Any new carmaker established in a market, with a little internal market, has to rely on foreign buyers to become viable and competitive. That was what Hyundai and Kia had to do in South Korea and what Japanese carmakers did before them. VinFast has another challenge ahead: it wants to become an electric car company. Although demand for EVs is rising, it is still limited to a small share of many markets, especially in the U.S. That may also be a fantastic opportunity if Thuy (or any future executive) manages to seize it competently, with proper time for establishing any strategy. Wish them luck.
kW

MFTBC likes to think of itself as one of the pioneers of eMobility , having announced its intentions to switch clean energy vehicles since 2019. The deadline by which its entire portfolio is supposed to become CO2 neutral is 2037. A major step in that direction was the 2017 launch of the eCanter, heralded as the first electric light-duty truck in Japan.Not only has MFTBC produced more than 300 units of the eCanter since then, but they were also delivered on markets all across the globe, from the U.S. and Europe to Australia and New Zeeland. More than just a commercial success, this also proves that the electric truck can operate efficiently in different climates and on various types of roads.Now, the Japanese manufacturer is taking another important step for the future eMobility ecosystem. The company has launched a collaboration with Orix, a Japanese financial services group with an extensive array of operations, including energy production.Orixs environmentally friendly electricity, produced at the Agatsuma Biomass Power Plant, will be offered as a package for the eCanter electric truck buyers. Initial sales will begin in selected areas throughout Japan, with additional regions to follow in 2022. Orix has been supplying high-voltage users such as major stores and office buildings with electricity, since 2009, and its services will now be available for e-truck owners, to help them expand the use of clean energy.The eCanter, which is categorized as an under 7.5-ton truck, is equipped with an electric drive system that delivers 135and 350 NM (258 lb.ft) of torque, plus six high-voltage (370 V) lithium-ion battery packs. The manufacturer claims that the light e-truck features a 62-mile (100 km) range per charge, with only 1.5 hours required for a full charge, at fast-charging stations.
HP

The original Porsche Boxster first went on sale in 1996. Its name, Boxster was a portmanteau of the Boxer engine and Speedster or 'Roadster.' It was a name first seen on a pretty concept unveiled in Detroit three years earlier. At this time, the 986 Boxster was the antidote, an indisposed Porsche brand needed.As some people know, the Boxster was the best-selling car from the German auto manufacturer until the Cayenne came along.The roadster shared a lot of panels with the 911 (996 generation), including the front wings, the hood and headlights.To this date, the Boxster still comes with the same defining three dials on the dashboard, which is as beautiful as it is nostalgic - a distinctive script.However, we cant talk about the 986 Boxster without mentioning the M96 engine. Its the most popularly talked about aspect of the first-generation the Boxster. The M96, a naturally aspirated flat-six that was also shared with the 911 (996), came with issues including; the bore lines, bore scoring, and IMS.Based on Catchpoles experience, the IMS issues are not complicated. Its just a bit of a big job since you need to take out the gearbox to get to the IMS bearing.Catchpole insists servicing the 986 Boxster doesnt necessarily have to be a costly affair with the right specialist. He warns that these are issues new 986 owners need to be aware of but not afraid of.So, what do you need to pay for a 986 Boxster in the UK? Well, according to surveys done by Hagerty, it should be anywhere between 4,000 and 12,700.Theres a lot of interest gaining on the top-end versions, presumably due to the 25-year cautious centenary celebrations . According to Hagerty, the 986 Boxster might mirror the 944 trajectories.So, is getting the 986 Boxster just buying a Porsche badge over function? According to Catchpole, it is still a lovely thing to drive even though It doesnt come with a lot of power. The entry leve model delivers about 201and uses a five gear manual gearbox or a similar Tiptronic option.The 986 Boxster might have a few issues, but a good one is an absolute delight. Youll still get all those lovely Porsche things but at an affordable price.Catchpole argues that people might say the 986s engine is in the wrong place for a Porsche, but its just got superb balance. The steering is responsive, and the engine sounds fantastic. Its a Porsche through and through.In his opinion, everything youd find in the top-end Porsches is right here in the 986 Boxster.
EV

ICE

Blocking ancharging station with ancar is a common incident usually known as ICE-ing . It might seem like its a joke and that no harm is done, but charging stations are valuable resources for drivers of electric vehicles, and denying them access to these stations might leave a family stranded with no battery when there are no alternatives.This time the harm is obvious and yet the police response is quite strange. We assume being Eastern Europe justifies the attitude, but it sure paints a bleak picture of how the Police handle EV charger incidents in this part of the world.The video was recorded by a Model 3s Sentry Mode camera system while charging at the Ionity station. It starts with the moment a car approaches the station and two individuals get off it to play with the Ionity charger. They decided it would be fun to mock charging their ICE car, so they fiddle with the receptacle and try to stick it into the fuel tank.After some struggling with the charging cable, they succeed so its time to coal-roll the charging stall. This is a bit of mockery as well, as the car seems to be gasoline-powered, and what goes out the exhaust is mainly water vapors. At this time the passengers in the Tesla decided to call the police and announce one of the Ionity charger stalls is being damaged.The answer they got astounded them, as the guy at the other end of the line replied with a What can we do about it? before ending the call. Fortunately, the two drunk men decided they had enough by that time and left the station. Unfortunately, the same Ionity charging stall abused by the two drunk fellows was listed as broken the very next day.Perhaps it wont be long before well see Europeans taking extreme measures to protect their charging stations. One good example is the strange direction Tesla took in China
Ten of 2021's most extreme weather events in the world were driven by climate change and caused a total of $170.3 billion in damage  with the deadly Hurricane Ida that struck the U.S. the most costly, per a new study.

Why it matters: Each of the 10 most destructive weather events caused at least $1.5 billion in damage, and Ida cost $65 billion, according to the study by U.K. charity Christian Aid.

"Most of these estimates are based only on insured losses, meaning the true financial costs are likely to be even higher," per a statement accompanying the study, published Monday.

Christian Aid notes that insurer Aon has warned that 2021 is set to be the sixth time global natural catastrophes have cost more than $100 billion  with all six occurring since 2011.

What they're saying: "The costs of climate change have been grave this year, both in terms of eyewatering financial losses but also in the death and displacement of people around the world," said report author Kat Kramer, Christian Aid's climate policy lead, in a statement.

"Be it storms and floods in some of the world's richest countries or droughts and heatwaves in some of the poorest, the climate crisis hit hard in 2021."

By the numbers: 2021's most costly weather events, according to Christian Aid:

What else they found: Financial costs are usually higher in richer countries because they have higher property values and can afford insurance, according to the report. But some of the most devastating extreme weather events in 2021 hit poorer nations.

These extreme weather events have caused severe human suffering from food insecurity, drought and other related events causing mass displacements and loss of life, the report notes.

The study also examines the impact of slow-developing crises, such as the drought in Central Africa's Chad Basin. There, Lake Chad has shrunk 90% since the 1970s, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of the world's poorest who live in the region.

The big picture: Extreme weather events are the clearest way we're feeling climate change in our daily lives  and this year's ones are a preview of even more turbulent times, Axios' Andrew Freedman and Kia Kokalitcheva note.

A study by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) this year found an "unequivocal" connection between human-caused global warming and extreme weather.

The bottom line: The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, "generated plenty of headlines, but without concrete emissions cuts and financial support the world will continue to suffer," Christian Aid's report states.

"One glaring omission from the outcome in Glasgow was a fund to deal with the permanent loss and damage caused by climate change," the study adds. "This is one issue which will need to be addressed at COP27 in Egypt in 2022."

Kramer noted "it is clear that the world is not on track to ensure a safe and prosperous" future.

Read the full report, via DocumentCloud:

Go deeper: Extreme weather outruns the world

Editor's note: This article has been updated with further context.
South Africa said Saturday it's being "punished" for detecting the new Omicron coronavirus variant as more countries rush to enact travel bans and restrictions.

Driving the news: The U.S. imposed air travel restrictions from eight countries Friday in response to the Omicron variant. Countries in Europe and Asia have also implemented their own travel restrictions in response to Omicron.

The United Kingdom announced Saturday that two cases of the new variant were detected in the country with a "link to travel to Southern Africa."

The variant has also been found in Botswana, Israel and Hong Kong.

The big picture: South Africa, which has some of the world's top epidemiologists and scientists, detected the variant early on in its life cycle, Reuters reports.

The variant, known formally as B.1.1.529, was first reported to the World Health Organization on Nov. 24, which then designated it a "variant of concern" on Friday.

Early evidence suggests "an increased risk of reinfection with this variant compared to other" variants of concern, the WHO added.

What they're saying: South African officials said Saturday that although new variants have been detected in other countries, "the reaction to those countries is starkly different to cases in southern Africa."

"This latest round of travel bans is akin to punishing South Africa for its advanced genomic sequencing and the ability to detect new variants quicker," the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation said.

"Excellent science should be applauded and not punished," it said in a statement.

"Our immediate concern is the damage that these restrictions are causing to families, the travel and tourism industries and business," South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said in the statement.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter on Saturday that he spoke to Pandor to "express our deep appreciation for the professionalism and transparency of the South African government and South Africas scientists."

A tweet previously embedded here has been deleted or was tweeted from an account that has been suspended or deleted.

Blinken "praised South Africas scientists for the quick identification of the Omicron variant and South Africas government for its transparency in sharing this information, which should serve as a model for the world," spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement following the call.

Go deeper: COVID-19 Omicron variant cases identified in Europe, U.K.
Speaking at a yearend news conference in Yerevan, Kocharian also denounced the governments utter failures in all key policy areas and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in particular. He joined in the chorus of condemnation aimed at Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians latest statements on the conflict.

It is clear that if the prime minister says that since 2016 there has not been even a theoretical chance of Karabakh obtaining a status outside Azerbaijan then this is the position of Armenia, he said. This means that Armenia has washed its hands of Karabakh.

Kocharians Hayastan alliance and other opposition groups blame Pashinian for Armenias defeat in last years war with Azerbaijan that left at least 3,800 Armenian soldiers dead. The prime minister again charged late last week that the six-week war was the result of peace talks mishandled by former Armenian leaders.

Kocharian pledged to bring down Pashinians government through barricades or elections when Hayastan launched last month what it called a nationwide resistance campaign with a rally in Yerevan. The bloc, which has emerged as the countrys leading opposition force, has staged no further protests since then.

The ex-president said on Monday that despite what he sees as a sharp drop in Pashinians approval ratings Armenians are still not willing to attend anti-government demonstrations in very large numbers.

According to our estimates, that drop in the approval rating has not yet translated into a mass readiness for an active struggle in the streets, he told reporters. We believe that these people [led by Pashinian] will not give up power willingly. It will take mass street protests to oust them. Not [protests attended] by five, six or ten thousand people but mass protests.

We dont see that conditions are ripe for that today, Kocharian went on. And this disappoints some of our supporters, who are ready for that struggle. They are ready to fight, stage sit-ins, do everything. But we cannot lead those people to such upheavals unprepared.

We are preparing for those mass protests. We are on that path, he said, hinting that the launch of a protest movement is a matter of months.

Kocharian admitted that some Armenians have also lost faith in the opposition since the June parliamentary elections won by the ruling Civil Contract party. We just think -- and we hope -- that our approval ratings can recover, he said, adding that Pashinians falling popularity is irreversible.

Pashinians party won the snap elections with almost 54 percent of the vote, according to their official results. Hayastan came in a distant second with 21 percent.
The envoys were appointed earlier this month after the governments of the two neighboring states said they will try to normalize bilateral relations.

Ankara will be represented in the upcoming talks by Serdar Kilic, an experienced diplomat who served as Turkeys ambassador to the United States from 2014-2021. Kilics 31-year-old Armenian counterpart, Ruben Rubinian, is a deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament.

It seems to us that the first meeting of the negotiators will take place in Moscow, Cavusoglu told a news conference in Ankara. The Armenian side has expressed such a desire.

We want the two sides to have direct contacts before the meeting. The envoys were appointed for a direct dialogue, he said, adding that they should work out a roadmap to a Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Vahan Hunanian, said in this regard that the two sides are discussing the possibility of holding the first round of Turkish-Armenian talks in Moscow. No date has been set for the talks yet, Hunanian told RFE/RLs Armenian Service.

Russia as well as the United States have welcomed the announcement of Turkish-Armenian normalization talks. Yerevan asked Moscow last month to assist in that dialogue.

Ankara has for decades refused to establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and kept the Turkish-Armenian border closed out of solidarity with Azerbaijan. It provided decisive military support to Baku during last years Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh.

In recent months Turkish leaders have made statements making the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations conditional on Armenia agreeing to open a land corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave. They have also cited Bakus demands for a formal Armenian recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh.

Cavusoglu reiterated on Monday that Ankara will continue to coordinate its Armenian policy with Baku.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan complained last month that the Turks are setting new preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations and opening the border with Armenia. His spokesman insisted afterwards that Yerevan continues to stand for normalizing relations with Turkey without preconditions.
Maggie Murdaugh left Alex Murdaugh all of her property when she died, her will shows
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP)  A policeman opened fire on a group of fellow officers in Sri Lanka, killing four of them and wounding three others, a police spokesman said Saturday.

The shooting occurred Friday night inside a police station in the small town of Thirukkovil in eastern Sri Lanka, a police statement said. The town is located in the islands former war zone, which has been largely peaceful since the civil war ended in 2009. The town is about 336 kilometers (208 miles) east of the capital Colombo.
Ashley Peterson had a different mental image of her Christmas break than what actually transpired: The 32-year-old thought she would finally visit the Caribbean reef-lined island of Bonaire, the 99th country in her quest to travel at least 100.

Instead, her cruise ship, the Carnival Freedom, sailed past its destination Wednesday after a port turned away the boat because of coronavirus infections on board. At least four sailings on Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Carnival and others this week were altered by coronavirus outbreaks as cruise ships prepared for pre-pandemic levels before sailings were paused. Although vessels resuming cruising have beefed up coronavirus precautions, requiring vaccinations and testing passengers, the wave of new infections, fueled by the quickly proliferating omicron variant, has knocked the devastated industry and alarmed cruisers.

"We're sailing on a petri dish," Peterson said. "I feel like I just spent my past week at a superspreader event."

David Sacks/Getty Images

Carnival did not respond to a question about how many people have tested positive on the ship that was denied entry to Bonaire and Aruba, but it said "a small number of people infected aboard the Freedom ship have been isolated from other passengers and crew." The ship, scheduled to port in Miami on Sunday for another sailing, has 2,497 passengers and 1,112 crew members.

The cruise company said it is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities at its destinations to determine where its boats can travel and seek alternative destinations.

"The rapid spread of the Omicron Variant may shape how some destination authorities view even a small number of cases, even when they are being managed with our vigorous protocols," according to the company's statement. "Some destinations have limited medical resources and are focused on managing their own local response to the variant."

The ship is among dozens under investigation or being monitored by the CDC.

Some cruise companies have said they will alter rules in response to the rise in cases. Royal Caribbean announced it will not be accepting new bookings until Jan. 10 after dozens of people tested positive on Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas, based in Florida, which has experienced a surge in cases over the past week at a greater average rate than the United States overall. The Odyssey of the Seas, turned away from Curacao and Aruba, is set to return to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

In the busiest time for travel in nearly two years, the omicron variant has brought about staffing problems that have contributed to flight cancellations, upending people's get-togethers and leading people to isolate or quarantine.

Peterson and four other Carnival Freedom passengers who spoke to The Washington Post spent much of their Christmastime avoiding public areas of their ship, unsure of how many people have tested positive or unwittingly spread the virus. One passenger from a recent voyage on the same ship, isolated in a hotel in Miami for a week because he tested positive the day after the cruise, told The Post that has six-day Caribbean vacation has become a month-long ordeal because he cannot travel home to Canada.

Sitting in her stateroom on Christmas Day, Peterson paused to listen to a PA announcement, wondering whether it would answer the questions she has about the infections onboard her ship.

"Oh, they're just talking about the weather," she said. "They come on every day; you think they're going to tell us something about covid, and it's, 'We're passing by this island and the weather is 82 degrees.' "

Cruises, which for some can be idyllic sojourns, have borne a nightmarish side of the pandemic, beginning when people on ships at the start of the pandemic spend days at sea when port after port deny permission to dock.

As the pandemic approaches its third year, cruises are embarking with precautions. Even with those, travelers have expected coronavirus-caused disruptions and potential outbreaks, alleviating risk by getting vaccinated and boosted.

The mitigation measures in place aboard Holland America Line's ship, the Koningsdam, were "as good as it gets," according to Paulette York, who was a passenger on the voyage that left San Diego for Mexico on Sunday. However, after 21 crew members tested positive, the boat was turned away from Mexico's Puerto Vallarta.

York, of La Quinta, Calif., said that passengers comply with mask requirements and have tested negative, and she expressed frustration that port authorities did not allow the ship in. Still, the retiree said she enjoyed other parts of the cruise, visiting Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan, and watching a pod of dolphins.

"Holland America is doing everything to keep us all safe," York wrote in a message.

Travel vlogger Austin Hamawy said he expects cruises to be better prepared for a coronavirus resurgence after months of preparation.

Boarding the MSC Seashore, which reported 28 cases among 4,714 guests and crew, Hamawy noticed people were standing close to one another for long periods. He recorded a TikTok video to document the crowd gathering at the ship's public areas.

"The elevators are full, the Jacuzzis are full, the swimming pools are full, the theaters are full, the dining rooms are full," he said in an interview. "Everywhere you go there's a lot of people. And it's very difficult to avoid that on a cruise ship."

Two days after the boat disembarked Thursday, Hamawy said he felt some symptoms of covid-19: a sore throat and higher temperature. On Christmas, he quarantined at home in Fort Lauderdale.

"We have an extended family, and we're all planning a big celebration, and that came to a grinding halt," he said.

Canadian resident Brian Lucas, who disembarked the Carnival Freedom the same day Peterson boarded in Miami, also did not make it to a family Christmas gathering. The day after getting off the ship, he tested positive, extending the trip with his wife and 18-month-old daughter two weeks more than they had planned. The 34-year-old will end up paying an additional $3,000 to $4,000 to wait out his family's isolation in Miami, he said.

Lucas canceled his next scheduled cruise in January, saying he wants masking and hand-washing to improve on ships before he cruises again.

"We thought it would be safe by now, but obviously it's not where it needs to be," he said. "I wouldn't want to travel on a cruise anytime soon."

The infections on Lucas's trip, including the one he discovered after the voyage ended, were not disclosed to passengers on the ship's next trip.

Carnival Freedom passenger Angie Jones, 39, said that if she had known about the cases from that previous voyage - Lucas's trip - she would have canceled.

Time on the ship with her husband, her children and her sister's family has mostly been confined to their rooms since news of the outbreak that prevented the ship from visiting Bonaire and Aruba. She said they have stopped going to the theater for performances to avoid crowds - though she said there were fewer shows since the outbreak.

"Just the fear of the unknown also has ruined our Christmas cruise in so many ways," Jones wrote in a message.
A group of Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, gather on Pulau Idaman, a small island off the coast of Indonesias East Aceh province, June 6, 2021.

A boat carrying 120 Rohingya was stranded in waters off Indonesias Aceh province as security forces prevented locals from helping the refugees come ashore, a local community leader and a human rights activist said Monday.

A local legal aid group told BenarNews that fishermen feared they would be prosecuted if they helped the Rohingya come ashore, while Amnesty International urged the government to allow the boat to land, according to a report by Antara, the state news agency.

Local fishermen were not allowed to bring the refugees [ashore], said Syahrul Putra Muti, director of the Banda Aceh Legal Aid Institute.

On Sunday, fishermen found the boat in waters off the coast of Bireun regency in northern Aceh, said Badruddin Yunus, a leader of the local fishing community.

We received reports from fishermen, there were 120 people, 51 children, 9 adult men, and 60 women, he told local publication AcehNews.

They threw paper at our fishermen on which they had written, and they used sign language when communicating with fishermen.

The boat has been anchored to a fishing device about 50 miles off Aceh, he said, adding that the Navy planned to send food supplies to the boat on Tuesday.

So far, there has been no response from the Bireuen regency administration, Badruddin told BenarNews.

Local security authorities said they were awaiting guidance from authorities in Jakarta.

On Monday, Indonesian security officials in Aceh and Jakarta could not be reached immediately for comment.

Amnesty said the fishermen had appealed to local authorities to rescue the Rohingya migrants because they had been at sea for weeks or months, Reuters news agency and Antara reported.

There needs to be joint responsibility between regional countries to conduct search and rescue so that [refugees] can avoid dangers at sea..., Amnesty Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said, according to Reuters.

Since a brutal crackdown by Burmese security forces in Rakhine state against the Rohingya Muslim minority in 2017, hundreds of them have paid traffickers to transport them to Thailand and Malaysia, where they can find work, and away from Myanmar or the crowded camps in neighboring Bangladesh where they fled to that year.

Around 740,000 Rohingya sought shelter at refugee campus southeastern Bangladeshs Coxs Bazar. They are fenced into these camps and not allowed to work, which is why many refugees try to leave, some Rohingya have told reporters over the years.

Groups of Rohingya have also packed into boats and sailed off in search of asylum in other countries, but have often been refused entry.

In June, a court in Aceh sentenced three fishermen to five years in prison for people smuggling after they helped bring people from a Rohingya boat to shore last year in return for payments.

I suspect that local Acehnese fishermen are now afraid to do the same because they dont want to be arrested by the security forces, Syahrul, of the Banda Aceh Legal Aid Institute, told BenarNews.

As of October, at least 665 Rohingya migrants have ended up stranded in Indonesia on their way to third countries including Malaysia and Australia, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR.

Indonesia is not a party to the U.N.s 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The nation prohibits refugees from obtaining jobs and attending formal schools.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Cloudy. Snow likely late. Low near 25F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch..

Tonight

Cloudy. Snow likely late. Low near 25F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 80%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.
Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The state is on track to soon surpass a total of 1 million cumulative confirmed COVID-19 cases, a milestone that will mean about 1 out of 7 Massachusetts residents has tested positive at some point during the coronavirus pandemic.
Scott Stafford has been a reporter, photographer, and editor at a variety of publications, including the Dallas Morning News and The Berkshire Eagle.
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.
Another year is in the history books! After all the difficulty of 2020, many of us looked to 2021 with optimism and hope. Certainly, this year had its own share of challenges, both worldwide and in each of our personal lives. But as we reflect on the last 12 months, one thing has remained rock-solid: Gods love and compassion for each of us. Even in the hardest of times, we see the ways He moved and shaped things around us and provided for our needs.

Throughout this past year, you, our Bible Study Tools readers, had some big questions you needed answers to! Some of you wanted guidance on how to pray through the big decisions you were making, or wanted to dig deeper into some lesser-known prophets of the Old Testament. Some of you got into some (maybe silly) arguments with friends, and asked just what does the Bible say about aliens??

As Spring of 2021 rolled in, and long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines rolled out, many of you rightfully wanted to know what the Bible has to say about these new shots.

No matter what you were researching or reading, our prayer at Bible Study Tools is always this: that the content we provide will help to teach you something new about God and guide you closer into right relationship with Him. There is no greater gift on earth than the gift of salvation, and no greater peace than that which He provides.

So lets take a look back at the top 10 articles of Bible Study Tools in 2021. Well count back from 10, starting here:

10. 6 Powerful "I WILL" Promises of Jesus

From the article:

Jesus knew the importance of a promise. He knew what they meant to the Christian. The I Will statements of Christ declare many promises, but I want to share six of those with you. These are statements and assurances from our Savior that we can count on. He will never back down on any of these promises.

1. Salvation

The first promise we will discuss comes from John 6:37 and again in Revelation 3:20. In both verses, Jesus is letting His children know that if we come to Him, He will never drive us away. In Revelation, Christ is speaking to the church at Laodicea and promises that anyone who hears his voice and opens the door will receive Him and eat with Him. John 6:37 says: All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

These verses share the promise of salvation. Christ is clearly saying that He will take us in and care for us. He will give us new life and save us from an eternity in hell. When we are in the hands of God, we cannot be plucked out. When we accept the gift of salvation, we can never lose it.

Click here to read more.

Photo credit: SWN/Getty Images/Bethany Pyle
When lawmakers return after the first of the year, they should consider this their No. 1 priority: allocating federal virus aid to combat the impact of COVID in Michigan.

The House recently signed off on around $1 billion in funding that would invest in new treatments and increase locations for receiving them, in addition to other measures aimed at easing the burden on the states hospitals and health care staff. But the Senate still must give its approval.

This is an excellent use of some of the billions in relief dollars the state has yet to spend.

Michigan continues to lead the country in new COVID cases and hospitalizations, and deaths are also on the rise. Hospitals are at or near capacity across the state. The health department, on Dec. 20, reported 4,518 adults were hospitalized with confirmed virus infections  the highest to date. These numbers have trended upward since July and have stayed above 4,000 for more than a week.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the state health department have rightly avoided new statewide mandates or lockdowns to address this latest surge, as other states are starting to do. Health officials have instead pushed vaccines and encouraged masking.

But its becoming clear that vaccines alone are not enough to combat the virus. Many Michiganians are simply not going to get the shot, and vaccines may not be as successful in blocking new variants like omicron.

Other treatments must be considered, too, to prevent serious illness and hospitalization, and give our states beleaguered health care workers a break.

The House plan would set aside $134 million to purchase monoclonal antibodies and other treatments for COVID, and include eight new delivery sites for the antibodies that are currently only available at hospitals. Another $300 million would go toward health care employee recruitment and retention. And $90 million would support vaccinations.

Similarly, the House and Senate supported legislation that eases licensing regulations on out-of-state health care workers.

Rep. Mary Whiteford, R-Casco Township, is a registered nurse and vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, and she thinks state residents should be more aware of early treatments and have greater access to them. Shes heard of individuals having to drive hours to access the antibodies.

Nobody talks about these treatments, Whiteford says.

Separately, she recently introduced another bill that would amend the states right to try law, which allows some patients greater access to new treatments and medications. She thinks COVID patients would benefit from greater options.

New treatments are coming online all the time, and the state must be nimble in ensuring residents have access to them.

For instance, Pfizer recently offered good news on the effectiveness of its antiviral pill Paxlovid, which proved in trial data to reduce hospitalization in high-risk groups by nearly 90%.

The Food and Drug Administration must still approve the treatment, but once it does, Michigan should be ready.

Its discouraging that nearly two years after the pandemic emerged, its still wreaking havoc on our lives. Investing in early treatments and continuing to encourage vaccination seem the best ways to protect Michigan citizens.

 Detroit News
The Pioneer is looking back at its Top 10 stories of 2021. This is No. 6...

MECOSTA COUNTY  Through a mutual effort, and on two separate occasions, authorities arrested six men who each individually came to the Mecosta County area to allegedly have sex with a minor.

In August, Genesee County Sheriff Christopher R. Swanson visited the Big Rapids area to lead a news conference about child trafficking in Michigan and details on a then-recent sting in Mecosta County.

Swanson briefed the press on the Genesee Human Oppression Strike Team, GHOST, which uses a number of undercover officers online pretending to be underaged children in order to catch predators.

Together, Swanson and Mecosta County Sheriff Brian Miller worked together to perform a sting operation locally in July.

As a result of a July 15, 2021 sting, three men were arrested  Quinn Lee Rasmussen, of Big Rapids; Sonage Azard, of Grand Rapids; and Joshua Jeffrey Webb, of Lakeview.

In connection to those arrests, authorities alleged all three men came to the Mecosta County area looking to have sex with a 14- to 15-year-old girl.

Less than four months later, Mecosta County authorities made three more arrests in a second child trafficking sting.

In this instance, all three suspects  who were all from Big Rapids  individually traveled to a Big Rapids Township location with the intentions of having sexual intercourse with a minor juvenile.

Jeremy Ostrander, Randall Pion, and Austin Donley were arrested and charged for their alleged actions.

In the court system, Azard and Webb each await appearances in Mecosta Countys 49th Circuit Court in January while Rasmussen has admitted guilt through a plea deal. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January.

The cases against Ostrander, Pion and Donley remain in Mecosta Countys 77th District Court.
NEW YORK (AP)  Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel, stretched into Monday as airlines called off more than 1,000 U.S. flights because crews were sick with COVID-19 during one of the year's busiest travel periods, and storm fronts added to the havoc.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been common this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and carriers have struggled to make up ground this year, when air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected. The arrival of the omicron variant only exacerbated the problem.

During the pandemic, we have seen experienced airline personnel leave the industry and not return across the globe, said John Grant, senior analyst at travel industry research firm OAG. Filling those skill gaps was already a challenge in the recovery before the latest variant.

But airlines' staffing levels are irrelevant when omicron is thrown into the mix, said Atmosphere Research Group travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. We cant blame the issues were seeing now on airlines not having enough employees to work. What were seeing happen is the employees who were available to work have come down with COVID.

Since Friday, airlines have canceled more than 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S., according to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have blamed the coronavirus for staffing problems in the past several days. European and Australian airlines also canceled holiday-season flights because of infected staff, but weather and other factors played a role as well.

Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday, according to Alaska Airlines, which expected more than 100 flight cancellations Monday. But the airline said sick crews were no longer a factor.

United said it canceled 115 flights Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews with COVID-19. Delta expected to cancel more than 200 flights out of its schedule of over 4,100, after scrapping more than 370 on Sunday, citing the effect of COVID-19 on crews and winter weather in Minneapolis, Seattle and Salt Lake City.

SkyWest, a regional airline based in Utah, said it had more cancellations than normal during the weekend and on Monday after bad weather affected several of its hubs and many crew members were out with COVID-19.

Industry analysts said new guidance from U.S. health officials could help airlines better navigate the impact of omicron on staffing levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut in half the recommended length of time a person should isolate after getting COVID-19 to five days.

Airlines had called on the Biden administration to shorten the quarantine period to alleviate staffing issues caused by omicron, although the union for flight attendants pushed back, saying the isolation period should remain 10 days.

I definitely think that should help, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said of the CDCs new guidance  especially if bad weather subsides.

Delta said it was working to implement the new guidance, which would allow the airline more flexibility to schedule employees.

Representatives for the flight attendants union, other airlines and the industrys trade group did not immediately respond or declined to comment on the CDC change.

Cancellations have snarled holidays that were already complicated this year with the rise of the omicron variant and escalating COVID-19 cases, which caused some to change their plans at the last minute.

But many other people kept their plans.

Transportation Security Administration data shows that the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints so far during the holiday season went up significantly from last year  on some days double the number of fliers or even more. But the number is generally still short of 2019 levels.

The TSA has predicted that the Monday after New Year's will be one of the busiest days of the holiday season. The CDC's new guidelines could help airlines better navigate the New Year's weekend rush as staffers who got infected are able to come back to work, Harteveldt said.

The U.S. government has issued new rules relating to COVID-19 and travel in recent months, requiring foreigners coming to the U.S. to be vaccinated. It also now requires a negative COVID-19 test for both U.S. citizens and foreigners within a day of flying into the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the nation should also seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel as another way to push people to get vaccinated.

The administration has at times considered a domestic vaccination requirement, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. Such a requirement could face legal challenges.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
Plus, Bill's Message of the Day, the truth about the January 6th capitol riot.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
By covertly recruiting popular YouTube influencer Abigail Thorn to counter growing opposition to UK govt Covid restrictions, psy-ops pros are bringing home the tactics they honed in the Syrian dirty war.

Leaked documents have revealed a state-sponsored influence operation designed to undermine critics of the British governments coronavirus policies by astroturfing a prominent founder of the BreadTube clique of anti-fascist YouTube influencers.

The project aims to conduct psychological profiling on British citizens dissenting against policies such as mandatory vaccination and lockdowns, then leverage the data to establish a YouTube channel that portrays these critics as dangerous superspreaders of disinformation.

Designed to curb the influence of pseudoscience material online, with specific emphasis on Coronavirus-related anti-vaxxing sentiment, the operation is run by the UKs Royal Institution, and dubbed Challenging Pseudoscience.

Its top patron is Charles, the Prince of Wales, next in line to the British throne, who recently hit out at supposed conspiracy theories surrounding COVID-19 vaccines. The organization received a substantial cash injection in 2020 from the UK governments Culture Recovery Fund earmarked for video production.

Leaked files obtained by The Grayzone indicate that the Royal Institution has enlisted the services of Valent Projects, a social change communications firm founded by a public relations operative previously involved in the UK Foreign Offices campaign for violent regime change in Syria. Valent has also been sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a US intelligence cut-out, for a project aimed at investigating disinformation.

Valents central role in the operation highlights the trend of information warfare specialists bringing the techniques they honed against targets like the Syrian government back home to the West, where increasingly unpopular governments confront masses of citizens ever-bristling at coronavirus restrictions.

As in Syria, where communications firms like Valent created, trained and instrumentalized media organizations to further regime change objectives, they have covertly recruited a famed British YouTube influencer to lend their carefully calculated messaging campaign an authentic flavor.

According to internal documents, Valent plans to design a mass appeal social media campaign fronted and owned by prominent social media figure Abigail Thorn, the founder of Philosophy Tube. Valents research on British citizens who reject official policy on COVID-19 will be used to devise a campaign that utilises YouTuber Abigail Thorns existing platform to achieve a measurable cognitive shift in the target audience, the files state.

Boasting over one million subscribers to her YouTube channel and more than 7000 Patreon supporters, Thorn has established a potent vehicle for any communications campaign. She is also a core member of BreadTube, an assortment of left-branded social media influencers that has attracted intense establishment interest for its purported ability to pop YouTubes political bubbles to create space for deradicalisation.

While top BreadTubers are best known for employing memes and theatrical ploys to counter right-wing narratives, they have also dedicated intense energy to attacking the anti-imperialist left as tankies engaged in a secret red-brown alliance with right-wing extremists.

In his book, BreadTube Serves Imperialism: Examining the New Brand of Internet Pseudo-Socialism, socialist organizer Caleb Maupin likened BreadTube to the counter-gangs deployed by British and US intelligence to infiltrate and dismantle insurgent forces from Kenya to Southeast Asia.

BreadTube speaks in the name of left-wing sounding ideals. In reality, it is likely serving one section of the American ruling elite and the intelligence agencies, Maupin wrote.

The covert relationship between BreadTubes Abigail Thorn, Valent Projects, and the Royal Institute appears to validate Maupins thesis.

It does not surprise me at all to find out there is documented evidence that the British Royal Family and an intelligence contractor is bankrolling the work of Abigail Thorn, Maupin told The Grayzone. It lines up with everything I have observed about her and the BreadTube trend overall.

Maupin continued, BreadTubes socialism is not really socialism, it is mobilizing young liberals to keep dissident elements in line. Its securing the rule of British and American corporations over the planet by trying to silence those who get in its way.

The national security establishments favorite socialists

Since launching Philosophy Tube in 2013, Abigail Thorns YouTube channel boasts over 7000 paying Patreon fans and well over one million YouTube subscribers. By probing complex philosophical and political issues in a highly accessible, engaging manner and deploying elaborate, artisanal audio and visual effects, she has emerged as a social media celebrity. A lengthy profile video produced by the BBC refers to her as one of the most high-profile transgender figures in the UK.

Thorn is among the most prominent figures within the loosely knit collective of YouTube influencers known as BreadTube. Inspired by the title of anarchist Peter Kropotkins tract, The Conquest of Bread, BreadTube advances a hyper-identitarian, imperialism-friendly interpretation of socialist politics that has earned its creators enthusiastic promotion from establishment interests.

The New York Times, for example, published a lengthy 2019 profile of a young man named Caleb Cain who supposedly fell down the alt-right rabbit hole on YouTube. Cain claimed he was de-radicalized through exposure to videos by Thorn and other popular BreadTubers like Natalie Wynn of Contrapoints. During the Trump era, as the Google-owned YouTube implemented a raft of stringent speech codes, it began amplifying BreadTube influencers through its algorithm.

Other popular BreadTube figures include Vaush, a video gamer from Beverly Hills, California named Ian Koshinski. Known for his superficial understanding of Marxism, crude invective against Trump supporters (they disappear, or we all do), female high school athletes (sorry you fucking suck, dumb bitch), and imprisoned journalist Julian Assange (I want Assange to die in a CIA black site just because it would trigger all the worst people on Twitter), the self-described libertarian socialist has earned the moniker Vaush Limbaugh from his critics.

BREAKING NEWS!!

TRIGGER WARNING!!

Small brain pro CIA @VaushV advocates for the torture of #JulianAssange in a sad attempt to hurt those who support him.

Please donate to and disseminate @wikileaks documents. pic.twitter.com/vyF0yD6oBa  Properganda Live (@QuinnPetersen14) December 13, 2021

Then there is Shaun, a British BreadTuber whose recent attack on left-wing political comedian Jimmy Dores criticisms of government Covid restrictions contained echoes of the Challenging Pseudoscience project prepared for Thorn by intelligence-related outfits. Shauns arguments relied heavily on statements by official experts and US government bodies like the FDA and CDC. While Dore has been limited by YouTubes sweeping speech codes, Shauns viral video appears to have benefited from an algorithmic boost.

All the key signs of infiltration are there, Caleb Maupin said of BreadTube. Since when does US mainstream media highlight the work of Marxist revolutionaries? Why are people who seem so unfamiliar with basic elements of socialist ideology suddenly elevated to the position of respected experts by the algorithms? Why do their foreign policy views seem to line up so closely with the US State Department? I have had no doubt they were being covertly supported by powerful entities with goals other than overthrowing capitalism.

Unlike some fellow BreadTubers, Thorn comes across as amiable and trustworthy, fostering a personal bond with her viewers and regularly publishing thank you notes to patrons, listing them each by name. These qualities have attracted support for Philosophy Tube by both public and private backers.

Thorns April 2021 dismantling of the politics of right-wing culture warrior Jordan Peterson has racked up almost two million views and was sponsored by Curiosity Stream, a US media streaming service. The video opens with a black screen disclosing the support provided by the company and claiming Thorn would donate her fee to the feminist campaign group, Sisters Uncut. The video is also emblazoned with YouTubes paid promotion logo.

Yet no such disclaimer referring to support from the Royal Institution can be found on any of her other uploads. And that may be because the Covid campaign was intended to be covert.

Astroturf campaign seeks to achieve measurable cognitive shift

The Challenging Pseudoscience operation designed for Thorn was launched in February 2021 by liberal science journalist Angela Saini. The author of several popular titles and a forthcoming book on the origins of patriarchy, she is also part of The Lancet Covid-19 Commissions Task Force on Global Health Diplomacy.

The commissions chief, Peter Daszak, a zoologist who serves as president of the US-based NGO known as EcoHealth Alliance, was forced to resign in June over conflict of interest issues.

In the years leading up to the outbreak of Covid-19, Daszak worked extensively on bat coronaviruses and gain of function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. His organization received tens of millions in funding from the Pentagons Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a division [countering] weapons of mass destruction and improvised threat networks. In December 2019, Daszak warned that coronaviruses can get into human cells, one can manipulate them in the lab pretty easily, and you cant vaccinate against them.

The host of Sainis project, the Royal Institute, was founded in 1799 by British scientists of the day with the aim of introducing new technologies and teaching science to the general public. Landed gentry and royalty have always occupied the Institutions highest levels. Queen Elizabeth IIs cousin, Field Marshal Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, has served as president since 1976.

The files indicate that the Royal Institution enlisted the services of Valent Projects, a communications firm [working] with clients in the UK and all over the world to counter disinformation and strengthen the bonds between people.

Valent was founded by Amil Khan, a former Reuters and BBC reporter who officially left journalism to help good causes navigate the new information landscape.

From February, Valent Projects proposed a two-phase project to develop an understanding of the psychological drivers behind the generation and spread of anti-vaxxer narratives. It planned to exploit this data to develop and test public messaging responses.

The findings would inform other programming by Challenging Pseudoscienceas well as other stakeholders including the science community and concerned governments and public health bodies.

In the campaigns first phase, extensive online interviews were to be conducted, along with ethnographic research to secure comprehensive understanding of the key online audiences driving anti-vaxxing mis/disinformation around the Coronavirus pandemic.

Valent Projects then planned to draw together insights from these findings, developing comprehensive audience profiles  including demographic information  to design a mass appeal social media campaign fronted and owned by prominent social media figure Abigail Thorn, who runs online channel Philosophy Tube.

Valent indicated its intent to exploit Philosophy Tubes sizable platform to achieve a measurable cognitive shift [emphasis added] in the target audience.

Reaching the intended viewers was forecast to be a significant task in itself, however. Valent noted most Philosophy Tube viewers are within the 18 to 35 age range, but existing research suggested the most prolific consumers of pseudoscience material were over the age of 45.

The firm felt the best topic to address this issue is probably along the lines of the thing about expertise [sic]. Fittingly, in August 2020 Thorn uploaded a video, Whos afraid of the experts? Featuring comedian Adam Conover of the popular show, Adam Ruins Everything, the 45 minute-long defense of the scientific consensus on the HIV/AIDS debate is the first result in any search for the term vaccine on Philosophy Tubes channel.

The leaked documents thus expose what had long suspected by critics of BreadTube: the popular social media collective has been instrumentalized by powerful interests with connections to Western intelligence agencies.

An astroturfed information warfare campaign hiding in plain sight

Multiple requests for comment from The Grayzone to Abigail Thorns agent and Angela Saini have gone unanswered.

When quizzed about the leaked files on Twitter, Valent Projects CEO Amil Khan flew into a rage, angrily asserting they were obtained through hacking and then doctored, in the manner of classic doxing, and threatened legal action against this journalist for publicizing them.

Khan later pumped out a series of tweets aimed at controlling the damage of his imminent exposure. In one, he falsely claimed that a co-author of this piece would publish their reporting in Russian state affiliated media.

Russian info ops arent what they used to be. Someone going by the name @KitKlarenberg is about to publish an article in [insert Russian state-affiliated media] accusing me of being a terrorist propandist etc etc. So far, so yawn. Heres a short #thread on why I expected better 1/:  Amil Khan (@Londonstani) December 17, 2021

Yet when challenged about his claim of doctoring, Khan did not respond.

Subsequent requests for clarity on which elements of the documents were maliciously altered and how that might have taken place have also gone unanswered. But evidence of the secret projects existence was hiding in plain sight.

For example, Valent Projects lists the Royal Institution on its website as a client. An accompanying writeup notes it developed and implemented a data-led behaviour change campaign [emphasis added] aimed at understanding and working with the psychological drivers behind anti-vaxer sentiment in the UK for the organization.

Similarly, a post on the companys official LinkedIn page refers to an analysis of tens of thousands of UK-based social media users posting/sharing anti-vax content online it conducted for Countering Pseudoscience, which would be used to inform ethnographic research designed to understand why people hold these views. In other words, a specific programming strand outlined in the documents.

Moreover, none other than Abigail Thorn was guest-of-honor at Challenging Pseudosciences launch event in February, Vaccines: Warriors and Worriers, which featured a debate on how vaccines work, why people are skeptical despite the evidence, and how disinformation about vaccines spreads online.

Also on the events panel were an immunologist named Zania Stamataki and Marianna Spring, the BBCs first specialist disinformation reporter. She has repeatedly perpetuated falsehoods about the size of anti-lockdown protests in 2020 and nature of their participants. In a bizarre experiment, she furthermore personally set up numerous fake troll accounts on assorted online platforms that engaged with misogynistic content, allegedly for academic purposes.

In May, Thorn published a characteristically ornate video, Ignorance & Censorship, which touched on the topic of disinformation and vaccines. The next month, Challenging Pseudoscience convened a similarly named panel discussion, Misinformation or Censorship.

Then, the newly-launched Challenging Pseudoscience podcast shared two prior Royal Institution debates  the aforementioned Vaccines: Warriors and worriers, and Disinformation and how to counter it, which featured none other than Amil Khan as a speaker. It would be entirely unsurprising if this deluge was a coordinated effort.

A wide-ranging, long-running, cross-platform propaganda campaign involving multiple actors requires substantial resources. Until 2020, however, the Royal Institution struggled financially despite its royal patronage and elite trustees.

The organization has been forced to rent out its grand central London headquarters for conferences, corporate bashes and weddings. To plug a multimillion pound budget deficit in late 2015, the Royal Institution auctioned off treasured first editions of works by Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and other eminent scientists. The fire sale prompted the BBC to ask whether the organization was on the verge of collapse.

Miraculously though, in October 2020, the Institution received hundreds of thousands of pounds from the UK governments 1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and ensure it has a sustainable future.

An accompanying press release noted the Royal Institution had over the course of the pandemic [developed] a successful programme of weekly science talks online broadcast via its well-established YouTube channel, which today boasts 1.11 million subscribers. The cash injection would increase the number of livestreamed science talks hosted by the organization, and help it develop new digital content.

Valent Projects staffer Hamish Falconer has disclosed that the exciting Challenging Pseudoscience campaign has also received generous support from the Open Society Foundations of CIA-adjacent billionaire George Soros.

As the Washington Posts David Ignatius reported in 1991, Soros was at the heart of a network of overt operators helping US intelligence carry out spyless coups against former Soviet satellite states.

In July 2021, Soros teamed up with fellow billionaire Bill Gates to purchase a UK-based Covid-19 test developer for $41 million.

Three months later, as Alex Rubinstein documented for The Grayzone, Soros partnered with tech oligarch Reid Hoffmann to found Good Information Inc, a social media censorship operation marketed under the aegis of countering disinformation.

Hamish is the son of Charlie Falconer, a longtime friend and former roommate of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Following Blairs May 1997 election victory, Falconer senior was elevated to the unelected House of Lords, and served in a series of high-ranking government posts throughout his pals tenure.

Along the way, he applied huge pressure to Attorney General Lord Goldsmith to change his view that invading Iraq would be illegal. His intervention may have played a decisive role in greenlighting the war of aggression.

Valent founder embedded into terrorist organizations, ran Syria psy-ops for armed extremists

Hamish Falconers hiring at Valent Projects in March 2021 highlights the firms deep ties to the UKs intelligence apparatus. At the time, he was ostensibly on leave from the UK Foreign Office.

Khan trumpeted Falconers hire on LinkedIn, declaring that he brings the action end to our work  experimenting and innovating with digital influence for good. Having met in Pakistan over a decade ago, the pair have not stopped talking and comparing notes since.

Falconers spartan online resume sheds little light on his professional history, noting only a spell at the UK governments Department for International Development, followed by a seven-month gap, before he joined the Foreign Office as a Diplomat until August 2020.

No detail is offered either on where Falconer has been posted, or what his role entailed at any point. He is a graduate of Yale Universitys Maurice R. Greenberg World Fellows Program, named for the AIG founder who nearly became CIA director. The Greenberg fellows program identifies and grooms prospective future influencers, including no shortage of US-backed would-be coup leaders. Among the most famous alumni of the program is jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

This is a tactic the CIA tried unsuccessfully in Venezuela. Incidentally, both Leonid Volkov and Navalny were fellows at Yale's Maurice "Hank" Greenberg program. While overseeing AIG's illicit practices, Greenberg reportedly sponsored CIA activity around the globe. https://t.co/g8yW6rRYUF pic.twitter.com/WGrqMig9WK  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) February 2, 2021

The Greenberg programs profile of Falconer states, he has led the Foreign Offices Terrorism Response Team, UK efforts to start a peace process in Afghanistan and served in Pakistan and South Sudan, and served a stint at the National Crime Agency  Londons equivalent of the FBI.

Counter-terror is not a stated Foreign Office purview, but just one of three core areas of focus for the UK foreign intelligence service MI6. It may just be a coincidence the agencys spies typically pose as diplomats overseas.

By contrast, Khans activities between December 2008, when he left his position as hostile environments reporter for the BBC, and October 2017, when he joined elite UK national security think tank Chatham House as an associate fellow  the next entry on his public CV  can be pieced together with much greater certitude, but still only approximately.

A leaked document indicates that he first crossed paths with Falconer while managing a countering violent extremism propaganda campaign for the UK government in Islamabad. The file relates to a Foreign Office funded effort to train articulate Syrian armed and civilian grassroots opposition entities, and promote them to Syrian and international audiences as a credible alternative to the government of Bashar al-Assad.

The project was delivered by ARK, a shadowy intelligence contractor founded by the likely MI6 operative, Alistair Harris, which has raked in innumerable lucrative contracts from waging covert information warfare operations on behalf of the UK government.

Khan was heavily involved in ARKs Syrian efforts. Another leaked file, outlining some of the companys work inside Syria shows that it oversaw a rebranding of the CIA-armed Free Syrian Army to portray it as a moderate, secular force unconnected to the hardcore jihadist factions that dominated the armed opposition. Khan is named as one of three operatives managing the media office of the parallel Syrian National Coalition government controlled by London through intelligence cutouts like ARK.

This work placed Khan in extremely close quarters with members of violent rebel factions implicated in hideous crimes against humanity. That he [provided] political and media support to opposition political and military groups in Syria has been openly confirmed. A scathing internal Whitehall review of the Foreign Offices information warfare operations in the country concluded they were poorly planned, probably illegal, and cost lives.

It wasnt the first time Khan been in such murderous company. At some point after leaving ARK in August 2014, he joined InCoStrat, another contractor that conducted destabilizing psy-ops on the UK governments behalf throughout the Syrian crisis. InCoStrat delivered strategic communications support to a variety of armed groups on-the-ground, including the notoriously brutal, Saudi-backed militia known as Jaysh al-Islam.

Khan also played a central role in this dubious initiative. In a document discussing its ability to [develop] contacts in Arabic-speaking conflict affected states, InCoStrat bragged how, in his previous career as a journalist, Khan established relationships with, and embedded himself into terrorist organizations in the UK and the Middle East, gaining unique insight into their narratives, communication methods, recruitment processes and management of networks as a result.

InCoStrat was founded by ex-Foreign Office political officer Emma Winberg and
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While the mainstream media continues to either outright propagandize the masses, or make abstruse any semblance of factual reporting, The Free Thought Project stays dedicated to bringing you the information they refuse to talk about.

Time and again MSM pundits have demonstrated themselves to be stenographers of the State rather than the arbiters of critical journalism speaking truth to power  Particularly in this day and age where examples like this are innumerable. This is why publications like ours exist.

To that point, living in such an era of deliberate deception via the corporate press as we do, there remains a plethora of vital stories the public needs to know that tends to slip through the cracks.

As such, TFTP has decided to resurrect an old practice of ours  In addition to our regular reporting we will also put forth the initiative to provide a collection of brief updates and further insight into additional news stories kept from the public eye, but very much within the publics right to know.

So here are five additional stories you likely havent heard from the mainstream media as they shoved Omicron down our throats 24/7:

1.) The Spying Scandal You Havent Heard Of: NodeXL.

By now most of us are aware of the constant illegal mass surveillance taking place on all members of the public at all times. Since the 2013 revelations of the NSAs illegal spying program by Edward Snowden, its become common knowledge.

However, new information about the extent of the surveillance state continues to come forward, despite the lack of headline coverage of it. What many may not be aware of is that it is not just the United States that has erected a global panopticon of 24/7 snoops. Our ally Israel is arguably the next runner-up in the how much illegal crap can we get away with contest.

Enter NodeXL; NodeXL is a popular software package used with a multitude of different Microsoft products. Its also recently been revealed as the means by which Israel has conducted its illegal spying operations on a plethora of unsuspecting people.

On a recent episode of RTs Redacted Tonight, journalist Lee Camp was joined by cybersecurity expert Sean OBrien who shed some light on this startling, though admittedly not necessarily surprising, disclosure.

OBrien went on to reveal that the technology has been utilized in coordination with the United States to mount massive surveillance campaigns on a number of those targeted as dissidents  which include but not limited to; supporters of Julian Assange, reporters within the alternative press, and other anti-establishment activists such as those who speak out against police brutality.

2.) New JFK Assassination Information Dismantles The Official Story

Oliver Stone is known for his legendary work as a writer and director in the film industry. Having his name attached to such classics as Scarface and Platoon. However, some of his most impactful work comes from the documentaries hes produced regarding the life and death of President John F. Kennedy.

Stone has never been a stranger to controversy, often speaking out against the war machine and asserting the importance of critical thinking. His latest documentary continues to follow in those footsteps.

JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass, as the name suggests is a powerful piece in which Stone revisits some of the most compelling and curious information regarding the death of President Kennedy amid the backdrop of newly uncovered information that purports to completely discredit the official story.

With Stone going so far as to say 

In the years since the Warren report there is so much more that we know. Conspiracy theories are now conspiracy facts.

A recent report featured in Covert Action Magazine, one of the oldest independent media publications to take aim at reporting clandestine affairs, sheds light on some of the bombshell information the film uncovers  directly implicating the apparatus of American intelligence agencies.

Stone teams up with fellow JFK assassination researchers to show how the former Presidents policies posed a threat to the ruling class and military industrial complex, exposing a web of intelligence community connections to both Lee Harvey Oswald, and Oswalds killer Jack Ruby.

They also examine the IC ties to the Warren Commission beyond CIA director Allen Dulles, the Commissions conflicts of interest, and subsequent cover-up.

3.) Fauci Emails Expose Propaganda Campaign Conspiracy.

By now it isnt a secret that Dr. Anthony Fauci is no stranger to controversy. In addition to the last two years of policy decisions proving what is either gross incompetence or willful deceit, and clearly apparent characteristic traits demonstrating him as an egotistical narcissist, document disclosures in recent months via the Freedom Of Information Act have exposed his career is one fraught with nefarious practices.

From the psychotic torture of innocent animals; to a stunning piece from Newsweek of all places recently revealing further documents showing Fauci and the NIH/NIAID committed several violations when conducting research to deliberately engineer a coronavirus pathogen specifically capable of causing a pandemic  research that even the morally destitute Pentagon thought was too dangerous  and even further skeletons in his closet laid bare by Robert F Kennedy Jr.

Faucis history begins to read like that of a mad scientist dreamed up in the mind of Mary Shelley.

But the controversy doesnt stop there. After a years worth of defamatory propaganda vilifying any of the countless reputable experts who dare pose a contrary opinion against lockdowns and mandates, newly released emails revealed that it was Dr. Fauci and Dr. Francis Collins of the NIH who were behind the concerted effort.

The report, courtesy of our colleagues at The Pulse, exemplifies how Fauci and his boss devised a conspiracy to demonize the signatories of The Great Berrington Declaration  respected epidemiologists from three of the worlds most prestigious universities who proposed pandemic management strategies alternative to lockdowns.

The emails specify their desire for a quick and devastating takedown of dissenting opinions  completely stifling any hope for authentic scientific discourse in a time when it was direly needed.

Upon publication of the documents, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor of medicine at Stanford University and one of the three original signatories of the Declaration, stated on Twitter 

In reality, what was the most quick and devastating were the lockdowns themselves. It has long been public knowledge that the impact of these measures has inflicted incomprehensibly irreparable damage to our civilization.

However, its been a boon for the wealthy predator class, while crushing middle-class workers and plunging millions into poverty  arguably the worst societal health catastrophe of a generation. And the progenitor of lockdown policies, Dr. Neil Ferguson, has since been exposed as being a career fraudster whose pandemic projections were determined after a review by independent experts to have been completely unreliable in the first place.

All of this has been public knowledge, with over 400 studies to date proving the failure of compulsory covid interventions. And, yet Fauci maintained his policy to denigrate any scientist who voiced concerns.

How many countless lives would have been spared had he just listened to the experts?

4.) Project Veritas Exposes More Pedophiles At CNN

The recent accounts exposing CNNs John Griffin were despicable enough. Last week it was reported that the producer who worked shoulder to shoulder with Chris Cuomo was charged and arrested with multiple counts of abusing several young children. Unfortunately, however, the saga continues.

James OKeefe and his team at Project Veritas published a new report last week that is even more disturbing than the previous one. OKeefe released a video explaining the circumstances under which their organization received the information and the decision to go public with it.

They were contacted by Janine Bonanni, a case manager for victims of human trafficking and sexual assault, who came forward with the evidence after the accused confessed his sick fantasies involving his 14-year-old stepdaughter.

An update on the story revealed the predator to be CNN producer Rick Saleeby, the producer most closely associated with CNNs Jake Tapper. According to Bonanni, Saleeby was comfortable disclosing this information to her due to her past as a sex worker, where they met.

But due to Bonannis newfound occupation, and recognizing the immediate danger, she made the decision to play along with his fantasy through text messages in order to extract enough credible evidence to bring to authorities.

Whether or not Saleeby remains employed by CNN is unclear, despite an investigation in which Fairfax County Police have seized all of his electronics.

OKeefes full interview with Bonanni can be seen below, but viewer discretion must be advised. Some of the content you are about to hear is extremely disturbing:

5.) Leaving Off On A Good Note

From dark and despicable to positive and uplifting. This final entry is less a story of its own, and more of an update to one of our recent articles. Last week TFTP brought you the story of the unlawful arrest of former presidential candidate Adam Kokesh  who was stopped, assaulted, and unjustly thrown in a cage for driving without license plates and possessing psilocybin mushrooms.

As we elaborated in our article, the policies of the drug war and the persecution of innocent persons for victimless infractions deemed crimes is an affront to liberty. But the injustices did not stop there. Upon his incarceration there were multiple accusations of further rights abuses by Saguache county officials.

Worse still, he was not the only one subjected to cruel treatment. His dogs, which were confiscated and sent to the local pound, were left in an outdoor kennel and forced to endure sub-freezing temperatures of the Colorado winter, suffering frostbite on their ears as a result. The dogs were thankfully, however, soon retrieved by friends of Kokesh.

During this ordeal Kokesh mounted a protest from inside the jail, peacefully and passively refusing to cooperate with the booking process, standing on the principle that he would not confess to a crime that was not committed. He thus brought the unjust system to a standstill.

Things were made even more complicated when the email address provided by the county for public thoughts and concerns began to return warnings that senders were misusing the email system and would be blocked if they continue to do so.

The abrupt change of policy was more than likely a response to the flood of emails the small county began to receive from supporters of Kokesh from across the country. As a result, his partner, Joie Leigh, was poised to hand deliver printed copies of the hundreds of emails directly to the judge the morning of Adams arraignment, unsure of how long this treacherous tribulation would stretch through the holidays.

However, we here at The Free Thought Project are very happy to report that on the night of Tuesday, December 21st, what could possibly be called a Christmas miracle happened. Suddenly, the tyrants of Saguache County surrendered. That evening, Adam Kokesh was freed once more with all charges dropped.

Kokesh himself provided a full update on the events surrounding his incarceration, protest, and release on the latest episode of his podcast Adam vs. The Man linked below.

The greater lesson that can be learned from this circumstance is that passive resistance works!

When you stand for the principles of truth, justice, liberty, and non-aggression, undoubtedly the system which predicates itself on violence and oppression will push back against you. But if you stand firm on those principles and force the system to expose itself  it crumbles under the weight of its own corruption.

Kokeshs latest act is a lesson for all to learn about the power of civil disobedience. It is how we change the system, by peacefully refusing to comply with absurdities and making them obsolete.

Adams release isnt just a victory for him. Its a glimmer of hope that if more people follow his example we can still change things for the better. Its a win for supporters of liberty everywhere, because regardless of personal or ideological differences, it exemplifies that if we all stand up against the system together, the people CAN win.

Source: The Free Thought Project

About the author  Don Via Jr. is an independent researcher and journalist from central Virginia, who has dedicated the last ten years to studying history, political science, geopolitics, and covert operations, and raising awareness about government corruption and abuses. He is a regular contributor to The Free Thought Project and his work has been featured in publications such as Activist Post, Waking Times, and others. He is the founder of the independent media outlet Break The Matrix, where more of his work can be found. As well as on associated social media on MeWe, Twitter, and Minds.
Tom Hollands new film, Spider-Man: No Way Home, is a huge hit, enjoying the second-highest US domestic box office opening of all time.

Yet off-screen, Holland is engaged in another battle. He is taking to task critics such as Martin Scorsese who have dismissed superhero films, arguing that movies like No Way Home are in fact real art.

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is taking on the action movie critics. Credit:Sony Pictures

You can ask [Martin] Scorsese Would you want to make a Marvel movie? But he doesnt know what its like because hes never made one, Holland told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ive made Marvel movies and Ive also made movies that have been in the conversation in the world of the Oscars, and the only difference, really, is one is much more expensive than the other.
Chronic pain is both one of the worlds most costly medical problems, affecting one in every five people, and one of the most mysterious. In the past two decades, however, discoveries about the crucial role played by glia  a set of nervous system cells once thought to be mere supports for neurons  have rewritten chronic pain science.

These findings have given patients and doctors a hard-science explanation that chronic pain previously lacked. By doing so, this emerging science of chronic pain is beginning to influence care  not by creating new treatments, but by legitimising chronic pain so that doctors take it more seriously.

Its still not clear exactly how or why this glial mismanagement develops. It can emerge either after an injury or seemingly out of nowhere. Credit:iStock

Although glia are scattered throughout the nervous system and take up almost half its space, they long received far less scientific attention than neurons, which do the majority of signalling in the brain and body. Some types of glia resemble neurons, with roughly starfish-like bodies, while others look like structures built with Erector sets, their long, straight structural parts joined at nodes.

When first discovered in the mid-1800s, glia  from the Greek word for glue  were thought to be just connective tissue holding neurons together. Later they were rebranded as the nervous systems janitorial staff, as they were found to feed neurons, clean up their waste and take out their dead. In the 1990s they were likened to secretarial staff when it was discovered they also help neurons communicate. Research over the past 20 years, however, has shown that glia dont just support and respond to neuronal activity like pain signals  they often direct it, with enormous consequences for chronic pain.
If you go searching for the Australian Department of the Arts, good luck. Because it doesnt exist. Its hidden away in the small airless basement of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications. There may as well be a Do Not Disturb sign on the door.

Its certainly closed to the iconic Circus Oz that is set to bring down the curtain on 44 years of inspired, risk-taking performance. There may be many factors at play here but the central one is a lack of funding. It just needs $2.6 million.

Circus Oz performers. Credit:Eddie Jim

This is sadly symptomatic of the closure of many arts companies that are always scrambling for support as government funding is slashed. Now many have found life under COVID to be impossible. One by one they exit the stage, in the terms of Shakespeares famous stage direction, pursued by a (financial) bear.

Full disclosure: I am a NIDA graduate in theatre directing. Carving a career in the arts takes perseverance, hard work, imagination, talent and luck. And by career I mean finding work then hoping that the next gig isnt too far away. Its a tough, hardscrabble life and was beyond me.
Long wait times on COVID-19 test results and a rising number of cases are triggering staff shortages and forcing small businesses to shut their doors during what would have otherwise been a bustling trading period.

Chiefs of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group and the Council of Small Business Australia have called for rapid antigen testing to be ramped up to alleviate the blowout in PCR test waiting times, which is forcing some workers to isolate longer than necessary.

Currently, businesses are waiting days for PCR tests to know if their workers are infectious. Workplaces need to have every tool available to them to avoid snap closures and reduce the risk to their employees, their customers and the community, Chamber of Commerce chief executive Andrew McKellar said.

Introducing free and accessible rapid testing to businesses will provide an additional line of defence to give businesses the certainty and confidence they desperately need, and ensures staff and customers are safe in the workplace.
The acting Premier said a lot of demand for testing was down to interstate travel requirements. Queensland authorities announced on Tuesday that Victorians no longer have to get a COVID-19 test on day five of their trip once in the state, although they still have to receive a PCR test within 72 hours of departing for Queensland. Responding to a journalists question about one particular case, wherein a mans relative said he missed the birth of his first child because he was waiting in line to get tested, Ms Allan said she appreciated that in some cases, theres some really challenging circumstances. Authorities have asked travellers to get their tests after midday to ease pressure on facilities. Credit:Scott McNaughton The acting Premier said authorities were working hard to get the 24-hour turnaround rate back up to 90 per cent, where it has been previously. The Department of Health was also working with one pathology company in particular  4Cyte  after they had issues with their equipment, she said.

One of the pathology companys PCR test analysers was broken as of Tuesday morning, but the department said Victorias public and private testing laboratories used many analysers, and it was not having a significant effect on result turnaround times. The Department of Health, Im advised, are working with that company ... to look at ways that efficiencies can be made to their system, Ms Allan said. But again, I think its important to place this in that context of where we have had a huge amount of tests processed over the last five days, and thats a credit to Victorians. Its a credit to those healthcare workers that are either at testing sites or in the pathology labs who have worked incredibly hard to get these tests turned around.

Victoria set a record of 2738 COVID-19 new cases on Tuesday, surpassing the previous record of 2297 cases reported by the Department of Health in mid-October.

The number of new coronavirus cases was also nearly 740 more than that recorded on Monday. All but three of the new cases were locally acquired, with Hume, Wyndham, Melbourne, Brimbank, Darebin, Whittlesea, Moonee Valley, Melton, Casey, and Yarra among the local government areas with the highest case numbers. There were 124 COVID-related cases in the intensive care unit and, of those, 69 were active virus cases. Another 55 had been cleared of their COVID-19 infections, while 33 were on a ventilator.

More than 22,489 close contacts of a confirmed case were also isolating across the state. Professor Sutton said modelling had predicted an increase in infections in December and January, but the Omicron strain of the virus showed the pandemic was far from over. Were still learning about this variant, so were taking careful steps to ensure the safety and health of everyone in the community like wearing masks and getting tested  but one thing we know that works against this variant is that crucial third dose, he said. On Monday, 533 people rolled up their sleeves across Victoria to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a state-run hub. Testing facilities were once again overwhelmed as 66,683 results were processed. Several facilities were forced to close within minutes of opening on Tuesday morning, after at least four hit capacity by about 7.15am, including Deakin Universitys Burwood testing hub, Springers Leisure Centre, Bourke Street Melbourne walk-in, and Moonee Valley Racecourse.

By about 8.20am, the list of testing sites out-of-action and at full capacity had grown to 12. There were still a dozen sites closed about midday. Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Commonwealth was pushing the states and territories towards having a greater reliance on rapid antigen testing. Loading We believe ahead of interstate travel [requiring] a rapid antigen test, as opposed to a PCR test, is not only quicker and cheaper, but it also prevents the overload of the system pressure that weve seen in Victoria and NSW recently, the Treasurer told 3AW on Tuesday morning. Mr Frydenberg said while the Commonwealth encouraged the states and territories to dig into their pockets to fund free rapid antigen tests, it was also looking at its options to provide more free tests.

Peak business groups have called for rapid antigen testing to be ramped up to alleviate the blowout in PCR test waiting times, which is forcing some workers to isolate longer than necessary, triggering staff shortages and causing small businesses to shut their doors. Meanwhile, pharmacists have also warned Australians interstate travel plans could be dealt a fresh blow by a shortage of rapid antigen tests, and urged states and territories to urgently secure supplies and foot the bill for the kits amid unprecedented demand. Loading Pharmacy Guild president Professor Trent Twomey said a week ago, pharmacies around the country had ample supply of the self-testing kits, but demand exploded before Christmas. As more states drop PCR testing requirements for travel, demand will continue to grow. Right now were down to dozens and we might have none today, Professor Twomey said on Monday. I cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet the demand, which means I cannot guarantee that people will be able to travel.

Pharmacies were under the most pressure in areas with outbreaks, including Greater Sydney and Melbourne, he said. Melbourne University epidemiologist Professor Nancy Baxter said the positivity rate from PCR testing, which stood at 6.5 per cent in NSW, showed people were getting tested because they genuinely needed to. NSW reported 6062 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday. There arent more people getting unnecessary tests than when the positivity rate was, you know, 1 per cent, she said. Undoubtedly, the testing centres are being overwhelmed, but its not because people are using the service different than they did before  its because theres just much more Omicron and so many contacts. Ms Allan said she was not in a position to make any announcement about rapid antigen tests on Tuesday, but noted they were available for free at state-run testing clinics for workplace, education and childcare and COVID contacts.
New York: Jurors in British socialite Ghislaine Maxwells sex trafficking trial deliberated for a third full day without reaching a verdict, after reviewing the testimony of one of the late financier Jeffrey Epsteins personal pilots.

As they resumed their work after a Christmas break, they signalled they had a great deal to debate as they requested office supplies: a whiteboard, post-it notes and highlighters.

The jury also requested transcripts from two witnesses as well as a definition of the word enticement, an element in two of the six charges Maxwell faces.

Maxwell, who turned 60 on Christmas Day, is accused of recruiting and grooming four teenage girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, her ex-boyfriend and employer, between 1994 and 2004. Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex abuse charges.
Pfizer's antiviral pill Paxlovid will be used for adults or children 12 years and older. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters)

According to South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pills have been authorized for emergency use.

Paxlovid has been cleared to treat mild to moderate coronavirus infections in patients at heightened risk of hospitalization or fatality, health officials said.

South Korea has purchased 604,000 pill-type COVID-19 therapies and is seeking to increase its stock of home remedies to 1 million, joining a nationwide race to get tablet formulations that are emerging as the new hope in the protracted struggle against the virus.

South Korea reinstated strict distancing restrictions last week after relaxing them in November, following a succession of record daily new infections and dangerous cases that strained medical systems, despite a vaccination rate of over 92% for people aged 18 and older.

Health officials expect Paxlovid to aid in the prevention of major deterioration in patients admitted to residential treatment centers or treated at home by diversifying COVID-19 treatments beyond the injections currently used in the field, drug safety minister Kim Gang-lip said at a press briefing.

South Korea has already obtained 604,000 pill-based courses - 242,000 under the Merck label and 362,000 under the Pfizer label, the Korea Agency for Disease Prevention and Control disclosed on Monday. The country intends to order an additional 400,000 units early next month.

Following Pfizer's pill form treatment, the U.S. FDA gave the green light for Merck's COVID-19 therapy pill molnupiravir for emergency usage last week.

While Pfizer's pill was proven to minimize serious sickness and death from COVID-19 infection by 88%, Merck's investigational medication exhibited a 30% efficacy rate.

Because of the superior advantages and lesser side effects, governments are hurrying to select Pfizer's medicine as their first line of defense.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry organized a team of specialists from both inside and outside the country to assess the safety and efficacy of Paxlovid, and decided the pill is needed to address the ongoing global health crisis.

The treatment is a protease inhibitor antiviral therapy that has been specifically developed to be taken orally, allowing it to be provided at the first sign of infection or awareness of an exposure.

The medicine will be prescribed to adults or children 12 years of age or older who weigh more than 40 kilograms and have mild to moderate symptoms with a high risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus because of the factors such as underlying disorders.
will begin exporting high quality, low sulphur coal from its Carmichael mine in as early as this week, after battling a seven-year campaign by climate activists and defying a global push away from fossil fuels.

With this, the group taps a new multi-decade source to meet energy needs. The first shipment of high-quality coal from the Carmichael mine is being assembled at the North Queensland Export Terminal in Bowen ready for export as planned, Bravus Mining & Resources  Adani Group's Australian mining company  said in a statement.

The exports, a source said, may start as early as within this week.

The conglomerate run by Indias second-richest man Gautam Adani has planned an initial production of 10 million tonnes a year from the mines in the Galilee Basin. The coal has low sulphur content and high calorific value.

We have already secured the market for the 10 million tonnes per annum of coal that will be produced at the Carmichael mine, it said. That coal will be sold at index adjusted pricing, meaning all taxes and royalties will be paid in  The firm did not share pricing details.

Coal is almost entirely destined for India, where fossil fuel is used to generate nearly 70 per cent of the





The Carmichael project, proposed in 2010, had provoked a sustained campaign by climate activists in and other places globally, forcing banks and insurers not to work with The ports-to-energy conglomerate self-financed the project and reduced its size to a sixth of its potential (60 million tonnes). BNY Mellon last month said it would stop working with Adani in Australia, the latest institution to do so.

That sharpening of the plan has kept operating costs to a minimum and ensured the project remains within the first quartile of the global cost curve, Adanis Australian CEO Lucas Dow told Reuters.

The Carmichael mine is located in the North Galilee Basin, more than 300 kilometres from the Queensland coastline and approximately 160 km north-west of Clermont in regional Queensland.

The firm had in July this year stated that it has struck coal and exposed the first of coal seams at the Carmichael project in Queensland.

Carmichael coal will contribute to Adani Groups burgeoning energy portfolio that is designed to create a sustainable energy mix, incorporating, thermal power, solar power, wind power and gas.

The coal will be exported from a terminal at Abbot Point, which Adani bought for $2 billion in 2011 and renamed North Queensland Export Terminal.

Analysts said it made sense for Adani to dig the mine to help it make back the massive investment on the coal terminal, which has run nearly half empty since Adani acquired it. Its about maximising your cash flow returns on the railway line and maximising your profits on Abbot Point, said Tim Buckley, a director at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The handover of Air India to Tata Sons is unlikely to be completed in December, and may see some delay due to pending approvals and processes. The requirements for fulfilling condition precedents are yet to be fully met, after which the long stop date will be clear, an official said.

The government was looking to hand over Air India to Tata Sons-backed Talace by December-end. Long stop date is the timeframe during which the buyer and the seller agree to fulfill all condition precedents to complete a transaction. Long stop date is generally 45 days from the day of execution of the ...
(AL) said on Monday its entering the used vehicles business by tying up with Shriram Automall India Limited (SAMIL), a marketplace connecting pre-owned vehicles and equipment buyers and sellers.

The will launch a physical and digital platform for facilitating the exchange, disposal and purchase of old commercial vehicles. Ashok Leyland, the flagship company of the Hinduja group, aims to streamline the used vehicle market by leveraging its commercial vehicle digital ecosystem and partners for physical interactions in over 100 locations across India. The company aims to bring in more transparency into used vehicles business.

With our aspirations to be an end-to-end mobility solutions provider, this partnership will help establish our presence in the pre-owned commercial vehicle segment. With our experience as one of the largest truck makers, this initiative will help to debottleneck the ecosystem through a consumer-centric digital solution which will serve as an easy-to-use touchpoint for our consumers," said Sanjay Saraswat, Head - medium and heavy commercial vehicles, The company expects that the initiative will also help it in the implementation of the governments vehicle scrappage policy.

The company said that through facilities like an exchange, disposal, hybrid, and special vehicle inspection, the platform aims to become the first choice amongst the customers considering an exchange of their vehicles. This will create an opportunity for to reach as many fleets and single truck owners across India, as possible, it said.

It gives us immense pleasure to collaborate with Ashok Leyland to mark their entry into the used vehicle market. SAMIL is living on to the mission to bring innovative digital solutions to enhance the customer experience to the next level," said Sameer Malhotra, chief executive officer, Shriram Automall India.

"Through the OEMs expertise of the Commercial Vehicle segment and our Phygital auctions platforms which include over 100 Automall network strength spread across India, we aim to create all-inclusive mobility solutions for buyers and sellers, he said.

Sanjeev Kumar, who is in charge of the sales and network of Ashok Leyland's MHCV business said, "We are glad to associate with Shriram Automall for the used vehicle market. Our knowledge of the commercial vehicle segment and Shrirams existing customer base in the used-vehicle space, will together aim to create a larger ecosystem for customers."
: Electronic parts maker which recently faced a protest by women contract workers over food poisoning, has postponed its plan to resume its factory by a "day or two" in neighbouring Sriperumbudur, sources told PTI on Monday.

The Taiwan-based firm was supposed to resume its operations on Monday after the facility remained shut for a week after contract workers with a majority of them comprising women, resorted to a protest after they were allegedly fed with poor quality food at the accommodation provided by the company.

The government taking cognisance of the protest, advised the company to enhance the basic amenities provided to the over 15,000 employees like stepping up adequate infrastructure at hostels and providing restroom facilities and rooms with ventilation.

Two sources including a government source confirmed to PTI on Monday that has decided to extend the closure of the unit by a day or two. "It will take a day or two... The management will decide...," a top government source told PTI.

During a recent meeting with senior government officials, representatives had assured that they would implement the guidelines as directed by the government.

The facility would be ramped up further and new jobs would be created at the unit, a government release quoting the officials had said.

A detailed query sent to Foxconn did not elicit any response.

(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.)
Tech major on Monday filed a writ petition in the High Court, seeking more time to respond to queries of Competition Commission of India (CCI) on a probe into the use of Googles Play Store payment system for in-app purchases and paid apps.

Earlier this month, had extended the timeline for developers to integrate with the Play store's billing system to October 31 2022, which is one of the reasons for seeking more time.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: We have filed a writ in High Court regarding the interim relief application in the Google Play probe by the CCI, seeking to move forward in line with established due process principles. We respect the CCIs investigative process and will continue to engage cooperatively and constructively in the interest of a fair investigation.

According to sources, the company has asked for the identity of the complainant to be disclosed to respond adequately to the questions, as well the appointment of a judicial member on the panel.

While extending the deadline to comply with the changes in Play Store payment system, the company had then said: We recognize the unique needs of the developer ecosystem in India and remain committed to partnering with developers in India on their growth journey. In October 2020, we had announced 31st March 2022 as the timeline for developers in India to integrate with Plays billing system. We are extending this to 31st October 2022 to provide developers in India the required product support for recurring payments through convenient user payment systems, including UPI and wallets, and also provide them more time in light of the changes to Indias recurring digital payments guidelines.

The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) had filed the plea for interim relief from Googles updated payment system with CCI on October 6.

Meanwhile, ADIF termed the writ petition of Google yet another delay tactic and an attempt to frustrate the antitrust process. The only commitments that have been consistent on the part of Google throughout this entire antitrust process has been their commitment to a) delay the process in every way possible and b) protecting their super profits from the app economy (by) abusing its dominance. We exhort Google to comply with the antitrust process in good faith and as per the directives of the CCI, said Sijo Kuruvilla George, the executive director, ADIF.

The CCI had in 2020 directed a probe into Play Stores payment system. As part of the probe, it had asked Google to respond to its queries by November 19, 2021. The US internet giant had then asked for eight weeks time to respond.

Since then, Indian start-ups and unicorns have been claiming that Google abuses its monopoly, enforces the billing system and takes a 30 per cent commission on transactions. All apps distributed on the Google Play Store, that offer in-app purchases of digital goods, need to use Google Plays billing system.

Both Google and Apple Stores have been facing backlash from developers in several geographies over their business practices on their app stores.

In October this year, Google had said that starting January 1 2022, it will decrease the service fee for all subscriptions on Google Play to 15 per cent from 30 per cent, and for developers offering subscriptions, this means that first-year subscription fees will be cut in half.
Serial entrepreneur Pankhuri Shrivastava, founder of a women-focused social community platform called iPankhurii and Grabhouse passed away on December 24 at the age of 32.

Shrivastava previously founded rental Grabhouse which was sold to online classifieds company Quikr in a cash and equity deal in 2016.

"Yesterday, it came as a shock to me when I found out that @pankhuri16 is no more. I remember her as a vivacious bright woman full of ideas and full of life. She was confident. That was something you noticed about her immediately," Vani Kola, founder of Kalaari Capital, tweeted on Sunday.

"Her demise is a loss for our ecosystem. We lost a bright and young founder, but I know her legacy will live on. It was truly a privilege to know Pankhuri," Kola posted in the tribute on US-based microblogging platform Twitter.

32-year-old serial entrepreneur is credited for creating a brand 'Pankhuri' for women members to socialise.

Kola added, "My heart reaches out to her family at this untimely tragedy."

Pankhuri graduated with an engineering degree from RGTU in Bhopal. She also taught in municipal schools in Mumbai under the fellowship programme of Teach for India.

"Deeply saddened and shocked by this sudden loss. Pankhuri was so full of life, ideas and passion and had missionary zeal. We loved having Pankhuri in our Surge family and we will miss you so dearly. Thoughts and prayers are with her family in this very difficult time," Ranjan Anandan, Managing Director of Sequoia India mentioned in a tweet.

--IANS

wh/dpb

(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.)
Ltd, the nation's second-largest state-owned oil explorer, is setting up a plant to manufacture green at its Jorhat oilfield in Assam, the company said in a statement.

"To strengthen its bouquet of clean energy offerings", the company has initiated action for setting up a 100 kW green plant at its Pump station-3 in Jorhat, it said.

The pilot plant will generate green using AEM technology, it said without giving details. "This is a first of its kind project in the country."



Speaking on the occasion of the 'bhumi pujan' ceremony of the project, Pankaj Kumar Goswami, Director (Operations) said the hydrogen so generated will be blended with natural gas using the existing infrastructure.

Hydrogen being the cleanest form of energy is the latest focus area across the globe to satiate the rising energy needs. Green hydrogen is derived from water electrolysis using renewable energy like solar or wind.

Biomass-based hydrogen production technologies also qualify under the green category.

The government proposed the National Hydrogen Mission in the Union Budget 2021-22, initiating a hydrogen roadmap for the country.The mission was announced in August this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the Paris agreement (COP 21), by the year 2030, India is committed to reducing its greenhouse emissions by 33-35 per cent from the 2005 levels. This has necessitated finding alternative sources of cleaner energy.

(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 Reserve Bank of India has approved the re-designation of Rajiv Anand as the Deputy Managing Director of Axis Bank, the lender said on Monday.

In October this year, the board of directors of the bank approved to re-designate Rajiv Anand as the Deputy Managing Director of the bank, subject to approval of the Reserve Bank of India, and the shareholders of the bank.

"The Reserve Bank of India vide its letter dated December 27, 2021, has approved the re-designation of Rajiv Anand as the Deputy Managing Director of the bank from the date of its communication and co-terminus with his approved term of appointment till August 3, 2022 (both days inclusive)," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Anand is the Executive Director (Wholesale Banking) of the bank since December 2018.

Anand, 55, had joined Axis Bank in May 2013 from its asset management arm, Axis Asset Management Co Ltd, where he was the Managing Director & CEO.

Anand was appointed as a director of the bank in May 2016 and thereafter as the Executive Director (Retail Banking) in August 2016.

(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.)
Markets regulator on Monday imposed a monetary fine on two employees of Ltd, for disclosure lapses, in violation of insider trading norms.

had informed regarding instances of the violation of the code of conduct framed by the company under the Prohibition of Insider Trading (PIT) norms by two of its employees.

The investigation was carried out during January-March 2019.

Praveen Udhayasuriyan and G V D Prasad Rao had failed to make the requisite disclosures within the stipulated time for their transactions in the firm's scrip, in terms of PIT norms.

in separate orders noted that their violations affect multiple stakeholders and have an impact on the entire securities market.

The regulator has levied a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them.

Separately, Sebi slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on two employees of Titan Company Ltd.

Pooja Chauhan and Rajesh Chamy, being employees of the company, were required to make disclosures to Titan for their transactions.

The disclosure requirements in terms of PIT regulations were triggered because their traded value of transactions in the scrip of Titan exceeded Rs 10 lakh.

The order follows an investigation conducted during April 2018-March 2019.

The regulator had received a letter from Titan, wherein the company intimated about violation of PIT regulations and the company's code of conduct for the prevention of insider trading by some of its designated persons/employees.

(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.)
It was a golden year for start-ups, with 42 of them turning Unicorns (achieving $1-bn valuation) at record pace. For perspective, India is now home to 79 Unicorns, and the first one  inMobi  got the tag back in 2011. In June, Byjus became Indias most valued start-up. Founded by Byju Raveendran, it is also the worlds most valued edtech start-up. The firm is said to be in talks to go public in the US next year at $48-bn valuation.

A bitter years-long legal battle between Tata Sons and Cyrus Mistry ended in March when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of The court said the 2016 ouster of Mistry as chairman was legal, rejecting the mismanagement allegations of the former executive whose family is the single-largest shareholder in the nations biggest conglomerate with an 18% stake. The court also upheld Tata Groups rules on minority shareholder rights, making it difficult for investors to sell shares. Mistry had taken over as chairman ofTata Sons in 2012 from group patriarch Ratan Tata.

With a Rs 18,000-crore bid, the Tatas were back in the cockpit this October, 68 years after the airline they founded in 1932 was nationalised. The deal marked the end of years of struggle to privatise the heavily indebted state carrier. This was also the first privatisation in India in almost two decades. The Jawaharlal Nehru government had in 1953 paid Rs 2.8 crore for the carrier  the countrys first commercial airline.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

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Ltd on Monday said a committee of directors has approved raising up to Rs 1,000 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

The meeting was held on Monday, said in a filing to BSE.

"The duly authorised committee of directors at its meeting ...considered and approved offering for subscription, on a private placement basis, up to 10,000 nos secured, rated, listed, redeemable, ...aggregating up to Rs 1,000 crore," the filing said.

Vedanta, a subsidiary of Resources Ltd, is one of the world's leading oil & gas and metals company with significant operations in oil & gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, steel, and aluminium and power across India, South Africa and Namibia.

(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.)
With just three days left for the deadline of (ITR) filing for financial year 2020-21 (assessment year 2021-22), around 46.4 million tax returns have been filed, a top government official said. This comes even as there were many complaints on social media by filers regarding glitches in the income tax portal, which is being maintained by Infosys.

We have had 129,000 filings just in the last hour (till 8 pm) and will cross 1,600,000 filings on Monday. There have been more than 46.4 million returns filed so far for AY22, the official told Business Standard.

A second official said the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Infosys were constantly monitoring the portal as well as the complaints on social media.

The official said that in many cases, issues were occurring not because of any glitches but because the filers had entered incorrect details or wrong one-time passwords (OTPs).

On Monday, #Extend_Due_Date_Immediately was trending on social media platform twitter. Many users, who identified themselves as chartered accountants, posted photos and screenshots of the glitches. Most of these were regarding how users filled all the details, yet their ITRs were not being accepted.

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) president Nihar Jambusaria was not available for comment.

However, a representative of the body said it was monitoring the situation as well and would be in touch with the finance ministry.

Against the backdrop of Covid, the government had extended the date of filing for AY22 to December 31, 2021, from July 31, 2021.
Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.



As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.



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Digital Editor
New entrant Aam Aadmi Party has emerged as the leading outfit in the Municipal Corporation polls, winning 14 of 35 wards in the final results declared on Monday.

The BJP, which enjoyed a majority in the previous MC House, came a close second registering win in 12 wards while the Congress bagged eight seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.

However, the Congress secured 29.79 per cent votes, highest of the three parties. The BJP got 29.30 per cent of votes while AAP got 27.08 per cent votes.

BJP leader and current city mayor Ravi Kant Sharma was defeated by AAP's Damanpreet Singh from Ward No.17 by a margin of 828 votes.

No party achieved simple majority. A party need 19 votes to have its councillor elected as mayor.

Delhi CM and AAP's convener termed the party's success an indicative of coming change in Punjab, which is going to polls early next year.

On the election of mayor, AAP leader Manish Sisodia said they are ready to "welcome good persons of every party".

AAP leader Raghav Chadha called his party's performance a "trailer" before the Punjab Assembly polls.

is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

This time, the number of wards in the city was increased from 26 to 35.

In the last MC elections, the BJP had won 20 seats and its erstwhile ally SAD one. The Congress had managed to win only four seats.

Traditionally, the municipal elections, held every five years, see a locking of horns between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP's entry made the contest this time triangular.

In the results declared on Monday, former mayor and BJP candidate Davesh Moudgil lost to AAP's Jasbir by 939 votes from Ward No. 21.

In Ward No. 25, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Vijay Kaushal Rana was defeated by Yogesh Dhingra of AAP by a margin of 315 votes.

The ward was earlier represented by BJP president Arun Sood.

Among the prominent winners, Harpreet Kaur Babla of the Congress, wife of party senior leader Devinder Singh Babla, won with a margin of 3,103 votes, defeating Rashi Bhasin of the BJP in Ward No.10.

Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP registered a win from Ward Number 14, defeating AAP's Kuldeep Singh by a margin of 255 votes.

From this ward, Chandigarh Congress chief Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla had also entered the fray.

Reacting to his party's performance, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the party's victory is a sign of coming change in Punjab.

Congratulating his party's candidates and workers, he said people of Chandigarh have chosen "honest politics" of AAP, rejecting the "corrupt politics" of its rival parties.

Addressing the media here, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia said people of Chandigarh have given a message that they want only politics of work.

He asserted there would be AAP's mayor, adding that people have given a mandate for this.

Replying to a question if the Congress extends support, Sisodia said, "We will welcome good persons of every party. Some of those who have won in the MC polls have expressed interest in supporting the mandate of people of Chandigarh."



Asked if "good persons" could be from the BJP, Sisodia said, "Yes, it could be."



Hitting out at the BJP and the Congress, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said people were fed up with them as they failed to deliver despite being given chance repeatedly.

People were looking for an "honest, viable alternative", he said.

"These two traditional parties failed to undertake development and bring about a change in the system, which people wanted. People saw how an ordinary councillor, who used to roam on bicycle and scooter, has big farmhouses and accumulated properties," said Chadha.

Asked if the results will have any impact on the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha quipped, "This is just a trailer."



"People of Chandigarh have given a chance to Kejriwal, people of Punjab too will give us one chance," he added.

Reacting to his win against the sitting mayor, AAP's Damanpreet Singh said he gives credit for this victory to city party leader Pradeep Chhabra, whom he called "his guru", party convener Arvind Kejriwal.

Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood said, "Results are not according to our expectations. People have given a divided verdict. No party, as per results, has a simple majority."



Sood told reporters that the the BJP has 13 votes in the House. It includes the vote of sitting MP Kirron Kher, who is a BJP leader and ex-officio member of the MC House.

He said the BJP will try that a BJP leader becomes the mayor.

Reacting to the results, Chandigarh Congress president Subhash Chawla accused the BJP and the AAP of helping each other in the polls and allegedly using money power to keep his party out.

"Our vote share is maximum but in democracy one goes by number game and in this AAP has maximum seats," said Chawla.

Asked if Congress will support AAP for mayoral post now, Chawla replied, "We do not need to do this. When the BJP and AAP can fight elections together, now let both parties support each other, then there will be no need for voting".

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 48-year-old returnee from Tanzania on Monday tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Manipur, making him the first patient of the strain in the northeastern state, the Directorate of Health Services said.

The resident of Imphal West district recently returned from the African country via Delhi, it said.

The man tested positive for COVID-19 on the eighth day of his return to India, and his sample, which was sent to the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development in Imphal for whole-genome sequencing, was found to be infected with the Omicron strain, the directorate said.

The patient has been placed under isolation at state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences here, and he has not exhibited any severe symptoms, it said, adding that his temperature, respiratory and pulse rates are being constantly monitored.

Three other family members of the Omicron patient have also tested positive for COVID-19, but their genome sequencing results are yet to come, it added.

Manipur reported 17 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the state's tally to 1,25,723. The northeastern state now has 182 active cases, while 1,23,540 people have recovered from the disease so far, and 2,001 patients have succumbed to the infection to date.

(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 reported over 150 fresh infections with Goa and Manipur on Monday registering their first cases as the total tally of this latest variant of COVID-19 touched nearly 600.

With the surge in cases, the Centre issued a fresh advisory to all states and union territories, asking them not to let the guard down.

According to Union Health Ministry data updated in the morning, 156 fresh cases of were logged, taking the tally of such cases to 578. However, 151 out of the 578 people, who contracted the infection, have recovered or migrated.

The 578 cases have been detected across 19 states and union territories with Delhi recording the maximum number of 142 cases followed by Maharashtra at 141, Kerala 57, Gujarat 49, Rajasthan 43 and Telangana 41.

India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,47,93,333, while the active cases declined to 75,841, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The death toll has climbed to 4,79,997 with 315 fresh fatalities, the data stated.

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said states and union territories may consider imposing need based, local curbs and restrictions, to control the crowd during the festive season. A number of states have already imposed curbs on congregation of people besides night curfew.

A 48-year-old returnee from Tanzania tested positive for variant in Manipur, making him the first patient of the strain in the northeastern state.

The Directorate of Health Services in Imphal said the man, a resident of Imphal West district, recently returned via Delhi. He tested positive on the eighth day of his return to India.

He has been placed under isolation at the state-run Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences in Imphal, and he has not exhibited any severe symptoms, officials said.

Three other family members of the man have also tested positive for COVID-19, but their genome sequencing results are yet to come.

In Panaji, an eight-year-old boy, who arrived from the UK, was confirmed to be infected with Omicron.

The Delhi government on Sunday had decided to re-impose night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am from Monday in view of surge in daily cases and significant rise in positivity rate. According to a graded response action plan, a 'Yellow' alert will come into force, bringing a set of restrictions.

Maharashtra reported 26 new cases, including 11 in Mumbai, of the Omicron variant, taking the state's tally of those infected with the new strain to 167.

During the day, Haryana reported two more cases of the Omicron variant, pushing the tally of such cases to 12 in the state.

In view of the emergence of the Omicron cases, the Haryana government has already imposed a night curfew and restrictions on gatherings from Saturday. It has also said people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated will be banned from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, from January 1.

Three more persons tested positive for Omicron in Uttarakhand, taking the number of people infected with the latest variant to four in the state.

One of the three cases is a 28-year-old man who had returned from Yemen and tested positive for the Omicron variant in Haridwar.

The two others are a 74-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman who had come into contact with a family that had returned from Dubai and tested positive for the strain in Dehradun.

Gujarat reported 24 new cases of the Omicron variant, raising the tally to 73.

In Indore, the health department has sent for tests samples of 164 people, who came in contact with nine people found infected with the new Omicron variant.

Out of these 164 people, if anyone tests positive for coronavirus, then that person's sample will be sent to the National Centre for Disease Control for genome sequencing to ascertain if the person is infected with the Omicron variant, Indore's Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr B S Saitya said.

Of the nine people found infected with Omicron after return from abroad, seven have recovered and gone back home from hospital, he said.

"The other two patients are admitted in different hospitals here and their health condition is stable," the official said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has requested the Centre to grant the state permission, as a special case, to announce Omicron confirmed cases rather than wait for reports from the National Institute of Virology, owing to its expertise in whole genome sequencing.

Reiterating the demand for necessary approvals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian claimed that by the time the NIV confirmed the samples, those testing positive in the state get discharged after treatment.

Subramanian said of the 97 people recently detected with S-gene drop in Tamil Nadu, the NIV confirmed the presence of Omicron variant in 34, of whom 18 have already been discharged while 16 are undergoing treatment.

(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.)
Twelve more Omicron cases have been reported in Telangana, taking the total number of cases of the new variant in the state to 55, the Health department said on Monday.

Of the 12 cases, 10 were passengers who arrived at the international airport from countries other than those declared "at risk" by the Centre, while two were contacts of patients who tested positive for the variant earlier, it said in a bulletin.

According to the bulletin, 10 among the 55 have recovered from the infection.

It said 19 samples are awaited with regard to their Omicron status.

Meanwhile, on Monday reported 182 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,80,844, while the death toll rose to 4,023 with one more fatality.

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 90, followed by Ranga Reddy (17) district, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM on Monday.

It said 181 people recovered from the infection on Monday. The cumulative number of recoveries till date was 6,73,404.

The number of active cases was 3,417, the bulletin said.

It said 37,839 samples were tested on Monday and the total number of samples tested till date was 2,95,54,306.

The samples tested per million population was 7,94,043.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.59 per cent. The recovery rate in was 98.90 per cent.

(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.)
Korean Air Lines, South Korea's national flag carrier, has been ordered to suspend to for two weeks due to infections found among its passengers aboard a plane that landed there last week.

Five passengers aboard the Korean Air flight tested positive for the right after they arrived at on Thursday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Hong Kong's health ministry.

The government has ordered a two-week suspension of Korean Air to its territory until January 8, citing its antivirus protocol.

The passengers were said to have submitted certificates that they were not infected with the virus before boarding the plane at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul.

A Korean Air official said that the company has abided by all necessary virus-related procedures and will actively clarify its stance to Hong Kong authorities.

Korean Air runs to Hong Kong three times a week.

--IANS

int/shs

(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.)
Lok Congress president and former Chief Minister on Monday morning was seen arriving at the residence of Union Home Minister here in the national capital.

According to sources, he is also likely to meet BJP national president JP Nadda today.

In November, Singh resigned from the Congress party and announced a new party ' Lok Congress' ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections.

BJP is all set to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in alliance with Punjab Lok Congress.

Elections to 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly are scheduled to be held next year.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amid growing threat, reported 290 fresh cases, highest since June 10, and one death, while the positivity rate rose to 0.55 per cent, according to data shared by the government's health department here on Sunday.

This rise is the highest since June 10 when logged 305 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.41 per cent. A total of 44 deaths were also recorded on that day.

The positivity rate of 0.55 per cent is highest since June 4, when it was 0.68 per cent.

On Saturday, Delhi logged 249 cases, the highest single-day rise since June 13, and one death, while the positivity rate mounted to 0.43 per cent. On Friday, 180 cases were recorded with an increased positivity rate of 0.29 per cent, according to officials figures.

With the fresh cases on Sunday, the cumulative tally rose to 14,43,352, while the death toll rose to 25,105 in the national capital. Over 14.17 lakh patients have recovered till now.

As the COVID-19 positivity rate touches 0.55 per cent, Delhi government has decided to re-impose night curfew from Monday, according to sources.

Officials said the night curfew will kick in under the four-stage Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) if the positivity rate settles at 0.5 percent for two consecutive days.

Under GRAP, a 'yellow' alert will come into force if the positivity rate settles at 0.5 percent for two consecutive days, leading to a host of restrictions.

Sources said Sunday usually sees a lower number of tests which might affect the positivity rate. Yet night curfew will commence on Monday from 11 PM and last till 5 AM.

The number of active cases in the city stands at 1,103, a significant jump from 934 the previous day. As many as 583 patients are in home isolation, up from 464 on Saturday.

The number of containment zones in the city stood at 279, while it was 248 a day ago, according to the medical bulletin.

The spike in fresh cases in the span of last few days is being recorded amid a jump in cases of new variant of Covid in Delhi.

Ankur Garg, Commissioner, Trade and Taxation, Delhi, cautioned against the rise in cases.

"Please don't take the uptick in Covid cases lightly. Data speaks. Increase from 1st to 25th Dec. (Delhi)- Positivity - 0.07% to 0.55% - Daily cases - 39 to 290 - Cumulative 7 day cases - 219 to 1155 - Daily bed occupancy - 111 to 230 True behaviour of still unknown. People crowding up places like Sarojini Nagar market are endangering the entire community. And showing utter contempt and complete disrespect to the medical and frontline workers willing to sacrifice so much for us," he tweeted.

So far, 422 Omicron cases have been detected across 17 states and union territories in India and 130 of these people have recovered or migrated, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of Omicron cases at 108, followed by Delhi at 79, Gujarat 43, Telangana 41, Kerala 38, Tamil Nadu 34 and Karnataka 31.

The Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in the city is currently treating 68 patients of the Omicron variant, while 40 patients have been discharged, a senior official of the health facility said on Sunday.

Besides the LNJP Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital, Max Hospital Saket, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj and Batra Hospital in Tughlakabad have also set up facilities for isolating and treating suspected cases of Omicron following orders from the Delhi government. Genome sequencing of samples of all COVID-19-infected people in Delhi is being conducted since December 22 to ascertain if the new Omicron variant has spread in the community.

Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported in the city in November this year, the highest count of fatalities due to the infection in the last three months in the national capital, according to official data.

Delhi had recorded four Covid deaths in October and five in September. A total of 52,947 tests -- 50,059 RT-PCR tests and 2,888 rapid antigen tests -- were conducted a day ago, the latest bulletin said.

Under the four-stage Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the yellow alert will come into force if the positivity rate settles at 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days, leading to a host of restrictions.

Night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, and shops of non-essential items, and halved seating capacity in metro trains are the other restrictions that will come in place under the yellow alert.

GRAP was approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority in July in anticipation of a third wave of Covid. It aims to bring in a clearer picture of imposition and lifting of restrictions depending on the Covid situation.

Curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will be imposed during yellow, amber and orange alerts. If 'red' alert is sounded, there will be "total curfew".

(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.)
Directorate General of Intelligence (DGGI) Ahmedabad has arrested businessman Piyush Jain under Section 67 of the CGST Act and recovered unaccounted cash over Rs 187 crores, raw and finished materials from him.

Earlier on Sunday, DGGI had recovered Rs 10 crore more cash from the factory and residence of Jain, promotor of Odochem Industries of Kannauj district in Uttar Pradesh, official sources told ANI.

The total cash allegedly recovered from Jain reached Rs 187.45 crore. The cash recovered during the search has been seized under the provisions of Section 67 of the CGST Act.

According to official sources, a joint team of DGGI and Local Central has recovered Rs 5 crores from Jain's factory in Kannauj.

Another Rs 5 crore has been recovered from the residence of Jain in Kannauj. According to officials, after Kanpur, they took Jain to his factory and residence in Kannauj which resulted in a cash recovery of Rs 10 crore.

By Sunday morning the agency recovered a total of Rs of 187.45 cr. Another source supervising the search told ANI that DGGI has recovered unaccounted raw material and finished product worth crores.

Unaccounted sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores have been seized from Jain's factory. Interrogation of Jain is on and his statement is been recorded.

As per sources, when the DGGI and Local Central team reached Jain's premises on day one of the searches, he ran away and came back after two hours on several calls by investigating officers.

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The Commission on Monday asked the government to expedite the COVID-19 vaccination programme in five poll-bound states in a meeting with the Union health secretary, amid indications that polling may be held in time.

Separately, the Union issued a statement later in the day, saying the Centre has reviewed public health response measures and vaccination status with the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur.

The ministry has advised ramping up vaccination of all eligible population through a district-wise weekly plan with daily review, according to the statement.

During its meeting with Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, the commission noted that the percentage of those administered the first dose of coronavirus vaccine was still less in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur, while it was nearing 100 per cent in Uttarakhand and Goa.

The poll panel also asked the top health official to expedite administering of second dose to those eligible in these five states, highly-placed sources said.

The statement said testing is to be "exponentially accelerated" to curb sudden surge of Covid cases.

"While Uttarakhand and Goa have reported vaccination coverage for the first and second doses higher than the average, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur have COVID-19 vaccination coverage numbers below the average," it said.

The states, the statement said, have been advised to speedily ramp up COVID-19 vaccination of all eligible population for the first dose and ensure that those who were due for the second dose are administered the dose.

District-wise weekly vaccination implementation plans are required to be drawn up for this purpose, the five states were told.

State authorities have been advised to review the implementation status on a daily basis, the statement said.

The poll-bound states have been also advised to exponentially increase testing to ensure that infected cases are identified promptly for timely initiation of public health response measures, and to ensure there is no sudden upsurge in numbers due to low testing.

State authorities have been strongly advised to ensure that recommended Covid-appropriate behaviour is strictly followed and adequate measures are undertaken for their effective enforcement, the said.

In a separate meeting with enforcement agencies and central forces, the Commission (EC) asked the top brass of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to check the influence of drugs in elections.

The poll panel pressed upon top officials of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) for maintaining strict vigil on international borders some of the poll-going states share.

Sources aware of the meetings said Health Secretary Bhushan briefed the poll panel for nearly an hour on the Covid situation in the country, especially in poll-bound Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

The issue of spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus was also discussed.

The commission assessed the situation based on statistics provided by the health ministry, a functionary said.

The health secretary also briefed the EC about the Covid protocols and home ministry guidelines issued in the recent past to check the spread of the virus.

During the interaction with officials of the NCB, the ITBP, the SSB and the BSF, the poll panel asked the Narcotics Control Bureau to ensure drugs do not influence polls.

The commission "in particular" referred to Punjab and Goa with regard to drug smuggling, the sources said.

The terms of Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur legislative assemblies are ending on different dates in March next year while the Uttar Pradesh assembly's term will end in May.

The EC is expected to announce dates next month.

On Tuesday, the chief election commissioner (CEC) and fellow election commissioners are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state.

An Allahabad High Court bench of Justice Shekhar Yadav had on Thursday last urged the government and the poll panel to consider postponing the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for a month or two and banning all political rallies amid the fears of an impending third wave of Covid.

When asked about the observation, CEC Sushil Chandra had said in Dehradun on Friday that the EC would be visiting Uttar Pradesh soon and "an appropriate decision as required by the situation will be taken after we review it."



The commission has already visited Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand as part of its pre-poll stock-taking exercise.

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More troubles are looming for Piyush Jain as the is now mulling to lodge money laundering case against the based businessman, who was arrested by the team for tax evasion.

The Intelligence Unit of had raided the premises of Piyush Jain on Sunday. They had to call a Bank employee to count the notes recovered from his house. "It was Rs 250 crore which we recovered from his premise. Piyush could not give any satisfactory answer as to from where he got the money. We have shared information with Income Tax Department and other agencies. ED was also given a set of documents in this respect," said a source.

The source said that now ED will soon lodge a case under relevant sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED is currently waiting for a final report of the department.

On Sunday, teams of GST and I-T department following a tip off conducted raids at Kanpur, Kannauj and Mumbai. The I-T department is currently making a list of his Benami properties. This will be shared with the ED to decide future course of action.

"We have recovered documents pertaining to his Benami properties worth Rs 300 crore. We have doubt that he was helping few politicians to launder money through Benami properties. The ED officials are in touch with us, once we complete the file, we will give it to ED," said a GST source.

On Sunday, Piyush Jain was arrested by the central agencies on tax evasion charges. A case against him under section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act was lodged by the central probe agency.

--IANS

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The Missionaries of Charity on Monday said it had asked its centres not to operate any foreign currency account till the issue of renewal of the organisation's Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was resolved.

The clarification came after the said earlier in the day that the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the FCRA registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions, as some adverse inputs were received.

However, the statement signed by Sister M Prema, Superior General of the famed missionary body set up by Mother Teresa, did not clarify whether it had asked State Bank of India to freeze its accounts, as claimed by the MHA.

The ministry said SBI had informed that the organisation itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

"We would like to clarify that the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has been neither suspended nor cancelled. There is no freeze order by the MHA on any of our bank accounts. We have been informed that our FCRA renewal has not been approved. As a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved," the Missionaries of Charity statement said.

The MHA statement came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation founded by Mother Teresa.

"Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," Banerjee tweeted.

The MHA said the application for the renewal of FCRA registration of MoC was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under the FCRA 2010 and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.

"No request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity's registration under the FCRA was valid up to October 31, 2021.

The MHA said the validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA associations whose renewal application were pending renewal.

Mamata Banerjee doesn't have any info, she should see how West Bengal has worsened in her rule. Her account freezing claim is completely false. She only does drama: BJP Bishnupur MP Saumitra Khan, on WB CM Mamata Banerjee's claim that Centre froze MoC bank accounts pic.twitter.com/LtIkvC4P35  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

"However, while considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved," the statement said.

The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021 and the MHA did not freeze any account of the MoC.

"The State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday said the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting eligibility conditions as some adverse inputs were received.

In a statement, the MHA also said that it did not freeze any account of the Missionaries of Charity but State Bank of India has informed that the organisation itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

The MHA statement came hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claimed the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation founded by

"Shocked to hear that on Christmas, Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," Banerjee tweeted.

The MHA said the application for the renewal of registration of MoC was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under the 2010 and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.

"No request or revision application has been received from Missionaries of Charity for review of this refusal of renewal," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity's registration under the was valid up to October 31, 2021.

The MHA said the validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA associations whose renewal application were pending renewal.

"However, while considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved," the statement said.

The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, 2021 and the MHA did not freeze any account of the MoC.

"The State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to SBI to freeze its accounts," the statement said.

The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation established in 1950 by

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An eight-year-old boy, who arrived in Goa from the United Kingdom, has been found infected with Omicron, making it the first case of the new variant in the coastal state.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told PTI on Monday that the boy, who travelled from the UK on December 17, 2021, was confirmed to be infected with Omicron, as per his test report received from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Rane said the state government will take steps according to the central government's protocol and also adopt stringent measures as required.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has already asked the tourism stakeholders to stay alert and ensure there is no spread of COVID-19 during festivities, in the wake of the upcoming New Year celebrations.

On Sunday, Goa reported 25 new cases of coronavirus, taking the state's infection count to 1,80,050, while the death toll remained constant at 3,519, as per official data.

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reported two more cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus on Monday, pushing the tally of such cases to 12 in the state, according to the health department's daily bulletin.

In view of the emergence of the Omicron cases, the government has already imposed a night curfew and restrictions on gatherings from Saturday.

It has also said people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated will be banned from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, from January 1.

Meanwhile, the state reported 85 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 61 in Gurugram alone, the bulletin said.

However, no fresh fatality due to the viral disease was reported in the state.

The total COVID-19 case count rose to 7,72,718 in the state, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,062.

Among other districts, Faridabad and Ambala reported eight and three fresh cases respectively.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the state is 536, while 7,62,097 patients have recuperated, the bulletin said, adding that the recovery rate was recorded at 98.63 per cent.

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The Union on Monday submitted a report on the rising Covid cases along with the new variant Omicron and the status of vaccination coverage across the nation to the Election Commission.

According to a source with the ministry, the Election Commission and Union discussed the rising number of new Covid variant Omicron cases across the country with special focus on the five poll-bound states. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan presented a detailed report on the transmissibility of the Omicron variant in the states.

Asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the health secretary said that nothing can be said at the moment. The daily Covid caseload can see around 25 per cent jump in next few months as per the present rate of infection, he said in the meeting.

The health officials also gave details about the districts where the R value has increased, said the source.

The Assembly election is scheduled for five states - Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022.

However, the schedule for the Assembly poll is likely be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state on Tuesday.

---IANS

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In a fresh confrontation with the Raj Bhavan, the MVA government in on Monday conveyed to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari that a delay in approving the schedule for election of the Legislative Assembly Speaker will be taken as his "consent", sources said as the ruling coalition appeared firm on electing a new Speaker on Tuesday. The Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which has been at loggerheads with the Governor's office over a number of issues, appears firm on holding the Speaker election on Tuesday, the last day of the ongoing winter session of the legislature, despite the Governor refusing to accept the ruling coalition's request for approval of the schedule. The Congress, a constituent of the MVA, has accused the opposition BJP of obstructing the Speaker's election by using the Governor's office. The post is lying vacant since February this year. Notably, 12 MLAs of the BJP are under suspension for a year since the monsoon session in July this year for allegedly misbehaving with the presiding officer in the Speaker's chamber. A senior minister told PTI that the Governor, in a letter to Chief Minister on Monday morning, said the amendment in existing legislative rules to pave the way for holding the Speaker's election through a voice vote in the Assembly and not ballot was ''unconstitutional''. A delegation of MVA ministers had met the Governor on Sunday with a letter of the Chief Minister seeking approval to hold the Speaker election in the ongoing legislature session itself. The minister said a second letter sent to the Raj Bhavan on Monday evening explained that the government was within its rights to amend the existing rules related to the Speaker's election. "We are firm on holding the election tomorrow (Tuesday),'' he said. The development comes amid reports that Koshyari has not accepted the state government's plea for holding the speaker's election during the winter session of the state legislature. Yesterday, the Governor had told a government delegation comprising Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde and Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal that he would seek legal opinion on the issue and get back to them. Later, Thorat had said the governor sought details of the amendments to the legislative rules about holding the election through a voice vote instead of ballot. Shinde also had said the change in procedure of holding the Speaker's election was done as per the rules. leader Sanjay Raut took a swipe at the Governor this morning saying "too much of study is not good in a democracy".

"What matters in a democracy is listening to the voice of the people. As per Constitution, a Governor has to abide by the recommendations of the state cabinet,'' he said. Congress president and MLA Nana Patole said the proposed election of the Speaker by a voice vote is not unconstitutional. The post of Speaker is lying vacant since February this year after Patole, who was elected to the constitutional position in end-2019, resigned to take charge as the state Congress chief. "Election of the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly will be held by a voice vote (instead of through ballot) and the government has planned to hold this election tomorrow (Dec 28) itself," Patole told reporters. Patole was responding to a media query about a letter sent by the Governor to the state government saying holding the election through a voice vote will be unconstitutional. The Congress MLA said the legislature has powers to amend rules related to election of Speaker and they were amended accordingly in There is a similar process in the Lok Sabha and Maharashtra has adopted the same process of electing the Speaker by a voice vote, he said. The Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government and Koshyari have had constant face-offs since the three-party ruling coalition assumed office in November 2019. Koshyari had declined to nominate Thackeray (who is not an MLA) to the Legislative Council through the Governor's quota after the biennial election to the Upper house of the legislature were put off during the COVID-19 lockdown last year. The Governor's refusal



had even threatened the survival of the MVA government as Thackeray had to get elected to either house of the Legislature before May 2020. He was not a member of the legislature when he was sworn in as chief minister in November 2019. Koshyari has also not accepted the state cabinet's recommendations to nominate 12 members to the Legislative Council through the governor's quota. Koshyari had also written a letter to Thackeray on the issue of delay in reopening of temples and questioned his Hindutva ideals. The state government had denied Koshyari permission to use the official plane to visit Uttarakhand, his home state. Meanwhile, senior Advocate Shrihari Aney, a former Advocate General of Maharashtra, told PTI that what the Governor says may not have any legal implications when it comes to elections inside the House. "The basic position in law is that the elections are conducted in the House by the Speaker. In this the Governor has no role to play," Aney said. If the Governor wants to give any directions or has anything to say, then it has to be in private, Aney added.

The senior advocate further said if the Speaker (the Chair) says there will be a voice vote, instead of a secret ballot, and if there is a section of MLAs which does not like this process, then they can ask the Speaker (presiding officer) for a division (of votes). "Then the Speaker (the Chair) would have to take a decision on whether the elections would be held via voice vote or a ballot. While the Governor may not have any legal rights but what he says can be considered as what a section of MLAs want" Aney said.

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Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, scores of resident in Delhi on Monday symbolically "returned their lab coats", and took out a march in the streets.

As the protest continued, patient care remained affected at three Centre-run facilities -- Safdarjung, RML and Lady Hardinge hospitals -- and some of the Delhi government-run hospitals.

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) has been spearheading the protest for the last several days.

FORDA president Manish claimed that resident of a large number of major hospitals on Monday "returned their apron (lab coat) in a symbolic gesture of rejection of services".

"We also tried to march from the campus of the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court, but soon after we had started it, security personnel did not allow us to proceed," he said.

Manish also alleged that several were "detained" by police force, and taken to police station premises, before being released after some time. He also alleged that police force was used and some of the doctors were injured.

FORDA, in its Twitter handle, also showed police personnel and protesters grappling with each other, with a police bus seen in the background.

However, police denied any allegations of lathicharge or use of abusive language from their end, and said 12 protestors were detained and released later.

They said for over six to eight hours, the protestors blocked the ITO road. Repeated requests were made to them to move away from the spot, but they continued to jam the road. Later, both the carriageways of the ITO Marg were also blocked by the protestors, according to the police.

"We spoke to the association members and tried to sort out the issue, but they continued to block the roads," a police official said.

According to police, while the protestors were being removed from the roads, they tried to tear the uniform of the police personnel. They even broke the glasses of police vehicle and misbehaved with the forces.

"We returned 'taali, thali' and flowers symbolically and burnt 'diyas' and today we also returned our apron, which is the symbol of our medical service. But, we have not heard anything from the government authorities, so our protest will continue," Manish said.

The association on Saturday had said, its members will be forced to go for "mass resignation" from services if their demands bare not met at the earliest.

Scores of resident doctors had on Saturday also lit up 'diyas' to register their protest here, even as patient care remained affected at various facilities in the city.

On Wednesday, a large number of doctors had protested outside the Nirman Bhawan, which houses the office of the Union health ministry, and then late evening that day they had assembled on the premises of MAMC and lit up 'diyas' and marched around.

MAMC comes under the Delhi government and three facilities, including the LNJP Hospital, are attached to it.

Last Tuesday, a group of doctors had thrown flowers on security barricades, and clanged utensils and clapped in front of the Nirman Bhawan here, saying they were symbolically "returning" the adulation showered on them for being Covid warriors.

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As the threat of the new Covid-19 variant looms large, is struggling to vaccinate its targeted population against the virus.

Even though the South Asian country has been receiving a steady supply of vaccines in recent months, it is now struggling to store them and inoculate more of the population due to the lack of adequate storage capacity and necessary human resources, Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying.

Till date, 32.9 per cent of Nepal's estimated 30-million population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

"The level of is still low amid the threat," Sher Bahadur Pun, chief medical officer at the Kathmandu-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told Xinhua.

"I have found that some older people have not been vaccinated for being unwilling to queue in the centres. Some people are still not aware of the importance of vaccines against the pandemic," he said.

Nepali health officials acknowledged that the rate is still low and they are trying to increase the coverage.

"The World Health Organization has advised us to increase the portion of fully vaccinated to 40 per cent of the total population by December and we are reaching close to that level," said Bibek Kumar Lal, director of the Family Welfare Division at the Department of Health Services.

"We have also rolled out a vaccination campaign for people aged 12-17 after first vaccinating people aged 18 and above."

has so far identified three cases and despite the potential threat, the Himalayan nation cannot double or triple the vaccination rate anytime soon, officials said.

"We have been vaccinating around 250,000 people on a daily basis. Sometimes we inoculated as many as 350,000 people in recent days," said Sagar Dahal, chief of the country's National Immunization Program.

"In the past, we vaccinated a maximum of 300,000 people in a day."

The government is making efforts to expand the vaccination drive that started in late January, he said.

"But we're facing difficulty in expanding the vaccination drive due to the lack of trained human resources and logistics," he said, adding that it also takes time to raise public awareness and create momentum for the drive.

"Due to the delayed supply of syringes, the vaccination campaigns were affected in some districts," said Lal.

"On Thursday (December 23), we received a supply of five million syringes, which will be enough for us to run a vaccination drive for a few weeks. An additional 60 million are also in the pipeline."

Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, has registered a total of 827,271 Covid cases and 11,585 deaths.

In recent months, the country has been reporting new daily cases mostly in 200-300 and new deaths mostly in a single-digit number.

In contrast with those hard times, Nepal has an adequate supply of vaccines for now, and the government aims to vaccinate all the population by mid-April next year.

As of Sunday, the country has received 39.2 million doses of vaccines, with an additional 20 million to be supplied by February next year, according to the Health Ministry.

The country has requested delayed shipments due to a lack of enough refrigeration facilities.

"We have a stock of about 9 million vaccine doses and the storage facility is already stretched," said Dahal.

According to the official, the existing storage capacity may accommodate an additional 20 million vaccines only.

"So we have asked the companies which are willing to supply extra vaccines to Nepal to delay the shipments till February," he added.

--IANS

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The Government Doctors' Association has requested Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to shift school and college classes purely to online mode.

In a representation to the chief minister, the association's president Dr K. Senthil said that variant of the Covid-19 is a super spreader and spreads four times faster than the earlier Delta variants.

He said that school and college students attending classes physically would act as super spreaders and to prevent that, classes be shifted to online mode. The doctors' body said that this was the right time to bring in restrictions as the variant spreads fast and if not acted now, it would be late and the spread would leave a large number of people affected by the disease.

The association also said that the health infrastructure at the present level may not be able to handle the heavy spread of disease if a super spread happens and called upon the government to prevent that.

In the representation, the doctors body said that safe distancing, wearing of masks and usage of sanitisers and frequent washing of hands with soap has to be continuously practiced and no lethargy be shown in any of these.

The association also requested the Chief Minister to prevent all forms of gatherings, including marriage functions, religious celebrations, and attendance in death mourning and funerals to prevent the spread.

It also welcomed the decision to provide booster doses or preventive doses to senior citizens, health care professionals, and Covid -19 front line warriors as well as children in the age group of 15-18 years.

Dr K. Senthil also called upon the government to stockpile all the essential medical infrastructure necessary to handle emergency situations including Oxygen cylinders, PPE kits for health care professionals and medicines for acting in tough situations.

--IANS

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Even as the variant rapidly spreads across the globe, cases of Covid-19 are likely going to keep surging, top US infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci has said.

The highly transmissible variant has outpaced Delta, to become the dominant variant, accounting for nearly three-quarters of Covid cases in the country.

According to Johns Hopkins University's latest update on Monday morning, the US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 52,259,716 and 816,597. Till last Thursday, the US had reported more than 51 million total cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The US also topped 800,000 total deaths from the disease in mid-December.

"Every day it goes up and up. The last weekly average was about 150,000 and it likely will go much higher," Fauci was quoted as saying on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday.

While studies show is less severe in terms of hospitalisations, Fauci stressed that people should not "to get complacent" because "when you have such a high volume of new infections, it might override a real diminution in severity."

"If you have many, many, many more people with a less level of severity, that might kind of neutralise the positive effect of having less severity when you have so many more people," he explained.

"And we're particularly worried about those who are in that unvaccinated class ... those are the most vulnerable ones when you have a virus that is extraordinarily effective in getting to people."

Only 61.7 per cent of the US population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19, according to CDC data.

Meanwhile, last week President Joe Biden announced a plan to distribute 500 million free at-home rapid tests to Americans beginning in January. The tests will be delivered by mail to Americans who request them. A website to request the tests will launch in January, according to the administration.

However, the surge has created a massive rush for tests, which according to Fauci is a failure of the federal government.

"Obviously, testing is going to be very important, that we get a greater capability of testing, particularly when the demand for testing is so high," Fauci said.

Fauci noted that the US is seeing "the combination of the Omicron variant itself, as well as the holiday season, where people want to get that extra level of assuredness that they're protected," even if you are vaccinated and boosted.

"One of the problems is that that's not going to be totally available to everyone until we get to January, and there are still some issues now of people having trouble getting tested, but we're addressing the testing problem, and that very soon that will be corrected" he said.

Further, he said that there were "essentially no rapid points of care home tests available" in the beginning of the Biden administration in 2021.

"Now there are over nine of them and more coming", he said adding "the production of them has been rapidly upscaled".

Last week, Biden was quoted as saying on ABC News that he wished he "had thought about ordering" 500 million at-home tests "two months ago". Biden added "nothing's been good enough" when it comes to the availability of at-home tests.

--IANS

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Britain's early deployment of the Oxford/ vaccine to protect against COVID-19 may be responsible for the country's lower death rates compared to other European countries, a UK vaccines expert has said.

Dr Clive Dix, former chairman of the UK's Vaccine Task Force, told the Daily Telegraph' that the Oxford/ vaccine manufactured and administered in India as Covidshield may offer stronger long-term protection against severe COVID-19 and death.

If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there's also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK, and we have to understand that, said Dr Dix.

"I personally believe that's because most of our vulnerable people were given the vaccine," he said.

According to Our World in Data, a website run by the University of Oxford, the UK has 1.7 daily deaths from COVID per million people. In comparison, the European Union (EU) as a whole has almost four.

The key, Dix believes, is that although the RNA jabs such as Pfizer/BioNTech produce a more obvious and rapid jump in antibody levels in lab tests, other vaccines may be better at priming another part of the immune system called cellular immunity.

This includes various forms of T cells, including those that destroy infected cells, and also memory cells, ensuring a person can fight off an infection several years after they are first exposed to it.

They are slower to react than antibodies and do not prevent infection, but do halt the pathogen in its tracks, making it harder for the virus to cause damage.

We've seen early data that the Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you've got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time. It can last for life in some cases, Dix told the newspaper.

The only notable difference, according to the scientist, between the UK and Europe's vaccine rollout was the approach to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab.

European regulators approved the use of the vaccine long after the UK had rolled it out among its older age groups at the end of last year.

While MRNA vaccines like those made by Pfizer are based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to produce highly specific antibodies, AstraZeneca (Covishield), and other vaccines like those made by Novavax and Valneva use a wider approach.

We know that with adenoviral vector vaccines and adjuvanted proteins you get a much broader cellular response and I think we need to look at all that data across all the vaccines, said Dix, adding that there was nothing wrong with using Pfizer or Moderna as a booster, but alternative vaccines may be a better alternative in the long-term.

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Kanpur-based businessman Piyush Jain, whose premises were raided by central agencies, has been arrested on charges of tax evasion, a senior official said.

The perfume industrialist is likely to be taken to Ahmedabad from Kanpur for further action, he said.

Surenrda Kumar, Joint Commissioner (Kanpur), Goods and Services Tax, told PTI Sunday night that Jain has been arrested on charges of

Another official, pleading anonymity, said during a series of raids on the premises owned by Jain, cash worth over Rs 257 crore as well as gold and silver was recovered.

The money was allegedly linked to the dispatch of goods via fake invoices and without e-way bills by a goods transporter, he added.

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For one who has thrown up the biggest cash haul in the history of the country, Piyush Jain can easily be mistaken as just another common man.

For one who stacked up crores in cash at his house and its walls, Jain's lifestyle has been astonishingly simple.

In his hometown Kanpur, Jain still rides an old scooter and his house was extremely modest though he recently renovated it. He owns a Qualis and a Maruti and when cash spilled out of his house, his neighbours were shocked.

"He was just another businessman in the perfume business and we never imagined that he would have so much cash stacked in his house. He never flaunted his wealth and even his lifestyle was very middle class," said R.K. Sharma, who lives in the Chippatti locality where Jain also lives.

Jain's father lives mostly in Kannauj while he and his brother Amrish live in Jain learnt the art of making perfumes and edible essences from him father, who is a chemist.

Jain, 52, was born in and completed his education from there. He then joined the family business in Kannauj though he continued living in

His acquaintances claim that he had no political connections or friends in power.

"We have never seen him visit any politician or political party office. He never claimed to know any influential person either," said one of his associates, requesting anonymity.

Contrary to popular belief, Jain is in no way related to Pampi Jain, the Samajwadi Party leader who had launched the 'Samajwadi Itr' in Lucknow last month.

"The only thing common between the two is that they are both in perfume business, they both live in the same locality and both belong to the Jain community. Pushpraj Jain a.k.a. Pampi Jain is a SP MLC and it was he who launched the 'Samajwadi Itr'," said Kunal Yadav, a resident of Kannauj.

However, media reports connecting the two -- Piyush Jain and Pampi -- have led to a political slugfest in

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that now he knows why 'some people' were opposing demonetisation.

"The black money is now coming out of walls," he said.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav clarified that "this raid should not be linked with SP at all. Piyush Jain has no relation with SP MLC Pampi Jain".

SP leaders, in fact, claim that Piyush Jain's family is inclined towards the BJP and always supported the ruling party.

As political parties battle over Jain's affiliation, the party now seems to be over for this businessman.

As a senior official said, "Accumulating so much wealth is not possible without any patronage. As investigations progress, the truth will tumble out. As things stand, Piyush Jain can prepare for a long stint behind the bars and his pleasing perfumes may not be able to make life less unpleasant for him."

On Monday, Jain was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a local court after he was arrested under Section 132 of CGST Act.

"Jain has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to sale of goods without payment of GST," said a GST official.

--IANS

amita/arm

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Prime Minister will visit in on Monday to lay the foundation stone of hydropower projects worth over Rs 11,000 crore at around 12 noon.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the Sawra-Kuddu Hydro Power Project. The 111 MW Project has been built at a cost of around Rs 2080 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 380 million units of electricity per year, and help the state earn revenue worth over Rs 120 crore annually.

As per an official statement from Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of Renukaji Dam project, lying pending for around three decades.

"The project was made possible through the vision of cooperative federalism of the Prime Minister when six states viz Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi were brought together by the Centre for making the project possible," PMO said.

"The 40 MW project will be built at a cost of around Rs 7000 crore. It will prove to be immensely beneficial for Delhi, which will be able to receive around 500 million cubic metre water supply per year," it added.

The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project. "The 210 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 1800 crore. It will lead to generation of over 750 million units of electricity per year. The modern and dependable grid support will prove beneficial to surrounding states of the region as well," PMO said.

PM Modi will also lay the foundation stone of Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project. According to PMO, this will be the first hydropower project of Hamirpur district. The 66 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 680 crore. It will lead to generation of over 300 million units of electricity per year.

Prior to the event, PM Modi will preside over the second ground-breaking ceremony of Global Investors' Meet at around 11:30 am.

"Prime Minister will also preside over the second ground-breaking ceremony of Global Investors' Meet. The Meet is expected to give a boost to investment in the region through the start of projects worth around Rs 28,000 crore," PMO said.

"Prime Minister has constantly focussed on fully utilizing the untapped potential of the resources available in the country. One of the steps in this regard has been to utilise optimally the hydropower potential in the Himalayan region. The projects which will be inaugurated and whose foundation stone will be laid by the Prime Minister during the visit reflect a key step in this direction," it added.

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Chief Minister on Sunday said that the rate in will be reduced below 10 per cent in the next 5 years,

CM was addressing party workers on BJD's 25th foundation day celebration.

Patnaik stated, "There is a big difference in today's and the Odisha which was in the year 2000, Odisha is leading state in alleviation in the country. The rate has gone down to 29 per cent from 63 per cent with 80 lakh people crossing the poverty line."

Patnaik further stated, "With the cooperation of people, Odisha will script the history by bringing down the poverty rate to 10 per cent in next 5 years and added that State government will take all necessary steps to achieve the target."

Patnaik said, "Biju Janta Dal which was formed 25 years ago, based on Biju Patnaik's ideology, has now evolved into a social movement and become the symbol of faith and aspirations of 4.5 crore people of Odisha."

Biju Janta Dal is the only party in the country whose popularity is increasing year by year with the blessings of the people of State, Patnaik said. The chief minister thanked the party workers for their sacrifice, hard work and faith and termed them "backbone of the party."

"Odisha has gained international recognition in disaster management, and received appreciations from United Nations to NITI Ayog," he said. He added that there was a time when Odisha was dependent on other states for food, but now that situation has changed and Odisha ranked 3rd in providing food to the country."

Giving the credit to the farmers for the achievement in food production, Patnaik said that it also reflects our commitment to expand irrigation facilities in the State.

Patnaik stated that "Odisha is at the forefront in women empowerment and it is on top in providing 50 per cent reservation to women in Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies and will continue with its demand to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament."

"During the COVID-19 pandemic Odisha has received the investment of worth 4 lakh crore, which is highest in the country. It has brought new employment opportunities for the youths of the state."

"Our government has provided free medical treatment to the people and also supplied oxygen to 17 states during COVID-19 pandemic. The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Smart Health Card has brought a positive change in the healthcare sector of State.

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The on Monday booked eight officials of the Saraswat Bank, including its chairman Gautam Thakur and managing director Smita Sandhane, in an alleged cheating case.

However, the largest cooperative lender described the development as an attempt to prevent confiscation of properties of a defaulting borrower Orange Medicare and Research Centre.

The bank in a statement claimed its top officials were booked by the Kothrud station on Monday after a director of Orange Medicare in the city -- Smeeta Sameer Patil -- filed an FIR earlier in the day after a tahsildar ordered confiscation of mortgaged hospital property with a view to prevent the bank from taking over the mortgaged property.

"We have been trying to recover our legitimate dues, and we will not succumb to such pressure tactics but will pursue all legal remedies to take possession of the property from the defaulter who owes around Rs 16 crore, along with updated interest," it said.

The bank said it initiated recovery measures after the borrower failed to honour the one-time settlement and also its part-payment cheque worth Rs 3.6 crore has bounced.

Denying the allegations in the FIR, the bank said it will take every step to defend its action, its officials and take this case to its logical end.

The majority shareholder of the hospital, Smeeta Patil has alleged in the FIR, which was filed after a city court issued an order to that effect earlier in the day, that the bank has opened a bogus account and defrauded Rs 2.5 crore of her company.

However, the bank's managing director Sandhane told PTI that the allegation is a misrepresentation of the facts as the said account is not bogus but a parking account or suspended account under RBI norms -- which is done in every OTS-bound accounts and is opened in the name of the borrower only.

The account had and still has the said Rs 2.5 crore paid by the founding directors, she added.

Cooperative banks have been facing many challenges including serious misgovernance issues forcing the RBI to suspend or cancel licences of dozens of them in the past two years alone, with the PMC Bank being the biggest of them.

Started in 1918, Saraswat Bank claims to be the largest urban co-operative bank with operations in Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. It has a business of over Rs 67,000 crore and runs over 280 branches.

Orange Medicare & Research Centre was launched by five doctors in 2011 on a project loan from Saraswat Bank. But they could not complete the project in time and citing cost over-run they took an additional loan in 2013.

Even by 2016, the project was not complete and the bank declared it an NPA.

Following this in 2017 the founding directors sold 71 per cent of their stake to the Sameer Patil Group and inducted Smeeta Patil as a director, who filed the FIR earlier in the day, which was soon after the tahsildar allowed the bank to take over the property, the bank said.

After this change of ownership they cleared only the over dues and left the principal unpaid and the account was upgraded as a standard one. But soon they again failed to honour the repayment commitment and the account was classified again as NPA and securitisation proceedings were initiated in 2017.

In 2018 the district magistrate allowed the bank to take over the property following which the borrower gave a cheque of Rs 3.66 crore along with a proposal for one-time settlement. Following this the bank delayed taking over the property. But the Rs 3.66 crore cheque bounced, forcing the bank issue a notice under section 138 of the Negotiable Instrument Act to the borrower.

Following this Orange Medicare unsuccessfully tried to file a contempt petition in the Bombay High Court.

Other bank officials who are booked include chief manager Anand Chalke, zonal managers Pallavi Sali and Ratnakar Prabhakar, and Abhishek Bhagat, the Vishrantwadi branch manager from where the loan was issued, and others.

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Chief Minister on Monday said the state government will give relief to poor farmers by bringing a one-time scheme to waive crop loans taken from nationalised banks



"Proposals have been sent to nationalised banks in this regard and the banks should extend necessary cooperation to the state government in loan waiver of farmers," he said while addressing a meeting of the State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) and a seminar of the NABARD through video conference.

In an one-time loan waiver scheme, recently introduced by the State Bank of India (SBI), agricultural loans classified as non-performing asset (NPA) were waived. Ninety per cent of the loan was waived by the bank while 10 per cent was given by the farmer, Gehlot said.

"On the lines of this scheme, other banks should also bring relief to poor farmers," he said.

The chief minister said that the state government is ready to give 10 per cent of the farmer's share in this, according to an official release.

He said that several efforts have been made by the state government in the last three years to provide relief to the common man and to maintain the pace of development.

Gehlot informed that loans of Rs 14,000 crore from cooperative banks have been waived so far. The farmers' loans from nationalised banks declared NPA on November 20, 2018, are yet to be waived.

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The on Monday said the recent on perfume trader Peeyush Jain's house in Kanpur, from where more than Rs 177 cr unaccounted cash was unearthed, was the "biggest ever seizure of cash" by an enforcement agency.

The December 26 raid, which resulted in Jain's arrest, included searches at Jain's residential/factory premises in Kannauj, where about Rs 17 crore in cash have been recovered, the ministry said in a release.

Further searches are underway at Jain's residential/factory premises in Kannauj.

The Ahmedabad unit of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on December 22 initiated search operations in Kanpur at the factory premises of manufacturers of Shikhar brand Pan Masala and Tobacco products, the office/Godowns of M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, Kanpur, and the residential/factory premises of M/s Odochem Industries, suppliers of perfumery compounds, at Kanpur and Kannauj.

After intercepting 4 trucks operated by M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, carrying pan masala and tobacco of said brand cleared without payment of GST, the officers tallied the actual stock available in the factory with the stock recorded in the books and found shortage of raw materials and finished products.

This further corroborated that the manufacturer was indulging in clandestine removal of goods with the help of transporter who used to issue fake invoices to manage the transportation of said goods.

The officers have also seized more than 200 such fake invoices. The manufacturers of Shikhar brand of pan masala/tobacco products have admitted and deposited an amount of Rs 3.09 crore towards their tax liability.

The ministry in a statement said that the search proceeding which was initiated at the residential premises of the partners of M/s Odochem Industries located at 143, Anadpuri, Kanpur on December 22 has since been concluded.

"The total amount of unaccounted cash recovered and seized from this premises is Rs 177.45 crore. This is the biggest ever seizure of cash by the CBIC officials. The documents seized from the premises are under scrutiny," it added.

Further, search is on at the residential/factory premises of M/s Odochem Industries at Kannauj. So far DGGI officers have been able to recover about Rs 17 crore in cash, which is presently being counted by the SBI officials.

In addition, recovery of approximately 23 kg of gold and huge unaccounted raw materials used in manufacture of perfumery compounds, including more than 600 kg of sandalwood oil hidden in an underground storage, having a market value of about Rs 6 crore, have been made.

Jain's statement was recorded by GST officers on December 25 wherein he has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to sale of goods without payment of GST.

"In view of the overwhelming evidences available on record indicating large scale evasion of GST by M/s Odochem Industries, Kannauj, Shri Peeyush Jain has been arrested on 26.12.2021 for commission of offences prescribed under section 132 of the CGST Act and has been produced before the Competent Court on December 27," the Ministry said, adding the evidence collected during the searches conducted in last 5 days is being investigated thoroughly to unravel the tax evasion.

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announced on Monday the closure of three overseas diplomatic missions as part of a restructuring bid to save the country's much-needed foreign currency reserves and minimising expenditure in the wake of grave economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, the Consulate General of in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Nicosia, Cyprus will be shut with effect from December 31, the foreign ministry said.

"The restructuring is undertaken with a view to conserving the country's much needed foreign reserves and minimising expenditure related to maintenance of Sri Lankas missions overseas," the ministry said in a statement.

Sri Lanka's tourism-dependent economy was severely hit by the pandemic and the government in March last year imposed a broad import ban to shore up forex reserves, triggering shortages of essential goods such as fuel and sugar.

The island nation is currently facing shortages of essentials in the face of dwindling reserves. At the end of November, a little under USD 2 billion in reserves were able to meet only a month's imports.

The government in mid-November ordered the shutting of the only oil refinery due to the shortage of dollars to pay for crude oil imports.

The exporters have faced forced conversions of their export earnings into local rupees and the migrant workers were offered incentives to send dollars through the central bank system when the official conversion rate was pegged at 200 rupees to a

Fitch downgraded Sri Lanka's sovereign rating to CC' from CCC' this month, saying there is an increased probability of a default in coming months in light of the country's worsening external liquidity position underscored by a drop in foreign-exchange reserves.

The New-York based rating agency said it will be difficult for the government to meet its external debt obligations in 2022 and 2023 in the absence of new external financing sources.

Obligations include two international sovereign bonds of USD 500 million due in January 2022 and USD 1 billion due in July 2022, it said.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka, however, said last week that Sri Lanka's foreign reserves, which dropped to USD 1.58 billion in November, will double to remain above USD 3 billion by the end of this year, asserting that the country's economy showed resilience throughout 2021 despite the headwinds of the economic impact of COVID-19.

The bank said Sri Lanka has successfully met its debt obligations by repaying foreign loans, including the payments of the International Sovereign Bonds.

Progress is being made in negotiations other arrangements to bring in inflows, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in a statement on Wednesday.

Although no details of the expected inflows were given, the officials said a USD 1.5 billion swap with China was in the offing.

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Come new year, the will consider pivotal cases, which broach some of the contentious issues having an impact across the political spectrum.

The cases include -- SC-appointed panel will submit its report into Pegasus snooping allegations, verdict on reservation in promotion to SC and ST in government jobs, relevance of adopting OBC creamy layer criteria for granting reservations under the economic weaker section (EWS), Centre's response on the election process on the seats reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh, and the status report from the high court judge monitoring the investigations into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

Pegasus Snooping Scandal

The Pegasus snooping allegation has already kicked up a firestorm and rocked Parliament. The Opposition -- Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), and DMK -- staged a walkout from the House, and several petitioners moved the seeking a court-monitored probe into the allegations.

On October 27, the top court said it was compelled to take up the cause to determine the truth, as it appointed an independent expert technical committee supervised by a retired top court judge, Justice R.V. Raveendran, to probe the Pegasus snooping allegations.

Justice Raveendran is overseeing the functioning of the technical committee and he is assisted by Alok Joshi, former IPS officer and Dr. Sundeep Oberoi, Chairman, Sub Committee in (International Organisation of Standardisation/International Electro-Technical Commission/Joint Technical Committee). The three members of the technical committee are -- Dr. Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Professor (Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) and Dean, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat; Dr. Prabaharan P., Professor (School of Engineering), Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kerala; and Dr. Ashwin Anil Gumaste, Institute Chair Associate Professor (Computer Science and Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Maharashtra. The bench directed the committee to submit its report expeditiously and scheduled the matter for further hearing after eight weeks.

Reservation Promotion in government jobs for SC and ST

On October 26, the reserved its judgement in connection with the issue of reservation in promotion to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the government jobs. The Centre had earlier told the Supreme Court that granting reservation in promotion to SC/ST employees would not adversely affect the efficiency of the administration. The Attorney General had submitted that deciding adequacy of representation by SCs and STs in educational institutions or in government employment, the basis of reservation must be kept in mind to decide what should be the standard to be applied for deciding adequacy. The Centre pointed out that the proportion to the population of SCs was 15 per cent, the STs was 7.5 per cent, and the proportion of OBCs to the total population of the country was 52 per cent. The top court is likely to pronounce its verdict soon.

Stay on election process on seats reserved for OBCs in local bodies

On December 17, the Supreme Court stayed the election process on the seats reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local body elections in Madhya Pradesh. A bench comprising Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar said: "We direct the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission to stay the election process in respect of OBCs seats only, in all the local bodies and to renotify those seats for general category."

The top court passed the order while hearing a miscellaneous application seeking stay of the election notification dated December 4, 2021 issued by the Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission in respect of OBC seats in local bodies. On December 15, the Supreme Court ordered the state election commission (SEC) and the Maharashtra government to convert 27 per cent reserved seats for OBC into general category, for zila parishad & panchayat samitis, and issue fresh notification.

Citing its verdicts, the top court said the election programme needs to be stayed forthwith as it is in conflict with the decision of the Constitution Bench of this court in K. Krishna Murthy (Dr.) & others vs. Union of India and the three Judge Bench in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs. State of Maharashtra and others, which was earlier this year.

"First comply with the triple test being a pre-condition, before notifying reservation of seats for other Backward Classes in the local bodies under their jurisdiction," the top court told the government. The matter is scheduled for further hearing on January 17.

Income limit for EWS quota

On November 25, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it has taken a decision to revisit the criteria of Rs 8 lakh annual income limit for EWS criteria and a fresh decision will be taken within a period of 4 weeks. Earlier, the Supreme Court had questioned the Centre for adopting the criteria of OBC creamy layer of Rs 8 lakh annual income for granting reservations under the economic weaker section (EWS), despite the latter not suffering from social and educational backwardness. The top court told the Centre's counsel "You just cannot pull out eight lakh from thin air. You are making unequal equal by applying the Rs eight lakh limit."

The top court is hearing writ petitions challenging 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent reservation for EWS in all-India Quota seats for postgraduate medical courses. As many as 15 per cent seats in MBBS and 50 per cent seats in MS and MD courses are filled through All India Quota from the candidates selected through NEET.

Status report on Lakhimpur Kheri incident

On November 17, the top court appointed justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe and also reconstituted the SIT investigating the incident and appointed IPS officer S.B. Shiradkar, as its head.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana had expressed its disapproval on the slow pace and outcome of the investigation conducted so far, as well as the composition of the SIT conducting probe into the matter. "We, therefore, appoint Justice (Retd.) Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, to monitor the ongoing investigation so as to ensure transparency, fairness and absolute impartiality in the outcome of the investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident which is to be conducted in a time bound manner," said the top court.

The court has scheduled the matter for hearing on receipt of a status report from the monitoring judge, after the charge sheet is filed. The matter is likely to come up soon for hearing.

The violence occurred on October 3, resulting in the killing of eight persons, including four farmers who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Misra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Misra.

--IANS

ss/dpb

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Three more persons tested positive for Omicron in Uttarakhand on Monday, taking the number of people infected with the latest COVID-19 variant to four in the state.

One of the three cases is a 28-year-old man who had returned from Yemen and tested positive for the Omicron variant in Haridwar.

The two others are a 74-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman who had come into contact with a family that had returned from Dubai and tested positive for the strain in Dehradun, Director General, Health, Tripti Bahuguna said.

A 34-year-old woman who had returned from London had tested positive for Omicron on December 11.

Meanwhile, night curfew was imposed across Uttarakhand on Monday in the wake of the rising cases of the new variant of

The night curfew which comes into effect on Monday night will remain in force from 11 pm to 5 am till further orders, said an order issued by Chief Secretary S S Sandhu.

However, essential services like health, movement of vehicles carrying health personnel, ambulances, postal services have been exempted from the ambit of the curfew.

Production, transportation and distribution of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG will also be exempt from the curbs, the order said.

Private vehicles too will have the permission to commute for emergencies during the curfew time with strict adherence to Covid SOPs and safety protocols.

Health secretary Pankaj Kumar Pandey has issued detailed guidelines to chief medical officers of all the districts to keep an eye on the situation.

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Union minister on Monday asserted that use of in the can generate about 50 lakh jobs in the vast rural segment in one year alone.

Gadkari said he has discussed with his two cabinet colleagues the need to draft a policy on using the drone technology in the He was addressing farmers and others present at the closing ceremony of 'Agrovision' exhibition in Nagpur. The Lok Sabha MP from Nagpur is the chief patron of Agrovision, an annual summit on agriculture. Union MSME minister Narayan Rane visited the exhibition on Monday, while Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar had attended the inaugural function of the four-day event on December 24. Gadkari, talking about various opportunities in the agriculture sector, said, "I discussed with Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Union MSME minister Narayan Rane (the need) to work on preparing a policy on (use of) in the " "Drone is related with agro and MSME, and alone can generate about 50 lakh jobs in the rural sector in one year. Besides, it will benefit farmers too," he maintained. The minister, citing his own example of deploying drones in his farm, stressed on cutting down on mechanised spraying of pesticides. Gadkari said a drone, powered by lithium-ion battery, would cost around Rs 6 lakh, while the same unmanned aerial vehicle with flex engine and run on ethanol fuel, would come at much cheaper price of around Rs 1.5 lakh. The Road Transport and Highways Minister said spraying of pesticides from drones will need 'pilots' for operating them and this will open up huge job prospects. Last week, Tomar had released a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the use of drones in the farm sector, including for spraying pesticides as well as other soil and crop nutrients.

The adoption of drone technology is the need of the hour and it will benefit farmers, Tomar had said.

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India's largest state has emerged as the top performer in terms of incremental health performance among larger states, while Mizoram performed well in the smaller states category, according to the fourth Health Index launched by

The fourth round of the Health Index took into account the period 2019-20 (as reference year).

" ranked at the top in terms of incremental performance by registering the highest incremental change from the base year (2018-19) to reference year (2019-20)," the report by the government think tank said.

It also said that from the base year (2018-19) to the reference year (2019-20), led in improving the performance in 33 out of 43 indicators/sub-indicators.

"On the other hand, Kerala showed improvement in only 19 indicators, and additionally had three indicators in the category of fully achieved," the report said.

Though in terms of overall performance, Kerala was the front-runner, it had nearly half the indicators/sub-indicators where its performance worsened or remained stagnant, the report added. As per the report, the health index is a weighted composite score incorporating 24 indicators, covering key aspects of health performance.

It said the health index comprises select indicators in three domains -- health outcomes, governance and information, and key inputs and processes.

The report has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) with technical assistance from the World Bank.

According to an official statement, the importance of this annual tool was re-emphasised by the MoHFW's decision to link the index to incentives under the Health Mission.

This has been instrumental in shifting the focus from budget spending and inputs to outputs and outcomes, it added.

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New drugs against Covid-19 will significantly increase survival chances for patients in severe condition in 2022, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

The European Medicines Agency, the European Union's drug regulator has recommended the use of two Covid-19 antiviral pills -- Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's Molnupiravir -- ahead of their formal approval.

"I am also encouraged by new anti-viral drugs that are likely to come to market in 2022, which will greatly increase the survival chances of patients who end up in hospital with severe Covid-19," Kluge was quoted as saying to TASS news agency.

Both Paxlovid and molnupiravir have shown to reduce the chances of hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 in high-risk patients by 89 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

Kluge also emphasised that the next-generation vaccines will be more effective against new emerging strains.

"I cannot predict the future. But it should be noted that the current vaccines are the first generation of Covid-19 vaccines. Future vaccines will be tweaked and adapted to new or emerging variants, thereby making them more effective.

"This is not dissimilar to what already happens with influenza vaccines, which are adapted to the new strains of flu almost on a yearly basis," he said.

According to Pfizer, lab tests show Paxlovid continues to work against the fast-spreading Omicron variant. CEO Albert Bourla estimated that the pills can avert 1,200 deaths and 6,000 hospitalisations for every 100,000 Covid patients who take the pills.

The authorisation for molnupiravir is limited to adults over 18 who have a high risk of severe illness and "for whom alternative FDA-authorised treatment options are not accessible or medically appropriate," the US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. It's also not recommended for use in pregnant people.

Both Pfizer and Merck's pills should be taken early, within 3-5 days of getting Covid, and require several pills, multiple times a day for five days.

--IANS

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Amid claims that the TMC and the BJP have a "tacit understanding" to undermine and divide the opposition camp, the saffron party on Monday said it would not give up until TMC boss and Chief Minister is defeated in

The saffron camp also announced that its president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would visit the state next month and address party programmes.

The state BJP unit, during the day, held an organisational meeting here, which was addressed by the party's general secretary (organization) B L Santosh.

The party's state president, Sukanta Majumdar, its vice-president Dilip Ghosh and Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari were among those present at the meeting.

"Santoshji clearly said that the party will not give up till is defeated in Bengal. The BJP will not stop till the TMC gets politically defeated in the state. This message was much needed to mobilise cadres and leaders, as the assembly poll defeat and claims of tacit understanding between BJP and TMC were taking a toll on the organisation, a senior office-bearer noted.

The grand old party and the CPI (M) have several times in the past accused the TMC of being a "trojan horse of the BJP".

The BJP, despite its high-pitched poll campaign, won 77 seats in the last assembly polls, whereas the TMC bagged 213 out of the 294 seats to return to power for the third consecutive time.

Amid rumblings in the state BJP unit after several old guards were axed from the new office bearers' committee, Santosh said everybody has to abide by the party discipline.

"Santosh Ji has promised that no one will be left out, and everybody will be given responsibilities. The motto should that we speak less and listen to people," the BJP leader stated.

During the meeting, it was also decided that age of activists and leaders of BJP Yuva Morcha (youth wing) have to be within 35 years, he added.

The message from the central leadership comes just days after a few MLAs -- some from the politically crucial Matua community -- have openly expressed their displeasure after being dropped from the newly formed committee.

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may become Indias fourth largest destination in FY22, jumping five places in two years. This comes as the economic boom of the eastern neighbour continues to fuel Indias exports growth.

According to disaggregated data available till October, during the first seven months of FY22, exports to grew 81 per cent over the same period in the preceding year to $7.7 billion. This makes it Indias fourth largest market behind the US, UAE and China.

If the trend continues, will only better its rank in Indias profile from last years 5th position when it surprised analysts by jumping from 9th rank in FY20.

Bangladesh has been an economic miracle in South Asia with its unprecedented transformation over the past decade and may even surpass India in terms of per capita income.

Bangladeshs growth stems largely from its success as an exporter of garments, which account for around 80 per cent of its total exports. Remittances from overseas amount to over 6 per cent of GDP.

The major items exported to Bangladesh by India during the April-October 2021 period include cotton ($2.1 billion), cereals ($1.3 billion), electricity and fuel ($0.6 billion), vehicle parts ($0.5 billion) and machinery and mechanical appliances ($0.4 billion).





India and Bangladesh are currently undertaking a joint study on the prospects of entering into a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA).

The India-Bangladesh CEO Forum, which was launched in December 2020 to provide policy-level inputs in various areas of trade and investment and facilitate exchanges among business communities, is expected to meet soon to further deepen trade and economic ties.

In a joint statement after the virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina, both sides emphasised the need to address issues of non-tariff barriers and trade facilitation. They include port restrictions, procedural bottlenecks and quarantine restrictions.

The Bangladesh side requested that as Indias export of essential commodities is an important factor influencing its domestic market, any amendments in the

export-import policy of India should be conveyed in advance. The Indian side took note of this request, the joint statement said.

Bangladesh avoided a recession in FY21, growing at 3.5 per cent unlike India whose economy contracted 7.3 per cent during the period. The economy of Bangladesh is expected to grow at 5.5 per cent in FY22 and 6.8 per cent in FY23, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

ADB, in its Asian Development Outlook released in September, said excluding petroleum, imports (overall) by Bangladesh increased by 14.5 per cent in FY21.

This reflects the solid economic advance. Intermediates for the garment industry rose by 8 per cent, while there were double-digit increases in import of other intermediates, consumer products and capital goods.

Imports are expected to grow by 5 per cent from a high base. As the readymade garments industry continues robust growth, its substantial input requirements will expand. An increase in the volume of import of petroleum and petroleum products is expected, but with a more moderate price adjustment than in FY21. Accelerated implementation of large infrastructure projects and robust real estate development are expected to boost import of construction, capital equipment and other materials. Meanwhile, foodgrain imports will fall, it added.
Commercial services will be rolled out in 13 cities in India, including the metropolises, in 2022, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said in a statement on Monday.

These cities are Delhi, Gurugram, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, and Jamnagar. These metros and big cities would be the first places for the launch of services in the country next year, the DoT said.

trials are being carried out by Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, and Vodafone Idea in the 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz bands. The companies have also demonstrated India-specific use cases in fields of education, enterprises, mobility and security.

The Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has also released a consultation paper to seek industry feedback on various issues related to spectrum auction, such as pricing, valuation, and rollout obligation. The minister for communications, Ashwini Vaishnav, had last month said that the 5G spectrum auction would be held in April-May of 2022. However, the auction is likely to be delayed until July as is expected to submit its recommendations only in March.

The actual rollout would depend upon industry preparedness, though the government has been keen on the Independence Day launch.

service providers have demanded that the government keep 5G spectrum prices affordable to enable maximum industry participation. Access to adequate low-cost spectrum and easy payment terms are essential for companies to plan their investments, the companies have told the government.

The government is promoting the development of an indigenously developed 5G standard, called the 5Gi, as an alternative to the globally used 3GPP standard. The indigenous 5G testbed has been funded by the government and developed by the Indian Institute of Technology. The project is likely to be complete by December-end.

service providers and gear makers, however, have not been in favour of a locally developed standard as it is yet to demonstrate results on a commercial scale. According to media reports, the 5Gi standard will be incorporated with the global standard as a part of the compromise formula.
Poll-bound has once again figured at the bottom of 19 large states on the fourth index for 2019-20, released on Monday.

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are the top three, which means for four times in a row has emerged the best in overall performance.

Bihar and Madhya Pradesh were the second- and third-worst performers, respectively (see chart).

For generating ranks and ensuring comparability among entities, the entities have been classified into three categories (larger states, smaller states, and Union Territories) in the index.

All the states and Union Territories (UTs) except West Bengal participated. Ladakh was not included owing to the non-availability of data.

The rankings, which pertain to the period just before the pandemic struck the country, showed though figuring at the bottom of the heap in overall performance, UP is the best state in terms of incremental performance between 2018-19 and 2019-20. Soon after the report, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the Yogi Adityanath government in the poll-bound state, saying it is the real report of the BJP government.

The index is a weighted composite score incorporating 24 indicators covering key aspects of performance, largely in three domains: Health outcomes; governance and information; and key inputs and processes.

The indicators are selected from data sources such as the Sample Registration System (SRS), Civil Registration System (CRS), and Health Management Information Systems (HMIS).

The Health Index Round for 2019-20 does not capture the impact of Covid-19 on health outcomes or any of the other indicators as the Index Performance relates to Base Year (2018-19) and Reference Year (2019-20), largely the pre-Covid-19 period, the report said.

The index showed though and Tamil Nadu were the top two, they ranked 12th and eighth, respectively, when it came to incremental improvement.

Telangana performed well both in terms of overall as well as incremental performance and secured third place on both counts.

Among the smallest states, Mizoram emerged the best performer in overall as well as incremental performance while among UTs, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir ranked among the bottom in terms of overall performance but emerged the leading performers in incremental performance.

The index showed that the gap in overall performance between the best- and the worst-performing larger states and UTs narrowed in the current round of the health index, while it increased for the smaller states.

Releasing the report, Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said: States are beginning to take cognizance of indices such as the State Health Index and use them in their policymaking and resource allocation.

This report is an example of both competitive and cooperative federalism, Kumar added.

It has been prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) with technical assistance from the World Bank.

According to an official statement, the importance of this annual tool was re-emphasised by the ministrys decision to link the index to incentives under the National Health Mission.

This has been instrumental in shifting the focus from budget spending and inputs to outputs and outcomes, it added.




The is expected to contest the urban Assembly seats in in alliance with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Lok Congress (PCL).

Sources in the saffron party said that the former chief minister's Lok Congress will field its candidate from the Assembly constituencies in the rural areas.

Both the parties, however, announced to contest the Assembly polls together, but they have yet to announce formula for seat sharing. Sources claimed that the former Punjab chief minister was likely to meet senior leaders and finalise the formula on Monday.

In an attempt to become a political force to be reckoned with in Punjab, the is likely to get all the urban Assembly constituencies in the upcoming polls in alliance. The saffron party is putting extra efforts to win these urban Assembly constituencies.

Sources claimed that the BJP will get a major share and expect to contest from more than half of the seat. "We will have a majority share and most of the Assembly seats are urban and semi urban areas. There are over three dozen urban seats and we are likely to get all the seats. We also get some semi-urban seats," a BJP leader said.

Earlier this month, the BJP and former chief minister Amarinder Singh had announced to fight the forthcoming Assembly election together. "Our alliance is confirmed. Only seat-sharing talks are going on. We will see who will contest which seats and winnability is the sole criteria for deciding seats. Where the BJP will contest we will support and they will support us on the seats we will be contesting. We are prepared and will win the election. 101 per cent sure of winning the election. We are no in contest with anyone," former chief minister had said.

Punjab election will be held in February - March next year along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Earlier, after its alliance broke up with its oldest partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the BJP has announced to contest all the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab. In 2017, the BJP had won three seats out of the 23 it contested.

--IANS

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The Goa Aam Aadmi Party Vice president Party National Executive Member Captain Venzy Viegas has slammed South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha for saying that no party can provide corruption-free governance and challenged Sardinha to take a trip with him to Delhi to "learn" to run a corruption-free government.

On Friday Francisco Sardinha had given a statement stating that corruption-free governance was not possible, according to a statement by the Goa unit on Sunday.

"Goa is facing tremendous corruption under the Bharatiya Janata Party whether it is an Oxygen scam or the massive jobs scam spanning multiple Ministries and departments. Many Goan Youths have lost their future due to the massive corruption in job allocation with Ministers demanding lakhs of rupees for jobs. During the second COVID wave, many Goenkars lost their lives due to lack of Oxygen due to corruption and a scam on Oxygen supply," said the statement.

The statement further claimed that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has shown the country how to run a corruption-free Government.

"The fact is that Arvind Kejriwal has shown the country how to run a corruption-free Government. And this is not just us saying it but the CAG who has said this as well. has put in mechanisms and systems in place to prevent any corruption and disruption to the lives of the common man. And if we can do this in Delhi there is no reason why we can't do this in Goa," Viegas said.

has put in many schemes to prevent Corruption. All Sardinha has to do is study them," said AAP Goa leader Domnic Gaonkar.

"I cordially invite Sardinha to fly to Delhi, I will arrange his ticket and will personally accompany him to study Arvind Kejriwal's Corruption free model" added Viegas.

Goa is slated to go to Assembly polls next year.

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Bharatiya Janata Party president JP Nadda is holding a meeting with members of the committee formed for Brahmin outreach in Uttar Pradesh, ahead of upcoming Assembly elections.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh also called on party president JP Nadda today at Delhi, ahead of the Assembly polls.

According to sources, on Sunday constituted a committee that will look after the party's campaign on wooing Brahmin voters in the UP elections. Today's meeting will finalize the blueprint on the working of that committee.

Union Minister and UP polls in charge of Uttar Pradesh Dharmendra Pradhan, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Mahesh Sharma, Brijesh Pathak, Shrikant Sharma, Anand Swarup organization minister Sunil Bansal, among other leaders are present in the meeting.

Uttar Pradesh is slated to go to Assembly polls early next year.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 312 seats out of the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly while Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 19 and Congress could manage to win only seven seats. The rest of the seats were bagged by other candidates.

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Samajwadi Party (SP) President has said that top leaders stooping down to making personal attacks reflects their "narrow mindedness and frustration".

He was reacting to statements made by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who said that no one (read SP) would be able to stop the Ram temple construction now, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had remarked: "Babua was playing with his smartphone during the pandemic instead of helping people."

"The has nothing left to showcase as their achievement and have, therefore, resorted to mudslinging and levelling baseless personal attacks," said Akhilesh.

" ke bade netaon ne apna sayyam kho diya hai aur woh chichchle bayano se apni sankeern mansikta dikha rahe hain (senior leaders of the BJP have lost control and making shallow statements which reflect their narrow mindedness)," he said.

The SP chief said that the resentment among people against the BJP was growing rapidly and even the ruling party was fully aware of it as a result of which none of the leaders go out in public without the government paraphernalia.

"The BJP leaders are afraid that farmers will question them about the promise of doubling their income when it has actually been reduced to half because of costly fertilizers, increase in diesel prices. They are afraid that youth will question them about jobs. People will ask them about the price rise," he said.

Accusing the BJP government of having destroyed the state's economy, the SP President said the saffron party should explain the steps the government at the Centre have taken to turn the Indian economy into a five trillion economy.

"All that the BJP has done till now is to make hollow promises and statements and have done nothing to fulfil these promises," he added.

--IANS

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Union Home Minister Amit will address public meetings in Hardoi, Sultanpur and Bhadohi districts on Tuesday as part of the BJP's campaign for the assembly election in due early next year.

The BJP's media co-incharge, Himanshu Dubey, on Monday said Shah is scheduled to visit the state on Tuesday and address three rallies as part of the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'Jan Vishwas Yatra'.

Shah will address a public meeting at 12 noon at GIC Ground in Hardoi, at 2 pm at Awas Vikas Maidan in Omnagar in Sultanpur and at 4 pm at Vibhuti Narayan Government Inter College Ground in Bhadohi's Gyanpur, Dubey said.

He is scheduled to address public meetings in Orai in Jalaun and Kasganj on Sunday.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Shah was incharge of the BJP's unit. He was the party's national president during the 2017 assembly and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday said that there is a favourable environment for industries in the state while adding that it will become the number one state of the country in the field of industry.

He was interacting with the representatives of various industrial institutions, business people, hoteliers, in a program organized at the residence of Minorities Commission Chairman Dr RK Jain.

"A message should also go to the entire country that there is a favourable environment for industries in Uttarakhand," said the Chief Minister.

"Our entrepreneurs are our brand ambassadors for the establishment of more industries in the state in the future," he said.

He said that industrialists from all over the country and abroad came to the state, in this, our entrepreneurs have an important role while adding that the environment of the state is completely conducive to industries.

The Chief Minister further said that efforts are being made to maintain a constant dialogue between the government and the entrepreneurs.

"All the industries that have been established in Uttarakhand, by removing their problems, will be given every opportunity for development and growth," he added.

He said that in the coming 10 years, should become the number one state of the country in the field of industry.

"For the betterment of industries in the state, the departments of Energy, Medical, Transport, Revenue, Forest etc. have been instructed to work in coordination with each other. For this, the 'Single Window System' has been made effective," Dhami added.

The Chief Minister said that more and more industries should be established in the state and the state government is making constant efforts to ensure that the industries which are established should run properly.

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi always gives priority to the development of Uttarakhand.

"Today a network of roads is being laid in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is progressing rapidly in the field of transport, connectivity and infrastructure," he said.

Representatives of various industrial institutions, business people, hoteliers appreciated the efforts being made by the Chief Minister to solve the problems of entrepreneurs, traders etc.

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Superstar on Monday said he was bitten by a non-venomous thrice and was fortunate that the incident was not alarming, even though his family and friends were worried for his health.

was bitten by the at his farmhouse near Panvel in the adjoining Raigad district. The actor was then taken to a hospital at Kamothe in Navi Mumbai and was discharged on Sunday morning.

was back to his farmhouse, where he celebrated his 56th birthday on Monday with close friends and family.

Talking to the media in the early hours of Monday, the actor said the had entered one of the rooms of his Arpita farmhouse -- named after his sister -- and he had gone to rescue it when the incident happened.

Salman Khan said he also spoke to his worried father, veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, after the incident and assured him that both "Tiger and snake" were doing fine, referring to his character of Tiger, a spy in the blockbuster films "Ek Tha Tiger" and "Tiger Zinda Hai".

"When my dad came to know about this incident, he called to ask if the snake was fine and alive. So I told him 'Tiger' and the snake both are alive. He asked if we hurt the snake, I said we didn't, we handled it with utmost care and love and left it in the jungle," he told reporters.

The Bollywood star said the children were scared when the snake entered the room, following which he went in to take stock of the situation.

"I asked for a stick. The stick that came was a small one so I asked for a longer stick. Then I picked up the snake with a lot of love and brought it out, the snake wrapped itself on the stick and then it started climbing the stick upwards and it came quite close to my hand.

"So, I caught it with my other hand and dropped the stick to be able to leave the snake (in the jungle). The locals know what snakes come around, this was a Kandhari snake. So they started screaming 'Kandhari, Kandhari, Kandhari', that's when the snake bit me once. Then there was more chaos and that's when the snake bit me again. There was a lot of commotion, people said 'hospital, hospital', that it was venomous, and it bit me again," Salman Khan explained.

The "Bharat" star said he was then rushed to the hospital, where he got to know that the snake was not poisonous. At the hospital, Salman Khan was given an anti-venom shot and was kept under observation for six hours.

On his return to the farmhouse, the actor said the snake was still there. Khan quipped that he let the snake out in the jungle, before clicking a picture with it.

"My sister was quite scared with the whole incident, but I made friends with the snake and got a picture clicked with it before leaving it in the jungle. It must have also bit me because it was scared.

"It was good that this hospital was well equipped, they had an anti-venom for all kinds of snake bites. Our commissioner of police (Navi Mumbai) Bipin Kumar sir, our MLA Sandeep Naik, all rushed to the hospital too and it helped a lot," he added.

Salman Khan was recently seen on the big screen in Antim: The Final Truth, which released last month.

He is also seen as the host of the Colors TV reality show Bigg Boss and has the third installment of his film Tiger 3, tentatively scheduled for a release next year.

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As many as 241 civilians have been killed in 2021 by landmines and other explosive materials left in previous war zones across Syria, a war monitor said Sunday.

The number includes 114 children and 19 women as a result of the explosions, most of which occurred in the first quarter, Xinhua news agency quoted the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.

The watchdog called on the concerned organisations to help remove the war leftovers from and to raise the awareness of the Syrians about the danger of such materials.

State news agency SANA has reported many incidents in which civilians were killed by landmines, saying terror groups had planted them in areas they used to control during the 10-year-long Syrian war.

--IANS

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China has reported 162 new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases, the National Health Commission said on Monday.

Of the new local cases, 152 were reported in Shaanxi, seven in Guangxi, and one each in Zhejiang, Guangdong and Sichuan, the Commission said.

Also reported were 38 new imported cases in nine provincial-level regions, Xinhua news agency quoted the Commission as saying.

Four new suspected cases arriving from outside the mainland were reported, and no new deaths from Covid-19 were reported on the day, it added.

The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases on the mainland has reached 101,277, including 2,158 patients still receiving treatment, of whom 13 were in severe conditions.

A total of 94,483 patients had been discharged from hospitals on the mainland, and 4,636 had died as a result of the virus.

--IANS

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Minister of Higher of Afghanistan, Abdul Baqi Haqqani on Sunday said that the reason behind the closure of universities is co- and economic crisis.

The minister said that they have to make separate classes for girls and hire extra lecturers that need more time and extra budget, reported Khaama Press.

Haqqani was on a visit to Pakistan recently discussed the problems of Afghan students with Islamabad officials and relevant administrations.

"We discussed the problems of Afghan students and we were given assurance by Pakistani officials. Pakistan increased yearly scholarships for Afghan students by 500. will be provided 1,500 scholarships every year," said Haqqani.

Meanwhile, Haqqani also said that no country will be allowed to grant scholarships directly to people and that the scholarships will be managed through the ministry of higher education, reported Khaama Press.

He had suggested building independent universities for Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is an ideal country for Afghan students who seek higher as the country is cheaper and has similarities with the Afghan people," Haqqani added.

It comes as public universities and high schools for girls are yet to be reopened.

The Taliban, after the siege, proposed a ban on coeducation. Group's officials had also ordered that girls will no longer be allowed to sit in the same classes as boys in universities, Khaama Press reported.

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has made Covid vaccination a mandatory condition for the approval of new applications for work passes, long-term passes and permanent residence in from February 1 next year.

Those renewing their work passes will also have to be vaccinated, The Straits Times reported, citing the multi-ministry task force (MMTF) on Covid.

The new order will not apply to children aged below 12 and those who are medically ineligible for vaccination, it said.

The new measure, announced on Sunday, is a part of the nation's adjustments to dealing with the Omicron variant.

"These measures will help sustain our high vaccination rates and facilitate the safe reopening of our society and economy," the daily quoting the MMTF said.

At the point of application, employers will have to make a declaration that their work pass holders and dependants are fully vaccinated upon arrival in Singapore.

Work pass holders must submit or present their vaccination certificates as part of the verification process.

Those with digitally verifiable certificates will have to upload them to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's Vaccination Check Portal system.

Those without digitally verifiable certificates will have to present their vaccination certificates to airlines or ferry operators, or at the checkpoint, before boarding.

People who cannot produce the necessary documents will not be allowed to board the plane or enter Singapore, unless prior exemptions have been granted.

Individuals who were vaccinated overseas must update their vaccination records in the National Immunisation Registry (NIR) and will be given a grace period of 30 days upon arrival in Singapore to undergo and show a positive serology test result taken at a public health preparedness clinic.

"Should they test negative, they will be required to complete the full vaccination regimen in Singapore or their passes may be revoked, the task force said.

As for dependents of work pass holders, the vaccination condition will not apply to children aged below 12.

Pass holders who are medically ineligible for vaccination will have to submit a doctor's memo at the point of application and undergo a medical review upon arrival in Singapore.

Those applying for permanent residence, student passes and long-term visit passes will have their vaccination status verified when their passes are issued. Their vaccination records will have to be updated in the NIR.

If applicants are unvaccinated or vaccinated overseas but test serology negative, an indication that the body has not produced antibodies in response to vaccination, they will have to complete the full vaccination regimen in Singapore to fulfil the vaccination condition before they can be granted permanent residence or long-term passes.

The vaccination condition will not apply to permanent residence, long-term visit pass and student pass applicants for those who are aged below 12 years old, as well as those who are medically ineligible for vaccination.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has warned that unvaccinated workers will no longer be allowed to return to the workplace from January 15, even if they have a negative pre-event testing (PET) result.

The ministry had said in October that unvaccinated people would not be allowed to enter the workplace from January 2022, unless they had tested negative for COVID-19.

"Following the review and discussion with tripartite partners, we have decided to remove the PET concession for unvaccinated persons to return to the workplace from January 15, 2022, the Channel News Asia quoting the MoH said.

Partially vaccinated workers, those who have taken at least one dose of vaccine but are not yet fully vaccinated, will be granted a grace period until January 31 to complete the vaccination regime, the ministry said.

During the grace period, they can enter their workplace with a negative PET result.

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Edward O Wilson, the pioneering Harvard biologist who argued for a new vision of human nature in Sociobiology and warned against the decline of ecosystems, has died. He was 92.

Wilson died on Dec 26 in Burlington, Massachusetts, according to an announcement posted Monday on the E O Wilson Biodiversity Foundation's website.

It would be hard to understate Ed's scientific achievements, but his impact extends to every facet of society. He was a true visionary with a unique ability to inspire and galvanise. He articulated, perhaps better than anyone, what it means to be human," David J Prend, chairman of the board of E O Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, said in a statement.

The professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author first gained widespread attention for his 1975 book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, in which he spelled out the evidence suggesting a link between human behavior and genetics. The work created a storm of controversy among activists and fellow academics who equated sociobiology's groundbreaking theories with sexism, racism and Nazism.

More recently, Wilson has championed the importance of preserving diverse species and ecosystems.

The diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize, he said in 1993.

Less than 10% of the Earth's species have scientific names, he said, making it a still mostly unexplored planet. In 1979, On Human Nature the third volume in a series including The Insect Societies and Sociobiology earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with The Ants, which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.

Among his other honours was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of America's 25 most influential people in 1996.

Wilson's sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs nurture debate among Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviours from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behaviour.

Critics argued that such a theory bolstered social injustice, including discrimination against women, by saying that the inequality is written in human genes. Fifteen Boston-area scholars joined in a letter denouncing it, and in one case protesters dumped a pitcher of ice water on Wilson's head while he was speaking at a scientific meeting in 1978.

He didn't think genes determine all human behaviour, but in roughterms... maybe 10 per cent of it.

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Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday to the highest level since late November on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant will have a limited impact on global demand in 2022, even as surging cases caused flight cancellations.

Global benchmark Brent crude rose $2.46, or 3.2%, to settle at $78.60 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.78, or 2.4%, to settle at $75.57 a barrel.

The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday. Both benchmarks rose on Monday to the highest since Nov. 26.

On that day, oil plunged by more than 10% when reports of a new variant first appeared. The benchmarks gained last week after early data suggested that Omicron could cause a milder level of illness.

"Though Omicron is spreading faster than any COVID-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, at least so far," said Leona Liu, analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.

Britain's government will not introduce new COVID-19 restrictions for England before the end of 2021, its health minister, Sajid Javid, said on Monday.

More than 1,300 flights were cancelled by U.S. airlines on Sunday as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crews while several cruise ships had to cancel stops.

"The disruption to goods and services from isolating workers, notably air travel, seems to be the main fallout so far," Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA, said of rising Omicron cases. "That is only likely to cause short-term nerves, with the global recovery story for 2022 still on track." Oil prices have risen over 50% this year, supported by recovering demand and supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+.

Talks resume on Monday between world powers and Iran on reviving Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal. Iran said oil exports were the focus of the talks, which so far appear to have made little progress on boosting Iran's shipments.

Also on investors' radar is the next OPEC+ meeting on Jan.

4, at which the producer alliance will decide whether to go ahead with a planned 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) production increase in February.

OPEC+ stuck to its plans at its last meeting to boost output for January despite Omicron.
is set to announce its first-ever Policy on Monday, which would cover all internal and external security aspects, including the situation in and its impact on the neighbourhood.

This announcement will be made at a meeting of top civilian and military leadership of the country, Dawn newspaper reported.

On Sunday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had announced that Imran Khan had summoned a meeting of the Council (NSC) to review the country's first-ever policy on December 27.

"Prime Minister Imran Khan has convened a meeting of the National Security Council tomorrow, in which the first national security policy in the history of the country will be presented for approval," the Pak minister had said in a tweet.

The NSC is Pakistan's highest forum for coordination on security matters and is attended by key federal ministers, the national security adviser, services chiefs and intelligence officials.

This will be Pakistan's first-ever National Security Policy in a documented form, The Express Tribune reported.

The Pakistani publication said that the draft puts economic and military security at the core of policy and outlines the challenges and opportunities facing in the coming years.

Aside from the military and economic issues, the document throws light on Pakistan's water security as well as population growth, terrorism and foreign policy.

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South Korea's Unification Ministry on Monday urged to start the new year with a step for dialogue and cooperation, as Pyongyang is set to convene a key party meeting this week to discuss domestic and foreign policy issues.

earlier announced the ruling Workers' Party will hold a plenary meeting of its central committee "in the last third of December" to "discuss and decide on work plans for the new year", reports Yonhap News Agency.

"The plenary has been usually held for one to four days with leader Kim Jong-un's attendance," Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo told reporters here.

The government is keeping a close watch on the expected event for possible messages on inter-Korean relations or nuclear negotiations, she said.

"We hope will start the new year by opening the door for dialogue with the community, and take a step forward for engagement and cooperation," Lee said.

The remarks came as the nuclear talks between North Korea and the US remain stalled since the collapse of the 2019 Hanoi summit.

Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to overtures for talks, demanding Washington first retract what it calls "double standards" and "hostile policy" against its regime.

--IANS

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has lifted the ban it imposed on 10 African countries over the variant of coronavirus, while authorities expect a rapid doubling of cases in the coming days.

Passengers arriving in with travel history to Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe within the past 14 days will come under the country's Category IV border measures from 11.59 pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said it expects a new wave of local cases "soon" given the higher transmissibility of the variant.

"In the coming days and weeks, we should expect more community (local) cases and rapid doubling of cases. This is again a process we need to go through, in order to live with COVID-19," it said.

"However, the peak of the wave can be blunted and we can avoid overwhelming our healthcare system again if everyone plays their part to get their vaccinations and booster doses, self-test regularly and self-isolate if tested positive," the Channel News Asia quoting the MoH said.

In particular, those who have recently arrived from overseas or been in contact with an infected person should reduce their social interactions.

"We have done whatever we can to prepare ourselves for it; especially in administering boosters to our population and starting vaccinations for our children. We seek the cooperation and understanding of everyone, as we weather through an wave in the next one to two months," the channel quoting the ministry said.

Instead of being isolated in dedicated facilities by default, Omicron cases will be placed on home recovery or treated at community care facilities depending on their clinical presentation, the channel reported.

This means the travellers with links to these countries must take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within two days before departure to Singapore, as well as an on-arrival PCR test. They will also have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility. Another PCR test will be administered at the end of their quarantine period.

Previously, long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to these 10 African countries were not allowed to enter or transit following initial reports on Omicron cases there. citizens and permanent residents returning from these countries would have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility.

The MoH said it initially adopted a "more cautious risk containment approach" to reduce the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant into Singapore.

"The Omicron variant has since spread widely around the world," the ministry said, adding that Singapore is updating its travel restrictions accordingly.

"As the global situation evolves, we will continue to adjust our border measures in tandem with our roadmap to becoming a Covid-resilient nation, it said.

"Current observations from affected countries and regions suggest that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than currently circulating variants. Globally, the Omicron variant has overtaken the Delta variant as the predominant variant in numerous countries, such as the UK and Denmark," it added.

Available data suggests that Omicron infections face reduced risks of hospitalisation and severe disease compared to Delta infections, the MoH added.

"Locally, our Omicron cases have so far not been severe as well, none has required intensive care or oxygen supplementation, although this may be partially due to most cases being fully vaccinated and from younger age groups," it said.

Preliminary estimates from overseas studies also indicate that two doses of mRNA vaccines reduce the risk of symptomatic infection from Omicron by about 35 per cent. The risk is further reduced to about 75 per cent lower for individuals with a primary and booster mRNA regimen.

"There should be better protection against severe infection and death due to cellular immunity and other factors," said the MoH.

"It is therefore important for us to press on with our booster vaccination programme to enhance protection against infection and severe disease, it said.

Also, Omicron cases in Singapore will be placed on home recovery or treated at community care facilities depending on their clinical presentation, instead of being isolated in dedicated facilities by default, the ministry said.

" evidence indicates that the Omicron variant is likely to be more transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant, and that vaccines, especially boosters, retain substantial protection against hospitalisations caused by Omicron," the channel quoting the MoH said.

"In the last week, we had several unlinked Omicron cases as well as clusters in the community. This was not unexpected given the high transmissibility of the variant, the ministry said.

Based on the authorities' "updated understanding", Omicron cases will be allowed to follow protocols 1-2-3 as with other COVID-19 cases, it said.

As of Saturday, Singapore has detected 546 confirmed Omicron cases comprising 443 imported cases and 103 local infections.

On Sunday, Singapore reported 209 new COVID-19 cases, 100 of which were imported or those arriving here.

There was also one fatality, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 822.

As of Sunday, Singapore has recorded 2,77,764 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

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UN Secretary-General on Sunday mourned the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, calling him a towering world figure for peace.

"I was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an unwavering voice for the voiceless," said Guterres in a statement. "Archbishop Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world.

During the darkest days of apartheid, he was a shining beacon for social justice, freedom and non-violent resistance."

Archbishop Tutu's relentless determination to build global solidarity for a free and democratic was fittingly recognized by the Nobel Committee in its decision to award him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. As chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he made an immeasurable contribution to ensuring a peaceful, yet just, transition to a democratic His great wisdom and experience were always communicated with humanity, humor and heart, said Guterres.

Archbishop Tutu was a steadfast champion of multilateralism and had important roles, for example, as a distinguished member of the United Nations' Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention, and on a High-Level Fact-Finding Mission to Gaza in 2008. In recent decades, Archbishop Tutu continued to fight passionately for action on many of the critical issues of today: poverty, climate change, human rights and HIV/AIDS, among others, he said.

"Although Archbishop Tutu's passing leaves a huge void on the global stage, and in our hearts, we will be forever inspired by his example to continue the fight for a better world for all," said Guterres.

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A top official of the Taliban-led government in said that the the US should not interfere in the affairs of the war-torn nation, adding that it is capable of taking decisions independently, the media reported.

The remarks were made by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, while he addressed a gathering on Sunday, reports TOLO News.

Regarding the withdrawal of US forces in August that led to the taking control of the country, Stanekzai said that "American soldiers fled from in the dark of the night".

He said that the country is independent now and that the last four months have been the first time in four decades in which Afghans are taking their decisions independently.

"The enemies," he said, should not think that is weakened by 40 years of war as it has the ability to fight another 40 years if it has to.

The Deputy Foreign Minister acknowledged that hundreds of Afghans were leaving the country for Iran on a daily basis over economic problems and that most of them fail to cross the border or lose their lives on their way.

He asked Afghanistan's neighbours to help the country, open their borders to refugees and ease visa norms.

Stanikzai said that Afghan women and girls have the right to work and education, but added that Afghanistan's culture is different from that of the West.

He admitted that solidarity among the people within the country and building relations with the world countries are two big challenges ahead of the Islamic Emirate.

Also addressing the gathering, Anas Haqqani, also a member of government, said "the world does not want Afghans to become self-reliant", TOLO News reported.

--IANS

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Shares of GMR Infrastructure surged 12 per cent to Rs 47.95 on the BSE in Mondays intra-day trade after the GMR Group signed shareholders agreement with Indonesia's Angkasa Pura II for the development of Medan Airport on December 23.

The company engaged in airport services business had made announcement on Friday after market hours. The stock was trading at its highest level since December 2010. At 02:21 pm; it was up 11 per cent at Rs 47.40, as compared to 0.36 per cent rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. The trading volumes on the counter jumped over four-fold with a combined 84.12 million equity shares changing hands on the NSE and BSE.

GMR Airports Netherlands B.V., a step down subsidiary of GMR Airports (GAL), on December 23, 2021, signed the Shareholders Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with Angkasa Pura II (AP II) for the development and operation of Kualanamu International Airport (Project) in Medan, Indonesia. The letter of award for the project was received on 23rd November 2021, said in a media release.

The project scope includes operation, development and expansion of the airport over a period of 25 years. Kualanamu International Airport is an operating Airport with healthy cash flows, the company said.

Medan is the fourth largest urban area in the country and is capital of North Sumatra province. An operating airport with healthy cash flows, it handled more than 10 million passengers in 2018.

The GMR Group is currently developing three major greenfield airport projects across India and Greece. Goa and Visakhapatnam airports in India are poised to transform the economy and landscape of the surrounding areas when ready. Crete airport in Greece will similarly play a significant role in the local economy of the region, the company said.
The price of 10 gram of gold increased by Rs 10 on Monday, with 24-carat gold trading at Rs 48,310 and 22-carat at Rs 47,310.

The price of 1 kg of silver remained unchanged on Monday with the precious metal selling at Rs 62,300.

In Delhi, the price of 24-carat gold stands at Rs 51,810, while in Mumbai it is at Rs 48,310, according to the Goodreturns website.

The price of 10 gram of 22-carat gold in Delhi and Mumbai is at Rs 47,510 and Rs 47,310, respectively.

In Chennai, 10 gram of 24-carat gold is selling at Rs 49,650 on Monday, while 10 gram of 22-carat gold is selling at Rs 45,520.

In Kolkata, 24-carat gold is selling at Rs 50,160, while 22-carat gold's price is at Rs 47,460, according to the Goodreturns website.

The price of gold varies across the country due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

In Chennai, the price of 1 kg of silver is at Rs 66,200 on Monday, while in Delhi and Mumbai, the metal is selling at Rs 62,300.

Silver is selling at Rs 62,300 per kg in Kolkata and Bengaluru, while in Hyderabad, the metal is selling at Rs 66,200 a kg.
The of made a strong debut on the bourses on Monday. The stock got listed at Rs 319  a 16.4 per cent premium to its issue price. The stock gained further and ended Mondays session at Rs 334.95  a 22.24 per cent premium to its issue price. After listing, the company has a market capitalisation of Rs 615.47 crore.

The initial public offering (IPO) of was subscribed 21x. The institutional portion was subscribed 1.8x, wealthy investor portion 19x, and retail investor portion 81x.

The company had priced its IPO between Rs 262 and Rs 274 per share. The Rs 126-crore IPO comprised a fresh issue of Rs 113.4 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 12.5 crore.

The company plans to use the fresh issue proceeds to fund its working capital requirements and finance the expansion of its manufacturing facility at Raigad district in Maharashtra. The company manufactures consumer adhesives and sealants, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), synthetic rubber adhesive, and PVC pipe lubricants.

The company also manufactures these products for select large PVC pipe manufacturing companies under co-branding or private label on order basis.

The company also sells ancillary products like ball valves, thread seal, and other tapes through its distribution network.

As of September 30, the companys distribution network comprises four depots in Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Indore and more than 750 distributors who cater to more than 50,000 dealers in India. In 2020-21, the company sold its products in 21 countries. Unistone Capital was the banker to the issue.




Shares of Kabra Extrusion Technik hit a new all-time high of Rs 412.70, as they rallied 16 per cent on the BSE in Mondays intra-day trade after the company announced capital expenditure (capex) plan of up to Rs 100 crore for expansion of battery division. The companys board also approved a proposal to raise up to Rs 301 crore for the expansion of its future technologies brand Battrixx.

The stock of Kabra Extrusion has outperformed the market by surging 65 per cent, as compared to a 5 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex, in past three months. In the last six months, the stock has zoomed 115 per cent, as against a 8 per cent rise in the benchmark index.

Of the Rs 301 crore, Rs 101 crore will be raised initially through issuance of warrants to promoters and foreign investors while Rs 200 crore will be mopped up through financial institutions for the working capital, the company said in a release.

Battrixx, part of Kabra Extrusion Technik, provides advanced lithium-ion battery packs with smart battery management systems to power the growth of Indias transition to green energy storage and electric mobility.

The promoters and other investors have shown the confidence to infuse more capital in Battrixx, which will be used to further the growth of the brand in the Electric Mobility sector. The company aims to reach 2 GWh capacity over the next 12-18 months.

These funds will enable Battrixx to enhance its annual production capacity in phases from existing 100,000 battery packs to 700,000 by end of FY24 to meet the growing demand in electric vehicles industry and other energy storage applications. The Board of the company has also approved to raise necessary additional working capital upto Rs 200 crore from financial institutes, Kabra Extrusion said in regulatory filing.

The lithium-ion battery market size in India is estimated to increase from 2.9 GWh in 2018 to 800 GWh by 2030. Globally, as per Fortune Business Insights the electric vehicle battery market Size [2021-2028] is to reach $ 154.90 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 28.1 per cent in the 2021-2028 period.

In India, the Central Government has approved Phase-ll of its FAME Scheme with an outlay of Rs 10,000 crore over three years starting April 1, 2019, with 86 per cent of the budget allocated for incentives to create a demand for Electric Vehicles.
The key benchmark indices are likely to start trade on a quiet note owing to lack of any major directional cues from the overseas As of 08:00 AM, the SGX Nifty futures were quoted at 17040, up 14 points. Meanwhile, here the top stocks to focus in trade today.

HP Adhesives: The stock will make its debut on the bourses today. The IPO was subscribed 20.96. The GMP (Grey Market Premium) indicates a likely listing gain of 20-25 per cent as against the issue price of Rs 274 per share.

RBL Bank: According to CNBC TV reports, ace investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and D-Marts founder RK Damani have approached the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to buy a 10 per cent stake in READ MORE



Financials: Corporate houses, which are not allowed to own a bank, can now pick up 15 per cent stake in commercial banks through their non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). This is because the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed non-promoters to hold up to 15 per cent in private sector banks, following the recommendation of an internal working group (IWG) that was set up to review the existing guidelines on ownership and corporate structure for these entities. READ MORE



Fast-moving Consumer Goods makers (FMCG) are likely to raise prices in January owing to raw materials, transport, labour and packaging material costs remaining high or becoming even costlier. The price hike could be in the range of 2-10 per cent. READ MORE After integrating the distribution of GlaxoSmithKline Consumer with its own set-up, HUL has outlined an ambitious double-digit growth for its nutrition business for central India from the current 1 per cent in this calendar year. READ MORE The largest power transmission company in India - has won two projects, which will offer connectivity to crucial renewable energy projects in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The company said had been awarded a 400-kV Karur Transmission Project in Tamil Nadu worth Rs 200 crore and a Rs 1,200-crore Khavda-Bhuj project, which forms part of India's largest renewable evacuation system. READ MORE Riding on the success of their recent model launches, homegrown auto majors Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors are looking to further strengthen their product portfolios in 2022. Both companies are also looking at ways to handle the semiconductor shortage in a better way next year so that the impact on the production is minimal.

Lupin: Homegrown pharmaceuticals major said it has received tentative approval from the US health regulator for its generic Azilsartan Medoxomil tablets used to treat high blood pressure.

Central Bank of India (CBI): The last remaining public sector lender under the Reserve Bank of Indias prompt corrective action (PCA) framework, may see such restrictions being lifted in 2-3 months. Central Bank of India meets all the parameters for exiting the PCA framework and the RBI will remove it from PCA as soon as the end of this fiscal year, said an official. READ MORE



Canara Bank: The state-run bank has raised Rs 2,500 crore by issuing Basel-III compliant bonds to a total of 10 allottees.

Kabra ExtrusionTechnik: The company has approved capex plan of Rs 100 crore for its battery division.

Orchid Pharma: The company informed BSE, that CARE had revised its ratings on long-term and short-term bank facilities from CARE BBB -; Stable CARE A3 to CARE BBB- (CWD) and CARE A3 (CWD, respectively. The ratings agency has placed it on Credit Watch with developing implications.

Stocks in F&O ban: Escorts, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Vodafone Idea are the only stocks in the F&O ban period today.
Adani Transmission (ATL) said that it has received a letter of intent (LoI) for the acquisition of Karur Transmission.

The company won the Karur Transmission project through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process and has received the LoI for the central renewable energy (RE) evacuation project.

ATL will build, own, operate and maintain the transmission project in Tamil Nadu for a period of 35 years.

ATL's execution of the project will help evacuate renewable energy from the Karur-Tiruppur region and the estimated capex will be more than Rs 200 crore.

Anil Sardana, MD & CEO, Adani Transmission, said that this new project would be ATL's first-ever Inter State Transmission System Projects (ISTS) project in Tamil Nadu, which will allow it to contribute significantly to the development of the national transmission infrastructure for evacuation of renewable energy.

Separately, the company said that it has received the letter of intent (LoI) for the acquisition of a renewable energy evacuation system under Khavda-Bhuj Transmission.

The RE evacuation project under Khavda-Bhuj Transmission was won the project through the tariff-based competitive bidding (TBCB) process and the company has received the LoI for the said project.

ATL will build, own, operate and maintain the transmission project in Gujarat for a period of 35 years.

With an estimated capex of more than Rs 1,200 crore, ATL's execution of the project will help evacuate about 3 GW of renewable energy from Khavda, Gujarat.

Adani Transmission is the transmission and distribution business arm of the Adani Group, one of India's largest business conglomerates.

The company reported 34.9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 288.84 crore in Q2 FY22 from Rs 214.13 crore in Q2 FY21. Net sales jumped 15% Y-o-Y (year-on-year) to Rs 2,479.22 during Q2 FY22.

The scrip was currently trading 0.09% higher at Rs 1771.20 on the BSE.

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Commenting on the announcements by the Prime Minister, FICCI President Mr Sanjiv Mehta said, "We are deeply thankful to the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for his announcement on launching the vaccination campaign for children in the age group of 15-18 years who form a major part of the unvaccinated, susceptible population in India. We are also grateful for opening the Booster or Precaution dose for the Healthcare and Frontline workers as well as the senior citizens with comorbidities, which will help us protect our high-risk population given the rising concerns from the forecasted 3rd COVID wave."

"With 61 percent of population fully vaccinated, this is rightful expansion of India's vaccination campaign is a significant step towards our continuous fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and will aid in tackling the new Omicron variant. The preparation announced by the Prime Minister for managing the pandemic in coming months is indeed very encouraging for the industry as well as the citizens of India," added Mr Mehta. The Prime Minister has announced that the nation has 18 lakh isolation beds, 5 lakh oxygen-supported beds, 1.4 lakh ICU beds, and 90,000 special beds for children. There are over 3,000 functional PSA Oxygen plants and 4 lakh Oxygen cylinders have been provided to all states. Apart from research on the vaccine, the government is also working on approval processes, supply chains, distribution, training, IT support system, and certification.

Mr Mehta also added that the industry has been at the forefront, supporting the government at every stage during the pandemic and assures its continuous collaboration and assistance towards protecting the nation from any further adversities. FICCI urges all to follow the protocols announced by the state governments and maintain COVID appropriate behavior, without which it is impossible to manage a pandemic of this scale.

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HFCL rose 3.12% to Rs 79.40 after the company said it has received approval as 'Trusted Source' from National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).

National Security Council Secretariat (Trusted Telecom Cell) is a part of National Security Council which advises the Prime Minister's Office on matters of national security and strategic interest.

With this approval, HFCL has become the 'Trusted Source' for all Indian Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for sourcing their telecom active network products and infrastructure. It has become one of the few companies to have received the 'Trusted Sources' approval in the country.

The development has come following the government's efforts to ensure security of telecom networks, especially with fifth generation (5G) service on the anvil. To address the perineal problem of increase in cyberattacks, intelligence gathering, which comes, laced with the growth in data consumption, the Government of India announced the directives which mandated the Indian TSPs to connect their networks only on those new devices designated as 'Trusted Products' from 'Trusted Sources'. Trusted Products are products whose critical components and the products themselves are sourced from Trusted Sources.

HFCL's promoter & managing director, Mahendra Nahata said, "We are delighted to receive the approval as a 'trusted source' from NSCS and are fully committed to continue serving our TSP partners with our wide range of products and services. The development will lead to cement HFCL's position further in the Telecom sector thereby amplifying the growth opportunities for HFCL. Our inclusion in the select list as one of the trusted source is a distinguished achievement and reinforces our commitment to delivering Make in India world-class products/solutions and contribute to further accelerating our Hon'ble PM's vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat with greater zeal."

On a consolidated basis, net profit of HFCL rose 61.2% to Rs 85.94 crore on 6.4% jump in net sales to Rs 1,122.05 crore in Q2 FY22 over Q2 FY21.

HFCL is a leading technology enterprise engaged in manufacturing of high-end Transmission and access equipment, optical fiber, optical fiber cables (OFC) and is specialized in setting up modern communication network for telecom service providers, railways and defence.

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HFCL has been recognized as the 'Trusted Source' by National Security Council Secretariat (Trusted Telecom Cell), a part of National Security Council who advises the Prime Minister's Office on matters of national security and strategic interest.

With this approval, HFCL has become the 'Trusted Source' for all Indian Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for sourcing their telecom active network products and infrastructure and has become one of the few companies to have received the 'trusted sources' approval in the Country.

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Shares of HP Adhesives were currently trading at Rs 334.95 on the BSE, a premium of 22.24% as against the issue price of Rs 274.

The scrip was listed at Rs 319, representing a premium of 16.42% to the initial public offer (IPO) price.

So far, the scrip has hit a high of Rs 334.95 and a low of Rs 319. Over 1.77 lakh shares of the company have changed hands in the counter till now.

The IPO of HP Adhesives was subscribed 20.96 times. The issue opened for bidding on 15 December 2021 and it closed on 17 December 2021. The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 262-274.

The offer comprised fresh issue of 41,40,000 equity shares and an offer for sale by selling shareholders of up to 4,57,200 equity shares.

Ahead of the IPO, HP Adhesives on 9 December 2021, finalized allocation of 20,68,700 equity shares to anchor investors at Rs 274 each, aggregating to Rs 56.68 crore.

The company proposes to utilize the net proceeds from the fresh issue towards funding capital expenditure for expansion of production capacity at the existing manufacturing facility at Raigad, Maharashtra and at the additional unit having a proposed construction area admeasuring about 4,532.57 square metres (built-up) area on the adjacent plot amounting Rs 25.51 crore and funding the working capital requirements of the company amounting Rs 54 crore and balance towards general corporate purposes.

HP Adhesives is a fast-growing multi-product, multi-category consumer adhesives and sealants company. The company manufactures a wide range of consumer adhesives and sealants such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), cPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) and uPVC (unplasticized polyvinyl chloride) solvent cement, synthetic rubber adhesive, PVA (polyvinyl acetate) adhesives, silicone sealant, acrylic sealant, gasket shellac, other sealants and PVC pipe lubricant which are sold across India, through an extensive distribution network of distributors, and exported also to several countries, through network of distributors and direct customers.

The company also manufactures these products for select large PVC pipe manufacturing companies under co-branding or private label on order basis. It also sell ancillary products like ball valves, thread seal and other tapes and FRP (fiber-reinforced plastic) products for drainage and architectural solutions that are distributed along with its products to the end customers through distribution network.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 3.10 crore and total income of Rs 70.52 crore in the six months ended on 30 September 2021.

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Infosys Ltd is quoting at Rs 1866.95, up 0.19% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The stock is up 50.52% in last one year as compared to a 23.02% spurt in NIFTY and a 57.23% spurt in the Nifty IT.

Infosys Ltd is up for a fifth straight session in a row. The stock is quoting at Rs 1866.95, up 0.19% on the day as on 12:49 IST on the NSE. The benchmark NIFTY is up around 0.37% on the day, quoting at 17066.35. The Sensex is at 57350.61, up 0.4%. Infosys Ltd has risen around 10.06% in last one month.

Meanwhile, Nifty IT index of which Infosys Ltd is a constituent, has risen around 8.67% in last one month and is currently quoting at 37727.8, up 0.44% on the day. The volume in the stock stood at 15.42 lakh shares today, compared to the daily average of 54.9 lakh shares in last one month.

The benchmark December futures contract for the stock is quoting at Rs 1866.5, up 0.11% on the day. Infosys Ltd is up 50.52% in last one year as compared to a 23.02% spurt in NIFTY and a 57.23% spurt in the Nifty IT index.

The PE of the stock is 39.73 based on TTM earnings ending September 21.

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Trading for the week began on a negative note as the key benchmark indices drifted lower in early trade on uncertainty over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus. Weakness in bank stocks weighed on the bourses. The Nifty dropped below the psychological 17,000 level.

At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 439.26 points or 0.77% at 56,685.05. The Nifty 50 index lost 150.30 points or 0.88% at 16,853.45.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.95% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.72%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,085 shares rose and 1,529 shares fell. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 715 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 43.24 crore in the Indian equity market on 24 December 2021, provisional data showed.

Stocks in Spotlight:

RBL Bank was locked in 10% lower circuit at Rs 155.25 after the board of directors of the bank accepted the request of Vishwavir Ahuja to proceed on medical leave and appointed Rajeev Ahuja (existing Executive Director of the Bank) as the Interim Managing Director & CEO of the Bank. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed Yogesh Dayal as an Additional Director on the board of the bank for a period of two years till December 23, 2023 or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

Reliance Industries shed 0.77%. The company has received the approval from National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to withdraw its plan to demerge its oil-to-chemical (O2C) business into a separate unit.

Lupin rose 0.98%. The global pharma major intimated that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) Sevelamer Carbonate for Oral Suspension, 0.8 g and 2.4 g packets to market a generic equivalent of Renvela for Oral Suspension, 0.8 g and 2.4 g Packets of Genzyme.

Adani Transmission (ATL) advanced 2.78% after the firm bagged the Letter of Intent (LoI) for the acquisition of a renewable energy evacuation system under Khavda-Bhuj Transmission. ATL will build, own, operate and maintain the transmission project in Gujarat for a period of 35 years.

GMR Infrastructure gained 0.47%. GMR Airports Netherlands B.V., a step down subsidiary of GMR Airports (GAL), on 23 December 2021, signed the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with Angkasa Pura II (AP II) for the development and operation of Kualanamu International Airport (Project) in Medan, Indonesia.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Monday, with multiple major markets in the region closed for holidays, as uncertainty over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant weighed on investor sentiment. Major markets in Asia-Pacific such as Australia and Hong Kong are closed for the Christmas holidays.

U.S. airlines have cancelled or delayed thousands of flights over the past three days due to COVID-19-related staff shortages, while several cruise ships had to cancel stops after outbreaks on-board.

China's industrial profits in November jumped 9% from last year, data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics showed. The US markets were shut on Friday, 25 December 2021 on account of Christmas holiday.

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Power stocks were trading in the positive zone, with the S&P BSE Power index rising 13.21 points or 0.38% at 3495.59 at 09:50 IST.

Among the components of the S&P BSE Power index, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (up 1.4%), Adani Transmission Ltd (up 1.15%), Torrent Power Ltd (up 0.37%), Siemens Ltd (up 0.17%), NTPC Ltd (up 0.12%), and ABB India Ltd (up 0.04%), were the top gainers.

On the other hand, JSW Energy Ltd (down 1%), Tata Power Company Ltd (down 0.62%), and Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (down 0.52%) moved lower.

At 09:50 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 127.05 or 0.22% at 56997.26.

The Nifty 50 index was down 47.5 points or 0.28% at 16956.25.

The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 5.84 points or 0.02% at 28372.39.

The S&P BSE 150 Midcap Index index was down 22.67 points or 0.26% at 8536.26.

On BSE,1508 shares were trading in green, 1396 were trading in red and 153 were unchanged.

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The RBI has announced auction of State Government Securities. A number of State Governments have offered to sell securities by way of auction, for an aggregate amount of Rs 22,984 Cr. (Face Value). The auction will be conducted on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on December 28, 2021 (Tuesday). The Government Stock up to 10% of the notified amount of the sale of each stock will be allotted to eligible individuals and institutions subject to a maximum limit of 1% of its notified amount for a single bid per stock as per the Scheme for Non-competitive Bidding Facility. Both competitive and non-competitive bids for the auction should be submitted in electronic format on the Reserve Bank of India Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on December 28, 2021 (Tuesday).

The non-competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 A. M. and 11.00 A. M. and the competitive bids should be submitted between 10.30 A. M. and 11.30 A. M. Individual investors can also place bids as per the non-competitive scheme through the Retail Direct portal (https://rbiretaildirect.org.in).

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RBL Bank said that the board of directors of the bank accepted the request of Vishwavir Ahuja to proceed on medical leave and appointed Rajeev Ahuja (existing Executive Director of the Bank) as the Interim Managing Director & CEO of the Bank. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed Yogesh Dayal as an Additional Director on the board of the bank for a period of two years till December 23, 2023 or till further orders, whichever is earlier.

Reliance Industries said that the company has received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to withdraw its plan to demerge its oil-to-chemical (O2C) business into a separate unit.

Shares of HP Adhesives will debut on the bourses today. The issue price is Rs 274 per share.

Vedanta said that India Ratings and Research has revised the company's outlook to positive from stable while affirming its Long-Term Issuer Rating at 'IND AA-'.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) said that India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has affirmed the bank's long-term issuer rating at 'IND AAA' with a 'Stable' outlook and short-term issuer rating at 'IND A1+'.

Lupin announced that it has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) Sevelamer Carbonate for Oral Suspension, 0.8 g and 2.4 g packets to market a generic equivalent of Renvela for Oral Suspension, 0.8 g and 2.4 g Packets of Genzyme.

Adani Transmission (ATL) has received the Letter of Intent (LoI) for the acquisition of a renewable energy evacuation system under Khavda-Bhuj Transmission. ATL will build, own, operate and maintain the transmission project in Gujarat for a period of 35 years.

Shares of GMR Infrastructure will be watched. GMR Airports Netherlands B.V., a step down subsidiary of GMR Airports (GAL), on December 23, 2021, signed the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) and Share Subscription Agreement (SSA) with Angkasa Pura II (AP II) for the development and operation of Kualanamu International Airport (Project) in Medan, Indonesia.

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a statement on Monday, amid speculation relating to the RBL Bank Ltd. in certain quarters which appears to be arising from recent events surrounding the bank. RBI stated that the bank is well capitalised and the financial position of the bank remains satisfactory. As per half yearly audited results as on September 30, 2021, the bank has maintained a comfortable Capital Adequacy Ratio of 16.33 per cent and Provision Coverage Ratio of 76.6 per cent. The Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) of the bank is 153 per cent as on December 24, 2021 as against regulatory requirement of 100 per cent. Further, it is clarified that appointment of Additional Director/s in private banks is undertaken under Section 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 as and when it is felt that the board needs closer support in regulatory / supervisory matters. As such, there is no need for depositors and other stakeholders to react to the speculative reports. The bank's financial health remains stable.

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If anything, the blow to employment, demand, and output caused by the effects of the pandemic and associated lockdowns has reignited the conversation about whether GDP numbers accurately reflect the possible distress on the ground, particularly in the informal sector. A recent presentation by former chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian and former International Monetary Fund representative in India Josh Felman, as reported in this newspaper, in particular has sparked discussion, given that ...

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Prime Minister on Monday said it has benefitted the people of to have a double-engine government in the state and at the Centre as the speed of development projects and the implementation of different schemes have got a momentum.

He said this while addressing a rally at the Paddal ground in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi to mark the fourth anniversary of the Jai Ram Thakur-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.

Underscoring the advantages of a double-engine government with less than a year to go for the 2022 Assembly polls, Modi said the people of the hill state have benefitted a lot over the last four years as various welfare schemes launched by the Centre were implemented in a more efficient manner by the Thakur government.

He pointed out that the Centre launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the government initiated a similar scheme called Himcare, adding that a total of 1.25 lakh residents of the state got free treatment under these two schemes.

"Ease of living is the topmost priority of our government and electricity plays a major role in it," Modi said, while pointing out that the power projects launched by him on Monday would be significant in generating more electricity in the state.

Beginning his speech in Himachali language, the prime minister said he had come to Mandi, which is also known as "Chhoti Kashi", to take the blessings of Baba Bhootnath (Lord Shiva).

Himachal Pradesh played a vital role in shaping his life, he added.

Congratulating the chief minister, Modi said despite the cold weather conditions, the crowd at the rally shows that the people of Himachal Pradesh are satisfied with the achievements of the state government over the last four years.

The chief minister urged the voters to break the trend of alternately choosing the BJP and the Congress to rule the state and asserted that the saffron party would retain power in Himachal Pradesh in next year's Assembly polls.

Union minister Anurag Thakur talked about various central projects that were launched in the state after Modi became the prime minister, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur and the PGI in Una.

Earlier, the prime minister dedicated and laid the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 11,581 crore in the state. He also launched 287 investment projects worth over Rs 28,197 crore.

The projects dedicated by Modi to the public include the 111-MW Sawra-Kuddu hydro-electric project with an outlay of Rs 2,081.6 crore on the Pabbar river in Shimla district. The project will generate 386 million (38.6 crore) units of electricity per annum, which will help the state earn an annual revenue of about Rs 120 crore, an official spokesperson said.

Besides, he laid the foundation stone of the Shri Renuka ji dam, conceived as a storage project worth Rs 6,700 crore on the Giri river in Sirmaur district. The project will generate 200 million (20 crore) units of energy in a surface power house with a 40-MW installed capacity, which will be utilised by the state, the spokesperson said.

The live storage of the dam will be 498 million (49.8 crore) cubic metres, which will fulfil about 40 per cent of the drinking water requirement of Delhi.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 66-MW Dhaulasidh hydro-electric project, which will be constructed at an expenditure of Rs 688 crore. The project is located on the Beas river in Hamirpur and Kangra districts.

The prime minister laid the foundation stone of the first phase of the 210-MW Luhri hydro-electric project -- a joint venture of the Centre and the state that will be completed at an expenditure of Rs 1,811 crore. The project is located on the Sutlej river in Shimla and Kullu districts.

The power generated from these projects will help provide grid stability and improve the power supply position, besides adding valuable renewable energy to the grid.

Modi also inaugurated the second groundbreaking event of the launching of 287 investment projects worth over Rs 28,197 crore of the Rising Himachal Global Investors' Meet, the spokesperson said.

The investors' meet was held in Dharamsala on November 7-8, 2018. The first groundbreaking ceremony of projects worth over Rs 13,656 crore to turn these proposals into real projects was held in Shimla on December 27, 2019 in the presence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Earlier, the prime minister also released a coffee-table book on the achievements of the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh. The chief minister welcomed Modi at the Paddal ground by presenting a huge "trishul" to him.

Accompanied by Anurag Thakur, Modi also saw an exhibition put up by various departments of the state government.

(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.)
With the emerging as the leading party winning 14 of 35 wards in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls, its convener and Delhi Chief Minister on Monday said the party's victory is a sign of the ensuing change in Punjab which will go to assembly polls early next year.

Congratulating his party's winning candidates and the workers, he also said the people of Chandigarh have chosen "honest politics" of the AAP, rejecting the "corrupt politics" of its rival parties.

The won 14 of 35 wards in the final results declared on Monday. The BJP, which enjoyed a majority in the previous Municipal Corporation House, came a close second registering win in 12 wards, while the Congress bagged eight seats and the Shiromani Akali Dal one.

"The victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is a sign of ensuing change in Punjab. People of Chandigarh have today chosen honest of AAP, rejecting the corrupt politics," Kejriwal tweeted.

"Many congratulations to all the winning candidates and workers of the Punjab is ready for change change," he added.

The AAP, which is the main Opposition party in Punjab, has contested the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls for the first time.

(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.)
Slamming the remarks made against at a function in Raipur, Congress leader on Monday quoted the Father of the Nation that his thoughts cannot be imprisoned.

The Wayanad Lok Sabha member's remarks came after a section of Hindu religious leaders sang paeans to Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, at a religious congregation in Raipur on Sunday.

"You can chain me, torture me, you can destroy this body, but you cannot imprison my thoughts," the former Congress President said quoting the Mahatma.

During the conclusion of the two-day 'dharma sansad' at Ravan Bhata ground in Raipur, Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj had used an "abusive" word against the Father of the Nation and asked people to elect a staunch Hindu leader as the head of the government in order to protect the religion.

Earlier, Yati Narsinghananda Giri had praised Godse as the symbol of truth and religion.

(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.)
has emerged among the top five cities in the world for (AI), at No. 5 according to a study by TIDE Framework and listed by Harvard Business Review (HBR).

The ranking is derived based on a framework of indicators such as talent pool, investments, diversity of talent, the evolution of the country's digital foundations (TIDE). The other cities topping the list are San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Seattle.

is also among the top cities on HBR's list of AI hotspots in the developing world scoring favourably on the cost of living. Other cities included Hyderabad, Jakarta, Lagos, Nairobi, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Sao Paulo.

New Delhi (18th), Hyderabad (19th), and Mumbai (27th) have also made it to the list. The reviewers believe that the ranking collectively provides companies a way to prioritize their AI talent sourcing choices by scoring different locations on the concentration, quality, and diversity of the AI talent pool.

Gunjan Krishna, Commissioner for Industrial Development and Director, Department of Industries and Commerce of Karnataka, told IANS that she was thrilled that is one of the top cities in the world for AI and has the world's second largest AI talent pool.

"Karnataka has a dynamic AI landscape, and I am thrilled that we are leading the way for the future in innovation and technology. AI has become a key new factor for various sectors, and we are consistently working towards building the required infrastructure and bridging the skill gap," she said.

--IANS

mka/bg

(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.)
Delhi-NCR/ Sonepat (Haryana) [India], December 27 (ANI/GIPR): Professional courses and career programmes are the buzzwords today as intellectual aspirants opt for UG/PG and Doctorate programmes from top universities to shape their careers.

These courses are structured according to the global industry requirements in the coming times. Although there are a plethora of choices for the students when it comes to enrolling in a university, the top names always stand out!

The key distinctions that give a university an edge over the others in the field are curriculum structure, teaching methods, approvals and certifications, collaborations (national and international), faculty expertise, campus infrastructure, and placements & scholarship assistance. A university should offer all-encompassing benefits to the students to support them create their future.

Among the top names in North India, (https://srmuniversity.ac.in) SRM University Delhi-NCR, Sonepat has managed to leave a mark in the global education landscape owing to its outstanding offerings. The Institution has numerous prestigious ratings and rankings. Apart from this, SRMUH also has several remarkable recognitions from top-ranking entities!

It has an enthralling campus, academic affiliations with recognised government bodies, industry-aligned courses that offer academic excellence to the course-seekers, trained and experienced faculty, new and innovative pedagogy, phenomenal global collaborations that offer thriving exposure to the students, thus carving out SRMUH from the mainstream institutions.

100% placement opportunities and scholarship options make this University a go-to destination for aspiring candidates. The supportive and experienced faculty at the institution is one of the many reasons behind the success of the University and its relentless reputation.

SRMUH also facilitates International Admissions for students across the globe so that maximum candidates can take advantage of its multi-national educational offerings and in building a rewarding career.

That's not all! The University boasts of an "SRM-SIEMENS CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE" and an "SRM-BOSCH CENTRE FOR INDUSTRIAL COLLABORATION" ensuring its students' adequate exposure and hands-on training. The institution has specialised programmes in association with 'IBM', 'Xebia' and 'TCS' and many top recruiters from India and abroad, making this UGC-enlisted University the right choice for a flourishing career in the coming times.

The Admission Application for session 2022, is 'Live Now' @SRMUH for Students looking to immerse in a 'Choice-Based Credit System Education Model' to tailor their learning path. One can opt for over 70+ professional programmes offered by SRMUH through the given link- (https://admissions.srmuniversity.ac.in)

This story is provided by GIPR. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/GIPR)

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Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): India's leading tiles brand - Asian Granito India Ltd. is planning to launch one of the World's largest Tiles showrooms in India's Tiles hub - Morbi, Gujarat.

The showroom is conceptualised in 1.5 lakh square feet area and aims to showcase AGL Group's production, technological excellence at one place. The showroom will have the entire range of the group's exquisite and innovative range of Sanitaryware, Bathware and Engineered Marble and Quartz range including 5,000 plus Tiles products in all sizes, designs and finishes under one roof. Bhoomi Poojan of the showroom is scheduled on 15 January 2022.

The five-storey showroom will be designed as a one-stop solution to meet the diverse needs of household, architect, builder for building their dream projects as well as keeping in mind the needs of the International markets. The showroom will have 150 plus Quartz, 350 plus Sanitaryware, 50 plus series of CP Fittings and 5,000 plus Tiles designs at one place. The showroom will further strengthen the positioning of Asian Granito in the International markets. Company currently exports in over 100 countries and is ranked as one of the top tiles exporters from India.

Speaking about the development, Kamlesh Patel, Chairman and Managing Director, and Mukesh Patel Managing Director, Asian Granito India Ltd. said, "This will be one of the landmark projects for Asian Granito Group as well as the country's ceramic industry and we are very excited to unveil the same in Morbi, Gujarat. Morbi is India's hub for ceramic tiles & sanitaryware and accounts for more than 70% of the country's total production with over 1100 manufacturing units in the zone. We are also launching FRESCO series of decorative mosaic tiles in different patterns & sizes. Trusted for reliability, adaptability and innovation Asian Granito has created a strong brand identity for Make in India products and is able to achieve global recognition with exports to 100 plus countries."

Asian Granito India Ltd. is one of the largest groups in India engaged in the manufacturing of tiles, sanitaryware, engineered marble & quartz, bathware with cumulative production capacity of 98,000 sq. meter per annum.

India is the second largest market, as well as producer of tiles in the world. Over the last few years, India is fast emerging as the global manufacturing hub of tiles and sanitaryware products and many developed countries including US, Europe, Middle East markets in recent past have shown the confidence in Make In India products for their requirements.

"Indian tiles are nowadays not only superior in quality in comparison with Chinese tiles, but also available at very competitive prices. With anti-China sentiments across the World and USA imposing heavy duties on Chinese tiles, we anticipate huge export potential for Indian companies in the years to come. We at Asian Granito too expect strong growth in the exports business and also aims to expand business network in over 120 countries from 100 currently," said Patel.

Gujarat has emerged as a one of the major hubs globally for ceramic products. The state contributes more than 80% of the country's ceramic output with an annual turnover in excess of Rs. 40,000 crore and over Rs. 12,000 crore exports.

Asian Granito India Ltd. offers a wide range of products including, ceramic floor, digital wall, vitrified, parking, porcelain, glazed vitrified, outdoor, natural marble, engineered marble & Quartz, etc.

Further to leverage the synergies, the company has entered in sanitaryware and recently, the company had launched the CP Fittings and Faucets division to provide 'Complete Bathroom Solutions' under brand AGL. Company has set a target to increase its touch points to over 10,000 from 6,500 currently and expand the network of exclusive showrooms to 500 plus. The company expects higher sales in coming quarters due to its dominance in B & C class cities and focused penetration in the market.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
With several allegations against a leading ed-tech company, the ministry released an advisory for parents. It said some ed-tech companies were luring parents under the garb of offering free services. It asked them to avoid the automatic debit option for payment of subscription fee and also to read the terms and conditions carefully before making any move.

The advisory added that success stories advertised by these companies could be a trap to acquire users.

During the recently concluded Winter session of Parliament, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram talked about what he called 'predatory sales tactics' of companies.

This outrage against ed-tech companies is not recent. In fact, ed-tech firms such as BYJUs have been pulled to consumer courts on several occasions by disgruntled parents, who have alleged cheating by the companys sales agents.

Last week, a consumer court in Pune ordered BYJUs to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation after a customer had complained that she didnt receive the promised refund of course fees from the company. The customer also claimed that BYJUs had got a Rs 1.1 lakh loan sanctioned in her name, without her consent.

We reached out to BYJUs last week for their stance on these recent allegations, but didnt receive a response till the time of publishing this video.

On consumer complaint forums and social media, several users have given a template of what the typical sales call for an ed-tech company looks like.

If it is an in-person visit, the salesperson will belittle the childs intellect and urge the parents to take the ed-tech subscription to secure his future. Most sales persons also express apprehension about the childs because of the condition of government schools.

Parents, some from the lower strata of the society, usually take loans to fund the cost of the course.

While there is usually the clause for free cancellation during the 15 to 30 days of trial period, once that expires, there is usually a lock-in period that runs into years. Several families look to cancel their subscription if they feel that the quality of the course is subpar. But they cannot due to the lock-in.

Families also face hurdles in getting their promised refund during the trial period, and discover that their accounts are being debited for EMIs of loans that they didnt sign up for.

Several such cases have reached consumer courts.

Such sales tactics have gained prominence because the pricing of these courses, of around Rs 20,000 to 30,000 for say Math for Class 6, and over Rs 1 lakh for say Math from classes 6-12, is often unaffordable for people from lower income groups.

On the condition of anonymity, a startup investor told Business Standard that while most allegations about a toxic sales culture have come up against BYJUs, its in fact a standard playbook across all Indian ed-tech companies with offerings for the K-12 or school learning segment.

This is because most of these companies share the same VC investors. These investors then ask their portfolio companies to follow the market leader to increase sales.

The Indian ed-tech space has seen phenomenal growth since last year. While startups in this sector had raised over $500 Mn in funding in 2019, since last year, Indian ed-tech startups have raised over $4 Bn. We also have five ed-tech unicorns now as opposed to just one before the pandemic.

However, there are justifiable concerns about the quality of these ed-tech courses, and whether these new-age startups have the best interests of their customers in mind.

Experts have suggested that the Indian ed-tech sector is due for a regulatory intervention by the government. They have suggested a 'Netflix-like' monthly subscription model, with no minimum lock-in period. This would force ed-tech companies to come up with quality products for user retention.

We spoke to Gouri Gupta, director for ed-tech at Central Square Foundation to understand more about how the ed-tech sector can be regulated, without stifling innovation in the space.

Even the staunchest critics of Indian ed-tech would admit that the sector has tremendous potential in a country with a largely poor quality of in its schools and universities. The governments advisory may lead to some soul-searching in the sector. Perhaps ed-tech companies will now temper their growth ambitions to prioritise customer concerns above everything else.
Top headlines



 Sensex gains 969 points from day's low, ends 296 points up



 makes strong debut at 16% premium, ends 22% higher tanks 20% as Vishwavir Ahuja goes on leave; analysts sound caution Tech Mahindra gains 4% to touch new all-time high nears first coal shipment from shunned Australian mineThe key benchmark indices closed higher after starting on a muted note and staying in the red zone for a while. However, by close, they recouped losses and finished with steady gains on the back of support from select pharma and private banking shares. IT stocks also logged notable gains.

BSE benchmark Sensex rallied to a high of 57,512, up 969 points from the day's low. It finally ended 296 points higher at 57,420.

The surged 279 points from the day's low to hit a high of 17,112. The index eventually settled with a gain of 82 points at 17,086.

On an immediate basis, the index has formed a support zone near the 17,000-16,900 level. If it manages to sustain above this level, one can expect a swift extension in current pullback towards the hurdle zone of 17,150-17,220, according to Rohit Singre, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities.

Among stocks, garnered a lot of attention today as the scrip hit a 52-week low, crashing over 20%. The RBI appointed Yogesh K Dayal as an additional director after the private sector banks managing director and chief executive officer Vishwavir Ahuja went on a medical leave.

Later, in a clarification, the RBI said that the bank was well capitalised and its financial position remained satisfactory. Analysts believe that this development will create uncertainty and will be negative for the stock  at least in the short to medium term. The stock closed 18.3% lower on the BSE.

That apart, Tech Mahindra was the leading gainer. It rallied 4% to hit a new high of Rs 1,792 on the expectation of strong earnings in the December quarter. The stock has surged 12% in the past week, against a 2.8% rise in the Sensex.

The company remains confident of delivering double-digit organic revenue growth in FY22, given broad-based demand, strong deal wins, improving win rates and steady progress on client mining.

Further, the shares of GMR Infrastructure also rose 12% on the BSE after the GMR Group signed a shareholders agreement with Indonesia's Angkasa Pura II for the development of Medan Airport.

Adding to the continuous trail of IPO debuts, made a decent market debut, with its shares getting listed at Rs 319 on the BSE, a 16% premium over the issue price. The stock, which got locked in the 5% upper circuit in early trade, closed 22% higher on the exchange at Rs 335.

The broader also finished with notable gains. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap closed 0.3% and 0.5% up, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty Pharma index saw the biggest gains amid a fresh surge in Covid cases in some states, possibly led by the Omicron variant. The index closed 1.6% higher. The Bankex, the other notable gainer on the BSE, ended 0.7% up.

Meanwhile, in other news, the is preparing to ship the first coal cargo from Australia's most controversial mine, after battling a seven-year campaign by climate activists and defying a global push away from fossil fuels.

The Carmichael mine in the outback Queensland state of Australia is likely to be the last new thermal coal mine to be built in that country. But it will be a vital source of supply for importers such as power plants in India. According to a spokesperson for Adani Groups Australian subsidiary Bravus Mining & Resources, the company has secured the market for 10 million tonnes of coal per annum which will be produced at the Carmichael Mine.
South Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (left) said his country is planning to join the pact before the term of President Moon Jae-in administration ends in early May. Photo: IC Photo

(Nikkei Asia)  South Koreas trade minister said his countrys membership in a Japan-led free trade pact would benefit all member nations, as Korean companies would strengthen supply chains for semiconductors, batteries and electric vehicles.

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo said in a Nikkei Asia interview on Friday that the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) would not be self-sufficient without South Korea.
Cruise ship operator Royal Caribbean has offered a 25% refund to about 2,500 passengers after they were made to wait for almost a day to get a Covid-19 test Wednesday in Hong Kong. The ship, which set sail on Sunday, was ordered to cut its journey short and return to dock at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, after local health authorities found that the passengers included nine close contacts of Covid cases. All nine tested negative

Jan 06, 2022 05:04 PM
It seems the possibility of seeing the all-new Toyota Raize on local roads is getting greater and greater by the day. The latest evidence? T...
Photo: The Canadian Press In this courtroom sketch, Ghislaine Maxwell, center right, speaks to her attorney Bobbi Sternheim, before being escorted to a jail cell by the U.S. Marshals, during Maxwell's sex trafficking trial, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)

A jury resumed deliberations Monday in the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell after a long holiday weekend.

The British socialite is charged with recruiting and grooming teenagers as young as 14 to be sexually assaulted by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwells lawyers say she was a U.S. government scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan federal jail cell while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell, who was behind bars for her 60th birthday Saturday, was described as a central component to Epstein's plans by four women who testified they were sexually abused as teenagers by Epstein with help from Maxwell when she was his girlfriend and afterward.

Maxwell's lawyers said the memories of her accusers were corrupted by the passage of time and the influence of lawyers steering them toward multimillion-dollar payouts from a fund set up to compensate Epstein victims.

The jury, which has been deliberating since last week, already has asked to review the testimony of the four women, along with former Epstein housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi. They have given little hint of their overall progress on six charges, including a sex trafficking count that carries a potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison.
Photo: pixabay

Most of us have spent more time on screens since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in screen time may be especially pronounced among teens because of school closures, the cancellation of extracurricular activities and restrictions on physical social interactions. This has led both parents and resesarchers to worry that the pandemic is making young people addicted to their phones and that this increased screen time is contributing to feelings of social disconnection and isolation.

In a study produced by our research team at the University of British Columbia, we found compelling evidence that young people dont see their screen time as an important factor contributing to their feelings of social disconnection.

Rather, most youth in our study reported that technology played a crucial role in helping them feel connected to others. However, the fear of missing out (FOMO) seems to be an important risk factor contributing to youth feelings of social disconnection.

Feeling socially connected during COVID-19

Our study collected data from 682 youth, aged 11-18, at two schools in Canada, using an online survey with questionnaires and open-ended questions.

We found that most youth (64 per cent) reported feeling socially connected to others in the pandemic. This is important since extensive research has shown that individuals who are satisfied in their connections to others typically have better physical and mental health, and tend to live longer. A recent study by psychology researcher Natasha Magson and colleagues found that feeling socially connected was central to teens well-being during the pandemic.

Technology helping to maintain relationships

In our study, youth who described feeling socially connected to others emphasized the role of technology in fostering and maintaining their relationships with others. For example, an 11-year-old boy explained:

The only thing COVID changed was not being able to see my friends as much in real life and not being able to do sports. But through social media and playing video games I can still connect with my friends without actually seeing them.

For such young people, technologies such as FaceTime, social media and video games allowed them to keep in touch with their friends and helped them foster feelings of social connection.

Despite most youth reporting feeling socially connected to others, just under a third (28 per cent) of respondents described feeling socially disconnected from others in the time of COVID-19. Feeling socially disconnected puts youth at risk for life difficulties like depression and loneliness.

Fear of missing out during COVID-19

We also found that fear of missing out played a unique and important role in contributing to young peoples feelings of social disconnection.

Worries about missing out on things others have or do have been around for a long time, as alluded to in the expression keeping up with the Joneses. Psychology researchers in recent decades have examined fear of missing out particularly in connection with social media.

For example, Mayank Gupta and Aditya Sharma, researchers in psychiatry and neuroscience, respectively, define fear of missing out as a phenomenon observed on social networking sites, that includes two processes of a perception of missing out, followed up with a compulsive behaviour to maintain these social connections.

While people may have been afraid of missing out long before social media, social media now provides a way for us to check up on what other people are doing and be hyper-aware of the things we may be missing out on.

Some psychologists have conceptualized fear of missing out on a scale, such that people can either assess themselves to be low or high in terms of this fear.

Research has shown fear of missing out drives social media use as a way of checking in on other people, and trying to relieve some of the anxiety of those with more fear experience about potentially missing out on things or being socially excluded.

Combatting FOMO in the pandemic

While we know that social media can play an important role in helping youth feel connected to others, for those who report more fear of missing out, its possible that spending time online can intensify feelings of being left out  and increase feelings of social disconnection.

Our research suggests that an important question for parents is What are you doing online and how is it making you feel? over and above How much time are you spending online?

Its important for young people to think critically about what they are doing online and how its making them feel. Connecting with others is great, but maybe passively scrolling through social media feeds is actually increasing their feelings of missing out, and making them feel more disconnected.

Natasha Parent receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Given what we currently know about COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, CDC is shortening the recommended time for isolation for the public. People with COVID-19 should isolate for 5 days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving (without fever for 24 hours), follow that by 5 days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. The change is motivated by science demonstrating that the majority of SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurs early in the course of illness, generally in the 1-2 days prior to onset of symptoms and the 2-3 days after.

Additionally, CDC is updating the recommended quarantine period for anyone in the general public who is exposed to COVID-19. For people who are unvaccinated or are more than six months out from their second mRNA dose (or more than 2 months after the J&J vaccine) and not yet boosted, CDC now recommends quarantine for 5 days followed by strict mask use for an additional 5 days. Alternatively, if a 5-day quarantine is not feasible, it is imperative that an exposed person wear a well-fitting mask at all times when around others for 10 days after exposure. Individuals who have received their booster shot do not need to quarantine following an exposure, but should wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. For all those exposed, best practice would also include a test for SARS-CoV-2 at day 5 after exposure. If symptoms occur, individuals should immediately quarantine until a negative test confirms symptoms are not attributable to COVID-19.

Isolation relates to behavior after a confirmed infection. Isolation for 5 days followed by wearing a well-fitting mask will minimize the risk of spreading the virus to others. Quarantine refers to the time following exposure to the virus or close contact with someone known to have COVID-19. Both updates come as the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the U.S. and reflects the current science on when and for how long a person is maximally infectious. These recommendations do not supersede state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, nor do they apply to healthcare workers for whom CDC has updated guidance.

Data from South Africa and the United Kingdom demonstrate that vaccine effectiveness against infection for two doses of an mRNA vaccine is approximately 35%. A COVID-19 vaccine booster dose restores vaccine effectiveness against infection to 75%. COVID-19 vaccination decreases the risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. CDC strongly encourages COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 5 and older and boosters for everyone 16 and older. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our communities.

The following is attributable to CDC Director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky:

The Omicron variant is spreading quickly and has the potential to impact all facets of our society. CDCs updated recommendations for isolation and quarantine balance what we know about the spread of the virus and the protection provided by vaccination and booster doses. These updates ensure people can safely continue their daily lives. Prevention is our best option: get vaccinated, get boosted, wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial and high community transmission, and take a test before you gather.
Hon Chong plant wins 2021 Energy Efficiency Industry prize

27 December 2021

INSEE Cement's Hon Chong plant is honoured to be the only construction material manufacturer to receive Vietnams Energy Efficiency in Industry Award 2021.

During the past 23 years, the INSEE Hon Chong plant in Binh An Ward, Kien Luong district, Kien Giang province has made constant progress in cement production and waste co-processing along with responsibility for sustainable development.



The plant has always operated a vertical roller mill (VRM), contributing to a 20 per cent reduction in energy consumption compared to grinding with a roller press and ball mill. In addition, the waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at the site meets 25 per cent of the power demand for the cement plant, indirectly saving about 25,000t of carbon emissions which is equivalent to 9300tpa of coal.



In 2004, Ecocycle, formerly Geocycle, a waste management brand of INSEE Vietnam, developed its business through technological upgrades at the Hon Chong cement plant with a total investment of roughly US$12m. Non-renewable energy at the plant such as coal, oil, has been reduced at an annual rate of nearly 30 per cent. INSEE Ecocycle co-processing solution enables 1.2Mta of waste treatment at the cement plant, helping to reduce a further 1Mt of CO 2 emissions.

The Energy Efficiency Awards are an annual activity implemented within the framework of the National Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy for the period of 2019-30.

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A review of the autobiography of the late Paul B. Carter reads like a roller coaster ride on Coney Island or Lake Winnepesaukah.

The self-written publication released in 1977 titled Paul B. Carter  His Family, Friends and Great Adventures, tells the story of ups and down of a charismatic individual who lived up to the words of a poem, Dont Quit, given to him by his father, James Inman Carter, in 1920.

The 191-page book contains many of his successes (and failures) and numerous photographs of his relationships with many of the prominent males and females of that era on Lookout Mountain, the city of Chattanooga, New York City, New Orleans, and other places throughout the world.

Paul B. Carter was born in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago on February 10, 1888. Although nothing is said about the familys financial and social status, his father was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade.

When he was two and a half the family moved to Chattanooga and resided on Poplar Street at the foot of Cameron Hill. He had four siblings, Garnet, Mary Lynn, Dorris and Lucile. They afterward moved to Lookout Mountain, but because of a lack of a high school for Garnet and Mary Lynn to attend there the family would move back to Chattanooga and reside on High Street for two years.

Pauls father had also been a travelling salesman and entered the wholesale produce and premium cigar business (bonus for buying large quantity of products).

Paul B. quit high school at the age of fourteen and a half and never finished his education which he regretted in his biography although he gained an education in the school of hard knocks, which his college-educated colleagues did not receive.

He also would travel the country for two years selling cigars to grocers.

As a teenager he got shot in the left hip in Providence, Kentucky, as an innocent bystander in a shootout. At the age of 19 in 1907 he spent two months in the hospital after being transported by train to Evansville, Indiana. His prospects for survival were slim as his father was told to bring a black burial suit and to purchase a casket for his son, which fortunately was not needed.

The family had also lived on Lookout Mountain during the summer where Paul B. would meet many lifelong acquaintances and financial supporters.

Paul B. and his father would acquire large tracts of land on Lookout Mountain and also purchased potentially rich copper mines in Ducktown, Tennessee.

Faced with the decision of whether to form a real estate company to develop Lookout Mountain or form a corporation, sell stock therein, and go into the copper mining business, the duo made the wrong choice.

With rumors of war in Europe circulating there would be a great need for copper, and the decision to go into mining rather than real state was not unfounded but their lack of mining experience would eventually be fatal.

At the age of 29 Paul enlisted in the Signal Corps (the first name used by the Air Corps) on October 7, 1917 in World War I. He graduated from Flight Training School and would be commissioned as a First Lieutenant and serve as a flight instructor through the war.

Although he relates many interesting experiences in his book including several crash landings he does not talk about any actual dog fights or contact with the enemy. Several photos of one of those crashes on March 7, 1918 are included.

Upon return to Chattanooga in 1919 he engaged in not only his business interests with his father in mining and real estate but also participated in a busy social life that honored ex-soldiers.

During this time, he and his good friends, Tom and Frank Harrison, decided to take a trip to Havana, Cuba on a cruise from Jacksonville, Florida.

Frank Harrison would initially reside in North Carolina where he owned majority interests in several Coca-Cola plants. He also had bottling plants in Texas and Georgia.

The Carters continued to sell stock in their mining interests in Ducktown although the end of the war had adversely affected the value of copper. After they sold their entire interests to Frank Harrison they were able to pay off all of their indebtedness in the Ocoee Copper Company.

The life-long friendship with Frank Harrison and his family would eventually involve into the wisest decision that Paul B. Carter ever made.

Over the years he would manage the Signal Mountain Hotel (now Alexian Brothers). He would also build the Lookout Mountain Hotel (now Covenant College) that opened on June 23, 1928 and due to the Depression would eventually close with a debt of over a million dollars.

Going into the life insurance business he was able to partially pay off his creditors by selling them policies and splitting his premiums with them until this practice was stopped by the State Insurance Commission in Nashville as an illegal practice and he was told that he would have to immediately cease what he was doing.

With the help of friends and considerate bankers Paul would survive his financial problems.

He would marry an attractive young lady from Sweetwater, Tennessee, Mary Craig, in February 1928 in her hometown. In December she contracted the flu while she and Paul B. were spending Christmas with her family. On December 31 she became worse and was transported by ambulance to Chattanooga where she died that night. She was expecting a child and died in childbirth The child also did not survive.

Although his financial problems continued, the wisest upward move of his roller coaster life took place on October 7, 1935 when he married the wealthy widow of Frank Harrison, Anne. She had three children, Presh, Jesse, and Frank, Jr., from her previous marriage to his close friend.

The intended union of Paul and Anne was not at first favored by all of his prospective stepchildren as he candidly admitted in his book that he was broke as flat as a flounder but he also claimed that he believed that they will love me eventually as much as if I were their own father  and the same applies to me.

Over the years he would be entrusted with much of the responsibility of Annes extensive Coca Cola holdings and other interests throughout the United States and they were married for 32 years prior to her death in 1967. Many photographs of their worldwide travels are also included in the book.

When he died in 1979, he was described as an American businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

He truly lived a roller coaster life!

* * *

Jerry Summers



(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com)
The world recently lost a human rights icon: Desmond Tutu. The South African Archbishop fought against apartheid in his home country and often called out other human rights abuses around the world.

After Tutu died on Dec. 26, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry paid tribute to him with a sweet message.

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and son Archie with Desmond Tutu | Toby Melville  Pool/Getty Images

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry met Desmond Tutu in 2019

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex got a chance to meet Tutu in September 2019 when they did a royal tour of southern Africa. The couple described this experience in an Instagram post along with a photograph of them, their son Archie, and Tutu.

This morning The Duke and Duchess were honoured to introduce their son Archie, to Archbishop, Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Thandeka, the post read. The Archbishop, a globally respected figure in anti-apartheid movement, is one of the worlds great champions of equality, and has spent his life tirelessly battling injustice.

The post continued, Their Royal Highnesses have joined The Archbishop and Thandeka to learn more about the work of The Tutu and Leah Legacy Foundation, and see first-hand how they are focussing on global awareness of the critical issues affecting the world.

Before then, Harry had met the Archbishop in 2015. According to Africa Times, Harry visited Lesotho to open a childrens center and met with Tutu in Cape Town, South Africa, to talk about promoting human rights.

The Sussexes share a sweet tribute to Desmond Tutu after his death

Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have shared a statement on the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu: pic.twitter.com/Lz20AjRsNE  Omid Scobie (@scobie) December 26, 2021

RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Beat Out Prince William and Kate Middleton as Top Couple on New List

Meghan and Harry seems to have been mourning Tutus death along with the rest of the world. According to Harpers Bazaar, the couple released a statement to reflect on his work and their memories with him.

Archbishop Tutu will be remembered for his optimism, his moral clarity, and his joyful spirit, the statement read. He was an icon for racial justice and beloved across the world. It was only two years ago that he held our son, Archie, while we were in South Africa  Arch and The Arch he had joked, his infectious laughter ringing through the room, relaxing anyone in his presence. He remained a friend and will be sorely missed by all.

Queen Elizabeth also released a statement about Desmond Tutus death

Queen Elizabeth with Desmond Tutu in South Africa in 1995 | Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

RELATED: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have to Attend Queen Elizabeths Platinum Jubilee to Keep Their Brand Alive, Royal Author Says

The Sussexes are not the only members of the royal family touched by Tutus death. Queen Elizabeth also released a statement on Twitter in response to the event.

I am joined by the whole Royal Family in being deeply saddened by the news of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a man who tirelessly championed human rights in South Africa and across the world, the message said. I remember with fondness my meetings with him and his great warmth and humour.

Her Majesty continued, Archbishop Tutus loss will be felt by the people of South Africa and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem.

The queen had met the Archbishop a few times. For example, she met with him and Nelson Mandela in 1995 during a visit to South Africa. In 1999, she presented him with the Wilberforce Medal. In 2013, she hosted him at Buckingham Palace.
At least 35 civilians burned alive by Burmese army on Christmas Eve

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Myanmars ruling military burned alive at least 35 internally displaced people, including elders, women and children, in a village in eastern Kayah State on Christmas Eve, according to human rights groups.

The Karenni Human Rights Group said it discovered the victims' bodies on Saturday, the day after the massacre near the Mo So village of Hpruso town.

We were so shocked at seeing that all the dead bodies were different sizes, including children, women and old people, a commander from the Karenni National Defense Force, one of the largest of several civilian militias opposing the junta that led to a Feb. 1 coup, told Reuters.

I went to see this morning. I saw dead bodies that had been burned, and also the clothes of children and women spread around, a local villager was quoted as saying.

The international aid group Save the Children said two of its staffers were missing in that massacre, adding that it was suspending operations in that region in Myanmar, previously known as Burma, NPR reported.

The military, also known as Tatmadaw, admitted it shot and killed an unspecified number of terrorists with weapons from the KNDF in the village, adding that the people were in seven vehicles and did not stop for the military, Reuters added.

The presence of the Buddhist nationalist military makes civilians and militias in conflict-ridden states nervous. The military has been accused of damaging places of worship and civilians homes, raping girls and women, abducting civilians to be used for forced labor and executing civilians.

Myanmars ethnic minorities, including Christians, live in the various conflict zones across the countrys borders with Thailand, China and India. Hundreds of thousands of civilians, many of them Christians, have been displaced due to the escalation of conflicts in the zones since the military coup on Feb. 1.

Militias in those areas have been supporting pro-democracy protesters since the coup, which has led to the use of heavy weapons by the Myanmar army. Thousands of civilians in the conflict zones have sought shelter in churches when their villages are under attack.

Today the 25th of December, Christmas Day, is an important day of celebration and peace for the world. However, today the genocidal junta made their choice to say clearly that peace is..., tweeted Dr. Sasa, who is Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Spokesperson of the National Unity Government of Myanmar and the Myanmar Special Envoy to the United Nations.

These acts clearly constitute the worst crimes against humanity and we expect that all peoples and governments the world over should condemn these acts, he said in a statement. With the condemnation, however, should come a commitment that these criminals be brought to justice and held fully accountable for their actions.

According to the KHRG, at least 651 houses, six churches and at least one clinic in Kayah state, also known as Karenni, were destroyed between May 21 and Dec. 20, the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide said in a statement.

From June to May, at least eight churches were damaged in 30 days in the Kayah and Shan states. According to Radio Free Asia, five civilians sheltering inside the churches were killed.

In May, four civilians were reportedly killed and around eight others were injured when security forces fired artillery shells at a Catholic church in the Kayah state.

Myanmar is ranked No. 18 on Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. The persecution level in Myanmar is very high due to Buddhist nationalism. Burma is recognized by the U.S. State Department as a country of particular concern for egregious violations of religious liberty.
Major cities worldwide cancel New Years Eve celebrations due to Omicron

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While New Yorkers are going ahead with their iconic New Years celebration, authorities in many other major cities around the world have canceled celebrations due to the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, Athens and New Delhi are among the cities where New Years celebrations have been canceled or large gatherings prohibited, according to media reports.

In Germany, which is in the midst of a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a massive fifth wave with omicron infections is feared while the hospitals are already overloaded, according to DW. New Year Eves private fireworks have also been banned due to possible injuries caused by such fireworks.

The German health agency recently confirmed its first death  a person between the ages of 60 and 79  related to the omicron variant.

In the U.K., the Trafalgar Square New Years Eve celebration has also been canceled due to the surge of omicron cases in London, the citys Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced, according to The Telegraph. The occasion will instead involve a live broadcast highlighting the most defining moments of 2021.

With infections of COVID-19 at record levels across our city and the U.K., Im determined to work closely with partners in our city to do everything we possibly can to slow the spread of the new variant and ensure our NHS services are not overwhelmed this winter, Khan was quoted as saying.

This means that we will no longer be hosting a celebration event for 6,500 people on Trafalgar Square this New Years Eve, he continued. This will be very disappointing for many Londoners, but we must take the right steps to reduce the spread of the virus. Im proud that we will still have an incredible broadcast spectacular to watch on our screens, which will showcase our great city to the rest of the world.

In the U.K., about 144,000 people a day are getting infected with omicron and feeling unwell, according to the Zoe COVID study, the BBC reported last week. Preliminary studies suggest the omicron variant is milder, with fewer people getting severely ill than with other variants.

The study also suggested that half of people with cold-like symptoms could actually have the coronavirus.

In Edinburgh, Scotland, public New Years Eve celebrations have been canceled, according to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

The move will also mean unfortunately that large-scale Hogmanay celebrations  including that planned here in our capital city  will not proceed. I know how disappointing this will be for those looking forward to these events, Sturgeon explained in a statement.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex has also announced a ban on major public parties and fireworks on New Years Eve.

In Athens, Greece, fireworks show over the Acropolis has been canceled. The countrys Health Minister Thanos Plevris has said all public New Year celebrations planned by municipalities have been canceled, according to Fox Carolina.

According to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 90% of the coronavirus infections in some parts of the United States are of the Omicron variant.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has said the New Years Eve celebration will be scaled back, as those who want to attend a party will have to be fully vaccinated, wear face masks and practice social distancing.

New Yorkers have stepped up tremendously over the past year  we are leading the way on vaccinations, we have reopened safely, and every day we work toward building a recovery for all of us, the mayor said, Fox News reported. There is a lot to celebrate, and these additional safety measures will keep the fully vaccinated crowd safe and healthy as we ring in the New Year.

Meanwhile, more than 1,000 flights in the U.S., and thousands more globally, were canceled Sunday due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant, The New York Times reported.
Televangelist Perry Stone slams secular media after report alleges sexual misconduct

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Longtime Tennessee-based televangelist and Bible teacher Perry Stone warned his followers against trusting secular media Monday, days after a local publication accused him of sexual misconduct.

Over 32 years I have been involved with television. ... Im involved with media, I know how media works, Stone said in a YouTube video titled The Truth Behind Todays Media.

Its not always about whats true or not, its about the advertising dollars, he continued, explaining the relationship between the media and advertising and the need to make money.

Information can be twisted by the god of this world so easily. So when youre dealing with a Christian system who wants to be honest ... secular individuals, it has been proven, they will give a false scenario and then you know, two, three years down the road come back and apologize for it and I dont want to go into collusions and all that, he said.

Citing multiple sources connected to Stone and his Perry Stone Ministries, a report published in the Chattanooga Times Free Press on Christmas Day said the Federal Bureau of Investigation began looking into sexual misconduct claims against the minister last month, but the agency has not confirmed this.

Perry Stone Ministries also did not immediately respond when contacted by The Christian Post on Monday morning.

More than a dozen people connected or formerly connected to Stone's ministry told the Chattanooga publication that they were worried about what appears to be a lack of accountability in the ministry a year-and-a-half after claims of inappropriate conduct involving women were first made.

Some expressed outrage that the board of directors at Voice of Evangelism, Stones international evangelistic outreach, did not involve law enforcement or fully investigate claims of misconduct against the televangelist. These allegations included "groping, unwanted kissing and showing women he was aroused, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

In an update from Israel posted on Facebook on Sunday morning, Stone suggested his ministry was coming under attack without mentioning the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Days ago, we sent a voice file of the words spoken by the Holy Spirit that was spoken recently, to be translated (not interpreted), to several Arab friends, as there [were] three different dialects. All three sent back the same message from what they could understand. One part was a warning for me personally, from the Lord, exposing some people who were plotting and making war against me and the ministry, Stone said, in part.

John Rodriguez, an outside spokesperson for Voice of Evangelism, told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the manner in which the allegations against Stone were handled was "appropriate and intensive."

"The conclusions reached and actions taken by the board were determined by the board to be reasonable and appropriate and in the best interests of Voices of Evangelism, its supporters and even its detractors," he said in a statement.

During a special service on Nov. 30, when he tried to explain why some people were no longer with his ministry, an unidentified woman interrupted his address to suggest it was because he is a nasty perv.

Why don't you tell them the real reason why they left? Because you kept touching them, she said before she was removed by security.

Stone later explained that the allegations against him were misinterpreted social behavior that is seen as normal in Italian culture.

I am not a perfect man," he said. "People have taken me hugging and kissing them on the cheek wrong. I quit that. I'm Italian. My whole family holds hands, rubs backs. I didn't know you can look at somebody and say, 'Hey, how you doing?' and they can take it wrong.

He further noted that God told him that his accusers will have to answer for their behavior toward him when they die.
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Pandemic panic has engulfed much of the planet.

As a new variant of coronavirus grips the world in fear, lawmakers in many countries seem all too eager to respond once again with the imposition of outsized, draconian measures in their attempt to stop the spread.

In the apt words of fantasy author H.P. Lovecraft: The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.

Fear is currently driving Australia to force its own citizenry into quarantine detention facilities as well as foist vaccine mandates on citizens as a condition of participating in the activities of day-to-day life.

Videos from the Land Down Under depict a dystopian world, where the mere inkling of a COVID-19 infection can get people taken from their homes and put into detention facilities.

An Australian government website reports: Fully-vaccinated domestic and international arrivals coming to the Northern Territory from a COVID-19 red zone may be permitted to undertake seven days home quarantine. The operative word being may.

Another section of the website says that those who have COVID-19 or are suspected of having it must isolate in their home if it is suitable or another location if needed as decided by your public health authority. The qualifications that define suitable are unclear.

International arrivals to certain Australian states and people whose houses are deemed unsuitable are out of luck. They are required to quarantine at the facility closest to [their] entry into the Northern Territory unless otherwise directed.

While at these detention facilities, they must follow a stringent set of requirements, including:

Staying in their allocated room, unless permitted to leave by an authorized officer;

Wearing a face mask when outside their room unless an authorized officer permits them to remove it; and

Not leaving the quarantine zone in which they are located unless they are escorted by an authorized officer.

Video showing the treatment of the people staying in these facilities is disturbing to say the least.

Australian Hayley Hodgson was placed in a Covid internment camp despite testing negative for the virus



She was confined to a box for 14 days, offered valium when she complained about confinement, and lost her job



"You feel like you're in prison"https://t.co/VaUoSmgx2T pic.twitter.com/fMs2HS0c5R  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) December 3, 2021

And when three men attempted to leave their internment, they were hunted down like dogs by the Australian police.

Three men have climbed the barbed wire fence to escape the voluntary quarantine camp. pic.twitter.com/YodP776qpd  I, Hypocrite (@lporiginalg) December 1, 2021

Odious restrictions on interstate travel between various parts of the country continue to be an issue.

Even domestic travelers entering Western Australia must apply for a government pass each time they enter the state and must be fully vaccinated unless they can prove an exemption.

In one sickening case, Australias COVID-19 restrictions prevented a grieving family from traveling across a state border to identify their sons dead body.

Meanwhile, in Australia parents refused permission to cross a state border to identify the body of their 20-year-old son.



pic.twitter.com/8lRbEogNHw  Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) December 9, 2021

But Australia is not unique in its draconian approach.

Europe finds itself yet again at the center of a wave of new coronavirus infections. The continent is seeing over 2 million new cases per week, and in response, countries have once again begun imposing harsh measures to tamp down on infections. Many such measures, including renewed lockdowns, have previously failed to prevent widespread transmission.

In Belgium, failed virtual learning models are being reintroduced for children in secondary schools, and many indoor events have been banned.

Austria initially announced it would impose lockdowns only on the unvaccinated. Video spread across the internet of Austrian police officers demanding proof of vaccination from people in stores and on the streets, with the threat of fines if the unvaccinated had dared to leave their homes.

Austrian police hunt for The Unvaccinated, who have been confined to their homes and face fines of $1660 for being in public (except when working).



And the human rights industry, the EU, US and much of the intl left are silent, if not quietly approving. pic.twitter.com/Wc26Eh09EC  Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) November 16, 2021

Austria switched from a lockdown of just the unvaccinated to a full lockdown of all citizens before finally correcting course and letting people leave their homes again, only to replace oppressive lockdowns with oppressive vaccine mandates.

As we saw back here in the U.S., lockdowns caused the closure of many businesses, costing many their livelihoods for a public health tradeoff that was highly dubious.

And while Europe has returned to these damaging mitigation measures, America is no stranger to COVID-19 lunacy either.

States and cities across the country have enacted a patchwork of restrictions to try to fight the virus  some more stringent than others, but many offensive to liberty.

Oregon until recently had an outdoor mask mandate, long after the science was settled that the risk of contracting COVID-19 outside was negligible.

The state still has an indoor mask mandate, one of the last in the country, and no clear metrics set to determine when it can be lifted.

Or consider New York City. The Big Apple led the charge in requiring a vaccination to do almost all indoor activities, including dining at restaurants and going to the movies. Starting Dec. 14, those requirements extended to children over the age of 5, meaning it is now practically impossible to live in New York City without being vaccinated.

While these COVID-19 measures are troubling, they pale in comparison to the ongoing, and in many cases, burgeoning restrictions around the globe. There are no COVID-19 detention facilities in Massachusetts, nor is Washington state on lockdown.

Though it may not seem like it, most of America appears to be going in the correct direction. Apart from liberal bastions like New York and San Francisco, much of the country has returned to normal.

Much of the world has succumbed to fear and madness. Americans must resist the call to join in.

Originally published at The Daily Signal.
Solomon versus Build Back Better

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Since Solomon was a king, and had considerable power while he reigned, one would expect Proverbs to be filled with advice on how kings can make life easier for the poor. There are some hints that a king could help the poor simply by enforcing justice. Thus: The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice (Proverbs 13:23 ESV). And there are a few statements that talk about a rulers responsibilities: A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge (29:7). Or: If a king faithfully judges the poor, his throne will be established forever (29:14).

But Proverbs comes from a different thought world than modern discussions of poverty in society. A recent CNN headline about the stalled Build Back Better plan ran as follows: Democrats face mounting obstacles to finishing social safety net bill before Christmas -- and it's not just Manchin. Looking at that term, social safety net, it seems to assume that the major responsibility in society towards the poor is to weave together a tax and spend policies that will take care of the poor.

Proverbs, on the other hand, seems to see treating the poor correctly as a matter of individual moral behavior. So we get commands and warning to everyone with means about how each one of them is supposed to act:

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor (Proverbs 14:21 ESV).

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him (14:31).

It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud (16:19).

Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished (17:5).

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed (19:17).

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered (21:13).

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor (22:9).

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty (22:16).

Whoever multiplies his wealth by interest and profit gathers it for him who is generous to the poor (28:8).

Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse (28:17).

Finally, the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 is an obvious paragon of wealth management and even real estate investing. Yet between buying fields and supplying her family she also does her own outreach to the poor. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy (31:20).

All this adds up to a very different expectation on what counts as helping the poor. Proverbs doesnt measure care for the poor by what kind of policies you support. It seems to care more about what you yourself do with other people. You share your stuff. And the message is repeated that God is watching you and that he cares about what you do.

Of course, if people dont believe that God exists and that He keeps his promises, then they will be forced to rely on gargantuan contrivances like build back better no matter their obvious failures and contradictions. But if God is not dead, then we ought to really take these threats and promises seriously. We should care more about the poor than about political contrivances that promise much but dont deliver.
Lutheran LGBT ministry suspends ELCA's first trans-identified bishop over alleged 'racist' actions

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A group that supports LGBT Lutheran clergy has suspended the membership of the first trans-identified bishop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, accusing the church leader of racist actions and words.

Bishop Meghan Rohrer, the head of the California-based ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod who uses they/them pronouns, was suspended by the Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries board of directors last week. ELM is an organization that organizes queer seminarians and rostered ministers to confront barriers and systemic oppression.

As a result of the suspension, Rohrer will not be included in the ELM Proclaim communications and events and will not be invited to events exclusively sponsored by ELM.

Additionally, ELM asked Rohrer to remove any references to the LGBT Lutheran group from any of the bishops articles, biographies, publications and reports.

In a statement Monday, the ELM board claimed that Rohrer was suspended due to an existing pattern of behavior that put the bishop at odds with ELMs Mission, Vision, and Values  specifically as it pertains to being an anti-racist organization.

This suspension is not only a response to recent harm done by the Sierra Pacific Synod Council and Bishop Rohrer to the Latinx community in Stockton, CA. This is a decision that ELM staff and Board have been discerning for much of 2021, continued the board.

The Accountability Team has attempted to work with Bishop Rohrer to specifically address how the bishops racist words and actions have harmed members of the ELM staff, board, and community. In September, Bishop Rohrer declined the Accountability Teams invitation for continued work to repair these relationships.

The board stated that its members hope and pray that ELM and Bishop Rohrer can work together to repair our relationships and proclaim together the liberating, life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ.

The boards statement didnt elaborate on what Rohrers racist words and actions were. Recent reports have indicated that the Rev. Nelson Rabell-Gonzalez of Mision Latina Luterana in Stockton, California, was fired by Rohrer on Dec. 12.

In May, Rohrer was elected to head the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod, winning the fifth ballot with 209 votes, narrowly defeating the Rev. Jeff R. Johnson, who received 207 votes.

Before the election, Rohrer served as pastor of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in San Francisco and was the community chaplain coordinator for the San Francisco Police Department.

All of us are proud of our colleague, Bishop-elect Megan Rohrer, who made history as the first openly transgender person elevated to the role of Bishop by a major Christian denomination in the U.S., tweeted the police department at the time.

Rohrer was installed as bishop in September, saying in a statement that taking on the new leadership position would not be possible without a diverse community of Lutherans in Northern California and Nevada prayerfully and thoughtfully voting to do a historic thing.

My installation will celebrate all that is possible when we trust God to shepherd us forward, stated Rohrer at the time.

Rohrers election and installation did not come without criticism, as the Exposing the ELCA blog labeled it a complete slap in the face to God.

The ELCA is thumbing its nose at God, His Word and Truth and effectively showing that they are part of the uber left and its rejection of Christianity, posted the blog.

How can God-fearing, Bible-believing individuals remain in the ELCA? How can churches remain?
Christian filmmaker Devon Franklin and wife Meagan Good to divorce: 'Thankful to God for the testimony'

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Hollywood filmmaker and preacher DeVon Franklin and his wife, actress Meagan Good, announced Tuesday that they're filing for divorce.

The couple shared identical posts on Instagram Tuesday night announcing their split. They posted a photo of themselves embracing while sitting down together outdoors with their backs turned away from the camera.

The divorce comes after nine years of marriage.

"After much prayer and consideration, we have decided to go into our futures separately but forever connected," Franklin and Good shared in the joint statement.

"We celebrate almost a decade of marriage together and a love that is eternal, they continued.

The couple met while working on the 2011 film Jumping the Broom. Franklin and Good got engaged in May 2012 after courting for a year and were married a month after their engagement.

There's no one at fault, the two shared of their split, adding, We believe this is the next best chapter in the evolution of our love.

"We are incredibly grateful for the life-changing years we've spent together as husband and wife. We are also extremely thankful to God for the testimony being created inside us both and for blessing our lives with each other," the statement concluded.

There was much speculation online that the high-profile Christian couple was headed toward divorce, but as recently as Dec. 2, Franklin celebrated his wife on her new Amazon Prime series, Harlem.

"I'm so proud of my love @Meagangood! She's one of the most talented actors on the planet AND she's funnier than you may know but I'm so glad you finally get a chance to see her do it all as Camille Parks in the new Amazon show #Harlem," the Breakthrough filmmaker posted on Instagram.

Good and Franklin co-wrote the book, The Wait, where theyshared the importance of waiting until marriage to be intimate.

The news of their divorce comes as a shock to many because, in 2019, Good revealed that she and Franklin were ready to start a family.

As a guest on STEVE, the Steve Harvey show, with her Intruder co-star Michael Ealy, the conversation segued into talking about whether Good and Franklin would start a family.

I'm going to say this, and its funny because I usually dont talk about it because I was one of those people who knew I would be a mother later in life, Good told Harvey after he asked her about it. We talk about it a lot. Like, [Ealy] basically tried to convince me to start like last year. But now I think Im in a place now where Im actually ready.
Miss Florida praises God for her success but says she never prayed to win pageant

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Miss Florida pageant winner Ashley Carino acknowledged this week that God is the reason she is where she is today but added that she never specifically asked God to win the statewide beauty pageant.

I was raised in the Church, Carino, the second runner-up of the recent Miss USA contest, shared in an interview Tuesday with CBNs PrayerLink.

The Puerto Rican native, who moved to Florida when she was 5, stressed that life is about serving God despite the challenges that come our way.

For me, God has always been my stepping stone. Religion and faith have been an important part of my life, and I know I am not where I am today if it wasnt for Him, the 27-year-old testified.

She added that her New Year's resolution has always been "for God to give me new opportunities and this year, I actually asked that."

"I had already signed up for Miss Florida USA. But instead of asking, 'God, I want to win Miss Florida USA,' I was just asking for opportunities," she said. "He delivered an abundance of that."

God has opened doors to so many opportunities. Its just been a whirlwind, Carino continued.

One of the things God has blessed Carino with is a bigger platform to launch anti-bullying campaigns.

Carino said she was bullied in middle school and high school because she wore a back brace due to scoliosis. But it was the love and support of her parents that got her through that difficult time. Ever since she has dedicated her platform to speaking out against bullying.

I experienced emotional abuse  to name-calling, to pushing  and it escalated to physical abuse, she revealed during a press conference earlier this month with the Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez addressing an incident that happened at a high school in her hometown.

But what helped me is the support of my parents ... that they didnt chuck it up to simply childs play. The reality is that bullying can have serious effects.

Carino, who works as a psychosocial rehabilitator, is partnering with Osceola County School District to implement an anti-bullying campaign in classrooms.

Not every child has the same coping mechanism. So it is important that as parents and as teachers, we dont just consider this childs play or a rite of passage, she explained. At our school systems, we will have zero tolerance for bullying.

With aspirations to one day work for NASA, Miss Florida, who studied aerospace engineering at the University of Central Florida, was asked during the CBN interview to respond to those in the scientific field who dispute God and faith.

"Science is man-made. It's an explanation that we've created for natural phenomenons. For me, science is there to test our faith. It's definitely not there to dispute the existence of God. That is something that I always tell people ... to remember that science is something that man has created for explanations as to what's going on in the world."

Crowned Miss Florida earlier this year, Carino has publicly praised God for her blessings.

I look back on my life and this past year and I cant believe how incredibly blessed I have been, Carino wrote in an Instagram on her birthday in August. Not only have I had the great fortune to share my life with my amazing family and friends, but I have been able to see this year turn my dreams into reality, and I know the best is yet to come!

I want to thank God for all He has done for me, for His unconditional love and outpour of blessings, she continued. [B]ecause of Him wherever I go my steps are sure; I dont need sight because I walk by faith.
11 notable Christian figures who died in 2021

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In addition to new COVID-19 variants, a new president, and new highly-watched Supreme Court battles, 2021 saw the passing of many Christian leaders and ministry figures.

Largely centered on figures prominent to Christianity in the United States, those listed here sometimes made history, sometimes made headlines, and sometimes influenced many within the Church and society at large.

Here are 11 notable Christians who died this year. They include a theologian who was censured by the Vatican, a prominent Latin-American evangelist, a major anti-Apartheid figure, and the founder what is believed to be the largest congregation in the world.

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Vandals caught on camera desecrating historic church in India after Christmas prayers

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The morning after Christmas Day, the Christian community in Indias northern state of Haryana found a life-size statue of Jesus Christ at the entrance to their historic church desecrated and the lighting inside the premises damaged.

The statue was vandalized between 12:30 a.m. and 1:40 a.m. Sunday after two unidentified men arrived on a motorbike and jumped over the main gate of the 19th century Holy Redeemer Church in Ambala districts cantonment area, the parish priest, Patras Mundu, told The Hindu newspaper.

The suspects first damaged the lighting and the decoration inside the premises and then threw bricks at the glass cage that housed the statue of Jesus, the priest said.

While one of them was pulling down the lighting, the other was recording it on his phone. They were also in contact with someone over phone as if taking instructions. The face of one of the suspects is clearly visible and should not be difficult for the police to trace him, Fr. Mundu was quoted as saying.

The priest added that the suspects appeared to be acting at someones behest, adding: The agenda seems to disturb the Christian community."

Police told the media they are analyzing the footage of the incident.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh states Agra city, about 280 miles from Ambala, Hindu nationalists burned effigies of Santa Claus, accusing Christian missionaries of using the tradition of gifts to commemorate the birth of Christ to convert people to Christianity, Republic World reported.

As December comes, the Christian missionaries become active in the name of Christmas, Santa Claus and New Year. They allure children by making Santa Claus distribute gifts to them and attract them towards Christianity, Ajju Chauhan, the regional general secretary of the extreme Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, claimed.

While Christians make up only 2.3% of Indias population and Hindus comprise about 80%, the countrys radical Hindu nationalists have been carrying out attacks on Christians under the pretext of punishing the minority for allegedly using monetary rewards to convert Hindus to Christianity.

Several Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws that presume that Christians force or give financial benefits to Hindus to lure them into converting to Christianity. While some of these laws have been in place for decades, no Christian has been convicted of forcibly converting anyone to Christianity.

These laws, however, allow Hindu nationalist groups to make false charges against Christians and launch attacks on them under the pretext of the alleged forced conversion.

Days before Christmas, the southern state of Karnataka became the 10th state in India to pass an anti-conversion law.

India ranks as the 10th worst country globally when it comes to Christian persecution, according to Open Doors USAs 2021 World Watch List.

The group warns that since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party took power in 2014, persecution against Christians and other religious minorities has increased.

Open Doors USA reports that Hindu radicals often attack Christians with little to no consequences.

Hindu extremists believe that all Indians should be Hindus and that the country should be rid of Christianity and Islam, an Open Doors fact sheet explains. They use extensive violence to achieve this goal, particularly targeting Christians from a Hindu background. Christians are accused of following a foreign faith and blamed for bad luck in their communities.

Human rights groups in India said in October they had documented over 300 incidents of Christian persecution in just the first nine months of 2021. They warned that this year might be the worst in terms of the number of such incidents in the countrys history.
Man who stole 2,000 checks from churches, religious institutions sentenced to 4 years in prison

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A Romanian man living in Florida has been sentenced to four years in federal prison and ordered to pay $1 million for a bank and wire fraud conspiracy which involved more than 2,000 checks from churches and other religious institutions, the Department of Justice said.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang sentenced Nicolae Gindac, a 52-year-old Romanian national and resident of Dania Beach, Florida, to 54 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Gindac was also ordered to pay restitution, along with co-conspirators, in the amount of around $1.1 million for the conspiracy, the DOJ said in a statement.

According to the DOJ, from June 2018 to January 2021, Gindac and at least five co-conspirators stole and negotiated checks from the U.S. mail intended for churches in Ellicott City and La Plata, Maryland. The co-conspirators executed the thefts by driving to roadside mailboxes and directly removing the mail from the religious institutions mailboxes," the statement added.

Gindac, who was arrested in February, pleaded guilty in June for aiding in the theft and faced a maximum of 30 years in prison.

Law enforcement arrested Gindac and recovered approximately $7,930.38 in cash, as well as a yellow-gold and diamond-encrusted Rolex men's watch. Gindac also used some of the stolen proceeds of the conspiracy to purchase a BMW 745i Sport sedan, according to the statement.

The conspiracy involved 2,477 stolen checks worth $1,065,282.53.

Two of Gindacs partners have been extradited from Romania and the United Kingdom to the U.S. for trial, while four others are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty.

As part of the scheme to defraud, Gindac and other co-conspirators opened fraudulent bank accounts at several victim financial institutions under false identities and negotiated stolen checks by way of ATMs, the DOJ said.

Gindac deposited stolen checks into fraudulent bank accounts held in the names of his family members, including a minor family member, and others. Gindac and his co-conspirators subsequently withdrew the stolen funds and spent them using debit cards associated with fraudulently opened bank accounts and other bank accounts, it added.

Last month, a 52-year-old woman, Lisa Dawn Stabeno from Lubbock, Texas, was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in federal prison, as part of a plea deal, for using more than $450,000 from Church on the Rock funds for personal expenses, the DOJ said at the time.

Stabeno worked as an accounts manager for Church on the Rocks Dream Center, an outreach program for underserved individuals.

In a separate fraud case reported by The Christian Post, a Maryland pastor was indicted in October for allegedly arranging fraudulent marriages of foreign nationals with American citizens to give them permanent residence in the U.S. in exchange for thousands of dollars.

Joshua Olatokunbo Shonubi, a 50-year-old pastor at NewLife City Church, Inc. in Hyattsville, allegedly arranged 60 fraudulent marriages between January 2014 and January 2021 to secure permanent residence for foreigners, according to the indictment, ABC 7News reported at the time.
Myanmar Christians face increased persecution under military rule since coup, experts say

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Christian and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar face even greater danger since the southeastern Asian country fell under the Tatmadaw military rule due to the Feb. 1 coup that toppled the civilian government and initiated a wave of violence, experts warned this week.

United States-based international religious persecution watchdog International Christian Concern hosted a panel discussion Thursday focusing on the increased hardships Christians endure. Panelists discussed ICC's new report, Caught in the Crossfire: Myanmar's Christian Minorities Under Tatmadaw Rule.

"Violent incidents are escalating, with airstrikes and ground fighting spreading to various regions around the country. Tens of thousands have fled, and many more are sure to follow in the months ahead," the report explains. "Instability, food shortages, and great loss of life threaten the Burmese people  especially its vulnerable minorities."

Myanmar, also known as Burma, is home to several Christian minority groups, including those within the Kachin, Chin, Rohingya and Karen communities. The report also touches on Christians in the Wa state, ethnic Indian and Chinese Christians and Karenni Christians in Kayah State.

Myanmar is predominately Buddhist, while Christians make up around 6.2% of its 54 million population. Buddhism is recognized as the state religion.

Christians, however, are not the only group persecuted by the Tatmadaw military, as many minority groups are suffering from religious freedom violations.

No ethnoreligious minority has been safe from persecution or discrimination," Nadine Maenza, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, said during the panel discussion. "Since the Feb. 1 coup, the situation, however, has deteriorated significantly."

Maenza urged the international community to pay attention and act against the atrocities religious minorities suffer in Burma as it struggles as a democracy.

Despite an election last November, the Tatmadaw military refuses to accept the result and has alleged voter fraud. The military declared a yearlong state of emergency and put its civilian leaders under house arrest.

The military-led Feb. 1 coup has led to widespread violence, protests and worsened conditions for religious minorities.

In recent months, churches have been damaged or destroyed by military shelling as thousands of displaced individuals have taken shelter in churches when their villages have come under attack.

Last month, the United Nations estimated that as many as 100,000 people were displaced due to increased fighting in the Kayah state, including "indiscriminate attacks by security forces against civilian areas." The international body expressed concern over the rapidly deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the Kayah state and other areas in southeast Myanmar.

"The increased attacks on churches show the hostilities the Tatmadaw has towards Christianity and its disregard for human lives," the ICC report reads.

David Eubank of Free Burma Rangers is on the ground in Burma serving in ministry.

He offered a glimpse into the crisis unfolding and the constant danger. He shared a recent story of being shot at by the military while attempting to plant rice.

Eubank said direct humanitarian assistance, political recognition from the international community and intervention are needed in Myanmar.

The country is ranked No. 18 on Open Doors USA's 2021 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. The persecution level in Myanmar is very high due to the religious nationalism that places increasing emphasis on Buddhism.

Due to the deteriorating condition of Burmas democracy and its lack of peace, human rights activist Benedict Rogers, the East Asia team leader of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said the response to Burmas worsening situation must be long-term.

The type of pressure needs to be as intense and targeted as possible," Rogers advised. "But it also should be as sustained as possible, recognizing that this is probably going to be a long, strong struggle or a long new chapter in Burmas ongoing struggle. So it is going to be both intense but also sustained."

ICCs report offers recommendations to the international community to impose sanctions, create a cohesive bloc, support the National Unity Government and pressure the Tatmadaws allies.

The protection of Myanmars many ethnic and religious minority groups, long persecuted by the Tatmadaw, is a critical matter and one that must rank high on the international communitys list of priorities, the report states.

ICC Regional Manager for Southeast Asia Gina Goh, one of the authors of the report, warns that the "chaos caused by the coup is not likely to cease for the next few months or even years."

We have already witnessed the targeting of churches and religious leaders in states such as Chin and Kayah by the Tatmadaw, she said in a statement. As the resistance forces fight on, there could be tens of thousands more IDPs who direly need humanitarian aid and medical help. We should not stand idle.
Senators soften language in Build Back Better bill restricting religious childcare, pre-K funding

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A Senate committee has removed some of the controversial language in the Build Back Better bill that would restrict funding and aid for faith-based childcare and pre-K programs unless they adhered to federal anti-discrimination law.

The proposed federal legislation had garnered concern from multiple faith groups that argued the bill would ban faith groups from obtaining federal assistance due to their religious views.

According to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance (IRFA) published Monday, two developments have emerged regarding the legislation.

On Dec. 11, according to IRFA, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released revised language that removed the proposed nondiscrimination requirements that would have banned religious hiring and religiously selective admissions in child care and pre-K programs.

Child care certificates are confirmed to be indirect government funding that allows child care providers to include religious teaching and activities. However, religion continues to be banned from the pre-K program, which is a grant-funded program, explained the Alliance.

The language for both programs stresses the many legal obligations of participating programs without clearly emphasizing the protections for faith-based organizations and small organizations that will enable a wide range of them to know they are welcome in these programs.

IRFA noted that while they approve of the changes made to better include religious groups, they still maintain some concerns about the proposed legislation as written.

Championed by the Biden administration, the Build Back Better Act is a major piece of proposed legislation that creates programs and establishes funding for a host of issues, including education, child care, taxes and immigration.

On Dec. 1, an interfaith coalition sent a letter to Sens. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., the chair and ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee, respectively, expressing concerns over how the BBB bill would impact their childcare and education services.

According to the letter, the current child care and universal pre-Kindergarten (UPK) provisions in the Build Back Better Act will suppress, if not exclude, the participation of many faith-based providers; and faith-based providers are what more than half of American families choose for child care.

While language in the BBBA does not preclude parents from selecting sectarian providers, the subsequent provisions in the bill text make it virtually impossible for many religious providers to participate, stated the letter.

According to the faith groups, the bill would define all providers as recipients of federal financial assistance, whether the funds come via certificates (in the child care program) or direct grants (in the prekindergarten program), which would trigger federal compliance obligations and non-discrimination provisions.

Additionally, according to the letter, BBB would apply nondiscrimination requirements to both the child care and universal pre-K sections that do not generally attach to FFA.

Signatories of the letter included Catholic Charities USA, two committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Council of Christian Colleges & Universities, the National Association of Evangelicals, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and the Council of Islamic Schools in North America, among others.

Although the bill passed the House, it has become stalled in the Senate, in part because Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., expressed opposition to it.
Christian Rep. Madison Cawthorn calls higher education a scam, urges conservatives to drop out

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Partially paralyzed Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, who attended a Christian college for one semester before dropping out, urged conservative youth on Tuesday to drop out of college if they arent studying medicine, law or engineering because higher education is a scam.

People will call me a radical for believing that you should be a Christian, you should get married young, you should have as many kids as possible, you should try and have a great job, you should be as successful as you possibly can. Theyll say Im extremist for that, Cawthorn said at AmericaFest 2021.

The large patriotic celebration of all things red, white and blue was organized under the banner of Turning Point USA and held in Phoenix.

I genuinely just care about dining room politics, the 26-year-old added. I care about that young family whos sitting around the dinner table. And what are they thinking about when theyre seeing their young children eat? Theyre thinking about 'am I going to be able to send them to a good school?' he continued before boasting about being homeschooled.

One, I think you should home school. I was homeschooled all the way through, he said to cheers. I am proudly a college dropout. If you are not becoming an engineer or a doctor or a lawyer, I highly encourage you to drop out. Its a scam.

While some may find the congressmans comments shocking, his attitude towards higher education isnt uncommon, as many former students have been left with diminishing financial returns in post-college employment and large student debts.

Some 32.1% of the U.S. population 25 years of age and older holds at least a bachelors degree, according to data from the American Community Survey.

In recent reports, however, as college-educated women grapple with the diminishing returns from degrees, many men have cited diminishing returns as they are now completely choosing to forgo college.

If I was going to be a doctor or a lawyer, then obviously those people need a formal education. But there are definitely ways to get around it now, Daniel Briles, 18, who graduated in June from Hastings High School in Hastings, Minnesota, recently told The Wall Street Journal. There are opportunities that werent taught in school that could be a lot more promising than getting a degree.

But in a September report titled The Great Divide: Education, Despair and Death, husband and wife research team, Anne Case and Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton Princeton University, contend that Americans who dont have a college degree face a bleak and deadlier future compared to those who do.

They found that increasing deaths by drugs, alcohol and suicide, known as deaths of despair, are largely concentrated among Americans without a college degree. Meanwhile, a college degree appears to act as a talisman against them. The research built on previous work examining the relationship between mortality and education in America.

Cawthorn was left partially paralyzed at age 18 after a 2014 car crash, which occurred while returning from spring break with a friend in Florida.

In a deposition cited in The Citizen-Times in Aug. 2020, Cawthorn revealed that he had enrolled in Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia, in 2016 but dropped out after only one semester.

The small evangelical Christian school is a magnet for homeschoolers because it is known to place graduates into federal government positions successfully.

Cawthorn, who was studying political science at the time, earned mostly D letter grades. He testified that his injuries from the crash that left him paralyzed affected his ability to learn. When he was further questioned about his reason for leaving the school by an insurance-company lawyer, he said it was because of Heartbreak. He said his then-fiance left him for another classmate because she didnt get along with my mother.

In his speech to the crowd on Tuesday, Cawthorn urged conservatives to save America by embracing the America-first doctrine.

The MAGA doctrine that Donald Trump started, when people say Donald Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, I say, 'I think he started a revolution in this country where now we are the leaders of the conservative movement,' he said.

Ill tell you, Im a devout Christian. Ive got a great relationship with my Lord and Savior. And so, of course, I love being able to help people. I love taking care of people. I think we should send missionaries out into the world. We should bring people to Christ, he continued.

Cawthorn said he believes America should have a strong economy and the way we should do that is by encouraging people to be able to go out and take risks.

Instead of taking out that $100,000 student loan as an 18-year-old, which is worthless as an 18-year-old, why doesnt the government allow us to be able to take out a $10,000 business loan at 18 to be able to go and create an economy and create work and create all these great things, he said.

Cawthorn argued that there needs to be a greater focus on domestic issues, like taking care of veterans, rather than the U.S. trying to police the whole world. He also dismissed the notion that the U.S. is not a nation of Christians.

I think the most important thing for us to do is to save souls for Jesus Christ. But thats our jobs as Christians, and I believe we are a Christian nation, he said. Almost every single one of the signers, they were regular church-attending Christians. If anybody wants to tell you they were atheists or deists, theyre idiots. Dont listen to them.

When people say were not a Christian nation and were founded by racists, by evil men, thats wrong, he maintained. The people who founded this nation should be revered and they should talk to the next generation as the heroes of the 18th century.

He also urged followers of Christ to engage in civil disobedience.

I used to pray all the time. I would say, God, why did you not let me be alive in the 1940s fighting against World War II or be alive during the revolution. I want to be a warrior for you. I want to save my country. I want to do all these great things. But you have me born in 1995, the height of the most peaceful and prosperous time the world has ever known, he said.

[Well] guys, Im sorry for praying that prayer. I think God has answered in a big way. He said, you know what? Heres tyranny, here are people trying to censor your speech, here are people trying to control every bit of your life.

Cawthorn said he was aware some Christians might point to Scripture that calls them to obey the government placed over them but argued that it isnt that simple.

I understand that, but does anybody know what the preamble to the constitution says? What are the first three words? We the people, he recited. So in our founding documents, it says we are the authority. It says that people like me, a congressman, I serve you, and so, when the government is not working on your behalf, it is your duty to disregard their orders.
Texas business sues US military over ban on sale of Bible-themed dog tags

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A Texas-based religious business that makes specialty dog tags with Bible verses and Christian imagery has filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Defense over its decision to prohibit the company from selling religious tags with U.S. armed forces trademarks.

Shields of Strength filed a lawsuit last week against the U.S. Department of Defense and others tied to the military in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

At issue, according to the suit, was a decision by various branches of the military to prohibit Shields of Strength from using the various trademarks of the Armed Forces on their specialized dog tags.

For over 20 years, Shields of Strength had been allowed to include the military trademarks alongside Bible verse quotes and Christian imagery, such as a cross. The business boasts of having sold or donated around 4 million dog tags.

According to a Department of Defense instruction from April 2020, military trademarks cannot be included on products that feature the promotion of religious views.

DoD marks may not be licensed for use in a manner that creates a perception of DoD endorsement of any non-federal entity or its products and services, stated the instruction.

DoD marks may not be licensed for any purpose intended to promote ideological movements, sociopolitical change, religious beliefs (including non-belief), specific interpretations of morality, or legislative/statutory change.

In its complaint, Shields of Strength accused the military of violating its religious liberty when the DoD demanded the removal of religious elements from the specialty dog tags.

The DoDs directive that SoS remove all Biblical references from its products demonstrates precisely the type of government hostility towards religion that the Establishment Clause forbids, stated the lawsuit.

SoS has suffered irreparable harm, including the loss of fundamental constitutional rights, entitling it to injunctive relief, declaratory relief, legal relief, damages under [the Religious Freedom Restoration Act], and attorneys fees and costs.

Shields of Strength is being represented by the First Liberty Institute, a conservative law firm headquartered in Plano, Texas, and the law firm Fish & Richardson.

Its a cruel insult to our service members to deny them a source of inspiration, hope, and encouragement simply because it contains a religious message, said Mike Berry of First Liberty Institute in a statement released last week.

DOD officials caved to the empty threats of those who make their living by being offended. Theres no legal reason for the military to discriminate against Shields of Strength, it added.

In July 2019, Military Religious Freedom Foundation President Mikey Weinstein sent cease-and-desist letters to each branch of the Armed Forces, demanding that they prohibit Shields of Strength from using the trademarks of each military branch on its products.

Shields of Strength is and has always been free to produce and sell its other products, said Weinstein in a statement to Fox News. It is only these products with an official DoD emblem for which a DoD license is required that the DoD has said Shields of Strength cannot sell.

Hopefully, any competent Federal judge will easily see through First Liberty Institutes specious subterfuge and justly rule in favor of the DoD via DoD, or DoJ on behalf of DoD, filing a simple Motion for Summary Judgment or other routine, preliminary dispositive Motions.
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A few days after I proposed to Annie, I promised her I wouldnt let vaccine mandates keep me from marrying her.

She didnt ask me to make that promise. She didnt ask me to get the vaccine for her. She would never ask me to. She loves God too much for that  she loves me too much for that. Annie doesnt insist on her own way.

I made that promise because earlier that week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government would introduce a vaccine mandate that would ban unvaccinated people like me from air travel in Canada.

Trudeau made the announcement four months ago in August, and it was enforced last month.

Because of that, unless I get the vaccine  I cannot marry Annie.

Annie and I are in the middle of planning our wedding. Were supposed to get married in the spring. However, before that can happen, I need to travel 3,404 kilometres  or 2,115 miles  to the other side of the country for a 5-minute visa appointment in January.

Because of delays over COVID restrictions, Annie and I have been waiting for the appointment for 2 years. If I miss the appointment  the next available visa appointment is in February 2023.

And even if I manage to travel 3,400 kilometres without boarding a plane, I would need air travel to visit Annie in Ohio, anyway. As of last month, Joe Bidens vaccine mandates banned unvaccinated Canadians from driving through the American border.

Annie and I were concerned this would happen. It seemed inevitable. That's why I promised her I wouldnt let the vaccine mandates become the latest barrier between us.

I desperately do not want the vaccine, but I desperately want to be with Annie. My hate for vaccine mandates doesnt surpass my love for her. So forced between remaining unvaccinated or remaining unmarried: Ill choose to marry Annie.



I told her Im willing to lose anything over the vaccine  except her. Im not willing to lose a wife over the vaccine.

Before I proposed to Annie in August, we hadnt seen each other for 2 years. COVID restrictions and travel issues kept us apart for 673 days between October 2019 to August 2021.

I couldnt visit Annie in Ohio and she couldnt visit me in Ontario. And yet, for every second of that excruciating time  she patiently waited on God for me.

I dont want her to wait another 2 years for me. Shes made many sacrifices for me, Im happy to make little sacrifices for her.

Still, from August  I decided to wait till the first week of December to get vaccinated. I hoped lawsuits over Trudeaus vaccine mandate for air travel would compel Canadas Federal Court to deem the mandate unconstitutional. But that, of course, didnt happen.

Instead, 2 days before the federal government enforced the vaccine mandate for air traveland especially, on the week when I had to get my first shot of the vaccine in order to be considered fully vaccinated in time to travel for my visa appointment: I tested positive for COVID.

So now, I didnt simply have to get the vaccine  I had to get the vaccine immediately after I had COVID.

I was already concerned about the potential short-term and long-term effects of the vaccine  now my concerns were magnified. I know people whove had serious side effects from the vaccine. Ive shared some of their stories in an article.

I worried, for instance, that since the vaccine is known to cause heart problems for some men around my age  getting the vaccine immediately after my body was weakened with COVID could make me even more vulnerable to that side-effect.

The virus, clearly, wasnt a threat to my health. But I cant say the same about the vaccine. I am young, and Im relatively healthy. Thats why I lost my mild COVID symptoms after 2 days. The virus isnt a threat to me. But the vaccine has been proven to be a threat to some people like me.

And yet, because of the federal governments vaccine mandate  I was forced into getting the first shot of the vaccine immediately after I had COVID.

Its absurd: I was forced into getting a vaccine for a virus I have become immune to.

But I wasnt merely concerned about how the vaccine could hurt my body, I was also concerned about how it would hurt my mind. This is because the most important reason why I didnt want the vaccine is because I didnt want to sin against God.

I am not suggesting people who get the vaccine are guilty of sin. Ive said in the past people have a righteous basis for getting the vaccine  and people have a righteous basis for not getting the vaccine.

I had a righteous basis for refusing the vaccine. I do not believe the supposed benefits of the vaccine outweigh its potential health risks for my body  especially after I had COVID. I have legitimate reasons to believe the vaccine could harm my body. Therefore considering my concerns, I did not believe it glorifies God for me to get the vaccine (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

And though getting the vaccine isnt sinful, these types of vaccine mandates are. COVID passports and mandates are designed to help people by harming others. These vaccine mandates are a clear example of partiality and discrimination. They are not merely authoritarian, they are evil.

Im deeply disturbed by that. If Im getting a vaccine, it should be because I believe its best for my health. If Im getting a vaccine, it should be because I would be glorifying God with my body. I do not want to get the vaccine in obedience to an evil mandate. I do not want to get the vaccine to satisfy oppressive policies.

Yet immediately after I had COVID, I walked into my local pharmacy and I received my first shot of the vaccine. They didnt ask me about my medical history, including my history with COVID. They simply instructed me to sign a simple form, then they pushed the needle into my arm.

Did I violate my conscience? Did I sin?

Honestly, I dont know. I dont think so?

Maybe thats because Im deceiving myself. Maybe Im justifying myself, but I dont think I am.

If its Christlike for a husband to sacrifice his life for his wife  is it sinful for me to risk my health for my fiance? Is it sinful for me to comply with an evil mandate so I could obey Gods law about men cleaving to a wife?

Either way, Im grateful I can entrust myself to a gracious and faithful God.

I made my decision. And its bittersweet. But truly, its much more sweet than bitter. After all, Lord willing, Im a few weeks away from holding my soon-to-be bride in Ohio. I dont regret that.

Thats why  shes why I got the vaccine after I had COVID.

Originally published at Slow to Write.
Cloud Mining has become, perhaps, one of the most popular ways to mine cryptocurrencies today. The reason for the acceptance is that it allows users to mine cryptocurrencies without the necessary - and often expensive and energy-consuming - equipment.

Q3 2021 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

How? Through the renting of computing power from companies that have it and operating in the cloud.

However, there is more involved than just benefits in crypto cloud mining, as several scams have somewhat affected the perception of this solution touted as coming directly from heaven.

How Does Cloud Mining Work?

Before seizing the benefits from cloud mining, the starting point is to register on a platform offering the services, where users can purchase contracts or shares within the said platform.

These contracts allow the user to employ the mining services and make a profit, and once the minimum withdrawal amount is reached - defined by each platform - users can withdraw the profits to their wallet.

Similarly, on the other end, companies offering cloud mining services make money out of selling contracts and renting the hashing power. According to CoinDesk, users have to "pick a successful mining pool, rent some hardware from it and wait until the mining pool generates money."

"You also have to pick a cryptocurrency. Bitcoin, ethereum, and dogecoin house the largest mining pools, according to MiningPoolStats.com," which include Antpool, Poolin, f2pool, and Slush Pool when it comes down to bitcoin mining.

What's In It For Users?

The main advantage for users mining crypto in the cloud is that they do not have to buy mining equipment since it is enough to have a computer - which also does not heat up and suffers damage due to the enormous energy-consuming work.

Cloud mining represents some significant electricity cost savings. Many cloud mining companies have data centers in Iceland or Georgia, where electricity rates are relatively minimal.

When securing the cloud mining services of any company, users can also start with low fees - e.g. the cost of just one gigahash. Also, it is possible to participate in the best bitcoin cloud mining without maintaining the hardware on your own.

Solving The Energy Issue?

Users can save on energy costs through cloud mining. Since mining teams carry out complex computing operations to validate or reject the information blocks from other nodes, these operations translate into high electricity consumption.

While The New York Times asserts that the activity requires nine years' worth of household electricity - around $12,000 in terms of a typical home electricity bill, places like Kuwait, Venezuela, and Myanmar are the cheapest for bitcoin mining.

So, people or companies that offer mining services in the cloud have the equipment properly installed. Those who hire said service immediately dedicate themselves to mining cryptocurrencies: This allows users to get up and running quickly with very little investment and overcome these costs.

However, this industry is not to remain at a standstill when it comes down to scouring for solutions.

For example, GMT is a native token backed by computing power; it allows holders to mine bitcoin every day.

The token holders do not have to buy mining equipment contrary to traditional mining by having GMT tokens, holders have no time limits in mining. It is backed by an actual unit of computing power through the SHA-256 protocol, which means that every time a user buys one GMT they are also acquiring 0,001TH/s that can be used for bitcoin mining by having GMT tokens, holders have no time limits.

The project developers add equipment and computing power every week, increasing token supply. Then, 20%-90% of those new tokens are burned while the released capacity is distributed among other tokens - it increases the supply capacity of a GMT, thus, growing miners' reward.

Scam Awareness

At present, many companies offer cloud mining services. While some of these miners have dedicated themselves to consolidating an image of transparency in their business model, that is not always the case. Some companies were created simply to scam those who have jumped on the crypto bandwagon.

Therefore, it is a matter of gathering as much information as possible about the reputation of the companies: Many people have indeed been victims of fraud when renting cloud mining services.

People interested in hiring cloud mining services should get enough advice and search blacklists for people and companies with a botched reputation and reliability - or who have made mistakes that cast shadows on business.

Some red flags to keep in mind are those cloud mining firms using robots on Telegram or WhatsApp. Users should not take this seriously as hardly anyone mines large amounts of crypto using a cell phone, much less using these or other messaging apps.

Industry miners must be aware of mining companies that ask for additional investments to be made, so users get better returns. Further, companies with an aggressive referral scheme should be red-flagged as referrals are very common in companies to give incentives to users.

Is Cloud Crypto Mining Profitable?

Yes, but users have to be very careful since there are Ponzi schemes in many companies dedicated to this actually and sadly, in almost all of them, which means that they are not trustworthy.

These companies do not actually mine cryptocurrencies but instead use their investors' money for themselves. Once they get new users, they also take their money and pay the old ones, keeping part of it for themselves. And so always.

Legitimate companies can help achieve profitability, albeit under certain conditions. According to CoinDesk, cloud mining can be profitable, although "There are upfront costs - you'll have to pay to rent these miners, and mining pools can also take a cut of your profits - but it can be worthwhile."

"Cutting out the initial expense for a mining rig makes it profitable in some ways. However, it's always a case-to-case basis when it comes to investing."

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The U.S. Energy Department's weekly inventory release showed a lower-than-expected decrease in natural gas supplies. Despite the bearish inventory numbers, futures were up more than 1% week over week, buoyed by weather forecasts, indicating bouts of cold temperatures over most of the country in the coming days.

But even if the mercury does plunge, downward pricing pressure over the past few weeks due to a warmer-than-normal December will still make it difficult for investors to be optimistic about the space. It would be wise to hold on to fundamentally sound gas-weighted producers SilverBow Resources SBOW, Range Resources RRC and Comstock Resources CRK.

If you are still looking for near-term natural gas plays, Chesapeake Energy CHK might be a good selection.

Stockpiles held in underground storage in the lower 48 states fell by 55 billion cubic feet (Bcf) for the week ended Dec 17 compared to the 57 Bcf decline guidance, per the analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts.

The fifth successive draw of the winter heating season puts total natural gas stocks at 3,362 Bcf. While this is 234 Bcf (6.5%) below the 2020 level at this time, the below-consensus pull erased the markets long-standing deficit to the five-year average that now stands at a surplus of 34 Bcf (1%).

Natural Gas Still Registers a Weekly Climb

Natural gas prices trended upward last week despite the lower-than-expected inventory withdrawal. Futures for January delivery ended Christmas Eve at $3.7310 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, rising 1.1% from the previous weeks closing. The increase in natural gas realization is primarily the result of a near-normal weather outlook (and the subsequent pick-up in heating demand) for the early part of next month.

Final Thoughts

As is the norm with natural gas, changes in temperature and weather forecasts can lead to price swings. Earlier in the week, the models called for cold snaps (or intense temperature-driven consumption) during the first few days of the new year, which helped bolster prices. But over the week, the weather pattern turned less severe, slightly denting cooling demand expectations and reversing some of the price gains.

Natural gas, however, remained supported by a stable demand catalyst in the form of continued strong liquefied natural gas (LNG) feedgas deliveries. LNG shipments for export from the United States have been robust for months on the back of environmental reasons and record higher prices of the super-chilled fuel elsewhere. Most analysts believe that deliveries appear poised for further gains through 2022 on surging consumption in Europe and Asia, especially as we head deeper into winter. The circumstances are particularly dire in Europe where gas supply is running low with the need for a steady refill from the United States going into the peak winter period. At the same time, promised flows from Russia have been limited.

But even the resilience in LNG exports cannot offset the ill-effects of a mild winter so far. With less-than-normal heating needs in December, withdrawals have been muted. The tepid inventory draws on the back of a warm December has brought back prices under the $4 threshold after recently topping $6 MMBtu for the first time since 2014 and reaching a 13-year high settlement of $6.312 in October.

Investing Strategy

With the natural gas market being unpredictable and spooked by mild weather, investors are quite unsure of what to do. As of now, the lingering uncertainty over the fuel means that investors should preferably wait for a better entry point before buying shares in natural gas-focused companies SilverBow Resources, Range Resources and Comstock Resources.

SilverBow Resources is valued at around $362 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SBOWs current-year earnings has been revised 10.6% upward over the last 60 days. The companys shares have rocketed 326.1% in a year.

SilverBow Resources  carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Neutral)  reported EPS of $2.69 in November, a 30% surprise over consensus. SBOW beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters but missed once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 1.5%, on average.

You can see the complete list of todays Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Range Resources has an expected earnings growth rate of 2,533.3% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for RRC's current-year earnings has been revised 11.7% upward over the last 60 days.

Range Resources, valued at around $4.8 billion, carries a Zacks Rank of 3. RRC has soared 181.8% in a year.

Comstock Resources has a projected earnings growth rate of 508.7% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Zacks Rank #3 CRKs current-year earnings has been revised 9.4% upward over the last 60 days.

Comstock Resources beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters and met once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 42.5%, on average. CRK shares have gained around 94.5% in a year.

Having said all of this, we believe that the fundamentals of natural gas appear to be relatively tight for now. Also, Europe and Asias insatiable demand for LNG has put a floor beneath prices for the time being. Finally, should weather models flip materially colder (as is expected in January), theres massive upside on the table. If that turns out to be the case, investors will do well to take a position in Chesapeake Energy.

Chesapeake Energy has a projected earnings growth rate of 121.4% for the current year. CHK's consensus estimate for the current year has been revised 16.1% upward over the last 60 days.

Chesapeake Energy beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the last four quarters. The Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stock has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 23.1%, on average. CHK shares have rallied around 53.7% in a year.

Infrastructure Stock Boom to Sweep America

A massive push to rebuild the crumbling U.S. infrastructure will soon be underway. Its bipartisan, urgent, and inevitable. Trillions will be spent. Fortunes will be made.

The only question is Will you get into the right stocks early when their growth potential is greatest?

Zacks has released a Special Report to help you do just that, and today its free. Discover 5 special companies that look to gain the most from construction and repair to roads, bridges, and buildings, plus cargo hauling and energy transformation on an almost unimaginable scale.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report



Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): Free Stock Analysis Report



Comstock Resources, Inc. (CRK): Free Stock Analysis Report



Range Resources Corporation (RRC): Free Stock Analysis Report



SilverBow Resources (SBOW): Free Stock Analysis Report



To read this article on Zacks.com click here.



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Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Oil rose in tandem with equity markets as investors weighed the rapid spread of omicron against signs it may be milder than previous variants.

West Texas Intermediate futures closed 2.4 percent higher on Monday, trading above $75 a barrel for the first time in a month amid a light volume session. Daily omicron infections in the U.S. surpassed those in the delta wave, while China posted the highest number of cases since January. Thousands of flight cancellations in the U.S. stemming from airline-employee illnesses were a reminder that the more infectious Covid variant could still wreak havoc.

WTI for February delivery rose $1.78 to settle at $75.57 a barrel in New York

Despite the omicron spread and airline cancellations, mobility numbers were strong over the holiday, said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital LLC. The strong economic activity has played into a rebound in petroleum demand, which we saw this morning.

Oil is heading for a yearly gain after a robust rebound from the pandemic, but the rally has wavered in recent weeks, in part due to concerns about omicron. There are some signs of softening consumption in Asia and crude markets structure has weakened significantly, indicating over-supply in the near term.

The market structure for international benchmark Brent crude is starting to show signs of optimism. The prompt time spread -- the gap between the two nearest contracts -- has returned to a bullish pattern in recent days after flipping briefly into a bearish contango structure. The spread was 38 cents in backwardation on Monday, compared with as much as 10 cents in contango about a week ago.

The fast-spreading omicron has forced airlines to cancel some services due to crew shortages, threatening a nascent rebound in jet fuel usage. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens top medical adviser, said Americans should stay vigilant against the new strain, despite evidence its symptoms may be less severe, because the volume of cases can still overwhelm hospitals.

Meanwhile, negotiations to resurrect the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers are moving toward a state of limbo. An Iran nuclear accord could pave the way for a resumption of official crude flows. The European Union said negotiators needed to speed up efforts to resolve a standoff between Tehran and Washington.
ENID, Okla.  On a hot night in July, the first summer of the pandemic, Jonathan Waddell, a city commissioner in Enid, sat staring out at a rowdy audience dressed in red. They were in the third hour of public comments on a proposed mask mandate, and Waddell, a retired Air Force sergeant who supported it, was feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

He had noticed something was different when he drove up in his truck. The parking lot was full, and people wearing red were getting out of their cars greeting one another, looking a bit like players on a sports team. As the meeting began, he realized that they opposed the mandate. It was almost everybody in the room.

The meeting was unlike any he had ever attended. One woman cried and said wearing a mask made her feel like she did when she was raped at 17. Another read the Lords Prayer and said the word agenda at the top of the meeting schedule seemed suspicious. A man quoted Patrick Henry and handed out copies of the Constitution.

The line is being drawn, folks, said a man in jeans and a red T-shirt. He said the people in the audience had been shouted down for the last 20 years, and theyre finally here to draw a line, and I think theyre saying, Weve had enough.

At the end of the night, the mask mandate failed, and the audience erupted in cheers. But for Waddell, who had spent seven years making Enid his home, it was only the beginning. He remembers driving home and watching his mirrors to make sure no one was following him. He called his father, a former police officer, and told him what had happened. He said that people were talking about masks but that it felt like something else. What, exactly, he did not know.

I said, This is honestly just crazy, Dad, and Im not sure where it goes from here.

In the year and a half that followed, fierce arguments like this have played out in towns and cities across the country.

From lockdowns to masks to vaccines to school curricula, the conflicts in America keep growing and morphing, even without Donald Trump, the leader who thrived on encouraging them, in the White House. But the fights are not simply about masks or schools or vaccines. They are, in many ways, all connected as part of a deeper rupture  one that is now about the most fundamental questions a society can ask itself: What does it mean to be an American? Who is in charge? And whose version of the country will prevail?

Social scientists who study conflict say the only way to understand it  and to begin to get out of it  is to look at the powerful currents of human emotions that are the real drivers. They include the fear of not belonging, the sting of humiliation, a sense of threat  real or perceived  and the strong pull of group behavior.

Some of these feelings were already coursing through American society, triggered by rapid cultural, technological, demographic and economic change. Then came the pandemic, plunging Americans into uncertainty and loneliness, an emotion that scientists have found causes people to see danger where there is none.

Add to all of that leaders who stoke the conflict, and disagreements over the simplest things can become almost sectarian.

SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS/NYT

Eran Halperin, a social psychologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel who studies emotions in conflict, said that people in intractable fights often do not remember how they started but that they are perpetuated by a sense of group threat. Ones group  for example, American or Christian  is an extension of oneself, and people can become very defensive when it  or its status in a hierarchy  changes.

If my American identity is an important part of who I am, and suddenly theres a serious threat to that, in some ways that means I dont know who I am anymore, he said. Its an attack on the very core of how I see myself, of how I understand myself.

Halperin said he has been surprised to see that the emotions that have powered the conflict in America were just as intense as those he sees between Israelis and Palestinians. That is because in the United States, unlike in Israel, both sides had relatively high expectations of each other, he said, leading to a sharp shock when those who were part of us suddenly do something so counter to our values.

In Enid, both sides in the mask debate believed they were standing up for what was right. Both cared deeply for their city  and their country  and believed that, in their own way, they were working to save it. And it all started as an argument over a simple piece of cloth.

Birth of Freedom Fighters

One of the first to speak at the City Council meeting that night in July was Melissa Crabtree, a home-schooling mother who owns a business selling essential oils and cleaning products. Crabtree was new to Enid  she had moved two years before from Texas  but also to politics, drawn in by the pandemic. When states enacted sweeping rules like lockdowns, mask mandates and school closures to combat the spread of illness, she was skeptical.

The more she researched online, the more it seemed that there was something bigger going on. She said she came to the conclusion that the government was misleading Americans  for whose benefit, she could not tell. Maybe drug companies. Maybe politicians. Whatever the case, it made her feel like the people in charge saw her  and the whole country of people like her  as easy to take advantage of.

I dont like to be played the fool, said Crabtree, who also works as an assistant to a Christian author and speaker. And I felt like they were counting on us  us being the general population  on being the fool.

SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS/NYT

She felt contempt radiating from the other side, a sense that those who disagreed with her felt superior and wanted to humiliate her. She said she was taken aback at how people were ridiculing her on a pro-mask group on Facebook. She said she remembers one person writing that he hoped she would get COVID and die.

I had to stop going into that group, she said. Why people are choosing to shame others, I dont know. But she said she thought that fear must be at the root of it.

Crabtree grew up in a highly devout family, with parents who met at a Campus Crusade for Christ conference. The whole family was active in their faith, volunteering at their churches, going on mission trips, holding Bible studies in their home. Her father served in the Air Force, and they moved around a lot. As a child, she lived in Germany, Colorado, South Dakota, Ohio, Alaska and Maryland.

She accepted Jesus at a backyard Bible club when she was 4 and has never questioned her faith, despite lifes hardships, including the mental health struggles of a close family member and years of infertility. Her most traumatic experience  being run over by a car in her driveway as a young child  reinforced her faith. The only remaining trace  her left eye does not tear when she cries  is a reminder, she said, of how God spared her on that winter day.

I knew that the Lord had a purpose for us and that it was to follow him and glorify him and obey him, she said. I really didnt question that. I didnt feel the need to explore this whole world around me.

But now, at 45, she said she believes that Americans broadly, and Christians in particular, have left too much of the running of the country to a governing class that has taken advantage of power. She blames her parents generation for not talking about religion or politics, a position that she said has led to a loss of influence.

This makes her feel unsettled, because America is changing. Gender is blurred in ways that she said she believes God did not intend. She said a man in her church comes to Sunday services dressed in womens clothing. When she was shopping this fall, a cashier at TJ Maxx who checked her out looked like a man but, as she saw it, had feminine mannerisms.

I wanted to shake him and say, You can be the man you are! she said. Its OK to use your strong voice.

She home-schools her children, in part to steer clear of these shifts. But the bigger problem, as she sees it, is that the broader culture seems to applaud them. It is not just sexuality. There are other issues too  for example, what she sees as the lefts preoccupation with race and its telling of history.

Why all of a sudden are we teaching our 5-year-olds to be divided by color? she said. They dont care what color your skin is until you tell them that that 5-year-olds grandpa was mean 200 years ago.

SEPTEMBER DAWN BOTTOMS/NYT

Demographics are changing too. Growing numbers of Hispanic people and Asian people from the Marshall Islands call Enid home. The county of Garfield, in which Enid is the seat, was 94% white in 1980. Last year, that figure was about 68%. The county experienced one of the largest increases in racial diversity in the country over the past decade, 2020 census data show.

Teachers and administrators in Enids school system have worked hard to integrate growing numbers of immigrant children. But everyone else interviewed in Enid, including Crabtree, who is white, expressed surprise when told of the scale of this change. Immigrants tend to live in certain parts of town and work in certain jobs, like at the meat plant, and do not yet have high-profile positions of power.

Still, she could feel that change was accelerating, and that was making her feel like she was losing her country, like it was becoming something she did not recognize.

I truly think that what we are doing is pulling our republic apart at the seams, she said.

So when she heard about the indoor mask mandate proposal last year in her city, she jumped to get involved. She discovered that she liked bringing people together, people whose thinking she shared. It felt good to learn together and to belong to this group she was building with urgent purpose. Eventually she made a Facebook page called Enid Freedom Fighters.

How do I sign up to talk? she said, giving an example of the questions people were asking. I dont know. Ill have to find out and get back to you. How long can we talk? I dont know. Ill find out. I didnt know any of it. But Im willing to learn.

She told people to come to the meeting and to wear red shirts so they could spot one another.

And in July 2020, when she walked into the City Council meeting wearing a red dress and a red cardigan sweater and saw the others, she felt nervous but also excited.

I just thought, OK, were not alone, she said. This is worth doing. There are more people like me who care this much.

The mandate failed. They could tell their voices mattered.

Were Ostracized

Waddell voted for the mask mandate, and the reaction was immediate. The following Sunday, people he had prayed with for years avoided him at church. The greeters, an older couple he knew well, looked the other way when he walked by. Several people left the church altogether because of his association with it, he said.

Waddell listened to critics of the mandate, but their position baffled him. The idea of individual sacrifice for a greater good was ingrained from years in the military. He grew up in Washington state, the youngest child of Black civil servants who left the Deep South in the 1970s. He went into public service, too, joining the Air Force after a year of college. When he retired seven years ago, he was at a base near Enid, and he and his wife decided to settle in town with their four children.

He knew Enid was conservative. Garfield County has voted for the Republican candidate in every presidential election since 1940. But he considered himself conservative too. He is a registered independent who believes in the right to bear arms and fiscal responsibility. And anyway, national politics were not important to him. Good schools and low housing prices were what he cared about.

So Waddell and his family threw themselves into making Enid home. Waddell volunteered as an associate pastor at his church. He won a seat on the City Council and began looking for funding for youth programs. As a new member, he took constituents out to lunch and listened to their problems. If this was going to be his home, he wanted to belong and to be helpful to people who lived there.

But as the months went by, none of the people he had bought lunch for or helped get funding for their organizations stood up for him. A former military member whom he counted as a friend even joined the Enid Freedom Fighters. He felt as if he were living in a town that no longer recognized him.

The attention he did get was sometimes menacing. His daughter, 7 at the time, was picked on at school because of his stance. Military security on the base where Waddell now works as a civilian handling IT operations took him aside to tell him about threats against him, though noted it did not think they would be acted on. He began checking a security camera at his house through an app on his phone.

Theres just this vitriol in this place that we chose, said Waddell, who is 41. Were ostracized from the community that we chose. Its kind of a surreal feeling.

The city commissioner who introduced the mask mandate, Ben Ezzell, a lawyer and artist, got veiled warnings too  mostly via email and Facebook. Someone dumped trash on his lawn. At one City Council meeting, a man shouted that he knew where Ezzell lived. Another meeting got so tense that police officers insisted on escorting him to his car.

But Ezzell, who is 35, was not done arguing for the mandate. As summer turned to fall and the delta variant began to spike, it seemed like the logical thing to do. So he kept bringing it up in meetings, prompting Crabtree and the Freedom Fighters to begin the process of trying to recall him to stop it. She also accused him of acting disrespectfully  for example, using profanity and doodling during peoples speeches. (He said he drew lemmings walking off cliffs to stay calm, particularly when comment sessions from emotional residents went on for hours.)

A prominent supporter of the recall effort was Crabtrees pastor, Wade Burleson, whose church, Emmanuel Enid, is the largest in town. Enid has a substantial upper middle class, with large homes and a gated community near a country club and a golf course, and many of those families are part of the churchs 3,000-strong congregation.

Burleson, 59, served two terms as president of the Southern Baptists of Oklahoma, the largest evangelical denomination in the state. He was considered a moderate in the Southern Baptist tradition, calling for greater leadership roles for women and speaking out for victims of sexual abuse, including asking church leaders to create a database to track predators, an unpopular stance.

But in the early months of the pandemic, he started speaking against mask mandates. He promoted the work of Dr. Vladimir Zelenko, a Ukrainian-born doctor turned right-wing media star, who claimed to have a novel treatment for the coronavirus. Burleson used apocalyptic language, invoking Nazi doctors as a specter of where mask and vaccine mandates could end up. Mandates, he argues, are the first steps toward complete government control, and he feels called to warn people.

Winning Felt Good

The City Council finally passed a mask rule in December 2020. Ezzell said it was toothless but better than nothing, so he voted for it. And while the recall effort against him ultimately failed, the Freedom Fighters, now energized, had bigger plans.

In February, they swept the local elections, winning three seats on the City Council  including Waddells and Ezzells. Winning felt good, and they kept going. Over the course of this year, through a series of elections, appointments and City Council votes, they have helped get four candidates onto the school board and another four onto the library board, Crabtree said, the latter after a disagreement over a display of LGBTQ books for Pride Month.

The red shirts have assumed effective control of most of the public bodies in Enid, Ezzell said this month. He estimated that those who cared enough about the mask mandate to show up at a public meeting to speak against it were a small minority of the citys 50,000 population. But they had an outsize effect on the Councils moderate members, because in this moment of defensiveness and threat, going against members of your own tribe is extremely difficult.

The new city commissioners include Keith Siragusa, 53, a former police officer from New York City who worked on Enids police force for years and now works as a therapeutic horse riding instructor for disabled and troubled children, and Whitney Roberts, 34, a photographer originally from California who owns a shop in Enid.

Roberts said that when she came out as a Trump supporter on Facebook in 2016, I had a lot of friends delete me without saying anything, behavior that she said told her that they thought they were better than her, that she was not worth bothering with. Ezzell reminded her of that, she said, doodling instead of listening to people, not even acknowledging that theyre there.

Ezzell, for his part, said that after hours of heated speeches  many of them aimed at him and trumpeting things that were not true  he did not think that the duty to bend over backward for that kind of vitriol is indefinite.

Roberts said that the new city commissioners mostly agree on things and that the focus has gone back to the business of local government  fixing potholes and continuing work on a large water pipeline.

She said the Council has not spent much time on COVID, but with rates of new cases and of hospitalizations less than half of what they were at the end of 2020, it has not been a burning issue. She said she had not gotten a single email about COVID from a constituent since she started.

Enids City Council may no longer be a stage for national politics, but Burleson has continued to bring national politics to Enid. One Sunday this past August, he sat down in his church with Charlie Kirk, the right-wing speaker, who during the pandemic has been visiting churches across the country calling on people to get involved in politics.

They want to crush you, Kirk said at an evening talk at Emmanuel Enid, referring to an unspecified metropolitan elite, and to government leaders, including Republicans. They call you the smelly Walmart people. They do. You should hear the way your leaders talk about you. They have contempt for you. They want to try to turn Oklahoma into nothing more than a producing colony for the rest of the country.

People Are Waking Up

In the end, both sides could agree on one thing: The fight was not really over masks.

Waddell thought it had to do with fear. He said America is in a moment when the people who ran things from the beginning  mostly white, mostly Christian, mostly male  are now having to share control. Their story about America is being challenged. New versions are becoming mainstream, and that, he believes, is threatening.

You dont just get to be the sole, solitary voice in terms of what we do here, what we teach here, what we show on television here, he said. You dont get to do it anymore. Thats where the fight is.

He sees it as the next chapter in the story of what it means to be an American, of who gets to write this countrys story. But he does not see the country getting through it without a fight.

Were going to have an explosion, he said. Whether its literal or figurative. Its going to be bad.

For Waddell, the past 18 months have been the most painful of his life. He said the experience changed him and left him feeling that Enid, as much as he tried to build a life there, no longer feels like home.

He said he is working on forgiveness. But he is also applying for jobs outside Oklahoma. Several applications in Arizona look promising.

Of the City Council election, he said, I think the process worked. You elect representatives that reflect your ideals. And these folks do. They reflect the ideals of Enid. And Im OK with that.

Carol Lahman, the city attorney in Enid, said that the mandate fight was temporarily divisive but that it also had a positive effect: drawing more people into the decision-making process. She said she loves Enid because its people believe that government is accessible and that showing up and voicing concern will make a difference. Yes, people differ in what the right direction is from time to time, she said. It is a work in progress.

Crabtree now attends most every City Council meeting. The Christian author she works for is now running for Congress. She herself was tapped for a seat on the state board of education, but after an outcry that she was against mask and vaccine mandates and that she home-schools instead of participating in public schools  and some threatening messages online  she withdrew.

Still, she is hopeful for the future.

She is proud of her son, who she said cares deeply about the country. He flew to Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6 to go to Trumps speech with her father. She said they did not participate in what came after. He graduated from high school last year but did not want to go to college and pay $100,000 to fight indoctrination. She said he now works at Chick-fil-A and wants to teach his peers about patriotism.

He wants to right all the wrongs in the world, she said. He said, Mom, I dont have time to go to college. We have a country to save.

In July, the Enid Freedom Fighters had a one-year anniversary party. They rented a bouncy house and ate hot dogs and tacos in a local park. A snow cone food truck came with a red, white and blue Enid Freedom Fighter flavor.

Were we successful? Crabtree said. Absolutely. Because we learned a lot. Weve educated a whole lot of people.

She added, There are a whole bunch of people who are realizing, oh, apathy didnt serve us well. Look at where we are. I think we better wake up and get involved. I think people are waking up.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
It started with a bang, the sound of metal crashing down on the sidewalks of Washington, D.C. as hundreds of Trumpers stormed the Capitol. It continued into another pandemic year; for every two steps we took forward with vaccines and testing, we were knocked back one by variants and those who valued personal freedom over societal health. We went further into the internet, the metaverse, the cryptosphere  remember a time before NFTs?  and came out the other side feeling perhaps a little less connected to our humanity.

But there were things to be thankful for, brief glimpses of hope and happiness in what might be one of the hardest years of our lives. So the staff of Rolling Stone took this opportunity to dig for moments that reminded us the world isnt always a cold, harsh place  even in 2021.

Jan. 20: Amanda Gorman becomes the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history, welcoming Joe Biden into office

There was no clearer embodiment of the break from the darkness of Trump era than when 22-year-old Gorman took center stage at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol inauguration day  in her bright yellow coat and vibrant red head band, flashing an ebullient smile  to read her ode to the new presidency, The Hill We Climb.

Her slender fingers punctuating the air like a symphony conductor, the young poet spoke hopefully to the trauma of the nation. Somehow weve weathered and witnessed / a nation that isnt broken but simply unfinished. Her poem, a powerful rebuke of those who would shatter the promise of America rather than share it, spoke to the hope of a new dawn that blooms as we free it. For there is always light Gorman told us  if only were brave enough to see it. / If only were brave enough to be it. It was a reminder that after a dark winter, there might be sunlight ahead. Tim Dickinson

March 25: Lil Nas X Releases the video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name)

When Lil Nas X dropped his highly anticipated debut album Montero earlier this year, it wasnt surprising that conservatives were up in arms. But no one could have possibly expected that hed bait the trolls in the most spectacular way possible: by releasing a super gay, super sexy video featuring himself twerking on the Devil in hell. When it came out last March, the video for Montero (Call Me By Your Name) infuriated every conservative interest group on the planet. It got a ringing endorsement, however, from Satanists, one of whom told Rolling Stone that Lil Nas X obviously did his homework on Satanism. A plug from the Devil himself? Theres nothing more rock and roll than that. -Ej Dickson

May 15: Olivia Rodrigo makes pop-punk cool again on SNL

When Olivia Rodrigo performed Good 4 U on Saturday Night Live, social media users quickly clocked the similarities between the catchy new single and Paramores 2007 hit Misery Business  and people were feeling it. For a glorious, generation-bridging moment, it seemed everyone was jumping up and down to that adorable, pop-punk sound, elevating the breakup anthem to song-of-the-summer heights. As Rob Sheffield wrote of Rodrigo at the time, Shes not hung up on stylistic or historic boundaries  in her songs, the ancient and the new-school play off and inspire each other. Everything old is new again, and anything in the past can be the start of something new, as long as an artist like Olivia can find a way to use it. -Andrea Marks

May 21: The Linda Lindas perform Racist, Sexist Boy at the Los Angeles Public Library

It was May, 2021. I had just read the 25th article about how we all were hitting the seventh pandemic wall when I scrolled by the video posted by the Los Angeles Public Library, featuring a band called the Linda Lindas.

The clip, which ultimately went viral, begins with Mila de la Garza, the then-10-year-old drummer, wearing a green scrunchie and a black Bikini Kill T-shirt, telling the story of a boy in her class whose dad told him to stay away from Chinese people. Mila and her bandmates, sister Lucia, Eloise Wong, and Bela Salazar, then launch into a primal scream of a song Racist Sexist Boy.

You are a racist, sexist boy

And you have racist, sexist joys

We rebuild what you destroy

You are a racist, sexist boy

There was something so refreshing about the frankness of the lyrics and the power of their strong, shouting voices and driving punk beats. These kids were letting loose their bottled-up rage and inviting the rest of us to do the same. Days after the video, the Linda Lindas signed a deal with Epitaph records and theyve released two songs Oh and Nino (the bands second song about a cat) and count Riot Grrrl luminaries like Kathleen Hanna and Carrie Brownstein among their fans.

May 29: Half the U.S. Gets the Jab

Do you remember the first person you visited once you were vaccinated? Mine was my college roommate, in May, whod recently had her first child. We shrieked and hugged on the sidewalk outside her Philadelphia home. Memorial Day Weekend 2021 was a high point of our Covid-ridden year. That Saturday, CDC data showed wed reached the milestone of vaccinating more than half the population. With the shot, it was finally safe to visit loved ones, host dinner parties, even plan vacations. We were blissfully unaware of what Delta (and now Omicron) had in store, the proliferation of vaccines last spring ended the era of total lockdown, and for many greatly reduced the overall misery of work, school, home life, and, well, existence. -AM

July 20: Wally Funk Goes to Space

In 1961, NASA chose Mary Wallace Wally Funk as the youngest of 13 elite women pilots to train to become astronauts in the nations first human spaceflight program. But she never got to go  until now. In July 2021, Funk, at 82, became the oldest person at the time to go to space aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket, fulfilling her lifelong dream (and making the Amazon founders publicity stunt feel a bit more meaningful). After Funk returned from the 11-minute suborbital flight, she said, I want to go again, fast. AM

Early October: R/Antiwork brings the Great Resignation to Reddit (and beyond)

Millions of people quit their jobs this year, frustrated with exploitative employers paying poverty wages during a pandemic. There was a power imbalance, some of them noticed  in these tough times, bosses needed wage workers more than wage workers needed shitty jobs. By this fall, some of the text interactions that led to these mass walk-offs started to go viral. The concept was simple: a boss asks for something unreasonable (covering a shift with just hours notice; covering while on a scheduled vacation), gets angry when the employee says no, then gets desperate when the employee quits instead of acquiescing to an abusive boss. R/Antiwork, the Reddit board where many of these texts were first posted, had been around for eight years, but it was the pandemic that brought in almost a million members. This is bonkers, moderator Doreen Ford, a 30-year-old dog walker in Boston, told Rolling Stone in October. We never really thought anything like this would happen. Ive never been a part of something so successful in my life. -Elisabeth Garber-Paul

i've just discovered r/antiwork inject all of this into my veins pic.twitter.com/SFGZASLssv  travis (@TravisShreffler) October 17, 2021

Oct. 18: Noodle the Pugs No Bones Day goes viral

Theres nothing the internet loves more than elderly and/or weird-looking animals. Case in point: the meteoric rise of Noodle the Pug, the ancient and laconic pug who accidentally became a bellwether for the national mood when owner Jon Graziano started a TikTok series declaring it a Bones Day (i.e., if Noodle stands up on his own accord) or No Bones Day (if he flops right back down). On Bones Days you could maybe try to be productive; on No Bones Days, giving up on outside clothes and becoming one with the couch was completely acceptable. Bones/No Bones Days quickly became part of the national vernacular, with even the governor of Louisiana getting in on the fun by using the meme as a way to promote the Covid-19 vaccine. -ED

Dec. 6: Ramones Ducks

Though actor Coyote Shivers and his partner Pleasant Gehman started visiting L.A.s Hollywood Forever Cemetery early in the pandemic, it wasnt until last December that we found out they had been training ducks to visit Dee Dee Ramones gravestone every day. They used the Pavlovian tactic of a dinner bell that rings to the tune of Blitzkrieg Bop, titled Duckskrieg Bop.

Sure enough, it worked like the ice cream truck song in the summertime, Shivers told Rolling Stone in early December. The kids come running when they hear it.

It may not have been much, but a couple of goths finding joy in the cemetery was enough to warm our hearts. The fact that one of Dee Dee wrote the theme for Pet Cemetery didnt hurt, either. ED

Dec. 13: The saga of Jorts the Cat

This viral tale of two workplace cats sprang up mid-December on the Am I the Asshole subreddit. A user posted about a dispute involving two cats who live at their worksite: an intelligent tortoiseshell named Jean, and a not-so-bright orange cat named Jorts, who has a habit of falling into trash cans and accidentally closing himself in closets. Conflict arose when the users coworker tries to teach a dumb cat new tricks, like how to clean himself properly, and the user suggested Jorts may not have the capacity. (To quote a top commenter on the thread, I cant believe she fuckin buttered Jorts.) HR gets involved. A debate flares about who manages the cats. In an update, we learn the cats have staff bios. What is this company  and is it hiring? Its impossible to know whether the post is true or just a piece of online storytelling brilliance. It doesnt matter. The Jorts saga is pure joy. -AM
There are a few unexpected sights that hikers pass as they travel the Appalachian Trail (AT) in New York: A trailside zoo near Bear Mountain (the first and oldest section of the trail); a boardwalk that traverses the Great Swamp in Pawling; and a dedicated Appalachian Trail Metro North station nearby.

But a mounted phone in the middle of the woods may be the most unusual.

The whole AT is a blur to me, said Justin Dinardo, who came upon the phone this summer in Putnam Countys Fahnestock State Park on his way to completing the 2,190-mile trail. I remember that pretty vividly.

This was not an ordinary phone, though. For starters, its not connected to a land line. Its technology is not even from this century. A sign posted next to the rotary phone announces it as a Telephone of the Wind, a type of phone that has popped up around the world, first in Japan, and recently in Washington and Rhode Island, to call loved ones who have passed away.

A poetic passage next to the Fahnestock wind phone  Though Ive lost you, I feel you here/in this shrine of trees in natures sanctuary  serves as a prompt to use to phone to connect with those you have lost. To feel the comfort of their memory.

When I saw that, said Dinardo, who had been hiking from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in order to make miles, pausing only for food and to rest, I saw it as an invitation to sort of stop and collect myself.

Standing a quarter mile off of Route 301, above the Canopus Creek gurgling below, he picked up the putty-colored phone  which, when you place it to your ears, sounds like a swoosh of empty air  and placed a call to his grandmother, whom he had lost around a year earlier, during a week when he also experienced the passing of his aunt, great aunt and a family friend (none from COVID). All the loss had been hard to process all at once.

Ive heard people say that theres no timeline for grief. You might not grieve right away or you know, it might come up a year later, 10 years later. It doesnt matter, he said. And the sense that I got was, even though it was a year removed, you can still channel that grief and you can let those things come up. And being where I was, I was in a very safe place to feel anything. Theres no distractions. Im by myself. Im not worried about how I look to everybody else. Theres nothing external  theres just me in the middle of the woods, so it was kind of cathartic to have that invitation of emotions, and to let them kind of come, and then go and then just be on my way.

Dialing for solace

Justin Goodhart

For Millet Israeli, creator of Fahnestocks Telephone of the Wind, her disconnected rotary phone worked exactly the way it should.

The grief therapist, who splits her time between New York City and Brewster with her family, knew of the original wind phone when it was first introduced in 2010 by a man in Otsuchi, Japan who had lost his cousin to cancer and fashioned a phone booth with a rotary phone to call him. It became widely used after the tsunami devastated the country the next year. The Japanese town alone lost 10 percent of its population, and thousands of people make an annual pilgrimage there to call lost relatives and friends.

Then, in January of this year, Israeli read about a rogue wind phone in an Olympia, Washington park, installed in honor of a mom who had lost her 4-year-old.

And when I saw that, it crystallized immediately that that was something that was absolutely necessary, particularly in New York, or near New York City, because of how intensely the area experienced a loss in the early parts of the pandemic.

As a grief counselor, Israeli was acutely involved in the processing of grief during pandemic  working with clients, speaking and writing about how the lockdown was going to impact people who couldnt be with their loved ones. Her practice doubled compared to pre-pandemic times.

I just felt like there was this pull to create something that would give some people the opportunity to have a release valve for that.

Placing it the woods made sense to her, having just discovered the balm of being in nature during the pandemic. Like many others in New York City, where she and her family were living full-time prior to the pandemic, they decided to escape to the Hudson Valley, first temporarily resettling in Bedford before closing on a second home in Brewster in the summer of 2020.

Along the way, Israeli took many hikes: to Minnewaska, Fahnestock, Bear Mountain, Harriman, the Hudson Highlands. It became her therapy.

@olympiawashington

Ive had moments where Im like, There should be a wind phone everywhere, said Israeli. Even Times Square, though she admits it probably wouldnt last very long.

But Ive really become passionate about spending time walking in the woods. It feels like a sanctuary, using a word from her invitation to hikers to pick up the wind phone. Its almost like a confessional in a way. Its almost like church.

She emailed a few different parks and conservation groups. The Friends of Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands State Parks was the first to write back to her. Though it wasnt a consideration at the time, siting it in Fahnestock held historical meaning. The park was bequeathed by a man to New York State on the condition that it be named after his brother, Dr. Clarence Fahnestock, a WWI major who succumbed to pneumonia due to the Spanish flu, COVIDs pandemic predecessor.

Over Facebook, Linda Cooper, Regional Director at New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, messaged Israeli to say she liked the idea and wanted to hear more. Shortly after, Israeli got the green light.

It was actually really incredible how open they were to it and how little bureaucratic issues I had to deal with to get it done, Israeli said.

Once Israeli found the 1960s phone on eBay, she mounted it to some wood along with an outdoor glass enclosure to place her prompts on using the phone and the details of her Instagram account, @wind.phone.ny where she solicits stories from those who have dialed their friends and relatives.

Then she gave the phone to Fahnestock and Hudson Highlands Park Manager Evan Thompson, who helped choose the right location for it.

A perfect audience for a grief telephone

C.M. Whalen via @wind.phone.ny

For the past 12 years, Thompson has managed both Hudson Highlands and Fahnestock, where he lives. Hudson Highlands, he thought, would be too busy for the phone  heavily trafficked trails like Breakneck Ridge have train stops that drop day trippers right to the trailheads there, and he worried it might be vandalized.

A trail in Fahnestock that attracts families was another possibility.

But then, you know, I started thinking about who would be interested in this phone and I thought of the Appalachian Trail, just because a lot of people who go on the trail go to find themselves, [or] have some sadness in their lives theyre trying to get away from.

The AT passes through five state parks in New York  Harriman and Bear Mountain are two of them  and Fahnestock is a popular attraction for the estimated 1,000-plus people who complete the AT each year. (Multiple sections of the trail were closed in 2020 due to the pandemic, and hiking it was frowned upon).

Five times as many people register for the hike, which most begin in Georgia en route to Maine, but many give up along the way, making it hard to tally the exact number of hikers on the trail each year. Those who make it to Fahnestock, which is just before the halfway point of the AT, typically arrive by the summer so they can reach its endpoint, Mount Katahdin in Maine, before it gets too cold.

These AT thru-hikers get to camp in Fahnestock for free and eat food from the concession at Canopus Beach, one of the few spots on the trail that is easily accessible to a meal not made on a camp stove.

Thompson has spoken to many of them. Some are young college grads who see the AT as a challenge, he says, or who dont know what else to do at that life juncture. Others are retirees who always wanted to do the AT but never the time when they were working.

Still others, he says, do it after experiencing a loss.

I have talked to people in the past who have lost their wife or they lost a family member. Theres a lot of military people who do it, who experienced a lot of pain or sadness through their military service and are just looking for a way to get away from everything and kind of regather themselves and figure out what they want to do. Theres a different story for every person.

JR Littleton is one of those military servicepeople who passed through Fahnestock this summer. He had wanted to hike the AT with his roommate and younger brother Joe, also an Army vet, but it wasnt to be. Joe took his life in 2020.

This year, Littleton hiked the trail with Joes ashes, scattering them in each state he crossed. He said he spoke to his brother every day, so he didnt need the wind phone to communicate with him. But coming upon it in person was more cathartic than hed anticipated.

I have my brothers number memorized you know, and it was very nice to take that time to enter his number  It was definitely healing for me, Littleton said.

A spirit phone, made concrete

Francesca Baggio

The idea of contacting the deceased through a telephone has been around since its invention in the late 19th century. Mystics thought the technology could be used to communicate with spirits. Even Thomas Edison reportedly worked upon a spirit phone, though his inspiration was more theoretical than the very human desire to talk again with someone who has passed.

There is this desperate craving, when someone dies, to be able to have one more conversation, said Israeli, explaining the draw of the wind phone. To be able to have some way of connecting to them. People use psychic mediums. Theres such a hunger for it and as we know it's not entirely feasible.

She continued: And one of the things thats really painful about grief is the impossibility of fixing this thing. And so I think part of [the appeal] is that it represents this idea of an opportunity to connect, you know, cause we really do associate telephones with connection.

The other aspect of the wind phone that makes it so powerful for people, she theorizes, is that it takes something so hard to process, and puts it into a form that those of us still living in the material world can easily grasp.

It's easier to talk into something, than to just talk aloud to no one, Israeli said. And while I would like everyone to come talk to a grief therapist to process their grief, not everyone has the opportunity or the resources or the wherewithal to do that.

This free therapy doesnt come without some effort: it takes an 874-mile hike from Georgia, or a drive to Fahnestock followed by a quarter mile hike north on the AT. But it is undeniably magical.

Its a little bubble in the woods where you can fantasize about this connection that you can still have to this person, says Israeli, which at the end of the day, you really still do.
Pedernales Falls State Park

On Saturday, January 1, take your first hike of the year at Pedernales Falls State Park, about an hour and 30 minutes north of San Antonio at 2585 Park Road 6026 in Johnson City.

There is a guided 9 a.m. two-mile hike that will be moderately difficult. It follows the Pedernales Falls trails to the edge of the park and back atop the ridge. The trail is rocky and has one steep section. TPWD wants hikers to meet at the Falls Parking to join.

If you miss it, hike the noon half-a-mile Twin Falls Nature trail that follows a steep rocky terrain down to a creek-fed waterfall. Meet TPWD at the Twin Falls Trailhead to join. At 3 p.m., finish your first day off right around the campfire at campsite 68.

For self-guided hikes, TPWD recommends hiking the following below:

Hackenburg Loop: Easy difficulty and 1.5 miles. This trail takes you down to the river where you can see the largest trees in the park and the damage that floods have wrought.

Easy difficulty and 1.5 miles. This trail takes you down to the river where you can see the largest trees in the park and the damage that floods have wrought. Wolf Mt.: Moderate difficulty and eight miles. Completing the entire trail adds up to eight miles, but you can always shorten that. This wide trail is great for mountain biking and takes you across several small creeks. It has some gentle slopes and is mostly gravel.

Moderate difficulty and eight miles. Completing the entire trail adds up to eight miles, but you can always shorten that. This wide trail is great for mountain biking and takes you across several small creeks. It has some gentle slopes and is mostly gravel. Mile Loop Trail: Challenging and 5.5 miles. This trail is for adventure seekers. Take a steep trail down to the river, take the river crossing to the other side (you will get wet here) and then a steep uphill hike will get you up to the main portion of the trail. Hiking to the overlook and back is only around 4 miles total.

Normal entrance fees are required to enter the park, no additional fees or registration are required to attend these programs. It is $6 for anyone 13 years old and older. It's free for children under 12.

For more information, contact Stephen Garmon at stephen.garmon@tpwd.texas.gov or visit the website.

Fun fact about the park: The 5,212-acre park sits along the banks of the scenic Pedernales River in Blanco County east of Johnson City. Formerly the Circle Bar Ranch, the area is typical Edwards Plateau terrain.
A pair of benches that now grace Illinois Colleges campus are rooted in more than 150 years of history.

The benches are made from remnants of the Turner Titan tree, an Osage orange tree that Jonathan Baldwin Turner planted on his Evergreen Farm near Butler around the time of the Civil War.

The tree survived everything thrown at it over the years, even outlasting the farmhouse it was intended to shade, until a December 2018 tornado took it down.

Turners family still owned the farm and, because of Turners connection to Illinois College, agreed to let Illinois College have some of the wood.

We wanted to make something commemorating Turner and this history, said Guy Sternberg, Illinois College adjunct faculty member and co-director of the colleges Starhill Forest Arboretum in Petersburg. The biggest pieces we could find that werent all twisted up and broken, we thought we could have benches made.

To understand all of that history, one should start at the beginning.

Turner was a professor at Illinois College in the mid-1800s who had the idea  some 30 years before the invention of barbed wire  that the school could use a fence of some sort around campus, Sternberg said.

He was the one back in 1840, 1842, that said we needed something to keep the cattle out, Sternberg said. He came up with the idea to do something like they did in England, which had all of these hedgerows made of thorny hawthorn.

With some research, Turner decided the Osage orange, which is very thorny, Sternberg said, would work nicely.

He got some seeds from Texas and started to play with them on his own farm down in Butler, Sternberg said. They perfected the ways of growing them, came up with the techniques for developing them into hedgerows.

At one point, Turner had 10 acres of his farm planted in Osage orange as he researched the best ways to plant them and tend to them  from spacing to pruning  to create an effective hedgerow, Sternberg said.

Turners research led Illinois College to plant a hedgerow of Osage orange trees, which, beginning in 1882, led students and faculty to begin taking an annual spring study break to have a picnic and trim the hedgerow; an annual Osage Orange Festival commemorating those picnics continues at IC.

But Turners work didnt stop at IC, Sternberg said, adding that Osage orange was planted across the Midwest over the next 50 years.

At one point there were 39,000 miles of Osage orange hedgerow planted in Kansas alone, Sternberg said, noting that, even after barbed wire was introduced, resourceful farmers simply used their existing Osage orange trees as fence posts, attaching the barbed wire directly to the tree trunks.

This became the most planted tree in North America, he said.

It also accounts for why the Midwest fared somewhat better than the Southern Plains when the Dust Bowl devastated the area in the 1930s, he said.

The hedgerows provided wind breaks, Sternberg said. They kept the soil in the Midwest from being blown away. Now theyre using these trees, experimenting with them ... because theyre so adaptable. Theyre resistant to disease and insects and dont decay.

They do, however, weather nicely, as can be seen in the two IC benches  both crafted by a woodworker who volunteered hundreds of hours of his time and effort, Sternberg said. One sits inside Tanner Hall administration building while the other sits under an awning outside Parker Science Building.

The bench outside Parker has turned a rich brown in the months since it was installed, while the bench inside Tanner remains the woods original color.

Osage orange wood, when its fresh, is bright yellow, Sternberg said. It turns orangish brown with exposure to sun. Were hoping the (indoor) bench will stay yellow. But even if it does get darker, it will be red.

The benches also arent the end to the legacy of the Turner Titan at IC, Sternberg said. Smaller pieces of the tree that werent suitable for use on one of the benches are being turned into smaller commemorative items that will be used around campus.

A cultivar also is being developed that will allow anyone with the desire to buy and plant their own Turner Titan, Sternberg said.

Its actually a clone, actually rooted from cuttings, Sternberg said. Theyre genetically identical  the exact same tree.

The Turner Titan cultivar  along with three other cultivars from Starhill  soon will be available in the United States through Forrest Keeling Nursery of Elsberry, Missouri, and in Europe through Pavia Nursery in Belgium. Proceeds from the sales will benefit Starhill Forest Arboretum.

The Turner Titans legacy lives on, Sternberg said. Were trying to make sure parts of this tree, its legend, remain a part of the history of the college.
New estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau suggest Illinois is continuing to lose population.

The latest estimates, released last week, pegged the states population at 12,671,469 as of July 1, down by 113,776, or 0.9%, from the official 2020 census.

Several factors contributed to the change, but the single largest was domestic outmigration. According to the data, 122,460 people moved from Illinois to other states during the period from April 1, 2020, to July 1 of this year, while only 5,766 people moved into the state, a net loss of 116,694.

Those losses were offset by a net gain of 5,766 people through international migration as well as a natural increase of 2,778 people  the difference between in-state births and deaths during the period.

The Census Bureau routinely estimates national, state and county populations each year following a decennial census using a variety of data sources. But those estimates have been off in the past.

In 2019, for example, the Census Bureau estimated that Illinois had lost more than 51,000 people since the 2010 census while the official 2020 census showed the state had lost about only 18,000.

Still, the latest estimates for Illinois reflect broader national trends of decreased international migration, lower birth rates and increased mortality, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall, the Census Bureau said, the U.S. population grew by 444,464, since the 2020 census, or 0.13%, the lowest growth rate since the nations founding.

Population growth has been slowing for years because of lower birth rates and decreasing net international migration, all while mortality rates are rising due to the aging of the nations population, Census Bureau demographer Kristie Wilder said. Now, with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this combination has resulted in a historically slow pace of growth.

The estimates showed that both the Midwest and Northeast regions saw net population declines over the year while the South and West regions both gained population.

Over the past year, the Census Bureau said, the nations population growth was due to a natural increase of 148,043, and net international migration of 244,622, marking the first time that net international migration exceeded natural growth.

Between 2020 and 2021, 33 states saw population increases and 17 states and the District of Columbia lost population. Eleven of those had losses of more than 10,000 people. This is a historically large number of states to lose population in a year.

On a percentage basis, Illinois had the third largest population decline, behind the District of Columbia, at 2.9%, and New York, at 1.6%. Idaho, Utah and Montana had the largest percentage increases.

On a numeric basis, Illinois also had the third largest population decline, behind New York and California. Texas, Florida and Arizona had the largest numeric population increases.
BARING, Mo. (AP)  An investigation continues into the cause of a derailment that left 40 train cars off the tracks in rural northeast Missouri.

KTVO-TV reports that the derailment of 40 BNSF train cars happened just before 7 a.m. Sunday about three miles southwest of the small town of Baring. No one was hurt, and first responders say no dangerous substances spilled.
A doctor pleaded not guilty Monday to a second-degree murder charge in the fatal shooting of a delivery truck driver in southern Vermont more than two years ago, Vermont State Police said.

Jozsef Piri, 49, of Naples, Florida, was arrested earlier this month and charged with the death of Roberto Fonseca-Rivera on Nov. 1, 2019, on Vermont Route 103 in Rockingham.

Piri was initially ordered held without bail. Lawyers agreed to a $250,000 cash bond if certain conditions were met.

Prosecutor Steven Brown said the conditions included that Piri turn over to police any passports and firearms in his possession. If Piri posts bail, he will also be required to follow a strict curfew at his home in Naples, Florida.

Fonseca-Rivera, 44, was found shot to death in the produce truck he was driving on Route 103 in Rockingham after a coworker at a Hyde Park, Massachusetts, produce distributor told police the GPS on the truck indicated the vehicle had not moved in some time.

The two men did not know each other, police said.

Sometime prior to his arrest Piri, an internal medicine physician, moved from West Simsbury, Connecticut, to Naples, Florida.

A police affidavit filed in the case said that at the time of the shooting Piri was returning home to Connecticut from his property in Londonderry, Vermont, where he kept a number of firearms. He was driving immediately in front of Fonseca-Rivera just before the shooting, police said, based on surveillance footage, GPS data, photographs and other information.

The affidavit said the evidence showed that Fonseca-Rivera was shot from outside the cab of his truck in a way that is consistent with it being fired from another vehicle.

Piri's vehicle was also seen on surveillance video footage from multiple sources as being directly in front of Fonseca-Rivera's truck, the last time just under a mile from where the victim was found dead.
BOSTON (AP)  Edward O. Wilson, the pioneering Harvard biologist who advanced the provocative theory that human behavior such as war and altruism has a genetic basis and warned against the decline of ecosystems, has died. He was 92.

Wilson was called Darwins natural heir, and was known affectionately as the ant man for his pioneering work as an entomologist, according to an announcement posted Monday on the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation's website. He died on Dec. 26 in Burlington, Massachusetts.

It would be hard to understate Eds scientific achievements, but his impact extends to every facet of society. He was a true visionary with a unique ability to inspire and galvanize. He articulated, perhaps better than anyone, what it means to be human," David J. Prend, chairman of the board of E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, said in a statement.

The professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author first gained widespread attention for his 1975 book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, in which he spelled out the evidence suggesting a link between human behavior and genetics. The work created a storm of controversy among activists and fellow academics who equated sociobiologys groundbreaking theories with sexism, racism and Nazism.

More recently, Wilson has championed the importance of preserving diverse species and ecosystems. The diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize, he said in 1993.

Less than 10% of the Earths species have scientific names, he said, making it a still mostly unexplored planet.

In 1979, On Human Nature  the third volume in a series including The Insect Societies and Sociobiology  earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with The Ants, which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.

Among his other honors was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of Americas 25 most influential people in 1996.

Wilsons sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs. nurture debate among scientists. Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior.

Critics argued that such a theory bolstered social injustice, including discrimination against women, by saying that the inequality is written in human genes. Fifteen Boston-area scholars joined in a letter denouncing it, and in one case protesters dumped a pitcher of ice water on Wilsons head while he was speaking at a scientific meeting in 1978.

He didnt think genes determine all human behavior, but in rough terms ... maybe 10 percent of it. He said later that the intensity of the reaction frightened him and for a time he gave up giving public lectures.

I thought my career was going up in flames, he said.

His 2006 book, The Creation, argued that the fields of science and religion, the most powerful social forces on Earth, should work together for protection of nature.

The following year, he joined with more than two dozen other leaders in religion and science in signing a statement calling for urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous climate change. Among the religious leaders taking part were the Rev. Rich Cizik, public policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals.

The launching point for Wilsons studies was a creature that had fascinated him since his teens  the ant.

Showing an Associated Press reporter a dramatic microscopic view of an ant specimen in 1993, he commented, I call it looking in the face of creation. Youre looking at something that may be a million years old, and nobodys seen it before.

His and Holldoblers book The Ants featured detailed photographs of ants crawling through their daily lives, copulating, regurgitating food, and stinging to death other insects. It meticulously detailed the ants every move.

He noted that the study of ants offered insights into the state of the environment, because the welfare and diversity of ant populations might be useful as an indicator of subtle destructive changes in a seemingly normal area.

Wilson was born in 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama. As an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Wilson found comfort in nature, which he called his companion of choice.

He also had to deal with the loss of sight in one eye in a fishing accident and, in his teens, a partial hearing loss.

The Boy Scouts provided Wilson an opportunity to further his enthusiasm for nature, and by the age of 15, Wilson had risen to the rank of Eagle Scout.

He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard in 1955 and became an assistant professor there in 1956. Wilsons field research included stops in Australia, New Guinea and Sri Lanka, in addition to his ongoing work at home.

While living in Mobile, Alabama, Wilson is credited with becoming the first person to identify invasive fire ants that had arrived from South America on ships. Later, as a student at the University of Alabama, he detailed that the ants were spreading rapidly across the South.

I believe I was the first to find that ant in the U.S., certainly the first to study it in any detail, Wilson told American Entomologist in 2014.

He sat on the boards of directors of several environmental organizations, including The Nature Conservancy. He was honored for his conservation efforts with the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature in 1990 and the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society in 1995.

Wilson is survived by his daughter, Catherine. He was predeceased by his wife, Irene.
Sue Ogrocki/AP

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and legislative leaders said Monday that despite record-high revenue available to spend next year, they expect most state agency budgets to remain flat.

Budget projections presented to the State Board of Equalization, a state panel led by Stitt, show there will be more than $10.3 billion available to spend for the fiscal year that begins July 1. But Stitt and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Roger Thompson said after the meeting they want to keep at least $2 billion in reserves. The Legislature last year appropriated about $8.3 billion and set aside more than $700 million in savings.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  A ruling by the Indiana Supreme Court has expanded the limited number of people who are eligible to recover damages in lawsuits alleging negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Indiana lawsuits seeking damages for emotional distress typically can only be pursued by a person who suffers a direct physical injury, suffers an injury that also injures or kills a third-party, or witnesses a relatives death or severe injury immediately after it occurs.

But in a 3-2 decision released Dec. 22, Indianas high court said it is also now allowing a parent or guardian to seek damages from a child caretaker when the parent or guardian discovers, with irrefutable certainty, that the caretaker sexually abused their child and that abuse severely impacted the parent or guardians emotional health, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.

The new rule arose from a case involving the sexual assault of a profoundly disabled child in 2015 and 2016 by an instructional assistant responsible for her care at a school in the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township in Indianapolis.

According to court records, the perpetrator confessed to her actions two years later, then pleaded guilty to child molesting and received a 13-year sentence.

In 2019, the childs mother sued the woman, the school, and the school district claiming she suffered emotional distress because of the child's sexual assault. She alleged her distress ultimately compromised her ability to care for her daughter at home and forced her to incur expenses for the childs placement in a chronic care facility.

Court records show the mothers lawsuit was turned aside by lower courts because her claims didnt fit any of the categories for which damages for emotional distress can be pursued, chiefly because she did not witness the abuse and only learned of it years later.

But in the ruling, Supreme Court Justice Christopher Goff concluded that an expansion was necessary because the extraordinary circumstances here warrant a proper remedy.

Justice compels us to fashion a rule permitting a claim for damages limited to circumstances like those presented here, he wrote in an opinion joined by Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justice Steven David.

Goff said the specific facts of the Marion County case perfectly align with the courts new rule and ordered that the mother be permitted to proceed to trial against the defendants in her emotional distress claim.

Justice Geoffrey Slaughter dissented from the courts ruling in an opinion joined by Justice Mark Massa. Slaughter suggested that any expansion of emotional distress liability is a task best left to the Legislature rather than the courts.

He wrote that the court's decision almost certainly opens the door to a significant number of additional emotional distress claims being filed in Indiana's courts.

Only time will tell whether todays watershed rule is so narrow and fact-specific that it proves to be a one-way ticket for this ride only  or whether, as I suspect, it is the proverbial camels nose under the tent, with the rest of the camel soon to follow," he wrote.
NEW YORK (AP)  A federal judge on Monday ordered New York City to install crosswalk signals to aid blind people and those with bad eyesight in more than 9,000 intersections over the next 10 years.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan came more than a year after he ruled most crosswalks in the city violate laws protecting people with disabilities, because they only communicate crossing information in a visual format. The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit corporation that represents people with vision disabilities.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A man charged with fatally shooting two men at a busy restaurant in Kentucky has pleaded not guilty.

Karson Reitz, 21, appeared before a judge Sunday on murder charges in the shooting at the Roosters restaurant on Preston Highway in Louisville, news outlets reported. The judge set his bond at $1 million.
PHOENIX (AP)  Arizona's latest number of daily new COVID-19 cases appears extraordinarily high only because of a lag in reporting over the Christmas holiday.

The state coronavirus dashboard reported 7,641 new confirmed cases but no deaths Monday. This comes after a tally of only 344 cases and no deaths a day earlier.

Steve Elliott, state Department of Health Services spokesman, says no virus data was processed on Christmas Day. That's why the number of cases on Sunday was so low. The daily case counts will likely be high for the next few days as the dashboard catches up.

Since the pandemic started, Arizona has seen 1,362,693 cases and 23,982 deaths.

As of Sunday, there were 2,327 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized statewide. Of those, 630 were in intensive care.

In other developments:

Pima County leaders are trying to figure out ways to decrease their jail population in anticipation of several corrections officers and staff refusing to get vaccinated.

Friday is the deadline for county employees to meet a vaccine mandate or be fired. Around 36% of the 420 corrections staff are still not vaccinated, the Arizona Daily Star reported. Pima County Attorney Laura Conover hopes to whittle down the number of inmates from 1,639 to 1,300.

Strategies the county will use include temporarily not charging people for simple drug possession and granting a monitored release to non-violent offenders awaiting trial.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Polands president on Monday vetoed a media bill that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling share in Polish television network TVN.

For many, it was a victory for freedom of speech and media independence in a country where democratic norms are being challenged by the nationalist government. The veto was also expected to be welcomed by Washington, which had been seeking to defend the largest U.S. investment in Poland.

President Andrzej Duda noted that the bill was unpopular with many Poles and would have dealt a blow to Polands reputation as a place to do business.

Contracts have to be kept, Duda said at a news conference in Warsaw where he announced his veto. For us Poles it is a matter of honor.

The bill, recently passed by the lower house of parliament, would have prevented any non-European entity from owning more than a 49% stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland.

Its practical effect would have targeted only one existing company, Discovery Inc., forcing the U.S. owner of Polands largest private television network, TVN, to sell the majority or even all of its Polish holdings.

The ruling party, Law and Justice, pushed the legislation and argued that it was important for national security and sovereignty to ensure that no company outside of Europe can control companies that help form public opinion.

Party spokeswoman Anita Czerwinska said party leaders respect the prerogative of the president, who is a party ally, but were disappointed in his decision.

European countries protect their media market against excess foreign capital, considering this area strategic for security and national security, Czerwinska said, arguing that not protecting that market would lead to submission to other states (and) their interests.

Yet many Poles saw the bill as an attempt to silence a broadcaster with an all-news station, TVN24, and an evening news program on its main channel viewed by millions.

Mass nationwide protests were recently held in support of the station and of freedom of speech more broadly. Donald Tusk, the leader of the centrist Civic Platform opposition party who spoke at that demonstration, said Duda's decision showed the importance of pressure from the U.S.  and pressure from the street.

Let no one say anymore that it is not worth it, that it is impossible, that we cannot do anything. We can and we must," Tusk said on Twitter.

Discovery had threatened to sue Poland in an international arbitration court, saying it would fight for its investment. The network was first bought by another U.S. company, Scripps Networks Interactive, for $2 billion and later sold to Discovery.

It represents the largest ever American investment in Poland and the company now puts TVN's value at $3 billion.

Duda said the bill would have violated the provisions of a Polish-U.S. economic treaty signed in the 1990s, and Poland could have faced possible penalties reaching in the billions of dollars if he had signed it.

Duda said he agreed in principle that countries should limit foreign ownership in media companies, saying many other democratic countries  including the United States, France and Germany  have such legislation.

He said that he would support such legislation that would affect future investments. But he argued that in the case of TVN, the law would have hurt a business already operating legally in Poland.

He also said that he shared the view of many of his fellow Poles that given other problems, including the pandemic and inflation, the bill wasn't necessary right now.

Discovery welcomed Duda's move, saying: We commend the president for doing the right thing and standing up for core democratic values of a free press and the rule of law, and we want to thank all the viewers and everyone that has supported this important issue.
SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (AP)  A upstate South Carolina sheriff's deputy shot and killed a man late Sunday after a standoff.

Deputies were called to a domestic dispute in Simpsonville, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

Deputies found that a suspect had left the location. Deputies called out the SWAT team when they were told the suspect was armed.

After a search, deputies found Matthew David Snyder armed with a gun in a subdivision in Simpsonville. Negotiations ended in officers and the 38-year-old Snyder shooting at each other around 11 p.m. Sunday, according to deputies and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Snyder was taken to a hospital where he died shortly after arriving. An autopsy on Monday found Snyder died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans.

SLED says it is investigating and will report its findings to prosecutors.
RENO, Nev. (AP)  Winter storms blasted freezing air and blinding snow across northern Nevada on Monday, affecting travel and business, with Sierra Nevada highway passes closed, airport flights delayed and canceled and state offices shut down.

Nevada State Police reported several crashes in the Reno and Lake Tahoe area, and Interstate 80 remained closed due to poor visibility and heavy snow from the Nevada state line to Placer County, California.

Washoe County Emergency Management raised the avalanche danger to high for areas north of Lake Tahoe.

Several flights were affected Monday at Reno-Tahoe International Airport due to weather and COVID-19 staffing shortages across the country, the Reno Gazette Journal reported.

Airlines also canceled or delayed some departures at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, where skies were clear but forecasts said rain could come later in the week. Chain requirements were lifted for vehicles driving into snowy areas of Mount Charleston.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak issued an order late Sunday telling nonessential state workers other than public safety and corrections personnel to remain home Monday.

Tire chains or four-wheel drive were required for vehicles on California and Nevada state highways and on U.S. 6 and U.S. 50.

U.S. 395 was closed in Washoe Valley after at least two wrecks sent at least six people to hospitals, the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District said.

Weather and travel advisories were in place on most roads across northern Nevada, with the National Weather Service in Elko warning of difficult driving due to wind gusts greater than 40 mph (64 kph) and the possibility of blowing and drifting snow.

The University of Nevada, Reno and Truckee Meadows Community College canceled on campus in-person operations and classes.

The National Weather Service in Reno extended a weather advisory in Nevada to 7 p.m. Monday.

Frigid cold was expected to remain for most of the week, with high temperatures in the Reno area in the 20s and lows in the teens. Low temperatures in northeast Nevada were expected to be in the single digits.
IBuyers are one of the few true innovations to hit the real estate industry in recent years. Yet consumers havent fully embraced them because of misconceptions about how iBuyers work, and what types of problems they resolve for sellers and buyers.

An iBuyer (for instant buyer) is a company that uses technology to make an automated offer on a home. After buying the house, the company fixes whats broken, makes cosmetic repairs and sells it. IBuyers market themselves as a fast, convenient way to sell.

Myths have grown around iBuyers: that they pay too little, inflate home prices and funnel owner-occupied homes to investors. A couple of those myths do have a grain of truth. Heres whats really going on with iBuyers.

MYTH 1: IBUYERS LOWBALL HOMEOWNERS

In a TikTok that went viral in September, a real estate agent implied that an iBuyer was manipulating house prices. In his hypothesis, the scheme was a two-stage process. The first step consisted of lowballing home sellers.

But iBuyers dont pay significantly less than the market price, said Mike DelPrete , a real estate tech strategist and scholar in residence at the University of Colorado Boulder. The biggest potential misconception is that iBuyers are gonna rip you off, and theyre gonna give you a lowball offer and youre leaving money on the table, he said by voice memo.

This misunderstanding may grow out of a belief that iBuyers are the same as house flippers. Theres a difference. Flippers buy properties that need lots of work to get them in salable condition. They buy low, spend plenty on renovations and make a profit on the difference between the amount invested and the sale price. But iBuyers buy properties that are in good shape, usually make minor repairs and make much of their profit from fees they charge to sellers. (The eventual price an iBuyer pays is the accepted offer minus the renovation costs.)

DelPrete has researched prices paid by iBuyers. In 2019, iBuyers were paying about 98.5% of estimated market value; at times in 2021, they were overpaying. In contrast, house flippers often pay about 70% of value.

Yes, iBuyers often pay less than buyers would get by listing conventionally. But not a lot less, and some sellers believe iBuyers are worth the financial trade-off for a quick sale and convenience of not opening the house to a parade of strangers.

MYTH 2: IBUYERS ARE THE REASON HOUSES ARE EXPENSIVE

As the TikToker described it, the second step of the price manipulation would consist of the iBuyer overpaying for one home after underpaying for dozens of other homes in a neighborhood. This, the theory goes, would set a precedent for higher prices that appraisers and subsequent buyers would follow.

This hypothesis disregards human nature: When you buy a home, youll ignore the price paid by the only buyer who overpaid. Youll pay attention to the prices that are consistent with fair market value.

Deliberately overpaying for homes would be a disastrous strategy. In fact, Zillow Offers, the companys iBuying division, acknowledges that it unintentionally paid too much for houses, based on faulty forecasts of future prices. Zillow lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the third quarter of 2021, laid off one-quarter of its workforce and shuttered Zillow Offers.

Mariya Letdin, associate professor of real estate at Florida State University, said by email that she sees a few ideas floating around. One is a concern that big tech will use their informational advantage to take advantage of the individual sellers. Another is that somehow iBuyers will drive up home prices. None of these are supported by evidence.

For iBuyers to push prices artificially high, they would need to control a big chunk of the market, and they seldom do. According to DelPretes research, iBuyers accounted for 1.6% of U.S. homes bought in the third quarter of 2021, or around 28,000. IBuyers are busier in some markets than others, though. They bought 10.8% of the homes purchased in the Phoenix metro area in the third quarter.

MYTH 3: IBUYERS SELL LOTS OF HOMES TO LANDLORDS

Theres some truth to this belief, so its more exaggeration than myth. Most (not all) iBuyers sell a portion of their inventory to institutional investors that rent the homes out.

Take Zillow Offers. After it shut down, Bloomberg reported that Zillow planned to sell 7,000 houses to corporate investors such as real estate investment trusts, or REITs. One critic tweeted , I strongly suspect selling 7k homes to institutional investors will hurt consumers (especially after driving up prices significantly in key markets).

Its a bummer that the mass sale to corporate landlords will shut out 7,000 would-be owner-occupants, but the evidence that Zillow drove up prices for anyone but Zillow is weak. Of the three biggest remaining iBuyers, two say they sell to investors and one says it doesnt.

An Offerpad spokesman said in an email that the company typically sells 10% to 20% of its homes to institutional investors. Opendoors head of real estate, Kerry Melcher , didnt give percentages, but said in an email: Some homes we purchase are resold to REITs; the vast majority are put back on the market and go to everyday consumers.

RedfinNow says it is an exception. We havent sold one house to a REIT, says Jason Aleem , RedfinNow vice president.

VALUE OF AN IBUYER OFFER

IBuyers dont lowball, theyre not responsible for runaway house prices, and they sell most of their inventory to owner-occupants and only some to landlords. Theyre not a diabolical force in the housing market, but what good do they do?

They can help home sellers set asking prices. Its one thing to view an online estimate of your homes value when youre bored. Its another thing to receive an iBuyers purchase offer. It makes those estimates real, Aleem says. He explains that getting an iBuyer offer can establish a baseline asking price even if you ultimately decide not to take it and opt for a traditional home listing instead.

ANOTHER BENEFIT: NO LIVING IN LIMBO

More substantively, selling to an iBuyer appeals to homeowners who prize convenience, need to sell quickly, and want to be certain that the buyer will consummate the transaction and not flake out.

IBuyers are especially attractive to sellers who hate showing their homes to potential buyers. If youve ever sold a home, you know the drill: You keep a tidy house, and then you have to go somewhere while strangers tromp through the place and judge your housekeeping proficiency.

The hassle is even worse if you have young children or pets or both, because their messes are messier, their smells are smellier, and it takes planning to find a place to take them during the showing.

With an iBuyer, there are no showings, back-and-forth negotiations, buyer contingencies or last-minute changes to closing dates.

The convenience and speed offered by iBuyers mean they are here to stay. They wont serve more than a small subset of home sellers, but theyll occupy a niche, particularly in growing Sunbelt cities with large developments of newish, look-alike homes with similar values.

Understanding what iBuyers do  and what situations they can address  adds to your toolbox, whether youre selling or buying.

________________________________________

This article originally appeared on the personal finance website NerdWallet. Holden Lewis is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: hlewis@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @HoldenL

RELATED LINKS:

NerdWallet: What is an iBuyer?

NerdWallet: Offerpad review

NerdWallet: Opendoor review

NerdWallet: RefinNow review
In God We Trust, the national motto, appears on every American coin and dollar bill. But what does it mean for the character of the country if that no longer holds true?

Most Americans have long believed that divine providence has been central to the establishment and flourishing of the nation. The history we were taught begins with the Pilgrims, who sought refuge in the new world to escape persecution in the old. Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island as a refuge for those facing religious persecution in Massachusetts. Abraham Lincoln ended slavery in the Emancipation Proclamation by the gracious favor of Almighty God.

Religious conviction has inspired social change throughout American history, most importantly the civil rights movement, which was largely led by clergy and relied on religious teaching for much of its power.

Religious freedom is a cornerstone of a democratic society. In America, politicians and the general public have long held that the nation was ordained by a higher power. But the trend in the United States is mirroring a process thats been under way for decades in Western Europe: the rise in numbers of people with no religious affiliation  the nones.

In a 2019 study, Pew found the portion of the population describing themselves as Christian had declined by 12 points in the space of a decade. While other religions, especially Islam, have grown as a share of the population, the biggest growth occurred among those with no religious affiliation. According to Pew, the nones grew from 17% in 2009 to 29% in 2019.

In Europe, secularization is several years ahead of the United States. While the percentage of European nones is roughly the same as in America, European Christians are far less likely to attend religious services or pray regularly than their counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic. How will America change as more Americans are religiously unaffiliated, even if they see themselves as spiritual and believe in God?

Religious belief touches on many of the great conflicts in our society, most notably abortion, but also issues ranging from education to racial reconciliation to issues of equity and fairness in the economy.

The Rev. Richie Butler, who leads a prominent Black church in Dallas, adds a further category of the religiously unaffiliated  the dones  those who have opted out of organized religion. Pastor Butler points to the need for the church to engage in some introspection. Some want something more authentic and feel like they can find that on their own versus going to a house of worship, he explains in his Democracy Talks interview. Religious leaders have to ask where we have dropped the ball.

Religious institutions have long served as a sort of societal glue. Eboo Patel, founder and president of the Interfaith Youth Core, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting interfaith dialogue, notes the importance of religious institutions in nourishing community institutions such as universities, hospitals, and other non-profits. . Patel contends that we expect all these institutions to welcome all comers and, indeed, they do. These institutions shouldnt wither away, even if more Americans shun religious services.

The effect on our politics over the long term may be more important. One need look only at the rapid evolution of attitudes on LGBT issues. While overall societal attitudes have shifted toward tolerance, attitudes have changed more swiftly among the young and the nones. Will those shifts lead to greater support for abortion rights or civil rights measures, for example?

Americas historical allegiance toward religious freedom is no longer just a sometimes grudging tolerance of the other in a largely Protestant nation and culture. Just as the concept of religious freedom expanded to include the Catholic and the Jew as fully American, that concept can expand to embrace the Muslim or Buddhist. So, too, it can embrace those with no religious membership or beliefs, because the freedom to worship as one chooses also means the freedom not to worship at all.

Our concept of religious freedom has never been static. As Americas concept of who is an American has expanded, our notion of religious freedom has expanded as well. While not all of us may trust in God, we can be confident that the idea of religious freedom protects the believer and nonbeliever alike.

As the Rev. Butler puts it, We all should be evolving, and those who are done and those who are none, theyre helping religion evolve. That is healthy.
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Exxon Mobil Corp. says an overnight fire at its Baytown, Texas, refinery that injured four people has been extinguished.

The blaze occurred at 1 a.m. local time at the plant, which is the fourth-largest in the U.S., capable of processing more than half a million barrels of oil a day. Gasoline trading in New York jumped as much as 4 cents per gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The fire at units involved in gasoline production comes as U.S. stockpiles of the fuel hit their lowest for this time of year since 2015. Gasoline futures, meanwhile, are at their highest seasonally in eight years. Prices rose 1.8% to settle at $2.2061 per gallon in New York.

The blaze broke out in a unit called a reformer feed hydrotreater, according to Wood Mackenzies Genscape unit. Other units impacted include a toluene benzene unit and a nearby cooling tower, according to a person familiar with operations.

Reformer feed hydrotreaters remove sulfur from partially refined oil to help the finished gasoline meet clean-air rules. The units process feedstock used by reformers to make high-octane gasoline. The toluene unit extracts aromatics from feed sent to it by the reformer. If the fire impact is prolonged, it could affect prices of premium gasoline.

Exxon spokeswoman Julie King said Baytown is adjusting rates at other Baytown facilities to focus on stabilizing the affected units, but did not discuss the impact on fuel production.

The injured workers are in stable condition after being transferred to a local hospital, said Casey Cook, a public information officer at the Baytown Fire Department.

A Baytown woman who allegedly suffered injuries during the refinery explosion near her home has filed a lawsuit against Exxon, Potts Law Firm said Friday in a statement. The lawsuit, filed in Harris County, alleges that Tona Credit suffered hearing loss and related balance issues resulting from the concussive force of the blast at the gasoline-producing refinery unit.

Its the second such blaze at Baytown in the last two years. In 2019 a fire on the plastic-producing side of the industrial complex injured about 37 people.

Air quality monitoring at the site and fence line has shown no adverse impact so far, King said.

Exxon on Wednesday reported a leak at one of Baytowns sulfur-removal units, according to a filing with a state regulator. The leak was discovered at around 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the filing.

With assistance from Rachel Graham and Bill Lehane.

About the photo: The Baytown Exxon gas refinery in Texas is shown.

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.
LOS ANGELES (AP)Heavy overnight rains in Northern California left two people dead in a submerged car as authorities on Thursday urged residents of several Southern California mountain and canyon communities to voluntarily leave their homes because of possible mud and debris flows.

Firefighters in Millbrae, just south of San Francisco, were able to rescue a driver who had climbed atop his vehicle at a flooded underpass. But they were not able to reach people in another car, said San Mateo County Sheriffs Detective Javier Acosta.

Acosta told the Mercury News in San Jose there was overwhelming rain rising rapidly in the underpass when firefighters responded to a call for help shortly before 6 a.m. It took several hours to drain the area, which is when authorities discovered the bodies. An investigation is underway.

In the Sierra Nevada, an evacuation warning was issued for about 150 homes downstream of Twain Harte Lake Dam after cracks were found in granite that adjoins the manmade part of the 36-foot-high (11-meter) structure. Authorities began releasing some water, but the dam didnt seem in any immediate danger, Tuolomne County sheriffs Sgt. Nicco Sandelin said.

The precautions for Southern California came as precipitation that had mostly been falling in Northern California this week spread throughout the state. Potentially heavy rain was expected late Thursday in the southern part of the state.

Firefighters used a litter basket to rescue a man stranded on a bridge pillar above the flowing Los Angeles River.

The National Weather Service issued an advisory for minor flooding of roadways and low-lying areas in counties around San Francisco Bay and an avalanche warning was posted for eastern Sierra Nevada backcountry areas in Mono and Inyo counties.

Tire chains were required on several major routes through the Sierra, and flooding closed a stretch of coastal Highway 1 in San Luis Obispo County and a section of U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara County.

Forecasters issued a flood watch for areas east and southeast of Los Angeles starting Thursday evening because of possible heavy overnight rain fed by an atmospheric river, a long plume of moisture from the Pacific Ocean.

Evacuation warnings were issued by Orange County authorities for three canyons near a wildfire burn scar where rain last week unleashed muddy torrents. Warnings were also issued by San Bernardino County authorities for a half-dozen mountain areas.

Periods of rain and snow were predicted for California through Christmas and into next week. Snow levels in the north could drop to 1,000 feet (300 meters) or lower by Sunday, forecasters said, warning holiday travelers to be ready.

Foothill locations that do not normally receive snow should prepare for winter conditions, especially from Sunday morning through Tuesday morning, the Sacramento weather office said.

About the photo: Crews work at cutting up a large tree that fell across Silverado Canyon Road in Silverado, located in eastern Orange County, Calif., early Friday, Dec. 24, 2021, following an overnight storm that brought heavy rain and wind, knocking over a utility pole as it fell. The canyon areas are under mandatory evacuations following overnight storms that brought heavy rain and mudslides. The December 2020 Bond fire burned much of the the area and left the hills barren and vulnerable rock-filled mudslides. (Mark Rightmire/The Orange County Register via AP)

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is targeting to release the final list of candidates for the May 2022 general polls on January 7.

We expect the list will be final by January 7. Target natin (Thats our target), said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez in a press conference on Monday.

Jimenez said that they expect all the cancellation of certificates for the declaration of nuisance candidate cases would already be resolved by then. But Jimenez clarified that disqualification cases are not included yet since it will require a longer period to be resolved.

Yung mga pwedeng i-resolve dito dapat na-resolve na dapat by then (Those that can be resolved should have been resolved by then)...Yung mga kaso na that would have resulted in the removal of the name from the list, for example, like cancellations and nuisance candidates, natanggal na dapat yan (That should have been resolved), he said.

But for other cases, just like a disqualification case, where the issues are more complicated and probably will take longer to resolve, hindi sila matatanggal (they will not be removed from the list). But they will be able to proceed because there would be nothing hindering their candidacy at that point, Jimenez added.

The poll body earlier said that it would release the final list by December.

According to the tentative list of candidates released by Comelec on Dec. 24, presidential aspirants were narrowed down to 15 from 97 and vice-presidential hopefuls are now down to 9 from 29.

Comelec is also targeting to start the printing of ballots on January 15.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  The mayor of the country's capital expects the Manila City Hall Clock Tower to become a popular tourist attraction after its revamp.

Drawing inspiration from the Old Washington Post Office in Washington D.C., the local government said on Sunday it is renovating the view deck of the historic clock tower.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno has also asked those in charge of the renovation work to put up a coffee shop inside the tower. A space will also be reserved for painters and other artists to showcase their works.

Moreno said the City of Manila is not scrimping on the renovation funds since it can attract local and foreign tourists. He said they are also eyeing to include it in a tourism package, which could be bundled with the newly renovated Manila Zoo, Kartilya ng Katipunan, and Intramuros.

The largest clock tower in the Philippines designed by Antonio Toledo was unveiled in the 1930s. It was destroyed during the World War II and rebuilt in 1946.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  Experts detected the country's fourth case of the Omicron variant in a traveler from the United States, the Department of Health said on Monday

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the case involved a 38-year-old woman who arrived on December 10 via Philippine Airlines.

The patient exhibited throat itchiness and colds on Dec. 13 so she had to extend her facility quarantine for 10 days. She was sent home to complete her isolation before the Philippine Genome Center found out she was positive for the Omicron variant. She remains under home quarantine, and will undergo another swab test.

"Ang detection for this fourth case ng Omicron came after when the individual was discharged already. Alam naman natin na if walang detection ng VOC (variant of concern), you follow the existing protocol," Vergeire said.

[Translation: We follow the existing protocol if there is no VOC.]

The World Health Organization has said it is not yet clear whether Omicron is more contagious or if it causes more severe effects than other variants of concern. But preliminary evidence suggests there may be an increased risk of reinfection with Omicron.

The Philippines is imposing travel restrictions on eight nations to delay the entry of more Omicron cases.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  Typhoon Odette, one of the most destructive cyclones to hit the country this year, highlighted the need to continue building "resilient structures," the disaster management agency said Monday.

"The power sector, other utilities  telecom and water  were all severely affected by the storm. Essentially, we have to strengthen these structures so they would be able to bear the brunt of major emergencies," National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Mark Timbal told CNN Philippines' The Source on Monday.

It is also a must to continue urging residents to build their houses using materials that could withstand natural disasters, Timbal said.

The latest government data showed over 160,000 houses were completely destroyed, while nearly 340,000 were partially damaged due to Odette's wrath. The estimated cost of damage to houses is around 28 million, according to NDRRMC. Odette also caused P16.7 billion worth of damage to infrastructure, the agency added.

The government would provide durable material assistance to help affected residents rebuild their homes, Timbal said.

He said other forms of aid, including food packs and hygiene kits, are continuously being delivered to those affected.

The government already provided over 118 million worth of assistance to typhoon victims, NDRRMC said.

The number of reported deaths due to Odette rose to 389 on Monday, with 64 others still missing. Meanwhile, 1,146 people were injured.

But Timbal said authorities were able to prepare for Odette. He said they prepositioned relief items in key warehouses across the country, and deployed more than 3,000 search and rescue teams to different areas.

The government also earlier identified more than 10,000 villages prone to flooding and landslides, Timbal said. This information was relayed to concerned local officials and they were advised to conduct a preemptive evacuation, he said. Two days before Odette entered the country, more than 300,000 people were evacuated as a preemptive measure, he added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 27)  The country received more shipments of COVID-19 vaccines Monday, totaling over 1.7 million doses delivered in one day.

The first shipment was 587,800 doses of Moderna donated by Germany which arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International airport past 4 p.m. on Monday, and was welcomed by vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and Alexander Schmidt, deputy head of mission of the German Embassy

Speaking to the media at the event, Schmidt said this was the sixth donation of the German government. He added so far, 11 million vaccine doses have been given to the Philippines.

Galvez noted that the country has received over 200 million doses of vaccines as of Dec. 27.

"Following the arrival today of Moderna vaccines from the Covax facility and government procured Pfizer jabs, a total of 202,660,355 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered to the country since February," he said.

He added that the supply was more than enough to completely inoculate 100 million Filipinos, including the administration of booster shots to qualified individuals.

Meanwhile, another 1,187,550 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine procured by the government arrived at past 8 p.m. on Monday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 28)  President Rodrigo Duterte said he is against evicting families from "no-build zones," or areas deemed dangerous to reside in, including during typhoons, unless relocation sites have already been identified.

In a meeting with Cabinet officials on Monday night, Duterte told Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Roger Mercado to ensure that the affected residents are resettled first before the government can clear their homes.

I do not want to dismantle or destroy houses unless there is a relocation site, Duterte said.

Im not in favor of starting to dismantle the houses kasi [because], Secretary, ito 'yung mga [these people have] nowhere to go, he added, noting that their only fault for being in the restricted areas is that they are poor.

Duterte also asked the DPWH to coordinate with local government units to address the issue.

Earlier, the President proposed the summary eviction of those living along coastal easements, as he cited the need to protect people following the deadly Typhoon Odette. The storm  the strongest to hit the country this year  has killed nearly 400 people, based on the latest data from the government's disaster management agency.
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Scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs often work behind the scenes, garnering less recognition than their creations and companies. But these 14 heroes left lasting legacies that changed the course of history. They invented lights, computers, cars, and media; they founded Adobe, Gartner, Sinclair, and Silicon Valley; they fought for accessibility, freedom of information, and human rights.

As we reflect on the past year, we at Computerworld honor these exceptional innovators who passed away in the last 12 months.

[ See also: Tech luminaries we lost in 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 ]

Gideon Gartner: Analysis with Alacrity

March 13, 1935  December 12, 2020

Esther Dyson Gideon Gartner in 2010

Gideon Gartner was born in Palestine and grew up in Brooklyn, where he showed promise as a musician. He passed up a musical scholarship to pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT. He began his career at Philco and then IBM before finding himself on Wall Street as a technology analyst.

In 1979, Gartner recognized the role that personal computers would have in the operation of tech organizations. He founded Gartner Group, an IT advisory firm that targeted the computer users and CIOs who would soon be making business-defining decisions. Forty-odd years later, Gartner is still one of the worlds leading technology research and consulting companies.

One of Gartner Groups hallmark products was the two-page analytical report, printed on a single sheet of paper. When you have to do a 40- or 50- or 150-page document, it becomes so psychologically defeating to even think about completing it that it takes you forever, said Gartner. By comparison, a concise, practical report could be produced, consumed, and applied on a daily basis.

Gartner also founded Soundview Technology (originally Gartner Securities), which was sold to Charles Schwab in 2003, and Giga Information Group (Giga being short for Gideon Gartner), which was purchased by Forrester Research, also in 2003. To all three of his companies, Gartner brought his unique insights and innovations.

He had an unrivaled commitment to excellence within his work, products, management, and service to his clients, wrote Jeffrey R. Yost, director of the Charles Babbage Institute, to which Gartner was a donor.

Gartner died at 85 from complications due to Alzheimers.

Paul Taylor: Communications Trailblazer

November 15, 1939  January 11, 2021

Vermillion Films Paul Taylor in 1968

Paul Taylor was born deaf in an era that had few accommodations for such disabilities. But with the support of his mother, who became a teacher for the deaf, Taylor refused to be held back. He earned a degree in chemical engineering and then a masters degree before taking on engineering positions at McDonnell Douglas and Monsanto in St. Louis.

It was there in St. Louis that he adapted existing teletypewriters, or TTYs, into telecommunications devices for the deaf. In the late 1960s, Taylor paired TTYs with modems, enabling them to work over phone lines. Users on either end could type messages to each other, or send written messages to an operator who would then verbally relay the message. After building TTY networks in St. Louis and New York, Taylor was hired by the FCC to incorporate language supporting TTYs into the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Taylor spent thirty years as a professor at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology. In 2002, he and his wife moved to Portland, Oregon, to help their daughter Irene raise their grandson, Jonas, who had developed early hearing loss. Irene filmed the award-winning 2007 documentary Hear and Now about her parents lives and their decision to get cochlear implants in their 60s.

Taylor died at 81 from complications due to Alzheimers.

Alice Recoque: A Calculating Planner

1929  January 28, 2021

In 1966, French president Charles de Gaulle approved Plan Calcul, a government initiative to strengthen Frances computer industry. This led to the formation of computer manufacturer Compagnie internationale pour linformatique (CII) in 1966.

One of CIIs founding engineers was Alice Recoque, who had previously designed the CAB500 mini-computer and co-directed the design of the CAB1500. At CII, she designed the Mitra computer. The Mitra 15, released in 1971, was used in nuclear power plants, for guiding missiles, and as nodes in CYCLADES, the French network that inspired features of the ARPANET. Over 8,000 Mitra 15 units were sold, many which remained in use through the 1990s.

In 1978, Recoque participated in the establishment of the organization Commission nationale de linformatique et des libertes (CNIL), whose ongoing mission is to ensure computer technology does not infringe on individual freedoms and human rights.

Recoque became the director of artificial intelligence in CIIs Groupe Bull in 1985. Her work there included the development of KOOL, or knowledge representation object-oriented language.

Her contributions to French hardware and software development earned her recognition from La Societe informatique de France and from the French government with the Ordre national du Merite. Recoque was 91 when she passed.

Lou Ottens: Storage Star

June 21, 1926  March 6, 2021

Reel-to-reel tape recorders were slow, complex, and cumbersome. As head of product development at Philips, Lou Ottens was in a position to do something about it. In the early 1960s, he set out to create a smaller, simpler, consumer-friendly audio storage medium.

The result was the cassette tape, an invention that revolutionized the music industry. Not only could fans carry entire albums in their pockets, but anyone could record and distribute their own original music and mixtapes. Cassette decks became a standard feature in automobiles, and the medium led to the popularization of audiobooks, or books on tape.

We expected it would be a success  but not a revolution, said Ottens in the 2017 documentary Cassette.

Cassettes impacted more than music and artists; before the floppy disk, it was also a de facto data storage medium for early personal computers. Some European radio stations would even broadcast computer programs to be recorded onto cassettes.

Ottens also led the development of the compact disc at Philips, but its his original invention thats now enjoying a resurgence in popularity: sales of cassettes grew consistently from 2015 to 2020, with the top cassette album of 2020 coming from Lady Gaga.

Ottens retired in 1986. He was 94 when he passed.

Isamu Akasaki: LED the Way

January 30, 1929  April 1, 2021

By the 1960s, red and green light-emitting diodes had been invented, but they couldnt be combined to form white light without blue LEDs, which proved elusive. Many scientists, convinced it was a futile effort, gave up their research.

Isamu Akasaki did not. After a career at the company that would become Fujitsu, he earned a PhD from Nagoya University in 1964. From there, his persistence into his chosen field of research took decades to pay off  but by the early 1990s, he and his colleagues had succeeded in creating blue LEDs.

Thanks to Akasakis discovery, LEDs, which consume less energy and last longer than either incandescent or fluorescent lights, are now ubiquitous, used in lightbulbs, smartphones, television and computer displays, and more.

Akasakis groundbreaking work earned him the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics, which he shared with his two co-inventors, as well as the 2011 Japanese Order of Culture, and the 2009 Kyoto Prize.

Akasaki died at 92 from pneumonia.

Jack Minker: Human Advocate

July 4, 1927  April 9, 2021

After working at such companies as Bell Aircraft Corp. and RCA, Jack Minker returned to school to earn his PhD. He later joined the University of Maryland in 1967 and became the first chair of its computer science department in 1974. He co-founded the areas of disjunctive logic programming and deductive databases, such as those used in the language Datalog. He also researched artificial intelligence and wrote or edited several books, including Logic-Based Artificial Intelligence.

Just as notable was Minkers work on behalf of computer scientists human rights. Minker worked extensively with the Committee of Concerned Scientists (CSS), for whom he served as vice chairman from 1973 to 2021. In this role, he documented the violation of computer scientists human rights in countries such as China, Iran, and the Soviet Union; petitioned for an International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Georgia, then a Soviet republic; fought for the release of Soviet scientists including Anatoly Shcharansky, Aleksandr Lerner, and Andrei Sakharov; and served as editor and intermediary for papers written by Russian scientists intended for English publication. He also served as an honorary board member of the Washington Committee for Soviet Jewry and volunteered with the Union Council for Soviet Jewry. He detailed these efforts in his memoir, Scientific Freedom and Human Rights: Scientists of Conscience During the Cold War.

Minker also served as national program chair for the Association for Computing Machinery from 1968 to 1970 and chaired the Advisory Committee on Computing to the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1980 to 1982. He was honored for his work by the CSS, the ACM, the University of Maryland, and the New York Academy of Sciences. He was 93 when he died.

Charles Geschke: A License to Print

September 11, 1939  April 16, 2021

Adobe Charles Geschke

After leaving seminary, Chuck Geschke earned a PhD in computer science in 1972. That same year, he joined Xerox PARC, the legendary Palo Alto research center that birthed so many technological innovations. One of them was a printing technology Geschke developed with co-worker John Warnock. When Xerox chose not to move forward with the project, Geschke and Warnock took it with them to found Adobe in 1982.

Steve Jobs, whose work on the Macintosh was also inspired by PARC, offered to purchase Adobe in 1983 for $5 million. Geschke and Warnock opted instead to license their PostScript technology for Apples LaserWriter printer. Released in 1985, the printer heralded a revolution in desktop publishing and printing. Adobe followed in 1987 with the release of Adobe Illustrator and in 1993 with the PDF format, cementing the companys role in graphic design and information exchange.

This success brought with it some undesirable attention: in 1992, Geschke was kidnapped and held for $650,000 ransom. He was recovered unharmed four days later, and he and his wife resumed their daily lives, refusing to recruit bodyguards or otherwise seal themselves away.

Geschke, who at times served as president, COO, and co-chairman of the board of Adobe, was recognized multiple times for his contributions, receiving the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in 2008 and the Marconi Prize in 2010. His company, which has 20,000 employees and a market value of $245 billion, has consistently been ranked one of the best places to work.

I could never have imagined having a better, more likable, or more capable business partner, said Warnock in a statement.

Geschke died at 81 from melanoma.

Daniel Kaminsky: Internet Savior

February 7, 1979  April 23, 2021

When Dan Kaminsky was 11 years old, his mother grounded him from the internet after he was caught hacking into military computers. He didnt learn his lesson, going on to establish a career as a computer security researcher.

Most notably, in 2008, while working as the director of penetration testing at security firm IOActive, Kaminsky discovered a fundamental flaw in DNS, the method by which the internet translates domain names into IP addresses. After collaborating with major IT firms and the US Department of Homeland Security on a fix, he detailed the vulnerability in a presentation at Black Hat Briefings.

DNS wasnt Kaminskys first contribution to internet security. In 2006, Sonys copy-protection scheme infected computers with rootkits, which Kaminsky determined to have affected over a half-million networks.

Kaminsky was just as interested in using technology to solve problems of biology and accessibility: he developed DanKam, an app to assist with colorblindness, and helped improve hearing aids and telehealth tools. He assisted with COVID-19 research well before vaccines became available. His work was often motivated by what he found morally right, not what was financially lucrative.

Kaminsky was the co-founder and chief scientist of WhiteOps, a frequent speaker at DEF CON, and a Computerworld guest columnist. He died at 42 from diabetic ketoacidosis.

Makoto Nagao: Broke the Language Barrier

October 4, 1936  May 23, 2021

ITU Makoto Nagao

After earning a PhD in engineering in 1966 from Kyoto University, Makoto Nagao stayed there until 2003, starting as an assistant professor and culminating in a term as the schools 23rd president. During this time, he developed some of the first machine-translation systems.

His contributions to machine translation included directing the Mu project, which made the first successful machine translations between Japanese and English, using abstracts of science papers. Nagao proposed a model for example-based machine translation, a system of translation by analogy that is now widely used; and he developed JUMAN (Japanese User-extensible Morphological Analyzer), a parser for languages such as Chinese and Japanese that do not have explicit word delimiters. Nagao was also a pioneer in intelligent image processing and natural language processing for the Japanese language.

Just as he connected languages, Nagao also connected fellow scientists, co-founding the Asia-Pacific Association for Machine Translation. The organization now grants an annual Nagao Award to those who have contributed to research and development leading to or facilitating commercialization of machine translation systems.

After retiring from Kyoto University, Nagao served as the 14th director of the National Diet Library, a Japanese analog to the United States Library of Congress. There, he helped develop Ariadne, an educational content mangement system used by digital libraries.

For his work in making information available across languages and systems, Nagao was the recipient of the International Association for Machine Translations Award of Honour (1997) and the Japan Prize (2005), among many other recognitions. He was 84 when he passed.
Was hospitalised for six hours, am fine now: Salman Khan on snakebite

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who was bitten by a non-venomous snake at his farmhouse in Panvel, revealed yesterday night that he was bitten thrice.

After the actor was bitten, he was immediately taken to a hospital at Kamothe and was discharged on Sunday morning. Photo courtesy: quotepark

The recovering actor stepped out for a photo-op session with the paparazzi gathered outside his Panvel farmhouse on Sunday night on his return from being treated at a hospital.

"A snake had entered a room in my farmhouse and the children got scared. So I took it outside using a stick. Gradually it reached onto my hand. I then grabbed it with my other hand to release it. When our staff saw the snake, they thought it was poisonous and due to the commotion that followed, the snake bit me not once but thrice," Salman Khan told reporters.

After the actor was bitten, he was immediately taken to a hospital at Kamothe and was discharged on Sunday morning.

A snake had entered my farmhouse, I took it outside using a stick. Gradually it reached onto my hand. I then grabbed it to release, which is when it bit me thrice. It was a kind of poisonous snake. I was hospitalized for 6 hours...I am fine now: Actor Salman Khan on snake bite pic.twitter.com/cnDnUhglm5  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

"Then we went to the hospital, carried the snake along carefully and there we found that it was non-venomous. Still, I was hospitalised for 6 hours and have been injected with all kinds of anti-venom. I am fine now," Salman Khan said, according to an ANI report.

In terms of work, Salman Khan recently returned from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia where he led the Da-Bangg Reloaded tour. The actor's forthcoming projects include Kick 2, with Jacqueline Fernandez and Tiger 3 with Katrina Kaif.
12/27/2021

Photo (c) Vertigo3d - Getty Images Thousands of flights were canceled as we entered the Christmas weekend, and anyone who flew and actually made it to their destination should feel lucky. However, theyll need even more luck getting home because the list of cancellations started growing again on Monday morning.

According to FlightAware, there were 7,690 delays and 2,523 cancellations by noon on Monday  growing at a rate of about 4% an hour.

Airlines are pinning most of the blame on the continued spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, which is forcing some airline workers to stay home. A United Airlines memo reviewed by CNN stated that the nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation.

CNN reports that Lufthansa plans to cancel 10% of its winter schedule  or 33,000 individual flights  because of the pandemics impact on the aviation industry.

Cancellations continue to grow

At the top of the most canceled list is SkyWest Airlines, with 249 Monday cancellations. SkyWest is a partner of Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Alaska Airlines that typically takes passengers from major hubs to smaller markets.

SkyWest teams are working to recover after weather impacting several hubs, as well as increased COVID cases and quarantines amongst crewmembers, have resulted in higher than normal flight cancels through the weekend and today, the airline said in a statement emailed to ConsumerAffairs. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible.

The list of cancellations is already getting bigger. FlightAware data shows that 826 flights have already been canceled for Tuesday; more than 200 have also been canceled for Wednesday.

Adding to travelers woes is the potential for bad weather between now and the end of the week. Western U.S. states are already getting hit by winter storm Elmer, and theres a likelihood of major storms  and even tornadoes  forecast for the south-central U.S. going into the New Years weekend.
Lansing Correctional Facility in Kansas had a program in 2005 where dogs came to the place to train with prisoners. We've talked about these prison dog programs before, and they're great. Prisoners have lots of time to devote to dogs, letting the dogs train much faster than they ever could otherwise, and research suggests that hanging out with dogs does the one thing no other form of rehabilitation can: It teaches you to love.

Toby Young, a 48-year-old woman, had the job of bringing the dogs to the prison in her van. One time when she was there, a prisoner was about to attack her. Then in stepped a 27-year-old inmate named John Manard as her hero and protector. The two got to know each other after this and fell in love.

At least, that's the way Young told the story. Prison officials question several parts of her account, particularly her claim that the prison followed up that encounter by making Manard her "unofficial escort." But either way, the two did get private time together and became romantically involved, despite his serving a life sentence for murder and her being married with two kids.

Manard was the one who came up with the plan for escaping using one of her dog kennels. He stood 6-foot-2, so it would be a major squeeze, but in the months leading up to the attempt, he lost 25 pounds so he'd better be able to fit. They pulled it off on February 12, 2006. It was cold that day, which meant everyone was so concerned with staying inside and staying warm that they didn't do at all a good job of supervising Young. So she managed to stuff Manard into a crate and into a van full of dogs and out the front gate without ever being inspected.
What is a supply chain attack?

A supply chain attack, also called a value-chain or third-party attack, occurs when someone infiltrates your system through an outside partner or provider with access to your systems and data. This has dramatically changed the attack surface of the typical enterprise in the past few years, with more suppliers and service providers touching sensitive data than ever before.

[ How much does a data breach cost? Here's where the money goes. | Get the latest from CSO by signing up for our newsletters. ]

The risks associated with a supply chain attack have never been higher, due to new types of attacks, growing public awareness of the threats, and increased oversight from regulators. Meanwhile, attackers have more resources and tools at their disposal than ever before, creating a perfect storm. The recent SolarWinds attack is a prime example.

SolarWinds attack highlights supply chain risk

The news about last years nation-state attack against up to 18,000 customers of networking tools vendor SolarWinds just keeps getting worse. According to a recent report by the New York Times, the SolarWinds attacks, attributed to Russia, penetrated many more than a few dozen government and enterprise networks, as first believed. As many as 250 organizations were affected, and the attackers took advantage of multiple supply chain layers.

Its a violation of the chain of trust, says Steve Zalewski, deputy CISO at Levi Strauss. Thats the big issues with all of this third party stuff, he says. We don't keep it in house anymore. We're having to rely on third-party ways to establish this trust, and there's no national way or international way to do that.

The problem is continually getting worse, with enterprises more and more reliant on outside providers, Zalewski says, adding that its time to look at the whole ecosystem of the software industry to address this problem. To solve it completely, what we need is an international chain of trust, like a global PKI system, he says, where we can all agree on a global set of tools and practices.

Unfortunately, theres no practical way to do that. We need a legal, regulatory, collective defense, Zalewski says. But its going to take years and years and years to do this.

Security rating firm Bitsight estimates that the SolarWinds attack could cost cyber insurance companies up to $90 million. Thats only because government agencies dont buy cyber insurance. Plus, the attackers tried to keep as low a profile as possible to steal information, so didnt do much damage to systems.

Another supply chain attack in 2017, also attributed to Russia, compromised Ukrainian accounting software as part of an attack designed to target the country's infrastructure, but the malware spread quickly to other countries. NotPetya wound up doing more than $10 billion in damage and disrupted operations for multinational corporations such as Maersk, FedEx and Merck.

Supply chain attacks are attractive to hackers because when commonly used software is compromised, the attackers could potentially gain access to all the enterprises that use that software.

All tech vendors vulnerable to supply chain attacks

Any company that produces software or hardware for other organizations is a potential target of attackers. Nation-state actors have deep resources and the skills to penetrate even the most security-conscious firms.

Even security vendors can be targets. In the case of SolarWinds, for example, one of the higher-profile companies breached was FireEye, a cybersecurity vendor. FireEye says that the attackers didn't get into customer-facing systems, just the penetration tools used for security testing. The fact that it got hit at all is worrisome.

Other vendors hit by the Solar Winds attackers include Microsoft and Malwarebytes, another security vendor. Considering the supply chain nature of the SolarWinds attack, and in an abundance of caution, we immediately performed a thorough investigation of all Malwarebytes source code, build and delivery processes, including reverse-engineering our own software, company CEO Marcin Kleczynski said in a January 19 post.

Email security vendor Mimecast announced in January that it was also hit by a sophisticated threat actor, and there have been reports that its the same group as the one behind the SolarWinds hack.

These attacks show that any vendor is vulnerable and could be compromised. In fact, this fall, security vendor Immuniweb reported that 97% of the world's top 400 cybersecurity companies had data leaks or other security incidents exposed on the dark web  and 91 companies had exploitable website security vulnerabilities.

These kinds of attacks aren't a recent development. In 2011, RSA Security admitted that its SecurID tokens were hacked. One of its customers, Lockheed Martin, was attacked as a result.

In addition to attacks like SolarWinds, which involve compromises of commercial software vendors, there are two other types of supply chain attacks -- attacks against open-source software projects and cases where governments directly interfere in vendor products that originate in their jurisdictions.

The open-source supply chain threat

Commercial software isn't the only target of supply chain attacks. According to Sonatype's 2020 State of the Software Supply Chain Report, supply chain attacks targeting open-source software projects are a major issue for enterprises, since 90% of all applications contain open-source code and 11% of those have known vulnerabilities.

For example, in the 2017 Equifax breach, which the company says cost it nearly $2 billion, attackers took advantage of an unpatched Apache Struts vulnerability. Twenty-one percent of companies say they experience an open-source-related breach in the previous 12 months.

More recently, attackers have exploited vulnerabilities in the open-source Apache Log4 logging library used in millions of Java-based applications. The exploits are difficult to detect and mitigate. One of the Log4j exploits allows remote-code execution on the servers running vulnerable applications without requiring authentication. That has earned the vulnerability a severity rating of 10 on the CVSS scale. Another vulnerability can lead to a denial-of-service condition.

Because Log4j is used in many commercial applications, organizations might be vulnerable without knowing that they are actually using the logging library. This has led to companies scrambling to determine their level of risk from the threat and hoping that the vendors provide effective patches in a timely manner.

Attackers don't have to wait around for a vulnerability to magically appear in open-source software. Over the past few years, they've begun deliberately compromising the open-source development or distribution process, and it's working. According to the Sonatype survey, these kinds of next-generation attacks increased 430% over the previous year.

The foreign sourcing threat

Why bother to hack into a software company when you can just march in and order them to install malware in their products? That's not so much of an option for Russia, since it's not exactly known as a technology exporter. But China is.

"Compromised electronics in US military, government and critical civilian platforms give China potential backdoors to compromise these systems," says US Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) in a statement announcing the bipartisan 2019 MICROCHIPS Act.

Nearly every government organization and private company is exposed, to some degree, to technology that originates in China or other low-cost countries, says Steve Wilson, VP and principal analyst at Constellation Research.

How to guard against supply chain attacks

So, what can enterprises do? Some regulatory frameworks, such as those in the financial sector or healthcare, already provide for third-party risk testing, or have some standards that vendors need to comply with. Within PCI, theres a software quality component to test the quality of mobile payment components, says Wilson, referring to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

There are also more general frameworks, such as the Capability Maturity Model (CMM), ISO 9001, Common Criteria, SOC 2. Im a huge fan of CMM audits, says Wilson. On the other hand, I acknowledge the cost. The only people who insist on Common Criteria, until recently, are the spooks.

Theres also FiPS-140 accreditation for cryptographic modules. Its really expensive, says Wilson. Its a million dollars to get an app certified to FIPS-140 and unless youre selling Blackberries to the federal government, you dont do it.

Enterprises have gotten too comfortable with software that is cheap and fast. We need to accept that weve been writing software on the cheap for decades and the chickens are coming home to roost, Wilson says.

If enterprises start demanding more testing, however, or regulators step in and mandate better controls, then the costs of the audits are likely to drop. If people start investing more in testing then the testing business will see more revenue and more competition, Wilson says. There will also be more innovation, such as in automated testing.

At Levi Strauss, the company vets its software vendors, says Zalewski. We require them to have demonstrable, auditable proof that they have implemented a security framework and can demonstrate compliance with that framework, he says. Levi Strauss doesnt dictate what specific framework vendors have to follow, he adds. But we want a commitment that youre willing to write down what your security controls and practices are, so we can make sure theyre compatible with ours. Thats how we manage the risk and thats about the best you can do.

One thing that data centers should not do is stop deploying patches. In fact, Levi Strauss patch management process meant that the fixes to the SolarWinds software were installed before the news hit, protecting the company against any other attackers who might have wanted to jump on the SolarWinds train.

However, he admitted that the companys systems werent able to catch the malware inside the SolarWinds update. Of course, nobody did  FireEye and Microsoft both missed it, as well. The problem, Zalewski says, is that its difficult to scan updates for suspicious behavior since the update is, by definition, designed to change the way that software behaves.

Its simply the nature of how software works, Zalewski says. The problem is in the ecosystem and the way its put together. The bad guys are looking at the gaps and exploiting them.

Supply chain attacks are still a lot more rare than attacks against known vulnerabilities, says Shimon Oren, VP of research at security firm Deep Instinct. The risk of an unpatched vulnerability or a security update that hasnt been implemented greatly, Id say, greatly outweighs the risk of a supply chain attack. According to IBMs 2020 Cost of a Data Breach report, vulnerabilities in third-party software are the root cause of 16% of all breaches.

Instead of delaying patches, Oren suggests that enterprises ask their vendors what mechanism they have in place to protect their software from compromise. What kind of security posture do they have? What kind of code verification mechanisms do they have in place today?

Unfortunately, there isnt a set of standards available that specifically addresses the security of the software development process, he says. I dont think theres anything that says that your code is safe.

One organization working to address that lack is the Consortium for Information and Software Quality, a special interest group under the technology standards body Object Management Group. One of the standards the organization is working on is the software equivalent of a bill of materials, for example. It will let enterprise customers know the components that go into the software theyre using, and if any of those components have known security problems.

Its in the process right now and we anticipate it will be completed sometime this spring, says executive director Bill Curtis. Microsoft is involved, he says, as is the Linux Foundation and other big players  about 30 companies total.

Gaps in supply chain risk assessments

Doing proper due diligence is critical, says attorney Ieuan Jolly, co-chair of the privacy, security and data innovations practice at Loeb & Loeb, is as important, or even more important than the contract that the enterprise can negotiate with its vendor. If the vendor goes out of business as a result of a breach they caused, then their customers wont be able to recover any damages. If they do recover damages, It will never be an adequate remedy for the reputation costs the company suffers, he says.

According to a recent survey of risk management professionals by Mastercards RiskRecon and the Cyentia Institute, 79% of organizations currently have formal programs in place to manage third-party risk. The most common risk assessment methods are questionnaires, used by 84% of companies and documentation reviews, used by 69%. Half of companies use remote assessments, 42% use cybersecurity ratings, and 34% use onsite security evaluations.

Despite the popularity of questionnaires, only 34% of risk professionals say they believe the vendors responses. However, when a problem is found, 81% of companies rarely require remediation, and only 14% are highly confident that the vendors are meeting their security requirements.

In the wake of the SolarWinds attack in particular, organizations need to look at their software suppliers, particularly those with software that has privileged access to company assets, says Kelly White, CEO and co-founder of RiskRecon. That includes expanding assessment criteria to include the integrity of the software development process, he says, to ensure that controls are sufficient to prevent introduction of malicious code.

This is also the time to double-down on least privilege, White says. During my time as CISO of a large financial institution, any software that required communication with the internet was limited in its web access permissions to only accessing pre-determined update sites, he says. White was previously CISO at Zions Bancorporation.

Such a policy not only prevents software from communicating with malicious command and control servers, but also has the benefit of raising alerts if it tries to do so, White says.

Editor's note: This article, originally published in May 2017, has been updated to reflect current trends.
Two drivers apparently lost control of their cars in separate incidents early Christmas eve, hitting two state police cruisers and sending a state trooper and a firefighter to the hospital, according to reports from state police.

The first incident took place around 1:30 a.m. Friday. A Dodge Dart was stopped on the left lane and median on Route 9 south near Cromwell because of a crash, according to a report from state police.

A state trooper and fire truck were assisting the car when a Nissan Pathfinder apparently lost control, struck the metal beam guardrail and hit all three cars. The Pathfinder then spun and struck the car again, the incident report stated.

The state trooper and firefighter suffered minor injuries and were taken to area hospitals, the report said.

Police issued an infraction to the driver of the Pathfinder, a 24-year-old man from Middletown, for driving too fast for the conditions and failing to maintain their lane, according to the report.

The second incident took place around 6 a.m. Friday. A state police cruiser was parked in the left lane of Interstate 95 north near Norwalk with its emergency lights on. A truck apparently hauling liquids was driving north on the highway, according to an incident report from state police.

At that time, a Brooklyn, N.Y., woman was driving a Dodge Journey containing three children  a 16-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a 1-year-old girl  and three adults north on the highway, the report stated.

The woman apparently lost control of the Dodge Journey and collided with the police cruiser in the right lane. Her car then drifted into the left lane and collided with the truck and the jersey barrier in the left median, according to the report.

The driver of the truck, the woman and her six passengers reported minor injuries. Emergency medical personnel took them to Norwalk Hospital to be evaluated. The state trooper did not report any injuries, the report stated.

The police cruiser and the Dodge Journey had heavy damage, while the truck had minor damages from the incident, according to the report.

Police issued the Brooklyn woman a misdemeanor summons for failing to operate in a proper lane, traveling too fast for conditions, following too close resulting in an accident and no insurance/out of state. She is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 20, the report says.

liz.hardaway@hearst.com
WEDOWEE, Alabama (AP)  The Rev. Athanasius Chidi Abanulo  using skills honed in his African homeland to minister effectively in rural Alabama determines just how long he can stretch out his Sunday homilies based on who is sitting in the pews.

Seven minutes is the sweet spot for the mostly white and retired parishioners who attend the English-language Mass at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in the small town of Wedowee. If you go beyond that, you lose the attention of the people, he said.

For the Spanish-language Mass an hour later, the Nigerian-born priest  one of numerous African clergy serving in the U.S. -- knows he can quadruple his teaching time. The more you preach, the better for them, he said.

As he moves from one American post to the next, Abanulo has learned how to tailor his ministry to the culture of the communities he is serving while infusing some of the spirit of his homeland into the universal rhythms of the Mass.

Nigerian people are relaxed when they come to church, Abanulo said. They love to sing, they love to dance. The liturgy can last for two hours. They dont worry about that.

During his 18 years in the U.S., Abanulo has filled various chaplain and pastor roles across the country, epitomizing an ongoing trend in the American Catholic church. As fewer American-born men and women enter seminaries and convents, U.S. dioceses and Catholic institutions have turned to international recruitment to fill their vacancies.

The Diocese of Birmingham, where Abanulo leads two parishes, has widened its search for clergy to places with burgeoning religious vocations like Nigeria and Cameroon, said Birmingham Bishop Steven Raica. Priests from Africa were also vital in the Michigan diocese where Raica previously served.

They have been an enormous help to us to be able to provide the breadth and scope of ministry that we have available to us, he said.

Africa is the Catholic churchs fastest-growing region. There, the seminaries are "fairly full, said the Rev. Thomas Gaunt, director of Georgetown Universitys Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, which conducts research about the Catholic church.

It's different in the U.S. where the Catholic church faces significant hurdles in recruiting home-grown clergy following decades of declining church attendance and the damaging effects of widespread clergy sex abuse scandals.

Catholic women and married men remain barred from the priesthood; arguments that lifting those bans would ease the priest shortage have not gained traction with the faith's top leadership.

What we have is a much smaller number beginning in the 1970s entering seminaries or to convents across the country, Gaunt said. Those who entered back in the 50s and 60s are now elderly and so the numbers are determined much more by mortality.

From 1970 to 2020, the number of priests in the U.S. dropped by 60%, according to data from the Georgetown center. This has left more than 3,500 parishes without a resident pastor.

Abanulo oversees two parishes in rural Alabama. His typical Sunday starts with an English-language Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church in Lanett, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) from Birmingham along the Alabama-Georgia state line. After that, he is driven an hour north to Wedowee, where he celebrates one Mass in English, another in Spanish.

He just breaks out in song and a lot of his lectures, he ties in his boyhood, and I just love hearing those stories, said Amber Moosman, a first-grade teacher who has been a parishioner at Holy Family since 1988.

For Moosman, Abanulos preaching style is very different from the priests shes witnessed previously. There was no all of a sudden, the priest sings, nothing like thatIt was very quiet, very ceremonial, very strict," she said. Its a lot different now.

Abanulo was ordained in Nigeria in 1990 and came to the U.S. in 2003 after a stint in Chad. His first U.S. role was as an associate pastor in the diocese of Oakland, California, where his ministry focused on the fast-growing Nigerian Catholic community. Since then, he has been a hospital chaplain and pastor in Nashville, Tennessee, and a chaplain at the University of Alabama.

Amid the U.S. clergy shortage, religious sisters have experienced the sharpest declines, dropping 75% since 1970, according to the Georgetown center.

When Maria Sheri Rukwishuro was told she was being sent from the Sisters of the Infant Jesus order in Zimbabwe to West Virginia to work as a missionary nun, she asked her mother superior, Where is West Virginia?

She was scared, worrying about the unknowns.

What kind of people am I going to? Im just a Black nun coming to a white country, Rukwishuro told The Associated Press from Clarksburg, West Virginia, where she has been teaching religious education to public and Catholic school students since arriving in 2004.

Rukwishuro vividly remembers that at her introduction, a little girl walked to her and rubbed her finger on my fingers all the way, then she looked at her finger and she smiled but my heart sank...She thought I was dirty. Despite that, Rukwishuro says most people have been very welcoming. She's now a U.S. citizen and says, It feels like home.

One of her first culture shocks was an overnight snowfall. I really screamed. I thought it was the end of the world, she said. Now I love it. I do my meditations to that.

During their integration into American life, it is commonplace for newly arrived clergy to face culture shocks.

For Sister Christiana Onyewuche of Nigeria, a hospital chaplain in Boston administering last rites for the dying, it was cremation. She recalled thinking, Like really? ...How can they burn somebody? I cant even imagine.

She came to the U.S. 18 years ago and previously served as the president of African Conference of Catholic Clergy and Religious, a support group for African missionaries serving in the U.S.

Onyewuche said African clergy can face communication challenges with the Americans they serve. To address this, many dioceses have offered training to soften accents, she said. Abanulo, who went through the training in Oakland, says it helped him slow down his speech and improve his pronunciations.

Abanulo, who moved to Alabama in 2020, admits he was initially apprehensive about his latest posting, which meant exchanging a comfortable role as university chaplain for two rural parishes.

People were telling me Father, dont go there. The people there are rednecks, he said.

But after a year, and a warm reception, he says he now tells his friends, There are no rednecks here. All I see are Jesus necks.

___

Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Editors note: This is the second of two stories examining hiring and workforce development in Connecticuts manufacturing industry.

Amid a pandemic, the manufacturing plant at 600 Orange Avenue in Milford still hums with activity.

The dozens of masked machinists who work there weekdays use metal-processing equipment such as manual milling machines and lathes, as well as computer-numerical-controlled machines, to produce aerospace-like parts that are intricately shaped.

Its not easy to do, said Giovanni Noel, as he measured a part with a micrometer during a recent shift. But when you have a piece that comes out nice, you feel more rewarded at the end.

Despite their expertise, neither Noel nor any of the other operators are industry veterans. They are all students, and their workplace is the approximately 5,600-square-foot precision-machining shop at Platt Technical High School.

Noel, a 10th-grader from Stratford, and about 85 other students in the precision-machining technology program at Platt show how Connecticut is continuing to produce highly skilled students who go on to become manufacturing professionals.

Trouble is, this machine isnt turning out machinists fast enough. The state struggles to generate enough manufacturing workers to meet a proliferation of job openings in a booming sector  in part because of enrollment declines in some key training programs.

But educators and executives are hopeful that new initiatives will help to eventually expand the talent pool in an area thats crucial to Connecticuts turnaround.

I guess its a good problem that manufacturing is insanely strong in Connecticut, said Dave Tuttle, the department head of precision-machining technology at Platt. But trying to develop a workforce to make up for the worker retirements and growth in the industry is extremely hard.

An undersized talent pipeline

More manufacturing professionals are needed because many companies have seen a significant increase in demand for their products and services since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Colin Cooper, Connecticuts chief manufacturing officer in the state Department of Economic and Community Development, estimates that most manufacturers in the state have at least 10 percent of their positions open.

Probably the biggest headwind issue in manufacturing and a lot of other industries is access to a skilled workforce, Cooper said.

Decades ago, manufacturing training happened on the job at the big companies. Schools had programs too, and boys  because it was mostly boys in those days  would grow up tinkering on machines in the garage with their fathers and older brothers. Waves of people migrated to Connecticuts factories, following defense and aviation work in much of the 20th century.

With the decline of that culture, as tens of thousands of jobs in the sector disappeared in Connecticut, training programs atrophied to some extent in the 1990s and 2000s, Cooper said. The state has renewed its focus on the sectors workforce development over the last past decade.

As one of the most-important sources of talent for the industry, all 12 Connecticut community colleges run manufacturing programs. At Platt, the precision-machining shop hosts evening classes for students in Housatonic Community Colleges continuing education in manufacturing programs.

But the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted enrollment, with the total number of students in the community colleges manufacturing programs plunging from about 4,500 in 2019-20 to about 3,500 in 2020-21, according to data from the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system.

Community college enrollment tends to rise in recessions and fall when the economy is growing, CSCU spokesman Leigh Appleby said in an email. And despite sluggish growth, he said, we have seen a consistent decline since the Great Recession.

But Appleby added, the pandemic recession did not result in an enrollment increase and indeed resulted in a rather sharp decrease...This is a national phenomenon and can be attributed to a number of factors including disruptions in transportation and child care, fear of getting sick or infecting family members, overall burnout and others.

Enrollment in the manufacturing cluster across Connecticuts 17 technical high schools has maintained its longstanding total of about 1,600 students, according to Tuttle.

If you look at all the manufacturing programs statewide that are in the colleges and technical high schools, even if everybody was at full capacity, we couldnt match the needs of industry because more people in manufacturing are retiring and the growth of manufacturing is outpacing how many people the state as a whole can train, said Tuttle, who also serves as coordinator of Housatonics continuing-education manufacturing programs. Its a really serious issue.

A non-college-bound river of talent

Cooper sees opportunities to recruit more students who are not college-bound.

We have 9,000 students a year graduating from our comprehensive high schools who arent going on to college and the military, Cooper said. Those folks are destined to be somewhat underemployed unless we can get them some additional training. Thats a river of talent coming out of our comprehensive high schools that were looking to tap into.

State officials also see a role for parents to help encourage more students to consider manufacturing careers.

When I worked with the UAW when I was a union leader, I had first-hand knowledge of how important these manufacturing jobs are, how satisfying they can be and how they can be good-paying jobs with good benefits, state Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, co-chairwoman of the state legislatures Labor Committee, said in an interview. Thats something we want for our kids.

Kushner added that parents having a better understanding and seeing the modern technologies being put to work and the skill levels required to fill these entry-level jobs could change minds about the importance of the work.

The Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund Advisory Board, chaired by Cooper, approved in October the release of $8.3 million to support a number of initiatives. The allocation includes $3.7 million for new programs  including grants or stipends to cover up to half the wages for summer engineering interns. More interns at Connecticut manufacturers would help increase the number of students taking full-time positions in the state after graduating from college, according to state officials.

While expanding enrollment has become increasingly important amid manufacturings labor shortage, educators and economic development officials also underscore the importance of maintaining programming quality. In April, Platt is scheduled to open a new building on its current property. It will have approximately the same enrollment capacity as the current building, but provide a much more advanced workspace.

With our new building, were investing in some very high-tech manufacturing equipment to keep up with the technology growth, Tuttle said.

Optimism about collaboration

To increase the labor supply, manufacturers and educators are looking for additional ways to work together.

One of the most promising new partnerships is taking shape at 49 John St., in the South End of Stamford. There, GE Appliances is planning to open next year a small-appliances microfactory in an approximately 67,000-square-foot facility known as CoCREATE Stamford. The company plans to initially hire about 25 at the new site.

In addition to manufacturing, GE Appliances officials said they want CoCREATE to become a hub for hands-on learning. The company intends to partner with UConn and the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system in co-op programs for students interested in fields such as manufacturing and engineering.

Even though we dont have a campus here in Stamford, we have campuses across the state, CSCU President Terrence Cheng, who formerly served as the director of the UConn-Stamford campus, said at a Sept. 27 press conference at the CoCREATE site. That means we have power, potential and capacity across the state...to be able to say, If GE Appliances want some of the best advanced-manufacturing students that Connecticut has to offer, then we have that wealth of talent.

UConn officials expressed similar optimism. The universitys manufacturing-focused offerings include the Management and Engineering for Manufacturing program. After starting with about 60 students in 2007, the programs enrollment has risen to a current total of approximately 200, according to UConn data.

Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, UConns interim president, also talked about collaboration at the CoCREATE press conference. Stamford is an amazing campus that has so much potential for the growth of UConn in the future.

New Britain-headquartered toolmaker Stanley Black & Decker announced in September a commitment of up to $25 million to fund vocational-skills programs in the construction and manufacturing sectors. With grants provided to nonprofits around the world through its Empower Makers Global Impact Challenge, the company is aiming to help skill and re-skill up to 3 million people over the next five years.

What weve realized at Stanley Black & Decker is that in order to solve this issue, we need to collaborate across the ecosystem and work with partners in academia, K-12 and industry organizations, Marty Guay, Stanley Black & Deckers vice president of business development, said in an interview. Its a real systemic problem, and we need to approach it and solve it as a group.

I would love to work at Sikorsky

For many of the Platt precision-machining students interviewed for this article, their experience is igniting a desire to pursue a career in manufacturing.

I would like to go to Sikorsky or another corporation, said Kayla Linares, an 11th-grader from West Haven. Thats my motivation.

A number of other students also expressed an interest in working at Sikorsky, one of the worlds largest helicopter manufacturers. Owned by Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky has nearly 300 openings in its home state, where it employs approximately 8,100 people, according to company data. It is headquartered in Stratford, about five miles west of Platt.

I would love to work at Sikorsky. That would be my dream job, said Andy Batista, a 10th-grader from Bridgeport. It would be fun to build helicopters.

Sikorsky is one of about 30 companies working with Platt to provide work-based learning opportunities for students. Those firms, which range from industry giants to family-owned businesses, see schools such as Platt as a critical source of new talent.

Connecticut public schools are some of the best in the country, and Connecticut colleges and universities have partnered with us on academic projects, internships and employee-recruiting efforts, John Dorrian, a spokesman for Sikorsky, said in an email. These Connecticut-produced employees are highly educated, proud and patriotic. They are capable of continuing to adapt as we transform our manufacturing operations to remain competitive and committed to the safety and security of people all over the world.

Platts precision-machining students take a variety of paths into the workforce. Some start working immediately after graduation, while others go on to community colleges or universities or serve in the military before starting their careers.

As they exit high school, this program gives them a career doorway that they normally would not have had, said Tuttle, who worked in Sikorskys engineering department for 16 years. If they left a regular high school, they wouldnt have the training to go directly into manufacturing, as they do now. And that goes for every trade in the school.

While enthusiastic about their career aspirations, the precision-machining students at Platt relish their time spent in the schools shop.

Im learning a lot, and Im enjoying what Im doing, said Noel, the 10th-grader from Stratford. Its not like, Oh, I have to go to school. I come here, and Im excited to learn.

pschott@stamfordadvocate.com; twitter: @paulschott
KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Belarus' authorities on Monday released a draft document proposing amendments to the country's constitution that may allow authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to further cement his grip on power after months of mass protests and remain in office until 2035.

The proposed amendments are published on the president's official website and the website of the state news agency Belta, and Belarusians are encouraged to submit their comments, suggestions and opinions about the changes.

The amendments bring back limits on presidential terms that had been abolished during Lukashenko's tenure, allowing a president only two five-year terms in office. The restriction, however, will only take effect once a newly elected president assumes office, which gives Lukashenko an opportunity to run for two more terms after his current term expires in 2025.

Lukashenko opened a path to the presidency for himself until at least 2035, when he will be 81 years old, independent political analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press.

Other changes to the constitution include extending the parliament's term from four years to five, introducing the All-Belarus People's Assembly as a new body to operate in parallel with the parliament and granting former presidents immunity from prosecution over actions they took while in office.

The amendments will be up for a referendum, scheduled for February 2022. They will be considered approved if more than 50% vote for them, with a turnout threshold at 50%.

During his 27 years leading the former Soviet republic with an iron fist, Lukashenko has held three referendums, abolishing limits on presidential terms, amending the constitution and bringing back Soviet-looking state symbols.

Belarus was rocked by months of unprecedented mass protests after Lukashenko was awarded a sixth consecutive term in office in the August 2020 presidential vote, which the opposition and the West denounced as a sham. He responded to the demonstrations with a brutal crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by police and many forced to seek refuge abroad.

The proposed constitutional changes were being drafted during the turmoil, when Lukashenko realized that he lost the support of the majority of the country's urban population, Karbalevich pointed out. The new governing body  the All-Belarus People's Assembly  was designed as a backup plan for the authoritarian leader if he is forced to step down as president, the analyst said.

According to the proposed amendments, a sitting president automatically becomes a delegate of the 1,200-seat Assembly and may chair it, if elected by other delegates. The new proposed body is expected to meet at least once a year and will be empowered to set policy directives, draft laws, suggest constitutional changes, elect members of the country's Central Election Commission and judges of the country's highest courts.

The Assembly can also green-light deploying Belarusian troops abroad if proposed by the president, and oust the president if the leader is found to be in violation of the constitution or to have committed high treason or another major crime.

Lukashenko designed the All-Belarus Assembly for himself as a backup airfield in case of stepping down as president," Karbalevich said. But the need for that dissipated as the protests were suppressed and Russia, Belarus' powerful ally, cast its support behind Lukashenko.

"So in the proposed amendments we see a hybrid  both the opportunity to get reelected as president until 2035, and the opportunity to remain in power as a possible leader of the All-Belarus Assembly, the analyst said.

The amendments also scrap clauses about Belarus' neutrality and non-nuclear status." Last month, Lukashenko offered to host Russia's nuclear weapons if NATO moves U.S. atomic bombs from Germany to Eastern Europe, the latest in a series of steps aimed at cementing ties with Moscow.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in the August 2020 election and was pressured to leave the country shortly after, criticized the proposed amendments on Monday.

In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Tsikhanouskaya said that Belarusians are offered to choose between Lukashenko and Lukashenko. It's a lie no one will believe in. Choosing between Lukashenko and Lukashenko is impossible. And we won't choose him, like we didn't choose him last year, she said.

Tsikhnaouskaya added that Lukashenko is trying to prescribe himself immunity from criminal prosecution, powers to strip Belarusians of their citizenship and appoint a new Politburo embodied in the All-Belarus People's Assembly that no one has elected. She urged Belarusians to "cross all the proposed options off the ballot."
Newly infected COVID-19 patients have two new treatment options that can be taken at home.

But that convenience comes with a catch: The pills have to be taken as soon as possible once symptoms appear.

The challenge is getting tested, getting a prescription and starting the pills in a short window.

U.S. regulators authorized Pfizer's pill, Paxlovid, and Mercks molnupiravir last week. In high-risk patients, both were shown to reduce the chances of hospitalization or death from COVID-19, although Pfizer's was much more effective.

A closer look:

WHO SHOULD TAKE THESE PILLS?

The antiviral pills arent for everyone who gets a positive test. The pills are intended for those with mild or moderate COVID-19 who are more likely to become seriously ill. That includes older people and those with other health conditions like heart disease, cancer or diabetes that make them more vulnerable. Both pills were OK'd for adults while Paxlovid is authorized for children ages 12 and older.

WHO SHOULDN'T TAKE THESE PILLS?

Mercks molnupiravir is not authorized for children because it might interfere with bone growth. It also isn't recommended for pregnant women because of the potential for birth defects. Pfizer's pill isn't recommended for patients with severe kidney or liver problems. It also may not be the best option for some because it may interact with other prescriptions a patient is taking. The antiviral pills aren't authorized for people hospitalized with COVID-19.

WHAT'S THE TREATMENT WINDOW?

The pills have to be started as soon as possible, within five days of the start of symptoms. Cough, headache, fever, the loss of taste or smell and muscle and body aches are among the more common signs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a website to check your symptoms.

Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialist at Duke University Hospital, advises getting a test as soon as you have symptoms of COVID-19.

If you wait until you have started to get breathless, you have already to a large extent missed the window where these drugs will be helpful, Wolfe said.

WHERE CAN I GET THE PILLS?

You'll need a prescription first from a doctor or other authorized health worker. The U.S. government is buying the pills from Merck and Pfizer and providing them for free, but supplies will be limited initially. They'll be shipped to states where they will be available at drugstores, community health centers and other places. Treatment lasts five days.

Some pharmacists may be able to administer a quick COVID-19 test and prescribe the pills all in one visit. They already do this in many states for flu or strep throat.

WILL THE PILLS WORK FOR THE OMICRON VARIANT?

The pills are expected to be effective against omicron because they dont target the spike protein where most of the variants worrisome mutations reside. The two pills work in different ways to prevent the virus from reproducing.

ARE THERE OTHER OPTIONS FOR NEW COVID-19 PATIENTS?

Yes, but they aren't as easy to use as a pill: They are given by IV or injection, typically at a hospital or clinic. Three drugs provide virus-fighting antibodies, although laboratory testing suggests the two arent effective against omicron. British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline's antibody drug appears to work, and officials say they are working to increase the U.S. supply. The only antiviral drug approved in the U.S., remdesivir, is for people hospitalized with COVID-19.

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AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report. Follow Tom Murphy on Twitter at @thpmurphy.

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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.
NEW YORK (AP)  New York City's sweeping mandate requiring nearly all private-sector businesses to ban unvaccinated employees from the workplace took effect Monday amid a spike in coronavirus infections, leaving some employers grappling with thorny personnel decisions.

Workers at roughly 184,000 businesses were required to show proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday. Businesses that do not comply could face fines starting at $1,000, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said imposing penalties will be a last resort.

The Democratic mayor said during a news conference Monday that mandates have worked to get people vaccinated.

We have got to double down because one thing we can all agree on ... COVID is bad for humans, its bad for our health, but its also bad for business. And if we want to avoid shutdowns, and I believe we must, we need more and more people vaccinated," de Blasio said.

Christopher Taylor, the co-owner of Li-Lac Chocolates, agreed vaccinations are paramount in combatting the pandemic but said the mandate left him in a difficult situation.

Its a moral quandary. You have obligations to employees, and you have obligations to your customers. How do you know whats the right answer?" Taylor said.

His company employs about 70 workers at six retail outlets and a chocolate factory in New York City. He estimated that as many as a quarter of his employees, most of them factory workers, have yet to be vaccinated.

We've encouraged them, we've pushed them, but we dont like to force them, Taylor said.

My primary obligation is to my employees, he said. I just think its immoral to fire somebody because of a personal medical choice.

Some business owners and workers are planning a legal challenge, said Louis Gelormino, a Staten Island attorney. He said they'll argue the city is violating the constitutional rights of business owners and workers to make a living, and that New York City has no authority to impose vaccine mandates on private-sector companies, although such requirements already exist for restaurants, bars, theaters, gyms and other indoor gathering places.

The new rules cover private places where work is performed in the presence of another worker or a member of the public. That includes not only stores, but shared work spaces and taxis, according to the requirements.

It's not clear whether Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who takes office Jan. 1, will keep or change the mandate.

Fueled by the super-contagious omicron variant, new coronavirus cases in the city have rocketed from an average of about 3,400 a day in the week that ended Dec. 12 to 22,000 in the week that ended Sunday. Hospitalizations also have risen, but not as sharply.

Under the city's new rules, many more private employers will have to verify and keep a record of each workers proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Workers who have received only one shot must get a second within 45 days. Companies must display a sign affirming they're complying with the rule in a conspicuous location," under the city's mandate.

Businesses aren't required to discipline or fire non-compliant workers, but they must keep them out of the workplace. Workers seeking an accommodation on religious grounds can come to work while their request is pending.

My hope is that the city goes light on the enforcement of this because its a new mandate  it certainly is going to require some transition  and employers are dealing with a myriad of other challenges right now, said Randy Peers, the president of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

Kathryn Wylde, the president of the Partnership for New York City, a business group representing some of the citys larger employers, said city inspectors might be hard pressed to enforce the edict. She said she hopes the Adams administration will show flexibility on enforcement.

Larger employers I have heard from  literally dozens and dozens of other major employers  have been concerned about meeting the mandate. The timing was very short, Wylde said.

Vaccinations are already required in the city for hospital and nursing home workers and for city employees, including teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Meanwhile, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday that people who test positive should isolate themselves for five days, rather than 10, provided their symptoms are gone and they continue wearing a mask for another five days.

The CDC says evidence is growing that people are most infectious in the two days before and three days after COVID-19 symptoms develop. The agency trimmed its isolation guidance for health care workers from 10 to seven days last week.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, applauded the CDC's move. On Friday, she had set a five-day isolation period for health care and other essential workers who are fully vaccinated, don't have symptoms and wear masks at work.

State officials said they were trying to avoid staff shortages in critical jobs while also trying to halt the virus spread.

This is not about sending people back to work who are sick, state Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett said at a news briefing Monday. People who are sick, at all times, should not be at work, and in these times in particular.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford contributed to this report.
BRIDGEPORT - The Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr. has withdrawn his appeal of the federal foreclosure action on his Union Avenue cathedral.

The appeal to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals was voluntarily withdrawn, according to a filing in the case.

Reached by telephone on Monday, Moales confirmed that the appeal had been withdrawn but said he would have a big announcement later this week. He did not elaborate.

Moales has previously claimed publicly that he was in talks with a private developer to buy all the property.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer had ruled that Moales had to vacate the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love on Union Avenue and several other church-owned buildings in the citys East End by Jan. 7. The judge denied a stay while the appeal was pending.

I conclude that Prayer Tabernacle has not established grounds to warrant a stay pending appeal. It does not have a likelihood of success and probably lacks standing even to maintain the claims it proposes to advance on appeal, said the judge.

Moales, a former chairman of the citys Board of Education, is senior pastor of the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and chief executive of CREAM Enterprises, a construction and management company.

In September 2017, according to court documents, after a more than four-year legal battle that initially began in state court, Judge Meyer issued a foreclosure order against Moales for failure to pay a debt of $12,630,230 to his bank, Foundation Capital Resources. That amount has since increased to more than $15 million.

Following numerous court hearings, the judge on May 29, 2020, ordered the eviction of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit on Union Avenue along with the Kingdoms Little Ones daycare, a summer camp, and Love Christian Academy (a private school), all at the Union Avenue address and other operations owned by Moales on Stratford Avenue.

The lawyer for Foundation Capital Resources was unavailable for comment.
DETROIT (AP)  U.S. auto safety regulators have stepped up a series of investigations into engine fires that have plagued Hyundai and Kia vehicles for more than six years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says a new engineering analysis investigation covers more than 3 million vehicles from the 2011 through 2016 model years. The agency has received 161 complaints of engine fires, some of which occurred in vehicles that had already been recalled.

Engine failures and fires have dogged the Korean automakers' vehicles since September 2015 when the company issued an engine failure recall. Since then it has issued at least eight more recalls for a host of engine problems, according to NHTSA documents posted on its website Monday.

The agency says it's opening the engineering analysis to evaluate whether previous recalls covered enough vehicles. It also will monitor the effectiveness of previous recalls as well as the long-term viability of related programs and non-safety field actions being conducted by Hyundai and Kia.

The engineering analysis could lead to further recalls.

Hyundai said it Monday that it is cooperating fully with U.S. regulators.

Hyundai has taken numerous proactive actions to address engine issues, including conducting several recalls, launching a new engine monitoring technology, providing extended warranties and enhancing our customer service response, the company said in a prepared statement. Hyundai fosters a culture of transparency and accountability as the safety of our customers is the top priority in everything we do.

Kia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

The vehicle fires involve the related Korean automakers' Theta II GDI, Theta II MPI, Theta II MPI hybrid, Nu GDI and Gamma GDI engines. Models covered include Hyundai's Sonata, Santa Fe, and Elantra and as well as Kia's Sorento, Rio, Optima and Soul. Model years covered are 2011 through 2016.

The agency says three people have reported eye and burn injuries that did not require medical treatment.

In November of 2020, NHTSA announced that Kia and Hyundai must pay $137 million in fines and for safety improvements because they moved too slowly to recall more than 1 million vehicles with engines that can fail. The fines resolve a previous probe into the companies behavior involving recalls of multiple models dating to the 2011 model year.

Kia was to pay $27 million and invest $16 million in safety performance measures. Another $27 million payment will be deferred as long as Kia meets safety conditions, NHTSA said.

Kia denied the U.S. allegations but said it wanted to avoid a protracted legal fight.

Data collected by the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety show 31 U.S. fire and engine-related recalls from Hyundai and Kia since 2015. The recalls involve more than 20 models from the 2006 through 2021 model years totaling over 8.4 million vehicles.

Many of the recalls involved manufacturing defects that stopped oil from flowing through the engine block. Many involved expensive engine replacements.

Hyundai and Kia also did a U.S. product improvement campaign covering 3.7 million vehicles to install software that will alert drivers of possible engine failures.
The Clearing House (TCH) launched the RTP network in 2017the first new payment rail in the U.S. in over forty years. Fraud is always a top-of-mind business concern with payments. However, the new payment rails themselves, such as RTP, are the most secure the country has seen. This will also be true for the upcoming real-time payments network from the Federal Reserve, the FedNowSM Service when it goes live in 2023. Since real-time payments are based on a credit push model, funds just cant be pulled out of an account from an external party. The sender has to initiate the payment directly from their account, a design element of the networks meant to thwart various fraud schemes that benefit from a debit model. There are a ton of fraud prevention tools available and practices that are already in place. However, member education remains the most important prevention tool available. Heres what credit unions should educate their account holders on to fight fraud.

Funds are irrevocable

With many legacy payment types, a member can recall a payment made in error before its cleared and settled, and in some cases up to 70 days after it has. Real-time payments happen in, well, real-time. So the payer cannot cancel the transaction and the funds are available for the payee to use or withdraw immediately. As with other payment types, but even more imperative in this case, members should therefore only initiate real-time payments to trusted recipients and triple-check that they have the correct information.

Credit unions dont ask for login information out of the blue

It cant be emphasized enough. Members need to know that their credit unions will never ask for online banking credentials through an outside channel, whether it be by phone, email, or text. Both members and businesses should know the signs of fraud, such as spelling errors, suspicious sender email addresses, and urgent requests. Keep yourself aware of account activity at all times by taking advantage of account alerts. And, of course, login information should be secure and hard to guess.

Business Email Compromise (BEC)

CEO fraud and authentication fraud are top threats to real-time payments. Layered fraud approaches including matrix-based approvals, biometric-based credentials, and the use of tokens for releasing payments can help, and so can employee vigilance. Employees should automatically verify the source of a request for payment from suppliers and billers. Using templates for payments or approval matrix will keep fraud to a minimum.

Read Best Practices to Prevent Payment Fraud for more on fraud.
Female employees are more likely to burn out than their male colleagues because they suffer more from 'time stress', a study has found.

The phenomenon describes the feeling of having too much to do and too little time to do it in.

Women are more likely than men to experience this because they are less likely to delegate, more likely to put others' needs first and are less likely to ask for deadline extensions. Working mothers are also more likely than working fathers to take on childcare responsibilities.

Researchers from Harvard Business School conducted nine different studies combining more than 5,700 adults and students participants regarding stress in the workplace.

Female employees are more likely to burn out than their male colleagues because they suffer more from 'time stress', a study has found. Stock image

The findings ere published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) in November.

Female employees are less likely to ask for extensions than their male counterparts, even when deadlines are flexible because they feel more pressure to 'prove' themselves.

Women also fear they'll seem less competent if they ask for help, meaning they are less likely to share their workload.

'Women are less likely to ask for more time to complete their tasks because they hold stronger beliefs that they will be penalised for these requests and worry more about burdening others,' the report found.

Psychotherapist Lucy Beresford explained this is an issue faced by women around the world who still don't feel entitled to their roles

In addition, women also struggle to delegate and are more in tune with others' needs than men, and are more likely to prioritise these above their own.

They also tend to put relationships above their employers above their own career goals, making them less likely to push for help, extensions or a raise.

Psychotherapist, relationship expert and broadcaster Lucy Beresford explained this is an issue faced by women around the world who still don't feel entitled to their roles.

She said: 'Women still worry that they arent being "the good enough girl".

'This leads them to say yes too much, to minimise any pressures they are under, and to be the perfect person  whether its friend, family member or colleague. Historically women have felt the pressure to give 120 per cent just to stay "at the table".

The study observed that juggling domestic tasks and childcare duties is more likely to fall on working mothers than fathers, which can contribute to them feeling overwhelmed.

Lucy added that the fact companies did not offer more support for women who have children leads them to feel they are unfairly treated in the workplace due to their gender.

'Therefore they need to "show up" even more to compensate, rather than acknowledging when juggling all the many balls gets too much,' she added.

Workplaces could better support women by putting clear protocols in place about pay raises and extension requests in order to mitigate 'gender differences in asking for more time on adjustable deadlines at work.'

It suggested women are more likely to ask for pay increases and deadline extensions when there are official channels to request them.
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The benefits of eating quinoa are widely known, but are you aware that it can give you a year round glow if you smother it over your skin?

Brazilian beauty brand Nativa SPA is famous for its rich, nourishing and ultra luxurious moisturizers and body creams containing quinoa oil as the key ingredient.

And now their super popular products are available in the US, just in time for anyone suffering from dry and lackluster winter skin problems.

Nativa SPA firming body lotion contains quinoa oil to visibly tone and firm skin and the brand is now available in the US

The products from Nativa SPA are especially useful for anyone wanting firmer skin and a reduction in cellulite as quinoa is a natural source of collagen.

When applied topically in moisturizer, quinoa oil also tops up the bodies levels of Omegas 3, 6 and 9 to keep skin firm, supple and more youthful looking.

According to research, quinoa oil has 30 times more Omegas than coconut oil, four times more than avocado oil, and twice as much as almond oil.

The Nativa Spa quinoa firming lotion is rich in Omegas 3, 6 and 9 to keep the skin supple, firm and smooth

And Nativa SPA has a signature extraction process that enables 100 per cent of the oil to be extracted from a quinoa grain for maximum benefits.

A large 400ml bottle of Nativa Spa firming body lotion costs just $25 and the effects with daily use are similar to an expensive body wrap treatment at a spa or laser skin tightening.

Applying the moisturizer after a bath or shower brings a spa-like experience into your home with a warm and floral fragrance with notes of peony and a light touch of comforting vanilla.

If you find yourself suffering from red and cracked skin on your hands in winter, you may be interested in hearing that Native SPA have also made a gorgeously thick hand cream containing quinoa oil.

The Nativa Spa quinoa hand cream protects hands all day against the cold and chemicals thanks to natural anti-oxidant properties

This locks moisture into your hands, protecting them from the cold and the dryness of hand sanitiser.

As quinoa is antioxidant-rich due to its concentration of polyphenols, carotenoids like vitamin A, and tocopherols like vitamin E, the cream protects your hands all day long like wearing nourishing gloves.

Plus, an extra feel good factor comes from knowing that Native SPA products are vegan, cruelty-free and use recycled plastic for packaging.
The Covid pandemic has forced a number of business owners to pivot in the face of uncertain opening times and isolating staff but for Pimarada 'Pamela' Watcharadechmontri the health crisis is deeply personal.

The 38-year-old from Sydney was forced to leave her burgeoning business Pam Pam Foods in May and operate it entirely from Thailand after both her parents contracted the virus, and sadly, succumbed to it.

Pamela has bravely continued fostering her cuisine dreams, which will see her turn over a $1million profit in the new year, alongside the tragedy of planning two funerals and managing her parents' company.

'My life turned upside down as I received the news that my mum caught Covid,' Pamela told Daily Mail Australia.

Pamela was forced to leave her burgeoning business Pam Pam Foods in May and operate it entirely from Thailand after both her parents contracted the virus, and sadly, succumbed to it

Pamela has bravely continued fostering her cuisine dreams, which will see her turn over a $1million profit in the new year, alongside the tragedy of planning two funerals and managing her parents' workload

'Only a few days later my dad also caught Covid-19. During the period that I requested for a travel permit to come out from Australia, my mum passed away before I had a chance to leave.

'By the time I arrived in Thailand and finished quarantine, I only had seven days left to see my dad before he passed.'

The months following saw Pamela 'emotionally breakdown' as she juggled her parents' assets, her growing business and the grief of losing them both at once.

'After half a year a lot of things in Thailand have been settled and so I am scheduled to come back in early 2022,' she said.

Despite her almost insurmountable hardships Pamela is continually inspired by her family, who were entrepreneurs in their own right, and will continue making her famous Thai steamed buns in their honour.

Despite her almost insurmountable hardships Pamela is continually inspired by her family, who were entrepreneurs in their own right, and will continue making her famous Thai steamed buns in their honour

Alongside her steamed buns the brand also produces spring rolls, curry pouches that can be heated up on the stove or microwave, Tom Yum Soup and miso ramen

'We were originally called Pam Pam Buns as I initially just sold steamed buns. This started off very small. I would sell my buns and deliver them myself to all of my friends and customers,' she said of its origins.

'Once I started to get some good feedback from the products, I decided to start up a stall at a local food market in Sydney which became a regular occurrence throughout the week.

'The idea was always to create plant-based food as my family were vegetarian and a majority of the food I ate when I was young were vegetables and fruit. I also wanted to create a range of food that both vegan and non-vegan people could enjoy.'

Alongside her steamed buns the brand also produces spring rolls, curry pouches that can be heated up on the stove or microwave, Tom Yum Soup and miso ramen.

'We were originally called Pam Pam Buns as I initially just sold steamed buns. This started off very small. I would sell my buns and deliver them myself to all of my friends and customers,' she said of its origin

'My first supermarket placement was in Sydney's CBD in Thai town in 2019. From there, we successfully got into Harris Farm in 2020,' she said.

'I count it as the biggest challenge at the time as we didn't have any business portfolio and we had just started selling with distributors for just two months.

'Once we got into a great supermarket chain like Harris Farm, the ball started rolling as the portfolio started growing. We were then picked up by IGA and Foodworks as well.

'We then started conversations with the major supermarket chains, specifically Woolworths Metro and Coles Local. Interestingly both chains heard about our food before we reached out! This was very exciting.

Pamela always had a passion for cooking and preparing food but she spent a lot of time learning about preparing cuisine in a commercial kitchen and running a factory

'Our yearly revenue projection is looking to reach over $1million in sales over the next 12 months. We're currently sending thousands of steamed buns and a range of plant-based Asian cuisine across Australia each month,' Pamela said

'We were picked up by select Coles Local and Woolworths Metro stores in VIC and NSW. In total, we're available at over 180 stores around Australia, including Harris Farm, IGA, FoodWorks, Coles Local and Woolworths Metro.'

Pamela always had a passion for cooking and preparing food but she spent a lot of time learning about preparing cuisine in a commercial kitchen and running a factory.

'Once I felt like I was ready, I set up my own factory. It was quite the challenge, but I got through it,' she said.

'Our yearly revenue projection is looking to reach over $1million in sales over the next 12 months. We're currently sending thousands of steamed buns and a range of plant-based Asian cuisine across Australia each month.'
Tucked away in the Blue Mountains National Park is a magical waterfall oasis that travel-starved Australians are flocking to in their hundreds.

Empress Falls is along the Wentworth Fall walking track just an hour and a half drive from Sydney.

The picturesque swimming hole has been popping up all over social media and is known for its incredibly scenic cascading falls that are surrounded by lush rainforest.

Scroll down for video

Tucked away in the Blue Mountains National Park is Empress Falls, a magical waterfall oasis, that travel-starved Australians are flocking to

Empress Falls is along the Wentworth Fall walking track just an hour and a half drive from Sydney

Empress Falls has also been visited by Hollywood actor Luke Evans who posted a video of himself jumping into the water on Instagram earlier this year.

They are worth visiting after a period of rainfall when the waterfall is at its highest volume and the water flows down into the natural pool below.

The falls can be accessed via a short but steep walking trail through the dense forest from the old conservation hut.

The picturesque swimming hole has been popping up all over social media for its incredibly scenic cascading falls that are surrounded by lush rainforest

Empress Falls has also been visited by Hollywood actor Luke Evans who posted a video of him jumping into the water on Instagram earlier this year

As you head down the series of steps, you will see the bushland change around you from drier eucalypts to lush green rainforest and lucky visitors may even be able to catch a glimpse of some of the area's local lyre birds.

Along the track there is the stunning Queen Victoria lookout with breathtaking views of Jamison Valley as well as the Empress lookout to see the canyon below.

Adventure-lovers can also continue downstream along the trail to see the spectacular Sylvia and Lodore Falls.

As you head down the series of steps, you will see the bushland change around you from drier eucalypts to lush green rainforest and lucky visitors may even be able to catch a glimpse of some of the area's local lyre birds

Empress canyon 30 metres above the falls is also a popular spot for abseiling and canyoning

Beyond that, there is a series of waterfalls than can be accessed by a walking track best suited to experienced bush hikers.

Empress canyon 30 metres above the falls is also a popular spot for abseiling and canyoning.

For more information, head to the Sydney Uncovered website.
Princess Charlene of Monaco has paid tribute to the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu after he died in a Cape Town hospital aged 90.

Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years was hospitalised on several occasions to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.

His death was announced yesterday in a statement shared on behalf of the Tutu family. It did not give details on the cause of death.

South African native Princess Charlene, who is understood to be receiving treatment for 'exhaustion' at an undisclosed location, met the Archbishop on several occasions and marked his death with a moving Instagram post.

Sharing photos of them together, she wrote: 'My dear friend, you will be missed. I know that you are at our fathers side.(sic) I will always have fond memories of us. And your laughter will remain in my heart forever. Rest In Peace.'

Princess Charlene of Monaco has paid tribute to the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu after he passed away in hospital aged 90 over the weekend

Taking to Instagram to share a picture of the smiling duo together, Charlene wrote: 'My dear friend, you will be missed. I know that you are at our fathers side.

'I will always have fond memories of us. And your laughter will remain in my heart forever. Rest In Peace.' Charlene wrote

Charlene met Desmond on numerous occasions, including at the Tutu HIV Foundation Youth Centre in her native Cape Town, as part of a charity campaign in 2011.

The post comes as Charlene, 44, recovers in a treatment facility in an undisclosed location after being sent away suffering from 'exhaustion' within days of her return to Monaco in November, following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa.

Her husband Prince Albert, 63, spoke out to say she is suffering from 'exhaustion, both emotional and physical', while friends recently told Page Six that the mother-of-two 'almost died' while she was in South Africa.

A palace statement released last week revealed Prince Albert and the couple's children were planning to visit Charlene during the holidays, as well as asking for the family's privacy to be respected.

Meanwhile it said the princess 'is recuperating in a satisfactory and reassuring manner, although it may take a few more months before her health has reached a full recovery.'

It is not known whether they have been reunited as planned.

Last week, the mother-of-two shared a sketched Christmas portrait of her family and 'wished everyone a beautiful and safe festive season'.

Princess Charlene shared a sketched Christmas portrait (pictured) of her family and 'wished everyone a beautiful and safe festive season' as she remains in a treatment facility

The royal missed the seventh birthday of her twins Gabriella and Jacques earlier this month, but shared photos of the celebration on Instagram, writing: 'Happy birthday my babies.

'Thank you God for blessing me with such wonderful children. I'm truly blessed. Love mom.'

Timeline: Prince Albert and Princess Charlene's 10 months' apart January 27 - Charlene is pictured with Albert for the Sainte Devote Ceremony in Monaco. March 18 - Charlene is pictured at the memorial for the late Zulu monarch, King Goodwill Zwelithini at the KwaKhethomthandayo Royal Palace in Nongoma, South Africa April 2 - Charlene posts an Instagram picture of herself, Albert and their twins Jacques and Gabriella for Easter. It is unknown where the image was taken. May 8 - Albert, Jacques and Gabriella attend a Grand Prix event in Monaco without Charlene May 10 - Albert attends Monaco Gala Awards in Monaco without Charlene May 18 - Charlene shares her first picture from her conservation trip in South Africa June 1 - Prince Albert II, Jacques and Gabriella attend event at Oceanic Museum in Monaco June 3 - New photos emerge of Charlene on her conservation trip June 5- Charlene puts on a united front as she shares a photo with her family to mark her niece's fifth birthday with her brother's family and Albert and the twins in South Africa June 7 - Albert and the twins attend the World Rugby Sevens without Charlene June 17 - Prince Albert attends Red Cross Summer concert in Monte Carlo with his sister Princess Caroline of Hanover June 18 - Prince Albert appears alone Monte Carlo TV Festival June 24 - Charlene's foundation releases a statement saying the royal is unable to travel and is undergoing procedures for an ear, nose and throat infection July 2 - Charlene and Albert mark their 10th anniversary separately. 'This year will be the first time that I'm not with my husband on our anniversary in July, which is difficult, and it saddens me,' Her Serene Highness Princess Charlene said in a statement. July 3 - Albert appears with glamorous niece Charlotte Casiraghi at the 15th international Monte-Carlo Jumping event, which is part of the Longines Global Champions Tour of Monaco, July 27 - Prince Albert attends Olympics alone in Tokyo August 13 - Charlene undergoes a four-hour operation. The reason is not announced August 25 - Charlene shares photos of Prince Albert, Gabriella and Jacques visiting her in South Africa September 1 - Charlene is admitted under an alias to the Netcare Alberlito Hospital after suddenly 'collapsing' September 2 - She is discharged, with a statement from the Palais Princier reading: 'Her Highness is closely monitored by Her medical team who said that Her condition was not worrying' September 23 - Prince Albert attends the 2021 Monte Carlo Gala for Planetary Health September 29 - Prince Albert is joined on the red carpet by actress Sharon Stone for a first look at the eagerly anticipated James Bond release September 30 - Charlene releases a stylish video promoting her anti-poaching campaign from her South African bolthole October 3 - Princess Charlene shares a photograph of herself smiling in front of a bible in her first snap since being discharged from hospital following her health scare October 5 - Prince Albert attends Sportel Awards Ceremony in Monte Carlo with nephew Louis Ducruet October 6 - Albert tells RMC radio Charlene is 'ready to come home' October 8 - Princess undergoes surgery in South Africa November 8 - Charlene arrives back in Monaco. Prince Albert said within hours it became clear she was 'unwell' November 13 - Prince Albert attends Expo 2020 in Dubai without Princess Charlene Following his return from the trip, Prince Albert holds an intervention with Charlene's brothers and a sister-in-law in which Charlene 'confirmed' she would seek 'real medically framed treatment' outside of Monaco November 16 - Royal household confirms Princess Charlene will not attend National Day celebrations on November 19 - Prince Albert attends a Monaco Red Cross event without Princess Charlene November 17 - Prince Albert reveals Princess Charlene has left Monaco and is recovering in a secret location November 19 - Prince Albert reveals Charlene is in a treatment facility 'elsewhere in Europe' after a family intervention Advertisement

Speaking to Page Six, a source described as the royal's friend said: 'It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue.

'We don't know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.'

The source explained the royal had a severe ear, nose and throat infection, which resulted in 'severe sinus and swallowing issues stemming from an earlier surgery'.

The friend added: 'She has not been able to eat solid food in over six months because of all the surgeries she has since gone through. She has only been able to take in liquids through a straw, so she lost nearly half her body weight.'

Elsewhere friends of Princess Charlene gave Tatler a rare insight into what the royal is really like, insisting that the former swimmer is a force to be reckoned with.

One source rubbished any public perception that Charlene is 'naive' and trapped in an unhappy marriage with Albert, saying: 'I don't for one second think she did not know what she was doing when she married him.'

But one warned the mother of Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, seven, is not the type to be blindly controlled by the Monaco royal household.

'Charlene is no Princess Di.' one said. 'She may come across as being extremely naive, but nothing could be further from the truth. She is very good at keeping her smarts under wraps.'

Meanwhile Prince Albert has continued to make public appearances with their twins, Jacques and Gabriella. The trio attended a tree planting event in Monaco and the Monaco National Day celebrations, where the children held up heartrending signs saying, 'Miss you Mommy' and 'Love you Mommy'.

In interviews, Albert explained he had stepped up to play a bigger role in his children's lives as the family copes with Charlene's ongoing health issues.

Jacques and Gabriella are homeschooled at the palace after being taken out of the classroom due to Covid.

'For me, it's pretty simple  my priority is my family,' he said in an interview this month. 'Of course, without neglecting state affairs... I hope everyone understands that. When I can be with my kids, I do it without hesitation.

'This is an extremely important time in their life  the way they grow up helps them see the world.

'And if one of the parents is away for medical reasons, the other parent has to be there. I have heard too many friends and acquaintances telling me that they wish they had been there for their children, at a certain age, taken up by their work or their professional life. I don't want to have these regrets.'

Charlene returned to her husband and twins Jacques and Gabriella in Monaco earlier this month following a 10-month absence, while she recovered from surgery following a sinus infection she contracted during a solo charity trip to her native South Africa earlier this year.

In the days after her arrival, Charlene's sister-in-law Chantell Wittstock, told MailOnline the princess may not be returning to the palace and did not plan to immediately return to public engagements, although she later retracted the remark.

Charlene's time away followed fresh allegations last December that Albert had fathered a love-child (which would be his third, if proven) with an unnamed Brazilian woman during the time when he and Charlene, a former Olympic swimmer for South Africa, were already in a relationship.

Photographs of their reunion earlier this month were greeted with a hefty dose of scepticism by the French media.

Albert was waiting for her at the Monte Carlo helipad, along with their twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques. The family were joined by a hand-picked photographer inside the Palace walls for the 'reunion' photos.

Albert said the family reunion in Monaco last week after she spent six months in her native South Africa initially went 'pretty well' in the first few hours, but it then became 'pretty evident' that Charlene was 'unwell.'

He said the former Olympian 'realised she needed help', adding: 'She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life.'

Albert explained: 'I'm probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship. I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It's of a different nature.'

He went on to tell the magazine her current state was a result of 'several factors which are private'.

Albert continued: 'She hadn't slept well in a number of days and she wasn't eating at all well. She has lost a lot of weight, which made her vulnerable to other potential ailments. A cold or the flu or God help us, COVID.'

He said it is 'not cancer-related or personal relationship issue.'

He later confirmed Charlene has been admitted to a treatment facility for undisclosed medical issues, as she works through a period of ill health. The location of the facility was not confirmed, though several sources claim it is in Switzerland.

The prince also said rumours around the state of his marriage 'don't bother him too much'.

Doubts about the central relationship of Monaco's royal family are not new.

Several residents living in the narrow medieval alleys of Monaco Ville confirmed to MailOnline that before she left for South Africa Charlene was spending most of her time outside the Palace, living in a modest two-bedroom apartment above an old chocolate factory about 300m away, rather than in the 12th Century Palace itself.

'We often saw her outside the Palace and she would usually be alone or with a bodyguard,' said one source, 'but she was never with Albert - it was obvious she chose to spend most of her time in the apartment rather than the palace.'

The post comes as Charlene, 44, recovers in a treatment facility in an undisclosed location after being sent away suffering from 'exhaustion' within days of her return to Monaco in November, following a 10-month absence in her native South Africa (seen with Prince Albert and their children)

Last week Palais Princier announced that Princess Charlene is still some 'months away' from a full recovery

Princess Charlene met Prince Albert in 2000 during a swimming competition in Monaco and the pair married in 2011, before welcoming twins Gabriella and Jacques in 2014.

Born in Rhodesia- a previously unrecongised state in Southern Africa colonised by the British, she relocated to South Africa aged 11.

She had a successful swimming career and went on to win three gold medals and a silver medal at the 1999 All Africa Games in Johannesburg, as well as representing South Africa at the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games and winning a silver medal in the 4  100 m medley relay in the latter competition.

However the pair's marriage has made numerous headlines over the years, with a third paternity suit emerging last year.

Soon afterwards Charlene infamously shaved half her head in the style of a punk rocker last December.

This was seen as the first public sign of a worsening crisis that could end in a multi-million pound divorce.

Charlene's exile in South Africa began a month after it emerged last December that Albert was facing yet another paternity suit.

A Brazilian woman who cannot be named for legal reasons said her 15-year-old daughter was the result of an affair with Albert in 2004.

Albert and Charlene were not yet engaged at this time, but they had known each over for four years after meeting at a swimming gala in Monaco in 2000.

Lawyers for the claimant were scheduled to demand a DNA test from Albert at a court in Milan earlier this year, while his own counsel branded the action 'a hoax'.

Neither party is now commenting, suggesting some kind of generous settlement may have been reached, as happened with Albert's earlier love children.

They are Jazmin Grace Grimaldi, who is now 29 and the result of Albert's affair with an American estate agent, and Alexandre Coste, 17, whose mother is a former Togolese air hostess.

Both children were struck off Monaco's line of succession in return for vast financial settlements.
Sienna Miller's sister Savannah has announced her engagement to a wealthy aristocrat Jim Whewell - the brother-in-law of her ex-husband's girlfriend.

The fashion designer, 42, shared sweet photo to Instagram with her fiance - who is heir to the 800-acre Wyresdale Park Estate in Lancaster.

'I didnt think this Christmas could get any more special. Yet, in classic magic Jim fashion, I received the best gift I could ever have wished for.

'The promise of a life filled with love and joy and this man,' she wrote next to snaps showing a dazzling diamond ring.

Sienna Miller's sister Savannah has announced her engagement to a wealthy aristocrat Jim Whewell

The fashion designer, 42, shared sweet photo to Instagram with her fiance - who is heir to the 800-acre Wyresdale Park Estate in Lancaster

Savannah was previously married Bushcraft teacher Nick Skinner, they separated in 2018.

In 2020, Mail on Sunday revealed Nick's aristocratic best friend Ruth Guise, 49, is dating Savannah's ex Nick. To make things even more complicated, Ruth is the sister-in-law of Jim.

Savannah explained: 'We [Nick and I] separated in February 2018 - neither of them needed to ask my permission to get together. As always, the wellbeing of the children is all of our priority.'

Savannah and Nick share children Moses, 16, Lyra, 13, and Bali, nine. She is also step-mother Java, 26.

Savannah was previously married Bushcraft teacher Nick Skinner, they separated in 2018.

It seems the relationship between her and Jim has gone from strength to strength during lockdown at Savannah's country house in the Cotswolds, with Jim getting involved in home-schooling, helping one of Savannah's three children with a science project.

She told You Magazine in Junes: 'The way things have worked out [with their fathers new relationship] is wonderful for the children because they have essentially only got one other family to deal with.

'We [the four adults and the children] were a bubble during lockdown, and we were all together for Christmas and Easter. When a marriage comes to an end you can throw a bomb under the bus, or you can hold up your hands and say, Weve done everything we can and now we want to retain a healthy relationship for our children.

'I didnt think this Christmas could get any more special. Yet, in classic magic Jim fashion, I received the best gift I could ever have wished for. 'The promise of a life filled with love and joy and this man,' she wrote next to snaps showing a dazzling diamond ring.

In 2007, she and her sister Sienna (pictured together) launched a fashion label, which they named Twenty8Twelve after Siennas birthdate.

Savannah graduated from Londons Central Saint Martins art college in 2004 with first-class honours, while pregnant with Moses and already stepmother to Niks son Java, then eight.

Somehow finding time to work for Alexander McQueen, Anya Hindmarch and Matthew Williamson along the way, she confesses that before meeting Nik (a bushcraft teacher from Devon) she hadnt had much time for relationships. I didnt really have an adult life before I became a mum. We just always had a child with us. That was our reality.

In 2007, she and her sister Sienna launched a fashion label, which they named Twenty8Twelve after Siennas birthdate.

Softly spoken with impeccable manners, Jim runs a lucrative wedding business from his family seat, promoting trendy eco-weddings where guests stay in yurts.

Fashion designer Savannah Miller has found love with Jim Whewell, the wealthy heir to the 800-acre Wyresdale Park Estate in Lancaster

Sienna Miller and Savannah Miller attend the launch of the Savannah Miller x Next collection at SohoWorks

An insider previously told the Mail: 'Sav and Nick just fell out of love. Their relationship was on the rocks for a long time before they separated but they are the best of friends now.'

Free-spirited mother-of-one Ruth is the daughter of Sir Christopher Guise, and, like Savannah, runs her own fashion label.

Nick once escaped the clutches of Costa Rican cult and now enjoys what friends describe as an alternative lifestyle.

Following the announcement of their Christmas engagement, many well-heeled friends rushed to the comments to congratulate the couple.

Sadie Frost - who was married to Sienna's ex Jude Law -wrote: 'Awww congratulations`'
Sky News presenter Sarah-Jane Mee has revealed how having a baby has changed the way she reacts to hard-hitting news stories.

The news anchor, 43, from East Sussex, has told how her life has completely changed since she turned 40 - going from single and care-free, to engaged and a step mother to her partner Ben Richardson's eight-year-old son Teddy.

And the biggest change has been welcoming daughter Rae, 1, during lockdown, with Sarah-Jane admitting that she 'walked out of the studio sobbing' as reports broke showing footage of a newborn baby being handed to Marines over a barbed-wired wall by her desperate parents amid the chaotic US withdrawal in Afghanistan in August.

Sky News presenter Sarah-Jane Mee (seen in 2018) has revealed how having a baby has changed the way she reacts to hard-hitting news stories

Sarah-Jane admitting that she 'walked out of the studio sobbing' as reports broke showing footage of a newborn baby being handed to Marines over a barbed-wired wall by her desperate parents amid the chaotic US withdrawal in Afghanistan in August (seen)

Speaking to the Telegraph, Sarah-Jane said: The detachment used to be easier before I became a mother.

'I returned from maternity leave just as the Afghanistan withdrawal story broke and that photo of a baby being handed over the barbed wire to soldiers will haunt me forever. I had to walk out of the studio when that report was playing because I was sobbing.

The new mother admits she would have laughed if someone told her three years ago that she would move to the countryside, become engaged and welcome a little girl all within three years.

The presenter was introduced to branding agency founder Ben, 42, at a party thrown by mutual friend Autumn Phillips - the former wife of Princess Annes son Peter.

The news anchor, 43, has told how her life has completely changed since she turned 40 - going from single and care-free, to engaged and a step mother to her partner Ben Richardson's eight-year-old son Teddy

And Sarah-Jane says that having a baby during lockdown had its ups and downs, admitting that having partner Ben home meant she didn't feel isolated during lockdown - and made Rae's first year 'about mum and dad equally'.

However it also made social media trolls more relentless than before, with Sarah Jane admitting that a cruel jibe about baby weight upset her.

She said: When I went back to work after having Rae, social media was overwhelmingly positive but there was one comment that mentioned my weight. One comment out of hundreds, but that was the one I remembered.

'I replied, saying, Ive got no excuses. Its not baby weight, its lockdown weight and Im sure youve got a bit of that too. I didnt want them to know it had affected me. But it did. I was having such a good day and thought, How could you? But you have to remember that those people would never walk up and say it to your face.

The presenter was introduced to branding agency founder Ben, 42, seen, at a party thrown by mutual friend Autumn Phillips - the former wife of Princess Annes son Peter

Sarah Jane admitting that a cruel jibeon social media about baby weight upset her

In August, the world was moved by emotional pictures showing an 16-day-old baby being passed to a soldier over a barbed wire fence as his distraught parents begged for her safety from the human crush beyond the perimeter of Hamid Karzai International Airport.

The Afghan father has since told how he instructed his wife Sadia to flee to the airport as reports came in about collogues and other American allies going missing as the Taliban completed its take over of Afghanistan.

The first-time father said he was living at Kabul airport throughout August, serving as a linguist to assist US Marines with the evacuation effort and had missed the birth of his daughter 16 days earlier.

Hameed said while he was living at the airport, he unable to leave to meet his newborn daughter and could only talk to his wife, Sadia, over the phone as she explained that she had gone through a difficult delivery.

Hours later, Sadia was able to get though the gate and the family was reunited as they prepared for their evacuation flight.

Hameed said he learned about the now iconic video when the family landed in America, agreeing that it served as a symbol about the reality in Afghanistan.

The family are now safely living in Phoenix, Arizona, with their daughter, Liya, who has the middle name 'Marine' in tribute to the soldier who helped save her life.
Princess Beatrice's husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi's ex Dara Huang has celebrated Christmas in the USA with their five-year-old son Christopher, known as Wolfie.

The American architect, 38, shared a rare picture of Wolfie opening presents by the tree, revealing that she felt 'so happy' to be able to spend the festive season with her family, who hail from Florida.

Meanwhile Princess Beatrice, 33, Edo, 38, and three-month-old baby Sienna, were among the 25 royals reportedly invited to spend their Christmas with the Queen at Windsor Castle. Edo and Dara were engaged until their break-up in 2018, before the Italian property developer married Beatrice in 2020.

Princess Beatrice's husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi's ex Dara Huang has celebrated Christmas in the USA with their five-year-old son Christopher, known as Wolfie

Taking to Instagram, Dara shared a series of sweet pictures of Wolfie by the Christmas tree, as well as biscuits and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.

She wrote: 'Hope everyone's Christmas was just as magical, so happy for us to be able to see my family this year! Cherish these moments'.

Elsewhere Dara is seen posing in a festive room wearing a light top and trousers, writing: 'Happy holidays everyone! Lots of love, laughter and light for 2022!'.

The American architect, 38, shared a rare picture of Wolfie opening presents by the tree, revealing that she felt 'so happy' to be able to spend the festive season with her family, who hail from Florida

Meanwhile Princess Beatrice, 33, Edo, 38, (seen this month) and three-month-old baby Sienna, were among the 25 royals invited to spend their Christmas with the Queen at Windsor Castle.

The Queen was reportedly joined on Christmas Day by Prince Charles and Camilla at Windsor Castle, in a boost for the monarch after Princess Anne had to drop out.

Prince Andrew and his former wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, plus their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, their husbands and children were also said to be present.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex were also expected to be there, with their children, James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise.

The Queen was reportedly joined on Christmas Day by Prince Charles and Camilla at Windsor Castle, in a boost for the monarch after Princess Anne had to drop out. Beatrice, Eugenie and their partners and children were also said to be there

Edoardo was previously engaged for three-and-a-half years to the mother of his child, Chinese-American Dara Huang, a highly-successful architect with her own design company whom he split from in 2018, a year before proposing to Princess Beatrice.

Princess Beatrice announced her engagement to property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2019, before the couple wed last year.

Due to the pandemic, Beatrice and Edoardo secretly tied the knot on July 17 in a low-key ceremony in Windsor, with the Queen and Prince Philip in attendance and Wolfie acting as best man.

Taking to Instagram, Dara shared a series of sweet pictures of Wolfie by the Christmas tree, as well as biscuits and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer

Dara wrote: 'Hope everyone's Christmas was just as magical, so happy for us to be able to see my family this year! Cherish these moments'.

Wolfie was seen tearing open a heap of Christmas presents as he spent it with his American family

In September Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's firstborn daughter Beatrice gave birth to baby girl Sienna weighing 6lbs 2oz at 11.42pm at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in London.

Although her mother is a princess, Sienna, who is the Queen's 12th great-grandchild, will not have a royal title.

Princess Beatrice will be one of the few royal mothers to raise children in a blended family after welcoming her daughter. American architect Dara remains on good terms with her ex and his new wife and Beatrice is a hands on stepmother.

Last year, a friend of Dara and Edo insisted the estranged couple remain close, with Dara even cutting Edo's hair and occasionally buying him clothes.

Their amicable relationship meant Dara was on the original guest list for Edo's wedding to Beatrice, 32, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the couple to cancel their May nuptials.

Princess Beatrice 's daughter Sienna was named 11th in line to the throne on the Royal family's website. In September, Beatrice, 32, and husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi, 38,(seen in July) announced the birth of their firstborn baby daughter called Sienna Elizabeth

Princess Beatrice 's husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi announced the birth of their baby daughter in September (pictured, the image he shared on Instagram)
While most Britons spent Christmas embroiled in a battle to avoid the omicron variant from ruining their festive plans, the creme de la creme of society had no such trouble.

Sharing a glimpse at how the other half live on Instagram, Princess Maria-Olympia, 25, and her family spent Christmas in an exclusive hotel enjoying snowy St Moritz, while Prince Charles' goddaughter India Hicks, 54, threw a lavish al fresco Christmas lunch in the sunny Bahamas.

And across the pond at the Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, the Duke and Duchess of Rutland and the Manners children quaffed champagne by the roaring fireplace before embarking on a banquet in their grand dining room.

Elsewhere Princess Maria Chiara of Bourbon Two Sicilies, 16, racked up the likes with a glitzy photoshoot in Italy, while the Duchess of Cambridge's brother James Middleton, 34, kept it simple by posing in front a pine tree with his beloved dog Ella.

Kicking off the socialite posts, Alice Manners, 26, joined her siblings Eliza, Charles, Hugo and Violet, and their parents the Duke and Duchess of Rutland, for a banquet meal in their grand dining room at Belvoir Castle, where The Crown and Downton Abbey were filmed. The family were seen posing by the fireplace with their dogs and enjoying a bagpipe performance

James Middleton was seen posing with his beloved black spaniel Ella in front of pine trees in the English countryside, writing 'Wishing you a very Merry Christmas, from me and my pack to you and yours'. This year Prince William and Kate Middleton took their three children to celebrate Christmas with Kate's family, instead of spending it at Windsor Castle with the Queen

Prince Charles' goddaughter, the granddaughter of Lord Mountbatten, India Hicks shared an envy-inducing snap of the stylish Christmas spread on the family's lawn of their Bahamian mansion as she celebrated with the couple's five children and her husband

Virgin mogul Richard Brandson's daughter Holly Branson revealed they were almost unable to celebrate Christmas as one of her three children, Etta, contracted mild Covid - but was thrilled they were able t make it to a snowy destination with her family

Despite being just 16, Princess Maria Chiara of Bourbon Two Sicilies racked up the likes with a glitzy photoshoot in Italy for Christmas, donning floral over the knee boots, gold sequin leggings and a matching cardigan- racking up thousands of likes

Meanwhile Princess Maria-Olympia, 25, and her family spent Christmas in an exclusive hotel enjoying snowy St Moritz, sharing snaps of their sausage dog looking out at the snowy mountains before they enjoyed a Christmas banquet

Eliza Manners shared a photoshoot by the grand tree in Belvoir Castle with her pug, making sure his ribbon matched her silk dress

Publishing house CEO Martine Assouline revealed she had 'beaten' the Omicron army to spend Christmas in France with her mother

Elsewhere Lady Alexandra Tolstoy spent Christmas at her parent's quaint English countryside abode, revealing they had used the same tree decorations for the past 40 years, writing: 'My parents pale green Georgian china, dressing up in smoking jackets for dinner - my mothers old Droopy and Browns dress in my case - and of course roast turkey and a flaming Christmas pudding with foil wrapped charms', is what makes Christmas for her

A-list nutritionist Gabriella Peacock posted a sweet black and white shot of her family celebrations in the Cotswolds, writing: 'Better late than never! Merry Christmas'
Supermarket shoppers have shared their shock at spotting chocolate Easter eggs on the shelves, even though it's not even the end of December.

British customers popping into their local shops over the weekend were dismayed to find they are already stocking chocolate eggs and hot cross buns, a full 16 weeks before Easter Sunday.

Customers slammed the likes of Asda, Morrison's, Tesco and Co-op as they snapped pictures of the items on the aisles that were still full of festive treats in the run up to Christmas and shared them on Twitter.

Some called out the shops for 'rampant consumerism,' while others asked what seasons were for.

Shocked British shoppers have called out several supermarket chains around the country for already stocking Easter products, two days after Christmas Day, and before New Year's Eve even takes place. Pictured: Creme eggs boxes and other Cadbury boxes in a Morrison's

Even though Easter is not for another four months, people saw packs of Hot Cross Buns for sale at their local Co-op

One people asked 'what even are seasons' after spotting Easter stock at their local Tesco, while Christmas music played on in the shop

Easter is not due for another four months - 111 days - but supermarket chains are already enticing customers with deals on chocolate eggs.

Snaps taken by these disgruntled shoppers showed Cadbury mini eggs, Mars and Maltesers pouches as well as Creme Eggs stacked up on shelves.

Hot cross buns reading 'happy Easter' were also spotted in several Co-op, while displays of Easter Eggs were seen in Morrison's and Asda.

Several shocked customers revealed Waitrose was stocking up on Easter Egg as early as Christmas Eve.

Disgruntled costumers took snaps of the Easter eggs and treats they saw in shops, joking Easter, which is taking place on April 17, is 'just around the corner'

Meanwhile, a disgruntled consumer pleaded with their Tesco to 'get over Christmas first' and to 'get rid of the flab before we start stuffing Easter,' one said.

One person said Creme Egg ice cream was also back in stock in Tesco and that Co-op was also getting the Easter treats out.

Many joked it was 'Easter Sunday,' according to their locals, highlighting the absurdity of the move.

'At Tesco. Two days after Christmas. Easter stock on the shelves. Christmas music on the tannoy. What even are seasons,' one asked.

'Live scenes from Waitrose Wallingford. Happy Easter everyone,' one quipped, showing a snap of stacked boxes of Creme Eggs and Mini Eggs.

'Just popped out buy a paper at my local Morrisons. Shame on them for stocking Easter eggs and this time,' one hammered.

'P*** off Tesco it's the 27th December, Christmas not Easter,' one wrote.

Bet Asda has Easter Eggs in stock this week. The rampant consumerism is real,' another said.

'I'm just popping to Asda to get some Easter eggs, back soon,' one tweeted.

Creme Eggs are in our Co-op. In this house there are 12 days of Christmas, and they start today, so this may be satire. I can no longer tell.' one said.

'Not Waitrose stocking the shelves with Easter Eggs on Christmas Eve. I will scream,' one said, sharing a picture of Tony Chocolatoney chocolate egg cartons.
Convicted sex offender Josh Duggar spent Christmas alone in his cell eating turkey, carrots, and mashed potatoes.

The 33-year-old, who was found guilty on December 9 of downloading child pornography, has been staying in solitary confinement for 'safety reasons' since he was taken into custody at Washington County Detention Center in Arkansas.

And he reportedly stayed there, all alone in 'his own small cell ... away from other criminals' on Christmas Day, when he was served a meal that also included a roll with margarine and fortified drink mix, according to The Sun.

Convicted sex offender Josh Duggar spent Christmas alone in his cell eating turkey, carrots, and mashed potatoes

The 33-year-old, who was found guilty of downloading child pornography, has been staying in solitary confinement for 'safety reasons' since he was taken into custody

Josh's lonely Christmas meal was made up of turkey and gravy, candied carrots, mashed potatoes, a roll with margarine, and a spice cake.

It was the same meal served to other prisoners at the detention center on Saturday, but unlike most of the prison population, he had to eat alone in his cell.

'People in solitary do not get to eat with others,' a prison source said. 'They get served alone in their cell, but they get the same food everyone else does.'

Another source has previously told DailyMail.com that this is done for safety reasons.

Josh is considered somewhat of a celebrity, and criminals found guilty of crimes against children are generally more vulnerable to being attacked by other prisoners while behind bars.

'We are holding him separately for his own safety,' a source told The Sun.

Meanwhile, Josh's brother Justin, 19, shared a photo of what appeared to be the family's big celebration at parents Jim Bob and Michelle's house  where Josh was welcome last year, just months before his arrest.

Josh (pictured with his family last Christmas) ate alone in his cell. It's unclear whether his wife, Anna, visited him

The Federal Bureau of Prisons 'does not permit conjugal visits,' with physical contact limited to 'handshakes, hugs, and kisses (in good taste) ... at the beginning and end of a visit'

Anna, who has stuck buy him throughout, even moved into the home where Josh was held on house arrest

It's unclear if Josh was able to get a Christmas visit from his wife, Anna, who stood by his side throughout his trial.

However, Josh will not get to enjoy any conjugal visits with his wife of 13 years

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website, the FBP 'does not permit conjugal visits,' with physical contact limited to 'handshakes, hugs, and kisses (in good taste) ... at the beginning and end of a visit.'

He is currently awaiting sentencing, which could land him up to 20 years behind bars.

While awaiting trial this year, Josh had been out on bail, but wasn't allowed to live at his own home. Instead, he was put on house arrest at the home of family friends LaCount and Maria Reber.

Shockingly, this proved to be no obstacle for Josh and Anna's marriage, with The Sun reporting in August that Anna had 'pretty much moved in' to the Rebers' one-story house.

Josh was invited to the family's big Christmas celebration last year (pictured back right)

Many of the Duggar were back at Jim Bob and Michelle's house this Christmas, while Josh (pictured in 2020) was locked away

According to two sources, she stayed in the 'mother-in-law suite.' It was unclear whether Josh was also staying in that room, though the stipulations of his bail did not bar him from sleeping with his wife.

Though Anna, who was then pregnant with their seventh child, was able to stay there, Josh was barred from staying in the same house as their other six children: Mackynzie Renee, 12, Michael James, 10, Marcus Anthony, 8, Meredith Grace, 6, Mason Garrett, 4, and Maryella Hope, 2.

Faced with the choice to live with her kids or her husband, Anna prioritized her husband, relying on family members to care for their children.

While the decision was no doubt shocking, it wasn't entirely surprising for those who have followed the Duggars closely over the years.

The Duggars are strict fundamentalist Christians, and believe that it is a wife's duty to submit to her husband.

When it comes to intimacy, Josh's mother Michelle has preached that women should always be 'joyfully available' to meet their husband's sexual needs.

Josh's mother, Michelle, has spoken out about the importance of being 'joyfully available' for sex with her husband even when she is not in the mood

'Smile and be willing to say, "Yes, sweetie I am here for you," no matter what, even though you may be exhausted and big pregnant and you may not feel like he feels,' Michelle advised

Anna, who married Josh in 2008, has stuck by him through sexually deviant behavior in the past

In a 2015 blog post, she recalled advice she took from a friend upon marrying Jim Bob.

'Anyone can iron Jim Bob's shirt, anybody can make lunch for him. He can get his lunch somewhere else,' she wrote. 'But you are the only one who can meet that special need that he has in his life for intimacy. You're it. You're the only one.

'So when you are exhausted at the end of the day, maybe from dealing with little ones, and you fall into bed so exhausted at night, dont forget about him because you and he are the only ones who can have that time together. No one else in the world can meet that need.'

'Smile and be willing to say, "Yes, sweetie I am here for you," no matter what, even though you may be exhausted and big pregnant and you may not feel like he feels. "Im still here for you and Im going to meet that need because I know its a need for you,"' she wrote.

'While I am always joyfully available for him, in turn, hell lay down his life in any way,' she added.

Jim Bob and Michelle have also been outspoken against birth control and have said they left the number of children they had up to God  and Anna and Josh, who welcomed their seventh child in October, appear to have followed in those footsteps.

But there will be no more being fruitful and multiplying for the couple, as likelihood is high that Anna  who is reportedly sticking by Josh  will no longer be fertile when he gets out of prison.
A Nebraska woman who was born with a double uterus was shocked to discover that she was pregnant in both of them at the same time  but the pregnancy would not go smoothly, and she went into early labor at just 22.5 weeks gestation.

Megan Phipps, 24, was born with uterine didelphys, a rare condition in which a woman has two uteruses, and sometimes even a cervix for each.

The condition hadn't been an issue in her previous two pregnancies, which happened on her right side  but earlier this year, she discovered that she was pregnant with twins, one is each uterus.

According to Good Morning America, Phipps went into early labor, delivering both babies in her second trimester  when they weight under a pound each.

One of the babies passed away soon after, but the other, baby Reece, is now the youngest baby born at Bryan Health in Lincoln to survive.

Megan Phipps, 24, welcomed baby Reece at 22.5 weeks gestation, making her the youngest baby to ever be born at her Nebraska hospital

Her story is even more unique because she was born with uterine didelphys, a rare condition in which a woman has two uteruses, and sometimes even a cervix for each

Phipps had had two children before, but they'd both been conceived in her right uterus, so she assumed her left uterus 'wasn't active.'

Yet during this pregnancy, she sensed that something wasn't right and made an appointment with her doctor, who referred her to a specialist.

The specialist gave her the shocking news that she was pregnant with twins, each growing inside their own uterus.

Only one in about every 2,000 women have uterine didelphys, according to Scientific American, and the odds of being pregnant in two wombs at the same time is one in 50 million.

In June, when Phipps was just 22 weeks pregnant, she went to the hospital in 'excruciating pain,' where she soon went into preterm labor.

Currently, a fetus is generally considered viable  meaning it can live outside the womb  at 24 weeks.

Earlier this year, she discovered that she was pregnant with twins, one is each uterus. The odds of being pregnant in two wombs at the same time is one in 50 million

She went into labor in her second trimester, delivering twins who weighted less than a pound each

The first baby passed away, but Reece continued to survive in the NICU

Phipps said she promised her baby 'that as long as she kept fighting, that I would keep fighting with her. And she did'

Some can survive at 22 or 23 weeks, but the chances are not good: According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, babies born prior to 23 weeks gestation have just a five to six per cent survival rate.

Those that do survive almost always have significant complications or disabilities.

In Phipps' case, the doctor said the odds weren't promising for her twins, particularly because of the special circumstances of her pregnancy.

'He had said that the girls would have a 1% chance,' Phipps said.

Yet ahead of her delivery, she told him she wanted all interventions taken to keep them alive.

On June 11, she gave birth to her first daughter, Riley. The next day, her second daughter, Reece, was born.

Both weighed under a pound.

On November 2, weighing a healthy eight pounds, she was discharged and sent home to live at home with her mom and dad, Dillon Martin

Reece does have some health problems, and had to go back to the hospital after developing metapneumovirus

She also had a gastrostomy-button place to dispense food through her stomach, and needed to go back on oxygen

Unfortunately, Riley passed away after just twelve days later.

'I put her ashes in her new urn, and ever since then she stayed with me and Reece up in the NICU until the day that Reece got to come home with us,' Phipps said.

Reece, however, continued to survive. She needed plenty of medical intervention, including a dozen blood transfusions and a ventilator for 45 days.

Phipps said she promised her baby 'that as long as she kept fighting, that I would keep fighting with her. And she did.'

And on November 2, weighing a healthy eight pounds, she was discharged and sent home to live at home with her mom and dad, Dillon Martin.

Reese is the youngest baby ever born at that particular hospital to survive.

'She is a true miracle,' Kallie Gertsch, a nurse who cared for Reese at the hospital's NICU, told the Lincoln Journal Star. '[She's] definitely the biggest success that I have witnessed.'

Reece does have some health problems, and had to go back to the hospital after developing metapneumovirus. She also had a gastrostomy-button place to dispense food through her stomach, and needed to go back on oxygen.
An 88-year-old man who has working toward his college degree for more than 70 years has finally graduated - and he achieved the accomplishment alongside his 23-year-old granddaughter.

Rene Neira, from San Antonio, Texas, first enrolled in college in the 1950s, but he had to stop going to school so that he could focus on his family.

However, he always dreamed of completing his education, so when his granddaughter, Melanie Salazar, graduated from high school and began working towards her own degree, he was inspired to go on the journey with her.

They attended the University of Texas together for four years, where Rene became an instant hit on campus, 'inspiring and motivating' the other students.

An 88-year-old man who has working toward his college degree for 70 years has finally graduated - and he achieved the accomplishment alongside his 23-year-old granddaughter

Family first: Rene Neira, from San Antonio, Texas, first enrolled in college in the 1950s, but he had to stop going to school so that he could focus on his family

He always dreamed of completing his education, so when his granddaughter, Melanie Salazar, began working towards her own degree, he was inspired to go on the journey with her

On December 11, the two of them graduated side by side, with Melanie earning a bachelor of arts in communications and her grandpa earning a degree of recognition in economics.

Taking the stage together was an emotional moment for Melanie.

'Everything was silent. I didn't hear any clapping or applause but I was told that the whole stadium erupted,' she told Good Morning America.

'Since the 1950s, he has been working toward his bachelor's degree and it has been one of his life goal and dreams.

'But in the '50s he fell in love and got married and started a family, so he wasn't able to continue school right away.'

Over the years, Rene took a few classes here and there, but it was hard for him to focus on his education while balancing being a husband and father of five and working at a local bank.

Rene and Melanie first attended a community college called Palo Alto together, and after graduating from there in 2017, they both transferred to the University of Texas.

During their time in school, Melanie and Rene never shared a class, however, they did carpool, study, and eat lunch together.

They first attended a community college called Palo Alto together, and after graduating from there in 2017, they transferred to the University of Texas. They are pictured at the Palo Alto College graduation

Before they graduated together, Rene told Melanie that he was worried he would take the spotlight away from her, but she told him: 'This is our moment. I want to share it with you'

On December 11, the two of them graduated side by side - with Melanie earning a bachelor of arts in communications and her grandpa earning a degree of recognition in economics

'I was also the president of a club at school for a while and there were times when he would come to my club meetings,' Melanie recalled.

'That was really special because I could always show him off and shout out that my grandpa was there.'

In another interview with The Uplift, Melanie explained that her grandpa became pretty well known on campus.

She said: 'From what has been shared with me, he always had something to say, especially if his professors had different opinions than him.

'And there were often times a professor would be talking about the past and say, "Hey Rene, you lived through that time period, tell us more about what you remember during that time."

'His classmates, I think, were motivated and inspired to see him.'

Right before the pandemic, Rene suffered from a minor stroke which forced him to take a medical leave of absence from school.

During their time in school, Melanie and Rene never shared a class, however, they did carpool, study and eat lunch together. They are pictured together in 2016

Touching: Melanie said she was 'so proud' of her grandpa and 'so thankful' that they were able to share in that moment together

But as graduation day approached, Melanie and her family asked the university to grant the 88-year-old man a degree of recognition - which they did.

Unfortunately, Rene's health has been declining in recent months, which made the graduation more important than ever.

'It was the week of graduation that we were told that he would be able to graduate,' Melanie explained to GMA.

'We were really pushing for it because we were hoping, since his health is declining, that he could have that memory before he passes.

Before they graduated, Rene, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, told Melanie that he was worried he would take the spotlight away from her.

'I told him, "This is our moment. I want to share it with you,"' she gushed.

'I'm so proud of my grandpa and I'm so thankful I was able to have this moment, this memory, with him.

Melanie concluded: 'I definitely have been inspired by my grandfather.

'Through hearing loss, not having a car, taking public transportation, advocating for himself on campus, I really admired his ganas, which is like strength or perseverance, to keep going no matter what.'
Sometimes jobs are done so poorly it begs the question if anyone had been paying attention.

People from around the world have shared the best examples of half-hearted jobs they've spotted - with the very best collated in a gallery by Constantive.

One failed attempt showed a fire alarm with the word 'ceiling' on, while another shows a street lamp pointing straight into the sky.

Elsewhere, a paint job on some railings almost missed everywhere but the railings, and a sell-by date simply stated 'Monday'.

Here, FEMAIL shares some of the best examples...

People from around the world have shared the most head-scratching moments they have come across at various places of work - with the very best collated in a gallery by Constantive (pictured, one US employee pulled a button up top over a mannequin)

Feeling the heat! One person in the US installed an oven-top counter incorrectly (pictured)

'What's an amphibious pitcher?' One journalist in Boston appeared to choose the wrong word in one article

Did someone clock off early? One American student was left shocked after spotting this poorly fixed timepiece

But what about the date? Another person fixed a smoke alarm to 'the ceiling' - but forget to write when it had been installed

Lighting up the sky! One person, believed to be in the UK, installed a street lamp in completely the wrong direction

Taking the delivery instructions literally! Another person, from the US, was left frustrated after their plans for a surprise party were hampered by the mailman

It's ALMOST a drawing of a Welsh dragon! One British bartender shared a snap of a blackboard advertising the Six Nations - but failed to spot the error with one of the flags

This doesn't look like the safest ramp for a wheelchair! One British person was shocked by this unusual alternative for stairs

But which Monday? Another British person was left flabbergasted after the lettuce was stamped with a random day

This Australian sheep farmer thought there was 'insulation' in the roof - but was shocked to find his discovery

US store Jimmy's seafood shared a Greek salad covered with feta cheese in an attempt to charm their vegan customers

Are you SURE that photograph is the right way around? One person was left baffled by this image installed in a fastfood restaurant in the US

You've painted everything BUT the railings! One person was left baffled by this attempt to make the outside of their home look better
Britain could start screening middle-aged men for prostate cancer within three to five years, it was claimed today.

One of the UK's leading experts on the disease said technological advances mean a national breast cancer-style strategy may finally be possible.

At present there is no national screening programme for the disease, Britain's third deadliest cancer.

But Professor Ros Eeles, a world-leading voice in the field of oncogenetics based at the Institute of Cancer Research, hopes that will change.

Around 50,000 men in the UK are told they have prostate cancer each year and one in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetime

Professor Eeles argued more data is needed before the UK commits to any strategy, but hailed advances in both genetics and imaging.

She said: 'We're probably looking at getting close to a tailored screening programme in the next three to five years.'

Around 50,000 men in the UK are told they have the disease each year and one in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

At the moment men usually only find out they have prostate cancer when they start displaying symptoms  usually when they start finding it difficult to urinate or get a hot burning sensation.

They then request a 'PSA' blood test from their GP, which they are eligible for over the age of 50.

But this is far from accurate, missing many aggressive cancers and picking up too many cancers that would not cause problems if they had not been detected.

Because of this PSA levels have never been deemed accurate enough for a screening programme.

Experts say this is the key reason that annual prostate cancer deaths are still on the rise and now kills 12,000 men in the UK a year.

On the other hand breast cancer  which has had a screening programme since Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister  has seen deaths drop.
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Dr Anthony Fauci (pictured), the nation's top infectious disease expert, warns that America's Covid situation will worsen in the coming weeks, and around 500,000 people could be infected every day in coming weeks

Americans have been told by President Joe Biden's covid tsar Dr. Anthony Fauci to cancel big parties as the Omicron variant tears across the nation.

Daily cases have spiked in recent weeks, up 68 percent over the past two weeks, and America's top infectious disease expert warns that things will only worsen in the near future.

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), told ABC's Good Morning America (GMA) that the surge may only be beginning, and that Americans should expect the situation to exacerbate over the coming weeks.

'It's going to get worse before it gets better. That's for sure,' he said.

'We don't expect things are going to turn around in a few days to a week. It likely will take much longer than that. But that's unpredictable.'

The NIAID director is also calling for the expanded use of vaccine passports to include domestic flights, barring unvaccinated people from flying within the country.

'When you make vaccination a requirement, that's another incentive to get more people vaccinated,' Fauci told MSNBC on Monday.

'If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think that's something that seriously should be considered.'

Cases in the U.S. have exploded over the past two weeks, as the newly discovered strain begins to take hold in the country. America is currently averaging 198,326 cases every day, an 68 percent increase over the past two weeks. Deaths and hospitalizations have not followed, though. The U.S. has not recorded a higher seven day case average since January 19, the backside of the nation's most devastating Covid surge to date.

The country is averaging 71,302 hospitalizations every day, only an eight percent increase over two weeks. Deaths are up three percent during that time span to 1,328 per day. This could be a signal of the Omicron variant - which accounts for 73 percent of cases in the U.S. according to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - being more mild than other strains. Deaths and hospitalizations do lag behind cases, though, and a similar spike could be seen in those metrics soon as well, though.

With health officials now confident that this new strain is less effective at causing severe illness or death, the CDC has now reduced the official quarantine time for confirmed positive Covid cases to five days from ten days.

Fauci wants vaccine passports for domestic flights Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, called for vaccine requirements for domestic flights in the U.S. on Monday morning 'When you make vaccination a requirement, that's another incentive to get more people vaccinated,' he told MSNBC on Monday Fauci's call comes as cases explode in the U.S., even among the fully vaccinated, as an Omicron fueled surge has caused a near 70% increase in cases over the past two weeks Thousands of U.S. flights have been cancelled in recent days as airliners struggle with staffing issues caused by the virus Around 72% of Americans are fully vaccinated, and more than 60 million residents have received their additional booster shot as well Advertisement

Fauci says it's not possible to predict when the Omicron variant surge will come to an end because different countries have seen varied patterns.

'Each demography of a country is different,' he said.

'South Africa went way way up and then came back down. The UK is still going up. Hopefully they'll turn around because we usually lag somewhat behind them temporarily. And then in other words, what happens there generally happens here, a couple two, three weeks later.'

He told CNN's Kaitlan Collins on Monday morning that the country could reach 500,000 new cases per day at some point during the current surge. The U.S. reached a record of 250,000 new cases per day in early 2020 - before the vaccines were widely available - meaning this surge could double the previous case record.

Fauci also says that Americans should consider cancelling their New Years plans to avoid spreading the virus even more, and making the nation's Covid situation worse. While small family gatherings could be ok, he warns against large parties.

'I have been telling people consistently that if you're vaccinated and boosted and you have a family setting, in the home with family and relatives,' Fauci told CNN.

'But when you're talking about a New Year's Eve party, we have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating. You do not know the status of their vaccination, I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year.'

The Omicron variant, which was first discovered by South African health officials in late November, is the most mutated Covid strain yet. It have for than 50 mutations, including 37 on the spike protein targeted by the Covid vaccines.

Research performed by vaccine manufacturers and independent health experts have repeatedly found that the initial vaccine regimens - two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine - are not effective at preventing infection from the variant.

Additional booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna jabs can re-establish protection, though. According to CDC data, 72 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid, and 64.5 million people have received their booster shot.

The U.S. has confirmed 8,333 cases of the variant as of Monday morning, though the real case figure is much higher. Only two other countries have confirmed more cases.

The UK is the world's leader in confirmed Omicron cases - and as Fauci believes, serves as a look into the future for the U.S. The nation has recorded 114,625 cases, more than triple any other nation and nearly two out of every three confirmed cases.

London, the nation's capital, has become a global Omicron hotspot. Covid related hospital admissions have jumped by 92 percent, and some fear that more lockdowns could be on the way in the new year. Some officials even fear the National Hospital System (NHS) could be totally overwhelmed if this trend continues.

Countries across Europe are getting hammered by the variant, as countries like France, Germany, Denmark and Norway are in the midst of Omicron fueled Covid surges of their own.

In South Africa, which suffered the world's first known outbreak of the variant, cases are trending downwards, though. Over the past ten days, cases have dropped 35 percent form 23,000 per day to 15,000, a sign that the variant could already be burning out.

Its gonna get worse before it gets betterWe dont expect things are going to turn around in a few days to a week  it will likely take much longer than that.



Dr. Anthony Fauci on the omicron surge and testing shortages. https://t.co/JfNne5sHfU pic.twitter.com/05ZCKa854z  Good Morning America (@GMA) December 27, 2021

While the Omicron variant is tearing across the United States, Fauci does believe there are a few positives to gather from the recent surge.

New York COVID hospitalizations top 5,500 for the first time since February, with child admissions rising FIVE-FOLD The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID ballooned over Christmas, with more than 5,500 people spending their holidays inside one of New York's many hospital facilities - the largest increase since February. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that statewide hospitalizations stand at 5,526 - the highest total since February 23 and nearly a 190 percent increase since November 1, according to NBC 4 New York. 'You can see the hospitalizations are continuing to spike upward, [but] you can get some comfort in seeing that we're not where we were in April 2020, we're not where we were in January of 2021,' she said. 'But it is going upwards and that is something that we are very cognizant of and were anticipating and preparing for.' Around 17,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized during the peak of the first wave in spring 2020, with 7,000 receiving professional medical care as 2021 began. Hospitalizations among children, though, have also skyrocketed, more than doubling statewide since the beginning of the month and has jumping five-fold in New York City. Across the state, 70 children were hospitalized with COVID during the week of December 5 to 11, but so from December 19 to 23, that number jumped to 184. And in New York City, there were 22 children in the hospitals for COVID from December 5 to 11, but by December 19 to 23 there were 109 children hospitalized with the virus. 'We are releasing this data because we want pediatricians to be alert to making the diagnosis of COVID in children,' said Dr. Mary Bassett, the state's acting health commissioner, adding that she wants parents to be aware that their children can catch the virus as well. 'Many people thought - continue to think - that children don't become infected with COVID. This is not true,' she said. 'Children become infected and some will be hospitalized.' Bassett urged parents to get their children vaccinated, with CDC data showing that just 27.3 percent of five to 11 year olds in the state have received at least one dose, and only 16.4 percent are fully vaccinated. COVID is only fatal in extremely rare cases among under 18s, with fewer than 800 children in that age group being killed by the virus in the US since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, New York State saw 26,737 people test positive for the virus - though Hochul said on Monday she expects the number to rise up to 20,000 or more by the time Tuesday's data comes in, as more people will get tested following the Christmas holiday. The situation is more grim in New York City, which is seeing a 10.7 percent positivity rate with a 17,334 total cases reported over the past week. There were also 208 hospitalizations over the past week, according to New York City health data, and 10 deaths as the Omicron variant continues to spread. It now accounts for 73 percent of cases in the U.S. according to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Advertisement

'It looks like the degree of severity of the disease is considerably less than they experienced with Delta,' Fauci told CNN on Monday.

'We're seeing inklings of that now in the United States. The UK is also seeing that. So I do hope that we do have the net effect is a diminution in the degree of severity.'

This could be the reason why deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. have fallen far behind the rate of new cases.

Fauci does warn that even if a lower percentage of people are hospitalized with the virus, the sheer volume of cases could still overwhelm hospital systems if the situation worsens enough.

'But the sheer volume of cases that we're seeing now  yesterday we had 214,000 cases. Even with a diminution in severity we still could have a surge on hospitals, particularly among the unvaccinated, which we're really worried about,' he said.

It is also possible that thousands of Covid cases are currently going undetected, and that many people who are spreading the virus do not even know they have it yet, because of a massive testing shortage striking much of America.

At-home rapid and PCR tests are sold out at many major U.S. retailers. Testing locations have also been plagued with hours long lines, especially in the days preceding Christmas as millions checked their Covid status ahead of holiday travel.

'You know, testing has always been an issue ... that has been problematic. It has been compounded by the situation of the high demands,' Fauci told CNN.

'We had a conflation of high demands  high demands because of the concern about Omicron which is a justifiable concern, but the high demand that was triggered by the holiday season, people getting ready to travel getting ready to go and mix with family members and friends. It's been a very, very strong run on testing.'

The Biden administration has announced plans to help quell this demand, distributing 500,000 at-home Covid tests to Americans in January.

The President also has a scheduled call with state governors around America scheduled for Monday to address whatever needs each individual state might have.

Omicron has also disrupted the U.S.'s travel industry. Case surges among airline and airport staff has left the industry shorthanded in recent weeks. Over 10,000 flights have been cancelled nationwide since Christmas week due to Covid issues, including hundreds more on Monday.

Amid these issues, Fauci is also asking for unvaccinated people to be barred from flying in order to prevent transmission in the close quarters many are in on planes or in the airport. He also said that the lifting of mask mandates on planes should not be lifted at this time.

'We want to make sure people keep their masks on. I think the idea of taking masks off, in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering,' Fauci told ABC.

'...And of course, the airline CEOs were suggesting that  you know, that we may not  may no longer need a mask. I hear you loud and clearly, you disagree with that on an  on the airplane.

'...I think if you look at wearing a mask and the filtration on planes, things are reasonably safe.'

He also asks for Americans to avoid large New Years Eve gatherings, fearing that festivities could cause a large jump in cases.

New York is the hardest struck state by the new strain, with 167 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus every day, a 238 percent increase over the past two weeks. The Empire state has the highest infection rate in the U.S.

Seven states, including New York, have more than 100 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for Covid daily. These include New Jersey (158 out of every 100,000), Rhode Island (130), Delaware (106), Maryland (104), Massachusetts (104) and Ohio (104).

Some of these states are experiencing intense case growth in recent weeks as well. In Maryland - which has begun reporting cases again after a technical glitch prevented the state from doing so in recent weeks - has seen cases increased by 370 percent.

In New Jersey, the number of new daily cases have increased by 220 percent - over tripling over 14 days. The other states among the nation's leaders in Covid case rate have all also seen infections jump by 50 percent or more over the past two weeks.

Hawaii has suffered the largest growth in cases, jumping almost ten-fold over the past two weeks. The island state can usually control its Covid spread better than many others, as its distance from the rest of the country and geography as an island makes it easier to control travel in and out - and force quarantine restrictions.

This allowed Hawaii to keep cases low throughout much of fall, staying below ten cases per every 100,000 residents. Cases have rocketed in recent weeks, though, up to 96 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day.

Florida, which sporadically reports cases, has logged a 818 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks - averaging 83 new cases a day out of every 100,000 residents. These numbers could be a result of delayed reporting, though, and could significantly shrink in the coming weeks.

Georgia is quickly joining the states facing the worst Covid surges in America as well, with cases increasing 300 percent to 55 out of every 100,000 per day over the past two weeks.

States in the west that were previously recording little change in cases, if not outright declines, have seen cases jump as well.

California, the nation's most populous state, has witnessed a doubling of cases over the past two weeks. Oregon, a 13 percent increase, and Washington, 54 percent, have jumped after experiencing case declines in recent weeks as well.

Other states suffering massive case increases include Texas (151 percent), Illinois (125 percent), Virginia (106 percent) and Mississippi (194 percent).

The national leaders in Covid deaths are all states where cases are declining. This signals that the virus may be burning out in the U.S. as well - as deaths usually lag behind cases by around two weeks.

In Alaska, 1.7 out of every 100,000 residents are dying of Covid every day, the highest rate in America. New daily cases have dropped by 27 percent over the past two weeks, though, meaning deaths could soon decline as well.

Michigan was overwhelmed by a surge of Covid patients only a few weeks ago. The state is still among the leaders in death rate - with it 1.27 deaths per every 100,000 residents being third in the country - though cases are down nine percent over the past two weeks.

Cases in New Mexico are down 13 percent over the past two weeks while the state records 1.27 deaths per every 100,000 residents.

Many other states in the north and Midwest are recording declining cases as well, as the early fall surges called by cold weather are starting to recede.

Kansas leads the country in largest two week case decline, with infections dropping by 33 percent in 14 days. Minnesota comes in second, with cases down 30 percent during that time period.

Montana has the lowest rate of Covid infection in America, with 15 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day, a 25 percent decrease over two weeks. Nearby Wyoming and Idaho are also amount the states with the lowest Covid rates.

Idaho is recording 19 cases per every 100,000 residents every day - down 17 percent over two weeks. In Wyoming, 19 out of every 100,000 people in the state are testing positive daily, a 27 percent drop.

Other states in the region recording sharp declines include Utah (down 20 percent over two weeks), North Dakota (19 percent), South Dakota (19 percent), Nebraska (12 percent), Oklahoma (24 percent), Missouri (15 percent) and Iowa (10 percent).

Vermont, one of the nation's Covid hotspots in much of November and December, is finally in the blue as well, with cases dropping one percent over the past two weeks - signaling the surge might be over for the most vaccinated state in America.

In the UK, for which Fauci says is a harbinger for the UK, New Years festivities may be cancelled as well.

Gillian Keegan, the nation's care minister, warned last week that some holiday festivities would have to be scaled back amid the Omicron surge.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to meet with some health leaders, like England's Chief Medical Official Chris Whitty, to discuss plans going forward. Early signals have many hopeful that Johnson will not institute lockdowns or other restrictions ahead of the New Year.

The nation was averaging 100,000 new cases per day ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend, where reporting was minimal. It was the highest point ever recorded during the pandemic, nearly doubling the 57,000 case per day record from January 2021.

When reporting continues this week, it is likely a new case record will be set in the nation.

London has emerged as a global Omicron hotspot in recent weeks. Officials believe that nearly five percent of the 8.9 million residents of the city were infected last week, and feared the rate increased during the weekend.

Covid related hospitalizations are also trending upwards, surging from around 300 cases per day to nearly 400 over the course of only a few days last week.

Lockdowns could be on the way in France, where a record 100,000 cases were logged on Christmas, a new record for the western European country. Over 3,300 people also are receiving intensive care in French hospitals, above the 3,000 threshold set by national leaders.

Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron plans to hold a meeting with key health officials on Monday to discuss potential lockdowns and other Covid restrictions ahead of the new year.

The country has also recorded 1,980 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant, the seventh most of any country in the world.

In Germany, some leisure facilities have been shut down, and restaurants will be forced to close early as part of new lockdowns instituted in the nation amid a new surge.

The country is currently in the midst of its most devasting Covid surge to date, though cases are on the downswing after reaching a peak in late November, just as Omicron had been discovered. Only four countries have confirmed more than the 3,198 cases of the new strain confirmed in Germany.

Some rare good news is coming out of South Africa, though. Cases are down over 30 percent in recent days, signaling the variant could be running out of steam in the country. Between the country's vaccination rate, and the amount of people that have some sort of immunity from the virus due to previous infection, experts predict around 80 percent of people have at least some immunity from the virus.

Hospitalizations dropped last week for the first time since the variant was discovered as well, with 6,275 people being admitted because of Covid complications, down from 8,806 the previous week.

In the Gauteng province, where the variant was initially detected, hospitalizations were slashed in half last week, from 2,696 to 1,329 - the second consecutive week of decreasing hospitalizations
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The U.S. is experiencing yet another winter Covid surge, with the situation expected to only worsen over in the weeks following the Christmas and New Years holidays.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. is averaging 181,948 Covid cases every day, with that number set to increase in the coming days due to reporting lags during the holiday season. Nearly three out of every four cases, or 73 percent, are of the Omicron variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.

Deaths have slightly risen over the past two weeks, up three percent to 1,328 over the last 14 days, though not nearly at the rate of cases. This could signal that the new strain is more mild than many others - which many officials believe is the case - or it that a surge in deaths caused by the virus is right around the corner.

New York is the hardest struck state by the new strain, with 167 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for the virus every day, a 238 percent increase over the past two weeks. The Empire state has the highest infection rate in the U.S.

Seven states, including New York, have more than 100 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive for Covid daily. These include New Jersey (158 out of every 100,000), Rhode Island (130), Delaware (106), Maryland (104), Massachusetts (104) and Ohio (104).

In the Empire State, the number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID ballooned over Christmas, with more than 5,500 people spending their holidays inside one of New York's many hospital facilities - the largest increase since February.

Around 17,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized during the peak of the first wave in spring 2020, with 7,000 receiving professional medical care as 2021 began.

Hospitalizations among children, though, have also skyrocketed, more than doubling statewide since the beginning of the month and has jumping five-fold in New York City. Across the state, 70 children were hospitalized with COVID during the week of December 5 to 11, but so from December 19 to 23, that number jumped to 184. And in New York City, there were 22 children in the hospitals for COVID from December 5 to 11, but by December 19 to 23 there were 109 children hospitalized with the virus.

Some of these states are experiencing intense case growth in recent weeks as well. In Maryland - which has begun reporting cases again after a technical glitch prevented the state from doing so in recent weeks - has seen cases increased by 370 percent.

In New Jersey, the number of new daily cases have increased by 220 percent - over tripling over 14 days. The other states among the nation's leaders in Covid case rate have all also seen infections jump by 50 percent or more over the past two weeks.

Hawaii has suffered the largest growth in cases, jumping almost ten-fold over the past two weeks. The island state can usually control its Covid spread better than many others, as its distance from the rest of the country and geography as an island makes it easier to control travel in and out - and force quarantine restrictions.

This allowed Hawaii to keep cases low throughout much of fall, staying below ten cases per every 100,000 residents. Cases have skyrocketed in recent weeks, though, up to 96 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day.

Florida, which sporadically reports cases, has logged a 818 percent increase in cases over the past two weeks - averaging 83 new cases a day out of every 100,000 residents. These numbers could be a result of delayed reporting, though, and could significantly shrink in the coming weeks.

Georgia is quickly joining the states facing the worst Covid surges in America as well, with cases increasing 300 percent to 55 out of every 100,000 per day over the past two weeks.

States in the west that were previously recording little change in cases, if not outright declines, have seen cases jump as well.

California, the nation's most populous state, has witnessed a doubling of cases over the past two weeks. Oregon, a 13 percent increase, and Washington, 54 percent, have jumped after experiencing case declines in recent weeks as well.

Other states suffering massive case increases include Texas (151 percent), Illinois (125 percent), Virginia (106 percent) and Mississippi (194 percent).

The national leaders in Covid deaths are all states where cases are declining. This signals that the virus may be burning out in the U.S. as well - as deaths usually lag behind cases by around two weeks.

In Alaska, 1.7 out of every 100,000 residents are dying of Covid every day, the highest rate in America. New daily cases have dropped by 27 percent over the past two weeks, though, meaning deaths could soon decline as well.

Michigan was overwhelmed by a surge of Covid patients only a few weeks ago. The state is still among the leaders in death rate - with it 1.27 deaths per every 100,000 residents being third in the country - though cases are down nine percent over the past two weeks.

Cases in New Mexico are down 13 percent over the past two weeks while the state records 1.27 deaths per every 100,000 residents.

Many other states in the north and Midwest are recording declining cases as well, as the early fall surges called by cold weather are starting to recede.

Kansas leads the country in largest two week case decline, with infections dropping by 33 percent in 14 days. Minnesota comes in second, with cases down 30 percent during that time period.

Montana has the lowest rate of Covid infection in America, with 15 out of every 100,000 residents testing positive every day, a 25 percent decrease over two weeks. Nearby Wyoming and Idaho are also amount the states with the lowest Covid rates.

Idaho is recording 19 cases per every 100,000 residents every day - down 17 percent over two weeks. In Wyoming, 19 out of every 100,000 people in the state are testing positive daily, a 27 percent drop.

Other states in the region recording sharp declines include Utah (down 20 percent over two weeks), North Dakota (19 percent), South Dakota (19 percent), Nebraska (12 percent), Oklahoma (24 percent), Missouri (15 percent) and Iowa (10 percent).

Vermont, one of the nation's Covid hotspots in much of November and December, is finally in the blue as well, with cases dropping one percent over the past two weeks - signaling the surge might be over for the most vaccinated state in America.

New York COVID hospitalizations top 5,500 for the first time since February, with child admissions rising FIVE-FOLD as Gov Kathy Hochul urges parents to vaccinate children between the ages of 5-11

The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID ballooned over Christmas, with more than 5,500 people spending their holidays inside one of New York's many hospital facilities - the largest increase since February.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that statewide hospitalizations stand at 5,526 - the highest total since February 23 and nearly a 190 percent increase since November 1, according to NBC 4 New York.

'You can see the hospitalizations are continuing to spike upward, [but] you can get some comfort in seeing that we're not where we were in April 2020, we're not where we were in January of 2021,' she said. 'But it is going upwards and that is something that we are very cognizant of and were anticipating and preparing for.'

Around 17,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized during the peak of the first wave in spring 2020, with 7,000 receiving professional medical care as 2021 began.

Hospitalizations among children, though, have also skyrocketed, more than doubling statewide since the beginning of the month and has jumping five-fold in New York City.

Across the state, 70 children were hospitalized with COVID during the week of December 5 to 11, but so from December 19 to 23, that number jumped to 184.

And in New York City, there were 22 children in the hospitals for COVID from December 5 to 11, but by December 19 to 23 there were 109 children hospitalized with the virus.

'We are releasing this data because we want pediatricians to be alert to making the diagnosis of COVID in children,' said Dr. Mary Bassett, the state's acting health commissioner, adding that she wants parents to be aware that their children can catch the virus as well.

'Many people thought - continue to think - that children don't become infected with COVID. This is not true,' she said. 'Children become infected and some will be hospitalized.'

Bassett urged parents to get their children vaccinated, with CDC data showing that just 27.3 percent of five to 11 year olds in the state have received at least one dose, and only 16.4 percent are fully vaccinated. COVID is only fatal in extremely rare cases among under 18s, with fewer than 800 children in that age group being killed by the virus in the US since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, New York State saw 26,737 people test positive for the virus - though Hochul said on Monday she expects the number to rise up to 20,000 or more by the time Tuesday's data comes in, as more people will get tested following the Christmas holiday.

The situation is more grim in New York City, which is seeing a 10.7 percent positivity rate with a 17,334 total cases reported over the past week.

There were also 208 hospitalizations over the past week, according to New York City health data, and 10 deaths as the Omicron variant continues to spread. It now accounts for 73 percent of cases in the U.S. according to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced that hospitalizations have increased over Christmas

As of Monday, there were 5,526 New Yorkers in the hospital - the first time the state has surpassed more than 5,500 hospitalizations since late February

Hospitalizations among children have more than doubled statewide and jumped five-fold in New York City

New York State saw 26,737 people test positive for the virus - though Hochul said on Monday she expects the number to rise up to 20,000 or more by the time Tuesday's data comes in, as more people will get tested following the Christmas holiday.

Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed that the annual New Years Eve ball drop will continue, even as Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that people should cancel their New Years plans.

De Blasio announced last week that he will limit the number of revelers in Times Square for New Years Eve to 15,000, down from a planned 58,000, and attendees will need to wear masks and show proof of vaccination, as long lines form in the area for COVID tests.

Meanwhile, de Blasio's vaccine mandate for private sector employers went into effect on Monday, with all private-sector employees having to show proof that they have received at least one COVID vaccine shot.

The mandate applies to all businesses that employ more than one person and to the self-employed who interact with the public in the course of their business, according to SI Live.

Any employee who submits proof of their vaccine will have 45 days to provide proof of their second shots if they receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and all businesses will nee to fill out a form affirming their compliance and place it in a 'public-facing location' at the place of employment.

Fines for noncompliance start at $1,000 and could rise with further infractions.

'Today [is] a historic day in New York City. We're implementing the strongest vaccine mandate in the country, all private sector employees today,' de Blasio said on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Monday morning.

'This is what we need to do everywhere,' he said. 'Every mayor every governor, every CEO in America should do vaccine mandates now, because 2022 has to e the year we leave COVID behind.'

Also on Monday, the city's vaccine mandate for children went into effect, with all New Yorkers 12 and older required to have received two doses of the COVID vaccine - unless they were injected with the one-shot Johnson and Johnson jab - to enter many indoor settings including restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and Broadway shows.

As of Monday, about 91.6 percent of New York City adults have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and 82.8 percent are fully vaccinated. Among children, however, just 41.3 percent are fully vaccinated, 12.5 percent are partially vaccinated and 46.3 percent are not yet vaccinated.
Raids on British defence companies have sparked fears a crucial industry will be hollowed out.

The UK has the second-biggest aerospace and defence sector in the world. But swoops on firms including Ultra Electronics and Meggitt have increased fears that this is in jeopardy with jobs, intellectual property and cutting-edge technology at risk of going overseas.

Concern: Swoops on firms including Meggitt have increased fears that the aerospace and defence sector is in jeopardy

US private equity giant Advent International offered 2.6billion for Ultra in July, upsetting politicians and experts. They pointed out the supplier to the armed forces also makes submarine-hunting kit  and that Advent bought Cobham for 4billion in 2020, selling more than half of it in 18 months.

A 6.3billion move on Meggitt by US rival Parker-Hannifin also hit opposition. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng decides on both cases next year.

The new National Security and Investment Act means the Government must study deals in 17 industries, which could halt Viasat's 5.4billion move on satellite firm Inmarsat and Nvidia's 30billion swoop on Arm Holdings.
Defendants have escaped from court docks 27 times in two years, despite the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) spending nearly 2 million on reinforcing docks.

In 2020/21, the MoJ shelled out 1.34m on 'replacing, upgrading and securing' court docks across the country.

In the same year, 10 defendants cleared the defences and made a break for freedom mid-proceedings.

That compares with 2019/20, when 550,000 was spent on escape-proofing docks and 17 defendants got loose.

MailOnline obtained the figures through a Freedom of Information request.

ESCAPE-PROOFING COURT DOCKS Financial year Spend on escape-proofing court docks Number of court dock escapees 2019/20 550,500 17 2020/21 1,343,329 10

One incident at Hove Crown Court, East Sussex, in September 2021 saw a suspected burglar escape from custody - severely injuring his ankle in the process.

Jack Tyler, 28 - who is still on the run - was last seen hobbling away from security guards 'wearing one blue and white trainer' and 'covered in blood', according to Sussex Police.

An eyewitness told The Sun how 'hapless' security guards let Tyler escape from the courtroom in Hove, where his burglary and affray case was being heard on September 8.

The eyewitness said: 'I heard someone shouting, and basically this guy was bolting down the road with these court security guards chasing him.

Jack Tyler, 28, a suspected burglar, escaped from Hove Crown Court on September 8 2021 and remains at large - despite the MoJ having spent millions of pounds on shoring up court dock defences over the last two years

Hove Crown Court: Tyler was seen hobbling, covered in blood and wearing one blue and white trainer as he made his break for freedom, with 'hapless' court security guards in tow

One of them looked like they were trying to bungle after him, they looked like the most hapless thing you have ever seen.

'They were fiddling for the handcuffs, so I was just looking out and then more and more security guards came out of the courthouse.'

At Wood Green Crown Court in London, two men convicted of dangerous driving escaped from court docks within five months of each other this year.

Marian Vasilica Dragoi, who was being sentenced on January 14 2021 for leading police on a 'truly terrifying 180mph chase' on his motorbike, vaulted out of the dock and ran out of the fourth-floor courtroom but was apprehended by security guards before he could exit the building.

The 19-year-old made his desperate dash for freedom seconds after hearing he would spend 46 weeks in prison.

Just five months later at Wood Green Crown Court, Nathan Oloyowang, 22, clambered out of the dock and ran for the exit after being sentenced to 10 months in prison.

Oloyowang broke through a Perspex screen and injured a security guard's hand in the process of escaping. He was re-captured by Met Police nine days later on 30 June in Harrow.

Marian Vasilica Dragoi (left) and Nathan Oloyowang (right): Two dangerous drivers who escaped court docks at Wood Green Crown Court five months apart

Wood Green Crown Court: the scene of at least two courtroom break outs in 2021

A spokesperson for the MoJ said: 'We are committed to keeping our courts, and all those that use them, secure and safe.

'Additionally, in 2020/21 there was a significant increase in expenditure as the priority for HMCTS was recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

'We have adjusted court rooms to hold Covid-secure trials, moved to virtual hearings where possible and opened Nightingale courts to create additional court rooms as part of a package of measures to increase available capacity and adhere to governments policy of social distancing.

'The spend to secure docks in relation to Covid-19 measures amounted to 2,033,168.'
The jury in the Ghislaine Maxwell case has ended its fourth day of deliberation without a verdict.

And in a surprise move, Judge Alison Nathan has urged the jurors to stay an hour later each day going forward, ending the sessions at 6pm instead of promptly at 5.

The instruction came on the first day of a short week between Christmas and New Year where the jury will deliberate Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before going off again until the following Monday.

Maxwell's lawyer Laura Menninger had argued that giving the jury such an instruction was 'beginning to seem like urging them to hurry up.'

Prosecutor Alison Moe said that it was 'within the court's discretion' to ask the jury to stay longer.

Judge Nathan initially told Menninger that 'I have the discretion to set the schedule and I can do it over your objection.'

She later said she would add the qualifier to the jury that they should take all the time they needed.

The jury has now deliberated for 24 hours and 40 minutes, or just over three days.

The jury in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial have finished a fourth day of deliberations Monday after returning from Christmas break

The jury of six men and six women (seen in a court sketch Tuesday) went home for the holidays after the third day of deliberations

There was also intense legal debate around a note from the jury which asked whether or not they could convict Maxwell on one of the counts related to Jane if they thought Maxwell aided in arranging her flight home from New Mexico.

Prosecutors wanted to refer the jury to their instructions while Maxwell's lawyers argued that the answer should be no.

Judge Nathan said that the note was 'ambiguous' and told the court: 'I don't know what the question means, it's too difficult to parse factually and legally'.

She referred the jury to the relevant part of the instructions she had read out before they began their deliberations.

Earlier in the afternoon the jury sent notes asking for transcripts of testimony from Epstein's former pilot Dave Rodgers and Gregory Parkinson, the former Palm Beach police officer who recorded the video of the raid on Epstein's house in 2005.

Earlier in the day the jury asked for a transcript of the testimony from one accuser's boyfriend and stationary supplies as they began their fourth day of deliberations.

An hour and a half after starting on Monday the jury sent a note asking for different colored Post-it notes, a white paper board and highlighters in different colors.

The jury also asked for the testimony of Matt, the boyfriend of the accuser Jane, who corroborated her account of being recruited and abused by Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein aged 14.

The jurors also asked for a definition of enticement - one of the two charges that relate to Jane include Maxwell enticing her to be sexually abusing by Epstein.

After taking questions from Maxwell's lawyers and the prosecution, Judge Alison Nathan directed the jury to two parts of the jury instructions for a definition of enticement.

She gave them the additional instruction that it could mean: 'Attracting, inducing or luring using hope or desire.'

Earlier in the day the jury asked for a transcript of the testimony from one accuser's boyfriend and stationary supplies as they began their fourth day of deliberations

After taking questions from Maxwell's lawyers and the prosecution, Judge Alison Nathan directed the jury to two parts of the jury instructions for a definition of enticement. She gave them the additional instruction that it could mean: 'Attracting, inducing or luring using hope or desire'

They also asked for a definition of enticement - one of the two charges which relate to Jane is Maxwell enticing her to be sexually abusing by Epstein

Maxwell walked into court looking relaxed having spent Christmas - also her 60th birthday - in prison.

She wore a light brown turtleneck sweater and a black mask and hugged her lawyers one by one as her sister Isabel sat in the public gallery.

Maxwell's lawyer Jeff Pagliuca told Maxwell: 'Happy birthday and happy Christmas'.

Her lawyer Bobbi Sternheim requested that Maxwell be allowed to wear a KN95 mask at all times and not just in court - Maxwell had a different mask on in her holding cell.

Judge Nathan said anyone entering the courthouse had to wear a KN95 or and N95 in the courthouse, as per a ruling that took effect on Monday and required all visitors to wear such masks due to the rise in coronavirus cases.

The jury of six men and six women ended their first week of deliberations Wednesday without reaching a verdict forcing the British socialite to spend Christmas behind bars.

Maxwell, who is facing 80 years in prison if convicted, has been in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which she's described as a 'hell hole', since her arrest in July 2020.

Jurors began weighing her fate on Monday last week after hearing closing arguments in the three-week trial, and deliberated for two full days before going home for the holidays.

Isabel Maxwell, Ghislaine's sister, is seen entering court for Day 4 of deliberations after the long holiday break

In this courtroom sketch, Maxwell, center, hugs her defense attorney, Laura Menninger, immediately after walking out of lock-up Monday

On Wednesday the jury sent one note requesting three transcripts, but failed to come to a decision.

The jury will sit this week through Wednesday and if there no verdict by then it will have to continue its deliberations next week. The court will be closed Thursday and Friday for the New Year holiday.

Maxwell has maintained her innocence and her lawyers have bashed her accusers as having false memory and being motivated by money.

In legal filings earlier this year, Maxwell claimed her treatment in prison is so bad it would be 'fit for Hannibal Lecter'.

But they are not appropriate for a '59-year old woman who poses no threat to anyone', Maxwell's lawyers claimed.

A bruised Ghislaine Maxwell is seen in this photo of her alleged mistreatment in prison

At one point, Maxwell 'barricaded' herself in the video conference room in prison with a cart of legal documents, prosecutors claimed and was deemed a 'security threat' by blocking the door and preventing guards from accessing the room.

Judge Alison Nathan told the jury to be 'safe' over the Christmas break due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

She said she wanted them back 'healthy' on Monday when everyone attending the court in New York will have to wear N95 or KN95 masks to enter the building.

Near the end of Wednesday the jury asked for another copy of the transcript of the accuser known as Jane's testimony.

They also asked for the testimony of Kate, another accuser, and Epstein's former Palm Beach House manager Juan Alessi.

Given the option to deliberate on Thursday the jury said no because they had 'made plans', they said in a note.

Before today's session, the jury of six men and six women had deliberated for 16 hours and 20 minutes.

Maxwell, 60, denies six counts of recruiting and transporting underage girls for her former boyfriend Jeffrey Epstein.

On Tuesday - the second day of deliberation - the jurors appeared to be zeroing on two accusers.

Pictured: The Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) where Ghislaine Maxwell is being held

They deliberated for the whole day Tuesday and sent four notes to the judge including one which related to Annie Farmer, the only accuser publicly identified in court.

They wanted to know if they could use her testimony for two counts of conspiracy to entice and transport an underage girl to engage in sex acts.

Judge Nathan said she would tell them that they could.

Earlier the jury asked to see notes of an FBI interview that Carolyn gave in 2007, the first time she spoke to law enforcement about being abused by Epstein.

Judge Nathan said that it had not been entered in evidence so they could not see it.

However the jury could refer to its mention in Carolyn's cross examination by the defense.

Defense attorney Menninger said that Epstein was a 'master manipulator' who 'abused his money and his power' but said Ghislaine had nothing to do with it

Four of Maxwell's siblings - Kevin, Isabel, Ian and Christine - arrived to court to support their sister Monday

At 10.10am after just over an hour of deliberating on Tuesday the jury sent its first note.

Judge Nathan said the jury were asking for the transcripts of testimony from Jane, Annie and Carolyn - but did not mention Kate.

The charges against Ghislaine Maxwell Count One: Conspiracy to entice a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts Maximum sentence: Five years Accusers: Jane, Carolyn and Annie Count Two: Enticing a minor to travel to engage in illegal sex acts Maximum sentence: Five years Accuser: Jane Count Three: Conspiracy to transport a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, Maximum sentence: Five years in prison Accusers: Jane, Carolyn and Annie Farmer Count Four: transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. Maximum sentence: 10 years in prison Accuser: Jane Count Five: Conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors. Maximum: Five years in prison Accusers: Carolyn and Virginia Count Six: Sex trafficking of minors. Maximum sentence: 40 years in prison Accuser: Carolyn Advertisement

Kate is the only accuser whose claims should not be considered crimes as charged in the indictment.

The jury were not brought out and Judge Nathan said she would give them the transcripts in the deliberation room.

Maxwell walked into court wearing a black turtleneck sweat and black pants while holding a green folder.

She hugged her lawyers and waved at a young woman in the public gallery.

Maxwell's defense delivered closing arguments Monday afternoon, telling the jury that she is 'an innocent woman wrongfully accused of crimes she did not commit.'

In her closing remarks, Maxwell's lawyer Laura Menninger said: 'The government has failed to prove any charge beyond a reasonable doubt and the only correct verdict in this case is not guilty on each count.'

The defense again attempted to discredit the accounts of the four accusers, as Menninger stated, 'The evidence has established what we told you it would, that the stories relied on by the government are erroneous memories, manipulation and money. But in this case the order is reversed. The money brought the accusers to the FBI where their personal injury lawyers sat right there.'

As for how Maxwell was portrayed, Menninger said that she had been made to look like 'Cruella de Vil and the Devil Wears Prada all wrapped up into one'.

Such a portrait was 'as old as Hollywood', Menninger said.

Menninger said, 'The lawyers manipulated their stories and the government accepted their stories without ever corroborating them.'

Menninger said that 'suddenly' the accusers 'recovered memories years later.'

She said: 'The recovered memories that Ghislaine was involved, that Ghislaine was there, that Ghislaine was the culprit.'

Menninger said that the prosecution spent a lot of time talking about Epstein's lifestyle, about his wealth and his property and his private planes 'just like a sensationalist tabloid would'.

The couple appear in one photo in what appears to be a European city. Ghislaine is seen kissing Jeffrey Epstein on the cheek

Members of the prosecution team at the Ghislaine Maxwell trial walk out of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse with boxes of papers as the jury deliberates

Menninger said that Epstein was a 'master manipulator' who 'abused his money and his power'.

She said: 'We are not here to defend Jeffrey Epstein, he is not my client', but she added: 'Ghislaine Maxwell is not Jeffrey Epstein'.

Menninger claimed that when Epstein died the prosecution 'pivoted' to going after Maxwell.

The idea was that 'Ghislaine was there, she must have known.'

Menninger criticized prosecutors for showing the jury dozens of photos out of 38,000 seized from Epstein's New York home in 2019.

She said: Where are the other 31,960 photos? Who was in those photos? Was it other girlfriends? Other women?

Nor should the jury draw any inference from Epstein keeping photos of Maxwell. Menninger asked the jury that if an ex boyfriend or girlfriend had photos of them, would that make them a 'sex offender'?

Menninger condemned the use of such images as 'straight up sensationalism.'
Dramatic police bodycam footage captured the moment a domestic abuse suspect shot and wounded two Kansas officers on Christmas Eve before the trapped suspect turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger, cops said.

Malik Rogers, 24, who was on parole for previous felony convictions for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault, fired at the cops after he barricaded himself in the bathroom of his home in Wichita, according to the video.

Earlier that day, Rogers had shown up at the home of his 22-year-old girlfriend uninvited and tried to get in through a window before a 3-year-old child let him into the residence on the 500 block of S. Lulu Street, police said.

She called police at around 11:30 pm to the restaurant where she worked and told them Rogers had entered her home without permission, punched her and threatened her with a gun.

The frightened woman also told cops he attacked her the previous day, grabbing her by the neck and physically assaulting her, before telling them where he lived.

The cops then went to the 2600 block of S. Emporia Street to 'verbally negotiate to convince him to submit to an arrest' for 10 to 15 minutes, said Wichita Police Captain Jason Stephens. But Rogers refused.

Malik Rogers, 24, is pictured on a still from police body camera footage before he shot one Wichita Police Department officer in the right arm and another in the upper right leg

Rogers (pictured) was on parole for second-degree attempted murder and aggravated assault

He was much bigger than the two responding officers, Stephens said, and was able to retreat into his bathroom and barricade himself even after he was shocked with a taser gun.

'The officers knew going to that residence, that he was on parole, that he had committed a violent offense with a gun in the previous day,' Stephens said.

They continued trying to negotiate with the man before things got physical.

'One of the officers immediately forced entry into the bathroom door and was confronted by Malik Rogers, who was pointing a gun at them,' Stephens said.

'Mr. Rogers discharged that firearm at the officers two times, hitting one of the officers in the right arm and the other officer in the upper right leg.'

Police vehicles are pictured outside Rogers home early on Christmas morning

Crisis negotiators reasoned with Rogers for nearly an hour before they heard a single gunshot from inside his apartment

Wichita Police Captain Jason Stephens (pictured) detailed the altercation later on Christmas Day

The two officers retreated and a SWAT team was called. Crisis negotiators attempted to coax Rogers out of the home for about an hour before a single gunshot was heard from within the apartment.

Around the same time, police became aware of a livestream Rogers had been carrying out on social media in which he described his attack on the two officers and held his weapon.

Rogers was out on parole after serving time for attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault for stabbing a 23-year-old man in 2017, according to the Wichita Eagle.

Before entering the apartment again, a robot with a camera was deployed into the home, according to the paper, and authorities saw that Rogers was unresponsive. Police raced into the house, but were unable to save Rogers, who had shot himself, police said.

Wichita Police Chief Gordon Ramsay urged residents to pray for the two injured officers on Facebook

Neither officer fired any shots, Stephens said, and both were treated for non life-threatening injuries at the hospital. Both had been with the department for under a year.

'Please pray for them and their families as we deal with this terrible incident on Christmas day,' Police Chief Gordon Ramsay wrote in a Facebook post.

'This tragic incident highlights the dangers police officers face as they work to keep our community safe.'
Clive Dix said the durable cellular immunity response produced by the AZ jab can potentially 'last for life'

Britain's use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine in vulnerable people may be behind the country's lower death toll compared to Europe in recent months, according to the former boss of No10's vaccine taskforce.

Clive Dix claimed the durable cellular immunity response produced by the UK-made jab can potentially 'last for life'.

The vaccine was approved towards the end of December 2020, and jabs were initially rolled out among the older and the most vulnerable in society.

Mr Dix told The Daily Telegraph: 'If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there's also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK, and we have to understand that.

'I personally believe that's because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.'

Mr Dix told the newspaper: 'We've seen early data that the Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you've got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time.

'It can last for life in some cases.'

AstraZeneca has faced both praise and criticism during the pandemic, with its Covid jab hailed as being one of the first on the market and for its low cost in comparison to other jabs.

Its rollout in the UK saw Government advisers recommend that under-40s be offered alternatives due to evidence it may be linked to very rare blood clots.

Britain is currently recording 1.7 Covid deaths per million people each day, according to an Oxford University-run data site. By comparison, the equivalent figures in France and Germany stand between 2.5 and 3.5, even though the UK is recording thousands more cases each day

The rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab in the UK saw Government advisers recommending under-40s should be offered alternatives due to evidence it may be linked to very rare blood clots

Fears over links to blood clots also saw some European countries pause their use of the jab.

French President Emmanuel Macron was accused of politicising the rollout of the jab in January.

He labelled it 'quasi-effective' for people over 65, and claimed the UK had rushed its approval in what some described as Brexit bitterness.

Germany's ex-chancellor Angela Merkel also added to initial doubts over the vaccine.

She stated in February that she would not get it because her country's own regulator infamously recommended at the time that over-65s should not have the jab.

Although AstraZeneca's vaccine was eventually reapproved for older people in major EU economies, the reputational damage drove up vaccine hesitancy and led to many elderly Europeans demanding they be vaccinated with Pfizer's jab.

Some, such as Denmark and Norway, stopped using AZ for good.

The AstraZeneca jab was famously made not-for-profit with the intent of making the vaccine as accessible as possible for the world at a time when the pandemic had a death-grip on the planet.

Studies have shown that AstraZeneca's jab, which uses a more traditional vaccine technology, produces a greater T-cell response compared to mRNA jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna, which have been favoured in Europe.

T-cells, which are more difficult to measure than antibodies, are thought to provide longer-lasting protection.

Britain is currently recording 1.7 Covid deaths per million people each day, according to an Oxford University-run data site.

By comparison, the equivalent figures in France and Germany stand between 2.5 and 3.5, even though the UK is recording thousands more cases each day.
Calls are growing for changes to Covid-19 self-isolation rules as businesses and hospitals face a staff shortage crisis.

Under current rules in most Australian states, close contacts of a Covid case have to isolate for seven days even if they test negative.

The rules put about 2,000 healthcare workers out of action in NSW alone, leading to staff shortages at hospitals, aged care centres, and GP clinics.

Hospitality venues have reported struggles to get enough staff due to close contact isolation. Pictured: A cafe in Sydney's Bondi last week

Businesses including restaurants, bars and cafes are also struggling with staff amid the rapid spread of the more infectious Omicron variant.

NSW recorded 6,324 new cases on Monday while Victoria detected 1,999 new infections.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he was in discussions about changing the isolation requirements for health staff because the shortages were becoming more unsafe than the risk of extra Covid spread.

'I'm certainly in deep conversation over probably the last week... about whether or not it's viable to have staff coming back sooner,' he said.

'If you're erring on the side of caution, it would certainly be an area that you could say ''probably this would be a safer option than having no staff''.'

The rules for the general population could be eased in the New Year.

Staff are seen arriving at RPA Hospital in Camperdown. There are calls to reduce Covid isolation testing requirements

Virus experts also backed calls for changes, including UNSW Professor Louise Mary-McLaws, who said daily rapid antigen tests for close contacts could be an alternative.

'Given that the taxpayer has been paying for PCR tests, the taxpayer needs to support (rapid antigen tests),' she said.

'Everybody should be given at least seven a week and for free... If you want to use more, go ahead and buy them yourself.'

ANU infectious diseases expert Sanjaya Senanayake also said the huge volume of cases being recorded means politicians have to re-think testing and isolation requirements.

'We had 6,500 cases yesterday in NSW. That means we've got about 60,000 to 120,000 contacts to trace within 48 hours. That's not feasible. Yeah. We have to think differently,' he told Nine News on Monday.

In the UK - which recorded 122,186 new Covid cases on Friday - vaccinated close contacts do not have to isolate but are advised to conduct rapid tests every day for seven days.

The Victorian Government placed a large order for rapid tests and is considering removing the PCR testing and isolation requirements for certain types of contacts to ease pressure on testing centres and labs.

Under the plan, household contacts and people with symptoms would still need PCR tests, according to The Age.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said Australia should adopt a more relaxed model for close contacts to help ailing businesses.

'While multiple PCR testing stays in place for internal travel and while many jurisdictions have such broad definitions of close contacts, Australians and our economy will remain hobbled by Covid overreactions,' he said.

Testing queues have blown out to several hours long in Sydney, partly due to travel testing requirements. Pictured: Testing in Bondi, eastern Sydney

The close contact regime led to disaster on Christmas Eve when Jetstar and Virgin cancelled about 120 domestic flights due to staff shortages, ruining Christmas for thousands of families.

Planes were grounded as airline staff got caught up as close contacts and also had to wait days to get the all clear to return to work.

Hundreds of Jetstar and Virgin passengers suddenly found their holiday plans in dire straits as they were notified late on Thursday night of the mass cancellations, with dozens of flights scrapped between Sydney and Melbourne.

Last week, Health Minister Greg Hunt announced earlier booster shots to tackle Omicron.

From January 4, boosters will be brought forward to four months after the second dose, down from five months.

Then from January 31, people can get boosters after three months.

About 7.5 million Australians will be eligible for their booster shot come January 4.

This will jump to 16 million at the end of the month once the time frame is dropped to three months.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese used their Christmas messages to thank Australians for standing together and supporting each other during the pandemic.

'This pandemic continues to buffet us (but) Christmas is a time of hope and we are an optimistic people,' Mr Morrison said.

Mr Albanese said Australians deserved to have a happy Christmas after a challenging two years.

'With our borders opening up again, we're getting back together. Off the Zoom and actually back in the room with family, friends and loved ones,' he said.
The first major study into Omicron in Australia has revealed the new variant is responsible for very few hospitalisations and the majority of those are unvaccinated.

NSW Health released data on who is actually sick with Covid even as cases surge, finding Delta is responsible for most of the state's severe cases.

Most of the patients being treated in intensive care are unvaccinated, many with underlying health conditions.

Only one patient has died with Omicron in Australia, a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions who caught it in his Sydney nursing home.

He was one of three people to died after contracting the virus overnight, NSW Health announced on Monday morning.

The first major study into Omicron in Australia has revealed the new variant is responsible for very few hospitalisations and the majority of those are unvaccinated

There are 52 people in ICU, 34 of whom are unvaccinated. That rose slightly to 55 by Monday morning.

All but a handful of these patients are infected with the Delta variant rather than the new Omicron strain, which early studies indicate is less severe.

'Everybody in NSW is probably going to get Omicron at some stage. Everyone in Australia,' NSW Health minister Brad Hazzard said.

'From early indications NSW Health believe the majority of ICU Covid patients have the Delta variant. Health are seeking to confirm this through additional tests.'

Despite another 6,324 new infections on Monday, officials encouraged people to live life normally as studies indicate Omicron isn't as serious as its predecessors.

Booster shots will be rolled out in Australia en masse from 2022 but new information on Omicron suggests the variant is significantly less severe than Delta

Covid hospital admissions in London  Britain's Omicron ground zero  are within touching distance of the government's threshold for introducing lockdown across the country.

Latest NHS data shows there were 386 new admissions for the virus in the capital on December 22, marking a 92 per cent rise on the figure last week.

Covid hospitalisations are now doubling roughly every 10 days - though they are still a far cry from the 850 at the peak last January.

Figures from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre, which covers units in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, show that between May and November the rate of admission for vaccinated Covid sufferers in their 60s was just 0.6 cases per 100,000 people per week.

But among people of the same age who remained unvaccinated, the rate was 37.3 per 100,000 per week  equating to a relative risk about 60 times higher.

According to NSW Health there are currently 52 people in ICU, 34 of which are unvaccinated

There are 2,000 healthcare staff who are unable to work because they are either infected with the virus or isolating awaiting test results.

Covid patients need to be cleared by a medical professional before leaving isolation, but Mr Hazzard said Australians could manage it with rapid antigen tests, plenty of fluids, and paracetamol.

Mr Hazzard also pleaded with Australians to only get a PCR test if they had symptoms or were directed to as a close contact, and instead to use rapid antigen.

He said the time delay at overwhelmed clinics meant results would take so long, residents could catch the virus between testing and getting results.

'If you have a test today and then you are visiting Aunty Mabel in three or four days, it may well be that by then, you are positive,' he said.

'A far simpler, far quicker measure would be simply to be get a rapid antigen test preferably half an hour or an hour beforehand.

Hospitality venues have reported struggles to get enough staff due to close contact isolation. Pictured: A cafe in Sydney's Bondi last week

'If you're not particularly sick, you probably don't need to be doing very much except probably taking some Panadol if you've got a temperature and making sure you're drinking plenty of fluids.'

Free rapid tests will be rolled out from 2022 onwards at the NSW government looks to normalise living with the virus.

'Take personal responsibility, socially distance, follow the rules that are in place  but we are about instilling confidence in our people, confidence has been key,' Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

'Whether that's consumer confidence, business confidence.

'We are going to get through it let's not look at the negative, let's look at the positive.'

It comes as calls are growing for changes to Covid-19 self-isolation rules as businesses and hospitals face a staff shortage crisis.

Under current rules in most Australian states, close contacts of a Covid case have to isolate for seven days even if they test negative.

The rules put about 2,000 healthcare workers out of action in NSW alone, leading to staff shortages at hospitals, aged care centres, and GP clinics.

Businesses including restaurants, bars and cafes are also struggling with staff amid the rapid spread of the more infectious Omicron variant.

NSW recorded 6,324 new cases on Monday while Victoria detected 1,999 new infections.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said he was in discussions about changing the isolation requirements for health staff because the shortages were becoming more unsafe than the risk of extra Covid spread.

'I'm certainly in deep conversation over probably the last week... about whether or not it's viable to have staff coming back sooner,' he said.

'If you're erring on the side of caution, it would certainly be an area that you could say ''probably this would be a safer option than having no staff''.'

The rules for the general population could be eased in the New Year.

Virus experts also backed calls for changes, including UNSW Professor Louise Mary-McLaws, who said daily rapid antigen tests for close contacts could be an alternative.

Staff are seen arriving at RPA Hospital in Camperdown. There are calls to reduce Covid isolation testing requirements

'Given that the taxpayer has been paying for PCR tests, the taxpayer needs to support (rapid antigen tests),' she said.

'Everybody should be given at least seven a week and for free... If you want to use more, go ahead and buy them yourself.'

ANU infectious diseases expert Sanjaya Senanayake also said the huge volume of cases being recorded means politicians have to re-think testing and isolation requirements.

'We had 6,500 cases yesterday in NSW. That means we've got about 60,000 to 120,000 contacts to trace within 48 hours. That's not feasible. Yeah. We have to think differently,' he told Nine News on Monday.

In the UK - which recorded 122,186 new Covid cases on Friday - vaccinated close contacts do not have to isolate but are advised to conduct rapid tests every day for seven days.

The Victorian Government placed a large order for rapid tests and is considering removing the PCR testing and isolation requirements for certain types of contacts to ease pressure on testing centres and labs.
Richard 'Dick' Marcinko (pictured), the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six died Sunday, aged 81

The first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six - the US military's vaunted counter-terrorism unit that would hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden - died on Christmas night at age 81.

Richard 'Dick' Marcinko was tasked with designing the counter-terrorist team after the Iran hostage crisis in 1979.

Marcinko, along with another Navy representative, was on a task force to help free the American hostages in Iran, but were unsuccessful.

The mission, known as Operation Eagle Claw, highlighted deficiencies within the US military command structure and revealed the need for a full-time counter-terrorist team.

Marcinko launched the United States' third SEAL team in August 1980, calling it SEAL Team Six in order to fool the Soviet Union's KGB into thinking there were three other SEAL teams they didn't know about.

He hand-picked members from existing SEAL teams and Underwater Demolition Teams for the unit, which he commanded until July 1983.

SEAL Team Six later carried out Operation Neptune Spear in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and successfully killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May 2011. Bin Laden was the architect of the 9/11 attacks - during which 2,977 people lost their lives after four planes were hijacked and two were flown into the World Trade Center in New York City - and one of the most wanted terrorist in US history.

Despite his successes, the commander ended up serving 15 months in jail after he allegedly conspired with an Arizona arms dealer to receive $100,000 for securing a government handgun contract. Marcinko denied the charges, claiming it was a 'witch-hunt' by the Navy's highest ranking officers who he embarrassed by exposing vulnerabilities within their units.

The National Navy UDT SEAL Museum, which confirmed his death Sunday afternoon on Facebook, said Marcinko played a 'very unique part in SEAL history, leaving a legacy like no other' and is remembered as the 'premier counterterrorism operator' in the US. The museum has issued condolences to his loved ones.

Marcinko's cause of death remains unknown at this time.

Marcinko (pictured) was tasked with designing the counter-terrorist team after the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. The mission, Operation Eagle Claw, highlighted deficiencies within the US military command structure and revealed the need for a full-time counter-terrorist team

Marcinko enlisted in the US Navy in 1958 and served two tours in Vietnam, working his way up the ranks to commander. He won 34 citations and medals including the Silver Star, four bronze starts with combat V, two Navy Commendation Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star (Pictured: US Navy Special Warfare insignia)

His son, Matt Marcinko, posted a tribute to his father on Twitter after he died.

He included photos from his childhood where he was seen playing and walking the beach with his dad.

'Last night, Christmas evening, we lost a hero, who's also known as The Rogue Warrior, the retired Navy SEAL commander AND the creator of SEAL Team Six, my father, Richard Marcinko,' Matt tweeted.

'His legacy will live forever. The man has died a true legend. Rest In Peace Dad. I love you forever.'

Marcinko's son, Matt Marcinko, posted a tribute to his father on Twitter announcing his death

The post included several photos from his childhood, including one of the father-son duo playing at the beach

Marcinko, also known as 'Demo Dick,' was born in Lansford, Pennsylvania to a family of Slovak and Roman descent.

His family move to New Brunswick, New Jersey where he attended high school, according to Quad Cities Daily. He dropped out of high school when he was 18 and tried to join the military.

Marcinko initially tried to join the Marine Corps but was rejected because he did not graduate from high school.

He successfully enlisted in the US Navy in September 1958 with the classification of Radioman. He was accepted to the Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) Class #26 in June 1961 and graduated in October of that year.

The young military member continued his training after being accepted into Officer Candidate School. He graduated in December 1965 and was commissioned as an Ensign.

Marcinko dropped out of high school when he was 18 and tried to join the military. He initially tried to join the Marine Corps but was rejected because he did not graduate from high school. He successfully enlisted in the US Navy in September 1958 with the classification of Radioman

He remained focused on his education, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations from Auburn University in Alabama and a Masters of Arts Degree in Political Science from the US Navy Post Graduate School.

He was deployed to Vietnam in January 1967 and assigned to then assigned to SEAL Team Two in May.

Marcinko served two tours in Vietnam, working his way up the ranks to commander.

He won 34 citations and medals including the Silver Star, four bronze starts with combat V, two Navy Commendation Medals and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star, according to NavySeals.com.

'The SEALs who knew Dick Marcinko will remember him as imaginative and bold, a warrior at heart,' retired SEAL Adm. Eric Olson, who commanded Special Operations Command from 2007 to 2011, told the Navy Times in wake of his death.

'He was a spirited rogue for sure, but we are better off for his unconventional service.'

The National Navy UDT SEAL Museum, which confirmed his death Sunday afternoon on Facebook, said Marcinko played a 'very unique part in SEAL history, leaving a legacy like no other' and is remembered as the 'premier counterterrorism operator' in the US

The commander prides himself at being 'good at war,' as he once told People magazine.

'Even in Vietnam, the system kept me from hunting and killing as many of the enemy as I would have liked,' Marcinko shared.

As a platoon leader in Vietnam, Marcinko and SEAL Team Two were so successful the North Vietnamese Army placed a 50,000 piastre bounty on his head, payable to anyone who could prove they killed him.

Marcinko's May 18, 1967 assault on Ilo Ilo Island has since been recognized as the most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta, WeAreTheMighty.com reported.

During the operation Marcinko and his men killed a large number of Viet Cong soldiers and destroyed six of their sampan boats.

While on his second tour, Marcinko ordered his platoon to assist the US Army Special Forces during the Tet Offensive at Chau Doc in an effort to rescue American nurses and a schoolteacher trapped in the city.

The SEAL team rescued the trapped personnel as an 'all-out urban brawl' raged around them.

Despite his successes, Marcinko (pictured) ended up serving 15 months in jail after he allegedly conspired with an Arizona arms dealer to receive $100,000 for securing a government handgun contract. Marcinko denied the charges, claiming it was a 'witch-hunt' by top ranking Navy officers who he embarrassed by exposing vulnerabilities within their units

'In Vietnam, I'd discovered who could kill and who couldn't in combat,' Marcinko wrote in his book, Rogue Warrior.

'Less than half of SEAL Team Six had ever been in combat. So there was only one way to find out who'd pull the trigger, and who'd freeze  which was to play this thing out and see who did his job and who didn't.'

The commander claims Navy SEALS were in high demand during the Vietnam War, noting there were 'no jumps or free falls'.

Marcinko said he preferred to use local boats to penetrate enemy lines in an effort to prevent them from recognizing the sounds of American boats.

During an interview with SOFREP made public in 2019, Marcinko shared that he wasn't prepared when he got his 'first taste of urban combat.'

He said he was underprepared to go from fighting in to the jungle to in the city during the fall of Saigon.

'Here we are in camouflage gear, faces painted, just came off patrol, running around the capitol city in commandeered Jeeps with 50 calibers on, shooting rooftop to rooftop,' Marcinko said.

'It was my first taste of real urban warfare that I wasn't ready for with the ricoches and going through doors and windows. But that certainly set the stage that we weren't doing enough damage.'

The commander claims Navy SEALS were in high demand during the Vietnam War, noting there were 'no jumps or free falls'

During an interview with SOFREP made public in 2019, Marcinko shared that he wasn't prepared when he got his 'first taste of urban combat.' He said he was underprepared to go from fighting in to the jungle to in the city during the fall of Saigon

He continued: 'If you look at the body count of SEALs versus VC or NVA it certainly is a big hit. You know, you crank out SEALs fast, you win a lot of wars that way, but they certainly had a lot more numbers coming down the trail - they had it set up that they could last a lot longer.'

The commander explained how he had several close calls while fighting, but managed to stay alive.

'I don't have any purple heartsI always got the other guy first!' he said.

Marcinko was also tasked by Vice Admiral James Lyons to create an operation team that could infiltrate an area and leave without any notice.

He created the Naval Security Coordination Team OP-06D, also known as Red Cell, which was trained to break into secure areas, nuclear submarines, Navy ships and even Air Force One. The team was comprised of 13 men, 12 of whom were from SEAL Team Six and one from the Marine Force Recon.

Near the end of his career, he was involved in what the Navy termed a 'kickback scandal'. They alleged Marcinko conspired with an Arizona arms dealer to receive $100,000 if he secured a government contract for hand grenades.

Marcinko claimed the charge was the 'result of a witch-hunt' and 'blowback for exposing so many vulnerabilities' in the Navy.

He was sentenced to 21 months in jail over the 'kickback scandal,' of which he served 15 months.

Marcinko co-founded FUBAR Silver Tequila which is known for being a 'solid, bold, sweet and fruity tequila'

A video game, titled Rogue Warrior, was designed after his life and military career

Action figures were also made in his likeness

After retiring from the Navy, Marcinko became CEO of a private security firm.

He authored a collection of books, an autobiography and the four-month New York Times business bestseller Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior: A Commando's Guide to Success.

He also founded Richard Marcinko Inc., a motivational training and team-building company, and Red Cell International, Inc., which conducts vulnerability assessments of high-value properties and high-risk targets.

A video game, titled Rogue Warrior, was designed after his life and military career. Action figures were also made in his likeness.

He also co-founded FUBAR Silver Tequila which is known for being a 'solid, bold, sweet and fruity tequila'.

The brand, keeping with Marcinko's military background, often promotes the product with images of pretty women dressed in camouflage, LongIslandTequila.com reported. Sometimes the models are seen hanging out with Marcinko and co-founder George Harris.

FUBAR has also used camouflage packaging on its bottles.
Dino Tomasetti, 29, is being held at the Bergen County Jail after allegedly shooting his parents at their sprawling Long Island home on Christmas morning

The bodybuilding-crazed son of a family that helped shape New York City's skyline appeared stone-faced in his mugshot after he was arrested for allegedly shooting his parents at their sprawling $3.2million Long Island estate on Christmas morning.

Construction magnate Rocco Tomassetti, 65, and wife Vinceta Marsicano-Tomassetti, were shot inside their 8,751-square foot mansion in Hewlett Harbor at around 10am.

Their 29-year-old son Dino Tomassetti allegedly fled the scene in a Cadillac Escalade, which Nassau County police were able to track via GPS after a neighbor reported a 'disturbance' at the family's house. The Tommassettis' mob ties have also been revealed in the wake of their son's arrest.

As cops chased Dino into New Jersey, they contacted the Mahwah Police Department for assistance in arresting him.

Dino is now being held at the Bergen County Jail pending an extradition hearing, according to the Daily Voice. He is charged as a fugitive from justice.

The severity of the charges that he will face in Nassau County will depend on the respective condition of his parents, who have both undergone surgery for their wounds.

Sources told the Daily Voice Vincenza was shot in the head and Rocco was shot in the back. Rocco remains in serious condition.

Both were conscious when they were found inside their home, according to the Long Island Herald, and were rushed by county police ambulance to a local hospital. They are both expected to survive, the Herald reports.

Dino works as a bodybuilder in Brooklyn. He is now waiting extradition back to Long Island

Construction magnate Rocco Tomassetti, 65, and wife Vinceta Marsicano-Tomassettti, 64, were shot inside their 8,751-square foot mansion in Hewlett Harbor on Christmas morning

The family's sprawling, $3.2million Long Island estate was surrounded by yellow tape Saturday

The Tomasetti family is part of a construction dynasty formed by the late Dino Tomassetti Sr., an Italian immigrant whose chain of Laquila companies helped shape New York City's skyline.

Their projects include the Goldman Sachs headquarters near Ground Zero, the Bank of America headquarters, condominiums and more. His son Rocco's Empire Transit Mix company provided the concrete for the Freedom Tower and his daughter's company helped develop the structure.

The family has previously faced indictments for their alleged mob ties, and their sprawling home on Long Island is now surrounded by yellow tape as police investigate the shooting in the exclusive South Shore community, which is in the 95th percentile for public safety.

His Instagram page, which remained up Sunday, was stacked with photos of himself lifting weights, flexing muscles, and occasionally traveling to more exotic parts of the world

In one photo, he's posing in a car, showing off a pricy Breitling watch. In another post, he boasts about his 240-pound physique

Tomassetti's social media is filled with photos of his ripped physique

Tomassetti allegedly fled shooting scene in a Cadillac Escalade

Dino works as a personal trainer in East Williamsburg in Brooklyn. His social media pages are filled with pictures of him flexing his bulging muscles.

His Instagram page, which remained up Sunday, was stacked with snaps of him lifting weights and occasionally traveling to more exotic parts of the world such as Paris and the Caribbean.

In one photo, he's posing in a car, showing off a pricey Breitling watch. In another post, he boasts about his 240-pound physique.

He writes that he is able to deadlift 725 pounds, 625 pounds in a squat and 550 pounds in the bench press.

Police have not yet released a motive for the shootings.

The investigation is continuing, police have said.

Police are seen investigating the shooting in Hewlett Harbor, which is in the 95th percentile for public safety

But the family has been embroiled in legal troubles in the past, with federal prosecutors claiming his late grandfather had ties to the mob.

Dino's grandfather, Dino Tomasetti Sr., is a legend in New York City, both for what he accomplished as a first-generation immigrant and for the scandals that he became embroiled in.

He owned construction company Laquila Group and had been linked by the feds to organized crime.

A 2006 New York Times profile detailed how Dino Sr. was once indicted for allegedly illegally making thousands of dollars in illegal payoffs to union brass over the span of a decade. The elder Dino denied the allegations.

But then in 1997 both Rocco and Dino Sr. were arrested for allegedly operating an illegal waste site next to their company's Brooklyn headquarters, the New York Times reported. That year, the company pleaded guilty to filing fake documents related to a project at Elmhurst Hospital Center in Queens.

'Laquila, which had a $2.5 million contract to build concrete decking for a new wing at the hospital, had secretly and illegally subcontracted the work to a second company for $1.4 million, enabling Laquila to collect a $1 million profit,' the Times reported. 'The scheme came to light after Laquila failed to pay the second company.'

In the same article, the outlet reported that the company was indicted for racketeering in 1987 for allegedly bribing local officials to let them illegally dump construction waste in New Jersey. The scheme was allegedly organized by a member of the Gambino crime family.

But the charges were dropped after Laquila agreed to pay a $25,000 fine.

In 2006, a scathing New York City Sanitation Department report rejected an application by Rocco and Dino Sr. to operate a waste business in the city, calling the pair 'unworthy' of obtaining a registration.

The request was denied because the applicants lacked 'good character, honesty, and integrity,' the report said.

Rocco's Empire Transit Mix company provided the concrete for the Freedom Tower and his daughter's company helped develop the structure, seen here

Laquila Construction Company, founded by Dino's late grandfather, built the Goldman Sachs headquarters near Ground Zero

Rocco and Vincenza have three children, including twins Rocco and Dino, and daughter Gina, 24.

Relatives of the family did not respond to DailyMail.com queries and a colleague of Rocco Sr. declined comment.

Meanwhile, friends and associates of the bodybuilder have expressed surprise and disbelief at the news, describing Dino Tomassetti as 'not violent at all' and 'a great guy'.

A woman outside Dino's building in East Williamsburg who identified herself as the suspect's 'best friend' told the NY Post that Dino was not violent.

'Nope. Not at all,' she said. 'He's my best friend. I really don't want to talk about it.'

A worker in the building said: 'I'm from the South Bronx. St happens every fking day, man. Not much I can do about it.

'He's a great guy, man. I wouldn't expect him to do something like that.'

One of the parents' neighbors said: 'They're very fine people. I can't say a bad word about them.'

'I feel sorry for them. What else can you think? I feel very sorry for them. I hope they survive and come out of this.'

The couple has three children, including twins Rocco and Dino, and daughter Gina, 24.

The couple's condition is unknown, as is the motive for the Christmas morning shooting
A 15-year-old boy jumped to his death from a cruise ship returning to Miami in an apparent suicide leap from the luxury liner after a five-day voyage to the Caribbean.

The unidentified teen leaped off the 16th deck of the brand-new 20-level MSC Seashore, hitting the eighth-floor deck before landing in the water, according to officials from the cruise line.

'A young man traveling with his family on board MSC Seashore appears to have died of suicide Wednesday evening. Our team immediately notified authorities and our care team is assisting the young mans family on board,' cruise officials said.

'All of us at MSC Cruises are heartbroken. The family remains in our thoughts and prayers.'

Passengers were alerted around 7.30 pm on Wednesday with three short blasts of the horn and a 'man overboard' alarm.

'We just had 3 emergency blasts following captains announcement "Man Overboard." People started running to the sides to investigate what happen, although it's nighttime,' a passenger on the ship told Crew Center.

'A crew member came to our cabin and instructed us to close the balcony door and draw the blinds. Police will board tomorrow when we return to Miami to investigate this tragic event.'

A video posted by a TikTok user on the cruise liner shows how dark the waters were the night that the unnamed 15-year-old leapt overboard from an MSC Seashore ship on Wednesday

The teen jumped from the 16th floor deck of the ship, hitting the 8th floor deck before falling into the water

Another passenger reacted to the 'man overboard' announcement in real time as she appeared to be filming an unrelated video

An emotional passenger whose YouTube username is 'Fancy CheapSkate' reacted in real-time to the alarm, running to look out her window with her mouth agape when a voice on the announcement system said that there was a 'man overboard port side.'

Panicked, she begins yelling 'man overboard' out the window, too.

'The ship is still moving. I was really hoping that it would come to a stop. I don't expect a ship this huge to come to a stop, on a dime," said the passenger.

'It would probably take some time, but I don't know what they're gonna do. If they're gonna send a lifeboat out for a search. I just feel like we're still moving. It just feels so wrong. It still feels like we're still going forward.'

Another passenger, TikTok user @AustinHamaway, also shared the announcement on his account. He briefly showed the dark waters outside the ship before entering the cruise liner's hallway.

'The guy that jumped off ended up not making it,' @AustinHamaway said in a follow up video, saying that his parents had spoken with the parents of the 15-year-old before the incident he would update viewers with further information.

@AustinHamaway shared the announcement on TikTok from the cruise liner's hallway

'The guy that jumped off ended up not making it,' the user said in a follow up video, saying that his parents had spoken with the parents of the 15-year-old before the incident.

After a long period of time sequestered in their rooms, passengers were told that there was 'no reason to be concerned,' and that the cruise was proceeding to Miami, where authorities would investigate the fatal incident.

The Seashore became the newest addition to the MSC fleet in November, and was returning to Miami after a five-day cruise to the Caribbean.

The tragic death was the second aboard a cruise ship this month.

On December 12, a woman in her 20s died after falling into the Pacific from the balcony of a Carnival cruise ship during a sailing from Long Beach to Mexico. Police believe the woman was pushed and the FBI is investigating.
Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court when she was just 26 years old died Sunday. She was 76.

Susan Hays, Weddington's former student and colleague, said she died in her sleep at her Austin home. Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.

Weddington's death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be the most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.

The trailblazer for women's rights also made history for being the youngest person to argue before the high court - at the time, the Justices were all male.

Born to a minister on February 5, 1945 in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas.

Attorney Sarah Weddington is pictured speaking during a women's rights rally on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, in Albany, N.Y. Weddington, who at 26 successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died in her home on Sunday

Weddington is pictured in 1972, when she became the youngest ever person to speak before the Supreme Court and argued the landmark Roe v. Wade case

Sarah Weddington, general counsel at the Agriculture Department, smiles during an interview at her office in Washington on August 31, 1978

Weddington is pictured in 2004, speaking to thousands of protestors at a pro-choice rally in Washington D.C.

Weddington is pictured receiving a sperm whale, the official Connecticut animal, after speaking at the Convention of the National Federation of Democratic Women in 1980

Weddington holds honorary doctorates from McMurry University, Hamilton College, Austin College, Southwestern University and Nova Southeastern University. She kept a bound copy of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision her Austin office, according to the Dallas Morning News.

A couple years after graduating, she and a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.

She had been among only five women out of a class of 1,600 to graduate with a law degree from the University of Texas in 1967.

The case of 'Jane Roe,' whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.

Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

She met her husband Ron in 1968 while she was attending law school, and her own decision to terminate a pregnancy to focus on her schooling played a large role in her decision to represent McCorvey and her involvement in women's rights, according to the Morning News.

She and Ron divorced later in her life, and she did not remarry or have children.

While Roe v. Wade was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives, saying that she 'thought [she] ought to run for the legislature because at least that way [she would] be where I could change the [abortion] law in Texas,' according to the Weddington Center.

She was elected in 1972 and served three terms as a state lawmaker, becoming the first woman to serve on the body. Then, she became the first woman to become the general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Weddington is pictured on the porch of the White House during Jimmy Carter's presidency, when she served as the former president's special assistant for women's affairs

In 1975, she was called one of the best state legislators by Texas Monthly.

'Her feminist principles lead her into hopeless battles, such as an attempt to knock out a rider in the appropriations bill prohibiting the use of state money for abortions, surprisingly, these futile efforts have damaged neither her effectiveness nor her morale,' the magazine wrote at the time.

'Not afraid to work with conservatives  a trait that has helped her break down prejudices but has also cost her the trust of kamikaze liberals. Has probably overcome more obstacles to reach the Ten Best than any other legislator.'

As an advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter, she counseled the former president on issues effecting women, and found female candidates to fill top political roles.

'She was definitely a pioneer,' Coffee, her co-counsel in Roe vs. Wade, told the Morning News upon hearing the news of Weddington's death.

'She was a strong leader.'

Weddington, pictured right, was a senior political advisor to President Jimmy Carter, pictured second from left

Sarah Weddington, who was battling breast cancer, stands in one of the classrooms where she taught at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas in 2001

Congressman John Bucy took to Twitter after the attorney's death, calling her a 'Texas Giant'

Weddington later wrote a book on Roe v. Wade, gave lectures and taught courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Womens University on leadership, law and gender discrimination.

She remained active in the political and legal worlds well into her later years, attending the 2019 signing ceremony for a New York state law meant to safeguard abortion rights should Roe v. Wade be overturned.

Congressman John Bucy took to Twitter after the attorney's death, calling her a 'Texas Giant.'

'From litigating Roe v. Wade, to serving in the Texas House, to supporting countless women in politics, she has left a legacy of fighting for progress that is nearly unmatched,' he wrote.

Six conservative justices lean TOWARDS upholding 15-week abortion ban: SCOTUS could upend Roe v. Wade after liberals criticized political and religious motivations to overturn and compared unborn babies to brain dead people

The six conservative Supreme Court justices on Wednesday seemed poised to uphold Mississippi's ban on abortions after 15 weeks in a decision that could overhaul Roe v. Wade after the most significant debate on a woman's right to choose in 30 years.

The three liberal justices claimed that overturning the landmark 1974 ruling was driven by political and religious motivations, suggested sticking with precedent and compared the physical reactions of unborn babies to brain-dead people.

But Chief Justice Roberts questioned why 15 weeks is 'not enough time' for a woman to choose, Brett Kavanaugh hinted that abortion rights should be left up to the states and Amy Coney Barrett brought up alternatives to termination including adoption.

The justices will now debate the case - Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization - and release their final opinion in the coming weeks in a decision that will have vast ramifications across the country.

Thirty-three people were arrested as a swarm of pro-life and pro-choice protesters gathered outside the court on Wednesday while oral arguments kicked unfolded inside.

Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart opened by telling the court that the landmark 1972 case Roe v. Wade and 1992's Planned Parenthood v. Casey 'poison the law' and that Mississippi is looking to unequivocally overturn them.

Meanwhile the liberal justices on the court attempted to claim overturning Roe would undermine public confidence in the government and the apolitical high court.

Roberts also briefly clashed with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who tore into Mississippi's opening arguments and accused the state of bringing the case forward not because of its legal basis but because of who was on the bench.

The court's six conservative-leaning justices and three liberal-leaning justices will decide the fate of Roe v. Wade

Clarence Thomas breaks his silence early

Soon after Mississippi's lawyer began opening arguments, Thomas asked 'Does it make a difference if we focus on privacy and autonomy versus if we focus on abortion?'

Thomas is usually known for remaining silent during oral arguments but signaled the uniqueness of today's case by asking the first question during Stewart's defense of the Mississippi law.

'Does it make a difference if we focus on privacy and autonomy versus if we focus on abortion?' he asked after noting that abortion cases focus on the former two rather than the procedure itself.

It's a line of questioning he used on both pro-choice lawyers as well.

Thomas also said the right to an abortion was not spelled out in the Constitution the way the right to bear arms is written in the Second Amendment.

He asked Julie Rikelman, the lawyer representing the Mississippi abortion clinic at the center of the case, where the Constitution granted abortion rights. He also asked her whether the court was to look at privacy and autonomy or abortion itself.

Rikelman told him the issue of 'liberty' is at stake: 'Its the textual protection in the 14th Amendment that the state cant deny someone liberty without the due process of law.'

'So all of the above,' he replied.

John Roberts hints at a compromise

The chief justice appeared more hesitant than his other conservative colleagues to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether.

Mississippi originally went to court to keep its 15-week abortion ban in place but filed a brief in July asking the Supreme Court to get rid of Roe v. Wade and its viability line for an abortion altogether.

Roberts commented on Mississippi's expanded attack strategy on the procedure, and claimed that Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey's central focus was not on viability.

However Roberts signaled that he may be open to scrapping the more than 20-week window established in the previous decisions, telling Rikelman that the shorter window 'is not a dramatic departure from viability.'

In what could be a blow to pro-choice activists, Roberts asked her if the issue at hand was one of freedom to choose or establishing a viability timeline - questioning 'If it really is an issue about choice, why is 15 weeks not enough time?'

At one point he suggested that other developed countries have viability cutoffs, bizarrely holding up China and North Korea as examples.

Rikelman corrected him by saying countries like Canada and the United Kingdom allow abortions past the point of fetal viability.

Brett Kavanaugh indicates court should remain 'neutral' on abortion

Kavanaugh began by asking Stewart what role he thought written US law played in abortion access.

'As I understand it, you're arguing that the Constitution's silent and therefore neutral on the question of abortion. In other words, that the Constitution's neither pro-life nor pro-choice?' Kavanaugh asked.

Stewart answered, 'Right, we're saying it should be left to the people.'

Kavanaugh wondered if the court should be neutral on abortion rights, which would require overturning Roe. If Mississippi wins the case, Kavanaugh added, such a ruling would not prohibit abortion nationwide but would let states regulate it as they see fit.

He appeared to indicate his leaning by summing up the state's case, 'They say the Constitution doesn't give us the authority, we should leave it to the states and we should be scrupulously neutral.'

Justice Neil Gorsuch, a fellow Trump appointee, also seemed to suggest he'd lean toward leaving the question of abortion up to states.

At one point Kavanaugh asked US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar what the pitfalls would be of leaving abortion up to the states, noting that people living on the East Coast and those in the Midwest live under different circumstances.

The solicitor general argued that low-income women in states that did outlaw abortion could be forced to choose between travel they may not be able to afford or seeking an abortion under illegal means that could put her life at risk.

Prelogar argued that the 24-week viability line was established as a compromise to protect both the rights of women and unborn fetuses.

But when questioning her Kavanaugh seemed to doubt the balancing act was possible.

'You cant accommodate both interests. You have to pick. Thats the fundamental problem. And one interest has to prevail over the other at any given point in time. And thats why this is so challenging,' he said.

At another point during the arguments Kavanaugh listed off a number of cases, including Brown v. Board of Education, that overruled past precedents like Mississippi is attempting to do now.

Amy Coney Barrett leans into safe haven laws

The conservative Trump appointee raised multiple concerns about whether the issue of abortion rights or 'parental rights' were at stake.

The pro-choice attorneys argued that denying women the right to an abortion would put both their health and future lives in jeopardy.

But Barrett seized on the former, focusing on adoption and laws - that she pointed out existed in all 50 states - that allow women to surrender their children under specific conditions to become wards of the state.

Through her questioning she appeared to indicate that if a woman can easily put her child up for adoption then there may not be a need for Roe's protections.

Prelogar argued that Roe enshrined a right for women to choose between ending a pregnancy and giving up parental rights.

Rikelman also clashed with Barrett, who repeated the line that a weeks-based viability line is arbitrary compared to other ways to measure a pregnancy such as trimesters.

The attorney countered that the viability line established by Roe is an objective line removed from religious or philosophical leanings.

Courtroom sketches show the lawyer defending Jackson Women's Health Organization, Julie Rikelman (standing, top image) and Mississippi Solicitor General Scott Stewart (standing, bottom image) making their cases

Samuel Alito says fetuses have 'an interest in having a life'

Alito was the most overtly critical of Roe v. Wade's existence, using the issue of 'arbitrary' viability to question the moral responsibility a pregnant woman has to a fetus.

'If a woman wants to be free of the burdens of pregnancy, that interest does not disappear the moment the viability line is crossed,' he said.

Rikelman agreed, to which he responded: 'The fetus has an interest in having a life, and that doesnt change from the point before viability and after viability.'

He seemed to interpret the issue of viability as more of a philosophical than a legal line, directly contradicting the pro-choice lawyers.

'There are those who say that the rights of personhood should be considered to have taken hold at a point when the fetus acquires certain independent characteristics,' he said.

'But viability is dependent on medical technology and medical practice. It has changed. It may continue to change.'

She countered that there was a line set 'between conception and birth and it logically looked at the fetuss ability to survive separately as a legal line.'

Alito also dismissed Roberts' leaning toward a compromise, claiming that overruling Roe or keeping it are 'the only real options we have.'

Liberals warn that court's legitimacy could be in doubt if Roe is overturned

What could happen if the Supreme Court sides with Mississippi The state is fighting to keep its ban on abortions after 15 weeks in place, and in a separate filing asked the high court to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether. Twelve states have already enacted 'trigger laws,' where if Roe is overturned, abortion in the state would be made illegal immediately without action from the legislature. Twenty-six states are likely to ban or restrict abortion quickly if such power is returned to the states. Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas have all passed heartbeat bills, but none except Texas' have gone into effect due to court intervention. The JWHO has said that since a law in Texas banning abortions after six weeks took effect Sept. 1, one-fourth of its patients come from the Lone Star State. If the justices move to uphold the 15-week ban but not overturn Roe, the right to an abortion would likely remain in place but with a drastically shortened legal window. Current precedent established by Roe allows abortions up until the point of fetal viability outside the womb, about 24 weeks. Mississippi's law would shave off roughly two months and also signal a green light that states like Texas that want shorter timelines could have a case The law also does not make exceptions for rape or incest - which if approved by the Supreme Court could be a feature of anti-abortion laws throughout the country. Advertisement

Justice Stephen Breyer declared the court would need an extremely compelling reason to revisit a 'watershed' case like Roe.

He and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan repeatedly warned that overturning Roe v. Wade could put the Supreme Court's legitimacy in doubt.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor accused Mississippi of bringing the case not because the state believed Roe was illegal but because of the court's conservative supermajority.

'Now, the sponsors of this bill, this house bill in Mississippi, are saying, "Were doing this because we have new justices on the Supreme Court." Will this institution survive the stench that this creates in the public perception that the constitution and its reading are just political acts?' Sotomayor asked.

'If people believe its all political, how will we survive? How will the court survive?'

Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with liberal justices in an earlier similar ruling in Texas, jumped in during Sotomayor's questioning to say that anything written in a court opinion that goes 'beyond the facts' are merely private views and 'not binding in subsequent cases as legal precedent.'

During a tense moment Sotomayor asked him, 'Can I finish my line of inquiry?'

Sotomayor went on to compare the supposed 'pain' reactions felt by a 15-week-old fetus to how brain-dead medical patients sometimes respond to stimuli.

'There's about 40 percent of dead people, who if you touch the foot, the foot will recoil,' she said. 'So I dont think a response to - by a fetus necessarily proves that there's the sensation of pain or that there's consciousness.'

She continued, 'I go back to my question of, what has changed in science to show that the viability line is not a real line?'

The Barack Obama appointed-judge accused Mississippi of forcing 'women who are poor' into a 'tremendously greater risk of medical complications and ending their life' with the abortion law for a religious view rather than a medical one.

'This is a religious view isn't it - you are assuming a fetus is life - at when? When do you suggest we begin that life?' Sotomayor asked.

She also took on her conservative colleagues' argument that abortion isn't explicitly in the Constitution, pointing out that 'there's so much that's not in the Constitution.'

Kagan questioned whether upending Roe would leave a legal vacuum with abortion bans at six weeks, eight weeks and others falling before the court.

Julie Rikelman, the attorney representing Jackson Women's Health Organization - the last abortion clinic in Mississippi that's at the center of the case - said the Casey ruling rejected 'every possible reason' for overturning Roe v. Wade.

Next up came top Biden administration lawyer Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who declared that ruling with Mississippi would send a message to women in America that their personal liberties were not protected.

'The Court has never revoked a right that is so fundamental to so many Americans and so central to their ability to participate fully and equally in society. The Court should not overrule the central component of women's liberty,' she said.

Prelogar claimed that half of all the states would 'swiftly' move to limit or ban abortion.

Pro-abortion rights activists were seen outside the court taking 'abortion pills' as a show of protest

Pro-abortion rights and pro-life activists began gathering outside the Supreme Court in the early morning hours. Some impassioned protesters brought props such as a small replica of a fetus while others brought white boxes labeled 'abortion pills' which they enthusiastically gulped down in front of cameras and fellow activists.

Police had already set up barriers as the crowds gathered, a sign of the high tensions expected over today's case.

Alveda King, niece of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., was seen amid this morning's demonstrations urging the Supreme Court to 'heal our land of the epidemic of abortion.'

Senator Roger Wicker from Mississippi wrote on Twitter that his staff was handing out coffee to pro-life protesters in the chilly December weather.

Progressive lawmakers are also there to stand with pro-choice activists. Rep. Pramila Japayal of Washington, who previously revealed she had an abortion herself, addressed the crowd along with Rep. Barbara Lee of California and Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado.

'If you are here today, you are in the struggle for justice and I want to thank every single person that has stood up, that has spoken out and organized to fight against these dangerous attacks on choice,' Japayal said to applause.

The law, Mississippi's Gestational Age Act, was passed in 2018 and only allows abortions 15 weeks after conception in 'medical emergencies' and 'severe fetal abnormality.' It makes no exceptions for rape or incest.

On the other end of the suit is Jackson Women's Health Organization, the only legal abortion clinic in the entire state.

Some protesters brought unusual props such as a small model of a fetus

The law has already been blocked by two federal courts, but pro-choice activists are watching nervously after the court gave a preview of how it could lean earlier this year in a similar case from Texas.

The pro-choice Guttmacher Institute estimated that 26 states 'are certain or likely to ban abortion' if Roe is overturned today in a recent report.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List, is joining the crowds outside the Supreme Court today.

In an excerpt of her prepared remarks obtained by DailyMail.com, Dannenfelser will say: 'Friends, life is truly the most important human rights cause of our time. From abolition to suffrage to the civil rights movement, principled women and men throughout history have always stepped up to lead at pivotal moments like this.

'The pioneers of the womens movement clearly understood the violent, oppressive nature of abortion, and they adamantly opposed it.'

Pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America called today's case a 'moment of crisis.'

'The constitutional right to abortion faces a terrifying and unprecedented threat. This moment of crisis is the culmination of the anti-choice movements decades-long efforts to undermine the will of the overwhelming majority of people in this country who support the legal right to abortion,' NARAL President Mini Timmaraju said in a statement.

'Make no mistake: The future of reproductive freedom is in grave danger, and the time to take bold action to protect it is now.'

Here's a breakdown of what's at stake when oral arguments begin for Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on Thursday:

What is at stake:

The Mississippi law, passed in 2018, directly contradicts the Roe v. Wade ruling, where the court decided that abortion must be legal pre-viability, or around 24 weeks.

The question is whether or not all pre-viability bans are unconstitutional.

Mississippi has asked the court to revisit Roe directly, as well as another landmark 1992 case that upheld abortion rights but allowed some restrictions, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

A pro-abortion rights activist protests outside the Supreme Court building, ahead of arguments in the Mississippi abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, in Washington, U.S., December 1

Pro-choice and pro-abortion rights activists mix outside the Supreme Court building today

Who is bringing forth the case:

The Jackson Women's Health Organization. The JWHO, as the state's only abortion clinic, is suing because it is directly affected by the law.

In Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court ruled that states could place restrictions on abortions so long as they did not place an 'undue burden' on the patient. That year, the state had eight abortion clinics, seven of which have closed since the ruling.

After the ruling, state lawmakers enacted regulations for abortion providers, including a requirement to pass out pamphlets warning of the potential side effects of abortion and a ban on public funding going toward abortions.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), chair of the Progressive Cacucus, speaks during a demonstration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court

A man takes a selfie with a somewhat worn crucifix outside the court amid the crowd

The case is the culmination of a decades-long battle between pro-life and pro-abortion groups

Pro-life protesters wearing doctor uniforms pray outside of the Supreme Court

What could come if the Mississippi law is upheld:

Adding Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the bench has strengthened the court's 6-3 conservative majority and given hope to pro-life lawmakers and activists that the nation could again see a day where states are able to fully outlaw abortion.

Twelve states have already enacted 'trigger laws,' where if Roe is overturned, abortion in the state would be made illegal immediately without action from the legislature. Twenty-six states are likely to ban abortion quickly if such power is returned to the states.

Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, Missouri, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Texas have all passed heartbeat bills, but none except Texas' have gone into effect due to court intervention.

The JWHO has said that since the Texas law took effect Sept. 1, one-fourth of its patients come from the Lonestar State.

Meanwhile, New Hampshire Democrat Jeanne Shaheen has warned of a 'revolution if the court overturns Roe.

'I hope the Supreme Court is listening to the people of the United States because  to go back to Adam Sexton's question  I think if you want to see a revolution go ahead, outlaw Roe v. Wade and see what the response is of the public, particularly young people,' Shaheen said during a virtual event Monday featuring New Hampshire's entire House and Senate delegation. 'Because I think that will not be acceptable to young women or young men.'

Police officers erected barriers in anticipation of inflamed tensions during the case

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said late Tuesday that he was confident his state's effort to squash Roe will prevail

Pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America called today's case a 'moment of crisis'

Pro-life activists are also calling on Congress to pass the Women's Health Protection Act to enshrine abortion rights as law

The Jackson Women's Health Organization. The JWHO, as the state's only abortion clinic, is suing because it is directly affected by the law

The Supreme Court is set to take up its biggest abortion case in 30 years as it decides the fate of a Mississippi abortion law

The other abortion debate at the court:

The hearing comes after the high court earlier heard arguments on Texas' new abortion law, which bans the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, around 6 weeks, but attempts to bypass judicial restraints by making private citizens the enforcers. Any private citizen can sue anyone who aided an abortion and is subject to compensation.

Legal experts had thought the court might weigh in on the case before hearing the Mississippi arguments, but no decision has been made.

During arguments, the court appeared to be in favor of blocking the law due to its enforcement measures.

Four of the nine members on the highest court -- Chief Justice John Roberts and the three liberal justices -- had voted previously to halt enforcement of the Texas Heartbeat Act, which makes no exception for rape or incest.

Two conservative justices appointed by former president Donald Trump -- Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett -- appeared inclined after two hours of oral arguments to also vote to block the novel Texas law.

One of Mississippi's two senators, Republican Roger Wicker, tweeted this morning that his team was outside the court supporting pro-life protesters with hot coffee

Roe v. Wade faces high-profile conservative opposition:

Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi is supporting pro-life activists outside the Supreme Court with free coffee in the cold December weather.

'Beautiful morning here at the Supreme Court. There are hundreds of people gathered to fight for life. If youre in Washington, my staff are stationed out front with coffee. Come find us!' Wicker wrote on Twitter.

Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday he believes Roe v. Wade will soon be overturned.

'Today as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in those hallowed halls, we are here to declare with one voice 'no more,' he said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. at an event put on by the Susan B. Anthony list.

'I'm very hopeful and I do believe that Roe v. Wade will be overturned whether it's now or in the future,' he said.

He urged the high court to throw the Roe v. Wade decision to the 'ash heap of history.'

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, a Republican, said late Tuesday that he was confident his state's effort to squash Roe will prevail. He told Fox News that 'the science has changed' in the decades since the case was first decided.

'Here's what we know about a child at 15 weeks. We know that that child has a heartbeat. We know that that child pumps multiple quarts of blood every single day. We know that that baby is developing its lungs. We know that that baby can squeeze its hands, its fingers. And we know that that baby can feel pain,' Reeves said.

Reeves' fellow Republican governor, Georgia's Brian Kemp, spoke out on Wednesday shortly before arguments are set to begin.

'Georgia is a state that values the lives of the unborn. Our family joins thousands of pro-life conservatives across the country today in prayer as the U.S Supreme Court takes up the Dobbs case,' Kemp wrote on Twitter.
Fishing boats will need to have crews which are 70 per cent British from April under new post-Brexit rules.

The proportion of fish that must be landed in UK ports is also set to rise to 70 per cent.

The move should help to create jobs and provide an economic boost to the UKs coastal communities.

The new regulations, which apply to large vessels which catch from the English chunk of the UK fishing quota only, significantly tighten up the economic link policy.

Fishing boats will need to have crews which are 70 per cent British from April under new post-Brexit rules

This was created in 1999 after the EUs Common Fisheries Policy brought an influx of foreign-owned boats registering in the UK to take advantage of fishing rights.

Under the current policy boats have to prove they are benefiting, or linked to, the UK economy, by meeting one of four criteria.

Most do so by landing at least 50 per cent of their catch in the UK  but the new rule extends this to 70 per cent for boats using the English quota of fish numbers they are allowed to catch.

The rule for having 70 per cent of crew on a fishing vessel normally living in the UK is another way to satisfy the economic link policy. That has also risen from 50 per cent previously required.

The announcement of the new rules, which will take effect from April 1, came as the Government revealed a 75million funding boost to modernise ports and processing facilities, and create jobs.

Charles Clover, an environmentalist and campaigner from the Blue Marine Foundation, said: At the moment boats are fishing quite unsustainably, often without benefit to the UK economy, which these new rules should help to address.

However, this feels like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic given that just a few days ago the Government decided to continue rampant overfishing of already collapsed populations of cod.

Jeremy Percy, from the Under Ten Fishermens Association, representing smaller fishing vessels, said: On the face of it, the additional requirements are beneficial, although many larger English vessels already struggle to attract UK-based crews and will not take kindly to having to donate quota or land catches in the UK when they can get better prices abroad.

The move should help to create jobs and provide an economic boost to the UKs coastal communities

As the larger vessels which do not manage to land the 70 per cent will have to give parts of their quota to smaller boats, our vessels will welcome this.

The new criteria apply to vessels more than 32ft that catch more than two tonnes a year from the English quota.

These vessels must currently meet one of the four criteria.

The rules also allow vessels to fish here if they donate part of their quota to smaller in-shore boats, or if they prove at least half their boats normal operating expenditure is in UK coastal areas.

This option on expenditure, which was rarely used, will be removed under the new rules. The rise in the proportion of fish which must be landed in the UK will bring economic benefits, said the Government, particularly if fish are processed in the UK.

Under the current policy boats have to prove they are benefiting, or linked to, the UK economy, by meeting one of four criteria

It could add up to 60million a year of additional landings, according to a consultation document  but this is likely to be an overestimate.

If large fishing vessels do not land 70 per cent of fish in the UK, they can choose to make up the difference by giving away more of their quota to smaller boats, which could be worth up to 7.3million a year according to the document.

A 65million infrastructure scheme will help to modernise ports and harbours, and increase capacity and efficiency at processing facilities.

Up to 10million will be used to encourage people into fishing industries and provide extra staff training.
Chained to shopping trolleys and crammed into cages in freezing conditions, these helpless puppies face a long and arduous journey.

From this slum Polish market, merciless dealers buy truckloads of frail but adorable dogs to be smuggled to the UK, where they are sold at huge profits to unsuspecting British families.

It is at the heart of a cruel, billion-pound trade that has seen thousands of dogs imported from Eastern Europe, many unvaccinated and in poor health.

A beagle puppy that the investigations obtained a fake birth certificate for. More than 3,200 puppies have been intercepted at the UK border since 2015, with around 22 per cent coming from Poland

The puppies are often bred in squalor and then shipped for up to 33 hours across the continent, often with no food and little water.

Unscrupulous middlemen then pass them off as British-bred to satisfy surging demand for family pets.

Dogs must be at least 12 weeks old before they can be vaccinated for rabies, and then wait a further three weeks before they can be transported to the UK.

But a Daily Mail investigation can reveal the ease with which dealers are able to obtain false documents for puppies as young as seven weeks, allowing them to sneak through UK borders. Our undercover probe found:

Two breeders at a Polish flea market who provided birth certificates falsifying their puppies' ages so they could pass border checks;

Another who revealed how his associates 'had a deal' with British breeders to smuggle whole litters in trucks to Britain during the spring, with gangs targeting younger pups because they have a higher sell-on value;

Inexperienced or corrupt vets vaccinating underage dogs or giving false proof of jabs so they can be smuggled across the Channel;

Ads on sites including Gumtree offering to ship underage puppies from Eastern Europe to the UK using 'certified' drivers for 250.

Underage puppies being sold in freezing cold conditions at Slomcyzn market in Poland

The findings sparked cross-party calls for ministers to stamp out the 'abhorrent' trade. Jim McMahon, Labour's environment spokesman, said: 'This investigation's findings are shocking. No puppy should suffer in this way.'

More than 3,200 puppies have been intercepted at the UK border since 2015, with around 22 per cent coming from Poland, according to the Dogs Trust charity.

But Claire Calder, head of public affairs at Dogs Trust, said this was just 'the tip of the iceberg' as hundreds more evade checks, while Christmas typically sparks a surge in online searches for puppies.

Undercover Mail reporters posing as British breeders visited a sprawling market in Slomczyn, a remote village around 23 miles from Warsaw, where puppy traders boasted of being able to fake birth certificates so underage dogs could be smuggled into the UK.

Slomczyn isn't in any tourist guides for British travellers. But the market is one of the go-to destinations for international puppy smugglers.

It is mostly devoted to second-hand cars and clothes, but you can also take your pick of the most sought-after dog breeds  if you know where to look.

Jozef Nowak handles an eight-week-old labrador which he issued a fake birth certificate for to say it was four months old

Next to the main entrance is an association of breeders selling puppies at basement prices, often to the UK.

It is illegal to sell animals at markets in Poland, so the association owns the land it operates on, which is technically separate from the rest of the market.

But when our undercover reporters visited on a freezing Sunday morning last month, it didn't take long to find those eager to bend the rules.

Dozens of dealers were gathered in pens of corrugated iron, selling cots, cages and cardboard boxes of shivering puppies.

The birth certificate obtained for an underage beagle puppy saying it is four months old instead of eight weeks old

They were able to drum up fake forms from an onsite 'office' in minutes. One trader, Arkadiusz Kazimierczak, offered an eight-week-old beagle for 110  the average price in the UK is around 1,400  adding: 'The birth certificate would be that it is older, no problem'.

The Mail paid 9 for the certificate as a deposit and Mr Kazimierczak returned about ten minutes later with the paperwork, which included details of the puppy's bloodline, breeder and kennel  but crucially altered its date of birth to make it appear 16 weeks old.

Another trader, Jozef Nowak, gave us a false birth certificate to make it appear that a seven-week-old labrador was 15 weeks old.

He offered the labrador for 170, although they can fetch up to 2,500 in the UK. A third breeder, Mariusz Sarna, revealed that his associates at the market were selling 'whole litters' to British breeders 'all the time' during the spring, smuggling them 'by car, by trucks'.

Mr Sarna said he could also provide false birth certificates for his spaniels and encouraged us to 'smuggle the whole litter' as 'it would be profitable' to sell them abroad.

A former head vet in Poland later said inexperienced vets 'will probably vaccinate' underage puppies brought to them with fake birth certificates, allowing them to be transported to the UK.

Others will just forge vaccination documents  putting Britain at risk of rabies. Vaccinating underage dogs can also be ineffective.

The Mail chose not to vaccinate or buy the puppies from Slomczyn for ethical reasons.

Puppies at the Slomcyzn market are chained to shopping trolleys and crammed into cages in freezing conditions

There is no suggestion Mr Sarna, Mr Nowak, or Mr Kazimierczak have been directly involved in smuggling puppies to the UK.

But Polish dog shelters had also found breeders at Slomczyn providing false documents for underage dogs.

Michael Bizuk, of the Society for the Protection of Animals in Poland, said one breeder at Slomczyn had boasted of exporting dogs to Britain using fake birth and vaccination certificates.

Mr Bizuk said she had also advised on 'tricks to lull customs officers', including 'cleaning the cage well' before inspections and 'making the puppies sleepy'.

Once in Britain, Eastern European dealers sell the puppies online or on to UK traders who pick them up from petrol stations or car parks.

A third of online puppy adverts in the UK are still thought to be for imported puppies, according to charity Four Paws UK. The Slomczyn traders did not respond to requests for comment.
The controversial founder of the 1619 Project, which helped propel the issue of critical race theory to the forefront of political debate, said that parents shouldn't decide what's being taught in schools and claimed she is 'not a professional educator' despite being a tenured professor.

Nikole Hannah-Jones, who won a Pulitzer Prize for writing the 1619 project for the New York Times in 2019, defended her work that's been turned into a curriculum for schools, and blamed 'a right-wing propaganda campaign' for creating the wedge issue that helped sway the outcome of the governor's race in Virginia this year.

'I don't really understand this idea that parents should decide what's being taught. I'm not a professional educator,' Hannah-Jones said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

'I don't have a degree in social studies or science. We send our children to school because we want them to be taught by people who have an expertise in the subject area. And that is not my job,' she added.

Her 1619 project, which offers a view of American history that says the US was founded upon racism and that 1619 - the year the first slave ships arrived from Africa - should be viewed as the true founding of America, helped her land a tenured position at Howard University.

1619 Project founder Nikole Hannah-Jones told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that parents shouldn't influence decisions made on schools' curriculums across the country, while also saying that she is 'not a professional educator'

Hannah-Jones, who founded the 1619 Project, is joining Howard University's Cathy Hughes School of Communications as a tenured faculty member after rejecting tenure from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The fury over CRT helped underdog Republican Glenn Youngkin upset Democratic insider Terry McAuliffe in November. Youngkin pledged to ban CRT, seizing on the discontent of parents who had grown agitated after the Loudon County school board announced a $6million 'equity-training' program that parents associated with CRT.

Advocates say its teaching is necessary to underline how deeply racism pervades society, but critics say it is divisive and paints everyone as a victim or oppressor, with multiple Virginia school board meetings making headlines after parents were filmed clashing with staff over the decision to teach it, noticeably in Loudon County.

'When the governor or the candidate said that he didn't think parents should be deciding what's being taught in school, he was panned for that. But that's just the fact,' the former New York Times journalist said.

'This is why we send our children to school and don't homeschool, because these are the professional educators who have the expertise to teach social studies, to teach history, to teach science, to teach literature. And I think we should leave that to the educators.'

She also told Fox News that 'professional K-12 educators, not parents, are the experts in what to teach, including those educating my own child.'

Virginia Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin has vowed to ban critical race theory from schools with parents fed up with the state's woke school boards who don't want their children to be taught that they're bad or good depending on their race

Prior to his defeat, Democratic contender Terry McAuliffe held similar views to Hannah-Jones, telling parents not to influence what schools taught their children

Over the summer, Howard University confirmed that Hannah-Jones would be joining the Cathy Hughes School of Communications as a tenured faculty member, serving as the newly created Knight Chair in Race and Journalism.

She will also create the Center for Journalism and Democracy, which will train and support aspiring reporters in investigative skills and analytical expertise.

Her decision to join the historically black college came after the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill debated against offering her tenureship before finally relenting under threat of a lawsuit.

'Look what it took to get tenure,' she told CBS This Morning.

'This was a position that since the 1980s came with tenure. The Knight chairs are designed for professional journalists when working in the field, to come into academia. Every other chair before me, who also happened to be white, received that position with tenure.

'To only have that vote occur on the last possible day, at the last possible moment after threat of legal action, after weeks of protests, after it became a national scandal, it's just not something I want anymore.'
Hopes are fading for a missing teenager who vanished while swimming in a river with friends on Christmas Day.

Jules Lunanga, 18, was playing in the Murray River near Albury on Saturday when he got into trouble after being separated from the group.

Local police, paramedics, and the State Emergency Service joined the search for the 18-year-old but it was suspended due to bad light just after 8.30pm.

The search continued through Sunday and into Monday, with his devastated family watching from the banks as dive teams investigated the area.

Jules Lunanga, 18, was playing in the Murray River near Albury on Saturday when he got into trouble after being separated from the group

Lunaga's mother sat on the banks of the Murray praying and being consoled by others as they watched emergency services searching the area on boats and jet skis

Police and the State Emergency Service continue to patrol the area while friends and family hope for a miracle.

'I can't think of anything, I can't do anything. I'm still in shock,' Lunaga's friend Moise Nsabimana told Seven.

'I think he's alright. I believe he is going to make it. I don't believe he is gone just like that.'

Lunaga's mother sat on the banks of the Murray praying and being consoled by others as they watched emergency services searching the area on boats and jet skis.

Police and SES continue to patrol the area while friends and family hope for a miracle

There have been three drownings in NSW and Victoria over the Christmas weekend, including a three-year-old boy who died on Christmas Day evening.

The child's body was pulled from Lake Macquarie by neighbours about 6.30pm on Saturday after playing in front of his home.

It's believed the child wandered off from his family and fell into the water where he was unable to get out.

The three-year-old's body was pulled from Lake Macquarie by neighbours at around 6:30pm on Saturday after walking away from his family home

Emergency services were called to the scene on Fishing Point Road in Rathmines early on Saturday evening after a local found the young boy.

The passerby attempted CPR on the three-year-old after discovering him in the water and dragging him to shore.

Paramedics also attempted to revive the child but he was unable to be saved.
Lockdown has increased the terror threat and helped a rise in the 'dark journey' to bedroom radicalisation of young people, the Security Minister has warned.

Damian Hinds said in recent years there has been a 'shift' in attacks being organised from global terror groups to 'self-directed' plots, and expressed his concern about the rise of Right-wing extremism.

He added there had been a rise in the number of young people referred to the Prevent scheme due to far-Right ideologies.

Damian Hinds, pictured, warned that lockdown has increased the terror threat and helped a rise in the 'dark journey' to bedroom radicalisation of young people

Since starting his post in August, the UK has had two alleged terror attacks  the killing of Tory MP Sir David Amess and a bomb outside Liverpool Women's Hospital on Remembrance Day.

Nearly two years of Covid restrictions may have contributed to the radicalisation of young people.

'Clearly, logically, when you have more people who are spending more time in their bedrooms at their computer...you are going to get a growth in that tiny proportion of people for whom that is a dark journey.

'And as you know, on the internet, if you start to make those kind of downward spirals, you can quickly accelerate with the material that you come across and the other people that you can come into contact with,' Mr Hinds told the The Daily Telegraph.

Mr Hinds said: 'Clearly, logically, when you have more people who are spending more time in their bedrooms at their computer...you are going to get a growth in that tiny proportion of people for whom that is a dark journey' (file photo used)

He added these threats should be seen as 'self-initiated' rather than 'lone wolf' attacks due to the 'particular image of a particular type of person' the phrase conjures up 'which isn't necessarily accurate'.

The minister warned the change to self-styled attacks was nuanced  with Islamist terror groups such as Al Qaeda still a danger, while lone individuals may also talk to like-minded people, particularly online.

'More young people coming on to the Prevent program have an extreme Right-wing mindset,' the East Hampshire MP said, adding Islamist extremism terrorism remained 'a potent threat'.
Clive Palmer has topped a list of the least-liked politicians in Australia ahead of Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce.

The United Australia Party founder and former member for Fairfax in Queensland received a net approval rating of minus 51 in a recent survey published by Nine Newspapers.

Only eight per cent of the 1,600 people surveyed across the nation had a positive view of the mining mogul while 59 per cent had a negative view of him.

Clive Palmer (pictured last month at a freedom rally in Brisbane) has topped a list of the least liked politicians with a net approval rating of -59 per cent

About 25 per cent said they had a neutral view of Mr Palmer while eight per cent did not know how he is, according to the survey by Resolve Strategic.

Mr Palmer has hit headlines during the pandemic by unsuccessfully challenging Western Australia's hard border, leading Premier Mark McGowan to publicly denounce him on several occasions.

The second least liked politician was Craig Kelly, the member for Hughes in south Sydney who defected from the Liberals to the UAP after advocating unproven Covid treatments and questioning the vaccines.

Mr Kelly, who is expected to lose his seat to the Liberals at the 2022 election, was viewed positively by just nine per cent.

A total of 34 per cent gave him a negative rating, leading to a net rating of minus-25 per cent while 23 per cent were neutral and 35 per cent had not heard of him.

Barnaby Joyce (pictured with his family) had a net rating of -29 per cent with 28 per cent neutral and 11 per cent not knowing who he is

In third place was Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce who was given a positive rating by only 16 per cent while 45 per cent had a negative view.

This gave him a net rating of minus-29 per cent with 28 per cent neutral and 11 per cent not knowing who he is.

Meanwhile Pauline Hanson was viewed positively by 21 per cent of voters and negatively by 46 per cent.

Her net rating of minus-25 per cent was better than both Mr Kelly and Mr Joyce.

A total of 27 per cent of voters were neutral towards Senator Hanson while only six per cent had not heard of her.

The federal election is due by May 2022 but could be held earlier if Prime Minister Scott Morrison choses.

Anthony Albanese needs a net gain of eight seats to win a Labor majority - but he will face strong resistance from Mr Morrison who wants to cling on to the electorates he has while trying to expand his ranks.

Pauline Hanson (pictured) was viewed positively by 21 per cent of voters and negatively by 46 per cent

The Liberal-National Coalition has 76 seats, the exact amount needed for a majority government, while Labor has 68.

The Liberals will lose the Perth seat of Stirling, which is being wiped off the map due to population change.

A new seat of Hawke to the north-west of Melbourne will likely fall to Labor, meaning Mr Albanese will need seven more to form a government in his own right.

Alternatively, he could win five and govern in minority with support from Greens member Adam Bandt and left-leaning independent Andrew Wilkie.
Children can lose sleep if they spend too much time on their phone before bed  but not if they look at it during the day  according to a study.

Scientists said factors linking phones to sleep deprivation include mental stress, blue light exposure and electromagnetic fields emitted by devices.

But in a surprising twist, the researchers added that excessive phone use during the day does not make it harder for children to get some shut-eye at night.

Children can lose sleep if they spend too much time on their phone before bed  but not if they look at it during the day  according to a study (stock image)

The online habits of 1,500 nine to 12-year-olds in Spain and the Netherlands were examined, with data on their phone use collected through a questionnaire.

They then assessed how much a group of 300 of the children used their phones after 7pm, and measured their sleep patterns for a week.

They found that the children spent 50 minutes a day looking at their phone screens and two-and-a-half minutes a day making calls.

The youngsters slept for an average of seven-and-a-half hours a night. One in five made phone calls in the evening, and they slept for 12 minutes less than their peers.

No link between phone use during the day and sleep deprivation was found.

The study, published in the journal Environmental Research, was the first of its kind to look at whether exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields in the day as opposed to the evening has any impact on sleep.

Scientists said factors linking phones to sleep deprivation include mental stress, blue light exposure and electromagnetic fields emitted by devices (stock image)

Senior author Professor Monica Guxens, of the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, said: Despite its importance to health, insufficient sleep duration and resultant daytime sleepiness are prevalent among adolescents.

'The use of mobile communication devices such as mobiles and tablets has been described as a potential factor.

Fellow author Alba Cabre-Riera, of University Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, said: Findings suggest the amount of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields absorbed by the brain in the evening might be more relevant to adolescents sleep.
Weddings, births and funerals will be exempted from any future Covid-19 restrictions after limiting numbers during previous lockdowns was blamed for causing undue stress.

The exemptions for life events are part of all scenarios that have been drawn up by the government to deal with the threat of Omicron.

It comes ahead of crunch talks between Boris Johnson and government scientists today to discuss Covid restrictions for the New Year.

Downing Street is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions.

But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections.

Weddings, births and funerals will be exempted from any future Covid-19 restrictions after limiting numbers during previous lockdowns was blamed for causing undue stress

Weddings, births and funerals will be excepted from any future Covid-19 restrictions with exemptions for life events part of all scenarios that have been drawn up by the government to deal with the threat of Omicron (pictured, Prime Minister Boris Johnson)

It comes ahead of crunch talks between Boris Johnson and government scientists today to discuss Covid restrictions for the New Year (pictured, Chief Medical Officer for England, Chris Whitty, right, and Chief Scientific Adviser, Patrick Vallance, left, earlier this year)

Possible restrictions considered by the PM over the past few days include closing pubs and restaurants indoors, bringing back the rule of six or restricting the number of households meeting indoors, and limiting capacity at mass events.

But ministers are said to be against disrupting significant life events with the restrictions, even if they opt to bring back the rule of six in indoor settings, the Times reported.

Among the proposals are plans to prevent hospitals forcing women to attend scans and check ups - as well as give birth - without their partners.

And ministers are 'increasingly optimistic but very cautiously optimistic' they will avoid reimposing draconian lockdown rules in England before the new year.

'It's not just that there's a clear gap between cases and hospitalisations, but also that when people are going into hospital they tend to be there for less time,' a government source told the Times.

It is a stark difference from previous restrictions, under which the number of people allowed at weddings and funerals was capped - and saw the Queen attend Prince Philip's funeral alone in April.

It is a stark difference from previous restrictions, under which the number of people allowed at weddings and funerals was capped - and saw the Queen attend Prince Philip's funeral alone in April

So far Mr Johnson has resisted calls to go as far as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in introducing curbs on social mixing. Similar restrictions have also been imposed in many European countries  but not yet in England.

This morning the Prime Minister will meet chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance to consider the latest data.

Any new legally binding restrictions would need the backing of Cabinet, and would have to be rubber stamped by MPs.

But last night sources said the recall of Parliament was looking less likely than it had before Christmas  an indication that Downing Street is leaning away from stricter curbs.

If simple guidance was issued, urging people to limit their contacts, this would not need Parliamentary sanctioning or the backing of the Cabinet.
One day in 1994, a pensioner named Aurea Thornycroft noticed mysterious insects chomping through the walls of her beach-side bungalow on the hills above Saunton Sands, near Barnstaple, in Devon.

When the local pest controller peeled away the wallpaper inside her conservatory, he found it teeming with strange, white, ant-like creatures that hed never seen before. Each measured roughly half a centimetre in length.

They were found in two timber-frame walls, heated by pipes, the man later recalled. The timber was damp and the combination of heat and moisture has produced the perfect micro-climate for the insects. They have been there for years.

But it was not until several months later that it emerged Mrs Thornycrofts chalet-style holiday residence was the scene of a bona fide ecological emergency: Britains first ever subterranean termite infestation.

Homeowners across America and Europe spend billions each year trying to put right the damage caused by the small but voracious creepy-crawlies, who feast on the timber in buildings

No one knew where the creatures had come from, though initial speculation (later debunked) was that theyd arrived via a pot plant imported from the Canary Islands.

However, their usual habitat extends across warm parts of the globe, where they are found in a range of habitats (including forests and grassland), and live in vast colonies, existing by devouring cellulose, particularly from fallen wood.

In the wild, termites play a crucial role as soil engineers helping to prop up the food chain. But when they rub up against mankind, or more specifically the villages, towns and cities we inhabit, they can transform into a terrifying pest, known colloquially as the terrorists of the insect world.

Homeowners across America and Europe spend billions each year trying to put right the damage caused by the small but voracious creepy-crawlies, who feast on the timber in buildings.

In places such as Paris and Madrid, they have, in recent decades, wreaked havoc, removing structurally crucial wooden beams and leaving entire floors of historic properties in danger of collapse.

The real problem, as experts examining Mrs Thornycrofts bungalow soon realised, is that, once properly established, a subterranean termite population is almost impossible to eradicate, no matter how many millions (yes, millions) you succeed in killing.

A single colony can reach seven metres underground, across an area the size of two swimming pools (stock image)

A single colony can reach seven metres underground, across an area the size of two swimming pools.

And even if pest controllers think theyve wiped out the lot, should they leave behind just a tiny population (sufficient to fill half a small matchbox) the tenacious creatures will not just return, but swiftly spread far and wide.

So, in a bid to save not just North Devon but the entire nation from this apocalyptic home-crushing scenario, in 1998 the government launched a bold scheme called the UK Termite Eradication Programme.

Its stated aim: to use state-of-the-art techniques to contain and then remove these alien invaders from our green and pleasant land.

So began a 23-year saga involving dozens of scientists and many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

And last week, the grizzled team behind it finally declared victory: no termites have been found in Saunton for ten years, meaning Britain is, once again, officially termite free.

We are confident that eradication has been successful, says Dr Ed Suttie, who has run the project since 2003. Nobody has ever done this anywhere in the world. Its a complete first.

The result is not just a triumph for British innovation, but also for the bulldog spirit of Dr Suttie and his pioneering team, who overcame setbacks and false dawns that would have destroyed less bloody-minded bug busters.

In places such as Paris and Madrid, they have, in recent decades, wreaked havoc, removing structurally crucial wooden beams and leaving entire floors of historic properties in danger of collapse

Perhaps the most soul-crushing was in 2009, when a routine six-monthly inspection revealed a handful of termites under a paving slab on Mrs Thornycrofts patio.

It was the first time in eight years that theyd been spotted and the discovery shattered the cautious optimism of the team  who were beginning to believe that the colony had been destroyed.

When we arrived, the soil was alive with the things, recalls Dr Suttie. If you dug your hands in, they were everywhere. We were quite quickly able to reduce the numbers substantially. But achieving complete removal has been a labour of love.

The tenacity of the termites revolves largely around their lifestyle, since this particular species  the Reticulitermes grassei  lives deep underground, making it impossible to control them by simply dousing an infected area with pesticide, or even destroying a building they have infested.

Someone initially asked, Why cant you just burn the house down?  explains Dr Suttie. Well you could do that, but the things would just end up coming back again.

So, in a bid to save not just North Devon but the entire nation from this apocalyptic home-crushing scenario, in 1998 the government launched a bold scheme called the UK Termite Eradication Programme

Another potential plan  to remove thousands of tonnes of topsoil and dump it in the sea  was also discounted, this time due to impracticality.

Instead, the team designed a novel scheme that revolved around a chemical called hexaflumuron, a so-called insect growth regulator which prevents young termites from maturing.

If they could persuade foraging insects to carry the stuff back to the colony, then its reproductive cycle would quickly be destroyed.

Wooden bait stakes were buried at some 695 sites within a 500- metre radius of Mrs Thornycrofts bungalow. The ones that were eaten were then replaced with plastic tubes containing hexaflumuron.

But things did not initially go entirely according to plan. In a development that sparked headlines about gourmet termites, it initially emerged that the insects disliked the taste of the chemical. So to persuade them to tuck in, Dr Sutties team doused the bait sticks in a type of fungus extract that gives off a pheromone termites find particularly attractive.

Coincidentally, the same pheromone is found in the blue ink used in ballpoint pens.

At times, the experience was also rather traumatic for both Mrs Thornycroft  who is now in her late 90s  and the residents of a neighbouring property, which was also found to be infested.

At the start of the project, they were asked to stay away for at least three months, and banned from mowing their lawns in case it stopped the insects taking the bait. Until last month, the properties were the subject of a restriction of movement order issued by the Forestry Commission, which banned the removal of soil or wood from the area.

So began a 23-year saga involving dozens of scientists and many hundreds of thousands of pounds

After the 2009 setback, with her property effectively condemned due to structural damage, Mrs Thornycroft applied for permission to demolish it and start again.

But planning permission was denied due to the risk of spreading any remaining insects following an intervention from the then Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who cited the potential catastrophic economic, environmental and social consequences of such a development.

Mrs Thornycroft was, however, allowed to build a new annexe in the grounds.

Over time, thankfully, the tide finally began to turn on Britains only termite colony and six-monthly inspections from 2011 onwards drew a blank.

With the things now officially extinct in the UK, attention has turned to ensuring the insects never become established here again.

To that end, 19,000 of government funding was announced last week. It will be used, in part, to create an instruction manual to guide authorities in how to eradicate any future bugs that might turn up.

And last week, the grizzled team behind it finally declared victory: no termites have been found in Saunton for ten years, meaning Britain is, once again, officially termite free

After all, the chances of such a development are high: DNA analysis has shown Sauntons termites are likely to have originally hailed from the South of France, suggesting they were probably imported on timber packaging.

Dr Robert Verkerk, who headed the scientific team since the start, believes the only reason termite colonies are not yet established in the South-East (where most of our trade arrives in Britain) is that they dislike the clay soils.

In Devon, the soil is much sandier, and the weather is also milder, making it more suitable, he says. Its definitely likely to happen again, I think, because of human vectoring  in other words, the way we transport things around the world. If you look at how they have spread through Europe, they follow the canal and road networks. In many ways, weve so far been very lucky.

With travel and trade increasing with each passing year, we must therefore hope that future termite arrivals prove equally powerless in the face of hexaflumuron.

If not, then, for Britains homeowners of the future, itll be what you might call a bugs life.
Hong Kong University removed the Pillar of Shame monument to the massacre last week

The Chinese University of Hong Kong has removed the 'Goddess of Democracy'

Two further universities have removed monuments commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre as China continues to crack down on political dissent in Hong Kong.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong has torn down its statue of the Goddess of Democracy, and nearby Lingnan University removed its relief sculpture of the same goddess.

Workers remove a part of the "Pillar of Shame" statue at Hong Kong University

Their actions follow Hong Kong University last week removing the Pillar of Shame monument marking the 1989 massacre of students in Beijing.

The Goddess of Democracy statue was modelled on the original version paraded around Tiananmen Square shortly before Chinese troops opened fire on protesters, killing what some still estimate to be as many as 10,000 people.

The Chinese University said it never authorised the display of the statue on its campus, while Lingnan University said it had assessed items on campus that may pose legal and safety risks and removed them in the best interest of the university.

Beijing introduced a new law in June last year handing the authorities powers to tackle protesters in Hong Kong.

In 2020 Hong Kong authorities used coronavirus restrictions to ban the annual candlelit vigil to the massacre.

Tens of thousands of people defied the ban to attend the vigil, amid accusations Hong Kong authorities have been in thrall to mainland China.

In October, nine pro-democracy Hong Kong activists were sentenced to between six and 10 months in prison for taking part in the vigil.

Beijing introduced a new security law for Hong Kong in June last year curbing the citys autonomy and handing the authorities powers to tackle protestors.

The law made illegal secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces  details of the law were kept secret until after it was passed.

Pro-democracy campaigners have claimed the law is being used to bring in curbs to democratic freedoms.
Hospital bosses are desperately trying to plug staffing holes as the number of NHS workers off sick rises by nearly 1,000 a day, figures suggest.

Some 18,829 NHS staff at acute trusts were absent due to Covid on December 19  up from 12,240 a week earlier.

This equates to around 941 extra staff calling in sick or isolating per day in between  putting further strain on the already stretched NHS.

Hospital bosses are desperately trying to plug staffing holes as the number of NHS workers off sick rises by nearly 1,000 a day, figures suggest (file photo used)

London is the worst hit, with Covid absence at Barts Health NHS Trust surging from 91 to 338 within seven days.

Its medical director Alistair Chesser said: 'We have plans in place to redeploy staff in the coming weeks should we need to.'

London's Imperial College Healthcare has also had to ask staff to move to 'challenged' areas due to an absence rate of nearly 7 per cent.

And bosses at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals have warned they lag 'about ten days behind London' with staff sickness rising from 421 to 699 over seven days.

Patricia Marquis, of the Royal College of Nursing, said there was 'much more' trusts could do to protect staff from infection.

Some 18,829 NHS staff at acute trusts were absent due to Covid on December 19  up from 12,240 a week earlier (file photo used)

She said: 'Hospitals that were already short-staffed can ill-afford for soaring numbers to be away from work.

'There is much more that hospital trusts and other employers can do to keep nursing and other staff protected from workplace infection, especially those caring for suspected or known patients with COVID-19.

'Faced with growing staffing shortages and rising patient numbers in the coming days and weeks, difficult decisions will need to be made but we will not support any measures we consider to be detrimental to patient or professional safety.'
Last week, we saw the Prime Minister at his bold, freedom-loving best.

Boris Johnson resisted shrill demands to impose draconian, Christmas-wrecking restrictions to tackle the Omicron surge.

His decision not to ruin the festivities was soon vindicated, with concrete data suggesting that Sage's apocalyptic forecasts were spectacularly wrong  yet again.

Yet despite evidence the variant will not wreak devastation, those self-same scientists are now fear-mongering to panic the PM into cancelling New Year.

Boris Johnson resisted shrill demands to impose Christmas-wrecking restrictions to tackle the Omicron surge

In the strongest possible terms, this paper urges him: Stick to your guns. Ignore the doomsters. And show faith in the intrinsic common sense of the British public.

Instead of treating us like toddlers over Christmas, Boris trusted we'd do the right thing to keep ourselves and others safe. And whether by taking lateral flow tests galore or doing less socialising, we did just that.

So in the absence of a cataclysmic turn of events that sees Omicron place an untenable burden on the NHS, this sensible approach must continue.

Persuading and guiding the public must be the tactics deployed to impede the virus, not the threat of a fine or being hauled to court.

Pulling down the shutters over the busy New Year would be catastrophic for the beleaguered hospitality industry  and a final nail in the coffin for countless pubs and restaurants.

It would not only blight the economy but do immense damage to our social fabric and physical and mental health.

Unless there is conclusive evidence that Omicron is an overwhelming danger, the PM should reject the clamour for further limitations on our liberties.

Poll must lead to reset

If Mr Johnson guides the country successfully between the Omicron devil and the deep blue sea of economic devastation he will deserve our deep gratitude.

In a just world, that would reap electoral rewards. The PM desperately needs to. For a poll predicts an election held today would wipe out the Tories' massive majority.

It is further evidence of the pressing need for a reset of a Downing Street operation woefully lacking authority and gravitas.

There is, however, a crumb of comfort. Despite the avalanche of sleaze and impropriety allegations levelled against him, voters are distinctly unenthusiastic about Labour winning power.

Boris must heed this warning and move on from Covid to the business of government: Levelling up the left-behind regions and exploiting our post-Brexit opportunities.

Of course, huge challenges loom. A severe cost of living crisis is tearing down the road and imminent national insurance hikes will further squeeze families and businesses.

By regaining his Tory principles, the PM can safely navigate these troubled waters. Imposing new Covid restrictions will only make them choppier  and his task harder.

Shore up royal safety

THE ease with which a crossbow-wielding intruder broke into the grounds of Windsor Castle, as the Queen celebrated Christmas there, is deeply alarming.

True, armed officers quickly apprehended the raider. And it seems the individual was not motivated by terrorism.

Nevertheless, this appears to be a serious security lapse. The Metropolitan Police  and the public  must be vigilant when it comes to the monarchy.

Today, we report that senior royals are up in arms over attempts by Scotland Yard to replace their trusted, long-standing personal bodyguards. Is it any wonder?

Perhaps this might eliminate 'cliquey-ness' in police ranks. But Saturday's events should serve as a reminder that there can never be short cuts on royal security.
A brave Oklahoma 11-year-old boy who rescued two people in one day this month is no ordinary Okie from Muskogee - even if the sixth-grader played down his acts of heroism as simply 'the right thing to do.'

Davyon Johnson saved a choking classmate and pulled an elderly woman from her burning home on December 9 to become the toast of his eastern Oklahoma town.

There have been pizza parties, award ceremonies and national news attention. He was made an honorary member of both the Muskogee Sheriff's Department and the Muskogee Police Department.

His mother told the New York Times that he had asked her why he was being rewarded for doing the right thing.

'I told him, "You saved two peoples lives,"' said LaToya Johnson, Davyons mother.

'"That is special."'

Johnson is pictured receiving thanks from Muskogee officials on December 15

Davyon Johnson is pictured accepting certificates naming him an honorary officer of both the Muskogee Sheriff's Department and the Muskogee Police Department

Since Davyon Johnson, 11, (pictured) rescued two people on December 9, his month has been a whirlwind of pizza parties, award ceremonies and national news attention. Now, he is even an honorary member of the Muskogee Sheriff's Department

On the morning of December 9, Dayvon heard a seventh-grader gasp for help near the water fountain at their school. The older boy had opened a plastic water bottle with his mouth, and the cap went sliding down his throat.

Luckily, Dayvon had just recently watched a YouTube tutorial demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver.

He squeezed the boy's midsection three times - on the third push, the cap came flying out of the choking boy's mouth.

As emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene, Dayvon stayed by the boy's side, continuously asking if he was alright.

The boy was uninjured, and returned to school the next day, said Latricia Dawkins, the school's principal.

'He acts like hes about 80,' Dawkins said of Davyon. 'Hes definitely an old soul.'

Dayvon said he was inspired to learn the technique because he wanted to emulate his uncle, Wendell Johnson, who works as an EMT, a profession he has wanted to join since he was six years old, he told the New York Times.

Later that day, Dayvon and his mother were driving to a church service around 5pm when the boy spotted smoke coming from a nearby house.

'I didnt think nothing of it, but he was like, "No, Momma, this is a house on fire,"' his mom recalled.

Johnson said he was inspired to learn the Heimlich maneuver because his uncle Wendell Johnson works as an EMT

As they pulled up to the house, the smell of burning wood grew stronger. There were cars parked outside - if anyone was home, they were unaware of the growing fire at the back of the house.

Johnson raced up to knock on the front door as his mother laid on the horn in the driveway. Five people immediately fled the house as soon as they realized what was happening.

But the home's sixth occupant, an elderly woman, was using a walker and was slow to evacuate.

'She wasnt moving fast enough,' Davyon told The Times. 'So Ive got to kind of help her get to her truck because everybody was leaving.'

As he and his mother drove away to attend their church service, they could see fire trucks arriving on the scene.

Dayvon was inspired in the second instance of heroism by his late father, who he watched enter a burning apartment complex nearby to make sure its occupants had evacuated when he was just eight years old.

He told The Times that his father, Willie James Logan, had done the 'right thing' that day.

'I look up to my dad,' he said.

Earlier this year, on August 19, his father died from complications of COVID-19 at just 52 years old.

On the morning of December 9, Johnson heard a seventh grader whisper for help through his gasps by the water fountain at their school (pictured)

Johnson's mother said the sixth-grader only talks about the events of December 9 when he is prompted, and describes his heroics as 'the right thing to do,' without a fuss.

Dawkins told the paper that she didn't think the boy has 'internalized how important the feat was that he did.'

'He said to me: "I dont want everyone to pay attention to me. I kind of did what I was supposed to do,"' she said, adding that Dayvon is 'always willing to help, always just a friend to everyone.'

Regardless, Muskogee Public Schools, the sheriff's department and even the mayor of the city have all shaken the boy's hand, thanking him for his actions.

'The entire Muskogee community is so proud of Dayvon for his heroic acts. His courage goes beyond his years,' said Terra Shows, a spokesperson for Muskogee.

'His ability to think quickly and react saved two lives in one day. What an accomplishment!'
Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, told Americans on Sunday that removing masks on airplanes is 'not something we should even be considering,' as hundreds of flights in the U.S. continue to be canceled due to the spread of the Omicron variant across the country.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, Fauci made the comment while answering Jonathan Karl's question on the possibility of introducing a vaccine mandate for domestic air travel.

'We want to make sure people keep their masks on. I think the idea of taking masks off, in my mind, is really not something we should even be considering,' Fauci said.

Earlier this month, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said in front of a U.S. Senate panel hearing that masks 'don't add much, if anything' to protect airline passengers from spreading COVID.

'And of course, the airline CEOs were suggesting that  you know, that we may not  may no longer need a mask. I hear you loud and clearly, you disagree with that on an  on the airplane.'

Fauci disagreed with the airline executive's view and then mentioned the possibility of introducing a vaccine mandate for domestic and international air travel to increase the percentage of vaccine rollout across the U.S.

Fauci said that the idea of removing masks while on an airplane 'is really not something we should even be considering,' while appearing on ABC's latest edition of This Week on Sunday

Anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome, Dr. Anthony Fauci says when asked by @jonkarl about potential vaccine requirements for domestic air travel. https://t.co/UPSYdyW4BU pic.twitter.com/Uetl9DaBO7  This Week (@ThisWeekABC) December 27, 2021

Fauci added that the obligation to wear a mask while traveling by plane may never be removed and that introducing a vaccine mandate for domestic and international air travel would force non-vaccinated Americans to immune themselves against the coronavirus

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly testified before the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on December 15, saying masks on airplanes don't necessarily help when it comes to stoping the spread of the coronavirus during air travel.

'A vaccine requirement for a person getting on the plane is just another level of getting people to have a mechanism that would spur them to get vaccinated; namely, you can't get on a plane unless you're vaccinated, which is just another one of the ways of getting requirements, whatever that might be,' Fauci said.

'So I mean, anything that could get people more vaccinated would be welcome. But with regard to the spread of virus in the country, I mean, I think if you look at wearing a mask and the filtration on planes, things are reasonably safe,' he continued.

Overall, 204,740,321 Americans or 62 percent of the population have received both COVID-vaccine doses.

As of Dec. 21, 62,211,823 Americans had received a booster, or 30.4 percent of the country's fully vaccinated population, according to the CDC's data.

Travelers wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of Covid-19. Masks need to be worn on airples in order to travel domestically across the U.S.

As of Dec. 21, 62,211,823 Americans had received a booster, or 30.4 percent of the country's fully vaccinated population, according to the CDC's data. Overall, 204,740,321 Americans or 62 percent of the population have received both COVID-vaccine doses.

In last week's edition of ABC's program, Fauci shared his skepticism on whether there will ever be a time where masks won't be compulsory for air travel.

'I think when you're dealing with a closed space, even though the filtration is good that you want to go that extra step,' Fauci said. 'When you have people, you know you get a flight from Washington to San Francisco, it's a well over a five hour flight.'

'Even though you have a good filtration system, I still believe that masks are a prudent thing to do and we should be doing it,' he added.

Meanwhile, more than 700 domestic flights have already been delayed or canceled for Monday as the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to surge.

Among the airlines reporting disruptions are United, JetBlue, American, Alaskan, Delta and Southwest, as well as many international carriers.

The disruptions came after more than 7,300 flights were impacted on Sunday, which followed 4,000 flights getting canceled or delayed on Christmas Day - leaving travelers frustrated amid the holiday weekend.

'This was unexpected,' United spokesperson Maddie King told USA Today.

Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the Omicron variant for staffing challenges that led to the disruptions.

The hectic travel schedule comes as airlines have been hit hard by the recent COVID surge that saw 151,915 new cases confirmed on Christmas Day, along with a total of 4,644 Omicron cases.

Fauci said that the weekly average of 150,000 COVID cases keeps spiking.

'Every day it goes up and up. The last weekly average was about 150,000 and it likely will go much higher,' he told ABC's This Week.

The recent COVID surge in the U.S. saw 151,915 new cases confirmed on Christmas Day, along with a total 4,644 Omicron cases, as more positive cases continue to rise across the country.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed on Twitter after she and her wife, Amy Eshleman, posted a video wishing a 'joyous Kwanzaa' to all who celebrate.

The backlash comes as Lightfoot is accused of ignoring the city's surge in violent crimes, including a 25-year high murder rate, with 767 homicides in the city so far this year.

Last week, she begged Attorney General Merrick Garland to send ATF agents to the city for six months to help get illegal guns off the street after she slashed the police budget by $80 million in 2020. Lightfoot later scaled back the slashing of the budget and cut 3.3% - or $59 million.

Twitter users were quick slam Lightfoot, saying the the principles of Kwanzaa - a holiday founded in 1966 by black nationalist Dr Maulana Karenga, who spent four years in prison for torture - are not reflected in Chicago society.

'How many people were shot this weekend,' questioned @anthony_leach_. Another said: 'There's been seven carjackings since you tweeted this.'

In her video message shared online, Lightfoot said: 'Joyous Kwanzaa, Chicago!' The seven principles of Kwanzaa guide us to unity and cooperation as we work to uplift and protect our neighbors.'

'As you light the candles and gather in unity, we hope your holiday is filled with rejoicing and happiness,' Eshleman echoed.

The pair, who also used the holiday video as an opportunity to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, were criticized by Twitter users who cited the crime wave ravaging Chicago and Lightfoot's alleged failures as leader.

'Is this a Saturday Night Live skit?' questioned @ParkerRinger.

'One can only hope they include NOT stealing, obeying the law, not committing murder, produce your own income, feed and house your own kids, contribute to society and don't be bitter and angry,' @Jasonwarnick4 wrote. 'Have your people follow those rules and your City won't be in a permanent state of chaos.'

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was slammed on Twitter after she and her wife, Amy Eshleman, posted a video wishing a 'joyous Kwanzaa to all who celebrate'

Others criticized Lightfoot for promoting a holiday which was founded in 1966 by black nationalist Dr. Maulana Karenga, who was later convicted of torture and served four years in prison.

Kwanzaa is an annual celebration of African-American culture held from December 26 to January 1. The holiday celebrates seven principles of African culture which Karenga believed contributed to building and reinforcing community among African-Americans. It also incorporates seven symbols which are meant to represent values and concepts reflective of African culture.

Lightfoot and Eshleman shared their holiday video on Twitter Sunday afternoon, on the first day of Kwanzaa.

'Amy and I wish to extend a very beautiful and prosperous Kwanzaa to all of you celebrating this season,' Lightfoot said.

She said the holiday's seven principles - self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith - serve as a reminder for how Chicagoans should treat each other and their community.

'As you prepare for your Kwanzaa celebrations, I urge you to keep these values in mind,' the mayor stated.

'May the light of peace bring happiness to your home as we wish you the warmth and togetherness of Kwanzaa.'

'We wish you a wonderful seven nights celebration, and hope they are filled with renewal and joy,' Eshleman added.

Despite their heartfelt attempt at promoting peace and unity, the couple was blasted online.

Despite their heartfelt attempt at promoting peace and unity, the couple was blasted online

'Thank you fellas for the message, but imma have to decline all the BS,' @HoeBiden46 responded.

'I'll take things that don't actually exist for $1000, Alex,' said @celticmagick333.

As of December 21, 2021, overall crime in the city has gone up from 45,986 cases in 2020 to 44,863 cases

Some users pointed out the city's crime wave in an effort to demonstrate how the principles of Kwanzaa are not reflected in society

Others criticized the alleged lack of policing in Chicago and suggested the crime wave is, in part, the result of Lightfoot's leadership

Some Twitter users criticized the couple for even promoting the holiday at all, arguing that Karenga is not a person who should be celebrated

@FlyByKnight17 criticized the alleged lack of policing in Chicago and suggested the crime wave is, in part, the result of Lightfoot's leadership.

'The principles of policing and Justice are as important as ever and should be and should be a guide for all of us,' they wrote.

'No one is happy or safe in Chicago!'

The sentiment was echoed by @jayce189 who added: 'Pay your employees.

'Charges should be filed with EEOC and Illinois department of labor against the city for not having enough money to cash employees paychecks.'

What is Kwanzaa and who created it? Kwanzaa creator Maulana Karenga - born Ronald McKinley Everett (pictured) Kwanzaa is a holiday created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga. The holiday's name derived from the Swahili phrase 'matunda ya kwanza' meaning 'first fruits', and purports to reflect seven principles of African cultural values across seven days of celebration. One each of the seven nights of Kwanzaa, families gather to light candles, which is typically done by a child, and discuss one of the seven principles. The principles, called the Nguzo Saba, are supposed to reflect values of African culture. However, the holiday has received widespread criticism with many arguing that its creator's chequered past - and the holiday's likeness to Hanukkah - calls its legitimacy into question. Kwanzaa creator Karenga - born Ronald McKinley Everett - co-founded the US Organisation in 1965, a Black nationalist party which aimed to root black Americans in African culture. The organization clashed with the rival Black Panthers movement and the two groups engaged in armed attacks over a period of several years. Then, Karenga and two others were convicted in 1971 on charges of torturing and falsely imprisoning two black women. A report in the LA Times on the case said: 'Deborah Jones said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vice. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said.' Although he denied the charges, Karenga served four years in prison. His alleged involvement in the Black Power movement led to the belief that Kwanzaa was closely tied to black nationalism. Advertisement

Additionally, some Twitter users criticized the couple for even promoting the holiday at all, arguing that Karenga is not a person who should be celebrated.

'Kwanzaa's creator was convicted in 1971 of torturing two women,' tweeted @CroMagnonNews.

'According to the LA Times, he made them strip, burned them with a soldering iron, beat them with night stick, & put detergent and running hoses in their mouths. Which of the 7 principles was he following?'

'My college professor at Cal State invented Kwanzaa before going to jail for beating two women with toasters,' @howmanyjokesun1 said.

Karenga, a professor and chairman of Black Studies at California State University, created Kwanzaa in 1966, History.com reported.

The holiday is celebrated uniquely by each family but often includes song, dance, drumming, storytelling, poetry reading and a large, traditional meal. The feast, called Karamu, is held on Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, in addition to wishing a happy Kwanzaa to the Chicagoans that celebrate, Lightfoot also used her video as a tool to push for vaccinations and to encourage the following CDC guidelines in effort to maintain 'COVID-19 safe celebrations'.

'The COVID-19 vaccines are by far the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from the virus,' said Lightfoot.

'Anyone who isn't vaccinated should get one as soon as possible to be protected for the holidays. And that includes five to 11-year-olds who are now eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.'

Eshleman added: 'Fully vaccinated people can gather with others who have been fully vaccinated without restrictions. If you are not vaccinated we recommend that you don't attend any large gatherings.

'If you still plan to do so, we encourage to get a COVID test before attending while also masking and social distancing when possible.'

They also reminded all Chicagoans, including those who are vaccinated, not to attend any celebrations if they are experience COVID or flu-like symptoms.

The holiday celebration reminder comes as the Windy City sees a surge in crime, prompting stronger response from police.

As of December 21, 2021, overall crime in the city has gone up from 45,986 cases in 2020 to 44,863 cases.

Thefts are up by a whopping 20 percent in Chicago, with police recording 12,523 cases.

The city is also seeing a rise in violent crimes, noting there have been 783 murders, a 5 percent rise from the 749 at the same time last year.

Criminal sexual assaults also rose from 2,027 last year to 1,575, a 29 percent increase.

Robbery was the only violent crime to remain steady this year, with only 5 less total incidents reported than last year. To date, the city has had 7,633 cases.

Shooting incidents have also increased this year, with the Chicago Police Department reporting 3,467 so far in 2021, a 9 percent increase from last year.

Lightfoot has routinely come under fire for the way she has dealt with crime after she publicly backed the 'defund the police' movement and proposed slashing $59million from the CPD budget, or 3.3 percent, and 600 vacant positions from the department, amid Black Lives Matter protests throughout the summer of 2020.

Chicago District Attorney Kim Foxx is also facing scrutiny after it was revealed she made an effort to help embattled actor Jussie Smollett get away with staging his own assault. Officials say Foxx liaised with the Empire star's relatives and tried to persuade the FBI to assume the investigation days after the attack.
A Missouri woman was pictured with a bright smile on her face after being charged with killing her fiance with a sword on Christmas Eve after the couple was high on meth.

Brittany Wilson, 32, was found outside the Cape Girardeau home she shared with 34-year-old Harrison Stephen Foster with blood on her clothing and a sword lying in the front yard.

Wilson had called police shortly after 11p.m. Friday to report that she had killed Foster with a sword, cops said.

She told investigators that she believed he had several other entities living in his body, and she was setting him free by stabbing him, police said

After officers arrested Wilson, they went inside the home and found Harris dead with several fresh stab wounds.

This photo provided by Cape Girardeau Police Department shows Wilson after being charged with killing her boyfriend with a sword on Friday. Wilson called 911 and was found outside the home she shared with Foster on Friday night with blood on her clothing, and a sword lying in the front yard

Brittany Wilson (left), 32, is accused of killing her boyfriend, Harrison Foster (right), 34, with a sword on Christmas Eve after taking methamphetamine earlier in the day

Wilson and Foster's home at 378 Barberry Street in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where officers responded to her 911 call on Christmas Eve at 11p.m.

Wilson told police that she and Foster had taken methamphetamine earlier in the day at the home located about 115 miles south of St. Louis.

Officers say she claimed that Foster was harvesting body parts from individuals.

In the mug shot released Saturday, an orange jumpsuit-clad Wilson, who has two children, wore a wide smile. Foster isn't believed to be the father of the two kids.

He and Wilson were apparently planning to get married after announcing their engagement on April 17.

Wilson with her two children in one of her Facebook photos. Her and Foster, who is believed not to be the father of the kids, were planning to get married after they sharing on Facebook their engagement on April 17

Before the murder happened, Wilson had shared a meme on her Facebook profile about sharing multidimensional experiences with others 'no matter how crazy it sounds to the uninitiated.'

Prior to the murder, Wilson had shared a meme on her Facebook profile about sharing multidimensional experiences with others on the same day of the fatal incident.

Along with the post, she wrote the caption: 'So guys, Uhhhhhh, Turns out the love of Christ has superpower perks. Dont follow me for further elaboration, Follow him for Eternal Salvation.'

Wilson was being held Sunday in lieu of $2 million bond. She has been charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Jurors entered day four of deliberations into former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes's fraud charges as the second week of deliberations began on Monday.

Holmes, 37, faces 11 criminal charges alleging that she duped investors and patients by hailing her company's blood-testing technology as a medical breakthrough when in fact it was prone to wild errors.

The eight men and four women on the jury have been meeting in a San Jose, California, federal courthouse after absorbing reams of evidence during the high-profile trial that has captivated the Silicon Valley. The jurors deliberated for three days last week before adjourning Thursday afternoon for the holiday weekend.

The jurors have provided few clues about how their deliberations have been going so far. During their first week of discussing the case, they sent two notes to US District Judge Edward Davila.

Elizabeth Holmes' trial entered its second week of deliberation on Monday after a three-day holiday break (pictured: Holmes on December 21)

Holmes (pictured with her partner on December 23) faces 11 criminal charges for fraud and conspiracy that could lead to 20 years in prison. During the first week, jurors requested to take home jury instructions - which was denied - as well as to review the secret recordings of Holmes' presentation with investors

They asked if they could take home the jury instructions to review them, a request that Davila swiftly rejected. The other note prompted a replay of secret recordings from a Holmes' presentation to prospective investors during a December 2013 conference call.

In the recording, which was presented as evidence at trial, Holmes boasted about partnerships with established drug companies that hadn't panned out and a potential US military contract that never materialized because of problems with Theranos' technology.

After listening to the recordings again on Thursday, the jurors left the courtroom without returning Holmes' gaze from across the courtroom.

The case has attracted worldwide attention as Holmes - who started Theranos as a 19-year-old college dropout and then went on to break through Silicon Valley's male-dominated culture - boldly claims her company's blood testing could test for hundreds of diseases with only a few drops of blood.

She become a billionaire on paper before it all evaporated amid allegations she was more of a charlatan than an entrepreneur.

Holmes spent seven days on the witness stand acknowledging her mistakes, stating that she regretted it while staunchly maintaining that she never stopped believing Theranos was on the verge of revolutionizing healthcare.

Holmes' company claimed it would test for thousands of diseases with only a few drops of blood, compared to normal practices that take several vials

Many investors became to pull out after finding out the technology (pictured) was flawed and produced inaccurate results

It was such a compelling concept that Theranos raised more than $900million and struck partnerships with major retailers Walgreens and Safeway. Holmes herself became the subject of cover stories in business magazines.

But unknown to most people outside Theranos, the company's blood-testing technology was flawed, often producing inaccurate results that could have endangered the lives of patients.

After the flaws were exposed in 2015 and 2016, Theranos eventually collapsed and the Justice Department filed a criminal case in 2018 that charged Holmes with 11 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

Holmes' trial has spanned nearly four months with 32 witnesses taking the stand, with closing arguments ended on December 17.

If convicted, Holmes could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Her co-defendant and ex-boyfriend Sunny Balwani, 56, is set to start trial early next year.

She claimed her ex-boyfriend was abusive and once gave her controlling handwritten instructions on how to become the new Elizabeth.

The document, released as evidence earlier this month, includes mantras such as I will never meet with anyone for more than five minutes unless I have written down why.

The three pages of scrawling outlined how Holmes should start her day, beginning with forcing herself out of bed and spending 30 minutes  never a minute less  writing down the days goals.

In court earlier this week, Holmes sobbed as she accused Balwani of abusing her and forcing her into sex.

Earlier this month, Holmes accused Balwani of being abusive and controlling, and forcing her to have sex against her will during their 12-year relationship, which ended in 2016.

'He would force me to have sex with him when I didn't want to because he would say that he wanted me to know he still loved me,' said Holmes, in tears.

She told the court that Balwani, a Pakistan-born multimillionaire who made his fortune in the dot com boom in the Silicon Valley, controlled what she ate and how she lived.
Entire year groups of school students could be sent home by headteachers if the Omicron variant leads to staffing crises when schools return next month, union bosses have warned.

Education bosses have warned the Prime Minister that those students set to take exams would have to be prioritised if there is a shortage of staff due to illness in January.

It comes as union chiefs have said headteachers are worried children could miss 'high-stakes' GCSE and A-Level mock exams which may be used if the real things are scrapped later this year.

While the Government has insisted that keeping schools open is 'the number one priority', the biggest threat to education would be if the rise in cases of the highly transmissible Omicron variant means staff absences sky rocket due to illness or self-isolation.

The latest DfE figures showed that 2.4 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent from schools in England due to Covid-19 related reasons on December 9, up from 2 per cent on November 25.

Unions have warned that whole schools could return to remote learning in January as a result while one union head has said schools will be forced to 'prioritise' certain year groups.

Unions say entire year groups of school students could be sent home by headteachers if the Omicron variant leads to a shortage in teaching staff when schools return next month

Rising Omicron variant cases have lead schools to plan for worst case scenarios in January

Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told the Telegraph that headteachers were 'hoping for the best but planning for the worst' and could send entire year groups home if teacher shortages becomes an issue.

He told The Telegraph: 'If you have a fixed pool available of those who can teach young people, then the only final resort schools and colleges have is to start thinking about the certain year groups that should be prioritised in the short term.'

Mr Barton said that one approach would be to keep those students taking exams - Year 11 and Year 13 - in schools for face-to-face lessons, while younger year groups are sent home to learn remotely.

He added: 'We feel we owe it to the young people doing GCSEs and A-levels because and want to make it as normal as they can be.'

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Barton said that schools cannot be treated like other parts of national infrastructure.

He added: 'There is a limited pool of those teachers and we know even from the week running into Christmas there were some schools running with 25 per cent staff off.

'That in some cases will be 30 members of staff not being able to be there which is unsustainable even before Christmas so we don't know what next week will look like.

'We're not catastrophising that but we are saying we must have a real sense of realism around this.

The Prime Minister has told Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi that he is 'absolutely determined' to have children back in class and that keeping schools open is the 'number one priority', it was reported yesterday.

However, hours later, headteachers' unions warned that rising Covid cases may force them to close anyway  even without national restrictions  due to staff sickness.

Unions have warned that whole schools could return to remote learning in January despite Boris Johnson vowing to keep them open

It comes amid fears that Christmas gatherings will hasten the spread of the Omicron variant before the start of term.

Many schools already have contingency plans for remote learning in January and have sent home textbooks and electronic devices just in case.

Mr Johnson and Mr Zahawi are understood to have discussed schools almost daily, with a source telling the Sunday Times: 'There is a shared commitment across government to make sure they stay open.'

But Mr Barton said yesterday: 'Schools should be the very last thing that closes in any further restrictions. But words aren't enough.

'The Government must back up this aim with material support to minimise transmission of the virus.

Geoff Barton, head of the headteachers union ASCL, said schools will be forced to prioritise those students who are taking exams while other year groups are sent to learn from home

'Otherwise the danger is that there simply won't be enough staff available to keep schools fully open.'

Paul Whiteman, of the NAHT, added: 'It does seem as though choppy waters lie ahead and that some form of disruption at the start of next term is looking sadly inevitable... It would be naive to pretend that Omicron won't have an impact.'

Meanwhile Kevin Courtney, of the National Education Union, called for measures such as wearing masks in classrooms and isolation for close contacts of Covid cases for 'the best chance of limiting infection rates.'

Mr Barton said some schools would 'presumably be thinking about doing mock exams next week for exam groups'.

He said: 'I think one of the concerns will be what if we find that there's quite a lot of young people who aren't around to be able to do those mock exams - do they need to be changed to another time?'

Mr Barton said this would be less of an issue 'in normal times' but that the mocks were more 'high stakes' this year as they could be used as a back-up if exams were cancelled.

'Of course, they have been made more high-stakes this year because we know that as a kind of safety net they may end up counting in the instance that some young people can't do their exams in the summer,' he told the PA news agency.

'So, it's not a case of saying 'let's not bother with mocks', because you will need to do those mocks at some point.'

Mr Barton said schools would need to think about when to run mocks if they could not take place next week.

He added that schools would also be considering whether to change attendance patterns if they did not have enough staff to cover classes in the new year, although he stressed this would be at the 'bottom of the list' of heads' contingency planning.

'We just don't know how much that will be the case, but we know it was the case going into Christmas,' he said.

'The question is whether Christmas has worked as a kind of circuit-breaker or whether what we're going to see, with almost ten million children going back into schools next week, whether actually you very quickly get increased numbers of staff being affected. There's just lots of uncertainties.'

He said schools were doing 'scenario planning' before their pupils returned and that 'in the worst-case scenario, if you couldn't cover all of your year groups in that situation, you would have to make a decision - in secondary, for example, are you going to say exam classes come back and others are remote learning?'

Mr Barton said heads did not want this to happen but were 'basically doing what wasn't done by the Government last year, which was scenario planning'.

Schools might also run staggered returns as they carried out on-site testing of pupils, he said.

In November, exams regulator Ofqual published guidance advising that A-level and GCSE students should sit termly assessments to ensure there was enough evidence to determine their grades in case exams were cancelled again.

Ofqual published guidance for teachers on how they should gather evidence to assess pupils' performance if exams could not go ahead in 2022, with teachers advised to assess students 'under exam-like conditions wherever possible' to help inform teacher-assessed grades (TAGs) if needed.
An Italian celebrity chef has successfully sued a newspaper that criticised his risotto served at a gala dinner in 2016.

Carlo Cracco, 56, a former judge on Italy's Masterchef, launched legal action against the editor of La Cronaca di Verona, Achille Ottaviani, for his scathing review.

The chef, whose restaurant had two Michelin stars, served up a risotto with tomato, lemon, cumin and braised wagyu beef at the gala.

Italian celebrity chef Carlo Cracco (pictured) has successfully sued a newspaper that criticised his risotto served at a gala dinner in 2016

He was catering for 400 guests at the 50th anniversary of the city's annual wine festival Vinitaly.

But Ottaviani wrote after the dinner that many diners left disappointed and headed to nearby kebab shops, the focus of Cracco's legal complaint, The Times reported.

The editor said: 'Insipid risotto, tough meat, vegetables that don't match, except in the folly of a non-existent culinary grandeur.

'Better the San Carlo crisps that Cracco promotes on TV.'

Cracco has won two libel suits and a court has ordered Ottaviani to pay fines of 11,000, preliminary damages of 20,000 and costs of 3,500 for the defamation.

The chef said he is considering launching a separate civil case for a further 50,000.

He said the scathing review has affected his business.

Since the review included the responses of the unnamed guests, it was neither an opinion nor a statement of facts and it was therefore not protected by Italian law.

Cracco, 56, a former judge on Italy's Masterchef, launched legal action against the editor of La Cronaca di Verona, Achille Ottaviani (pictured)

Food journalist Dario De Marco said: 'If he had written, "I was disappointed, crisps would have been better, I went and got a kebab as soon as I came out," that would have been criticism, protected as a personal opinion.'

After the review was posted, Cracco responded online, saying: 'Talking negatively about me or attacking me has become the most coveted hobby to get more views or more notoriety.

'In short, a way to make people talk about themselves .'

He said guests complimented the quality of meat in his risotto and didn't see any guests leaving for a kebab.

It is the second time Cracco has successfully sued Ottaviani for defamation, previously winning 1,000 for another negative review.
China has developed an artificial intelligence prosecutor that can charge people with crimes with more than 97 per cent accuracy, researchers claim.

The dystopian machine can identify 'dissent' against the state and suggest sentences for supposed criminals, removing people from the prosecution process.

There are already fears the system could be weaponised by the Chinese Communist Party with human prosecutors concerned about who would take responsibility for the AI's decisions.

China has developed an artificial intelligence prosecutor that can charge people with crimes with more than 97 per cent accuracy, researchers claim

The tool can file a charge based on a verbal description of the case and was built and tested by the Shanghai Pudong People's Procuratorate, the biggest and busiest district prosecution office in China.

The AI would allow human prosecutors to ease their workload and allow them to only focus on the more complex cases, the project's lead scientist Professor Shi Yong said.

The system can run on a standard desktop computer and would press charges based on 1,000 'traits' from the human-generated case description text, the South China Morning Post reported.

It was 'trained' using 17,000 real life cases from 2015 to 2020 and is able to identify and press charges for the eight most common crimes in Shanghai.

These include 'provoking trouble' - a term used to stifle dissent in China, credit card fraud, gambling crimes, dangerous driving, theft, fraud, intentional injury and obstructing official duties.

Soon the AI prosecutor will be able to recognise more types of crime and file multiple charges against one suspect once it is upgraded.

Shi said in a paper published in the Management Review journal: 'The system can replace prosecutors in the decision-making process to a certain extent.'

Some AI technology already exists in law enforcement but this would be the first time it is involved in pressing charges.

In Germany, image recognition and digital forensics are used to help with caseloads, while China uses a tool known as System 206 to evaluate evidence, a suspect's potential danger and the conditions for arrest.

The Chinese government is increasingly relying on AI to boost its productivity, with machines already in place to crack down on corruption and increase state control

But the system has no role in the decision-making process and does not suggest sentences.

One prosecutor in Guanghzhou says he has concerns about the new technology.

He said: 'The accuracy of 97 per cent may be high from a technological point of view, but there will always be a chance of a mistake.

'Who will take responsibility when it happens? The prosecutor, the machine or the designer of the algorithm?'

He added that many human prosecutors will not want computers interfering in their work.

'AI may help detect a mistake, but it cannot replace humans in making a decision,' the prosecutor said.

There are also fears it will fail to keep up with changing social standards and could be weaponised by the state.

The Chinese government is increasingly relying on AI to boost its productivity, with machines already in place to crack down on corruption and increase state control.
Police are growing increasingly concerned for a 12-year-old Devon schoolgirl who disappeared a week ago and missed Christmas Day with her family.

Leona Peach was last seen in the Hele Park area of Newton Abbot, Devon, at around 9.15am last Monday.

Originally from the North Devon area, officers believe she may have travelled to Bideford.

Leona Peach (pictured) was last seen in the Hele Park area of Newton Abbot, Devon, at around 9.15am last Monday

Leona is believed to be wearing grey/blue leggings or skinny trousers with a dark-coloured fur coat and flip flops

She has been described as white and of slim to medium build.

She is approximately 4ft 9in, has hazel-coloured eyes and has long light-brown hair which reaches the middle of her back. She has a bald patch above her right ear, police said.

Police have also appealed for Leona to make contact with her family in Newton Abbot.

A locator map shows where the schoolgirl was last seen on Monday. If you have seen Leona, or know of her whereabouts, please call police immediately on 999, quoting log number 0222 of 20/12/21

Detective Inspector Dave Pebworth said: 'Enquiries are continuing in our efforts to locate Leona and we are asking members of the public to help us.

'We are supporting her friends and family and are appealing to Leona to contact home so that they know that she is safe and well.

'This time of year is especially important for families and we are keen to make sure that she is okay and would ask that anyone who is with her encourages Leona to contact her family in Newton Abbot.

'Leona if you are reading this, we want you to know you are not in any trouble, please contact us, or someone you trust, to let us know you are safe.'

Leona is believed to be wearing grey/blue leggings or skinny trousers with a dark-coloured fur coat and flip flops. She was carrying a pink bag.

If you have seen Leona, or know of her whereabouts, please call police immediately on 999, quoting log number 0222 of 20/12/21.
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The number of NHS workers absent because of Covid at London's busiest hospital trust has more than tripled in a week, official figures show as hospitals draw up battle plans to cope with depleted workforce numbers.

Barts Health Trust saw 338 employees off work on December 19 either because they had caught the virus or were isolating, compared to 91 the previous Sunday.

A similar trend was seen across the capital as a whole, where Covid-related absences jumped from 1,540 to 3,874 over the same time-frame. It means the virus now makes up around 43 per cent of NHS daily absences in London, compared to just 18 per cent before Omicron spiralled out of control. More than 6 per cent of staff were off solely because of Covid at the worst-hit trust, which runs Great Ormond Street Hospital.

It comes as the Prime Minister gets set to hold crunch talks today on whether England should follow the other UK nations and introduce extra Covid curbs ahead of the New Year.

A key part of discussions around extra measures centre on if the health service can cope with an expected spike in infected patients like seen in London, coupled with soaring staff absences.

Senior medics today warned staffing absences could push A&E units 'over the edge' and force doctors to focus on the sickest patients. One researcher claimed worst-case scenario modelling showed up to 40 per cent of London's NHS workforce could be off at any one time.

The NHS was already forced to scrap the requirement for staff who live with someone who has tested positive to self-isolate amid fears the rapid spread of the variant would deplete hospitals and force them to cancel thousands of routine procedures.

As part of its Omicron battle plan, health chiefs have been told to prepare to create temporary field hospitals in existing hospital car parks that will be supported by army medics and redeployed staff.

Experts warn that London's experience with Omicron, Britain's epicentre of the variant, will be replicated across the country in the coming weeks. Hospitalisation rates in the capital are teetering on the verge of 400 a day, a figure thought to be the trigger point for imposing fresh restrictions.

Some 351 hospital workers at Great Ormond Street Hospital Trust were ill or isolating due to Covid on December 19, according to NHS England data, compared to 70 the week before. This made up around 6.13 per cent of the trust's entire workforce, statistics suggest. MailOnline's graphic shows the 10 trusts in London with the greatest proportion of staff off because of Covid on December 19

Some 338 hospital workers at Barts Health trust were ill or isolating due to Covid on December 19, according to NHS England data, compared to 83 two weeks earlier. Guy's and St Thomas' Trust had the highest Covid staff absence numbers in London, with 515 workers at home on December 19, compared to 179 two weeks earlier on December 5 (188 per cent increase). King's College Hospital trust saw 505 Covid-related absences on December 19, followed by Imperial College Healthcare trust (365), Great Ormond Street Hospital trust (351) and St George's University Hospital trust (206)

NHS England data shows staff absences in London due to Covid have increased from 1,100 to 3,874 over in the two weeks to December 19. It means the virus now makes up around 43 per cent of NHS daily absences in London compared to just 18 per cent before Omicron spiralled out of control

Reports have claimed ministers are watching hospitalisation numbers in the capital, with a two-week 'circuit breaker' lockdown set to be imposed if daily numbers surpass 400

Boris Johnson fights to avoid introducing ANY stricter new Covid curbs Boris Johnson is battling to avoid imposing tough Covid restrictions for the New Year ahead of a crunch meeting with scientists today. The Prime Minister will hold talks with advisers to discuss whether legal curbs are needed to deal with the threat of Omicron. Downing Street is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing. But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections. It came as Mr Johnson received a warning from his own backbenchers to be 'very cautious' before applying further restrictions. Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, told LBC: 'The latest figures we had before Christmas showed that the number of cases in hospital was relatively stable - and that is the main measure why we need any further lockdowns, is to deal with infectivity in hospitals, and I don't see that before Christmas. 'So, I hope the Prime Minister will be very, very cautious before introducing further measures.' Sir Geoffrey said people were 'taking matters into their own hands and being very cautious themselves', adding: 'That is the best answer in this situation - let people make their own decisions.' Possible restrictions considered by the PM over the past few days include closing pubs and restaurants indoors, bringing back the rule of six or restricting the number of households meeting indoors, and limiting capacity at mass events. Last night the beleaguered hospitality industry urged Mr Johnson to hold firm amid hopeful signs that Omicron is not as dangerous as previous variants. Advertisement

NHS England's most up-to-date statistics show staff absences in London due to Covid have increased 252 per cent when comparing most recent data for the week to December 19 to the week to December 5, while increase nationally was just 68 per cent.

And the number of staff missing work has increased even more at some of the worst-hit London trusts.

Some 338 hospital workers at Barts Health trust were ill or isolating due to Covid in the week to December 19, according to NHS England data, compared to 91 one week earlier, marking a nearly four-fold increase.

Guy's and St Thomas' Trust had the highest Covid staff absence numbers in London, with 515 workers at home on December 19, compared to 179 two weeks earlier on December 5 (188 per cent increase).

King's College Hospital trust saw 505 Covid-related absences on December 19, followed by Imperial College Healthcare trust (365), Great Ormond Street Hospital trust (351) and St George's University Hospital trust (206).

The figures do not break down exactly how many are off because they have Covid and how many are absent because they are isolating with suspected Covid.

The rising staff absences comes despite the requirement being dropped for doctors and nurses to stay away from wards for 10 days if someone they lived with tested positive for the virus, regardless of whether or not they were fully vaccinated.

It was different to the rules issued at the same time for the rest of the nation in August, which meant that double-jabbed people did not have to self-quarantine if someone in their household caught the virus. Officials wanted to protect vulnerable patients in hospital.

But updated guidance sent out to NHS chiefs on December 16 saw the household rule quietly scrapped.

Instead, NHS workers should return as soon as they get a negative PCR test result, so long as they have had two vaccines. They must then take daily lateral flow swabs before turning up for their shift.

But NHS staff waiting on test results are required to isolate and if they test positive they must stay at home for at least seven days.

If they test negative on a lateral flow device on day six and seven of their quarantine they can return to work after seven days of isolation, but if they continue to test positive or feel unwell they may be off work for longer.

Professor Alison Leary, chair of healthcare and workforce modelling at London Southbank University, said as much as 40 per cent of the capital's NHS workforce could be absent because of rising coronavirus infections under her 'worst-case scenario' workings.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World At One programme, she said: 'The NHS is in a fairly fragile state in terms of workforce anyway - that's fairly well documented - and the increased absence rate due to Covid and Omicron in particular are putting a lot more strain on the system.

'Christmas Eve is the last data we have, there is more data due out today, but, essentially, London's absence rate is up by about 30 per cent, depending on the organisation.

'That's not just people off sick with Covid but also people isolating because of positive tests. It is kind of going up every week. Normal sickness rate runs around 4-5 per cent in the NHS, and we are looking more now at 8-9 per cent.'

Asked whether that pattern was likely to be replicated elsewhere, the academic said there were similar signs in the North West of England and the Midlands was showing 'increased rates of absence'.

Pressed on what was likely to happen over the coming weeks, Professor Leary added: 'One of the scenarios we've modelled is around 40 per cent of the workforce being off, absent in London.

'We'd hope that's a worst-case scenario, but because we are already seeing an increase, I think it wouldn't be unrealistic to expect that to go up significantly.'

Dr Ian Higginson, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the current number of staff absences in NHS emergency departments could 'push us over the edge'.

He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'Our members, those who got back to us, were pretty emphatic that they are suffering significant staffing issues right now.

'We're worried that something is going to have to give.

'When our members are reporting that 20-25 per cent of available staff are off sick for various reasons, but we think Covid is the prime contributor at the moment, that really is a considerable amount.

'That will push us over the edge as regards to normal function and we will have to start thinking about focusing our efforts on what we can do for the most people and concentrating our efforts on those who are most in need of our services.'

It was revealed last week that hospital car parks, canteens, offices and meeting rooms could be staffed by NHS workers and army personnel to function as temporary wards if Omicron causes a similar spike in hospitalisations as was seen in infections over the last few weeks.

The UK Health Security Agency last posted daily Covid case data on December 24, while the most recent hospitalisation figures only go up to December 20.

Data for London shows Covid admissions jumped 92 per cent in a week.

London is being battered hardest by the new variant, with one in 20 infected with the virus and ten of the worst hit postcodes in England located within a three square mile stretch between Wandsworth and Lambeth (highlighted in yellow above). The data goes up until December 19

But a major analysis by the UKHSA found those who catch Omicron are up to 70 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital compared with previous variants.

MPs and doctors have called for more transparency around the UK's hospitalisation data, with any patients who happen to test positive included in the daily tally even if they are receiving treatment for an unrelated condition.

It comes as the Prime Minister is battling to avoid imposing tough Covid restrictions for the New Year ahead of a crunch meeting with scientists today.

Mr Johnson will hold talks with advisers to discuss whether legal curbs are needed to deal with the threat of Omicron.

Downing Street is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing.

But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections.

Possible restrictions considered by the PM over the past few days include closing pubs and restaurants indoors, bringing back the rule of six or restricting the number of households meeting indoors, and limiting capacity at mass events.

Any new legally binding restrictions would need the backing of Cabinet, and would have to be rubber stamped by MPs.

But last night sources said the recall of Parliament was looking less likely than it had before Christmas  an indication that Downing Street is leaning away from stricter curbs. If simple guidance was issued, urging people to limit their contacts, this would not need Parliamentary sanctioning or the backing of the Cabinet.
A senior paramedic accused of making a series of creepy remarks to female trainees tried to defend himself by comparing his comments to Benny Hill.

'Loud and obnoxious' Richard Maxon said to one young woman as she was bending over, 'While you're down there, love...' in a 'demeaning' reference to oral sex, a disciplinary hearing was told.

He also quizzed students on their sexual orientation and relationship statuses, rubbed his legs in a 'suggestive' manner and told another trainee 'you must make your fella happy'.

Mr Maxon, who was working at a university as a lecturer on a paramedic training course, argued any inappropriate behaviour and comments were meant in a 'jokey' way - comparing it to the slapstick comedy of popular 1970s comedian Benny Hill.

But a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service panel ruled his behaviour was 'predatory' and 'clearly sexually motivated' and suspended him for six months.

Richard Maxon, a paramedic with 19 years' experience, was suspended for six months, after he was accused of making 'predatory' and 'clearly sexually motivated' comments to trainees

The three day tribunal, held via video call, heard Maxon, who has served as a paramedic for more than 19 years, was employed by the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust.

He was working as at the University of Portsmouth, Hants, at the time of the allegations, as a lecturer on a Certificate of Higher Education Paramedic course.

In June 2019 Maxon asked a class of up to 20 students in a 'cheeky, arrogant way' for their 'marital/relationship status' and 'sexual orientation'.

He was described by one student as being 'loud and obnoxious' and by another as being an 'aggressive and shouty person'.

Two days later, during a practice 'cardiovascular assessment' involving two students, Maxon made a comment regarding one female student who was feeling under the weather.

The trainee, identified only as Colleague A, told the tribunal: 'I volunteered to do the assessment on one of the other students... I was not feeling well on this day as I had a cold.

'I apologised for my cold to the person I was practising the assessment on and everyone laughed.

Maxon was employed by South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust at the time he made the sexually suggestive comments, working as a lecturer on a Certificate of Higher Education Paramedic course with trainees

'Richard Maxon then turned to [the male colleague] and said, 'Is this going to ruin your image of her tonight?', and then rubbed his hands up and down his legs suggestively.

'I was very embarrassed and [his] comment made me feel dirty, it was extremely unprofessional. [The male colleague] and I both blushed and Richard Maxon commented on how red we had both gone.'

Maxon denied the allegation he was referring to masturbation but added that, if he did make the comment, the context was in a 'jokey, Benny Hill manner'.

The following week, on July 2, the panel found Maxon again subjected the same female trainee, Colleague A, to more sexualised comments, including asking her 'Have you shaved your legs?' during another practical demonstration.

Later that same day, noticing the 'odd' way Colleague A lowered herself to sit on the floor, the panel heard he commented, 'You must make your fella happy at home... Oh no, wait, you're single, aren't you?'

Again on the same day, as Colleague A bent down to pick up a syringe for Maxon, he said 'Whilst you're down there, love...' in what the young trainee described as a 'suggestive and dirty manner'.

She added: 'Nobody in the classroom laughed and again, I was very embarrassed.

'I had reached the end of my tether at this point. Therefore, I did not react.. I sat up and gave him the syringe.

'[I have] never felt so demeaned or humiliated in my life.'

Maxon denies he made the comment but again commented if it was said it was 'just mess room banter'.

Despite being told he understands 'the old style banter is no longer appropriate' and insisting he would change his behaviour to ensure it was 'more fitting for changing times', the panel deemed Maxon's actions to have impaired his conduct.

It said: '[Maxon's] comments were of a sexual nature and directed towards a young female, in the context of a significant power imbalance.

'The panel concluded that [Maxon] had sought to minimise his culpability, denying the more blatant allegations and playing down the seriousness of them (i.e. suggesting if they were said, then the context was a jokey 'Benny Hill' manner) and disputing that there was any sexual connotations.'

The panel imposed a suspension order of six months, to be reviewed again in July 2022.

Alfred Hawthorne 'Benny' Hill was an actor and comedian famed for the slapstick, burlesque and double entendre comedy, especially in The Benny Hill Show - which ran from 1955 and 1989 and was among the most watched programmes in the UK with a peak audience of over 21 million.
The cathedral where Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu preached in Cape Town will ring its bells for ten minutes every day until his funeral on New Year's Day, South Africa announced today.

St. George's Anglican Cathedral will honour the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate with a tribute at midday for the coming five days.

'We ask all who hear the bells to pause their busy schedules for a moment in tribute to Archbishop Tutu,' said the current Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.

The cathedral where Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu preached in Cape Town will ring its bells for ten minutes every day until his funeral

A woman is comforted outside the historical home of the late Theologian with South Africa in mourning

St. George's Anglican Cathedral (pictured) will honour the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate with a tribute at midday for the coming five days

Several events in South Africa are being planned to honour Tutu's life.

Tutu's body will lie in state at the cathedral in Cape Town on Friday before a requiem mass is held Saturday, Makgoba said.

In addition, an ecumenical service will be held for Tutu on Wednesday in South Africa's capital, Pretoria.

South Africans are laying flowers at the cathedral, in front of Tutu's home in Cape Town's Milnerton area, and in front of his former home in Soweto.

The activist prelate worked against South Africa's apartheid regime that oppressed the country's Black majority.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, when South Africa became a democracy, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that documented atrocities and sought to promote national reconciliation.

Tutu also became one of the world's most prominent religious leaders to champion LGBTQ rights.

Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba (pictured today) said Tutu's body will lie in state at the cathedral on Friday

'He knew in his soul that good would triumph over evil, that justice would prevail over iniquity, and that reconciliation would prevail over revenge and recrimination. He knew that apartheid would end, that democracy would come,' South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said of Tutu, in a nationally broadcast address Sunday night.

'He knew that our people would be free. By the same measure, he was convinced, even to the end of his life, that poverty, hunger and misery can be defeated; that all people can live together in peace, security and comfort,' said Ramaphosa who added that South Africa's flags will be flown at half-staff this week.

Ramaphosa urged all South Africans to 'pay respects to the departed and to celebrate life with the exuberance and the purpose of our beloved Archbishop. May we follow in his footsteps.

'May we too be worthy inheritors of the mantle of service, of selflessness, of courage, and of principled solidarity with the poor and marginalized.'

The Cape Town City Hall is bathed in purple light to honour the iconic anti-apartheid figure

Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and in recent years was hospitalised on several occasions to treat infections associated with his cancer treatment.

In a statement on behalf of the Tutu family yesterday, the Office of the Archbishop of South Africa said he, 'died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning.' They did not give details on the cause of death.

In 1984 Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid. A decade later, he witnessed the ends of that regime and chaired a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up to unearth atrocities committed during those dark days.

He preached against the tyranny of white minority and even after its end, never wavered in his fight for a fairer South Africa, calling the black political elite to account with as much vigour as he had the white Afrikaners.

In his final years, he regretted that his dream of a 'Rainbow Nation' had not yet come true.

The Queen has sent a message of condolence on the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Pictured: Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh meeting Archbishop Tutu in 2004 following the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey

Tributes from around the world poured in on Sunday morning following the announcement.

The Queen said she and the whole royal family are 'deeply saddened' by the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who she said 'tirelessly championed human rights in South Africa and across the world'.

In a statement, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said Archbishop Desmond Tutu would be 'remembered for his optimism, his moral clarity, and his joyful spirit'.

They said: 'He was an icon for racial justice and beloved across the world.

'It was only two years ago that he held our son, Archie, while we were in South Africa - 'Arch and The Arch' he had joked, his infectious laughter ringing through the room, relaxing anyone in his presence.

'He remained a friend and will be sorely missed by all.'

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden is reported to be 'heartbroken' over the death of the Archbishop.

A statement by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden read: 'On this morning after Christmas, we are heartbroken to learn of the passing of a true servant of God and of the people, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela - after his released from Robben Island Prison in 1990, walks hand-in-hand with Desmond Tutu

'We were blessed to spend time with him on several occasions over the past many years. His courage and moral clarity helped inspire our commitment to change American policy toward the repressive Apartheid regime in South Africa.

'On behalf of the Biden family, we send our deepest condolences to his wife Leah and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

'And on behalf of the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to the people of South Africa who are mourning the loss of one of their most important founding fathers.'

Archbishop of Canterbury said Tutu 'embodied the hope and joy that were the foundations of his life,' while Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab described Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a 'truly great figure'.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Archbishop Desmond Tutu would be remembered for his leadership and humour. He said: 'I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

'He was a critical figure in the fight against apartheid and in the struggle to create a new South Africa - and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humour.'
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Omicron's rapid spread in London is already piling pressure on strained NHS hospitals, according to official data that lays bare the situation the capital faces in the coming weeks.

The city's Covid hospitalisation rate  which includes patients who are ill with the virus and need medical care as well as ones who incidentally tested positive  rose by 62 per cent in a week in the final seven-day spell ahead of Christmas.

It means London was teetering on the brink of 400 admissions per day before the Government's Christmas data black-out, a figure thought to be No10's trigger point for imposing fresh England-wide restrictions.

Despite being just a fraction of the levels seen during the depths of the devastating second wave, medics fear the rate will keep rising because of the time lag between people getting infected and becoming severely ill. Daily case numbers have yet to slow down in the city, and over-60s  who are most vulnerable to the virus  are also seeing an uptick.

The Prime Minister is battling to avoid imposing tough Covid curbs for the New Year, with Tory MPs demanding he doesn't over-react to the mutant variant.

Boris Johnson is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing legally binding restrictions, such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing.

But the Government's stance could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of infections, like No10's experts repeatedly warned throughout the festive period.

The PM will today hold crunch talks with his top advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance to discuss whether legal restrictions are needed ahead of the last social hurrah of 2021. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have already acted to combat Omicron, with people living in the countries today waking to fresh legal curbs in response to spiraling infections.

Official data shows the average number of daily Covid admissions rose 62 per cent week-on-week in the seven days up to December 22 in London, while they jumped 47 per cent in the North West and 39 per cent in the East. Hospitalisations are also on the rise in the Midlands, where they jumped 36 per cent, and the North East and Yorkshire (31 per cent) and the South East (10 per cent). The South West is the only part of the country where Covid admissions are falling, with the number seeking NHS care falling by four per cent

NHS hospitals draw up Omicron battle plans to plug depleted workforces The number of NHS workers absent because of Covid at London's busiest hospital trust has more than tripled in a week, official figures show as hospitals draw up battle plans to cope with depleted workforce numbers. Barts Health Trust saw 338 employees off work on December 19 either because they had caught the virus or were isolating, compared to 91 the previous Sunday. A similar trend was seen across the capital as a whole, where Covid-related absences jumped from 1,540 to 3,874 over the same time-frame. It means the virus now makes up around 43 per cent of NHS daily absences in London compared to just 18 per cent before Omicron spiralled out of control. It comes as the Prime Minister gets set to hold crunch talks today on whether England should follow the other UK nations and introduce extra Covid curbs ahead of the New Year. A key part of discussions around extra measures centre on if the health service can cope with an expected spike in infected patients like seen in London, coupled with soaring staff absences. The NHS was already forced to scrap the requirement for staff who live with someone who has tested positive to self-isolate amid fears the rapid spread of the variant would deplete hospitals and force them to cancel thousands of routine procedures. As part of its Omicron battle plan, health chiefs have been told to prepare to create temporary field hospitals in existing hospital car parks that will be supported by army medics and redeploy staff. Advertisement

Omicron is now dominant in every region of England after first blitzing its way through the capital during mid-December.

London's Covid cases hit pandemic highs of 28,000-a-day before Christmas, with the equivalent of 2 per cent of people living in the capital testing positive in the week ending December 19.

But one of the UK's biggest surveillance studies estimated the true prevalence in the capital reached one in 20 in the week before Christmas.

In a sign of potential hope however, some experts have suggested London's outbreak may have already peaked because of a behavioural change over the festive period. Government advisers urged people to scale back social plans to curb the spread of the virus.

But a data blackout over the past 48 hours means the true scale of the situation is unknown. The actual figures  which will be updated on the Government's dashboard this afternoon  are set to be presented to the PM later today.

Infection rates are also now spiralling in all of the regions of England, according to Department of Health figures that explain why ministers are watching London's outbreak extremely closely.

And hospitalisation rates have increased in six of the seven NHS districts, despite the full effects of the ultra-infectious variant yet to be felt across the country and even in London.

Only the South West saw a downturn in Covid-infected admissions in the week before Christmas.

Official data shows the average number of daily Covid admissions rose 62 per cent week-on-week in the seven days up to December 24 in London, while they jumped 47 per cent in the North West and 39 per cent in the East.

Hospitalisations are also on the rise in the Midlands, where they jumped 36 per cent, and the North East and Yorkshire (31 per cent) and the South East (10 per cent).

But Tory MPs have poked holes in the crucial figures, which ministers will inevitably use to justify bringing in any tougher restrictions.

NHS statisticians already break down how many beds are occupied by infected patients who are primarily being treated for Covid.

The health service's data suggests around a quarter of the daily Covid hospitalisation figures released by the Government are incidental cases among patients who are hospitalised for another reason, such as a routine operation or broken leg.

But with Omicron infections now known to be milder, politicians and experts have called for the same daily figures to be recounted to paint a more accurate picture of the situation the NHS faces.

Critics say the NHS is inflating admissions by including patients who were initially brought in for something else such as an accident.

Hospital numbers are a key metric weighed up by ministers to determine if tougher Covid curbs are needed, now that vaccines have taken most of the emphasis away from crude infection numbers.

Officials say Covid-infected patients put extra strain on hospitals because they need to be isolated, regardless of how ill they are.

The virus can also exacerbate existing health problems and later become the primary reason they remain in hospital.

And the NHS data shows they are having to juggle increased demand with fewer staff, as growing numbers of medics are stuck at home with the virus.

The number of Covid-related absences have tripled in a week at London's biggest trust, underlying the huge problem hospitals face in the coming weeks.

NHS leaders have also been told to prepare to set up field hospitals in existing hospital car parks, as well as pop-up wards in offices and meeting rooms to cope with pressure.

It comes as the Prime Minister is battling to avoid imposing tough Covid restrictions for the New Year ahead of a crunch meeting with scientists today.

Mr Johnson will hold talks with advisers to discuss whether legal curbs are needed to deal with the threat of Omicron.

Downing Street is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing.

But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections.

Possible restrictions considered by the PM over the past few days include closing pubs and restaurants indoors, bringing back the rule of six or restricting the number of households meeting indoors, and limiting capacity at mass events.

Any new legally binding restrictions would need the backing of Cabinet, and would have to be rubber stamped by MPs.

But last night sources said the recall of Parliament was looking less likely than it had before Christmas  an indication that Downing Street is leaning away from stricter curbs. If simple guidance was issued, urging people to limit their contacts, this would not need Parliamentary sanctioning or the backing of the Cabinet.
Professor Neil Ferguson described how he had become 'something of a marmite figure' as he admitted he 'made mistakes' and 'oversimplified things' during the pandemic.

The Imperial College epidemiologist, whose initial modelling helped shape Britain's Covid response, said while it had been challenging for most Western governments to act in a timely manner the science throughout the crisis 'had basically been right'.

However the scientist, nicknamed 'Professor Lockdown', admitted he had 'made mistakes for which he apologised for' as he spoke of the public scrutiny that his private life had come under.

He also described how there had been 'a lot of political opposition' as he and scientists spoke of case numbers rising and the hospitalisations and deaths that would follow if action wasn't taken last year.

The scientist's comments come after he resigned from the government's scientific advisory group (SAGE) last year after claims emerged that Antonia Staats, who was reported to be his lover, visited him at home - in breach of lockdown rules.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 Today programme he said: 'I think the science we have done throughout this pandemic has basically been right, not absolutely every aspect but basically most of it.

Professor Neil Ferguson, whose initial modelling helped shape Britain's Covid response, said it had been challenging for most Western governments to act in a timely manner during the pandemic

Boris Johnson is due to be presented with the latest Covid data as he weighs up whether to impose fresh restrictions on England to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus

'I suppose I didn't anticipate becoming the public figure I suppose I now am, something of a marmite figure if you put it like that.

'And the level of public scrutiny of my life and my private life that would entail and I obviously made some mistakes which I apologised for and regret, which I would not repeat if I could live things over again.'

Mr Ferguson went on to say that during the course of the pandemic he had learnt it was important to give the population 'an assessment of the potential level of threat' and to 'explain trends in the data now and what the potential consequences are'.

He said: 'I think first of all we have all learned lessons as the pandemic has moved on. I think when you refer to the half a million deaths figure or the quarter of a million.

'Half a million was if we did nothing at all which was never going to happen but quarter of a million was if we did plan B, if we just tried to flatten the curve.

'There, the point is, to give the population an assessment of the potential level of threat and in some sense the reason for doing that is to explain the need for certain measures.

'Mostly, through this pandemic, going beyond that early stage, what I have tried to do personally and most of my colleagues, is explain trends we are seeing in the data now and what the potential consequences are.

'And when it specifically comes to variants, explain what we know about how they are different to what's come before and potentially then the risks they pose. And then when it comes, for instance, to vaccination rollout, explain how that trades off against being able to relax lockdown as we have done this year and those balances.

'I certainly have made mistakes in communication and oversimplified things from time to time and you learn lessons from those things.'

Professor Ferguson also said that it was scenes of hospitals filling up in the UK and other European countries 'which drove the policy making'.

The scientist resigned from the government's scientific advisory group (SAGE) last year after claims emerged that Antonia Staats (pictured), who was reported to be his lover, visited him at home - in breach of lockdown rules

He continued: 'I think there are some obvious lessons that other people have stated around being able to put in place a systematic surveillance system and adequate levels of testing within our countries.

'Not just at the borders which is always porous, very much earlier in this sort of crisis, before we even know it's going to turn into a pandemic, so we can pick up cases if they are coming in in a much better way than we were able to.

'I think for the political side and the interface of science and politics, what we've seen in this pandemic is it has been challenging for most, let's say Western governments, to act in a timely enough manner.

'I mean basically it was only hospitals filling up in countries such as the UK, to some extent France, in Paris, Spain, Italy obviously, Italy was affected very early in certain areas which drove the policy making.

'I would say probably more, or at least as much, as the sort of work I and John Edmonds at London School and others have done. That was true in the first lockdown. It was also true in the autumn.

'I mean, you'll remember, I and other people were saying case numbers are rising and hospitalisations and deaths will follow unless we do something but everybody realised the costs of lockdown.

'There was a lot of political opposition and so we sort of delayed and delayed, for perfectly understandable reasons, it's not an intrinsic criticism but we, in some sense, failed to learn the lessons of the epidemiology and that led us to have, along with Alpha admittedly, a very large number of deaths.

'I mean, really from November onwards.

'Two thirds of the death in the UK in this pandemic happened after the 1st of November last year and in some sense the first wave was only a small portion.'

The scientist's comments come weeks after he warned that hospitals were at risk of becoming overwhelmed as Omicron continued to spread across the UK.

Reports have claimed ministers are watching hospitalisation numbers in the capital, with a two-week 'circuit breaker' lockdown set to be imposed if daily numbers surpass 400

He added that Omicron did not yet appear to be more severe than the previous Delta and Alpha variants.

He told Radio 4: 'The severity aspect is the least well defined because we've observed relatively few hospitalisations. Case numbers are low. We don't see a particularly strong signal of any change in severity compared with Delta.

'That's not to say it's going to look like the Alpha wave we had a year ago because we do expect all those people with immunity and vaccination will have milder disease.

'But intrinsically Omicron doesn't look to be much different to Delta. There is a lot of uncertainty so we'll know a lot more about that in a week's time because numbers of cases and hospitalisations are building quickly.'

Today, Boris Johnson is due to be presented with the latest Covid data as he weighs up whether to impose fresh restrictions on England to stem the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The Prime Minister is expected to be briefed by Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty - who is reportedly likely to receive a knighthood for his pandemic efforts - and Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.

If the figures are positive, Mr Johnson could be persuaded to stick to lighter touch measures introduced under Plan B, potentially with some extra words of guidance.

However, if cases were beginning to put unsustainable pressure on the NHS, the PM may feel the need to intervene with more stringent restrictions.
An Australian bikie boss who fled the country for Lebanon has been banned from returning to New South Wales unless he ditches Comanchero colours, hands over his phones and tells police of his arrival.

The Supreme Court ruled the man known as the 'Balenciaga Bikie', Tarek Zahed, poses an ongoing threat of carrying out serious offences and granted police a crime prevention order.

As part of the case, prosecutors revealed the 41-year-old's violent rise to the top of the outlaw motorcycle gang and outlined his long list of heinous crimes.

Tarek Zahed (pictured being extradited from Melbourne to Sydney in March, 2021) was hit with a crime prevention order

Tarek Zahed (pictured being extradited from Melbourne to Sydney in March, 2021) is now banned from returning to NSW after he fled to Lebanon in September

The Balenciaga Bikie's life of crime: 1995: Tarek Zahed was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, resisting arrest and assaulting police. 2001: Police charged Zahed after he used a dog to attack someone. He spent eight months in periodic detention. 2004: Zahed spent five years behind bars after stomping on a man's skull over a drug feud. The victim suffered brain damage. 2009: Zahed becomes a hang-around of the Comanchero bikie club. 2011: A wild running street battle saw multiple men stabbed and Zahed's associate shot with a nail gun before the Balenciaga Bikie fired four bullets from a moving car hitting a man in the ear and shoulder. He was sentenced to eight years prison, with a non parole period of five years. 2012: Zahed became a fully patched member of the Comancheros. 2020: Police are made aware that Zahed is now the national Sergeant At Arms of the outlaw motorcycle club. Zahed is convicted for dealing with the proceeds of crime after withdrawing thousands of dollars hidden in family member's bank accounts. 2021: He is caught on camera at Barangaroo in Sydney punching a man. Zahed leaves Australia for Lebanon. Source: NSW Supreme Court records Advertisement

Gang experts revealed last month how he committed offences that included bashing officers in 1995, setting an attack dog on someone in 2001, causing a man brain damage after stomping on his skull during a drug deal in 2004 and shooting a rival gang member in the ear after the man shot his associate with a nail gun in 2011.

The court also heard how the bikie, known for his love of designer clothes, has also been convicted of fraud related charges after withdrawing thousands of dollars hidden in family member's bank accounts in 2020.

Police said Zahed is now the national Sergeant at Arms of the Comancheros club and is tasked with dishing out violence.

'The Sergeant at Arms is responsible for the discipline of members and formulating and co-ordinating attacks on rival OMCGs during times of conflict,' Justice Natalie Adams said, The Daily Telegraph reported.

'Zahed's longstanding association with and involvement in the Comanchero OMCG, his seniority within the group and his lengthy history of violent offending leads me to conclude that he is likely to continue to be involved in serious criminal activity.'

As a result of the ruling, Zahed is banned from entering NSW unless he follows a long list of restrictions.

He first must give police 24 hours notice before he arrives and can only use one phone registered in his name that is not fitted with any encrypted apps.

Zahed is required to nominate which car he drives and 'cannot modify it to hide guns, drugs or cash'.

The bikie boss is also not allowed to don his beloved Comanchero colours or wear any jewellery which features bikie symbols - like the notorious 1 per cent ring - and cannot associate with any OMCG members.

Any breach of these conditions will be him arrested and placed in custody.

The Comanchero enforcer, who is regularly seen wearing high-end designer clothing, once told journalists outside of court he wanted the record to state about one of his offences.

Tarek Zahed (centre), 40, is seen on CCTV at exclusive restaurant, aMare, in the Sydney casino the night he was captured attacking a man in 2021

Zahed was caught in a heated argument with a man before striking him across the face

He then said he was wearing a Versace shirt and not Gucci as some stories wrongly depicted.

In another high-profile incident at the at the swanky aMare restaurant, in Sydney's Barangaroo casino, CCTV footage captured Zahed punching another man in the bathroom.

During the assault on this occasion, he was wearing a Balenciaga shirt.

The leadership of the Comancheros remains murky after crime king pin Mark Buddle fled Australia several years ago, leaving Ali Bazzi in charge as national president.

But Bazzi was slapped with a similar court order to Zahed in September - the same time when the Sergeant At Arms left the country.

It is not known who is in charge of the infamous club at the moment.
Two Michigan representatives, one Republican and one Democrat, on Sunday described the atmosphere on Capitol Hill in 2021 as 'toxic', claiming unprecedented partisanship has taken over and working relationships across the aisle have dwindled.

Going into the New Year, Republican Fred Upton and Democrat Debbie Dingell want lawmakers to find a way to disagree civilly.

'It's pretty toxic. There is no question about it,' Upton told CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.

'You know, you've got metal detectors now going on the House floor,' he explained. 'We get really nasty threats at home. The tone gets, you know, tougher and tougher. It is a pretty toxic place. I've never seen anything like this before.'

Dingell echoed those sentiments in the joint interview, saying: 'I want the American people to think about what's happening in our country, that this kind of hate, this fear is happening in communities across the country.'

'We need to really worry about our democracy and find a way that you can disagree with people and do it in a civil and agreeable way, and it really does have me very worried,' she added.

Democrat Rep. Debbie Dingell (left) and Republican Rep. Fred Upton (right), both from Michigan, said Sunday there was an unprecedented 'toxic' environment in Congress in 2021

"It's pretty toxic, there's no question about it," GOP Rep. Fred Upton discusses the hostility on Capitol Hill with Democratic colleague Rep. Debbie Dingell.



"I've never seen anything like this before," Upton said. https://t.co/xVqajkrudK #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/l7kX9ej1IW  State of the Union (@CNNSotu) December 26, 2021

'It's pretty toxic. There is no question about it,' Upton told CNN's State of the Union. 'You know, you've got metal detectors now going on the House floor. We get really nasty threats at home. The tone gets, you know, tougher and tougher. It is a pretty toxic place. I've never seen anything like this before'

'I have a lot of friends on the other side and what we need to do is to all of us, get back to just remembering how much we have in common, just respecting each other, treating each other with dignity,' Dingell said to CNN's Dana Bash the day of Christmas. 'And I say to everybody, a little act of kindness towards anybody can make the difference in that person's day, week, or life.'

One recent example of the rising vitriol in Congress happened earlier this month with centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin finally definitively said that he could not support President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending and welfare package.

Outrage immediately ensued from members of his own party who essentially called him a liar and said he wasn't doing what was best for his constituents in West Virginia.

Even actress Bette Midler weighed in on Twitter, expressing her anger at Manchin by calling the people of West Virginia 'poor, illiterate and strung out.' Not even an hour later, she sent out an apology tweet claiming she was 'just seeing red.'

Other examples of the 'toxicity' of Capitol Hill are found in the frequent spats between far right members of the Republican Party and far-left members of the Democratic Party.

Most recently, Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a Republican, and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a Democrat, have been at odds after video of Boebert surfaced where she made Islamaphobic comments toward her progressive colleague.

Boebert made a suicide bombing joke about Omar, a hijab wearing Muslim congresswoman.

Most U.S. voters think the committee investigating the January 6 Capitol riot is partisan

No action has been taken against Boebert because House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy says she apologized for her comments and attempted to reach out and speak with Omar, but was denied the chance.

Threats against lawmakers have been on the rise in 2021, following the January 6 Capitol riot at the start of the year as Donald Trump refused to leave office without a fight by urging his supporters to protest the 2020 presidential election results.

Upton suggested Sunday that the January 6 select committee is partisan. The panel was created by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate the Capitol riot after Trump was acquitted of inciting the attack in his second impeachment trial.

There are seven Democrats and two Republicans on the select committee after bipartisan efforts in the House did not come to fruition when Pelosi refused to allow the members McCarthy chose onto the panel because they objected to certifying the election results for Joe Biden.

'I mean, it was a scary day,' Upton said of January 6, 2021. 'And that's why I voted to have an independent commission. We passed it in the House. A good number of Republicans supported it, it didn't happen in the Senate.'

The results of Rasmussen Reports poll released last week shows that the majority of American voters believe the January 6 panel is a 'partisan committee that has weaponized its powers against innocent Americans'.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters shows 58 per cent feel the committee is partisan, including 44 per cent who feel strongly about that, while only 34 per cent feel the panel is fairly balanced. Another 8 per cent are unsure.
Liz Truss has leapt ahead of Rishi Sunak as Tory members' favourite to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, a new poll suggests.

The UK's top diplomat and new leading Brexit negotiator leapfrogged the Chancellor in party popularity after his tax-and-spend budget in November, new figures suggest.

Mr Sunak unveiled a free-spending Budget last month, choosing to 'invest' rather than 'retrench' after the pandemic hammered the country.

Departmental spending will go up by 150billion over this parliament - an average of 3.8 per cent a year in real terms, the fastest rate this century.

There was also extra spending for schools and benefits. Additionally this year Mr Johnson, backed by the Treasury, unveiled major reform to social care funded by a hike in national Insurance payments.

This appears to have gone down badly with Conservative members, who favoured Mr Sunak top move from No11 to No10 in a Conservative Home poll in August.

When the same question was asked of readers today, Ms Truss had surged past him.

A regularly popular figure with members, Ms Truss was promoted to the Foreign Office in the last reshuffle.

She also took on EU negotiation responsibilities when lord Frost resigned as Brexit Minister last week.

The UK's top diplomat and new leading Brexit negotiator leapfrogged the Chancellor in party popularity after his tax-and-spend budget in November, new figures suggest.

However, the findings come after a separate poll suggested Mr Sunak was more popular with the general public.

A poll for MailOnline on Christmas Day found broad support for the Tories getting rid of Mr Johnson as leader - with 25 per cent backing the idea and another 35 per cent saying they felt 'strongly' it was the right thing.

The research by Redfield & Wilton Strategies suggest that Rishi Sunak would be the preferred replacement in No10.

Some 29 per cent thought he would be better and a further 14 per cent saw him as a 'significant' upgrade - superior figures to both Ms Truss and Sajid Javid, two other ministers often touted for the top job.

Asked to pick a new Tory leader from a range of potential candidates, a third of the party's supporters plumped for the Chancellor. Just 9 per cent chose Ms Truss.

Keir Starmer was seen as an improvement by 48 per cent, while 25 per cent believed he would be worse.

A poll for MailOnline found broad support for the Tories getting rid of Mr Johnson as leader

Some 29 per cent thought Rishi Sunak would be better as PM, and a further 14 per cent saw him as a 'significant' upgrade - superior figures to Liz Truss

Boris Johnson will get his first glimpse of Christmas infections in a crunch meeting with his top advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance that will examine whether new legal curbs are required ahead of the last social hurrah of 2021.

People in Scotland and Wales are waking to new rules announced before Christmas that include Hogmanay celebrations cancelled for the second year in a row in Edinburgh.

Downing Street, which described the meeting between the PM and his advisers as routine, is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing.

But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections.

Full legal curbs would require Parliament to be recalled - which can be done within 48 hours - and would trigger already furious Tory backbenchers and cause serious problems for the hospitality industry.

The Prime Minister faced warnings from within the Cabinet and from his restive backbenchers not to over-react.

One minister told the Guardian that the data was 'struggling to be persuasive' of the need for law changes.

And Cotswolds MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, treasurer of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tories, told LBC: 'The latest figures we had before Christmas showed that the number of cases in hospital was relatively stable - and that is the main measure why we need any further lockdowns, is to deal with infectivity in hospitals, and I don't see that before Christmas.

'So, I hope the Prime Minister will be very, very cautious before introducing further measures.'

Sir Geoffrey said people were 'taking matters into their own hands and being very cautious themselves', adding: 'That is the best answer in this situation - let people make their own decisions.'

Meanwhile teaching unions warned that whole year groups of pupils could be sent home from school in January due to Covid-related staff shortages.

They warned that students due to sit mocks and other exams would have to be prioritised if widespread illness occurs among teachers.
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Britain could face another year-and-a-half of Covid misery despite a hugely successful vaccination drive, scientists have warned on the back of data showing immunity from booster jabs starts to fade after just 10 weeks.

Early real-world analysis of the UK's immunisation scheme shows the efficacy of Pfizer's top-up dose at preventing symptoms drops to as low as 35 per cent two-and-a-half months after getting a third dose, among people already given a full course of AstraZeneca.

But immunity levels appear stable at around 70 per cent after the same period of time for people already dosed up with Pfizer and then given a Moderna booster, even though they plunge to somewhere in the region of 45 per cent for a third dose of Pfizer.

Britain is already considering dishing out a fourth jab because of the data showing immunity fades quickly after a booster. It would bring the UK in line with Israel, which today began tests into whether a second round of boosters would help the most vulnerable.

But No10's jab advisers are waiting for more data laying bare how well the vaccines protect against serious illness before pressing ahead with another inoculation drive. Two jabs still drastically cut the risk of hospitalisation even against Omicron, and a third is expected to bolster that further.

It means a fourth dose may not be necessary yet for the entirety of the UK and could see ministers only advised to dish out extra doses to the elderly and immunocompromised in the coming months, even if an annual vaccination drive is eventually signed off for all adults.

One of the Government's own advisers warned it would be impossible to 'defeat' Covid with vaccines if everyone needed a top-up every three months. It would see the NHS have to dish out the equivalent of up to 50million jabs every 90 days, or around 550,000 every day.

This would put the cost of an annual vaccination drive in the region of 4billion, based on one jab being priced at around 20 per dose  similar to Pfizer.

Universal Covid jabs  which experts hope will offer better protection and hold up against variants that emerge in the future  aren't expected for another 18 months, England chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty told MPs earlier this month.

Analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed immunity gained from third Covid jabs fades quicker against Omicron than Delta. The graph shows its finding that adults who received two AstraZeneca doses, plus a Pfizer or Moderna booster, are 60 per cent less likely to get symptoms than the unvaccinated if they catch Omicron up to four weeks after their third jab. But after ten weeks, efficacy drops to 35 per cent for Pfizer and 45 per cent for Moderna

UKHSA data shows that those who received Pfizer for all three of their doses saw their protection levels increase to around 70 per cent for two weeks after their top-up dose before falling to around 45 per cent 10 weeks later. People given two AstraZeneca vaccines and a Moderna booster were the most protected, according to the report, with efficacy sitting at 75 per cent against Omicron and lasting for at least nine weeks

Israel, which became the first country in the world to rollout booster jabs, today began trialling fourth doses of Covid jabs to 150 hospital staff to gather data on whether the extra shot is beneficial and is preparing to offer the injection to over-60s. Pictured: an Israeli man receiving a fourth dose of the Pfizer at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv on December 27

Professor James Naismith, director of national research centre the Rosalind Franklin Institute, said until these jabs are available in around mid-2023, Omicron and Delta could 'continue to circulate' and cause waves that potentially pile pressure on the NHS and lead ministers to contemplate bringing in legal restrictions.

And there is also the chance another variant emerges in the meantime that could cause even more chaos, experts fear.

Professor Naismith told MailOnline: 'Double vaccination against Delta whilst providing protection against serious illness does not give protection against infection with Omicron.

'An Omicron-specific vaccine would be expected to provide more protection against infection with Omicron but perhaps not Delta.

'A polyvalent vaccine which protects against multiple strains could solve this problem.' It could also thwart other variants that emerge in the future, in theory.

Vaccine makers have been quietly working on as polyvalent Covid jabs but they are all in early development and way off clinical trials.

In the meantime, new antivirals are expected to reduce illness and death, administering jabs to the unvaccinated will make a 'tremendous difference' and improving ventilation in schools and workplaces can reduce transmission, Professor Naismith said.

Britain's use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine 'may be behind nation's recent low death toll ' Britain's use of the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine in vulnerable people may be behind the country's lower death toll compared to Europe in recent months, according to the former boss of No10's vaccine taskforce. Clive Dix claimed the durable cellular immunity response produced by the UK-made jab can potentially 'last for life'. The vaccine was approved towards the end of December 2020, and jabs were initially rolled out among the older and the most vulnerable in society. Mr Dix told The Daily Telegraph: 'If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there's also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK, and we have to understand that. 'I personally believe that's because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.' Mr Dix told the newspaper: 'We've seen early data that the Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you've got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time. 'It can last for life in some cases.' AstraZeneca has faced both praise and criticism during the pandemic, with its Covid jab hailed as being one of the first on the market and for its low cost in comparison to other jabs. Its rollout in the UK saw Government advisers recommend that under-40s be offered alternatives due to evidence it may be linked to very rare blood clots. Advertisement

But he warned the 'biggest uncertainty' is Covid itself, as the virus 'has a tendency to behave in ways we cannot yet predict'.

Analysis by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed immunity gained from third Covid jabs fades quicker against Omicron than Delta.

Its surveillance report shows adults who received two AstraZeneca doses, plus a Pfizer or Moderna booster, are 60 per cent less likely to get symptoms than the unvaccinated if they catch Omicron up to four weeks after their third jab.

But after ten weeks, efficacy drops to 35 per cent for Pfizer and 45 per cent for Moderna.

Meanwhile, those who received Pfizer for all three of their doses saw their protection levels increase to around 70 per cent for two weeks after their top-up dose before falling to around 45 per cent 10 weeks later.

People given two AstraZeneca vaccines and a Moderna booster were the most protected, according to the report, with efficacy sitting at 75 per cent against Omicron and lasting for at least nine weeks.

Officials don't reveal exactly how many of each jab have been dished out as booster doses, but the UK programme is heavily dependent on Pfizer. Britain has already bought another 60million Moderna and 54million Pfizer doses for inoculation campaigns in 2022 and 2023.

The UKHSA, which calculated the preliminary efficacy figures based on nearly 70,000 Omicron cases, didn't offer an explanation for the drop in performance.

But the current crop of vaccines were made in response to the original strain, first identified in Wuhan, so as the virus continues to mutate, the jabs could become less effective.

Protection against symptomatic Covid also isn't the primary goal of the current jabs, with policymakers worldwide instead relying on them to drastically cut the odds of people needing hospital treatment or dying.

Scientists expect protection against hospitalisation and death to last much longer even with Omicron, which has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein  the part of the virus cell that the vaccines recognise and trigger an immune response against.

This is because the vaccines stimulate other parts of the immune system that come into play when a virus takes hold, such as T cells.

However, even small reductions in vaccine efficacy against severe disease could dramatically increase the number of vaccinated people who will fall seriously unwell.

No10's scientists previously warned that if Omicron reduces jab effectiveness against hospitalisation from 96 to 92 per cent the number of vaccinated people not protected from hospitalisation 'would effectively double'.

Government advisers originally recommended boosters were given six months after people received their second dose because the wait was considered to be a 'sweet spot'.

But this dosing interval was halved in the face of Omicron, with ministers fearing the NHS could be overwhelmed even with the vast majority of over-50s fully vaccinated.

Dr Peter English, former chair of the BMA Public Health Medicine Committee, said at the time of the decision that there may be a 'trade-off between getting people immune quickly and getting the best possible immune response'.

Longer waits between jabs 'generally lead to a better immune response' but there is unlikely to be a big immunological difference between a three and six month interval, he added.

ENGLAND: The ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey estimates around 1.5million people had Covid on any given day in the week leading up to December 19. The figure was up 65 per cent on the previous week

Professor Whitty this month told MPs on the Health and Social Care Select Committee that Britain faces 18 months of Covid restrictions before vaccines and medicines are available that can squash the threat from Covid.

He said polyvalent vaccines should be ready in mid-2023 that will cover a 'much wider range' of Covid variants and by which point the UK will be armed with 'several antivirals' that can be given to those who catch the virus to stop them becoming seriously unwell.

At this point 'the great majority, and probably almost all of the heavy lifting' can be done by medical interventions, Professor Whitty said.

But until that point, it is unclear how Britain's vaccine strategy will evolve.

Israel, which was the first country in the world to roll out booster jabs, today began trialling fourth doses of Covid jabs to 150 hospital staff to gather data on whether the extra shot is beneficial. The country is preparing to offer the injection to over-60s after the move was approved by scientists and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said fourth doses, set to be given four months after a booster jab, will protect against Omicron.

A Government source told the Telegraph a fourth jab was 'definitely a possibility' in the UK but a decision from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is not expected until the new year.

JCVI member Professor Adam Finn said the move is 'under review and discussion' and there 'may well be people who received their boosters early who are in the older or more vulnerable age groups who may need a further jab'.

He said it is 'still very much in doubt' whether everyone would be offered a fourth injection.

Clive Dix, the UK former vaccine taskforce boss, yesterday said AstraZeneca's jab may offer life-long protection to some people and praised it for keeping the UK's death toll lower in comparison to European countries who relied on mRNA vaccines.

Studies have shown that AstraZeneca's jab, which uses a more traditional vaccine technology, produces a greater T-cell response compared to mRNA jabs produced by Pfizer and Moderna, which have been favoured in Europe.

T-cells, which are more difficult to measure than antibodies, are thought to provide longer-lasting protection.

Britain is currently recording 1.7 Covid deaths per million people each day, according to an Oxford University-run data site.

By comparison, the equivalent figures in France and Germany stand between 2.5 and 3.5, even though the UK is recording thousands more cases each day.

Mr Dix told the Daily Telegraph: 'If you look across Europe, with the rise in cases, there's also a corresponding lagged rise in deaths, but not in the UK, and we have to understand that.

'I personally believe that's because most of our vulnerable people were given the AstraZeneca vaccine.

'We've seen early data that the Oxford jab produces a very durable cellular response and if you've got a durable cellular immunity response then they can last for a long time. It can last for life in some cases.'
Britain's most dangerous killers were offered vegetarian roasts and salads on Christmas Day, reports say.

Sick criminals including disgraced Met Police officer Wayne Couzens and child murderers Ian Huntley and Levi Bellfield were given plant-based options.

They were also asked if they wanted turkey with all the trimmings at Frankland prison in County Durham.

It comes as Bellfield is said to have taken Couzens under his wing at the jail because he feels sorry for him.

The three-time killer has taken a shine to Sarah Everard's killer, it is claimed.

Sick criminals including disgraced Met Police officer Wayne Couzens (pictured) and child murderers Ian Huntley and Levi Bellfield were given plant-based options

They were also asked if they wanted turkey with all the trimmings at Frankland prison in County Durham. Pictured: Bellfield in 2004

The day started with a selection of cereals before Christmas dinner which was topped off with Christmas pudding or fruit cocktail. Pictured: Huntley

The day started with a selection of cereals before Christmas dinner which was topped off with Christmas pudding or fruit cocktail, the Sun reports.

The newspaper said that for dinner they were given the choice of a vegan pasty, tuna mayo roll or chicken and pasta salad.

The convicts were also reportedly given the option of bacon or vegetarian sausages for those that now refuse to eat meat.

The twisted inmates, many of them lifers, are set for the same menu on New Year's Day.

The twisted inmates, many of them lifers, are said to be set for the same menu on New Year's Day. Pictured: HMP Frankland

Meanwhile prisoners at Wakefield were allegedly offered mushroom and spinach kiev or a wellington slice topped with roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots and gravy.

They were then reportedly treated to Christmas pudding with white sauce and a banana.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Meals in prisons over Christmas are paid for from within the existing budget and at no extra cost to the taxpayer.

'What is spent on food per prisoner per day, and the breakdown per meals, is ultimately a decision for each governor and their catering team.'

Couzens is on a life-long rap for murdering Ms Everard (pictured) after using his status as a police officer to kidnap her in London earlier this year

Bellfield is said to have stepped in to protect Couzens after the disgraced policeman moved into the same prison just before Christmas.

A source told the Sun: 'Levi put the word about they should not touch Couzens or bully him.

'Not a lot of people mess with Levi. He told others they were all inside for serious crimes so should not judge. It is a bizarre situation.'

They added: 'He is the last person you would expect to be protecting a former police officer.'

Couzens is on a life-long rap for murdering Ms Everard after using his status as a police officer to kidnap her in London earlier this year.

Bellfield has a life sentence for killing Milly Dowler, 13, Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22.

Huntley, a former school caretaker, was convicted of the murders of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Kamala Harris said in an interview aired Sunday that when she snapped during a talk with Charlamagne tha God, she was 'frustrated' over him questioning who the 'real president is.'

'People saw you, a flash of anger the other day, when you did that interview with Charlamagne,' CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan said to the vice president before playing a clip from the interview.

Harris laughed off the tense exchange earlier this month and told Brennan that she felt 'frustration' at that point in the interview with Charlamagne tha God.

'Well, that frustration, we saw that in the Kavanaugh hearings,' Brennan said in reference to Harris' time as a U.S. senator when she was questioning the then-Supreme Court Justice nominee.

'What gets you fired up?' she asked the VP.

'Injustice,' Harris replied. 'Injustice is just generally what will get me kind of  it's  I don't like unfairness. And that is one of the things that will kind of cause me to say, OK some things are fairly innocuous, but unfairness in a way that can be hurtful to someone, I  that's why I became a prosecutor, you know?'

During Harris' interview with Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard Larry McKelvey, the vice president snapped at the host when he asked who was running the country.

Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News in an interview that aired Sunday she was 'frustrated' when she snapped during her interview with Charlamagne tha God earlier this month

Charlamagne (left) asked Harris in a Comedy Central interview 'who's the real president of this country'  leading to a heated exchange between the two

'So, who's the real president of this country? Is it Joe Manchin or Joe Biden, Madam Vice President?' Charlamagne asked just after centrist Democratic Senator Manchin effectively killed the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better agenda.

'Come on, Charlamagne. Come on  it's Joe Biden' the vice president responded.

'I can't tell sometimes,' he said.

Harris, growing visibly angry, wagged her finger at the host and said: 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's Joe Biden.'

'And I'm vice president. And my name is Kamala Harris,' she shot back.

Harris' outgoing chief spokesperson, Symone Sanders, tried to cut off the interview with Charlamagne during the heated exchange.

Brennan asked Harris in her interview, which aired in segments over the last week, if she feels she is 'judged fairly.'

Harris said: 'I will leave others to make that decision.'

The vice president did insist, however, that she doesn't feel like she was set up for failure with an 'impossible portfolio.'

Some of her fiercest defenders claim she was given some of the most complicated issues to address as vice president, including quelling the prevailing southern border crisis.

Appearing on Comedy Central with Charlamagne on December 19, Harris was asked why she and Biden were unable to pass their flagship $1.75 trillion Build Back Better legislation.

His question so angered Harris that her aide, Sanders, could be heard off-camera on the other end of the remote interview, shouting: 'I'm so sorry Charlamagne, it's Symone, we have to wrap.'

'She can hear me,' Charlamagne chuckles. Sanders responds: 'Can you hear me now? I'm sorry but we have to wrap. I'm sorry to interrupt.'

'They're acting like they can't hear me, yo,' Charlamagne says, turning to a producer off-camera, implying that Harris' team was faking technical issues.

Harris, looking tense, stared at Charlamagne and replied, 'I can hear you,' allowing the interviewer to finally continue with his question.

Harris' chief spokesperson Symone Sanders tried to shut down the interview as it got tense. She could be heard off-camera shouting: 'I'm so sorry Charlamagne... we have to wrap'

He then went forward with asking 'who's the real president' of the United States.

Sanders attempted to cut off the interview. The top Harris aide is one of at least four top aides to announce their departures from the vice president's staff in recent weeks.

The 32-year-old Sanders will leave by the end of December, but no announcement has been made on whether she has lined up another job, sparking questions over the circumstances surrounding her departure.

In the interview, Charlamagne then asked why Biden was unable to convince Manchin, the West Virginia senator, to vote for his proposal.

Manchin's stubborn refusal to back the government's plan has put severe obstacles in the passage of Biden's bill.

Joe Manchin, the West Virginia senator and centrist Democrat who has frequently refused to back Biden's policies, was described by Charlamagne as the real president

Sanders is one of several top VP staffers to quit in recent weeks Symone Sanders is seen celebrating her recent birthday after announcing her departure from Harris' office Symone Sanders, Harris' senior advisor and chief spokesperson, made waves earlier this month by revealing her plans to depart the vice president's office. Her resignation follows that of comms director Ashley Etienne weeks earlier, amid rumors that Peter Velz, director of press operations, and Vince Evans, deputy director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, are both eyeing an exit. Sanders, 32, will leave by the end of December, but no announcement has been made on whether she has lined up another job, sparking questions over the circumstances surrounding her departure. Harris in recent weeks has battled mounting reports that her office is in disarray, and that her team is frustrated at the White House over being handed 'no-win' tasks that don't suit her skillset. Amid the turbulence, Sanders has been Harris' top bulldog defender, batting back at claims of internal disarray and tension with the West Wing. Sanders told the Washington Post that her departure was not due to unhappiness but that she had 'earned a break.' 'I'm getting married next year. I would like to plan my wedding. You know, I have earned a break. So me deciding that I'm leaving has absolutely nothing to do with my unhappiness. I feel honored every single day to work for the vice president who gave me an opportunity to be her spokesperson at the highest levels.' Advertisement

On Friday, it was becoming apparent that Democrats were unable to pass Biden's $1.75 trillion domestic investment program and major election reforms by a self-imposed Christmas deadline.

Kamala Harris's gaffes June 8: Asked by NBC's Lester Holt why she hadn't yet, in her role as Biden's border tsar, visited the U.S.-Mexico border, she replied: 'And I haven't been to Europe. And I mean, I don't ... understand the point that you're making. I'm not discounting the importance of the border.' July 10: Harris was asked about proposals to enforce voter ID, and said that she was opposed to it because people outside the cities may not be able to print off copies of their documentation. 'There are a whole lot of people, especially people who live in rural communities, who don't  there's no Kinko's, there's no Office Max near them,' she said, to widespread mockery. September 29: A student attending an event to promote voting said that Israel was conducting an 'ethnic genocide' in Palestine. Harris responded: 'Your voice, your perspective, your experience, your truth cannot be suppressed, and it must be heard.' Her office spent the next day trying to calm furious pro-Israel politicians and diplomats. October 11: Harris was found to have used child actors in the recording of a video promoting space, with children gushing about how much they loved science and technology. November 10: The vice president, on a visit to Paris, was mocked for meeting a group of French scientists working in a lab, and speaking to them with a French accent. Advertisement

The deadlock over these two high-profile bills put in jeopardy the continuation of an expanded child tax credit for some 3.6 million poor families, which expires on December 31.

Democrats had hoped to extend for another year this six-month-old pilot program as part of Biden's 'Build Back Better' legislation that would expand an array of social programs and battle climate change.

Manchin has been a key holdout and his support is crucial in a chamber where the Democrats have the slimmest margin of control.

Earlier, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that recent talks with Manchin were encouraging.

'The president's going to get this done and we're going to get it across the finish line. And yes, it's going to take more time than we anticipated,' she told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden traveled to South Carolina.

Harris told Charlamagne on Friday that the administration had already made great strides, and listed their policy achievements and plans.

'I hear the frustration. but let's not deny the impact that we've had, and agree also that there is a whole lot more work to be done.

'And it is not easy to do, but we will not give up. And I will not give up,' she concluded.

A conciliatory Charlamagne replied: 'I just want you to know, Madame Vice President, that Kamala Harris, that's the one I like.

'That's the one that was putting the pressure on people in Senate hearings.

'That's the one I'd like to see more often out here in these streets.'

The vice president was highly tipped to be the Democrat nominee in 2024 before she took office, and failed to impress.

Less than half of Americans now approve of the job she is doing.

A new Hill/HarrisX poll released on Tuesday shows 43 per cent of registered voters approve of Harris's performance, while 50 per cent say they disapprove.

The same poll taken December 6-7 shows 7 per cent of respondents are unsure of their approval of the vice president.

Harris, asked on Friday by The Los Angeles Times, would not say whether she felt that her gender and race were a factor in her low approval ratings.

'I'll leave that to other people to evaluate,' she said.

She also dodged questions about her poor handling of the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and her high turnover of staff.

In a separate interview earlier this month, Harris took a swipe at President Joe Biden for declaring independence from COVID-19 on July 4 - and appeared to blame scientists for the United States' failure to be better prepared for Omicron or Delta.

She told The Los Angeles Times: 'We have not been victorious over it.'

'I don't think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus.'

A new poll released Tuesday shows only 43 per cent of registered voters approve of the job Kamala Harris is doing as vice president

The vice president also insisted that the virologists 'upon whose advice and direction we have relied' were blind to the next wave and was sure to note that the Biden administration 'didn't see' Delta and Omicron coming.

'We didn't see Delta coming,' Harris told the paper.

'I think most scientists did not - upon whose advice and direction we have relied - didn't see Delta coming.'

Biden on July 4 celebrated 'independence' from the virus, in a positive speech which some have now said was misguided.

'While the virus hasn't been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls our lives,' the president said.

'It no longer paralyzes our nation. And it's within our power to make sure it never does again.'

But Harris denied that the administration declared victory prematurely.

Harris, pictured in an interview with the Los Angeles Times this month, denied that the administration had been complacent about the end of the pandemic

Harris said one of her biggest regrets is that she had not been able to do more to combat myths about the virus and vaccine.

'I would take that more seriously,' she said of the misinformation.

'The biggest threat still to the American people is the threat to the unvaccinated,' she said. 'And most people who believe in the efficacy of the vaccine and the seriousness of the virus have been vaccinated. That troubles me deeply.'
Five men associated with the far-right Wolverine Watchmen militia group have asked a judge to dismiss charges of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after claiming that the FBI fabricated the plan and tried to trap them in the conspiracy.

Barry Croff, 44, Adam Fox, 40, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, 23, and Brandon Caserta were arrested on October 8, 2020 after allegedly hatched the plot because they were upset with Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions. All five men are currently in custody.

According to a federal complaint, they planned to snatch Whitmer from her vacation home and secret her away in an undisclosed location.

'The government initiated this case, despite the fact that it knew there was no plan to kidnap, no operational plan, and no details about how a kidnapping would occur or what would happen afterward,' defense lawyer Scott Graham wrote in his 20-page motion.

The attorneys claimed in their December 25 filing that if it weren't for an FBI informant embedded with the group, known only as 'Dan', who encouraged the plot and promised to fund it through a charity organization, the men would never have done it on their own.

There were 12 confidential informants involved in the investigation, who the lawyers say recruited, agitated and funded the movement.

Men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (from top left Kaleb Franks, Brandon Caserta, Adam Fox, bottom left Daniel Harris and Barry Croft) have pleaded not guilty and asked that the case be dismissed do to entrapment by the FBI. Ty Garbin pleaded guilt to the plot.

Five alleged anti-government militia members who are suspected of plotting to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (seen above in Detroit on October 31

The men, who were allegedly associated with a far-right group called the Wolverine Watchmen, discussed the plot in secret meetings and in text messages. They also trained to carry out the plot, according to the FBI.

But defense attorneys say that the men were scraping by and had no money to travel to the governor's home to carry out the kidnapping.

'The evidence here demonstrates egregious overreaching by the government's agents, and by the informants those agents handled. When the government was faced with evidence showing that the defendants had no interest in a kidnapping plot, it refused to accept failure and continued to push its plan,' the lawyers for the men wrote in their motion to dismiss filed Saturday night.

Further complicating prosecutors case was the arrest of the lead FBI investigator on the case Richard Trask, 39, who was convicted of a misdemeanor after hitting his wife after they returned from a swingers party one night, according to The Detroit News.

One man, Ty Garbin, 25, has already pleaded guilty in the plot.

Defense lawyers charge that an informant, identified only as 'Dan', egged them on to carry out the plot.

'Dan, while often claiming poverty, always had the resources to drive, feed, and house others whom he hoped to pull into the government plan,' according to court records.

Men were seen carrying out supposed tactical training exercise after exiting a PT Cruiser

In October, the US Attorney's Office released video and text messages which prosecutors say is evidence in their case against the six men who face federal conspiracy to kidnap charges against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer

Dan apparently not only drove the accused plotters to militia-style training weekends in Wisconsin and Michigan, he paid for gas, tolls, meals and lodging.

'So while the defendants had no interest in profit, a factor weighing in their favor here,' according to the motion to dismiss the case. 'The governments exploitation of its virtually unlimited resources, poured into its investigation, further underscores entrapment as a matter of law.'

Dan, on the other hand, made $50,000 for his work ratting out the men, according to the defense team.

Harris and Fox expressed that they were 'not cool with offensive kidnapping' the lawyers write.

When the men rejected the kidnapping plot, Dan proposed other property crimes.

The men have all pleaded not guilty.

Federal prosecutors disagree and are pushing through with the case. The government alleged the men were upset over coronavirus restrictions when they conspired to kidnap Whitmer, a Democrat, even scouting her second home in northern Michigan.

'[The]Defendants were predisposed to join the kidnapping and explosive conspiracies, and therefore will not be able to prove entrapment,' Assistant US Attorney Nils Kessler.
The Biden administration's Ambassador to Bahrain was accused of disparaging Arabs with racist remarks by fellow State Department staff and was even observed treating his subordinates as 'garbage' by an Abu Dhabi royal, according to a bombshell Monday report.

Ambassador Steven Bondy, a longtime career diplomat who was confirmed to his latest post on December 18, is the subject of a Politico report that cites multiple officials who served under Donald Trump and Joe Biden as witnessing him act inappropriately toward his own staff.

'I would hear him say disparaging remarks about Arabs all the time,' said retired US Army Brigadier General Miguel Correa, who Bondy reportedly sidelined while both worked at the US Embassy in the United Arab Emirates when Bondy was charge d'affaires there.

Correa and Bondy allegedly had a rivalry that culminated in Bondy having the now-retired Green Beret removed from his staff following clashes over power dynamics under the Trump administration.

The general had also been a close ally of Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, the Crown Price of Abu Dhabi.

A former Trump White House staffer cited in the report claims al Nahyan and other senior UAE officials expressed reservations about Bondy in 2018.

Bondy (left) has had a decades-long career in various State Department posts across Turkey, Egypt, Afghanistan and the UAE (pictured with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2019)

The official recounted a conversation with the Crown Prince after a meeting in March of that year.

'I asked MBZ, "Your highness, whats up?" And he said, "Were not a fan of Bondy." "Why not?" And he said, "We dont think hes a good person",' the official reportedly said.

'And I said "What do you mean?" And he said, "He treats his people like garbage".'

Victoria Coates, a former US official in Saudi Arabia who worked out of the UAE embassy recalled, 'I recall an instance of him being dismissive of Middle Eastern staff.'

Bondy 'vehemently and categorically' denied the report's accusations in a statement to DailyMail.com, and State Department spokesman Ned Price defended the diplomat's record of service.

'Steve Bondy is a diplomat with a long and distinguished track record. A regional expert with a deep appreciation of the Middle East, Bondy has spent most of his 30-year career working some of our nations most pressing issues in that region, including two years in war zones,' Price said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'He was awarded the Presidential Rank Award for his strong performance and extraordinary service to the United States and has served the State Department with the utmost professionalism.'

The report notes that Coates and Correa worked closely together in the past and are friends.

Bondy's (left) main detractor quoted in the report is retired Army General Miguel Correa (right), who also served in numerous military posts across the Middle East

However, it cites two other former Trump official and one other unnamed source who 'interacted' with Bondy as also having heard him make 'insulting and prejudicial or racist remarks' about Arabs.

Correa, who spoke to Politico earlier this month, told the outlet he came forward after Bondy's nomination because he 'wanted the facts to come out in the public for our leaders to see the entire picture.'

Some Correa allies allegedly claim Bondy tried to block the former Trump official from returning to the UAE for 'secret conversations' that later developed into the historic Abraham Accords.

Other detractors of Bondy's claim he unwittingly insulted UAE officials on multiple occasions.

A former Trump White House staffer cited in the report claims Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan (pictured) and other senior UAE officials expressed reservations about Bondy in 2018

One instance featured Bondy asking Emirati ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba when the 'last time' he saw his estranged father was.

Otaiba's father, Mana Al Otaiba, is the former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of the United Arab Emirates.

'Every time Bondy would see him [he would say], "Oh I saw your dad the other day, hes really proud of you and what youre doing. When was the last time you saw him?"' a witness to the conversation said.

'It was stupid stuff like that where he didnt do his homework and was always offending them, and the rest of us looked bad because we were there trying to clean it up.'

Another former Trump official at the US embassy in UAE, Robert Dias, claimed Correa detailed his accusations to him before being removed from that post.

Trump-era deputy assistant secretary of Defense for the Middle East Simone Ledeen claimed to also hear from Correa about Bondy's racist remarks about Arabs.

But the report notes that Dias, Ledeen and Coates did not come forward during Bondy's confirmation process or until they were contacted for the story.

The White House's official statement announcing Biden's intent to nominate Bondy to his current post details his decades-long career with the US Foreign Service.

Former US Ambassador to Bahrain under Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush leapt to Bondy's defense

Biden's official statement announcing his intention to nominate Bondy lists an impressive resume in the Foreign Service

In addition to leading the embassy in UAE on an acting basis, Bondy also served at posts in Turkey, Egypt and Afghanistan.

He was previously a Senior Advisor in the Department of States Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He was also the Assistant Chief of Mission in Kabul, and the Foreign Policy Advisor to the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command.

After the claims were published on Monday, one of Bondy's predecessors also leapt to his defense.

'This ... article on new US Ambo to #Bahrain is a piece of trash. Swampiest of the swamp,' said ex-Ambassador J. Adam Ereli, who served in Bahrain under Georgie W. Bush and Barack Obama.

The former official wrote on Twitter, 'I've known Bondy for 20+ years. He served w/distinction in Iraq & Afghanistan - Accusations are from Trumpists w/a vendetta agst State Dept - He's a fair & honorable public servant.'

'It is shameful and should be deeply embarrassing that POLITICO would allow itself to be used to launder false allegations that other outlets and bipartisan Congressional staffers have deemed to lack merit and to be nothing more than the product of political, personal, and workplace animus,' a State Department official told DailyMail.com.

DailyMail.com has also reached out to the White House for comment.

A Pentagon spokesperson forwarded DailyMail.com's request to Correa, now retired, for further comment.
The Department of Defense is cracking down on 'questionable tattoos' and social media behavior with recruits following January 6. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said military members should enjoy 'an environment free of extremist activities'

The Department of Defense will crackdown on recruits with 'questionable tattoos' that are linked to extremist and racist groups in the wake of the January 6 riots.

On December 20, the Pentagon released a 21-page report detailing its plans to root out extremism from its ranks, including furthering its scope of extremist activity to include tattoos, social media activity, and more.

It did not list examples of specific tattoos which could see prospective recruits banned from joining the military, but instead said it would consult with FBI officials on the ever-expanding list of potentially offensive inkings, which also differ from state to state.

'The overwhelming majority of the men and women of the Department of Defense serve this country with honor and integrity,' Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in the report. 'We owe the men and women of the Department of Defense an environment free of extremist activities, and we owe our country a military that reflects the founding values of our democracy.'

The military has regulated extremists activity in its forces since 1969 and regularly updates its policy 'to clarify prohibited activities.'

QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley, who served in the US Navy for two years, has many Norse mythology tattoos, which have been linked to Nazis and Neo-Nazis

Former Army Reservist Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was let go from the reserves in June after shaving his mustache to resemble Adolf Hitler's after being charged in the Capitol riot

He was also seen doing the 'ok' symbol, which has been linked to 'white power.' The military is cracking down on symbols, tattoos, and social media behavior after it was reported that nearly one in five rioters charged in the riot were former military

In 2020, the Army was the first to account social media behavior as a way to 'support extremist activities.'

The military has already regulated tattoos, such as placement - members cannot have them on their hands or other visible locations - and they cannot be sexist, racist, extremist, and indecent.

The new policy change comes after it was reported that nearly one in five rioters charged for the January 6 riot had former military history, according to NPR.

The DoD did not specially state which organizations constituted as extreme or racist in the new policy, but in June, Army Reservist Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was let go from the military for shaving his mustache to resemble that of Adolf Hitler's after he was charged in the January 6 riots.

Hale-Cusanelli, of New Jersey, was demoted in May from sergeant to private before he was let go in June, and has been hit by multiple accusations that he was obsessed with Hitler, and harbored extreme anti-Semitic views.

During his investigation, several former colleagues said Hale-Cusanelli said anti-Semitic jokes and said that Jewish people, women and black people were 'on the bottom of the totem pole.' He also allegedly said that 'Hitler should have finished the job,' the New York Post reported.

He was also seen in one photo posted to his social media doing the 'ok' hand symbol, which has been linked to 'white power.'

There were many far-right group afflictions seen at the January 6 riot (pictured), including QAnon, the Proud Boys, and the Betsy Ross flag, which is associated with a time in which women and people of color had no power

QAnon Shaman Jacob Chansley, who served in the US Navy from 2005 to 2007, has many Norse mythology-related tattoos, which are now connected to Neo-Nazi groups. It is unknown why Chansley did not serve his full term.

Chansley, who proudly displayed his ink, has many tattoos that the Nazis used, such as the sun wheel, which is located on his left shoulder. Other symbols, such as Thor's hammer - located on his abdomen - and the triangular valknut - located on his left breast - are used by Neo-Nazis, according to AU News.

Other extremist symbols seen throughout the January 6 riots include, but not limited to: The Proud Boys, which is a far-right group linked to street violence; the Betsy Ross flag, the originally US flag that now has connections to white supremacist groups, which idolize a time when women and people of color had no power; Oath Worshippers, which is a self-described militia group; and the confederate flag, which has links to slavery and 'southern heritage,' according to the Washington Post.

Displaying extremist or racist paraphernalia, whether it be on the body, spoken, or displayed on social media, will be considered 'active participation' and will not be allowed while the person is still actively in the military.

In addition to the January 6 riot, the Pentagon also cited the Fort Hood shooting in 2009 and the Washington Navy Yard shooting in 2013, and the 2019 Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Pensacola Naval Air Station shootings. - all of which were carried out by former military members - as reasons for the policy change.

The Pentagon also cited these shootings as the military 'underscor[ing] the profound importance of personnel screening and security.'

Chansley (pictured) has Thor's hammer tattooed on his abdomen as well as a triangular valknut on his left breast that are associated with Neo-Nazis. He also has a sun wheel on his left shoulder that was used by the Nazi

The new screening will not only further investigate tattoos and social media activity, but 'include questions on membership in racially biased entities and other extremist groups, as well as participation in violent acts.'

In partnership with the FBI, the military will have access to 'information on local gangs, white-supremacy and nationalist groups, gang signs, and extremist symbols and tattoos' to help them weed out potential candidates.

Candidates whose tattoos have been flagged by the FBI will be able to file a Morals Eligibility Determination in order to move forward in the application process, the DoD said.

'We look at that and the city, county, and state of residence at the time of enlistment,' the official said.

'We also look for any offensive, racist, supremacist tattoos, including those that may reflect gang affiliation. Then we have a robust partnership with the FBI Cryptology and Racketeering Records Unit to be able to look at symbology as it may be evolving across the United States because, again, thats one of the things that we found is that this changes so quickly and it can vary a lot region-to-region, state-by-state.'

In addition, the military will strengthen its training for members leaving to help them avoid being recruited by extremist groups.
Lateral flow test kits were unavailable again as Britons scrambled to find out if they were Covid-free ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations - as the Government unsurprisingly blamed 'high demand'.

As of Monday afternoon, it was not possible to order lateral flow testing kits for home delivery from the Government website, with the UK Health Security Agency citing 'unprecedented demand' for the shortage.

A message stated: 'Sorry, there are no home delivery slots left for rapid lateral flow tests right now.

'You may still be able to pick up rapid lateral flow tests from a pharmacy or collection point, where these are available. Only pick up tests if you do not have symptoms.'

Appointments for PCR tests had been also unavailable in every region of the country, although there were some in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

However, later on in the afternoon, bookings were available in every region, with the UK Health Security Agency saying the reduced availability was merely 'temporary'.

A UKHSA spokesperson said: 'Appointments for PCR tests are available but high demand can lead to temporarily reduced availability in some areas. More appointments are made available for people to book every afternoon.

'Testing is playing an integral role in keeping people safe and managing the spread of Covid-19.

'We are very grateful to everyone who is following the Government's guidance and getting tested to protect themselves, their loved ones and their communities.

Lateral flow test kits are unavailable for home delivery again today as Britons scramble to ensure they know they are Covid-free ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations this weekend

As well as limited lateral flow test availability, PCR walk-in test sites were also in high demand today meaning appointments were temporarily unavailable for about two hours this morning

Britons can pick up lateral flow tests for free from a pharmacy listed on the NHS website

'Everyone with symptoms or who is directed to get a PCR test should continue to come forward to get a test delivered to their home or at a test site.'

People had been encouraged to pick up tests from their local pharmacies as the message reminds people that they cannot order tests from NHS 111 or 999 numbers.

The government website also suggested: 'If you have tests at home, including ones that children have brought home from school, you can use these instead.'

It also said that the 119 service 'does not have access to more home delivery slots right now'.

A UKHSA spokesperson said: 'Despite unprecedented demand, we are continuing to supply millions of rapid lateral flow tests every day.

'Our total delivery capacity has doubled to 900,000 test kits per day since Saturday 18 December so more people can order tests.

'During periods of exceptional demand there may be temporary pauses in ordering or receiving tests, to ensure we manage distribution across the system and support changing requirements for LFD and PCR tests, and delivery capacity was reduced over Christmas and the bank holiday.

'Rapid tests are available to order directly to people's homes via gov.uk and availability is refreshed regularly throughout the day.

'We encourage people to re-visit the site every few hours if they are unable to order tests as more will become available  and to please ensure they are making use of any tests they already have at home before ordering or collecting more.'

It comes as Boris Johnson is due to review data that will illustrate the impact Christmas festivities have had on the number of Covid cases.

The Prime Minister is expected to use the data to determine whether additional measures need to be brought in to combat the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

Last week, a public health expert warned people to use tests 'responsibly' amid the shortage.

Azeem Majeed, head of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, said on Twitter: 'I am hearing about people carrying out multiple lateral flow tests in a single day.

'The tests are in short supply in many parts of England and this kind of practice will exacerbate supply problems, including for key workers such as NHS staff. Please use the tests responsibly.'

It comes after the Government suspended home delivery slots of lateral flow tests four times in one week during the run up to Christmas.

Since then, the Government said it was launching a drive to send out 900,000 test kits each day.

From Saturday, December 18 and under an agreement with the Royal Mail, the Government hoped to double capacity to 900,000 daily deliveries of home-testing kits, including PCS and lateral flow devices.

The test shortages raised fears that close contacts of Covid sufferers would be forced to stay home. Under new rules, they can take daily tests instead of isolating.

As well as the boost to home-testing, it is understood more appointments were opened up for PCR tests at walk-in sites.

However, high demand after Christmas meant there were no spare slots anywhere in England at one stage this morning, according to inews.

Since then, more slots have opened up, with the PCR testing facility online is currently reporting widespread availability at walk-in test sites across the country.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) told the newspaper that the issues had been caused by 'high demand' but that they had been resolved by the early afternoon.

A spokesperson said: 'Appointments for PCR tests are available, but high demand can lead to temporary reduced availability in some areas. More appointments are made available for people to book every afternoon.'

They said that testing was 'playing an integral role in keeping people safe' and urged people to continue to book or order PCR tests.

Boris Johnson will get his first glimpse of Christmas infections in a crunch meeting with his top advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance that will examine whether new legal curbs are required ahead of the last social hurrah of 2021.

People in Scotland and Wales are waking to new rules announced before Christmas that include Hogmanay celebrations cancelled for the second year in a row in Edinburgh.

Downing Street, which described the meeting between the PM and his advisers as routine, is understood to be leaning towards new guidance urging people in England to be careful and limit contacts  rather than imposing new legally binding restrictions such as table service in pubs or limits on household mixing.

But this could change if data on hospitalisations suggests the NHS could be overwhelmed by a wave of coronavirus infections.

Full legal curbs would require Parliament to be recalled - which can be done within 48 hours - and would trigger already furious Tory backbenchers and cause serious problems for the hospitality industry.

The UKHSA has been contacted for comment in regards to the availability of lateral flow tests.
An influencer has been given a five-month suspended sentence for posing alongside a giant penis sculpture in photos from Amsterdam's Sex Museum that were deemed obscene by a Turkish court.

Merve Taskin, 23, who boasts 571,000 Instagram followers, made the risque social media posts while celebrating her birthday in the Dutch capital in January last year.

One of the offending images showed Ms Taskin astride a huge penis and in another she stood behind a glass door made to appear like that of a brothel in the city's famous Red Light District.

She was arrested on 'obscenity charges' in the the Turkish city of Canakkale three months later and the images have since been purged from her Instagram.

One of the offending images showed Ms Taskin astride a huge penis and in another she stood behind a glass door made to appear like that of a brothel in the city's famous Red Light District

Merve Taskin, 23, boasts 571,000 Instagram followers, and regularly posts bikini shots

According to Turkish law, people who publish 'obscene' material can receive a prison sentence of up to three years.

A court initially sentenced Ms Taskin to six months in prison. However, it was reduced to five months due to good conduct, and then later suspended.

The influencer posed with her lawyers outside the court on Friday for another Instagram snap.

She wrote alongside the picture that her team had argued that the posts 'are within the limits of freedom of expression' and that the investigation showed 'how far behind the world we are.'

However, Ms Taskin lamented 'the court would not agree with us, so it sentenced me to five months in prison.'

The term is suspended meaning that the model will not be jailed unless she commits another offence.

Sex Museum director Monique van Marle told reporters she wrote to Ms Taskin, telling her: 'Our museum is intended to educate people all around the world about the history of sex. We admire you for expressing yourself and posting such pictures.'

The influencer posed with her lawyers outside the court on Friday for another Instagram snap. She wrote alongside the picture that her team had argued that the posts 'are within the limits of freedom of expression' and that the investigation showed 'how far behind the world we are.' However, Ms Taskin lamented 'the court would not agree with us, so it sentenced me to five months in prison.'

Ms Taskin posts pictures of her luxurious holidays around the world

Turkey is majority Muslim and, although not as strict as many Middle Eastern countries, still maintains a traditional idea of how women should dress.

Women are not required to cover up in public, but many choose to wear a headscarf or burka, while others will opt for European styles on the more conservative side.

In October, a poster for a new TV production of Hamlet was censored with the nude body of an actress that appeared in the original being covered with a white cloth.

The UK Foreign Office advises on its website: 'Dress modestly if you're visiting a mosque or a religious shrine to avoid offence.'
This is the moment a so-called Karen trespassed into a family's home in Chicago to complain about the noise of their Christmas party - only to be quickly thrown out by furious family members.

The video, posted on TikTok by user Katy Ileana, shows a family delighting in Christmas celebrations as they open presents in their kitchen on the evening of December 24, as is traditional for many Hispanic Americans.

Suddenly, a grey haired, bespectacled woman enters through the kitchen door with her arms in the air and says: 'Can I ask you guys to shut it down?

'It's about ten after eleven!' the woman exclaims, pointing at her watch as the stunned family looks on, completely taken aback by her audacity.

After the moment of utter disbelief, one female member of the family steps towards the woman and declares: 'You are not welcome here. Get out of my house right now!'

The trespasser, quickly realizing her mistake, turns hastily to leave before a second family member steps up to support her relative.

Shouts of 'what?!' and ''in the house?!' can be heard from other family members, as the Karen is swiftly ushered back out of the door by the enraged women.

Ileana said the woman threatened to call the police.

The video, posted on TikTok by user Katy Ileana, shows a Hispanic family delighting in Christmas celebrations as they open presents in their kitchen.

Suddenly, a grey haired, bespectacled woman enters through the kitchen door with her arms in the air and says: 'Can I ask you guys to shut it down? It's about ten after eleven!' while pointing at her watch.

After the moment of utter disbelief, one female member of the family steps towards the woman and declares: 'You are not welcome here. Get out of my house right now!', before swiftly ushering her back outside.

Ileana told DailyMail.com: 'It was my aunt's house where this occurred.

'She barged in to tell to us to quiet down and stop our festivities.'

'She began to argue and yell at my family members who escorted her out and threatened to call the cops on us.

'She didn't spoil the party but definitely left an uncomfortable vibe. I definitely felt like she was putting a damper on the Christmas spirit.'

'The woman is my aunt's neighbor. We meet yearly at my aunt's to celebrate Christmas and have not changed anything we do. There have been no issues before.'

The video, posted on TikTok on Christmas Day, struck a chord with other users and has already amassed 369,000 likes, with many users taking to the comments section united in disbelief at the trespasser's behavior.

Some users simply registered their disgust for the intruder's actions, while others urged Ileana to press charges.

'They swear they are our supervisors,' one user wrote, as another typed: 'If I didn't see this, there is no way I'd believe someone would act this entitled.'

'Call the police and press charges', said another. 'Please press charges. That's trespassing!'

Other social media users were enraged by the incident and had plenty of ideas for what they would have done in the same situation, praising the family for reacting so calmly.

The 'Karen' appeared out of nowhere, popping up from behind the family having just stormed into their house uninvited to order them to quiet down

At one moment it looked as though she was going to turn back, but quickly realised she had made a serious mistake

'She would've got DECKED. it's literally a pandemic... even if it wasn't... IN THE HOUSE!?' exclaimed one individual.

Another said: 'She's lucky she was allowed to walk out. She would have been on a gurney if it was my house.'

'Wait... she walked INTO someone else's house?? Oof. She'd be carried out or thrown out!', another user commented.
Transgender defendants' right to privacy must be respected when going through the criminal justice system, including reporting restrictions on revealing their birth-assigned names and gender histories, according to the latest guidance.

The 'Equal Treatment Bench Book' is a 540-page document produced by the Judicial College, which aims to 'increase awareness and understanding of the different circumstances of people appearing in courts and tribunals'.

Its latest revision advises courts to avoid using gendered language and pronouns where possible, The Times reports.

It also raises the scenario of an offender who has changed gender and their right to be referred to in court using their preferred pronoun.

Chair of the college and Appeal Court judge, Lady Justice King (pictured) said the guidance is a 'dynamic document' which has served as a key reference to courts

The guidance stated: 'There may be situations where the rights of a witness to refer to a trans person by pronouns matching their gender assigned at birth, or to otherwise reveal a person's trans status, clash with the trans person's right to privacy.'

It went on: 'In the rare circumstances where it is necessary in the proceedings to disclose a person's previous name and transgender history, the court may consider making reporting restrictions to prevent the disclosure of this information more widely or directing a private hearing.'

Chair of the college and Appeal Court judge, Lady Justice King said the guidance is a 'dynamic document' which has served as a key reference to courts and it has been 'admired and envied by judiciaries across the globe'.

Listed among its suggestions for more neutral language, the college advises judges to use the term 'flight attendant' instead of 'air hostess' and 'chair' instead of 'chairman'.

'It is important to respect a persons gender identity by using appropriate terms of address, names and pronouns. Everyone is entitled to respect for their gender identity, private life and personal dignity,' it adds.

The guidance also stated: 'The 'term queer is rapidly gaining accepted use as an umbrella term for those who are not narrowly heterosexual and not cisgender (ie identifying with their birth gender).

'Stonewall advises that the term queer has been reclaimed by young people in particular who do not identify with traditional categories around sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

'It has also become associated with various arts and cultural movements around the world, and it has entered academic discourse.

'Nevertheless [the term queer] is still considered derogatory by some people in the LGBT communities, and it is therefore to be avoided'.

In criminal cases regarding violence against women, the college stated: 'Some people object to the term "victim" as it can imply passivity and helplessness. They may prefer the word "survivor" which can convey resilience.'
Three men in their 20s have died and a fourth was rushed to hospital after a car smashed into a lorry in Northern Ireland.

The crash took place at around 1.50am on Monday at the Omagh road area of Garvaghy, County Tyrone, where three young men died at the scene.

A fourth man, who was also in his 20s, is being treated for serious injuries in hospital.

The Omagh road remains closed between the Curr Road and the Greenmount Road, with motorists advised to take alternative routes.

Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill tweeted: 'Heartbreaking news this morning that three young men have lost their lives in a fatal road collision in Garvaghy.

'My thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and local community.'

Pictured: The scene where three men have died following a two-vehicle crash in Co Tyrone

The crash took place at around 1.50am on Monday at the Omagh road area of Garvaghy, Co Tyrone, where three young men died at the scene

A fourth man, who was also in his 20s, is being treated for serious injuries in hospital

Local SDLP MLA Daniel McCrossan called it 'heartbreaking news'.

'My thoughts are with the families and friends of these young victims whose lives have been cut short in such tragic circumstances.'

Stephen Donnelly, a local Alliance Party councillor, said the incident was 'devastating'.

'Three young lives lost and another seriously injured. Our thoughts as a community will be with all the families impacted.'

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesperson said: 'Inquires are continuing and anyone who was in the area at the time and may have witnessed the incident or who has dashcam footage or any other information, should contact police on 101 quoting reference number 240 27/12/21.'

West Tyrone MP Orfhlaith Begley said: 'I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the three young men killed and the young man seriously injured.

'The scale of this tragedy has stunned the entire community, but everyone will rally around to support all those affected in what will be difficult days ahead.

'I wish to pay tribute to the emergency services for all their efforts at the scene.'
Mexican government officials say they do not have the forensic manpower to identify more than 52,000 murder victims found buried in mass graves.

The findings were released by Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas, with the figure including 31,844 bodies dumped between 2006 and 2019, as well as another 24,000 buried in mass graves in the years prior to 2006. Officials have not even been able to identify the gender of around 10,000 of those corpses.

'We have a forensic crisis that has led to the lack of capacities to guarantee the identification of people and their return to their families,' Encina said last Thursday. 'According to estimates, both from public institutions and non-governmental organizations, we have around 52,000 unidentified bodies in the common graves and in the forensic services of the country.'

Encina revealed that the government has been working with Congress on creating the National Center for Human Identification which will help state forensic units identify the corpses.

Residents alerted the local police of a foul odor emanating from a grass field in La Primavera, a neighborhood in the municipality of Zapopan on September 3, 2019. Authorities from Jalisco Forensic Science Institute were able to pieced together 41 bodies. Last Thursday, Deputy Interior Minister Alejandro Encinas acknowledged that government forensic agencies are not well equipped identify 52,000 bodies that were recovered between 2006 and 2019, and return them to their loved ones.

Volunteer group searching for missing persons discovered 12 skeletons and one decomposed body in the western Mexico resort town of Puerto Penasco on September 12, 2019

At least 56 percent of the bodies that have gone unidentified were located in State of Mexico (5,490); Mexico City (5,135); Baja California (4,599); Jalisco (3,682); and Chihuahua (2,975), according to data obtained by Quinto Elemento Lab.

The majority of the bodies are connected to victims who were involved in kidnappings that have for the most part been connected to the country's war against criminal organizations that was unleashed by the administration of President Felipe Calderon in 2006 and which has continued under his successors.

Clandestine burial sites have become common in states like Jalisco as criminal factions frequently use pits to dispose of the bodies of rival gangs or kidnap victims.

From 2006 to 2019, government data showed that more than 289,000 people were assassinated and over 73,000 were kidnapped.

During that same period, at least 31,844 bodies went unidentified  including 17,590 corpses that were recovered during President Enrique Pena Nieto's term in office from 2013 to 2018. Dates for an additional 6,869 bodies are unknown.

Members of Veracruz state police (pictured on September 7, 2018) work at the site of a mass grave in the town of Alvarado set up a perimeter where an exhumation took place

A human vertebra inside a latex glove is pictured at the site where a clandestine grave was found in Colinas de Santa Fe, Veracruz, in 2016. The burial site is said to be the biggest discovered in Latin America

Data also shows that 25,833 male and 2,419 female remains were located between 2006 and 2019. However, forensic teams were unable to register the genders of 10,639 bodies.

The rise in bodies that have not been identified swamped 44 Forensic Medical Service facilities in 18 states by the end of 2019. At least five centers in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Tepic, Xalapa and another operated by the Attorney General's Office were at operating at 50 percent capacity.

Currently a total of 27,271 bodies are buried in a grave site with the Forensic Medical Service is keeping 5,446 in cold room storage units. An additional 954 bodies were cremated and its ashes are stored in urns, while another 2,589 were donated to universities for research.
Nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute has returned to her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde, following a successful deployment with the carrier strike group to the Pacific Ocean and back.

The submarine - which is one of four Astute Class boats currently in-service - was the final Royal Navy vessel to return to the UK before Christmas.

Commodore Jim Perks, head of the Royal Navy Submarine Service, said: 'Despite the challenges of deploying during a global pandemic, Astute has demonstrated the flexibility and reach that a submarine can bring.

'Her ship's company can be justifiably proud of what they have achieved.'

HMS Queen Elizabeth was protected by a ring of escort warships during operations, with HMS Astute (pictured) providing an undersea defence against other submarines

Nuclear-powered submarine HMS Astute has returned to her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde, following a successful deployment with the Carrier Strike Group

HMS Astute provided an undersea defence to the Carrier Strike Group 21 (CSG21) and travelled 49,000 nautical miles to the Indo-Pacific Ocean and back

During her deployment with the CSG, HMS Astute visited Australia to help further cement links between the two nations following the announcement of the AUKUS agreement in September.

The trilateral agreement - between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States - will see the nations work to deepen cooperation and engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

The first step will be to determine a plan for a flotilla of nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy.

HMS Astute safely docked in her home port of HMS Naval Base Clyde, after being the last vessel of the carrier strike group to return to the UK before Christmas

The Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth pictured arriving home following the first operational deployment of the carrier strike group (CSG) which was dogged with incidents including the loss of a 100 million fighter jet at sea

The Carrier Strike Group deployment was a milestone in the development of UK Carrier Strike.

It provided an opportunity to gain further experience in operating the Lightning - F-35B - from the Navy's aircraft carriers.

HMS Queen Elizabeth was protected by a ring of escort warships during operations, with HMS Astute providing an undersea defence against other submarines.
An Indiana mother rebuked woke bail funds after a cocaine and burglary suspect was freed and 'murdered her son.'

Nikki Sterling - the mother of Dylan McGinnis, 24, who was shot and killed on October 1 - is lashing out against The Bail Project after the organization helped get the suspected 'killer' Travis Lang, 23, out of jail on cocaine possession and burglary charges in January.

The grieving mother was 'shocked' to find out that the organization supported 'violent offenders to get out [of jail]' by bailing inmates out. It is one of a number that have been heavily promoted on social media since Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and raises cash to bail those who cannot afford to make bail themselves.

'If I can help prevent this from happening to any other family, then I would say that, you know, my life has been purposeful and also carrying out the legacy of my son, who was always so helpful to other people,' Sterling said.

Lang was being held in jail for possession of cocaine and three felony charges for breaking and entering, resisting arrest and burglary prior to posting his bail. Lang was let out in January after he posted his $5,650 bail, which The Bail Project provided a portion of the fund, while his family stumped up the rest. It is unknown how much the organization provided.

Nikki Sterling (right) has lashed out against The Bail Project for releasing her son's 'killer' Travis Lang, 23, who shot and killed her son Dylan McGinnis, 24 (left)

Travis Lang (left) has been charged with murder for the death of McGinnis (right), who died on October 1 around 11.30pm. McGinnis allegedly went with a female friend, who was dealing with substance abuse, to make a drug deal with Lang. Law enforcement has confirmed that McGinnis was not involved in the deal

The former inmate is now facing murder charges for the death of McGinnis.

Lang would end up 'killing' McGinnis after the 24-year-old tagged along with a friend who was dealing with substance abuse, who was doing drug deal with Lang to get Xanax and heroin, according to the Indianapolis Star.

The pair allegedly got in a dispute over money and Lang exited his vehicle and fired several rounds into the pair's car while demanding the money.

He reported said: 'Give me my money before I start squeezing in this [expletive],' the Indianapolis Star reported, before shooting the girl in the leg and McGinnis several times.

Law enforcement reported that McGinnis sat in the car while his friend and Lang made the drug deal. It is unclear when the woman got back into the car before Lang started shooting.

McGinnis' mother said her son went with his friend because he 'feared for her' and that he was 'always help[ing]' others.

'Just knowing Dylan and the kind of person that he was, in my opinion, he most likely just did not want her to go by herself or be alone. He probably feared for her,' Sterling told Fox News.

'His family, his friends, the broken, the outcasts, perfect strangers. He was there to always help them which, you know, unfortunately, got him into the situation that he was in on October 1, being there for a friend,' she told Fox 59.

McGinnis and the unidentified woman were found by police with gunshot wounds around 11.30pm on October 1. McGinnis was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds and the woman was transported to a hospital in stable condition.

The Bail Project confirmed to Fox News that it provided funds in addition to Lang's mother and fiance, but it 'denounces all forms of violence.'

McGinnis was shot multiple times and was declared dead at the scene. Lang reportedly got out of his vehicle after the woman and he got into a dispute over money. He then proceeded to shoot bullets into the car McGinnis was in, hitting the woman on the leg and killing McGinnis

Sterling is now calling out The Bail Project for assisting in getting 'violent offenders' out of jail. Lang is the second former inmate who was released through a bail relief fund that later received murder charges

'We denounce violence in all its forms, and it is never our intention to put anyone at harm," The Bail Project's Director of Operators David Gaspar told Fox News.

Sterling isn't the only one criticizing The Bail Project. The Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Joe Gamaldi told Fox News that the organization and others like it are doing more harm than good.

'They are allowing people to donate and then they're bonding out violent criminals who are repeat offenders. I mean, this is not the shoplifting a candy bar from Walmart. These are people who are committing murders, aggravated assault,' Gamaldi told the news organization.

'You know, I'll be honest, I don't think they give a damn about public safety,' he slammed The Bail Project.

'They know exactly the people that they are bailing out. They know that these individuals that are out on already multiple felony bonds and they're helping them get another one. They know that some of these are very violent individuals, and you cannot look at this with a straight face and tell me that you care about the community that you're operating in.'

McGinnis isn't the first victim to die after a bail fund organization helped get an inmate out of jail.

In August, George Howard, 48, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder after Minnesota Freedom Fund bailed him out after killing two people on I-94. He was jailed for domestic assault prior to his bail.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund, which is now under new leadership, said they 'will continue to assess them to ensure that we are being responsive to the safety and needs of our community.'

DailyMail.com has contacted Sterling and The Bail Project for comment.
Pramila Jayapal doubled down on her demands for President Joe Biden to use executive action to force through his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan.

'The Progressive Caucus will continue to work toward legislation for Build Back Better, focused on keeping it as close to the agreed-upon framework as possible,' Jayapal wrote in her Washington Post op/ed on Sunday, adding that the caucus will release a plan soon to initiate further action on proposals included in BBB.

She added: 'At the same time, we are calling on the president to use executive action to immediately improve people's lives. Taking executive action will also make clear to those who hinder Build Back Better that the White House and Democrats will deliver for Americans.'

Jayapal is chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and she is hoping Biden will use executive action to bypass Congress in passing his massive social spending and welfare plan.

Centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin effectively killed the proposal earlier this month when he said he will vote 'no' on the behemoth plan despite months of negotiations with Biden, including at the president's home in Wilmington, Delaware.

Representative Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus, is calling on Joe Biden to use executive action to bypass Congress to pass his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan

Jayapal called Manchin's December 20 comments 'a stunning rebuke of his own party's president' and claimed he 'went back on his commitment' to continue negotiations.

Manchin's support for the proposal is crucial in a 50-50 split Senate where the president needs all members of his party on board to pass his ambitious agenda.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York has the day after Manchin voiced opposition that the chamber would still move on a floor vote on a package in early 2022.

'The CPC will soon release a plan for these actions, including lowering costs, protecting the health of every family, and showing the world that the United States is serious about our leadership on climate action,' Jayapal wrote in her op/ed.

Manchin expressed several concerns over the last few months about proposals in Biden's signature domestic policy bill, including multiple climate proposals and extending monthly child tax credit payments.

The bill as it stands includes hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for measures to fight climate change and meet the administration's goals addressing environmental issues.

Centrist Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (right) said earlier this month that he would not vote to pass President Joe Biden's (left) BBB plan in the New Year

Manchin was able to get the price tag of the bill down from upwards of $3 trillion to $1.75 trillion, but was not able to change his fellow party members' minds on some of his other major oppositions.

The West Virginia senator also said he felt he could not go back to his state and explain the entirety of the bill to his constituents, further leading him to oppose the legislation.

The White House said Wednesday that it will continue conversations with Manchin's office and Biden said Tuesday that he and Manchin were 'going to get something done' on BBB.

Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News in a weekend aired Sunday: 'I think the stakes are too high for this to be, in any way, about any specific individual'. She insisted the White House is not giving up on the legislation.
President Joe Biden's plan to send 1.1 billion doses of the COVID vaccine around the world is in jeopardy because the agency tasked with distributing the medication is running out of money, a new report revealed on Monday.

The U.S. Agency for International Development was allocated $1.6 billion under the American Rescue Plan to share the COVID vaccine world wide - but that funding is nearly gone.

Officials told Politico the agency has either used that money or already earmarked it to help countries prepare to receive and distribute the doses.

Biden announced in September the United States was doubling its purchase of Pfizer's COVID-19 shots to share with the world to 1 billion doses as he set the goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population within the next year.

The US has already distributed 350,293,700 doses worldwide, according to the State Department. The US distributes the medication through COVAX, the U.N.-backed program to vaccinate the world.

President Joe Biden's plan to send 1.1 billion doses of the COVID vaccine around the world is in jeopardy

The US has already distributed 350,293,700 COVID vaccine doses worldwide, above the vaccine arrives in Pakistan

But even Biden's billion-dose vaccine donation will not meet his goal. Some 11 billion doses are needed globally to make it happen. The EU and other wealthy industralized countries are also donating shots in arms.

And officials in USAID have raised concerns about the vaccine campaign stalling in the spring if the administration does not find additional sources of funding

'USAID is not taking our foot off the gas in this effort and we are assessing what will be required as we continue to collaborate with our international partners to build on this effort in 2022,' a spokesperson for USAID told Politico.

COVID cases are spreading around the world as the Omicron variant, first detected in South Africa, picks up speed. Highly transmissible, Omicron has spread quickly and globally.

Australia registered at least 10,186 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

France reported a record-breaking 104,611 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the country's highest daily number since the pandemic began.

The UK reported at least 122,186 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, the highest daily number since start of the pandemic.

Cases in the U.S. have exploded over the past two weeks, as the newly discovered strain begins to take hold in the country. America is currently averaging 198,326 cases every day, an 68 percent increase over the past two weeks. Deaths and hospitalizations have not followed, though. The U.S. has not recorded a higher seven day case average since January 19, the backside of the nation's most devastating Covid surge to date.

The country is averaging 71,302 hospitalizations every day, only an eight percent increase over two weeks. Deaths are up three percent during that time span to 1,328 per day. This could be a signal of the Omicron variant - which accounts for 73 percent of cases in the U.S. according to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - being more mild than other strains. Deaths and hospitalizations do lag behind cases, though, and a similar spike could be seen in those metrics soon as well, though.

The Omicron variant is the most mutated Covid strain yet. It have for than 50 mutations, including 37 on the spike protein targeted by the Covid vaccines.

The Omicron variant is the most mutated Covid strain yet and causing COVID cases to spike world wide

Research performed by vaccine manufacturers and independent health experts have repeatedly found that the initial vaccine regimens - two shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine - are not effective at preventing infection from the variant.

Additional booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna jabs can re-establish protection, though. According to CDC data, 72 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid, and 64.5 million people have received their booster shot.

The U.S. has confirmed 8,333 cases of the variant as of Monday morning, though the real case figure is much higher. Only two other countries have confirmed more cases.

The UK is the world's leader in confirmed Omicron cases. The nation has recorded 114,625 cases, more than triple any other nation and nearly two out of every three confirmed cases.

London, the nation's capital, has become a global Omicron hotspot. Covid related hospital admissions have jumped by 92 percent, and some fear that more lockdowns could be on the way in the new year. Some officials even fear the National Hospital System (NHS) could be totally overwhelmed if this trend continues.

Countries across Europe are getting hammered by the variant, as countries like France, Germany, Denmark and Norway are in the midst of Omicron fueled Covid surges of their own.

In South Africa, which suffered the world's first known outbreak of the variant, cases are trending downwards, though. Over the past ten days, cases have dropped 35 percent form 23,000 per day to 15,000, a sign that the variant could already be burning out.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's sweeping mandate requiring nearly all private-sector businesses to ban unvaccinated employees from the workplace has taken effect amid a spike in coronavirus infections.

Workers at roughly 184,000 businesses were required to show proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine starting on Monday, just days before de Blasio leaves office.

'Today, a historic day for New York City, we're implementing the strongest vaccine mandate in the country,' de Blasio boasted in an interview with MSNBC's Morning Joe, as he hinted at a possible run for governor.

'All private sector employers today. This is what we need to do everywhere. Everywhere, every governor, every CEO in the United States should do vaccine mandates -- 2022 has to be the year we fix COVID,' he continued

'Today, a historic day for New York City, we're implementing the strongest vaccine mandate in the country,' de Blasio boasted in an interview with MSNBC's Morning Joe

A sign is viewed at a restaurant in New York's Upper West Side in August. Vaccines are already required in restaurants, and now office workers must have the shots to go to work

The sweeping order provoked the ire of de Blasio's successor, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who called the 11th-hour imposition of the rule a 'big eff you' to his incoming administration

The new rules raise concerns of further worker shortages, even as scores of businesses in the city shutter due to staff outbreaks or exposure.

Businesses that don't comply could face fines starting at $1,000 under the order, but de Blasio has said imposing penalties will be a last resort.

The sweeping order provoked the ire of de Blasio's successor, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who takes office on January 1 and called the 11th-hour imposition of the rule a 'big eff you' to his incoming administration.

'I think for the outgoing mayor to announce something like this knowing that the implementation and enforcement would entirely be the responsibility of the next mayor is a real big eff you,' a spokesperson for Adams told the New York Post earlier this month.

Under the new rules employers have to verify and keep a record of each worker's proof of COVID-19 vaccination.

Workers who have only received one shot will have to get a second one within 45 days.

Companies must display a sign affirming they are complying with the rule 'in a conspicuous location,' under the city's mandate.

It comes as New York is once again the epicenter of infection, with 26,737 new COVID cases reported across the state on Monday.

There were also 5,526 current hospitalizations statewide, the highest figure since February but still well below the peak of more than 7,000 last spring.

Nevertheless, de Blasio is adamant that his New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will go forward, though he has reduced the capacity for the bash marking the final night of his eight-year reign.

This year, the city will allow only about a third of the usual number of partygoers inside the dozens of fenced-out viewing areas set up in the square, allowing for greater social distancing.

Partygoers will have to show proof of full vaccination and wear masks.

'Normally hosting approximately 58,000 people in viewing areas, this year's celebration will host approximately 15,000 people,' de Blasio said in a statement.

The 2022 sign that will be lit on top of a building on New Year's Eve is displayed in Times Square on Monday. De Blasio is adamant that his celebration in Times Square will go forward

In addition, admission to the viewing areas will begin at about 3pm, later than in past years.

Last year, when COVID-19 vaccines were in the early stages of rolling out, the celebration was open to only a handful of invited guests, including essential workers and their families.

De Blasio is widely expected to announce a run for New York governor, challenging incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul in next year's election.

In his MSNBC interview on Monday, de Blasio played coy, saying he would announce his plans 'real, real soon.'

'I've got one more week, and I'm going to focus on fighting COVID,' he said. 'And I'm happy to say, by the way, we did a booster incentive, and it has been heard and felt by the people of New York City since I announced it,' he added. '180,000 more New Yorkers have gotten a booster since Tuesday. Almost 2 million overall.'
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The number of New Yorkers hospitalized with COVID ballooned over Christmas, with more than 5,500 people spending their holidays inside one of New York's many hospital facilities - the largest increase since February.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Monday that statewide hospitalizations stand at 5,526 - the highest total since February 23 and nearly a 190 percent increase since November 1, according to NBC 4 New York.

'You can see the hospitalizations are continuing to spike upward, [but] you can get some comfort in seeing that we're not where we were in April 2020, we're not where we were in January of 2021,' she said. 'But it is going upwards and that is something that we are very cognizant of and were anticipating and preparing for.'

Around 17,000 New Yorkers were hospitalized during the peak of the first wave in spring 2020, with 7,000 receiving professional medical care as 2021 began.

Hospitalizations among children, though, have also skyrocketed, more than doubling statewide since the beginning of the month and has jumping five-fold in New York City.

Across the state, 70 children were hospitalized with COVID during the week of December 5 to 11, but so from December 19 to 23, that number jumped to 184.

And in New York City, there were 22 children in the hospitals for COVID from December 5 to 11, but by December 19 to 23 there were 109 children hospitalized with the virus.

'We are releasing this data because we want pediatricians to be alert to making the diagnosis of COVID in children,' said Dr. Mary Bassett, the state's acting health commissioner, adding that she wants parents to be aware that their children can catch the virus as well.

'Many people thought - continue to think - that children don't become infected with COVID. This is not true,' she said. 'Children become infected and some will be hospitalized.'

Bassett urged parents to get their children vaccinated, with CDC data showing that just 27.3 percent of five to 11 year olds in the state have received at least one dose, and only 16.4 percent are fully vaccinated. COVID is only fatal in extremely rare cases among under 18s, with fewer than 800 children in that age group being killed by the virus in the US since the start of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, New York State saw 26,737 people test positive for the virus - though Hochul said on Monday she expects the number to rise up to 20,000 or more by the time Tuesday's data comes in, as more people will get tested following the Christmas holiday.

The situation is more grim in New York City, which is seeing a 10.7 percent positivity rate with a 17,334 total cases reported over the past week.

There were also 208 hospitalizations over the past week, according to New York City health data, and 10 deaths as the Omicron variant continues to spread. It now accounts for 73 percent of cases in the U.S. according to most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday announced that hospitalizations have increased over Christmas

As of Monday, there were 5,526 New Yorkers in the hospital - the first time the state has surpassed more than 5,500 hospitalizations since late February

Hospitalizations among children have more than doubled statewide and jumped five-fold in New York City

New York State saw 26,737 people test positive for the virus - though Hochul said on Monday she expects the number to rise up to 20,000 or more by the time Tuesday's data comes in, as more people will get tested following the Christmas holiday.

Still, Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed that the annual New Years Eve ball drop will continue, even as Dr. Anthony Fauci announced that people should cancel their New Years plans.

De Blasio announced last week that he will limit the number of revelers in Times Square for New Years Eve to 15,000, down from a planned 58,000, and attendees will need to wear masks and show proof of vaccination, as long lines form in the area for COVID tests.

But on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's Kaitlan Collins that Americans should consider cancelling their New Years plans to avoid spreading the virus even more, and making the nation's Covid situation worse. While small family gatherings could be ok, he warns against large parties.

'I have been telling people consistently that if you're vaccinated and boosted and you have a family setting, in the home with family and relatives,' Fauci told CNN.

'But when you're talking about a New Year's Eve party, we have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating. You do not know the status of their vaccination, I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year.'

On Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci urged Americans to cancel their New Years Eve plans - even as Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to hold a scaled down ball drop in Times Square

Meanwhile, de Blasio's vaccine mandate for private sector employers went into effect on Monday, with all private-sector employees having to show proof that they have received at least one COVID vaccine shot.

The mandate applies to all businesses that employ more than one person and to the self-employed who interact with the public in the course of their business, according to SI Live.

Any employee who submits proof of their vaccine will have 45 days to provide proof of their second shots if they receive the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, and all businesses will nee to fill out a form affirming their compliance and place it in a 'public-facing location' at the place of employment.

Fines for noncompliance start at $1,000 and could rise with further infractions.

'Today [is] a historic day in New York City. We're implementing the strongest vaccine mandate in the country, all private sector employees today,' de Blasio said on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Monday morning.

'This is what we need to do everywhere,' he said. 'Every mayor every governor, every CEO in America should do vaccine mandates now, because 2022 has to e the year we leave COVID behind.'

Also on Monday, the city's vaccine mandate for children went into effect, with all New Yorkers 12 and older required to have received two doses of the COVID vaccine - unless they were injected with the one-shot Johnson and Johnson jab - to enter many indoor settings including restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and Broadway shows.

As of Monday, about 91.6 percent of New York City adults have received at least one dose of the COVID vaccine and 82.8 percent are fully vaccinated. Among children, however, just 41.3 percent are fully vaccinated, 12.5 percent are partially vaccinated and 46.3 percent are not yet vaccinated.

Huge lines have formed outside of COVID testing sites across New York City

Workers have started to distribute free at-home testing kits to New York City residents

A lucky woman was able to grab one of the at-home testing kits in Queens

Elsewhere, people got tested for COVID at rapid testing sites like the one seen here in Manhattan

Many New Yorkers also spent their Christmas Eve scrambling for COVID tests as infections driven by the Omicron variant surged across the Empire State.

Astonishing photos show how police had to keep the peace at a city-sponsored truck in Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, on Friday morning while city officials handed out 2,000 free Binax COVID home testing kits.

Scores of frustrated locals were photographed holding their hands out in the hopes of receiving one of the home testing kids, which the US has been slow to approve, and which are now in extremely short supply amid the latest wave of the virus.

They clustered around the testing bus, with a lucky few receiving one of the precious kits. One woman who didn't receive a kit appeared visibly upset.

Four other buses each giving out 2,000 tests were located in the other four boroughs of the city, with snaps showing a more sedate line waiting to pick one up at the Manhattan location, in Harlem.

New Yorkers - and many Americans - have been spooked by the latest surge in COVID, which saw the state smash its daily diagnoses record for the third day in a row on Friday.

Lines of up to six hours have been reported at testing clinics, with many of those tested also forced to wait days longer than the advertised 24 to 48 hours for their result, ruining the Christmas plans of many.

But on Monday, Hochul announced that the state has ordered 37 million new testing kits nd fie more testing sites will open across the five boroughs this week.

Two million tests will also go to New York City schools, she said, and FEMA assistance teams will be opening more testing sites.

President Joe Biden has also pledged to open federal megasites, though it remains unclear where those would be and when they would open.
An 83-year-old driver who caused a massive motorway pile-up when he drove at high speed on the wrong side of the road has been banned from driving for three years.

John Rennie drove the wrong way along the M90 Edinburgh to Perth motorway with a look of 'total fear' before losing control and smashing into several vehicles on March 20, 2019.

All vehicles involved in the collision were badly damaged, while Rennie also suffered serious injuries.

The entire crash was captured on a mobile phone, with footage showing Rennie driving head-on into another vehicle in the outside lane of the carriageway.

He appeared at Perth Sherrif Court on Monday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to dangerous driving.

Fiscal depute David Currie told the court: 'Witnesses were driving on the M90 near Craigend when they saw the accuseds car travelling in the opposite direction.

Police are pictured at the scene in Perthshire on March 20, 2019, dealing with the pile-up that happened as a result of the crash

The car smashed into another vehicle in shocking footage after its driver went the wrong way down the M90

'They saw him swerve across the road, and across the central reservation, directly into the outside lane of the opposing carriageway.

'The driver of the car in the outside lane was overtaking a slower moving lorry. She saw the accuseds vehicle veering across the road and heading towards her.

'She had to swerve to avoid a head-on collision but collided with the lorry and was unable to avoid being struck by the accuseds vehicle.'

The court heard Leva Karklina's Vauxhall Astra then spun out of control and crossed the central reservation.

A Peugeot 508 driven by Lorraine Patterson and a Audi Q3 driven by Kirsty Hynd were also struck and damaged during the pile-up on the outskirts of Perth.

Ms Karklina and Ms Hynd suffered injuries in the crash.

Rennie, from Perth, admitted entering onto the opposing carriageway and driving at speed in the wrong direction into the path of oncoming vehicles.

He also admitted causing Ms Karklinas vehicle to swerve into a lorry driven by Gary Robinson, before he struck her car and caused her to lose control.

The court was told that Rennie had suffered a number of mini strokes after the collision and it is suspected this is what may have led to him entering the wrong side of the road on the day of the incident.

Rennie sustained serious injuries in the crash and subsequently developed sepsis in hospital, ultimately leading to him becoming the person who came off worst in the collision.

He was banned from driving for three years and fined 1,500 on Monday.
A tarmac company boss who suffers from dementia has won an unfair dismissal case brought by his managing director who claimed he had been made redundant by the business owner.

Andrew Robson claimed 89-year-old Eric Roberts - who set up the tarmac business in 1956 - had made him redundant after accusing him of 'running the business into the ground' during a downturn in trade.

However a tribunal judge rejected this and concluded Mr Robson had resigned from his 50,000-a-year MD role.

The tribunal in Bodmin, Cornwall, heard that Mr Roberts had been diagnosed with dementia some months before Mr Robson was promoted to managing director of Eric Roberts Contractors Ltd, based in St Columb, Cornwall, in October 2019.

Andrew Robson claimed 89-year-old Eric Roberts had made him redundant but a tribunal judge rejected this. Mr Roberts set up Eric Roberts Contractors Ltd (company van pictured), based in St Columb, Cornwall, in 1956

Mr Roberts said at a meeting in January 2021 there was a conversation about health and safety issues and filling in extra potholes for no added cost - but he was not criticising anyone's work - and these were 'suggestions and not orders'.

But Mr Robson later led Mr Roberts into a room for a private conversation and told him: 'If you're not happy with the way I am running the business, I'll go.'

Mr Roberts said: 'He immediately said if you aren't happy with the way I am running the business, I'll go. I'll take the van in lieu of the money you owe me.

'He kept talking and wouldn't let me get a word in edgeways. I was in shock and didn't really know what was going on.'

Mr Roberts described how the managing direction then asked the office manager to come into the room to take notes before going on to accuse the boss of making him redundant.

He continued: 'I wouldn't even know how to make somebody redundant. I have never in my 65 years made anyone redundant and I certainly didn't want Andrew to leave as I didn't have anyone else to fill his role as MD.'

Mr Roberts said the next day Mr Robson asked him to sign a document - which he did without reading.

However it was only later that he discovered it was a redundancy letter.

Mr Roberts said: 'I did not type this letter nor would I know how to work out a redundancy calculation. I am an 89-year-old man and am unable to use the computer and/or the internet.

A tribunal judge concluded Mr Robson had resigned from his 50,000-a-year MD role at Eric Roberts Contractors Ltd

'I regularly sign papers and documents for all the team and had no queries as to what I was signing and regrettably I almost never read what I was signing. I trusted the Claimant like I did everyone else.

'Following the Claimant's last day I discovered that he had arranged his final payment through our payroll clerk and also a redundancy payment and taken the company van as payment in lieu of the 'bonus' he had believed he was owed. The company van was worth in excess of 25,000 at the time.

'I did not dismiss the Claimant. He was completely in control of the meeting in which he announced that he was leaving the MD role. I am still not sure to this day exactly how he came to the conclusion that I wanted him to step down or leave the company.'

Mr Roberts' lawyer Terry Falcao suggested to Mr Robson that he had taken him out for a private conversation to 'isolate him' from the other staff in the meeting - an allegation he denied.

Mr Robson said: 'I asked Eric Roberts what the issue was. He told me he did not like the way I was running the business, I was running the business into the ground.'

But Mr Falcao said it was inconceivable Mr Roberts was sacking the man who had increased the company's profits by sixfold saying: 'It does not make sense.'

The employment judge described the incident as 'a very unusual set of facts' but said he found the evidence of Mr Roberts, who built up the family business, as 'credible and compelling'.

Mr Robson's claim for unfair dismissal was dismissed and he now faces a costs order.
Seven progressive Democrats voted against the bill in the Senate, as did three Senate Republicans - Rand Paul, Ky., Mike Braun, Ind., and Mike Lee, Utah

It passed the Senate 88-11 after moving through the House 363-70

The budget was $25 billion more than Biden asked for and a 5% increase over last year's spending

President Biden signed the $768 billion 2022 defense budget on Monday, a wide-ranging bill that includes security assistance for Ukraine amid heightened threats from Russia and billions for a deterrence initiative to counter China.

The budget, $25 billion more than Biden asked for and a 5% increase over last year's spending, passed the Senate 88-11 after moving through the House 363-70.

The bill includes a 2.7% pay increase for U.S. troops and more aircraft and Navy ship purchases, and set strategy for dealing with threats like Russia and China.

Seven progressive Democrats voted against the bill in the Senate, as did three Senate Republicans - Rand Paul, Ky., Mike Braun, Ind., and Mike Lee, Utah.

Fifty-one House Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against the bill, which also saved the A-10 attack plane. It has been up for the ax for years in a bid to save $3.5 billion, but Congress has decided to grant the jet another stay of execution.

The bill had been stalled as lawmakers debate provisions to counter threats from Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping. A number of senators initially objected to advancing the legislation unless the Senate voted on an amendment to reimpose sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, restrictions that Biden lifted earlier this year.

iden signed the $768 billion 2022 defense budget on Monday, a wide-ranging bill that includes security assistance for Ukraine as it takes on a fast-encroaching Russia and billions for a deterrence initiative to counter China

The bill had been stalled as lawmakers debate provisions to counter threats from Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping

Instead, Sen. Ted Cruz agreed to drop his hold on Biden's State and Treasury nominees in exchange for a vote on Nord Stream 2 sanctions.

The bill includes numerous measures to challenge Moscow - such as $300 million for Ukraine's military - and Beijing, with a statement of support for the defense of Taiwan. Around $4 billion has been earmarked for the European Defense Initiative, which aims to keep Vladimir Putin's ambitions in check.

A further $7.1 billion has been set aside for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, aimed at countering Chinese aggression, including towards Taiwan, amid worsening relations between the US and its allies.

Fifty-one Democrats and 19 Republicans voted against the bill, but it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support

The NDAA includes funding for 17 Boeing F-15EX fighter jets

The F-15EX will replace the F-15C, and is able to carry hypersonic weapons

Funding has also been allocated for 12 Boeing-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornets - an updated version of the F-18C/D

The fiscal 2022 NDAA, also includes an overhaul of the military's criminal justice system for cases of sexual assault. Military commanders will no longer make decisions on whether to prosecute cases of rape, sexual assault and other major crimes.

Meanwhile, Putin warned on Monday that the world is heading for a new Cuban missile crisis in Ukraine if the West fails to deal with Russia's security demands 'here and now.'

This came amid a new round of major military exercises by Putin's troops in an evident bid to warn NATO of the seriousness of the situation ahead of the New Year.

Videos showed the latest Russian drills - some close to Ukraine - amid fears Putin will invade if the West fails to meet his demands.

Hawkish deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov denied he was exaggerating in comparing the current crisis to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

'No, not too much,' he said in an interview with Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn magazine when asked if his comparison was 'too much.'

There are fears a war could erupt between Russia and Western-ally Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Ryabkov insisted: 'We must put an end to the expansion of NATO, NATO infrastructure, NATO capabilities further east.

'We must exclude Ukraine from joining NATO.'

Congress in the defense bill also showed itself very willing to stump up funds for military expenditure.

In May, the Pentagon requested 12 F-15EX fighter jets, but the bill passed on Tuesday provided funding to allow for the purchase of 17 planes.

Congress put funding for 12 Boeing-made F/A-18E/F Super Hornets into the bill, after the Pentagon requested zero.

Breaking a trend, the bill did not increase funding for the number of F-35 fighter jets made by Lockheed Martin.

The bill funds the procurement of 13 battle force ships including two Virginia-class submarines made by Huntington Ingalls and General Dynamics, and three DDG 51 Arleigh Burke destroyers also made by General Dynamics.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, is pictured on Tuesday. The NDAA includes multiple measures designed to emphasize U.S. support for Ukraine, amid Russian threats

Xi Jinping, China's president, is seen on Friday. The NDAA also emphasizes support for Taiwan

The bill also includes ban on the Department of Defense procuring products produced with forced labor from China's Xinjiang region.

The United States has labeled China's treatment of its Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang as genocide, and last week Biden signed a ban on imports of products from the Xinjiang region unless manufacturers can prove they were made without forced labor.

China denies abusing minorities and dismisses the genocide charge as part of slanderous assertions about conditions in Xinjiang.

China has reportedly been working on hypersonic weapons instead of the usual intercontinental ballistic missiles, which travel in a predictable arc and can be tracked by radars.

The United States and China are engaged in an arms race to develop the most lethal hypersonic weapons, the U.S. Air Force secretary said last month, as Beijing and Washington build and test more and more of the high-speed next-generation arms.
A Colorado District Attorney announced on Monday that she is seeking to reduce the sentence of a truck driver who killed four people in a 2019 fireball crash from 110 years in prison to just 20 to 30 years.

Speaking after a court hearing, Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King said she 'will likely be recommending a sentence of 20 to 30 years' for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, after he was sentenced on December 13 to 110 years in prison - the minimum allowed by Colorado's sentencing laws - by Judge A. Bruce Jones.

Jones will hear the application on January 13, and Aguilera-Mederos could have his sentenced reduced as early as that date.

Aguilera-Mederos, 26, was driving a semi-truck on April 25, 2019, along Interstate 70 in Lakewood, Colorado at 85mph, when he slammed into two dozen vehicles - including four other transporters stuck in rush-hour traffic.

The impact caused a fireball explosion that incinerated cars and trucks, killing four people.

Aguilera-Mederos was found guilty on 27 criminal charges in October.

But his 110-year sentence has drawn outrage from around the country, with nearly 5 million people signing an online petition seeking clemency for him.

Colorado law allows for sentences for crimes deemed violent to be modified in cases with 'unusual and extenuating circumstances,' but those sentences cannot take effect until 119 days after a person enters prison.

Aguilera-Mederos is now due back in court on January 13 as a judge considers the resentencing request.

Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, 26, (pictured) was sentenced earlier this month to 110 years in prison in accordance with Colorado's minimum sentencing guidelines

Jefferson County District Attorney Alexis King announced on Monday she will 'likely be recommending' a reduced sentence for him of 20 to 30 years in prison

King had announced her intention to seek a lesser sentence for Aguilera-Mederos last week.

'Given that the victim in this case have more than one view of an appropriate outcome and this trial court heard the evidence presented, we believe that this hearing is is the best path to securing justice for everyone involved,' she said in a statement on Thursday.

And in a motion requesting the hearing, King noted: 'As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances.'

But Leonard Martinez, one of Aguilera-Medeross defense lawyers, said the district attorneys new requested sentencing range was not acceptable and was not consistent with similar cases in Colorado and elsewhere in the US.

He said he would instead ask Colorado Governor Jared Polis to grant Aguilera-Mederos clemency.

Polis' office said on December 14 that it has received a request for clemency and the application was being reviewed.

'We just received Rogel Aguilera-Mederos' application and our legal team is currently reviewing it. Once we reach a decision, we will make an announcement,' a spokesperson for Polis said.

Aguilera-Mederos was hauling lumber in an 18-wheeler when he sped down I-70 at 85mph and crashed into two dozen vehicles - including four other transporters stuck in rush-hour traffic on April 25, 2019

The impact caused a fireball explosion that incinerated cars and trucks, killing four people

Aguilera-Mederos was working for a Houston-based trucking company, hauling lumber at the time of the fatal crash in April 2019

Prosecutors said he was eastbound coming down the interstate from the mountains about 85mph.

They said he swerved at times, forcing others off the road before he crashed into two dozen vehicles causing a giant fireball, FOX 31 reports.

It left behind a scene of 'significant, just unbelievable carnage,' Lakewood Police Spokesman Ty Countryman said during a news conference following the crash, noting that some bodies were still in the wreckage hours later.

Video showed cars stopped in every direction as the huge fire spread, sending smoke billowing.

'This is looking to be one of the worst accidents we've had here in Lakewood,' Countryman said.

Those killed in the crash were Doyle Harrison, 61, of Hudson, Colorado; William Bailey, 67, of Arvadal; Miguel Angel Lamas Arrellano, 24, of Denver; and Staney Politano, 69, of Arvada.

Six others were taken to hospital.

Six others had to be rushed to the hospital in the aftermath of the crash

Aguilera-Mederos has claimed the brakes on his truck had failed

Aguilera-Mederos has since testified that the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he was descending a steep grade of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills.

His defense attorney claimed he did not know that his truck brakes were smoking or that he would not be able to stop.

He also argued that Aguilera-Mederos' actions were a series of negligent decisions, and that he did not intend to hurt anybody.

But prosecutors argued he should have used a runaway ramp designed for such situations. Aguilera-Mederos, for his part, said he was struggling to avoid traffic and trying to shift to slow down.

On October 15, a jury ultimately found Aguilera-Mederos guilty of 27 criminal charges, including:

Four counts of vehicular homicide

Two counts of vehicular assault

Six counts of assault in the first-degree with extreme indifference

10 counts of criminal attempt to commit assault in the first degree

One count of reckless driving

Four counts of careless driving causing death

He was also found not guilty of 15 counts of criminal attempts to commit assaults in the first degree.

Among the victims of the deadly crash were Stanley Politano, 69, of Arvada, Colorado, left, and Miguel Angel Lamas Arrelano, 24, of Denver, right,

Doyle Harrison (left) was also killed in the inferno, as was Victim William Bailey (pictured right with his wife, Gage Evans)

As Aguilera-Mederos faced sentencing on December 13, he issued a statement apologizing to the victims' families, crying as he spoke.

'It's hard. This was a terrible accident, I know,' he said. 'I take the responsibility, but it was an accident.

'I have never thought about hurting anyone in my entire life and Jesus Christ, he knows that, he knows my heart,' he continued.

'I am not a criminal, I am not a murderer.'

'The accident - it wasn't intentional, it wasn't intentional, Your Honor. I did all that I can as a man. I put myself in harm's way to avoid harming anyone else.'

He claimed that he tried to avoid the traffic, and noted that he did not flee in the aftermath 'because I respect the laws.

'I want to say sorry, sorry for the loss, sorry for the people injured,' he concluded, noting: 'I ask ... God many times why them and not me.'

Relatives of the victims supported at least some prison time at his sentencing hearing, but in the statement last week, King said she and her team had spoken to the surviving victims of the crash and the families of those who died about the possibility of Aguilera-Mederos being resentenced before she issued her request.

Aguilera-Mederos apologized to the victims as he faced sentencing on December 13

A juror who helped convict him has also said Aguilera-Mederos' 110-jail sentence is 'not right.'

'I cried my eyes out,' the juror, who remained anonymous, told FOX31.

The juror called the sentence '100-fold of what it should have been' and said that while the trucker was responsible for the crash, Judge A. Bruce Jones should have given him a 'more suitable sentence.'

Jones has said his hands are tied due to mandatory minimum laws.

'There is just something wrong to where a judge cannot intervene in some way and say the way this is written is not right,' the juror added.

The juror also told FOX31 he feels for the families of the victims, but feels compelled to speak in favor of reducing Aguilera-Mederos' sentence.

'I don't [think] the governor should sit there and offer him clemency and let him off,' he said.

'But to step in and say this would be a more suitable sentence for what had happened.'

As of Monday, more than 4.7 million people signed a Change.org calling for the trucker's sentence to be lessened.

'Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos ... has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history,' says a petition, addressed to Polis and Jefferson County courts.

The governor is the only person who can grant clemency at the state level.

Polis most recently commuted four sentences and issued 18 pardons in December 2020. Clemency usually results in a sentence reduction or a pardon.

The petition goes on to say that Aguilera-Mederos could have 'done things differently to avoid the courts,' but ultimately commended him for taking responsibility and apologizing to the victim's families.

It has become the website's third most signed petition, according to the Change.org page.

A Change.org petition to reduce Aguilera-Mederos' sentence has become the website's third most signed petitions after it reached 4.6 million signatures, according to the page

Kim Kardashian, who is studying law, has also called for a lesser sentence for Aguilera-Mederos.

She posted on Instagram to her 271 million followers that she had heard about the case and 'took a deep dive in it to figure out what the situation is.'

She continued: 'He was not drunk or under the influence; his brakes on the tractor-trailer failed.

'Another shocking and unfair part of this case is that the judge didn't want to sentence him to such a lengthy sentence.

'However, because of the mandatory minimums in Colorado, his hands were tied.

'Mandatory minimums take away judicial discretion and need to end.'

Kardashian also condemned the gleeful celebrations of the prosecutors, saying their gift of a brake shoe trophy made her 'sick'.

She added that the governor, Jared Polis, 'is a really good person and I know he will do the right thing.'
A driver has appeared in court charged with the murder of a motorcyclist outside a village pub in Wiltshire three days before Christmas.

Ryan Brindley, 43, was killed in a crash with a Volkswagen Touran on the B3089, close to the Wyndham Arms pub in Dinton, near Salisbury, at around 7pm on Wednesday (December 22).

Paul Barrett, 42, appeared at Swindon Magistrates' Court on Monday charged with his murder.

The defendant, of Mere, Wiltshire, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address before being remanded in custody to appear at Salisbury Crown Court on December 29.

Family members of Mr Brindley, from Amesbury, were in attendance at the short hearing.

Presiding justice Christine Smith told Barrett: 'You have heard we cannot deal with this case here and we are officially sending this to the crown court and there will be hearing on Wednesday, December 29, at Salisbury Crown Court to deal with your bail status.'

Motorcyclist Ryan Brindley (pictured) was killed in a crash in the village of Dinton, near Salisbury, just three days before Christmas

The fatal crash took place a short distance from the Wyndham Arms pub in Dinton, near Salisbury, at around 7pm on December 22

Following the crash last week, Detective Inspector Simon Childe of Wiltshire Police, senior investigating officer, said: 'I would like to start by offering my sincere condolences to the family of the victim and we will continue to support them throughout this with specialist officers.

'This charge has come through hard work and dedication of not just those in the Major Crime Investigation Team but all areas of Wiltshire Police.

'I would also like to thank the local community for their support and patience.'
France announced a raft of Covid measures today as the country braces for a surge in cases due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant in Europe.

Working from home is now mandatory for at least three days a week while indoor events have limits on attendance and people are banned from eating on long-distance trains.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said in response to a rapid spread of Omicron, the government is narrowing the delay for a third booster shot to three months from four, but there will be no curfew for New Year's Eve.

He added that from Monday and for the next three weeks, all public gatherings will be limited to 2,000 people for indoor events, and to 5,000 people for outdoor events.

Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, said a ban on food and drinks on long-distance trains was probably an attempt to ensure people wear masks as much as possible.

Prof Hunter told MailOnline: 'If people wear face coverings it will reduce the rate of transmission by about 20 per cent.'

However, he said whether the food and drinks ban will make a big impact was 'uncertain'

French officials warned hospitals risk being overwhelmed again after a record 100,000 cases were reported on Saturday, the highest daily level in France since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.

Health experts estimated the number of daily cases could increase rapidly by mid-January, even though millions of people received booster shots in recent weeks.

Nearly 3,300 people are currently in intensive care, again above the crisis threshold of 3,000 set by authorities for handling the worst cases.

The five countries with the highest coronavirus case rates over the last week were all European

Around 22 million people out of an eligible 40 million in France have received Covid booster shots.

President Macron held a crisis meeting at 3pm via videoconference from his Mediterranean holiday retreat at Bregancon, in the south of Grace, with key members of his cabinet and representatives of French public health bodies.

Officials urged people not to hold parties or large family gatherings over the holidays.

France's President Emmanuel Macron lead a special cabinet meeting (pictured) to discuss a new Covid vaccine pass and new measures to curb the spread of Omicron coronavirus variant, from the Fort de Bregancon, presidential holidays residence, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, France

It comes as other European countries saw record coronavirus cases.

Denmark and Iceland reported record daily coronavirus cases on Monday.

Both Nordic nations had some of Europe's lowest infection rates before Omicron's arrival.

Europe recorded the most Covid cases and deaths in the past seven days.

The five countries with the highest case rates over the last seven days were all European.

Denmark's daily infection total exceeded 15,000 for the first time, with health authorities registering 16,164 Covid cases in a single day.

The country of 5.8 million people has the world's highest infection rate, with 1,612 cases per 100,000 people.

However, only seven deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.

People queue for a rapid test at a test centre set up at Budolfi Church in the center of Aalborg, Denmark

Early studies suggested Omicron causes less severe disease than previous strains such as the Delta variant that was first identified in India.

Denmark closed cultural attractions and limited opening hours in bars and restaurants in mid-December to fight the latest wave of infections as Omicron became the dominant strain.

Meanwhile Iceland registered a record 672 cases in the past 24 hours, despite never having reported more than 200 daily cases until mid-December.

During last year's autumn wave, daily infection totals in Iceland never exceeded 100.

In neighbouring Norway, Omicron has become the dominant variant in the capital Oslo.

The Irish HSE fully reopened vaccination centres as 6,735 Covid cases were reported on Monday. Pictured: Christmas shoppers in Dublin.

Latest figures in Ireland show that 461 Covid patients are in hospital, with 91 in intensive care. Pictured: Irish shoppers in Dublin

Health officials in Ireland were also expecting large Covid case numbers reported over the coming days.

Testing centres across the country fully reopened after some were closed or scaled back over the Christmas period.

The Irish HSE fully reopened vaccination centres as 6,735 Covid cases were reported on Monday.

Latest figures show 461 Covid patients are in hospital, with 91 in intensive care.

The overall positivity rate was nearly 50 per cent

Health officials believed 87 per cent of reported cases in Ireland are now due to Omicron.

High numbers of Covid cases come as the number of infections in the UK has spiked massively

The number of deaths as a result of coronavirus hasn't spiked at the same rate in the UK

The Department of Health tweeted that it was anticipating 'large volumes of case numbers over the coming period'.

Earlier HSE chief executive Paul Reid tweeted: 'Well done to all of our vaccination teams. Back at it.

'It's never too late to receive your first dose vaccine. Please take the earliest opportunity to receive your booster.'

Ireland already has a range of restrictions in place amid concerns about the spread of the Omicron variant.

All restaurants, bars and cafes have had to shut their doors at 8pm, while indoor events have a limited attendance of 50 per cent capacity or 1,000 people, whichever is lower.

Outdoor events are also limited to half capacity with a maximum of 5,000 people.
Trump reportedly called 'top lieutenants' including Steve Bannon and Rudi Giuliani late on January 5 and into the early hours of January 6

The House Select Committee investigating January 6 is looking into a phone call Donald Trump made the night before the Capitol riot looking for ways to stop the certification of Joe Biden's 2020 victory, a new report from The Guardian claimed on Monday.

Trump phoned his 'top lieutenants' stationed at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC to discuss ways to steal the election hours before his supporters stormed the US Capitol, according to a November report from the same outlet.

The group was led by Rudy Giuliani, Steve Bannon, former strategic adviser Boris Epshteyn and lawyer John Eastman. Trump adviser Jason Miller and former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, a top deputy of Giuliani's, were also reportedly in attendance.

Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said 'that's right' when asked about whether the Democrat-led panel, indicating that lawmakers are already examining avenues for how to proceed with their investigation into Trump's call.

To thoroughly examine the call, the committee will need to come out on top of an ongoing court battle to uncover Trump's White House records. The former president has attempted to claim executive privilege to keep his communications private.

When asked for comment by DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the panel pointed to an August 25 request sent to the National Archives for White House communications, visitor logs and other documents from on or around January 6.

Thompson told The Guardian in its Monday report that the bipartisan select committee could not request specific phone calls from the National Archives.

'If we say we want all White House calls made on January 5 and 6, if he made it on a White House phone, then obviously we would look at it there,' he said.

The Willard Intercontinental Hotel (pictured) was allegedly a 'command center' for members of Trump's orbit the night before the Capitol riot where they discussed ways to upend Joe Biden's 2020 victory on the basis of 'election fraud'

In the late hours of January 5 until early on January 6, Trump made a number of phone calls to the Willard from both the executive residence and West Wing. While the latter is always noted for record, calls from the White House residence are not always recorded in the National Archives.

Trump's top supporters in his effort to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 victory allegedly plotted how to prevent Congress certifying the election results from the upscale Willard Hotel the day before the riot.

Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington told DailyMail.com at the time that The Guardian's report 'is totally false.'

On the evening of January 5 Trump reportedly made separate calls to his legal and non-legal aides to discuss avenues to stop the next day's vote certification and delay the process until Congress received a new slate of electors.

The report claims the calls were separate on Giuliani's insistence it would maintain attorney-client privilege. It also cites 'multiple sources' without going into further detail on whether they were even present.

But in Monday's report, committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland noted that attorney-client privilege 'does not operate to shield participants in a crime from an investigation into a crime.'

Committee Chair Bennie Thompson (left, pictured with Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney) said his panel wants to look at White House logs of calls Trump made in the hours before he took the stage at his infamous Stop the Steal rally

'If it did, then all you would have to do to rob a bank is bring a lawyer with you, and be asking for advice along the way,' he said.

The calls, which could directly link the former president to his associates' efforts to overturn a democratic election, reportedly took place a day after Eastman unveiled a memo outlining a theory of how then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject the existing results.

Pence as vice president would oversee Congress' certification of electoral college votes. But according to Eastman, Pence could also use his role to kick the election down to the House or stop the session altogether and demand states send different electors over 'election fraud' concerns.

The Eastman memo was first reported in the book 'Peril' written by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.

Trump allegedly complained about Pence's refusal to go along with the plan in some of his first calls to the Willard from the White House.

Between the evening of January 5 and the morning of January 6 Trump reportedly told Bannon that Pence was 'arrogant' and recounted the meeting during which the vice president told Trump to count him out of any efforts to question the election.

On at least one other call, Trump asked his legal team to delay Congress' certification until after January 6 to at least buy time to wage a pressure campaign on states to send new electors.

Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani were named as alleged participants in some of those calls

However the report notes that it's unclear if Trump talked about stopping Biden's victory 'by any means' after Pence refused to intervene, though if true the comments would align him closer with insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol looking to take back the election for Trump.

Multiple Trump lawyers there that night reportedly denied that Trump was looking to overturn the election but instead the team was only considering ways to delay it over 'election fraud' allegations.

Earlier this month the House Select Committee investigating January 6 announced it was looking into the alleged events at the Willard.

Today a federal appeals court will consider Trump's bid to stop the committee from accessing his White House's documents that the National Archives had already agreed to turn over.

On November 8 the panel announced subpoenas for Eastman, Miller and Kerik over their actions leading up to the Capitol riot including that meeting.

'In the days before the January 6th attack, the former Presidents closest allies and advisors drove a campaign of misinformation about the election and planned ways to stop the count of Electoral College votes,' committee chair Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi said at the time.

If true the allegations in the report would create a more direct link between Trump and his supporters who stormed the Capitol

'The Select Committee needs to know every detail about their efforts to overturn the election, including who they were talking to in the White House and in Congress, what connections they had with rallies that escalated into a riot, and who paid for it all.'

Bannon, an alleged participant at the January 5 'command center,' was slapped with criminal charges for refusing to testify in front of the Democrat-led committee.

He was among the first high-profile figures in Trump's orbit to be subpoenaed in lawmakers' quest to know more about the events leading to the insurrection.

The committee also voted to proceed with criminal contempt charges for former DOJ lawyer Jeffrey Clark, though a House-wide vote was postponed to give Clark more time to comply.

Most recently the committee's investigation resulted in the House of Representatives voting to hold one of its own former members in contempt.

Ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows handed over thousands of documents to the committee before he abruptly withdrew his cooperation.

The committee has since released a series of damning text messages reflecting Meadows' role before and during the Capitol riot, including pleas from Fox News hosts and the ex-president's own son Donald Trump Jr. to get Trump to call off the rioters and condemn them.

Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry also reportedly sent Meadows a text that outlined a plan to get the Supreme Court to turn over the presidential election results in Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and other Republican-controlled state legislatures.

'Here's an aggressive strategy: Why can t [sic] the states of GA NC PENN and other R controlled state houses declare this is BS (where conflicts and election not called that night) and just send their own electors to vote and have it go to the SCOTUS,' it read.
A four-year-old old girl died from a neck injury she suffered after an explosive was tossed into her home by a teenager in Brazil.

Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade was sleeping in a room at her home in the Sao Paulo city of Barretos on Saturday afternoon when the 14-year-old boy flung the projectile towards the residence.

She was rushed to a local hospital, where she was declared dead approximately at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday.

A surveillance video shows the teenager, whose name has not been released, holding the small explosive and lighting it up before he threw it at the home as a bevy of children looked on.

Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade died in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday, a day after she was struck by an explosive that was thrown inside her home by a 14-year-old boy

Surveillance camera captures the moment the 14-year-old boy is about to toss a small explosive towards a home in the Sao Paulo city of Barretos on Saturday afternoon. The projectile hit four-year-old Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade in the back of the neck while she was asleep. She was taken to a local hospital where she died Sunday morning

The teen subsequently walked away from the group before Ribeiro da Piedade's mother stepped out of the home to investigate who had thrown the small bomb.

The explosive entered through the bedroom window and hit the girl in the back of the neck.

In a shocking twist, the suspect walked into the home about a minute after the incident and spent about 15 seconds inside before he walked out and an extended his arms out, perhaps in acknowledgment of what he had just done.

Angry residents reportedly set the teen's family home on fire about two hours after Ribeiro da Piedade passed away.

Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade (top) is held by her stepfather moment after she was struck by a small explosive

According to Barretos police chief Juliana da Silvana Paiva, Ribeiro da Piedade's mother had approached the children outside the home several hours before the incident and asked them to stop setting off fireworks after an explosive had landed nearby.

'The teenager who was throwing the explosives was aware that there were three people in the house,' da Silvana Paiva said in a press conference Sunday. 'According to testimony from the mother and stepfather, he knew they were in the house, he still took the risk of continuing to throw explosives, taking the risk of causing injury and even murder.'

Da Silvana Paiva asked the prosecutor's office to consider placing the boy in pretrial detention. He is being investigated for negligent bodily injury.

She also said that his mother has promised to make her minor son available for police questioning in the presence of a lawyer, who is expected to accompany them before Friday.

The teen suspects (lower right corner) extended his arms out moments after he walked out of the home where he had thrown a small explosive that hit four-year-old Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade on Saturday afternoon. The girl was rushed to a neighborhood medical facility where she died Sunday

The explosive also burned a hole in the mattress the four-year-old girl was sleeping on

Aylla Manuella Ribeiro da Piedade died from a neck injury she suffered after she was hit by an explosive while sleeping in her home in Sao Paulo, Brazil

A funeral service was held for Ribeiro da Piedade on Monday. Her body was scheduled to be flown to the northern state of Pernambuco where she will be buried in the family hometown of Primavera.

'She was a happy person. She liked me too much. We would go to the square with her, take her to play, eat ice cream,' her uncle Antonio Cleyson Caetano Costa told Brazilian news outlet G1.

'Then something like that happens on the day she was so happy, joking, smiling  It's a loss that will never heal.'
Ohio State Trooper Jarid Fitzpatrick, 25, was hospitalized with serious injuries after slamming into the back of a truck

An Ohio state trooper is recovering at home after slamming his cruiser into the back of a semi-truck on a quiet highway earlier this month, although investigators have yet to discover why the smash happened.

Jarid Fitzpatrick, 25, was speeding westbound down Interstate 70 in Columbus on December 15 at around 3.13am.

Dash cam footage shows him barreling down a highway ramp and overtaking other vehicles before meeting the back of a truck without pause.

It is unclear why Fitzpatrick, who was not on a call at the time of the incident, did not slow down.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident while the trooper recovers.

The agency says the truck's rear impact guard, which came off during the accident, may have saved their trooper's life, according to WSYX in Columbus.

Fitzpatrick survived the December 15 crash, which trapped his cruiser underneath a semi that had to be lifted up to free the car

Dashcam footage from before the accident shows Fitzpatrick weaving in and out of lanes and barreling down a quiet highway near Columbus, Ohio at 3am

He comes close to a truck driven by Thomas Ervin, but does not stop

It is unclear what led to the accident or why the state trooper didn't slow down

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the incident while the trooper recovers

Photos from the scene show the front side of Fitzpatrick's cruiser completely mangled as it was retrieved from underneath the truck, which had to be lifted up in order to free the vehicle.

The Freightliner truck' driver, 58-year-old Thomas Ervin of Heath, was not injured.

In dash cam video taken before the accident, Fitzpatrick weaves in and out of the little traffic on the highway at that time with ease.

At one point, he even overtakes a different semi truck and cruises along.

Troopers say Fitzpatrick managed to called for assistance on his radio after the crash.

The accident blocked I-70 westbound and the northbound Miller/Kelton ramp for several hours that morning, according to WBNS.

Fitzpatrick was hospitalized in serious condition at Grant Medical Center, but was expected to recover.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol did not respond to requests for comment about Fitzpatrick's status or the investigation into the crash from DailyMail.com

Photos from the scene show the front side of Fitzpatrick's cruiser completely mangled as it was retrieved from underneath the truck

The agency's 'members assistance team' will reach out to Fitzpatrick to help him, troopers say

Last week, the station reported that the trooper was recovering at home.

'Everybody is being cooperative with the investigation. It is just going to take time for us to determine what exactly occurred,' said OSHP Lt. Nathan Dennis.

The agency's 'members assistance team' will reach out to Fitzpatrick to help him after the accident.
Chinese citizens are lashing out with fury against billionaire Tesla founder Elon Musk after China claimed that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with satellites launched by Musk's Starlink program.

The satellites from Starlink Internet Services, a division of Musk's SpaceX aerospace company, had two 'close encounters' with the Chinese space station on July 1 and October 21, according to a document submitted by China earlier this month to the U.N.'s space agency.

'For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control,' China said in a document published on the website of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

The complaints have not been independently verified. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chinese citizens are lashing out with fury against Elon Musk after China claimed that its space station was forced to take evasive action to avoid collision with Starlink satellites

A Starlink satellite is seen in an artist's rendering. China says its space station had to take evasive action twice to avoid collision threats with the satellites

China said the satellites had two 'close encounters' with the Chinese space station on July 1 and October 21. The Tiangong station, currently under construction, is seen in a rendering

Chinese Space Station modules - Tianhe: Core module. Launched on April 29, 2021 - Wentian: Experiment module I. Launch planned for 2022 - Mengtian: Experiment module II. Launch planned for 2022 - Xuntian: Space telescope module. Planned launch in 2024 to co-orbit with Chinese Space Station Advertisement

In a post on China's Twitter-like Weibo microblogging platform on Monday, one user said Starlink's satellites were 'just a pile of space junk', while another described them as 'American space warfare weapons'.

With nearly 30,000 satellites and other debris believed to be orbiting the planet, scientists have urged governments to share data to reduce the risk of catastrophic space collisions.

SpaceX alone has deployed nearly 1,900 satellites to serve its Starlink broadband network, and is planning more.

'The risks of Starlink are being gradually exposed, the whole human race will pay for their business activities,' a user posting under the name Chen Haiying said on Weibo.

U.S. space agency NASA was forced to abruptly call off a spacewalk at the end of November, citing risks posed by space debris from a Russian satellite demolition.

Musk tweeted in response that some Starlink satellite orbits had been adjusted to reduce the possibility of collisions.

China began constructing the space station in April with the launch of Tianhe, the largest of its three modules.

The station is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 after four crewed missions.

Starlink satellites are seen stacked together before deployment on 24 May 2019.

A Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites is seen above in a file photo

Musk has become a well-known figure in China, though his relationship with the country is tense. China is a key market for Tesla, which faces stiff competition there from domestic producers.

Tesla has been targeted by Chinese state media and regulators after a series of high-profile incidents.

In April, a customer, angry over the handling of her complaint about malfunctioning brakes, climbed on top of a Tesla car in protest at the Shanghai auto show. Videos of the incident went viral.

In May, a crash involving a Tesla killed a police officer in the eastern city of Taizhou, and footage of the scene was covered heavily by Chinese media.

Earlier this year, Tesla vehicles were banned from some government compounds and military complexes in China over fears that their onboard cameras could be used for spying.

In April, a customer, angry over the handling of her complaint about malfunctioning brakes, climbed on top of a Tesla car in protest at the Shanghai auto show

Days after the ban was first reported, Musk appeared by video at a high-level Chinese forum, saying that if Tesla used cars to spy in China or anywhere, it would be shut down.

Tesla later established a data center in China to store car data locally and appease the government there.

China, the world's biggest car market, is the electric car maker's second-biggest market and key to growth plans, accounting for about 30 percent of its sales.

Tesla now makes electric Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicles in a Shanghai plant for both domestic sales and export.
Erika Wulff Jones, 43, wife of InfoWars founder Alex Jones, was arrested for domestic assault in their Austin home on Christmas Eve

Alex Jones' wife, Erika Wulff Jones, looks somber and tearful in her mugshot taken after being arrested for domestic violence on Christmas Eve.

Pictured with extra long eyelashes, manicured eyebrows and highlighted hair, Erika was arrested after assaulting a family member at their home in Austin, Texas. It's not yet clear who the victim is.

Alex Jones, the Infowars founder who faces financial ruin after losing four defamation lawsuits brought by parents of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, said after his wife's arrest that the incident stemmed from a 'medication imbalance.'

Travis County Sheriff's deputies took Wulff Jones, 43, into custody and booked her into an Austin jail around 8.45pm on Friday.

Jail records show Erika faces misdemeanor charges of assault causing bodily injury to a family member and resisting arrest, search or transport.

After spending Christmas in custody, Erika was released on December 26 on $3,000 for each of the two charges.

Erika Wulff Jones and husband Alex Jones in better times. He said the incident was caused by a 'medication imbalance'

Erika, left, was arrested at the couple's home in Austin, Texas. Jones did not say who the victim of the assault was and called the episode a private family matter

Jones declined Saturday to say whether he'd been injured or elaborate on what happened beyond that he believes it was related to his wife's recent change of medication.

'It's a private family matter that happened on Christmas Eve,' Jones told The Associated Press in a brief interview.

'I love my wife and care about her and it appears to be some kind of medication imbalance.'

The Travis County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to a request Christmas Day for the report on Wulff Jones' arrest and a spokeswoman said she could not provide more information.

An attorney for Wulff Jones did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The incident comes as the right-wing conspiracy theorist faces financial ruin after being found guilty in November in four defamation cases over his claims that the Sandy Hook school massacre was a 'giant hoax' aimed at increasing gun control.

His conviction is a sweeping victory for the parents of eight people killed in the Newtown massacre. On December 14, 2012 gunman Adam Lanza, 20, killed 20 first-graders and six teachers. Lanza fatally shot his mother at their home before going to the school, and later killed himself as police arrived.

The conviction combines with three rulings in Texas last month that found Jones liable for damages in defamation lawsuits that stemmed from his statements about the Newtown massacre. A jury has not awarded damages yet.

Though Jones' finances are murky, with nearly all of his income thought to be derived from the sale of dubious health supplements to his loyal followers, he is thought to have a net worth of roughly $5 million.

Jones declined Saturday to say whether he'd been injured or elaborate on what happened beyond that he believes it was related to his wife's recent change of medication. 'It's a private family matter that happened on Christmas Eve,' Jones told The Associated Press in a brief interview

Infowars founder and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, right, has sued in order to block a subpoena issued for him to testify about the events. (Jones pictured in 2018)

Supporters of then President Donald Trump climb the west wall of the the U.S. Capitol in Washington during the January 6 insurrection

The incident comes as Jones sued last week seeking to block subpoenas he'd been issued by the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

He said he did not want to testify before the committee because he fears Congressional leaders will accuse him of lying under oath.

'I don't want to testify before them because they will lie and say I lied,' Jones said.

Jones spoke at a rally in support of then-President Donald Trump that proceeded the riot, and his Infowars colleague, Owen Shroyer, was charged with crimes related to it in August.

Shroyer has said he's 'innocent of the charges.'

Jones said his wife's arrest 'doesn't concern my politics' and that 'it wasn't some kind of personal hateful thing or anything.'
A father has been banned from leaving Israel for 8,000 years unless he pays his ex-wife 1.8million in child support due to local divorce laws.

Noam Huppert, 44, originally from Australia, cannot leave Israel until December 31, 9999 or until he makes the payment.

Mr Huppert has two children with his former wife. In 2012 he moved to Israel to reconnect with them after his ex-spouse returned there in 2011, when the kids were three months and five years old.

Noam Huppert, 44 (pictured) originally from Australia, has been banned from leaving Israel for 8,000 years unless he pays his ex-wife 1.8million in child support due to local divorce laws

But his ex-wife soon brought the case to court and Mr Huppert was issued with a so-called 'stay-of-exit' order due to a 'future debt' of 5000 Israeli shekels per month until both of his children turn 18. News.com.au reports.

Mr Huppert, who works as an analytical chemist, said he has been 'locked' in Israel since 2013 and is barred from leaving even for work or a holiday.

He added that other Australian citizens have encountered 'this literally life-threatening experience' and have been 'persecuted by the Israeli "justice" system only because they were married to Israeli women'.

This is not the first time Israel's divorce laws have been called unjust.

A document Mr Huppert posted in Facebook post. He cannot leave Israel until December 31, 9999 or until he makes the payment

The website of 2019 documentary on the issue, No Exit Order, created by director Sorin Luca said: 'As unbelievable as this sounds to the West, this is a reason why many fathers do not get divorced.

'They are simply too afraid. Men are forced economically to return home to their own parents, or end up homeless.

'The system is set up against fathers. Campaigning for over 20 years has brought the issue to the Israeli Government, with many female and male lawyers  family and criminal law  making representations and establishing committees against false claims and for shared parenting.

'Once a father has the order, he can be imprisoned for up to 21 days, whether he has the ability to pay or not  without any investigation of his finances.

'Men are expected to pay 100% or even more of their income to pay for their children.

'Israel expects men to pay in full for a wifes lifestyle, and in the rare cases a man may get custody of the children, he is still expected to pay the child support to the absent mother.'


The Los Angeles County coroner ruled the 14-year-old girl's death a homicide after she was shot and killed by a stray bullet in a Burlington dress room, police are set to release bodycam footage on Monday.

The teen, Valentina Orellana Peralta, 14, was shopping for a quinceanera dress with her mother at the store in North Hollywood when she was struck by a stray bullet by an unidentified Los Angeles cop.

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office has ruled her death a homicide from the gunshot wound to the chest.

Valentina Orellana Peralta, 14, (pictured as a child) was shot and killed in a Burlington dressing room after an unidentified police officer's spray bullet struck her in the chest

The Los Angeles Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide and the LAPD is set to release bodycam footage on Monday (pictured: as a child)

The officer was confronting Daniel Elena Lopez, 24, after he allegedly assaulted a woman with a bike lock inside the store, and the unnamed officer shot him when the suspect was reportedly moving to attack another shopper.

Peralta had been hiding inside the store's dressing room with her mom when one of the bullets fired at Lopez, killing him, went through the wall and killed her, as well.

'This chaotic incident resulting in the death of an innocent child is tragic and devastating for everyone involved. I am profoundly sorry for the loss of this young girl's life and I know there are no words that can relieve the unimaginable pain for the family,' Police Chief Michel Moore said on Thursday.

The shooting is being investigated by the California Department of Justice under Attorney General Rob Bonta.

The woman who had been assaulted was taken to the hospital with moderate to serious injuries. She was filmed lying on a gurney with blood on her face.

'Its just absolutely heartbreaking, and I cannot find words to try to comfort a mother and a family, but I will ensure them and the public and our people that we will conduct a complete and thorough investigation,' said Moore

A 14-year-old girl who was shot dead by a Los Angeles police officer's stray bullet during Thursday's confrontation with an assault suspect at a Burlington Coat Factory was in a dressing room trying on gowns for a quinceanera with her mother. (Pictured: Shoppers are seen outside the store after the shooting)

Valentina Orellana Peralta, 14, was shopping for a quinceanera gown with her mother at this Burlington store in North Hollywood on Thursday when she was struck by cop's stray bullet

Police say they came upon the male suspecting assaulting a woman and opened fire, killing the man. Pictured: a broken glass door is scene at the Burlington Coat Factory

People are seen sobbing after the deadly shooting that took the life of the 14-year-old

He added that to provide full transparency, the department will compile and release all video of the incident, as well as radio calls and other available information, which is supposed to be released on December 27.

The shots were fired around 11.45am on Thursday. Police initially responded to reports of a person being assaulted with a deadly weapon as well as reports of shots being fired, said Los Angeles police Captain Stacy Spell at a news conference.

Spell said officers opened fire when they saw the suspect assaulting another person.

The suspect was struck by the officers bullets and killed, Spell said.

One of the bullets went through a dressing room wall and struck Peralta as she was trying on quinceanera gowns, as Los Angeles Times first reported, citing law enforcement sources.

LAPD Assistant Chief Dominic Choi said officers later found the teen's lifeless body inside the changing room.

'You cant see into the dressing rooms and it just looks like a straight wall of drywall,' Choi said at a second news conference, but believed it was the officer's bullet that killed her.

Investigators do not yet know whether the teenager was in the dressing room before the violence began or ran in there to hide, he said.

Police say the officer who fired the fatal shots did not know Valentine was inside the dressing room behind a wall

A woman wipes her eye as police officers investigate the scene where two people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a Burlington store )

Shoppers are seen at the scene after the officer-involved shooting, which is now under investigation

No gun was found near the male assault suspect after his killing at the Burlington store

Moore said it did not appear that the officer who fired the fatal shots 'would have known that there was anyone behind there or that he was looking at anyone other than the suspect and a wall.'

The officer, who has not been named, has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, which could take weeks.

'Theres not a police officer in America who would ever want this type of circumstance to occur,' Moore added.

Choi said authorities do not yet know the suspect's motive or whether he knew the woman he initially assaulted in the store.

Imelda Garcia said her sister works in the store and was on break when she heard gunshots and everyone started running. Garcia said she spoke to her sister on the phone and that shes OK but sounded 'really nervous.'

Police escorted people out of the store nearly two hours after the shooting.

A GoFundMe page was set up for the family and it has raised almost $1,500 of the $8,000 goal.

DailyMail.com has contacted the LAPD for the bodycam footage.

Homicide rates in LA have skyrocketed over the past two years. At this time in 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department recorded 251 homicides. Burglaries have dipped in recent years

Thursday's shooting comes come as homicide rates have soared 52 percent in the past two years, and Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon is under fire for his soft-on-crime policies.

Gascon continues to be called out for a zero-bail policy that some critics say is exacerbating the region's crime problems by freeing criminals to offend safe in the knowledge they'll be straight back on the streets after.

At this time in 2019, the Los Angeles Police Department recorded 251 homicides. As of December 18, there have been 382 slayings in the city, representing a 52 percent increase, according to LAPD data.

Burglaries have dipped over the past few years.

Property crimes are up in California as a whole as well, according to the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC).

Year-over-year through October, violent crimes spiked five percent statewide, with Oakland up 17 percent and Los Angeles up about one percent, PPIC data shows.

Homicides during the same period rose 17 percent, from 523 last year to 613 as of October. In LA, homicides rose 17 percent, the institute said.

Gascon, one of many progressive DAs bankrolled by billionaire Democrat donor George Soros, has survived one recall effort and faces another that was launched December 6 after he was accused of being soft on crime amid an epidemic of brazen smash-and-grab robberies perpetrated by organized groups of thieves.

During the first week of December, LA police arrested 14 suspects alleged to have been involved in 11 recent smash-and-grab robberies at stores last month, where nearly $340,000 worth of merchandise was stolen in strikes on an LA Nordstrom, a Lululemon in Studio City, a Fairfax district store, and a CVS pharmacy in South LA.

However, due to city's zero-bail policies, the suspects were all released within hours of being handcuffed and are currently walking the streets while they wait for their cases to go to court.
China launched three warships in one day on Christmas Eve in a show of strength as they were among some of the most advanced ships the country has built.

Beijing will keep one of the ships for its own navy, while the other two will go to Thailand and Pakistan respectively.

Thailand will take a 071E landing platform dock (LPD) that it ordered in September 2019 while Pakistan and China have each received a Type 054 frigate.

The boats were launched at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding yard near Shanghai on December 24.

The 071E landing platform dock launched (pictured) on Christmas Eve in Shanghai is destined for Thailand

Meanwhile Pakistan and China have each received a Type 054 frigate (pictured at the launch on December 24)

The two frigates have minor changes between them as each was built for a different navy. Pictured: One of the Type 054 frigates

China rolled out the red carpet for the launch of three warships on Christmas Eve in Shanghai

The Pakistan Navy variant of the frigate is reportedly fitted with an SR2410C radar and a 3D multifunction electronically scanned array radar.

Meanwhile the Chinese version will join around 30 similar ships in the countrys navy.

The 071E LPD destined for Thailand will be able to deploy helicopters and will most likely be used in patrols and disaster relief missions.

China has the world's largest navy and is preparing to launch a new high-tech aircraft carrier by February, the Pentagon revealed last month.

The ships are kitted out with some of the latest technology and are thought to be some of China's most advanced vessels

Beijing has expanded its Navy as tensions are high between China and the West, especially America

Beijing has 'numerically the largest navy in the world with an overall battle force of approximately 355 ships and submarines,' the US Defence Department said last Wednesday in its annual report on China.

That compares with 296 warships at the US Navy's disposal, 69 vessels operated by the Royal Navy and 295 boats deployed by the Russian Navy.

Beijing is expected to add a third aircraft carrier in early 2022, dubbed Type-003, with satellite images from the shipyard published today indicating that it will rival the American super carriers.

Pictures of Jiangnan Shipyard from September to October show that significant progress has been made to the carrier's external components and that works on other vessels in the yard appear to have slowed, perhaps because the Type-003 has taken precedence.

Washington-based think-tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that the carrier could be ready as early as February, stating that it 'will launch in roughly three to six months.'

The US currently leads the world with 11 aircraft carriers, Britain operates two, including its brand new HMS Queen Elizabeth, while Russia owns a single carrier.

China's growing threat was underscored further as satellite pictures emerged of mock-ups of a US aircraft carrier and destroyer in its northwestern desert, believed to be used in wargames amid rising tensions between the nuclear-armed nations.

Pictures of Jiangnan Shipyard from September to October show that significant progress has been made to the carrier's external components and that works on other vessels in the yard appear to have slowed, perhaps because the Type-003 has taken precedence.

The Type-003 under construction in Jiangnan Shipyard in September. The vessel is expected to launch in February

A number of People's Liberation Army Naval vessels are visible at various times in the floodable basin at Jiangnan Shipyard

China has built mock-ups of US aircraft carriers (pictured) in the country's northwestern desert, possibly in preparation for future naval strikes

Satellite images captured by Colorado-based satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies dated Sunday show China has built a mock-up of a US destroyed in Ruoqiang, Xinjiang

The independent US Naval Institute said on its website that the mock-ups of US ships (pictured, a rail terminus and target storage) were part of a new target range developed by the People's Liberation Army

Images captured by Colorado-based satellite imagery company Maxar Technologies dated Sunday show the outlines of the vessels sitting on a railway track.

Maxar identified the location as Ruoqiang, a Taklamakan Desert county in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

The independent U.S. Naval Institute said on its website that the mock-ups were part of a new target range developed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The USNI said it could identify features on the destroyer including its funnels and weapons systems.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing Monday that he had no information about the images, saying, 'I'm not aware of the situation you mentioned.'

China's massive military upgrade has emphasised countering the US and other countries' naval forces.

That includes the development of land, sea and air-launched missiles to repel and possibly sink opposing vessels, expressed most emphatically by the land-based DF-21D ballistic missile known as the 'carrier killer.'

Recent months have also seen a substantial increase in Chinese military flights just southwest of Taiwan, the self-governing island republic claimed by Beijing and which it threatens to annex by force.

Washington provides Taiwan with much of its weaponry and US law requires that it ensures the island can defend itself and treats threats to it as matters of 'grave concern.'
A quarter of the fully-vaccinated crew about US Navy warship the USS Milwaukee have tested positive for COVID, defense officials revealed.

The outbreak has forced the vessel to remain sidelined in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay while the 25 service members who contracted the virus recover from what are said to be mild symptoms.

The USS Milwaukee has a crew of just over than 100, and it was forced to pause its deployment late last week because of the coronavirus outbreak. The defense officials, who spoke on condition Monday of anonymity to discuss details of the outbreak, said that the number of infected sailors is staying relatively constant at this point, raising hopes it will not spread further.

The Navy said in a statement Friday that the ship's crew is '100 per cent immunized', in line with federal government policy, and that all of those who tested positive for COVID-19 were being isolated on the ship away from other crew members. The Navy has declined to release the number of infected sailors.

'The ship is following an aggressive mitigation strategy in accordance with Navy and CDC guidelines,' the Navy said.

The USS Milwaukee (pictured) has 25 per cent of its crew infected with COVID-19. The infected sailors have been isolated

The ship is currently docked at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The Navy is considering offering booster shots to those on board the ship and is coordinating with a military hospital to do so. The hospital said it could get the booster to sailors as soon as they have a definite number of who wants one

In addition to the ship's crew, a member of the Coast Guard law enforcement personnel was also on board as well as an aviation unit used for operating helicopters and drones.

The officials said Monday that the Navy believes the total vaccination of the crew is the key factor in controlling the outbreak, although did not explain further.

It is unclear which shot the infected crew members received, with Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine known to be less effective against the Omicron variant than Pfizer or Moderna shots. But many Americans have also reported so-called breakthrough COVID infections even if inoculated with Pfizer or Moderna boosters.

The USS Milwaukee, a smaller, more stealthy combat ship, is staying in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. It is the first Navy ship this year to have to interrupt its deployment at sea - others were sidelined during the early months of the virus outbreak last year.

It began its deployment from Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, on December 14, and had stopped for a scheduled port visit. The ship was heading into the US Southern Command region.

According to the Navy's statement, 'a portion' of those infected are having mild symptoms, and that the specific variant is not yet known. COVID-19 cases have surged across the country as a result of the highly contagious omicron variant.

The ship is now looking into getting booster shots to its crew from a Guantanamo Bay hospital.'

'While we recommend boosters, they are not mandatory for the crew,' a Navy spokesperson told the Washington Post. 'The ship has not received any boosters (to date) while in port, but they are coordinating with the [military hospital at Guantanamo Bay] on when boosters could be administered to those personnel who are interested in receiving one.'

A spokesperson for the hospital said the boosters could be sent to the ship once they get a solid number of who wants one. The vaccine would have a 31-day shelf life once on board.

The first major military outbreak of the virus was early last year on a Navy warship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that was operating in the Pacific.

The Roosevelt was sidelined in Guam for nearly two months, and more than 1,000 of the 4,800 crew members tested positive. One sailor died, and the entire crew went through weeks of quarantine in a rotation that kept enough sailors on the ship to keep it safe and running.

The ship left Florida on December 14, not even making it a week before having to dock at Guantanamo Bay on December 20

Members of the US military personnel are required to be vaccinated as enforced by the Pentagon in August.

According to the latest data released by the Navy, more than 98 percent of all active duty sailors have been fully vaccinated.

In addition, 9,000 sailors have remained partially vaccinated of this week, according to the Pentagon.

As of Wednesday, 5,361 active-duty sailors remain unvaccinated as they have either refused the shot, failed to complete their vaccine series or are waiting on exemption requests, according to Stars & Stripes.

The Navy has since approved seven permanent and 140 temporary medical exemptions.

Around 2,844 active-duty sailors have requested vaccine waivers for religious purposes but were not approved.

In addition, 51,230 soldiers have since caught the virus and 17 have died. The US has now recorded more than 52.2 million COVID cases, and over 816,000 deaths.

Omicron has surged across the states, and is estimated to be behind at least 73 per cent of new cases nationwide.

But preliminary data suggests the new strain is milder, raising hopes that even smaller numbers of those infected will suffer severe side-effects than with previous variants, or those which emerged before vaccines became available.
A paralysed man in Australia has become the first person to tweet a message via direct thought thanks to a tiny brain implant the size of a paperclip.

Philip O'Keefe, 62, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which has left him unable to move his upper limbs, tweeted: 'No need for keystrokes or voices. I created this tweet just by thinking it.' #helloworldbci

He was diagnosed with ALS, a form of Motor Neurone Disease, in 2015, and successfully turned his direct thought to text using the Stentrode brain computer interface (BCI) on December 23.

The interface, created by California-based Synchron - a neurovascular bioelectronics medicine company - allows patients to carry out tasks on a computer just by using their mind.

A paralysed man in Australia has become the first person to tweet a message (above) via 'direct thought' thanks to a tiny brain implant the size of a paperclip. Philip O'Keefe, 62, suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which has left him unable to move his upper limbs. To share the news, he took over the Twitter handle of Synchron CEO, Thomas Oxley, using the hashtag #HelloWorldBCI - where BCI stands for brain computer interface

Mr O'Keefe (above) was diagnosed with ALS, a form of Motor Neurone Disease, in 2015, and successfully turned his direct thought to text using the Stentrode brain computer interface - made by California-based Synchron - on December 23

'When I first heard about this technology, I knew how much independence it could give back to me. The system is astonishing, it's like learning to ride a bike - it takes practice, but once you're rolling, it becomes natural,' said Mr O'Keefe

Brain signals are sent through a telemetry unit to a small computer taped to the patient's chest, which interprets what actions the individual wants to perform on the nearby PC, such as texting, emailing and shopping online

Mr O'Keefe said: 'When I first heard about this technology, I knew how much independence it could give back to me.

'The system is astonishing, it's like learning to ride a bike - it takes practice, but once you're rolling, it becomes natural.

'Now, I just think about where on the computer I want to click, and I can email, bank, shop, and now message the world via Twitter.'

To share the news, he took over the Twitter handle of Synchron CEO, Thomas Oxley, using the hashtag #HelloWorldBCI.

Mr O'Keefe's goal was to share his experience of regaining independence with the world and offer inspiration for the future.

'My hope is that I'm paving the way for people to tweet through thoughts,' was his closing statement.

He received the brain computer interface in April 2020 following progressive paralysis caused by ALS which left him unable to engage in work-related or other independent activities.

The Synchron team uses blood vessels as a natural highway to the brain, which are laced with sensors that record activity. The Stentrode device implanted in the brain measures 40mm in length

He has since been using the technology to reconnect with his family and business colleagues - continuing email exchanges and staying actively involved in his consultancy and other business projects.

Mr Oxley said: 'These fun holiday tweets are actually an important moment for the field of implantable brain computer interfaces.

'They highlight the connection, hope and freedom that BCIs give to people like Phil who have had so much of their functional independence taken away due to debilitating paralysis.

'We look forward to advancing our brain computer interface, Stentrode, in the first US in-human study next year.'
A Russian nationalist who criticised Vladimir Putin and predicted civil war fell to his death from a fifth-floor window in Moscow.

Yegor Prosvirnin, 35, from Vladivostok, Russia, was found naked 'under the windows of a residential building' on Tverskaya Street in the centre of Moscow on December 27.

According to local media reports, he died before the ambulance arrived and his wife Marina Urusova later confirmed his death.

Yegor Prosvirnin, 35, from Vladivostok, Russia, fell to his death from a fifth-floor window in Moscow on December 27

He was found naked 'under the windows of a residential building' on Tverskaya Street in the centre of Moscow on December 27

According to local media reports, he died before the ambulance arrived and his wife Marina Urusova later confirmed his death

Mr Prosvirnin (pictured) founded the controversial right-wing blog Sputnik and Pogrom, which supported the annexation of Crimea

Mr Prosvirnin allegedly threw 'knife and gas canister' from the fifth floor window, whilst neighbours heard 'screaming and swearing' before he fell, according to BBC Russia.

Russian politician Roman Yuneman told the Podyom newspaper that he met with the journalist two weeks ago and everything was 'normal'.

He said: 'I spoke to his wife. Unfortunately, that's the case. He fell out of the window, it's true, I don't know the details. I saw him about two weeks ago, he was in quite normal working order.'

Mr Prosvirnin founded the controversial right-wing blog Sputnik and Pogrom, which supported the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

He later predicted the Russian Federation would 'collapse' and heavily criticised Putin, predicting a civil war.

The journalist previously said: 'I think that everything will collapse. Not only Novorossia will collapse, the Russian Federation will collapse.'

The website was later added to the list of blocked resources in the Russian Federation in 2017 for promoting ideas of 'ethnic and religious hatred'.

Roskomnadzo previously claimed the reason was because of 'the propaganda of the idea of ethnic and religious hatred, which creates threats to public security and encourages extremism.'
Geillis Duncan was just a teenager when she was arrested in 1590 and accused of witchcraft.

The poor girl's screams and pleas of innocence must have been heartrending, but the maidservant was shown no mercy by the deputy bailiff for Tranent, a town east of Edinburgh, and his team of brutal interrogators.

First, Geillis's fingers were crushed using 'pilliwinks'  a form of thumbscrew  until they splintered.

After being 'thrawed' with a rope, twisted around her head, she was stripped naked and her head and body were shaved. Her tormentors claimed to have found the 'Devil's mark' on her throat.

More than 4,000 people were arrested, and 2,500 were executed, in a wave of satanic panics in Scotland from the passing of the Witchcraft Act in 1563 to its repeal in 1736. Now, more than 400 years later, a campaign to clear their names is gathering momentum

At that point, Geillis broke and gave them what they were looking for: a long list of names of those supposedly involved in a demonic gathering in which a man in black instructed the assembled witches to kill the king.

Among those arrested was Agnes Sampson, an elderly woman, who was subjected to sleep deprivation, a common interrogator's tool as it eventually produced hallucinations used as 'evidence'.

Meanwhile, she was kept pinned to the wall of her cell by a 'witch's bridle', an iron contraption that forced four sharp prongs into her mouth.

Dr John Fian, a schoolmaster, was also caught up in the witch-finding frenzy. His fingernails were ripped off and iron pins inserted in their place.

His fingers were also crushed by the pilliwinks and his legs trapped by 'the boot', a metal frame designed to crush the shin bone, often applied red hot.

All three were executed in January 1591, their bodies burned at the stake in front of crowds jostling for space on Castlehill, the top of Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

Now, more than 400 years later, a campaign to clear their names  and those of more than 2,500 others executed in a wave of satanic panics in Scotland from the passing of the Witchcraft Act in 1563 to its repeal in 1736  is gathering momentum.

Geillis Duncan was just a teenager when she was arrested in 1590 and accused of witchcraft. The poor girl's screams and pleas of innocence must have been heartrending, but the maidservant was shown no mercy by the deputy bailiff for Tranent, a town east of Edinburgh, and his team of brutal interrogators. (Above, Duncan played by Lotte Verbeek in Outlander on Sky TV)

A petition organised by Witches Of Scotland, co-founded by Claire Mitchell QC, has gone to the Scottish Parliament, which has indicated a willingness to consider legislation similar to England's Turing Act, which retrospectively grants an amnesty to men cautioned or convicted for same-sex relationships, at a time when homosexuality was outlawed.

Mitchell is asking for a formal apology, for both the convicted and accused, to be issued in March, on International Women's Day. She would also like to see a national monument erected in their memory.

'The people that were convicted as witches remain convicted to this day,' she says.

'It's a miscarriage of justice, and, as with any other miscarriage of justice, we should restore their names.'

Duncan, Sampson and Fian were just three of the unfortunates caught up in the so-called North Berwick witch trials, one of the most notorious bouts of satanic panic that gripped Scotland for almost two centuries.

The scale of what happened almost defies imagination, but is little known outside the country's borders.

Everyone has heard of the Salem witch trials in colonial New England a century later: there, some 300 people were accused of witchcraft and 19 executed.

In Scotland, nearly 4,000 people were rounded up and more than 2,500 executed in a most gruesome fashion. Their broken bodies were tied to a stake on top of a pyre, where they were garrotted.

Their bodies were then burned, so there was nothing left to bury.

An even more wretched few were burned alive. Most of the accused were women, but around one in six were men.

'If you were accused of witchcraft you would be taken in and you would be kept awake as a form of torture,' says Mitchell.

'It wasn't enough to confess yourself, you would have to confess who was with you. They would then be interviewed and name others, so the number of people would grow exponentially.'

Incidentally  and astonishingly  the same thing is still happening in parts of the world.

Only last July the UN passed a resolution calling on countries to address accusations of witchcraft as a tool of persecution.

'Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, accusations of witchcraft are on the rise,' says Mitchell.

In Scotland, thousands accused of witchcraft were executed in a most gruesome fashion. Their broken bodies were tied to a stake on top of a pyre, where they were garrotted. Their bodies were then burned, so there was nothing left to bury. An even more wretched few were burned alive. Most of the accused were women, but around one in six were men

'This follows a historic pattern. Witchcraft trials tended to happen at time of difficulty  during war or famine  when people were looking for someone to blame.'

In the early years after the Witchcraft Act was passed by the government of Mary, Queen of Scots  which made witchcraft a capital offence  witches tended to be identified one by one, as individuals responsible for some kind of harm within the community.

They were very often healers or midwives (a midwife might be thought to have brought about the birth of a disabled child through enchantment). But the hand of suspicion could fall on anyone. A quarrel with a neighbour whose crops subsequently failed, or whose cattle died might be enough to attract attention.

'One thing might not be crucial, but certainly, if people began to see a pattern of bad things happening they would start to suspect,' says Professor Julian Goodare, director of the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft at Edinburgh University.

'This is the time of the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and Catholics and Protestants are trying to show they are each more godly than the other.

'People thought the world is about to come to an end: it's there in the Book of Revelation.

'They felt there wasn't much time to lose. You had to be on the right side or the Devil would get you.

'They really did believe the Devil was active in the world, trying to destroy society and recruiting witches as human agents. So witches are the enemy.'

The first, large-scale hunting down of witches  in North Berwick  was prompted by King James VI of Scotland (who became King James I of England and Ireland following the union of the crowns in 1603).

People thought the world is about to come to an end: it's there in the Book of Revelation... They really did believe the Devil was active in the world, trying to destroy society and recruiting witches as human agents. So witches are the enemy.

In 1590 he sailed to Denmark to marry Princess Anne, the king's sister. On the return journey to Scotland from Copenhagen their ship was hit by terrible storms and had to shelter in Norway for several weeks before being able to continue the journey.

While James had been in Denmark, the Trier Witch Trials, which were being held in Germany, were frequently discussed.

The admiral of the Danish fleet blamed the storm which beset James's ship on a group of women in Denmark who confessed to having used black magic and conjured up devils to sink the ship: two of the women were burned.

James decided witches had been at work in Scotland, too, and set up a tribunal. Within weeks more than 100 suspects had been rounded up.

'The authorities started thinking of this as a demonic conspiracy made up of people who were worshipping the devil and doing it in groups,' says Professor Goodare.

'So what you have is an underground secret conspiracy. Finding one witch isn't enough, you need to find their accomplices, so you haul in more people and torture them to get yet more names and you have a snowball that can roll and roll.'

Among the first was the luckless Geillis Duncan (whose story more recently provided the inspiration for a time-travelling character in the TV series Outlander).

Duncan worked as a maid in the household of David Seton, a local bailiff. Though she had no formal education, Seton began to notice that his young maid had an uncanny ability to heal illness and ease pain.

He was also told that she had been seen sneaking off the property at night without anyone knowing where she was going.

Seton and his son would become leading lights in the crusade against witchcraft and the idea that he was harbouring a witch under his own roof must have been intolerable.

First Seton imprisoned and interrogated her, then the torture began. She eventually admitted to meeting the Devil and creating the storms that had beset the king's ship  as part of a plot to kill him.

Agnes Sampson, one of the women she named as an accomplice, said she had taken part in a satanic ritual at a church on Halloween and had raised storms by drowning a cat. These initial suspects were sometimes questioned by the king himself.

Lilias Adie (reconstruction above), from Torryburn, on the Fife coastline, was accused of casting a spell on a neighbour who woke with a headache after a night's drinking in 1704. After a month of interrogation, she confessed that the Devil had appeared to her in a cornfield, wearing a hat, and that he had 'lain with her carnally' and made her renounce her baptism

Sampson allegedly recounted accurately a conversation between the king and his bride on their wedding night, confirming his belief she had magical powers.

Being accused of a plot to kill the king was, of course, a serious charge. But as time went on and the witch-hunting spun out of control, much more trivial matters saw women arrested and tortured.

A stable boy accused Isobel Young, who was executed in 1629, of having shape-shifted into an owl.

Neighbours joined in, alleging Young cast spells to bring bad luck and she was denounced by her husband, who claimed she had tried to kill him in an argument over a house guest.

Lilias Adie (whose name sometimes appears in the records as Lilly), from Torryburn, on the Fife coastline, was accused of casting a spell on a neighbour who woke with a headache after a night's drinking in 1704.

After a month of interrogation, she confessed that the Devil had appeared to her in a cornfield, wearing a hat, and that he had 'lain with her carnally' and made her renounce her baptism.

The Devil would then appear at her house 'like shadow'.

Finding one witch isn't enough, you need to find their accomplices, so you haul in more people and torture them to get yet more names and you have a snowball that can roll and roll.

Much of this story was probably produced by hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep, but Adie kept her wits about her in one respect: though she admitted to attending mass gatherings of witches she insisted she could not name any other women because they had been wearing masks.

She was never convicted of witchcraft as she died under torture, but it is a measure of the fear of witches at the time that she was buried by the shoreline at Torryburn in a wooden box weighed down by a huge stone slab, lest she rise from her grave to make mischief.

The location of her grave was also significant: she was laid to rest between land and sea as it was believed to be a nether land, which spirits could not cross.

Such deep-seated beliefs  in God, in the Devil, in the visceral, daily fight between good and evil  underpinned the crusade against witches.

There is no doubt, despite the cruelties they inflicted, that the interrogators were sincere.

They even thought of themselves as scientific. 'Pricking', a practice in which the skin of suspected witches was pierced by a needle and their guilt judged by whether and to what extent they bled, was carried out by 'experts' called in as consultants.

'So people believed they were being rational and scientific,' says Mitchell. 'They lived in a different time and had a different belief system, but they were very educated people of their day, emotionally sophisticated, no different to people of the present day.'

Goodare says it's also important to remember these 'witches' were tried in criminal courts  in front of a jury. 'There were acquittals.'

Though in general, he adds, when an interrogator uses torture, they get the answers they want. In the witches' case, once those answers were forthcoming, they were summarily convicted and their pleas went unheeded.

Little wonder the dank, granite walls of Castlehill, where the execution of witches took place, still seem to ring with their screams of terror  and the stench of burning flesh. Now, at long last, their spirits will be laid to rest.
Democratic Vermont Rep. Peter Welch announced he and his wife would no longer be trading individual stocks after committing a STOCK Act violation by disclosing sale of Exxon Mobile stock one week late.

Welch was one week late in disclosing his wife's sale of $6,238 worth of shares of ExxonMobil in September, violating the bill he himself co-sponsored years ago.

'Rep. Welch has decided to no longer own individual stocks,' the congressman's communications director Arianna Jones told Insider. Welch appears to have made good on his promise to sell off all individual stocks, according to a transaction report.

Welch was one week late in disclosing his wife's sale of $6,238 worth of shares of ExxonMobil in September, violating the bill he himself co-sponsored years ago

The pledge builds on a similar promise made by the congressman in 2020, but this time his office said his wife Margaret Cheney, right, will no longer trade individual stocks either

The pledge builds on a similar promise made by the congressman in 2020, but this time his office said his wife Margaret Cheney will no longer trade individual stocks either.

Welch said he learned his wife made the Exxon trade just before the lawmaker grilled Exxon's CEO Darren Woods during a House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Welch said that his wife sold her 113 shares in the oil company on Sept. 17 after inheriting them from her mother's estate.

He said that he learned of the trade, which his office claims was made by a financial advisor, three days before the hearing, where he accused Exxon of concealing and denying data on climate change.

Welch, an progressive environmentalist who recently launched a Senate campaign, said that Exxon had a 'credibility' issue before getting into a heated exchange with Woods.

Twelve days later, Welch disclosed the sale.

House members are required to disclose any financial transaction that exceeds $1,000 within 30 days of notice of the transaction, and never more than 45 days after the transaction.

Forty-five days after the transaction would have been Nov. 1, 2021, but Welch did not disclose the sale until Nov. 9, 2021.

Meanwhile, conservative watchdog group Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) filed a complaint against Welch with the Office of Congressional Ethics, asking the office to investigate Welch's late reporting and the timing surrounding the Exxon hearing.

Jones said that the filing showing Welch sold off all his individual stocks reflects Welch's record as a "long-standing supporter of ethics reform and transparency in government" and a supporter of the Ban Conflicted Trade Act, which would prohibit members of Congress from trading any individual stock. That bill has not yet gotten a hearing.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi scoffed at the idea of banning lawmakers and their spouses from trading individual stocks while they're in office: 'We are a free-market economy. They should be able to participate in that,' she said.

Last time Welch promised to stop trading individual stocks in April 2020, he was under fire for a report finding he had profited after his financial manager made a trade investing in a Covid-19 testing firm.

"I have made a decision that the clearest way to avoid even the appearance of a conflict is to simply stop making purchases" of individual stocks "directly and indirectly through my adviser," he told VTDigger in April 2020.

He also said that he was instructing his financial advisor only to invest in mutual or exchange-traded funds, but a disclosure in August showed he still owned multiple individual stocks, including General Electric, IBM, PayPal, Unilever.
A massive explosion in Canberra destroyed a building and sent a 'sonic boom' reverberating around the city.

Emergency services were called to a blast on Rae Street in Belconnen at 7.30pm on Monday after a blaze destroyed a series of businesses.

CCTV footage from the area shows the explosion occurring inside the Turkish Kebab and Pizza shop, sending debris flying and nearly hitting people standing in the carpark.

'I actually thought it was an earthquake, as the whole house shook, including windows, mirrors and pictures on walls,' local resident Kat Lindbeck told the Canberra Times.

A massive explosion in Canberra destroyed a building and sent a 'sonic boom' reverberating around the city

CCTV footage from the area shows the explosion occurring inside the Turkish Kebab and Pizza shop, sending debris flying and nearly hitting people standing in the carpark

Destroyed metal, shattered glass and shrapnel can be seen covering the concrete outside the complex.

Businesses hundreds of metres away from the explosion saw glass shatter from the force of the blast.

'For me it was bigger than [an] earthquake,' Vishal Sood told the publication.

'I was playing games at my home with my son just opposite [the] shop. The roof of that building was in the air ... for a while.'

CCTV footage shows people standing and talking in the carpark just metres from the blast before scurrying to safety as the roof lifts off the kebab shop.

A man has been taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, which police say is a miracle only one person was hurt

Several roads around the area remain closed as crews look to clean up the destruction and ensure the building is safe

A man has been taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, which police say is a miracle only one person was hurt.

'It's in a very well used area, there are a lot of local takeaway places, service stations, and things like that,' ACT Police Detective Acting Inspector Emily McCallum told reporters.

'So, yes, (we're) obviously very, very grateful that there was only one person injured.'

Several roads around the area remain closed as crews look to clean up the destruction and ensure the building is safe.

Police are continuing investigations into the explosion.

Remnants of the kebab shop show only the buildings frame after the explosion sent its contents flying through the Canberra complex
Three traffickers who raked in more than 1million by sending hundreds of migrants across the Channel into Britain can be unmasked today.

Syrian Mohammad Fiate, 22, and two 25-year-old Kurdish associates, Sharam Shorsh and Ali Haldin, have been jailed for facilitating more than 500 crossings.

Their guilty verdicts came just weeks after a migrant boat sank off Calais, leaving at least 27 people dead.

At the court in the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, northern France, prosecutor Adeline Depardon told the smugglers: What stands out here is your disregard for other peoples lives, that human beings are a commodity.

Mohammad Fiate will spend four years behind bars as the major player in the operation

Sharam Shorsh was jailed for two years despite the prosecution asking for seven-year terms

Fiate will spend four years behind bars as the major player in the six-week operation. A senior French judicial source said the 22-year-olds behaviour bore the hallmarks of someone high up in the trafficking network.

Shorsh was jailed for two years and Haldin was sentenced to 12 months. The prosecution had demanded far harsher sentences of up to seven years.

All three helped hundreds of migrants sneak into Britain illegally between June 27 and August 9.

They charged between 2,000 [1,700] and 3,000 [2,500] per person, netting more than 1million, police said. But the money has been passed higher up the chain and has not been recovered. Police arrested the men in the early hours of August 10 in Calais after stopping their car for a routine identity check.

According to a report seen by the Mail, officers searched the car and found 16 soaking wet inflatable buoys and a notebook with the names of hundreds of migrants with a sum assigned to them. Some were even marked baby. Court records show their most successful crossing took place on July 19, when they piled 83 passengers onto a dinghy.

Fiate wiped away tears throughout his cross-examination as Mrs Depardon told him: At no moment did you think about the migrants who could have died at sea, but only about yourself.

One of the images found on one of the trafficker's phones

I did it to pay for my crossing, he claimed. I am not a smuggler. I obey the traffickers because they frighten me.

Defence lawyer Kamel Abbas said his client fled the bloodshed in Syria in 2019, travelling through 12 countries before arriving in France in January 2021.

Shorsh claimed he wanted to raise money for his sick father back in his hometown of Kirkuk, northern Iraq. I am a mechanic, he said as he sobbed in the dock. I only repaired three engines.

All three men pleaded innocence and ignorance throughout the investigation and the final court hearing. They said they worked for a mysterious smuggling kingpin, named only as Souca, whose whereabouts remain unknown.

But the Mail has seen the confidential police documents put before the court last week that seriously undermined their claims of being small-time cronies.

They used smartphones to recruit clients, and police unearthed their phone records, using their own GPS tracking data to prove numerous trips from Paris to the coast

They used smartphones to recruit clients, and police unearthed their phone records, using their own GPS tracking data to prove numerous trips from Paris to the coast.

Fiates iPhone was also full of names and photos of migrants, as well as details of prices paid and pictures of passports.

Officials managed to match 327 people with data from the UK Border Force to those who successfully reached Britain, with another 200 suspected of having crossed.

Police records also describe one recording that shows Fiate thumbing a pile of 200 banknotes on a table covered by luxury watches.
Four people caught up in the Post Office IT scandal are believed to have taken their own lives after being hounded for cash that wasn't even missing.

A Daily Mail investigation has uncovered a series of appalling human tragedies that relatives have blamed on the company's persecution of its own staff over two decades.

At least 19 individuals died before justice could be done, including three who took their own lives, one suspected suicide and a series of deaths from stress-related illnesses.

Karen Wilson with a picture of her late husband Julian as she finally saw his name cleared this year

Some are still fighting for compensation more than a decade after their loved ones died, while one man has received just 21,000 for his family's trauma.

Between 1999 and 2015 the Post Office chased and prosecuted hundreds of its own staff, destroying families and driving people to despair.

It accused the sub-postmasters who run local branches, each a pillar of their communities, of stealing from their own tills after money appeared to go 'missing'.

Tragic toll of the loyal staff who never saw justice Widow who'll never forgive bosses Karen Wilson was clutching a photo of her late husband Julian as she finally saw his name cleared this year. Mr Wilson, whose branch in Worcestershire saw 27,000 go 'missing', died of bowel cancer in 2016 after fighting to restore his reputation for almost a decade. The Post Office pursued a prosecution against him and repossessed his house and car. Mrs Wilson said: 'I will never forgive the Post Office.' Torment of mother who left two sons A mother-of-two killed herself after being charged with false accounting over 30,000 that went 'missing' from her Edinburgh branch. Fiona McGowan was 47 when she overdosed on alcohol and antidepressants in 2009. Her sons were 12 and 14. She had not been informed that the charges had been dropped. Her partner Phil Cowan said: 'I put the blame firmly on the doorstep of the Post Office. It's immoral.' Fiona McGowan, pictured, was charged with false accounting over 30,000 that went 'missing' from her Edinburgh branch Former policeman died a criminal Peter Holmes, 74, was accused of taking 46,000 from his post office in Newcastle. The former policeman died of a brain tumour in 2015, before he had a chance to see his name cleared. His conviction was quashed this year. His widow Marion said: 'It was the one thing he wanted  to prove he wasn't a thief.' Father's marriage collapsed A father whose marriage was destroyed by his ordeal died alone at the age of 63. The body of Peter Huxham, who ran a branch in Devon where 16,158 went 'missing', was found in July this year, weeks after he passed away. The strain of the case, which saw him jailed for eight months, destroyed his marriage of 22 years and sent him into a spiral of depression and alcoholism. Advertisement

A decade later the truth emerged  that dozens of glitches in its computer software, called Horizon, were to blame.

The Post Office is already facing a compensation bill of 233million from the scandal, but legal experts believe it could rise considerably higher.

Some 75 postmasters have had convictions for fraud, theft and false accounting overturned in the courts, and a public inquiry will start next year.

But for dozens of victims of the scandal  labelled the 'biggest miscarriage of justice in our history'  it will come too late.

Fiona McGowan, a mother-of-two young boys, killed herself after being charged with false accounting for covering up cash shortfalls in her Edinburgh post office.

Her partner, Phil Cowan, has received just 21,000 in compensation.

Martin Griffiths, a postmaster in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, threw himself in front of a bus in 2013 after he and his family were forced to pay back a total of 100,000 of phantom losses over four years.

His widow, Gina Griffiths, was pressured into signing a gagging clause, fueling concerns the worst Horizon cases were covered up.

Devon postmaster Peter Huxham, 63, died alone in a suspected suicide after he was jailed for eight months over an unexplained 16,000 shortfall.

The ordeal, which led to the break-up of his 22-year marriage, drove him to alcoholism and a deep depression.

His body was not found for many weeks and the coroner could not return a cause of death.

A fourth victim, Louise Mann, the wife of a postmaster in Moretonhampstead, Devon, took her own life in 2012 over the shame of being labelled a thief.

Her husband Charles has not received a penny of compensation. The 66-year-old father-of-one, from Buckfastleigh, Devon, said: 'I lost my job. Then I lost my wife.'

This week the Justice for Sub-Postmasters Alliance said that at least 15 postmasters have died from stress-related illnesses or old age before justice can be done, and compensation paid.

Bosses who failed to act Paula Vennells was Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019. There are calls for her to give up her CBE, given for 'services to the Post Office'. Alan Cook was managing director between 2006 and 2010 when 200 postmasters and other staff were prosecuted. Alice Perkins was the 100k-a-year PO chairman from 2011 until 2015 when around 120 postmasters were hounded. Dame Moya Greene was chief executive of Royal Mail between 2010 and 2018. She accepted assurances on the handling of the cases, when a thorough investigation was needed. Paula Vennells (pictured) was Post Office chief executive from 2012 to 2019 Advertisement

Doctors caring for Julian Wilson, who ran the Astwood Bank post office in Worcestershire, said the stress of fighting to clear his name accelerated his death from bowel cancer.

The widow of one postmaster, father-of-three Peter Holmes, 74, said she had no doubt that his conviction led to his untimely death in 2015 from a brain tumour. His conviction was quashed in the Court of Appeal in April.

The revelation that more postmasters took their own lives has sparked a fresh round of anger that families have still not been properly compensated.

Tory peer Lord Arbuthnot, a longtime campaigner for postmasters, said: 'This is just terribly, terribly sad.

It underlines the need for the Government to compensate these families now, and not to wait yet longer.'

The Mail has long campaigned for postmasters through its Save Our Post Offices campaign, helping them win a series of vital decisions in Parliament and Government.

A Post Office spokesman said: 'We are extremely sorry for the deep pain suffered by victims of the Horizon scandal. We have taken determined action to ensure that appropriate compensation is provided as swiftly as possible. We are participating fully in the independent inquiry established by the Government.'
Eight in ten secondary schools are making changes to their history lessons to pay attention to diversity, a study shows.

The main changes relate to black and Asian British history, women, the disabled, the working classes and LGBTQ+ issues.

Teachers most commonly said the aim was to highlight social justice as well as to better present history and examine the impact of recent events.

The survey of 300 teachers, which was carried out by academics at Oxford and Reading universities, found 83 per cent had seen changes to the curriculum.

'One of the most encouraging findings is the evidence that schools are now paying attention to the history of migration to and from Britain and to the diverse experiences of those who settled here,' said Dr Katharine Burn, one of the report's authors.

The poll examined the curriculum for pupils aged 11 to 14.

Huge number of secondary schools are now focusing on diversity lessons. Changes relate to black and Asian British history, women, the disabled, the working classes and LGBTQ+ issues

When invited to say what changes had been made, teachers mainly said they had diversified or decolonised the curriculum, or made it more representative.

A very small number said they had 'reduced the attention given to certain topics  specifically medieval British or Tudor history  in order to accommodate new ones or a new kind of emphasis'.

One comprehensive with a mostly white population in east London said it had introduced a medieval Mali unit as well as teaching about black Tudors.

A comprehensive in the South West with a similar make-up said it had developed its Tudor portraits module to become global Tudors.

And a comprehensive in Bedfordshire said it had added topics that were relevant to its mostly ethnic minority population, including Islamic kingdoms, West African kingdoms, the Mughals, Black and British experiences, experiences of Indian and West Indian soldiers in war and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Oxford Union is accused of gagging free speech The Oxford Union has been accused of undermining free speech after agreeing to allow the vetting of controversial speakers. The debating society, which dates back to 1823, will assess the 'impact' of guests before allowing them to visit. Particular deliberation is likely to apply to critics of the transgender lobby, pro-Life groups and those who advocate for Israel. Chris McGovern is the Chairman of the Campaign for Real Education. He is a retired head teacher and a former advisor to the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street Historically even the most controversial speakers were allowed to visit, including OJ Simpson in 1996 and Nick Griffin of the British National Party in 2007. However the society plans to 'restructure' its invitations process to take into account any adverse effect on minority groups. Documents show this could mean consulting 'specialist student societies'. The proposal is the result of an independent review by lawyers. Chris McGovern of the Campaign for Real Education claimed freedom of speech would be curtailed. But a spokesman for the Oxford Union welcomed the review, adding: 'We will defend any person's right to freedom of speech within the law.' Advertisement

Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, criticised the changes: 'The limited teaching time available should be focused on British history in the context of the empire and migration.

'It is what has made us who we are. The time has come for the silent majority who are dismayed at the attempt to undermine our heritage to speak up.'

Earlier this year Nick Gibb, who was then schools minister, pushed back against calls to decolonise the school curriculum and warned that what pupils learnt in the classroom should not be tailored to any particular group.

Alan Smithers (pictured), professor of education at Buckingham University, criticised the changes: 'The limited teaching time available should be focused on British history in the context of the empire and migration'

He said there was no reason why children from ethnic minorities should not study the work of 'dead white men'. The Department for Education has resisted attempts to make the teaching of black history mandatory, insisting that the curriculum already allows for teaching a wide range of content.

Across all schools in the survey 86 per cent reported teaching classes on the transatlantic slave trade.

Sub-topics included the experiences of enslaved peoples and the campaign for abolition.

Another 82 per cent reported teaching lessons about some aspect of the British Empire.
A 'selfish' teenager who allegedly knew he had Covid-19 but kept partying at a busy club in Adelaide has been arrested.

The 19-year-old has been charged with failing to comply with directions under the Emergency Management Act and has been refused bail to appear in court on Wednesday.

'It will be alleged the man remained at a city nightclub and did not quarantine after being informed by SA Health that he had returned a positive Covid-19 test,' SA Police said in a statement.

The teen could face a maximum penalty of two years behind bars and a fine of $20,000.

A 'selfish' teenager who allegedly knew he had Covid-19 but kept partying at the Loverboy club (pictured) in Adelaide has been arrested by police

The former private school graduate had spent the night at the Loverboy club in Adelaide's city centre on December 17.

He is understood to have received a text message from SA Health at 10.18pm - but allegedly ignored the warning and entered the club at 10.45pm.

The nightclub was then listed as an exposure site from 10.45pm on Friday, December 17 to 4.15am on Saturday, December 18, forcing hundreds of revellers into isolation.

The boy claimed he did not see the message until the next morning, after his actions sparked anger around the state.

'I reckon we just drop it. I've admitted to my mistakes and am truly apologetic,' the young man wrote to social media.

The former private school graduate had spent the night at the Loverboy club (pictured) in Adelaide's city centre on December 17

Loverboy earlier described the infected-patron as 'selfish' in a statement and warned the venue planned to take legal action.

'Christmas is supposed to be a time to celebrate with family and loved ones, however, because of the actions of one selfish person, that won't be the case for many,' the statement read.

'We have to close our doors for the busiest week of the year and will be opening presents in isolation. We will be seeking justice.'

Premier Steven Marshall said the teenager's actions were 'regrettable'.

'I think there's been pretty strong public outrage,' he said.

'I think it just serves as a lesson to everybody that we've done well as a state but it does rely on everybody doing the right thing.'
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Following months of delays, NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope finally launched on Christmas Day on a one million mile voyage into solar orbit.

The space telescope is intended to replace its 30-year-old counterpart Hubble, as it is about 100 times more sensitive and is expected to profoundly transform scientists' understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Following the launch on December 25, NASA has now confirmed that the gimbaled antenna assembly has been successfully deployed.

It confirmed the news on Twitter, writing: 'Hello Webb? It's us, Earth! Our team just deployed the gimbaled antenna assembly, which includes Webb's high-data-rate dish antenna.

'This antenna will be used to send at least 28.6 Gbytes of data down from the observatory, twice a day.'

Following the launch on December 25, NASA has now confirmed that the gimbaled antenna assembly has been successfully deployed

The release of the antenna began shortly after 10:00 EST (15:00 GMT) on December 26, and the entire process took around one hour.

Separately, NASA has confirmed that the temperature sensors and strain gauges on the telescope were successfully activated for the first time.

'Temperature and strain data are now available to engineers monitoring Webb's thermal and structural systems,' NASA said.

The telescope launched into space on board an Ariane 5 rocket on Christmas Day, taking off from the European Spaceport facility in French Guiana before blasting skywards over the Atlantic Ocean.

Cheers were on pause for another nerve-wracking 27 minutes as the rocket ejected its boosters and soared to an altitude of 870 miles (1,398km) before finally detaching the telescope to begin its own journey.

With its liftoff, a spokesperson for NASA said, 'Webb will usher in a new era of astronomy'.

Jubilant scientists and engineers shouted 'Go Webb, go!' as NASA's revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope began its one million mile voyage into solar orbit after successful lift off following decades of planning and delays

After a perfect flight out of the Earth's atmosphere and into space, the James Webb telescope module detached from the body of the Ariane 5 rocket that had blasted it skywards, leading to cheers from nervous scientists at mission control in Kourou, French Guiana

NASA 's revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope has successfully lifted off to start its long flight into space to replace the Hubble telescope after decades of planning and delays

Pictures from the European Space Agency's Spaceport facility in French Guiana show the Webb telescope module atop an Ariane 5 rocket blasting off from Earth at 7.20AM ET (12.00PM GMT) on its million-mile journey into solar orbit

At 7.20am the world's most powerful space telescope, equipped with an Ariane 5 rocket, took off in magnificent form before blasting skywards over the Atlantic Ocean

Engines on the Ariane 5 rocket engaged for a whole seven seconds at the spaceship warmed up before lift off actually took place at 7.20AM ET

Instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam (Near InfraRed Camera) an infrared imager from the edge of the visible through the near infrared NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectrograph) will also perform spectroscopy over the same wavelength range. MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument) will measure the mid-to-long-infrared wavelength range from 5 to 27 micrometers. FGS/NIRISS (Fine Guidance Sensor and Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph), is used to stabilize the line-of-sight of the observatory during science observations. Advertisement

The new telescope's special orbital path will keep it in constant alignment with Earth as the planet and telescope circle the sun in tandem.

The project, which started in 1996, is an international collaboration led by NASA in partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies.

It had been hit by months of launch delays, which followed years of delays to its construction, with the first launch date scheduled in 2007.

The launch was lastly rescheduled for Christmas Eve, before finally being moved to December 25, with a launch window between 07:20 ET (12:20 GMT) and 07:52 ET (12:52 GMT).

Ahead of the launch, it was loaded into the fairing of an Ariane 5 rocket, and moved on to the launch pad at the Europeans Space Agency facility in French Guiana.

Officials had confirmed that the Ariane 5 was in good shape, and that the only problem facing the launch was the start of the rainy season in French Guiana.

Work on the James Web Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, first began in 1996 and at the time NASA had just a $500 million budget to complete it.

The agency was set to launch it in 2007, but cost overruns and technical issues forced a major redesign in 2005 that led to its first delay.

Construction of the telescope was completed in 2016, allowing testing to begin, but two years later the massive sunshield ripped during a practice run that led to another postponement.

Launch teams monitor the countdown to the launch of Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket carrying NASA's James Webb Space Telescope on December 25

Dubbed a 'Christmas miracle' by anxious astronomers, the massive, next generation Jame Webb Space Telescope is pictured on the launch pad

The telescope has been hit by months of launch delays, which followed years of delays to its construction, with its first launch date supposed to be in 2007

And then the coronavirus pandemic that hit in 2020 caused even more delays.

In October 2021, James Webb finally arrived in French Guiana following a 16-day sea voyage onboard the MN Colibri, and was removed from the transport container prior to launch preparations.

Fuelling operations began on November 25, according to NASA, and took about 10 days.

The space telescope was then secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket on Saturday, December 11, at the Guiana Space Center, as it geared up to launch on December 24.

But Mother Nature seemed to have other plans and the mission was moved a day later.

Ahead of launch, it was loaded into the fairing of an Ariane 5 rocket, and moved on to the launch pad at the Europeans Space Agency facility in French Guiana

It is so large it was folded, origami-style, to fit in the rocket, according to NASA, and unfurl 'like a Transformer' in space, spreading its mirrors out to collect light from deep in the history of the universe.

Mark McCaughrean, ESA Webb Interdisciplinary Scientist, has been waiting more than 20 years for the chance to gather data using Webb.

He told MailOnline he wasn't really nervous about it launching, as it had been tested, simulated and prepared to within an inch of its life, and he had faith in the engineers.

'Launch is always a worry, you've sat an expensive piece of kit on a barely guided explosion, but it is what we do, and the Ariane 5 is a workhorse,' he said.

Officials confirmed that the Ariane 5 was in good shape, and the only problem facing the launch was the start of the rainy season in French Guiana

It is so large it was folded, origami-style, to fit in the rocket, according to NASA, and will unfurl 'like a Transformer' in space, spreading its mirrors out to collect light from deep in the history of the universe

Already years late in leaving the Earth for space, Webb will look back to almost the beginning of time, to when the first stars and galaxies were forming

Primarily an infrared telescope, Webb has a wider spectrum view than Hubble and operate further out from the Earth, in a solar orbit. It launched on a European Space Agency Ariane 5 rocket from near Kourou in French Guiana

Nasa brushes off petition to rename James Webb In October, NASA announced that it will not rename the James Webb Telescope ahead of its launch in December, despite a petition against honoring a space pioneer who some have now claimed was homophobic. Webb, who died in 1992 aged 85, was the second administrator in NASA's history, taking over at the request of John F. Kennedy in 1961. He ran the agency until 1968 and was instrumental in the Apollo programs that would see, the year after his departure, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon. In 2002 the agency announced that its $10billion new telescope - due for launch in December 2021 - would be named after him. Yet in recent years the decision has stirred criticism, and a petition this year to rename it has received 1,200 signatures. Organizers accuse Webb of being homophobic, due to his role in the 1963 firing of a gay NASA employee. Questions were also asked about his participation in a 1950-52 'Lavender Scare', when he was at the State Department, and 91 gay people were 'purged'. But on September 30 Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, said they had decided against renaming the telescope. 'We have found no evidence at this time that warrants changing the name of the James Webb Space Telescope,' he told NPR. Advertisement

Even though the launch went to plan, the 'scary part' for many astronomers will come in a few weeks, when the observatory reaches its solar orbit.

Webb will travel to an orbit about one million miles away from Earth and undergo six months of commissioning in space  including unfolding its mirrors and sunshield, cooling down, aligning and calibrating.

'Astronomers worldwide will then be able to conduct scientific observations to broaden our understanding of the universe,' NASA says.

The telescope is named after the late James E. Webb, an American government official who was the administrator of NASA from 1961 to 1968 and played an integral role in the Apollo program.

NASA's decision to name the device after him was a controversial one  he has been accused of homophobia since his passing in 1992 due to his role in the 1963 firing of a gay NASA employee.

In October, NASA announced that it will not rename the James Webb Telescope ahead of its launch in December, despite a petition against honouring a space pioneer who some have now claimed was homophobic.

Webb, who died in 1992 aged 85, was the second administrator in NASA's history, taking over at the request of John F. Kennedy in 1961.

He ran the agency until 1968 and was instrumental in the Apollo programs that would see, the year after his departure, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the moon.

Primarily an infrared telescope, Webb will have a wider spectrum view than Hubble and operate further out from the Earth, in a solar orbit.

McCaughrean said JWST lowers the floor for the type of objects we can see, mainly because the telescope itself is cold - down to -230 Celsius - meaning it doesn't emit much light in infrared, so astronomers don't have to 'fight' against infrared given off on Earth.

Webb will take pictures ten times sharper than Hubble, but hundreds of times deeper.

Hubble is about 340 miles above the Earth surface, whereas Webb will be over a million miles away.

Work on the James Web Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, first began in 1996 and at the time NASA had just a $500 million budget to complete it

The telescope will observe the Universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared  at wavelengths longer than visible light. To do so, it carries a suite of state-of-the-art cameras, spectrographs and coronagraphs

Research by Ohio State University claims that within five years of it coming online, James Webb will have found signs of alien life on a distant world.

Graduate student Caprice Phillips calculated that it could detect ammonia created by living creatures around gas dwarf planets after just a few orbits.

The James Webb Space Telescope has been described as a 'time machine' that could help unravel the secrets of our universe, with distant objects emitting light from further back in time.

The telescope will be used to look back to the first galaxies born in the early universe more than 13.5 billion years ago.

Research by Ohio State University claims that within five years of it coming online, James Webb will have found signs of alien life on a distant world

About 28 minutes after its blast-off, the James Webb detached from its launch vehicle and began 'the most complex sequence of deployments ever attempted in a single space mission'

It will also observe the sources of stars, exoplanets, and even the moons and planets of our solar system.

Thousands of astronomers around the world have built future careers based on the potential of the Webb telescope.

One group of researchers hope to use Webb to witness 'cosmic dawn' - the moment of first light for the first stars in the universe billions of years ago.

James Webb is designed to last for five years but NASA hopes it will operate for a decade or more - similar to the fact Hubble has outlasted its lifespan by decades - although unlike Hubble it cannot be easily repaired.

The telescope will observe the Universe in the near-infrared and mid-infrared  at wavelengths longer than visible light. To do so, it carries a suite of state-of-the-art cameras, spectrographs and coronagraphs.

Aside from procuring the Ariane 5 launcher and launch services, ESA is contributing the NIRSpec instrument and a share of the MIRI instrument.

The first images will be test shots, rather than of anything specific - it could copy Hubble and take an image of Jupiter as its first observation.

Up to 30 percent of the first year of observations will be aimed at exoplanets, to study their orbit, size and atmosphere, in search of alien life.
In most workplaces, spitting at computer terminals is regarded as a bit of a faux pas  but not so for certain banded archerfish in a laboratory in Italy.

Experts from the University of Trento trained the fish  which use jets of water to capture prey  to spit at screens to show they can distinguish between numbers.

Various previous studies have argued that, like many birds and mammals, fish can count and have an innate sense of numbers.

Yet these experiments have involved showing, for example, that fish will join the larger of two shoals, leading critics to argue they prove only a sense of size.

For instance, fish picking between two sets of prey-like dots might choose the group with more dots simply on the basis that it covers a larger area.

The team controlled for these confounding factors by using dots of various sizes and relative positions, proving that the fish can indeed count after all.

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In most workplaces, spitting at computer terminals is regarded as a bit of a faux pas  but not so for certain banded archerfish (pictured) in a laboratory in Italy, who have done so as part of an experiment to show that fish can count and distinguish between different numbers

Experts from the University of Trento trained archerfish  which use jets of water to capture prey, as depicted  to spit at screens to show they can distinguish between numbers

Repeatedly showing the fish two sets of dots  one with three, the other with six  the team succeeded in training archerfish to consistently pick one of the numbers

BANDED ARCHERFISH Formal name: Toxotes jaculatrix Habitat: Brackish waters Range: Indo-Pacific Asia Conservation status: Least concern Average size: 7.9 inches long Notable features: Able to spit water at prey from around 59 inches away Advertisement

'There is a debate regarding the existence of a number sense [in fish], based on the fact that it is empirically impossible to separate numerical information from all other continuous properties at once,' paper author Davide Potrich told the New Scientist.

'Several experiments have tried to address this issue, but usually not in a complete way,' the University of Trento animal cognition expert added.

'What is unique in our study is that we controlled for non-numerical variables in the best way possible.'

In their experiments, Dr Potrich and colleagues placed banded archerfish in tanks beneath monitor screens that displayed two groups of dots. A camera placed under the tank recorded a view of the fish and which group of dots they chose to spit at.

Repeatedly showing the fish two sets of dots  one with three, the other with six  the team succeeded in training archerfish to consistently pick one of the numbers.

To ensure that other factors like the area covered by the dots was not influencing the fishes' decisions, the team developed software that randomly changed the dots size, arrangement and other details for each individual test.

This meant, for example, that sometimes six dots would take up less room on the screen than three dots, but the next time they might cover a larger area.

The team found that the fish were still able to distinguish between numbers when presented with new alternatives, such as six and eight, rather than six and three.

However, the fish tended  around three-quarters of the time  to default to picking the largest or smallest number (depending on their training), rather than their usual number, when presented with these different choices.

So, for example, a fish taught to pick six over three would pick nine over six and eight over four, whereas a fish trained to pick three over six would choose the lower of the two numbers when given a different combination.

In their experiments, Dr Potrich and colleagues placed archerfish in tanks beneath monitor screens that displayed two groups of dots (left). A camera placed under the tank recorded a view (right) of the fish and which group of dots they chose to spit at

Brian Butterworth, a neuroscientist from University College London who was not involved in the present study, told New Scientist that, in nature, numerical factors tend to go with non-numerical ones, making studies like this difficult.

'It seems to me that the team have done a very good job in trying to separate out these non-numerical cues from the numerical ones,' he added.

'Archerfish can at least make relative numerosity judgements.'

A pre-print of the researchers' article, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, can be read on the bioRxiv repository.
NASA has shared a stunning photo of Comet Leonard soaring behind the plume from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch.

The incredible shot, which is featured as NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, was taken from Thailand and shows a pagoda in Doi Inthanon National Park in the foreground.

The James Webb Space Telescope launched on Christmas Day, and is currently on a million mile journey to solar orbit, which is expected to take around a month.

Meanwhile, Comet Leonard, which was only discovered in January, is in the midst of making its closest approach to Earth in 70,000 years.

NASA has shared a stunning photo of Comet Leonard soaring behind the plume from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launch

LEONARD: AN INBOUND LONG PERIOD COMET Catalogued as C/2021 AI, comet Leonard is named after the astronomer that first discovered it. Gregory J Leonard spotted the comet using the Mount Lemmon Observatory on January 3, 2021 . This was a year before it hit perihelion (the closest approach to the sun). It last appeared in the inner solar system 70,000 years ago and so is on a 70,000 year orbit of the sun. This will be its last orbit as it is on a hyperbolic trajectory, meaning it will leave the solar system after its close approach to our host star. Advertisement

NASA explained: 'Which one of these two streaks is a comet? Although they both have comet-like features, the lower streak is the only real comet.

'This lower streak shows the coma and tail of Comet Leonard, a city-sized block of rocky ice that is passing through the inner Solar System as it continues its looping orbit around the Sun.'

Comet Leonard recently made its closest approach to Earth, and will round the Sun next week.

'The comet, still visible to the unaided eye, has developed a long and changing tail in recent weeks,' NASA explained.

'In contrast, the upper streak is the launch plume of the Ariane V rocket that lifted the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) off the Earth two days ago.'

Comet Leonard's closest pass of the Sun, on January 3, 2022 will take it within 56 million miles of our star, which is about half the distance between Earth and the Sun.

If it doesnt disintegrate on its way to the Sun, then Comet Leonard's trajectory will fling it into interstellar space, never to return.

But according to scientists, it may already be splitting up less than a year after it was first discovered, or it will begin to split up soon.

When a comet's orbit brings it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head larger than most planets.

A pair of satellite designed to observe the sun have captured video of the bright green Comet Leonard, as it speeds past the Earth for the first time in 70,000 years

A Chinese satellite captured a stunning view of Comet Leonard as it made its closest approach to Earth, with a strong Aurora visible in the foreground

Comets  also called 'cosmic snowballs' or 'icy dirtballs'  are conglomerations of frozen gas, dust and ice left over from the formation of the solar system.

They go around the Sun in an orbit that's highly elliptical, meaning they're not perfectly circular, and can spend hundreds and even thousands of years in the darkest depths of the Solar System before returning for their 'perihelion'.

But Comet Leonard has a hyperbolic orbit, meaning once it passes the Sun it will be ejected out of the Solar System and never seen again by Earthlings.

Comet Leonard likely spent about 35,000 years coming inbound from about 323 billion miles (520 billion km) away and may have last visited the inner solar system about 70,000 years ago.

Comet Leonard made its closest approach to Earth on Sunday, December 12, prior to its perihelion on January 3.

The comet has a green tail because its icy rock interior heats up the closer it gets to the Sun, first emitting a blue dust, then yellow or white and finally green.

When it turns this teal colour, it means the comet is warm, contains lots of cyanide and diatomic carbon and the potential for it to break up is at its highest.
The remains of a young man and a dog who were killed by a tsunami triggered by the eruption of the Thera volcano 3,600 years ago have been unearthed in Turkey.

Archaeologists found the pair of skeletons during excavations at Cesme-Baglararas, a Late Bronze Age site near Cesme Bay, on Turkey's western coastline.

Despite the eruption of Thera being one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history, this is the first time remains of victims of the event have been unearthed.

Moreover, the presence of the tsunami deposits at Cesme-Baglararas show that large and destructive waves did arrive in the northern Aegean after Thera went up.

Previously, based on the evidence available, it had been assumed that this area of the Mediterranean only received ash fallout from the eruption of Thera.

Instead, it now appears that the Cesme Bay area was struck by a sequence of tsunamis, devastating local settlements and leading to rescue efforts.

Thera  now a caldera at the centre of the Greek island of Santorini  is famous for how its tsunamis are thought to have ended the Minoan civilisation on nearby Crete.

Based on radiocarbon dating of the tsunami deposits at Cesme-Baglararas, the team believe that the volcano's eruption occurred no earlier than 1612 BC.

The remains of a young man (pictured) and a dog who were killed by a tsunami triggered by the eruption of the Thera volcano some 3,600 years ago have been unearthed in Turkey

Archaeologists found the pair of skeletons during excavations at Cesme-Baglararas, a Late Bronze Age site near Cesme Bay, on Turkey's western coastline

Despite the eruption of Thera being one of the largest natural disasters in recorded history, this is the first time remains of victims of the event have ever been found. Pictured: part of the fortifications at the Cesme-Baglararas. The remains of the dog can be seen on the wall, while beneath that can be seen a shell-rich muddy patch deposited by the first wave

The presence of the tsunami deposits at Cesme-Baglararas show that large and destructive waves did arrive in the northern Aegean after Thera went up. Previously, based on the evidence available, it had been assumed that this area of the Mediterranean only received ash fallout from the eruption of Thera. Pictured: a map of the dig site as seen in 2012, showing the location of the human and canine remians within the Late Bronze Age fortifications

ABOUT TSUNAMIS A tsunami, sometimes called a tidal wave or a seismic sea wave, is a series of giant waves that are created by a disturbance in the ocean. The disturbance could be a landslide, a volcanic eruption, an earthquake or a meteorite; the culprit is most often an earthquake. If the landslide or earthquake triggering the tsunami occurs nearby the shore, inhabitants could see its effects almost immediately. The first wave of the tsunami can arrive within minutes, before officials have time to issue a warning. Areas that are closer to sea level have a higher risk of being affected. Inhabitants should seek higher ground or move inland immediately. Advertisement

The study was undertaken by archaeologist Vasf Sahoglu of the University of Ankara and his colleagues.

'The Late Bronze Age Thera eruption was one of the largest natural disasters witnessed in human history,' the researchers wrote in their paper.

'Its impact, consequences, and timing have dominated the discourse of ancient Mediterranean studies for nearly a century.

'Despite the eruptions high intensity and tsunami-generating capabilities, few tsunami deposits [have been] reported.

'In contrast, descriptions of pumice, ash, and tephra deposits are widely published.'

Amid stratified sediments at the Cesme-Baglararas site, the researchers found the remains of damaged walls  once part of a fortification of some kind  alongside layers of rubble and chaotic sediments characteristic of tsunami deposits.

Within these were two layers of volcanic ash, the second thicker than the first, and a bone-rich layer containing charcoal and other charred remains.

According to the team, the deposits represent at least four consecutive tsunami inundations, each separate but nevertheless resulting from the eruption at Thera.

Tsunami deposits associated with the eruption are relatively rare  with three found near the northern coastline of Crete and another three along Turkey's coast, albeit much further south than Cesme-Baglararas.

Amid stratified sediments at the Cesme-Baglararas site, the researchers found the remains of damaged walls  once part of a fortification of some kind  alongside layers of rubble and chaotic sediments characteristic of tsunami deposits. Pictured: the young man's remains

Within these tsunami deposits (pictured) were two layers of volcanic ash, the second thicker than the first, and a bone-rich layer containing charcoal and other charred remains

According to the team, the deposits (H1ad in the above) represent at least four consecutive tsunami inundations, each separate but nevertheless resulting from the eruption at Thera

The young man's skeleton  which shows the characteristic signatures of having been swept along by a debris flow  was found up against the most badly damaged portion of the fortification wall (pictured, centre), which the team believe failed during the tsunami

Traces of misshapen pits dug into the tsunami sediments at various places across the Cesme-Baglararas site represent, the researchers believe, an 'effort to retrieve victims from the tsunami debris.'

'The human skeleton was located about a meter below such a pit, suggesting that it was too deep to be found and retrieved and therefore (probably unknowingly) left behind,' they added.

'It is also in the lowest part of the deposit, characterized throughout the debris field by the largest and heaviest stones (some larger than 40 cm [16 inches] diameter), further complicating any retrieval effort.'

The young man's skeleton  which shows the characteristic signatures of having been swept along by a debris flow  was found up against the most badly damaged portion of the fortification wall, which the team believe failed during the tsunami.

The full findings of the study were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Traces of misshapen pits dug into the tsunami sediments at various places across the Cesme-Baglararas site represent, the researchers believe, an 'effort to retrieve victims from the tsunami debris.' Pictured: the excavation site

Tsunami deposits associated with the eruption of Thera are relatively rare  with three found near the northern coastline of Crete and another three along Turkey's coast, albeit much further south than Cesme-Baglararas

The eruption of Thera was one of the most devastating in Earth's history and destroyed the Minoans living on Crete, 60 miles away from the volcano. Pictured, the volcano at the heart of Santorini  which used to be Thera  as seen in the present day
Real Madrid are willing to include Eden Hazard in a bid for Chelsea star Reece James, according to reports.

The position of right back is said to be one of Carlo Ancelotti's biggest concerns this season.

Real Madrid currently only have Dani Carvajal as a recognised right back in their squad and Ancelotti could look to bring in reinforcements.

Real Madrid are 'willing to offer 50million plus Eden Hazard' to sign Reece James (right)

The LaLiga giants 'dream' of bringing James to the Bernabeu but understand they face a challenge to lure him away from Chelsea, according to The Sun.

Madrid are said to be willing to spend more than 50million on the England international and are willing to use former Chelsea star Hazard as a bargaining chip.

The Belgian left Stamford Bridge in what was supposed to be his 'dream' transfer but he has flopped since his 90m move.

Injuries have plagued the 30-year-old and he has failed to score in his 14 appearances this season, with Ancelotti making it clear the Belgian has fallen down the pecking order in his attack.

Carlo Ancelotti (left) has made it clear Eden Hazard (right) has fallen down the pecking order

Chelsea chief Roman Abramovich has reportedly already tried to lure Hazard back to west London.

Now Real Madrid could make it a possibility as they look to offload Hazard's wages and coax James to the Spanish capital.

Madrid reportedly understand signing the 22-year-old is a long shot as he 'has it all' at Chelsea but they are reportedly still willing to try.

James has enjoyed a stellar season as Chelsea sit third, netting five goals and providing six assists in 22 appearances as a right wing-back.

But Hazard's tally this term is not quite as enticing for the Blues as the forward has registered just one assist and failed to find the net all campaign.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has reportedly approved the pursuit of Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho.

Coutinho's agents are said to be travelling to London for further talks with the Gunners, while financially-striken Barca are said to be desperate to shift the high earner from their books.

However, Arsenal will have to fend off interest from their Premier League rivals Tottenham, Everton and Newcastle to sign the Brazilian.

Mikel Arteta has reportedly approved the pursuit of Barcelona playmaker Philippe Coutinho

According to Fichajes.net, Arerta gave 'a resounding yes when approving the arrival' of the former Liverpool midfielder.

The Arsenal manager hopes Coutinho can rediscover the world class form he demonstrated during his time at Liverpool.

Speaking about his January transfer plans, Arteta said: 'It would be useful to change something, even if it is never easy.

Coutinho's agents are said to be travelling to London for further talks with Arteta's side

'We are working towards this, to understand what our needs are, and to find the right solutions.'

However, the Brazilian may struggle to make the Gunners starting XI after Arteta admitted he has been 'very happy' with their recent performances.

The Arsenal manager also said his side were showing unity'. He said: 'We go to every ground to try to impose our game and this was a really good example.

'It is a big win for us. We looked sharp and committed. I am very happy. It is not easy to win away in the Premier League.

Arteta says his side are showing 'unity' and admits he is 'very happy' with their recent displays

'The way we were dominant from the beginning and the quality we showed, I am very happy.

'The direction the team is taking, how we are growing, the understanding, the unity and the support from our supporters in every ground is very much linked with the way we want to play.

'The unity around the club and with our fans is very pleasing.'
Amber Heard has taken a surprising dig at her long-time rival, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

The American actress, 35, and her Hollywood star ex Johnny Depp, 58, famously clashed with the politician back in 2015 after illegally transported their dogs into Australia.

On Monday, Amber made it clear she hasn't forgotten the bizarre incident, revealing that she's named her new puppy after Mr Joyce himself.

Take that, Barnaby! Amber Heard, 35, (pictured) has named her new puppy BARNABY JOYCE - six years after the Australian politician threatened to kill her dogs during infamous trip Down Under with ex Johnny Depp

'Meet the newest member of the Heard family, Barnaby Joyce,' the star wrote alongside a photo and video of herself with the pooch next to her Christmas tree.

In April 2015, Johnny and Amber flew their Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo into Australia, where the actor was filming Pirates of the Caribbean.

The transportation of their dogs violated Australia's bio-security laws as the couple failed to declare and quarantine them.

Name game: On Monday, Amber made it clear she hasn't forgotten the bizarre incident, revealing that she's named her new puppy after Mr Joyce himself. Pictured: Barnaby Joyce

New addition: She also posted a video of herself with the pooch next to her Christmas tree

Authorities only became aware of the presence of Pistol and Boo when their visit to a Gold Coast dog grooming salon was made public on Facebook.

At the time, a fired-up Mr Joyce insisted that the dogs would be put down if they were not sent home to the US.

'If we start letting movie stars - even though they've been the sexiest man alive twice - to come into our nation [and break the laws], then why don't we just break the laws for everybody,' he said during an infamous press conference.

'It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.'

Sprung: Authorities only became aware of the presence of Pistol and Boo when their visit to a Gold Coast dog grooming salon was made public on Facebook. Pictured right: Depp with one of his dogs

Dog drama: Back in 2015, Depp had used his private jet to sneak Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo (pictured) into Australia where he was filming Pirates of the Caribbean, violating bio-security laws by failing to declare and quarantine them

Depp promptly sent his dogs home and a year later insulted Mr Joyce - who he called 'Barnaby Jones' by telling US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live: 'He looks somehow, like, inbred with a tomato.

'It's not a criticism. I was a little worried. He might explode,' said the Hollywood star.

Mr Joyce hit back, saying: 'I think I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter.

Apology: Heard was charged with breaching Australian customs laws, but those charges were later dropped after she and Depp issued a bizarre video apology (pictured)

'I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he's remembering me.'

Heard was charged with breaching Australian customs laws, but those charges were later dropped after she and Depp issued a bizarre video apology.

Amber filed for divorce from actor Johnny Depp and the pair became locked in a nasty court battle that played out earlier this year
Jessika Power has issued a plea to fans after breaking a nail while in isolation at home in Manchester in the UK.

The 29-year-old Married At First Sight star shared a series of videos of herself complaining about her painful nail on Instagram Stories on Monday.

It comes after Jessika revealed she'd tested positive for COVID earlier this month, rendering her unable to leave her home to get it fixed.

Help: Married At First Sight's Jessika Power, 29, (pictured) has issued a plea to fans after breaking a nail while in isolation at home in Manchester in the UK

'I have a dilemma... I've really hurt my nail. Like, it's cracked right down the middle. Anyway, it f**king hurts, and I keep catching it on things,' she began.

'I can't pull it off. I've, like, tried, trust. I've tried. It's actually the most painful thing right now. Like, it's... Ohhh. What do I do?

'Like, what do I f**king do? What do I do? Please, tell me what I do, because... I can't keep living my life like this.'

Ouch: The Australian reality star shared a series of videos of herself complaining about her painful nail on Instagram Stories on Monday

Jessika winced as she showed off the painful break, with the nail split horizontally near the base.

It comes after Jessika's Australian manager Max Markson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia earlier this month that Jessika was having a 'tough time' after testing positive for COVID.

The blonde was filming in the UK for reality show Celebs Go Dating when some of the cast was sent into isolation.

Dilemma: It comes after Jessika revealed she'd tested positive for COVID earlier this month, rendering her unable to leave her home to get it fixed

'She's doing it tough,' Markson told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

'She'll definitely get better, she's not coming home anytime soon. She'll be back on set in no time, as long as she's clear of COVID.'

A Celebs Go Dating spokesperson said at the time: 'The health and safety of cast and crew remains our top priority. Rigorous COVID-19 protocols are in place and are continuing to be followed at all times across the production.'
Brooke Blurton has shared a brutal message to those who have accused her of 'changing' after her appearance on The Bachelorette this year.

The 26-year-old shared a video to Instagram Stories on Monday, declaring: 'Rest in peace to all those friends that were like, 'you've changed'.

'No I've just grown and I have more purposeful things in my life that I would like to achieve,' she continued.

Hitting back: Brooke Blurton (pictured) has shared a brutal message to those who claim she's 'changed' after her appearance on The Bachelorette this year

'I realise that would have come across very very savage but not apologising for it because we are heading to Capricorn season.'

'We are shedding new skin, we're getting rid of dead weight.'

Brooke's video comes after she revealed the pricey gift that her boyfriend Darvid Garayeli, 27, gave her for Christmas on Sunday.

Post: The 26-year-old shared a video to Instagram, hitting back at friends who claim said she's changed following her appearing on the Channel Ten dating show

In an Instagram post, the reality TV star showed off her new bag from luxury designer Balenciaga.

The Cash Mini Wallet on Chain in black grained calfskin from the brand is valued at $750.

She wrote in her caption: 'Merry Christmas to me from @darvgarayeli'.

Sweet: Brooke's video comes after she revealed the pricey gift that her boyfriend Darvid Garayeli, 27, (right) gave her for Christmas on Sunday

Last week, the reality TV couple looked as loved-up as ever as they held hands while taking their dogs for a walk in Melbourne.

The pair showed no sign of strain - despite landscaper Darvid choosing to deactivate his Instagram account without explanation.

Brooke chose Darvid during last month's Bachelorette finale, telling him she was in love with him and presenting him with a ring.
Billie Lourd shared a throwback snap of her and late mother Carrie Fisher, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Fisher's passing.

Fisher passed away on December 27, 2016, just days after suffering cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles.

Her 29-year-old daughter took to Instagram on Sunday, sharing a snap of Fisher and her when she was just a child, along with a heartfelt message about mourning.

Billie's message: Billie Lourd shared a throwback snap of her and late mother Carrie Fisher, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of Fisher's passing

Lourd's post included an undated photo of Lourd as a young girl and her mother pointing at the camera, both next to someone holding a koala bear.

'People always ask me what stage of grief Im in. And my answer is never simple. Im in a different stage of grief in each moment of every day,' Lourd began.

'My grief is a multi course meal with many complicated ingredients. An amuse bouche of bargaining followed by an anger appetizer with a side of depression, acceptance for the entree and of course a little denial for dessert,' she added.

Grief: 'People always ask me what stage of grief Im in. And my answer is never simple. Im in a different stage of grief in each moment of every day,' Lourd began

'And thats how grief should be - all things all at once - actually there is no should in grief - grief just is whatever it is for you and that is how it should be,"' she added.

She also addressed why she posted this on December 26, a day before her mother's death, revealing she's currently in Australia, and there it's already the 27th.

'Ps for anyone wondering why Im posting this on the 26th its the 27th here down unda (aka Tomorrowland) so what better thing to post for my Mombys Australian death anniversary (4 words I never thought Id be putting next to each other?!?) than this picture of her and I with a koala!?' she said.

Explain: She also addressed why she posted this on December 26, a day before her mother's death, revealing she's currently in Australia, and there it's already the 27th

She concluded her message with, 'sending my love to anyone out there who needs it' along with a slew of emojis.

Billie is the only child of Fisher and Creative Artists Agency talent agent Bryan Lourd, who were together between 1991 and 1994.

After graduating from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Lourd followed in her mother's Hollywood footsteps.

Sending love: She concluded her message with, 'sending my love to anyone out there who needs it' along with a slew of emojis

She made her acting debut alongside her mother in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, playing Lieutenant Connix.

She would go on to play Chanel #3 in the Fox TV series Scream Queens before returning as Connix in 2017's Star Wars: The Last Jedi and 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Her other roles include 2018's Billionaire's Book Club, 2019's Booksmart and various characters in the FX anthology series American Horror Story.

Acting: She made her acting debut alongside her mother in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, playing Lieutenant Connix

Lourd also took to Instagram on Monday and shared a video of her singing Fleetwood Mac's Landslide with accompaniment from friends Kaitlyn Dever and Mady Dever.

'The Take your broken heart and turn it into art bathtub seriesgoes down down unda! It has been 5 years since my Momby died (I dont like to say lost - it makes it sound like I could find her like I find my car in a parking lot when I dont remember where I parked it - I always find my car - I cant find my Mom),' Lourd began.

'On days like this I like to be with people I love (big shout out to these literal and vocal angels @KaitlynDeverand @MadyDever I love you both more than any Instagram words could ever express) and to do something we loved to do together,' she added.

'We loved to sing. We loved Fleetwood Mac. We loved this song. It echoed in our living room throughout my childhood, playing slightly too loudly as she scribbled her marvelous manic musings on yellow legal pads (google them if you dont know them - theyre the iPads of the past and are still pretty damn hip if you ask me),' she added.

Tribute: Lourd also took to Instagram on Monday and shared a video of her singing Fleetwood Mac's Landslide with accompaniment from friends Kaitlyn Dever and Mady Dever.

Tribute: 'On days like this I like to be with people I love (big shout out to these literal and vocal angels @KaitlynDeverand @MadyDever I love you both more than any Instagram words could ever express) and to do something we loved to do together,' she added

Angels: 'On days like this I like to be with people I love (big shout out to these literal and vocal angels @KaitlynDeverand @MadyDever I love you both more than any Instagram words could ever express) and to do something we loved to do together,' she added

'Im working away from home right now and one night when I was having a particularly grief-y moment this song came on and the lyrics spoke (well actually sang) to me more than they ever had before. Well Ive been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you. But time makes you bolder. I didnt know who to be or what to do after my mom died,' Lourd added.

'I was afraid of changing because I had built my life around her. Then she was gone. And I had to rebuild my life without her. And it wasnt (and still isnt) easy. But time has made me bolder, 'Lourd continued.

'I never stop missing her but I have gotten stronger with each passing year. And if youre going through something similar time will make you bolder too. Sorry for this cheesy lyric analysis. But its true!!! Sending all my strength to anyone in the #griefgang who needs it,' she concluded.

Working: 'Im working away from home right now and one night when I was having a particularly grief-y moment this song came on and the lyrics spoke (well actually sang) to me more than they ever had before. Well Ive been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you. But time makes you bolder. I didnt know who to be or what to do after my mom died,' Lourd added

Life: 'I was afraid of changing because I had built my life around her. Then she was gone. And I had to rebuild my life without her. And it wasnt (and still isnt) easy. But time has made me bolder, 'Lourd continued
Emmy-winning host Heidi Klum Heidi Klum bared her derriere beneath a comforter on the spiral staircase of her lavish $9.875M six-bedroom Bel-Air mansion the morning after Christmas.

The 48-year-old presenter was still wearing her personalized Santa hat as she got a kiss from her third husband Tom Kaulitz in the flirty slideshow captioned: 'Let's go back to bed.'

Heidi - who boasts 20.3M social media followers - was also joined on the steps by her beloved Irish Wolfhound Anton.

Peek-a-boo! Emmy-winning host Heidi Klum Heidi Klum bared her derriere beneath a comforter on the spiral staircase of her lavish $9.875M six-bedroom Bel-Air mansion the morning after Christmas

The German couple - who met on the set of Germany's Next Topmodel in 2018 - will celebrate their third wedding anniversary on February 22.

The 32-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist ended his year-long marriage with first wife Ria Sommerfeld in 2016.

Tom's twin brother and bandmate Bill Instastoried a heavily-filtered selfie on Sunday featuring Klum before his 'second day on the couch watching movies.'

Bill also uploaded a pre-taped TikTok of the two of them performing a cover of Wham's 1984 holiday hit Last Christmas inside a studio.

The 48-year-old presenter was still wearing her personalized Santa hat as she got a kiss from her third husband Tom Kaulitz in the flirty slideshow captioned: 'Let's go back to bed'

Puppy love: Heidi - who boasts 20.3M social media followers - was also joined on the steps by her beloved Irish Wolfhound Anton

German pride: The 32-year-old Tokio Hotel guitarist's twin brother and bandmate Bill (R) Instastoried a heavily-filtered selfie on Sunday featuring Klum (L) before his 'second day on the couch watching movies'

'You gave it away': Bill also uploaded a pre-taped TikTok of the two of them performing a cover of Wham's 1984 holiday hit Last Christmas inside a studio

Kaulitz is stepfather to the Making the Cut producer-host's four children - daughter Leni, 17; son Henry, 16; son Johan, 15; daughter and Lou, 12 - with ex-partner Flavio Briatore and ex-husband #2 Seal.

Leni - who's repped by CAA - landed two magazine covers in the last month including ELLE Russia, which features Heidi embracing her.

Klum - a retired VS Angel and SI Swimsuit stunner - will next judge the 17th season of Germany's Next Topmodel, which premieres early next year on ProSieben.

'Happy holidays!' Kaulitz is stepfather to the Making the Cut producer-host's four children - daughter Leni, 17; son Henry, 16; son Johan, 15; daughter and Lou, 12 - with ex-partner Flavio Briatore and ex-husband #2 Seal

Following in her modeling footsteps! Leni - who's repped by CAA - landed two magazine covers in the last month including ELLE Russia, which features Heidi embracing her
Bella Hadid spent her Christmas holiday helping families in need.

On Sunday, the 25-year-old supermodel shared a series of photos in which she was seen handing out bags of groceries and toys at the Renell Medrano Food Bank at New York City's Yankee Stadium.

'My perfect Christmas,' Bella wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.

Helping out: Bella Hadid spent her Christmas holiday helping families in need

'These are a few of my favorite things,' she added along with a brown heart emoji.

In the photos, the runway star was clad in a red sweater underneath a black puffer jacket and a black vest that had a large colorful patch stitched on the back as well as maroon suede detailing.

She donned a pair of loose-fitting camouflage pants and accessorized with dangly gold triangle earrings.

Volunteer work: On Sunday, the 25-year-old supermodel shared a series of photos in which she was seen handing out bags of groceries and toys at the Renell Medrano Food Bank at New York City's Yankee Stadium

The brunette beauty clipped her long locks back into a twisted bun and covered her face with a black mask.

In the first photo of her slideshow, a fellow volunteer was seen giving Bella a hug as they stood in front of a table covered with an orange tablecloth and orange plastic bags filled with food.

The catwalk queen's friend was seen handing a woman a musical toy tea set in the second snap.

In the third image, Bella looked intent as she tied the handles of one of the bags on the table.

The Vogue cover star added a photo in which she and her friend were seen from behind as they stood behind the table.

Sweet: 'My perfect Christmas,' Bella wrote in the caption of her Instagram post

Keeping it casual: In the photos, the runway star was clad in a red sweater underneath a black puffer jacket and a black vest that had a large colorful patch stitched on the back as well as maroon suede detailing

Surveying the scene: The Vogue cover star added a photo in which she and her friend were seen from behind as they stood behind the table

Christmas presents: She posted a closeup of a stack of tacos and burritos play sets which were among toys that the food bank was gifting to families

Cute: In another shot, Bella donned glasses as she leaned over the table to wave at a little boy who was sitting in a red wagon next to bags of food

She posted a closeup of a stack of tacos and burritos play sets which were among toys that the food bank was gifting to families.

In another shot, Bella donned glasses as she leaned over the table to wave at a little boy who was sitting in a red wagon next to bags of food.

The Washington, D.C. native showed off camouflage sneakers that matched her pants and red and black spotted socks in one photo that she took while sitting in the car.

Trendy: The Washington, D.C. native showed off camouflage sneakers that matched her pants and red and black spotted socks in one photo that she took while sitting in the car

Philanthropist: Bella is well-known for her philanthropic work and is involved with numerous charities

Bella was also wearing colorful beaded bracelets and rings along with a thick gold chain bracelet.

In the last photo, the former equestrian took a snap in which she displayed the credential that hung from a lanyard around her neck.

The credential read: 'Yankee Stadium Event 12-22-22 Renell Medrano Food Bank.'

Renell is Dominican-American photographer and director and one of Bella's friends.

Bella is well-known for her philanthropic work and is involved with numerous charities.

Teamwork: Earlier in the week, she shared an Instagram post in which she was seen volunteering at a toy drive with entrepreneur Jon Holder

In April and May 2020, the model announced that she made donations to local food banks in New York City and to Feeding America to help families struggling in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier in the week, she shared an Instagram post in which she was seen volunteering at a toy drive with entrepreneur Jon Holder.

In the caption, she wrote: 'Thanks to everyone who donated gifts , and the rest of the crew who came with us to do more Christmas shopping for the youth!!!

'We were able to donate over 250 gifts throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn to kids and families deserving of a good Holiday memory.'

She added, 'Im going to post today or tomorrow and few more Toy Drives that are still taking donations and gifts!! You personally can make a childs day !!

'If you are able, please help give back this holiday season!! Buying a few gifts might not change your life , but it can most definitely help light up someone elses!'
Pete Davidson fans got talking after a woman bearing a resemblance to his mother Amy was spotted at the Kardashian Christmas bash.

But it turns out the guest was the family's party planner Mindy Weiss.

It all started after Khloe posted a photo of her slinky, silver dress, with Mindy visible in the background.

The latest: Pete Davidson fans got talking after a woman bearing a resemblance to his mother Amy was spotted at the Kardashian Christmas bash, but it turns out the guest was party planner Mindy Weiss

One fan wrote, 'Pete Davidsons mum in the background,' while another said, 'Is that Petes Mom in the 6th slide?'

According to US, one user wrote, 'IS AMY DAVIDSON (PETES MOM) W/ THE KARJENNERS ON XMAS EVE!?,' while others said the person in question might have been Cici Bussey, a cousin of the famed family; or wedding planner Mindy.

Khloe's mother Kris Jenner planned on a much smaller Christmas Eve get-together amid a rise of COVID-19 cases in the family's native Los Angeles, TMZ reported Thursday.

Davidson and Kim Kardashian have ben romantically linked since she appeared as host on Saturday Night Live in October.

Details: Fans on Instagram took notice of a woman who was seen peering in the room Khloe was standing in during the party, who ended up being Mindy Weiss (Amy pictured R in 2019)

Davidson, snapped earlier this month in Washington, D.C., has been linked to Kardashian since October

Earlier this month, Kim filed legal docs to be declared legally single from estranged husband Kanye West. She was snapped last year in LA

'Petes mom really likes Kim and thinks shes very sweet,' a source told US earlier this month.

Kim in February filed for divorce from Kanye West, 44, who she has four kids with - daughters North, eight, and Chicago, three, and sons Saint, six, and Psalm, two.

Earlier this month, Kim filed legal docs to be declared legally single from West, who has spoke about reuniting.

Kim 'was surprised by his comments about wanting to get back together,' the source told the outlet, and 'knows Kanye is a good person and respects him.'

The comic is 'very laid-back and understanding' about the situation and 'is not worried about Kanye trying to get back with Kim,' the source added.
Fiona Falkiner has been forced to cancel her holiday plans amid the Covid pandemic.

The former Biggest Loser host, 38, revealed on Instagram, she won't be travelling to Victoria to see her family because she hasn't received her coronavirus test results.

'Just had to cancel our trip to visit my family in Victoria because I have symptoms and my tests results have not come back in time,' Fiona wrote.

Cancelled: Fiona Falkiner, 38, (pictured) was left heartbroken after she was forced to cancel her holiday plans due to Covid on Monday

She also shared a photo of herself looking disappointed and glancing at the camera.

Fiona then revealed she had completed several rapid tests and they had came back negative but she 'doesn't want to risk it' by travelling.

Fiona lives in Sydney with her fiancee Hayley Willis and their baby son, Hunter, who they welcomed in March.

Delayed: The former Biggest Loser host revealed she won't be travelling to Victoria to see her family because she hasn't received her coronavirus test results

Cautious: Fiona also revealed she had done several rapid tests and they came back negative but she 'doesn't want to risk it'

In July, she jetted to Queensland to join Hayley, who is the Communications Manager for the Sydney Swans AFL team, in the state's 'AFL bubble'.

In May, the pair revealed they are ready to become second time mothers.

'I think we are going to have another one pretty soon actually,' Fiona told Confidential.

Family: Fiona lives in Sydney with her fiancee Hayley Willis and their baby son, Hunter, who they welcomed in March

In fact, the model added that she wants a large family with at least three children.

However it will be Hayley who will carry the couple's second child, Fiona told the publication.

'After the wedding we will get Hayley pregnant,' she said, adding, 'We will play it by ear but two or three kids would be amazing.'

Fiona and Hayley became engaged in 2019.
The ongoing feud between former friends Brooke Blurton and Abbie Chatfield appears to be alive and well.

In a since-deleted post on Instagram Stories on Monday, Brooke, 26, took a thinly veiled swipe at 'woke' podcasters who recently included an Acknowledgement of Country before their episodes.

It comes just weeks after Abbie, 26, started including an Acknowledgement of Country on her podcast, It's A Lot.

Bad blood: The ongoing feud between former friends Brooke Blurton (right) and Abbie Chatfield (left) appears to be alive and well

Brooke - who is Indigenous - included a short video of herself looking dismayed, and while she didn't mention Abbie by name, it was clear who she was referring to.

'Me getting DM's about how these so-called "woke" people are now doing acknowledgments at the start of their podcast but only because they got called out for their s**t,' she captioned the post.

She added: 'Should have been doing it from the start. Shows your so-called ally-ship is for clout.'

Touche: Brooke - who is Indigenous - included a short video of herself looking dismayed, and while she didn't mention Abbie by name, it was clear who she was referring to

Abbie only included an Acknowledgement of Country on her podcast earlier this month.

'Here at LiSTNR we acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which this episode of the podcast is being recorded today, the Boon wurrung people of the Kulin nation,' begins her pre-recorded message.

She added: 'We also pay our respects to elders past and present. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.'

'Me getting DM's about how these so-called "woke" people are now doing acknowledgments at the start of their podcast but only because they got called out for their s**t,' she captioned the post

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to representatives for both Brooke and Abbie for comment.

Earlier this month, Abbie issued a public apology after she was criticised by Brooke for announcing her relationship with The Bachelorette's Konrad Bien-Stephens the night before the show's finale.

In a lengthy post on Instagram at the time, Abbie explained her decision to go public with Konrad, 31, claiming she believed she had Brooke's blessing.

Saying sorry: Earlier this month, Abbie issued a public apology after she was criticised by Brooke for announcing her relationship with The Bachelorette's Konrad Bien-Stephens the night before the show's finale

'This is to address the post made by Brooke. A month ago, a video of Konrad and I kissing was secretly captured by a patron and made public,' she began.

'Following this, Brooke and I had a conversation in which I apologised and expressed regret multiple times for our public affection as this was prior to Konrad's exit from the show. Konrad had a similar conversation with Brooke.

'We met as a result of him coming along to a catch up with a mutual friend, the public setting was an accident.

Mixed messages: In a lengthy post on Instagram at the time, Abbie explained her decision to go public with Konrad, 31, claiming she believed she had Brooke's blessing

'This is to address the post made by Brooke. A month ago, a video of Konrad and I kissing was secretly captured by a patron and made public,' Abbie began in a lengthy post

'We absolutely should have waited to be in private as we are public figures and these are things we need to consider, but we didn't. We also didn't consider the possible ramifications of our actions.

'Immediately following this, we intentionally kept things quiet, and did not leave the house together in an effort to not be photographed out of respect for the show and to minimise press surrounding the spoiler of Konrad's exit.'

Abbie later shared a series of photos of herself and Konrad on Instagram the day before The Bachelorette finale, confirming their relationship.

'The morning of, I mistook a message from Brooke expressing her happiness for and approval of our relationship as a green light to upload a post,' she explained

But she insisted 'it was not with malice', and fan favourite Konrad had already been eliminated from the show when she made the announcement.

'The morning of, I mistook a message from Brooke expressing her happiness for and approval of our relationship as a green light to upload a post. Following the post, Konrad received an equally supportive message,' she continued.

'I see with hindsight that this assumption was naive. I now understand the timing of publicly sharing our relationship should have been more considered and that is my fault. I acknowledge that impact outweighs intent.'

Short-lived love: Konrad formed a strong connection with Brooke - the franchise's first Indigenous and bisexual lead - on The Bachelorette but was eliminated after home visits

Referencing Brooke's comment about 'another white woman displaying what white privilege looks like', Abbie admitted she 'didn't take into account... the inherent privilege that I hold as a white woman'.

'My actions had the potential to undermine the importance that this pivotal season of The Bachelorette holds to the First Nations and LGBTQIA+ Communities,' she added.

'This is an extremely important conversation to be having. In future, this will be at the forefront of my mind and I will continue to listen to and amplify minority communities, and endeavour to learn.'

Going public: Abbie shared a series of photos of herself and Konrad, 31, on Instagram the day before The Bachelorette finale, confirming their relationship

She simply finished the post: 'I'm sorry.'

In a post on Instagram Stories earlier this month, Brooke announced she was 'going to go offline this week'.

'I hate to bring it up, but personally and mentally I've been disrupted by all the crap that came with Finale Week,' she continued.

Social media break: In a post on Instagram Stories on Thursday, Brooke, 26, announced she was 'going to go offline this week'. Pictured with winner Darvid Garayeli

'I hate to bring it up, but personally and mentally I've been disrupted by all the crap that came with Finale Week,' Brooke wrote

Without naming names, Brooke spoke about a 'close friend' who had pulled the focus from The Bachelorette finale with her actions.

'I'm not a hostile person and literally do not have any hate in my heart... I put my heart and soul into [the show] and it meant a lot for me to open myself up so vulnerably like that,' she wrote.

'Not only that but for what it meant for the LGBTQIA+ and First Nations community to have that display of representation.

Speaking out: Without naming names, Brooke spoke about a 'close friend' who had pulled the focus from The Bachelorette finale with her actions

'Which moves onto my new point. The hardest point. For that to be tainted ONCE again by 1. To what I thought was a close friend. 2. Another white woman displaying what white privilege looks like...'

Brooke said the person's behaviour 'hurts me' and 'literally pains me'.

'I've reached out to this person to resolve this "conflict" which in fact, classic naive me, adult me went to this person to communicate openly about the layers of complexity that this person's actions show and take away from NOT only me but what it meant for a queer woman of colour,' she added.

'I'm not a hostile person and literally do not have any hate in my heart... I put my heart and soul into [the show] and it meant a lot for me to open myself up so vulnerably like that,' she wrote

She finished: 'You guys asked for my comment. There it is. Now go give them more airtime in which is what this is exactly about.'

Konrad formed a strong connection with Brooke - the franchise's first Indigenous and bisexual lead - on The Bachelorette but was eliminated after home visits.

Daily Mail Australia published a video of the new couple kissing at a bar in Byron Bay on November 5 - before Konrad's exit from the show aired.

Big reveal: Abbie, who previously vowed to never speak publicly about her dating life, went Instagram official with Konrad on November 24 - the day before Brooke's finale

The footage not only outed them as a couple, but served as a major Bachelorette spoiler by confirming Konrad didn't win Brooke's heart.

Abbie, who previously vowed to never speak publicly about her dating life, went Instagram official with Konrad on November 24 - the day before Brooke's finale.

To make things even more awkward, she appeared in the last episode of The Bachelorette - which was filmed months ago - as one of Brooke's 'best friends'.
National Party leader Barnaby Joyce has hit back at U.S. actress Amber Heard after she revealed she had named her new puppy after him.

The actress, 35, and her former partner Johnny Depp, 58, clashed with Mr Joyce back in 2015 after the celebrity couple illegally brought their dogs into Australia, breaching quarantine regulations.

Amber showed she was still nursing a grudge over that incident almost seven years later as she revealed she had named her new dog Barnaby Joyce.

Mr Joyce told The Australian that he was 'fine' with the name choice, adding that he had 'no problems with animals'.

Reaction: Barnaby Joyce has responded after Amber Heard named her new puppy after him - six years after the Australian politician threatened to kill her dogs

'I get a real sense of accomplishment that I'm still in her head long after I've forgotten about them,' Mr Joyce said.

'Obviously, I now rate above Johnny Depp.'

On Monday, Amber took to Twitter holding her large new dog, which appeared to be an Irish Wolfhound.

'Meet the newest member of the Heard family, Barnaby Joyce,' the star wrote in her tweet accompanied with a photo and footage of herself with the pooch next to her Christmas tree.

Take that, Barnaby! On Monday, Amber revealed that she's named her new puppy after Mr Joyce

In April 2015, Johnny and Amber flew their Yorkshire Terriers named Pistol and Boo into Australia, where Johnny was filming Pirates of the Caribbean.

The transportation of their dogs violated Australia's bio-security laws as the couple failed to declare and quarantine them.

Authorities only became aware of the presence of Pistol and Boo when their visit to a Gold Coast dog grooming salon was made public on Facebook.

Response: Mr Joyce told The Australian that he was 'fine' with the name choice, adding that he had 'no problems with animals'

New addition: Amber also posted a video of herself with the pooch next to her Christmas tree

At the time, a fired-up Mr Joyce insisted that the dogs would be put down if they were not sent home to the US.

'If we start letting movie stars - even though they've been the sexiest man alive twice - to come into our nation [and break the laws], then why don't we just break the laws for everybody,' he said during an infamous press conference.

'It's time that Pistol and Boo buggered off back to the United States.'

Dog drama: Back in 2015, Depp had used his private jet to sneak Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo (pictured) into Australia where he was filming Pirates of the Caribbean, violating bio-security laws by failing to declare and quarantine them

Sprung: Authorities only became aware of the presence of Pistol and Boo when their visit to a Gold Coast dog grooming salon was made public on Facebook. Pictured right: Depp with one of his dogs

Depp promptly sent his dogs home and a year later insulted Mr Joyce - who he called 'Barnaby Jones' by telling US talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live: 'He looks somehow, like, inbred with a tomato.

'It's not a criticism. I was a little worried. He might explode,' said the Hollywood star.

Mr Joyce hit back, saying: 'I think I'm turning into Johnny Depp's Hannibal Lecter.

Apology: Heard was charged with breaching Australian customs laws, but those charges were later dropped after she and Depp issued a bizarre video apology (pictured)

'I'm inside his head, I'm pulling little strings and pulling little levers. Long after I've forgotten about Mr Depp, he's remembering me.'

Heard was charged with breaching Australian customs laws, but those charges were later dropped after she and Depp issued a bizarre video apology.

Amber filed for divorce from actor Johnny Depp and the pair became locked in a nasty court battle that played out earlier this year
Pierce Brosnan and wife Keely Shaye Smith enjoyed a bike ride in Malibu, California on a chilly winter Sunday.

Brosnan, 68, donned a navy blue coat over a dark top with black pants, black shoes and sunglasses on the outing in the luxe locale.

Smith, 58, matched her spouse in a black coat with black pants, black shoes, a purple scarf and a light blue knit cap as she pedaled alongside him.

The latest: Pierce Brosnan, 68, and wife Keely Shaye Smith, 58, enjoyed a bike ride in Malibu, California on a chilly winter Sunday

The couple, who are parents to sons Dylan, 24, and Paris, 20, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary earlier this year.

Brosnan, who exchanged vows with Smith in his native Ireland in August of 2001, took to Instagram this past summer with a touching tribute to his spouse of two decades.

'Happy anniversary my darling Keely, my love forever grows with you' the actor wrote, adding emojis of a clover and a heart.

In September, Brosnan wrote a touching post to his wife in celebrating her 58th birthday: 'My beautiful luscious love Keely on her 58th trip around the sun yesterday apres swim, making coconut water ... Happiest of birthdays it was!'

Brosnan donned a navy blue coat over a dark top with black pants, black shoes and sunglasses on the outing in the luxe locale

Brosnan in September wrote a touching post to his wife in celebrating her 58th birthday: 'My beautiful luscious love Keely on her 58th trip around the sun yesterday apres swim, making coconut water ... Happiest of birthdays it was!'

The actor was snapped on the red carpet at The Prince's Trust Awards in London last year

Brosnan in April of 2017 opened up to People about how the pair enjoy one another's company.

'My wife and I took a short road trip up to Santa Barbara - we were going for a romantic weekend and to look at houses and drink great wine,' he said. 'We didnt listen to any music, but we just listened to the sounds of each others voices and sorted out the world.'

The actor has a number of projects due out next year, including the movie The King's Daughter, in which he plays King Louis XIV; and the DC film Black Adam, in which he will play Dr. Fate alongside Dwayne Johnson.
Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallee, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died aged 58.

The filmmaker died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend according to his representative Bumble Ward. He said Vallee's death had been unexpected. The cause and further details have not yet been reported.

Vallee's family and close advisors are also reportedly 'shocked' by the death, with his producing partner Nathan Ross also confirming passing and paying tribute in a statement.

'Jean-Marc stood for creativity, authenticity and trying things differently. He was a true artist and a generous, loving guy,' Ross said.

'Everyone who worked with him couldn't help but see the talent and vision he possessed. He was a friend, creative partner and an older brother to me,' Ross added. 'The maestro will sorely be missed but it comforts knowing his beautiful style and impactful work he shared with the world will live on.'

Vallee is survived by his two sons  Alex and Emile, whom he shares with ex-wife Chantal Cadieux, a Canadian playwright whom Vallee was married to for more than 15 years, from 1990 to 2006.

He is also survived by siblings Marie-Josee Vallee, Stephane Tousignant and Gerald Vallee.

Jean-Marc Vallee died suddenly outside of his cabin in Quebec City, Canada over the weekend

Jean-Marc Vallee and actor Matthew McConaughey attend the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! sponsored by Chrysler viewing and after party with Gold Meets Golden held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. Vallee received critical acclaim for his direction of the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club, starring McConaughey

Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallee, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died aged 58.

The filmmaker was born in Montreal on March 19, 1963, and studied filmmaking at Quebec University.

He started his career directing music videos and short films in the late 1980s and early 1990s before making his feature film debut with Liste Noire in 1995, which was nominated for several Genie Awards in Canada, including for best picture.

Vallee would go on to direct Los Locos in 1997 for writer-star Mario Van Peebles, Danny Trejo and Rene Auberjonois and 2005's C.R.A.Z.Y. with Michel Cote and Marc-Andre Grondin, before breaking into the mainstream in 2009 with The Young Victoria, written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend.

He next wrote and directed Cafe de Flore in 2011 starring Vanessa Paradis and Evelyne Brochu, before his Oscar-nominated drama Dallas Buyers Club in 2013.

The film told the story of Ron Woodruff, an AIDS patient in the 1980s who smuggled unapproved drugs in an attempt to treat the disease.

The success of the movie, which featured Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto and earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture, made Vallee a sought-after name in Hollywood.

Vallee started his career directing music videos and short films in the late 1980s and early 1990s before making his feature film debut with Liste Noire in 1995

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and director Jean-Marc Vallee attend the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and InStyle party at the Windsor Arms Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6, 2014, in Toronto.

Vallee, right, is survived by his son Alex, left, as well as a son, Emile

He developed a reputation for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, and in the decade prior to his death directed stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Vallee followed up Dallas Buyers Club with the 2014 adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's book Wild, starring Witherspoon and Laura Dern, before directing Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts in the 2015 film Demolition.

He then moved to the small screen, directing the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017, and all eight episodes of the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series Sharp Objects, starring Adams, winning Directors Guild of America awards for both.

He was set to direct and executive-produce another limited series for HBO, Gorilla and the Bird, based on a memoir of the same name about a public defender who suffers a psychotic break, according to the New York Times.

In a statement following his passing, HBO executives said: 'Jean-Marc Vallee was a brilliant, fiercely dedicated filmmaker, a truly phenomenal talent who infused every scene with a deeply visceral, emotional truth.

'He was also a hugely caring man who invested his whole self alongside every actor he directed.

'We are shocked at the news of his sudden death, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to his sons, Alex and Emile, his extended family, and his longtime producing partner, Nathan Ross.'

Vallee broke into the mainstream in 2009 with The Young Victoria, written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend (pictured)

Vallee moved to the small screen four years ago, directing the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017 starring Reese Witherspoon (pictured), and all eight episodes of the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams, winning DGA awards for both

He directed Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts in the 2015 film Demolition with Jake Gyllenhaal before moving to the small screen with the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017

Tributes for the late filmmaker have poured in, with the likes of the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival Cameron Bailey taking to social media to share their memories and pay respects to Vallee

Vallee often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras and gave actors freedom to improvise the script and move around within a scenes location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's 'Wild.'

'They can move anywhere they want,' the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview.

'It's giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don't need to cut performances.

'Often, the cinematographer and I were like, 'This location sucks. It's not very nice. But, hey, that's life.''

And in a 2018 interview with the New York Times, Valle described his work as trying to expose the flaws and imperfections in human nature.

'I see that I seem to be attracted to these stories and to underdog characters,' he said at the time, adding: 'The humanity, the beautiful humanity, is dark.'

Vallee's representative Bumble Ward took to twitter to pay tribute to the late filmmaker

Writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Joshua Axelrod was among those who shared their tributes to Vallee on social media
Oscar winner Jared Leto publicly paid tribute to his mother Constance Leto (born Metrejon) by posting a 1971 snap of her pregnant on his 50th birthday on Sunday.

'Me and my mother in Louisiana,' the My So-Called Life heartthrob - who boasts 21.6M social media followers - tweeted.

'Born at 2:36 PM Central Time 1971. She made the dress herself. From old draperies.'

Oscar winner Jared Leto publicly paid tribute to his mother Constance Leto (born Metrejon) by posting a 1971 snap of her pregnant on his 50th birthday on Sunday

The 70-year-old photographer was only 20 when she and her late ex-husband Anthony Bryant welcomed Jared, and after their divorce he and his big brother Shannon were adopted by her second husband Carl Leto.

'Thank you for teaching me to dream,' Leto wrote on Mother's Day in May.

'My mother crawled out of the muddy banks of Mississippi with a fistful of food stamps in one hand and two kids in the other on a mission to make a better life for herself and for her kids.'

The Justice League action star was last seen with the silver-haired matriarch at the Manhattan premiere of his film House of Gucci at Lincoln Center on November 16.

The My So-Called Life heartthrob - who boasts 21.6M social media followers - tweeted: 'Me and my mother in Louisiana. Born at 2:36 PM Central Time 1971. She made the dress herself. From old draperies'

'She was on a mission to make a better life for us': The 70-year-old photographer (L) was only 20 when she and her late ex-husband Anthony Bryant welcomed Jared (M), and after their divorce he and his big brother Shannon (R) were adopted by her second husband Carl Leto

'Thank you for teaching me to dream': Leto was last seen with the silver-haired matriarch at the Manhattan premiere of his film House of Gucci at Lincoln Center on November 16

Earlier on Sunday, Jared reposted a 2019 shirtless picture of himself holding a slice of rainbow cake on the set of Morbius captioned: 'Thx for all the bday wishes!'

And in honor of Christmas on Saturday, Leto reposted a 2020 unbuttoned picture of himself rocking a Santa Claus hat captioned: 'Merry Xmas!'

The avid mountain climber will next portray biochemist-turned-vampire Dr. Michael Morbius in Daniel Espinosa's long-delayed superhero flick Morbius, which exclusively hits US/UK theaters on January 28.

The PG-13 Marvel/SSMU movie - which wrapped reshoots in February - also features Michael Keaton, Matt Smith, Jared Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Adria Arjona, and Al Madrigal.

Earlier on Sunday, the Justice League action star reposted a 2019 shirtless picture of himself holding a slice of rainbow cake on the set of Morbius captioned: 'Thx for all the bday wishes!'

And in honor of Christmas on Saturday, Jared reposted a 2020 unbuttoned picture of himself rocking a Santa Claus hat captioned: 'Merry Xmas!'

As for his band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jared has penned 'between 150 and 200 songs' for the sixth studio album with his drummer brother Shannon.

'We have so many songs now,' Leto told NME last month.

'We really took advantage of that time in lockdown, and hunkered down and started writing...We're really just waiting for the right opportunity, the right time to put music out.'

Meanwhile, 30STM lead guitarist Tomo Milicevic quit the band in 2018.

Part of the Sinister Six? Leto will next portray biochemist-turned-vampire Dr. Michael Morbius in Daniel Espinosa's long-delayed superhero flick Morbius, which exclusively hits US/UK theaters on January 28
The Bachelorette's Darvid Garayeli has paid tribute to girlfriend Brooke Blurton and their puppy Cobar in a sweet Instagram post.

Darvid shared a rarely seen portrait of the couple before a night out, with her nestling into him.

The reality star then shared of photo holding their puppy Cobar.

Tribute: Bachelorette's Darvid Garayeli has paid tribute to girlfriend Brooke Blurton (both pictured) and their cute puppy Cobar in a sweet post he shared to Instagram on Monday

'Missing these two today,' he captioned the post.

It comes after Brooke revealed that Darvid gave her a pricey bag from Balenciaga for Christmas.

The Cash Mini Wallet on Chain in black grained calfskin from the brand is valued at $750.

She wrote in her caption: 'Merry Christmas to me from @darvgarayeli'.

Last week, the reality TV couple looked as loved-up as ever as they held hands while taking their dogs for a walk.

Cute: The reality star then shared of photo holding their puppy Cobar. 'Missing these two today,' he captioned the post

Fancy: Brooke showed off her new bag from Balenciaga for Christmas. The Cash Mini Wallet on Chain in black grained calfskin from the brand is valued at $750

The pair showed no sign of strain - despite landscaper Darvid choosing to deactivate his Instagram account without explanation.

Brooke chose Darvid during last month's Bachelorette finale, telling him she was in love with him and presenting him with a ring.

'From the moment I met you, I felt a lot of feelings. I felt calm, I felt trusting,' the emotional star said.

Offline: Last week, the reality TV couple looked as loved up as ever as they held hands while taking their dogs for a walk in Melbourne . The pair showed no sign of strain - despite landscaper Darvid choosing to deactivate his Instagram account without explanation

'I felt an instant chemistry and connection that I never, ever felt with anyone before.

'Look, I don't know how to say this, but you came in here and you granted me three wishes. And I still have one left.'

Breaking down in tears of joy, she added: 'Darvid, will you make me the happiest girl? I love you so much.'
Sarah Hyland and her fiance Wells Adams looked the picture of a fairytale romance as they shared a kiss underneath the Christmas tree.

The 31-year-old Modern Family star planted a peck on her Bachelor Nation beau, 37, and showcased a killer backbend in the process.

The engaged pair both made nod to her dancing and musical theatre background, as they shared an exchange about legendary American dancer/ choreographer, Bob Fosse, who seemed to inspire their pose.

Storybook romance: Sarah Hyland planted a kiss on her Bachelor Nation fiance Wells Adams under the Christmas tree while nodding to her dancing background with a back bend and Bob Fosse caption

The lovebirds looked festive as they celebrated Christmas, and showcased their affection towards one another as well as a few inside jokes in the process.

Sarah wore an off the shoulder cocktail dress in a bright shade of red, which she paired with polka dot tights and sky high heels to accentuate her 5'2" frame.

She kept her auburn locks down and plopped a Santa hat on her head for a bit of fun, while holding Wells close.

Adams dipped his bride-to-be back while dressed in black slacks and a camel colored sweater with brown dress shoes.

Perfect pair: The lovebirds looked festive as they celebrated Christmas, and showcased their affection towards one another as well as a few inside jokes in the process

Theatrical: The engaged pair both made nod to Sarah's musical theatre background, as they shared an exchange about legendary American dancer/choreographer, Bob Fosse with Wells writing 'Fosse Navidad' for a festive touch

'Fosse but make it Christmas' Hyland wrote in her caption, while the Bachelor In Paradise bartender followed up with a punnier take as he commented: 'Fosse Navidad.'

The Lady Parts host  who has a musical theatre background  has long been inspired by Fosse whose iconic resume includes Cabaret and Chicago.

Sarah and Wells were set to be married by now, but experienced delays on account of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The couple got engaged in 2019 and had set a wedding date for August 8, 2020 before their plans were derailed.

Last month, Hyland  who is immunocompromised  spoke about their current wedding plans, and said that they would be tying the knot eventually in a safe manner.

Lovebirds: The couple set a wedding date for August 8, 2020 before their plans were derailed on account of COVID-19, however she maintained they would one day walk down the aisle in a safe manner or just 'elope'; pictured December 7

'So next year?,' she said of a loose projected date in conversation with E! News. 'I don't know. I have absolutely no idea anymore. I would like next year. I know I said last year if we're not getting married next year it's never going to happen, but now I'm saying that about next year.'

'If not, then we're just going to elope,' she continued to say with a laugh. 'I don't even think he knows that. I'm just going to say that. We're just going to fly to Greece! Have a little vacation, get married.'

The couple first sparked romance rumors in 2017 and went public with their relationship around Halloween of that year with a Stranger Things couple costume.

Marking their relationship and what would have been married life this past summer she wrote: '2 years engaged, almost 1 year of "would have been married", but forever in love with you @wellsadams.'
A handful of depraved TV presenter Jimmy Savile's victims have been invited onto the set of a controversial new drama depicting his life, death and posthumous notoriety as a serial sex offender.

Forthcoming BBC series The Reckoning will star Steve Coogan as the late Savile, who died aged 84 in 2011 before his crimes against women and children were uncovered.

Writer Neil McKay has revealed some of those victims will be present to watch the Alan Partridge creator, 56, reenact various moments from Savile's life after requesting access to show's set.

Uncomfortable viewing: A handful of Jimmy Savile's victims have been invited onto the set of controversial new drama The Reckoning, starring Steve Coogan (pictured) as the depraved presenter

McKay told The Sun: 'Its clearly going to be strange. But they wanted to do it, theyre fully prepared, so it will be interesting.

'The victims concerned requested to attend filming since we are telling their stories, and all appropriate safeguarding measures were put in place by production to facilitate this.

'The team are working closely with many people whose lives were impacted by Savile to ensure their stories are told with sensitivity and respect.'

Coming soon: Forthcoming BBC series The Reckoning will star Steve Coogan (left) as the late Savile (right) in The Reckoning

Predator: The decision to chronicle Savile's life has come under fire from many, however BBC has stated that they worked with his victims and will portray a story 'with sensitivity and respect' (pictured, Savile in 1973)

The decision to chronicle Savile's life has come under fire from many, however BBC has stated that they worked with his victims and will portray a story 'with sensitivity and respect'.

Steve, who famously portrays fictional comedic character Alan Partridge, previously explained in a statement the decision to play Savile was not one 'I took lightly'.

He added: 'Neil McKay has written an intelligent script tackling sensitively a horrific story which, however harrowing, needs to be told.'

Hidden in plain sight: Savile was a much loved public figure in life, but he would be exposed as a serial sexual predator following his death in 2011. Here he is pictured at the Wren House International Telephone Exchange in 1975

Savile, who rose from a humble working-class upbringing to become one of British television's biggest stars, passed away aged 84 in 2011.

In his final years, he fought to quell growing speculation about his illegal exploits throughout his illustrious career with the BBC - with victim testimony expected to be brought to life in the new drama.

A BBC-led inquiry into his actions found he had molested at least 72 children, some as young as eight, over a four decade campaign of sexual abuse with his first victim in 1959 and his last in 2006.

His horrific reign of abuse could be charted 'in the corridors, canteens, staircases and dressing rooms of every BBC premises', their 2016 report found.

Harrowing: Writer Neil McKay has revealed some of his victims will be present to watch the Alan Partridge creator reenact various moments from Savile's life after requesting access to show's set (pictured: Coogan as Savile on Songs of Praise in 1969

Executive producer, Jeff Pope, said: 'I think this is a story that has to be told. We must understand why a man like Jimmy Savile seemed to remain immune for so long to proper scrutiny and criminal investigation.

'Steve has a unique ability to inhabit complex characters and will approach this role with the greatest care and integrity.'

The BBC also says it will draw on 'extensive and wide-ranging research sources' or the project, examining the lasting impact of Savile's crimes and the 'powerlessness' his victims felt.

Close to the bone; Scenes filmed earlier this year involved Coogan's Savile confronting an emotional young woman

Piers Wenger Controller, of BBC Drama, added: 'The story of Jimmy Savile is one of the most emotive and troubling of our times.

'We do not intend to sensationalise these crimes but to give voice to his victims. We will work with survivors to ensure their stories are told with sensitivity and respect and to examine the institutions which Jimmy Savile was associated with and the circumstances in which these crimes took place.

'Drama has the ability to tackle sensitive real life subjects and consider the impact of a crime on its survivors and what lessons can be learnt to stop this ever happening again.'

A release date has yet to be announced with filming for the series expected to continue taking place in Manchester over the coming months.
Julia Roberts has been enjoying a Christmas break from filming her new movie in Queensland, Australia, with a family trip to Sydney.

The 54-year-old American actress was accompanied by her husband, Danny Moder, 52, and their three children, Hazel, 17, Phinnaeus, 17, and Henry, 14.

The Pretty Woman star looked casually chic in a floral, blue and white top as she ran errands in the city on Monday.

Local: Julia Roberts (pictured) has been enjoying a Christmas break from filming her new movie in Queensland, Australia, with a family trip to Sydney on Monday

The top, which clung to her slender figure, featured puffed and layered sleeves for some extra romance, as well as a deep V-neck design for a hint of cleavage.

She paired it with white shorts that put her trim pins on display, and finished the ensemble with a pair of flat flip flops.

Julia appeared to go makeup free for the outing, letting her natural beauty shine through, and wore her brunette hair around her face.

Family: The 54-year-old American actress was accompanied by her husband, Danny Moder, 52, and their three children, Hazel, 17, Phinnaeus, 17, and Henry, 14. Danny, Phinnaeus and Henry are pictured

Looking good: Her cinematographer husband opted for a grungy outfit consisting of a denim shirt and navy trousers

Warm weather: The Pretty Woman star looked casually chic in a floral, blue and white top as she ran errands in the city

The Money Monster star had on a pair of dark sunglasses and added a dainty necklace to the look.

Her cinematographer husband opted for a grungy outfit consisting of a denim shirt and navy trousers.

The Emmy Award nominee added a green beanie to the look, and had on a pair of black flip flops.

A look: The top, which clung to her slender figure, featured puffed and layered sleeves for some extra romance, as well as a deep V-neck design for a hint of cleavage

Relaxed: Julia appeared to go makeup free for the outing, letting her natural beauty shine through

Details: She wore her brunette hair down in soft waves around her face.

The couple's teenage children kept things casual, each wearing t-shirts and jeans, changing into new outfits later in the day.

She is currently in Australia shooting her new movie Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney.

George and Julia play a divorced couple who travel to Bali in a desperate bid to stop their daughter, played by Kaitlyn Dever, from getting married.

The movie also stars Billie Lourd as Dever's best friend, who travels with her to Bali, where she decides to marry a local.

Details: She paired her top with white shorts that put her trim pins on display, and finished the ensemble with a pair of flat flip flops

Casual: The couple's teenage children kept things casual, each wearing t-shirts and jeans, changing into new outfits later in the day

Thank you: Julia thanked her friend who dropped the family off

Family ties: Julia's daughter Hazel wore her blonde hair up with a red ribbon in her locks

Cool kid: Her son Henry had on a number of bracelets and rings

The two-month project is being filmed entirely in Queensland, with the picturesque Whitsundays doubling for Bali.

George relocated to Australia in October with his human rights lawyer wife Amal and the couple's five-year-old twins, Alexander and Ella.

Julia also jetted into Australia in October, spending her quarantine period at a $56.9million mansion in Sydney's Vaucluse with her husband and family.

Warm up top: Emmy Award nominee Danny added a green beanie to the look, and had on a pair of black flip flops

Work it: Julia is currently in Australia shooting her new movie Ticket to Paradise with George Clooney

Earlier this month, the Oscar winner stunned shoppers when she waltzed into a Bonds underwear store at a Surfers Paradise shopping mall in Queensland.

The Herald Sun reports that the Mother's Day actress was at the Pacific Fair mall along with a friend.

Staff at the shop instantly recognised the Pretty Woman star, who paid for a number of items of clothing.
Imogen Anthony has shared her thoughts on Perth's cancellation of New Year's Eve events over two positive Covid-19 cases.

The 30-year-old posted a series of videos to Instagram Stories on Monday, pointing out what she felt was hypocrisy in Western Australia's premier, Mark McGowan, cancelling music festivals while allowing the Perth Cup horse race to go ahead on New Year's Day.

'Perth gets two new cases of Covid, they cancel all of their new years events. Festivals, and whatnot, from two cases,' she began.

Thoughts: Imogen Anthony (pictured) has shared her thoughts on Perth's cancellation of New Year's Eve events over two positive Covid-19 cases

'Yet the Perth cup, which is the horse race that happens on New Year's Day, is allowed to go ahead. So what does that say?' Imogen went on.

'It is so f**king upsetting, like I can't believe how much we claim to be an advanced country, we claim to have all this forward thinking.

'The horse race is one thing, but cancelling a music festival and letting that prevail, that is...' she concluded, trailing off.

Issues: The 30-year-old posted a series of videos to Instagram Stories on Monday, pointing out what she felt was hypocrisy in Western Australia's premier cancelling music festivals while allowing the Perth Cup horse race to go ahead on New Year's Day

'It is so f**king upsetting, like I can't believe how much we claim to be an advanced country, we claim to have all this forward thinking. The horse race is one thing, but cancelling a music festival and letting that prevail, that is...' she said, trailing off

WA Premier Mark McGowan this week revealed new restrictions, including mask wearing and a ban on dancing.

Large public events like music festivals have been cancelled and nightclubs have been closed.

McGowan also revealed those attending the Perth Cup at Ascot Racecourse must prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend.

Ban: WA Premier Mark McGowan revealed those attending the Perth Cup at Ascot Racecourse (pictured) must prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend

This requirement extends to staff at the venue, jockeys, volunteers, contractors and attendees.

Western Australia recorded two new Delta Covid cases after an infected French backpacker visited several locations.

The cases, which were announced on Saturday, come after the state recorded five cases the day before.
Weekend Sunrise host Matt Doran has shared an adorable moment from his wedding with Today show producer Kendall Bora.

The TV star took to Instagram on Monday to share footage of him and his mates chanting the Melbourne FC team song, after they won their first premiership in 57 years.

In the footage, Kendall is seen spooning Matt cake before a number of guests start singing the joyous song.

Funny: Weekend Sunrise presenter Matt Doran shared a hilarious snippet from his wedding with Today show producer Kendall Bora on Monday - as he belted out the Melbourne FC team song. Both pictured

Matt is then seen eagerly joining in as he races towards his best men.

'When your two great loves collide,' he captioned the clips.

Matt was born in Melbourne and attended St Kevin's College in Toorak.

Songs: Matt is then seen eagerly joining in as he races towards his best men. 'When your two great loves collide,' he captioned the clips

Matt and Kendall tied the knot with each other in Berowra Waters, with the couple having a waterfront ceremony.

All eyes were on Kendall who looked stunning in her simple white gown, which she accessorised with small pearl drop earrings.

During the speeches, guest Sam Mac shared a cheeky video of groom Matt trying to cut his mother's speech.

Loved up: Matt and Kendall tied the knot with each other in Berowra Waters, with the couple having a waterfront ceremony

Sam wrote: 'Matthew attempting to executive produce his dear mother Paula during her speech,' along with the hashtag 'groomzilla'.

Matt tied the knot with Kendall after getting engaged last December.

The couple began dating in 2019 after being introduced by mutual friends, but it was a 'slow burn' before things between them developed further.

During the speeches, Sam Mac shared a clip of Matt trying to cut his mother's speech. Sam wrote: 'Matthew attempting to executive produce his dear mother Paula during her speech'

'I wanted somebody low-key, like an accountant. When a friend tried to set me up with Matt, I said, "Absolutely not". He's just too good-looking and too charming,' Kendall said in March.

Kendall was previously in a relationship with celebrity veterinarian Dr. Chris Brown for about two years, before they split sometime in 2018.

Matt dated former MasterChef star Justine Schofield from 2014 to 2017.
Her boyfriend Scott Dobinson came down to London to spend Christmas with her.

And on Monday, Scarlett Moffatt admitted that she wants to 'cry and stay in bed for a week' but didn't say why, as she returned performing in to Panto in the capital after the festive break.

The former Gogglebox star, 31, took to her Instagram Stories where she shared how low she was feeling, but reassured fans she wouldn't let audiences down.

Feeling blue: On Monday, Scarlett Moffatt, 31, admitted that she wants to 'cry and stay in bed for a week' as she returned performing in to Panto in the capital after the festive break

While sitting backstage, dressed in a jewel embellished costume and wearing a head microphone, she shared photographs of herself.

Scarlett wrote over a selfie: 'One of them days when you just want to cry and stay in bed for a week.'

She then added: 'However I will not let people down as I know some people are coming to panto to see me so I shall be there giving off my fairy godmother cheeriness.'

Low: The former Gogglebox star took to her Instagram Stories where she shared how low she was feeling

Putting on a show: Scarlett reassured fans she wouldn't let audiences down

Scarlett's low mood comes just a day after she took to social media to gush about her boyfriend Scott after he came to visit her for Christmas.

The I'm A Celeb star shared loved-up snaps of the pair and wrote: 'Thanks to my bestie and soulmate for coming down so we could celebrate in London together.

'I wasn't feeling 100% as I got the Xmas cold but the day couldn't have been more perfect.'

Festive: Scarlett's low mood comes just a day after she took to social media to gush about her boyfriend Scott after he came to visit her for Christmas

Scarlett hasn't had the easiest year. Back in January, it was reported that her mother Betty stole 50,000 from her daughter's bank account to fund her gambling addiction.

According to reports, the Gogglebox star was left 'betrayed and confused' after her mother allegedly took the money from her account.

Betty, who has been working for Scarlett since her 2016 I'm A Celebrity win, is said to have become 'desperate and panicky' after losing 'thousands every week' from her online gambling habit.
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Brunette bombshell Kaia Gerber sure seems to know how to unwind over the busy holiday season.

The Chanel supermodel, 20, was seen posing in a skimpy string bikini yet again as she relaxed South Of The Border in sunny Cabo San Lucas on Mexico's West Coast.

The 5ft10in looker proved to have one of the most enviable bodies in the business as she highlighted her 24inch waistline in the Juillet design while sunbathing on a white foam lounge chair by a swimming pool.

Bikini babe: Brunette bombshell Kaia Gerber sure seems to know how to unwind over the holiday season. The Chanel supermodel was seen posing in a skimpy string bikini yet again as she relaxed in sunny Cabo San Lucas in Mexico

Also on the luxury vacation was her A list mother Cindy Crawford, 55, and her Casamigos founder father Rande Gerber, 59, who is close friends with George Clooney.

But there was no sign of Kaia's rumoured new love interest Austin Butler, whom she was seen leaving a home with on Friday morning in Los Angeles.

Kaia was wearing her third designer bikini in almost as many days.

The look was a chic mustard yellow color - which was very popular in the 1960s - with a triangle top that had very thin straps over her shoulders.

Teeny lady: The 5ft10in looker proved to have one of the most enviable bodies in the business as she highlighted her 24inch waistline in the Juillet swimwear while taking a break from sunbathing on a white foam lounge chair by a swimming pool

Her shape: Kaia was wearing her third designer bikini in almost as many days. The look was a chic mustard yellow color with a triangle top that had very thin straps over her shoulders. The briefs were worn low on the hips, making the most of the Malibu High School graduate's impressive abs, and seemed to have a thong design on the backside

The briefs were worn low on the hips, making the most of the Malibu High School graduate's impressive abs, and seemed to have a thong design on the backside.

Also on her back were two brown spots which may be tattoos. Kaia already has quite the collection of inkings on her body, including a heart, an angel and the words Strawberry Fields.

Kaia wore a beige straw hat with brown sunglasses as she carried a red book, bottle of mineral water and her white case cell phone.

The budding actress, who has appeared in American Horror Story and Sister Cities, went for a dip in the swimming pool after reading her book.

Apres swim: The budding actress, who has appeared in American Horror Story and Sister Cities, went for a dip in the swimming pool after reading her book

Reaching for that fluffy white towel: The star was dripping wet when she climbed out of the pool and went toward her towel

Mommy and daddy didn't even say hello! Cindy and Rande passed by their only daughter without looking her way

Also on the scene was her mother Cindy, who came to fame in the 1980s and went on to become the number one supermodel in the world thanks to contracts with Revlon and Pepsi.

Cindy still works consistently as a model today in her fifties as she has been able to maintain her good looks.

Crawford, who hails from Illinois, wore a royal blue bikini but most had a wrap over her shape and kept her head down.

The former Playboy cover girl was seen for a brief moment in the hot tub and with a fluffy white towel over her shoulders.

A bod for sin, a brain for biz: The young star has made a point to become a bookworn and even has her own Book Club

She just can't put down that red book! The novel was sunken in her hat and she took several glances at it

The star and her family have been staying at a large lavish estate with several family friends since Thursday.

Over the weekend the Vogue cover model flaunted her cleavage in an orange bandeau and a matching thong that appeared to be wet from a dip in the pool.

Kaia accessorized her laid-back vacation look with a straw sun hat as well as a pair of black sunglasses. The beauty went make-up free for the relaxing day. Her shiny brunette tresses were worn down.

There is the icon in her swimsuit: The legendary runway queen was seen in a royal blue bikini top with a cream colored hat

Enough time in the hot tub: And when the looker got out of the tub, she toweled off alone, showing off her toned back

A beauty in profile: The Fair Game actress was seen putting the towel around her body as she went makeup free

Earlier this weekend the star was seen enjoying yet another sunny day with her model mom and pals.

Kaia surely appreciated some time away from her busy modeling schedule.

The ELLE cover model has much to look forward to in the new year.

She has recently been rumored to be dating actor Butler, 30, after ending her relationship with Euphoria star Jacob Elordi, 24.

The lovebirds are in step: The Becoming author also wore a blue and white coverup and a ring on her index finger

Proud: Crawford has said she is 'proud' of Kaia for having the confidence to act. The 55-year-old supermodel is happy to see her child move into TV and movies

A source divulged to PEOPLE that the model and the actor 'are in fact dating' and that 'all of her friends think they are so adorable' together.

'It's a total step up from her last relationship and she knows it too,' said the insider, referencing Kaia's ex. They continued: 'She seems really happy. All of her friends think he's really cute.'

Kaia and Austin were romantically linked in a series of snapshots obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com over a week ago that showed the pair looking cozy while attending a yoga class in Los Angeles.

Austin used to date another Hollywood actress: High School Musical vet Vanessa Hudgens.

Good mom: In October she told the Tell Me with Ellen Pompeo podcast: 'I'm proud of Kaia because I guess in that way she is more confident than I was at that age. There were certainly things like even in high school I sort of wanted to go out for, [like] the school play. None of my friends were and I didn't know if I'd be good at it, so I didn't do it'

Meanwhile, Kaia seemed quite serious with Jacob.

Kaia said earlier this year she was grateful to have a 'safe and steady relationship' with Jacob.

Speaking about her relationship, she shared: 'Being able to be with someone I trust, where we don't want anything from each other, having a safe, steady relationship like that, has really opened my eyes to the possibilities of love and what it feels like to love without conditions.

'Lust is touching other people or wanting them, but love is really seeing someone.'

And the beauty even got acting tips from the Kissing Booth actor ahead of her acting debut in American Horror Story.

When asked about the advice her boyfriend has given her, she said: 'He's a great person for me to go to because he's gone to drama school and has years of experience that I don't have. So I'm like, "Oh, I'm definitely going to be using you as a resource."'

Her past: Meanwhile, Kaia seemed quite serious with Jacob. Kaia said earlier this year she was grateful to have a 'safe and steady relationship' with Jacob; seen in September in Los Angeles

He appreciates her: In the recent issue of Men's Health, Jacob said that Kaia taught him how to deal with fame

Kaia and Jacob went public with their romance last November, and soon after it was claimed Kaia's famous parents approved of their relationship.

An insider said: 'Jacob is very sweet to Kaia. They are always very loving and cute together.

'It's obvious that Cindy and Rande approve of Jacob too. They spend a lot of time together ... Jacob and Kaia rarely leave Malibu and instead enjoy the beach, go hiking and meet up with friends for dinner.'

In the recent issue of Men's Health, Jacob said that Kaia taught him how to deal with fame. He did not address their split.
Dallas Buyers Club and Big Little Lies director Jean-Marc Vallee reportedly died of a heart attack at his Quebec log cabin and is believed to have lost his life on Christmas Day.

The filmmaker likely died of heart failure on December 25 while preparing to receive guests the following day, multiple sources told Deadline.

Vallee won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies. His 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations.

The filmmaker died suddenly in the cabin outside Quebec City, Canada over the weekend, according to his representative Bumble Ward. He said Vallee's death had been unexpected.

The 58-year-old Canadian was a fitness buff and a teetotaler, meaning he abstained from drugs and alcohol, according to Deadline. He also practiced the Wim Hoff fitness method, which involves 'breathing exercises, meditation, and exposure to cold,' according to its website.

Vallee's family and close advisors are also reportedly 'shocked' by the death, with his producing partner Nathan Ross also confirming passing and paying tribute in a statement.

'Jean-Marc stood for creativity, authenticity and trying things differently. He was a true artist and a generous, loving guy,' Ross said.

'Everyone who worked with him couldn't help but see the talent and vision he possessed. He was a friend, creative partner and an older brother to me,' Ross added. 'The maestro will sorely be missed but it comforts knowing his beautiful style and impactful work he shared with the world will live on.'

Vallee is survived by his two sons  Alex and Emile, whom he shares with ex-wife Chantal Cadieux, a Canadian playwright whom Vallee was married to for more than 15 years, from 1990 to 2006.

He is also survived by siblings Marie-Josee Vallee, Stephane Tousignant and Gerald Vallee.

Jean-Marc Vallee died suddenly outside of his cabin in Quebec City, Canada over the weekend

Jean-Marc Vallee and actor Matthew McConaughey attend the Universal, NBC, Focus Features, E! sponsored by Chrysler viewing and after party with Gold Meets Golden held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 12, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. Vallee received critical acclaim for his direction of the 2013 film Dallas Buyers Club, starring McConaughey

Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallee, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series Big Little Lies and whose 2013 drama Dallas Buyers Club earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died aged 58.

The filmmaker was born in Montreal on March 19, 1963, and studied filmmaking at Quebec University.

He started his career directing music videos and short films in the late 1980s and early 1990s before making his feature film debut with Liste Noire in 1995, which was nominated for several Genie Awards in Canada, including for best picture.

Vallee would go on to direct Los Locos in 1997 for writer-star Mario Van Peebles, Danny Trejo and Rene Auberjonois and 2005's C.R.A.Z.Y. with Michel Cote and Marc-Andre Grondin, before breaking into the mainstream in 2009 with The Young Victoria, written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend.

He next wrote and directed Cafe de Flore in 2011 starring Vanessa Paradis and Evelyne Brochu, before his Oscar-nominated drama Dallas Buyers Club in 2013.

The film told the story of Ron Woodruff, an AIDS patient in the 1980s who smuggled unapproved drugs in an attempt to treat the disease.

The success of the movie, which featured Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto and earned six Academy Awards nominations, including best picture, made Vallee a sought-after name in Hollywood.

Vallee started his career directing music videos and short films in the late 1980s and early 1990s before making his feature film debut with Liste Noire in 1995

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and director Jean-Marc Vallee attend the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and InStyle party at the Windsor Arms Hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 6, 2014, in Toronto.

Vallee, right, is survived by his son Alex, left, as well as a son, Emile

He developed a reputation for his naturalistic approach to filmmaking, and in the decade prior to his death directed stars including Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Vallee followed up Dallas Buyers Club with the 2014 adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's book Wild, starring Witherspoon and Laura Dern, before directing Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts in the 2015 film Demolition.

He then moved to the small screen, directing the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017, and all eight episodes of the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series Sharp Objects, starring Adams, winning Directors Guild of America awards for both.

He was set to direct and executive-produce another limited series for HBO, Gorilla and the Bird, based on a memoir of the same name about a public defender who suffers a psychotic break, according to the New York Times.

In a statement following his passing, HBO executives said: 'Jean-Marc Vallee was a brilliant, fiercely dedicated filmmaker, a truly phenomenal talent who infused every scene with a deeply visceral, emotional truth.

'He was also a hugely caring man who invested his whole self alongside every actor he directed.

'We are shocked at the news of his sudden death, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to his sons, Alex and Emile, his extended family, and his longtime producing partner, Nathan Ross.'

Vallee broke into the mainstream in 2009 with The Young Victoria, written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes, starring Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend (pictured)

Vallee moved to the small screen four years ago, directing the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017 starring Reese Witherspoon (pictured), and all eight episodes of the critically-acclaimed HBO limited series Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams, winning DGA awards for both

He directed Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts in the 2015 film Demolition with Jake Gyllenhaal before moving to the small screen with the first season of Big Little Lies in 2017

Tributes for the late filmmaker have poured in, with the likes of the CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival Cameron Bailey taking to social media to share their memories and pay respects to Vallee

Vallee often shot with natural light and hand-held cameras and gave actors freedom to improvise the script and move around within a scenes location. The crew roamed up and down the Pacific Coast Trail to shoot Witherspoon in 2014's 'Wild.'

'They can move anywhere they want,' the Canadian filmmaker said of his actors in a 2014 interview.

'It's giving the importance to storytelling, emotion, characters. I try not to interfere too much. I don't need to cut performances.

'Often, the cinematographer and I were like, 'This location sucks. It's not very nice. But, hey, that's life.''

And in a 2018 interview with the New York Times, Valle described his work as trying to expose the flaws and imperfections in human nature.

'I see that I seem to be attracted to these stories and to underdog characters,' he said at the time, adding: 'The humanity, the beautiful humanity, is dark.'

Vallee's representative Bumble Ward took to twitter to pay tribute to the late filmmaker

Writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Joshua Axelrod was among those who shared their tributes to Vallee on social media
Oti Mabuse sprung a Christmas surprise on her family as she jetted home for the first time in four years, while reuniting with her mother for the first time in three years.

The Strictly Come Dancing star, 31, surprised her parents Dudu and Peter by secretly travelling home to South Africa for Christmas without telling them.

The professional dancer shared a video of herself sat in Heathrow Airport as she waited to board her flight.

Heartwarming: Oti Mabuse sprung a Christmas surprise on her family as she jetted home for the first time in four years, while reuniting with her mother for the first time in three years

She said: 'I'm on my way home. I haven't been home in four years. I haven't seen my mum in four years, haven't seen my dad in four. She doesn't know I'm coming home.'

The camera then followed Oti on her drive from the airport to her mother's home where she was seen reuniting with her and several other family members.

Alongside the clip, Oti said her mother was 'speechless' when she walked in the door after the pair hadn't seen each other during the flesh amid the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: 'FINALLY AFTER YEARS I WAS ABLE TO GO HOME TO SOUTH AFRICA.

Reunion: The Strictly Come Dancing star, 31, surprised her parents Dudu and Peter by secretly travelling home to South Africa for Christmas without telling them

'Decided to surprise my family and not tell them I'm coming home just to see their expressions, mom was speechless (touched me all to see if I was real, dad couldn't stop smiling and my god mother cried her eyes off)

'To say I was emotional is an absolute understatement I have been waiting 3-4 years to hold my moms, dad, sister, nieces and nephews in my arms and just spend time with them NOT through a screen 

'I rarely share family events but this felt really special to me and I know so many others are in my position and were buzzing when RSA was taken off of the red list.

'Covid has really taught me how much family is above all and should never be taken for granted  Please excuse the coming photo dumps that will be flying your way.'

So sweet: The professional dancer shared a video of herself sat in Heathrow Airport as she waited to board her flight

Surprise: The camera followed Oti on her drive from the airport to her mother's home where she was seen reuniting with her and several other family members

Sweet: Oti was seen embracing a man who appeared to be her father in the video

Family: The professional dancer shares a close bond with her parents, whom she's been separated from for several years (pictured on a video call together)

Several of Ot's fellow Strictly Come Dancing pro dancers commented on the video including Karen Hauer who wrote: 'Beautiful beautiful'.

Giovanni Pernice wrote: 'happy for you babe !!!' while Neil Jones sent several love hearts.

Oti will next be seen on screens in the New Year when she joins the Dancing On Ice judging panel, replacing John Barrowman.

Her new role could see her trade the ballroom for the ice - for good - according to The Metro

Emotional: Oti said her mother was 'speechless' when she walked in the door after the pair hadn't seen each other during the flesh amid the coronavirus pandemic

Reaction: Several of Ot's fellow Strictly Come Dancing pro dancers commented on the video including Karen Hauer who wrote: 'Beautiful beautiful'

Fun in the sun: Oti has since documented her time in South Africa which has included a family trip to Johannesburg

Celebrity PR and publicist Harry Rutter believes it's not likely she'll go back to the Beeb.

'Moves like this don't often happen, but it's more than likely that a very tempting offer was put on the table by ITV bosses.

'Oti has been doing Strictly Come Dancing since 2015 and has built up a substantial audience both on TV and online, this is something ITV would have taken into account,' he said.

A representative for Oti told MailOnline it is 'all speculation.' A Strictly representative declined to comment.
Ant Anstead, 42, was seen attending Christmas mass with his three children Hudson, Amelie and Archie in Laguna Beach, California, for the first time in years.

In the pictures, Ant was walking with his oldest son, Archie, in the streets of Southern California. The father-son duo are dressed casually, wearing jeans and sweaters with white sneakers.

Ant was seen checking his phone while Archie admired a gift that he was carrying. The Brit posted that this is the first Christmas in three years that he was able to spend with all of his children at the same time.

Ant Anstead, 42, was seen on attending Christmas mass with his three children Hudson, Amelie and Archie in Laguna Beach

The Wheeler Dealer's star shares his two oldest children with his ex-wife, Louise Anstead.

They primarily live with her in the U.K., but this year, his children were able to make the trip to the U.S. after last year's Christmas was spent overseas.

Ant and his ex-wife, Christina Haack welcomed their son, Hudson, in 2019. The two were married in 2018 and announced their separation in September 2020.

Ant was first spotted with his current girlfriend in June of this year, 52-year-old actress, Renee Zellweger. The Flip Or Flop star, 38, didn't hesitate to move on either, while she was first seen holding hands with her now-fiance, Joshua Hall in July.

Father-son duo: In the pictures, Ant is walking with his oldest son, Archie, in the streets of Southern California. The father-son duo are dressed casually, wearing jeans and sweaters with white sneakers

The whole family together: 'Movie night with cosy blankets and popcorn. My heart is FULL,' the father-of-three posted to his Instagram on his social media platforms on Thursday night. The picture is Ant and his three children, with their arms around each other and Hudson reaching for a handful of popcorn on their couch in Laguna Beach

Christmas activities: Ant also went on his Instagram stories and posted a picture of his families Christmas stockings over the fireplace and said, 'Perfect day filled with family'

The Christina On The Coast star was active on Instagram over the holiday weekend and showcased the family activities his children participated in.

'Movie night with cosy blankets and popcorn. My heart is FULL,' the father-of-three posted to his Instagram on his social media platforms on Thursday night. The picture is of Ant and his three children, with their arms around each other and Hudson reaching for a handful of popcorn on their couch in Laguna Beach.

Ant also went on his Instagram stories and posted a picture of his families Christmas stockings over the fireplace and said, 'Perfect day filled with family.'
Dame Joan Collins, whose career has spanned over 70 years, has claimed she is not worried about cancel culture since it is 'tragic' and 'boring'.

The actress, 88, questioned 'whether everybody should feel the same way about everything', after being asked about the movement in BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

She also defended Sex And The City's Chris Noth after he was forced to deny multiple sexual abuse allegations over the past month.

'It's just closing down debates': Dame Joan Collins, 88, has claimed she is not worried about cancel culture while branding it it 'tragic' and 'boring' (pictured in November 2021)

The Dynasty star said: 'I don't worry about it. I think it is tragic that people can get cancelled for having an opposite opinion to one that is currently en vogue.

'It is just closing down debates, closing down interesting conversations. Why should everybody feel the same way about everything? It is very boring really.'

Joan also recalled how she handled 'predatory' men during her early days in the movie industry, decades before the Me Too movement would emerge.

The Golden Globe winner - whose dad had warned her of such encounters - revealed: 'It didn't just start when I went to Hollywood.

Tough: Joan also recalled how she handled 'predatory' men during her early days in the movie industry, decades before the Me Too movement would emerge (pictured circa 1960)

'I started in the business at 16 and it started then. I coped with it by laughing a lot. Men cannot stand it when you laugh at them.'

Following Chris's fourth allegation of unwanted sexual advances, she said during the podcast: 'Who knows what he did?

'I know him and I am not going to judge him because who knows who these women are? But his career is wrecked, absolutely wrecked from doing what he did.'

Chris has vehemently denied claims that he raped and sexually assaulted two women - although he admitted to having 'consensual encounters' with them.

Both of which are understood to have taken place while he was in a relationship with his wife, Tara Wilson.

He was fired from the CBS drama series The Equalizer after the allegations were levelled against him.
She has been given the all clear to film The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills after testing positive - then negative - for COVID-19 earlier this month.

But Erika Jayne was still in homebody mode as she enjoyed a day eating food at home in her sweats and slippers.

The reality star, 50, was spotted picking up food delivered straight to her doorstep in Los Angeles on Monday.

Quarantine mode: Erika Jayne enjoyed a day eating food at her LA home in her sweats and slippers on Sunday

Erika put comfort first in a grey Champion sweatshirt, matching sweatpants, and fluffy slippers.

The reality star pulled her blonde locks up into no-fuss, stylish bun. A pair of edgy black-and-gold sunglasses ramped up the style factor.

Her loyal dog stood obediently by her feet as she opened the gate door to retrieve the bag of food.

Last week TMZ reported Erika, Lisa Rinna, and Garcelle Beauvais were back shooting scenes for RHOBH after testing negative for COVID.

Don't sweat it: Erika put comfort first in a grey Champion sweatshirt, matching sweatpants, and fluffy slippers

All three of the women tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, grinding production on the series to a halt, according to People.

But after completing quarantine, the women returned to the camera last week, according to TMZ.

They are set to break for holiday but production will return after.

At the time of their COVID diagnosis, TMZ reported the three women were all vaccinated and experiencing mild symptoms.

Good dog: Jayne's pooch remained obediently by her side as she reached for the delivery

'The girls who are sick are trying to take care of themselves. The other cast members are nervous now that they might have it. Production is taking every precaution to keep people safe,' a source said to People magazine.

In addition to the three stars, a crew member working on the show tested positive. Producers placed the show on a two-week hiatus to re-evaluate production.

Once everyone returns, everyone will be tested multiple times before arriving onto the set, which was already the protocol in place, according to TMZ.

Party crashers: After news broke of her COVID diagnosis, Erika posted a silly meme capturing her and Lisa wearing their pajamas and bathrobes along with the caption 'Delta and Omicron showing up to ruin everyone's plans'

Soon after news of the diagnosis broke, Garcelle confirmed on her Instagram she did test positive for the virus.

'Hey guys, Happy Monday. Well, I hope it's a good Monday for you. I found out that I tested positive for Covid,' she said in the video. 'I feel OK, I'm sure I will continue to feel OK.

'My boys are being tested; so far they have tested negative and we're going to continue testing them. Send movie or TV recommendations because I will be quarantining for the next few days, well not few  probably 10.'

'This stuff is crazy. Be careful out there. Be safe. Who knows, I may show up on Girl Chat via Zoom on The Real. I'm gonna miss the girls. Alright, take care you guys. Be safe.'

After news broke of her COVID diagnosis, Erika posted a silly meme capturing her and Lisa wearing their pajamas and bathrobes along with the caption 'Delta and Omicron showing up to ruin everyone's plans.'

She also posted muted video of her shooting season 12 of RHOBH last week, though did not indicate when exactly it was filmed.
Cynthia Nixon has taken a swipe at the original Sex And The City series, claiming it was 'tone deaf' on race and gender issues - despite the spin-off receiving criticism for being 'woke and dull.'

The actress, 55, who confirmed her own daughter was transgender in 2018, has reprised her role as Miranda Hobbes for new spin-off series ...And Just Like That.

And Cynthia, happily married education activist Christine Marinoni since 2012, said she was reluctant to return for the new reboot unless the creators made it more diverse.

Consequently the show has been given a woke makeover, with Miranda - now a woman in her '50s - experiencing a sexual awakening and embarking on a same-sex fling.

In an interview with News Corp published by the Herald Sun, she said: 'But the more I talked to Sarah Jessica [Parker], [writer-creator] Michael Patrick King, and Kristin [Davis], about the things that I couldnt go back without  a real sea change in terms of the lack of diversity in the original series, they were on board,' she said.

She added: 'Im very proud of the original series  despite it being occasionally tone deaf on race and gender.'

Progressive: Cynthia Nixon has taken a swipe at the original Sex And The City series, claiming it was 'tone deaf' on race and gender issues as she defends the show's woke reboot

In a previous interview with Elle UK last week, Nixon referred to the new show's 'breath-taking' new cast of non-white and gender diverse characters.

'Its part of the reason we wanted to do the show  to go back and [undo] the things that we really got wrong,' she told the magazine.

The actress has also discussed her relationship with real-life son Samuel, 23, who she revealed was transgender in June 2018.

Speaking to Alan Cumming and Chris Sweeney on the Homo Sapiens podcast, she said: 'Before I ever had an inkling my kid might be trans I read a really extensive article [about] all of these parents of pre-pubescent kids who were really struggling with this.

'There was one dad who said At a certain point, the decision seemed to me I could have a dead son or a live daughter and its like, after you say that, what more is there to say?

AND JUST LIKE THAT... THE (SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS) STORY SO FAR 1. Carrie Bradshaw, once a flighty New York City columnist, is now an advocate for 'cisgender women' - girls whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth - and devotes her time to a podcast on the subject 2. With the new series embracing a modern outlook on gender and sexuality, new characters include non-binary stand-up comedian and podcast host Che Diaz, played by Sarah Ramirez All change: Carrie Bradshaw, once a flighty New York City columnist, is now an advocate for 'cisgender women' 3. Miranda is prone to bouts of racial 'microaggression' - a term used for commonplace daily verbal, behavioral or environmental slights that suggest negative attitudes towards maginalised groups 4. Miranda also experiences a woke sexual awakening and embarks on a same-sex fling with Che, despite being a married woman in her '50s 5. Another fresh storyline sees Charlotte's daughter Lily explore her own sexuality, and the possibility that she might be transgender 6. Meanwhile Charlotte is keen to diversify her dinner parties by inviting as many of her black friends as possible Here we go: Miranda also experiences a woke sexual awakening and embarks on a same-sex fling, despite being in her '50s Advertisement

Devoted: The former Sex and the City star previously opened up about parenthood to son Samuel, 23, who she revealed was transgender in June 2018 (pictured above)

'You can make all the arguments that you want but the fact is, as a parent, as a human, you should listen to what people tell you about themselves.

Samuel was born Samantha Mozes in November 1996 to Cynthia and her then-partner and college sweetheart Danny Mozes.

Touching on sexuality, the star, who is married to Christine Marinoni and is a advocate for LGBTQ rights, Cynthia said: 'Its different but its the same as when you think about 30/40 years ago and more, the arguments given to gay people that This is just a phase, Youre gonna grow out of this.'

For you: Cynthia has been happily married to Christine Marinoni since 2012

LOOK AWAY CARRIE, THE REVIEWS ARE IN! 'There are far too many 2021 cultural touchstones and new characters are awkwardly parachuted into the luscious looking ... revival of sorts, as if to check a box' - Deadline 'The zippy, intimate, charmingly featherlight landmark HBO series of yore has been replaced by yet another bloated streaming-service grief-com' - The Washington Post 'It reduces the original characters to a baffled trio trying to negotiate a strange new world, as if the only thing ageing has to offer us (or women at least) is confusion and failure' - The Guardian '[It] tries to update its sassy turn-of-the-century sensibility for an era of diversity, [and] is painful' - The New York Post Look away Carrie: The new spin-off has not enjoyed the same reception as Sex And The City, in part because of its perceived wokeness Advertisement

... And Just Like That has received a mixed response and some brutal reviews that brand Carrie Bradshaw's return to screens 'grim', 'awkward' and a 'painful downer'.

The new series sees three of the four original leading ladies reuniting, with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Nixon reprising their roles as Carrie, Charlotte York, and Miranda Hobbes.

But it seems the on-screen star power was not enough to wow critics, who wasted no time in slamming the show's lack of humor, overly-woke storylines, and 'awkward' plotlines following the premiere of the first two episodes in December.

According to the New York Times, the 'cringey' series has 'lost its touch,' with writer James Poniewozik claiming that it felt more like two shows than one - one that he called a 'downer' and the other that he described as a 'painful' attempt to update the original show.

'One, which tries to grow with the women as they navigate their 50s and mortality, is a downer, but it takes risks and in moments is very good,' he wrote.

'The other, which tries to update its sassy turn-of-the-century sensibility for an era of diversity, is painful.'

He added that the show felt 'oddly paced and grim, without quite managing catharsis,' and that it's 'unfortunate jokes' about today's issues (like the coronavirus pandemic) did not help.

Impressed: Miranda's sexual awakening during a recent episode of And Just Like That... when she shared a steamy moment with bisexual Che Diaz, has been lauded by fans of the Sex And The City reboot

Delighted: Fans of the show appeared to be receptive to her sexual awakening

Deadline wrote in its review that it felt like the 'problematic' series added the 'awkward' new characters in an attempt to 'check a box,' and slammed executive producer Michael Patrick King for not updating the original characters enough.

'There are far too many 2021 cultural touchstones and new characters are awkwardly parachuted into the luscious looking ... revival of sorts, as if to check a box,' they wrote.

'Additionally, far too many of the original characters (now in the dusk of middle age) in the show ... are pretty much unchanged from who they were all those years ago  which is true and problematic.'

Intense: While the scene was no doubt a nod to Miranda's heavily hinted alcoholism, she was also seen having an intense exchange with Che once inside the club

Close: The pair leaned in for a kiss during a recent episode of the Sex And The City spin-off

The Washington Post author Inkoo Kang called the 'aggressive and exhausting' show a total 'bummer' and 'disappointment.'

She even dissed the showrunners for trying to 'play catch up' and 'generate headlines.'

She wrote: 'The zippy, intimate, charmingly featherlight landmark HBO series of yore has been replaced by yet another bloated streaming-service grief-com, the latest piece of intellectual property back in zombie form to generate headlines, pique nostalgia and ultimately disappoint us.

'In previous iterations, its moments of emotional groundedness and deepening characterization had hit as hard as they did because of their contrast to the shows essential tutu-cavorting buoyancy - a fact that the sequel misses entirely.

'Detracting even more from the shows innate sense of fun is its many mea culpas for the criticisms the show has received since its departure from the air nearly 20 years ago. If Sex and the City once drove the culture, its playing catch-up now.'

The Guardian also called the show 'terrible,' and claimed that it 'reduced' the formerly-iconic trio into 'confused failures.'

Blast from the past! 'Im very proud of the original series  despite it being occasionally tone deaf on race and gender,' she said. (Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kim Cattrall pictured in 1998)

However Miranda's sexual awakening during a recent episode, when she shared a steamy moment with bisexual Che Diaz, has been lauded by fans of the Sex And The City reboot.

After watching episode three, entitled When In Rome, fans praised the storyline, declared they were 'happy she is finally coming out' and admitted the sex-positive scene made them feel 'tearful'.

Although Miranda is in a hetrosexual marriage with Steve in the series, they rejoiced that Miranda was finally able to live as her authentic self.

One person wrote: 'We always knew Miranda was gay. I'm happy she finally coming out.'

Another said: 'After screaming 'you're gay!' at Miranda for years I cried when she finally got her gay awakening.'

Divided: The show has received a mixed response and some brutal reviews that brand Carrie Bradshaw's return to screens 'grim', 'awkward' and a 'painful downer'

Welcome back: The new series sees three of the four original leading ladies reuniting, among them Miranda Hobbes

A third person shared several images of Miranda from the series so far and wrote: 'Miranda's gay awakening era so true.'

A different viewer wrote: 'Miranda and Che [series of eye emojis]', hinting at a potential romantic relationship between the two characters.

Another posted a picture of Melissa McCarthy doing a heart symbol and wrote: 'Me watching Miranda come into her late in life Queerness!'

Elsewhere another viewer joked: 'My mentioned how Carrie went home to her apartment and I was like??? Anything post Miranda's gay awakening did not register with me.'

Awkward: Reviews of the revival branded the reboot a 'misfire' as it struggled to find its place in 'woke' times, something the show has been heavily criticised for over the years

Diversity: Nixon has praised the reboot's diverse new cast of non-white and gender non-conforming characters. (Pictured with LeRoy McClain, Sara Ramirez, and Karen Pittman)

New characters in the spin-off series include Lisa Todd Wexley (played by Nicole Ari Parker), who is a a documentarian married to a successful hedge fund manager (played by Hamilton's Christopher Jackson) and Dr. Nya Wallace (played by Karen Pittman), a Columbia Law professor.

Nixon admitted that the problematic nature of the original series concerned her going into the revival, but that she was relieved once she spoke to Michael Patrick King about giving the series a 'sea change'.

'As wonderful as SATC is, to do that show right now would be incredibly tone-deaf. So I was really worried that the transformation wouldn't be big enough, and my fears are very allayed,' she said.

The 10-episode reboot began airing earlier this month after obstacles including filming during the pandemic, and the absence of series regular Kim Cattrall, 65, from the show after she fell out with Parker.

Episodes of the reboot have seen many nods to political correctness and sensitivity - with the characters discussing racial microaggressions, gender identity and sexuality.

New star: Nonbinary queer Mexican-American actor Sarah Ramirez (pictured) plays Che Diaz in the reboot, a nonbinary stand-up comedian who hosts a podcast with Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw

Discussing the reboot's new take, Kristin Davis recently explained: 'We had this idea to come back in this way we've come back with a new kind of broader world.'

Referring to the new characters, she added: 'They're so brilliantly cast and they have such an interesting point of view.'

Nixon added: 'Michael Patrick [King, the series director] really focused on the heart of each of these characters and also their connection to each other. He's so funny but also he goes for the gut punch every time.'

Meanwhile, Sarah Jessica Parker noted: 'We're back because we want to be. Nobody dragged us back, this is a hard fought choice.

'We want to be here to tell this story in this way and invite all these new people.'
Paris Hilton cut a glamorous figure as she continued to enjoy her seven-week long honeymoon with husband Carter Reum in London.

The media personality, 40, spent some of the festive period in the UK capital as she and businessman Carter, also 40, celebrated their recent nuptials.

Paris looked incredible during one evening outing as she donned a black long-sleeved midi dress with a polka dot print.

Wow: Paris Hilton cut a glamorous figure as she continued to enjoy her seven-week long honeymoon with husband Carter Reum in London

The garment also featured a sheer detail while the former reality star added height to her frame with a pair of black heels.

In another look, Paris wrapped up in a long-sleeved red mini dress which she wore with black tights.

Posing alongside her beau, the star styled her blonde locks into a ponytail and also sported a pair of black ankle boots.

Carter sported a navy shirt along with a matching pair of jeans while he wrapped up in a black jacket.

Loved-up: The media personality, 40, spent some of the festive period in the UK capital as she and businessman Carter, also 40, celebrated their recent nuptials

In another snap, Paris posed in a pale blue midi dress with a pastel floral print and a high leg split.

The couple's London trip follows their recent excursion to Anguilla in the Caribbean after their November wedding.

During a recent episode of her This Is Paris podcast, the star revealed: 'We've just been working so hard that we've actually decided to take a seven-week honeymoon.'

She added: 'It's Thanksgiving and Christmas and we've been working so hard so we've decided to enjoy.'

Outfit: In one look, Paris wrapped up in a long-sleeved red mini dress which she wore with black tights

The couple said their 'I do's' at her family's Bel-Air estate last month, in front of a host of A-list guests, including Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie, Emma Roberts, and Ashley Benson.

After the event, Paris, who had been engaged three times before Carter popped the question earlier this year, also opened up about the overwhelming emotion she felt during her wedding.

She wrote on her website: 'I told [Carter] he couldn't cry, because then I'd start crying and I would ruin my mascara before my walk.

'Of course, he did cry, but I think I started crying first. It was a Cinderella moment and I knew I found my true love.

Style: In another snap, Paris posed in a pale blue midi dress with a pastel floral print and a high leg split

Travel: The couple's London trip follows their recent excursion to Anguilla in the Caribbean after their November wedding

'I had a glam refresh after because if I walked the aisle with all that mascara running down my face, it would've been beyond.'

For the ceremony, Paris modelled an elegant long-sleeved lace dress designed by Oscar de la Renta, complete with a lengthy floral-embellished veil that trailed down along the floor as she walked down the aisle.

For their honeymoon, Paris was seen wowing in a pink bikini and matching billowing mesh top.

The couple struck a number of poses kissing one another before frolicking around in the sea.
Jeff Lewis contracted a 'really bad' case of COVID-19 after throwing a 'superspreader' Christmas party where a third of guests later tested positive.

The party, which was held at the Los Angeles home of Real Housewives Of Miami vet Lea Black on December 21, saw guests such as Jeff's co-host Megan Weaver, assistant Shane Douglas, on-off boyfriend Scott Anderson, actress Monika Casey, and Shahs of Sunset star Mercedeh Javid Feight all testing positive after the bash.

On his SirisuXM show Jeff Lewis Live!, the Bravo star, 51, recounted the chain of events leading up to his positive test result and how his fever spiked to 104 degrees before he sought monoclonal antibody therapy.

'I don't regret it': Jeff Lewis contracted a 'really bad' case of COVID-19 after throwing a 'superspreader' Christmas party where a third of guests later tested positive

'Thursday is when everyone started testing positive,' Jeff said. 'A third of us got it. And we also have people with symptoms who haven't been tested yet.'

Despite the sheer number of people testing positive, Jeff has no regrets throwing the party.

'I don't regret [it], by the way,' Jeff said. 'That was an epic party. It was so worth almost dying for!'

Jeff also shot back at people who were calling him 'reckless' for throwing the party in the first place, insisting he took precautions to ensure the safety of his guests.

'We had a nurse there testing all of us': Jeff also shot back at people who were calling him 'reckless' for throwing the party in the first place, insisting he took precautions to ensure the safety of his guests; pictured January 2021

'People are saying we're reckless and stupid. No we're not, f**kers,' Jeff said. 'We were all vaccinated and we had a nurse there testing all of us before we even went in the door I thought we were being responsible.'

But even with a medical professional screening the vaccinated guests, Jeff still tested positive.

Jeff said he started to feel unwell several days after the party while attending a Christmas Eve dinner with his family. He tested negative prior to arriving to the dinner but left early once his symptoms started to kick in.

Bravo stars: Lewis launched to stardom on the Bravo series Flipping out

'Christmas Eve, I tested negative, so I went to my family's Christmas Eve dinner,' he said. 'I did wear a mask and I stayed distanced Then I started feeling sick at dinner. I went home early.'

Things got bad the next day when Jeff's temperature spiked to 104 degrees.

'By the next day I was in pretty bad shape,' the Bravo star continued. 'My fever went up to 103.8. I was able to get it down to 102 then it soared to 104.5, which is insane. Scottie took a bowl of ice water and was putting cloths on my body to try to bring the temperature down.

'There was no sweat whatsoever, I was just radiating heat. I was a little delirious and I told him, "I think you're going to wake up tomorrow and I'm going to be dead."'

Co-host Megan was not spared from experiencing some painful symptoms: 'I was in a ball, shaking, chills, body aches, the whole thing,' she recalled.

'I don't want her to get sick': Jeff is still isolating himself away from his daughter Monroe, four, who is currently with her father Gage Edward amid his recovery

Jeff credited monoclonal antibody treatment for helping to turn his symptoms around.

'MJ found a doctor he saved our lives. He brought monoclonal antibody therapy,' he said. 'I thought he was a miracle worker. He said this is saved for the most extreme cases, like you have to be hospitalized, but I frankly didn't want to be hospitalized  I wanted to get it before then. So I decided to go ahead and do it, before I was hospitalized.'

Within 12 hours, Jeff said he started to feel improvement.

'I would say I felt better within 12 hours,' Jeff said. 'I still have the diarrhea, and I still have the cough and I still have the chills but at least I don't have the fever anymore.'

Jeff is still isolating himself away from his daughter Monroe, four, who is currently with her father Gage Edward amid his recovery.

'I don't want her to get sick and I also don't want to take care of her because I don't have any nannies,' he said, as several of his housecleaners and nannies had also tested positive.

'I'm down to two and if anything happens to those two, I'm not going to be able to feed myself I don't know who is going to be able to take care of me!'

Jeff shot to stardom with his own Bravo series Flipping Out, which aired from 2007 to 2018.

In September, he announced plans to add another child to his family after finding a new surrogate.
While Bengaluru international airport is closer to Anantapur and is main flight arrival point for Sathya Sai devotees to Puttaparthi, employees to KIA Motors India and also RDT persons to Anantapur district, the administration was put on an alert over possible spread of the new variant.  Representational image/PTI

ANANTAPUR: The Anantapur administration has sounded an alert after the first positive case of Omicron variant was reported from the district  it being a UK returnee, who reached Anantapur via Bengaluru international airport on December 18.

The district administration has sent samples of the foreign returnee after the passenger tested C-positive on December 21, to the CCMB for test to ascertain if it was a case of Omicron variant. Sources said the Omicron variant was detected from the traveler by the CCMB late on Saturday.

The 51-year-old foreign returnee arrived at Bengaluru international airport and later reached Anantapur. District health office was alerted over the C-positive case of the new variant and the patient was kept under observation in quarantine. In addition, the medical authorities were at work tracing the contacts of the patient to avoid further spread of the virus. The health condition of the patient, however, was stable.

Though three samples of Covid positive cases were sent for CCMB prior to the arrival of the foreign-returnee, the trio reportedly tested negative for Omicron. Still, results for five more samples from CCMB were awaited in Anantapur district.

While Bengaluru international airport is closer to Anantapur and is main flight arrival point for Sathya Sai devotees to Puttaparthi, employees to KIA Motors India and also RDT persons to Anantapur district, the administration was put on an alert over possible spread of the new variant.

Official records show so far 1,290 foreign returnees arrived

in various parts of Anantapur district in the recent days and 1,200 of them were identified while the teams were on search for the whereabouts of the remaining 90 foreign returns.

In a related development, the Karnataka government announced a night curfew in the state from December 28 for a period of ten days following the rise of Omicron variant cases. While the Karnataka government decided to effect restrictions on the borders of Kerala and Maharashtra, the AP government also directed the border areas to take all necessary steps.

Anantapur district administration has started taking action by collecting random samples at the border check posts and is keen on completion of 100 per cent vaccination for all people in the border areas through special drives.
It is the responsibility of the managements of pubs and bars to make arrangements to provide drivers and cabs to customers, an official of the city police said.  Representational image/DC

Hyderabad: Wine dealers and promoters of various establishments are stating that it was nearly impossible to maintain Covid norms that have been announced by the government inside pubs and restaurants. Self-restraint is the only way to tackle the spread of the disease, they said.

The government had on Saturday reiterated that masks were compulsory in places where people gather and insisted on physical distancing, among other measures.

Venkat Dalapathi of Wine Dealers Association said, How many customers will adhere to the guidelines. It is difficult to maintain protocols inside such places, he pointed out.

The fast-spreading Omicron variant of coronavirus is another worry.

At the start of the year, the food and beverages industry was looking forward to the New Year as recovery looked promising. However, the second wave came as a surprise and now the new variant is indicating the possibility of a third wave, said the manager of a popular bar-cum-restaurant.

December accounts for about 20 per cent of the years food and beverage revenue, he said.

Hyderabad police commissioner C.V. Anand said that ground-level enforcement has been intensified and teams will be formed to tackle Covid violations on New Year eve.

Anand said that a meeting will be held in a day to chalk-out measures to curb Covid violations on December 31. We have asked both traffic and law and order police to intensify enforcement, he said.

Cyberabad police commissioner Stephen Ravindra said that discussions are on to form teams for the same.

Regardless of the Covid situation, regular rules for pubs will be in place. It is the responsibility of the managements of pubs and bars to make arrangements to provide drivers and cabs to customers, an official of the city police said.

The sound levels have to be below 45 decibels. Organizers have been warned against allowing firearms at any event, the official said.

The state governments order on Covid protocols at places of public gathering said events involving congregation of people must ensure physical distancing and wearing masks, thermometers/thermal scanners should be arranged at the entry point to scan everyone.
Vijayawada: Chief Minister Jagan has directed the health authorities to expedite the Covid19 vaccination and called for a door-to-door campaign to ensure all targeted groups get fully vaccinated in the state.

The CM chaired a high-level meeting with health minister Srinivas and top officials at his camp office here on Monday. The CM laid stress on finding out as to who remained unvaccinated during the fever survey and giving them the jabs.

Referring to the Centres directive to give booster C-dose to the frontline workers and those aged above 60 and those with comorbidities, the CM asked officials to act fast. Follow the norm of Test Early, Trace Early and Treat Early, he said, and underlined the need to take up a door-to-door fever survey in the state.



He called for keeping a close tab on international travellers and subjecting them to an RT-PCR test on them. He said they Covid test must be done on them repeatedly to ensure there will not be any spread from their part.

In case they tested Covid positive, all their primary contact also should be tested for Covid, the CM said.

Jagan said the health authorities must be prepared to face any health emergency in the context of the pandemic spread, even by getting the private hospitals in a state of readiness, along with government hospitals, to handle any eventuality.

The officials informed the CM that AP so far registered six cases of Omicron. None of the infected persons had to be hospitalised as the symptoms were mild. Yet, keep a close tab on the arrivals of people from other areas, Jagan said.

The officials informed the CM that they had covered 98.96 per cent of the targeted population for the first dose of Covid jab and 71.76 per cent for the second dose in the state. Districts like Nellore, Vizianagaram, Prakasam, Anantapur, West Godavari, Kurnool and Chittoor achieved cent per cent target in first dose Covid jab.

The officials said the fresh jabs would cover 75 lakh people, also including those aged between 15 and 18 years getting the first dose of the vaccine.

The CM reviewed the progress in implementation of the Nadu-Nadu programme in government hospitals in the state and felt the need to speed up construction works for the new medical colleges. He also reviewed the works for developing medical hubs in the state and called for completion of these expeditiously.

Jagan gave the green signal for general transfers in the health department and stressed the need to ensure adequate numbers of health staff are available in every hospital in the state by February and complete recruitment of health staff by that time.
Owaisi had announced that his party will contest 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. (Photo: PTI/File)

Shamli: If the Yogi Adityanath government returns to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second term, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will start wearing Hindus' sacred thread 'janeu', worn across the shoulder, and chanting Lord Ram's name, a UP minister said on Sunday.

This will be in the line of leaders like Rahul Gandhi wearing 'janeu' and Akhilesh Yadav visiting Hanuman temples to pay his obeisance amid the strengthening BJP's ideology, UP's Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary asserted.

Chaudhary, who hails from Moradabad and is a member of the state's Legislative Council, made the remark at a youths' meet in Shamli.

Chaudhary reiterated his remark about Owaisi to the PTI, saying it is bound to happen.

Asked what makes him feel that Owaisi will start wearing janeu, he said, "We are taking our agenda forward. Due to this agenda, Akhilesh Yadav has begun going to Hanuman temples and offering prayers.

Due to this agenda, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has begun wearing 'janeu' and telling his 'gotra' to one and all, the minister said.

This is the impact of our ideology due to which people have left their own agendas and started following ours, he said.

Those who used to indulge in appeasement and speak about minorities only, those who did not accept the existence of Lord Ram and had given an affidavit in the court that Ram was an imaginary figure, have begun wearing 'janeu' and visiting temples," he asserted.

In September 2007, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or the other characters in Ramayana.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Archaeological Survey of India had rejected the claim of the existence of the Ram Sethu bridge in ancient times, linking to India's southernmost tip to Sri Lanka.

When contacted, Owaisi told PTI, "What is wrong with you people? If someone makes an obnoxious statement, you want my reaction? What type of reaction do you want from me? I don't want to comment on such mad statements."

Owaisi had announced that his party will contest 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections.

He is currently engaged in the poll campaigning for his prospective party's candidates, crisscrossing the state, particularly the Muslim-dominated areas, and exhorting them to develop their own leadership for their welfare.
Thiruvananthapuram: At least sixteen accused have been confirmed in connection with the murder of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) State Secretary KS Shaan, informed Alappuzha Superintendent of Police (SP) G Jayadev on Monday.

"Sixteen accused have been confirmed in the case so far but the numbers can rise further. There are more people behind the conspiracy," said Jayadev.

Jayadev further said, "We need to look into the conspiracy and find out other involvement as well. We can only confirm it with more proof and statements."

"Seven people have been arrested in the preliminary investigation but it is a major feat, it will need further investigation," he added.

Kerala Police on Saturday arrested seven more people in connection with the murder of KS Shaan. So far, a total of 10 accused have been arrested in the SDPI leader's murder case.

According to the police, Shaan was on a two-wheeler when a gang in a car attacked him on Saturday night. SDPI has alleged that RSS workers are behind this attack.

Earlier, an RSS worker S Sanjith was hacked to death allegedly by the workers of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political wing of the PFI, on November 15.
Telanganas overall performance, as well as incremental performance on various parameters, put it in the third place among larger states, behind Kerala and Tamil Nadu. (Representational image: Twitter)

Hyderabad: Telangana has emerged as one of the two states that demonstrated strong overall performance and showed most improvements on various health services parameters, according to the Niti Aayog. The top planning body in the country said Mizoram and Telangana were the only two states that demonstrated strong overall performance and showed most improvements in between the 2018-19, and 2019-20.

Niti Aayog also said Telangana was among the top three states in the country in overall performance in the health sector. In its report, Healthy States Progressive India released on Monday, the Niti Aayog said among the larger states, Telanganas overall performance, as well as incremental performance on various parameters, put it in the third place among larger states, behind Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

In its previous report for 2018-19, the Niti Aayog had placed Telangana in the fourth place in the country.

The state attained universal full immunisation of children and total case notification of tuberculosis; had fully functional first referral units, and all primary health centres (PHC) and urban PHCs were functioning as health and wellness centres, it said. The state also had operation theatres and labour rooms in all district hospitals, and had no vacancies of auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) in sub-centres and medical officers in PHCs, the Niti Aayog report said.

Meanwhile, health minister T. Harish Rao welcomed the Niti Aayog findings, and said Telangana, under the directions of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, was making significant progress on all aspects of healthcare. The state had been strengthening infrastructure and services in all government hospitals which were serving more and more people, for treating a wide spectrum of health issues, he said.
Currently, there are 21 night shelters in GHMC limits and seven of them are located inside the premises of government hospitals, including OGH, ENT hospital, Niloufer, Mahavir, NIMS, Koti maternity hospital and Nampally government hospital. GHMC has no dedicated shelter home in the Old City, from where most of the shelter-less are found in GHMC limits.  Representational image/AP

Hyderabad: It may sound bizarre but the fact is that Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has not set up even one shelter home for the homeless in Old City till date.

Despite directions from the High Court, authorities from the civic body have ignored the issue despite a crying demand for it.

As a result, orphans, destitute, senior citizens and beggars occupy benches at bus stands, under flyovers or wait for shop owners to down their shutters so that they could occupy the footpath. Many citizens have been complaining about the nuisance so created.

"I frequently travel by bus from MJ Market to Falaknuma. When I got down near Charminar, I was dismayed that most of the space at bus shelters was occupied by beggars or ailing elderly people. Added to that is the foul-smell that emanates because people use them as open urinals," Mohammed Akram, a private employee, said.

G. Rajesh, RTC conductor at Falaknuma depot, said, "Passengers have been complaining about the shelterless occupying benches in our depots and bus stops in the Old City. Commuters complain that they cannot sit on the benches as they are always occupied by the homeless."

"Life without food and shelter is hell. It will worsen if even now the GHMC does not build shelter homes. During my interaction with such homeless people, I found that most were orphans or senior citizens thrown out by their children. This is a very serious issue and needs to be resolved soon,'' said B Madhusudhan Reddy, a social worker.

When contacted Ashok Samrat, GHMC zonal commissioner refused to comment.

Currently, there are 21 night shelters in GHMC limits and seven of them are located inside the premises of government hospitals, including OGH, ENT hospital, Niloufer, Mahavir, NIMS, Koti maternity hospital and Nampally government hospital. GHMC has no dedicated shelter home in the Old City, from where most of the shelter-less are found in GHMC limits.

The civic body has also failed to implement its 2016 decision to construct 300 ultra-modern bus-bays.
During arguments, Venkatesh, counsel for Raju, submitted that evidence in the cases could be tampered as Jagan Mohan Reddy, the main accused in the cases, is in a high position. .  Facebook

Hyderabad: The Telangana High court on Monday questioned YSRCP rebel MP Kanumuri Raghurama Krishnam Raju why he was taking the judicial route to settle political scores.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, while dealing with Rajus petition, in which he urged the court to cancel the bail granted to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, wanted Raju to come clear on why he had filed the petition.

When the CBI has no grievances in asking to cancel the bail granted to the respondent (Jagan), then why is the petitioner, as a third party, seeking cancellation of the bail,'' the judge wondered.

Cases against Jagan Mohan Reddy were registered by CBI regarding cases pertaining to disproportionate assets and quid pro quo allegations. When the CBI court at Hyderabad rejected his plea, Raju approached the High Court.

During arguments, Venkatesh, counsel for Raju, submitted that evidence in the cases could be tampered as Jagan Mohan Reddy, the main accused in the cases, is in a high position. The court sought to know the intentions of the petitioner in filing the present petition.

After hearing the contentions of both sides, Justice Bhuyan reserved orders.
The pandemic will itself continue, but we can hope that it does not do the damage that it did either in 2020 or in 2021. (Representational Image/ PTI)

Someone observed that the last two years seem as one. We began 2020 with the Covid-19 pandemic and are ending 2021 with it but thats not the only similarity. Internal turmoil, tension at the border and an economy that was limping since 2017 seem to all be with us more or less permanently. What can we expect from 2022? Let us consider this.

Perhaps we should begin from the place that has become frozen in time: Kashmir. We undid the constitutional guarantees that the Kashmiris had but were unable to deliver to them anything that was better. They are not democratically governed today (the only such part of the country), nobody has invested there, the Kashmiri Pandits have not returned and the violence remains. This year saw more killings than each year from 2011 to 2015, and there is no sign that this will abate. We have lost interest from there and moved on as a nation. Few know that the main mosque of Srinagar is closed for Friday prayers. The government worries that if it is allowed, what the people feel will be expressed. In 2022, we should expect this to continue because so far as is visible, India has no real plan for Kashmir.

Ladakh might see a thaw on the border if recent news is to be believed. This disengagement will be on Chinas terms, purely because we have not accepted that there is intrusion so from our side there is no pressure for a return to the status quo ante of February 2020. That is very difficult terrain and it is quite certain that both sides, which are there in the tens of thousands, are suffering.

Given this, and the fact that China apparently has got what it wanted -- which is access up to the 1959 claim line -- we should see some lessening of tension on their terms. The small group of people who write on national security will say that this is a setback, but since the government controls the narrative almost entirely, this will not matter. Meanwhile, our alliance with the United States, Australia and Japan against China has more or less ended and America has aligned on security against China with Australia and Britain.

On the economy, there is no pressure on the government to perform. We can say this because a decline in GDP growth had been noticed since January 2018 and continued for two years and three months before the Covid-19 pandemic and the first lockdown. So, the trouble we are in is unrelated to the pandemic. Next year our GDP output will be the same size as it was before the pandemic, but before the pandemic we were already struggling for a long time. That will continue. Two of the main causes of this will continue to puzzle economists. First, the fact that Indias rate of labour participation (those working or looking for work) is among the lowest in the world. Second, that private consumption, the largest component of GDP by far, remains at pre-pandemic levels and shows no signs of revival.

Politically, we have plenty of action. States that will have new Assemblies include Gujarat, Punjab, Goa and Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has been in a permanent majority in Gujarat for a quarter century and has had over a 40 per cent vote share in UP, meaning that the odds are that it will retain the state. The presidential election also lies ahead in 2022, just after UP.

What else? The Central Vista will be inaugurated, or at least some part of it, and substantial work will have been done on the Ram temple in Ayodhya. There will be more pageantry of the sort that we saw in Kashi earlier this year, for those who like that sort of thing.

There are currently few or no protesters on long-term agitations in India, which is the first time that this has happened since the beginning of 2020. But the entire Northeast is rebelling against the AFSPA and the Central government will have to ensure that this doesnt turn into a problem in a part of the country that is always restive. Nagalands Assembly (including all the BJP members) recently passed a unanimous resolution against the laws continuance in their state. It will be a stark comment on democracy in the Northeast if New Delhi chooses to impose itself despite this vote. We shall see.

The pandemic will itself continue, but we can hope that it does not do the damage that it did either in 2020 or in 2021. It may have escaped the attention of many people but there will be substantial long-term damage to India because of the lack of access to education for a whole generation of children. How many have the ability to learn from home and have the equipment to allow them to do so? The majority do not and their learning will suffer, so this is one part of the pandemic that we will carry with us into the future.

It has been a very hard last four years for India on most fronts. The wish is that 2022, if not bring us into happier times, at least sees some easing of the pain.
Apple supplier Foxconn's plant near Chennai will stay shut for three more days, a senior government official said, extending a week-long closure following workers' protests sparked by a food poisoning incident.

The plant is expected to start production with 1,000 workers on December 30, according to the person close to the matter who was not authorised to speak with the media and declined to be identified.

A separate government source had said last week that the plant was closed on December 18 and was expected to remain shut until December 26.

The gates of the factory, which is on the outskirts of the southern city of Chennai, were open on Monday morning and some vehicles were moving in and out but the area was mostly deserted.

The plant makes iPhone 12 models, and media reports have said Apple has started trial production of its flagship iPhone 13 at the factory recently.

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The Banks Board Bureau (BBB), the headhunter for state-owned banks and financial institutions, has invited applications for the post of managing director and chief executive director of Union Bank of India for a three-year term.

The post of MD and CEO would fall vacant at Mumbai-based Union Bank of India upon retirement of Rajkiran Rai G in May 2022. The three-year term begins from the date of taking charge and will be subject to the normal age of superannuation of 60 years, BBB said in an advertisement inviting the application.

As per the Banking Regulation Act, the upper age limit for the managing director of nationalised banks is 60 years. Rai was appointed the Managing Director of Union Bank of India on July 1, 2017, for a period of three-years till June 30, 2020.

He was given a two-year extension last year. As eligibility criteria, BBB said Indian nationals, age 45 to 57 years, with an exemplary track record should apply with minimum 15 years experience in mainstream banking of which at least one year should be at the board level.

The last date for submitting the complete online application is January 28, 2022, it added. Set up in 2016, the Banks Board Bureau is the advisory body formed by the government for selection of candidates for top-level board appointments.

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The union cabinet has announced a Rs 76,000-crore Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to boost the production of semiconductors in the country. This is the fourteenth PLI to be introduced since April 2020 when the first such scheme was announced for smartphone companies. The PLIs have been touted as the key to realising the ambitious dream of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and creating jobs  tasks that the government has struggled to accomplish. So what exactly are these PLIs? And how will they help India become a global manufacturing hub?

What is a PLI?

As the name suggests, a PLI is the sum of government incentives that are directly linked to manufacturing performance. The more goods companies manufacture in India the better incentives they will get. The incentives are of diverse types: subsidies, monetary benefits, etc. The government offers PLIs to both foreign manufacturers and domestic companies. While foreign manufacturers are encouraged to start production in India, domestic companies are asked to expand their operations and export. In all, the government will spend Rs 3,46,827 crore on these 14 PLI schemes. The government estimates that the minimum production in India as a result of the PLIs will reach Rs 37.5 lakh crore ($500 billion) in five years.

Why are these incentives needed?

After Covid-19 struck the world in early 2020 and various measures of containment were introduced to stop the spread of the deadly virus, it was crystal clear that most countries, including India, were overly dependent on China for hardware, electronic components and medicines. India then introduced the PLI scheme to promote indigenous production, reduce dependence on a single market or geographical region, cut down on imports and make domestic industries globally competitive. Since manufacturing is a capital-intensive industry and has a long gestation period, incentivising capital-rich global firms to set up facilities for incremental output makes more sense, say experts. This apart, the schemes will help create more than one crore jobs, according to the commerce ministry.

Which industries have received PLI approvals?

The first scheme was notified on April 1, 2020, for the large-scale production of electronic/technology products with a special focus on mobile phones. It has a total outlay of Rs 40,995 crore ($5.7 billion) over five years, which translates to 4-6% of incremental sales (sales generated as a direct result of the PLI as opposed to the normal sales). The PLI envisages the production of 100 crore mobile phones worth Rs 14.25 lakh crore by 2025.

Similar PLIs were subsequently launched for 13 other sunrise and strategic sectors: auto components, automobiles, aviation (drones), chemicals, food processing, medical devices, metals and mining, pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, telecom, textile & apparel, white goods (consumer durables) and semiconductors.

Who decides which sector needs incentives?

It's the NITI Aayog, Indias apex public policy think tank, which makes recommendations to the union cabinet after detailed deliberations with the ministries or departments concerned.

Which are the notable companies that have received PLI approvals?

In the IT hardware sector, companies like Dell, Wistron and Foxconn have received PLI approvals. For the telecom PLI, Foxconn, Nokia and Dixon are some notable names.

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Oil prices were mixed on Monday, with Brent inching higher while US crude futures slipped after airlines called off thousands of flights in the United States over Christmas holidays amid surging Covid-19 infections.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 63 cents, or 0.9%, to $73.16 a barrel by 0510 GMT. The contract did not trade on Friday because US markets were closed for the Christmas holiday.

Brent crude rose 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $76.34 a barrel after settling down 0.92% on Friday.

Both contracts jumped 3% to 4% last week after early data suggested that the Omicron variant of Covid-19 may cause a milder level of illness.

However, the highly transmissible variant is causing Covid-19 case numbers to surge across the world.

In the past three days, thousands of passengers travelling during Christmas have been stranded after US airlines cancelled flights due to Covid-related staffing shortages.

"Lower travel equalling lower economic activity in the US equals lower WTI, the US oil benchmark," said OANDA analyst Jeffrey Halley said.

Oil markets, in general, remain cautious about near-term demand, market watchers said.

"Though Omicron is spreading faster than any Covid-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving (piece of) news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, as least so far," said Leona Liu, an analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.

"That said, oil prices did suffer for the Omicron concerns, but the downside pressure may ease if the variant is proved to be milder," she added.

In Europe, natural gas prices touched record highs last week on tight supplies, supporting Brent crude prices.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the European Union can only blame its own policies for record gas prices, saying some of its members resell cheap Russian gas at much higher prices within the bloc.

Looking ahead, oil investors are focused on the next OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, will meet to decide whether to go ahead with a 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) production increase in February.

Russia believes oil prices are unlikely to change significantly next year with demand recovering to pre-pandemic levels only by the end of 2022, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

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Superstar Salman Khan on Monday said there is a possibility that he and his close friend superstar Shah Rukh Khan might come together for a film, after the duo will be seen making extended appearances in their upcoming movies, Tiger 3 and Pathan, respectively.

Yash Raj Films' Tiger 3 is the next chapter in the spy action-thriller franchise, which will see Salman and Katrina Kaif reprise their roles as agents Tiger and Zoya. The film will also star Emraan Hashmi as the antagonist.

YRF is also backing Shah Rukh-led actioner Pathan, which will feature Salman in an extended cameo.

There were reports that the films will be a part of YRF's 'spy universe', which will ultimately bring its heroes for a movie together.

Also read | Birthday special: Five reasons why Salman Khan continues to be Bollywood's undisputed 'Sultan'

During a media interaction outside his Panvel farmhouse, where he is celebrating his 56th birthday, Salman said Tiger 3 would release by December 2022 and teased the possibility of him and Shah Rukh teaming up for another project.

"We are coming together in 'Tiger' and 'Pathan'. 'Tiger 3' should be released by December 2022, before that 'Pathan' will release. Then maybe both of us will come together," the actor told reporters.

Tiger 3 is helmed by Maneesh Sharma of Fan and Band Baaja Baaraat fame, while Pathan is directed by War helmer Siddharth Anand.

Pathan marks Shah Rukh's first film after 2018 romantic-drama Zero, in which Salman also had a cameo.

During the media interaction, Salman confirmed he will be filming for his recently announced Bajrangi Bhaijaan sequel after he finishes two of his projects, Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali and the second installment of the hit comedy No Entry.

The actor said the follow-up of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", being written by veteran screenwriter KV Vijayendra Prasad, who also wrote the story for the 2015 original, will be titled "Pavanputra Bhaijaan".

Directed by Kabir Khan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan featured Salman as a man, who embarks on a journey to take a mute six-year-old Pakistani girl, (Harshaali Malhotra) separated in India from her parents, back to her hometown in the neighbouring country.

Salman said as of now he does not have any plans to work with filmmaker SS Rajamouli, son of Prasad, but is looking forward to the sequel "Bajrangi...", which was a much-loved comedy drama.

"No, there is nothing like that (a film with Rajamouli). If it happens it will be great as he is an extremely good director. But I am definitely working with his father, KV Vijayendra Prasad. He had written the script of 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' and he is now writing its sequel too, and has named it 'Pavanputra Bhaijaan'.

"As soon as he completes it, and I complete shooting two films... (we will begin). Once 'Tiger 3' is over, then perhaps 'No Entry' sequel might begin, then 'Kabhi Eid Kabhi Diwali'. Once these are done, I will begin the film," he added.

Directed by Anees Bazmee, No Entry was a hit comedy which featured an ensemble cast of Salman, Anil Kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol, and Celina Jaitley with Bipasha Basu in an extended cameo.

Salman said he will spend a few days at this farmhouse with his close friends and family -- all of whom are together after conducting due COVID-19 tests -- and will then resume work on Tiger 3
A shocking video showing a crossbow-wielding man threatening to "assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre" has emerged, after a 19-year-old who scaled the Windsor Castle's spiked fence was sectioned, the Daily Mail reported.

The footage, which was obtained by The Sun, shows the man, thought to be the arrested suspect, holding a black crossbow and using a distorted voice as he makes threats down the camera.

The suspect, identified as Jaswant Singh Chail, uploaded the pre-recorded video to Snapchat on Christmas Day, 24 minutes before a man was arrested by the police inside the grounds of Windsor Castle. Known to friends as Jas, he used a filter to distort his voice and wore a hoodie and mask, an outfit thought to be inspired by the Star Wars, the Daily Mail report reported.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done and what I will do. I will attempt to assassinate Elizabeth, Queen of the Royal Family. This is revenge for those who have died in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre. It is also revenge for those who have been killed, humiliated and discriminated because of their race. I'm an Indian Sikh, a Sith. My name was Jaswant Singh Chail, my name is Darth Jones," he says in the video.

Also Read  UK police arrest man over trespass in grounds of Queen Elizabeth's castle

Sith may be a reference to the leading villains in Star Wars while Darth Jones may relate to James Earl Jones, who voiced Darth Vader. A framed picture of Star Wars character Darth Malgus was visible in the background of the clip, according to the Daily Mail report.

The police confirmed that a crossbow was found after the intruder was detained on December 25 in the castle grounds while the Queen was in residence. The police will be looking at how the intruder was able to scale the spiked perimeter fence surrounding the Berkshire castle's grounds in the first place.

It is believed he had a makeshift ladder to gain access from the Long Walk, which Royals frequently use because of its proximity to the Queen's private apartments, the report said.

Alongside the video, a message was also sent on Snapchat which said: "I'm sorry to all of those who I have wronged or lied to. If you have received this then my death is near. Please share this with whoever and if possible get it to the news if they're interested."

The suspect, who the police have not yet named, was later sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

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On the front line of the superpower struggle between the United States and China, Taiwan has fashioned a defensive masterstroke. It has become indispensable to both sides.

In dominating the fabrication of the most advanced semiconductors, the giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) has captured a technology that's crucial to the cutting-edge digital devices and weapons of today and tomorrow. TSMC accounts for more than 90 per cent of global output of these chips, according to industry estimates.

Both superpowers now find themselves deeply dependent on the small island at the centre of their increasingly tense rivalry.

For Washington, allowing an increasingly powerful China to overrun TSMC's foundries in a conflict would threaten US military and technological leadership. However, if Beijing invades, there is no guarantee it could seize the prized foundries intact. They could easily become a casualty of the fighting, severing the supply of chips to China's vast electronics industry. Even if the foundries survived a Chinese takeover, they would almost certainly be cut off from a global supply chain essential to their output.

Also Read  Samsung takes over Intel as top chipmaker by revenue: Report

Both America and China want to break their dependency. Washington has persuaded TSMC to open a US foundry that will make advanced semiconductors and is preparing to spend billions rebuilding its domestic chip-making industry. Beijing, too, is spending big, but its chip industry lags a decade or so behind Taiwan's in many key areas. Analysts say that gap is expected to widen in the years ahead.

So valuable are these foundries to the global economy that some in Taiwan refer to the chip sector as a "silicon shield" that deters a Chinese attack and ensures American support.

In an interview, Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua told Reuters in September that the industry is deeply intertwined with the island's future. "This isn't just about our economic safety," she said. "It appears to be connected to our national security, too."

In a later statement, the ministry played down the silicon-shield theory. "Rather than saying that the chip industry is Taiwan's 'Silicon Shield,' the statement said, "It is more appropriate to say that Taiwan has an important position in the global supply chain."

The danger for Taiwan is that TSMC's fabs, as the chip fabrication plants are known, are right in the line of fire.

The foundries are located on the narrow plain along Taiwan's west coast facing China, some 130 kilometres away, at the nearest point. Most are close to so-called red beaches, considered by military strategists as likely landing sites for a Chinese invasion. TSMC's headquarters and surrounding cluster of fabs at Hsinchu in northwest Taiwan are just 12 kilometres from the coast.

The industry's vulnerability was on display in July last year, when Taiwan mobilised thousands of troops to fight off a simulated Chinese attack on the west coast industrial city of Taichung, home to TSMC's Gigafab 15, one of the foundries that make cutting-edge chips.

In the counter-invasion exercise, "enemy" paratroopers dropped on Ching Chuan Kang airbase and captured the control tower, just nine minutes' drive from Gigafab 15. Off the coast, a virtual Chinese invasion flotilla steamed towards the city's beaches. Fighting enveloped Taichung as Taiwanese troops and tanks counterattacked to regain control of the air-base; commanders called in airstrikes, missiles and artillery, using live ammunition to pound the "invasion fleet." The invasion was repulsed.

Also Read  Karnataka seen as biggest beneficiary of renewed push to woo chipmakers

In mocking the exercise scenario, reports in China's state-controlled media reinforced the potential for destruction: Waves of missile strikes would destroy the island's forces before a Chinese landing, they said.

China's defence ministry and the Taiwan Affairs Office didn't respond to questions for this story.

Asked about the threat to the island's fabrication plants, the Taiwan economy ministry said that in "the past 50 years, China has never given up trying to use force to control Taiwan, but its aim is not the semiconductor industry." Taiwan, it added, had the ability to "face and manage this risk."

TSMC did not answer specific questions about the exposure of its foundries. In a statement, it emphasised that the chip industry is global and relies on design, raw materials, equipment and other services from several regions and many specialized companies. "Therefore, rather than one company or one region, global collaboration is vital for semiconductor industry success," the company said.

American anxiety

As China ratchets up its military intimidation of Taiwan, Washington is signalling an anxiety over US chip dependency.

"The big concern in Washington is the possibility of Beijing gaining control of Taiwan's semiconductor capacity," said Martijn Rasser, a former senior intelligence officer and analyst at the US Central Intelligence Agency. "It would be a devastating blow for the American economy and the ability of the US military to field its (weapon) platforms," said Rasser, now a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

In one of the Biden administration's clearest statements on the need to resist a Chinese attack on Taiwan, a top Pentagon official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 8 that the island's semiconductors were a key reason why Taiwan's security was "so important to the United States."

A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council had no comment on the chip vulnerability, but said Washington "would regard any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific."

Taiwan's chip supremacy, while clearly a strategic advantage, might not be enough to deter China from trying to take the island by force, some warn.

The deep economic interdependence among the nations of Europe failed to prevent war in 1914, said retired US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Wallace Gregson, a former assistant secretary of defence in the Obama administration. While the semiconductor industry is "thoroughly beneficial" to the island's security, Gregson said, it's questionable whether this would prevent conflict once the "dogs of war get loose."

What's more, he added that Chinese President Xi Jinping has staked his legacy on bringing Taiwan under Beijing's control. "He can't be seen to compromise, much less back down," Gregson said. "He is tied to this achievement."

Also Read  India, Taiwan eyeing to firm up free-trade pact, looking at setting up semiconductor hub

At risk for China and America is access to chips that power almost all advanced military and civilian technologies, including mobile phones and the medical diagnostic and research tools that have been invaluable in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

The most advanced chips, which are critical in the U.S.-China arms race, are those described as 10 nanometers or below  the sector dominated by Taiwan. These tiny devices pack billions of electronic components in an area as small as a few square millimetres.

A major US worry is losing ground in the race to use artificial intelligence in weaponry. AI enables machines to outperform humans at solving problems and making decisions. It is expected to revolutionise warfare, and it hinges on semiconductors.

In a March report to Congress, the bi-partisan National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence warned that the threat to TSMC exposed a glaring vulnerability. Taiwan produced the "vast majority of cutting-edge chips" a short distance from America's "principal strategic competitor," the report said. "If a potential adversary bests the United States in semiconductors over the long term or suddenly cuts off US access to cutting-edge chips entirely, it could gain the upper hand in every domain of warfare."

Also Read  Intel to invest $7 billion in new plant in Malaysia, creating 9,000 jobs

Much is at stake for Beijing, too. The loss of chips from Taiwan would crush Chinese industry. China accounts for 60 per cent of world semiconductor demand, according to an October 2020 report from the Congressional Research Service. More than 90 per cent of semiconductors used in China are imported or manufactured locally by foreign suppliers, the report said.

Taiwan is a critical supplier. In the first quarter this year, nearly half of Taiwan's exports to China, the island's largest trading partner, were semiconductors, a 33 per cent increase from the same period last year, according to data from the island's economy ministry.

The global chip shortage caused by supply disruptions amid the Covid-19 pandemic is giving a foretaste of the havoc a Taiwan conflict would wreak. The loss of a single year's output from Taiwan would bring the international electronic supply chain to a halt, according to an April report from Boston Consulting Group and the Semiconductor Industry Association, the lobby for the US industry.

The contours of this silicon stand-off, with both China and America dependent on Taiwan, began taking shape decades ago as a consequence of US and Taiwanese policy choices. The US semiconductor sector remains dominant in many ways, through its leadership in research, development and design. It accounts for almost half of revenues in a global industry worth an estimated $452 billion this year. But America has largely outsourced manufacturing of advanced chips, mostly to Taiwan.

Breakfast breakthrough

Taiwan's rise as chip power dates back to a breakfast in early 1974 at a downtown Taipei eatery known for its soy milk and steam buns, according to an account by the island's Industrial Technology Research Institute.

A Chinese-born executive from a leading US tech company, Radio Corporation of America, discussed a bold idea with Taiwanese officials  build a semiconductor industry from scratch on the island. Taipei struck a tech-transfer agreement with RCA and sent engineers to work there.

"Back then, no one knew these technologies would become so important," said Chen Liang-gee, who served as Taiwan's Science and Technology Minister until May 2020.

In 1985, Chinese-born engineer Morris Chang, a 25-year veteran of another US semiconductor power, Texas Instruments Inc, was recruited to head the technology development in Taiwan. In 1987, Chang founded TSMC with the government as the major shareholder.

Chang made a decision that reshaped the global industry; he decided that TSMC would be a pure foundry, making chips for other companies. Orders poured in from western makers who wanted to focus on design and cut costs.

Also Read  Chip shortage situation has eased by 25%: IESA

Today, TSMC has the eleventh-highest market capitalisation of any listed business. This year, it plans to outlay about $30 billion in capital investment, dwarfing Taiwan's $16 billion defence budget.

In a speech in Taipei in April, Chang likened Taiwan's chip industry to a "holy mountain range protecting the country," a phrase popular in Taiwan that is used to describe TSMC's pivotal role in the island's economy. "I used it to make my point that it would be very difficult for Taiwan to create another company with TSMC's influence," Chang told Reuters.

Taiwan now accounts for 92 per cent of the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity, according to the April report from Boston Consulting and the Semiconductor Industry Association. South Korea holds the remaining 8 per cent.

The challenge for China

Early on, Taiwan protected this crown jewel. In the late 1990s, then-President Lee Teng-hui imposed curbs on the island's high-tech companies doing business in China to ensure they didn't offshore their best technology. The restrictions have been relaxed, but TSMC and its peers remain barred from building their most advanced foundries in China.

"Looking back now, the industry supply chain could have been entirely moved there," said Chen, the former Taiwan tech minister.

Under Xi, China has set a goal of self-sufficiency in manufacturing advanced chips, dubbed by some as "great semiconductor leap forward." The Taiwanese curbs aren't the only obstacle to Xi's vision. Also at play are two other factors -- a US-led effort to limit tech transfers to China, and the sheer complexity of fabricating advanced semiconductors.

America and its allies have for decades imposed chip technology barriers on China, mostly aimed at curbing Beijing's development of advanced weaponry. The United States maintains a list of specific chip technology that requires a license for export, and restricts tech exports to China's leading chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation.

SMIC did not respond to questions from Reuters.

Also Read  Japan, US draw up plan for possible Taiwan emergency

The controls on SMIC are tailored to block items needed to produce advanced chips of 10 nanometers or smaller. So far, China mostly produces lower-end chips for consumer electronics. A key tool in this containment strategy is the Wassenaar Arrangement, a voluntary pact among 42 nations to curb the spread of "dual-use" technology, with both commercial and military applications. Under Wassenaar, Washington and its allies have harmonised controls over the flow of chip technology to China.

The most significant restriction is on equipment that uses extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light beams. This light is generated by lasers and focused by mirrors to layout ultra-thin circuits on silicon wafers. EUV is at the bleeding edge of semiconductor manufacturing. It allows chipmakers to build faster and more powerful microprocessors and memory chips.

According to Kevin Wolf, a former assistant secretary of commerce in the Obama administration, the EUV curbs are aimed at blocking China's effort to produce 5-nanometer chips  currently the state of the art  or even more advanced semiconductors now under development.

For China's economic planners, semiconductor independence is a top priority. The aim is what's known as a "closed loop," analysts say, with domestic companies responsible for the entire sector, including raw materials, research, chip design, manufacturing and packaging.

This is a huge challenge for any economy because the existing global supply chain for chips is so complex, involving hundreds of materials and chemicals, more than 50 types of high-tech equipment, and thousands of suppliers across Europe, North America and Asia.

A Biden administration review of US supply-chain vulnerability reported in June that Beijing was directing $100 billion in subsidies to its chip industry, including the development of 60 new plants. Some of this spending has already led to huge losses, however, with a spate of bankruptcies, loan defaults and abandoned projects.

Even if China were able to acquire foreign technology and direct money into better-run projects, there's no guarantee it would succeed in advanced chips, say US, Japanese, Dutch and Taiwanese semiconductor industry veterans.

Advanced chip making is among the most complex manufacturing processes yet devised, they say. Fabricating chips takes three to four months and over a thousand manufacturing processes. It must be done in a pristine environment and requires precision equipment that manipulates particles on sub-atomic levels.

Also Read  Tata Group in talks with Taiwanese companies for chip-making project: Report

China also faces a talent gap. It has recruited engineers and technicians from Taiwan, South Korea and America. But these efforts have yet to deliver major breakthroughs. Companies like TSMC have huge teams of specialists for a vast array of processes. Poaching individual experts can only deliver gains in niches of the craft, industry executives say.

These elite professionals are the most important asset of Taiwan's chip industry, says retired Navy Captain Chang Ching, a research fellow at the Taipei-based Society for Strategic Studies. "If it invades Taiwan, the Communist army will do its best to protect the personnel working in the tech sector," he said.

Having relinquished chip fabrication to Taiwan, America is now trying to reverse that move. The US AI commission called for the government to spend $35 billion in incentives to rebuild a chip manufacturing industry. But Taiwan says it has no intention of surrendering primacy.

TSMC has begun trial production of what will be its most advanced chip, using so-called 3-nanometer technology. And it has launched an R&D drive to make 2-nanometer chips.

Between now and 2025, local and foreign companies plan to invest more than T$3 trillion ($108 billion) in Taiwan's chip industry, according to Kung Ming-hsin, head of the island's economic planning agency, the National Development Council.

After this splurge on factories and equipment, Kung said, "Taiwan's semiconductor industry will have very few competitors."

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The death toll from the suicide attack in the eastern city of Beni, on the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern border with Uganda, has risen to seven, officials said Sunday.

The Christmas Day bombing at a crowded nightspot in the city centre also wounded 20 people, according to the updated toll issued by the authorities.

The military officers currently running the city under the state of emergency have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the deadliest armed groups in the region, for the attack.

"At the current time, the provisional toll comes to eight dead, including a captain of the 22nd brigade who was at the restaurant with his wife and children," as well as the suicide bomber, said Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya.

Also Read | Congo officials fear more attacks after suicide bombing

Among the wounded were two young girls, two young boys, two women with fractures to their legs and two seriously wounded women, he added. Two local officials were also among the wounded.

Lieutenant General Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu, said identification of the bomber was difficult because of the state of the body but he remained confident it could be done.

North Kivu province sits just south of Ituri province and on DR Congo's border with Uganda.

Both provinces have been under a "state of siege" since May, during which Congo's army has taken control to facilitate operations against the ADF and other militia operating there.

On November 30, the DRC and Uganda launched a joint operation against the ADF in the east of the country to try to quell the bloody ADF attacks. Uganda has also blamed the group for a string of attacks on its territory.

The ADF was historically a Ugandan rebel coalition whose biggest group comprised Muslims opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

But it established itself in eastern DRC in 1995, becoming the deadliest of scores of outlawed forces in the troubled region.

It has been blamed for the killings of thousands of civilians over the past decade in the DRC, as well as for bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

The Islamic State group presents the ADF as its regional branch -- the Islamic State Central Africa Province, or ISCAP.

On March 11 this year, the United States placed the ADF on its list of "terrorist groups" affiliated with IS jihadists.

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In a pine forest not far from Ukraines capital, a mock battle raged. Commanders barked orders. Figures in camouflage huddled behind trees. A soldier fell to the ground, yelling for help.

His cries provided the cue for Anastasia Biloshitska, 25, to run into the line of fire, kneel in the mud and open her medical kit.

People who are prepared wont panic, Biloshitska said.

Biloshitska is one of thousands of Ukrainian civilians who have signed up to learn combat skills in training programs created and run by the government and private paramilitary groups. The programs are part of the countrys strategic defense plan in the event of a potential invasion by Russia  to foster a civilian resistance that can carry on the fight if the Ukrainian military is overwhelmed.

Also Read | Putin wants to destroy Ukraine: Kiev security supremo

There is no indication that President Vladimir Putin of Russia has made up his mind whether to launch an attack. But if one should come, even Ukraines own generals say their regular military stands little chance in a full-fledged invasion.

So Ukraine has drawn a lesson from the United States wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the past two decades, when guerrillas provided enduring resistance in the face of vastly superior US firepower.

We have a strong army, but not strong enough to defend against Russia, said Marta Yuzkiv, a doctor working in clinical research, who signed up for training this month. If we are occupied, and I hope that doesnt happen, we will become the national resistance.

Government-sponsored training for civilians has underpinned Nordic and Swiss military strategies for decades, and is gaining traction as a military doctrine in Eastern Europe.

Spurred on by Russian threats, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania all have programs encouraging rifle ownership for some civilians and formal training to fight as partisans after an occupation.

Also Read | Vladimir Putin warns West of military measures over Ukraine threats

Nearly every weekend in Estonia, for example, the Defense League, a self-defense organisation, holds exercises in the forests for volunteers, right down to making improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, the weapon that plagued the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Civilian defense is not unfamiliar in Ukraine; volunteer brigades formed the backbone of the countrys force in the east in 2014, the first year of the war against Russian separatists, when the Ukrainian military was in shambles.

This effort is now being formalised into units of the newly formed Territorial Defense Forces, a part of the military. Last year, the Ukrainian army began weekend training for civilian volunteers in these units.

The government runs, and pays for, some of the training sessions through the Territorial Defense Forces. Private paramilitary groups like the Ukrainian Legion run other sessions, for which their members pay all the costs. The legion conducted the program in the forest outside Kyiv earlier this month.

The goal is not to achieve victory against the weight of the Russian military, which would be virtually impossible for Ukraine anyway. Rather it is to create the threat of disruption and resistance to an occupying force that would serve as a deterrent to an invasion.

Gen. Anatoliy Barhylevych, deputy commander of Ukraines ground forces, has said the country aims to turn out about 100,000 volunteers in the event of conflict. But a spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Forces said he could not disclose how many people had formally enlisted in the training programs.

Opinion surveys suggest some support for the effort. A poll this fall, for example, showed 24 per cent of Ukrainians saying they would resist with a weapon in hand if Russia invaded. Among men, 39 per cent said they would resist with weapons. Ukrainians have taken to posting selfies on social media holding rifles.

Ukrainian commanders say that half a million Ukrainians have military experience and that they hope many would join a fight, including those belonging to private groups like Ukrainian Legion.

But skeptics say that this is partly bluster and that the Ukrainian command could hardly count on a flood of veterans becoming insurgents.

In the forest, shrouded in a bitter-cold morning mist, schoolteachers, accountants, waitresses and programmers spilled out of Toyotas and Fords and made their way to the training sessions.

At one picnic area, the lesson of the day was topical, if nerve-rattling: how to screw a fuse into the slab of high explosives of an anti-tank mine.

We dont have many Javelins, and the Russians have a lot of tanks, said Mykhailo Hiraldo-Ramires, the instructor. The Javelin is a type of American anti-tank missile that the United States has provided to the Ukrainian army in limited numbers. We will get them with these so-called pancakes instead.

Hiraldo-Ramires demonstrated how to install and arm the detonator, using a model of a mine. This requires removing a metal safety ribbon and pushing a button that when depressed makes a startling snapping noise, indicating the mine is armed. After you do that, he said, you should move back to a safe distance.

Ihor Gribenoshko, 56, an advertising executive at a pharmaceutical company, took notes. The more coffins we send back, the more the Russian people will start thinking twice, he said.

The Ukrainian Legion does not distribute weapons and instead encourages members to train with their own rifles. It also does not explain how the explosives would wind up in civilian hands. But members said they keep rucksacks in their homes packed with walkie talkies, medical kits, sleeping bags and warm clothes  ready at a moments notice.

Critics point to perils in the plan for civilian defense. One concern is that domestic political divisions could spark violence from armed militias. Some scenarios envision Moscow seizing on this vulnerability, turning nationalist militias into a destabilising threat to the government.

In an invasion, these groups could quickly turn into a decentralised insurgency in many parts of the country, a study of scenarios for war between Ukraine and Russia by the Institute for the Study of War in Washington noted.

Others worry that the effort encourages private gun ownership, which carries risks in crime, suicide and domestic violence. Ukrainian law requires a psychological examination to obtain a gun license. In a country of about 40 million, 1.3 million Ukrainians own licensed civilian firearms, according to the Ministry of Interior.

The civilian training include lectures as well as hands-on sessions. Earlier this month, the day before the program in the forest, about 100 people filed into a concert hall in an outlying district of Kyiv, griping about the limited on-street parking and lining up at a vending machine for coffee.

They came for a nearly two-hour lecture sponsored by the Territorial Defense Forces on likely plans of attack on Kyiv  including armored columns rolling in on highways or paratroopers seizing the airport  by Lt. Yuri Matviyenko, a former Ukrainian military attache to Israel.

Expect a fast storming, he said. We wont have much time.

He described how the volunteers might resist based on the tactics of Islamist militias in Aleppo, Syria. The volunteers should use their knowledge of their own neighborhoods to move close to the Russian soldiers, leaving too little separation to call in airstrikes or artillery, he said.

The next day, out in the pine forest, Biloshitska  who studied to be a teacher but is now working as a waitress  examined the man playing the role of a casualty as she trained to provide first aid. It did not look good. Small strips of red duct tape indicated multiple wounds. Pressure was applied. Gauze came out. A mock radio call took place.

Artillery! One! Two! Three! an instructor yelled. Biloshitska tumbled to the ground, taking cover, than sprang back up to stanch the bleeding.

On a typical weekend, Biloshitska said, she might read a book, do laundry or meet a friend at a coffee shop. Learning to dress battle wounds was a new experience.

Biloshitska treated an area marked as an exit wound on the mans back. Finally, panting, sweating and surrounded by discarded bandages and medical gloves, she was finished. How do you feel? she asked the man.

Terrible, he said. I was shot in the chest.

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Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday withdrew statements that he said created an avoidable controversy.

"At a program held in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt two days ago, I spoke on the subject of Hindu Revival in Bharat. Certain statements from my speech has regrettably created an avoidable controversy. I therefore unconditionally withdraw the statements," Surya said in a tweet.

At a program held in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt two days ago, I spoke on the subject of Hindu Revival in Bharat. Certain statements from my speech has regrettably created an avoidable controversy. I therefore unconditionally withdraw the statements.  Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) December 27, 2021

The BJP Yuva Morcha president, however, did not specify which statement he is withdrawing from his hour-long speech.

One portion of his speech that went viral has him calling upon Hindus to bring converted Muslims and Christians back into the Hindu fold. Surya urged Hindus to dream of the impossible to reconvert those who left Hinduism and embraced other religions.

Also Read | Dream big, 'reconvert' Pakistanis to Hinduism: Tejasvi Surya

"It's not just re-converting those Muslims or Christians near our homes. It should be our priority to convert those Muslims in today's Pakistan to Hinduism," Surya said, adding that when this happens "we will have Pakistan back in the geography".

He also urged temples and mutts to set targets and reconvert people.

Surya's comments came against the backdrop of the Karnataka Assembly passing the controversial anti-conversion Bill in the recently-concluded winter session of legislature. The Bill is not yet a law as it is pending passage in the Legislative Council.

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Former Punjab chief minister and leader of the newly floated Punjab Lok Congress Amarinder Singh on Monday met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda in New Delhi.

The BJP has announced that it will contest the Punjab Assembly polls in alliance with Singh's party.

Also read: EC to discuss Covid situation with top health officials

The meeting is underway at Shah's residence where all three are present.

Singh has been meeting various BJP leaders to chalk out a strategy for the Punjab elections.

Both parties are expected to take various offshoots of the Akali Dal on board and forge a bigger alliance.
The Centre on Monday asked the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur to ramp up vaccination and exponentially increase testing in order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and avert a surge in infections during the forthcoming assembly polls in the five states.

The Election Commission too reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the five poll-bound states amid speculation that the Omicron variant might trigger a third wave of the pandemic.

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan briefed the Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and the two other Election Commissioners, Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey, on the Covid-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, where assembly polls would take place in February-March next year.

Bhushan also had a separate meeting with the top government officials of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Punjab and reviewed the public health response measures for containment and management of the Covid-19 in the five poll-bound states. He also reviewed the status of vaccination in the states.

While Uttarakhand and Goa reported vaccination coverage for the first and second doses higher than the national average, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Manipur have Covid-19 vaccination coverage numbers below the national average, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

Read | Five state assembly polls unlikely to be postponed

The Centre and the Election Commission reviewed the Covid-19 situation in the poll-bound states just days after the Allahabad High Court asked the poll panel to consider postponing the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh as the third wave of the pandemic was knocking at the door. Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court observed on December 23 that the election rallies of the political parties should be banned to check the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The EC sources, however, said that the poll panel had not yet taken any decision on postponing the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh or any of the four other poll-bound states. Chandra, Kumar and Pandey would visit Lucknow on Tuesday and meet the senior officials of the state government to review the Covid-19 situation and preparation for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, sources in New Delhi said.

The MoHFW advised the governments of the five states to speedily ramp up the Covid-9 vaccination of all eligible populations for the first dose and ensure that those who were due for the second dose were administered the second dose. The poll-bound states were also advised to exponentially increase the testing to identify infected people promptly for timely initiation of public health response measures, according to the MoHFW press release.

Uttar Pradesh currently has 323 active Covid-19 cases after a rise of 41 cases over the past 24 hours, according to the data released by the union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday. Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur have 378, 231, 449 and 182 active cases respectively. The number of active cases in fact went down in Uttarakhand and Goa, while it remained the same as the previous 24 hours in Manipur. Punjab, however, witnessed a rise of 31 active Covid-19 cases. The nationwide active Covid-19 cases stood at 75,841 according to the data released by the Union Government at 8:00 am on Monday.

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As countries brace for Covid surges led by the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced "precaution dose" for Indian healthcare and frontline workers that would be administered from January 10.

The "precaution dose" refers to the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine for the fully vaccinated people but PM Modi refrained from using the term "booster dose", as it is generally referred to.

The gap between the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and the third is likely to be nine to 12 months, official sources said.

Read | Here's how to register for the Covid booster dose on Co-WIN

Which Covid-19 vaccine will be used as the third dose?

The eligible population for the precaution dose would be administered the third dose of the same vaccine they had been given before. As of now, the Centre has not given a nod to mix and match vaccines in the third dose.

Who can get the Covid-19 booster dose in India?

PM Modi has announced the booster dose for healthcare and frontline workers as well as the at-risk population  people aged 60 and more with comorbidities.

More than 61 per cent of India's adult population has received both doses of the vaccine. According to the Co-WIN portal, 21,46,06,936 people above 60 years of age are vaccinated against Covid-19.

Also Read | 'Gap between 2nd Covid vaccine shot and precaution dose likely to be 9-12 months'

How can you get the Covid-19 booster dose?

R S Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority, that operates the Co-WIN portal, told ANI that the process for the booster dose registration will be the same as that of the 45-plus category with specified co-morbidities which was opened at the beginning of Covid-19 vaccination drive in India.

If you are above 60 years of age and have taken both doses and the gap between the second dose and the day you are registering is more than 9 months (39 weeks) then you are eligible, he told the publication.

When you will register, it will ask whether you have any co-morbidities or not. If you say yes, you will be able to book and have to show the co-morbidities certificate from a registered doctor at the vaccination centre and then you can get jabs, he added.

Citizens aged 60 and above will need to provide with a medical certificate to prove that they have the co-morbidities that are specified by the government to get the booster shot.

Also Read | Co-WIN to allow 15-18-year-olds to register with student ID cards

What are experts saying about it?

As the Centres move to start Covid-19 booster dose is applauded by many, experts have shown concern over the vaccine roll-out date.

Dr Dhiren Gupta, a paediatric pulmonologist at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, welcomed the Centres decision and told ANI, But why to wait till January 10. Every day is important in a pandemic. We know that Omicron is increasing at a fast pace. We will get variations of this virus. A booster dose takes approximately three weeks to make sufficient antibodies. The booster vaccination should start within two or three days. Looking at the entire population, we should start it as soon as possible.

He suggested that the precaution dose should be given earlier than the announced date.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said that the Centre should ensure the large-scale availability of Covaxin if a mixed match policy is adopted for booster doses for healthcare workers, as the majority of the people have taken Covishield as their first and second doses.

The World Health Organization has not been enthusiastic about booster doses ever since it was started in the Western countries as many developing countries have large populations that have not received the first dose of the Covid vaccine.

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Northeast reported the first case of Omicron variant in Manipur with a man returning from Tanzania testing positive on Monday.

The 48-year-old man, who returned from Tanzania on December 21, tested Covid-19 positive on the same day following which the samples were sent for whole-genome sequencing. The samples were found positive for Omicron variant of Covid on Monday.

Also Read | AstraZeneca vaccine better in the long term, says UK expert

The man is already in an isolation facility in a government hospital in Imphal, K. Rajo Singh, director of Manipur health department said on Monday afternoon.

Health officials said that contact tracing of the person was underway.

Manipur at present has 182 Covid-19 positive cases with a 98.62% recovery rate.

Also Read  Covid vaccine hesitancy in poor nations may spur new variants, say researchers

"As the Omicron variant is spreading fast in various countries, all are to adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour and wear masks mandatorily. Masks have been found effective against all variants of Covid-19," Singh said in a statement.

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The licence of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) for receiving foreign funds was not renewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) citing adverse inputs, an action taken on Christmas day that attracted criticism from various quarters though the organisation sought to play it down.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, CPI(M) West Bengal Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and Trinamool Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek OBrien were among those found fault with the Centres action, alleging that the Narendra Modi government has frozen the MoCs accounts.

However, the MoC issued a statement in the evening clarifying that its FCRA registration has neither been suspended nor cancelled and that there was no freeze on its accounts. We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved, it said.

Referring to the MoC statement, OBrien said, first the government of India INTIMIDATES. For weeks, right through to December 25. And then they pile on the pressure to extract this. Shame on the MHA and its shameless damage control tactics.

On its part, the MHA issued a statement and said the State Bank of India (SBI) has informed that MoC itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

According to the MHA, the renewal application under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under relevant rules.

It said no request or revision application has been received from the MoC for review of this refusal of renewal.

The validity of MoCs FCRA licence was valid up to October 31 and it was subsequently extended to December 31 along with other NGOs, whose renewal applications were pending.

However, while considering the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved. The FCRA registration of MoC was valid up to December 31, the MHA said.

OBrien tweeted, "after a filthy hit job on Mother Teresas Missionaries of Charity on December 25, now MHA is doing what it does best: spin doctoring and a cover up. India has an Opposition that will fight the good fight. And I have a leader who will always stand up for the oppressed."

Banerjee was among the first to come out in support of the MoC and said this move has left Missionaries of Charity's 22,000 patients and employees without food and medicines. "While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," she said while CPI(M)s Mishra also echoed her.

Fr Dominic Gomes, the Vicar General of Archdiocese of Calcutta, said the government agencies have given a cruel Christmas gift to the poorest of the poor.

"We condemn the government action against the MoC and are appalled by the timing and lack of empathy to consider the humanitarian disaster this decision will cause," he said.

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A section of state legislative assembly members representing the BJP in West Bengal have registered their resentment against state units organisational appointments within the party by quitting the official WhatsApp group meant for party MLAs.

Besides five MLAs representing voters mostly from Matua community, Bishnu Prasad Sharma, BJPs one of the two MLAs representing Gorkha community in the hills of West Bengal, also left the official WhatsApp group last Saturday, Deccan Herald has learnt.

I dont know why they (MLAs representing the Matua community) left the group. I have left the group, not the party. If you arent listened to, whats the point of being in the group, Sharma told DH. Sharma said that he has written a letter to the state president and will not disclose the letter as he is awaiting a response. Bengal main political khaata kholne waale gorkha hain. (Its Gorkhas who brought in first seats in Bengal for the BJP). But the state list has no representation of the Gorkhas".

Read | Matuas decide to move away from BJP

When contacted about Sharma leaving the group, Raju Bista, party MP from Darjeeling didnt comment. The BJP, however, doesnt see the development as being projected outside the party, as a fresh strain.

Party spokesperson Jayprakash Majumdar told DH that leaving a WhatsApp group is an internal way of showing resentment, and its not about leaving the party.

"BJP is a huge party, and there is an internal mechanism to address such issues. When there is a reshuffle there may be waves. There is an internal process of talking and understanding and resolving the issue, said Majumdar.

While a new committee looks into capabilities and requirements for strengthening the organisation, we also understand the sensitivity of their (MLAs) belonging to a particular group. Our president has constituted (committees) and concerns will be addressed, he added.

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A much-awaited autobiography of Ghulam Nabi Azad, a new biography on Ambedkar, a history of Delhi University and works on policy directions for the urbanscape take  by leading politicians  are among the most-awaited contributions in store for the Indian ideological and political landscape in the new year.

Not to be left behind, academicians and journalists are also offering new insights into Indian politics with biographies of George Fernandes and Ram Vilas Paswan, inside stories of how prime ministers took certain decisions and leaders who influenced Indian politics.

Surely atop the list is Ghulam Nabi Azad's autobiography, as readers from across the political spectrum would be eager to know what the quintessential loyalist politician, who has finally rebelled against the Gandhi family, has to say about the latest turn in his life.

Also Read  A dip into the best of 2021 - Fiction

The publisher 'Rupa' keeps under wraps the glimpses of what Azad, who on Sunday described himself as a "24 carrot Congressman", wants to tell and just said this, "This is the political journey of one of Indias most seasoned politicians, which also reflects the journey of the countrys politics, from the mid-1970s to the present."

Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, a prolific writer, would be offering readers a biography of BR Ambedkar. Through the book Ambedkar: A Life, Tharoor seeks to set the record straight on the life and times of a much-lauded yet often misunderstood leader.

Tharoor's latest book, a collection of his essays, had hit the stands in the second half of this year.

Diplomat-turned-politician and Union Minister Hardeep Puri also takes time out of his busy schedule, this time, to edit an anthology  100 Years of Delhi University  where alumni from various fields pen their memoirs and views about the institution.

After 2018 saw Varun Gandhi come up with his Rural Manifesto, this time, he has turned his lens on urban India. Varuns new offering Urban Manifesto seeks to understand Indias urban journey through diverse aspects, including healthcare, education, water and sanitation, among others.

The eternal rebel, George Fernandes, is also getting a new biography in The Life and Times of George Fernandes, penned by academician Rahul Ramagundam. Published by 'Penguin', it documents the course of the Socialist Party in India from its inception in the 1930s to its dissolution into the Janata Party in the late 1970s.

The publisher says that the book focuses particularly on a trail of opposition parties that worked to displace the long-ruling Congress Party from its preeminent position.

Also Read  Books to look forward to next year

A biography of another socialist leader is that of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, penned by journalist Sobhana K Nair. Published by 'Roli Books', Ram Vilas Paswan: A Biography tells the story of the rise of a Dalit leader from his native Khagaria to Lutyens Delhi.

Veteran political journalist Neerja Chowdhury is offering the inside stories of some of the momentous decisions taken by prime ministers. Publisher 'Rupa' described How Prime Ministers Decide as the "most explosive book on Indian politics of the past 20 years".

The book is expected to provide inside information about "Indira Gandhi's ruthless strategy to topple the Janata government and return to power in 1980, Rajiv Gandhis handling of the Shah Bano case, VP Singh's decision to implement the Mandal Commission report, PV Narasimha Raos failure to protect the Babri Masjid, AB Vajpayees decision to go ahead with the explosion of tactical nuclear devices, Manmohan Singhs management of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, and Narendra Modis disastrous demonetisation of much of the countrys currency."

Another veteran journalist Rashid Kidwais new book Leaders Politicians Citizens: 50 Figures Who Influenced Indias Politics by 'Hachette' will also hit the stands next year.

The book captures the essence of 50 leaders  some famous, some infamous, some unmistakably at centre stage, others on the fringes of it  and brings the highs and lows of the careers of some of the most prominent actors and a sneak peek into lesser-known aspects of their lives and personalities.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday asked states to immediately form dedicated Anti-Narcotics Task Forces (ANTF) under the Directors General of Police to fight the menace of drugs and realise the dream of a 'drug-free India'.

A national call centre 'Manas' would be launched while an effective system is also being put in place to tackle the increasing use of dark net and cryptocurrency in illegal drugs trade. Drones and satellite imagery will be used to locate illegal drug cultivation while an elaborate awareness campaign against drugs will be launched.

These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Apex Level Committee of Narco Coordination Center (NCORD) chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi.

Read more: Drugs worth Rs 1.5 crore stashed in wooden tie boxes seized in Bengaluru

Describing drug trafficking as a borderless crime, Shah directed that there is a need for better coordination between all drug law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies, not only at the national level but also between the Centre and the states.

He said the Narendra Modi government has adopted a zero tolerance policy against narcotics and considers drug abuse as a major threat to national security, which can only be dealt with overall coordination.

According to MHA statistics, 35 lakh kg of drugs worth Rs 1,881 crore were seized between 2018 and 2021 as against 16 lakh kg of narcotics worth Rs 604 crore between 2011 and 2014.

During the meeting, Shah gave directions to form a central NCORD unit under the Narcotics Control Bureau at the national level. It was also decided that narcotics training module should be prepared at national level so that police, paramilitary personnel, prosecutors and people from civil departments can be trained,

A standing Inter-Ministerial Committee will be set up to curb misuse of dual-use precursor chemicals, which will be conducted by the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers. It will have officials from the NCB and Department of Revenue.

Read more: Drugs racket case: Grounds on which Bikram Singh Majithia was seeking bail

Along with this, to stop misuse of dual-use prescription medicines, a standing Inter-Ministerial Committee under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will be formed with representatives from Department of Pharma, National Medical Commission, NCB and experts related to industry as members.

Directions were also given for the arrangement of container scanners and related equipment for scanning of incoming and outgoing containers at all ports, whether government or private.

The government will also be launching an oath campaign on drug-free India on January 12, coinciding with the Swami Vivekananda Jayanti which is celebrated as National Youth Day.

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Miscreants with alleged links to a right-wing organisation disrupted a Christmas programme in Silchar town of Assam's Cachar district, demanding that Hindus should shun the celebrations. Seven people allegedly involved in the incident have been detained so far, a senior police official said.

Cachar Superintendent of Police Ramandeep Kaur told PTI that the incident occurred during the celebration of Christmas in a field in the town on Saturday. Some boys went to the venue and asked the Hindus present there to not participate in the celebration. They did not object to the Christians celebrating the occasion, she said.

Kaur further said police have not received a complaint against the incident, though seven youngsters have been detained in this connection. We are looking into the incident. We don't have any inputs on the involvement of any group so far, the SP added.

Locals, however, claimed that the miscreants were associated with the Bajrang Dal. According to eyewitness reports, the boys chanted Jai Shri Ram' and allegedly started manhandling people present at the venue.

Also Read | Members of Hindu outfit burn Santa Claus effigies in Agra

The incident happened at around 9 pm when the venue was crowded with people. Many people were busy taking selfies and photographs when the trouble started.

When the revellers questioned the youngsters on why they were objecting to the celebration, the boys reportedly told them that as Hindus they should be celebrating Tulsi Diwas' that coincided with Christmas.

A video uploaded on social media sites showed five to seven youth wearing saffron scarves and claiming to be from the Bajrang Dal asking the Hindus to stay away from the celebration. The boys further said that they were not imposing any restriction on the Christians to celebrate the day, but wanted the Hindus to refrain from it.

Meanwhile, condemning the incident, Congress Lok Sabha MP Abdul Khaleque said it was a failure on the part of the state government. Khaleque said, The chief minister is encouraging hatred campaign through his speeches at times.

The Congress leader, however, did not elaborate on his allegation against the chief minister.

AIUDF legislator Ashraful Hussain said people should have the freedom to celebrate without any fear. We have seen that minority communities are often targeted during their celebrations. I think the police should remain alert to thwart such incidents, he said.

Hussain also urged the police authorities to expedite investigations and book the culprits.

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BJP, Amarinder Singh and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa's party will jointly contest upcoming Punjab polls, Union minister Gajendra Shekhawat said on Monday.

The former Punjab chief minister and leader of the newly floated Punjab Lok Congress, Captain, met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda in Delhi.

Met with Union HM @AmitShah, @BJP4India President @JPNadda, Punjab Incharge @gssjodhpur & Shiromani Akali Dal (Sanyukt) President Sukhdev Dhindsa to discuss details of the alliance for the upcoming assembly elections. Look forward to working together to give Punjab a stable govt. pic.twitter.com/Wfvod6CTDo  Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) December 27, 2021

The BJP had earlier announced that it will contest the Punjab assembly polls in alliance with Singh's party.

More to follow...

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Congress has slammed the Centre following attacks on churches in BJP-ruled states and questioned the silence of the Prime Minister.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday said, "Haridwar hate speeches, attacks on churches, murders in the name of religion, are all advanced symptoms of a society and polity in free fall. Hindutvawadis are unleashing barbarism. India is becoming an example of how quickly a democracy can collapse when institutions fail."

Referring to hate speeches in Haridwar, former home minister P Chidambaram too questioned the silence of the Prime Minister. "On a day when the PM exhorted people to recall the teachings of Jesus Christ, miscreants disrupted a Christmas programme in a private school in Haryana, Who are these miscreants? Reports say they shouted 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

Read more: Sena seeks Nitesh Rane's suspension for 'meowing' at Aaditya Thackeray

"On the next day, a church service was disrupted in Assam. Instead of exhortations, the PM should direct the BJP governments of Haryana and Assam to identify the miscreants and bring them before a Court of law. He should also exhort the Hindutva brigade to read the teachings of Jesus Christ." Chidambaram said on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh police have registered an FIR against Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj and others for allegedly making derogatory comments on Mahatma Gandhi and praising Nathuram Godse.

On the complaint of former Raipur Mayor and Congress leader Pramod Dubey, the police registered the FIR under section 505(2), 294 IPC in the Tikrapara Police station. The event 'Dharam Sansad' was organised on Sunday (December 26) in Raipur.

The state government's action comes against the backdrop of the Haridwar event in which hate speeches were made. The event in Raipur was organised at Rawanbhata in which Sant Kalicharan Maharaj is alleged to have used derogatory words for Mahatma Gandhi and justified Nathuram Godse, who killed Gandhi.

The Haridwar incident took place during an event from December 17 to 20. The video clippings were circulated on social media, which said that "Hindus should arm themselves like those seen in Myanmar, every Hindu must pick up weapons and conduct a 'Safayi Abhiyan'."

The three-day event was organised by Yati Narasimhanand, a controversial religious leader who has been accused in the past of inciting violence.

The Uttarakhand police have lodged an FIR in the case against Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, who was former Shia Waqf board chairman and recently converted to Hinduism.

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The Election Commission will convene a meeting with senior officials of the Union Health Ministry on Monday to discuss the current Covid situation in the five poll-bound states, sources said.

A source said that the Commission will discuss the current Covid situation for poll-bound states and will seek update on new Covid variant Omicron from Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The commission is also likely to seek suggestions on improving the Covid protocol for poll campaigning, polling days, and others.

Assembly elections are due in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022, and the schedule is likely be announced in the first week of January, said the source.

The Chief Election Commissioner and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh - the largest of the five - to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state on Tuesday.

Also Read | Allahabad HC urges Centre to postpone polls amid Omicron scare

An Allahabad High Court bench on Thursday had urged the government to consider postponing the Assembly elections in UP for a month or two and banning all political rallies amid rising Covid cases on daily basis.

Meanwhile, India continues to report rise in daily Covid caseload. A total of 6,987 fresh cases were reported in a span of 24 hours across the nation on Sunday. As per the Health Ministry report, with 162 more fatalities reported, the total death toll has climbed to 4,79,682.

The Omicron infection tally has also climbed at 422 across the nation. However, out of total Omicron positive, 130 have been discharged. So far total 17 states have reported the new Covid variant, said the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

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The administration in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district has instructed government departments to garner around 75,000 beneficiaries of central schemes for a proposed address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the inauguration of the Metro Rail project in Kanpur on Tuesday.

The order was issued in a communique sent to the medical and health, food and civil supplies, horticulture, social welfare, labour, rural development and other departments.

They have also been asked to make arrangements for their transportation, food and lodging. According to sources, more than 2,000 UP Roadways and private buses would be deployed to ferry these people to the venue of the meeting.

The communique also instructed for the presence of anganwadi, ASHA and panchayat workers, among others, at the meeting.

Earlier, the district administration in Prayagraj had directed the 'shiksha mitras' (temporary primary teachers) and employees of various government departments to attend the meeting of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday.

Also Read  Personal attacks reflect BJP's frustration: Akhilesh

There were reports that in the past also, government buses had ferried crowds to the Modi's addresses in different parts of the state.

Opposition parties have sharply criticised the BJP for what they allege is a misuse of government machinery for party-sponsored rallies. The Samajwadi Party (SP) had accused the BJP of "misusing" government machinery for ferrying crowds to the recent rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Prayagraj and had written to the Election Commission (EC) to take note of the same and ensure "free and fair elections" in Uttar Pradesh.

''The state government, with the help of the RTO, deployed hundreds of government and private buses to ferry the people to the venue of the prime minister's meeting at Prayagraj... the chief minister of the state has been misusing the government machinery and public money for the rallies of the prime minister,'' SP State President Naresh Uttam had said in the letter.

He demanded that the EC give strict directions to the state government not to use public money and resources to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav had said that the crowds at the Modi rallies in the state had been brought from different places in the state using government resources. ''I wonder if BJP has held any real public meeting so far,'' he had said.

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In a significant development, the All India Matua MahaSangha (AIMMS) has announced to move away from the BJP and maintain a politically neutral stance in the present situation.

The five MLAs that represented the Matua community have even left the BJP MLAs WhatsApp group that might deepen the crisis within the party further.

A statement issued by the AIMMS Sukhendra Gayen, said: "Matua Mahasangha will not support any particular political party. The Matuas have been deprived of their legitimate demands. Get prepared for the future. The Matuas also are capable of depriving".

The statement issued by Gain triggered wide-ranging speculation about the community shifting political lineage.

Shortly before the announcement, the five Matua MLAs left the WhatsApp group fuelling the rumours that they might change allegiance and join the Trinamool Congress camp.

Though the Matua community officially announced that they are going to stay politically neutral, experts believe that it is just a gestation period before they switch loyalty.

Matua politics has always played a significant role in West Bengal politics compelling major political leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to reach out to them.

Also read: Despite wooing by both BJP and TMC, Matuas choose to split votes

The reason behind this is that the Matuas, who constitute almost 20 per cent of the population in West Bengal, have always been a deciding factor in state politics.

The Matua vote will be a deciding factor across 40-45 Assembly constituencies spread across several districts including the rural areas of North 24 parganas and in districts like in Barasat, Basirhat, Bangaon and in some areas of Nadia like Krishnanagar, Kalyani, Ranaghat

The differences between the BJP and the Matuas cropped after the saffron party failed to fulfil the promise made by them during the West Bengal Assembly polls earlier this year.

While the Modi-Shah duo played the refugee and citizenship card, the Matuas on the other hand overwhelmingly supported the saffron brigade both in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 Assembly polls. But experts are of the opinion that after six months, the Matuas have started to believe they have been deprived and the promises were not fulfilled.

Speaking to the media, Gayen said: "The Centre failed to meet our demands. We supported the BJP with high hopes. We had several demands, including unconditional citizenship but none of that has happened yet."

The Matuas strongly supported the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) despite widespread condemnation of the two legislations.

In response to the announcement, state BJP President Sukanata Majumdar said: "We have spoken to the MLAs and the problem will be sorted out soon. We will speak to them. They have certain demands and we are working the demands. We hope to solve the problem."

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday tweaked his own party's inclusive development slogan, "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas", to coin a motto for the "selfish" Opposition -- "Khud ka Swarth, Parivar ka Swarth".

Addressing a rally here to mark the fourth anniversary of the Jai Ram Thakur government in Himachal Pradesh, Modi said there are now models in operation for running a government. One of them, he said, is "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas" (everyone's development, everyone's trust, everyone's effort).

The other model is "Khud ka Swarth, Parivar ka Swarth aur vikas bhi khud ke parivar ka" (own interest, family's interest and familys development), Modi added.

He did not name any party, but the main Opposition to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state is the Congress.

The prime minister said the "first model" is in operation in Himachal Pradesh and also claimed that the state is benefitting from the "double-engine" government, a reference to the BJP being in power in the state as well as at the Centre.

Read | PM Modi counts benefits of double-engine govt in Himachal Pradesh

He also mentioned the "two kinds of thinking", one of "vilamb" (delay) and the other of "vikas" (development). The first "vichardhara" had made Himachal Pradesh wait for decades for infrastructure and basic amenities, Modi said.

Underscoring the advantages of a "double-engine" government with less than a year to go for the 2022 Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls, he said the people of the hill state have benefitted a lot over the last four years as various welfare schemes launched by the Centre were implemented in a more efficient manner by the Thakur government.

The prime minister pointed out that the Centre launched the Ayushman Bharat scheme and the Himachal Pradesh government initiated a similar scheme called Himcare, adding that a total of 1.25 lakh residents of the state got free treatment under these two schemes.

"Ease of living is the topmost priority of our government and electricity plays a major role in it," he said, while pointing out that the power projects launched by him on Monday would be significant in generating more electricity in the state.

Beginning his speech in Himachali language, Modi said he had come to Mandi, which is also known as "Chhoti Kashi", to take the blessings of Baba Bhootnath (Lord Shiva).

Himachal Pradesh played a vital role in shaping his life, he added.

Congratulating the chief minister, Modi said despite the cold weather conditions, the crowd at the rally shows that the people of Himachal Pradesh are satisfied with the achievements of the state government over the last four years.

The chief minister urged the voters to break the trend of alternately choosing the BJP and the Congress to rule the state and asserted that the saffron party would retain power in Himachal Pradesh in next year's Assembly polls.

Union minister Anurag Thakur talked about various central projects that were launched in the state after Modi became the prime minister, including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bilaspur and the PGI in Una.

Earlier, the prime minister dedicated and laid the foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 11,581 crore in the state. He also launched 287 investment projects worth over Rs 28,197 crore.

Read | Modi inaugurates projects worth Rs 28K cr in Himachal

The projects dedicated by Modi to the public include the 111-MW Sawra-Kuddu hydro-electric project with an outlay of Rs 2,081.6 crore on the Pabbar river in Shimla district. The project will generate 386 million (38.6 crore) units of electricity per annum, which will help the state earn an annual revenue of about Rs 120 crore, an official spokesperson said.

Besides, he laid the foundation stone of the Shri Renukai dam, conceived as a national storage project worth Rs 6,700 crore on the Giri river in Sirmaur district. The project will generate 200 million (20 crore) units of energy in a surface power house with a 40-MW installed capacity, which will be utilised by the state.

The live storage of the dam will be 498 million (49.8 crore) cubic metres, which will fulfil about 40 per cent of the drinking water requirements of Delhi.

Modi also laid the foundation stone of the 66-MW Dhaulasidh hydro-electric project, which will be constructed at an expenditure of Rs 688 crore. The project is located on the Beas river in Hamirpur and Kangra districts.

The prime minister laid the foundation stone of the first phase of the 210-MW Luhri hydro-electric project -- a joint venture of the Centre and the state that will be completed at an expenditure of Rs 1,811 crore. The project is located on the Sutlej river in Shimla and Kullu districts.

The power generated from these projects will help provide grid stability and improve the power supply position, besides adding valuable renewable energy to the grid.

Modi also inaugurated the second groundbreaking event of the launch of 287 investment projects worth over Rs 28,197 crore of the Rising Himachal Global Investors' Meet.

The investors' meet was held in Dharamsala on November 7-8, 2018. The first groundbreaking ceremony of projects worth over Rs 13,656 crore to turn these proposals into real projects was held in Shimla on December 27, 2019 in the presence on Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Earlier, the prime minister released a coffee-table book on the achievements of the BJP government in Himachal Pradesh. The chief minister welcomed Modi at the Paddal ground by presenting a huge "trishul" to him.

Accompanied by Anurag Thakur, Modi also saw an exhibition put up by various departments of the state government.

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Only those who stick to their ideology make a mark in politics and those who change their ideology for the greed of power are not leaders at all, Congress general secretary Ajay Maken observed on Monday.

Maken, the political affairs in-charge of the Rajasthan Congress, made the observation in a reminder of the states former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilots failed rebellion against the Ashok Gehlot government.

He, however, did not take anyones name while making his observation.

Addressing a three-day training camp of Rajasthan Congress, Maken said, "In politics, only those people find their place who stay with their ideology throughout their life.

Those who change their ideology for power and out of greed are neither leaders nor fit human beings," Maken said while addressing the session on its second day.

Striking a personal note, Maken said he became bound to the Congress ideology while working for the partys students wing National Students Union of India at the age of 18 and attending its training camps. The relationship has been for a lifetime, he added.

He said during the training camps, one gets an opportunity to understand and assimilate the Congress ideology. Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief Govind Singh Dotasara, who too addressed the session, sought to encourage the participants to strengthen the party without any selfishness.

Describing the sessions participants as the heirs of the legacy of the great men of the country, Dotasara said sticking with ideology is more important than any greed for power and position. Earlier, in the first session of the camp, the party leader Mohan Prakash also spoke on the ideology of the Congress party. \

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Despite recent calm along the border, authorities have completed work on about 8,500 underground bunkers constructed for the safety of the people living along the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border (IB) in Jammu province.

The Centre has sanctioned the construction of 14,460 individual and community bunkers for the border residents in Jammu, Kathua, and Samba districts covering the villages located along the IB and Poonch and Rajouri villages on the LoC.

Sources said that out of 9905 bunkers in phase-I, work on 8444 individual and 1461 community bunkers was taken up for execution by utilizing the funds sanctioned by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Nearly 8500 bunkers have been completed to date and the remaining bunkers are at different stages of construction, they said and the Jammu and Kashmir government will approach the Center shortly for sanction of 15000 more community and individual bunkers in Phase-II.

All these bunkers fall between zero to three kilometres from the IB and the LoC and they can be put to use by the border dwellers in case of shelling and firing from the Pakistan side anytime, officials said. The keys of these bunkers have been given to the heads of the respective villages by the civil administration.

An individual bunker is meant for the households and can accommodate eight to 10 people while community bunkers can accommodate 20-30 people. The technical design of the bunker withstands the kind of weaponry frequently used in ceasefire violations.

Underground bunkers become second homes for the border residents during ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the IB and the LoC. Such bunkers have been instrumental in saving several innocent lives during periods of heavy ceasefire violations from across the border.

Though there has been no major ceasefire violation over the past 10-months in Jammu and Kashmir after India and Pakistan signed a fresh agreement to maintain calm along the borders on February 25 this year, in the last few years, dozens of border residents have died in relentless shelling and firing by Pakistan along the border.

After witnessing over 5100 incidents of ceasefire violations in 2020, the violations and killings at the border in Jammu and Kashmir this year was an all-time low in the last more than a decade. Last year, at least 36 civilians were killed and over 130 injured on the Indian side of the LoC and the IB due to ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

India shares a 3,323-km-long border with Pakistan, of which 221 km of the IB and 740 km of the LoC fall in Jammu and Kashmir.

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If the Yogi Adityanath government returns to power in Uttar Pradesh for a second term, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi will start wearing Hindus sacred thread 'janeu', worn across the shoulder, and chanting Lord Rams name, a UP minister said on Sunday.

This will be in the line of leaders like Rahul Gandhi wearing janeu and Akhilesh Yadav visiting Hanuman temples to pay his obeisance amid the strengthening BJPs ideology, UP's Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary asserted.

Chaudhary, who hails from Moradabad and is a member of the states Legislative Council, made the remark at a youths meet in Shamli. Chaudhary reiterated his remark about Owaisi to the PTI, saying it is bound to happen.

Also Read | Goons making an exodus under Yogi government: Amit Shah

Asked what makes him feel that Owaisi will start wearing janeu, he said, "We are taking our agenda forward. Due to this agenda, Akhilesh Yadav has begun going to Hanuman temples and offering prayers. Due to this agenda, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has begun wearing 'janeu' and telling his 'gotra' to one and all, the minister said.

This is the impact of our ideology due to which people have left their own agendas and started following ours, he said.

Those who used to indulge in appeasement and speak about minorities only, those who did not accept the existence of Lord Ram and had given an affidavit in the court that Ram was an imaginary figure, have begun wearing 'janeu' and visiting temples," he asserted.

In September 2007, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or the other characters in Ramayana.

In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the Archaeological Survey of India had rejected the claim of the existence of the Ram Sethu bridge in ancient times, linking to Indias southernmost tip to Sri Lanka.

When contacted, Owaisi told PTI, "What is wrong with you people? If someone makes an obnoxious statement, you want my reaction? What type of reaction do you want from me? I don't want to comment on such mad statements."

Owaisi had announced that his party will contest 100 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. He is currently engaged in the poll campaigning for his prospective partys candidates, crisscrossing the state, particularly the Muslim-dominated areas, and exhorting them to develop their own leadership for their welfare.

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Gorakhpur MP Ravi Kishan on Monday alleged that previous governments never told people about their revolutionaries and heroes and made them read about Akbar and Babar instead.

He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream is to revive the stories of "our heroes and revolutionaries, the pages of which had been torn out of history books".

"The previous governments did injustice to us. They never told us about our heroes and revolutionaries. They obliterated our heroes. They taught us about Babar, Akbar... We were kept away from the truth," he said at the launch of the three-day Kashi Film Festival.

Uttar Pradesh's Minister for Tourism, Culture and Religious Affairs Neelkanth Tiwari said that Prime Minister Modi "put an end to four-five problems the country had been facing so that it could be taken towards Ram Rajya".

These issues, according to Tiwari, included triple talaq, Article 370, Ayodhya dispute and the lack of a provision to grant citizenship to refugees from Pakistan.

Also Read  PM Modi says cows may be 'sin' for some but they are 'revered' by us

"Prime Minister Modi brought an end to the Ayodhya dispute which had been going on for 500 years. He ended Article 370 because of which Kashmiri Pandits, the owners of that land, became homeless... A large number of women in India had been bearing the brunt of the practice of triple talaq," he said.

"The prime minister ended a problem that started at the time of Partition. A person who raised slogans of 'Vande Mataram' would be forced to say 'Pakistan Zindabad' (after Partition). He would get three choices -- either accept Islam, kill himself or leave the country. When he would come to his motherland, he won't get citizenship," Tiwari said.

Kishan also tried to delink the film festival from the upcoming Uttar Pradesh polls, saying the Modi government inaugurates one thing or the other through the year. The film festival in the Lok Sabha constituency of the prime minister is also the first film festival in Uttar Pradesh.

Those who attended the inaugural function included Kishan, Anupam Kher, Raju Srivastava, actor-director Satish Kaushik, and filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar, Rahul Mitra and Ashok Pandit.

The Uttar Pradesh government is holding the film festival in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Union minister Anurag Thakur will attend the festival on Tuesday. Mathura MP Hema Malini would give a cultural performance on its second day.

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Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu has courted controversy while praising two party members, allegedly saying that they are capable of making policemen wet their pants.

Former chief minister Amarinder Singh and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema slammed him over the purported remark and a Chandigarh police officer sent him a defamation notice.

Also Read: Captain's party to contest Punjab polls jointly with BJP, SAD

"I have sent a defamation notice to him for humiliating the police," Chandigarh Deputy Superintendent of Police Dilsher Singh Chandel said.

A sub-inspector also issued a video message condemning the remark.

Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu has backed the policemen and praised them for their role during militancy and Covid-19 times.

The controversy erupted after Sidhu, at a recent rally in Sultanpur Lodhi while pointing towards sitting MLA Navtej Singh Cheema, said he can "make a 'thanedar' (policeman) wet his pants".

He repeated the remark at a rally in Batala on Sunday while praising local leader Ashwani Sekhri who was standing by his side.

When reporters asked him about his remark, Sidhu indicated that it should not be taken literally.

He said it's a way of saying the Congress "wields authority".

A video clip of Sidhu making the remark went viral on social media inviting sharp reaction from some police officials and political leaders.

Punjab Lok Congress president and former chief minister Amarinder Singh said it was sad that the men in uniform were being disrespected.

Also Read: Chandigarh municipal corporation polls results 'a trailer' for Punjab polls: AAP

"Sad to see our men in uniform being disrespected. 1700 @PunjabPoliceInd personnel sacrificed their lives to bring the state out of the dark days and now they are being mocked by @INCPunjab leaders & above all their President. Shameful! A leader must give respect to earn respect," Amarinder Singh said in a tweet.

SAD's Daljit Singh Cheema questioned the "silence" of Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Home minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa over Sidhu's remark.

He asked both of them to tell Sidhu that he should refrain from making such a remark and ask him to withdraw his statement and seek apology from the police.

Chandigarh DSP Chandel dubbed Sidhu's remark as "shameful".

"It is very shameful that such a senior leader uses these words for his own force and humiliates them," Chandel said.

"This is the same force which protects him (Sidhu) and his family," he said in a video message.

He even dared Sidhu to return his force deployed for his protection.

"Without (security) force, even a rickshaw puller will not listen to him," he said.

"I strongly condemn this remark and he (Sidhu) should not use such words for his force. The force has its own dignity and respect and it is our responsibility to maintain this dignity," he said.

In a video message, Sub-Inspector Balbir Singh, posted in Jalandhar (Rural), said, "Such language was used by a senior leader against us, I strongly condemn it."

He also requested the Punjab DGP not to allow the image of police to be affected.

"We live with our families in the society and our children question us why such language is being used against us," Balbir Singh said.

He said this remark was not against any 'thanedar' but against the entire police force.

"I want to tell Sidhu Sahib that we are not cowards. We are brave and the whole country knows about the tales of our bravery," he said as he recalled the role of police against militancy.

Without caring for their own lives, the personnel of the Punjab police provided food to the needy at their homes during the Covid-19 outbreak, he added.

Commenting on the videos of the Chandigarh DSP and the sub-inspector, Ludhiana MP Bittu lauded the Punjab police for its role in eliminating terrorism from the state.

Bittu, whose grandfather and the then chief minister Beant Singh died in a bomb blast in 1995, said, "Some videos of a DSP and sub-inspector have gone viral. First of all whatever has been said about the police, I seek apology," he said.

"I know it is Punjab police personnel, from senior IPS officer to the constable level, which did not care for their own lives and curbed terrorism with iron hand," Bittu wrote on his Facebook page.

Bittu said during the Covid-19 outbreak, the police force personnel took food to the homes of people.

Referring to the Ludhiana court bomb blast, he said it was the Punjab police which reached the spot first.

"How will they protect people if we use wrong words against them. It was very important that we stand by them," he said.

"We are proud of you and we salute you," he said.

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Concerned by the spike in the number of Covid-19 Omicron cases, the Kerala government has decided to impose a night curfew from December 30 to January 2.

So far, 57 Omicron cases have been reported in Kerala while the active Covid-19 caseload was 21,224, with 1,636 more positive cases being reported on Monday.

In a Covid-19 review meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the state decided to impose the night curfew. New Year celebrations will not be also allowed beyond 10 pm, with hotels, clubs and bars allowed to accommodate only fifty per cent of the seating capacity. The curfew will last till 5 am.

Apart from enhancing Covid-19 vaccination drives, steps to distribute ayurvedic and homoeopathic medicines that boost immunity would be also taken. Anticipating a surge in Covid-19 cases by January-end, steps to enhance oxygen production and storage were also being taken, said a statement from the CMO.

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Liquor worth Rs 65 core was sold in Kerala on Christmas Eve, which was Rs 10 crore higher than that of the sale on Christmas Eve in 2020.

An outlet in Thiruvananthapuram city recorded the highest liquor sale on the day of Rs 73 lakh, followed by another shop at Chalakkuddy in Thrissur district that sold liquor worth Rs 70 lakh.

Sources in the Kerala State Beverages Corporation, which is the sole liquor distributor in Kerala, said that the Rs 10 crore increase in liquor sales compared to that of previous year was mainly due to a price hike in liquor during this year. With regard to the quantity there was not much increase, details of which was only being compiled.

In the coming days also the state will be witnessing high liquor sales in view of new year celebrations.

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Nalini Sriharan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, was on Monday released from the Central Prison in Vellore on month-long parole to take care of her ailing mother.

Nalini was released from the prison on Monday morning, days after the Tamil Nadu government told the Madras High Court that it has decided to grant parole to the life convict based on a petition filed by her mother Padmavathi.

Padmavathi had sought the presence of her daughter, Nalini, citing her ill-health.

Nalini, whose husband Murugan is also a convict in the sensational case, will stay with her mother at a rented accommodation in Brahmapuram near Katpadi in the Vellore district. This is the second time Nalini has been granted ordinary parole after she spent 45 days with her UK-based daughter to discuss her marriage and find a groom for her.

The release of Nalini on parole comes close on the heels of the Tamil Nadu government extending the parole of another convict Perarivalan, who is out of prison since May this year. Numerous petitions filed by Nalini seeking her early release citing her good conduct in jail have been rejected by courts in the past 15 years.

The Tamil Nadu Cabinet headed by the then Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had in 2018 recommended the release of the seven convicts but the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit sat on the file for two years before informing the Supreme Court that he has forwarded the same to the President.

The release of the seven convicts is an emotional issue in Tamil Nadu with almost all regional parties supporting the cause, while Congress and BJP oppose the move.

As there was no forward movement, Nalini moved the Madras High Court in October this year seeking her release from prison without waiting for the Tamil Nadu governors decision on the state cabinet resolution recommending the release of all seven convicts in the case.

Filing a detailed affidavit last month, the Tamil Nadu government urged the Madras High Court to reject Nalinis petition suggesting that the Governors nod is mandatory for her release.

The government, in the affidavit, suggested that the approval of the Governor on the recommendation of the Cabinet was necessary for Nalinis release from the jail. Chief Minister M K Stalin had in May this year written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking his immediate decision on the release of the seven convicts.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by an LTTE suicide bomber on May 21, 1991 minutes before he was to address an election rally in Sriperumbudur.

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For a former Union Finance Minister, P Chidambaram's calculations are awry, Goa Trinamool leader Kiran Kandolkar said on Monday, slamming the Congress Committee's senior observer's criticism of the All India Trinamool Congress.

Chidambaram on Sunday had accused the Trinamool of fracturing the non-BJP vote in Goa while adding that despite desertions by its 'leaders', 99 per cent of the Congress workers had remained loyal to the party.

"As a Finance Minister, his calculation should be correct. He says 99 per cent of Congress workers are with us. Congress workers have joined the AITC because they feel that the party is not serious about winning the 2022 Assembly polls and sending the BJP home," Kandolkar told reporters.

Also Read | TMC, AAP 'fracturing' non-BJP vote in Goa; only Congress has capacity to beat BJP: Chidambaram

"Ninety-nine per cent of the Congress workers remain with the Congress. I am not unhappy that Mr Reginaldo Lourenco defected to the TMC. The TMC has taken a losing candidate from our hands and, if it fields him in the election, he will remain a losing candidate," Chidambaram had said in an interview.

Last week, Goa Congress working president Lourenco became the latest senior leader to quit the party to join the Trinamool. Lourenco's exit came days after the Congress had formally finalised his ticket to the Curtorim Assembly seat in South Goa.

A total of 16 Congress MLAs have quit the party so far, reducing the legislative strength of the party to a mere two seats.

"I condemn Chidambaram's statement. it is a foolish statement and not becoming of a senior leader," Kandolkar also said.

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"This land belongs to you, and if there is coal, gold or diamond underneath, that too belongs to you. None else has a right to it. Protect your land like you protect your children."

Curiously enough, the recent statement is from a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), a party that had pushed hard to acquire farmland for private industrial projects in West Bengal in 2006-07 during its seventh and final term in the government.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front government lost its three and a half-decade rule primarily due to the anti-displacement movements led by Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee. But the CPI(M) has never conceded that its industrialisation drive was a mistake.

According to the review of the 2011 Assembly election debacle by the party's Central Committee, the Singur and Nandigram events were "used effectively against the CPI(M) and the Left Front by the TMC-led combine to propagate that the Left Front government would snatch away the lands of the farmers." It stated that "the administrative and political mistakes in this regard proved costly." The point, which needs noting, is that the review did not mention the word "ideological".

Instead, in 2016, the CPI(M) candidate in the Singur assembly, also a member of its Central Committee, started his campaign riding a Nano car, ostensibly to remind voters of the opportunity they lost. In February 2021, ahead of the Assembly elections, another Central Committee member, Sujan Chakraborty, who was also the leader of the Left parliamentary party in the assembly (2016-2021), symbolically laid the foundation stone for an industry in Singur.

"By this symbolic act of laying the foundation stone in Singur, I declare our pledge for taking the responsibility of industrialisation and employment (should we come to power)," Chakraborty said at the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) organised event. The DYFI is the CPI(M)'s youth wing.

Fifteen years after Banerjee found in Singur the issue for her resurgence from political nadir, the CPI(M) has not changed its position on Singur. But its Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya's recent speech addressing the tribal population of Deocha-Pachami echoed the tone and content of Banerjee's speeches of that time.

Also read: Bengal will emerge as number one destination for industry: Mamata Banerjee

"I want to tell the police that if they try to terrorise you (people), if goons are employed, I urge local women to make good use of their sticks. Thrash whoever comes to you. If there are police cases, I will take care of those. Keep your sticks close to your hands and use them to thrash anyone who comes to (threaten) you. It has now been decided that there will be no displacement," said Bhattacharya on December 18, 2021. He had served as the last CPI(M) mayor of Kolkata (2005-2010) and led the Left Front government's legal battle over Singur in the courts.

The event was not organised under the party's banner but the "Save Democracy" platform, which the Left and Congress have backed. Veteran Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who served as the leader of the opposition in the last assembly, was also present. They addressed a gathering of the local tribal population on a field at Dewanganj village in Deocha-Pachami. The Mamata Banerjee government wants to build one of the country's largest coal mines at an investment of Rs 35,000 crore and possible international collaboration.

Now, the TMC is keen on this project that would require the displacement of 21,000 people and the closure of 27 stone quarries and 285 crusher units where about 3,000 people work. The government has announced a Rs 10,000 crore compensation package, and many consider it better than the Left Front government's package during Singur-Nandigram.

Unlike the Tata Motors' plant or the Salem group's chemical hub, which were entirely private industrial projects, this is a proposed public-private partnership project. Here the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited plays the leading role. The coal extraction is expected to meet the state's own power generation requirements and give it a surplus.

The TMC government has learnt lessons from the 2006-07 agitation and tried to preempt some of the points of concern. It has attempted to resolve issues related to disputed land ownership, the lack of documentation and updating of records over the past year. Apart from owners of houses, stone quarries, land and crusher units, the compensation and rehabilitation package has considered tenant farmers and seasonal agricultural labourers and the workers (mostly casual) at existing quarries and crusher units. Albeit, many consider this inadequate.

It has offered a one-time payout of between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 13 lakh per bigha (0.33 acre), another Rs 5.5 lakh for relocation-related expenses, a 600 square feet home at a rehabilitation colony with all civic facilities, junior police constable jobs to one member from every family losing land or home and the families of tenant farmers engaged with those land plots. The number of job beneficiaries has been estimated at 4,942 persons.

Also read: Deocha Pachami coal block will generate 1 lakh jobs: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee

Nevertheless, there are many people who, due to a set of reasons, are unwilling to accept the package and relocate. Some are apprehensive about the promises, and their realisation, mainly due to people's experiences in areas like the Asansol-Raniganj mining belt of the neighbouring Paschim Bardhaman district. There is a general lack of trust regarding government promises, irrespective of the party in power. Issues like land price or size of the house at rehabilitation colony were matters of a bargain. Some had environmental concerns regarding open cast mining.

"Even 300 metres deep mines cause incidents of caving-in in the neighbourhood of mines. Here, we hear it will be 800-100 meters deep. Even areas outside the mines will be affected," Harinsingha resident Dulal Mardi told this journalist.

The government, sensing this reluctance among the local people in relocating, has been buying time but certainly not wasting it. It has employed a strategy different from that of the Left during Singur-Nandigram.

The TMC plans to leave the resistance leaderless by employing the age-old carrot and stick policy. It has inducted two of the key organisers of the resistance programme into the party and entrusted them with convincing people about the project's benefits. One of them is the influential tribal leader Sunil Soren. He had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2019 and served as the general secretary of Birbhum district BJP's Yuva Morcha. The other is the local BJP leader Subhrangshu alias Khokan Choudhury, a general secretary of the BJP's Birbhum district committee.

One reason these leaders switched camps is the BJP's reluctance to overtly back them in opposing the project because the Union government's policy is to increase annual coal production. But just like in Singur-Nandigram, smaller political, human rights and environmental organisations (mostly left-leaning) are coming together in support and solidarity with the local anti-displacement protesters. The CPI(M) appears keen to find a place among them, just like the TMC did in 2006-07.

In response to the Save Democracy event, the TMC on December 23 organised a meeting and a rally at the same venue, with Sunil Soren seen in the front. The rally came under attack from local women opposed to the project, subsequent to which policemen allegedly lathi-charged the protesting women. The TMC's pro-industry rally at Dewanganj appeared similar to those conducted by the CPI(M) in Singur and Nandigram in 2006-07 as part of the 'area dominance exercise'. However, the reporting of the Dewanganj event in the CPI(M)'s Bengali mouthpiece, the daily Ganashakti, reflects sympathy, if not support, for the anti-displacement protesters.

Meanwhile, the police have filed a case of unlawful Assembly naming nine organisers of Deocha Pachami Adibasi Janajati Bhumi Raksha Committee for organising the event involving Save Democracy. "We have taken bail from the court. They can't silence us, neither with rewards nor threats," Sunil Murmu, one of those named in the police case, said.

The TMC, by no means, wants this project stalled, even though the party does not want a repeat of scenes like Singur-Nandigram, especially since Banerjee is eyeing a bigger role in national politics. It remains to be seen how the government moves ahead with the project without reaching a flashpoint.

(The writer is a journalist based in Kolkata)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
After lack of access to adequate doses, many poor countries are now facing vaccine resistance, which according to scientists could be a source of new variants, such as Omicron, Nature reported.

"When you have a lot of community transmission, that's where variants will emerge," Jeffrey Lazarus, a global health researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Spain, was quoted as saying.

Addressing people's hesitancy is therefore crucial, to curb viral spread and to avert hospitalisations and deaths, he said.

According to scientists, hesitancy might now be contributing to the slow uptake of vaccines in South Africa, one of the nations where Omicron was first detected, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Papua New Guinea and Nepal. These countries have large proportions of unvaccinated populations.

Also read: Omicron will spike Covid cases 'much higher': Fauci

"We have more hesitant people in the global south than we ever thought we did," Rupali Limaye, a behavioural scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland, was quoted as saying. Although in many countries, limited supply is still the main problem, the researchers said.

Until late October, many African nations "didn't have enough doses", but even after getting adequate amounts of vaccines in most countries just 64 per cent of the vaccines have so far been administered, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

In South Africa, for example, the number of doses administered each week has fallen to less than one-quarter of doses given at the peak of the vaccination drive in September. This is despite only 44 per cent of adults having been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Also read: There is still hope pandemic could begin fading in 2022

According to Espoir Malembaka, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is based in Bukavu, DRC, except for travellers getting ready to board flights, people are not "really in a rush to get the vaccine". He believes that the problem is not access to, but mistrust of, the vaccines.

Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy has long been recognised as a problem in high- and middle-income nations.

A major concern is safety, especially because the vaccines were developed and delivered rapidly and the recommendations for their use have often changed, researchers said. Misinformation coupled with lack of trust in governments have also played a role in hesitancy.

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Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya set social media abuzz as he asked Hindus to dream big and "reconvert" Pakistanis to Hinduism.

The BJP leader also said that temples and mutts should set a target of converting people of other faiths back to Hinduism.

Speaking at the Vishwarpanam event at Krishna Mutt in Udupi, on Saturday, Surya said, We should start dreaming big. We should start audaciously dreaming of the impossible and achieve it.

And what is dreaming big?

Also Read | Non-passing of anti-conversion bill not setback to govt: CM Bommai

Its not just reconverting those Muslims or Christians near our homes. It should be our priority to convert those Muslims in todays Pakistan to Hinduism, Surya said, adding that when it happens we will have Pakistan back in our geography.

This may seem impossible today as abolishing Article 370 and constructing Ram Mandir seemed earlier, he said.

Such ghar wapsi drive, he said, should begin from Karnataka as the state had a history of stopping the intrusion and invasion from Mughals and other external forces in South India.

Coming against the backdrop of the Assembly passing the controversial Anti-conversion Bill recently, these remarks went viral on social media on Sunday.

Reacting to the remarks, Congress MLA Priyank Kharge tweeted: If everyone has a #GharWapsi as desired by the BJP, where exactly will they fit them in the varna system or will all be considered as Brahmins by default?

JD(S) IT wing head Prathap Kanagal took a dig at the MPs remarks, asking whether the Anti-Conversion Bill was not a hindrance to such a move.

Bangalore south, are you not ashamed for voting this man to Parliament. Clearly, education does not mean intellect! wrote Twitter user Anand Srinivasan.

Bangalore south are you not ashamed for voting this man to parliament. Clearly education does not mean intellect! https://t.co/Cfj5HF3I8r  Anand Srinivasan (@anand_srini) December 26, 2021

His comments also found support among a few. So many are perturbed by mere mention of ghar wapsi, which means Tejasvi is doing it right, wrote Twitter user @ChandraSirigeri.

Tejasvi Surya is promising. He just needs to continue his hard work a(n)d gain more administrative skills. He has the possibility of becoming the future PM of India. If he does, it would be great, wrote Nitin B.

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By MATTHEW PERRONE

AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON  U.S. health regulators on Thursday authorized the second pill against COVID-19, providing another easy-to-use medication to battle the rising tide of omicron infections.

The Food and Drug Administration announcement on Merck's molnupiravir comes one day after the agency cleared a competing drug from Pfizer.





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By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

The Associated Press

NEW YORK  Amazon, under pressure to improve worker rights, has reached a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board to allow its workers to freely organize  and without retaliation.

According to the agreement, the online behemoth said it would reach out to its warehouse workers  former and current  via email who were on the job anytime from March 22 to now to notify them of their organizing rights. The settlement outlines that Amazon workers, which number 750,000 in the U.S., have more room to organize within the buildings. For example, Amazon pledged it will not threaten workers with discipline or call the police when they are engaging in union activity in exterior non-work areas during non-work time.





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Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity-Spokane [enlarge] Farah, the new home owner, takes a selfie with volunteers from Habitat for Humanity who helped him rehab the home.





An immigrant father from Sudan has a new home for himself and his family thanks to Habitat for Humanity-Spokane.





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Photo by Hines [enlarge] If and when Amazon workers return to the building, theyll have a familiar monorail view.





After three years of ownership, Alexandria Real Estate Equities has sold the Amazon-leased 5th & Bell building to Hudson Pacific Properties. King County recorded the nearly $118.7 million sale last week for 2301 Fifth Ave. Both parties used LLCs in the deal, which was worth about $602 per square foot. Brokers were not announced.





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SEATTLE  An industrial building at 1520 N.W. Leary Way sold for a bit over $7.1 million, according to King County records.

The buyer was Carter Ballard Properties LLC, which is associated with the eponymous car dealer of Subarus and Volkswagens. Its Ballard dealership is a few steps west on Leary. No new plans have been filed.





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The Taoiseach has said that revolutionary leader Michael Collins should be commemorated as a statesman to mark the centenary of his death next year.

Micheal Martin ruled out a state inquiry into who shot the Irish republican leader dead, saying it would be the wrong way to approach the source of controversy.

Mr Collins was killed on August 22 1922 near Beal na mBlath in Co Cork during the Irish civil war.

The identity of the shooter remains a mystery almost 100 years later.





Mr Martin said that he signed off on a plan to put resources into Beal na mBlath to create a proper memorial.

I met the Collins family recently. I was very taken by what Helen, the grandniece of Michael Collins, said, the Fianna Fail leader added.

They much prefer Woodfield, the birthplace of Michael Collins, than Beal na mBlath because to them Beal na mBlath is a death site. Its a grave.

It has never been appealing to their family, whereas actually I got it when I was at Woodfield. The location is idyllic, where he was born and reared you can almost see him running around those fields.

But I think we should commemorate the centenary of the death of Michael Collins in the manner we would commemorate the loss of a statesman.

Mr Martin said Mr Collins was an outstanding Irish leader during the War of Independence.

All of that generation had extraordinary commitment to the country, he added.

I was struck, when I read the [Michael Collins] diaries that we were presented with, that commitment shines through, and indeed it shines through all of the records and archives that have being made available.

I think we should honour the leaders of that period without fear or favour and do it in a proper way.

Asked whether an historical inquiry into Mr Collins death would be a step too far, Mr Martin said it is the wrong way to go through the past.

I much prefer the work of academics, good, solid, informed histories, he added.

That, to me is the more informed way to go about it, to look back on history. I think Diarmaid Ferriters book Between Two Hells is one example of that.

Lets not approach history with the perspectives of today or with your own prejudices.

You should approach history objectively and try to tell the story as it was through the prism of those who were there at the time, and what their impulses were and what their emotions were. History is complex.

There are many variables, theres never one simplistic narrative.

Were all biased to certain extents, to certain degrees.

I think the Collins family have an idea, they are certainly of the view that reconciliation is the key objective and they would have had that view a long, long time ago in respect of families in West Cork on the other side.

Therell be many stories written but the idea of setting up a state inquiry would be anathema to me. I think thats the wrong way to approach it.
Queen Elizabeth II issued strict instructions to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge appear to be more easygoing than normal these days, as seen by their annual Christmas card, which was unveiled on December 11.

The couple were dressed in color-coordinated blues and khakis, as were their three children, Prince George, 8, Princess Charlotte, 6, and Prince Louis, 3.

According to reports, the photo was shot on a private family trip to Jordan.

The future King and Queen of England look beautiful when they are out of the castle and away from their royal duties; according to OK magazine, they are planning another trip, this time to the United States.

According to reports, Queen Elizabeth II has "secretly" instructed Prince William and Kate Middleton to take some time off and enjoy themselves while they are away from the nation.

An insider revealed to the outlet that the planning of their US trip "was done mostly behind closed doors," noting that the Queen was orchestrating the entire thing.

As previously revealed by OK magazine, the monarch prefers Prince William to her 73-year-old father Prince Charles to succeed her when she abdicates the throne.

According to the insider, "She feels William's a better fit for taking over than Charles."

The Duke of Cambridge's vacation to the United States will apparently provide him and Kate Middleton some well-deserved relaxation with their three children before he takes on even more obligations.

"It's set to be a relaxed trip without all the pomp and formality of a royal tour. William and Kate are planning to have a lot of fun."

READ ALSO: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Net Worth Increased Thanks To Spotify Deal? THIS Is How Much They're Earning Per Minute

Alleged Plans of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the United States

According to the insider, stopping in New York City is at the top of their must-do list.

"William and Kate are keeping the specifics under wraps, although rumors are circulating that they'll lease a home overlooking Central Park."

"They like the thought of doing that to staying in a hotel, which would be less private," they continued.

For their children, Prince William and Kate Middleton should visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the zoo.

"The kids adore animals and William and Kate want to make sure they enjoy themselves."

Then they'll allegedly stay in a leased house in the Beverly Hills neighborhood with their security crew, who will accompany them on their journey.

Aside from traveling, the couple plans to enjoy romantic nights by employing an in-house chef and scheduling family movie nights.

Visiting Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their Montecito, California residence is allegedly not on the itinerary.

"William and Harry's relationship hasn't improved much since the Sussexes left England; they don't communicate much."

Still, this story should be taken with a grain of salt. If the Cambridges do go forward with this rumored plan, fans should wait for an official statement from Kensington Palace.

READ MORE: Princess Diana's Christmas Gift Fell Foul To The Receiver, Other Gift Exchanges In Royal Family Revisited
After years of digging in its heels, Germany is on track to reduce its giant foreign surpluses, a potential boon for trading partners like the U.S.

For four straight years through 2019, Germany recorded the worlds largest current-account surplus, making it the biggest creditor to other countries and inviting criticism from international officials.

Successive U.S. administrations have called Europes largest economy one of the biggest contributors to global economic imbalances. The International Monetary Fund and the European Union have urged Germany to reduce its bulging surplus, with German officials arguing in return there was little they could do.

Recently though, Germanys foreign surpluses have fallen as a share of economic output. Germanys current-account surplus (the current-account balance incorporates both the trade balance and other foreign flows including international investment) is expected to decline to 5.5% of gross domestic product next year, the lowest since 2005 and down from a peak of 8.6% in 2015, according to Germanys Ifo economic think tank.

The decline in Germanys surplus partly reflects temporary factors including higher prices of imported energy and massive pandemic-related government spending. But German economists and officials say it could persist as the new government, appointed this month, ramps up public and private investment and hikes the national minimum wage by about one quarter to 12 an hour, equivalent to about $13.60. Wage growth is generally expected to pick up as the nations workforce shrinks by an estimated four million workers over the next 10 years, forcing companies to bid up pay.

All that could increase imports to Germany as businesses and households spend more, lowering the trade surplus and the current-account surplus, which is essentially a measure of excess savings in the economy. Germanys trading partners would benefit, since its foreign surpluses subtract from global demand.

Economists argue that most Germans would benefit, too.

By keeping more of what is produced in the domestic economy and giving it to the people, and not having these huge surpluses, we can have a much higher return than the old model, said Achim Truger, one of five economic experts who advise the German government.

Germanys surpluses are popular at home as a symbol of industrial strength and global competitiveness. Export prowess helped Germany to eliminate the mass unemployment of the early 2000s and sail through successive crises relatively unscathed.

These surpluses reflect the nations propensity to save rather than consume, a mirror image of large U.S. trade deficits and low savings. Put another way, Germanys current-account surplus means it is accumulating foreign assets while the U.S. deficit shows it is borrowing heavily from abroad to sustain its domestic growth.

Many economists say the surplus reflects weak domestic demand rather than export strength.

The problem is not so much that Germany is exporting too much but that it is importing too little, said Marcel Fratzscher, president of DIW, a Berlin think tank.

Klaas Knot, central-bank governor of the Netherlandsanother country with large foreign surplusessaid, competitiveness is a means to an end because it creates employment.

Mr. Knot, who sits on the European Central Banks rate-setting committee, said in a September interview, If competitiveness leads you to a situation where you continuously build up claims on other countries butthey cannot honor these claims, then what purpose does it serve?

Germany didnt always have large foreign surpluses. It recorded current-account deficits for much of the 1990s as the government spent heavily on reunifying East and West Germany. A surplus appeared around the turn of the century as German imports dropped suddenly.

That import shock might have been caused by public-spending cuts aimed at meeting European Union deficit rules, said Mr. Truger. Private incomes and imports never fully recovered.

The surpluses grew strongly in the decade through 2016, driven by higher savings and weak corporate and state investment, according to calculations by Bruegel, a Brussels think tank.

The problem is that German businesses didnt transform their savings into higher business investment, says Mr. Truger. Companies were more or less hoarding, he said. The German government used its savings to pay down debt and the bulk of its tax revenues to fund welfare payments as opposed to investments.

These choices left the nation with poor infrastructure compared with countries like Sweden and the Netherlands, said Sven Giegold, a senior German Green politician recently appointed to the new governments Economics Ministry.

As businesses saved, German workers essentially saw no improvements in their living standards for the decade through 2008, even though their productivity was increasing by nearly 1.5% a year, according to ECB research.

Germanys international investment position, the difference between its residents external financial assets and liabilities, has risen steadily, reaching $2.5 trillion last yearthe highest of any country except Japan, according to International Monetary Fund data. Some studies suggest those assets have been poorly invested.

German exports have stalled since 2017 as the era of easy foreign trade gave way to geopolitical tensions and Chinese businesses, Germanys biggest customers, turned into competitors.

Higher domestic spending could erode Germanys international competitiveness, contributing to rebalancing the economy away from its dependence on exports. Higher wages, in particular, could hurt price-sensitive export industries such as meat processing or car parts manufacturing, said Andreas Nolke, professor of political science at the Goethe University in Frankfurt.

Jobs would need to be transferred from some manufacturing sectors to domestic services such as hospitality, education and health. The problem is the interim period, Mr. Nolke said.

Still, the overall economic impact of the rebalancing might be manageable, experts say, especially in light of the necessary investment in the transition to green energy.

Germany will remain a trade powerhouse But Germany will import more, said Gabriel Felbermayr, president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a think tank. The whole situation will be more balanced.

Tom Fairless

: wsj.com
U.S. chip maker Intel is facing a backlash from China. The company told its suppliers not to source products or labor from China's northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Los Angeles, CACarolina Ugaz-Moran, author of the award-winning Aline and the Blue Bottle, was featured on WMBS Pittsburgh Radio. During the interview Ugaz-Moran explained how a dream, and the reactions to it, provided the foundation for the seven-book Adventures of Aline series.

The first installment of Ugaz-Moran's middle grade fantasy series is told through the eyes of Aline, a misfit who is bullied and ostracized. Well loved by her mother, grandmother, and dogs, Aline longs for acceptance and friendship and struggles to understand why she doesn't fit in anywhere. "You are very unique and beautiful," Aline's grandmother tells her. "Being unique is a very good thing."

Expert Click Radio  Carolina Ugaz-Moran, Author of 'Aline & the Blue Bottle, Featured on WMBS Pittsburgh Radio

"This is a perfect story for middle schoolers who are also coming of age and finding their place in the world. It's a modern-day fantasy that follows the title character through many different worlds and encounters. You'll fall in love with Aline and the other characters she comes across on her epic adventures in this world and the next." John Kelly, Detroit Free Press, 5-Stars

"Carolinadraws the reader into learning while being entertainedVery highly recommended!" Grady Harp, Amazon Top Contributor: Children's Books and Hall of Fame Top 100 Reviewer

Ugaz-Moran, who was born in Spain, and lived in Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Peru before moving to the United States at age 14, knows what it is like to be an outsider. "As a child, I moved a lot and was often bullied," she says. "The only constant was my familyNow I have a family of my own and they are my constant. There is a lot to be said about the simple power of love and family."

But Aline's family is far more unique than she could begin to guess, the keepers and guardians of a long-hidden secretAline herself. On the evening of her twelfth birthday, everything changes when her grandmother suddenly tells her she's in danger and drags her through a portal into a magical world. Here Aline realizes that she has been surrounded by secrets her whole life and that nothing, including her

family, is what she thought. She learns about the One World, the evil warlock Dashiok, and the magical war that shattered the One World into eight kingdoms.

She discovers that she possesses strong powers which might be the key to defeating Dashiok, if she can unlock them. But before she has even identified all of her powers, much less mastered them, Aline and twelve other Quest Carriers are forced to set off in search of a mysterious and powerful blue bottle which Dashiok seeks to control. Can Aline and the Quest Carriers find the hidden bottle? Will Aline be able to identify and master her powers in order to protect the Quest Carriers? When the forces of darkness attack, can they unite their powers to defeat their foes?

Watch the Aline and the Blue Bottle book trailer at https://bit.ly/AlineAndTheBlueBottleTrailer

Aline and the Blue Bottle, ISBN:1734072806, ebook $2.99, paperback $12.99. Published 2019, 274 pages, available at Amazon.

About Carolina Ugaz-Moran: Carolina Ugaz-Moran was born in Spain and lived in Argentina, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Peru, before moving to the United States at age fourteen. Passionate about both science and writing, she eventually obtained degrees in Biochemistry and Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin. She has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than twenty years.

Carolina is the award-winning author of Aline and the Blue Bottle, the first volume of a middle-grade book series. Aline and the Blue Bottle won the 2020 NYC Big Book Award (Juvenile Fiction), the 2020 Independent Press Award Distinguished Favorites Award (Children's Fiction), and was a Finalist for the 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards (Pre-Teen Fiction). She and her family currently live in California's Central Valley wine country with their three dogs and four cats.

Learn more about Aline and the Blue Bottle, The Adventures of Aline Series, and Carolina Ugaz-Moran at AdventuresofAline.com. Follow Ugaz-Moran on Instagram: @carolinaugazm, Twitter: @carolinaugazm and Facebook: @carolinaugazm.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Aline and the Blue Bottle or to arrange an interview with Carolina Ugaz-Moran, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on twitter @abookpublicist
Jasper, IndianaThe fourth installment in Kevin Schewe's critically acclaimed Bad Love sci-fi adventure series, Bad Love Medicine, won an award in the Young Adult category at the Southern California Book Festival. This follows on the heels of an International Book Impact Award in the same category with the addendum of Excellence for Book Content Quality.

The author considers recognition in this category a badge of honor well worth the efforts expended in creating the series. Spread throughout all the books, within swashbuckling stories of daring do, are nuggets planted to spark an interest in science, history, cars, weapons, time travel and even popular music. In addition, passing along the tenets of courage, loyalty, sacrifice and duty are vital for Kevin Schewe. The teenage heroes of the Bad Love Gang, some based on his childhood friends, display selfless discipline in an effort to change the world for the better.

Schewe's lifelong interest in World War II is reflected in detailed explanations of the nuclear bomb project, aircraft, weapons and the personalities of key military and political leaders. In Bad Love Medicine the Gang has a two-fold mission: reunite a love-struck couple (while saving one of them from a future fate of cancer) separated by time and stop Hitler and the Nazis from creating a time machine of their own. They battle Russian agents in the 1970s, Nazi soldiers and scientists in the 1940s and make friends with aliens from another planet.

"These stories just come to life in such an organic way," says Schewe. "They combine my childhood memories with my love of history, music, military aviation, WWII, science fiction and time travel." Whether you're a history aficionado, a time-travel buff, a sci-fi lover, or are just in need of a fun book to cheer you up, Bad Love Medicine is the adventure you've been waiting for.

In Bad Love Strikes, the Gang discovered The White Hole Project, a time machine created by Albert Einstein at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt in case the atomic bomb failed. In the exciting sequel, Bad Love Tigers, the gang used the White Hole Project to travel back to 1945 to thwart Russian spies and protect the secrets of Area 51. In Bad Love Beyond, the gang traveled not just through time but through space as well to learn the reason behind Blue Nova One's mysterious visit to earth.

Other awards the books have won are the Wishing Shelf Red Ribbon Winner, Literary Titan Silver Book Award, NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, AMI Indie Book Awards, and an eLit Award to name a few.

"Skillful writing (both historical and fantastical), a zesty sense of humor, an appreciation for pop culture, and the ability to create memorably entertaining characters combine to make this an immensely impressive noveland experience! Very highly recommended." Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 5-Stars

"If history was taught this way in school, everyone would be a scholar and educating ourselves not only about our accomplishments but the horrors of the past that should awaken and give insight to the path of a better future. A rare gem!" David Holladay, MD, 5-Stars

Watch the exciting book trailers at https://bit.ly/BadLoveStrikes-Trailer or https://bit.ly/BadLoveTigers_Trailer or https://bit.ly/BadLoveBeyondTraileror https://bit.ly/BadLoveMedicineTrailer

About Kevin Schewe: Kevin L. Schewe, MD, FACRO, is a board-certified cancer specialist who has been in the private practice of radiation oncology for over 34 years. He is an entrepreneur, having founded Elite Therapeutics and Bad Love Cosmetics Company, LLC.

A long-time history buff, Schewe is the author of the Bad Love Book Series, a young adult sci-fi adventure that spans much of early 20th century history. You can connect with Kevin Schewe through his website KevinSchewe.com or via Instagram @realkevinschewe

Bad Love Medicine, ASIN: B098TN6GKC, Broken Crow Ridge Publishing, July 6, 2021, available on Amazon and www.jancarolpublishing.com in ebook and paperback, 258 pages.

Media Contact: For a review copy of Bad Love Medicine, or previous books in the series, or to arrange an interview with Dr. Kevin Schewe, contact Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications Book Marketing at scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or by phone at 734-667-2090. Follow Lorenz on Twitter @abookpublicist
Craigslist's Missed Connection advertisement section is a sort of digital town square where lonely hearts can declare their feelings without fear of public rejection.

We reviewed posts from Nov. 23 until Dec. 27 on the San Antonio Craigslist page, and different scenarios played out across the region.

On ExpressNews.com: The worst and best things about living in San Antonio, according to our readers

A pair of motorcyclists never caught a red light to exchange phone numbers. It was too loud to ask the girl with the knife tattoo for her phone number at Paper Tiger, a popular St. Mary's Strip music venue. It was too late to thank the stranger ahead in the drive-thru line at Starbucks for the free coffee that restored hope this holiday season.

Here are a few of the missed connections posted on Craigslist during the last few weeks. The posts have been edited for grammar and clarity.

Woman riding a motorcycle, posted on Dec. 26 from San Antonio: I was riding too and I pulled up next to you. We rode down the road together for a bit then I had to exit to the right and you continued straight. I wanted to get your digits, but we never caught a light so I could ask. I would love a riding buddy to go ride with. If you read this, please reply.

Target Creekside Christmas Eve, posted on Dec. 25 from New Braunfels: 50(ish) woman in a green dress. You asked me for some help finding an item in the stationary department. I thought I saw a smile as you walked away.

Starbucks, white truck with Woody Guthrie sticker, posted Dec. 23 from Fredericksburg: You paid for my drinks before driving away. I just wanted to tell you that this act of kindness is a bright spot in what has been a very difficult holiday season for me. Thanks for reviving my positive perspective!

Waiting in line at Big Lots, posted Dec. 19 from San Antonio: We were chatting it up, wouldnt mind if you want. I was helping you hold your stuff.

HEB 410/Bandera, posted Dec. 15 from San Antonio: We chat here and there when our paths meet. Just not sure if youre interested in someone to talk to about life (or) spitball some ideas on how to survive it. Your name starts with a J, who knows.

Dezavala car wash by Sams Club (Interstate 10 and Dezavala), posted Dec. 7 from San Antonio: I parked next to you while we were vacuuming our cars. We locked eyes a few times, not sure if you were a couple with the person you were with. I should have stopped. You were beautiful. Absolutely stunning. I would love to hear from you. Let me know what I was driving, or looked like, or what you look like. Whatever works. Would just love to connect.

Tea and lottery tickets at Fishers on Walnut, posted Nov. 28 from New Braunfels: This is a long shot, but during the summer, I worked at a convenience store. You walked in (on) most Wednesdays and Saturdays and got two teas, a sweet and an unsweet. You also got a few online lottery tickets. Some Tuesdays you'd come in for the store's "free tea Tuesdays."

I worked evenings, and we'd small talk here and there. The last day I saw you, you mentioned you were planning on making dinner from scratch. I made a comment and you told me you lived around Creekside.

If you remember me, please reply. I wanted to give you my number, but you already left. Let me know what you made (if you remember) or the apartment complex you live at.

Central Market, posted on Nov. 23 from San Antonio: You had a stunning reddish beard. We ran into each other a few times in the aisle and made eye contact. It was 11/23 around 5:30 p.m. I was the female with brown hair and was wearing a red flannel shirt. Message me if you see this.

I filmed 100 Gecs on your 3DS at Paper Tiger, posted on Nov. 23 from San Antonio: I was photographing the 100 Gecs show for the Current, standing on stage. You shrugged and passed me your 3DS. I filmed the entirety of One Million Dollars in 3D, in all its seizure-inducing glory. Kids cheered and I gave you the DS back but I never got your contact info. I NEED to see how that video came out. Sick knife tat on your arm, BTW.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
Learning loss by students caused by pandemic-related interruptions is a huge concern to educators, but some area teachers and staff have pulled back from an initial move to schedule extra classroom days.

Teachers at San Antonio Independent School District were granted additional professional-development days for the upcoming spring semester. The districts board of trustees approved a recommendation to return to a regular 177 school-day calendar, instead of the increased 180-day calendar.

Northside ISD opted for a similar move on Nov. 16, as administrators also recommended five days of early dismissal of students this spring to allocate three hours of professional development on each of those days.

One of the concerns thats been raised is the lack of planning time that (teachers) have during the school year, Patti Salzmann, deputy superintendent at SAISD, said. What teachers are saying is, If you give us more time to plan, we will be better at addressing students needs.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

The district had opted for the 180-instructional-day calendar to take advantage of a state program that would reimburse school districts for pre-K through 5th grade. But considering the district had expanded the calendar for all grade levels, returning to a regular calendar did not pose a huge loss, officials said

When it comes to intersession days - additional learning days to catch up students - campuses can still choose to offer after-school and weekend learning hours depending on the need of each campus. The only difference is that the district will not be asking the state to reimburse it for any additional days, Salzmann said.

Instead of requiring every campus to do (intersession days), we will go back to the way we previously planned, which is, each principal develops the plan that supports their campus best, Salzmann said.

Each campus can develop its own agenda for Jan. 28, Feb. 18 and April 18.

Teacher workload and the potential for burnout continues to be a concern as the region grapples with staff shortages and students who had not been in a classroom for more than a year before the 2021-2022 school year began.

San Antonio ISD ended the fall semester with 93 teacher vacancies, down from more than 150 at the start of the school year.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonios latest pandemic heroes: Workers covering for each other at short-staffed public schools

Its progress, but the gaps have contributed to a workload that, with no professional development days in the fall, left little time for teachers and their teams to plan, to assess, and to really reflect on how things are going, said Alejandra Lopez, president the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, the SAISD employees union.

Jerry Lara /San Antonio Express-News

The recommendation to go back to the regular calendar and leave it up to campuses to choose when and how to offer intersession classes was created with input from the Alliance.

Because of the calendar approved for this year, we had a very short summer, Lopez said. Teachers basically felt like they barely had a chance to catch their breath.

The potential for burnout doesnt just affect the teaching staff, Salzmann said, as families are also voicing concerns about children needing breaks as they readjust to the school schedule. Children dont attend class during professional development days.

The Northside ISD early release days are similar to what its teachers had in previous years. On Jan. 26, Feb. 16, March 23, April 20 and May 18, Northside elementary students will be dismissed at 11:45 a.m., those at middle schools at 12:40 p.m. and high schools at 1 p.m.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio schools, bolstered by federal dollars, still struggle to meet students mental health needs

The gaps in student learning are such that it requires additional planning, Janis Jordan, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said during the November board meeting. The idea is not that it is district professional learning It is for the teachers to design what they need to design to better be able to meet the needs of their students.

In both districts, the idea went beyond a focus on academics, as officials voiced the need to also provide professional development options around social and emotional wellbeing.

Weve been very clear that what our educators need right now is also access to professional development around trauma-informed practices, Lopez said. There is a need to meet our students where they are at from a social-emotional perspective as well. All of that takes planning, time, and time is something teachers dont have at the moment.

danya.perez@express-news.net | @DanyaPH
Since a federal judge forced Texas nearly a year and a half ago to offer limited online voter registration, 1.5 million Texans have used the option, according to new state data.

The August 2020 ruling, which found Texas in violation of the National Voter Registration Act, required state officials to give residents the opportunity to register when they renew their drivers license online. The system was in place a month later.

Advocates say the new data speaks to the success of online registration  and is evidence that Texas, one of just a few states that does not offer an online option for every registrant, should implement the program statewide. Republican leaders in state government have resisted such change, instead pursuing new voting restrictions in the name of election security.

The very best thing you can do is have systems where the government is seamlessly integrating voter registration into other processes, said Mimi Marziani, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which represented the plaintiffs in the case that spurred the creation of the online system.

Its unclear how many of the 1.5 million people are registering to vote for the first time, but its likely that the majority of them are updating addresses on existing registrations. Hearst Newspapers requested the information a week ago, but the secretary of states office declined to provide that breakdown by publication time. Roughly 1.9 million people use the Department of Public Safety website to renew their license each year, Marziani said.

TEXAS ONLINE VOTER REGISTRATION Online registration requests in Texas' five largest counties, as of Dec. 17, 2021. Harris: 214,166 Dallas: 118,135 Tarrant: 115,013 Bexar: 105,737 Travis: 75,132 Statewide total: 1,493,932 Source: Texas Secretary of State See More Collapse

About 40 percent of the online registration applications came from Texas five most populous counties. Roughly 200,000 people have used the option in Harris County, and 100,000 in Bexar, according to state data.

2018 ELECTIONS: Texas rejects 2,400 online voter registrations as election nears

Experts say the option has removed a barrier for those who likely arent thinking about updating their voter registration information after moving, when they are required by law to update their address. They contend its especially useful as Texas has cracks down on fraudulent ballots  a process that can flag simple mistakes, like using an outdated address when voting.

Getting registered to vote is not something that many people necessarily remember, said Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project. And in the process of moving, it's very likely that this would not be on the top of their list of things to address, like changing their electricity, gas providers and forwarding all their mail.

Without more granular data on first-time voter registrations filed online, its difficult to determine whether the option has had a significant impact on Texas overall registration numbers, Blank added. More than 17 million people are registered to vote in Texas.

Still, its doubtful that GOP leaders would embrace an expansion of online registration in Texas, which has some of the nations strictest voting laws. Republicans have long declined to allow any online voter registration, saying it would lead to an increase in election fraud  even as 63 percent of Texas voters would support such a system, according to an October 2020 poll by the Texas Politics Project.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

The availability of online registration flies in the face of Texas current approach to voting policies, Blank said. The GOP-led Legislature spent months earlier this year campaigning for a sweeping elections bill that, in part, restricted voting hours in some parts of the state, prohibited drive-thru and overnight voting, and introduced new ID requirements for mail-in ballot applications.

Texas has been at the forefront recently of enacting strict voting laws, and, in truth, has been at the forefront of enacting strict voting laws for much of the last decade, Blank said. Even in an area like this, where I think a majority of voters  say that we should expand online voter registration, its unlikely that youd see something like this move in Texas.

But advocates say theyll continue to push for a extensive online registration system  and, if possible, automatic voter registration. Both changes would not only facilitate access to the ballot box, but also address longstanding racial inequities in Texas voter rolls, said Marziani of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Texas is one of eight states that does not offer the online option for all adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The data from this limited online system shows that if the option is available, millions of people will use it, said Charlie Bonner, a spokesperson for the advocacy group MOVE Texas. Every Texas voter should now have equal access to online voter registration. This proves that it works, that its secure, and that it is something people will use.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
Knitting scarves is a hobby thats given 95-year-old Joan Christine Barrera joy through the ups and downs of a life filled with war, disappointment and, most importantly, love.

Each day, she sits in her coffee-colored armchair, knitting for hours in the Northeast Side home she shares with her daughter, Catherine Castillo. Shes surrounded by mementos of days gone by from her birthplace of Wotton-under-Edge, England.

Cups, steins and plates commemorating the royal familys history decorate three shelves on a living room wall. A bust of the late Prime Minister Winston Churchill, topped with a Santa hat, rests on a half-ledge across from her.

I wouldnt be here today if it wasnt for him, Barrera said. Hes the one who saved England  him and President Roosevelt.

On a corner wall hangs a portrait of her late husband, Manuel Barrera, in his Army uniform. Its a comforting reminder of the man she fell in love with during the war between the Allies and the Axis forces.

Barrera watches the news of the world on television as she knits. Its been her pastime since she learned the craft at the age of 4 in school. She still has an English accent, laced with a South Texas drawl.

Shes woven hundreds of scarves, every color of the rainbow, as gifts for family, friends in England, ladies at church and the poor. Shes knitted shawls and scarves through a clash of cultures, discrimination and missing the green country pastures of her youth.

Jessica Phelps /Staff photographer

She taught preschool and played piano at different churches in the area. But knitting has been woven through her life.

About the author A 22-year veteran of the Air Force, Vincent T. Davis embarked on a second career as a journalist and found his calling. Observing and listening across San Antonio, he finds intriguing tales to tell about everyday people. He shares his stories with Express-News subscribers every Monday morning. See More Collapse

I have had a wonderful life over here with my husband, she said, glancing at his portrait. I have no complaints.

World War II figured prominently in Barreras life. She recalled sitting around the radio with her family when Churchill announced that Britain was at war with Germany. She was 15 when she stood on a knoll at night and saw German planes drop bombs on Bristol, 22 miles away.

In April 1944, Barrera and her friend Hazel rode their bicycles to check out the American soldiers posted at the 94th General Hospital at Tortworth Castle. Manuel Barrera, a good-looking soldier, caught the 17-year-olds eye. The teens asked him if he knew the way to their town. They knew hed say no  they just wanted a closer look at the 19-year-old from Texas.

A week later, she saw him at a local village dance. Barrera was with a soldier from Wisconsin, but that didnt deter her future husband from asking her to dance. She spent the rest of the evening with the man who would become her suitor.

They dated for 15 months, riding bikes through the countryside and stopping at a special bench on Wotton Hill. Manuel Barrera, who worked in the camp kitchen, brought his girlfriend Baby Ruth candy bars and her mother canned chicken.

He proposed to her at their special bench. He asked her mother for her hand in marriage and permission to take her to America. A priest married the couple at St. Dominics Catholic Church in Dursley, where they had a three-day honeymoon.

In July 1946, Barrera became one of an estimated 70,000 war brides to join their husbands in the United States.

She and other war wives boarded the Zebulon B. Vance Army ship for a 15-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to America. The three women she shared a room with all were seasick. Barrera wasnt. She had brown paper pinned under her vest, an old sailors trick a former seafaring neighbor had recommended that her mother pass on to her.

Barrera traveled from New York for three days by train to San Antonio. Her husband and his sister, Mary, were waiting at the Missouri Pacific Depot for the bride, who wore a camel-hair coat and a dress made of parachute silk. It was 104 degrees that day.

The couple lived with his aunt Matilda in the Alazan-Apache Courts on the West Side. The next year, they moved in with his grandmother, who taught Barrera to speak Spanish and cook traditional recipes.

On her first Christmas with her new husbands family, they served tamales, and she cried. She missed the traditional British dinner with mincemeat pies and turkey with dressing. On their way home, he stopped and bought her a sandwich.

Barrera recalled that she was taken aback by the discrimination she and her husband faced in the 1950s. They were turned away at the Majestic Theatre and denied an apartment because of her husbands heritage.

But airmail letters from her mother every week helped Barrera keep a sense of home. She found support from her husband, his family and the British Brides Association, a group of British war brides who met once a month. It was through the group that she was able to return to England with her six-year-old son, David.

Castillo called her mother a spitfire whose strong faith keeps her growing. She grew up with Hispanic and British traditions that included festive foods, wearing paper hats and popping English crackers on New Years Eve. And there was her mothers traditional British trifle pudding, a layered dessert.

I had the bests of both worlds, said Castillo, 64. Its great to grow up in two different worlds.

When fall arrives and temperatures dip, Barrera brings out her yarn and starts knitting. It has been a comfort for whats been a tough year for her.

There have been health issues that shes overcome, to the delight of her family. Her dearest friends are no longer with her, and COVID has isolated her from one remaining comrade.

But the yarn and the knitting needles are still with her, always within reach to knit more scarves that bring comfort and joy as we enter another year.

vtdavis@express-news.net
When it came to population growth last year, Texas grew by more people than can fit into three Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadiums, once again making the Lone Star State the fastest-growing in the nation, U.S. Census data shows.

Despite overall population growth in the United States being the lowest its ever been, both Texas and Florida saw significant increases. People migrating to Texas and Florida from other states accounted for the largest contributor to the recent population boom.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio-born princess selling $533 million Roman villa with Caravaggio ceiling

Florida welcomed 220,890 new residents from other states between July 2020 and July 2021. Texas welcomed 170,307 new residents. Texas also saw a significant increase  27,185  of new international residents

These states are rising at the same time that California, New York and others experienced population decreases by 1 to 2 percent.

In fact, one out of every 10 new Texas residents is coming from California, according to a recent study by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. The study, released in October, looked at population trends during the pandemic.

Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University

The movement of Californians to Texas is not new, research economist Luis Torres said in the report. In 19 of the last 20 years, California ranked as the top move-to-Texas state.

The only exception was Louisiana in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina, he said. The share of Californians relocating to Texas has increased every year since 2011.

Along with moves from Southern California, Texas also attracted an influx of residents from the Phoenix area and Chicago, the study found.

On ExpressNews.com: $3.5 million Alamo Heights home is the priciest on the market in the San Antonio area

The highly populated areas of Texas were the most popular with newcomers, according to the study. Bexar and Harris counties saw an influx of 6 and 10 percent of those new residents, respectively.

According to the latest Texas Relocation Report by the Texas Realtors Association, people are moving to Texas for its robust job market, lower cost of living and cheaper real estate.

Timothy.Fanning@express-news.net
Morrelia Villarreal survived a traumatic childhood marked by repeated interventions from state protective officials. Today, she has a promising future.

The 25-year-old single mother just graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at San Antonio with a bachelors degree in criminal justice, becoming the first in her family to get a college education. Shell begin pursuing a masters degree in social work this month. She delights in providing a stable home life for her 3-year-old son.

I want to be a better person today for my child and for myself so that I dont have to hurt or repeat the cycle, she said. I dont want my son to live the life I lived.

Villarreal was intrigued when she learned the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services received more than $25 million in federal funds this year to help current or former foster care youths during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But she was shocked when the agency sent her an email in May reporting that she didnt qualify for any of that financial assistance. The reason: She didnt age out or remain in the foster care system until she was 18 years old. Villarreal was last in foster care when she was 16.

The San Antonio woman had hoped to install Wi-Fi at home for her educational pursuits.

Im not asking for this money so I can go on a shopping spree, Villarreal said. Im a full-time college student. I dont have a job. ... I dont have parents that financially support me.

Two attorneys who represent current and former Texas foster care youths are frustrated with the states slow progress in disbursing the federal funds and expressed disappointment in what they see as haphazard and arbitrary rules on who qualifies to receive such help.

It just seems very scattered about who has gotten access to this money  some people have been able to get a lot of support, and other people arent getting any support, said Austin attorney Mary Christine Reed, director of Texas RioGrande Legal Aids Texas Foster Youth Justice Project. Its just sort of luck of the draw, where youre at and who youre interacting with and how theyre interpreting it.

On ExpressNews.com: Federal judge blasts San Antonio-based nonprofits as dangerous, unsafe for foster children

Nearly $400 million in funds were awarded to states and tribes across the country this year to help current and former foster care youths during the pandemic.

Ronald Cortes / Contributor

The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services received more than $25.3 million of that money and began disbursing it to qualified recipients May 1. The agency said its doled out funds to 1,362 youths and young adults so far, providing support such as computers, car repairs, drivers education, tutoring, cell phones, mobile phone plans, housing payments and utilities payments.

The money was awarded through the Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act  part of the federal appropriations act that became law Dec. 27. The funds came from the John H. Chafee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood.

The federal Childrens Bureau has heard from many young people who are in or were in foster care that they have not benefited from other COVID-19 relief assistance, such as stimulus payments or unemployment insurance, said guidelines issued by that agency in March.

It urged all child welfare agencies receiving the money to consider using at least some of those funds to facilitate quick and streamlined access to direct financial support for youth who were or are in foster care.

But Reed and San Antonio attorney Sarah Worthington, also with the Texas Foster Youth Justice Project, said the state has been slow to roll out payments to the current and former foster care population. Some flexibility regarding how those funds can be used will expire Sept. 30.

Reed and Worthington also said the state hasnt adequately publicized the funds availability.

The attorneys believe many former foster care youths no longer in touch with their caseworkers likely have little to no awareness they may qualify for financial assistance.

On ExpressNews.com: Family Tapestry ending state contract to provide foster care services in San Antonio

It seems very much that (DFPS is) just kind of expending the least amount of effort reaching youth that they already have access to rather than prioritizing youth who are more likely to not have needs met and more likely to have a greater need, Worthington said.

State officials said theyve been using the Chafee funds to provide a wide range of support to those currently in foster care and those who aged out of the foster care program when they turned 18. The agency said its been working as hard as possible to relay accurate, updated information about the financial assistance.

The $25.3 million that Texas received has benefited three groups of people so far: young people 14 to 21 still in foster care or extended foster care; recipients 18 to 21 who left foster care as adults; and those 21 to 26 who aged out of the foster care system and are facing eviction or their utilities being shut off.

Now the Department of Family and Protective Services is preparing to relax those qualifications somewhat for the eldest group.

The agency executed contracts July 20 with the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services and Monarch Family Services to provide $9 million to help those 18 to 26 who left the foster system as adults and arent facing emergency needs.

People fitting that criteria can apply for a share of the money starting Aug. 10 once community funding distribution partners have been selected. Current and former foster care youths and young adults will have until mid-September to apply.

But that wont help people like Villarreal who didnt stay in foster care until they were 18.

Villarreal recalled that Child Protective Services was a constant presence in her life while she was growing up in Victoria. She eventually went into foster care when she was 13. So she was taken aback when she learned in May that she doesnt qualify for a share of the money.

On ExpressNews.com: Childrens Shelter to lay off 93 workers in San Antonio

When these Chafee funds came up, I was like, that is my perfect opportunity to get Wi-Fi at home so I can stop sitting in the McDonalds parking lot for Wi-Fi or stop using peoples hot spots, Villarreal said. Thats what I was hoping for  that I could receive these funds that will allow me to stay at home and continue my education online.

She was insulted by the states decision to deny her any funds.

When they did say, You dont qualify, I was pretty shocked, Villarreal said. I may have not aged out of the program, but I was in the program. I was traumatized by the program. The program has failed me.

You only see it as, I dont meet your criteria because I did not age out. ... And I just think thats not fair.

Reed and Worthington question why Texas established stricter, more narrow requirements than the federal guidelines for how the pandemic funds can be used. The states rules reduced the number of people who could benefit, the attorneys said.

Federal guidance issued in March by the Childrens Bureau  part of the U.S. Health and Human Services Departments Administration on Children, Youth and Families  dont disqualify people who left foster care before 18 from receiving the money. The federal guidance says the money may be used to provide services and assistance to any otherwise eligible youth or young adult who experienced foster care at age 14 or older and has not yet attained age 27.

It is up to the state to decide how theyre actually going to implement that guidance and whether theyre going to narrow their focus, Worthington said. Which is what weve seen happen with DFPS  theyve made their priorities much, much more narrow.

Texas excluded those who didnt remain in foster care until 18 and initially turned away those 21 to 26 who didnt have emergency needs. Without those restrictions, Texas $25 million would have been quickly depleted, DFPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said.

On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio Area Foundation distributes $13.4 million in coronavirus aid to local nonprofits

The agency said it publicized the funds availability on the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services website, the Texas Youth Connection website and the Youth Take Flight Instagram page. It also sent alerts about the funding to its community partners, such as CASA, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Texas Network of Youth Services and the Supreme Court of Texas Childrens Commission, as well as to 18 transition centers across the state and to education and aftercare providers.

We have tried extremely hard to make outreach successful, state officials said in a statement. But we always want to improve.

Fort Worth resident Zoe Jones-Walton, 23, who was in foster care as a teen until she turned 18 and now advocates for foster care youths, has been asking the state about the pandemic funds since April.

She hasnt received any money yet because she wasnt facing eviction and wasnt at risk of her utilities being shut off. But she was recently told of an internship opportunity to assist others with the funding application process.

Its been frustrating how hush-hush everything has been, said Jones-Walton, who graduated last year from Sam Houston State University and is planning to go to law school. Its just been kind of a waiting game.

I would like to see some type of better social media campaign publicizing the pandemic funds in Texas, she said. I would like to see some type of direct cash assistance. ... Try to give vouchers for food and things like that.

As for Villarreal, she is looking forward. Once she obtains her masters degree, she wants to work in the nonprofit sector helping young adults who were once in child protective custody learn life skills and achieve success.

Just because you went through that doesnt make you not worthy enough  that you cant have a family, you cant have a job and you cant go to school, she said. I just really want to help people.

pohare@express-news.net | Twitter: Peggy_OHare
A great leader isnt a great leader because they run their own company or department. Nor are they great because they excelled in their industry early on in their career or employed a team that fulfills all the needs of the business. All of that helps, of course, but those things just make someone a leader. What is it that makes them great?

Effective leadership is the difference between a mediocre leader and a great one. Not only that, but strong leadership creates a strong workforce  research shows one of the most common reasons employees in the US are unhappy in their jobs is due to negative management. They feel less stressed and under pressure when theyre able to engage with leaders well.

John Quincy Adams, the sixth US President, said, "When your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a true leader." And Theodore M. Hesburgh, the President of the University of Notre Dame, said the very essence of leadership is "that you have to have a vision  you can't blow an uncertain trumpet."

Many habits distinguish average leaders from great ones; here are five of the most common.

Related: 7 Traits All Great Business Leaders Share

1. They work to improve their emotional intelligence

Forget IQ  its all about high EI when it comes to strong leadership. This refers to emotional intelligence, which is the ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others. People then use this to manage their behavior and communication.

In today's world, leadership requires development through intentional practice and awareness, and the best leaders among us take time to invest in their own emotions and others. This means dissecting why employees might be acting or responding in different ways  and seeking to understand the reasons behind this.

It also means theyll follow the motto of respond, dont react when it comes to business decisions. They know those automatic, emotional responses to challenging situations wont lead to the best outcomes. Instead, theyll consider all of the information in a situation  and the needs and wants of people  then respond in time. Their decisions are not emotional ones.

2. They openly admit their mistakes

Mistakes happen to all of us, and making one isnt a sign of poor leadership.

When a leader makes a mistake, the worst thing they can do is ignore it or pretend it didnt happen. This sends a message to their team that they either dont care about whats happened, theyre completely unaware of it or its more important to look good than take responsibility. In turn, employees will lose trust in that leader  and eventually, theyll lose respect, too.

A great leader will do the opposite. Theyll assess and analyze what happened. Theyll admit any errors or blunders, and their main focus will be working out what happened, what there is to learn from the experience and how it can be avoided in the future.

Many leaders will bring their employees in on these learnings, explaining why they did what they did, and moving towards improving it. Why? Because this transparency builds trust and openness with colleagues, which studies show is the foundation of many solid relationships. When you have a workplace full of strong relationships, even if mistakes are made, it leads to high employee engagement.

In fact, through learning from mistakes, leaders have the opportunity to build a more robust workforce.

Related: Great Leaders Dont Hide Their Struggles From Their Team

3. They communicate well

Employees naturally look to a leader for a vision, direction and clarity. If a leader can't communicate well, their employees' performance and understanding of the company will falter. Ultimately, the business will suffer.

A big part of effective communication is active listening. When someone is talking to them, a great leader will focus on what's being said. They'll follow up with questions and take on board the other person's point of view. Just because they're a leader, it doesn't mean they're always right.

Active listening is an approach to communication that defuses potentially tense situations and helps seek solutions. For example, when employees say they want their voices to be heard in a company, they mean they want leaders to listen to their needs. Leaders may find it challenging to know what their employees are thinking at work, so taking the time to listen to them allows both parties to truly understand one another.

4. They have their own "toolkit" to stay calm in a crisis

Things inevitably go wrong at work, and many times, it's unavoidable. A good leader creates their own self-care tools to deal with these situations calmly. This will vary from leader to leader, depending on their preferences.

When issues arise, they'll reach for this dedicated "toolkit" to bring them back to what truly matters and decide how to move forward constructively. Mindfulness techniques will often occupy this toolkit when focusing on the present, rather than worrying about the past or the inevitable future.

But self-care techniques to stay calm can involve much more than that: frequent exercising, specific breathing techniques, making time for a work-life balance, a hobby that eases their mind, spending time with people they love, a yoga class or a dog walk to clear their head. Doing this is likely to put them in the right headspace to move forward effectively with a decision at work.

Related: The Mindset That Sets Apart Great Leaders

5. They plan  a lot.

As Benjamin Franklin said, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail."

Great leaders know this well and would never risk their chances of success by ignoring the need to plan. This means they proactively plan and organize strategies before making and implementing decisions.

As well as planning for milestone events, they're also able to take a step back from the day-to-day tasks to make sure that overall, the business is heading in the right direction to achieve growth and success. If it isn't, they have the opportunity to work towards meaningful changes to produce the desired result.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  In 2008, when the Right Rev. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire was excluded from a global Anglican gathering because of his sexuality, Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday, came to his defense.

Gene Robinson is a wonderful human being, and I am proud to belong to the same church as he, Tutu wrote in the foreword to a book Robinson published that year.

Robinson, who in 2003 became the U.S. Episcopal Churchs first openly gay bishop, said Sunday he has been trying to live up to those words ever since.

It was quite surreal because I was taking grief from literally around the world, he said in a phone interview. There was probably at that time, and maybe still, no one better known around the world than Desmond Tutu. It was an astounding gesture of generosity and kindness.

Tutu, South Africas Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist for racial justice, died at age 90. He was an uncompromising foe of apartheid, South Africas brutal regime of oppression against its Black majority, as well as a leading advocate for LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage.

Now, with gay marriage, its hard to remember how controversial this was, and for him to stand with me at the very time I was being excluded ... it completely floored me, said Robinson.

In the foreword to Robinson's book, Tutu also apologized for the cruelty and injustice the LGBTQ community had suffered at the hands of fellow Anglicans.

Tutu, Robinson said, used his own experience of oppression to understand and empathize with others.

He used that as a window into what it was like to be a woman, what it was like to be someone in a wheelchair or for someone to LGBTQ or whatever it was, he said. It was the thing that taught him to be compassionate.

Robinson recalled the way Tutu's laugh rippled across crowds of thousands as well as a private moment when they prayed together in the seminary Robinson graduated from in New York.

There was nobody in pain that he wasnt concerned about, whether that pain was a physical ailment of some kind or a mental illness or something to do with cruelty or degradation. It pained him, Robinson said. To sit in the room and hear him praying about those people was about as close to knowing the heart of God as I ever expect to know. I mean, I dont even need to know more than that.

Robinson served as the ninth bishop of New Hampshire until his retirement in early 2013 and later as a fellow at the Center for American Progress. Now 74, he recently retired as the vice president of religion and senior pastor at the Chautauqua Institution.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Archbishop Desmond Tutu's legacy is reverberating among young South Africans, many of whom were not born when the clergyman battled apartheid and sought full rights for the nation's Black majority.

Tutu, who died Sunday at the age of 90, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for those efforts.

Even though they did not know much about him, some young South Africans told The Associated Press on Monday that they understood his role as one of the most prominent figures to help their country become a democracy.

Zinhle Gamede, 16, said she found out about Tutus passing on social media and has learned more about him over the past day.

At first I only knew that he was an archbishop. I really did not know much else, Gamede said.

She said Tutus death had inspired her to learn more about South Africa's history, especially the struggle against white minority rule.

I think that people who fought for our freedom are great people. We are in a better place because of them. Today I am living my life freely, unlike in the olden days where there was no freedom, she said.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, when South Africa became a democracy, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that documented atrocities during apartheid and sought to promote national reconciliation. Tutu also became one of the worlds most prominent religious leaders to champion LGBTQ rights.

As a gay person, it is rare to hear people from the church speaking openly about gay issues, but I found out about him through gay activists who sometimes use his quotes during campaigns," said Lesley Morake, 25. "That is how I knew about him, and that is what I will remember about him.

Tshepo Nkatlo, 32, said he is focusing on the positive things he hears about Tutu, instead of some negative sentiments he saw on social media.

One of the things I picked up on Facebook and Twitter was that some people were criticizing him for the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) because there are still many issues regarding the TRC," Nkatlo said, referring to some who say Tutu should have been tougher on whites who perpetrated abuses under apartheid and should have ordered that they be prosecuted.

South Africa is holding a week of mourning for Tutu. Bells rang at midday Monday from St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town to honor him. The bells at the people's cathedral, where Tutu worked to unite South Africans of all races against apartheid, will toll for 10 minutes at noon for five days to mark Tutu's life.

We ask all who hear the bells to pause their busy schedules for a moment in tribute" to Tutu, the current archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said. Anglican churches across South Africa will also ring their bells at noon this week, and the Angelus prayer will be recited.

Several services in South Africa were being planned to honor Tutu's life, as tributes came in from around the world.

Tutu's coffin will be displayed Friday at the cathedral in Cape Town to allow the public to file past the casket, which will reflect the simplicity with which he asked to be buried," Makgoba said in a statement. On Friday night Tutu's body will lie alone in the cathedral which he loved.

A requiem Mass will be held Saturday and, according to Tutu's wishes, he will be cremated and his ashes placed in the cathedral's mausoleum, church officials said Monday.

In addition, an ecumenical and interfaith service will be held for Tutu on Thursday in South Africas capital, Pretoria.

South Africans are laying flowers at the cathedral, in front of Tutu's home in Cape Town's Milnerton area, and in front of his former home in Soweto.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Tutu's home Monday in Cape Town where he paid his respects to Tutu's widow, Leah.

He knew in his soul that good would triumph over evil, that justice would prevail over iniquity, and that reconciliation would prevail over revenge and recrimination. He knew that apartheid would end, that democracy would come, Ramaphosa said Sunday night in a nationally broadcast address.

He knew that our people would be free. By the same measure, he was convinced, even to the end of his life, that poverty, hunger and misery can be defeated; that all people can live together in peace, security and comfort, said Ramaphosa who added that South Africa's flags will be flown at half-staff this week.

May we follow in his footsteps, Ramaphosa said. "May we, too, be worthy inheritors of the mantle of service, of selflessness, of courage, and of principled solidarity with the poor and marginalized.
JERUSALEM (AP)  A bird flu outbreak in northern Israel has killed at least 5,200 migratory cranes and forced farmers to slaughter hundreds of thousands of chickens as authorities try to contain what they say is the deadliest wildlife disaster in the nation's history.

Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at the Israel Parks and Nature Authority, said the situation is not yet under control.

Many of the birds are dead in the middle of the water body so its difficult for them to be taken out. he said Monday.

Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg called the crisis the most serious damage to wildlife in the history of the country.

The extent of the damage is still unclear," she tweeted.

Yaron Michaeli, spokesman for the Hula Lake park, where the crane population is centered, said workers were removing the carcasses as quickly as possible, fearing they could infect other wildlife.

Dafna Yurista, spokeswoman for the Agriculture Ministry, said half a million chickens in the area were being slaughtered to prevent the disease from spreading.

About 500,000 cranes pass through Israel each year on the way to Africa and a small number stay behind, Michaeli said. This year, an estimated 30,000 cranes stayed in Israel for the winter.

Michaeli said it is believed that the cranes were infected by smaller birds that had contact with farms suffering from outbreaks.

Israeli media carried photos of workers in white hazmat suits collecting crane carcasses after the birds were first found to be sick about 10 days ago.

Michaeli said the death toll among cranes appears to have stabilized in recent days.

This is a good sign," he said. "They might be starting to get over this. We hope very much.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's office said officials from the agriculture, environment and health ministries were monitoring the situation. There was no immediate information about infections among people, it said.

The cleanup is going more slowly than expected. We are trying to see if theres any other solutions, Naveh said.
The Fauquier Times is honored to serve as your community companion. To say thank you, we are excited to offer 4 weeks FREE Digital & Print access to all subscribers new and returning alike.

We are dedicated to continuing providing reliable, high quality journalism. This is possible with the trust and support of our subscribers in the community we are proud to serve.
Welcome to part two of our article on UNESCO World Heritage sites in Turkey.

If you missed part one, you can read it at the link below.

UNESCO World Heritage sites in Turkey  part one

Sites on the World Heritage List (Cultural)  continued

Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi

Photo Credit: Bizim Sivas

The stunning Divrigi mosque and madrasa (seminary) complex as been declared by UNESCO to be one of the most important centres of cultural heritage in the world. Its exceptional remoteness  two hours drive from Sivas  makes it one of the least visited sites. Originally a Byzantine stronghold, Divrigi was taken by the Seljuks who commissioned the building with its lavishly carved portals. The Great Mosque and Hospital of Divrigi was added to the World Heritage List in 1985.

Hattusha: the Hittite Capital

The Lion Gate at Hattusa, the capital of the Hittite Empire. Photo Credit: Ancient History Encyclopedia

Hattusa was once a great and impressive city, defended by stone walls over 6km in length. Today the ruins consist mostly of re-constructed foundations, walls and a few rock carvings, but there are several more interesting features, including a tunnel and some fine hieroglyphic inscriptions preserved in situ. The site itself is strangely atmospheric, almost eerie, exciting for its ruggedness and high antiquity rather than for its buildings or reliefs. Hattusha: the Hittite Capital was added to the World Heritage List in 1986.

Historic Areas of Istanbul

Photo Credit: Umut Ozdemir

The Historic Areas of Istanbul is a group of sites in the capital district of Fatih in the city of Istanbul, Turkey. From ancient ruins to 16th-century masterpieces, here are some of the must-see UNESCO World Heritagelisted sites and landmarks in Istanbul. These areas were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

Sarayburnu

Topkapi Palace

Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofia)

Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Hagia Irene

Zeyrek Mosque

Suleymaniye Mosque

Little Hagia Sophia

Click on the link below for more information about these sites courtesy of viator.com

Must-See UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Istanbul

Nemrut Dag

Toppled heads of the gods at the top of Nemrut dagi in Turkey. Photograph by Nichola Chapman

The 7,000-foot-tall mountain, Nemrut Dag (Mount Nemrut), houses a historical site unlike any other in the country. Notable for its ancient tomb and temple complex, which includes numerous massive statues of Greek and Persian gods, the stunning site was constructed by King Antiochus I in 62 BC and is today considered to be the most significant monument of the Kingdom of Commagene. Nemrut Dag was added to the World Heritage List in 1987. Click on the link below to read our previous article about Nemrut Dag.

The colossal stone heads of Nemrut Dag

Neolithic Site of Catalhoyuk

PHOTO CREDIT: EBRULI TOURISM

Catalhoyuk is Turkeys most important neolithic and Bronze Age site and the earliest known city in the wold. The sophisticated tools, jewellery, and sculpture found here, and above all the wall paintings decorating the shrines, all dating from 6800 BC, indicate a remarkably advanced civilisation in Anatolia at this time. These items are now in the Ankara Museum of Anatolian Civilizations, but the site is nevertheless impressive for its size. The Neolithic Site of Catalhoyu was added to the World Heritage List in 2012.

Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape

The extraordinary ruins at Pergamum. Photograph courtesy of Wiz tours

Pergamon is, for the most part, a site of quiet classical splendour. Its ruins  especially the Asklepion and Acropolis  are so extraordinary that they were inscribed on Unescos World Heritage List in June 2014, the 999th site in the world (and the 14th in Turkey) to be so honoured. The thermal springs of Pergamon made the city one of the principal centres of healing and beauty. One of the major thermal spas of Pergamon is within the Sanctuary of Asclepius (Guzellik Ilcas). It is believed to have been commissioned by King Euamens of Pergamon, and its healing and beauty properties were enjoyed by Cleopatra.

Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex

Photo Credit: Igor Plotnikov

The square Mosque with its single great dome and four slender minarets, dominates the skyline of the former Ottoman capital of Edirne. Sinan, the most famous of Ottoman architects in the 16th century, considered the complex, which includes madrasas (Islamic schools), a covered market, clock house, outer courtyard and library, to be his best work. The interior decoration using Iznik tiles from the peak period of their production testifies to an art form that remains unsurpassed in this material. The complex is considered to be the most harmonious expression ever achieved of the Ottoman kulliye, a group of buildings constructed around a mosque and managed as a single institution. Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex was added to the World Heritage List in 2011.

Xanthos-Letoon

The 8m high pillar tombs at Xanthos

Xanthos, with its fine Roman theatre and Lycian pillar tombs, is a magnificent site, as befits the remains of Lycias greatest city. Any tour of Xanthos should begin with the theatre and its extraordinary pair of pillar tombs, 8m high. On the acropolis stand the remains of a Lycian royal palace, overlooking the river valley. On the other side of the car park is an extensive Byzantine basilica with mosaic flooring and further uphill is the necropolis, with a cluster of huge tombs dominated by another pillar tomb. At the top of the hill are the remains of a Byzantine monastery and large Roman temple. Xanthos-Letoon was added to the World Heritage List in 1988.

Sites on the World Heritage List (Mixed)

Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia

Fairy chimneys in Goreme, Cappadocia. flickr/Emre Ersahin

Cappadocia is famous for its weird and wonderful natural rock formations and unique historical heritage. One of the best places to see these strange formations is the town of Goreme, which is located among a large number of tuff cones, termed fairy chimneys. The fairy chimneys have been formed as the result of wind and water erosion of two different volcanic layers: a thick layer of tuff (consolidated volcanic ash) covered by a thin layer of basalt that is more resistant to erosion. Due to the ease of carving into the tuff, many of the fairy chimneys at Cappadocia have been hollowed out over the centuries to create houses, churches and storage facilities. Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia was added to the World Heritage List in 1985.

Hierapolis-Pamukkale

Deriving from springs in a cliff almost 200 m high overlooking the plain, calcite-laden waters have created at Pamukkale (Cotton Palace) an unreal landscape, made up of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and a series of terraced basins. At the end of the 2nd century B.C. the dynasty of the Attalids, the kings of Pergamon, established the thermal spa of Hierapolis. The ruins of the baths, temples and other Greek monuments can be seen at the site. Hierapolis-Pamukkale was added to the World Heritage List in 1988.

Click on the link below to read our previous article on Pamukkale and Hierapolis.

Pamukkale: A paradise of history and wellness

There are 84 more sites in Turkey on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, properties that are considered to be cultural and/or natural heritage of outstanding universal value and therefore suitable for inscription on the World Heritage List.

UNESCO World Heritage  Turkey

Sources: UNESCO/LonelyPlanet/Explorer Turkey/Viator

Featured image by Nichola Chapman
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LONDON, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --??As of December 2021, the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis' visa-free and visa-on-arrival agreements total to an all-time high, thanks to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation, the Honourable Mark Brantley. This historic revelation means that citizens of the small eastern Caribbean nation can travel hassle-free to over 161 destinations worldwide, including major business hubs in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

The latest country to partner with St Kitts and Nevis was Sao Tome and Principe. On December 16th, the two nations signed a full visa waiver agreement Principe through high representatives of both countries in New York. A few months ago, Foreign Minister Brantley travelled to Serbia and signed visa waiver agreements with Palestine and with African Nations Burkina Faso and Gabon. These partnerships have moved St Kitts and Nevis ahead of Mexico and Israel, leveling with Barbados for the number one passport in the Caribbean region and 24th globally.

During his Budget 2022 Presentation last week, Minister Brantley said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Aviation "shall continue to seek means of convergence with all of our partners, that we advance our discussions and actions around our mutual interests."

He also added that the government will continue to build on key affiliations with partners such as Canada and the United States to further strengthen bilateral relations and forecasted that face-to-face engagements at ministerial and ambassadorial levels would increase with quarantine and travel restriction ease.

St Kitts and Nevis' increasing international diplomacy and travel partnerships are a major pull factor for time-poor high net worth investors looking to obtain a second citizenship. According to the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Index, published by the Financial Times' Professional Wealth Management magazine, St Kitts and Nevis is the Caribbean CBI country with the most extensive visa-free and visa-on-arrival offering. The report also ranked the Federation's CBI Programme as the world's best in 2021.

In exchange for a financial contribution to a government fund, vetted foreign candidates and their families are awarded nationality and issued internationally respected citizenship that permits their bearers visa-free travel to over 161 of the world's 193 countries. The life altering investment allows them to live, learn and work in a fast-growing economic paradise and the opportunity to confidently develop their business across the world.

pr@csglobalpartners.com, www.csglobalpartners.com
NEW DELHI (dpa-AFX) - Asian stocks struggled for direction in thin holiday trade on Monday as investors continued to fret over the economic impact of the Omicron coronavirus. Over 1,000 flights in the United States, and thousands more globally, were canceled Sunday due to Covid-19 related staff shortages. Several cruise ships had to cancel stops after outbreaks on-board. In Asia, China reported its highest daily rise in local Covid-19 cases in 21 months over the weekend as infections more than doubled in the northwestern city of Xian. China's Shanghai Composite index was up around 0.1 percent after the country's central bank pledged greater support for the real economy, and said it will make monetary policy more forward-looking. Japan's Nikkei index was down 0.3 percent, with heavyweight SoftBank Group leading declines. Shares of the technology investor dropped nearly 2 percent on news that Credit Suisse is seeking information through U.S. courts, which could lead to it taking legal action in Britain against the Japanese company to recover certain funds. Seoul stocks were marginally lower in cautious trade amid profit taking in chip-related shares. Multiple markets in the region including Australia and Hong Kong remain closed for holidays. Trading resumes on Wall Street later in the day following a holiday on Friday for Christmas. 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.
EQS-Ad-hoc: Evolva Holding SA / Key word(s): Financing

Evolva secures additional financing lines to accelerate its growth



27-Dec-2021 / 07:00 CET/CEST

Release of an ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Reinach, December 27, 2021 - Evolva (SIX:EVE), the Swiss biotech company focused on the research, development and commercialization of products based on nature, today signed an agreement with Nice & Green, a Swiss investment firm, to secure additional financing lines until the end of 2023.

The financing lines can be drawn by Evolva in quarterly tranches if needed to support commercial activities and product launches in key markets (pending regulatory approvals), to leverage manufacturing efficiencies and expand manufacturing capacity, as well as to fund the further development of the company's product pipeline.

Under the agreement, Nice & Green has committed to additional incremental financing lines in form of convertible notes according to agreed conditions of up to a maximum principal amount of CHF 12 million until the end of 2023. Together with the currently undrawn financing line of CHF 16 million, Evolva has financing lines of in total CHF 28 million available, if needed. The principal amount of each convertible note is, at Evolva's discretion, either repayable by way of conversion into ordinary shares of the company, or in cash. The conversion price is 95 percent of the lowest daily volume weighted average price for a share on the SIX Swiss Exchange during the 6 trading days immediately preceding the conversion.

About Evolva

Evolva is a Swiss biotech company focused on the research, development and commercialization of ingredients based on nature. We have leading businesses in Flavors and Fragrances, Health Ingredients and Health Protection. Evolva's employees, half of which are women, are dedicated to make the best products that can contribute to health, wellbeing and sensory enjoyment. Find out more at evolva.com and connect with us on LinkedIn .

For Evolva multimedia content, please visit: evolva.com/multimedia-library .

Disclaimer

This press release contains specific forward-looking statements, e.g. statements including terms like believe, assume, expect or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may result in a substantial divergence between the actual results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and those explicitly or implicitly presumed in these statements. Against the background of these uncertainties readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The company assumes no responsibility to update forward-looking statements or to adapt them to future events or developments.
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Oil prices were subdued on Monday amid nervousness around the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant around the world. Benchmark Brent crude futures were marginally lower at $75.77 a barrel, after having fallen 0.9 percent on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 1.2 percent at $72.94 a barrel after having touched a low of $72.71 a barrel earlier in the day. The contract didn't trade on Friday because of the Christmas holiday. Both contracts climbed 3-4 percent last week as preliminary studies published in the U.K. and South Africa indicated that the Omicron variant may cause less severe cases of Covid-19 than the Delta variant. However, there are fresh concerns about demand after airlines across the world cancelled just under 8,000 flights over the three-day Christmas weekend due to the spread of the Omicron variant, flight delays and cancellations related to staff shortages. China reported its highest daily rise in local Covid-19 cases in 21 months over the weekend, pushing regions into lockdowns and tighter social restrictions. Britain, where Omicron is the dominant variant, has been reporting more than 100,000 cases in a single day. France has also reported cases above that figure for the first time. In the United States, the Omicron variant's daily cases have breached those of the Delta wave. Investors are focused on the next OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4 to see whether OPEC and partners like Russia will go ahead with a 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) production increase in February. Oil prices are unlikely to change significantly next year with demand recovering to pre-pandemic levels only by the end of 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday. 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.




Original-Research: Cryptology Asset Group PLC - von GBC AG

Einstufung von GBC AG zu Cryptology Asset Group PLC



Unternehmen: Cryptology Asset Group PLC

ISIN: MT0001770107



Anlass der Studie: Managementinterview

Empfehlung: BUY

Kursziel: 18.35 EUR

Kursziel auf Sicht von: 31/12/2022

Letzte Ratinganderung:

Analyst: Felix Haugg, Julien Desrosiers



Cryptology is a leading European holding company for crypto assets and blockchain companies.



Cryptology Asset Group is a publicly traded investment company focused on crypto-assets and blockchain-based business models. For this purpose, Cryptology has a broad network of experts, including Christian Angermayer and Mike Novogratz, two of the most prominent faces in crypto, who are also among the founders and largest shareholders in the company. In the long term, the company aims to become Europe's leading holding company of the world's most successful crypto and blockchain companies. We spoke with the company's CEO Patrick Lowry about the outlook for crypto assets and the development of Cryptology Asset Group.



GBC AG: Mr. Lowry, to start off, please give us a brief review of Cryptology Asset Group's developments in 2021.



Patrick Lowry: I stepped in as the newly appointed Cryptology CEO in March 2021 with a vision to build the gateway for investors to enter the crypto asset class, leveraging Cryptology's infrastructure and balance sheet. I believe we have successfully created this gateway through Cryptology's publicly traded shares. Our shareholders participate directly in the development of the crypto ecosystem through our investments in exclusive blockchain companies such as B1 and Bullish as well as through the exciting developments of Northern Data, Iconic Funds and more crypto-native companies. We made multiple new investments into the likes of Chintai and even had exits, such as the NYDIG acquisition of our portfolio company, Bottlepay. We also announced we will be deploying $100 million into crypto funds as well, partnering with emerging managers to expand our dealflow and realize what I personally expect to be substantial financial returns. Looking back, I believe we were successfully able to realize my vision as through Cryptology shares, investors gain access to the crypto investment ecosystem in truly unprecedented ways.



GBC AG: Your last investment was in VLaunch. Can you explain the reasons for this investment and tell us what you expect from the investment?

Patrick Lowry: This year, Cryptology started to embrace more native crypto investments and began to deploy capital into the DeFi ecosystem. VLaunch is one of the most exciting projects in crypto today with easily the fastest growing community. The angle they are taking, leveraging a community of influencers in a DAO-esque model for a new token launch platform is revolutionary. We view this as a highly strategic investment as we plan to leverage the token launchpad to invest in the most innovative tokenized platforms coming through the launchpad



GBC AG: Probably the most exciting project in Cryptology's portfolio at the moment is the Bullish platform. Recently, the Financial Services Commission (GFSC) of Gibraltar granted a license for the distributed ledger technology. What does this mean for Bullish and what are the next steps to become the world's largest crypto exchange?



Patrick Lowry: I am excited for many of our portfolio companies, particularly Northern Data now that their tumultuous 2021 is behind it and the firm can move forward. But yes, all the focus of capital markets is zero'd in on B1's Bullish, and rightfully so. The IPO via SPAC seems to be imminent now that the platform itself is live. Bullish spent much of 2021 in a private Beta, and even permitted institutions to join in early December. While in Beta, Bullish realized well over $100 million daily trading volume on Bitcoin rather quickly, equating roughly 15-20% of the daily Bitcoin trading volume of Coinbase. In Mid-Dec., Bullish was rolled out to over 40 countries for all crypto investors. Bullish has a big year ahead of it in 2022, and I am. Bullish. on the platform!

GBC AG: The year 2021 was an extremely successful year for cryptocurrencies, despite the Corona pandemic. In your view, have cryptocurrencies made the leap into the mainstream?



Patrick Lowry: Crypto wasn't just successful despite the COVID pandemic. Crypto largely thrived because of the COVID pandemic, or more accurately said, our government's and central bank's irresponsible actions to combat the economic fallout of the COVID pandemic. The crypto community has been promoting Bitcoin as a 'digital store of value' for years, and in an era of infinitely printed fiat currency (USD/EUR), people finally understood the message and Bitcoin's value. Coupling this with the 2020 Bitcoin halving event, 2021 was literally a perfect storm of adoption for Bitcoin. From there, investors started diving down the rabbit hole and discovered ETH, EOS and other crypto assets that have their own unique value drivers. We are still in the first inning of adoption though, and I expect many, many big things in the coming months and years.



GBC AG: In which areas do you think there will be no way around cryptocurrencies in the foreseeable future?



Patrick Lowry: Crypto and the blockchain will touch literally every industrial, financial and general business vertical in the world. No industry will be safe, and everyone will inevitably adopt crypto/blockchain in their business model. Adoption is inevitable.



GBC AG: The issue of sustainability/ESG is becoming increasingly important for investors. How do you take this into account and implement individual measures in your company and in your investments?



Patrick Lowry: Cryptology is an investment holding company with a very small team. With little to no formal operations, I would expect our carbon footprint to be basically non-existent. With that said, we work hand-in- hand with our portfolio companies and discuss their own ESG initiatives. For instance, Iconic Funds' Physically Backed Bitcoin ETP recently announced it had begun carbon offsetting for all the Bitcoin in the ETP through the purchase and holding of carbon credits. Northern Data is also working to be completely carbon neutral by 2030 for its mining and HPC operations. I believe our portfolio is working hard to be ESG-compliant industry leaders.



Moving away from the 'E' of ESG though, there is still Social and Governance implications of ESG compliance. What excites me the most is the profound impact crypto will have on both elements. Crypto enables wealth generation in a way that is unprecedented, which will have nothing but a highly positive impact on society as individuals take control of their own assets. Further, the governance structures being developed by DAO's and quadratic voting systems, leveraging decentralized governance protocols through cryptographic technology, are revolutionizing governance and finally empowering organizations in a borderless, transparent and individualistic manner. In my view, crypto will soon be seen as far and away the most ESG compliant industry in the world.



GBC AG: Finally, can you give us an assessment of how you think cryptocurrencies will develop in 2022? And what will be the main focus for Cryptology in the coming year?



Patrick Lowry: Crypto is just getting warmed up. I expect 2022 to be a massively exciting year for Cryptology, our portfolio companies and our shareholders. We will continue to deliver on our vision of being the gateway for investors seeking exposure to the crypto ecosystem through our listed shares as well as continue to invest in and partner with the best and brightest entrepreneurs and investors in the crypto ecosystem.

GBC AG: Patrick Lowry, thank you very much for the interview.

Die vollstandige Analyse konnen Sie hier downloaden:

http://www.more-ir.de/d/23237.pdf



Kontakt fur Ruckfragen

GBC AG

Halderstrae 27

86150 Augsburg

0821 / 241133 0

research@gbc-ag.de

+++++++++++++++

Offenlegung moglicher Interessenskonflikte nach  85 WpHG und Art. 20 MAR. Beim oben analysierten Unternehmen ist folgender moglicher Interessenkonflikt gegeben: (5a,5b,6a,7,11); Einen Katalog moglicher Interessenkonflikte finden Sie unter: http://www.gbc-ag.de/de/Offenlegung

+++++++++++++++

Date (time) of completion of English version: 22/12/2021 (03.56 pm) Date (time) of first distribution of English version: 27/12/2021 (11:00 am)

ubermittelt durch die EQS Group AG.

Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung bzw. Research ist alleine der Herausgeber bzw. Ersteller der Studie verantwortlich. Diese Meldung ist keine Anlageberatung oder Aufforderung zum Abschluss bestimmter Borsengeschafte.




DGAP-News: Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH / Key word(s): Miscellaneous

Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH: Multitude Group financial calendar for 2022



27.12.2021 / 12:09

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Multitude Group financial calendar for 2022

Helsinki, 27 December 2021 - Multitude SE (ISIN: FI4000106299, WKN: A1W9NS) ("Multitude" or the "Group") announces the following publication dates of the Group's financial reports in 2022, as well as the Annual General Meeting:

Date Publication 15.03.2022 Multitude SE: 2021 preliminary results 31.03.2022 Multitude SE: full year 2021 results 31.03.2022 Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH: full year 2021 results 31.03.2022 Ferratum Bank p.l.c.: full year 2021 results 27.04.2022 Multitude SE: Annual General Meeting 12.05.2022 Multitude SE: Q1 2022 results 18.08.2022 Multitude SE: H1 2022 results 18.08.2022 Ferratum Capital Germany GmbH: H1 2022 results 18.08.2022 Ferratum Bank p.l.c.: H1 2022 results 17.11.2022 Multitude SE: 9M 2022 results



About Multitude SE:

Multitude is an international provider of mobile banking and digital consumer and small business loans, distributed and managed by mobile devices. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Multitude has expanded to operate across Europe, South and North America, Australia and Asia.

As a pioneer in digital and mobile financial services technology, Multitude is at the forefront of the digital banking revolution. The Group has approximately 465,000 active customers that have an open Mobile Bank or Wallet account or an active loan balance in the last 12 months (as of 30 September 2021).

Multitude SE is listed on the Prime Standard of Frankfurt Stock Exchange under symbol 'FRU.' For more information, visit www.multitude.com.



Contacts:



IR@multitude.com

https://www.multitude.com/investors/ir-contact

27.12.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.

Archive at www.dgap.de


LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / UMAX Group Corp. (OTC PINK:UMAX), a Nevada corporation, has signed a deal to distribute its comedy specials with Foundation Sales and Consulting, a company known for its strategic and operational expertise in the film, television, and the evolving digital and technology space.

After the acquisition of Funny Media Group in May 2021, UMAX has now fully transitioned into comedy development as the vehicle to achieve a cash-flow positive operation and to provide the best return on shareholder's investment.

Rondell Fletcher (UMAX President and CEO), who has been producing content for more than 19 years, says that Foundation will become a great partner.

"We couldn't have asked for a more dedicated and experienced group of professionals," Mr. Fletcher says.

As part of its deal with Foundation, Funny Media Group has developed a new format called "The Cube"-30-minute episodes featuring 15 minutes each from two select comedians.

"The Cube allows us to highlight the work of some of our funniest comedians," Mr. Fletcher says.

Since beginning the shows in May 2021, FMG's YouTube channel has racked up over 1.5M views over only 40 shows. Two hundred shows have been taped, with 160 remaining to be released.

"The response has been fantastic," Mr. Fletcher says.

Mr. Fletcher has an extensive background in production and media. He has owned his own production studio in Los Angeles for the past 19 years and has produced national shows for CNN, FOX, Food Network and Comedy Central, among others.

The short-term goal for Funny Media Group is to produce content for streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon with the long-term goal of building a large media catalog for acquisition.

Funny Media's social media sites are as follows:

Website: https://www.FunnyMediaGroup.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funnymediagroupofficial/?hl=en

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbv-T0DNjMM

About Us

UMAX Group Corp. is a Nevada corporation, is a public-quoted Pink Sheet issuer under the ticker symbol "UMAX". UMAX reports as an alternative reporting issuer with OTC Markets Group, Inc. and is current in its mandatory required filings (E.g., "Pink Sheet Current").

Disclaimer Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements that we make may constitute "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include information concerning future?strategic objectives, business prospects, anticipated savings, financial results (including expenses, earnings, liquidity, cash flow and capital expenditures), industry or market conditions, demand for and pricing of our products, acquisitions and divestitures, anticipated results of litigation and regulatory developments or general economic conditions.? In addition, words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," and future or conditional verbs such as "will," "may," "could," "should," and "would," as well as any other statement that necessarily depends on future events, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, and they involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. ?Although we make such statements based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.? We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking?statements.

Company Information:

UMAX Group Corp.

2020 Bay Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90021

Web: New website under construction

Website: https://funnymediagroup.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/funnymediagroupofficial/?hl=en

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/c/FunnyMediaGroup

Investor Relations: Jack Zietz

Email: investors@umaxgrpcorp.com

SOURCE: UMAX Group Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/679569/UMAX-GROUP-CORP--Funny-Media-Group-Signs-Distribution-Deal-with-Foundation-Sales-and-Consulting
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - S&P Global (SPGI) and IHS Markit (INFO) announced agreements to sell IHS Markit's Base Chemicals business to News Corp. and S&P Global's CUSIP Global Services business to FactSet Research Systems. News Corp. agreed to purchase the Base Chemicals business for $295 million. FactSet has agreed to acquire CUSIP Global Services for $1.925 billion. 'The two divestures represent an important milestone in our progress toward satisfying the required regulatory conditions to complete our merger with IHS Markit,' said Douglas Peterson, CEO of S&P Global. S&P Global and IHS Markit continue to expect to close the merger in the first quarter of 2022. 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.
JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), aligned with its tagline, "innovative, entrepreneurial and global", has produced 45 tech-based spin-off companies. Anchoring on its R&D niche areas such as Frontier Materials, Resource Sustainability, Innovative Engineering, Health and Wellness and Smart Digital Community, UTM aims to nurture and produce more spin-off companies in the future.

Some of UTM's research-based spin-off companies have sustained millions of revenues annually and yielded high returns to the University. Among them are Gates IT Solutions Sdn. Bhd., DF Automation Sdn. Bhd. and Biopro Cosmeceutical Sdn. Bhd.

Since obtaining its Research University status in 2010, UTM has been focusing on ensuring that its R&D matches the market and society needs. Hence, a concentrated effort to commercialise its R&D is set in motion by developing a strategic ecosystem that focuses on nurturing researchers and students through various programs.

Role of the Technology Transfer Office

Championing this effort is UTM's Innovation and Commercialisation Centre (ICC), the University's technology transfer office that assists researchers and students in commercialising their research products and establishing spin-offs and start-ups through three phases. Through collaborations with the Centre for Student Innovation & Technology Entrepreneurship, UTM Career Centre, and Students Entrepreneurship Clubs, ICC has developed a three-phase strategic program comprising "Novice", "Competence", and "Advance". Those on board the program is provided with the tools and know-how to become technopreneurs through knowledge transfers, facilities, funds and industry connections support.

Novice

Novice is an initial stage in which researchers and students are guided through the journey of producing an idea and prototype through experiments and developing proof of concept until it gains Intellectual Property (IP) protection. Generating innovative ideas requires researchers and students to work on scalable projects. Therefore, final year projects are designed to suit this purpose and are further strengthened by business idea competitions and hackathons.

Competence and Advance

Competence and Advance are phases that accelerate the commercialisation process. For this purpose, UTM has introduced a unique incubation program to support researchers in advancing the Lab-to-Market process called ICCubeX.

ICCubeX comprises a mentorship program involving numerous groups of technopreneurs for researchers and a Symbiosis program for postgraduate and undergraduate students that focuses on integrating prospective technologies developed by universities and research centres.

On top of that, Prototype Development Fund, Technology Implementation Fund, and Product Commercialisation Fund are provided subject to rigorous assessment at the screening stage to determine the successful recipients.

In these final phases, spin-offs and start-ups are also provided with facilities such as office, laboratory or manufacturing spaces and more at UTM's own Technovation Park, reflecting its commitment to end-to-end support for researchers and students.

Synergising Students and Researchers

According to the Director of UTM ICC, Assoc Prof. Ts. Dr. Noor Azurati Salleh, UTM will add value to its commercialisation ecosystem by directly synergising researchers and students via this strategic platform to the current start-up trends.

"UTM is looking forward to nurturing our undergraduate and postgraduate students better with real exposure and mentorships by synergising them with researchers in the programs or activities under our commercialisation ecosystem said Dr Azurati.

"This initiative will help produce more tech-based start-ups or CEO of spin-off companies among students and directly contribute to the University graduate employability rate in the future," said Dr. Azurati.

UTM, through its commercialisation ecosystem, produces not only entrepreneurs but also technology and innovation that can increase wealth creation and the well-being of society.

About Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)

UTM is a leading innovation-driven entrepreneurial research university in engineering, science, and technology in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, and Pagoh, Malaysia. It is renowned for being at the forefront of engineering and technological knowledge and expertise. UTM operates based on the core values of Integrity, Synergy, Excellence, and Sustainability. These values guide UTM community practices, and they are embedded in the strategic thrusts that propel the University to greatness. For more information about ICC and UTM, visit https://icc.utm.my and utm.my .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1716624/image1.jpg
EBENE, Mauritius, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Azure Power Global Limited (NYSE: AZRE) (the "Company"), a leading independent renewable power producer in India, today announced certain operational and financial updates in connection with the Rights Offering that was also announced today.

This is not an offer to sell or purchase nor the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In November 2021, the Company signed PPAs with Solar Energy Corporation of India ("SECI") for 600 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.54 per kWh and, in December 2021, signed PPAs with SECI for a further 2,333 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.42 per kWh for supply power for 25 years, as a part of the 4,000 MW manufacturing linked projects.

The Company has also received letter of awards (LOA), for its first 120 MWs wind project and first 150 MWs solar - wind hybrid project, from SECI. The Company further received LOA for 200 MWs solar - wind hybrid project from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Limited (MSEDCL).

The Company is evaluating, and is in preliminary discussions, with sellers of renewable energy assets in India that would complement its current portfolio. Some of these assets may be sizeable and may result in significant acquisitions. The Company's strategy is to continue to build shareholder value and to evaluate acquisition opportunities that satisfy criteria of value accretive returns.

During the second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company issued Solar Green bonds (the "Bonds") of US$414 Million through its wholly owned subsidiary, Azure Power Energy Ltd at coupon of 3.575% maturing in 2026. The proceeds from the Bonds were used to repay the 5.50% US$ 500 Million solar green bond issued in 2017 with a maturity in 2022. The Bonds have a tenor of 5 years with amortisation and waterfall structures and their issuance is a leverage-positive transaction for the Company.

During the quarter ending September 30, 2021, the Company received a favorable order from the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity ("APTEL") relating to ongoing litigation in relation to the 40 MW Karnataka project having a power purchase agreement with Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM). APTEL set aside the order of Karnataka Regulatory Commission ("KERC"), wherein the KERC had reduced the extension of time, reduced the PPA tariff and imposed liquidated damages. Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2021, the GESCOM has further filed an appeal with Supreme Court against the order.

The Company also received a favourable order from Karnataka High Court (Order dated December 02, 2021 in WP 5368 of 2020) for its 50 MW Solar Power Project in Karnataka, against Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited ("HESCOM"), i.e. procurer DISCOM under its PPA, whereby HESCOM has been, inter alia, directed to pay and clear all the outstanding dues payable by it in relation to all the bills and invoices raised as on the date of order and make prompt, regular and timely payments without any delay in relation to future invoices. HESCOM has also been directed to forthwith open or renew monthly irrevocable letters of credit in terms of the PPA between the Company and HESCOM. Additionally, general directions to all the DISCOMs in the State of Karnataka, have been, inter alia, to issue, honour, discharge and fulfil their duties, obligations and liabilities under the respective PPAs including opening of letters of credit as per PPA and to make prompt, regular and timely payments without any delay in relation to future invoices raised by power generators in the State of Karnataka.

During the current year, the Company received complaints and anonymous whistle-blower reports which made various claims against certain of the Company's Key Managerial Personnel, related to their and the Company's actions in relation to the acquisition of and use of land in Rajasthan, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, as well as certain other corporate actions. The Company, through its Audit Committee, and with the assistance of external counsel and forensic auditors, has completed its investigation to determine whether the allegations made in the complaints or contained in the

whistle-blower reports are substantive. The issues raised, including those raised against Key Management Personnel, have been closed and allegations were not substantiated; however, the Company determined that its ethics policies regarding external consultants should be enhanced. The Company, through its Audit Committee and with the assistance of external counsel, will be taking remedial steps (including training and policy review).

During the third quarter ending December 31, 2021, the Company received an unfavorable order from appellate authority from the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration ("MCIA"), relating to arbitration proceedings initiated by the Company's former chief executive officer in relation to his transition agreement. The Company is in process of evaluating the order received and will take necessary action in due course.

The Enforcement Directorate of India filed a Prosecution Complaint with a special court in New Delhi on October 1, 2021, in respect of an earlier Enforcement Case Information Report wherein Mr. Pawan Kumar Agrawal, the current Chief Financial Officer of the Company, is one of those named and charged with the commission of offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 of India in relation to Mr. Agrawal's prior employment. The relevant transactions that are the subject of the complaint predated Mr. Agrawal's tenure as an employee and as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, and the criminal charges are not directed at, and do not concern, the Company or its subsidiaries. The Company will continue to monitor the proceedings as Mr. Agrawal defends the charges made against him.

Certain PPAs, particularly the PPAs executed with SECI require the project developer to maintain its controlling shareholding (more than 50% of the voting rights and paid-up share capital) prevalent at the time of the signing of the PPA up to one year after the commercial operation date; however, transfer of controlling shareholding within the same group companies is permitted with the permission of SECI after the commercial operation date, subject to the condition that the management control remains with same group companies.

In April 2021, the Supreme Court of India while passing an order for a petition filed under public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at the conservation of two species of birds, the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican, directed the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat including developers having overhead transmission lines in identified priority and potential area to take necessary steps for conversion of overhead power lines to underground lines and in the interim install bird diverters on the overhead lines. However, in the non-feasibility of converting high voltage lines to underground lines, the matter can be referred for technical evaluation by a committee set up by Supreme Court. The conversion of overhead cables into underground power lines, wherever considered feasible by such committee, is to take place within a period of one year. The order of the Supreme Court mentioned the pass through of such expenses incurred by the power developers to the ultimate consumer, subject to approval of the Competent Regulatory Authority. The Company and other players in the industry through Solar Power Developer Association. as well as, Union of India (Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE) have submitted a modification application to Supreme Court of India, seeking allowance for laying of over-head transmission lines outside priority areas as well as inside priority areas if the lines are of high/extra high voltage of 33 kV or above and to examine on case-to-case basis study for requirement of undergrounding even for 33kV and lower in priority area. The Management has preliminarily assessed that any costs incurred to comply with the said order are likely to be substantially or wholly recoverable by the Company under provisions of change in law and/or force majeure of their respective PPAs in due course following the prescribed procedure under the respective PPAs and law.

View the complete update at: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1716671/Operational_and_financial_Update.pdf

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/819565/Azure_Power_Logo.jpg
This press release, required by applicable Canadian laws, is not for distribution to U.S. newswire services or for dissemination in the United States

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2021 / Golden Dawn Minerals Inc., (TSXV:GOM | OTC:GDMRF | FRANKFURT:3G8B), ("Golden Dawn" and the "Company"), is pleased to announce that it has agreed to terms of a new debt reorganization agreement (the "Debt Reorganization Agreement") with its senior secured lender, RIVI Opportunity Fund, L.P., ("RIVI"). The Debt Reorganization Agreement provides the Company with renewed certainty regarding the management and repayment of its obligations to RIVI, presently composed of the following:

US$4,000,000 principal advance for a purchased metal stream, bearing interest at an annual rate of 16.0%, pursuant to a gold purchase agreement dated December 23, 2016 (as amended) (the " GPA "), together with all interest, fees, penalties and other accruals (the " GPA Indebtedness ");

"), together with all interest, fees, penalties and other accruals (the " "); US$1,000,000 loan principal advance, bearing interest at an annual rate of 20.0%, evidenced by a promissory note dated May 4, 2018, together with all interest, fees, penalties and other accruals (the " Note Indebtedness "); and

"); and Various other demand loan advances from RIVI and certain of its associates, bearing interest at an annual rate of 14.0%, totaling approximately US$306,000, together with all interest, fees, penalties and other accruals (the "Other Indebtedness").

(together, the "RIVI Indebtedness")

Pursuant to the Debt Reorganization Agreement, the Company can payout the Note Indebtedness and the Other Indebtedness, plus all other interest, fees, penalties, and accruals under the RIVI Indebtedness for payments totaling US$2,006,000 as follows:

The Company will make an initial cash payment to RIVI of US$306,000 out of cash on hand by December 29, 2021 in full and final satisfaction of the Other Indebtedness.

The Company will be entitled to settle the full amount of the Note Indebtedness, plus all other interest, fees, penalties, and accruals under the RIVI Indebtedness, by making the following payments totaling US$1.70 million: (i) an initial payment of CAD$500,000 by February 15, 2022, (ii) thereafter, monthly payments of not less than US$50,000 each, commencing March 1, 2022, and (iii) a final balloon payment of the then-remaining balance of the US$1.70 million by February 1, 2023.

In addition, the GPA is amended such that RIVI's entitlement to the production of gold from the Company's Lexington and Golden Crown Projects (together, the "Projects") is reduced from 15.0% to 10.0% of the total combined gross production with the addition of a 2.0% NSR on gold produced at the Lexington Plant. The price of the Stream remains unchanged at the lessor of a gold-equivalent price per ounce of US$400, or 80% of the market price of gold, for the life of the Projects (the "Gold Purchase Stream")The Company will have the option to buy out the Gold Purchase Stream, and otherwise fully and finally satisfy the remaining GPA Indebtedness and its other obligations to RIVI under the GPA, for a one-time cash option payment of US$6.0 million, exercisable at any time prior to December 31, 2022. Should the Company choose not to exercise this option, then the 10.0% Gold Purchase Stream will remain in place, and the Company will continue to have the right to buydown the Gold Purchase Stream by 50% in accordance with the existing GPA.

For so long as the Company remains in compliance with the above-described terms of the Debt Reorganization Agreement, all interest, fees, penalties and other accruals in respect of the RIVI Indebtedness will be waived, and RIVI will forebear from declaring a Golden Dawn default or enforcing any of its security interests against the Company or its assets.

On behalf of the Board of GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.

Per: "Christopher Anderson"

CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. - Corporate Communications:

Tel: Tel: 604-488-3900

Email: office@goldendawnminerals.com

Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the Debt Reorganization Agreement, including the Company's payment obligations, and the Company's plans to increase resource estimates and to bring its projects into production. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include the possibility that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient financing to continue to fund its critical ongoing dewatering, security and insurance commitments with respect to the Company's Lexington and Golden Crown properties and the Greenwood processing plant, that the Company will not be able to secure sufficient financing to meet make some or all of the debt and option payments to RIVI necessary to carry out the Debt Reorganization Agreement, or the Company will encounter financing, geological, technical or permitting issues preventing it from achieving its development goals. The reader is urged to refer to the Company's reports, publicly available through the Canadian Securities Administrators' System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects.

THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF SECURITIES OF THE COMPANY IN ANY JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH JURISDICTION.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE: Golden Dawn Minerals Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/679785/Golden-Dawn-Announces-DebtRestructuring-Agreement
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil futures ended sharply higher on Monday, as prices rebounded after early weakness, a,od hopes the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will not any significantly impact global economic recovery. Prices drifted lower earlier in the day, reacting to news about cancellation of over 1,300 flights by the U.S. airlines over the weekend. According to reports, airlines across the world cancelled nearly 8,000 flights over the three-day Christmas weekend due to the spread of the Omicron variant. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended up by $1.78 or about 2.4% at $75.57 a barrel. Brent crude futures were up $2.37 or about 3.1% at $78.16 a barrel a little while ago. China reported its highest daily rise in local Covid-19 cases in 21 months over the weekend, pushing regions into lockdowns and tighter social restrictions. Britain, where Omicron is the dominant variant, has been reporting more than 100,000 cases in a single day. France has also reported cases above that figure for the first time. In the United States, the Omicron variant's daily cases have breached those of the Delta wave. Investors await the outcome of the talks between world powers and Iran on the nuclear deal. The OPEC and its allies are scheduled to meet on January 4 to decide on a planned 400,000 barrels per day production increase. 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.
Enjoy the park like setting around this 4 bedroom home! Bring your ideas and tools to make this diamond in the rough sparkle again! Inviting floor plan with the space you need. Large covered patio allows you to relax outdoors all year long. Covered storage area out back and carport out front. Nice Lebanon subdivision, conveniently located close to shopping, schools and the dog park. Great opportunity to make your ideas a reality! Possible Rehab financing, buyer to perform due diligence.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021.
New York, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Healthcare ERP Market By Function, By Deployment, By Regional Outlook, Industry Analysis Report and Forecast, 2021 - 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193312/?utm_source=GNW

As on-premises systems need massive capital expenditure and a significant cost, small and medium companies are highly embracing cloud-based ERP systems.



The rise in deployment of ERP systems among small and medium businesses is boosting demand for these systems to bring down operational costs and improve functional outcomes. Moreover, pharmacies and laboratories have started to embrace ERP systems for inventory management, accounts, purchase, point-of-sale profile, and selling.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



The functioning of global healthcare systems has been severely challenged by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has put immense pressure on the workforce, highlighted limitations of current systems, and hampered the supply & demand cycles. With the drastic and rising transition towards remote healthcare and teleworking, companies are embracing cloud services to effortlessly access data, automate inventory and supply chain management functions, simplify the workflow, and enhance the financial & clinical outcomes of the industry.



During the COVID-19 outbreak, numerous hospitals were willing to go live with their ERP. The adoption of ERP solutions has supported the supply chain of CentraCares, thereby placing the company in a better position to handle and manage the global pandemic.



Market Growth Factors:



Increasing need for Data Integration



These systems enable companies to integrate data collected from human resources, supply chain cycles, manufacturing & inventories, and finances & accounting, and optimize back-end processes like payroll management, inventory management, and account management. Moreover, pharmacies and laboratories have started to embrace ERP systems for inventory management, accounts, purchase, point-of-sale profile, and selling.



Rising awareness about the advantages of Healthcare ERP



The rise in the installation rate of ERP systems among small and medium businesses is boosting demand for these systems to bring down operational costs and improve functional outcomes. Standardized patient data enables streamlined access from remote locations to enhance patient acquisition and patient management techniques. Healthcare facilities and firms are highly embracing cloud-based ERP systems because of the various advantages related to them, like minimum ownership cost, low availability of in-house technical expertise, agile and flexible infrastructure capacity, less capital requirement, and constant upgrades.



Market Restraining Factor:



Absence of well-skilled professionals



The management of Healthcare ERP solutions needs many well-skilled employees and staff. On the other hand, the absence of proficient experts and staff has been a major obstacle barrier to the adoption of healthcare ERP solutions in the market. In addition, the healthcare ERP software and solutions must be regularly updated due to technological advancements. Additionally, data security is expected to become difficult as these systems collect data from various processes, computers, and networks that are highly susceptible to being hacked.



Function Outlook



Based on Function, the market is segmented into Finance and Billing, Supply Chain and Logistics Management, Inventory and Material Management, Patient Relationship Management, and Others. The finance and billing segment procured the maximum revenue share in 2020. Healthcare organizations are moving towards the deployment of ERP systems with an aim to optimize processes and reduce obstacles between front-end revenue cycle management activities and back-end activities, like claims management.



Deployment Outlook



Based on Deployment, the market is segmented into On-premises and Cloud. The on-premises deployment segment procured the maximum revenue share of the market of the overall healthcare ERP market in 2020. This is attributed to the various advantages like a low requirement for maintenance, less reliance on vendors, ease of access from any locations, reduced costs, full control over security & privacy, operations, and easy customization.



Regional Outlook



Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa. In 2020, North America emerged as the leading region in the overall Healthcare ERP market. Factors such as quickly growing and robust healthcare infrastructure, the existence of major market players, and rising demand for sophisticated technological solutions are responsible for the growth of the regional market.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Partnerships. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix Microsoft Corporation is the major forerunners in the Healthcare ERP Market. Companies such as QAD, Inc., Aptean, Epicor Software Corporation are some of the key innovators in the Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, McKesson Corporation, Sage Group Plc., Infor, Inc. (Koch Industries), Odoo, QAD, Inc. (Thoma Bravo), Aptean (Vista Equity Partners), and Epicor Software Corporation.







Recent Strategies Deployed in Healthcare ERP Market



Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:



Jul-2021: Infor entered into a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of Amazon providing on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs. Through this partnership, the two entities would support the Health initiative from AWS to assist drive up operational efficiencies and generate insights, respond rapidly to unexpected circumstances, reduce costs, and enhance clinical and patient care. By harnessing the potential of AWS global infrastructure, Infor enables customers to realize advantages from AWS agility, cloud security, expertise, and economies of scale. Following the partnership, Infor would offer critical power and responsiveness to hospitals and health systems, so they can remain proactive in a growing complicated environment.



May-2021: Oracle entered into a partnership with HealthPartners, an integrated health care organization providing health care services and health plan financing and administration. The partnership aimed to transfer HealthPartners business processes in finance, supply chain, and human resources to the cloud. Through this partnership, the Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications portfolio would overhaul and simplify work which is crucial for the success of HealthPartners.



Mar-2021: Infor came into a partnership with C3 AI, a leading vendor of enterprise AI software. The partnership would broaden the enterprise-class artificial intelligence (AI) solutions across applicable industries to expand the native machine learning capabilities of Infor. Following the partnership, Infor would experience expansion in its product portfolio into edge scenarios and examine methods to offer better capabilities beyond its conventional offerings.



Jan-2021: SAP expanded its partnership with Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation. The expanded partnership would combine Microsoft Teams with an intelligent portfolio of solutions of SAP. In addition, the two companies aimed to expedite the adoption of SAP S/4HANA on Microsoft Azure. Following the partnership, the two entities would streamline and smooth out the journeys of customers to the cloud. Moreover, the two companies would enhance their ability to run a mission-critical intelligent enterprise on Azure while assisting customers to upgrade their enterprise applications.



Nov-2020: Oracle partnered with Omega Healthcare, a premier vendor of RCM Solutions & Clinical Services for US Healthcare. Following the partnership, Omega aimed to gain a unified record of all the data (ERP, HCM, EPM, and CX) at the enterprise level, combining their current ecosystem of multiple applications. Through this partnership, Omega Healthcare would achieve a massive competitive edge from constant developments through quarterly updates. Moreover, the smooth data flow across business functions of human resources, finance, and sales would result in improved service delivery efficiency for Omega Healthcare with a superior customer experience.



Aug-2020: QAD entered into a partnership with eNoah iSolutions, a popular company providing modern BPO and IT solutions worldwide. Following this partnership, eNoah iSolutions would become a reseller of QAD Adaptive ERP applications in North America.



Jun-2020: Epico entered into a partnership with ETQ, a company that offers powerful compliance and quality management platform. Through this partnership, Epicor QMS further enhanced by ETQ Reliance. This cloud-based, agile quality system enables the clients to enhance quality processes to generate better financial results and get competitive advantages.



May-2020: Epicor came into a partnership with Microsoft, an American multinational technology corporation. Through this partnership, Epicor would provide its enterprise-class solutions to the Azure platform of Microsoft. Moreover, the partnership would support the customer-centric focus of Epicor by Microsofts focus on the Intelligent Cloud and Intelligent Edge.



May-2020: Oracle formed a partnership with KPMG, a British-Dutch multinational professional services network. Through this partnership, KPMG would allow clients to transfer their finance, supply chain functions and humna resources to the Oracle Cloud with the help of its Powered Healthcare which is a healthcare version of the companys Powered Enterprise solution. Moreover, Oracehumand harness the experience and best practices of KPMGs healthcare industry professionals to improve its cloud solutions for the healthcare industry. The Powered Healthcare of KPMG is built on a target operating model for business integrated with industry-leading practices of KPMG.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Nov-2021: Aptean took over Objective Holding from Alpina Capital Partners and private shareholders. The acquisition would help Aptean to expand its supply chain offerings in Europe and add complementary solutions to Apteans ERP portfolio for process and discrete manufacturers. Following the partnership, Aptean would offer a wide range of solutions to its customers in the region.



Oct-2021: Microsoft took over Clear Software, a company developing products to help automate repetitive business processes. The acquisition aimed to expand support for enterprise resource planning (ERP) integrations in Microsofts software package for automating routine business workflows. The product consists of over 100 present abstractions for business workflow development that work together with ERP systems like Oracle and SAP. The software is designed to copy a task being carried out manually on a computer.



Jul-2021: Microsoft completed the acquisition of Suplari, a company that provides data analysis software for companies to manage supplier spending, and utilize the companys capabilities to enhance its Dynamics 365 product. Following the acquisition, Microsoft aimed to integrate Suplari Spend Intelligence Cloud with Dynamics 365 and provides customers higher automation in terms of spending analysis and helping users to predict the better spend management actions.



Jul-2021: Microsoft acquired Orions Systems, a company that offers digital video and data management solutions for organizations in the health care industry. Through this acquisition, Microsoft aimed to improve the video AI and management abilities of its Dynamics 365 Connected Store, an in-store retail optimization solution that utilizes computer vision and other sensor-based data analysis. The acquisition would help Dynamics Connected Store of Microsoft to better evaluate personalized store spaces.



May-2021: Epicor completed the acquisition of KBMax, a configure-price-quote (CPQ) company. Through this acquisition, Epicor aimed to boost its consistent growth further with the capability to provide KBMax software as a stand-alone cloud-first, low/no-code toolset, or integrated into the Epicor productivity portfolio to develop new, cross-and-up sell potential.



Mar-2021: Sage completed the acquisition of Task Sheriff, an AI-based SaaS technology start-up based in Tel Aviv, Israel. The acquisition aimed to bolster Sages customer experience as emerging and advanced technologies continue to drive real business benefits.



Aug-2020: Aptean acquired Innovative Systems, a leading vendor of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solutions, and electronic data interchange (EDI) mapping and transaction support services. Through this acquisition, Innovative Systems would facilitate Aptean to build its presence in the apparel and distribution segments with customized software solutions for companies of all sizes.



Product Launches and Product Expansions:



Nov-2021: QAD introduced upgradation in its QAD Adaptive ERP and the QAD Adaptive Applications offerings developed to assist makers to become Adaptive Manufacturing Enterprises. The latest solutions would assist the companys customers to communicate efficiently and transparently with their suppliers, automating and streaming supplier performance and risk information across the supplier lifecycle.



Jul-2021: Infor unveiled FHIR Server, which is designed to assist healthcare firms to better leverage and analyse their data. Infor FHIR Server is based on advanced web technologies and is one of the most sophisticated, latest, and scalable FHIR servers commercially available. With the help of the FHIR Server, companies become capable of expanding their electronic health records and clinical systems Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resource (FHIR) and application programming interface (API) capabilities beyond their existing limited support, simplify care coordination by offering required information to vendors as well as patients, and accelerate their organizations digital transformation while using current clinical systems linked to an advanced FHIR-based ecosystem.



Business Expansions:



Jul-2021: Sage rolled out TilliT SaaS and IoT service as a separate business. The newly expanded TilliT platform is capable to operate standalone between the ERP and the machine control layer to digitalize the operation or co-exist with present tools in place because to its flexibility and simple installation as a cloud solution.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Function



 Finance and Billing



 Supply Chain and Logistics Management



 Inventory and Material Management



 Patient Relationship Management



 Others



By Deployment



 On-premises



 Cloud



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Microsoft Corporation



 Oracle Corporation



 SAP SE



 McKesson Corporation



 Sage Group plc



 Infor, Inc. (Koch Industries)



 Odoo



 QAD, Inc. (Thoma Bravo)



 Aptean (Vista Equity Partners)



 Epicor Software Corporation



Unique Offerings



 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



 Guaranteed best price



 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193312/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
New York, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Electronic Contract Manufacturing and Design Market By Services Type, By Industry Vertical, By Regional Outlook, Industry Analysis Report and Forecast, 2021 - 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193305/?utm_source=GNW

Many organizations utilize these services to test, make and distribute products and offer return & repair services. Electronic contract manufacturing utilizes different sorts of manufacturing abilities and productive features regarding product engineering, assembly of the circuit board & hardware, component design, and process engineering among others. The vendors of outsourcing services, mainly in the electronics industry, make particular products on a contract basis and have increased substantially in the last couple of years. In addition, electronic contract manufacturing services majorly cover technologies and sub-technologies such as servers, computers, consumer devices, networking, and telecommunications.



The electronics industry has witnessed a major transition wherein companies working in this industry outsource their manufacturing aspect to maintain a low cost. Additionally, OEMs also utilize contract manufacturing with an aim to plunge into an untapped market in a cost-effective manner. The majority of the electronic manufacturing and design service vendors try and maintain good relation with the customers, which would be helpful in the design and pre-production process that results in decreased new product launch time.



The IT & Telecom market dominated the Global Electronic Contract Manufacturing And Design Services Market by Industry Vertical 2020, and would continue to be a dominant market till 2027; thereby, achieving a market value of $323,295.3 million by 2027. The Consumer Electronics market would experience a CAGR of 8.2% during (2021 - 2027). Additionally, The Healthcare market is poised to grow a CAGR of 10.6% during (2021 - 2027).



The Electronic Manufacturing market dominated the Global Electronic Contract Manufacturing And Design Services Market by Services Type 2020, and would continue to be a dominant market till 2027; thereby, achieving a market value of $366,071.9 million by 2027. The Electronics Assembly market is experiencing a CAGR of 9.1% during (2021 - 2027). Additionally, The Electronic Design & Engineering market would exhibit a CAGR of 9.7% during (2021 - 2027).



Based on Services Type, the market is segmented into Electronic Manufacturing, Electronics Assembly, Electronic Design & Engineering, Others. Based on Industry Vertical, the market is segmented into IT & Telecom, Consumer Electronics, Healthcare, Industrial, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Power & Energy and Others. Based on Regions, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East & Africa.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



As COVID-19 became a global health emergency, it harshly affected the lives of millions and the economies of almost every country around the world. As the onset of the global pandemic was in China, the country has been severely affected by the virus.



The majority of the workers in the Chinese factories travel from the far-flung areas and reaching the factories had become a major problem for them due to the social distancing and other quarantine restrictions. As electronic manufacturing in China is more to be a manual process, and products like tablets or mobile phones and notebook computers need many people to physically touch every product during the manufacturing and assembly process, the possibility of transmission of the virus is quite high. As a result, the majority of the workers are not willing to return to the work, causing delays in production as well as the manufacturing process.



Market Growth Factors



Fulfilling the demands of various customers



Some of the key growth catalysts for the electronics contract manufacturing and design market are the integration of modern skills, economies of varying levels, and focus on competencies. Contract companies obtain a large number of contracts from various clients. By fulfilling the demands of a huge customer base helps the manufacturers to garner a large amount of crude materials at reduced costs. Also, companies can reap the benefit of the fact that capabilities of the contract manufacturers to develop the electronic products, unlike the hirer organization.



Contract manufacturing brings down labor and fixed costs



Companies working in the electronics space must manage fixed as well as labor costs in order to make all the components of the electronics. The main manufacturing units of electronic manufacturing services (EMS) are dedicated to developing and assembling fragile electronic components. Considering a secondary location with completely varied needs contributes to the fixed location costs and the requirement to recruit new employees, hence remarkably increasing the expenses of the companies.



Market Restraining Factors



Less control over manufacturing



Companies moving to CMs have to give up control over the entire manufacturing process. While giving this control to CMs, companies often face the risk of losing crucial knowledge and skills around the production techniques. Without consistent monitoring, companies lose the right and insight to identify any issues in the manufacturing process. As companies do not have control over manufacturing operations, they cannot manage the supply chain process, which may result in massive revenue loss during the time of fluctuation.



Service Outlook



In 2020, the Electronic manufacturing segment acquired the maximum revenue share in the market. The electronic design and engineering segment would display a promising growth rate during the forecasting period. This is attributed to the rising preferences of OEMs to outsource the requirements regarding designing. The demand for electronic circuit boards has been increased with the rising significance of these boards in a wide range of electronic devices like tablets and mobile phones. This factor is likely to act as a key driver for the overall market during the forecast period.



End-User Outlook



The demand for electronic contract manufacturing services would grow due to increasing applications across non-technical end-user segments like healthcare, industrial, automotive, and aerospace and defense. Moreover, the growing demand for electrical vehicles has increased the requirement to outsource their electronic component manufacturing, hence fueling the growth of the electronic contract manufacturing and design services market in the automotive industry.



Regional Outlook



The region is likely to showcase the fastest growth rate during the forecasting period. In addition, China has been a leading country in the regional market. Moreover, China is the hub for electronics manufacturing and dominates the APAC region in this respect. Factors such as a wide-scale availability of raw materials and low-cost labor are anticipated to fuel the growth & demand for electronic contract manufacturing and design in the regional market. Hence, the APAC region would continue to flourish due to these factors over the forecast period.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Partnerships. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. is the major forerunners in the Electronic Contract Manufacturing and Design Market. Companies such as Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Plexus Corporation, Flextronics International, Ltd. are some of the key innovators in the Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Plexus Corporation, Flextronics International, Ltd., Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Celestica, Inc. (Onex Corporation), Sanmina Corporation, Fabrinet, Jabil, Inc., Venture Corporation Limited, and Compal Electronics, Inc.



Recent Strategies Deployed in Electronic Contract Manufacturing and Design Market



Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:



Oct-2021: Celestica came into a partnership with ECM, a software and technology firm that is changing the global electric motor and generator industries. The partnership aimed to introduce patented Printed Circuit Board (PCB) stator solution of ECM to the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) market.



Sep-2021: Plexus partnered with BioSig Technologies, a company that develops medical devices. The partnership aimed to help BioSig to introduce the Pure EP System to market. Following the partnership, the two companies would strengthen their vision of developing products that create a better world.



Sep-2021: Plexus formed a partnership with Hanwha Phasor, a provider of antennas for satellite communications in flight, on land, and at sea. Through this partnership, Plexus would offer Hanwha Phasor product development support and design for test development, manufacture, and supply chain optimization services in the run-up to product launch.



Sep-2021: Hon Hai Precision teamed up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Cos, one of the worlds largest semiconductor companies. Through this collaboration, Hon Hai aimed to accelerate its electronic control units (ECUs). Following the collaboration, Hon Hai would use the technology of TSMC in its ECU production platform to create lithium battery management chips and body control modules.



Sep-2021: Flextronics teamed up with Advanced Manufacturing Industry Action Group of World Economic Forum. The collaboration aimed to strengthen Flexs strategic commitment to put investments in advanced technologies, practices, and groups that accelerate the evolution of advanced manufacturing.



Aug-2021: Benchmark Electronics formed a partnership with AEye, the worldwide leader in adaptive, high-performance LiDAR solutions. Under this partnership, Benchmark Electronics would work with AEye from design stages to the last manufacturing of the complicated scan block, a component crucial to the secure function of autonomous vehicles which supports its vision of addressing complicated challenges with its customers to assist in developing advanced and high-quality products.



Jul-2021: Viking Enterprise Solutions, a subsidiary of Sanmina Corporation, formed a partnership with Kalray, a leading provider of a new generation of processors specialized in Intelligent Data Processing from Cloud to Edge. Through this partnership, the two companies would co-develop FLASHBOX, a new generation of storage arrays. The partnership aimed to offer the latest generation of storage array solutions for Cloud and Edge with Kalrays K200-LP best-of-breed smart storage acceleration card.



Jul-2021: Sanmina Corporation signed an agreement with FARO Technologies, a global leader of 3D measurement, imaging, and realization solutions for 3D Metrology, AEC (Architecture, Engineering & Construction), and Public Safety Analytics markets. The agreement aimed to outsource its manufacturing capabilities to Sanmina Corporation. Following the agreement, the two companies would fulfill the customer demand during the transition process.



May-2021: Fabrinet formed a partnership with Luminar Technologies and Celestica. The partnership aimed to offer Iris in series production and support in-house advanced manufacturing facility of Luminar based in Orlando, Florida, that makes process and manufacturing technology and techniques to install into production with its manufacturing alliances.



May-2021: Flextronics joined hands with EMist, a company that develops intelligent electrostatic disinfectant sprayers. The collaboration aimed to rapidly and profoundly scale up production of its EX-7000 Backpack Disinfectant Sprayer. Through this collaboration, Flextronics would support EMist to make design changes that ramp up production on the unit floor and offer a critical product to market rapidly.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Nov-2021: Celestica took over PCI, an electronics manufacturing services (EMS) provider in Asia. The acquisition aimed to support Celesticas focus on engineering-focused engagements, including full product development in the domains of human-machine interface, telematics, IoT, and embedded systems.



Oct-2021: Hon Hai Precision took over Lordstown Motors, an American electric vehicle automaker. Through this acquisition, Hon Hai Precision aimed to accelerate its entry into North America where it formed a contract manufacturing agreement with Fisker Motors and is in talks with other potential EV partners including Apple.



Aug-2021: Hon Hai Precision along with its subsidiaries FIH Mobile and Stellantis formed a joint venture named Mobile Drive. Mobile Drive aimed to offer a smart cockpit solution for vehicles.



Aug-2021: Compal plans to acquire Cal-Comp USA, a company that develops and manufactures electronic assemblies. Through this acquisition Compal would strengthen the competitiveness of its car and electronics business.



Jun-2021: Hon Hai Precision took over around 5 percent stakes in Dagang NeXchange Berhad, a Malaysia-based investment holding company. The acquisition aimed to extend its position in electric vehicle and semiconductor development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market in the future as part of its "3 plus 3" initiative.



May-2021: Hon Hai announced a joint venture with Yageo Group named XSemi Corporation. This joint venture aimed to expand the businesses into the semiconductor industry which also includes product development and sales.



Feb-2021: Jabil acquired Ecologic Brands, a leading vendor of sustainable packaging specializing in the paper bottle and paper-based packaging solutions. The acquisition aimed to integrate the unique paper bottle technology of Ecologic with advanced manufacturing solutions and the global scale of Jabil, thereby assisting all consumer brands to significantly decrease plastics in packaging across the world.



Geographical Expansions:



Aug-2021: Celestica expanded its geographical reach by establishing its AbelConn Electronics facility in Maple Grove, Minn, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Celestica. Through this new facility, the company would offer rapid volume manufacturing, prototyping, and engineering support to the defense and aerospace industries.



Mar-2021: Plexus expanded its geographical footprint by establishing a new manufacturing plant in Bangkok, Thailand. Through this launch, the company aimed to become receptive for potential growth opportunities within the APAC region, specifically because of the extremely proficient workforce and established supply chain of Thailand.



Feb-2021: Jabil expanded its geographical reach by opening its new healthcare manufacturing unit in the Dominican Republic capital city of Santo Domingo. Through this expansion, the company aimed to recruit local talent and be part of the biggest global healthcare manufacturing solutions vendor.



Jun-2020: Benchmark Electronics expanded its geographical footprints by virtually opening its latest advanced electronics manufacturing facility in Phoenix. The new facility would manufacture solutions for high-reliability RF, photonics, and high-speed electronic systems in various market verticals such as aerospace & defense, computing, medical, complex industrial, and advanced telecommunications.



Mar-2020: Sanmina expanded its geographical reach by expanding its manufacturing plant in Thailand. Through this expansion, the company would bring innovations for the latest technological products across the networking, automotive/LIDAR, data center, 5G, and aerospace & defense markets.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Services Type



 Electronic Manufacturing



 Electronics Assembly



 Electronic Design & Engineering



 Others



By Industry Vertical



 IT & Telecom



 Consumer Electronics



 Healthcare



 Industrial



 Automotive



 Aerospace & Defense



 Power & Energy



 Others



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o Taiwan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Benchmark Electronics, Inc.



 Plexus Corporation



 Flextronics International, Ltd.



 Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.



 Celestica, Inc. (Onex Corporation)



 Sanmina Corporation



 Fabrinet



 Jabil, Inc.



 Venture Corporation Limited



 Compal Electronics, Inc.



Unique Offerings



 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



 Guaranteed best price



 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193305/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
New York, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Global Docking Station Market By Product, By Connectivity, By Distribution Channel, By Regional Outlook, Industry Analysis Report and Forecast, 2021 - 2027" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193304/?utm_source=GNW

In addition, the rising requirement for rapid data transfer is boosting the demand for the above-mentioned computer devices. The market growth is supported by the surge in popularity of the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) model with an aim to cut down spending and drive-up efficiency and flexibility.



In addition, the rise in popularity and rising utilization of portable devices among consumers have resulted in a drastic increment in the demand for docking stations. Also, as these stations feature multifunctional properties like audio input and output that range from USB ports, and Ethernet connectivity would create new growth avenues for the players operating in the overall market.



COVID-19 Impact Analysis



During the initial phase of the pandemic, the requirement for docking stations increased as the majority of the companies implement social distancing norms at workplaces or asked employees to come in once a week or adopt a work-from-home model. Most of these companies only opened the office on a need-to-know basis, thereby allowing their employees to work virtually completely from home.



When the number of workers started working from home, the utilization and adoption of docking stations increased significantly as effective home working stations mandates docking device that is safe to use and sophisticated enough to manage the equipment that are majorly utilized by the employees.



Market Growth Factors:



Rising penetration of internet users and smartphones



The increasing population of smartphone users and high penetration of the internet are among the key aspects expanding the number of online users. This would further augment the demand for docking stations, thereby opening new growth avenues for the overall market during the forecast period. The number of smartphone users will constantly rise in the upcoming years, which would accelerate the growth of the docking station market during the forecast period. Besides, the consumption of video content has surged across the world that would also accelerate the market growth.



Rise in popularity of video games due to the influence of technology



The constant technological advancements across the world have compelled people to depend on smartphones, several high-tech gadgets, and the internet. As a large number of people are engaged in playing video games, the vendors have introduced a recurring revenue model in the past few years. In addition, virtual reality products, video game tournaments, and consumer spending on video content is experiencing high growth around the world due to constant technological advancement.



Market Restraining Factor:



High addiction of digital gadgets and video games



Many organizations are conducting studies to evaluate the possible effects of smart gadgets on the minds of individuals, especially the young generation. In addition, people use these smart gadgets to play video games and esports which are highly addictive in nature, and people who play these games mostly end up getting addicted to such games, which could hamper the growth of the docking stations market. In addition, there are several psychological effects witnessed among the players of video games or esports, which are restricting many people from entering the world of esports, thus hampering the demand for the product.



Product Outlook



Based on the Product, the Docking Station market is segregated into Laptop, smartphones & Tablet and Others. In 2020, the laptop segment procured the maximum revenue of the market. The rise in the potential applications of docking stations across numerous industries such as e-commerce, warehouse management, and supply chain would open new growth avenues for the players operating in the overall market growth during the forecast period.



Connectivity Outlook



Based on the Connectivity, the Docking Station market is bifurcated into Wired and Wireless. In 2020, the wired segment acquired the maximum revenue share of the market. Wired docking stations find potential applications in the IT sector due to the huge convenience related to these products. In addition, these devices allow faster data transfer, which is extremely important in the IT industry.



Distribution Channel Outlook



Based on the Distribution Channel, the Docking Station Market is segregated into Offline and Online. The offline distribution channel segment procured the highest revenue share of the market in 2020 and the segment is likely to showcase a similar kind of trend even during the forecasting period. The rising retail stores, particularly in developing countries like India, China, and Brazil would fuel the sales of the product via offline channels.



Regional Outlook



Based on the Region, the Docking Station market is analyzed across North America, Europe, APAC, and LAMEA. In 2020, North America emerged as the leading region by obtaining the maximum revenue share of the overall docking station market. The requirement and demand for docking stations in the region is particularly witnessed among millennials and the young generation as they are more interested in e-sports.



The major strategies followed by the market participants are Product Launches. Based on the Analysis presented in the Cardinal matrix; Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is the forerunners in the Docking Station Market. Companies such as Toshiba Corporation, Lenovo Group Limited, and Dell Technologies Inc. are some of the key innovators in Docking Station Market.



The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, Dell Technologies, Inc., Lenovo Group Limited, Toshiba Corporation, StarTech.com Limited, Targus AP, ACCO Brands Corporation, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group), Plugable Technologies, and Acer Inc.



Recent Strategies Deployed in Docking Station Market



Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements:



May-2021: Targus teamed up with Google, an American multinational technology company. Through this collaboration, the two companies would launch docking solutions in the market that offer automatic firmware updates through Chrome OS, and make it extremely simple for Chromebook users to expand their desktop to a single- or multi-video configuration, driving up productivity substantially.



Jan-2020: HP Development Company joined hands with DisplayLink, the leading vendor of USB graphics and Universal hot desking technology. Through this collaboration, the companies launched HP Inc USB-C/A Universal Dock G2 docking station. The new docking station is based on the award-winning graphics technology of DisplayLink. Moreover, this product also supports USB-A, USB-CTM, and ThunderboltTM which allows notebooks from HP, Apple, Dell, Lenovo, and other top brands, and is compatible with every major operating system.



Acquisitions and Mergers:



Dec-2020: ACCO Brands acquired PowerA, a leader of third-party video gaming controllers, power charging solutions, and headsets. The integration of PowerA showcases a significant step in the companys vision to transform it into a highly growing, consumer-focused business.



Product Launches and Product Expansions:



Oct-2021: Plugable introduced the US$119 UD-3900C, the latest docking station developed to optimize hybrid work. Through this launch, the company would eliminate every type of configuration issue that comes from open office formats and offers a universal and easy plug-in and get-to-work solution.



Sep-2021: Acer unveiled Acer USB Type-C Dock D501. Through this launch, the company expanded its wide range of Works With Chromebook-certified accessories. In addition, the latest product is the latest device that streamlines the process of connecting various displays or peripherals to a Chromebook. The dock has witnessed substantial testing and has been fulfilling the compatibility standards of Chromebooks with an aim to assure users that it would work effortlessly with their Chrome OS devices.



Jul-2021: Targus rolled out the Universal USB-C Phone Dock. The newly launched product is versatile, lightweight, compact, and handheld which can be effortlessly taken from home, to office, to a conference room. The Universal USB-C Phone Dock enables users to leverage their USB-C DP Alt Mode phone by developing a completely functioning desktop experience.



Jan-2021: Lenovo unveiled two latest docking stations. Through this launch, the company aimed to support a wide range of notebooks launched by the company at CES 2021. One of the docking stations interfaces with devices over USB-C, while the other utilizes Thunderbolt 4.0. The second docking station provides substantially more number of features owing to the extra legroom offered by a Thunderbolt port.



Nov-2020: Kensington introduced three full-featured docking stations. Through this launch, the company expanded its industry-leading portfolio of docking and connectivity products. These docking stations enable users to immediately convert a laptop computer into a complete workstation by using a single USB or Thunderbolt 3 cable; each offer 100 watts of power delivery to rapidly and simply charge devices with superior power needs like the newer MacBook Pro.



Oct-2020: StarTech unveiled DK30C2DPEP hybrid docking station. Through this launch, the company aimed to provide a hybrid docking station that is compatible with computers.



Jul-2020: Plugable rolled out UD-3900Z and UD-6950Z, two brand new docking stations. Both of the docking stations have USB-C and USB 3.0 connectivity for a host device. These stations would support various monitors and other peripherals once plugged in.



Scope of the Study



Market Segments covered in the Report:



By Product



 Laptop



 Smartphones & Tablet



 Others



By Connectivity



 Wired



 Wireless



By Distribution Channel



 Offline



 Online



By Geography



 North America



o US



o Canada



o Mexico



o Rest of North America



 Europe



o Germany



o UK



o France



o Russia



o Spain



o Italy



o Rest of Europe



 Asia Pacific



o China



o Japan



o India



o South Korea



o Singapore



o Malaysia



o Rest of Asia Pacific



 LAMEA



o Brazil



o Argentina



o UAE



o Saudi Arabia



o South Africa



o Nigeria



o Rest of LAMEA



Companies Profiled



 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company



 Dell Technologies, Inc.



 Lenovo Group Limited



 Toshiba Corporation



 StarTech.com Limited



 Targus AP



 ACCO Brands Corporation



 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Samsung Group)



 Plugable Technologies



 Acer Inc.



Unique Offerings



 Exhaustive coverage



 Highest number of market tables and figures



 Subscription based model available



 Guaranteed best price



 Assured post sales research support with 10% customization free

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06193304/?utm_source=GNW



About Reportlinker

ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.



__________________________
Indianapolis, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Thousands of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have discovered new ways to express themselves at Hopebridge Autism Therapy Centers, with a little  and sometimes a lot of  help from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices.

As one of the largest pediatric autism therapy providers in the nation, Hopebridge uses a range of tools and strategies to help children communicate. Even if they do not yet speak vocally, clinicians work with children and their families to discover the method of communication that works best for them.

AAC gives these kids with autism and other developmental delays more freedom, said Hopebridge Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) Hayley Brodt. AAC devices enable the children and adults who use them the ability to express themselves, whether thats saying what they want, what they dont like, or telling someone no or Im mad. They can use it for their wants and needs, but its so much more than that. They can share their thoughts, ideas and feelings. It gives them power over themselves.

AAC systems help individuals increase their communication by adding to their current ability or serving as a different form of communication than speech. There is a broad range of AAC devices, from no-tech and low-tech to high-tech. It can be anything from a gesture, to a piece of paper with a word or picture on it, to a digital tablet programmed to serve as a voice.

Its common to see core boards, which are laminated pieces of paper that include core vocabulary, used as AAC throughout Hopebridge centers. The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is another low-tech system that is commonly used. High-tech options include digital apps like Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP) Words for Life, which can be used on various tablets.

At Hopebridge, SLPs work with each child to see what works best for them and their individual needs. Core boards can be used immediately, even for someone waiting to use a high-tech device. The goal is for whatever patients use to feel effortless and natural, much like using vocal speech and keyboards.

There are many benefits to using AAC, but it is often misunderstood. Here are some common AAC misconceptions and concerns:

Myth #1: AAC devices are only for nonverbal children.

AAC is not limited to non-speakers. In many instances, providing a speaking child with a core board as a supplemental tool enables them to talk even more. It gives them the visual representation to express what they want and their ideas. Even if a child is verbal, maybe they cannot find the words or can be effortful to do so. Providing a visual of emotions can help them explain that they are sad, overwhelmed or excited.

AAC is not limited to non-speakers. In many instances, providing a speaking child with a core board as a supplemental tool enables them to talk even more. It gives them the visual representation to express what they want and their ideas. Even if a child is verbal, maybe they cannot find the words or can be effortful to do so. Providing a visual of emotions can help them explain that they are sad, overwhelmed or excited. Myth #2: Kids will not learn to speak if they use a device.

Research shows AAC will not stop a child from speaking, nor will it slow down language. Oppositely, if there is any change in verbal language development, it typically increases or helps them develop speech faster than they would have without the use of AAC.

Research shows AAC will not stop a child from speaking, nor will it slow down language. Oppositely, if there is any change in verbal language development, it typically increases or helps them develop speech faster than they would have without the use of AAC. Myth #3: Using an AAC device is too difficult.

AAC can be intimidating at first glance, but the learning process is similar to how an infant may come to speak; they are not expected to begin talking from birth. It takes time and patience for many. Hopebridge recommends parents become comfortable with exploring the tools, as mistakes will not alter their childs learning. Hopebridge also offers parent training to help families navigate the process.

AAC can be intimidating at first glance, but the learning process is similar to how an infant may come to speak; they are not expected to begin talking from birth. It takes time and patience for many. Hopebridge recommends parents become comfortable with exploring the tools, as mistakes will not alter their childs learning. Hopebridge also offers parent training to help families navigate the process. Myth #4: Once a child uses AAC, they will need to use it forever.

When a child does start talking, they do not need to keep the device unless they find it helpful in certain situations. Hopebridges interdisciplinary 360 Care program enables speech therapists to remain in constant communication with Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBA), so if they feel another system might work better for one of their patients, they can collaborate with them and families to make adjustments.

These devices are life-changing. For kids who do not yet use their voices to speak, having visual support to express themselves can be so beneficial. It helps teach consent, as kids can now say when they dont want something, or they can tell a teacher or parent if something happens at school that upsets them, said Brodt.

While the act of pointing to a picture or tapping a button on a tablet may seem simple to some, the results bring joy and peace to many children and families. Parents are excited when their child begins to use it because they are then able to say things like, eat, go, and I feel, as well as more complex sentences like, I dont want to be here, lets go.

Hopebridge aims to help children find their voice in whatever way suits them. AAC is just one of the tools within the therapy networks repertoire, which includes multidisciplinary services such as speech therapy, ABA therapy, occupational therapy and feeding therapy, as well as diagnostic evaluations for autism.

For more information about ASD and the center-based and in-home service options Hopebridge offers to support the autism community, visit hopebridge.com. To schedule a diagnostic assessment or therapy evaluation at one of Hopebridges more than 100 center locations around the country, fill out the form at hopebridge.com/contact.

###

About Hopebridge

Hopebridge was founded in 2005 to serve the growing need for autism treatment services and to improve the lives of affected children and families. Hopebridge is committed to providing personalized outpatient ABA, occupational, speech and feeding therapies for children touched by autism spectrum disorder and behavioral, physical, social, communication and sensory challenges. Hopebridge provides a trusted place where they can receive the care, support and hope they deserve.

More than a decade later, Hopebridge continues to open state-of-the-art autism therapy centers in new communities to reach patients and families who need services. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Hopebridge operates over 100 centers in the following twelve states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio and Tennessee.







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Pune, India, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global 3D printing filament market reached a value of USD 968 Million in 2021 at a CAGR of 31.10% during the forecast period, as per a market analysis by Quince Market Insights. The demand for the 3D printing filament is mainly driven by increasing use in aerospace and defense industry for design communication and prototyping. Apart from this the rising demand for the high-quality print in industrial and automotive application is also driving the market.

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3D printing filament is basically a thermoplastic feedstock for fused deposition modelling. The use of over one filament for printing various materials at a time is a prime factor driving the market growth. There are various types of filaments having different properties and need different temperature to print. This filament helps during the time of production of complex structured objects. The 3D printing technology is widely used in large and small industries which boost the development of the 3D printing filament market.

The expansion of the global 3D printing filament market is aided by rising awareness of 3D printing technology and its implementation in big and small businesses. The need for functional and high-performing prints also adds to the market's growth. In addition, increased applications in end-use sectors like as aerospace and military, consumer goods, automotive, and others have fuelled the 3D printing filament market. The demand for improved filament material to generate high-quality prints has increased. As a result, manufacturers are putting money into researching better filament materials.

This had a positive influence on the 3D printing filament market, resulting in market expansion. In addition, the availability of bio-degradable 3D filaments has piqued the interest of a number of businesses and enthusiasts. This has aided in the expansion of the 3D printing sector, allowing the global 3D printing filament market to expand. The 3D printing filament market's growth has been aided by the existence of many raw material suppliers.

However, because 3D printing technology is relatively expensive when compared to alternative possibilities, demand for the product is decreasing as a result of the crisis. However, the drop in demand is only temporary, as it is one of the most effective methods for businesses to reduce their reliance on equipment and raw material providers.

COVID 19 Impact on Global 3D Printing Filament Market

The outbreak of COVID-19 had a small impact on the 3D printing filament market, as most 3D printing filament production plants are in countries where the coronavirus is prevalent. Medical components and equipment such as swabs, face masks, and ventilator splitters are in great demand, thus 3D printing filament makers are now selling their materials for printing medical equipment. To fulfil medical emergency demands, a number of end-users have shifted their production priorities. In the medical field, this opens up new possibilities for 3D printing filaments.

Global 3D Printing Filament Market, by Type

Based on the type, the global 3D printing filament market is segmented into plastics, metal, ceramics. Plastics segment is further bifurcated into polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), photopolymer, others. Metal segment is further classified into aluminum, titanium, stainless steel, nickel, others. Ceramics segment is further divided into fused silica, glass, quartz, others.

Plastic segment is projected to hold the largest market share. By far, the most common filament types are acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Most basic 3D printers use filaments made from these plastics. PLA has a relatively low melting point, with usable temperatures between 180 degrees and 230 degrees celsius. It is plant-based and biodegradable. It's harder than ABS and is generally easy to work with. PLA is often used as the base material for more exotic, composite materials.

Global 3D Printing Filament Market, by End User

Based on the type, the global 3D printing filament market is segmented into aerospace & defense, medical & dental, automotive, electronics, others. Among these, aerospace and defense segment is projected to witness fastest growth owing to the rising demand for the lightweight and high strength printing material for mass customization of aerospace parts and components.

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Global 3D Printing Filament Market, by Region

Based on the region, the global 3D printing filament market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and South America. Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness fastest market growth. As a consequence of prices drop and quick acceptance of 3D printing technology from prototype, product design, and concept modelling to final product manufacture, the need for 3D printing material is increasing significantly. Early acceptance and development of superior 3D printing technology, as well as a significant presence of manufacturers in the region, are credited for the region's success.

Some Recent Developments in the Global 3D Printing Filament Market:

In June 2020, Koninklijke DSM N.V. (Netherlands) had agreed to take over certain parts of Clariant AG's (Switzerland) 3D printing business portfolio to improve speedy market-driven product development solutions. DSM acquired Clariant's 3D printing materials business, allowing it to manufacture high-performance filaments and pellets quickly based on application needs. As a result of the strategy, DSM's engineering grade filament, pellet, and powder portfolio will be reinforced.

In April 2020, Stratasys Ltd. and Origin (Israel) had created a strategic partnership to provide the healthcare industry with 3D printed nasopharyngeal swabs. As part of this partnership, the company will sell and market Origin 3D printed nasopharyngeal swabs to healthcare practitioners and testing centres in the United States. This partnership aims to boost the company's position in the healthcare business and expand its commercial uses.

In February 2020, Sanmina Corporation (US) and 3D Systems Corporation (US) had extended their collaboration in the development of plastic 3D printing systems. The company already has a working relationship with Sanmina for the creation of the Figure 4 platform. The company will be able to focus even more on its core strengths of plastics materials and application development thanks to this new contract.

Some Major Findings of the Global 3D Printing Filament Market Include:

Profiles of major market players operating in the global 3D printing filament market include Koninklijke DSM N.V (Netherland), Materialise NV (Belgium), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Arkema SA (France), Saudi Basic Industries (Saudi Arabia), Corporation (SABIC) (Saudia Arabia), DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (U.S.), BASF 3D Printing Solutions GmbH (Germany), HP Inc. (U.S.), EOS GmbH - Electro Optical Systems (Germany), Shenzhen Esun Industrial Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen), CRP Technology (Italy), S.r.l. (India), , Oxford Performance Materials, Inc., EnvisionTEC GmbH (U.S.), Others

Impact of COVID-19 on the global 3D printing filament market.

To know more about this topic, please check report titled,  3D Printing Filament Market , by Type (Plastics {Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polylactic Acid (PLA), Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Photopolymer, Others}, Metal {Aluminum, Titanium, Stainless Steel, Nickel, Others}, Ceramics {Fused Silica, Glass, Quartz, Others}), End-Use Industry (Aerospace & Defense, Medical & Dental, Automotive, Electronics, Others), Region (North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa, South America) in-depth analysis along with the table of contents (ToC).

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RADNOR, Pa., Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The law firm of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP informs investors that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against Snap Inc. (Snap) (NYSE: SNAP). The action charges Snap with violations of the federal securities laws, including omissions and fraudulent misrepresentations relating to the companys advertising business. As a result of Snaps materially misleading statements made to the market, Snap investors have suffered significant losses.



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CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR SNAP LOSSES

LEAD PLAINTIFF DEADLINE: January 10, 2022

CLASS PERIOD: July 22, 2020 through October 21, 2021

CONTACT AN ATTORNEY TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHTS:

James Maro, Esq. (484) 270-1453 or Toll Free (844) 887-9500 or Email at info@ktmc.com

SNAPS ALLEGED MISCONDUCT

Snap is an American camera and social media company that develops and maintains technological products and services such as the social media application Snapchat, an eyewear product that connects with Snapchat and captures video Spectacles, and advertising products including AR (augmented reality) and Snap ads.

In its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Snap admits that it generates substantially all of its revenues by offering various advertising products on Snapchat and that it monetizes its business primarily through advertising based on its user data. In June 2020, as part of an ongoing privacy push, Apple Inc. (Apple), which developed and maintains the popular mobile operating system, iOS, for its mobile devices, publicly announced new data privacy features for iOS. Following this announcement, Snap continuously downplayed and misled investors regarding the impact that Apples new data privacy features would have on its business. In April 2021, Apple released the new data privacy features for iOS.

The truth emerged on October 22, 2021, when Snap filed its third quarter 2021 report for the period ending September 30, 2021 on a Form 10-Q, disclosing Snaps weaker-than-expected revenue and weaker-than-expected guidance because of its advertising business, due to Apples privacy changes. In the report, CEO Evan Spiegel disclosed that Snaps advertising business had allegedly been affected by recent privacy changes introduced by Apple in its iOS mobile operating system in June and July. Specifically, Spiegel claimed that the new Apple-provided measurement solution did not scale as we had expected, making it more difficult for our advertising partners to measure and manage their ad campaigns for iOS. Following this news, Snaps stock price fell $19.97 per share, or 26%, to close at $55.14 per share on October 22, 2021.

WHAT CAN I DO?

Snap investors may, no later than January 10, 2022 , seek to be appointed as a lead plaintiff representative of the class through Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP or other counsel, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member. Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP encourages Snap investors who have suffered significant losses to contact the firm directly to acquire more information.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE CASE

WHO CAN BE A LEAD PLAINTIFF?

A lead plaintiff is a representative party who acts on behalf of all class members in directing the litigation. The lead plaintiff is usually the investor or small group of investors who have the largest financial interest and who are also adequate and typical of the proposed class of investors. The lead plaintiff selects counsel to represent the lead plaintiff and the class and these attorneys, if approved by the court, are lead or class counsel. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision of whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff.

ABOUT KESSLER TOPAZ MELTZER & CHECK, LLP

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP prosecutes class actions in state and federal courts throughout the country and around the world. The firm has developed a global reputation for excellence and has recovered billions of dollars for victims of fraud and other corporate misconduct. All of our work is driven by a common goal: to protect investors, consumers, employees and others from fraud, abuse, misconduct and negligence by businesses and fiduciaries. At the end of the day, we have succeeded if the bad guys pay up, and if you recover your assets. The complaint in this action was not filed by Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP. For more information about Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP please visit www.ktmc.com.

CONTACT:

Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

James Maro, Jr., Esq.

280 King of Prussia Road

Radnor, PA 19087

(844) 887-9500 (toll free)

info@ktmc.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2571c0ad-4281-453e-88e6-11c548b4566b
New York, New York, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Anuradha Mittal , the head of Ben & Jerrys Board of Directors and Vice President of Ben & Jerrys Foundation Inc. has been crowned 2021 Antisemite of the Year by watchdog group StopAntisemitism. After several weeks of voting, thousands selected Mittal for the distinct dishonor, beating the other two finalists Dua Lipa and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Earlier this year, Mittal spearheaded the effort by Ben & Jerrys to stop the sale of its ice cream to 800,000 Jews living throughout various parts of Israel. This decision was clearly not made for the sake of the Palestinian people who are now also unable to purchase a pint from the Vermont ice cream maker. This is a blatantly antisemitic boycott. In response, multiple U.S. states have announced that, according to their anti-BDS laws, they are divesting their pension fund holdings from parent company Unilever, with several more expected to follow. Unilevers stock price has dropped significantly as well, dealing a harsh blow to its equity and further proving that antisemitism has far reaching consequences beyond those that spout it.

Mittals history with antisemitism is long and upsetting. Under Mittals leadership in 2018, Ben & Jerrys made the controversial decision to partner with notorious anitsemite Linda Sarsour, an American-Palestinian activist who was booted from the Womens March for promoting hatred towards the Jewish people and nation.

Mittal is also the Founder and Executive Director of the anti-Israel Oakland Institute, a policy think tank where she helped write a series of reports called Palestine for Land and Life, which falsely accused Israel of apartheid, colonialism and more. In addition, she has leveraged her status at Ben & Jerrys to fund antisemitic projects through the Oakland Institute, including Badil, a Palestinian group with ties to terror organizations and a history of vile Jew hatred that includes publishing Nazi era cartoons.

For us and for the voters, Mittal was clearly the 2021 Antisemite of the Year, said StopAntisemitism Founder and Executive Director Liora Rez. The Ben & Jerrys boycott is shamelessly biased, and Mittals commitment to promoting her antisemitic and anti-Israel agenda is deplorable. The way she has leveraged her namesake and power in the corporate world to promote antisemitic initiatives is horrendous. Sadly, Ben and Jerrys corporate antisemitism is not an isolated case. StopAntisemitism has found antisemitic incidents in many large American corporations in our 2021 report . It doesnt matter how much influence they have; were here to hold antisemites accountable for their bigoted actions.
NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Hoegh LNG Partners LP ("Hoegh" or the "Company") (NYSE: HMLP) on behalf of purchasers of Hoegh securities between August 22, 2019 and July 27, 2021, inclusive (the Class Period). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firms site: www.bgandg.com/hmlp.



This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

The complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose: (1) Hoegh LNG Partners LP (the "Partnership") was facing issues with the PGN FSRU Lampungcharter; (2) as a result, the PGN FSRU Lampung charterer would state that it would commence arbitration to declare the charter null and void, and/or to terminate the charter, and/or seek damages; (3) the Partnership would need to find alternative refinancing for its PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility; (4) the PGN FSRU Lampungcredit facility matured in September 2021, not October 2021 as previously stated; (5) the Partnership would be forced to accept less favorable refinancing terms with regards to the PGN FSRU Lampung credit facility; (6) Hoegh LNG would not extend the revolving credit line to the Partnership past its maturation date; (7) Hoegh LNG would reveal that it "will have very limited capacity to extend any additional advances to the Partnership beyond what is currently drawn under the facility"; (8) as a result of the foregoing, the Partnership would essentially end distributions to common units holders; (9) the COVID-19 pandemic was not the sole or root cause of the Partnership's issues in Indonesia, in 2019, before the pandemic, there were already a very low amount of demand in Indonesia for the Partnership's gas; (10) the auditing, tax, nor maintenance of PGN FSRU Lampung were not the sole or root cause(s) of the Partnership's issues in Indonesia; and (11) as a result, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firms site: www.bgandg.com/hmlp or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Investor Relations Analyst, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Hoegh you have until December 27, 2021, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a corporate litigation boutique. Our primary expertise is the aggressive pursuit of litigation claims on behalf of our clients. In addition to representing institutions and other investor plaintiffs in class action security litigation, the firms expertise includes general corporate and commercial litigation, as well as securities arbitration. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Contact:

Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC

Peretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson

212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com




TEMPLE, Texas, Dec. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As the building and remodeling industry experience continued growth, 2021 proved to be a banner year for engineered surfaces and Wilsonart in particular. The world-class innovator of next-generation engineered surfaces bolstered its category leadership by earning six industry awards honoring the brands latest product innovations. The prestigious accolades from both the commercial and residential arenas recognized not only the companys design expertise but also the power of the Wilsonart brand.



It is always rewarding when our work receives praise and recognition, especially from influential leaders and tastemakers within our industry, said Danielle Mikesell, global vice president of marketing and design at Wilsonart. At Wilsonart, we strive to create innovative, stylish and durable surfaces that enhance all of lifes moments  beautifully, efficiently and sustainably. These honors indicate what we are doing is on target and meeting the needs of our customers.

Awards received by Wilsonart in 2021 include:

2021 Builder Media Brand Preference Survey

The Builder Media Brand Preference Survey highlights the most trusted and favorite brands in the building materials and products industry. Winners are chosen by the readers of Builder and Developer and Builder Bytes. This year, Wilsonart received top honors in the Countertops category for its High Pressure Laminate collection.

Green Builder Media Brand Index

Wilsonart was spotlighted among the top five Countertop brands in Green Builder Medias 2021 Brand Index. The annual audit gauges builders likes and dislikes about products in the green construction market across 24 categories. Winners and rankings in each category are determined by the results in three distinct segments  the publications traditional survey data, public sentiment and market visibility.

Home Builder Executive Innovation Awards

Wilsonart was honored with a Gold Innovation Award in the Engineered Surfaces category of the Home Builder Executive Innovation Awards for its Wilsonart Quartz Dramatic Landscapes and Wilsonart Solid Surface The Crafted Collection. The annual program honors manufacturers that have brought unique products, features and/or builder programs to market during the past year.

Kitchen and Bath Business Readers Choice Awards

Now in its 9th year, the annual Kitchen & Bath Business (KBB) Readers Choice Awards program celebrates the best kitchen and bath brands across 25 different categories. Based on input from the design-savvy subscribers and followers of KBB, Wilsonart earned top honors in the Kitchen Countertops category for 2021.

Qualified Remodeler - 2021 Remodelers Choice: 100 Most Requested Products

The revolutionary Wetwall Water-Proof Wall Panel System earned its way onto Qualified Remodelers 2021 Remodelers Choice: 100 Most Requested Products list. The annual list is a compilation of the 100 products that generated the most inquiries by QR readers over the previous 12 months.

SATA Advancement in Regulatory Response Award

Sponsored by the Southern Aerosol Technical Association (SATA), the SATA Aerosol Innovation Awards recognize individuals, groups and companies that have made considerable contributions to the growth and success of the aerosol industry. SATAs 2021 Advancement in Regulatory Response Award was presented to Wilsonart for its innovative adhesive products, Aerosol NF702A and Canister NF702/NF703, NF742/NF743 Nonflammable Spray Adhesives.

We are thrilled and humbled to have been recognized and honored by all these widely respected programs and organizations, added Mikesell. Each accolade reinforces that our products, services and core values continue to resonate among those who value brands that deliver premium quality and performance.

For more information about Wilsonart, visit wilsonart.com.

About Wilsonart

Wilsonart, a world-leading engineered surfaces company, is driven by a mission to create surfaces people love, with service they can count on, delivered by people who care. The Company manufactures and distributes High Pressure Laminate, Coordinated TFL and Edgeband, Quartz, Solid Surface, Epoxy, and other decorative engineered surfaces for use in the office, education, healthcare, residential, hospitality, and retail markets. Operating under the Wilsonart, Arborite, Bushboard, Durcon, KML, Laminart, Mermaid, New Leaf, Polyrey, Ralph Wilson, Resopal, Shore, Technistone, and Wetwall brands, the Company continuously redefines decorative surfaces through improved performance and award-winning designs.

Media Contact: Brittni Olson L.C. Williams & Associates bolson@lcwa.com (312) 565-4624

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/70e73bfe-4433-49a3-a488-67b3e9752863
Governor Northam Announces Plans to Open Second Time Capsule at 1:00 PM Tomorrow

Additional time capsule found today, matches the description of 1887 time capsule

RICHMONDGovernor Ralph Northam announced crews found what appears to be the 1887 time capsule, located in the base of the former statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Monument Avenue in Richmond. The capsule will be opened tomorrow, Tuesday, December 28 at 1:00 PM at the Department of Historic Resources lab, located at 2801 Kensington Avenue, Richmond, 23221. The discovery comes 11 days after a different and unknown time capsule was discovered.

This appears to be the time capsule that historians believe was placed on October 27, 1887 it is made of copper and matches the size listed in the historical record. Records from the Library of Virginia suggest that 37 Richmond residents, organizations, and businesses contributed about 60 objects to the capsule, many of which are believed to be related to the Confederacy.

Space will be extremely limited. A live video will be provided via pool camera. Details will be available in the morning. Credentialed media interested in attending must RSVP to press@governor.virginia.gov.

# # #
bp and Maersk Tankers, with support from the Danish Maritime Authority, have successfully completed trials using biofuel-blended marine fuel in product tankers, demonstrating that sustainable biofuels can be used as a marine drop-in fuel to help reduce carbon emissions in shipping.

The trials were completed on Maersk Cirrus and Maersk Navigatorproduct tankers on time-charter to bp from Maersk Tankers. Each vessel was supplied with bp Marine B30 biofuel, consisting of 30% fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blended with very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO).

FAME is a renewable alternative fuel (biodiesel) largely produced from recycled cooking oils and renewable oil sources. It has physical properties similar to conventional diesel, and is also non-toxic and biodegradable. The origination and production of the feedstocks used to produce FAME is certified for its sustainability to internationally recognized standards.

The trials saw the vessels sail from Rotterdam to West Africa. Throughout the trials, tests were carried out to assess the reliability and performance of the B30 biofuel blend in each ships main engine, auxiliary engine and boiler, and any impact on fuel tanks to determine the level of interchangeability with other fuel types.

No adverse effects to equipment or machinery were observed during or after the trials. No modifications to the engine or infrastructure were required, demonstrating the suitability of sustainable biofuels for use as a drop in fuel.

Global shipping accounts for around 3% of the global carbon emissions. bp is a major global marine fuel and lubricants supplier and operator and charterer of tankers and other vessels worldwide. Maersk Tankers commercially manages the largest tanker fleet in the world. The companies came together in this trial as part of their contribution to the decarbonization of the industry.

bp aims to regularly supply biofuel blends for their operated and time-charter vessels when they refuel in the Netherlands, subject to owners and Flag-state approval.
Chin-based EV maker NIO recently unveiled its fifth mass-production model, the ET5 (earlier post). The mid-size sedans AI features are powered by the NIO Adam supercomputer, built on four NVIDIA DRIVE Orin systems-on-a-chip (SoCs), achieving a total of more than 1,000 TOPS of performance.





In addition to centralized compute, the ET5 incorporates high-performance sensors into its sleek design, equipping it with the hardware necessary for advanced AI-assisted driving features.

The ET5 and its older sibling, the ET7 full-size sedan, rely on a centralized, high-performance compute architecture to power AI features and continuously receive upgrades over the air.

Orin is the worlds highest-performance, most-advanced AV and robotics processor. It delivers up to 254 TOPS to handle the large number of applications and deep neural networks that run simultaneously in autonomous vehicles and robots while achieving systematic safety standards such as ISO 26262 ASIL-D.

Adam integrates the redundancy and diversity necessary for safe autonomous operation by using multiple SoCs.

The first two SoCs process the eight gigabytes of data produced by the vehicles sensor set every second.

The third Orin serves as a backup to ensure the system can operate safely in any situation.

The fourth enables local training, improving the vehicle with fleet learning and personalizing the driving experience based on user preferences.

With high-performance computing at its core, Adam is a major achievement in the creation of automotive intelligence and autonomous driving.

After beginning deliveries in Norway earlier this year, NIO will expand worldwide in 2022.

The ET7, the first vehicle built on the DRIVE Orin-powered Adam supercomputer, will become available in March, with the ET5 following in September.

Next year, NIO vehicles will begin deliveries in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

By 2025, NIO vehicles will be in 25 countries and regions worldwide, bringing one of the most advanced AI platforms to even more customers.
GREENWICH  The Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich announced that in partnership with Kids In Crisis, BGCG now has a full-time masters level social worker on site to work with the children in its programs.

In the spring of 2019, Kids In Crisis and the Boys & Girls Club received a grant from Impact Fairfield County, to pilot KidTalk, a program that placed a part-time social worker at the Boys & Girls Club to be a resource for club members, staff members and their families.

Since the fall of 2019, this initiative has provided critical mental health support to the organizations youth, their families and the staff while improving the quality of the after-school program at the Boys & Girls Club.

Now in a full-time position made possible through Kids In Crisis, Mariana Martins, the KidTalk counselor, is at the club every day. She assists staff, youth and their families with issues that impact their health and well-being.

Having a full-time social worker on-site during the pandemic has been transformative. The mental health support Mariana provides to our kids has changed lives, said Cristina Vittoria, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich.

Able to speak Portuguese and Spanish, Martins is passionate about supporting and advocating for immigrant youth and their families.

The mental health crisis has impacted communities across the country. The ongoing partnership between the Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich and Kids In Crisis continues to serve as a vital collaboration for maintaining the mental and physical well-being of the youth in our Greenwich community, said Martins. She called it an honor to have the opportunity to provide ongoing support to the youth and their families.

She has previously worked with children and adolescents in community settings where she designed and facilitated programs in nutrition and wellness, theater and STEM.

Over the past two years, the program has provided one-on-one confidential counseling to kids who might be struggling with anxiety, depression, bullying, family conflicts, academic issues, grief/loss, substance abuse issues, abuse/neglect or lack of basic needs.

Additionally, Martins collaborates with the club on programming and provides referrals to services at Kids In Crisis, including its 24/7 Crisis Helpline. She leads the SMART Girls program, a Boys & Girls Club of America signature program designed to meet the developmental needs of girls ages 8 to 18.

There is no doubt that working in partnership with the club we are making a difference in the lives of children, said Shari Shapiro, executive director of Kids In Crisis. Mariana is able to meet with the kids in a place that is comfortable for them as the club is a home away from home for most of the kids.

Martins holds a masters degree with honors distinction in social work from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield and a bachelors of social work from Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.

Model United Nations team shines at GHS

The Model UN team, or MUN, from Greenwich High School put in a great performance at the recent Rutgers Model UN Conference in New Brunswick, N.J.

Rutgers Model United Nations is one of the largest and most well-regarded MUN conferences in the United States. The flagship program of the Institute for Domestic & International Affairs Inc. started empowering students in 1992 when a group from Rutgers University sought to establish an international studies program at the university.

Most of the GHS students represented Germany in debates about human rights, the environment, international relations, global development and more.

Our Model UN team attended its first in-person conference since January 2020. During a shortened year in 2020 and a virtual 2020-2021, the students demonstrated flexibility and perseverance, said Ian Tiedemann, social studies teacher and club adviser. It was amazing to see the students back to work safely, engaging in debate, and bonding as a team. We are all so proud of this team.

The top performers included:

*Position Paper Award: Arjun Kishore (11th-grader), International Monetary Fund

*Honorable Delegation: Veda Swaminathan (12th-grader) and Elisabeth Zielinski (ninth-grader), Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee

*Distinguished Delegation: Ambika Grover (11th-grader) and Ziyi Yan( 10th-grader), Commission on the Science and Technology for Development

*Distinguished Delegation: Nicole Orlofsky (11th-grader) and Jeremy Buss (ninth-grader), World Health Organization

*Outstanding Delegation: Aarya Dhru (12th-grader) and Zara Haque (ninth-grader), United Nations Environmental Program

*Best Delegation: Helena Kennedy (10th-grader), United Nations Department of Political Affairs 1993
JERUSALEM (AP)  Israel's government minister for public security on Monday said he is now under round-the-clock protection after coming under threats from Jewish extremists.

Omer Barlev also accused members of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's pro-settler Yemina party of contributing to the fraught atmosphere.

Barlev sparked an uproar earlier this month when he criticized a wave of violence by West Bank settlers against Palestinian civilians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Barlev, who oversees the national police force, said U.S. officials had raised concerns about the settler violence with him and that he pledged to address the issue.

I will continue to fight Palestinian terrorism as if there is no extremist settler violence  and extremist settler violence as if there is no Palestinian terrorism, he said at the time.

Right-wing politicians, including members of the coalition government, lashed out at Barlev, and Bennett played down the violence as the acts of a marginal few. Opposition politicians have gone further, saying his comments have invited Palestinian violence.

In a Twitter post on Monday, Barlev said he was now under 24-hour protection. I'm threatened by Israeli Jews, he wrote.

At a weekly meeting of his Labor Party, Barlev blamed fellow coalition members from Bennett's Yamina party for turning me into the enemy of all settlers, and one who doesnt understand security and terrorism by Palestinians against Israeli citizens.
BEIJING  The Chinese city of Xian recorded 175 local coronavirus infections on Monday, as it grapples with a coronavirus outbreak that has pushed Chinas daily cases to record highs since early last year.

The 175 infections reported in Xia, in the northwestern Shaanxi province, were up from 162 on Sunday, and 158 the day before, according to a government notice issued Tuesday. Authorities blame the outbreak on the Delta variant.

Authorities have locked down 13 million residents in Xian amid the rise in infections as they attempt to curb the spread. China is one of the few remaining countries with a zero Covid policy, with authorities implementing mass-testing when infections are found in the community.

Xian has so far conducted four mandatory rounds of testing as authorities sought to detect new infections. The city has also launched a disinfection campaign, spraying down roads and buildings.

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HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

 Omicron spreads global gloom over New Years celebrations

 Delta flight to Shanghai turned back because of COVID rules.

 Variant disrupts holiday travel but not shopping

 France sees over 100,000 daily infections for the first time

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Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

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HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

JERUSALEM  Israels Health Ministry says it will allow people with two doses of the coronavirus vaccine to get a booster shot after three months, rather than the five-month waiting period it previously allowed.

The government said in a statement Monday that it shortened the timeframe to boost immunity as the swiftly-moving omicron variant spreads around the globe.

The new rule would apply to vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

There was still no decision on whether to roll out a second tranche of booster shots to its population as the country grappled with rising infections.

Israel began trials of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine on Monday in what is believed to be the first study of its kind.

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PHILADELPHIA  Philadelphia Public Health officials are urging people who suspect they might have mild cases of COVID-19 to stay out of the emergency room.

Department officials in a news release Monday said theyve been hearing from emergency room doctors that theyre being overwhelmed by people seeking COVID-19 tests, many because of mild symptoms or known exposures.

The number of people testing positive for COVID is now far higher than at any point in the last two years, and emergency departments are packed with people with COVID symptoms, Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said in a news release Monday.

She urged people who are experiencing symptoms and having trouble finding COVID testing, to act like they are positive and quarantine.

The health department has recorded a two-week average of almost 1,500 new cases per day and a two-week positivity rate of 15.9%. The department gave out 24,000 free rapid testing kits before the holiday  close to 50,000 rapid tests and was seeing record-breaking numbers of tests being submitted to the department in the days before Christmas.

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CHICAGO  Illinois is helping local health departments with staffing at local health department mass vaccination sites. The move comes as the state is seeing its highest surge in COVID-19 cases during the entire pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday that Illinois is adding at least 100 people to help at local health department mass vaccination sites to meet growing demand.

Starting next week, the state will also open its community-based testing sites six days a week.

The state is averaging 500 new hospital admissions daily for COVID-19, which is double from about a month ago.

Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the majority of those hospitalized are unvaccinated.

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JACKSON, Miss. The Mississippi State Department of Health is reporting more than 7,000 new COVID-19 cases over a five-day period.

The department posted new numbers Monday, covering cases confirmed from Wednesday through Sunday.

The state is seeing a significant increase in cases compared to just a few weeks ago. During the two weeks from Nov. 23 to Dec. 6, Mississippi confirmed 5,185 new cases of COVID-19.

In the Jackson area on Monday, parking lots were full at medical clinics that offer COVID-19 testing. A long line of cars waited at a north Jackson church with a mobile test site in the parking lot.

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ATLANTA  COVID-19s omicron wave is rapidly pushing up the number of patients infected with the virus in Georgia hospitals.

The biggest impacts in terms of infections and hospitalizations are being seen in the Atlanta area.

The number of patients hospitalized statewide with the virus has climbed by more than 50% in a week, nearing 1,900 on Monday. The state Department of Public Health says the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in Georgia rose to nearly 8,700 a day on Monday. Thats nearing the peaks that Georgia saw in infection numbers in early January and in late August and early September.

The crush is being seen in Atlanta-area emergency rooms. At midafternoon Monday, of Atlanta-area hospitals that care for all adults, 18 emergency rooms were turning away ambulances, while only 10 were accepting ambulances, according to state data.

Katherine Watson, spokesperson for the five-hospital Northside system, said that COVID-19 patients accounted for 25% of the systems total adult inpatient population as of Monday.

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PARIS  Frances Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new COVID-19 measures in efforts to curb the spread of the virus, yet stopped short of imposing strict restrictions ahead of New Years Eve.

Starting from next week, big events will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors. People will be requested to sit down during concerts and customers wont be allowed to stand up in bars, Castex detailed.

Eating and drinking will be banned in cinemas, theatres, sport facilities and public transports, including on long-distance lines. Working from home will be mandatory at least three days per week for employees whose job makes it possible, he added.

Castex said that schools will open as scheduled on Jan. 3 and political rallies wont be concerned by the new rules for democratic reasons ahead of Aprils presidential election.

The measures come after France recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic.

Castex stressed that hospitals intensive care units are not saturated due to over 90% of Frances adults being fully vaccinated  in sharp contrast with the situation last year.

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LONDON  British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday no further coronavirus restrictions will be introduced in England before the new year, but urged people to stay cautious and celebrate outside if possible.

COVID-19 data has been patchy over the Christmas holiday, but the latest official figures showed 98,515 new infections were recorded in England on Monday and 143 people died with the virus. The National Health Service in England reported that there were 1,281 coronavirus hospital admissions on Christmas Day, up more than 70% compared to the previous week.

The four parts of the U.K. have taken different approaches to coronavirus restrictions as the omicron variant spread rapidly in the country. While nightclubs were ordered closed and limits on gatherings were imposed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, officials have resisted tightening restrictions in England.

Javid said about 90% of cases across England were the omicron variant.

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WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Monday pledged the full support of the federal government to states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the more-transmissible omicron variant and a run on at-home tests.

Joining a regular meeting between his coronavirus response team and the National Governors Association, Biden said, My message is: if you need something, say something, and we are going to have your back any way we can.

Biden acknowledged long lines and chaotic scenes as Americans sought out testing amid the case surge and as they looked to safely gather with family and friends over the holiday.

He referenced his administrations plan to make 500 million rapid tests available to Americans beginning next month through an as-yet-to-be-developed website.

A White House official said the new tests would come from new manufacturing capacity and wouldnt interfere with existing supply chains.

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WASHINGTON  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the U.S. should seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel.

Speaking to MSNBC, Fauci, who serves as President Joe Bidens chief science adviser on the COVID-19 response, said When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated.

The U.S. currently mandates that most foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, but has not instituted one for domestic travel.

The administration has at times considered a domestic vaccination requirement, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test, but two officials said Bidens science advisers have yet to formally make the recommendation to the president. The officials noted they have not been eager to mandate vaccination for domestic air travel because they expected it to immediately face legal challenges, mitigating its potential effectiveness as a tool to drive up vaccinations.

Bidens employer vaccination requirements have been mired in legal wrangling, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments in early January in cases seeking to overturn them.

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ATHENS  In Greece, authorities announced additional restrictions after the highest number of daily confirmed infections, at 9,284, was announced since the start of the pandemic.

Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced that starting Jan. 3: the mandatory use of high-protection or double masks will be imposed at supermarkets and on public transport, entertainment venues will close at midnight, capacity will be cut to 10% at soccer stadiums, remote work and schedule changes will be expanded at the public sector and nursing home visits will only be permitted for people carrying a negative PCR test result.

The omicron variant is now apparent across the country, especially in greater Athens where there has been a considerable rise in cases, Plevris said.

He added that the new restrictions would take effect after the New Year due to concerns that if were imposed earlier, they would lead to an increase in private gatherings.

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MOSCOW (AP)  Talks between Russia and the United States on Moscows demand for Western guarantees precluding NATOs expansion to Ukraine will start immediately after the new year holiday period, Russia's top diplomat announced Monday.

It is with the U.S. that we will carry out the main work of negotiations, which will take place immediately after the new year holidays end, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview Monday. The holidays in Russia will last for 10 days, through Jan. 9.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliances military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies have refused to provide such pledges, but said they are ready for the talks.

The demands, contained in a proposed Russia-U.S. security treaty and a security agreement between Moscow and NATO, were drafted amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stoked fears of a possible invasion. Russia has denied it has plans to attack its neighbor but pressed for legal guarantees that would rule out NATO expansion and weapons deployment there.

Lavrov said last week that, in addition to talks with the U.S., Moscow will start separate talks with NATO on the issue, as well as separate negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It is important that our proposals aren't wound up in endless discussions, which the West is famous for and which it knows how to do, that there is a result of all these diplomatic efforts, Lavrov said Monday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12, a NATO official said Saturday, adding that the bloc was in touch with Russia about the meeting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday confirmed the meeting will take place, calling talks with NATO important, but said the details of the meeting are in the works and the date is still to be confirmed.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin on Monday told a briefing of military attaches and representatives of foreign embassies that NATO's continued confrontational stance towards Russia forced Moscow to demand the security guarantees.

The alliance has consistently ignored Russian interests and shied away from an equitable discussion of existing problems, Fomin said.

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Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.
DANBURY  State Sen. Julie Kushner is downplaying any connections to the Communist Party after receiving an award earlier this month at an event linked to the party. The same event led to national criticism against U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal for his attendance and he admitted he would not have gone had he known about the ties to the political party.

Kushner, a Democrat from Danbury, was one of three recipients of the Connecticut Peoples World Amistad Awards, which recognized her for her efforts to support labor unions and pass the $15 minimum wage and paid family leave, among other efforts to back workers.

The ceremony, held on Dec. 11, however, celebrated the 102nd birthday of the Communist Party USA and included speeches and videos from union leaders about the role the Communist Party has played in activism for workers. The event included musical performances and speeches related to labor unions, voting rights and the coronavirus pandemic.

I was not aware of the anniversary, Kushner said in a statement to the News-Times. I am familiar with the Armistad Award (sic) and the groups long-standing activity in New Haven, particularly organizing youth around jobs and housing and supporting labor issues.

The Facebook event for the ceremony mentioned the anniversary of the Communist Party.

Mike Safranek, chairman of the Danbury Republican Town Committee, said he was shocked the citys senator would embrace communism and the award.

Im very surprised because most people are fleeing communism ideologies, most people have realized that communism has failed, that human endeavors are pushing past communism, he said.

Communist Party USAs website states that it has championed the struggles for democracy, labor rights, womens equality, racial justice and peace for 100 years.

Kushner said she received the award because she advocated for the CT Paid Family & Medical Leave program.

This program will benefit thousands of Connecticuts working families when it begins to pay benefits January 1st, she wrote.

The Democrat noted other organizations, including AARP, CT Womens Education and Legal Fund, and Family Values At Work, have honored her for the family leave program.

The recognition and endorsements I have received come from a broad spectrum of groups, which I believe demonstrates my ability to bring people together to solve problems and find lasting solutions for Connecticuts working families, Kushner said in the statement.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, faced backlash in national media outlets for speaking at the event. In an interview with the Hartford Courant, Blumenthal said had he known about the ties to the party I wouldnt have gone, adding he thought it was strictly an event tied to labor.

As everyone in Connecticut knows, I am delighted to be invited anywhere in our state and I go almost everywhere, he said in a statement to the News-Times. I was at this event to honor three really impressive people who have given a lot to Connecticut and their communities: a state legislator who has led the fight for paid family and medical leave, a minister on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a restaurant employee who organized her coworkers to win fair working conditions and pay.

Other honorees were Pastor Rodney Wade, of Long Hill Bible Church in Waterbury, and Azucena Santiago, a SEIU, Local 32BJ leader.

I was invited by a local labor union to honor these three individuals  thats why I was there, Blumenthal said. Im a Democrat and a supporter of American capitalism.

In his speech, Blumenthal appeared to try to distance himself from the Communist Party. He focused on the accomplishments of the three honorees, who he said he has worked with.

You dont have to agree with anyone or everyone with any party or any particular union or organization, he said. Im here to honor a great tradition of activism and standing up for individual workers that is represented by the three honorees here.

He called for federal voting rights bills to be passed, the abolishment of the filibuster and a $15 minimum wage.

His speech came after others praised the Communist Party.

We invite you to join the Communist Party in this epic time as we make good trouble to uproot systemic racism, retool the world economy, tax the rich, address climate change, secure voting rights and create a new socialist system that puts people, peace and planet before profits, said Ben McManus, the emcee of the ceremony.

Making good trouble

The award recognizes Kushner for making good trouble and breaking ground in womens equality, workers rights, health and safety, racial and environmental justice, and more.

State Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, who co-chairs the Labor Committee with Kushner, presented her the award and called the Danbury legislator Superwoman and Wonder Woman.

Your hard work, your dedication, your commitment to the labor movement and to the movement of women, and equity, racial justice, you name it, youve been on the forefront with me, said Porter, a former award recipient.

In her speech, Kushner thanked Connecticut Peoples World and the award committee. She praised her fellow honorees, who she called warriors for justice and discussed the recovery for all movement.

The states recovery from the coronavirus pandemic shouldnt be just a recovery for those who have great wealth, Kushner said.

Its not just a recovery for a handful or even the majority, she said. Its a recovery for all. The only way thats going to happen is if we work in coalition.

Before becoming a state senator, Kushner worked as a union organizer, beginning at 24, because she said she wanted to see justice for workers. She collaborated with unions in various industries, including child care, casino and graduate student workers.

Really, it was much more about building a movement, Kushner said. For me, it was about building relationships with people. What I got out of that was decades and decades of friendships and deep bonds that will never go away.
It has been a productive year for Xiaomi  it launched over 50 devices and that is just counting the phones. It also did a bit of rebranding by dropping the Mi from its premium devices  starting in the second half of this year, the company goes with just Xiaomi + model number, just as it has always done in China.

The year isnt over yet, the company plans to unveil one of the first phones with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1  the Xiaomi 12 series  which will probably arrive with the stable MIUI 13 (a beta version is already undergoing tests).

Winner: Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra

Its basically impossible to find one in stores, but the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra is one of the most memorable phones of 2021. Like the Mi 10 Ultra last year, this phone is designed as a showcase of Xiaomis R&D prowess rather than something expected to sell in the tens of millions.

This year the focus was on the camera and it was amazing to see how much the company has improved, even without a big camera brand name by its side. Three big, high resolution sensors, paired with mature processing lead to impressive results.

It even made a perennial iPhone user switch  you should read the long-term review for details on how all the cameras performed in a variety of shooting conditions.

While the camera is undoubtedly the main reason to be interested in the Mi 11 Ultra, it is also an attractive, well-built phone with an amazing screen and flagship performance. Its not perfect as the battery life could have been better, but it's certainly excellent.

But again the main issue with the Ultra is that even even if you can spare the 1,200, its out of stock in most places and unlikely to return. This is really more of a limited edition device and only a few lucky, well-heeled users got one.

Winners: Poco F3 and Poco X3 Pro

Well lump these together as they are essentially the same thing at two different price points  you can get a 120Hz display, a fast Snapdragon flagship chipset, a solid battery and a so-so camera.

If you have 300 to spend, then its the Poco F3 with an AMOLED HDR10+ display and a Snapdragon 870. If 200 is all you can afford, then its the Poco X3 Pro with an HDR10 IPS LCD and a Snapdragon 860. Even though they are not the latest silicon, these chips are still blazing fast and one of the few that actually have the GPU to attempt 120fps gameplay.

That makes them easy to recommend (or not). Is a fast chipset a priority and do you expect an above average camera? If the answers are yes and no, respectively, then the Pocos are tough to beat. And its not just us that thinks this, the F3 and X3 Pro shipped 2 million units less than 2 months after launch.

Loser: Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold

What happened to the Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold? On paper Xiaomis first foldable is great. At 8.01 its screen is one of the largest on a phone ever. There was a desktop mode to make the best out of the screen and Snapdragon 888 chipset. This was the first phone with a liquid lens, which allowed its telephoto lens to switch into macro mode. Xiaomi even included its first image processing chip, the Surge C1.

The Mi Mix Fold is a great technological showcase, but that may be all that it was intended to be. Was it manufacturing issues that kept Xiaomi from selling this widely? Or perhaps the company bet on the wrong form factor (Samsungs smaller Flip is outselling the larger Fold by a large margin).

Whatever it was, we never really found out if that liquid lens was actually useful. And that large display is now lagging technologically  modern foldable panels offer high refresh rates and maybe even under display cameras. And refined hinge designs made certain foldables waterproof.



The Xiaomi Mi Mix Fold showed much promise with hardware and software innovation

If Xiaomi wants a piece of the foldable pie it has a lot of catching up to do, both technologically and in terms of mind share  while geeks and early adopters already had their eyes on foldables, Samsungs marketing push convinced even less techy buyers. Meanwhile, the Mi Mix Fold didnt launch outside of China and the people at large arent even aware that Xiaomi made a foldable phone.

Winner: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro (Max)

The Redmi Note series has sold an impressive 240 million units since its inception. And it got there with crowd-pleasers like the Redmi Note 10 Pro (which is known as Pro Max in India). This is similar to the Poco F3, though with different choices that kept the budget in check.

It doesnt have a flagship chipset, not even 5G. But it does upgrade to a 108 MP sensor for the main camera (a fairly large one at 1/1.52) that performed impressively well. And it does offer a 3.5 mm headphone jack and a microSD slot. Plus, it has a 6.67 120Hz OLED display that is almost as good as that on the Poco.

Like the Poco, this one is easy to recommend, as long as people arent expecting a flagship gaming experience. The lack of 5G support is a bummer, however, as more and more carriers are pushing 5G plans. And while there is a Redmi Note 10 5G, that one makes too many compromises. The Redmi Note 11 series does represent a marked improvement over the 10-series, but it wont be available globally until early next year.

Loser: MIUI

Android skins are a divisive topic, but the speed of updates is not  love it or hate it, MIUI has never been the best and closely following Android releases. Quite often a major MIUI release will use two separate Android versions as base.

Which will apparently be the case with MIUI 13, which will be based on Android 11 and 12. The first beta versions of the new OS versions are already out, though they are not distributed widely.

The first batch of phones to receive MIUI 12.5 enhanced

Founder Lei Jun promised that the stable MIUI 13 will be out before the end of the year. But that probably refers to the upcoming Xiaomi 12 phones, which will have it pre-installed (and possibly the Redmi K50 devices). By the looks of it no current Xiaomi devices will get a stable Android 12 release before the end of the year (this is the first batch according to unofficial info). As for the current MIUI 12.5 version, some 2019 models are getting it (e.g. Mi 9 and Redmi Note 7), but certainly not all or even most. The length of the software support period is becoming an increasingly major factor when considering phones and Xiaomi is falling behind.

All that said, MIUI reached 454 million users in June and the company is starting to offer options with longer support  the 11T and 11T Pro will get three Android updates and four years of security patches. So, its on the right path, it just needs to extend this to more models. Well see what 2022 brings.

Loser: Xiaomi Mi bands

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 hit 1 million shipments globally before the end of April, even though global sales started only a few weeks earlier. That sounds impressive, but the Mi Band 4 got to a million in just 8 days.



Xiaomi's once best-selling Mi Bands are in a decline

Xiaomis smart bands were in decline before the 6th version even arrived on the scene. Market numbers suggest that the form factor in general is selling poorly compared to smartwatches and despite having several models on offer, Xiaomis smartwatches just arent selling very well. On the plus side, the companys headphones seem to be doing much better.

Winner: Xiaomi tech

The Mi 11 Ultra achieved impressive photography results without the benefit of having an established camera maker at its back. But things are shifting around  as Huawei was cut off from the international market, its camera partner Leica is looking for a new buddy.

It hasnt been confirmed yet, but the Xiaomi 12 Ultra might arrive with Leica branding (and hopefully some know-how). But thats just a rumor for now.

The company did announce a new development in smartphone cooling technology  Loop LiquidCool, which promises to keep powerful chipsets 5-8C cooler.

That wont be ready in time for the Xiaomi 12, which (as mentioned in the beginning) will use the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. But it should be ready for the Xiaomi flagships coming out in the second half of 2022.

The company also managed to make 120W fast charging pretty standard, even the relatively affordable Redmi Note 11 series has that option with the Pro+ version. 200W charging was demoed and may be featured in flagships next year. Xiaomi is also selling a 100W wireless charger for less than $100.

And if that wasnt enough, the company announced its plans to start mass producing its first car in 2024. It plans to invest $10 billion over the next 10 years into its EV project, including hiring new employees and acquiring companies like DeepMotion, which was developing self-driving tech.

Winner: Xiaomi

The company had a winning year. In the third quarter it edged out Apple to become second in Europe (with the gap to Samsung closing quite a bit) and topped the Indian market. Also, it ran 5G trials with Indian carrier Jio to demonstrate that the Redmi Note 11T is ready for the next-gen networks once they go live.



Xiaomi is expanding its services

Xiaomis India branch also announced the Xiaomi Cares program, a one-stop shop for support and servicing needs of its consumers. On the global stage, the company has 10,000 Xiaomi stores opened worldwide as of the end of October.
Xiaomi is expected to introduce its new flagship series tomorrow, December 28. We expect to see the Xiaomi 12 and Xiaomi 12 Pro on stage, while rumors also suggested a Xiaomi 12X is on its way. The phones will have Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipsets, and today company CEO and co-founder Lei Jun revealed more key features about the duo.

The Xiaomi 12 will ship with 67W fast wired charging and 50W wireless, while the Pro will bring 120W to the table.

Meanwhile the full list of alleged 12 Pro specs leaked online, along with some renders and live photos, suggesting yet another camera redesign that is supposed to house three 50 MP shooters.



Xiaomi 12, Xiaomi 12 Pro key features

The Xiaomi 12 Pro is said to have three 50 MP cameras on the back. Thats right, Xiaomi will one-up Oppo and its two-50 MP solution with a 50 MP sensor for the main, ultra-wide, and telephoto cameras. The one behind the main aperture will be Sony IMX707, which is 1/1.28 in size and will support pixel-binning with one big 2.44m pixel.



Xiaomi 12 Pro render and live photo

The battery will be a 4,600 mAh single cell that will support Xiaomis dual charging that protects it from overheating. Other specs include a 6.73 display with 1440p resolution, up to 120 Hz refresh rate and 480 Hz touch sampling rate.

The biggest unknown is whether the 12 Pro will even make it outside China - the Mi 11 Pro stayed exclusively at home, and if a 12 Ultra is indeed on its way, we do think Xiaomi will copy its strategy from the previous series.

Source 1  Source 2 (both in Chinese) | Via
Samantha Taitano, executive director of Mane'lu, describes the benefits of their youth mentorship program for kids and adults alike. Mane'lu is aiming to recruit 50 mentors in the coming weeks, and will host a "Mentors Night Out" event on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022, from 3 p.m. to sunset at the To
A man imprisoned on federal robbery charges who is expected to finish his sentence in February was granted compassionate release by District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.

In July 2012, Balbino K. Leon Guerrero pleaded guilty to robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. In 2014, he was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in federal prison and five years of supervised release.

Leon Guerrero, who had COVID-19, suffers from diabetes, chronic kidney disease that requires dialysis, diabetic neuropathy and retinopathy, hypertension, anemia, esophageal reflux and is overweight, according to court documents.

With defendant in such an extremely fragile state of health and the likelihood of severe illness should he become infected again with COVID-19, extraordinary and compelling reasons exist to reduce his sentence, the judge wrote in her order for release.

He was originally supposed to be freed Feb. 26, 2022, so almost all of his sentence has been served, the judge said.

A major circumstance surrounding defendants offense was his use of drugs and alcohol, the order stated. He was drinking alcohol at the time of his offense and committed the offense in an effort to enable further usage of methamphetamine.

Since he has been incarcerated, Leon Guerrero has had drug treatment and plans to continue treatment once he is released, the order stated.

His sentence was reduced to time served.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and Lt. Gov. Josh Tenorio are inviting the public to enjoy the New Years Eve fireworks display at Hagatna Bay.

The 10-minute fireworks show will launch at midnight on Dec. 31 and can be viewed anywhere in Hagatna, according to a news release.

We are happy to illuminate our skies with the same hopeful spark we have in our hearts for a brighter year ahead, said Leon Guerrero. This time a year ago, social gatherings were limited to five people, and for the first time, the pandemic forced us to cancel our annual fireworks show. The return of this tradition is a celebration of our peoples progress.

As we turn another year, we want to remind everyone to continue doing what is necessary to protect those we love, to include practicing the three Ws and getting vaccinated or boosted, said Tenorio. With these sustained measures and our communitys caring nature, we are optimistic that our island will welcome a better year despite the challenges in front of us.

The New Years Eve Fireworks show is presented by The Office of the Governor of Guam, The Guam Museum Foundation, Guam Visitors Bureau, Guam Economic Development Authority, PBS Guam, Port Users Group, Matson Navigation Company, CTSI Logistics Guam, Cabras Marine Corporation, Seabridge Inc., Guam Shipyard, Norton Lily International Inc., IP&E, Bank of Guam, KUAM, Calvos Insurance, The Guam Daily Post, K-Stereo, GTA Teleguam, Community Corporation, Megamix, GFS Group, Guam Premier Outlets, Coast360 Federal Credit Union, AM Insurance, Black Construction Guam, Cherry Vision and Hit Radio 100.

Electric Winter Wonderland

The Electric Winter Wonderland holiday light show at the Skinner Plaza in Hagatna, will continue through Jan. 8, 2022. Special light shows will be featured in 30-minute intervals every Thursday to Sunday from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., according to the release.
Two Guam Board of Education members said Monday they want more emphasis on bullying prevention in the schools.

The board held a virtual Safe and Healthy Schools Committee Work Session to discuss disciplinary actions and policies. Board member Robert Crisostomo said 18 schools reported no infractions at all, which he found concerning.

Do you really believe there are no infractions in these 18 schools? Hard to believe in a public school, said Crisostomo. Your goals, objectives, and strategies should address these issues, but Im hearing a lot of bullying concerns.

Maria Gutierrez agreed with Crisostomos statements and reminded principals that there are disciplinary actions for bullying.

She said students, including the Islandwide Body of Governing Students, are calling for bullying prevention to be part of the curriculum.

Students need to know there is that policy, even if you have to paint it on your walls, because this will help the students, she said.

Both Crisostomo and Gutierrez want Guam DOE to make sure their data is accurate, as only one elementary school reported infractions.

Lets be honest, dont make it look like your school is violent behavior-free because that doesnt work well with me, said Gutierrez. You havent had students sent to the office?

Deputy Superintendent Erika Cruz said after a bullying-related incident in 2010, Guam DOE has implemented character education, and the policy on bullying is in the student handbook.

Southern High representative Jessica Pendon said that bullying has evolved beyond verbal and physical abuse and has gone virtual, particularly on social media.

I wonder where the line is drawn, especially during COVID where some students are online, especially in the last two years or so everyone has been online so students during that time were being harassed on those bases, even now, Pendon said. When this is happening, students dont want to reach out to administration or to peers because of the fact that school feels like an unfamiliar place right now where you havent been there for two years.

Additionally, because of the pandemic, Pendon said students social skills arent what they used to be, especially when students have a multitude of worries that include being placed at different cohorts from friends, social distancing and students feeling that they dont have a safe space or need to fend for themselves.
Witnesses in the trial for a suruhanu and former Port police officer accused of sexual assault concluded their testimonies on Monday.

Frank James San Nicolas, a spiritual healer, or suruhanu, was charged with two counts each of third and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct connected to an incident with a 23-year-old woman.

On Monday morning, one of the last witnesses to testify was Keane Pangelinan, an investigator currently employed at the Office of the Attorney General and former Guam Police Department officer.

Pangelinan testified the woman went to receive spiritual healing from San Nicolas at a camp out one night in January 2020 before going to his Yigo residence.

At his home, San Nicolas offered to give the woman a massage which turned into the alleged sexual assault, Pangelinan added.

What did he (San Nicolas) say to her? Assistant Attorney General Christine Tenorio asked Pangelinan.

Something to the effect of the spirits would want this, Pangelinan said in his testimony about the incident.

Complaint

The woman reported the alleged sexual assault months after it happened in June 2020.

According to court documents, San Nicolas forced himself onto the woman and later said he wouldnt be able to provide spiritual healing services if she told anyone what happened.

Conclusion of the witness testimonies means attorneys will give their closing statements to the jury Tuesday morning.

San Nicolas was a Port Authority of Guam police officer at the time of his arrest.
Former Gov. Carl T.C. Gutierrez is the president and CEO of Guam Visitors Bureau, permit czar, and chairman of the Governors Economic Strategy Council. Send comments or questions to GVB at communityrelations@visitguam.org.




Haiti - FLASH : Tribute to Desmond Tutu, apostle of reconciliation





Text submitted by Evans Paul (KP)



"Desmond Tutu, the 1st black Archbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa, has just left us this Sunday, December 26, 2021, at the age of 90 years.



Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1984, Desmond Tutu embodies the values of Living Together, in Peace, justice and prosperity.



Like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu was an icon, an emblematic leader in the struggle in South Africa against apartheid, a racist political regime, establishing discriminatory practices, between the different black, white, Indian and Mulatto communities of the southern nation. African, in 43 years, from 1948 to 1991.



The man of all struggles for South Africans, Archbishop Desmond Tutu had always taken advantage of his political and moral authority, to free his people from the dehumanizing system of apartheid which has so oppressed the vast majority of southern blacks. -africans, in particular.



A universal symbol of freedom, Desmond Tutu had the courage to call for an economic boycott of apartheid-era South Africa. He has often led the marches against racial segregation. He had worked wholeheartedly for the right to education of blacks and for the improvement of their living conditions.



Even after the accession of Nelson Mandela to power in May 1994, Desmond Tutu continued to denounce the abuses and especially the corruption of the new leaders of the African National Congress (ANC).



Chosen by President Nelson Mendela in 1994, to head the TRUTH AND JUSTICE commission, the cornerstone of national reconciliation, Desmond Tutu had risen to this difficult task which consisted in voluntarily recognizing his abuses in favor or against the apartheid regime, to deserve forgiveness and promote the redress necessary for the new departure of democratized South Africa, which he has dubbed 'RAINBOW NATION', in reference to its ethnic diversity.



The anti-apartheid giant, Desmond Tutu visited Haiti in 2006. He addressed the demonstrators who invaded the Hotel Montana, claiming the victory of President Rene Preval, after the election scuffles of the time.



Beyond South Africa and for us in Haiti, Desmond Tutu must be considered as a model of leadership to be favored, to establish a real political system of justice, capable of combating kidnapping and insecurity in all its forms, guarantee peace, create conditions conducive to well-being and prosperity.



The establishment of such a climate, requires the political courage to assume our collective responsibility as a people, and also, the will to develop the capacity to choose, the saving way which is good for us, apart from certain external influences, often erroneous and even harmful.



With the departure for eternity of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, we salute the memory of a great man of peace, drawing inspiration from his teaching, for the socio-political modernity to which we must all aspire.



Evans Paul (KP)

Sunday, December 26, 2021"



Learn more about Desmond Tutu :

Desmond Tutu was born on October 7, 1931 in Klerksdorp, in the Province of Transvaal, South Africa.



Desmond Tutu studied in the city of Johannesburg. At first he wanted to become a doctor, but such studies cost too much for his family, he intended to become a teacher, just like his father. From 1951 to 1954, he studied and began teaching in 1954 at 'Johannesburg Bantu High School'. In 1955, he married Nomalizo Leah Shenxane, a teacher; they will have four children. He resigned in 1957, to protest against the poor quality of education given to blacks.



He then decides to focus on theology. He was ordained a priest of the Anglican Church in 1961 and became chaplain of the University of Fort Hare, at the time one of the only quality universities for blacks in South and Southern Africa. Desmond Tutu obtained a master's degree in divinity from King's College London in 1966.



He was appointed Archbishop in 1986, and became the first black Archbishop of Johannesburg commonly known as "The Arch"



He has obtained more than a hundred "honoris causa" doctorates and has received 10 decorations and 6 Prizes.



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Call for applications : Emerging Photography Fund in Haiti





A new call for applications is launched within the framework of the Fund for Emerging Photography in Haiti (FPEH) in order to select two (2) laureates in January 2022 for a scholarship.



The FPEH wants to support promising Haitian photographers in the realization or the pursuit of a coherent photographic project which can aim at journalistic objectives or respond to documentary or artistic imperatives.



In addition to financial support of US $ 5,000, this scholarship includes one-year mentoring with internationally recognized professional photographers (one session per month). For this edition, they are the photographers Henry Roy and Maya-Ines Touam thanks to a partnership with the Africa in Visu platform. The FPEH also ensures the visibility of the work carried out, in Haiti and abroad, through the publication of a brochure and the creation of an exhibition (the form of which depends on the rendering of the work).



The submitted project should be completed within one year of receipt of the first disbursement. The laureates will have an interim report to submit to receive the balance of his scholarship, and a full report to close it.



Submit your candidacy :

Applications can be submitted individually or collectively, by people between 20 and 35 years old.



More info and application form available online at : https://www.fokal.org/index.php/photographie-emergente



Registration deadline: January 13, 2022 at midnight.



The jury will meet in mid-January and the names of the two successful laureates will be announced before the end of January 2022.



HL/ HaitiLibre


















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From MSU News Service

Summary: Middle school students from across the state of Montana are invited to register for the competition, which is hosted by MSUs Science Math Resource Center.

BOZEMAN  Middle school students from across the state of Montana are invited to register for a free online mathematics contest set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20.

The American Mathematics Competition 8 contest is part of the American Mathematics Competition series developed by the Mathematical Association of America. The contest is designed to provide an opportunity for middle school students to develop positive attitudes toward analytical thinking and mathematics that can assist in future careers. Students apply classroom skills to unique problem-solving challenges in a low-stress and friendly environment. The contest is hosted each year by Montana State Universitys Science Math Resource Center in the College of Education, Health and Human Development.

The material on the 25-question, 40-minute test includes topics from a typical middle school mathematics curriculum. Students up through eighth grade and younger than 14 1/2 years old on the day of the competition are eligible to participate. Registration is free and open until spots are filled. The Science Math Resource Center will award gift cards to the top three finishers.

To help students prepare for the contest, the Science Math Resource Center will provide an optional online workshop the morning of Saturday, Jan. 8.

The deadline to register for the contest is Saturday, Jan. 15.

For more information or to register, people can visit http://montana.edu/smrc/documents/American_Mathematics_Contest.html .
Dozens of Kurds in the capital, Damascus, participated in the mass demo in Zorava neighborhood, carrying a banner that read, "The freedom of the leader Ocalan is of all peoples." The participants raised pictures of the leader Ocalan and banners condemning the isolation on the leader.

There, the Martyrs' Families Council in Damascus issued a statement saying:

on the behalf of the Martyrs Families Council in the capital, Damascus, we condemn and denounce in the strongest terms the isolation on the leader Abdullah Ocalan by the criminal state of the Turkish state, and we demand the release of the families of the leader Ocalan. The way to any solution in the region."

He added: "We, as the families of the martyrs, call upon every person of conscience to raise his voice high and stand against every stalker. There is no solution except with the leader Apo. He is the essential part of every solution, and we see in him the savior in this difficult time. As well as attempts to eliminate him by various means in that solitary confinement isolated in the middle of the seas, and it is forbidden to meet him or even communicate with his lawyer or his family for many years.

And the statement added: "In the end, we see that the conspiracy will not end unless the leader is released and returned to his historical role in leading his people to be the vanguard of freedom and democracy, protect human values, achieve brotherhood of peoples and common life within the democratic nation's project."

At the end of the statement, the statement appealed to "all democratic forces and human rights organizations to continue their struggle until the leader is released from prison and his physical freedom is achieved."

A

ANHA
The statistics of our forces' work during this year are as follows:

Regarding the operations of our force against cells, our force has:

Dismantling 82 terrorist cells

The total number of detainees held by the Public Security Agency reached 372.

In addition to dismantling many mines and explosive devices, their number reached: 101

As for the explosions, they numbered: 202.

As for the joint security operations supported by the Global Coalition, they amounted to: 95

- Our crime-fighting forces have detected various crimes, according to the following statistics:

1,618 drug files, including 417 promotion files, 919 abuse files, and 282 trafficking files.

Weapon smuggling: 61 files, where: / 168 / pistols, and / 358 / various weapons were seized.

And hand grenades: 54 grenades.

And / 1,324 / gunshot.

And 60 files of antiquities smuggling, with a total of 253 artifacts.

And crimes of premeditated murder or manslaughter (131) cases.

And the files of attempted murder reached: 109 files.

As for suicides, its statistics reached: 29 cases.

The number of forged papers files: 521 files.

The number of counterfeit currency files was: 253, and the seized amounts were estimated at 531270 US dollars, and 1442000 counterfeit Syrian currency.

The theft files were: 1,318

Cases of displacement: 76 cases

Prostitution crimes also amounted to: 27 files.

Kidnappings: 23 files.

Fraud cases: 98 files

In addition to rape, there were 11 cases.

All files with the seized and arrested persons were duly transferred to the Public Prosecution.

The number of detainees: 33,490 detainees

The number of those released was 28,642.

- With regard to the emergency forces, (10,205) reports were received from the people of all our regions.

The emergency and ambulance activities were as follows:

Cases received in all clinics: 5087

Cold cases: 2,246

Emergency cases: 2,841

Missions answered: 1,876

T/S

ANHA
Since the beginning of last November, the Damascus government began promoting so-called settlements in Deir ez-Zor, calling for those who left to escape its brutality to be subjected to it again in a different scenario, as it did in Daraa and other Syrian cities and regions, but all of them failed. Where It plunged all those it subjected to "compromise" in its war with mercenaries in various Syrian geography within the so-called "Fifth Corps".

The official spokesman for the Al-Bukamal clan council, Salah Al-Salman, during a meeting with ANHA, confirmed that "the settlements carried out by the Damascus government have negative repercussions on the real political settlement. We see it as an obstacle to finding a Syrian solution that ends the crisis that has been going on for more than 10 years."

Salah al-Salman explained, "We know that these settlements were nothing but flimsy plans in several Syrian governorates, all of which failed, and its only approach to these settlements was to create a state of fear and confusion among the people of the region, prolong the Syrian crisis, destroy the region's economy, and prove lack of seriousness to solve internal problems



For his part, Theeb Khalif Daoud notable of Al -Marsum clan in the town of Al-Baghouz confirmed that "the settlement is a trick by the Damascus government to recruit them into its wars with mercenaries in various Syrian geography, it is a ploy by the Damascus government to lure NE Syria's people to disperse their ideas and discredit the military and political leadership.

In the same context, Hawas Al-Jassem, representative of the Al-Hassoun clans, in the town of Al-Baghouz, stressed that "what Damascus government calls reconciliations is nothing but a means of putting pressure on the people of the region fleeing mainly from the brutality of Damascus government's army, it is useless ."



The dignitaries and sheikhs also stressed the necessity of recognizing the Autonomous Administration as a democratic project and Damascus government must be convinced that the central mentality and policy of marginalization prevailing before 2011 won't return, after peoples tasted the true freedom.

A.K
Yesterday, member of Joint Presidency of Democratic Union Party (PYD) Saleh Muslim joined a special program through our agency, to talk about the Turkish occupation attacks that aimed for emptying NES.

Saleh Muslim, during his speech, touched on the attack that targeted a house in Kobani, and indicated that this attack is one of the attacks of brutality of the fascist Turkish state, and said: targeting citizens expresses Turkey's brutality. This attack occurred at a sensitive time and confirms that a coordination is taking place against the region, because the attacks on Zirghan and Kobani and the imposition of a siege on the region by Damascus government and Basur Kurdistan authorities indicate that, and there are decisions issued by one place against our regions, and Russia, America and Iran also participate, and they aim to impose surrender on the region.

'Besiege the Kurds'

Saleh Muslim continued, referring to time of the attacks during holding Astana meeting, "These attacks coincided with the Astana meeting, which was held on the basis of finding a solution for the Syrian crisis, but in their final statement it was found that they did not reach to any solution, because they are against any solution."

He added, "Only us who stands against Astana's decisions, Lavrouv and the statements issued say: "The Kurds what do they want," but in the region there are Armenian and Syriac too, so why don't they say what Autonomous Administration wants?

He said: "They are saying that, to besiege the Kurds and give them a small part of their rights".

'Guarantor powers must be serious and apply their laws'

And speaking about the international silence, at a time when civilians are being targeted, Muslim said: The international powers issue statements, but actually do not show any position. The drones that Turkey uses against us, bought them from Britain, Holland, Canada and Denmark, do they really unable to stop the Turkish state .

He added: The guarantor powers present in the region must be serious and apply their laws. In NATO laws "killing civilians is forbidden", so they must implement those laws.

He continued: The Russian planes daily bomb the mercenaries in Syria, but those who support ISIS direct them towards us, (Russia) should heed the agreements it signed.

Muslim confirmed that the main goal of the attacks was to empty the area of its people. He said: "Turkey practices terrorism against our people".

'Disorganized people will be defeated'

Speaking about the efforts of imposing surrender on the region, he explained: The Turkish state sends messages to us either to surrender or it kill us, and we confirm that surrender is death, and an organized people have a strong will, and an unorganized people will be defeated, so we must by all means to stand in front of brutality Turkish state.

'when ISIS can't move, the turn of MIT comes'

In the last period, the movement of (MIT) Turkish intelligence has increased in NES. Speaking of this, Muslim wondered: Why did Turkish intelligence intensify its work in the region? Why it didnt appear during the period of ISIS's presence? He said: The Turkish MIT was in the ranks of ISIS themselves, and at a time when ISIS can't move, then the role of MIT comes

'With the struggle, 2022 will be our year'

At the conclusion of his speech, Saleh Muslim added that 2022 will be a year for the collapse of fascism. "2021 went through struggle and the Kurdish issue took a broader resonance, and because it has not been resolved yet, this is evidence that we must make more effort and struggle, since 6 years ago and Turkish state has been living a situation it is difficult and internally the situation is tense, so if we escalate our struggle and resistance, it will collapse, and 2022 will be our year".

Sh-S

ANHA
The so-called de-escalation stretching from the north-eastern mountains of Latakia to the north-western suburbs of Aleppo city running through both Hama and Idlib, is witnessing a continuous military escalation.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that the escalation primarily focused on the southern sector of Idlib countryside, more than the eastern sector of Idlib countryside and towns and villages of the Al-Ghab Plain in the north-western Hama countryside, the Latakia Mountains and the western countryside of Aleppo.

SOHR monitored Damascus government and Russia violations against the Syrians in the region during 2021, or the security chaos in the areas occupied by Turkey, which negatively affects lives of citizens in light of the difficult living conditions.

Russian aerial operations: hundreds of airstrikes kill and injures tens of civilians

According to SOHR Damascus governments warplanes and helicopters have been ceased from de-escalation area since the Russian-Turkish agreement in March 2020, but the Russian fighters launched 562 raids, 18 people were killed, including foreign mercenaries, and more than 117 people were injured.

375 dead as a result of ground military operations During 2021

The ground bombardment did not stop, where numbers of rocket, artillery, and Russian thermal and laser shells reached about 14 thousand, launched by Damascus government forces and its militias on the areas of mercenaries of Tahrir al-Sham and Turkish affiliated groups targeting 76 areas in countrysides of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Latakia. The bombing resulted in killing 150 civilians, including 60 children and 30 women.

Also, 84 members of Damascus government forces, and 141 mercenaries affiliated with Turkey, including mercenaries from Uzbeks and Turkestan, were killed in the clashes, ground shelling and targeting between the two parties.

Nearly 120 people killed and wounded in incidents of security disorders

The security chaos is still strongly present in the areas occupied by Turkey from Syria ,SOHR documented the death of 85 persons since the beginning of 2021 in bombings, shooting or kidnapping and then disposing of many bodies in remote areas: 41 civilians, including two children and 6 female citizens, 35 Syrian mercenaries from Tahrir al-Sham and mercenaries of Turkey, and 9 mercenaries of non-Syrian nationalities were killed and at least 78 people were injured in these operations.

28 Turkish soldiers killed and wounded in attacks

A jihadist group known as Ansar Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Battalion carried out attacks in 2021, targeting Turkish convoys and military posts in Idlib. These attacks left ten Turkish soldiers dead and 18 others wounded.

Deteriorating humanitarian situation

The human suffering is exacerbated day after day in the random displacement camps which located on the border strip with Iskenderun, north and northwest of Idlib, in summer and winter. The people suffer from poor living conditions and instability as a result of the bombing and targeting of facilities and infrastructure, in addition to the outrageous high prices and control of Turkeys mercenaries in the joints of life, especially with the adoption of the Turkish lira in those areas and its deterioration in front of foreign currencies.

A.K

ANHA
Judge orders Shepherd Memorial Park into receivership

Troubles are mounting for Shepherd funeral services, the long-respected company thats been in business in Hendersonville for 118 years.



Three weeks before the N.C. Board of Funeral Service issued an order revoking the permits and licenses of Thos. Shepherd & Son Funeral Directors, a Superior Court judge granted a motion by the N.C. Cemetery Commission to impound the assets of Shepherd Memorial Park and force the company into receivership.

Court records show handwritten synopses of 10 complaints made to the Raleigh-based cemetery regulators about foot-high grass, unfindable headstones and a locked gate guarded by a pit bull.

The nine-member Cemetery Commission has authority under state law to regulate cemeteries licensure, management, sales and preneed contracts and to seek relief in court to prevent violations of state law by impounding the property, books and records and appointing a manager.

Filed in Henderson County Superior Court by Hendersonville attorney Sharon Alexander on behalf of the commission, the complaint lists 13 alleged violations of the state Cemetery Act, including failing to properly maintain the grounds, denying families access to graves of loved ones, failing to keep accurate records and failing to deposit money for perpetual care contracts to the Perpetual Care Trust.

The Commission, and the public interest that it represents, are likely to sustain irreparable harm in the absence preliminary relief in that the physical condition of the cemetery will continue to be neglected (and) the cemetery trust fund will continue to be underfunded and at risk, Alexander said in the lawsuit, adding that the financial condition of the cemetery is currently unknown by the commission.

Superior Court Judge Marvin Pope of Buncombe County granted an injunction and the motion for receivership after a hearing on the lawsuit, Alexander said, and directed attorneys to nominate a receiver. The judges action on the appointment is pending.

Consumer complaints to the Cemetery Commission highlighted numerous problems:

 Even though I knew where they are buried it was impossible to dig through grass to find their marker, Joyce R. Lance said.

 Saturday there was a young fellow with a pit bull dog at the gate telling myself and the elderly man that we could not come in because it was private property, Nancy Sayles said.

 They are not keeping up the grounds, said Kayley Pace, whose grandparents are buried there. The last time I went to put flowers on the grave the grass was up to my knees.

In a 2-page response to the 13 alleged violations filed Oct. 7, cemetery employee Daniel Yaeger asserted that many corrections had been made. We have hired more staff members and are taking steps to insure that all business from now on is conducted correctly and with the kind of professionalism that is expected in the funeral and cemetery industry, he said.

The complaints and Yaegers response included:

 Failure to maintain grounds: At one time the memorial park had only one employee to maintain the 22-acre cemetery. We also had the unfortunate circumstance of all mowing machines needing repair and a long waiting time at the repair shop, Yaeger said. The machines were repaired and we now have staff capable of maintaining the grounds.

 Denying access: When aggrieved families organized an effort to mow the grounds last May, the memorial park closed the gates. We simply could not allow this due to  liability, he said.

 Accepting payment for a plot and failing to execute a contract. Since that was brought to his attention, we have been diligently working to locate all such files and get the proper contracts and warranty conveyances filled out, he said.

 Failing to report perpetual care information to the Cemetery Commission from Jan. 1, 2018, through June 30 of this year and possibly after that: Memorial park employees were doing an internal audit in an effort to get caught up and account for money the company owes the commission.

 Failing to report preneed contracts and pay money into the Cemetery Funds of North Carolina trust fund: Yaeger repeated that we are doing an internal audit and planning to pay all fines and fees  as soon as we possibly can.

Yaeger said last week that the corrections are being made. He declined to answer other questions before talking to his attorney.
A COUPLE who had a stillborn baby girl are fundraising for a cuddle cot to help families enduring the same experience.

Jordan and Hannah Greenwood, from Henley, say that having one when they lost their daughter Isabella allowed them to spend precious time with her before she was buried.

Now they are raising money so that the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, where Mrs Greenwood gave birth to Isabella, and other hospitals in the area can have more cots for families requiring them.

A cuddle cot is a machine that helps keep the baby at a cooler temperature for a number of days so that their features dont change.

It can be connected to a bed, cot or Moses basket and enables grieving families to spend more time with their baby before the funeral.

Midwives say this additional time allows the parents to form an important bond with their baby, helping them deal with their loss.

Mrs Greenwood, 28, said: We lost our daughter last year and we want to give something back in her memory.

I believe it is so important to give families this choice during the most heart-breaking time of their lives to help deal with the grieving process.

There are so many families out there that have been through it and most people have no idea about it.

Its a big thing to want to spend time with your baby as something like this happens to you.

She was eight months pregnant in July last year when she haemorrhaged after suffering a placental abruption caused by a blood clot.

Mrs Greenwood said: That morning I was feeling really unwell but couldnt pinpoint why.

Then I started haemorrhaging and Jordan called 999 and they rushed me into hospital. Eventually they gave me a scan and saw that Isabella had passed away.

It was so fast that there was nothing we could have done. Initially the thought that I had lost her wasnt even an option.

The bereavement team came in and explained what a cuddle cot was. They said, This is your time to spend with her, its your choice if you want to do that. They explained that the cot would stop her body from changing.

We did expect to have a baby and to bring her home so I wanted to spend time with her. They asked me if I wanted to bath her and to dress her  she looked just like a new-born baby and it would have killed me not to see her.

My mum stayed with me that night and Isabella was next to me in the cot. I just couldnt leave her there before the funeral.

While his wife remained in hospital, Mr Greenwood, 30, an engineer, went back home to their son Oliver, who was four at the time.

Mrs Greenwood, who works as a nanny, said: I kept thinking, Ive got to go home and tell Oliver his sister is in heaven. We eventually explained everything to him.

He said, Mummy, I want to meet Isabella so I had to explain to him that she would not move or cry. I wanted him to understand that she was not alive but that she was here.

He wanted a sister so much and I had to tell him that mummys tummy didnt work for Isabella as it had worked for him.

We explained that she was here now but that she was about to be handed over by the midwives to go to heaven.

For the following 17 days, the couple went back to the hospital and spent up to two hours a day with the baby in the cuddle cot.

In order for the babys features to remain intact, a cooling pad is placed in the Moses basket, crib or bed and connected by an insulated hose to a cooling unit. Mrs Greenwood said: Thanks to the cot, I know her as my baby and I could tell you all of her features  she has dark curly hair and long fingers.

When I picked her up, she would be cold and I would cuddle her to make her warm. The more time we had with her, the more we got to know about her  every day there was something new we learned about her.

I understand if there are parents who would choose not to see the baby but I would have felt guilty not seeing Isabella. I can see both sides.

A midwife told me to always speak about her in the present tense because she is here and she is Isabella.

Thanks to the cot, Oliver, Mrs Greenwoods parents and her mother-in-law were able to see Isabella and spend a few hours with her.

Mrs Greenwood said: The bereavement team would let us know of any changes in Isabellas body when we werent there.

After four days, we took Oliver to meet her, as he had asked. He looked at her and said that she was really beautiful but did not want to hold her. We spent two hours with her.

After that day, he stopped asking questions because it helped him understand that she is real. Had we not had a cuddle cot, we wouldnt have been able to do that. There is a special little book in the bereavement room at the hospital and it was just rammed with names and memories  that is how many families have been in that room and have been through the same thing.

Isabellas funeral took place on July 22 at St John the Baptist Church in Kidmore End, where Mrs and Mr Greenwood were married in 2019.

Isabellas coffin arrived on a horse carriage and after the service pink balloons were released.

To mark what would have been her first birthday, clothes and toys were donated to the hospital and to childrens charities and the couple plan to make donations to mark her birthday each year.

Mrs Greenwood said: No one thought it was strange for us to want to spend time with her. Our families knew that it was important for us to meet her  I gave birth to her and she was real.

I take offence when she is not included in Christmas cards, for example. She is our middle child.

If my family never mentioned her, I would say something  she was here and everything was planned for her to be here.

Oliver especially talks about her often and for us the most important thing is that he now has a way of dealing with it and feels comfortable with it.

When Mrs Greenwood became pregnant again this year, she decided not to tell most of her friends and family.

She said: When something like that happens to you, it masks that perfect life you think you have.

I had counselling and therapy after Isabella and couldnt bear to listen to people saying the pregnancy was going to be fine because last time it wasnt.

I remember getting into the car without Isabella and crying, seeing other parents going home with their babies.

The couples second son Finley was born 37 weeks later and is now six months old.

A cuddle cot can cost up to 2,200 and the Greenwoods have already raised more than 1,680.

Mrs Greenwood said: We told friends and family about our fund-

raising and we thought it was going to take a long time but the kindness of strangers has been incredible.

I also thought, What if theres only one cot and multiple families needing one? Not everyone would be allowed that precious time, so we want to be able to donate additional ones.

To make a donation, visit https://gofund.me/64149fee
In a fresh imposition of misogynistic rules, the Taliban regime on Saturday forbade cab drivers from accepting Afghan women passengers unless they have donned a hijab. In addition, the Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, in a written recommendation, also announced that car drivers will not be allowed to play loud music in their vehicles, effective immediately. This comes after the Islamist rulers in October banned live music at weddings and ordered men and women to engage in celebratory parties in separate halls, a hotelier based in Afghanistan told Sputnik.

Taliban is known for its inclination towards violence, oppression, and flouting of civil rights. Moreover, the extremist group is especially bent towards curtailing women and girls education and employment rights. During the last Talibani regime from 1996 to 2001, the world witnessed the severe clampdown on women and child safety in the country. Quoting their interpretation of the Islamic Law, the Taliban imposed stringent rules on women barring them from education, employment, free movement, and security. The women were also barred from casting votes.

Instances of repression and oppression of women and girls, which was common during the erstwhile regime have emerged once again that displays orthodox Taliban mindset. This comes even after Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid in August had promised to recognize and honor women rights as per Islamic Law.

The Taliban have further banned the participation of women and girls in sports. Additionally, they have also abolished the Women Affairs Ministry to re-introduce the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. In a major violation of human rights, the Islamist group also shut down shelters and prosecution units for women offenders, which was introduced under the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women in Afghanistan.

Afghan artists fear Taliban crackdown on arts and culture

Almost after 5 months of ruling in Afghanistan, the Taliban have failed to deliver the promises of a moderate regime compared to the 1996-2001 rule. Besides several protests in demand of rudimentary human rights, Afghan artists have lived under fear of crackdown on priceless artwork in order to thwart seizure or damage. As per a Washington Post report in October, modern artists learned that the militant outfit is strongly opposed to westernized ideas, resulting in over 15 artists burying their sketches. With a manifold increase in violence, what was promised to be a moderate era, now only seems to be a promotional blitz.

Source : Republic World
A Rohingya family consisting of six members has been arrested from the Unakoti district of Tripura on Saturday after they had illegally crossed the Bangladesh border and entered India, according to reports. The Rohingya family with two adults and four children were brought to the Kailashahar police station following the arrest and would be taken to court on Sunday.

As per reports, Tripura police with the help of Tripura State Rifles (TSR) arrested the family after raiding the house of one Sahnaj Ali from the Ichabpur area in the Gournagar Block near Kailasahar. The arrests were made after the police received a tip-off about the Bangladeshi infiltration. Abdul Rakim (32), the head of the family revealed that they illegally entered India from Bangladesh via Dawki, Meghalaya. The Rohingya family then traveled to Assam from where they took an Agartala-bound train.

Reportedly, the Rohingya family planned to obtain fake documents and establish themselves as Indian citizens. They tried to stay in Agartala and later moved to the North Tripura area of Ichabpur.

Earlier, Chakma organizations in Tripura told the Tripura police that a minimum of 108 Rohingya refugees were arrested between 2018 and March 2021 as per records. The organizations further noted, The government should conduct a State-wide inquiry in Tripura against the influx of foreigners, irrespective of their ethnic origin or religion,.

Reportedly, the Chakma organizations also stated in a memorandum that Tripuris in Bangladesh faced repeated attacks from Bengali Muslims in the area around the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh which caused a rapid influx of the ethnic Tripuris into the Dhalai and South Tripura districts of Tripura, India.

Souce : OpIndia
The omicron variant of COVID-19 is already wreaking havoc, pushing the number of local cases upward and making holiday travel chaotic as thousands of flights are canceled amid its spread.

The new, dominant strain is still being heavily researched, and much is still unknown about how it interacts with vaccines. But heres how health experts are answering some of the most frequently asked questions about omicron.

What should you do if you or someone you have been in close contact with tests positive?

While much is still being learned about omicron, its likely to be more easily transmissible than the original coronavirus. And because of that, its important to take threats seriously regardless of your vaccination status.

What we do know is omicron is several times more transmissible than delta or any previous variants, said Dr. Charles Lerner, an epidemiologist and member of Texas COVID-19 task force.

On HoustonChronicle.com: COVID Q&A with Peter Hotez: We could break the 100,000 death mark in Texas

Because researchers dont always know the vaccination status of those in their tests, they dont know whether omicron has more severe health effects than earlier strains.

As research on that front continues, he said its crucial that people consult experts and dont rely on stories theyve heard from others, for their information on coronavirus.

Right now, what we have is a bunch of anecdotes about severity of illness (from omicron), he said. But the plural of anecdote is anecdotes, not data.

So treat it as you would exposure to any other strain of COVID-19  with caution and testing, especially given that its flu season, and COVID-19 and influenza can cause some similar symptoms

When  and what  omicron symptoms may appear?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms can appear two to 14 days after someone is exposed to the virus.

Early studies indicated that omicrons contagion period may be three to seven days  much shorter than other strains  which is one reason why it may be spreading so quickly.

Another possible reason for its rapid spread is that early omicron symptoms may be similar to that of a cold, especially for fully vaccinated people, according to research from the United Kingdom and Denmark.

For most people, an omicron-positive case will feel much more like the common cold, starting with a sore throat, runny nose, and a headache, Tim Spector, a professor of epidemiology at Kings College London who studies COVID symptoms, told the BBC last week.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Hurricanes. Pandemics. Overwhelming needs. Nonprofits struggle to hold onto workers.

Only about 50 percent of vaccinated people with omicron have reported the classic three COVID symptoms of fever, cough and loss of smell or taste.

That, Spector said, means some people may think they have the flu or a cold when they actually have coronavirus, which can can cause long-term and debilitating symptoms, such as brain fog and fatigue.

When and where should I get tested?

The CDC still recommends that vaccinated people get tested five to seven days after a possible exposure, and those who are not vaccinated get tested sooner.

But it may be more difficult to get tests than it was a few months ago. Just a few weeks after the emergence of omicron in the United States, theres already a shortage of available tests that prompted the Biden Administration this month to boost at-home test manufacturing and make it easier to find nearby testing online.

Harris County is operating a handful of testing sites that can be found here.

There also are some private websites that track testing availability.

As for the type of test to use, Lerner recommends PCR tests that are conducted by experts and typically take 24 hours to return results, but are much less likely to return a false negative than their at-home counterparts.

People who have symptoms but test negative for COVID-19 through an at-home test, should take at least two follow-up tests with at least 24 hours between each, according to the CDC.

How long should I quarantine or isolate?

The CDC on Monday issued new guidance advising a five-day quarantine for those who test positive, followed by five days of mask-wearing. The agency said the new recommendations are irrespective of vaccination status. It had previously recommended ten days of isolation after exposure.

If you show no symptoms for five days after exposure, the CDC says its fine to break your quarantine  but to continue wearing a mask around others, including at home, for at least another five days.

But Lerner said theres no one-size-fits-all protocol and that vaccinated people consider their chances of exposing those with underlying health conditions or who are not vaccinated.

More than anything, he recommended that people get one of the vaccines, which he said have been shown to produce up to a 1,000 percent increase in antibodies and, thus, drastically decrease the odds of becoming infected and having to isolate, be hospitalized or die.

robert.downen@chron.com
Geopolitical risks in Europe, the Middle East and Africa could steer crude oil prices this week, but the year-end holiday will likely keep the market trading in a narrow range, analysts said.

Through the four days of trading ahead of the Christmas holiday, markets showed strength on easing concerns about the omicron variant of the coronavirus. New cases in South Africa, the origin of the highly contagious strain, are on a sharp decline, though Europe continues to pursue tighter social restrictions during the holiday season.

Still, West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, finished the trading week up 4.1 percent to end the Thursday session at $73.79 per barrel.

Giovanni Staunovo, a commodities analyst at Swiss investment bank UBS, said nuclear negotiations between western nations and oil- and gas-rich Iran could move prices this week, but overall, he expected a quiet week heading into the New Year holiday. Even with last weeks rally, oil spent most of December moving in a narrow band between the upper $60 per barrel and lower $70 per barrel range.

With many market participants probably off, I would expect the range trading to continue, he said.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Natural gas crunch drives buyers to Gulf Coast LNG

Conflict, meanwhile, does not pause for the holidays. Ed Moya, a senior market analyst at the New York brokerage OANDA, said hes still focused on the Russian military buildup along the Ukrainian border. Conflict there would rattle already-tense natural gas markets and likely have a contagion effect on crude oil and other commodities, driving them higher.

Natural gas price movements in Europe will have a tangible impact on investor attitudes, noted Tamas Varga, an analyst at London oil broker PVM.

Outside of Europe, recent tensions in Libya and Nigeria, both major oil producers, could move prices higher. Both countries are OPEC members, representing the fifth- and sixth-largest producers of the 13-member group. Explosions in the volatile northeast part of Nigeria left several people dead last week after a visit by President Muhammadu Buhari. The European major Shell, meanwhile, declared force majeure on its Nigerian crude oil after a barge blocked tanker access to an area port.

Rival factions in Libya, meanwhile, continue to spar as the civil war-torn nation tries again to hold national elections. Conflict in Libya at times has added a considerable risk premium to the price of oil, though markets have largely priced tensions in already.

Geopolitical events can certainly tip prices in either direction, said Al Salazar, the managing director at energy data firm Enverus. But its too hard to predict such black swan events.

Salazar, too, said he expects a quiet trading week as the calendar turns to 2022. The Omicron variant is likely acting as a governor on the price of crude oil and benchmarks likely wont see $80 per barrel again until restrictions ease for major economies, he said.

Heading into the New Year, were still optimistic about U.S. supply growth and pessimistic about demand, Salazar added.

On HoustonChronicle.com: If the oil industry is at the start of another boom, its an odd one,

The U.S. Energy Department expects WTI to average $67.87 per barrel this year and dip to $66.42 per barrel for 2022.

Its another holiday-shortened week as the last few days of 2021 tick away. Mortgage applications, oil and gas inventory data mid-week and unemployment figures are the only major market events during the last trading week of the year.
A joint offshore wind venture spearheaded by Royal Dutch Shell and Ocean Winds North America has gained approval to build more offshore wind turbines off the New England coast that is expected to generate 400 megawatts.

The new turbines, part of the Mayflower project, will provide energy to Massachusetts three largest utilities. The energy produced by the newly approved turbines can generate enough electricity to power more than a half-million homes and businesses each day, Shell officials said in a statement.

Shell and OW have combined on two other offshore wind projects, approved in 2019, expected to produce 804 megawatts of power.

The announcement comes days after the Hague-based energy company said it plans to acquire solar and battery storage company Savion by the end of the year. The Kansas City-based company has more than 100 projects under development in 26 states capable of producing 18,000 megawatts of renewable power. One megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot summer day.

This has been a significant week for our company and renewables businesses, said Wael Sawan, Shells Integrated Gas and Renewables & Energy Solutions Director. Announcing a substantial expansion of our global solar portfolio along with this considerable offshore wind contract award showcases Shells progress towards providing zero- and lower-carbon assets and technologies.

On HoustonChronicle.com: The Biden Administration wants to open the Gulf for offshore wind power. Is Texas ready?

The offshore wind venture marks the latest advancement as Shell pivots from its fossil-fuel business and expands its renewable energy portfolio. The company has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 as it faces increasing investor and government pressures to decarbonize. The company has said it will invest as much as $6 billion annually into renewables, while divesting about $4 billion a year from its oil-and-gas projects.

To that end, the company has set a goal to sell more than 560 terawatts hours of power annually across the world by 2030.

Offshore wind, however, remains an illusive technology.

Only two offshore wind farms are in operation in the United States, producing a combined 42 megawatts. Another 15 projects have reached the permitting phase, and eight states have set goals of developing enough offshore business to produce 39,298 megawatts by 2040, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Biden Administration has set a goal of helping to develop 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind generation by 2030.

Despite those goals, challenges remain for the burgeoning industry. Offshore wind turbines have yet to face the major stress test of tropical storms, hurricanes and cyclones and building underwater transmission lines from the turbines to shore is also a challenge.

Paul Takahashi contributed to this report.

shelby.webb@chron.com
A man was found dead outside of his car at the scene of a shooting early Monday in southeast Houston, police said.

Around 3:24 a.m., Houston Police Department officers responded to reports of a shooting in the 7700 block of Elvera Street near Berkley Street, near Pecan Park.
Lupe Mendez learned about an integral piece of Houstons past from a seventh-graders history fair project. The subject was the huelga schools of the 1970s, when Mexican Americans fed up with Houston ISDs desegregation plan opted to homeschool their children instead of busing them across the city to Black schools, where they would legally be considered white.

Mendez was not alone. Precious little has been written about the huelga schools. Brown, Not White, by University of Houston professor Guadalupe San Miguel, was published in 2001 A dozen years later, a grade school project by a Pin Oak Middle School student Jacob Tate shares some of the history of the strike schools.

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Thats why Mendez, a longtime educator and the 2022 Texas Poet Laureate, set out to write his own book on the huelga schools, using San Miguels research, Tates findings, records at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and the people of Houston.

The book is called Molotov: A Huelga School Guide Book, and Mendez earlier this month finished the 155-page manuscript. Some selections have already been published in various poetry and literary magazines, and now hes preparing to send the final product to a roster of publishers ranging from university presses to indie operations.

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Mendezs book, however, differs from San Miguels in one important way. Its grounded in anthropoesia, a technique in which a creative writer approaches their subject from an anthropological perspective, embedding their research into the story and using it as the foundation from which their work will flow.

San Miguels book gives you the full vantage of the history of what actually happened, and I hope my book tells you the colors on the walls, Mendez said. I want to be able to uplift oral history and anecdotal record, and when you say anecdotal record, people want to assume that it doesnt have a place in academics.

I want to be able to say no, that is a very white academic attitude because for the rest of us, oral history is how we tell history. It is native, it is Indigenous, it is passed down from generation to generation. That is how history is told, Mendez said.

Mendez, a Galveston native, had never heard of the huelga schools until 2013, when the family of his fourth-grade student at Helms Elementary School asked him to look over their older brother Jacob Tates project, which delved deep into an integral piece of Houston history.

Pin Lim/For The Chronicle

In 1970, HISD attempted to skirt school integration by classifying Mexican Americans as white, busing them to Black schools across the city and leaving Anglo students unaffected while still fulfilling court-mandated quotas.

Mexican community leaders revolted and set up huelga, or strike, schools to home school their children over the next two years. Thousands of Chicano students enrolled at the huelga classes, which were taught in churches and bingo halls  wherever administrators could get space  by volunteers, college students and retired teachers.

Houston Chronicle Archive

Tate learned this history after one of his favorite teachers at Helms, Patricia Silva-Flores, retired from the school. On her retirement poster, he noticed that her first job was teaching at a huelga school.

The website he created about the huelga schools would go on to win second-place in the citywide history fair, but perhaps more importantly, it brought the story to Mendezs attention.

Tate, now a 21-year-old senior at Rice University, was thrilled to learn that his project played a role in inspiring Mendez, whose own work  including the poem Rules at the Juan Marcos Huelga School (Even the Unspoken Ones)  he has followed with interest.

Its definitely a strange feeling, to think that something you write at 13 is something you dont cringe at eight years later, but I think it speaks to where the project started, which is that immense difficulty in learning about the huelga schools. And the feeling I have now is the same one I had then, which is that this matters, Tate said.

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A lot of [this history] is still there, and Lupe has always been a phenomenal writer, so Im absolutely ecstatic. I didnt know this was happening, but Im so excited it is, he said.

After receiving San Miguels blessing to work on the book, Mendez set to work digging through the archives at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and interviewing former students, teachers and community members who were involved in the huelga schools.

Everything he found, from the principals diaries to the teachers lesson plans to the oral histories from former students, were fodder for the poems and prose that would end up in Molotov: A Huelga School Guide Book.

Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

He learned how parents would pay teachers in food, and how the fight to properly integrate public schools stirred up anti-Black sentiment in some parents.

Mikaela Selley, the former Hispanic Collections Archivist at the research center, remembers meeting Mendez in 2014. He introduced himself in the most Lupe way possible, very excited, talking a million miles a minute, very eager to learn how to go about his research focus.

She created a research guide for Mendez to sort through the archival materials at the research center and followed along as he learned more and more about the history of the huelga schools.

The records by themselves are fascinating documents and then we have Lupe building on that and enhancing that with his approach that really is unique in that it answers those questions of not just what happened, but what did this feel like for all of the people involved, Selley said.

Mendez, who has worked as a teacher development specialist at HISD for the past three years, is taking a sabbatical to focus on his role as Texas Poet Laureate, in which he plans to host poetry readings and workshops across the state.

IN HARM'S WAY: Why do advocates want to stop I-45 expansion? This Fifth Ward school is full of kids it could harm.

The book, though, is dedicated to the educators and students with whom Mendez has worked for over 20 years.

I'm hoping that this manuscript helps with the conversation not just of equity and the struggle of people of color but also gives new insights into the lives of teachers and students, Mendez said.

For whatever reason, our view of educators is so demoralized that I write it to honor those educators in the past. This job is not a job for the weak-spirited, Mendez said.
Victoria Lopez hung on to her maiden name months after her wedding. She wanted to hear it called during her University of Houston graduation  just moments after her mothers name.

Nineteen years in age apart, Victoria and Lisa Lopez both received their bachelors degrees Dec. 17 from the UH College of Technology, walking across the stage hand in hand. They did just about everything to make sure they finished school at the same time, from choosing the same university, electing majors in the same college and taking courses at the same pace.

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It wasnt easy, they said  especially with her sons health causing Lisa, 47, to take off a semester. But they did it.

Its a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing, Victoria Lopez, 28, said. How many times do you get to graduate with your mom? A bachelors degree! Not your second, not your third. Your first.

The path to a college degree was a longer one than Lisa expected. She was 19 when she and her husband had Victoria, so she entered the workforce and attended college on and off, extending her completion date over time. What was at first a 10-year degree plan jokingly became a 20-year and then a 30-year degree plan.

My life path took a different turn, she said. I just needed a job to make sure (my kids) were fed  but the college mindset was always there.

Victoria said she decided to go to university around the same time her mother was contemplating finishing up at UH-Clear Lake, knowing her daughter was catching up. That caused Victoria to realize they had a rare opportunity.

She rushed through more than 50 course hours in one year for her associates degree, which she was already working to complete. They would enroll at UHs main campus to align their educational plans. It was a spur-of-the-moment idea, but they latched on to it immediately, determined to see it through for no other reason than doing something special  and important  together.

Lisa enrolled at UH in fall 2018 for a degree in biotechnology, and Victoria in spring 2019 for human resources development.

Its just those moments I get to have with her, Victoria said, explaining her pride in sharing her story with people she would meet on campus. I got to tell anybody I met, Im graduating with my mom. Im graduating with my mom. Im graduating with my mom.

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They werent always so close. After some difficult years in Victorias teens, she connected more with her mother in 2015 while handling her fathers illness, banding together for support while he underwent a kidney transplant. And Victorias brother later became sick with complications from cystic fibrosis.

They now talk as friends might, completing each others sentences. They also live under the same roof  making studying easier on both of them, especially while taking a human development course at the same time.

The motivation came together, where you were like, Youve got to do your assignment, Lisa said one day at the UH Student Center.

Mama, did you finish this paper? Did you finish this assignment? Did you finish this case study? Victoria said.

Both of them are considered nontraditional students, attending school years after most university students begin pursuing their bachelors degrees. Almost 13 percent of undergraduate students in 2021 were over the age of 25  almost 5,000 students, according to UH.

Being a nontraditional student was eye-opening for Lisa, who already experienced most of the life changes that her peers were just starting to go through, she said. On the flip side, she was able to apply her new knowledge almost immediately to her job at CenterPoint Energy, she said.

I was like, Oh God, students, you need help, she laughed. When you apply the struggles you go through, especially being young parents  those struggles really kind of condition you.

Despite being a few years behind her classmates, Victoria threw herself into college life  rushing a sorority and helping organize the UH festival Frontier Fiesta. She took most of her classes in person, while her mother attended online while working full time  meaning Lisa lived vicariously through her daughter, she said.

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There were times when they felt their dream of graduating together might slip away, Lisa said. She took a semester off in spring 2019 to help her son Jeremy, who had a major health issue and eventually needed a liver transplant.

With Victoria attending school full time and Lisa attending part time, the daughter slowed down her studies and her mother sped hers up. Now, they can celebrate.

Im finally done after all these years, Lisa said.

Both are taking a small break from school, with Victoria and her husband expecting their first child in the summer. She plans to obtain a graduate degree and then attend medical school.

Lisa meanwhile hopes to get a masters  possibly syncing up with her son, who is working toward his bachelors at UH.

The experience is one that Lisa said she would be happy to repeat.

Weve had our ups and downs, Lisa said. But weve supported each other throughout the entire way.

We held each others hand, Victoria said.

Literally! Lisa said.

samantha.ketterer@chron.com

twitter.com/sam_kett
Principal Shawn Nickerson can see the highway connector from Bruce Elementarys basketball court. Cars whiz by, spewing dangerous pollutants into the air. And if the proposed Interstate 45 expansion moves forward, Nickerson fears the children will be at greater risk. Some already moved because their apartments were sold to make way.

Federal officials earlier this year paused the states planning efforts on a rebuild of I-45 and various highway connections because of concerns about how it could affect communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. Critics recently filed a federal complaint calling for greater scrutiny of those impacts.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Groups file federal complaint over I-45 project, urge civil rights review

Bruce Elementary serves as a striking example of the projects potential harm, following a history of environmental injustice in Greater Fifth Ward. Houston ISD relocated the school in 2007 from a spot across from a lead-contaminated industrial site. It was put near the juncture of Interstates 69 and 10, northeast of downtown. Advocates say students had among the districts higher asthma rates.

Some of the kids live in a Houston Housing Authority property across I-10, walking on a bridge over 10 lanes of traffic, never escaping the fumes. The city earlier sold the state another housing authority property where students live. Fifth Ward residents navigate too among train tracks, concrete batch plants and a rail yard contaminated with likely cancer-causing creosote, used to treat rail ties.

Ms. Dr. Nickerson, as students call her, cant fix all that, but she considers it her job to advocate for better air quality and traffic safety. Her students play outside during recess. Some take puffs from inhalers at the nurses office beforehand.

The $9 billion I-45 project, the largest freeway redo in Houstons history, includes expansion work from central Houston all the way up to Beltway 8 in Greenspoint. It also reroutes the highways path around downtown. Instead of curling west as it does now, I-45 would circle to downtowns east alongside I-69, until it meets I-10, right by Bruce Elementary.

A newly built interchange there would include a connector that would cut right by the northwest corner of the school, seeming to come as close as possible without actually taking any school property.

Our students, when they go out to recess, what is that going to be like for them? Nickerson asked. What does that mean in terms of safety? Even beyond just outside, our indoor air quality, how will that change?

Nickerson grew up in this area. Her grandma attended Bruce, founded in 1963. She also doesnt want to see a reconstructed highway network take the sense of community away. Nickerson expects to lose about 80 kids who are relocating this year.

The school district hasnt taken an official stance on the project, nor did a spokesperson have further information on why the campus was relocated by the highway. Harris County, which sued to stop the controversial project, paused its suit in order to work with the Texas Department of Transportation on potential solutions.

TxDOT leaders argue that the project will bring improvements to overall air quality. (Others question this.) Spokesperson Raquelle Lewis wrote that the agency considered community input and incorporated suggestions into the plan. The goal was to build a project that will meet the needs of the community, she wrote.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Fifth Ward volunteers bring holiday cheer after difficult year

Victor Bennett, 59, sitting on a picnic bench waiting for school to dismiss, thought it would be good to have less traffic building up.

But 49-year-old Terence Callis, waiting in his Chevy Tahoe, said authorities werent listening to the community. He didnt think residents had a chance to fight, because they lacked resources. Callis was among those who moved from the now-sold housing community, Clayton Homes.

Callis now drives about 25 minutes to pick up a first grader.

We cant beat TxDOT, Callis said. Its a lost cause.

The president of the schools parent-teacher organization also is concerned about air quality and traffic safety, as well as the lack of information that she says parents received. Joetta Stevenson, president of the Greater Fifth Ward Super Neighborhood, said it felt like business as usual to be treated as if they wouldnt speak out.

Lewis wrote in a statement that TxDOT reached out to parents about three or more years ago; she noted that its recent actions have been limited while the project is on pause.

Concerned about various impacts, Air Alliance Houston in 2019 helped coordinate an assessment of how schools could be affected. The environmental advocacy group looked specifically at nine schools, including Bruce. Researchers noted that children were especially vulnerable because their bodies are still developing.

Traffic-related air pollution can cause asthma to develop, the report says. Poor air quality could affect their day-to-day lives, perhaps causing missed school days from being sick and lower academic performance.

Advocates at the time suggested TxDOT build tree-lined buffers, install air monitors and not allow vehicles to idle in the carpool line. But then the argument around the project grew so large that detailed requests got lost, said Harrison Humphreys, an advocate Air Alliance Houston.

The schools bell rang, and kids filed out. They passed through cheery hallways with prompts such as: How can you make someone smile today? Some met waiting relatives outside the back fence to walk home; others ambled home on their own.

Staff pointed the students away from the highway, sending them on a set route where crossing guards waited at each intersection to get them safely across the busy roads.

emily.foxhall@chron.com

twitter.com/emfoxhall
Texas is poised to get $5 billion more for transportation projects over the next five years. Unlike all the focus on initiatives to combat climate change and innovative ways to power cars, trains and ports, much of the money will be spent where the rubber meets the road.

Based on initial analyses of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by agencies in the Houston region, the bill ultimately is likely to mean more roads. Heres a look at 10 considerations and how they could shape transportation projects in Houston.

Follow the formula

Most federal money for transportation is handed out by formula, based on population and travel patterns. The new transportation bill will do the same.

For the U.S. Transportation Department, that means $293.4 billion of the $567.5 billion that Congress approved is claimed by the status quo  leaving $274.1 billion in new spending.

Officials at the Texas Department of Transportation estimate the state can expect $26.9 billion for highways over the next five years through formulas. Almost immediately, that gives officials an additional $1 billion a year.

The bottom line is, anyone with an idea now wants that project to fit the current framework for how the feds hand out money.

They are going to move quickly on the ones in existence, said Susan Lent, a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, the lobby agency for Houston, during a presentation for city officials Dec. 2.

Going for grants

The bill sets aside $150 billion for competitive grants, making Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg a cross between Oprah on gift day and Drake at Area 29: Anywhere he or his subordinates go, it is possible they will be leaving behind a lot of money and a lot of happy people.

Officials in the Houston area already are looking at some of those grants and lining up possibilities.

We cant just keep our hands crossed and hope we get money, City Councilman Robert Gallegos of District I said.

Looking for a RAISE

One of the most sought-after sources of money will be $7.5 billion for significant projects as part of an expanded grant program started during the recession. It started as TIGER under President Barack Obama, became BUILD in the Trump administration and now is RAISE under President Joe Biden. Whatever they call it, the program essentially is the same.

Work along Loop 610 at U.S. 290 benefited from the stimulus program when it was shovel ready when TIGER was created. The Port of Houston also received $10 million in 2013.

Freight weight

Houston-area highways sometimes are so jammed with freight they are jammed by freight  either at railroad crossings or when cargo turns chaotic and slams into a bridge. That train and trucking trend has officials eyeing two major grant programs totaling $13 billion.

An $8 billion program, INFRA, specifically sets aside money for projects of regional and national significance, which sounds a lot like where oil and gas comes and goes. Another $5 billion program, also focused on fixing things of national significance, is open to projects worth $500 million or more that can demonstrate a cost-effective way to improve movement, such as bridges, port improvements and public transportation projects.

Plenty of options

Officials will have no trouble coming up with highway projects that could use a funding boost. Work to turn Texas 35 into a freeway beyond Loop 610, at a total cost of $218 million, could start in a matter of months with guaranteed federal money. Meanwhile TxDOT is plodding along Interstate 45 toward Galveston, widening the regions original freeway all the way to the island. Potential changes to the massive rebuild of I-45 north from downtown Houston could incorporate money from new sources or tap $500 million in money specifically aimed at reconnecting communities affected by freeway projects.

Beyond those, exactly how local officials will tap into the money is uncertain simply because elected leaders do not have to decide. The region has 40 years of projects teed up, including elevated express lanes along Loop 610 and Interstate 10 and turning Texas 36 into a freight route from Freeport to west of the metro area.

Flush with cash

As the adage goes, you have to spend money to make money  and Texas has a lot of money to pair with what the federal government is offering. State voters in 2014 passed Proposition 1 and followed that with Proposition 7 in 2015. The two initiatives direct additional money from the states economic stabilization fund, aka the rainy day fund, and oil and gas severance tax revenues, respectively, to the state highway fund.

The money can be used only for highways and has allowed TxDOT to have a record $30 billion worth of construction projects underway backed by voters, said Bruce Bugg, chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission.

Combined, the two propositions put $4.2 billion into the highway fund for the coming fiscal year, Bugg announced Nov. 30.

Federal money often comes with the caveat that state or local governments put their own dollars into a project. This often is referred to as the 80-20 split as many states are required to put up one-fifth the cost of federal projects. More money from Texas could mean more federal money to match.

Transit has funds, too

Metropolitan Transit Authority in many ways has the same opportunity. Local voters in 2019 approved a $7.5 billion long-range plan that relies on $3 billion in borrowing.

Now, those projects  such as new bus rapid transit lines through more than a dozen neighborhoods, rail extensions to Hobby Airport and major street improvements to heavily used bus routes  have new federal transit funds available.

Officials at Metro, meanwhile, are recalibrating projects they can have ready should more money come their way. Those include small extensions of the Green and Purple light rail lines closer to Houston Municipal Court and bringing the Silver Line bus rapid transit into Gulfton.

Real solutions for rail problems

Big-ticket transit and highway projects are not the only ways local officials want to spend some of the new money. Frustrated by freight trains stopping in the East End and blocking street crossings, local officials are eyeing a $3 billion grant program specific to eliminating at-grade railroad crossings.

The railroad companies have not been very helpful, District H Councilwoman Karla Cisneros said.

A number of potential grade separations long have been discussed for the East End, with the added money possibly putting some closer to construction. Railroad companies have to be willing partners on the projects. For some officials, that means share the cost.

Lets not let them walk away without participating, Gallegos said.

Plan ahead

More money and new ways to claim it, however, will require officials to have projects designed and  perhaps more importantly  with all their paperwork in order. Federal money can come with many strings attached and the need for major projects to follow federal guidelines by assessing their environmental and economic impacts.

Locally, a lot of that need for planning will fall to the Houston-Galveston Area Council. H-GACs Transportation Policy Council could spend seven figures of local money fast to get the area to a place where major projects can take advantage.

Craig Raborn, who oversees transportation programs for H-GAC, told local officials last month that the first process may be syncing how projects move from the drawing board to construction.

Potential cash cow

A more uncertain source, however, could add hundreds of millions to what the Houston area can spend on transportation, possibly with fewer strings attached, and turn lost money into a big gain.

Federal officials have provided credits to states that commit state and local dollars to projects that improve mobility without federal funding. Typically, the credits amass in areas, like Texas, where toll roads have given metro regions new lanes instead of new freeways.

The Houston region has about $1 billion in toll credits, but the restrictions and costs make them hard to spend. The money comes with a need for matching funds. The new infrastructure bill includes a pilot that will allow states with toll credit surpluses to sell or loan them in some way.

If Texas was to become a part of the pilot and sell another state its credits, it could save tens of millions of dollars.

In summarizing the possibilities from the infrastructure bill, Raborn singled out the toll credits as a potential win for Houston.

It is kind of a blank slate right now, he said of the pilot program.

dug.begley@chron.com

twitter.com/dugbegley
One person was killed Sunday in a crash involving a Houston police officer in north Houston, authorities said.

The officer was hospitalized with minor injuries, police said.

The crash occurred at 12:01 p.m. in the 4600 block of North Shepherd, near Independence Heights. Police said the officer was traveling north on North Shepherd while the other driver, a man in his mid 70s, drove the opposite direction. The man turned in front of the officer, who struck his vehicle, police said.

Police did not know whether the man was making a U-turn or turning left onto another street. They also did not immediately know whether the officer was responding to a call at the time. Investigators are working with the Harris County District Attorney's Office to reconstruct the crash and find surveillance footage.

At the scene, Houston Police Assistant Chief Ban Tien urged caution while driving during the busy holiday season.

"I know we have a lot of events ahead -- New Year's and holiday celebrations-- but I just want to remind everyone to leave ample amount of time to go from point A to point B and to always be a good defensive driver."

julian.gill@chron.com
On Christmas morning, while many families were waking up to open presents, a massive telescope folded like origami emerged from the confines of a European Space Agency rocket, on its way 1 million miles from the Earth to eventually orbit the sun. Astronomers around the world celebrated, many watching the launch together in their pajamas over Zoom.

The James Webb Space Telescope is undergoing the trickiest part of its mission: unfolding five layers of sun shields the size of a tennis court and its 18 hexagonal infrared mirrors spanning 21 feet. The shields will block heat from the sun to keep the telescope cold enough to allow the mirrors to capture infrared light with long wavelengths that can slip through clouds of dust, transmitting back the highest-resolution images weve ever seen of stars and galaxies.

In the simplest sense, Webb is a time machine portal that will alow scientists to peer back 13.7 billion years  100 million years after the Big Bang  to observe how the very first galaxies formed. These baby pictures of galaxies will help answer fundamental questions about our existence, the fabric of space and the universe at large.

Just imagine if for three years or so I didnt have any pictures of my kids, Thomas Zurbuchen, a NASA science mission chief, told the editorial board. I see the birth  cosmic radiation  but nothing until theyre toddlers and running and walking around. I would miss a big part of their story.

NASA scientists believe the telescope will also be able to identify potentially thousands more exoplanets  planets outside of our solar system that may even foster life  and the molecular components that make up their atmosphere. For those with science fiction fantasies that humans will one day be able to colonize planets well beyond Earth, such information will be tantalizing.

Yet the precariousness of this operation is enough to keep the entire space industrial complex on pins and needles. The sun shields are about as thin as human hair. One small rip could render the telescope completely ineffective and send nearly $11 billion worth of taxpayer dollars swirling down the drain. Unlike its aging observatory cousin, the Hubble telescope, which hangs out in low-Earth orbit, Webb will be well out of reach for astronauts to shuttle into space to repair it.

There are over 300 things, any one of which goes wrong, it is not a good day, Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, told the Los Angeles Times. So the whole thing has got to work perfectly.

The fact that this new observatory even got to the point of hurtling into space is a feat unto itself  the culmination of such groundbreaking engineering that it took more than 10,000 people from 14 different countries working 40 million hours to accomplish, overcoming numerous delays and logistical challenges.

The concept of Webb  named for former NASA administrator James Webb  was first developed in 1989, before Hubble launched in 1990, but didnt begin construction until 15 years later. The telescope was endorsed as the top-ranked project in the National Research Councils astronomy decadal survey in 2000, but most of the technology required to build it was either in its infancy or didnt exist yet. When the technology finally caught up to the ambition, testing the project exposed numerous flaws: the sunshield ripped during a practice run; fasteners fell off during vibration tests. Even after it arrived at the launch site in French Guiana, clamps came loose and communications between the telescope and rocket malfunctioned.

Thats nothing compared to the near-death experience Webb went through when it arrived at the Johnson Space Center in 2017. The telescope came to Houston for thermal vacuum testing, which simulates the temperatures and vacuum of space. Scientists at the space center had spent 45 days preparing the testing chamber when Hurricane Harvey blew through town. The Chronicles Andrea Leinfelder reported that while the storm dumped rain across the region, Johnson Space Center employees slept in conference rooms with water leaking through ceiling tiles, all to ensure that the telescope wasnt damaged.

In the end, the years of trial and error will be well worth it once those first images from Webb are transmitted back to Earth in six months. Science is, of course, not immune to public scrutiny and the project is expensive  $11 billion over 24 years. But that investment accounts for only 0.0095 percent of all U.S. spending during this period. We believe invaluable insights into our cosmos are more than worth the price tag.

For all who have spent any time pondering the significance of life and how we all came to be, we finally have the technology within our grasp to watch some of the earliest chapters. At a time when space flight is the province of billionaires in search of new hobbies, its worth celebrating the Webb telescope commencing an entirely new chapter of space exploration that allows us to learn more of how we fit in the grand scheme of our sprawling universe.
You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?

The date was June 9, 1954. The speaker was Joseph Welch, special counsel for the U.S. Army, responding to scurrilous remarks U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy had made during hearings the Wisconsin Republican had called to ferret out alleged communists in the military. Asked politely, almost plaintively, Welchs incendiary question deflected the course of American political history. It exposed McCarthy for what he was  a bullying, bloviating demagogue  and marked the beginning of the end of his cruel and reckless political career.

Nearly three-quarters of a century later, Texans could ask the same question of our attorney general, although the asking would be purely rhetorical. We have known the answer for years, even as Ken Paxtons perfidy has perverted state government and injured his fellow Texans.

Decency, sir?

Paxton has been under indictment for alleged felony securities fraud from the day he took office in 2015. Presumably, such a burden would be a distraction from his official duties.

Paxton is the man abandoned by seven top staff members, who accused him of taking bribes. The FBI reportedly has him under investigation for allegations of misconduct, including misuse of office. Presumably, that would be a distraction as well.

A shameless toady of former President Donald Trump, Paxton has done everything within his power to further the Big Lie about the 2020 election. That includes filing an absurd lawsuit last December urging the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate election results in four key states, a ruling that would have kept Trump in office. Keep in mind that Paxton was acting in his role as our attorney general, even as he served as co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, a coalition of Republican attorneys created to bring legal challenges to aid the campaign.

Paxtons most recent abuses of power are in character (a word not often associated with the man). His election integrity unit the past year spent more than 20,000 hours and $2.2 million of our money looking for election fraud. Echoing Trump, Paxton insists that its rampant, in Texas and elsewhere.

As the Chronicle reported last week, the unit closed just three cases this year, down from 17 last year, and opened seven new ones. Paxtons office discovered no evidence of voter fraud in 2020, beyond isolated and picayune incidents affecting a handful of votes. With more than 11 million Texans casting ballots, such paltry numbers would be hard-pressed to swing an election for a local Elks Lodge president, much less a president of the United States.

You caught that recent press conference, right? The one Paxton called to reassure his fellow Texans that the 2020 elections were clean as a whistle, that Texans didnt cheat, that Joe Biden was duly elected president?

You didnt, of course, because the AG didnt call such a press conference. Running for a third term, he doesnt want his Trump-addled base to know that he knows that voter fraud is surpassingly rare.

An observation about our own Inspector Clouseaus voter-fraud crusade bears repeating. Hes finding very little of it despite spending a lot of money and using a lot of resources looking for it, Richard L. Hasen, an elections law expert at the University of California at Irvine, told the Chronicle. The reason is not that such fraud is too hard to find. Those that commit voter fraud tend not to be brain surgeons. The reason hes not finding a lot of it is because voter fraud is rare.

Paxtons crusade wasted time and money. A related endeavor hurt a conscientious public servant. Earlier this year, Paxtons office sought to indict Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir, for 35 years an honest and capable elected official. Her crime? She had unlawfully obstructed a poll watcher, a Class A misdemeanor that could have sent her to jail for a year and/or resulted in a $40,000 fine. Paxton trotted up the road apiece from Austin, hoping a conservative-leaning Williamson County grand jury would hand down an indictment.

Fortunately, his hand-picked venue returned a no-bill in April, apparently recognizing that the Paxton charge was petty and trumped-up (pun intended). DeBeauvoir didnt learn the grand jury had declined to charge her until July. Although she wont be going to jail, the attorney generals vendetta cost her $75,000 at the time.

There was nothing I could do to defend myself except to go hire  me, personally  go hire private attorneys. That was $75,000 to me, DeBeauvoir told columnist Bridget Grumet of the Austin American-Statesman.

In August, Travis County commissioners voted to reimburse their county clerk, but DeBeauvoir didnt know that would happen during the course of her Paxton-inspired ordeal. Had the case gone to trial, she told Grumet, she would have faced legal fees in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Of course, part of the AGs purpose in doing that was to intimidate me and financially bankrupt me, DeBeauvoir added. It was a deliberate thing.

Decency, sir? Have you no sense of decency?

DeBeauvoir, 68, has announced shell be retiring at the end of January, although she told Grumet her Paxton ordeal wasnt the reason she was leaving. I dont want my counterparts in other counties to think this was successful, she said.

With the approach of the 2022 primaries, Texas voters are left with a question for themselves: How much indecency can they, should they, tolerate in the office of attorney general?

In the Republican primary, Paxton has two capable and worthy challengers, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and current Land Commissioner George P. Bush. (U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert also is running.) The Democrats are fielding five candidates; the best known is former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski.

We have choices, in other words. Theres no reason in the world to re-elect a man who, at long last, leaves no doubt about decency, or, more precisely, the lack thereof.
Regarding Hurricanes and February freeze throw wet, cold blanket on energy recovery in 2021, (Dec. 22): It used to be true that whats good for oil is good for Texas and for humanity. Times change. They change whether oil workers and economists like it or not. The February freeze should have taught us that global warming in the poles doesnt stay in the poles. Weird weather is the reason we ought to care about a few degrees of global warming says Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist at Texas Tech. The weather here is getting weird. What used to be a weird flood in Houston is now normal. Will we have another weird freeze this February? This time, will it be worse? Denying reality is wrong, but we all do it. I want to believe we will solve global warming. I want to deny that it may soon cause civilization to collapse. It upsets me when my well-informed friends poke holes in my denial. They say our climate is an angry beast that we have been poking with sticks.

Nan Hildreth, Houston

COVID

Regarding More Texans died of COVID-19 in 2021 than in first year of pandemic, (Dec. 22): The only way forward to get the reluctant to vaccinate is for all hospitals and medical facilities in America to implement the following policy: If you want to be admitted for any COVID-related illness you absolutely must show proof of vaccination  if not you are on your own exactly as you wanted all along.

R.K. Entrekin, Houston

Regarding Searching for a COVID-19 test means enduring sold-out signs, long lines, (Dec. 23): So the government is going to give away free at home test kits for COVID. Sounds great until you consider those tests show positive only if your viral load is high. Testing negative doesnt mean youre not infected.

Greg Cox, Spring

Regarding Rep. Scott Perry denies Jan. 6 panel's request for interview, (Dec. 22): On the one hand, former president Trump will mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by holding forth with his claim that it was all merely a peaceful protest, never mind what endless video footage revealed. On the other, compare that to the news that Representative Scott Perry (R-PA) has refused to cooperate with the House Select Committee seeking information on what happened on that day.. Perry is just the latest in a string of Trump acolytes who have taken that hard stance. How odd that what the 45th president calls a peaceful protest cannot find support in sworn testimony from his supporters whose obstruction all but shouts We have something to hide.

Marty Adams, Houston
I was introduced to the work of bell hooks for the first time when I was 14 years old, sitting on my Nanas porch, complaining about the mosquitoes and the heat.

My Nana, who was probably frustrated by my endless complaints about being bored, stuck a copy of Aint I A Woman in my hand and told me just to shut up and read. I remember that summer because after I read that book, all we talked about was bell hooks and who she was and who I wanted to be. I said then that I wanted to be a writer, like bell hooks, and change the world with my words.

I took her words with me when I went off to college, and by then, I had my own dog-eared copies of some of her books. I went to her work whenever I needed to be reminded of my strength. The world felt much safer when bell hooks and Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou were on the front line, carving out a path to freedom and modeling what a Black womans resistance to a system hellbent on trying to make them small looked like. bell hooks words went with me everywhere, even while they kept taking me back to myself.

I, like countless others over the past 40 years, was inspired by bell hooks, who died on Dec. 15, 2021, at 69. As a leading Black intellectual, hooks pushed the feminist movement beyond the preserve of the white and middle-class, encouraging Black and working-class perspectives on gender inequality. She taught us about white supremacist capitalist patriarchal values  giving both the words to define it and the methods to dismantle it. And unlike previous generations, she prompted Black women like myself to see ourselves, claim ourselves and love ourselves with an unapologetic fierceness.

No Black woman writer in this culture can write too much, bell hooks once wrote, Indeed, no woman writer can write too much No woman has ever written enough.

I used to read her words to my sons when I was holding them in my arms, determined to practice liberative parenting and raise my Black sons as Black feminists.

I met bell hooks in person several times in my capacity as an activist, an officer of the National Womens Studies Association and as a scholar of African American studies. I have heard her lecture and have spoken with her, and every time, I was speechless. In her presence, I was once again the 14-year-old, sitting on the porch, diving into her words and finding myself on the other side.

Her words, like my Nanas hugs, always bought me back to myself, telling me, coaxing me, pushing me to become who I was meant to be in this world.

I remember speaking her words to the wind, hoping that if I ever forgot who I was, the wind would remind me. Whenever I am hungry for truth, I turn to her work. When I need support or encouragement, I turn to her work. When I need to be reminded of how to love and fight, I turn to her work.

So when I heard, read, realized and finally accepted that bell hooks  genius, scholar, cultural critic, truth speaker, one who had the strength to call out and challenge white supremacy and racism time and time again  had run on ahead to see how the end is going to be, all I could do was sit and breathe.

It is not enough to say she saved me from cutting off my tongue, because unless you know her genius, you will think that this is just about violence and not about salvation.

It is not enough to say that she saved me from burning it all down, because unless you know her brilliance, you will never understand how her words taught me how to come through the fire and be better and stronger on the other side.

Because she wrote and published extensively, bell hooks the writer  a pen name that she borrowed from her maternal great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks  will never leave us, but Gloria Jean Watkins, did. The sun is not shining as bright as when she was still with us.

Karsonya Wise Whitehead is the executive director of the Karson Institute for Race, Peace, & Social Justice, Loyola University Maryland.
John Minchillo, STF / Associated Press

Just as many individuals who were infected with COVID-19 find themselves with worrisome, lingering symptoms several months after their initial infection, the same can be said of health care, especially safety-net systems. Long after the hoped-for end of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, health care systems and the communities they serve will continue to experience debilitating symptoms. There are many post-pandemic social and economic effects, but there is one that directly affects health care delivery right now and for years to come: the nursing shortage.

While the pandemic has unmasked the incredible dedication and commitment of health care professionals, it has lasted a long time. Nurses, who were exposed to COVID patients multiple times a day and who were often the only ones physically present when a patient was dying, are tired. They are frustrated that a preventable disease rages on, has overwhelmed emergency departments, and has saturated ICUs. Many are leaving their hospitals or, worse, leaving the health care profession. A recent brief by the Teaching Hospitals of Texas (THOT) reported that even prior to the pandemic, Texas was short 30,000 registered nurses. The Center for Nurse Workforce Studies projects that deficit to increase to 57,000 by 2032. Reasons for the shortage include increased demand for nursing due to Americas aging population, retirement among veteran nurses, a shortage of faculty to train nursing students, and burnout that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The claim: A child ages 12-17 is more likely to be hospitalized with myocarditis than taking your chances with COVID and ever getting hospitalized with COVID.  Dr. Peter McCullough, a Texas cardiologist

McCullough made the claims in an appearance on the DarkHorse Podcast; an article about his appearance, from the website Conservative Fighters, carried the headline: Top cardiologist: Study shows COVID vaccines are more dangerous than covid itself.

PolitiFact rating: False. There is a rare risk of myocarditis from the vaccines in children and teens, but the benefits of the vaccine vastly outweigh the risks, multiple health authorities say.

Discussion

McCullough was referring to a study by Dr. Tracy Hoag and others posted to MedRxiv, a site where researchers post preliminary versions of scientific papers before they are peer reviewed. PolitiFact found that several doctors and researchers pointed out flaws in that studys methodology.

McCullough, president of the Cardio Renal Society of America and editor of the journal Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine, is a frequent Fox News guest and has a talk radio show called The McCullough Report on the America Out Loud network. His biography on the networks website says he is among the worlds experts on the virus.

However, McCullough has made several claims during the pandemic that have been debunked by fact-checkers, such as that healthy people under 50 dont need the COVID-19 vaccine and that vaccines offered no protection against the delta variant.

Baylor Scott & White Health, the large Texas-based health system, cut ties with McCullough in February and got a temporary restraining order against him in September, accusing him of continuing to claim an affiliation with it in media interviews, a claim he denied, according to Medscape.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

McCulloughs claim that teens are more at risk from the vaccine due to myocarditis is not accurate. Health officials acknowledge there is a risk of the heart disorder but say its rare and that cases are generally mild.

Hospitalizations of teens due to COVID-19 infection remain low, compared with other age groups, CDC data shows, but the risk of illness or death due to the virus is greater than the risk from myocarditis, health experts say.

Martha Sharan, a spokesperson for the CDC, said that cases of myocarditis after the COVID-19 vaccine are still being investigated.

It shares some features with typical viral myocarditis in terms of the age and sex distribution, the presenting symptom of chest pain, and various lab values. However, myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccine has less occurrence of heart failure and has a milder acute clinical course, Sharan said.

She added that short-term outcomes of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccine are much better than those of typical viral myocarditis, and that studies of the long-term outcomes are continuing.

When the vaccines first started coming out, doctors were seeing a small number of males in the 15-to-24 age group with symptoms of myocarditis, including chest pain, low-grade fever, and some changes in MRIs and EKGs, said Dr. Stuart Berger, chief of cardiology in the Department of Pediatrics at Lurie Childrens Hospital of Chicago.

These were kids that got symptoms resolved over a very short period of time, probably 24 to 48 hours, so went home and were fine, Berger said.

Berger added that the incidence of that was much, much, much smaller than myocarditis in the general population that is not related to COVID.

Berger said people, even children, are at much higher risk of getting sick or dying from COVID-19 itself or from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome, which has been reported in many children who have had COVID-19.

The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend that children be vaccinated against COVID-19 despite the rare risk of myocarditis. A spokesperson shared an article about a recent study from Denmark of 5 million residents that showed about 2 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 people after mRNA vaccines.

The CDCs Sharan pointed to a weekly morbidity and mortality report from June that concluded the benefits of COVID vaccination clearly outweighed the risks of myocarditis after vaccination.

The report showed that for males ages 12 to 29, there were between 39 and 47 cases of myocarditis expected per 1 million vaccine doses given. That compares with the prevention of 11,000 cases of COVID-19, 560 hospitalizations, 138 ICU admissions and six deaths per one million doses in that same age range.

Another CDC report narrows the data to males ages 12 through 17 and shows that for every 1 million vaccine doses, there were between 56 and 69 reports of myocarditis. However, it calculated that the COVID-19 vaccines prevented 5,700 cases, 215 hospitalizations, 71 ICU admissions and two deaths.

As far as children ages 5-11, who began receiving the Pfizer vaccine on Oct. 29, the CDC told Reuters on Dec. 16 that there were eight mild cases of myocarditis reported in that group after more than 7 million doses of the vaccine were administered.

According to CDC data, 771 children ages 18 and under have died of COVID in the U.S. and more than 32,000 people between the ages of 19 and 44 have died from the virus as of Dec. 15. Johns Hopkins data shows more than 800,000 Americans have died from the virus.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden spent much of the 2020 presidential campaign vowing to end what he called former President Donald Trumps unrelenting assault on our values and our history as a nation of immigrants.

But nearly a year into Bidens term, two of Trumps strictest border enforcement policies remain in place  a clear illustration of how the president has been hamstrung by court rulings in favor of Texas Republicans and daunted by political pressure as a record-setting surge of migrants tried to enter the U.S.

The Biden administration is still immediately expelling the vast majority of those seeking entry at the border using a Trump-era public health order known as Title 42, even as some leading Democrats have called for the president to end it. And this month, the administration started sending asylum-seekers back to Mexico while their cases are processed after courts forced officials to restart the Trump-era Remain in Mexico program.

Biden has insisted hes working to rebuild a humane immigration system left in shambles by Trump. The Trump White House also refused to work with Biden officials during the presidential transition, which they say left them unprepared for the migration surge that was starting even before Biden took office.

Now the president is being criticized from the left and the right.

2022 ISSUES: George P. Bush turns to border security to bolster his conservative image in bid for AG

Republicans have spent the last year hammering Biden as the Border Patrol posted record numbers of encounters with migrants, many seeking asylum in the U.S. On the other side, immigrant advocates are frustrated and confused by his refusal to stop the Title 42 expulsions, enacted in the name of containing COVID-19.

This first year has been enormously disappointing, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, an advocacy group that opposes Trumps immigration policies.

Its not that every action has been the wrong one, its just that we cant see any clear vision to moving forward to the promises that he made, Reichlin-Melnick said. I think the Biden administration has become obsessed with trying to lower the numbers, rather than working on long-term solutions that would eliminate this sense of chaos at the border.

Republicans and supporters of Trumps policies agree that Bidens first year has been disappointing  but for entirely different reasons.

FROM SEPTEMBER: Haitian crisis reignites the lefts criticism of Bidens border policy

The guiding principle for the administration seems to be to dismantle everything the previous administration had done, said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican.

They blame Bidens rhetoric for encouraging people to take their chances crossing the border.

Joe Biden had made massive promises, said Mike Howell, a former Trump Homeland Security Department official who is now a senior adviser at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington. This sent out the signal loud and clear to anyone who wanted to come illegally that there was going to be a new border policy in the United States.

Early steps and stumbles

Biden took swift action in his first days in office to undo many Trump policies.

The administration stopped the practice of separating parents and children for deterrence purposes and rescinded the zero tolerance policy that led to those separations. Meanwhile, Attorney General Merrick Garland overruled Trump-era opinions from the Justice Department that made it more difficult for migrants to get asylum when they claim they are victims of gang violence or domestic violence.

Biden has said he is focused on addressing the root causes of migration by boosting aid to Central American nations plagued by poverty, violence and corruption, and he tasked Vice President Kamala Harris with overseeing diplomatic efforts in the region. Harris this month announced $1.2 billion in aid from private businesses, as well.

The administration is also overhauling the asylum system, in part by hiring hundreds of new asylum officers who could decide cases quickly, bypassing deeply backlogged immigration courts.

And Biden has called on Congress to pass sweeping immigration reform.

The president remains committed to putting in place a humane and orderly immigration system that includes and establishes an efficient process for applying for asylum, that includes a range of programs for individuals to apply to stay in the United States, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said earlier this year. That requires Congress acting, and it requires also health conditions improving, as we are in the middle of the pandemic.

Perhaps the biggest initial steps Biden took were ending construction on Trumps border wall and scrapping the Remain in Mexico program, which was reviled by human rights groups who argued it put migrants at risk by forcing them to stay in Mexican border towns, often in dangerous camps and cramped shelters.

Those steps were significant on the ground and also significant symbolically in signaling the administration would take a different direction, said Jessica Bolter, an analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.

Immediately, the administration began work to process some 25,000 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. who had before been forced to stay in Mexico.

They were ending that policy and trying to address some of the harms they saw as coming from that policy, Bolter said.

Just as quickly, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued. A federal judge in Texas ordered the administration to put the program back in place, a ruling that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

This month, the administration  which had processed about 13,000 of the 25,000 waiting asylum-seekers into the U.S.  began sending migrants back to Mexico again.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says the administration is still determined to end the practice, which he says fails to provide the fair process and humanitarian protections that individuals deserve under the law. The restarted program, however, has broader exemptions for the elderly, LGBTQ individuals and those with mental and physical health problems.

But the White House has also expanded Remain in Mexico to include anyone from any country in the Western Hemisphere  notably adding Haitians after the administration deported thousands of them who had arrived in Del Rio seeking asylum this year. Under Trump, the program had applied only to migrants from Spanish-speaking countries and Brazil.

A group of Democrats in the House and Senate, including Texas Reps. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, Sylvia Garcia of Houston and Veronica Escobar of El Paso, slammed the administration, saying it has made a decision to normalize and expand a cruel deterrent policy that  led to increased migrant recidivism rates.

Republicans have applauded the return of Remain in Mexico, though they believe that the administrations heart is not in it, as Cornyn put it.

Sticking with Title 42

Biden, meanwhile, has been unwilling to move away from Title 42 expulsions that allow his administration to immediately turn away most migrants at the border, even as Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York have pleaded with him to end it.

More than half of the 173,620 encounters with migrants that the Border Patrol reported in November, the latest data available, led to expulsions under Title 42.

But the administration has made some changes to the policys enforcement, most notably allowing children and more families into the U.S. after some Mexican states, including Tamaulipas, which borders South Texas, stopped accepting families with young children who had been expelled from the U.S.

Over the spring and summer, the administration also worked with a group of humanitarian organizations to allow asylum-seekers who are particularly vulnerable to enter the U.S. to have their claims adjudicated. But by the end of the summer, those groups had stopped working with the administration because they didnt want to be seen as complicit with Title 42, effectively ending the exemptions.

For his Republican foes, Bidens flip-flops on the border and muddled efforts to address it loom as a top issue in the 2022 midterm elections.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, has pushed legislation in the Senate that would codify Title 42, though Biden has given no signal that he plans to stop using it.

The reason theyre doing it is because of political pressure, Howell said of the administration keeping the order in place. The poll numbers are absolutely in the tank, especially on this issue.

Advocates have been incensed that the administration has left Title 42 in effect, claiming its still necessary to combat COVID, even as it has lifted travel restrictions from Mexico as vaccines and tests have become widely available.

It makes little sense that a person can walk from Mexico to shop at Walmart, but an asylum-seeker fleeing prosecution with a bounty on their head cannot come to the border and ask for help, Reichlin-Melnick said.

I would say the year started out with a lot of promises and some clear progress in dismantling the Trump administrations war on asylum, he said. By the end of the year, nearly all of that progress had been reversed.

ben.wermund@chron.com
Since a federal judge forced Texas nearly a year and a half ago to offer limited online voter registration, 1.5 million Texans have used the option, according to new state data.

The August 2020 ruling, which found Texas in violation of the National Voter Registration Act, required state officials to give residents the opportunity to register when they renew their drivers license online. The system was in place a month later.

Advocates say the new data speaks to the success of online registration  and is evidence that Texas, one of just a few states that does not offer an online option for every registrant, should implement the program statewide. Republican leaders in state government have resisted such change, instead pursuing new voting restrictions in the name of election security.

The very best thing you can do is have systems where the government is seamlessly integrating voter registration into other processes, said Mimi Marziani, the president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, which represented the plaintiffs in the case that spurred the creation of the online system.

Its unclear how many of the 1.5 million people are registering to vote for the first time, but its likely that the majority of them are updating addresses on existing registrations. Hearst Newspapers requested the information a week ago, but the secretary of states office declined to provide that breakdown by publication time. Roughly 1.9 million people use the Department of Public Safety website to renew their license each year, Marziani said.

About 40 percent of the online registration applications came from Texas five most populous counties. Roughly 200,000 people have used the option in Harris County, and 100,000 in Bexar, according to state data.

2018 ELECTIONS: Texas rejects 2,400 online voter registrations as election nears

Experts say the option has removed a barrier for those who likely arent thinking about updating their voter registration information after moving, when they are required by law to update their address. They contend its especially useful as Texas has cracks down on fraudulent ballots  a process that can flag simple mistakes, like using an outdated address when voting.

Getting registered to vote is not something that many people necessarily remember, said Joshua Blank, the research director of the Texas Politics Project. And in the process of moving, it's very likely that this would not be on the top of their list of things to address, like changing their electricity, gas providers and forwarding all their mail.

Without more granular data on first-time voter registrations filed online, its difficult to determine whether the option has had a significant impact on Texas overall registration numbers, Blank added. More than 17 million people are registered to vote in Texas.

Still, its doubtful that GOP leaders would embrace an expansion of online registration in Texas, which has some of the nations strictest voting laws. Republicans have long declined to allow any online voter registration, saying it would lead to an increase in election fraud  even as 63 percent of Texas voters would support such a system, according to an October 2020 poll by the Texas Politics Project.

TEXAS TAKE: Get the latest news on Texas politics sent directly to your inbox every weekday

The availability of online registration flies in the face of Texas current approach to voting policies, Blank said. The GOP-led Legislature spent months earlier this year campaigning for a sweeping elections bill that, in part, restricted voting hours in some parts of the state, prohibited drive-thru and overnight voting, and introduced new ID requirements for mail-in ballot applications.

Texas has been at the forefront recently of enacting strict voting laws, and, in truth, has been at the forefront of enacting strict voting laws for much of the last decade, Blank said. Even in an area like this, where I think a majority of voters  say that we should expand online voter registration, its unlikely that youd see something like this move in Texas.

But advocates say theyll continue to push for a extensive online registration system  and, if possible, automatic voter registration. Both changes would not only facilitate access to the ballot box, but also address longstanding racial inequities in Texas voter rolls, said Marziani of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Texas is one of eight states that does not offer the online option for all adults, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The data from this limited online system shows that if the option is available, millions of people will use it, said Charlie Bonner, a spokesperson for the advocacy group MOVE Texas. Every Texas voter should now have equal access to online voter registration. This proves that it works, that its secure, and that it is something people will use.

cayla.harris@express-news.net
The Texas attorney generals office has put its weight behind a landowners case against the companies developing a controversial Dallas-Houston bullet train, arguing they cant force people to sell parcels needed for the high-speed rail project.

HUB IN HOUSTON: Another self-driving trucking company is coming to another Houston freeway

Weighing in on the matter at the invitation of the Texas Supreme Court, the attorney generals office offered the latest twist in the nearly decade-long fight over a 240-mile line that would connect Dallas and Houston. While the project has picked up support from leaders of urban areas, its encountered hard resistance from residents of the rural counties on its proposed path.

One of those residents, Leon County landowner James Miles, sued Texas Central after the private company sought permission to survey his 600-acre property in 2015 as part of its efforts to examine the land for the project. Miles asked the courts to declare that the company did not have the right to enter his property because it does not have the eminent domain authority granted to railroad companies.

He won at a trial court, but the legal dispute reached the Texas Supreme Court after a state appellate court in Corpus Christi sided with Texas Central and a related company.

In a legal brief filed with the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, deputies for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argued the high court should reverse that appellate decision and rule in Miles favor because the companies fall short of the Texas Constitutions definition of a rail company.

The [companies] may only make preliminary examinations and surveys of private landowners properties for the purpose of constructing and operating a bullet train if they are either railroad companies or interurban electric railway companies, the state wrote in its brief. In the States view, the [companies] are neither.

That leaves them with no authority to enter, examine, survey or condemn Miles land, the state wrote.

The states legal brief turns largely on the meaning of a portion of the state Transportation Code that gives private entities the ability to exercise eminent domain if they are operating a railroad. Reading at times as a semantic study in how to interpret tenses and grammar in state statute, the state said the companies could not be classified in that way because they currently own no trains and have constructed no tracks or train depots.

The rules of grammar confirm that the Respondents are not railroad companies, the AGs office argued.

In the litigation, the companies have contended they meet that definition under the Transportation Code because they have performed the preliminary activities needed to construct a railroad, creating a reasonable probability that they would operate a railroad in the future.

The state also disagreed with the companies on this point, saying they could not show a likelihood of procuring sufficient financing to complete the project.

Texas Central representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company has previously promised to fund the project  at a cost around $20 billion  with the support of private investors and without public funds.

Company executives have previously said they would prefer not to use eminent domain at all and would rather work out amicable sales agreements for the thousands of parcels needed to construct the project across 10 counties. The company has also vowed to minimize how much the line will impact the land around it.

The high-speed rail project has been mired by setbacks and controversy for the better part of a decade. In both courthouses and at the Capitol, opponents have zeroed in on Texas Centrals claim that state law gives it the right to use eminent domain and force unwilling owners to sell their land.

The push for the Dallas-Houston bullet train has been built on its promise of establishing a line on which trains could run at speeds of up to 205 mph to cut a trip that would normally take four hours by car down to 90 minutes.

But securing the land along its proposed route has proven a challenge. In 2020, Texas Central said it had secured more than 600 parcels covering just about 40% of the lots  not the land  it needs for the project. Given fierce opposition to the project in rural areas, eminent domain is seen as likely to become a necessity at some point.

In Leon County, one proposal would bisect Miles 600 acres with a 100-foot right-of-way, according to the legal filings.

On Monday, opponents of the rail described the attorney generals brief as a strong show of support for Texas private property rights.

The brief filed by the [attorney generals office] is clear that the past activities, corporate structure and financial state of the project coupled with the very high level of uncertainty that the project would ever even be built does not meet a threshold that would support Texas Centrals claim that it has eminent domain authority, the group Texans Against High-Speed Rail said in a press release.

Disclosure: Texas Central has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/20/texas-high-speed-train-dallas-houston/.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
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Pittsfield East Street Redevelopment Includes Complete Streets Efforts

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  A shared-use path has been added to plans for the redevelopment on East Street to align with the city's efforts to support multimodal transportation.

Eventually, this will enable cyclists to take the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail into downtown from a future extension that comes out by O'Connell Oil.



Currently, there are preliminary design plans for an $8.8 million infrastructure project that extends from the oil company to the Merrill Road and East Street intersection that will facilitate bike traffic.



The Pittsfield Economic Development Authority received an update this month on the state Department of Transportation's East Street improvement project that will extend from the intersection of Merrill Road to the intersection of Elm Street.



In early proposals, improvements went only to Lyman Street. Recently, the city gave MassDOT the OK to expand improvements throughout the entire corridor.



Project elements include turn lanes at intersections, improved sidewalks with Americans with Disability Act accommodations, new crosswalks, reconstructed traffic signals, and upgrades to the existing infrastructure.



The goal is to improve safety, accessibility, and aesthetics with minimum impacts to the environment while supporting Pittsfield as a gateway city.



There was a 25 percent design public hearing in July and planners anticipate a completed design, permitting, and right-of-way process in the winter of 2024 to 2025.



MassDOT District Project Engineer Eric Bilik told PEDA that the project is a result of a planning study from the late 1990s that conceptualized the William Stanley Business Park property as a potential economic development site to promote business.



Along with this was an identified need to beautify the East Street corridor and do necessary infrastructure improvements.



"With that being said it's been a long time coming," Bilik added.



Commissioner of Public Services and Utilities Ricardo Morales said the city is excited about the addition of 5-foot buffer lanes along each side of East Street and the general consideration for multimodal traffic.

Incorporating the state's Complete Streets program has been a citywide effort. The movement aims to support residents' safety, health, economic vitality, and quality of life by improving the motorized and non-motorized environments in a community.

Projects such as the reconfiguration of North Street to include bike lanes and the Bike Facilities Master Plan support this ideal.



"It's important for us to maintain bicycle access in the rest of the corridor, recognizing that yes, the rail trail continuity is important, but recognizing that that is more of a recreational type of activity," Morales said.
Greylock Recognized as Leader in Small Business Lending in Massachusetts

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  The Massachusetts District Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) held its' Annual Meeting on Friday, Dec. 10 and announced Greylock Federal Credit Union (Greylock) as the #1 Western Massachusetts SBA 7(a) Lender and the #1 Lender to Rural Businesses.

Greylock issued over $437,000 in program loans in 2021.

"We are grateful for SBA's recognition of our Business Banking team's hard work as they carried out Greylock's mission through supporting the needs of small businesses, said Senior Vice President, Chief Lending Officer Jodi Rathbun-Briggs. "The team not only led in 7(a) loans, but also helped retain over 5,000 jobs through the SBA's Paycheck Protection Program. This award goes out to everyone at Greylock, especially the Business Banking team, for their commitment to the rural businesses that serve as the backbone of our economy.

The 7(a) loan program is SBA's primary program for providing financial assistance to small businesses through government secured loans.
It's now been more than six months since the term "Great Resignation" started hitting headlines, as employees facing rising costs ventured out on a mass scale to look for better wages and better experiences. The term has taken on a life of its own, with countless articles, a Wikipedia page, and even as the title of a book.

But so far, coverage of the Great Resignation has focused on the negative: the workers that businesses are losing. More than half a year after the start of this great exodus, it's time for leaders to look at where employees are headed next and to get ready for the next phase of the ever-changing employment situation: "the Great Onboarding."

My workplace, Qualtrics XM Institute research, found that 72.4 million U.S. employees (52 percent of the workforce) are likely to look for a new job within the next six months. That's a 14 percent increase from 2019. It's clear that today's employees will not be complacent, stay at companies that aren't keeping up with new demands for safety, flexibility, and better compensation. And as millions of workers join new organizations in 2022, the onboarding experience will be key in shaping how they view their new employer and how long they intend to stay.

While businesses continue to navigate the risks and opportunities of this dynamic environment, leaders who focus on upgrading their workforce will be able to capitalize on market shifts to attract and retain new talent looking for a better work experience.

The makeup of today's job seekers

First, it's important to understand who today's job seekers are. The largest group of job seekers is between 25 and 34 years old, and 55 percent of the total job seekers are between the ages of 25 and 44, according to the Qualtrics XM Institute research.

Many of the employees in this age group, who are in the middle of their careers, experienced a shift to remote work. This untethering of their jobs to a specific location pushed many of them to rethink the relationship between their work and life, and now they're looking for more flexibility around where, when, and how they work.

Companies relied heavily on senior leaders to manage through the pandemic, and that is now taking its toll as well. Sixty-two percent of department managers and 72 percent of managers of multiple departments are likely to look for a new job in the coming months.

It's been a stressful couple of years for just about every leader who's dealt with shifts in customer demand in addition to big changes in how their teams work. As we get closer to the stabilization of the Covid crisis, many simply need a change of scenery and the chance to feel reinvigorated.

Reimagining the onboarding experience

Rather than overly focusing on the many employees who may be leaving, leaders should turn their attention to retaining their strongest workers and hiring new employees who will propel the organization forward. This is an opportunity to upgrade the workforce by providing better experiences.

The onboarding experience in particular is often underresourced and underdesigned. Many employers fail to honor the massive shift in a person's life that comes when starting a new job. With so much anticipated turnover, it's critical for organizations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their onboarding efforts now, in order to help employees feel a sense of belonging and value, even if they're working remotely.

Companies welcoming incoming employees will do well to remember that job seekers are looking for more flexibility, reinvigorating opportunities, and relief from burnout. Leaders should take an empathetic tone, highlighting their commitment to employee needs and benefits, particularly regarding mental health. Sharing a clear and compelling vision for the organization will also encourage employees looking for a fresh start and enable organizations to tap into the full range of their abilities.
In a span of six years, between 2006 and 2012, Disney--under Iger's leadership--acquired Pixar, Marvel, and LucasFilm. Each of those acquisitions on its own would be career-defining. When you think about the fact that Iger's shopping spree brought together arguably the most iconic film libraries of all time--everything from The Lion King, to Toy Story, to Avengers, to Return of the Jedi--it's a remarkable tenure.

The key to that success, according to Iger, is really quite simple. It all comes down to relationships.

The truth is, a lot of success comes down to relationships. That's just as true if you're a salesperson trying to build relationships with customers as it is when you're a CEO trying to forge partnerships. Very few CEOs exemplify the latter better than Iger.

Here's how Iger explains it in his own words:

In all cases, I developed a trust with them and that I convinced them would serve them well if they sold to us... One on one in some cases, being as candid as I possibly could be and I think as authentic as I could be in developing a relationship, even if we've developed over a relatively brief period of time.

Consider the state of the relationship between Disney and Pixar before Iger took over. Pixar's CEO, Steve Jobs, and Iger's predecessor, Michael Eisner, famously were at odds over the future of a partnership that had delivered a series of hits and saved Disney at a time that its own animation studio was languishing.

Disney had almost lost its relationship with Pixar altogether over Eisner's heavy-handed negotiation tactics, which offended Jobs. Eisner felt that he had the upper hand and wasn't willing to give Pixar a better deal than the 50 percent split of profits. Jobs, in response, called off talks altogether, something that would have been devastating to Disney.

In one of his earliest moves, Iger intentionally cultivated a relationship with Jobs that resulted in Disney paying a little more than $7 billion to buy Pixar. It also made Jobs Disney's largest shareholder--meaning that it wasn't just some short-term schmoozing to get a deal done. Iger even turned down a seat on Google's board so as not to offend his friend.

The same can be said of Disney's purchase of Marvel, and later LucasFilm. In both cases, Iger had to convince founders that he could be trusted to steward the characters and stories they had dreamed up. That's not a small thing when you're talking about characters like Luke Skywalker or Iron Man. Not only did Iger invest in relationships and make the deals, he invested in the brands and expanded their reach at a scale beyond what the original founders could have.

Iger was also known for his ability to build relationships with everyone from Disney family members, its board, and talent. When Disney faced a lawsuit from Scarlett Johansson earlier this year over the release of Black Widow, the most common observation was that it would have likely never happened under Iger since he was known for cultivating relationships with the talent that make films, something Bob Chapek, the current CEO, isn't known for.

That brings me to the point--which is that few leaders fully understand just how valuable relationships are, and how important a skill it is to develop. And, it is a skill. That's the good news. Anyone can be more intentional about building relationships and investing in people.
People go out of their ways to break world records for dangerous as well as bizarre activities. Now, two Vietnamese brothers have broken the Guinness World Record when one of them climbed 100 stairs while balancing himself on the other one's head. Yes, you read that right.

The brother duo carried out this acrobatic stunt in 53 seconds. It was performed outside Saint Mary's Cathedral in Girona, Spain, on December 23.

Reddit

The two brothers, Giang Quoc Co and Giang Quoc Ngheip are circus performers and had set a record earlier in the same venue in December 2016. Last time, they had climbed 90 steps in 52 seconds as compared to their 100 steps in 53 seconds this time.

We have been rehearsing this skill for 15 years, Giang Quoc Nghiep was quoted by GWR in December 2016. They had explained that they experienced plenty of accidents and injuries during their gruelling training regime.



YouTube

Today, we are feeling wonderful. We are feeling amazing because now we have climbed 100 steps within 53 seconds and I did not imagine in my mindI hope everybody will remember this day, one of the brothers was heard saying in a video shared by Sputnik Viet Nam.



Some days ago, we were under stress because of everyday practice. The weather is very cold and we practise in the morning till night..,Five years ago, we climbed 90 steps within 52 secondsI feel wonderful, he says.

Since the cathedral has only 90 steps, 10 more were added for their stunt.

The new steps have a different height and material compared to the 90 existing ones. We did not have the chance to practise on these 10 steps in advance, Giang Quoc Co told VNexpress.

The duo's previous record was broken in 2018 by Peruvian acrobats Pablo Nonato Panduro and Joel Yaicate Saavedra who scaled 91 stairs.

However, in December 2018, the brother set a new record for the fastest time to descend and ascent ten stairs while balancing a person on the head (blindfolded), claims the Guinness World Records website.

It was performed on the set of La Notte dei Record (The Night of Records), a TV series on Italys TV8 which featured record holders across the globe.



I have sometimes thought that I could not continue any longer, but we continue to go forward and overcome fear and danger. I want to prove to everyone in the world that human possibilities are endless, he further said.



Reddit

For more trending stories, click here.
The New Hampshire Liquor Commission has fined a restaurant in Windham, New Hampshire, $2,500 and suspended its liquor license for 10 days in connection with a fatal vehicle crash in April.

Four employees at the Old School Bar & Grill in Windham also were ordered to enroll in and complete training programs in connection with the crash in Merrimack.

The employees were accused of over-serving alcohol to Vincent Forgione, 24, who collided with driver Elizabeth Lizzy Croke, 20, on April 15. Both died in the crash.

James Normand, an attorney representing Crokes estate, said Forgione had a blood-alcohol content of .224, nearly three times the legal limit of .08, The Telegraph of Nashua reported.

Normand said Monday he filed a lawsuit in Rockingham County Superior Court on behalf of Crokes estate alleging that the restaurant overserved Forgione, which contributed substantially to Forgione driving impaired and substantially contributed to the death of Elizabeth Croke.

An email seeking comment was sent to the restaurant.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The New York State Police in Brunswick arrested 53-year-old Michael LePage of Glens Falls, New York, on December 17, 2021, for insurance fraud in the fourth degree, a class E felony, and making a false written statement, a class A misdemeanor.

In August of 2019, LePage reported to state police in Brunswick that his John Deere tractor had been stolen off of his property in Pittstown. An investigation was conducted, but troopers were unable to recover the stolen property. LePage filed an insurance claim reporting that the tractor had been stolen, and the case was closed.

In August of 2021, state police received information that LePages tractor had not been stolen. An investigation determined that an associate of LePages who had purchased the tractor with LePage and paid for the equipment had asked for it back after the two went their separate ways. The tractor was dropped off at a property in Poestenkill as requested by the associate.

LePage was taken into custody following an interview with The New York State Police in Brunswick and was issued an appearance ticket for Pittstown Town Court on January 22, 2021.

Source: New York State Police

Topics Fraud Abuse Molestation New York
An Italian judge on Thursday dropped a case against the CEO of Unipol and six other people related to the 2013 merger between Italys second-largest insurer and smaller rival Fondiaria-SAI, a judicial document seen by Reuters showed.

Carlo Cimbri and the others were under investigation for alleged market rigging as Milan prosecutors suspected Unipol did not accurately account for its large structured derivatives portfolio and that this had an impact on the setting of the share swap ratios for the tie-up with Fondiaria.

At the end of the investigation, however, the public prosecutors office itself asked for the case to be dismissed.

Milan judge Anna Calabi, in the decree filed on Dec. 23 and seen by Reuters, granted the requests of prosecutors and dropped the case against Cimbri and the other suspects, saying there was no crime.

Unipol declined to comment.

Bologna-based Unipol agreed to buy troubled rival Fondiaria in 2012 in a complex rescue operation that was held up by a series of regulatory and legal hurdles.

The merger created UnipolSai, Italys second largest insurance group behind Assicurazioni Generali, and was officially completed on Jan. 6, 2014.

(Reporting by Alfredo Faieta; writing by Emilio Parodi; editing by Gianluca Semeraro and Mark Potter)

Topics Mergers Carriers Legislation
Lloyds has launched a new renewable energy consortium, to respond to the growing needs of the Asia-Pacific region and supporting countries, as they transition to greener energy solutions.

Developed by the Lloyds Asia platform, the consortium pools underwriting expertise and capacity among the participating syndicates for renewable energy risks and is positioned to capitalize on the growth opportunities seen in this sector, such as onshore construction, as well as the operational risks of solar and wind energy projects.

The new consortium has been developed by Chaucer, Markel, and Munich Re Syndicate Ltd (MRSL) and has a maximum working capacity of US$100m per project.

The renewable energy sector has experienced considerable growth in Asia over the past decade with solar and wind power expanding rapidly and major countries in the region investing in renewable energy. These countries include India, Japan, Vietnam, Korea and China as the worlds largest producer.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set an aspirational regional renewable energy target to derive 23% of its total primary energy supply from renewables by 2025, said Lloyds, quoting the International Renewable Energy Agency.

It is expected that Asia Pacific will continue to outperform other regions as a market for the investment and development in renewable energy over the coming decade with capacity predicted to increase by up to 2 terawatts by 2030, according to Boston Consulting Group, Riding the Renewables Wave in Asia-Pacific, Jan. 11 2021.

Alternative energy sources are critical in achieving the successful global transition to a low carbon economy. The Renewable Energy Consortium at Lloyds brings together expertise from leading businesses on our platform in Singapore to provide insurance solutions that will allow us to play a greater role in enabling the development of renewable energy projects in Asia, said Pavlos Spyropoulos, country manager, Singapore and CEO, Lloyds Asia.

Chaucer is delighted to work with Markel and MRSL to bring our new Renewable Energy Consortium to the Lloyds Asia platform. By combining our expertise and capacity, we are able to offer a truly unique solution to the market; one that actively supports the pursuit of greener, more sustainable energy, commented Margaret To, chief executive officer of Chaucers Singapore office.

Tom Baker, Head of Renewable Energy, Markel, said: We at Markel are very pleased to partner with established and experienced Singapore markets to further develop insurance solutions for the Asia renewable energy industry. By pooling our regional expertise and capacity, and combining it with our international renewables experience, we believe we can offer a compelling product offering to clients in the region.

We are delighted to be part of the consortium and look forward to playing our part in supporting green energy initiatives across Asia Pacific, according to Tim Lee, Energy and Engineering underwriter, Munich Re Syndicate Singapore. This platform enables us to step up our push towards a more diversified energy portfolio and support clients who are doing the same, whilst cultivating new, and further strengthening existing relationships.

Source: Lloyds

Topics Excess Surplus Energy Lloyd's
UK broker Ardonagh Group announced it has agreed to acquire Portuguese broker MDS Group.

Headquartered in Porto, MDS has offices in Brazil, where it is the countrys largest independent broker, as well as Angola, Mozambique, Spain, and Malta. It is the only Portuguese Lloyds Broker.

MDS employs 900 colleagues and recorded revenue of 74.8 million (US$84.6 million) in the 12 months to June 30, 2021. MDS manages over 500 million (US$565.3 million) in insurance premiums for 1.2 million private and corporate clients each year.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ardonagh said it intends to fund the acquisition with a combination of equity and debt. MDS will be acquired by Ardonagh Overseas Investments Ltd. and operate as part of Ardonagh Global Partners.

In addition to its core broking operations, spanning property/casualty, health, retail and wholesale, MDS operates Highdome PCC in Malta, offering sophisticated alternative solutions to the traditional insurance market including captive and reinsurance solutions to large clients. Completing MDS offering is Risk Consulting Group (RCG), a multinational risk management consultancy.

MDS is also the founding member and a shareholder of Brokerslink, a network of brokers and specialty risk and consulting firms operating in 122 countries.

Upon completion, Ardonagh Global Partners will acquire 100% of the issued shares of MDS from its two shareholders, Sonae Group and IPLF Holding. The management team led by MDS Group Global CEO Jose Manuel Fonseca will remain with the business and continue to lead an expansive growth plan in all of the MDS territories.

Having considered our future very carefully, we saw in The Ardonagh Group and its leadership a perfect match for our vision and growth ambitions. We are incredibly excited to be joining forces with a global independent group with Ardonaghs scale and dynamic culture, commented Manuel Fonseca. With access to Ardonaghs considerable resource and capital, we look forward to accelerating our organic and inorganic growth plans.

Ardonagh Global Partners was launched in January 2021 to invest in best-in-class businesses and management teams around the world and in turn support their growth ambitions.

It is a great privilege to partner with a distinguished and high-profile broking platform such as MDS. Jose Manuel together with his experienced and high caliber management team have developed a world class reputation for client service, innovation and professionalism, delivering outstanding service to their clients for over 30 years, said Ardonagh Global Partners CEO Des OConnor.

MDS intends to continue taking full advantage of the fast growing and evolving Portuguese and Brazilian insurance markets and economies. The business is ideally placed to support a broad range of clients to protect against a constantly changing risk environment, and to bring on board other culturally and strategically aligned independent brokers in the geographies in which it operates, OConnor added.

We launched Ardonagh Global Partners at the start of the year to offer a home for businesses and management teams across the globe which want to plug into our commercial capabilities and resources, whilst maintaining the client service and culture that made them successful in the first place, said Ardonagh Group CEO David Ross. We welcome Jose Manuel Fonseca and his global colleagues as an embodiment of just that and look forward to helping bring more products, connectivity and buying power to their clients.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to regulatory approval.

Source: Ardonagh Group

Topics Mergers Agencies
Canopius Group, the London-based global specialty re/insurer, announced it has completed a loss portfolio transfer (LPT) agreement with RiverStone International.

The agreement covers discontinued classes of business underwritten by Canopius Lloyds syndicates and will see RiverStones Syndicate 3500 indemnify Canopius against potential losses in respect of net liabilities valued at approximately $780 million. The portfolio transfer was brokered by Gallagher Re.

This LPT with RiverStone provides Canopius with finality on our discontinued lines, allowing us to focus on our core business and releasing capital to reinvest in support of our future growth aspirations, commented Nick Betteridge, Chief Actuary of Canopius.

With the current positive market environment, we see this as a great time to continue to invest and grow our business in 2022 and beyond, he added.

We are delighted to have executed this legacy portfolio transaction with Canopius, which continues to build upon our strong position in Lloyds. We look forward to working closely with Canopius through the transition phase and to maintaining the high-quality level of service for policyholders and claimants, said Riverstones CEO Luke Tanzer.

About Canopius

Canopius is a global specialty re/insurer with underwriting operations in Australia, Bermuda, China, Singapore, the UK and U.S. It underwrites through Lloyds Syndicates 4444 (managed by Canopius Managing Agents Ltd.); a U.S. surplus lines insurer, Canopius US Insurance Inc.; and Canopius Reinsurance Ltd, a Bermuda based Class 4 reinsurer.

About RiverStone International

RiverStone International is an acquirer and reinsurer of legacy and discontinued insurance business. Operating in the UK company and Lloyds of London markets, RiverStone International has transacted a wide variety of deals  from insurance and reinsurance portfolio transfers to company purchases.

Source: Canopius

Topics Mergers Profit Loss
MELBOURNE  Indias Adani Group is preparing to ship the first coal cargo from Australias most controversial mine, after battling a seven-year campaign by climate activists and defying a global push away from fossil fuels.

The Carmichael mine in outback Queensland state is likely to be the last new thermal coal mine to be built in Australia, the worlds biggest coal exporter, but will be a vital source of supply for importers such as power plants in India.

Worlds Largest Insurers Failing to Address Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss Climate Change Activists Protest at Lloyds of London, Dumping a Load of Coal Climate Change Could Cut Global GDP by 18% by 2050  If Nothing Is Done: Swiss Re

The first shipment of high-quality coal from the Carmichael mine is being assembled at the North Queensland Export Terminal in Bowen ready for export as planned, a spokeperson for Adanis Australian subsidiary Bravus Mining & Resources said in a statement.

The statement did not say where the shipment was headed, except that we have already secured the market for the 10 million tonnes per annum of coal that will be produced at the Carmichael Mine.

When Adani bought the project in 2010, it envisioned building a 60-million-tonne-a-year mine with a 400-km (250-mile) rail line for around A$16 billion ($11 billion), one of several projects planned in the then untapped Galilee Basin.

It shrank the mine plan in 2018 to 10 million tonnes a year following a sustained Stop Adani campaign by green groups, which scared off lenders, insurers and major engineering firms.

That sharpening of the plan has kept operating costs to a minimum and ensured the project remains within the first quartile of the global cost curve, Adanis Australian CEO Lucas Dow told Reuters in emailed comments.

The company has not disclosed the cost of the smaller mine and a 200-km rail line it built tying into an existing railway, but the project has been estimated at A$2 billion ($1.5 billion).

It is quite a celebration because this is going to be the last true greenfield thermal coal mine in Australia, said Lloyd Hain, managing director of consulting firm AME Group.

Climate activists, concerned about carbon emissions and potential damage to Australias Great Barrier Reef  both from global warming and dredging at Abbot Point port  brought several cases challenging government approvals for the mine.

Their campaign turned into a lightning rod at Australias last election in 2019, in a jobs versus the environment fight which saw the coal-supporting conservative coalition government re-elected when it was expected to lose.

While activists succeeded in delaying the project for seven years and even leading Adani to change its local name to Bravus, they are not claiming victory.

Its a shame that the mines still going to go ahead. But just because the mines open doesnt mean all the coal in the ground is going to come out. We will continue to campaign to keep as much in the ground as possible, said Andy Paine, who chained himself to Adanis rail line several weeks ago.

All About the Port

The coal will be exported from a terminal at Abbot Point, which Adani bought for $2 billion in 2011 and renamed North Queensland Export Terminal.

Analysts said it made sense for Adani to dig the mine to help it make back the massive investment on the coal terminal, which has run nearly half empty since Adani acquired it.

Its about maximizing your cash flow returns on the railway line and maximizing your profits on Abbot Point, said Tim Buckley, a director at the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

He said even though the Carmichael mine will become unprofitable as coal prices fall, Adani might have an incentive to expand it to 20 million tonnes a year to keep the port filled, when other mines supplying the terminal stop producing.

($1 = 1.3816 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

Topics Australia Mining
Investigators in a small southern Missouri town are trying to determine the identity of a serial arsonist who is believed responsible for nearly two dozen suspicious fires.

KYTV-TV reports that 20 fires have occurred over the past three years in Newburg, a Phelps County town of fewer than 500 residents. Resident Nicole Smith said that in some cases, buildings have been set on fire and when they didnt burn to the ground, the arsonist came back to the same structure and burned it again.

Fire Capt. Brandon Williams said some of the damaged homes were vacant, some were occupied. Grass fires have also burned.

With few leads to go on, Williams is seeking the publics help through social media. Meanwhile, state authorities are offering a $5,000 reward for information that could help in the investigation.

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Topics Missouri
Minnesota-based Medtronic has agreed to pay $400,000 to South Dakota to resolve allegations that it paid kickbacks to a neurosurgeon, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

The settlement resolves allegations that Medtronic paid for more than 100 social events at a restaurant owned by Dr. Wilson Asfora, at Asforas request. Medtronic allegedly sponsored the events over a nine-year period to persuade Asfora to use Medtronic products.

The agreement is the latest settlement involving Asfora. The former Sanford Health neurosurgeon and two medical device distributorships that he owns also agreed to pay $4.4 million earlier this year to settle allegations that they defrauded the federal government through illegal kickback schemes

Sanford Health had already agreed to pay $20 million to settle its role in the kickback scheme. And, last year medical device giant Medtronic agreed to pay $9.2 million for its role in paying kickbacks to Asfora through the restaurant Carnaval Brazilian Grill, which Asfora and his wife owned.

Ravnsborg said Medtronic cooperated with the states investigation.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Minnesota
Capital One Financial Corp. agreed to pay $190 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that customers filed against the firm after a hacker broke into its cloud-computing systems and stole their personal information.

Representatives for those customers, Capital One and Amazon Web Services  the lenders cloud provider  jointly asked Judge Anthony Trenga to pause proceedings while the court evaluates the agreement. The settlement will cover 98 million Americans, and Capital One said it is fully reserved for the amount.

While Capital One and AWS deny all liability, in the interest of avoiding the time, expense and uncertainty of continued litigation, plaintiffs and Capital One have executed a term sheet containing the essential terms of a class settlement that, if approved by this court, will fully resolve all claims brought by plaintiffs, according to a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

In July 2019, Capital One announced data from about 100 million people in the U.S. was illegally accessed. Federal prosecutors ultimately arrested Paige A. Thompson, a former Amazon cloud employee, for breaking into the banks server.

The key facts in this case have not changed since we announced the event in coordination with federal authorities more than two years ago: the hacker was arrested and the stolen data was simultaneously recovered before it could be disseminated or used for fraudulent purposes, Capital One said in an emailed statement Thursday. We are pleased to have reached an agreement that will resolve the consumer class litigation in the U.S.

Capital One has remained one of the financial industrys earliest and biggest proponents of cloud technology, and last year finished exiting its data centers. The McLean, Virginia-based firm, which also has been investing in cybersecurity, last year poached Andy Ozment to become one its leading information-security executives.

Capital One Financial Corp. signage is displayed outside a bank branch in New York, U.S. Photographer: Mark Abramson/Bloomberg

Copyright 2022 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber
A New Orleans-based oil company has agreed to turn over a $432 million cleanup trust fund and pay an additional $43 million to settle a federal lawsuit over cleaning up abandoned wells leaking since 2004, federal prosecutors said.

This settlement represents an important down payment to address impacts from the longest-running oil spill in U.S. history, Nicole LeBoeuf, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agencys National Ocean Service, said in a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Attorneys for Taylor Oil Co., which agreed to drop three lawsuits challenging government cleanup orders and measures, did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. As is common in such agreements, the proposed settlement said Taylor does not admit any liability.

U.S. District Judge Greg Gerard Guidry will decide whether to approve the proposed consent decree after a 40-day public comment period.

Sixteen wells off Louisiana have been leaking since September 2004, when a subsea mudslide caused by Hurricane Ivan knocked over a Taylor production platform, dragging and breaking a cluster of pipes. Taylor plugged nine wells but has said it cannot plug the rest.

The settlement requires Taylor to drop its other lawsuits. In June, a federal appeals court agreed that a district judge was right to throw out a trespass suit against a federal contractor that created a system to capture most of the oil.

That system has captured and removed more than 800,000 gallons (3 million liters) of oil since April 2019, Coast Guard Capt. Will Watson, sector commander in New Orleans, said in the news release.

Despite being a catalyst for beneficial environmental technological innovation, the damage to our ecosystem caused by this 17-year-old oil spill is unacceptable, said Duane A. Evans, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Taylors website states that it sold all its oil and gas assets in 2008 and exists now only to respond to the toppled platform. The company has agreed to turn over all remaining assets after liquidation, the government said.

The trust fund was created to plug the wells, permanently decommission the facility and clean contaminated soil. One of Taylors suits, filed in 2016, sought to get back the remaining money, claiming regulators had broken the agreement requiring it to put $666 million into the fund.

The company also had appealed the Coast Guards rejection of its claim for $353 million in cleanup costs.

The trust fund will be transferred to the Department of the Interior under the settlement. The additional $43 million _ all of the companys remaining assets _ is for civil penalties, removal costs and natural resource damages, the news release said.

It includes a civil penalty of $15 million, $16.5 million for natural resources damage and more than $12 million for Coast Guard removal costs.

The company cannot interfere with the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcements decommissioning work or the Coast Guards oil containment and removal, and will turn over all studies, reports and other documents about the site.

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Topics Energy Oil Gas
President Joe Biden has declared a major disaster in Arkansas, making federal relief funding available in five north eastern counties hit by tornadoes that ripped through the Midwest and South this month.

The declaration opens grants for temporary housing, home repairs and other assistance to people affected by the swarm of twisters that left dozens dead across multiple states on Dec. 10 and 11.

The White House said in a statement that federal funding would be available to people in the counties of Craighead, Jackson, Mississippi, Poinsett, and Woodruff, and for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, thanked Biden for the quick response in a statement on Twitter Friday morning.

The weekend storms killed about 90 people in five states, including two in Arkansas. The National Weather Service recorded at least 41 tornadoes, with 16 in Tennessee and eight in Kentucky.

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Topics Mergers Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm
Crews extinguished a large fire at a Houston-area refinery that broke out early Dec. 23, injuring four people.

The fire started at about 1 a.m. at ExxonMobils refinery in Baytown, which is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Houston. Four people were injured but everyone else on site has been accounted for, said Rohan Davis, the refinerys manager.

Three of the injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter while the fourth was taken by ambulance, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said.

The cause of the fire is not yet known. ExxonMobil said air quality monitoring has not revealed any issues. No evacuations or shelter-in-place orders have been issued.

The refinery, located along the Houston Ship Channel, has the capacity to process up to 584,000 barrels of crude oil each day. It employs about 7,000 people, according to the companys website.

Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Texas
King Insurance, a Florida-based insurance broker and employee benefits firm, has acquired three agencies in Florida and Georgia, bringing to 11 the number of acquisitions for the company this year.

King, headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, said in news releases that it had acquired AGM Insurance Agency and Fordham Insurance Agency, both in Fort Lauderdale. Fordham and AGM were founded 33 years ago by Mitch and Ginger Renfroe. Fordham is the commercial lines division, while AGM is the personal lines division. The Fordhams said their team will continue operating in their current offices, servicing clients under the King Insurance moniker.

Last week, King also announced that it had acquired Piedmont Insurance Associates Inc., a commercial and personal lines agency based in Covington, Georgia. David Wilson is Piedmont principal. Phil Boswell is president. The agencys staff will continue operating out of their current locations in Georgia.

Founded in 1974, King calls itself a full-service insurance brokerage firm which provides a broad array of property and casualty insurance and employee benefits products.

Topics Mergers Agencies
Insurance rates in key lines for cannabis businesses may be heading up 10% or more next year.

That was one of the predictions made by an expert in the final Insuring Cannabis podcast of the year in which we interviewed Jay Virdi, chief sales officer of Hub Internationals specialty practices group, and Morgan Fox of the National Cannabis Industry, for a look ahead to what the new year will bring.

Fox discussed the outlook for laws and regulations next year, and offer his take on whether wed see any meaningful federal reform in 2022.

Virdi gave his outlook on insuring cannabis next year armed with a new survey of 200-plus cannabis insurance-focused professionals combined with other data, forecasting an even tougher market for cannabis business buyers next year.

Following are takeaways from that conversation.

Fox, who was asked the when will it be legalized question, sounded hopeful but also realistic about what the coming year, with an election timer on legalization, SAFE Banking, and the CLAIM Act, portends for these efforts.

Weve seen that in the past Democrats have been a little bit scared of working on or trying to pass cannabis issues or cannabis related legislation in the lead up to any elections because they are worried that it might hurt their chances at retaining control of either chamber, Fox said. I personally think that thats a misreading of the political tea leaves. That being said, I think that through the work of NCIA and other groups, were starting to make headway on convincing lawmakers that now is the perfect opportunity to be able to get this stuff passed.

Looking at the polling, it looks very likely the Republicans, a party that has been somewhat less receptive to legalization efforts, are going to retake one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.

Its going to be very difficult to be able to pass the cannabis policy reforms that we want to under Republican control of either chamber, he said. We really need to get the ball rolling now, and from my perspective and everything that Ive seen in the years that Ive been working on this issue, that supporting cannabis policy reform only helps peoples chances of re-election and in general their poll numbers across the board. This is something that were really trying to show to lawmakers so that we can get the ball rolling on at least some of these incremental reforms before the headwinds change.

Hub recently published a number of specialty practices blogs, one of which offered a look ahead at cannabis insurance in 2022. In it, Virdi and his associates polled the firms 200-plus brokers serving cannabis business clients and paired that with other information to come up with some impressive quantitative data that should be of particular interest to those who pay for policies: cyber coverage, for example, is expected to rise 30% or more, premiums for executive liability policies, including EPLI and D&O, are expected to increase 10% to 20%.



Cannabis property/casualty coverage is also expected to rise 10% to 20%, while businesses in catastrophe-prone areas will see increases of 20% and up.

The explanation for all of this is fairly simple.

Capacity is still very scarce, as all of these legislative issues come to, lets say, culmination, or as they continue to get pushed through the House, Virdi said. Theres a lot of barriers to the business growth as well as we continue to see a lot of mergers and acquisitions, and the cost of insurance, it continues to increase because theres just not any kind of enticement or even the legal bottle that a lot of reinsurers, insurance companies face for deploying their capacity because it still is an illegal substance and federally banned in the US. So that continues to be a very challenging uphill battle that we continue to face as retail insurance advisors.

Cannabis property/casualty coverage was atop a list of areas where cannabis business insurance buyers can expect some significant rate increases next year.

Well, its definitely challenging for the rates as theyre on the rise from 10 to 20% in the property and casualty side of cannabis as well, Virdi said. There are these very, very large facilities that continue to be erected and built as far as builders risk and course of constructions. And there are some claims that are starting to trickle in.

Related:

Topics Cannabis
In geographical terms, the War of Independence was defined by certain regions that experienced very high levels of violence and by other areas (far more typical) with relatively limited degrees.

Death, of course, provides the most quantifiable measure of extreme violence. Between 1919 and 1921, fatalities were noted by the military protagonists, in state records, by relatives of the victims, in burial records, and by local and national newspapers, so most conflict-related fatalities can be successfully identified in a host of available sources.

Recent research has revealed heavy concentrations of fatalities in the vicinity of the three major urban centres on the island  Cork, Dublin, and Belfast  making case studies of these three epicentres worthy of more detailed scrutiny.

In the case of Cork City, violence extended into the surrounding county to a greater degree than in the other two larger cities. Of all the counties, Cork recorded the highest number of deaths in absolute terms as well as more than one fifth of the total number of fatalities on the island during the War of Independence.

Peter Hart, as part of his pioneering 1998 thematic study of the Cork IRA, was the first scholar to enumerate all conflict-related deaths in the county between 1917 and 1923. Unfortunately, he did not publish a list of the names of victims (though scores of those killed appear in his text), so it is impossible to verify many of his findings concerning all of those killed.

In 2017, Barry Keane published a volume entitled Corks Revolutionary Dead, 1916-1923, returning 477 fatalities for the War of Independence period (up to the truce), but this included some deaths outside Cork such as Alderman Tadhg Barry who was killed at Ballykinlar Detention Camp, or George Tilson who committed suicide on a London-bound train.

The first version of our Cork Fatality Index recorded 528 deaths for this period when it was published online very shortly before Keanes volume appeared.

More recently, Eunan OHalpin and Daithi O Corrain in their book, The Dead of the Irish Revolution [2020] slightly raised the figure for this time frame to 534 for Co Cork.

But we are not in accord with some entries in this volume. For example, we dont believe that William Shields was captured and killed in Cork in the later stages of the War of Independence as claimed; Volunteer Frank Hurley has been counted twice (once as an unknown victim killed on the same date). And an unknown spy killed by the 5th Battalion of the Cork No 1 Brigade requires further verification in our view.

After taking account of new research and consulting new sources, we have revised our original estimate upwards to 539 conflict-related fatalities in Co Cork for the War of Independence.

The updated Cork Fatality Register remains, however, a work in progress, and will continue to be revised and updated based on public engagement. For example, we removed one entry from the Fatality Register when evidence was presented that this death occurred in another county (thanks to Dara McGrath for this correction).

We were also able to clarify and supplement other entries as new information came to light. We named, for example, two victims that had been listed as unidentified in our original list (two British soldiers in the Machine Gun Corps who are buried in Charleville).

The updated register also incorporates recently disclosed new evidence on the number of victims who were disappeared by the IRA in County Cork during the War of Independence.

Civilians accounted for over a third of fatalities In the past, there was greater focus on the republican dead of the Irish Revolution, and most other victims received much less attention or were even forgotten. But recent research has increasingly focused more broadly on the high level of civilian fatalities, which accounted for well over a third of all fatalities in Co Cork during the War of Independence. The deaths of republicans such as lord mayor Tomas Mac Curtain (whose funeral cortege is pictured here turning from St Patrick's Street on to Grand Parade in Cork in 1920) are well remembered, but historians are working to record other conflict-related fatalities. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive This high percentage was partially due to more ruthless targeting of spies and informers by the Cork IRA. It also reflects counterinsurgency measures by crown forces in which civilians were killed, such as shootings during curfews and at city checkpoints or rural road blocks. But despite this high death toll, it should be noted that civilian fatalities in Co Cork were lower than in Dublin, and markedly lower than in Antrim, where civilian sectarian killing constituted the dominant category of victim. In Co Cork, by contrast, the majority of victims in the War of Independence were the military protagonists, with crown forces accounting for 42% of all victims, and Volunteers for 26%. During the truce period (between July 11, 1921, and the outbreak of the Civil War in June 1922), fatality levels in Co Cork declined dramatically relative to those experienced during the War of Independence. Nonetheless, a low level of killing continued, with a notable rise in the civilian share of fatalities. Some 60% of the 53 people who lost their lives during the truce were civilians. These civilian deaths included those that occurred during the Dunmanway massacre in late April 1922, when 13 Protestants were shot dead in West Cork by anti-Treaty IRA members without local leadership approval. As a response to the death of a single Volunteer, these sectarian reprisal attacks, which took place during the final stages of the British withdrawal, were quite exceptional in their ferocity. Though the attacks shook the confidence of the West Cork Protestant population, they were not repeated. More typically, fatalities during the Truce occurred in episodes where only a single person was killed. While Co Cork witnessed a higher level of disappearances during the truce than in other counties, this was at far lower levels than during the last year of the War of Independence. The funeral of a British soldier passing along Lower Glanmire Rd in Cork City in 1921. The Cork Fatality Register (see link below) is being updated to record all conflict-related deaths in the Irish War of Independence. Picture: Irish Examiner Archive

As the Cork Fatality Register demonstrates, most fatalities between 1919 and June 1922 occurred during episodes when only one or two people died. However, there were many individual incidents where larger numbers were killed.

The Kilmichael Ambush in November 1920 stands out as exceptionally violent considering the number of combatants killed, but episodes like the Battle of Clonmult in east Cork on February 20, 1921, also resulted in the death of a high number of IRA Volunteers. The Upton train ambush five days earlier led to many civilian fatalities, and the IRA mine attack on the Hampshire Regiment in Youghal produced high fatalities among these British soldiers.

 The newly revised Cork Fatality Register, which now also includes fatalities in Cork during the Irish Civil War, is available to search at www.ucc.ie/en/theirishrevolution.

Bitter debates set the scene for the Civil War by Daniel McConnell, Political Editor Leaders of the first Dail in 1919 including, side-by-side in the front row, Michael Collins, Cathal Brugha, Arthur Griffith. and Eamon de Valera. A short few years later, they were at war after the bitter split over the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Picture: General Photographic Agency/Getty ON DECEMBER 14, 1921, Dail Eireann assembled for the first of nine days of sittings in University College Dublin to decide whether the Treaty of Peace with Great Britain should or should not be ratified. With thousands of people thronged outside, two spacious rooms in the rooms of Earlsfort Terrace were the setting for the historic Dail debates on the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in London eight days previously. The once largely united republican movement now stood bitterly divided. Such divisions were to play out in the glare of the worlds media: A battalion of Pressmen  and Presswomen  had assembled. Restricted to space, they were crowded like sardines. They represented newspapers in every civilised portion of this globe. Through them news of the meeting was flashed to the ends of the earth. So wrote reporter John Boyle of the opening days proceedings. International pressmen and press women had assembled, restricted to space, they were crowded in like sardines. They represented newspapers in every civilised portion of the globe. Through them, use of the meeting was flashed to the ends of the earth, reporter John Boyle wrote of the opening days proceedings. THE DEBATE OPENS Foreign affairs minister Arthur Griffith, who had led the Irish delegation, rose to move the motion on the Treaty. I move the motion standing in my name: That Dail Eireann approves of the Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, signed in London on December 6, 1921, he said. Griffith made the case for the Treaty and those who negotiated it, hitting out at those including Eamon de Valera who refused to go to London and face the likes of David Lloyd George, Lord Birkenhead, and Winston Churchill. We have made a bargain. We have brought it back. We did not seek to act as the plenipotentiaries; other men were asked and other men refused. We went We have brought back the flag; we have brought back the evacuation of Ireland after 700 years by British troops; and the formation of an Irish army. We have brought back to Ireland her full rights and powers of fiscal control, he said. Hitting back at the criticism levelled at him, Griffith said: It was said that I was a weak man in the negotiations in London and that I and my colleague and friend, Michael Collins, gave something away... He was the man who won the war. Harry Boland, Michael Collins, Eamon de Valera, and Eamon Duggan pictured at the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis on February 21, 1922. Picture: Walshe/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Then President de Valera stood up and made clear his opposition to the Treaty. I am against this Treaty because it does not reconcile Irish national aspirations with association with the British Government. I am against this Treaty, not because I am a man of war, but a man of peace. I am against this Treaty because it will not end the centuries of conflict between the two nations of Great Britain and Ireland, he said. Michael Collins, described by press reporters as an uneven speaker, did manage to articulate in eloquent terms what the Treaty meant for him: I do not recommend this Treaty for more than it is. Equally I do not recommend it for less than it is. In my opinion it gives us freedom, not the ultimate freedom that all nations desire and develop to, but the freedom to achieve it, he stressed. RATTLING THE BONES OF THE DEAD With passions running high, several deputies sought to invoke the memory of their dead relatives who had died in 1916 at the hands of the British. One was Kathleen OCallaghan, widow of Michael OCallaghan. On December 20, she said in a blistering speech: Since I came up to Dublin for this Session I have been told, with a view to changing my vote, I suppose, that my husband, Michael OCallaghan, was never a Republican. I challenge any Deputy in this Dail to deny my husbands devotion to the Republic, a devotion he sealed with his blood. Pro-Treaty TD Finian Lynch responded by saying: We have had a great deal of emotional speeches about the dead. The bones of the dead have been rattled indecently in the face of this assembly. Margaret Pearse, mother of Padraig Pearse spoke strongly against the Treaty: It has been said here on several occasions that Padraig Pearse would have accepted this Treaty. I deny it. As his mother I deny it, and on his account I will not accept it, she said. One Deputy mentioned here about rattling the bones of the dead. I only wish we could recall them. Remember, the day will come  soon, I hope, Free State or otherwise  when those bones shall be lifted as if they were the bones of saints. We wont let them rattle. No! but we will hold what they upheld. DEBATING THE OATH AND THE REPUBLIC Predictably enough, the status of the new proposed Irish Free State in relation to the British Empire dominated the debates. Central to the division was the controversial oath of allegiance and just what it meant. In defending the proposed wording, Griffith called on TDs to see what the oath is, to read it, not to misunderstand or misrepresent it. It is an oath that any Irishman could take with honour. We have done the best we could for Ireland, he said. Eamon De Valera was having none of it. To Griffith, he said: You were prepared to accept the King of Great Britain as King of Ireland, under promise to keep faith with him as if he had a national right to expect faith from you. You will swear allegiance to that Constitution and to that King. Alluding to his decision not to go to London he said: The members of the Dail know that one of the reasons why I did not go to London was that I wanted to keep that symbol of the Irish Republic pure  even from insinuation  lest any word across the table from me would, in any sense, give away the Republic. Backing up his chief, Harry Boland said he was opposed to the Treaty as it denied a recognition of the Irish nation: I object to it on the ground of principle, and my chief objection is because I am asked to surrender the title of Irishman and accept the title of West Briton "With this Treaty, we are asked to commit suicide and I cannot do it." THE ULSTER QUESTION Looking back with the benefit of 100 years reflection, it is surprising how little time of the debates were spent discussing the issue of the North. Anti-Treaty TD Sean MacEntee asked when the achievement of our nations unification cease to be one of our national aspirations. Referring to comments from Lloyd George made in the House of Commons about the Boundary Commission proposal to resolve the border issue, MacEntee said the real purpose of the Boundary Commission was not to bring the Six Counties into Ireland, but to enable them to remain out of Ireland. "I tell you what England propose to do. She has robbed you of your territory to settle it upon her new Cromwellians and is asking you now to give her the title deeds." THE CHRISTMAS BREAK Initial hopes that a vote on the Treaty could have taken place before Christmas were abandoned and TDs returned home. On their reconvening in the New Year, faced with the passions of their constituents, a change in the mood was apparent. Roscommon TD Daniel ORourke spoke on how the views of those close to him led him to backing the Treaty. When I came here first I was opposed to the Treaty, and on principle I am opposed to it still, he said. I returned to my constituency at Christmas and I went there to the people who had been with me in the fight, the people whose opinion I valued, the people who are, I believe, diehards; and I consulted them about this question and unanimously they said to me that there was no alternative but to accept the Treaty, he added. BRUGHA ATTACKS COLLINS With the end of the debate looming, it fell to Cathal Brugha to close the argument for the anti-Treaty side. Instead of concentrating on the primary flaws of the agreement, he chose to launch an invective against Collins and the role he played in the negotiations. Arthur Griffith referred to Mr Michael Collins as the man who won the war. It is necessary for me, as Minister for Defence, to define Michael Collins position in the army. One of the heads of the sub-sections in the department is Mr Michael Collins  he is merely a subordinate in the Department of Defence, he barbed. He said he could not praise too highly the work done by the headquarters staff: they worked conscientiously and patriotically for Ireland without seeking any notoriety, with one exception. One member was specially selected by the Press and the people and put into a position which he never held; he was made a romantic figure, a mystical character... The gentleman I refer to is Mr Michael Collins, he said with venom. THE VOTE On Saturday January 7, 1922, with all the speeches all but over, the looming vote on the document by Dail Eireann moved into focus. Eoin Mac Neill, as speaker, convened the vote of the deputies who said Is Toil if in favour and Ni Toil if opposed. Later, he announced: The result of the poll is 64 for approval and 57 against. That is a majority of seven in favour of approval of the Treaty. Having lost the vote, de Valera made clear his intentions. It will, of course, be my duty to resign my office as Chief Executive. There is one thing I want to say  I want it to go to the country and to the world, and it is this: the Irish people established a Republic. The Republic can only be disestablished by the Irish people. Therefore, until such time as the Irish people disestablish it, this Republic goes on, he said ominously. In response, Collins said he did not regard the passing of this thing as being any kind of triumph over the other side. He urged that despite the split, that attempts be made to ensure public safety: I will do my best in the future, as I have done in the past, for the nation. Whether there is something contentious about the Republic  about the Government in being  or not, we should unite on this: that we will all do our best to preserve the public safety. In times of change like this, when countries change from peace to war or war to peace, there are always elements that make for disorder and that make for chaos. Some kind of understanding ought to be reached to preserve the present order in the country, at any rate over the weekend, he pleaded. On January 10, 1922, following de Valeras resignation and subsequent failure to be re-elected, Griffith became President of Dail Eireann. In protest, de Valera and his supporters then left the Dail. As they were leaving, an angry Collins shouted, Deserters all to the Irish nation in her hour of trial.

The country would soon be plunged into a bitter 10-month Civil War, the scars of which have lingered for the past century.
Bar the consistent boom of transatlantic jets passing overhead from Shannon Airport, which is just up the road, the rural area of Ballycalla, Co Clare, is as peaceful a place as you would fine anywhere in this country. The occasional tractor rumbles along, cows loll in the fields, and the River Fergus sweeps past to merge with the Shannon. Social life centres around St Conaires Church and the Honk Bar.

Inishmacnaghton is one of several spellings for this 285-acre Co Clare island, which has had numerous variations including Inchevicknaghten, Enishmcnaghten, and Inish Mheic Neachtain. It is a flat island, exclusively farmland, and rich in alluvial soils from the river. A short causeway connects it to the mainland, but is only accessible at low tide. A solitary house stands on it today, like the little house on the prairie. However, the population was 12 in 1841.

Into this tranquility on December 28, 1946, burst the worst nightmare of every airline passenger: a fatal crash. It is now 75 years since that evening when the TWA flight from Paris to New York crashed very near Shannon Airport.

People walk among the wreckage of the stricken TWA flight 'Star of Cairo ' near Shannon Airport in December 1946.

On its approach to the airport, The Star of Cairo overshot the runway and circled for a second attempt, but a faulty altimeter saw it fly drastically low. The wing touched the ground at Inishmacnaghton and the plane broke up on impact. Of the 23 people on board, 13 were killed. There were 14 passengers: nine French, four Americans, and a Pole. The pilot, Herbert W Tansey, survived but lost a leg.

One report stated: The impact was so violent that the back of the plane was broken and dead and survivors and pieces of the dead were hurled through the rupture.

It went on to say there was a thunderous explosion, which shook the windows of the airport, and flames roared 50ft into the air.

Ballycalla man Mike Mulvihill says there are still local people alive who remember the awful night. Bodies were brought across the narrow channel of the Fergus to the morgue in Shannon. Survivors were rushed to hospital in Ennis.

The central section of the plane fared worst, with the rear and cockpit both having survivors.

It took rescuers over two hours to reach the injured in the middle of the winter night, as Inishmacnaghton is flanked along one side by a moat-like river channel thick with mud.

The manner in which the dead and injured were all got out of the island in the darkness is the finest tribute to the noble and self-sacrificing work of all the voluntary helpers, said a Dr OKeeffe who attended the scene.

The dead included Peter Dreyfuss, whose father Alfred was the French artillery officer at the centre of the infamous scandal in 1894 that inspired novelist Emile Zola to write his famous article JAccuse, pointing the finger at the deep anti-Semitism within the French army. Alfred was transported to Devils Island in French Guiana, where he was incarcerated for five years.

The officer who had passed on confidential French military information to the German embassy, Esterhazy, was exonerated. Peter had collected all of his fathers papers with a view to publishing them.

One of the survivors was schoolboy

Jean Claude Zelaznegora, whose mother perished in the disaster. The next thing I knew was to be surrounded by flames. I found my mother and she knew she was doomed, the child told a newspaper.

Unable to speak English, Jean was cared for by a local nurse, who became a lifelong friend of the family.

When Mike Mulvihill visited him in New York in 2016, the by now elderly Jean told him it was his first contact with anyone about the crash. He told Mike that he had built a new life for himself and erased from his memory all that had gone before.

The stewardess, Kay Ferguson of New York, was credited with preventing a greater loss of life. Thanks to her we were ready for the worst when the worst came, said a survivor.

Unlike other air disasters in Ireland, there is no memorial to the TWA Flight 6963 that crashed at Inishmacnaghton.

How to get there: 2km west of Shannon Airport, but privately owned.

Other: logainm.ie; An Officer and a Spy, Robert Harris, Arrow Books, 2014.
Books Pro-Military at Heart, Myanmar Ex-Minister Once Dubbed a Reformer Reveals True Colors

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with U Soe Thane at the Oslo Forum in June 2012. / Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norway

As a minister in the previous military-proxy U Thein Sein administration, U Soe Thane once fooled the world into thinking that Myanmar had reached a watershed moment, touting the end of the countrys decade-long military dictatorship and presenting an image of a government that was reform-minded on every front.

He attended the Davos economic forum. Whenever he met international executives and political leaders at home or abroad who were doubtful of the countrys sudden opening up in 2011, he assuaged their doubts, insisting that Myanmar was changing and asking for their help. To convince the skeptical, the former admiral offered international guarantees that the comprehensive reform initiatives undertaken to achieve democratization in his country were irreversible.

A member of the former junta that ceded power to U Thein Sein in early 2011, he developed an image as a reformist minister taking steps to help Myanmar reengage with the world as part of the political, economic and social reforms launched by general-turned-president U Thein Sein. Historian Thant Myint-U, who served as an adviser to that administration, called him the principle architect of the normalization of ties with the West in his latest book, The Hidden History of Burma.

The mask slipped 10 years later, however, when U Soe Thane finally showed his true colors by wholeheartedly supporting the Myanmar militarys latest coup early this year. On Feb. 1, the military (or Tatmadaw) seized power from the countrys democratically elected government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD), which had assumed power from the U Thein Sein administration after a landslide electoral victory in 2015. The putsch not only ended the countrys democratic interlude after less than a decade, but also plunged Myanmar into social and political turmoil. More than 1,300 people have been killed so far by the regime, mostly for their anti-junta activism.

The old soldiers revelation appeared in his latest book, The Second Democratic Government and Myanmar, referring to the term of the NLD government under Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from 2016 to 2020. For unknown reasons, the two-volume book in Burmese is not publicly available. According to a copy viewed by The Irrawaddy, the first volume was published in October 2020 and the second in August 2021seven months after the takeover.

Independence was restored on Feb. 1, 2021

In the second volume, the author praises coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaings seizure of power from the NLD as a very smart move. Recalling the fateful day when Myanmar was again shrouded under the cloak of military dictatorship, the former admiral cant hide his elation at the takeover. He writes: Our Myanmars independence was restored on Feb. 1, 2021. For those who were once convinced by his talk of irreversible democratization and reform, there is a clear lesson to be learned from the remark: Whenever someone with ties to Myanmars military preaches democracy or reforms, they are lying.

As the title suggests, U Soe Thanes latest book is about the NLD government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The second volume largely focuses on controversies surrounding both the campaign period and the days following the 2020 general election, in which the NLD won another landslide victory. The military justified its coup by accusing the NLD of misusing power while in government and orchestrating vote fraud during the election; the author echoes these claims by Min Aung Hlaing.

U Soe Thane was named industry minister in U Thein Seins cabinet when the latter took office in 2011 and was widely viewed as corrupt. Later he was appointed as one of the Presidents Office ministers and economic czar, and became, Burmas main cheerleader abroad, speaking frankly but optimistically about the countrys prospect as Thant Myint-U puts it in his latest book.

In 2016, when U Thein Seins government was succeeded by the NLD administration in the wake of the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP)s election defeat the previous year, U Soe Thane became an opposition lawmaker, affording him the opportunity to assess the NLD governments performance. For this reason, if he had chosen to offer an objective, fact-based analysis, his account of this period could have been of great interest. Indeed, in his preface the author says the book is aimed at future historians, scholars and anyone who is interested in Myanmar politics, with no ulterior motives.

But the book turns out to be nothing more than an effort to disparage the NLD government and praise the U Thein Sein administration for its achievements, while making personal attacks on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and stoking nationalism by claiming that Buddhism in Myanmar was under threat during the NLDs rule.

Its true that the NLD government had some flaws, and there were some positive national developments during U Thein Seins tenure. But readers shouldnt be misled: when the former general launched his reforms in 2011, he had nearly all the nations resources at his disposal. The ministries were largely led by former military men, and the leadership of their departments had already been packed with ex-servicemen. More importantly, the military was on his side.

When the NLD took over in March 2016, all Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had to work with was the people who had supported her up to that point, and a group of freshly appointed cabinet members. Its an open secret that implementation of some NLD government policies was hampered by permanent secretaries and top officials appointed by the previous government, who remained resistant to change. Then-NLD secretariat member U Win Htein said in 2017: They are like old horses trained by the previous people. We are the new jockeys riding old horses, trying very hard to take them in the direction we want. Its annoying. Of course, you wont learn this from U Soe Thanes book; he is only interested in praising his ex-boss U Thein Sein while glossing over the tainted legacy he left behind. Anyone who has read U Soe Thanes 2018 book Myanmars Transition & U Thein Sein: An Insiders Account knows this proclivity well.

Living by the old regimes playbook

Another big disappointment for readers is that the book is teeming with passages copied and pasted from reports and Facebook posts written by NLD opponents, nationalists and military sympathizers, which the author relies on heavily to support his claims and smear the NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Some of these posts were evidently a factor in the militarys decision to stage the coup, containing claims that the NLD planned to try the military leadership before judges from the International Criminal Court in Naypyitaw after forming the new government on Feb. 1, with messages such as: 36 top generals from the military, including former dictator Than Shwe, will be sentenced to death!

At one point, U Soe Thane claims Daw Aung San Suu Kyi sent a letter to Wakar Uddin, director general of the Arakan Rohingya Union, a group working to protect the rights of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. As published in the book, in the undated letter, she asks, in her capacity as a Lower House candidate for the Kawhmu Township constituency and the NLD leader, for the Rohingya activists support for her party. According to U Soe Thane, she told the activist that if the NLD won, it would enact a new law that would heavily punish any Myanmar people, under religious and racial hate crime laws, who discriminated against Rohingya people.

The letter purportedly continues: To change Myanmar in that way, our NLD has to win the election. The party is seriously in need of assistance from foreigners who want change in Myanmar. Thats why I need your help as well.

Its clear that the author intentionally published such unsubstantiated information to drive a wedge between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters at home, as the Rohingya issue is a simmering one in Myanmar. Furthermore, U Soe Thane seeks to portray Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as an untrustworthy figure who cultivates foreigners to advance her own interests. If that was indeed the authors aim, suffice it to say that he should be more creative next time, because its a well-worn tacticone the previous regime used repeatedly starting in 1988 to delude the public. Unfortunately, it has never worked; her electoral victories in 1990, 2012, 2015 and 2020 are evidence of the unwavering popular support she enjoys to this day.

However, there are some people who buy such unfounded information. Enter U Thein Nyunt and Mahn Nyein Maungan NLD renegade and an U Thein Sein apologist, respectively. Now the duo are both devotees of coup leader Min Aung Hlaing and members of the regimes governing State Administration Council (SAC).

In their forewords to the book, these junta proponents express shock at the authors unsupported revelation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis correspondence on the Rohingya issue. U Thein Nyunt writes: I couldnt believe my eyes to learn about the steps taken by the group, so disloyal to the country they would sell it for their own interests, while Mahn Nyein Maung describes the alleged letter as an insult to the state and the people, before adding our people still fail to see her true character. Unsurprisingly, these birds of a feather sing from the same hymn sheet.

While U Soe Thane badmouths the NLD government and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in his book, he carefully avoids saying anything that could be viewed as a direct call for a coup in the first volume, which he finished writing in April 2020. Instead, he devotes a whole chapter in the first volume to painstakingly listing every tension between the NLD lawmakers and military representatives in Parliament. These range from the naming of a vice president to the creation of the State Counselor position for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to the NLDs efforts to amend the constitution. The Tatmadaws representatives in Parliament complained that these moves were unconstitutional: a red line for the military, which regards itself as the guardian of the constitution. As evidence for his claims that the NLD government breached the constitution and the public was unhappy with its performance, he relies on pro-military, anti-Suu Kyi and anti-NLD social media posts.

However, in the second volume, which he started writing after the coup, the former admiral, who was once dubbed a reformer, no longer attempts to hide the fact that he had longed for military intervention since a few days after the NLD took office. In April 2016, when the NLD named a vice president and submitted the State Counselor Law, creating Daw Aung San Suu Kyis position, to the Parliament, the military complained that both breached the charter. The NLD prevailed, however, thanks to its parliamentary majority.

On both occasions, U Soe Thane writes in the second volume, The military should have taken the opportunity to make things right, as the constitution had been violated, before adding, Most of us [in the opposition] couldnt tolerate it [the enactment of the State Counselor Law], wishing the military would set the country in the right direction.

Make things right and set the country in the right direction? The Myanmar people, who have lived under successive military rulers, fully understand these seemingly innocuous statements. They are nothing but military euphemisms for stage a coup.

All in all, just as a leopard cant change its spots, U Soe Thanes The Second Democratic Government and Myanmar is a testament to the fact that he has always been a supporter of military dictatorship at heart, despite the veneer of a reform-minded minister he adopted 10 years ago. The book is essentially a confession by the 73-year-old authorwho, after all, was once a member of Myanmars previous military junta under Than Shwethat he retains that regimes mindset, choosing to ignore the election result and believing that only the military can pull the country back from the abyss. Reading it should provoke considerable shame in those supporters who once hailed him as a reformer.

Worst of all, he heartily praises Min Aung Hlaings takeover, which led to an ongoing bloodbath that has taken more than 1,300 lives so far. If the coup leader is guilty of the crime, U Soe Thane is his accomplice. His book provides ample evidence for all to see.

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In early 2010, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a symbol of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa who died on Sunday aged 90, gave an exclusive interview to The Irrawaddy. He dismissed the elections that had been announced for later that year by Myanmars then-ruling junta as undemocratic for excluding his fellow Nobel Peace laureate, future State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and sent a message of encouragement to her and her followers. Tutu showered Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with praise when he met her at her home in Yangon in 2013, but in 2017 expressed disappointment at her handling of the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine State. To mark Tutus passing, The Irrawaddy republishes the 2010 interview here.

In a message of encouragement to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, South African Archbishop Emeritus and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu said he looks forward to traveling to Rangoon to join you in your celebrations when you, my sister, are inaugurated as the true, freely elected leader of Burma.

Tutu addressed his fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate in an interview with The Irrawaddy, in which he also dismissed the planned 2010 general election as a charade.

Desmond Tutu (Photo: Reuters)

Tutu asked: How can you claim to hold a free democratic election when the leader of the main opposition which won a landslide victory in the last truly democratic and free election is excluded and where the election commissioners will be handpicked by the junta?

The full text of The Irrawaddys exclusive interview with Tutu:

QUESTION: Under President Obamas administration, the US has adopted a direct engagement policy with the Burmese regime. But so far, after numerous meetings, there are no signs of progress, only more repression. What are your thoughts on the US engagement policy?

ANSWER: It is just possible that after a tough sanctions policy, a softer approach just might bring about movement. I am somewhat doubtful and it seems Secretary Campbell [Assistant US Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell] has similar doubts. What we want is positive change and [we] will sing Alleluia when Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners are released and democracy is given a real chance, by whatever means. That is the goal.

Q: You have long advocated a tough sanctions policy on the regime. In 2005, you and former Czech President Vaclav Havel commissioned a report calling for UN Security Council action against the junta. However, Burmas neighbors continue to trade and engage the regime. What are your recommendations to the West, the UN, and neighboring countries, including China, India and the Asean nations?



A: The aim surely must be to see democracy revived and flourishing in Burma. Remember what happened in South Africa. The apartheid government was intransigent and we called for sanctions. Many Western governments did not heed our plea, including the Reagan administration. But when the US applied those sanctions, apartheid crumbled. Sanctions when applied consistently do work and they are a nonviolent means to end oppression. Governments should ask themselves, on whose side are we? If the opposition calls for sanctions then who are outsiders to say, Sanctions hurt the people we want to help?

Q: There are consistent reports of human rights violations committed by the Burmese armed forces: rape and religious persecution in ethnic war zones and minority areas and forced recruitment of child soldiers, to name a few. Do you see any way to apply more force/pressure to halt such abuses?



A: Yes, end the rule of the brutal military junta and impress on them that they are going to be indicted before the International Criminal Court for all their gross violations of human rights and their crimes against humanity.

Q: The regime will hold an election in 2010 and has just announced the election law. Many people doubt that the election will be free, fair and inclusive. How do you view the election?



A: This is no free election. It is a charade.

How can you claim to hold a free democratic election when the leader of the main opposition which won a landslide victory in the last truly democratic and free election is excluded and where the election commissioners will be handpicked by the junta? How could they ever be evenhanded? We are more likely to find snow in hell than free democratic elections in Burma under the present dispensation.

Q: What is your message to Aung San Suu Kyi and more than 2,000 political prisoners, and the millions of oppressed people of Burma who suffer at the hands of the regime?

Despite the strong support of the international community for Burmas non-violent struggle for democracy, the movement is losing its effectiveness in opposing the regimes authoritarianism. Can you share your experience of non-violent struggle in South Africa?

A: My dear Sister Nobel Laureate, my dear sisters and brothers in Burma, we admire your courage and determination. This is a moral universe. Right and wrong matter. We used to tell our people even in the darkest times in South Africa that the perpetrators of injustice have already lost despite their guns and their military and police might. They have already lost because they are on the side of injustice, oppression and evil.

You are on the winning side. One day we will come to Rangoon to join you in your celebrations when you, my sister, are inaugurated as the true, freely elected leader of Burma just as Nelson Mandela came out of jail and became our leader. The perpetrators of injustice and oppression will bite the dust as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. God bless you all.
Burma China Provides Submarine to Myanmar Junta

The Myanmar Navy's new submarine, Min Ye Kyaw Htin. / Myawady

Myanmar last week took possession of a submarine from China at a ceremony in Yangon presided over by coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The commissioning ceremony was timed to coincide with the 74th anniversary of the founding of the Myanmar Navy.

Named Min Ye Kyaw Htin, the Ming-class Type 035 diesel electric submarine is intended to serve a dual function: as a stopgap attack submarine, and as a training vessel. China is one of the key suppliers of military hardware to Myanmars armed forces, including jet fighters and naval ships. Myanmar has also purchased advanced jet fighters from Russia and Pakistan.

This additional sign of Chinas support for the junta will no doubt anger Myanmar citizens, who have protested Beijings failure to condemn the Feb. 1 military takeover.

Large anti-China protests broke out in Yangon and elsewhere in the wake of the coup, and some 13 or 14 Chinese-backed factories in Myanmars commercial hub have been damaged or targeted in arson attacks. Pro-democracy protesters have also called on the public to oppose all Chinese projects and boycott products made in its northern neighbor.

Myanmar began studying the possibility of buying a submarine in 2005; two years later it sent naval officers to countries friendly to the then-ruling regime, including India, for training.

In 2019, Myanmar bought a second-hand submarine from India, which is now in operation. The Soviet-manufactured Kilo-class submarine, renamed Min Ye Thein Kha Thu in Myanmar, was refurbished by Indian state-run defense shipbuilder Hindustan Shipyard. With a maximum operating depth of 300 meters and a top speed of 18 knots, the vessel was Myanmars first submarine.

The purchase did not go unnoticed in Beijing: In October last year the Chinese government mouthpiece Global Times took a jab at both Myanmar and India over the issue.

In an article headlined, Hyping China influence in India  Myanmar submarine deal attempts to provoke: experts, it opined, India wants to get rid of a retired and outdated submarine, and Myanmar needs one to train its soldiers.

The article goes on to cite Chinese analysts doubts over the functionality of the submarine, which India insists will serve the Myanmar military until at least 2030 after refitting.

Ridiculing India and Myanmar, the Global Times asserted that the submarine served in [the] Indian army for more than 30 years, entering the end of a submarines lifeand the refitting only gave it refurbishment, but did not upgrade its system and facilities.

According to military officers who spoke to The Irrawaddy in 2020, cost was always a major issue; wary of blundering into an inappropriate purchase, Myanmars generals made a thorough study of the submarines on offer from various countries.

In the late 2000s, Myanmar short-listed four regime friendly countries, Russia, China, India and North Korea, and dispatched delegations to study the possibility of purchasing a discountedor, as the Global Times put it, retired and outdatedsubmarine.

The deal to purchase the Ming-class submarine was reached in secret with Beijing over the past year. In the past, Myanmar is believed to have balked at a Chinese condition that its technicians be allowed to maintain any vessels it provides. It is not clear whether this condition was attached this time.

Myanmars navy plans to expand its fleet of both surface vessels and submarines. It now has the capability to build frigates and has begun doing so.

Having purchased two submarines, the Tatmadaw, Myanmars military, is now in negotiations with Russia to acquire one of its Project 636 Improved Kilo submarines, according to informed sources.

During last weeks commissioning ceremony, Major Yan Naing Tun, the commanding officer of the Min Ye Kyaw Htin, told junta media Myawady that the addition of the new submarine would allow the Myanmar navy to engage in three-dimensional warfare.



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Burma Myanmar Junta Court Postpones Suu Kyi Verdict For Second Time

Myanmar State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (center) in 2019. / State Counselors Office

A junta court in Naypyitaw has again postponed giving a verdict in the trial of detained State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on two charges of the possession and illegal importation of walkie-talkies.

The verdict has now been postponed until January 10. Sources close to the court told The Irrawaddy that the judges gave no reason on Monday for delaying the verdict for the second time. The verdict was originally delayed from December 20 until Monday.

Earlier this month, the military regime sentenced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison, which was later halved to two years, on charges of incitement and breaches of COVID-19 regulations. It was the first verdict handed down since she was detained in the February 1 coup that overthrew the elected civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) government.

After the sentence, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court wearing the prison uniform of a white top and brown longyi.

The two cases for the alleged illegal importation and possession of walkie-talkies under the Export and Import Law are among 10 others that she faces. If convicted for the two offences, she could be sentenced to up to four years in prison.

Junta forces raided Daw Aung San Suu Kyis residence in Naypyitaw in the early morning of February 1 ahead of the coup, without a search warrant, and alleged that they found prohibited walkie-talkies on the premises.

Five police officers testified for the prosecution in the two cases. But their testimony of where and from whom they seized the walkie-talkies differed, according to sources close to the court.

On Monday, the court in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw also heard video testimony from the ousted Mandalay chief minister Dr. Zaw Myint Maung, who is also a vice-chairman of the NLD, in another case alleging that the State Counselor broke COVID-19 rules during the 2020 general election campaign, when she visited NLD members in Naypyitaws Zabuthiri Township.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi faces a potential combined prison term of over 100 years on multiple charges, which are widely believed to be politically motivated and an attempt by the junta to exclude her from politics permanently.



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Burma Myanmar Regime Continues to Shell Karen State Border Town

Junta soldiers in Lay Kay Kaw on Dec. 14.

The Myanmar junta launched fresh artillery attacks in Karen States Lay Kay Kaw new town near the Thai border in the wee hours on Monday, amid intensified fighting between the regime and the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) as more junta troops advanced to nearby Mae Htaw Talay.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) in Palu and Mae Htaw Talay villages told The Irrawaddy that the sounds of heavy weaponry could be heard from 4 a.m. Monday.

We heard at least 40 rounds of artillery shelling and the fighting is still going on, a local witness said at noon on Monday. We could not sleep last night and we heard more [junta] troops have arrived in the area, the local resident said.

Fighting has been going on at the southeastern border for two weeks, since junta troops raided Lay Kay Kaw on Dec. 14 alleging that democracy activists and members of Peoples Defense Force (PDF) civilian resistance groups were hiding there.

Following reported heavy fatalities among regime troops in clashes with a combined force of KNLA and PDF fighters, the Myanmar junta conducted air strikes on Lay Kay Kaw and surrounding areas near the Thai border from Thursday to Saturday.

The militarys intensified offensives have displaced more than 10,000 villagers, with nearly half fleeing to Thailand.

According to local Thai authorities in Tak, as of Sunday, 5,358 villagers from Myanmar had crossed the Moei River seeking refuge on Thai soil, The Bangkok Post reported.

As the clashes along the border escalate, reports of stray bullets and grenades from across the border have also increased in Thailand, particularly in Tak provinces Mae Sot and Phop Phra districts.

Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha said his government would warn Myanmar combatants not to let the conflict spill over into Thai territory.

Over the weekend, security authorities in Mae Sot district beefed up forces on the border and deployed field doctors to help refugees in need of medical treatment, but with strict COVID-19 measures in place.

Meanwhile, thousands more people are internally displaced and stranded on the Moei River bank on the Myanmar side with humanitarian assistance needed on a large scale.

The junta raids and clashes followed the juntas accusation that the Karen National Union (KNU), Myanmars oldest revolutionary force, was supporting and sheltering striking civil servants and anti-regime armed resistance groups. The KNLA is the armed wing of the KNU.



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Burma United Nations Condemns Myanmar Juntas Massacre of Civilians

The remains of vehicles burned out by junta soldiers in Hpruso Township, Kayah State, last Friday. / KNDF

The United Nations has called for an investigation into a massacre of displaced civilians in Kayah State, eastern Myanmar, and condemned the incident

Around 35 civilians, including women and children, were killed and burned in seven vehicles by junta soldiers on Friday near Moso village in Hpruso Township, Kayah State, according to the Karenni Nationalities Defense Forces (KNDF), an alliance of armed resistance groups fighting the regime.

The UNs Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said he was horrified by the reports of massacred civilians, including at least one child.

I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country, which are prohibited under international humanitarian law, said the British diplomat.

He called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the attack to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The massacre happened after an hourlong battle between junta troops and the KNDF. Soldiers detained villagers near Moso and burned them with seven vehicles and five motorbikes, according to the KNDF, which was formed after the coup to resist military rule.

Four members of the Karenni Nationalities Peoples Liberation Front were tied up and shot in the head while they were negotiating with junta forces for the release of the 35 civilians, according to the ethnic armed group.

The group agreed a ceasefire with the former junta in 1994 and was transformed into a border guard force under military supervision.

It condemned Fridays crimes against civilians and its members.

Two members of the international humanitarian group Save the Children were caught up in the incident and are missing.

The charity confirmed that the staffs vehicle was attacked and burned out.

We are horrified at the violence carried out against innocent civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar, said Inger Ashing, chief executive of Save the Children.

It said at least 38 people, including women and children, were killed in the incident.

The Karenni State Consultative Council said the villagers were burned alive after being tied up in the vehicles. The council was formed in April by elected lawmakers and representatives of political parties, ethnic armed organizations and civil-society groups.

The junta-controlled media said the seven vehicles were carrying extremists from peoples defense forces and the Karenni National Progressive Party, who refused to stop and attacked soldiers.

It said the vehicles were also carrying recruits for terrorist training.

The KNDF said the vehicles carried villagers fleeing fighting.

Following the massacre, a joint statement from 59 civil-society organizations called on the international community to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court and to impose an arms embargo on the terrorist junta.

The groups called for targeted sanctions on the regime, its firms and the cronies with business links to the junta.

Armed resistance against the junta began in Kayah State in late May and nearly half of the states population of 150,000 has been displaced by fighting.

Junta atrocities continue, including torture, burning alive and arbitrary killings, using civilians as human shields, shelling residential areas, looting and burning houses and acts of sexual violence, especially Magwe and Sagaing regions and Chin, Shan, Kayah and Karen states, where resistance is most active.

By Saturday, the junta had killed 1,375 people and detained 11,202 others since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which monitors the regime.



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FILE - Palais Coburg, where closed-door nuclear talks take place in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 17, 2021. Iran is insisting that the United States and its allies promise to allow Tehran to export its crude as negotiations on restoring the tattered nuclear deal are to resume in Vienna. Iran's foreign minister said on Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, that Tehran wants the upcoming round of talks to focus on achieving unfettered access to oil revenue.
This Week in Review

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
Today

Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Some mixed winter precipitation possible. Low 23F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with clearing overnight. Some mixed winter precipitation possible. Low 23F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Tomorrow

Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 36F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.
A French-Syrian man has been detained by French police on suspicion of supplying components for the manufacture of chemical weapons in Syria through his shipping company, sources briefed on the case told AFP Sunday.

The man, who was born in 1962 and lives abroad, was arrested Saturday in the south of France according to one of the sources.

He has been held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity, accessory to crimes against humanity and accessory to war crimes, a judicial source told AFP.

The war in Syria has killed close to half a million people and spurred the largest conflict-induced displacement since World War II.

Syria denies the use of chemical weapons. It insists it handed over its weapons stockpiles under a 2013 agreement with the US and Russia, prompted by a suspected sarin gas attack that killed 1,400 in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta.

But Syria was stripped of its Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voting rights in April after a probe blamed it for further poison gas attacks.

It will remain suspended until it has fully declared its chemical weapons and weapons-making facilities.
South Africa on Monday began a week of mourning for the revered anti-apartheid fighter Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Nobel Peace laureate passed away on Sunday at the age of 90, stripping the world of a towering moral figure and bringing the curtain down on a heroic South African era.

His funeral will be held on New Years Day at Cape Towns St. Georges Cathedral, his former parish, his foundation said, although ceremonies are likely to be muted because of Covid restrictions.

The widow of South Africas first black president Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, on Monday mourned the loss of a brother.

Tutu is the last of an extraordinarily outstanding generation of leaders that Africa birthed and gifted to the world, she said in a statement.

He masterfully used his position as a cleric to mobilise South Africans, Africans, and the global community against the brutalities and immorality of the apartheid government, she said.

He stood resolute and fearless, leading demonstrations cloaked in his flowing clerical robe with his cross as his shield  the embodiment of humankinds moral conscience.

The bells of St. Georges will ring for 10 minutes from noon each day until Friday. The church has asked those who hear the sound to pause in their daily work and think of Tutu.

A memorial service will be held in the capital Pretoria on Wednesday. Family and friends will gather on Thursday evening around Tutus widow, Mama Leah.

On Friday, his remains will be placed in the cathedral on the eve of the funeral, although attendance for his farewell will be capped at 100, according to the archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.

Only a fraction of those who want to be there can be accommodated in the Cathedral. So please dont get on a bus to Cape Town, he said in a statement following a press conference.

Due to Covid, singing and music at the ceremony will also have to be moderated, officials said.

 Fighter 

Diminutive, crackling with humour and warmth, Tutu will be most remembered for fearlessly speaking against white minority rule, although he campaigned against injustice of any kind.

Ordained at the age of 30 and appointed archbishop in 1986, he used his position to advocate tirelessly for international sanctions against apartheid.

He coined the term Rainbow Nation to describe South Africa when Mandela became the countrys first black president in 1994.

He retired in 1996 to lead a harrowing journey into South Africas past as head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which exposed the horrors of apartheid in terrible detail.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his central role in the fight against apartheid, but his combat against injustice long continued after racial segregation was consigned to the history books.

He excoriated the African National Congress (ANC) for fostering cronyism, corruption and incompetence after it was voted into office.

 Shepherd 

Among the millions who mourned his passing, President Cyril Ramaphosa called Tutu a man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation called Tutu an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd.

He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing, it said in a statement.

Queen Elizabeth II, Pope Francis, French President Emmanuel Macron were among those who paid tribute to him.

Barack Obama  the United States first black president  hailed Tutu as a moral compass who was concerned with injustice everywhere.

Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world, said UN chief Antonio Guterres.

Tutu was born in the small town of Klerksdorp, west of Johannesburg, on October 7, 1931, to a domestic worker and a school teacher.

He trained as a teacher before anger at the inferior education system set up for black children prompted him to become a priest. He lived for a while in Britain.

Tutu relentlessly challenged the status quo on issues like race, homosexuality and religious doctrine and gave his pioneering support for the assisted dying movement.

I do not wish to be kept alive at all costs, he said in The Washington Post in 2016.

I hope I am treated with compassion and allowed to pass on to the next phase of lifes journey in the manner of my choice.

The archbishop had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 and repeatedly underwent treatment.

He had been in a weakened state for several months and died peacefully at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) on Sunday, according to several of his relatives interviewed by AFP.

In his final years, his public appearances became rarer. This year, he emerged from hospital in a wheelchair to get a Covid vaccine, waving but not offering comment.

burs-ger/ah/ri/jm
Libyas parliament on Monday refused to fix a date for presidential elections meant to have taken place last week, leaving question marks over the fate of the poll.

The vote, set for Friday, was meant to be the culmination of United Nations-led efforts to drag Libya out of a decade of conflict since a 2011 revolt. But it was derailed by bitter arguments over divisive candidates and a disputed legal framework.

On Monday the parliamentary committee charged with overseeing the election presented a report saying it would be risky to set a new date at this stage.

That was a direct rebuff to the High National Electoral Commission (HNEC) which had suggested holding the vote on January 24.

The parliamentary committee is part of an assembly based in eastern Libya since 2014, reflecting the countrys deep divisions.

The committee recommended laying out a new, realistic and applicable roadmap, with defined stages, rather than fixing new dates and repeating the same errors.

The report, read to members of parliament by committee president Al-Haid al-Sghayer, also suggested setting up a committee to draft a new constitution to replace the one scrapped by dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 1969.

It also called for a reshuffle of the interim government of Abdulhamid Dbeibah, whose mandate was meant to end with Fridays elections.

The parliament has yet to debate the proposals.

Dbeibah heads a unity administration based in the capital Tripoli, in the countrys west, and which was tasked with leading the North African country to the elections.

The vote, after a year of relative calm, was to have been Libyas first ever direct presidential ballot.

But months of disputes finally saw the vote postponed just two days before it was to take place, when the committee overseeing the election declared holding it impossible on the scheduled date.

The electoral commission has yet to announce a finalised list of candidates for the presidential poll. Its work was hobbled by court cases against the bids of several divisive figures.

Eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, who had waged a year-long military offensive against Tripoli, Kadhafis son Seif al-Islam, a symbol of the old regime also accused of war crimes, and Dbeibah, who had pledged not to run, were all particularly controversial.

In its report, the parliamentary committee said the date of January 24 was chosen on the basis of political considerations, adding that an election then would have the same fate as that set for Friday.

Shortly before Mondays session, UN envoy Stephanie Williams urged the parliament to live up to its national responsibilities and urgently address recommendations from HNEC in order to push the electoral process forward.

In a joint statement on Friday, five western nations had called for a new electoral timeline to be put in place as soon as possible.

The US, France, Britain, Germany and Italy also said the current unity government should stay in place until election results are announced.
According to many Salvadorans posting on social media, it is reported that part of the money in the Chivo wallet issued by the State of El Salvador is missing.

In a Twitter post initiated by the user Commissioner on December 16, at least 50 Salvadorans reported that their losses in December totaled more than $96,000 after the establishment of Bitcoin (Bitcoin) The government wallet. Some of these transactions were priced as low as $61, but others stated that they lost thousands of dollars or more.

There was a safe flow on the wallet, and the money and transactions disappeared, Say Luis Guardado appealed directly to President Nayib Bukele. There is no technical support, only useless phone calls, where is my money.

watch Say In October, 3 million Salvadorans were using their Chivo wallets, about half of the countrys 6.5 million people. Since El Salvadors Bitcoin law was first introduced in June, many people in the country have opposed the measure for various reasons, including the volatility of cryptocurrencies and claims that they are unreliable investments for pension funds.Before the law went into effect on September 7, protesters marched in the capital San Salvador, and the subsequent protests were seen by some Managed to loot and burn Chiwo kiosk.

related: President Booker retaliates against critics of Bitcoin Experiment

The President of El Salvador often promotes BTC and related projects on social media, including the use of the countrys volcanic heat to mine cryptocurrencies and Initially build a Bitcoin city Funded by USD 1 billion in BTC bonds.He also uses this platform Announcing his bitcoin purchase To the world. At the time of publication, the countrys national treasury held 1,391 bitcoinsapproximately $71 million in bitcoin prices. Crypto assets hover around $50,000 For the holidays.
In "Bad and Crazy" episodes 3 and 4, Lee Dong Wook, Wi Ha Joon, and Han Ji Eun team up to bring the bad guys down.

Read on to know what went down in the new chapters.

'Bad and Crazy' Episode 3: Ryu Soo Yeol Tells Lee Hee Gyeom About His Alter Ego

In "Bad and Crazy" episode 3, Ryu Soo Yeol (Lee Dong Wook) told Lee Hee Gyeom (Han Ji Eun) the mastermind behind Jeong Yu Na's death.

Soo Yeol and Hee Gyeom became closer for their mission, and that is to put Do Yu Gon in jail.

The newly-appointed superintendent also told his ex-girlfriend about K, his alter ego who keeps on pestering him. But Lee Hee Gyeom didn't believed him and just called him crazy.



Ryu Soo Yeol visited the psychiatrist again to tell about K. The doctor gave him medicine he has to take everytime his alter ego pops up and to prevent hallucination.

Meanwhile, Lee Hee Gyeom showed her concern to Soo Yeol after he ended up black and blue when he chased the gang who worked with Do Yu Gon.



As the story progresses, Soo Yeol encountered again the syndicate that helped Yu Gon in killing Yu Na.

After the brawl, K and Soo Yeol arrested the the syndicate's leader and interroggated him. He admitted that Assemblyman Do Yu Gon was the culprit.

'Bad and Crazy' Episode 4: Do Yu Gon Put Behind Bars

Oh Gyeong Tae (Cha Hak Yeon) managed to save himself from Do In Beom (Lee Sang Hong). He immediately called Ryu Soo Yeol for help and told him that Do Yu Gon (Lim Ki Hong) killed Jeong Yu Na. He handed the voice recorder to Soo Yeol as additional evidence, but got disappointed after learning it's not enough to prove Do Yu Gon is the murderer.

Though it was a hard decision, Ryu Soo Yeol, Lee Hee Gyeom, and Yang Jae Sun (Cha Si Won) framed Gyeong Tae to make Yu Gon confess he killed Yu Na. But while Do Yu Gon was beating the rookie cop, he accidentally admitted he was the one behind Yu Na's death. Yu Gon was then arrested.

Meanwhile, Soo Yeol had a hard time dealing with K, his alter ego. He keeps on pestering him wherever he goes. K even donated all his hard-earned money to charity without him knowing.

The two then negotiated to have their schedules. K will appear during midnight to sunrise while Ryu Soo Yeol can freely do what he wants the from morning until afternoon.

K starts to show his interest to Lee Hee Gyeom. When she got into an accident, Ryu Soo Yeol and K were worried about her. They will then work hand in hand to save her after she was framed by an unknown person.

Have you seen "Bad and Crazy" episodes 3 and 4? How's the story so far? Share your comments with us!

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins.
"Now, We Are Breaking Up" episodes 12 and 13 gave viewers a rollercoaster of emotions as Song Hye Kyo, Jang Ki Yong, Choi Hee Seo, and Park Hyo Joo encountered ups and downs.

'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Episode 12: Ha Young Eun Makes Her Colleagues Proud of Her Online Fashion Show

Things that are not in Ha Young Eun's (Song Hye Kyo) favor are happenning; her parents want to divorce, The One's issues on business partnership, and the people who don't support her relationship with Yoon Jae Guk (Jang Ki Yong).

While they were having a simple date, Yoon Jae Guk asked Young Eun if she could come with him to Paris and stay there for good. But Young Eun chose to stay for the people she went through a lot with.

Young Eun's colleagues were looking for another job because a famous French brand failed to seal partnership with them. But the fashion designer was determined to do everything for Sono and for her team. They then came up with an online fashion show.

Hwang Chi Sook (Choi Hee Seo) and Ha Young Eun chose Jeon Mi Sook (Park Hyo Joo) as the muse for the show. As she walked the runway, they became emotional seeing their friend doing what she loved just like the old times. Mi Sook was a known fashion model in her younger years.

With the help of everyone in the team, the fashion show ended successfully and lots of local and foreign investors showed their interest to have partnership with Sono and The One. Ha Young Eun once again impressed her colleagues for her perseverance.

'Now, We Are Breaking Up' Episode 13: Yoon Jae Guk and Ha Young Eun Go on a Date Before Parting Ways

Hwang Chi Sook and Ha Young Eun were shocked when Jeon Mi Sook learned Kwak Soo Ho was having an affair with Ms. Seo. It hurt Chi Sook and Young Eun more to see their friend suffering alone when she discovered the affair of Kwak Soo Ho (Yoon Na Moo).

Yoon Jae Guk received offers in Paris and made him decide to sell his photography studio in Seoul for good. Though he knew Ha Young Eun would not go with him, he wanted to leave with good memories to cherish before officially breaking up with her.

Ha Young Eun and Yoon Jae Guk went on a date and spent more time together. Meanwhile, a known brand from Paris wanted to recruit Ha Young Eun as they saw her potential after the online fashion show.

Will this be an opportunity for Ha Young Eun to finally go with Jae Guk in Paris? Let us know in the comments!

For more Korean drama updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Shai Collins.
Previously, Young Ro (BLACKPINK Jisoo) and Su Ho (Jung Hae In) exchanged sweet glances at each other during their unexpected group date with their other friends. The two fell in love instantaneously, their desires were amplified after their coincidental meetings.

"Snowdrop" episodes 3 and 4 depict what happens after Young Ro and Su Ho's risky hiding inside the women's university dormitory.

'Snowdrop' Episode 3: Young Ro Escapes with Su Ho

After Su Ho shows up in the dormitory covered in blood, Young Ro treats him with gentleness and care. In episode 3, Su Ho tries to escape despite National System Planning's strict surveillance with Young Ro's help.

"Snowdrop" episode 3 continues to make viewers' hearts beat faster as Pi Seung Hee (Yoon Se Ah) rushes into the Young Ro's room, where an injured Su Ho was hiding. Even though the two survived Seung Hee's eagle eyes, Su Ho aches to leave the dorm, thinking that he should no longer put Young Ro in danger.

However, the beautiful college student is deeply worried about the former's wounds, and persuades him to leave at the open house that will be held in a few more days.

While looking for men's clothes inside the dormitory, Young Ro is shocked by Hong Ae Ra's presence (Kim Jeong Nan), her stepmother, whom she sees only after 10 years. The two didn't have many good memories together, adding tension and curiosity.

A few days later, Young Ro's university's open house takes place, which cues Su Ho's escape. Kwang Tae (Heo Nam Joon), the only person besides Young Ro's roommates who knows Su Ho's real identity, also comes to the open house, which almost causes a scene.

But with Seol Hee's help (Choi Hee Jin), Young Ro's roommate, Su Ho and Young Ro escape the commotion by riding a bicycle out of the dormitory. Su Ho then bids goodbye to Young Ro and leaves.

However, Kwang Tae immediately calls the Ministry of National Security who are chasing after Su Ho.

'Snowdrop' Episode 4: Su Ho Takes Young Ro Hostage

Following Su Ho's escape from the dormitory, he begins to move to complete his mission he received from North Korea. However, Lee Kang Moo (Jang Seung Jo), who has seen Su Ho, follows him closely.

"Snowdrop" episode 4 shocks its viewers as Su Ho takes Young Ro as his hostage, the same woman whom he adores and the one who helped him recover.

Before Su Ho and Young Ro parted, he gave her the pigeon necklace he was wearing, a symbol of adoration and gratitude.

As he returns to his normal life as a spy, he tries to be more vigilant. Su Ho continues to carry out the mission he was assigned to finish. Meanwhile, Young Ro, who returns to the dormitory, misses Su Ho.

Because Boon Ok (Kim Hye Yoon) saw Young Ro with Su Ho in the open house, Pi Seung Hee warns the former of being accused as a spy. Unbeknownst to everyone, her sister was killed as a spy. As a result, her anger against Pi Seung Hee grew.

On the other hand, Young Ro, who was forced to leave the dormitory, spent her last night drinking with Hye Ryung (Jung Shin Hye), Jung Min (Kim Mi Soo) and Seol Hee.

In North Korea, Su Ho's adoptive father, Rim Ji Rok (Jeon Moo Song), denies him of completing his remaining mission, sending in a new task force. He also showed immense discomfort around Eun Chang Soo (Heo Joon Ho) and Nam Tae Il (Park Sung Woong), the powerful South Koreans, after the two suggested using illegal money for the next presidential election.

As Su Ho aims to complete his mission, he finds the paper airplane that Young Ro gave him. While reminiscing their sweet memories, he then was ambushed by the national security staff.

After chasing and fighting Lee Kang Moo, Su Ho runs into Young Ro who was about to leave the dormitory.

Because he was left with no choice while being surrounded by a number of special forces from the National Security Agency, Su Ho takes Young Ro hostage and points a gun against her head.

Follow KDramaStars for more KMovie, KDrama, and celebrity updates!



KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Controversies and issues aren't dying down any time soon. As "Snowdrop" enters its third week, the controversy surrounding Jung Hae In and BLACKPINK Jisoo's drama is amplified. Because of this, the drama's viewership ratings plummet. Read to know more!

'Snowdrop' Continues To Receives Flak with Its New Episodes

Before its initial release, Jung Hae In and BLACKPINK Jisoo's "Snowdrop" faced a lot of controversies regarding its plot.

The drama continued to receive backlash after JTBC released its first episode for its alleged historical distortion. According to the public, it also undermines the democratization of the movement and the Koreans who were killed under the hands of people who are hungry for power and money.

Because of this, "Snowdrop" aroused organizations to submit petitions to pull the drama from being broadcasted. Despite gaining 300,000 signatures, a far greater number of signs needed for a petition to be looked at, JTBC still pushed the broadcast.

The broadcast network guarantees that the drama didn't distort any historical fact, and promises to give clarity to all unanswered questions as the story progresses.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: JTBC Releases Statement Regarding New Drama 'Snowdrop' + To Push Broadcast Amid Controversy

To satisfy the curiosity of viewers, "Snowdrop," which airs every weekend, aired three episodes on December 24, 25 and 26.

However, the new episodes didn't help the drama's case as it only added fuel to the fire. "Snowdrop" episode 4 received flak after a scene where a spy contacts Su Ho (Jung Hae In) inside a catholic church. Obviously, this sent fans and viewers furious.

The confession room of a Catholic church symbolizes a place that was sacred in supporting the pro-democracy movement.

It also served as a shelter and protesters during the movement, and to introduce a North Korean spy through the church only belittles the role of church during the movement.

With that said, the viewers expressed their disapproval for the drama's continuation.

Jung Hae In and BLACKPINK Jisoo's 'Snowdrop' Viewership Ratings Plummet

JTBC's "Snowdrop" didn't start off with a great record. During its premiere, which was surrounded by malicious controversies, Jung Hae In and Jisoo's drama recorded a nationwide rating of 2.8%.

The second episode recorded the drama's highest rating so far with 3.8%, 1.0% higher than the initial release.

However, during the continuous release of the drama on December 24, 25 and 26, the drama ratings plummeted, recording an average of 1.8% for its third episode and 1.6% for its fourth.

Despite the flak, the drama aims to convince the viewers and clarify the controversies with its succeeding episodes. The drama also hopes to bounce back from the poor drama ratings.

'Snowdrop' Further Details, Date and Time

The year 2022 will start with a new episode from the JTBC. On Saturday, January 1, "Snowdrop" will release its sixth episode.

It will be aired on JTBC at 10:30 p.m. KST. It will also be available for worldwide streaming on Disney Plus.

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KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
After Su Ho (Jung Hae In) escapes the strict surveillance of the National Planning System (NSP) with Young Ro's (BLACKPINK Jisoo) help, he repays her with betrayal and disappointment.

"Snowdrop" episode 5 depicts the terrified and betrayed feelings of Young Ro, whose adoration for Su Ho depletes after he takes her hostage.

'Snowdrop' Episode 5: Betrayal Fills Eun Young Ro's Hoping Heart

After being put in a tight position, Su Ho finds a way to escape. Left with no choice, he takes Young Ro hostage, the same woman who helped him recover and escape.

While in a chase with the Special Forces members, Su Ho runs into the lobby of Hooso Women's University dormitory and especifically sees Young Ro who was on her way out.

Shocked, she is taken hostage under the siege. Young Ro is obviously taken aback by Su Ho's appearance and aggressiveness, pointing a gun at her head.

In the scene, Kang Moo (Jang Seung Jo) and Su Ho confront each other, along Gyuk Chan (Kim Min Kyu) and Eung Chul (Jang In Seop) who are all dressed in uniforms, leading to a merciless gun fight.

Su Ho pulls a grenade, making the Special Forces retreat. He also takes Kang Moo hostage along with Young Ro.

Kwang Tae (Heo Nam Joon), Byung Tae (An Dong Goo), Sang Beom (Kim Jung Hoon), Kye Boon Ok (Kim Hye Yoon) and many other students were placed in front of the door that is installed with explosives to prevent the Special Forces from entering.

Apart from the students' shock to see Su Ho, Young Ro's date in the Open House, Young Ro's face is painted with fear and betrayal.

South Korea's Answer to the Crisis

Although terrified, Young Ro helps her fellow hostage Kang Moo, who was injured. Kang Moo then confesses that he is the reason that the incident happened, after he reported Su Ho's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, Eun Chang Soo (Heo Joon Ho) and Nam Tae Il (Park Sung Woong), powerful South Koreans who carried out agents to Seoul to continue the regime, believe that they had succeeded in bringing the opposing party to North Korea.

However, the two were enraged after hearing the news of the hostage-taking at the university dormitory. So much so, Chang Soo became more furious when he heard her daughter, Young Ro, was involved in the incident.

The news didn't escape the North Korean news, and also drove Rim Ji Rok (Jeon Moo Song) livid. He threatens Eun Chang Soo that he would cancel his endorsement for the presidential election unless the spy safely returns to North Korea.

With this, Chang Soo orders to rescue his daughter first to give time for the spy to be captured. The Special Forces hinted at the plan and shot Su Ho, who came out to secure a military phone with the Ministry of Security for negotiations.

Eun Young Ro's Father Negotiates with Im Su Ho

Eun Chang Soo and Su Ho, two men in Young Ro's life, talk through the military phone. The former apologized for shooting him, and offered to let him out of the emergency exit in order for him to return safely to North Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korean agents traveling by boat to carry out an operation encountered the navy patrol where Young Ro's older brother, Yeong Woo (Song Gun Hee) was riding, and engaged in an intense battle.

With Yeong Woo receiving severe injuries, the craft sank. Eun Chang Soo hears the news about his son and the operation ship, adding fuel to the already burning anger in his heart.

Is it the End for Im Su Ho?

Without knowing the situation, Su Ho escapes through the emergency exit with his colleagues despite his hesitation with his negotiation with Eun Chang Soo.

Contrary to what was promised, spotlights and bullets poured on them, threatening Su Ho's life.

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KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
By Donald Judd, CNN

(CNN) -- President Joe Biden made a Christmas Eve call to North American Aerospace Defense Command on Friday at the White House, updating children on Santa's progress across the globe as part of what NORAD Commander Gen. Glen VanHerck on the call called "DOD's largest outreach program."

The first call was plagued by poor reception. Caleb, aged 9, hailing from Washington, told Biden he wanted a horse, prompting first lady Jill Biden to remark, "How is Santa gonna get a horse in his sleigh?"

Father Jared called in next on behalf of his four children Griffin, Hunter, Piper and Penelope. Biden told Jared, "You know, Dad, we have a Hunter too. We have a son named Hunter and a grandson named Hunter."

Son Griffin told Biden he wanted a piano for Christmas, while Hunter requested a Nintendo Switch and Piper wanted a Barbie. Penelope, age 2, was too young to make any requests. Closing the call, the father told the Bidens, "I hope you guys have a wonderful Christmas as well, Merry Christmas and let's go Brandon," a remark that has entered the slang lexicon as way of saying, "F*** Joe Biden."

"Let's go Brandon, I agree," Biden replied, while the first lady remained silent.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Sunday that the caller, 35-year-old Jared Schmeck, is a former Medford Police officer and current employee of an electric company in Central Point. Schmeck reportedly told the Oregonian that he meant "no disrespect" to the President, but thinks "he can be doing a better job."

The NORAD calls, including Schmeck's, were livestreamed. Schmeck also posted a video of his side of the call on YouTube, including "#letsgobrandon" in the title.

Schmeck later appeared on former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon's "War Room" program, repeating the apocryphal claim that "the election was 100 percent stolen" and asserting that Trump "should still be president right now."

By that time, the President said, Santa Claus had reached Iran, delivering 2,000,000,285 presents. The next caller, Dawson, requested a drum set -- per Biden, one of his sons also requested a drum set one Christmas.

"Santa brought the drums, and we didn't sleep," he joked. "You may have a real musician on your hands -- you may have the start of a great drummer!"

The President closed by paying tribute to military families, telling VanHerck, "Well, I'll tell you what, what we're thinking most about is military families that have an empty chair tomorrow at the table, where they have somebody deployed, I know you think about it all the time, general. And we want to thank military families. I really do mean this from the bottom of my heart."

NORAD has made a tradition of using its radar system to track Santa on his trip around the globe every Christmas Eve.

The tradition, which began with a phone line mix-up in 1955, has seen presidents calling children to update them on Santa's progress across the globe, even through government shutdowns. For 63 years, the organization otherwise tasked with detecting aerospace activity has turned its attention to Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, tracking his sleigh and nine reindeer as they glide through the night to every child's house -- well, the ones he's deemed nice for the year, anyway.
MEDFORD, Ore. - Following nationwide trends, the Rogue Valley International Airport has been dealing with canceled and delayed flights over the holiday weekend. Its largely because of omicron related covid callouts from airline employees and the imclement weather hitting much of the West Coast. The Rogue Valley Internationals website indicates that at least 5 flights have been canceled on Sunday and many more have been delayed.

Across the country, airlines canceled hundreds more flights today because of staffing shortages tied to COVID-19 as the nations travel woes extended beyond Christmas. There was no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.

More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off. That's according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday. Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for causing illness among many employees.
ROSEBURG, Ore. - A fire destroyed an RV in Roseburg and left one man with burn injuries on Sunday. The Roseburg Fire Department says they responded to the fire at 11:07 am on Sunday. It happened at the 1700 block of SE Mill Street. The reporting party notified Douglas County Dispatch that a motorhome was on fire across from 1729 SE Mill Street.

After getting there, firefighters found the RV completely on fire with the occupant outside of the vehicle. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and completed overhaul. The motorhome was a total loss due to fire, smoke, and water damage. One adult resident was displaced. The occupant of the vehicle sustained burn injuries and smoke inhalation but refused medical treatment and transport.

The fire was started by the vehicles occupant when he lit a gas stove and the flames caught nearby newspapers on fire. Nine firefighters assisted with firefighting operations. Other agencies assisting with the fire included Douglas County Fire District #2, Umpqua Valley Ambulance, and Roseburg Police Department.
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More than 1,100 in the U.S. are still dying every day from COVID-19. Every three days, we are losing more Americans than the number that died on 9/11. Just because we dont see it sneaking up on our families does not mean the COVID terrorist is defeated. While deaths are mainly in 12 northern states, it is highly likely we will again experience a similar problem in Texas and across the U.S. If we wait until the situation is bad locally, the surge will be even harder to control than if we act now to prevent it. I want us to act as a country united against a common foe, and I hope you will join me.

Every day I evaluate risks and probabilities of bad things happening to my patients so I can prevent them. If I did not look at their medical history, I might be surprised at what is happening and my patient would be less safe. We only need to look to other states to see what is likely to happen in Texas.

According to Bloomberg News, Connecticut has a huge delta COVID surge happening. The unvaccinated make up 77 percent of those hospitalized with COVID. In Pennsylvania, a chief medical officer says, Its worse already than it was a year ago, and it may get even worse.

Unvaccinated people have about 14 times the risk of dying from COVID-19. Each adults risk of serious disease drops dramatically with being vaccinated and boosted. Those who have had COVID are at risk of getting it again if they are not vaccinated.

Even though children usually do not get a severe case of COVID, those with underlying medical problems may be at much higher risk. It is very important that all children be vaccinated as soon as possible so they do not spread it to other children and adults who might have severe disease. Even if your child is healthy, get them vaccinated now because a small percentage of healthy kids will develop long COVID symptoms and not be well for many months.

We would be safer if schools reinstate all preventive measures, but with an option for when masks are a problem. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it is safer if everybody wears a mask in school. Some parents tell me masks are bad for their childs mental health, and I believe them. Schools requiring a choice of either face shield or mask for all students and staff would not violate Gov. Abbotts order to make masks optional. A mask is the safest option, but a face shield is a good backup.

Medical workers wear masks every day to protect your safety. The longest I have worn a mask in one day is 22 hours. That was unpleasant for me but necessary for my patients. If your friends hassle you for wearing a mask, you can unapologetically tell them, I am doing it for someone who loves me and wants me to be around for next Christmas.

Everyone is at more risk of getting a serious case of COVID with a higher transmission rate in the community, so the goal is to do everything to stop the virus from infecting anyone. With surges in our colder states, the time to act is now to prevent another devastating surge in Texas. I want you to get vaccinated or boosted soon and wear a mask or face shield in public now. Children will be safer if vaccinated now. If we wait for local conditions to worsen before we act, we will only let the COVID terrorist get closer to our family and take our freedom.

Robert Luedecke is an anesthesiologist.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
The National Talent Academy for Film & Television (Academy) has launched three new opportunities for creative talent who want to develop a career in television or feature films. The focus on regional creative talent for these opportunities means the Academy is making individual calls to creatives in counties across the country  including Kilkenny.

All three initiatives are free and aimed at those new to the sector as well as those with emerging and established careers in the industry. They will be hands-on, immersive and highly interactive and are focused on screenwriting, directing and producing.

The Academy, which was established earlier this year, aims to roll out a suite of experiential and exciting programmes and opportunities  with a focus on diverse and regional creative talent  across 2022.

Its new website www.nationaltalentacademies.ie provides a range of information and skills development as well as launching its first three programmes.

They are:

- Pathways. This is aimed at opportunities for new talent; for those who dont work in the industry and want to find out more.

- Script Mentorship. This is a scheme for new writers and script editors. Ideally, for those who have gained a foothold in the industry but need to develop their craft to progress further.

- Shadowing. This programme allows screenwriters, directors and producers the opportunity to gain on-set experience on high-end TV and feature film productions. This is for established talent who want to take their career to the next level.

More details about the initiatives and how to apply can be found on www.nationaltalentacademies.ie

The Academy is an initiative of Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland and is managed by the Galway Film Centre. It is part of the National Talent Academies network, which also includes Animation managed by Animation Ireland and a number of regional Crew Hubs managed by the Atlantic Academy (Danu Media) in Galway, Film in Limerick in Limerick and Clermont Enterprise Hub in Wicklow. The network has been established to develop a highly skilled, diverse talent and crew base throughout the country and to further build capacity within the sector.

National Talent Academy for Film & Television, Galway Film Centre Talent Executive, Jade Murphy said:

We are delighted to partner with Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland and the many stakeholders in the sector to bring the ambitions of the National Talent Academy for Film & Television to life. Our aim is to support talent in building sustainable careers in the sector by removing barriers to entry and providing tangible opportunities for people to upskill and develop. We encourage anyone interested to get in touch and start a conversation today.

Gareth Lee, Skills Development Manager for Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland said:

Were delighted to see the National Talent Academy for Film & Television Drama announce its first batch of activities for the sector. With the other Talent Academies and Crew Hubs coming on stream in 2022, it truly is an exciting time for skills development within the sector with lots of opportunities on the horizon for new, emerging and established talent. Were looking forward to working collaboratively with stakeholders through the National Talent Academies network to grow the skills base and support further growth within the sector.

Andrew Byrne, Project Manager TV Drama for Fis Eireann/Screen Ireland said:

The formation of the new National Talent Academy network is an important opportunity to deliver industry growth in Ireland and to reach and empower new and a diverse range of talent and crew. This will ensure the sector is aligned and working collaboratively to reach next generation audiences and international creative partnership. Ireland has a real opportunity to become a global leader in story-telling and production, further building on an incredible year of audio-visual production to date.

The Academy is encouraging people interested in a career in screenwriting, direction and production and existing industry members who wish to develop their skills or talent pathway further to visit www.nationaltalentacademies.ie and view the current and future opportunities provided across a range of innovative opportunities and initiatives.
One lucky Lotto punter is almost 800,000 richer, having matched 5 plus the bonus number in the National Lottery draw just days before Christmas.

The record-breaking 19,060,800 Lotto jackpot remains up for grabs again after Wednesday nights jackpot draw continued to roll without a winner.

According to the National Lottery, over 159,000 players across Ireland won prizes in Wednesday nights Lotto and Lotto Plus games including a Dublin player who became the biggest winner of the night after winning a 799,664 prize.



As no additional funds were added to the jackpot as it remains capped, the funds that would usually go to the jackpot were instead distributed to the next prize tier at which there was a winner and in last nights draw, this was the Match 5+Bonus category.

The National Lottery are encouraging players in the North County Dublin village of Garristown to check their tickets carefully after a player matched five numbers and the bonus to win 799,664.



The lucky winner purchased their winning Quick Pick ticket on the day of the draw at Goughs family run store in the centre of Garristown village in North County Dublin.



Trisha Gough, owner of Goughs store, was overjoyed to hear that one of her customers won the life-altering prize in Wednesday nights Lotto draw,

"We have a long running joke in the store and in the village that we were due a big Lotto win after our neighbours in the Naul won the 175 million EuroMillions jackpot a few years back!

"Its not the 19 million jackpot but its still a life changing sum for somebody in the village and honestly we are so happy for one of our lucky customers. It will be a day of celebration and excitement in the entire village today," she said.



The winning numbers in last nights (Wednesday 22nd December) draw were: 02, 05, 13, 22, 36, 43 and the bonus was 03.



The Dublin winner who enjoyed a boosted prize fund due to the capped Lotto jackpot on Wednesday night is yet to make contact with the National Lottery.

The Lotto Match 5 + Bonus winner, who now has a ticket worth 799,664 is advised to sign the back of their ticket and keep it safe.

They should make contact with the prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to claim their prize.



Meanwhile, another Kerry player won big in Wednesday nights Lotto draw after they won the top prize of 250,000 in the Lotto Plus 2 draw.

The National Lottery has confirmed that a notification to the users online account and a separate email has now been sent to the lucky Kerry ticket holder.

The online winner should also make contact with the prize claims team/



The winning numbers in the Lotto Plus 2 draw for Wednesday 22nd December were: 09, 11, 14, 15, 25, 36 and the bonus was 34.
I'm currently a senior majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in political science. I'm a fan of all St. Louis sports, Oasis and pretty much any Kurt Russell film. Feel free to reach out to me at mgp89g@umsystem.edu or on Twitter @MattPasz2000.

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It will end at Memorial Funeral Home 1217 Business Loop 70 W.
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Latvian ambassador to Korea Aris Vigants speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the country's embassy in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo



By Kwon Mee-yoo



Aris Vigants, the second resident ambassador of Latvia to Korea, was appointed earlier this year as the two countries celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations and their membership in the United Nations.



The ambassador had a very busy year, organizing events to introduce Latvia to Korea despite restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.



"We have tried to do our best to show the Korean public what Latvia is about. There's always chances to speak with people, and as feedback we receive, they are getting more interested in our country. We try to increase our visibility in Korea as much as we can," the ambassador said in an interview with The Korea Times at the embassy, Wednesday.



In May, the embassy hosted the "World We Meet Again, Latvia" exhibition at Gimpo Arts Center, introducing Latvian culture, centering on architecture, traditional folk costumes and children's book illustrations.



"On the occasion of the Korean national holiday Children's Day, I was happy that my son has joined me in reading children's book in the Latvian language, while the same book was also read by a kid in the Korean language. We have quite a collection of Latvian children's books that have been translated into Korean and have gained recognition from international book fairs," he said, bringing back the memory of reading Latvian author Martins Zutis' "The Discovery That Never Was" at the exhibition.



The ambassador also recently traveled to Korea's southern port city of Busan to open another exhibition titled, "A New Beginning  Latvia," at Geumjeong Cultural Centre there in October, shedding light on Latvia's history and architecture, as well as introducing the diversity of its culture and traditional folk costumes. Additionally there was an exposition of illustrations and sketches by the Latvian artist illustrator Gundega Muzikante with vivid characters from various Latvian books.



In November, the "BATUN  Baltic Appeal to the United Nations" exhibition was held at Damda Museum of Art and Contemporary History in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, commemorating Latvia's membership in the U.N. along with other Baltic states.



Last but not least, the ambassador opened Latvian ceramic artist El?na Titane's exhibition, "Interaction," at Jangsu Arts Museum in North Jeolla Province, showcasing a collaborative project called "The Path of Symbiosis" with Korean artist Choi Kyu-rak.





Latvian Ambassador to Korea Aris Vigants, right, poses with Jeong Mi-yeong, head of Busan's Geumjeong District, at the opening of the "A New Beginning  Latvia" exhibition at Geumjeong Cultural Centre in the southern port city in October. Courtesy of the Latvian Embassy in Korea



"We feel proud that we were able to showcase Latvia throughout the whole year," he said.



"Our similarities go back in time in the ways that Korean people still through generations remember invasions by foreign countries. The same goes for Latvians in that we have been ruled by different rulers throughout our history. So, in this sense, I think our similarities in our pasts give some kind of common understanding and knowledge of historical awareness."



Latvia and Korea established diplomatic ties relatively late, as the two countries' turbulent modern histories resulted in them missing the opportunity to do so earlier. Located in a strategically important part of northern Europe, Latvia was often invaded and occupied by neighboring powers. Latvia proclaimed independence in 1918 when Korea was under Japanese rule. When Korea gained independence, Latvia was under the Soviet occupation.



After establishing diplomatic ties, it took over 20 years for the countries to set up embassies. Latvia opened one in Korea in 2015 and Korea opened a diplomatic representation in Latvia in 2012, and later upgraded it to a full-fledged embassy in 2019.



"After regaining our independence in the 1990s, Latvia, along with the other Baltic states, had to restructure our economy completely from a centrally-planned economy, which had existed during the Soviet Union times, to a market economy, and a lot of effort was made in reorganizing all daily life," the ambassador explained.



"I wish we have been earlier here in Korea, but (opening an embassy requires) mutual recognition from both sides. When the time was ripe, both of our countries established diplomatic representations in both of our countries. There is a Latvian saying: 'that which comes slowly has a better result.'"



After this productive year, the ambassador envisions more ambitious projects during his term in Korea. First up is boosting economic cooperation.



Currently, trade between Latvia and Korea is concentrated on traditional items such as wood, minerals and glass from Latvia, and machines and electronic equipment from Korea, but the ambassador sees more possibilities in innovative fields as well.



"We export mostly wood and mineral products to Korea, which are steadily getting more innovative and have added value. Our innovative biofood industries are getting noticed more in Korea," he said.



"Interesting products like innovative and healthy vegan meat, organic baby food, birch tree sap, chocolate with no added sugar and sustainable caviar are among the things that we are offering to Korea. I think Korean people could be surprised by the variety and richness of our different products that haven't been available here."



Vigants also noted Latvia's startup-friendly business environment, suggesting further cooperation in innovative fields.



"Latvia has the best environment in the world for startups according to Index Ventures. So Latvia should be on the list for the most ambitious Korean companies. We are also proud to be a stable democracy and part of important international organizations or cooperation frameworks  not only the U.N., but also the European Union, NATO and of course the OECD. I think these represent a kind of label of quality for political, economic and business environments where one can be sure that rules and legislations are in place," the ambassador said.



"As a central country of the Baltics, near the Baltic Sea, we are naturally a logistics hotspot, with the biggest airport and best cargo and rail links."





Latvian Ambassador to Korea Aris Vigants introduces the Korean edition of Latvian artist Anete Melece's book, "Kiosks," one of the works of Latvian children's literature translated into Korean, at the country's embassy in Yongsan District, Seoul, Wednesday. Korea Times photo by Kwon Mee-yoo
A logo designed by Anass Sidki commemorating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Morocco won a contest hosted by the Korea-Arab Society. Courtesy of Korea-Arab Society



By Kwon Mee-yoo



The Korea Arab-Society (KAS) announced the winners of a logo contest commemorating the upcoming 60th anniversary of Korea's diplomatic relations with Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Dec. 22.



The contest was co-hosted by the KAS and Korean embassies in Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia as well as Moroccan, Jordanian and Saudi Arabian embassies in Korea and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.



According to KAS, 154 designs by 147 applicants from the four related countries were submitted between Nov. 25 and Dec. 10.



"The creative level of designs was outstanding, showing great enthusiasm from people with diverse backgrounds leading to a bright future ahead," the KAS said in a statement.





A logo designed by Choi Jeong-hyeon commemorating the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and Jordan won a contest hosted by the Korea-Arab Society. Courtesy of Korea-Arab Society



The KAS and the six embassies selected the winners  Anass Sidki for Morocco, Choi Jeong-hyeon for Jordan and Yoon So-yeon for Saudi Arabia.



The designs will be featured in official materials related to the celebrations among the embassies throughout next year.



The award ceremony was held online and K-pop boy band B.I.G, which serves as a goodwill ambassador of the KAS, gave a congratulatory message in Arabic and a celebratory performance.



KAS Secretary General Ma Young-sam, Moroccan Ambassador to Korea Chafik Rachadi, Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Korea Sami Alsadhan, Jordanian Charge d'Affaires a.i. to Korea Asal Al-Tal, Korean Ambassador to Morocco Chung Kee-yong, Korean Ambassador to Jordan Lee Jae-wan and Korean Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Park Joon-yong attended the online ceremony along with directors from the African and Middle Eastern Affairs Bureau of Korea's foreign affairs ministry.








South Korea will push to submit an official application to join a mega Asia-Pacific free trade agreement in April next year by speeding up the process of collecting public opinions and building social consensus, the country's top economic policymaker said Monday.







The government earlier said that it had begun the process to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) involving 11 nations as part of efforts to diversify its export portfolio.







Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said in a meeting with other export and trade-related officials that a task force composed of relevant ministries will discuss countermeasures to handle the impact of joining the CPTPP and contact its member countries, while pushing to submit an official application to accede to the trade agreement in the middle of April.







The timeline appears to be in line with Hong's earlier remark that the government aims to submit the application before President Moon Jae-in's five-year term ends in May next year.







The CPTPP is the renegotiated version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) led by the former U.S. President Barack Obama administration.







In 2017, then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the TPP, widely seen as a key counterweight to China's growing economic clout.







The CPTPP, launched in December 2018, has been signed by 11 countries, including Japan, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico.







Trade volume by the 11 nations participating in the CPTPP had reached US$5.7 trillion as of 2019, accounting for 15.2 percent of the total global trade amount, according to a report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.







At Monday's meeting, Hong also designated 200 strategically important items that will be subject to strict state monitoring to ensure their stable supplies.







They are part of 4,000 items that the government earlier vowed to closely monitor amid growing risks stemming from global supply disruptions of key materials.







The government also launched an early warning system to monitor the flow of those items, including magnesium, tungsten, neodymium and lithium hydroxide.







Of them, Hong said that the government will complete measures, in particular, to ensure the stable supply of 20 items, including magnesium and other key industrial materials, before the end of this year. (Yonhap)


By Eli Lake



Watching Vladimir Putin Thursday at his year-end press conference, one is tempted to ask whether the Russian president has gone mad.



Here is a man leading a country that in the last few months has amassed tens of thousands of soldiers and advanced military equipment on Ukraine's border, now asserting that it is Ukraine which is planning an invasion of Russia. Putin claimed (without evidence) that the U.S. intends to arm Ukraine with hypersonic missiles. "They just have to understand that we have nowhere left to retreat," Putin said.



Peter Pomerantsev, the author of the 2014 book "Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible," on the nature of Russian disinformation, told me that Putin sometimes deliberately acts crazy as a way to gain leverage with his adversaries. Launching a new war against Ukraine would indeed be risky for Russia, in part because Ukraine's own military is better than it was in 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. Russia would also risk even more devastating sanctions if it moved forward.



Sometimes this tactic is known as "the madman theory." Former U.S. President Richard Nixon is said to have wanted geopolitical rivals such as the Soviet Union and China to believe he was volatile and unpredictable as a hedge against provocations from adversaries. Is Putin now doing the same thing?



It's impossible to get inside the Russian leader's head. But Putin's brinksmanship has already paid modest dividends. President Joe Biden has offered diplomatic off-ramps to Putin, such as a NATO-Russia summit and high-level bilateral meetings to explore ways to ease tensions and address Russia's security concerns with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Ukraine.



Biden's intention here is to prevent a catastrophic war. But his response has also emboldened Putin's regime. Just consider Russia's list of demands earlier this month to the U.S. and Europe. Putin's diplomats are now asking for a treaty commitment to end any further expansion of NATO and to remove advanced weapons from NATO members that border Russia.



Instead of publicly ruling out such concessions, the Biden administration has spoken vaguely about the Russia proposal. A senior administration official on Thursday said some of the Russian proposals "we will never agree to," while others may be the basis for negotiations. But the official declined to specify which proposals were unacceptable.



Further bolstering the case that Putin is only pretending to lose touch with reality is that his demands are consistent with what he has been saying for nearly 15 years. In a 2007 speech in Munich, Putin argued that Russia was promised that, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, NATO would not expand to Eastern Europe.



This history is debatable. What is not debatable is that large majorities in countries that were once under the sway of the Soviet Union favored joining the NATO alliance. Putin's proposal ignored the right to self-determination of Poles, Latvians and others.



Nonetheless, Putin's 2007 speech telegraphed his foreign policy. The following year, Russian forces invaded the republic of Georgia and to this day occupy two of its provinces. In 2014, Putin invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea. In 2015, Russia entered the Syrian civil war and saved the dictator's regime.

So does Putin really believe that the country whose territory he has annexed is the real aggressor? Probably not. Does he really believe the U.S. would provide Ukraine with some of its most advanced military technology? Again, probably not.



But Putin clearly benefits from the perception that he is volatile enough to make good on his latest threats. If Biden believed Putin was rational, he would likely call Putin's bluff. Instead, he is attempting to coax Putin into defusing a crisis that the Russian leader himself has created.





Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI. This editorial was produced for the Bloomberg and distributed by Tribune Content Agency.


By Andrew Hammond





The year 2021 saw big ballots, including in Germany and Israel that resulted in long-standing leaders leaving power. However, the election landscape is even bigger in 2022 with eye-catching votes across every continent, which will shape not just domestic politics and economics, but also international relations well into the 2020s.



In Europe, the standout is the French presidential election. While incumbent Emmanuel Macron is the favorite, a recent poll by the Elabe group showed for the first time that he could lose the second-round run-off in April to Valerie Pecresse from the right-of-center Republicans Party.



Pecresse, a combative former minister under ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, has enjoyed a big bounce in the polls since winning her party's nomination on Dec. 4. In the campaign, she is highlighting several key international issues, including migration, to peel off support from far-right rivals Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.



Pecresse is calling for a "European awakening," proposing a tightening of the Schengen free movement area. She also wants to bolster the returns directive on expulsion rules for illegal immigrants in the EU and end EU enlargement  including by terminating accession talks with Turkey.



Macron, as a political centrist, is aware of the risks he faces if the election swings on migration issues and wants instead to focus on economic priorities, like reshaping the European single market and protecting European jobs. In his own words, "we must have one obsession in 2022  it is to create jobs and fight unemployment," and he plans to use the French presidency of the EU in the first half of 2022 to promote this agenda.



In Asia-Pacific, the big one may be the Australian general election on or before May 21 that will see Prime Minister Scott Morrison trying to secure a fourth consecutive term for the Liberal-National Coalition Government. While the opposition Labour Party has generally led polls in 2021, Morrison is still widely seen as the preferred person to be prime minister, and the result is therefore highly uncertain in the midst of the continuing pandemic.



To continue to hold a majority, Morrison's government cannot afford to lose a single seat, and for Labour to win a majority, it will need to pick up seven. This will be challenging for both sides, as the former holds two seats with margins of less than 1 percent, and Labour has five in that precarious position.



One key international issue in the campaign is China where Morrison is seeking to paint Labour as soft on Beijing, after one of the party's former prime ministers Paul Keating claimed recently that Australia has "lost its way" and surrendered its sovereignty to the United States under the AUKUS nuclear deal announced with the United Kingdom. To be sure, current Labour leader Anthony Albanese has backed AUKUS, but that hasn't stopped the government claiming too many in his party are 'apologists' for China and weak on national security, with Labour punching back that Morrison is heightening rhetoric for domestic political purposes after failing to forge a proper strategy for engaging an increasingly assertive Beijing.



Turning to the Americas, the two eye-catching ballots are in Brazil and the United States. In Brazil, polls indicate that former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva may beat incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in a landslide. Important as that outcome would be domestically, it would have key implications internationally too.



As president, Lula promoted Brazil as a progressive champion of the developing world and leader on environmental issues which would make a very welcome, dramatic departure from Bolsonaro's record. One tangible change would be climate diplomacy, given that Bolsonaro refused to attend COP26 in Glasgow last month, previously indicated he wanted to quit the Paris climate treaty and has allowed a big increase in Amazon deforestation.



In the United States, foreign policy issues may not feature prominently in the mid-term congressional elections. Nonetheless, the ballot is likely still to have several key international implications if Republicans win back one or both chambers of Congress.



If this scenario does unfold in 2022, it will see Biden like several other recent presidents increasingly turning to foreign policy after their initial period in office. This is because presidents have more latitude to act, independently of Congress, in international affairs than domestic policy, and the political legacy they are keen to build usually includes a desire for key overseas accomplishments.



While the congressional ballot may therefore significantly reshape the domestic context for Biden's presidency, potential changes of leadership in several other pivotal powers, from Australia to France and Brazil, will alter the landscape for U.S. foreign policy during his remaining period of office. He would welcome Bolsonaro losing power, but miss Macron's internationalism, highlighting that the 2022 election season contains both key risks and opportunities for him.





Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS at the London School of Economics.


Renualt Samsung's best-selling XM3 model / Courtesy of Renault Samsung Motors



By Kim Hyun-bin



Renault Samsung Motors' XM3 showed solid performance in both domestic sales and exports this year, becoming the company's best-selling model.



This year, the company exported 50,000 XM3 SUV coupes. The XM3 started exporting to Chile in July last year. It expanded its shipments to Europe earlier this year and is being sold in 28 European countries as of last June, setting a record of 50,000 vehicles sold within the last five months.



The XM3 is a strategic model created through collaboration between Renault Samsung Research Center and Renault Group. Overseas the XM3, sold under the name Arcana, is produced and exported from Renault Samsung's Busan plant, except for in Russia.



In particular, the model led exports in the hybrid category. The XM3 Hybrid, scheduled to be released in Korea next year, has already been popular in the European market, where demand for eco-friendly vehicles is high.



In the domestic market, it has been recognized for its unrivaled product quality and has maintained best-seller status each year.



Since its launch, the XM3 has attracted attention with its outstanding design, taking the compact car to the next level. This year the company implemented the CarPay system.



CarPay is a system that completes ordering, payment and receipt of goods through applications installed in vehicles and smartphones. Renault Samsung Motors plans to test accreditation at CU convenience stores and GS gas stations and increase available services gradually.



Drivers can make a reservation with a gas station and when they approach a signal is sent to the gas station so the vehicle can be fueled immediately. Users reserving a time for a convenience store can park their car at a nearby pick-up point and receive purchased items directly.



Since it is in the early stages of implementation, there are not many service bases or available services yet, but the industry expects a gradual expansion.



"Renault Samsung Motors has taken the lead in introducing CarPay which could spread to diverse services attracting high usage," an automotive industry official said.


MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Add heat waves to the many health threats facing homeless people.

Last year, the United States had 580,000 homeless people  28% of them in California, where seven in 10 live outdoors. That's nearly nine times more than in any other state.

"The same weather that makes living unsheltered possible in California also exposes people experiencing homelessness to a higher risk of a wide range of heat-induced health conditions that can result in end-organ damage and even death," said Tarik Benmarhnia. He is an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and senior author of a new study of homelessness and emergency department visits.

"People that experience homelessness are considered to be among the most vulnerable to extreme weather impacts, due to their exposure to the elements and high rates of preexisting health conditions such as mental illness, as well as higher rates of smoking, drug and alcohol use," Benmarhnia added in a university news release.

For the new study, his team analyzed emergency department data from two hospitals in San Diego  which has the nation's fifth-largest homeless population  along with temperature data for the city.

Of more than 242,000 emergency department visits between 2012 through 2019, nearly 25,000 were by homeless people, the findings showed.

The study focused on the warm season  May to September. During those months, homeless people visited ERs 1.29 times more during the most extreme two-day heat waves studied. Visits increased during longer heat waves with more extreme temperatures, according to findings published online Dec. 22 in the American Journal of Public Health.

The researchers reported that having a mental illness tripled a homeless person's risk of heat-related illness, perhaps because these folks are less able to recognize symptoms of heat exposure, seek a cool space and rehydrate.

According to study co-author Edward Castillo, "Activating heat action plans to protect persons experiencing homelessness from heat waves is not only justified, it is necessary." Castillo is a professor of emergency medicine at UCSD.

"Adapting interventions to specific subgroups can effectively decrease the burden on both patients and health care systems from this increasingly prevalent exposure," Castillo added.

The study authors warned that climate change will increase homeless people's risk of heat illnesses.

"As the threat of increasingly frequent and intense heat waves continues to rise in the United States, particularly in California, understanding and prioritizing the needs of this rapidly growing vulnerable population will be a critical action in developing and deploying effective adaptation strategies such as heat action plans to attenuate this burden," said study first author Lara Schwarz, a doctoral student in public health.

More information

Global Citizen outlines ways to help homeless people during heat waves.

SOURCE: University of California, San Diego, news release, Dec. 22, 2021
Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low near 10F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40%..

Tonight

Mainly cloudy with snow showers around this evening. Low near 10F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
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BURLINGTON  As the days turn colder, red kettles pop up with the familiar ringing of bells. Each year, a group of Burlington students answers the call.

While the D.R.I.V.E.N. students couldnt ring the bells last year in their usual fashion, they were back in full force this year. Their previous record was around $2,000 in about 6 hours. This year, according to Burlington High School teacher and D.R.I.V.E.N. co-advisor Matt Nie, they raised $4,126.96.

Finally, those D.R.I.V.E.N. students can be out there singing at the top of their lungs, outside with a auto mask, Nie said. Finally, that student can, you know, be able to really bring light to the eye of a resident thats walking into the grocery store, and that its a combined synergy between the student having been stunted in their ability to go and interact in that way and then probably the community member that is just willing to give back back much more.

D.R.I.V.E.N. is a student leadership club at the high school that initially, at its inception about 10 years ago, was created as a mentorship program for incoming freshmen. Sophomores, juniors and seniors apply, and while there is a minor academic requirement to make sure students will be able to take on the extra responsibility, Nie said the most important pieces are the teacher recommendations for the initial application at the end of freshman year.

The program has expanded well beyond the mentorship and character building D.R.I.V.E.N. students deliver to their underclassman counterparts. Juniors involved in the program plan and implement their own service projects while seniors have the option of again planning a project or helping the juniors with theirs. The program also puts on what it bills as the largest Easter egg hunt in southeastern Wisconsin as well as A Night to Remember, a dance for special-needs students which Nie said they are hoping to pick back up again this school year.

These projects also include the extensive bell ringing for Love, Inc.

Through a partnership with Salvation Army, 86 cents of every dollar stays with Love, Inc. in Burlington, according to volunteer coordinator Pat Yakes, who has been in the position for six years.

The money raised by D.R.I.V.E.N., Yakes said, goes to support Love Inc.s mission of providing services to locals in need. This can range from assisting with utilities to finding temporary housing. Each year, Yakes said, D.R.I.V.E.N. students make their time ringing bells fun.

So it kind of warms our heart because the kids are driven, not to put a play on words, but they really are driven, Yakes said. They make it fun and I think thats why there was such a large amount (of donations).

While students managed to break the groups record for money raised for Love, Inc., they also were raising spirits. The group splits its time between bell ringing and spending time at Arbor View Assisted Living, where members play bingo, sing carols and do holiday crafts with residents. The students also spend time with those in the memory care center.

While many of those in memory care may not verbally share their excitement, Nie said, there are always plenty of smiles to go around. He and Yakes noted what they called a misconception of high school students.

Its so amazing to see that level of empathy and, and willingness to give back, Nie said. Young people, I think sometimes, get a bad rap in terms of what a typical teenager is, because I have a lot of hope for this next generation, when theyre in charge.
BURLINGTON  A Burlington man has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor.

Michael John Sekey, 49, of the 100 block of Capital Street, was charged with a felony count of second degree sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age.

According to a criminal complaint:

On Monday, a girl under the age of 16 and her parents responded to the Burlington Police Department to report that she had been sexually assaulted the night before. She said that Sekey sexually assaulted her.

Later Monday, Sekey arrived at the Burlington Police Department and met with an investigator. He said that he was drinking and went upstairs from the basement to use the bathroom. He then went into the girls bedroom to talk about the bed he was going to make for her. After the investigator pressed him on it further, he reportedly admitted to sexually assaulting the girl.

Sekey was given a $5,000 cash bond in Racine County Circuit Court on Wednesday. A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 29 at the at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., online court records show.
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 27 (ANI/NewsVoir): Dr Aishwarya Selvaraj, Founder and Managing Director of one of Chennai's most popular skin clinics, Skin Envy had recently been conferred with the Style Icon Doctor of the Year award at Golden Glory Awards, presented by Brands Impact.

Brands Impact executed the second edition of Golden Glory Awards after two years, the awards are meant to acknowledge and bring forward the extraordinary journeys of individuals, professionals & companies that have embarked upon the path of glory and success with their remarkable achievements. The ceremony was graced by the gorgeous Malaika Arora as the chief guest and many other B-town and Television personalities.

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Among the winners were several eminent personalities Sangeeta Bijlani (Timeless Beauty), Esha Deol Takhtani (Actor turned Producer), Divya Dutta (Best Actor in Lead Roles), Tanisha Mukherjee (Outstanding Debut on OTT), Mona Singh (Versatile Actor), Aditya Narayan (Most Loved Reality Show Host), Urvashi Dholakia (Iconic TV Actor), Sayani Gupta (Best New Age Female Actor), Erica Fernandes (Style Diva), Shama Sikander (For Advocating Mental Health), Aditya Seal and Anushka Ranjan (Most Admired Offscreen Celebrity Couple), Adah Sharma (Most Loved Female Celebrity on Social Media), Rasika Duggal (Most Loved Female Lead Actor on OTT Platform), Sarah Jane Dias (Most Stylish Glamour Icon), Mukesh Rishi (Most Versatile Actor in Supporting Roles), Anubhav Singh Bassi (Youth Icon) and Malvika Raaj & Sonaakshi Raaj (Most Stylish Sister Duo).

After receiving the award, Dr Aishwarya said, "Receiving such a prestigious award before such an eminent crowd feels unreal. I was born and brought up in Chennai. As a teenager struggling with troubled skin, I visited every clinic possible. But no one listened to me, and no one understood what was going on with me and what I wanted. So, I decided to help myself. After studying skincare and realising that a lot of women were facing the problem still - I decided to set up Skin Envy. Getting this award pushes me to work harder and gives me confidence in doing more. The place I stand is a testimony of the genuine efforts I put into everything I do. Thank you so much for recognising my work and honouring me with this award. Grateful!"

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Dr Aishwarya describes herself as a proud mom, entrepreneur and Instagram fashionista. Born and brought up in Chennai, her quest for knowledge took her to Dubai, Bangkok, and South Korea to study skincare. Growing up struggling with many skin-related issues - like acne, blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, blemishes, etc., all she ever wanted was clear skin.

But her experience with the clinics she visited did not yield results. Realising this problem exists to this day among many, she wanted to create a place where every person who walks in is listened to carefully and treated like a celebrity.

From this very idea, Skin Envy was born. Skin Envy is a skin clinic specialising in tailor-made, results-driven beauty treatments. With her own experience of 8 years in the industry, she made sure Skin Envy employs the latest technology and solutions to give clear and beautiful skin to her customers. Being the first in Tamil Nadu to launch Alma Soprano Titanium, the first in India to launch Hollywood Spectra Laser and the first in SAARC nations to launch Alma Prime X, Skin Envy has been at the forefront in incorporating the latest tech.

Keeping safety first and using the best technology available - they are offering various services and products to their customers, helping them feel young and energised.

The belief that women can do it all regardless of their age, it is all about one's own confidence and owning themselves for what they are, keeps Dr Aishwarya going. She started creating reels on Instagram to educate people on skincare and personal fashion. As people started seeing value in the content she was posting - one reel after another went viral, making her Instagram account blow up.

More than for the fact that she has a huge following, she says this practice of creating reels has increased her confidence, and she would continue creating content for people who want to see it on her Instagram. She owes her success to three important people in her life - her mother Mrs Lakshmi, who dedicated her whole life to give Dr Aishwarya the best life possible; her mother in law, Mrs. Srikanthi from whom she draws inspiration for traditional fashion; and her husband who has been her better half and her strength throughout. You can catch both her husband and her child getting featured in her reels quite often. The kind of genuine hard work and the effort she puts into everything she does is quite evident.

This story is provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/NewsVoir)

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New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI/Mediawire): Indipaisa, a member of the Nexxo Network, an international network of Fintech companies operating in Middle East Asia and Europe, is launching a set of innovative Financial Technology (Fintech) solutions targeting India's flourishing 63 million Small & Mid-sized Enterprise (SME) sector.

Indipaisa's mission is to empower SME owners and operators to take charge of their finances as well as give them facilities and services that help them grow their businesses, comply with government tax laws, and build a better future for their families.

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Indipaisa, in partnership with NSDL Payments Bank, plans to introduce multiple financial products and services customized from the ground up to match the specific needs of Indian SME owners and operators. Furthermore, Indiapaisa is proud to be part of the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India's drive to digitize payments, estimated to exceed USD 1.0 Trillion annually by the year 2025.

(L-R) Narayanan Kannan - CIO, Indipaisa, Aizaz Tahsildar - CEO, Indipaisa, Ashutosh Singh - President & CBO, NSDLPB, Diksha Khushalani - Business Head - Prepaid Cards, NSDLPB, Vipul Katiyar - Business Head - Merchant Acquiring, NSDLPB

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Aizaz Tahsildar, CEO of Indipaisa said, "Indipaisa is very proud and honoured to work with NSDL Payments Bank to help Indian small businesses align with India's digital drive for a cashless society."

Tahsildar added, "We plan to offer high-quality fintech services at affordable prices, which is exactly what the Indian SME market needs; and our commitment to innovation, deep domain knowledge and technical expertise in fintech gives us a strong competitive advantage to execute our plans."

Nebil Ben Aissa, Chairman of Indipaisa said, "We are very excited to invest in India and offer our financial services to empower Indian small business owners and operators and help them build a better future for their businesses and their families. Our experience in servicing Indian small business owners and operators in the Middle East and other markets gives us confidence that our solutions will deliver value and gain traction in India".

On this tie-up, Ashutosh Singh, President &CBO, NSDL Payments Bank, commented, "We are excited to collaborate with Indipaisa, as it aligns with one of our core objectives of taking digital banking and payment solutions to the small merchants across the country. Through this partnership, our effort will be to offer various convenient payment acceptance options to the merchants at very affordable costs. The settlement of the customer payments into the merchant bank accounts will be very quick and at zero cost to the merchant."

This story is provided by Mediawire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Mediawire)

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Lucknow, Dec 27 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday paid tributes to sons of Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, saying their sacrifice will inspire to fight against tyranny and unrighteousness.

The chief minister took part in a programme associated with the martyrdom of the sons of the Sikh Guru at his official residence, where Gurbani Kirtan was held, according to a statement.

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"It was the divine tradition of the Sikh Gurus that never allowed anti-Sanatan Dharma intentions of foreign terrorists to succeed. From Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Gobind Singh, Sikhism is a wonderful amalgamation of power with devotion. This divine tradition had come to save India. 'Sahibzada Day' will always inspire us to fight against tyranny and unrighteousness," Adityanath said.

Remembering the martyrdom of four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the CM said those who came with the intention of converting India to Islam, today their existence has been erased.

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The CM said when Babur attacked India, "terrorists tried to convert the whole country to Islam and enslave India". However, his intention was not allowed to be fulfilled by the Sikh Gurus, Adityanath said.

"Who does not know that Aurangzeb wanted the Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singhji to renounce their faith and abandon the teachings of the great Guru traditions by luring them but they chose getting buried alive to protect the country," the chief minister said.

He said the Sikh community is known for its dedication towards the nation in the entire world.

"It is well known who were the ones who drove the Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir. Guru Tegh Bahadurji Maharaj was the one who protected the Kashmiri Pandits in the country," he said.

"Maharaja Ranjit Singh brought two tonnes of gold and transformed the Kashi Vishwanath Temple into the Golden Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Aurangzeb destroyed the temple but Maharaja Ranjit Singh made the temple golden. The 'New India' must decide whether Aurangzeb deserves being respected or the great Maharaja Ranjit Singhji," said the CM.

The chief minister also spoke on efforts for the restoration of historically important gurdwaras in the state and the establishment of a museum on the tradition of the Gurus.

According to an official spokesman, Uttar Pradesh is the first state to observe "Sahibzada Diwas" from 2020, when Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath stressed that the sacrifice of the Sikh Gurus should be part of the school curriculum.

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New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Slamming the remarks made against Mahatma Gandhi at a function in Raipur, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday quoted the Father of the Nation that his thoughts cannot be imprisoned.

The Wayanad Lok Sabha member's remarks came after a section of Hindu religious leaders sang paeans to Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, at a religious congregation in Raipur on Sunday.

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"You can chain me, torture me, you can destroy this body, but you cannot imprison my thoughts," the former Congress President said quoting the Mahatma.

During the conclusion of the two-day 'dharma sansad' at Ravan Bhata ground in Raipur, Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj had used an "abusive" word against the Father of the Nation and asked people to elect a staunch Hindu leader as the head of the government in order to protect the religion.

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Earlier, Yati Narsinghananda Giri had praised Godse as the symbol of truth and religion.

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New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI): Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of common people, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi said while slamming Uttar Pradesh government on Monday.

"Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of the common man. Given Uttar Pradesh's limited healthcare systems, we have to honestly decide whether our priority is to stop the spread of the dreaded Omicron or show electoral power," he tweeted.

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Meanwhile, In the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to take out 'Jan Vishwas Yatra' from six places in the state.

The six Yatras were inaugurated by the BJP's top leaders including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other union ministers from Bijnor, Mathura, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Ambedkar Nagar, and Ballia.

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Further, India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday.

As per the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload stands at 75,841. "Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country's total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578. (ANI)

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New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) The Delhi Traffic Police has taken action against more than 100 buses for operating without proper permit, officials said on Monday.

The action was taken during a drive conducted across several parts of the national capital, they said.

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The drive against permit violations was started after information was received on December 23 regarding illegal plying of 'Daggamar Buses' at Dhaula Kuan, the officials said.

Based on inputs, the deputy commissioner of traffic (New Delhi Range) formed a team to prosecute illegally plying buses.

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"Total 11 such buses were prosecuted, out of which seven were impounded for permit violation during an on the spot drive against buses plying without proper permit. Such drive against buses plying without proper permit was continued on the next three days and total 127 buses were prosecuted in New Delhi, Central, Eastern and Southern Ranges, out of which 25 were impounded," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Vivek Kishore said.

Most of these buses carry contract carriage permit or All India Tourist Permit, he said.

Explaining the permit system, the officer said that as per the contract carriage permit, they can pick passengers from one particular spot and drop them at a particular destination.

"They are not allowed to pick and drop passengers between originating point and their destination. However, they pick up passengers for different destinations by offering single seat, thereby violating contract carriage permit conditions. Since these buses are violating the permit conditions, they are prosecuted under relevant sections of Motor Vehicles Act," he said.

The Delhi Traffic Police said they will continue the action against such violations in future also. PTI AMP

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Chandigarh, Dec 27 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia, booked under the NDPS Act, on Monday moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking anticipatory bail.

The plea, moved by Majithia's counsels Damanbir Singh Sobti and Arshdeep Singh Cheema, submitted that "to target the applicant/petitioner is one of the major election planks of the current government" led by the Congress in Punjab.

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A Mohali court on December 24 had dismissed the anticipatory bail plea of Majithia.

Last week, Majithia, 46, was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on the basis of a 2018 report of a probe into a drug racket in Punjab.

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Majithia is the brother-in-law of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal and brother of former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Majithia had earlier denied all charges against him.

The Shiromani Akali Dal had called the registration of the FIR against Majithia as "political vendetta".

The 49-page FIR was registered by the state Crime Branch at its Mohali police station.

In his bail plea, Majithia submitted that the Congress government had left no stone unturned to misuse its powers and position for wreaking vengeance upon its political opponents".

To target the applicant/petitioner is one of the major election planks of the current government. To fulfil its election stunt, the Congress government of the State of Punjab has been day and night browbeating officers to register false cases against the senior leadership of the Shiromani Akali Dal including the applicant/petitioner, according to the petition.

In the run-up to the polls, witch-hunting of the political opponents has gone to its peak, according to the petition.

The petitioner pleaded that three DGPs and three Directors of Bureau of Investigation were changed and police officers have been coerced to falsely implicate the applicant.

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New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Protest by a large number of resident doctors in Delhi over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling on Monday took a dramatic turn, as medics and police personnel faced off in streets, with both sides claiming several persons suffered injury in the ensuing melee.

The stir, led by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, has been going on for several days, and FORDA also said that several of its members were "detained" when they tried to hold a protest march from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court.

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FORDA president Manish claimed that resident doctors of a large number of major hospitals on Monday "returned their apron (lab coat) in a symbolic gesture of rejection of services".

"We also tried to march from the campus of the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court, but soon after we had started it, security personnel did not allow us to proceed," he said.

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Manish also alleged that several doctors were "detained" by police force, and taken to police station premises, before being released after some time. He also alleged that "police force was used and many doctors were injured" during their dramatic face-off.

However, police denied allegations of lathicharge or use of abusive language from their end, and said, 12 protestors were detained and released later.

In a statement issued later, FORDA said it was a "black day in the history of the medical fraternity".

"Resident doctors, the so-called 'Corona Warriors', protesting peacefully to expedite NEET PG Counselling 2021 were brutally thrashed, dragged and detained by the police," it alleged

"There will be complete shutdown of all ,healthcare institutions from today onwards," the statement said.

In an official statement issued later, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) Rohit Meena said, on Monday, a group of resident doctors "without having any authorised permission" blocked the BSZ Marg, main road between ITO and Delhi gate, and jammed the traffic for more than six hours".

"They deliberately created nuisance on the main road and blocked both carriageways, causing hardship and harassment to commuters and general public," he claimed in the statement.

Subsequently, they were "addressed by DG Health" who gave them the assurance of fulfilling their demands, the senior police officer was quoted as saying in the statement.

However, they became "aggressive and even after pacifying them, they blocked the road", he claimed.

"After requesting them again to leave the road, they became aggressive and manhandled our personnel when efforts were made to detain them lawfully. Seven police personnel got injured while detaining them. They also broke the glass of police bus," he alleged.

A case is being registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code in connection with the matter, police said.

Later in the night, a large number of resident doctors gathered outside the Sarojini Nagar police station. But, no one has been detained as of now, police said.

However, doctors claimed that a large number of protestors were detained by police when they tried to march from Safdarjung Hospital to the official residence of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

"They are protesting and we are facilitating their protest...they are on a sit-in here. Let them first settle down and then we will initiate talks with them. It's likely that any immediate meeting could be arranged with officials concerned at night but we are trying are best to sort it out," a senior police officer from southwest district of the Delhi Police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southwest) Gaurav Sharma said that "Doctors were protesting and they were reconciled through negotiations. They were peacefully handled and sent back to their hostels."

In a video released by FORDA, a group of protestors can be seen singing the national anthem outside a police station, while one doctor can be seen telling a group that they should prepare to camp there all night to protest.

Later, a resident doctor said, after all detained doctors been released, "injured will go to hospitals, and rest all will be heading back, to regroup again tomorrow".

Senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also shared video clip of the face-off between the doctors and police personnel, and extended support to protesting resident doctors.

As the protest continued on Monday, patient care remained affected at three Centre-run facilities -- Safdarjung, RML and Lady Hardinge hospitals -- and some of the Delhi government-run hospitals.

Last Tuesday, a group of doctors had thrown flowers on security barricades, and clanged utensils and clapped in front of the Nirman Bhawan here, saying they were symbolically "returning" the adulation showered on them for being Covid warriors.

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Srinagar, Dec 27 (PTI) Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Monday hit out at the administration for opening the union territory to real estate investors, alleging that it is being done to change the demography of the region.

The comments came after the Jammu and Kashmir administration signed 39 MoUs worth Rs 18,300 crore with the country's real investors for the development of housing and commercial projects in the union territory.

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"Once again the true intentions of the government are brought to the fore. While offering to secure the land, jobs, domicile laws & identity of the people of Ladakh, J&K is being put up for sale. People of Jammu should beware, 'investors' will buy up land in Jammu long before Kashmir," Abdullah wrote on Twitter.

Mehbooba tweeted, "J&K's special status was illegally revoked to dehumanise, dispossess & disempower the only Muslim majority state in India. GOIs brazen loot & sale of our resources shows that the sole motive is to annihilate our identity & change the demography."

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New Delhi [India], December 27 (ANI): The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), which seized Rs 194.45 crores of cash, 23 kg gold and 600 kg sandalwood from businessman Peeyush Jain's possession, on Monday informed that the accused has admitted that cash recovered was related to the sale of goods without payment of taxes.

"After intercepting four trucks operated by M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, carrying pan masala and tobacco of said brand cleared without payment of GST, the officers tallied the actual stock available in the factory with the stock recorded in the books and found the shortage of raw materials and finished products. This further corroborated that the manufacturer was indulging in clandestine removal of goods with the help of transporter who used to issue fake invoices to manage the transportation of said goods," a statement issued by the DGGI said.

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The DGGI further stated that it has seized more than 200 such fake invoices.

"The manufacturers of Shikhar brand of pan masala/tobacco products have admitted and deposited an amount of Rs 3.09 crores towards their tax liability," the agency said.

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"The statement of Peeyush Jain has been recorded wherein he has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to the sale of goods without payment of GST," it said.

"The evidences collected during the searches conducted in the last five days are being investigated thoroughly to unravel the tax evasion," it added.

The Kanpur-based businessman was arrested on Sunday under Section 67 of the CGST Act after the recovery of unaccounted cash, gold and sandalwood.

The accused has been sent to 14 days of judicial custody by a Kanpur court in the matter. (ANI)

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Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) [India], December 27 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh on Monday to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for hydropower projects worth Rs 11,000 crores.

The Prime Minister will inaugurate the Sawra-Kuddu Hydro Power Project. The 111 MW Project has been built at a cost of around Rs 2080 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 380 million units of electricity per year and help the state earn revenue worth over Rs 120 crore annually.

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As per an official statement from Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Renukaji Dam project, lying pending for around three decades.

"The project was made possible through the vision of cooperative federalism of the Prime Minister when six states viz Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Delhi were brought together by the Centre for making the project possible," PMO said.

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"The 40 MW project will be built at a cost of around Rs 7000 crore. It will prove to be immensely beneficial for Delhi, which will be able to receive around 500 million cubic meter water supply per year," it added.

The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone of the Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project. "The 210 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 1800 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 750 million units of electricity per year. The modern and dependable grid support will prove beneficial to surrounding states of the region as well," PMO said.

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project. According to PMO, this will be the first hydropower project of Hamirpur district. The 66 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 680 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 300 million units of electricity per year.

Prior to the event, PM Modi will preside over the second ground-breaking ceremony of the Himachal Pradesh Global Investors' Meet at around 11:30 am.

"Prime Minister will also preside over the second ground-breaking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh Global Investors' Meet. The Meet is expected to give a boost to investment in the region through the start of projects worth around Rs 28,000 crore," PMO said.

"Prime Minister has constantly focussed on fully utilizing the untapped potential of the resources available in the country. One of the steps in this regard has been to utilize optimally the hydropower potential in the Himalayan region. The projects which will be inaugurated and whose foundation stone will be laid by the Prime Minister during the visit reflect a key step in this direction," it added. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Dehradun, Dec 27 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of an AIIMS in Uttarakhand's Haldwani on December 30.

Announcing this at a public meeting in Gangolihat, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said it will be the second AIIMS for Uttarakhand after the one at Rishikesh.

Also Read | Gujarat Government Signs MoU With Taj Group for Hotel Near Statue of Unity in Kevadiya.

Dhami said he was grateful to the prime minister for accepting his request for opening an AIIMS for people of Kumaon region, for whom going all the way to AIIMS, Rishikesh, for treatment is difficult.

Dhami, who was in Gangolihat to inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of development projects worth nearly Rs 23 crore, said under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, projects worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore have been cleared for the state over the past five years.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh Shocker: 14-Year-Old Girl Raped by Minor Neighbour in Muzaffarnagar, Accused Absconding.

Kedarnath has been reconstructed with a statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya unveiled on his rebuilt Samadhi by the prime minister recently, he said.

Badrinath is also being reconstructed in accordance with his vision and Rs 29 crore have been sanctioned for a DPR on the long-awaited Tanakpur-Bageshwar rail line, Dhami said.

Dhami also spoke of the decisions taken by his cabinet after he took over as "Mukhya Sevak", saying it had taken around 700 decisions for the development and welfare of people of the state.

"People often tell me I got little time to perform. I think I must devote all time at my disposal the service of the 1.25 crore people of the state, he said.

He also flayed the Congress for installing cut-outs of the country's first CDS Gen Bipin Rawat at a rally in Dehradun, saying the party had once called him a "streetside hooligan" and asked for proof of the surgical strikes.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, December 27: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the Modi government for the police action against resident doctors in the national capital who took to the streets to protest the delay in NEET-PG counselling.

"Showering of flower petals from PR (public relations), in reality it is raining injustice. I stand with #CovidWarriors against the tyranny of the central government, the former Congress president said on Twitter. Also Read | Hyderabad: Customs Officials Seize 1.19 kg Gold Concealed by Passenger in Rectum at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

Rahul Gandhi's Tweet

Resident doctors of government-run hospitals on Monday intensified their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling and took out a march from Maulana Azad Medical College in central Delhi to the Supreme Court. Also Read | Gujarat: 45-Year-Old Man Murders Wife In Ahmedabad After Dispute Over Property, Arrested.

However, the protesters were stopped by the police leading to scuffles. At least 12 protestors were detained by the police and released later. The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) has been spearheading the protest for the last several days.

The government had showered flower petals on doctors and healthcare workers during the nationwide lockdown last year as a gesture of gratitude for their contribution in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kolkata, Dec 27 (PTI) Amid claims that the TMC and the BJP have a "tacit understanding" to undermine and divide the opposition camp, the saffron party on Monday said it would not give up until TMC boss and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is defeated in West Bengal.

Also Read | Pune Police Book Saraswat Bank Chairman Gautam Thakur, MD Smita Sandhane, 6 Others in Cheating Case.

The saffron camp also announced that its national president J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah would visit the state next month and address party programmes.

Also Read | Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath Says 'Govts in UP Before 2017 Spent Money on Boundaries of Kabristan, BJP Works for Development'.

The state BJP unit, during the day, held an organisational meeting here, which was addressed by the party's national general secretary (organization) B L Santosh.

The party's state president, Sukanta Majumdar, its national vice-president Dilip Ghosh and Leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari were among those present at the meeting.

"Santoshji clearly said that the party will not give up till Mamata Banerjee is defeated in Bengal. The BJP will not stop till the TMC gets politically defeated in the state. This message was much needed to mobilise cadres and leaders, as the assembly poll defeat and claims of tacit understanding between BJP and TMC were taking a toll on the organisation, a senior office-bearer noted.

The grand old party and the CPI (M) have several times in the past accused the TMC of being a "trojan horse of the BJP".

The BJP, despite its high-pitched poll campaign, won 77 seats in the last assembly polls, whereas the TMC bagged 213 out of the 294 seats to return to power for the third consecutive time.

Amid rumblings in the state BJP unit after several old guards were axed from the new office bearers' committee, Santosh said everybody has to abide by the party discipline.

"Santosh Ji has promised that no one will be left out, and everybody will be given responsibilities. The motto should that we speak less and listen to people," the BJP leader stated.

During the meeting, it was also decided that age of activists and leaders of BJP Yuva Morcha (youth wing) have to be within 35 years, he added.

The message from the central leadership comes just days after a few MLAs -- some from the politically crucial Matua community -- have openly expressed their displeasure after being dropped from the newly formed committee.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Global Health Ltd, which operates and manages hospitals under the Medanta brand, and clinical research organisation Veeda Clinical Research has received markets regulator Sebi's go-ahead to raise funds through an initial public offering (IPO).

These companies, which filed their preliminary IPO with Sebi in September, obtained its observations on December 21, an update with the regulator showed on Monday.

Also Read | OnePlus 10 Pro Listed on JD.com, Pre-Orders To Commence on January 4, 2022.

In Sebi parlance, the issuance of observations letter implies its go-ahead for the IPO.

Going by the draft papers, Global Health's IPO consists of a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating to Rs 500 crore, and an offer for sale of up to 4.84 crore equity shares.

Also Read | Tecno Pova 5G With MediaTek Dimensity 900 SoC Launched.

As part of the offer-for-sale (OFS), Anant Investments, an affiliate of private equity major Carlyle Group, will sell up to 4.33 crore equity shares and Global Health co-founder Sunil Sachdeva (jointly with Suman Sachdeva) will offload up to 51 lakh equity shares.

The proceeds from the fresh issue will be used to pay debt and general corporate purposes.

Co-founded by Naresh Trehan, a renowned cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgeon, Global Health is a leading private multi-speciality tertiary care providers in the north and east regions of India.

Veeda Clinical Research's Rs 831-crore IPO consists of an issuance of fresh equity shares worth up to Rs 331.60 crore and an OFS of Rs 500 crore by promoters and existing shareholders.

Investors participating in OFS include CX Alternative Investment Fund aggregating up to Rs 8.08 crore, Rs 90.19 crore by Arabelle Financial Services, Rs 259.77 crore by Bondway Investment Inc., Rs 0.04 crore by Stevey International Corporation and Rs 141.93 crore by Basil Private Limited.

The company intends to utilise net proceeds from the fresh issue for repayment of the debt, funding capital expenditure, funding further acquisition of subsidiary Bioneeds India, funding working capital requirements besides general corporate purposes. HRS hrs

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington DC [US], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have expressed condolences over the death of Desmond Mpilo Tutu, South African Anglican archbishop, human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Tutu passed away on Sunday at the age of 90, in Cape Town, according to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa who said that the activist's death "is another chapter of bereavement in our nation's farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans."

Also Read | China Reports 158 Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours.

Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama have both expressed condolences over Tutu's death. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "deeply saddened" by the passing of the "towering global figure for peace and justice." UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Tutu will be remembered for his "spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humor."

"On behalf of the Biden family, we send our deepest condolences to his wife Leah and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And on behalf of the people of the United States, we send our deepest condolences to the people of South Africa who are mourning the loss of one of their most important founding fathers," the Bidens said in a Sunday statement.

Also Read | Taliban-Run Government Dissolves Afghanistan Election Commissions.

According to the White House release, the Bidens had spent time with Tutu on several occasions and were "heartbroken" after learning of his passing.

"And, just a few months ago, we joined the world in celebrating his 90th birthday and reflecting on the power of his message of justice, equality, truth, and reconciliation as we confront racism and extremism in our time today," Joe Biden and his wife said.

Tutu is widely known for his staunch opposition to apartheid, which resulted in him receiving a Nobel Prize in 1984, but he has spoken out on many other causes as well. The archbishop also served as the chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the abolition of apartheid and is known for coining the term "Rainbow Nation" to describe post-apartheid South Africa. (ANI/Sputnik)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Kabul [Afghanistan], December 27 (ANI): Abdul Latif Nazari, newly appointed deputy minister of the economy, has accused the country's former President Ashraf Ghani of corruption, local media reported.

Nazari said the existence of corruption in most departments of the former government brought Afghanistan's economy close to the edge of collapse, Tolo News reported.

Also Read | China Reports 158 Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours.

During the ceremony held at the Ministry of Economy, Nazari said blamed the former leadership of the administration involved with the economy, saying corruption existed widely at most of the departments during the former government.

The ceremony was held to introduce Abdul Latif Nazari. "Most of the problems are inherited from the previous government, if we judge fairly, billions of dollars were misused due to corruption," Tolo quoted Nazari saying.

Also Read | Taliban-Run Government Dissolves Afghanistan Election Commissions.

Islamic Emirate officials said the appointment of Nazari is a step toward forming an inclusive government, which is demanded by the international community.

Acting Minister of Economy Qari Din Mohammad Haneef the ministry needs professional figures and people who are not corrupted. " The ministry of economy is place where it needs for professional and technical persons. We try to recruit professional faces here," said Qari Din Mohammad Haneef.

The Taliban on Saturday appointed Abdul Latif Nazari as Deputy Minister of Economy. Nazari is a Ph.D. holder and has been a university lecturer in Kabul. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Tokyo [Japan], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Japan has so far confirmed 58 Omicron cases, including 20 in people who did not go abroad or have contact with other infected persons, the Japanese media reported on Monday.

According to NHK, most cases, 19, have been found in Osaka, while both Tokyo and Okinawa had 10, Kyoto -- 8, Aichi -- 2. Another nine prefectures had one case each.

Also Read | NASA Hires 24 Theologists To Assess How Humans Would React To Alien Life.

The first Omicron case was discovered in the country earlier this month.

So far, Japan has not introduced internal restrictions but stopped issuing new visas to foreigners and suspended already issued ones for businessmen and students. Meanwhile, tourists have not been able to enter the country since late December 2020, when Japan stopped issuing new visas due to the spread of the Alpha strain. (ANI/Sputnik)

Also Read | Australia Reports First Death Due To New COVID-19 Variant Omicron.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Singapore, Dec 27 (PTI) Singapore has lifted the ban it imposed on 10 African countries over the Omicron variant of coronavirus, while authorities expect a rapid doubling of cases in the coming days.

Passengers arriving in Singapore with travel history to Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe within the past 14 days will come under the country's Category IV border measures from 11.59 pm on Sunday.

Also Read | China Reports 158 Locally Transmitted COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said it expects a new wave of local cases "soon" given the higher transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

"In the coming days and weeks, we should expect more community (local) cases and rapid doubling of cases. This is again a process we need to go through, in order to live with COVID-19," it said.

Also Read | Taliban-Run Government Dissolves Afghanistan Election Commissions.

"However, the peak of the wave can be blunted and we can avoid overwhelming our healthcare system again if everyone plays their part to get their vaccinations and booster doses, self-test regularly and self-isolate if tested positive," the Channel News Asia quoting the MoH said.

In particular, those who have recently arrived from overseas or been in contact with an infected person should reduce their social interactions.

"We have done whatever we can to prepare ourselves for it; especially in administering boosters to our population and starting vaccinations for our children. We seek the cooperation and understanding of everyone, as we weather through an Omicron wave in the next one to two months," the channel quoting the ministry said.

Instead of being isolated in dedicated facilities by default, Omicron cases will be placed on home recovery or treated at community care facilities depending on their clinical presentation, the channel reported.

This means the travellers with links to these countries must take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within two days before departure to Singapore, as well as an on-arrival PCR test. They will also have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility. Another PCR test will be administered at the end of their quarantine period.

Previously, long-term pass holders and short-term visitors with recent travel history to these 10 African countries were not allowed to enter or transit following initial reports on Omicron cases there. Singapore citizens and permanent residents returning from these countries would have to serve a 10-day stay-home notice at a dedicated facility.

The MoH said it initially adopted a "more cautious risk containment approach" to reduce the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant into Singapore.

"The Omicron variant has since spread widely around the world," the ministry said, adding that Singapore is updating its travel restrictions accordingly.

"As the global situation evolves, we will continue to adjust our border measures in tandem with our roadmap to becoming a Covid-resilient nation, it said.

"Current observations from affected countries and regions suggest that the Omicron variant is more transmissible than currently circulating variants. Globally, the Omicron variant has overtaken the Delta variant as the predominant variant in numerous countries, such as the UK and Denmark," it added.

Available data suggests that Omicron infections face reduced risks of hospitalisation and severe disease compared to Delta infections, the MoH added.

"Locally, our Omicron cases have so far not been severe as well, none has required intensive care or oxygen supplementation, although this may be partially due to most cases being fully vaccinated and from younger age groups," it said.

Preliminary estimates from overseas studies also indicate that two doses of mRNA vaccines reduce the risk of symptomatic infection from Omicron by about 35 per cent. The risk is further reduced to about 75 per cent lower for individuals with a primary and booster mRNA regimen.

"There should be better protection against severe infection and death due to cellular immunity and other factors," said the MoH.

"It is therefore important for us to press on with our booster vaccination programme to enhance protection against infection and severe disease, it said.

Also, Omicron cases in Singapore will be placed on home recovery or treated at community care facilities depending on their clinical presentation, instead of being isolated in dedicated facilities by default, the ministry said.

"International evidence indicates that the Omicron variant is likely to be more transmissible but less severe than the Delta variant, and that vaccines, especially boosters, retain substantial protection against hospitalisations caused by Omicron," the channel quoting the MoH said.

"In the last week, we had several unlinked Omicron cases as well as clusters in the community. This was not unexpected given the high transmissibility of the variant, the ministry said.

Based on the authorities' "updated understanding", Omicron cases will be allowed to follow protocols 1-2-3 as with other COVID-19 cases, it said.

As of Saturday, Singapore has detected 546 confirmed Omicron cases comprising 443 imported cases and 103 local infections.

On Sunday, Singapore reported 209 new COVID-19 cases, 100 of which were imported or those arriving here.

There was also one fatality, taking the country's death toll from coronavirus complications to 822.

As of Sunday, Singapore has recorded 2,77,764 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Moscow [Russia], December 27 (ANI/Sputnik): Tensions in Eastern Europe should decrease following Russia's proposals on security guarantees to NATO and the United States, Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General Stanislav Zas said on Monday.

Zas mentioned that the situation in the region is "far from stable" due to the buildup of NATO military infrastructure, hostile rhetoric, imposition of new sanctions and provocations near borders of the CSTO member states.

Also Read | NASA Hires 24 Theologists To Assess How Humans Would React To Alien Life.

"These events cannot but worry and, of course, they do not remain without the attention of the organization ... I believe that after Russia's proposals to the North Atlantic Alliance on security guarantees, the tension in the East European direction in the CSTO area of responsibility should decrease," Zas told the Allies-CSTO news agency, adding that "no one wants a war." (ANI/Sputnik)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, December 27: The Election Commission of India is unlikely to postpone the state polls due early next year, sources said. The health Secretary on Monday briefed the Commission about the Omicron threat in the country specially in the poll bound states.

The commission has asked the government to vaccinate all those on election duty ahead of the polls. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan submitted a report to the commission according to which the assembly polls in Manipur, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and UP are likely to be held at the scheduled time as mandated by the Constitution. The assembly tenure of UP is due to end in May. Assembly Elections 2022: Shiv Sena Will Contest Uttar Pradesh and Goa Assembly Polls, Says Sanjay Raut.

Former CEC S.Y. Qureshi told IANS, "postponement of elections is out of question and it will be violation of the Constitution and the Commission will take into account all the factors while it may ban rallies."

A source with the ministry said that the Election Commission and Union Health Ministry discussed the rising number of cases of new Covid variant Omicron across the country with special attention on the states going to polls. Rajesh Bhushan presented a detailed report on the transmissibility of Omicron to the Election Commission.

According to a source, on being asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the Union Health Secretary said that this time nothing can be said exactly at the moment. The daily Covid caseload can see around 25 per cent jump in next few months as per the present rate of infections, he said in the meeting. The health officials also detailed the districts where R value has increased, said the source.

The assembly elections are scheduled for five states - Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022. The dates could be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness on Tuesday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 27, 2021 09:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
We are verifying the movement of those 20 people who arrived at Paradip Fishing Harbour, and are suspected to be Bangladeshis. Their motor boat engine reportedly was out of order. With the help of some boatmen here, they were rescued: *Nimain Charan Sethi, Additional SP, Paradip pic.twitter.com/1SF1Og3q4e ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2021

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Vice President Kamala Harris has said that democracy was the most significant national security threat facing the country.

During an interview on CBS News' "Face The Nation" aired on Sunday, Harris was asked what she sees as the biggest national security challenge confronting the nation and the one thing that keeps her up at night.

The vice president said, "one of them is our democracy."

"There is I think no question in the minds of people who are foreign policy experts that the year 2021 is not the year 2000... I think there's so much about foreign and domestic policy that, for example, was guided and prioritized based on September 11, 2001," Harris noted.

The vice president said the country is entering a new era where the threats to the nation have many forms, including the "threat of autocracies taking over," and having a huge influence around the world, Newsmax reported.

She noted how human rights violations multiplied, and corruption undermined progress. She added that misinformation is deflating public confidence.

Harris said she believes that they must strengthen the U.S.' relationship with its allies and partners around the world, adding that pulling out of those relationships weakens security.

She then adjusted her statement, saying that there is an urgent need to "fight for the integrity of our democracy," according to Daily Mail. She added that fighting for the integrity of democracy is needed when addressing the climate crisis.

Kamala Harris explained that global warming is connected to global security as it represents that the U.S. and its allies have the best chance of overcoming it if they work together.

The vice president also lauded President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from Kabul after a 20-year occupation.

READ NEXT: Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar Gives up From Getting Kamala Harris' Help on Border Issues, Says She Doesn't Seem Interested and Hasn't Returned His Calls

Kamala Harris on Kabul Withdrawal

Joe Biden and his administration's top officials have been continuously scrutinized for the Kabul withdrawal that left as many as 200 American citizens and thousands of Afghan allies of the U.S. military behind.

Biden earlier promised that U.S. forces would remain until every American was out. When asked if she feels any responsibility for the operation, Kamala Harris did not give a clear answer. She noted that she was the "last person in the room" when Biden made the call.

However, Harris said she does not regret following through with the deal that was negotiated by the previous administration, claiming that any action other than the one taken could have resulted in a greater conflict.

She believed that if the U.S. had broken the previous agreement, the country would be talking about a war in Afghanistan.

Joe Biden on Donald Trump Deal With the Taliban

Joe Biden has also taken note of the said agreement former President Donald Trump made with the Taliban, The New York Post reported.

The president said he "inherited" the Trump deal negotiated with the Taliban, which noted the U.S. leaving Afghanistan by May 1 as going past the date would have been no cease-fire to protect U.S. forces.

The Biden administration recently said it wanted to expand the flow of aid to humanitarian organizations in Afghanistan.

Kamala Harris said she worries that the Taliban has not complied with what they know to be the appropriate treatment for girls and women.

Meanwhile, the vice president has also been facing her own series of scrutiny regarding handling border issues and how she manages her office.

Kamala Harris was asked if the criticisms arose because she is the first black and the first woman to serve as vice president, wherein she answered that there were a lot of "big issues" that needed to be addressed.

She noted that it has been a part of her career and that the issues are now different.

READ MORE: Majority Believes Joe Biden Unfit to Be President and 'Others' Are Secretly Running the White House: Poll

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Full Interview: Vice President Kamala Harris on 'Face the Nation' - From Face The Nation






At least 18 were dead, and more than 280 were injured after floods covered the northeastern part of Brazil as two dams broke amid the heavy rains in the region.

According to CNN, the death toll and number of injured were confirmed by officials from Brazil. Bahia Governor Rui Costa confirmed that the floods had affected at least 40 cities throughout their state, including the city of Ilheus, which was one of the worst-hit.

Brazil's meteorological and natural disaster monitoring agencies warned that there was a risk of more floods and landslides in Bahia, with the possibility of rainfall continuing until Tuesday.

READ NEXT: Brazil Builds One of a Kind Bridge for Endangered Monkeys to Help Them Cross Freeway

Brazil: Thousands of People Evacuated Over Historic Floods

As of Sunday, Bahia's civil defense and protection agency recorded at least 35,000 people evacuated from their homes due to floods.

Costa said the "massive tragedy" in their state was "truly terrifying," given the number of casualties and properties destroyed.

"This is a massive tragedy. I can't remember seeing anything like this in Bahia's recent history, given the amount of cities and houses involved. It's truly terrifying," he noted.

Costa added that many houses and streets were still "completely underwater." The current record of evacuees was marked as a record-high escalation from the over 11,000 who were first evacuated from their residence on Saturday.

As thousands of people fled from their homes, the Bahia and federal government mounted a joint operation on Saturday. Other states also joined in the operation to deploy people, aircraft and equipment; and provide relief to residents in the flooded areas.

"We are fully mobilized, taking all measures to ensure the necessary support to the victims of the heavy rains that hit Bahia this Christmas," Costa said in a video message.

Officials noted that Bahia's capital, Salvador, had at least a rainfall totaling 25 centimeters this month. The said number was reportedly five times the historic average.

The state's infrastructure secretary also reported flooding and traffic blocks on 17 roads, with some due to landslides and rockslides.

On Sunday, DW reported that rescue teams were also helping residents trapped in their homes as they delivered supplies to them. Some of the residents who were trapped in the city of Itabuna after parts of the downtown area were flooded with water have reportedly been rescued.

2 Dams in Brazil Break as Heavy Rains Hit the Country's Northeastern Region

Warnings of flash floods have been issued after two dams broke in Brazil's state of Bahia. The Igua dam, situated on the Verruga River, collapsed on Saturday night, prompting the evacuation of residents in Itambe town.

Then on Sunday morning, a second dam broke in Jussiape, prompting authorities to renew their calls for people to move to safety.

Brazilian authorities said more than 19,500 people were displaced, 16,000 were homeless, and two people were missing due to the flooding.

READ MORE: Brazil Soccer Legend Pele Will Be Home for Christmas After He Was Discharged From Hospital, but Treatment for Colon Tumor Continues

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Dams burst in Brazil, Region Hit by Floods - From Reuters
An accused Capitol rioter currently on house arrest has asked a judge to let him use websites and social media apps to find a job and look for a date.

Thomas Sibick, from Buffalo, New York, was charged with assaulting a police officer and robbery among other charges connected to the January 6 Capitol riot, according to a Business Insider report.

A judge had allowed him to be on house arrest as he awaits his trial on his charges for his involvement in the Capitol riot.

Sibick was not allowed to use social media apps while on house arrest.

Sibick was arrested in March and had made multiple requests for release. He asked to be held in solitary confinement to avoid what his lawyer called a "cult-like" and "toxic" environment in the wing meant for January 6 defendants.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson imposed some conditions on Sibick including orders that he must stay out of Washington, not attend political rallies, as well as prohibit the use of social media or watch political talk shows on cable news.

Attorney Stephen Brennwald wrote that his client was not seeking to use any social media apps for any prohibited purpose, such as political engagement and news reading, rather Sibick wants to meet someone on a social media site where he could establish some sort of connection with someone.

Jackson had read aloud some of the social media posts of the accused before sentencing them, such as the case of Russel Peterson, who was sentenced to 30 days of imprisonment.

Jackson told the Pennsylvania man that his posts made it "extraordinarily difficult" for her to show him leniency, according to The Guardian report.

READ NEXT: Former Donald Trump Aide Stephanie Grisham Said Trump's Anger to His Ex-Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Must Be "Through the Roof" Following the Reveal of Text Messages

Accused Capitol Rioters

The Justice Department's prosecution noted how large a role social media played during the insurrection, with most damning evidence coming from rioters' own words and videos.

Prosecutors have used social media posts to build cases, while judges are now weighing them in favor of tougher sentences.

Social media posts were used to request stricter sentences in at least 28 cases. Prosecutors have also accused other defendants of destroying evidence by deleting social media posts.

Around 700 people have been charged with federal crimes connected to the Capitol riot with approximately 150 of them have pleaded guilty.

Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had acquired a search warrant for Andrew Ryan Bennett's Facebook account after getting a tip that Bennett had live-streamed from inside the Capitol.

Two days prior to the January 6 incident, Bennett posted a Facebook statement, saying that "you better be ready chaos is coming." He announced that he will be in Washington on January 6 to fight for his freedom.

Meanwhile, the House had formed a select committee to lead a probe on the events of January 6, prompting the issuance of several subpoenas to former officials of the previous administration.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to stop the release of records during his presidency to the select committee probing the Capitol riot, according to a France 24 News report.

Trump has been accused of inciting the assault of Congress.

READ MORE: House January 6 Committee Examines Mark Meadows' PowerPoint Presentation Detailing Donald Trump's Plan to Retain Presidency

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Judge releases Capitol riot defendant over 'toxic' conditions in DC Jail - from WUSA9






THE victim of a sexual assault in Tullamore four years ago said he had to leave the town as a result of the attack and has considered taking his own life.

Tullamore Circuit Court heard that a 22-year-old man, whose identity is protected by order of the court, was sexually assaulted in the town centre while on his way home after being out for drinks after work.

A 60-year-old intellectually disabled man, Patrick Graham, 60, Cappincur, Tullamore, pleaded guilty in June to sexually assaulting the young man at Texas car park in the town on December 11, 2017 and he received a 20-month suspended sentence from Judge Francis Comerford last week.

In a victim impact report read into the court record by prosecution counsel Will Fennelly, BL, the victim said two letters and a word - the word if - will torment his life forever.

He wrote: If my work night was the date before or after, if I had left earlier or later, if I had rang for a lift like I said I would... If he just hadn't seen me leaving then my life wouldn't be the one I'm living now.

He said December 2017 ended the person he was previously known as, both to himself and his family.

That night turned me into a person I don't like and a person I don't want to be. I've taken a road that seems never ending, and I'm tired, his report said.

I considered taking my life and I'm scared but I'm also scared that one day I won't be.

He said he had left Tullamore and his family behind because the man who committed the assault was a person he did not want to see and he could not work or shop in Tullamore in case he saw him.

He said he hopes he will get to a stage where he's not ashamed or embarrassed and takes the support his family want to give because their lives have changed too and I want to be the old me for them and my children.

Mr Fennelly said the victim added a postscript at the end of his report, indicating that he had initially ignored pleas from his family to write it because it meant he was reliving what he had been trying to bury and what he had left his town for.

I finally knew I had to [write it] because I should be heard and maybe it will help, he said.

He thanked the gardai for their support, especially Garda Elaine Conlon, for being on the phone and helping with any questions he or his parents had.

The circumstances of the assault were outlined to the court by Garda Conlon who said the victim told gardai on December 11, 2017 that a man, who he named, had sexually assaulted him.

He was very distressed and intoxicated when he arrived at the station and asked that his father be contacted.

He said he had gone for drinks after work with friends and met the accused, who he knew but was not really acquainted with, and the assault then took place.

Later the same day Mr Graham attended voluntarily at the garda station and when Garda Conlon informed him he was going to be arrested for the sexual assault he replied that It was a stupid mistake. In later interviews he confirmed the account given by the victim.

The garda said the accused was a native of Tullamore and a single man with no children who is on disability.

He was remorseful and co-operated with the gardai and in the interviews with them he understood the questions and intellectually was capable of engaging but was perhaps not capable of functioning at a high level. He had no previous convictions.

Cross-examined by John Peart, SC, defending, Garda Conlon said the case was delayed to some degree while medical reports were prepared and those reports indicated he was fit to stand trial and he then pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

The court heard he was one of nine children who attended a boarding school in Dublin for the intellectually disabled between the age of 11 and 18 and then worked at a local workshop.

When he was 44 he had an epileptic incident which led to his hospital and that had affected his ability to deal with the world.

Garda Conlon said he had not come to garda notice for the last four years.

Mr Peart told the court Mr Graham's intellectual disability worsened after an epileptic seizure when he was 44. He described his intellectual disability as moderate and said his understanding of his position is somewhat rudimentary.

A member of the accused's family told the court that two other family members who lived nearby would supervise him in the event that he did not receive a custodial sentence.

She concurred with the medical reports, saying his disability disimproved greatly after what she described as a very serious epileptic seizure.

She said his mental age would be under 10 and he is a person who would not be able to make serious decisions.

His family had spoken to him about the incident and he felt remorse, was sorry and understood what was happening in court.

The witness added that earlier this year he collapsed and was hospitalised with deep thrombosis in a leg and is on a lot of medication.

Asking that he not be sentenced to prison, the woman said the defendant no longer socialised and now only left his house to go grocery shopping once a week.

She said the incident had totally destroyed his life and he now lived in fear.

Mr Peart also asked that a custodial sentence not be imposed and said Mr Graham is an impaired person whose condition is deteriorating and would be extremely vulnerable if placed in custody.

He said the accused had not come to garda notice since the offence and suggested that a suspended sentence with significant conditions could be imposed.

Announcing his sentence, Judge Comerford said Mr Graham had committed a grave assault on someone who was very vulnerable and who was entitled to be out for drinks after work and to walk home afterward.

The judge said there is no need for the victim to feel embarrassed or ashamed, no more than any other assault victim and he hoped the victim will be able to find his way back to his old self.

Judge Comerford said the attack was opportunistic rather than calculated or preplanned and the defendant did not have much insight into what he did because of his intellectual disability.

He described him as a man who would be extremely unfit for prison and neither would he be suitable for community service.

The maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years and taking mitigating factors into account, the indicative sentence would be four years, which he further reduced to 20 months because of the other relevant circumstances and evidence, including a probation report.

Judge Comerford suspended the 20-month sentence for 30 months on condition the man enter a 100 peace bond and remain under the supervision of the probation service for a year.

He also imposed a partial curfew on the man, ordering that he not be away from his home on his own between 9pm and 8am every day unless accompanied by an adult every day.

Judge Comerford said the accused was not to be on the streets at night as he had been in 2017. He was also placed on the register of sex offenders.
Tornado Flyer shocked his rivals as he triumphed as a 28-1 outsider in the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on St Stephen's Day.

Trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by his nephew Danny, Tornado Flyer came home nine lengths clear of dual winner Clan Des Obeaux, while Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo and 3-1 favourite Chantry House failed to fire.

Sporting first-time cheekpieces, Minella Indo was noticeably keen in the early stages for Rachael Blackmore, going toe to toe with renowned front runner and last years King George victor Frodon, with the duo setting a strong early gallop.

Who saw that one coming?! Tornado Flyer shocks the field to win the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase Watch LIVE @ITV https://t.co/fkQLQLtgFY pic.twitter.com/kplWdhntWV  ITV Racing (@itvracing) December 26, 2021

Blackmore eventually took a pull, with Frodon allowed to dictate before Minella Indo again challenged going out onto the second circuit. However, it was clear from some way out the Irish raider would not be taking a hand in the finish as he dropped away and was pulled up. Chantry House, meanwhile, was pulled up with six fences still to jump after never really finding his stride.

Saint Calvados, one of three for Paul Nicholls along with Frodon and Clan Des Obeaux, went for home going strongly but his run started to stutter in the straight, just as Tornado Flyer and his stablemate Asterion Forlonge loomed large.

Tornado Flyer grabbed the lead at the penultimate fence and with Asterion Forlonge crashing out at the last, Clan Des Obeaux was left in second with Saint Calvados third and Frodon plugging on for fourth.

The winning rider was completing a double on the day, having struck earlier on Jacamar on what was his first trip to Kempton.

He said: Winning a King George is something you dream about. You look at the likes of Kauto Star and the other horses that have won it. For Tornado Flyer to go and put in a performance like that is magic.

The day is all green and white Tornado Flyer, @dan2231 & his incredible owners pic.twitter.com/Q03eV2umlh  Kempton Park Racecourse (@kemptonparkrace) December 26, 2021

I got into a good position early and he travelled into the race very well. I just wanted to keep saving a bit as its a long way down the straight here and thankfully I had a willing partner, which is what its all about.

I knew I wasnt out of it  I was cautiously optimistic that hed run a good race. On the best of his form its in there and when he gets it all together hes a proper good horse. Hes proved that today in such a competitive race.

I was hopeful hed stay and any time youre riding for Willie in a race like this you have a right chance.

You look at everything the Mullins have achieved, Im delighted to be part of the family.
A new phase of a walking trail which links Northern Ireland and the Republic with the world-famous Appalachian Mountains in the US has been launched in a bid to attract more international visitors.

The International Appalachian Trail (IAT) UlsterIreland is part of an international walking trail that follows the Appalachian Mountain terrain, which existed on the super continent Pangaea before the Atlantic Ocean formed and broke up the continent.

The Ulster-Ireland section totals 279 miles in length, was established in 2011, launched in 2013 and continues the trail after it leaves the North American continent.

It starts at the Slieve League, passes through Glencolmcille, traverses the Bluestack Mountains in Co Donegal before crossing into Co Tyrone where it picks up the Ulster Way, taking in the Sperrins, the north coast and the Glens of Antrim.

The next phase of the walking trail has now been launched, which includes a number of improvements including newly installed pieces of art, new trail furniture and updated information panels and improved facilities at many locations.

A marketing campaign has also been launched to coincide with the trail works, promoting the walk to audiences across America, as well as in Northern Ireland and the Republic, incorporating videos, photography and offers from local businesses. This campaign will be carried out by Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland.

The initiative is part of a cross-border project funded by the Rural Development Programme 2014  2020 and being part funded by Stormonts Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the European Union.

Founder of the International Appalachian Trail, Dick Anderson, said, In the early days of this project I never imagined that I would be speaking about the trail in Donegal and Northern Ireland.

DAERA Minister Edwin Poots MLA said: I am delighted that through the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 Co-operation scheme, my department has provided funding of 960,000 towards the project costs of the Ulster chapter of the International Appalachian Trail.

This cross-border project, which has resulted in significant improvements across the entire route from West Donegal to Antrim, will provide a quality walking experience attracting local and out of state visitors, providing a much needed boost to the local economy.

Mr Poots added, The partnership work undertaken between the councils involved and DAERA which was required to deliver this project, has seen positive and hopefully long lasting relationships developed.

Irish Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys, said, I am delighted that through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development in Ireland, we have been able to invest significantly in the International Appalachian Trail UlsterIreland.

This cross-border project provides real opportunities for growth in tourism for rural communities and highlights the beauty of the Irish landscapes available to us at home.

The International Appalachian Trail begins at the Northern Terminus of the Appalachian Trail, on Mount Katahdin in Maine in the United States.

One of the worlds largest trail networks, it travels into Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland and Northern Ireland before moving into Scotland, Norway, the Iberian peninsula and Morocco.

The route follows the single mountain range that once spanned thousands of miles on the super-continent Pangaea prior to the formation of the Atlantic Ocean around 175 million years ago.

Six Local Area Groups (LAG) groups make up the partners for this project: Donegal Local Development Company, Derry City and Strabane Council, Fermanagh and Omagh Council, Mid Ulster Council, Causeway Coast and Glens Council and Mid and East Antrim Council.
Kildare County Council has said it will take enforcement action against the Department of Defence over the current state of the former Curragh Post Office.

The two-storey building, which has been closed to the public in the summer of 2019, has been subject to vandalism in recent times.

The issue was discussed at the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting on December 14 at which district manager Joe Boland said that a statutory notice was now being served on the Department.

The red-brick corner building, which dates to around 1900, was the first purpose-built post office completed in Ireland, with the exception of the GPO in Dublin.

Sections have been boarded up and there are panes of glass broken.

Correspondence from the Municipal District has been sent in the past to the Department of Defence, which has responsibility for the building.

The former post office had served customers coming from a large catchment area of the Curragh, Brownstown, Maddenstown, Suncroft, Athgarvan and Cutbush as well as the outskirts of Kildare town and Newbridge.

District manager Mr Boland confirmed in the past that an inspection was carried out by council officials following reports of vandalism at the site.

The council can serve owners of vacant residential or commercial units with official notices requesting them to carry out necessary works in order to maintain the properties.

General works must also be done to prevent the property becoming derelict.

Deadlines are also given for the completion of the works. Fines can be levied if a property owner is convicted in court of failing to to carry out the measures required by the local authority.
The most powerful telescope to go into space was successfully launched on Christmas Day.

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was on an Ariane 5 rocket when it left the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, and aims to help to answer unsolved questions about the universe.

 What is the James Webb telescope?

Also known as simply Webb, the James Webb Telescope is a space telescope that was launched into space in order to expand scientists knowledge of the universe.

The telescope follows the Hubble Space Telescope as the next great space science observatory.

Huge relief  #Webb is successfully on its way to a new home, 1.5 million km away, to look back in time & unlock secrets of the early universe. Congratulations to all the people involved. Merry #Christmas everyone! https://t.co/3BsxjTE7vE  Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) December 25, 2021

 What does it actually do?

It will be going into space to look back in time, aiming to discover more about the formation of stars and galaxies and to determine how the first galaxies formed.

The telescope has the potential to make breakthroughs in the field of astronomy.

 What is the MIRI and why is it important?

The Mid-Infrared Instrument is a key instrument on the James Webb Telescope, and is able to see the faint light from the most distant stars and can see through dust and gas to spot stars being born.

It also has a spectrograph to break up light into its constituent wavelengths, a camera, and a coronagraph to block starlight and look at fainter objects next to stars.

This data could be used to further understand how galaxies are formed.

We have LIFTOFF of the @NASAWebb Space Telescope! At 7:20am ET (12:20 UTC), the beginning of a new, exciting decade of science climbed to the sky. Webbs mission to #UnfoldTheUniverse will change our understanding of space as we know it. pic.twitter.com/Al8Wi5c0K6  NASA (@NASA) December 25, 2021

 Who was involved in the project?

The mission is led by Nasa, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency, but the UK played a major role by leading the European Consortium which, partnered with US institutes, designed, built and tested one of the four main science instruments, the MIRI.

 Why is it so important?

If successful, it will give scientists valuable insight into space matter as it aims to discover details of the mystery substance that makes up the vast majority of matter.

 How long did it take to create?

The project has been in the making since 1996, and was completed in 2016.

It was originally meant to launch earlier in December but due to several setbacks, its departure was delayed.




A YOUNG man still has nightmares after he was punched in the face, hit with a bottle of beer, kicked on the ground and stabbed in Rathkeale.

Three young men from County Limerick each pleaded guilty at the circuit court to violent disorder and assault.

Joe Power, aged 25, of Crean, Athlacca; Jamie Shinnors, aged 25, Kylefea, Croom; and Peter Blondie Ward, aged 26, with addresses at Deebert, Kilmallock and Cahir Road halting site, Clonmel appeared before Judge Tom ODonnell for a sentencing hearing before Christmas.

Garda Enda Moroney said the assault occurred in the early hours of March 14, 2017. He agreed with John OSullivan BL, prosecuting, that a young lady was celebrating her 21st in a pub. Afterwards, she and her friends headed to a flat in The Square in Rathkeale to continue the celebrations.

The barrister said the three accused were also in The Square, drinking bottles of Budweiser.

Without any justification one of them struck one of the ladies in the face. The victim intervened to protect his friends. He was hit in the face with a fist, struck with a bottle to the back of the head and kicked on the ground by more than one person. They were acting in consort, said Mr OSullivan.

He continued: The three accused were getting sour over not being allowed into the party. Garda Moroney agreed.

Mr OSullivan said the victim went to hospital where he received thread and paper stitches.

He suffered a fracture of his left cheekbone which had to be operated on, said Mr OSullivan, who added there was swelling and tenderness, limited mouth opening and continuing numbness. The barrister said puncture wounds to his chest were consistent with stabbing. Limerick Circuit Court heard a scissors was recovered but there was no DNA evidence, blood or fingerprints on it.

A victim impact statement was read out which said he had been training to be a nurse but has paused that and is working as a carer.

He said that he moved away from his family and friends Rathkeale due to what happened and his fear of being there.

Scars to my face and body have affected my confidence. I still have nightmares and wake up screaming in a cold sweat. I have gone from being an outgoing person to staying at home as it is safer there, said the victim in his statement. It concluded by saying he hopes nobody else goes through what he has been through.

Garda Moroney outlines that Ward and Power have a number of previous convictions but Shinnors has none. The three defendants were represented by Brian McInerney BL, Reginald Garrett BL and Kenneth Kerins BL. All three barristers said their clients wished to apologise unreservedly. A sum of 2,000 was offered by all three defendants to the victim.

After consulting with the victim, Mr OSullivan said it is inadequate but the injured party will accept it. The victim told Judge Tom ODonnell he plans to return to his nursing training.

We need every person we can get in nursing at the moment. I hope you get back to your career as quickly as possible, said Judge ODonnell. He said his concern was that the psychological fall-out is high but he has made a good recovery from the medical report.

Judge ODonnell said one of the accused has no record and while the other two have previous convictions they dont show underlying propensity for violence.

Im not going to say anything about compensation figures. I hope he regains his confidence to go back to Rathkeale, returns to his nursing career as soon as possible and fulfills his dream, said Judge ODonnell.

Sentencing was adjourned until February.
THERE was an extra sparkly sunrise over Kerrys Slea Head Drive this Monday morning when Limerick hurling captain Declan Hannon popped the question to the love of his life, presenter Louise Cantillon.

The Adare man chose a place close to Louises heart - West Kerry - to ask her to be his wife. Louises parents are both from Kerry and she spent many weekends in The Kingdom as a child with her three sisters.

Extra sparkly sunrise ar Chom Dhineol ar maidin, posted the Gaeilgeoir to her Instagram page this Monday where she shared three pictures from the romantic proposal. The first, of course, was All Star hurler Declan kissing his fiancee on Chom Dhineol beach. This was followed by a short video of the waves crashing off the Dingle Peninsula. And, finally, was the picture of the beautiful sparkler.

The couple who met in secondary school started going out when they were just 18 years old.

Their initial meeting came at Insomnia, a teenage disco in Garryowen Rugby Club, when they were 15 and 16.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Louise Cantillon (@louise_cantillon)

Declan, who captained Limerick to the All-Ireland hurling titles in 2018, 2020 and 2021 won his second All Star award earlier this month. He studied at Ardscoil Ris secondary school before attending Mary Immaculate College - both in Limerick city - and now works in the area of recruitment.

Louise, meanwhile, is steadily building a successful career in media. A presenter with Spin South West, she is also a Limerick Leader columnist and host of TG4s Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Louise also qualified as a teacher of Irish and PE. As a child, she attended the summer schools in Irish organised by her mother Catherine Cantillon in Kilcornan where Louise grew up. And her education at Laurel Hill Colaiste in Limerick city was all in Irish.

Messages of congratulations have been pouring in for the popular couple since the proposal was announced.

Singer Una Healy posted "Congratulations Louise" with two heart emojis.

Meanwhile, Olympian Irish hockey player Roisin Upton offered her congratulations with an emoji of two clinking champagne glasses.

"Congratulations" posted Niamh de Brun who married Kilkenny All Star hurler TJ Reid just last month.

"Awwwww... congratulations" wrote Gemma Cowen, girlfriend of Limerick hurler William O'Donoghue.

Louise and Declan are planning to build a house together in Adare. They are currently living in Limerick city centre.

Congratulations Louise and Declan!
Many European companies are getting ready to tell investors how much of their revenue, capital investments and operating costs come from activities that regulators consider green.

Starting on Jan. 1, publicly listed companies with more than 500 employeesthose that fall under whats known as the Nonfinancial Reporting Directivewill be required to disclose in their annual reports what percentage of their operations falls under the European Unions green taxonomy. The classification system aims to give more clarity to investors on what types of economic activities can be considered sustainable. The disclosure rules that take effect next year apply to several thousand large companies and are part of a broader effort by the EU to bring down emissions.

Companies whose operations align closely with the taxonomy could bolster their appeal to investors, finance and sustainability executives said.

Some companies however are finding some of the required calculations to be a head-scratcher. To come up with their disclosures, companies must map their business operations against a long list of criteria and then tabulate how much of their revenue, investments and costs stem from eligible activities. Many companies business models dont fit neatly within the taxonomy criteria, which is making the disclosure process cumbersome, executives and sustainability advisors said, and raising the prospect that some companies may publish metrics that may make them look unflattering in the eyes of investors that focus on green companies.

Case in point: Helsinki-based energy technology company Wartsila Oyj Abp makes products including engines that can run on various types of fuel, including biofuels, which are renewable, and fossil fuels, which are not. The company is struggling to figure out whether it can count the production of fuel-agnostic engines toward its taxonomy disclosures, said Marko Vainikka, the companys vice president of sustainability and corporate relations.

Mr. Vainikka said its too early to say exactly how much of the companys operations will be eligible for the EU taxonomy, but its likely the number is probably not too high," he said.

Charlotte Bancilhon, a director at Business for Social Responsibility, an advisory firm, agrees.I think most companies are going to find that only a small portion of their economic activities are aligned," she said. The taxonomy disclosures will likely show that the EU has a long road ahead to reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Still, just because a company reports a low percentage doesnt necessarily mean that its engaged in activities that are detrimental to the environment, said Dominik Hatiar, regulatory policy advisor at the European Fund and Asset Management Association. He pointed to companies in fields such as robotics or health, whose operations arent primarily concerned with green activities.

We will have a lot of work to do in terms of investor education to help empower investors in making the right choices and understanding these numbers that are disclosed," Mr. Hatiar said.

The sustainable disclosure rules are part of a larger set of requirements that EU companies have to meet in the years ahead. Companies from 2023 have to report against a number of environmental goals and show whether their taxonomy-eligible operations clear additional hurdles, such as not doing harm to objectives like protecting biodiversity or water resources. Financial institutions in 2024 will be required to report the portion of their assets that fall within taxonomy-aligned activities. Separately, managers of funds that invest in sustainable activities face reporting requirements under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

The taxonomy is designed to protect investors from greenwashing and guide companies on how to become more climate-friendly, among other objectives, a European Commission spokesperson said in a statement.

Thats also part of the beauty of the taxonomy," Ms. Bancilhon said. Investors are going to look next at, where is the company investing? What is the transition plan?"

Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminum supplier based in Oslo, currently estimates that around 40% of its 2021 revenue and capex stem from and are tied to taxonomy-eligible activities, such as aluminum recycling and hydropower. The company during the third quarter reported revenue of 36.7 billion Norwegian krone, equivalent to $4.1 billion, up 33% from a year earlier. It expects to spend around 9 billion krone in 2021 on capex. Norsk Hydro said its voluntarily complying with the disclosures, citing interest from investors, but expects the taxonomy requirements to soon be required in Norway, a non-EU country.

Pal Kildemo, Norsk Hydros CFO, said his company has spent a considerable amount of time grappling with how to handle internal revenue, which are sales between two subsidiaries that could count as green. For instance, the companys aluminum metals business, which falls under the taxonomy, sells to other internal business units which dont count as eligible.

Internal sales dont show up on Norsk Hydros financial reports. But for the purposes of the taxonomy, the company is calculating some sales generated internally. The company said it consulted with its auditor to make its decision.

Norsk Hydro faces another conundrum. Its largest source of carbon emissions comes from the fuel oil it uses in its refineries. The company could lower its total emissions by making capital investments to switch to natural gas. But doing so would be detrimental to the companys taxonomy disclosures, since such an investment wouldnt count as eligible under the criteria, according to Mr. Kildemo.

We all want this to work. But were also aware that well probably have some challenging years first," Mr. Kildemo said, referring to the taxonomy. Norsk Hydro says it hasnt calculated how much it will cost to comply with the taxonomy regulations.

Companies across industriesincluding real estate, construction and manufacturingare struggling to figure out how their operations fit within the taxonomy, said David Ballegeer, a Brussels-based lawyer at Linklaters LLP. Part of the challenge for companies lies in determining whether the things theyre building could count toward sustainable purposes down the road, Mr. Ballegeer said.

Wartsila, the Finnish energy technology company, said the taxonomy disclosures fail to capture how the companys products and services can help customers transition to renewable energy. And thats a little bit challenging, because many companies have very strong sustainability agendas," Mr. Vainikka said. He said the company hasnt estimated the cost of compliance, noting that the reporting obligations under the taxonomy expand in the coming years.

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Walmart Inc., the worlds largest retailer, became the latest Western company to face scrutiny over its handling of business involving Xinjiang, following the passage of a U.S. law that virtually bans all imports from the northwestern Chinese region over forced labor and human rights concerns.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer attracted anger on Chinese social media beginning last week after internet users shared comments that purported to show that Walmart had stopped stocking products from Xinjiang in its China-based Walmart and Sams Club stores. Some said they had canceled their Sams Club membership, while social-media accounts run by Communist Party-backed entities weighed in to criticize the company.

The northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang, home to millions of mostly Muslim minorities, has become a geopolitical flashpoint and an ethical dilemma for U.S. multinationals doing business in China. The Biden administration has accused the Chinese government of engaging in genocide against religious minorities in the region.

Last week, President Biden signed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act into law, following its near-unanimous passage in Congress. The law bans all imports to the U.S. from the region unless companies can certify that such products are free from forced labor.

China has rejected allegations of genocide and forced labor, describing their policies in the region as aimed at preventing terrorism and protecting national security.

Last Thursday, U.S. semiconductor giant Intel Inc. issued an apology to Chinese consumers, partners and the public following an outcry on Chinese social media against the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, which had published on its website a letter to suppliers asking them to avoid sourcing from Xinjiang. The original letter said that the restrictions were required in response to U.S. law, though it didnt specify which law.

Other Western businesses, including fast-fashion retailer H&M Hennes and Mauritz AB and sportswear maker Nike Inc., have also recently been targets of Chinese consumer fury. H&Ms online presence was erased from the Chinese internet this spring after the Swedish apparel firm said it would stop sourcing from Xinjiang.

Walmart, for its part, was dragged into the controversy on Friday after users wrote on domestic social-media platformsincluding Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, and Zhihu, a Quora-like question-and-answer forumthat they were unable to find products typically sourced from Xinjiang on online stores operated by Walmart and Sams Club China. Sams Club is Walmarts members-only wholesale retail chain.

Some users posted that online customer service agents had told them such products, including red dates and apples, were out of stock. A U.S.-based Walmart spokesperson declined to comment.

A check by The Wall Street Journal found no Xinjiang product listings on Walmart and Sams Clubs China e-commerce stores. However, a visit to a Walmart store in Beijings central business district on Saturday found red dates sourced from Xinjiang still stocked on its shelves.

One Weibo user accused Walmart of eating Chinas rice, yet slapping our face," while others said they were canceling their Sams Club membership, sharing pictures of their dialogue with customer service agents showing them terminating their contracts. Others said they would boycott Walmart stores.

Chinese social media campaigns are often not as organic as their overseas peers, as authorities and technology firms curate and heavily censor domestic online content.

Walmarts internet backlash followed a very similar playbook to past nationalistic boycott campaigns on Chinese social media. The Communist Youth Leagues social media account urged consumers to boycott Sams Club stores, while the state-run Global Times newspaper reported that Sams Club had stopped sales of Xinjiang products, citing unnamed sources.

The Global Times reported that cantaloupescommonly known in China as Hami melons," after a city in eastern Xinjiang famous for producing the fruitwere now being sourced from the southern Chinese island of Hainan. It quoted a salesperson in a Beijing store saying that Xinjiang raisins hadnt been on store shelves since May, though the employee didnt know the reason.

Melons, red dates and grapes were among the largest fruit crops in Xinjiang in 2019, according to the most recent figures on the website of the regions statistics bureau. Xinjiang is also Chinas largest cotton producing region, accounting for almost 90% of the countrys cotton production, according to figures from Chinas Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

China is a key pillar of Walmarts international expansion strategy, as the American retailing giant seeks to streamline operations to focus on e-commerce and the fastest-growing global markets.

China is home to 434 Walmart and Sams Club stores, covering more than 69,000 square feet, as of the end of January, making the country Walmarts second-largest international market by retail square footage, according to the companys most recent annual reportsecond only to Mexico, where the big box retailer runs almost more than 2,600 stores.

In the most recent quarter, China proved to be a bright spot for Walmarts international sales, Walmart President Doug McMillon told investors in an earnings call last month.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai said in September that 30% of retail and consumer companies polled in its most recent business survey cited public backlash and consumer boycotts as a top concern, the highest among the major industries covered by the business lobby. More than one-tenth of the companies said they had reduced planned investments in China because of concerns about consumer boycotts.

Since Walmarts sourcing of Xinjiang products began attracting attention online, competitors including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.s Hema supermarket chain swooped in to take a swipe at the U.S. retailer. Most conspicuously, Carrefour SA, whose more than 200 stores in China are owned by Suning.com, a domestic online retailer, shared a post on Friday carrying the hashtag Carrefour Xinjiang Fine Goods Festival," with pictures of Xinjiang-sourced products on its store shelves.

The social-media post on Carrefours official Weibo account included nine photos of apples, walnuts and cotton socks and hand towels for sale on its store shelves, with bright yellow labels reading: I come from Xinjiang."

A spokesman for Carrefour in France didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Suning didnt respond to an email sent to its board secretary after working hours.

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After reviewing all applications and data on antiviral pills, the subject expert committee (SEC) a body under India's drug regulator will be meeting today for antiviral pill Molnupiravir recommendations, sources told to ANI .

According to the sources, almost 10 pharma companies have completed clinical trials of antiviral pills. The antiviral pill has shown a 30 per cent reduction in hospitalisation and will be useful in the treatment of Covid-19.

The SEC will review the Serum Institute of India's Covovax, the WHO has recently granted emergency use listening (EUL) to Covovax. The US-based Novovax and Serum Institute of India has already received EUA for these vaccines in the Philippines.

The SEC will also review data of the Corbevax vaccine which is produced by Hyderabad based pharmaceutical firm Biological E. The company has submitted phase-3 trials data of Corbevax and seeking EUA for same.

The Centre has already made an advance payment of 1500 crore to reserve 30 crores of Corbevax in August.

Also read: Maharashtra Covid-19: 13 students of Pune college test positive for coronavirus

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Variety has been given exclusive access to the international trailer (below) for World War II drama First Oscar, which is inspired by the true story of the making of documentary Moscow Strikes Back, winner of an Oscar in 1943, the first year when documentaries had their own Academy Award.

First Oscar is in post-production, and will be released on March 24. Central Partnership is representing the film in foreign markets.

The film follows two student cinematographers, Ilya Kopalin and Leonid Varlamov, who, as the Nazis approach Moscow, refuse to be evacuated and instead volunteer to be front-line cameramen capturing the horrors of war and bravery of the Soviet soldiers.

The film follows a second storyline that unfolds in the U.S. After the films premiere, one of the members of the Academy Awards selection committee tries to persuade his colleagues to launch a new category for Best Documentary at the upcoming Oscars event.

The Academy citation read: A special award to Moscow Strikes Back for its vivid presentation of the heroism of the Russian Army and of the Russian people in the defense of Moscow, and for its achievement in so doing under conditions of extreme difficulty and danger.

First Oscar was directed by Sergey Mokritskiy, best known for World War II movie Battle for Sevastopol, the story of female sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko.

First Oscar was produced by Natalia Mokritskaya, whose credits include Jumpman, Zoology, Battle for Sevastopol, Corrections Class and Playing the Victim.

Other films on the Central Partnership slate include Mission Sky, an action film based on a true story from the Syrian War, 100 Minutes, inspired by Alexander Solzhenitsyns classic One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and The Pilot: A Battle for Survival, about a Russian pilot who is shot down behind enemy lines.

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VIENNA (AP)  Negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed negotiations Monday on restoring Tehran's tattered 2015 nuclear deal, with Iran insisting that the United States and its allies promise to allow it to export its crude oil.

The latest round of talks in Vienna, the eighth, opened 10 days after negotiations were adjourned for the Iranian negotiator to return home for consultations. The previous round, the first after a more than five-month gap caused by the arrival of a new hard-line government in Iran, was marked by tensions over new Iranian demands.

If we work hard in the days and weeks ahead, we should have a positive result, Enrique Mora, the European Union diplomat who chaired the talks, said after the opening session. But it's going to be very hard  difficult political decisions have to be taken.

Tehrans landmark accord with world powers  Britain, France, Germany, the U.S., Russia and China  granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from the deal and imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran, including against its oil sector  the lifeline of its economy. Irans crude exports plummeted and international oil companies scrapped deals with Tehran, weakening its economy.

The other signatories struggled to keep alive the agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The United States is participating only indirectly in this year's talks to restore the deal, which President Joe Biden has signaled he wants to rejoin.

Speaking in Tehran ahead of the talks' resumption, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Iran wants the upcoming round of talks to focus on its sanctions-hit oil industry. The aim is to get to the point where Iranian oil is being sold easily and without any barriers and its money arrives in Irans bank accounts, he said.

Amirabdollahian said Iran wanted to be able to enjoy full economic concessions under the nuclear deal.

Guarantee and verification (of the removal of sanctions) are among topics that we have focused on, he said.

The new administration of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has repeatedly demanded the removal of all economic sanctions before Iran reins in its nuclear advances.

Separately on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said it would be intolerable for the West to demand anything from Tehran beyond compliance with the original deal.

Iran has steadily abandoned all of the accords limits since the American withdrawal and is now enriching uranium to 60% purity  a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels. It spins ever-more advanced centrifuges also barred by the deal.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful. But the countrys significant nuclear steps have alarmed regional foes like Israel and world powers. Diplomats have warned that time is running out to restore the deal as Iran maintains a hard line in putting the onus on the U.S. to lift sanctions.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid of Israel, which fiercely opposed the 2015 deal, repeated his countrys vow that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon.

Certainly we prefer to act through international cooperation, but if necessary  we will defend ourselves, by ourselves, he said, a veiled threat of unilateral military action against Irans nuclear program.

Diplomats from the three European powers have said that time is running out for a successful conclusion to the talks.

And Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov tweeted after the resumption of the talks was announced that we need to orient ourselves towards successful completion of the talks as soon as possible, preferably by the beginning of February.

He described Monday's opening session as businesslike and result-oriented.

Mora, the talks' chair, said the decision to resume discussions between Christmas and the new year was made because there is a sense of urgency and it was not acceptable to lose, let's say, 10 days more.

He said he wouldn't speculate on target dates for an agreement, but reiterated that we are talking about weeks, not about months.

___

Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran contributed.
Ireland needs to soon pause and consider the impact that vaccine certificates and other Covid-19 measures have on marginalised communities, a medical charity has warned.

In an interview, Safetynet chief executive Dr Fiona OReilly also warned that the Government should create a new department to co-ordinate the countrys response to the global migrant crisis.

Safetynet, which provides and organises medical care for homeless and vulnerable people, was one of the many charities that saw its work made significantly more challenging by the Covid-19 pandemic.

A privilege to capture a sense of a time in county Longford For a Farrell to receive an invitation to visit Longford at any time is always going to be a treat but to be invited to the ancestral home as we slowly emerged from enforced lockdown was the perfect antidote to a terrible time.

But the crisis that has engulfed the world since March 2020 also presents important lessons and new opportunities for governments to rethink how they care for the poorest people in society, said Dr OReilly.

I think in the emergency response, I think we responded pretty well to Covid in these groups, she said.

But what it revealed is and was an awful indictment of our society, that it revealed people living in situations that are Dickensian and so that the pandemic is almost like the plague in those settings.

If we learn anything from Covid, it should be that it has identified or uncovered the huge inequalities in our society. And thats what we need to address.

One concern raised by Dr OReilly is that the rush to introduce Covid-19 vaccination certificates and a whole range of digital technologies to tackle the virus threatens to exclude people already isolated from society.

She spoke herself about struggling to fill in a passenger locator form, required for all travellers entering Ireland from abroad.

What youre doing is youre potentially designing an underclass, because youre excluding people who are not highly educated with a high amount of income, that have smartphones and laptops. And that speak one language. And this is infiltrating every aspect of what we do.

This is about what shops you go to, how you travel, whether you go and socialise in pubs. This is everything.

She said it is assuming that we have all these things and large segments of our society just dont.

Dr OReilly said she understood that in the early stage of the crisis there was simply not time for those kinds of debates.

Discussion of it in the middle of the battlefield or when the fire is raging around you will cost lives, she acknowledged.

The fact that we just kind of roll over and do it has meant that we have amazing vaccination rates and that will save lives. Similarly, if we have too much dissent around vaccines certs it will cost lives, but I 100% think that there needs to be pause, thought and debate.

Dr OReilly suggested that the time for discussion was once youre out of the crisis phase and things are stable.

Yet she also believes that the Irish Government needs to prepare for another imminent crisis, building on the urgency the pandemic instilled in officials.

The doctor said, I began to see and I do begin to see that actually homelessness can be solved. Its doable.

The next five to 10 years, she thinks, will bring the issue of what she calls the global homeless to Irelands shores.

We can see whats happening globally with borders being challenged and literally being broken down. And this is going to mean more people in difficult situations arriving on our shores, and it will only be a crisis if we dont plan for it.

Dr OReilly is proposing that the Government creates a new department with a specific focus on co-ordinating the response to increased migration.

I would have an emergency preparedness department for the changing world that were fast becoming that would prevent this becoming a crisis. And its possible, because people coming into Ireland, theyre not looking for handouts. Theres a win-win, she told PA.

We dont have enough doctors. We dont have enough healthcare provision. Thats why we get so busy.

Theres an increasing number of asylum seekers coming into Ireland and we dont have the medical care providers to tend to them. But theyre coming in with doctors among them, with healthcare professionals.

Id be preparing now for the increases and sustained increases and planning that [are] happening. Not just responding, because thats what were doing at the moment. Were just firefighting.

Drastic changes, she believes, are called for in the health system and beyond.

We should plan, not respond, but we know whats coming. So therefore design it to whats coming. The other thing that is important, there is the people who design the systems are coming from a certain sector in society.

Theyre well educated, they vote, they work, they keep appointments, and theyre you and me.

So those systems end up being for you and me. They assume people are working, they assume people have phones, they assume they get text messages, they assume they speak English. So all of those systems are for a certain segment.

This is changing and it is going to change more. Now we have people that dont speak English, that dont have phones, that dont have work, that cant get appointments or make appointments.

But those people arent involved in the design. So they need to be brought into being involved in the design.
For a Farrell to receive an invitation to visit Longford at any time is always going to be a treat but to be invited to the ancestral home as we slowly emerged from enforced lockdown was the perfect antidote to a terrible time.

And it all started with a phone call from a stranger.

The Longford County Librarian, Mary Carleton Reynolds, was wondering if I would be interested in a project. My background as a photojournalist might lend itself to an idea she had.

The commission; to visit people in their homes, to listen to their stories and to photograph them, seemed too good to be true.

I said only three words Yes, Yes, Yes. And so began the Longford Memories - reflections in a time of pandemic project.

It is always a privilege to be invited into a strangers home but, at this particular time, in the shadow of a pandemic, when closest family members had been prevented from entering the homes of their loved ones, it was very special.

That so many people agreed to allow me to cross their threshold and tell me their private life story was an indication of the admiration they all had for their county librarian.

I travelled up, down, over and across Longford to sit and listen.

My hardest task was explaining that due to Covid restrictions I could not accept hospitality of tea nor cakes nor sandwiches and certainly not the dinner.

So, instead, I was feted with homemade jams and chutneys and anything the host could stick in my pocket as I tried to get out the door.

It was a fascinating experience. I made many new discoveries. One was that Longford must have the highest number of local historians per head of population in all of Ireland.

Of course one of the problems with historians is that they want to talk about everyone else except themselves though that was not unique to the historians either.

It struck me, as I sat there masked up, that not only were these people speaking to someone they were meeting for the first time but they could not even see my face and would never recognise me again if we were to meet under normal circumstances. And yet their trust and generosity with their stories was offered willingly. I wondered would this be the last generation so willing to share their story.

My task was not to write a life story or a biography or a list of successes and achievements. It was to attempt, in about 600 words, to give a sense of a person and a sense of a time they lived in, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

As a photograph captures a moment in time I felt so should my writing capture moments in the lifetime of those who agreed to sit and talk with nothing to sell and nothing to gain.

It's not only moments in a persons life but also, I hope, it captures a sense of a time in County Longford and Ireland.

Its not an academic study, its a memoir of a time and a place from the many and varied people who saw it with their own eyes, felt it with their own hands and tasted the salt of it too.

I am very grateful firstly to the thirty people across the county who agreed to take part.

Im particularly grateful to County Librarian, Mary Carleton Reynolds, for her initiative and support and to County Archivist, Martin Morris, for all his willing assistance.
Commenting on the latest Government proposals around nitrates, the President of ICMSA, Pat McCormack (pictured), described them as excessive and certain to hit the incomes of farmers  specifically, commercial family farmers  who he said were the economic backbone of rural Ireland and who are generally totally dependent on farming for their income.

Farmers understand the water quality challenge and through programmes such as ASSAP, GLAS and TAMS.

"They are already taking measures that will improve water quality and its worth noting that water quality in Ireland compares very favourably with other EU countries. Our water quality is improving and that trend will continue in the years ahead without imposing additional regulation and costs on compliant farmers. Its just making more expensive a policy were already on board with, he said.

Mr. McCormack identified the cow banding proposal as having potentially have very seriously implications for farmers producing over 6,500kgs of milk per cow and he said it will work is akin to a herd reduction policy. He said that the banding proposal should not go ahead until such time as further research is carried and policy direction is available in terms of the most sustainable dairy cow going forward.

This is a question that needs to be answered before any banding policy is put in place. The proposal to reduce chemical N by 10% in 2022 and possibly by 15% by 2024 will again hit the same cohort of full-time economically vital farmers and while we all recognise the need to use N more efficiently, arbitrary cuts like those proposed can have a serious and unnecessary impact on the farmers concerned, he said.

The ICMSA President said the proposed changes to the slurry spreading closed periods and the introduction of a soiled water closed period are excessive and ICMSA believes that the current rules in relation to slurry and soiled water should be retained.

He said that expecting farmers to sign up to a document that will see as yet unknown scientific criteria used to extend the period to the 15th October is simply unacceptable and farmers are entitled to full information on this issue before they can make a judgement call on the matter.
Ireland needs to soon pause and consider the impact that vaccine certificates and other Covid-19 measures have on marginalised communities, a medical charity has warned.

In an interview, Safetynet chief executive Dr Fiona OReilly also warned that the Government should create a new department to co-ordinate the countrys response to the global migrant crisis.

Safetynet, which provides and organises medical care for homeless and vulnerable people, was one of the many charities that saw its work made significantly more challenging by the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the crisis that has engulfed the world since March 2020 also presents important lessons and new opportunities for governments to rethink how they care for the poorest people in society, said Dr OReilly.

I think in the emergency response, I think we responded pretty well to Covid in these groups, she said.

But what it revealed is and was an awful indictment of our society, that it revealed people living in situations that are Dickensian and so that the pandemic is almost like the plague in those settings.

If we learn anything from Covid, it should be that it has identified or uncovered the huge inequalities in our society. And thats what we need to address.

One concern raised by Dr OReilly is that the rush to introduce Covid-19 vaccination certificates and a whole range of digital technologies to tackle the virus threatens to exclude people already isolated from society.

She spoke herself about struggling to fill in a passenger locator form, required for all travellers entering Ireland from abroad.

What youre doing is youre potentially designing an underclass, because youre excluding people who are not highly educated with a high amount of income, that have smartphones and laptops. And that speak one language. And this is infiltrating every aspect of what we do.

This is about what shops you go to, how you travel, whether you go and socialise in pubs. This is everything.

She said it is assuming that we have all these things and large segments of our society just dont.

Dr OReilly said she understood that in the early stage of the crisis there was simply not time for those kinds of debates.

Discussion of it in the middle of the battlefield or when the fire is raging around you will cost lives, she acknowledged.

The fact that we just kind of roll over and do it has meant that we have amazing vaccination rates and that will save lives. Similarly, if we have too much dissent around vaccines certs it will cost lives, but I 100% think that there needs to be pause, thought and debate.

Dr OReilly suggested that the time for discussion was once youre out of the crisis phase and things are stable.

Yet she also believes that the Irish Government needs to prepare for another imminent crisis, building on the urgency the pandemic instilled in officials.

The doctor said, I began to see and I do begin to see that actually homelessness can be solved. Its doable.

The next five to 10 years, she thinks, will bring the issue of what she calls the global homeless to Irelands shores.

We can see whats happening globally with borders being challenged and literally being broken down. And this is going to mean more people in difficult situations arriving on our shores, and it will only be a crisis if we dont plan for it.

Dr OReilly is proposing that the Government creates a new department with a specific focus on co-ordinating the response to increased migration.

I would have an emergency preparedness department for the changing world that were fast becoming that would prevent this becoming a crisis. And its possible, because people coming into Ireland, theyre not looking for handouts. Theres a win-win, she told PA.

We dont have enough doctors. We dont have enough healthcare provision. Thats why we get so busy.

Theres an increasing number of asylum seekers coming into Ireland and we dont have the medical care providers to tend to them. But theyre coming in with doctors among them, with healthcare professionals.

Id be preparing now for the increases and sustained increases and planning that [are] happening. Not just responding, because thats what were doing at the moment. Were just firefighting.

Drastic changes, she believes, are called for in the health system and beyond.

We should plan, not respond, but we know whats coming. So therefore design it to whats coming. The other thing that is important, there is the people who design the systems are coming from a certain sector in society.

Theyre well educated, they vote, they work, they keep appointments, and theyre you and me.

So those systems end up being for you and me. They assume people are working, they assume people have phones, they assume they get text messages, they assume they speak English. So all of those systems are for a certain segment.

This is changing and it is going to change more. Now we have people that dont speak English, that dont have phones, that dont have work, that cant get appointments or make appointments.

But those people arent involved in the design. So they need to be brought into being involved in the design.
Community, Charity & Cause

By Ls Cohen Published: December 27 2021

After raising over $600, 9-year-old Sydney OSullivan purchased 50 toys for kids at Stony Brook Childrens Hospital.

Sydney OSullivan found herself at Stony Brook Hospital this summer when she was treated for kidney stones. The nine-year-old girl from Holbrook, who had to be treated over three separate visits in the emergency room, was visited by one of Stony Brooks child life specialists who gave her a toy to take her mind off her hospital stay.

That act of kindness inspired OSullivan and she decided she would help other kids in the hospital feel the same way.

Some kids have to be in the hospital for Christmas, so I thought of a way I could spread some holiday cheer, she said.

Photo: Stony Brook Medicine.

OSullivan decided on a fundraiser to purchase toys to donate to Stony Brook Childrens Hospital. She and her mom made chocolate reindeer lollipops to raise the money needed to purchase the toys. According to a press release from Stony Brook Hospital, after posting on social media, she was able to sell over 200 lollipops and raise $600 to purchase nearly 50 toys.

Photo: Stony Brook Medicine.

On Friday, December 17, OSullivan donated a stretcher filled with toys to the childrens hospital.

I am so proud of her, said Sydneys mother Karen OSullivan. She came up with this idea all on her own and is helping a lot of children.
(Alliance News) - Travel plans over the festive period are being badly affected by a triple threat of industrial action, planned closures and staff shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Several rail services are currently experiencing disruption due to staff being ill with Covid-19.

TransPennine Express, ScotRail, Avanti West Coast, Northern Rail, LNER and Greater Anglia have all reported an impact on services caused by a lack of available staff.

Meanwhile, East Midlands Railway services continue to be affected by industrial action by the RMT union, with an amended service expected to run on January 2.

RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said the disruption could have been avoided if rail companies had taken the concerns of staff seriously.

"The added problem of Covid absences proves that the railway runs at its limits on staffing levels and should mean an immediate halt to threatened staff cuts in the New Year," he added.

A number of routes are also being affected by planned engineering works.

Southern's Gatwick Airport trains are operating to and from London Bridge instead of London Victoria until January 3.

In the north, Leeds will have a reduced service between December 27 and January 3, including a "very limited" service on January 2.

In the west, CrossCountry trains will not call at Bristol Parkway between December 27 and December 31. Some Great Western Railway services to and from Bristol Temple Meads will also be affected.

Despite the closures, National Rail said that 95% of Britain's rail network will remain open during the festive period.

It added that the 370 engineering projects it is carrying out over Christmas were planned "months, and in some cases years, in advance".

Commuters and travellers to the capital can expect similar travel woes, with the Tube hit by planned closures.

The Piccadilly line has been closed between Heathrow Airport and Acton Town until December 30.

There is no service on the Jubilee line between Willesden Green and Wembley Park nor on the Metropolitan line between Wembley Park and Aldgate until December 28.

The Metropolitan and City line has been shut completely since December 23 and will not reopen until "early January", according to TfL's website.

The London Overground is shut between Gospel Oak and Stratford until December 29.

By Luke O'Reilly, PA

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
MANISTEE  Northwest Michigan Health Services is holding free COVID-19 vaccine clinics this week.

Several COVID-19 vaccine clinics are scheduled throughout the week and are open to everyone eligible. Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and have verification of the birth date.

The Pfizer Pediatric Vaccine is available for children ages 5-11 years old. It's preferred that shorts are worn.

Pfizer 12+ and Moderna 18+ vaccines are available for those ages 12 and up.

To schedule an appointment visit nmhsi.intakeq.com/booking.

Any of the clinics at the NMHSI offices are closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

Clinics are scheduled as follows:

 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 28, Northwest Michigan Health Services office, 6051 Frankfort Hwy. in Benzonia;

 11 a.m. to 5 pm. on Dec. 29, Northwest Michigan Health Services office, 119 S. State in Shelby;

 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 30, Northwest Michigan Health Services office, 10767 Traverse Hwy. in Traverse City; and

 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 30, Northwest Michigan Health Services office, 6051 Frankfort Hwy. in Benzonia.

Northwest Michigan Health Services is a federally qualified health center providing medical, dental and behavioral health care in western Michigan. NMHSI has clinics in Traverse City, Benzonia, Manistee, Ludington and Shelby. The clinics provide services to patients with and without insurance. More information is available at nmhsi.org.
What comes to mind when you hear the word shopping? Malls, trial rooms, carry bags & coffee breaks perhaps. News is, Dubai is making the holiday season extra festive and taking the shopping fervour to an all new high with the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Right from a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan concert to a drone light show and an outdoor bazaar, the Festival is redefining retail therapy.

Here are 6 reasons why were super stoked to attend this annual shopping fiesta -

Lights Camera Fireworks!

Witness magic in the Arabian skies - every night throughout Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) until 29th January. You can catch a glimpse of the dazzling fireworks at the Dubai Creek, Dubai Festival City Mall, La Mer, Al Seef, The Pointe and The Beach, opposite JBR and Bluewaters. What better way to bring in the new year than to look at bright, sparkling and hopeful skies!





Additionally, the magnificent Drone Light Show is back on popular demand. Here, one can witness breathtaking visuals of choreographed 3D animations against the sparkling coastline backdrop. This 45 day light show will continue till 30th January 2022. The celebrated production has 3 themed shows, 2 out of which will be performed daily.

Watches To Gizmos - All At Hefty Discounts

If theres a diamond-studded watch youve been eyeing, or that latest iPad - now is the time to make it yours! At the Dubai Shopping festivals, gizmos and accessories go at all time high discounts making it the perfect time to splurge smart.

Dubai Tourism

Cartier, Rado, Burberry or Michael Kors - this shopping festival packs variety and irresistible discounts.



Retail Hotspots To Impress Your Lady Love

Attending the shopping festival with someone special? Wed 10/10 recommend the SHEIN YOU-TOPIA! This fashion pop-up at Ain Dubai, Bluewaters offers AR beauty experiences, a SHEIN beauty collection to experiment with and a photobooth to get that perfect instagram shot. A live DJ, a fashion trunk-show and the chance to win a personalised SHEGLAM make-up bag make this hotspot the perfect place to surprise your special someone and make memories of a lifetime!

Gold At Unbelievable Prices!

Thanks to Dubais tax policies, the price of gold in the city is relatively less.

Dubai Tourism

Add to that the wide range of precious gemstones, semi-precious stones and ornate designs - its difficult to go to Dubai & not spend on jewellery!



Shopping Meets Music Concerts

Bookmark the 30th December 21 for the event Me, Myself & I where Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan will mesmerise the audiences with classic qawwalis, soulful ghazals, Bollywood tracks as well as fusion numbers.

Visit Dubai

Dubai is all set to welcome fully vaccinated international travellers to soak up some sun and witness shopping like never before.



What are you waiting for? Book your tickets now to bring in the new year with fireworks, music and lots of retail therapy - only at Dubai Shopping Festival.
Salman Khan has come a long way in his career. Coming from the lineage of people in the show business, Salman too got attracted to the world of showbiz and entered Bollywood as a supporting actor in the film Biwi Ho To Aisi (1988). His first leading role in a Bollywood film was in Sooraj R Barjatyas romantic family drama Maine Pyaar Kiya which was released in the year 1989 and went on to become one of the highest-grossing films that year. He soon became the biggest selling actor of Bollywood and continues to hold that position.

Well, Salman Khan did reject some hit movies, but as we know one mans loss is another mans gain. Baazigar is that one movie that gave Shah Rukh Khan the big launch pad and gave him that starry status. The role was initially offered to Salman but he rejected the movie thinking playing an anti-hero might be a risky move for his career. Not just Baazigar, Salman let go of Chak De India! too and that also worked in favour of SRK.

Back in 2007, Salman was asked if he holds any grudges against SRK for his film Chak Des success. On these lines, he told Indian Express that if he hadnt rejected these movies, SRK wouldnt have been able to afford Mannat.

He said, Not at all. I refused the film and he signed it so it's fair. I had refused Baazigar as well. When Abbas Mustan came to me with the script, I asked my dad for his inputs. He felt that since it's a story of a negative character they should add an angle of the mother in it. They didn't agree. When I said no to the film, they went to Shah Rukh, and then they added the mother angle! (Laughs) But I don't regret it at all. Just imagine, if I had done Baazigar then there would be no Mannat standing in Bandstand today. I'm very happy for Shah Rukh and his success.

Talking about Chak De! India, Salman added: I don't regret not doing the film but I agree that my judgement about the film was wrong. Adi (Aditya Chopra) had told me during the narration that he's going to make a damn good film. But I had a problem with the climax. My reasoning was that if you lose to Pakistan then you also have to win with Pakistan. I also had a problem with the title. I wish they hadn't added India to the title. I felt our fans in Pakistan and Bangladesh might feel bad.

Salman has been in the news after he was bitten by a snake at his Panvel farmhouse. As paps and media went to wish the actor on his birthday last night, he gave details and shared that he is fine and that he left the snake in the woods. He told the media, It wasnt much, a snake had entered one of the rooms, the farmhouse is in the jungle in Panvel. When the snake entered the room, kids got scared so I went in to see and asked for a stick, the stick that came was a small one so I asked for a longer stick, and they got one, with which I picked up the snake with a lot of love and brought it out, and the snake wrapped itself on the stick and then it started climbing upwards. It came quite close to my hand so I caught it with my other hand and dropped the stick to be able to leave the snake (in the jungle).

Heres his interview with the media:

He went on to add, The villagers around know what snakes come around. This was a Kandhari snake, and they started screaming kandhari, kandhari, kandhari. Thats when the snake bit me once, then there was more chaos when they screamed chaavla, chaavla, chaavla, thats when the snake bit me again. Then they all screamed hospital, hospital, hospital, saying that I should be taken to a hospital quickly. There was so much commotion, the snake was a bit venomous, and it bit me again. I was taken to the hospital, and there we came to know that it is a different kind of snake, not the great kandhari.

On returning from the hospital, we saw that the snake was still here, and we took it back to the jungle. I am doing fine now, I have taken an anti-venom for almost all snakes like great (kandhari/cobra), viper, because we were not sure if it was a poisonous snake or not, just by looking at it. After giving me the shot I was kept there for six hours for observation, he added.

He also revealed that after coming back from the hospital, he made sure that the snake was released. His fans are glad that he is fine and celebrating his 56th birthday with his family.

Source: Indian Express
On the latest episode of her chat show The Icons on Tweak India, Twinkle Khanna talked to guest Jackie Shroff about his life, career, family and more.



During the conversation, Jackie revealed that his father was an astrologer and had predicted that hed become an actor one day. He also recalled how his father had predicted something bad would happen the day his elder brother drowned in the sea.

He, however, added that even though his father predicted about him becoming an actor and his stardom, he never went to him asking for advice in his career and films.

 Tweak India

As the two talked about astrology, Twinkle stated that she doesnt believe in it much but her father the legendary Rajesh Khanna had an astrologer who had predicted that she will marry Akshay Kumar, years before she met him.



She said, Before I met my husband, that astrologer told him (Rajesh Khanna) and he told me, You will marry Akshay Kumar. And I was like, Who?. He said the full name. Can you imagine. I was like, Who? I dont even know him.

She further added that years later she asked the same astrologer about her business and he predicted that she will become a writer.

She said, And then, I married Akshay Kumar, and after many years, he came with that astrologer for coffee. And I dont really ask people these things, and I said, How about my business? And he said, You will become a writer. And I hadnt written anything for 20 years. I said, Tell me about my sajawat ka business, what are you pakaoing me, writer banega rubbish. And now

 Twinkle Khanna Instagram

Both Jackie and Twinkle agreed that there is no point knowing what the future holds since you cant do anything about it.



Twinkle Khanna married Akshay Kumar in 2001 after dating for a few years. They had worked together in films like International Khiladi and Zulmi.
Ever since Sunny Leone entered the Bigg Boss house in 2011, she has become the talk of the town and often finds herself in controversies, one after the other.

On December 22, she took to social media and announced the release of her new song Madhuban. Soon a specific set of social media users took offence at the songs title and lyrics. The major bone of contention is that the song features a line Madhuban Mein Radhika Naache and has Sunny dancing in bold outfits.

On December 26, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra warned Sunny and music composers Sharib-Toshi of action if they didnt apologise within three days and the song wasn't removed.

 Instagrma/Sunny Leone

According to Times Now News, he told reporters, Some vidharmis are constantly hurting Hindu sentiments. The video 'Madhuban me Radhika nache' is one such condemnable attempt. I am warning Sunny Leone ji, Shaarib and Toshi ji to understand. If they don't remove the song after apologising in three days, then we will take action against them.



Soon after the ministers statement, Arrest Sunny Leone started trending on Twitter. A lot of users are accusing Sunny Leone and the makers of the song of hurting religious sentiments. A few even asked for action to be taken against Salman Khan for promoting the song on Bigg Boss 15.

 Instagrma/Sunny Leone

A user tweeted, Will they dare to abuse or insult abrahamic faiths, will they dare to make any filthy statements in them Then why doing again n again with Hindus. Filthy item song must be banned and removed from all platforms. - Arrest Sunny Leone & the entire team behind the song.



Another wrote, Strict punishment for Salman for promoting Madhuban me nache Radha. I Demand arrest Sunny Leone.

There were also a few users who went back in time and wanted action against Alia Bhatt for the chartbuster Radha song from her debut film Student of the Year.

Take a look at a few tweets below:

Will they dare to abuse or insult abrahamic faiths, will they dare to make any filthy statements in them



Then why doing again n again with Hindus. Filthy item song must be banned and removed from all platforms.



- Arrest Sunny Leone & the entire team behind the song pic.twitter.com/lmjXs270wJ    (@sanjaybulan) December 27, 2021

Trending Now . Arrest Sunny Leone pic.twitter.com/GdmAgsapme  Arun Yadav (@beingarun228) December 27, 2021

#HappyBirthdaySalmanKhan Strict punishment for Salman for promoting Madhuban me nache Radha.

I Demand

arrest Sunny Leone pic.twitter.com/GKNEyPMCWw  Abhishek VEMULA (@Abhishe54847325) December 27, 2021

Arrest Sunny Leone for hearting sentiments of Hindus specially Shri Radha Krishna Devotees  khemchand sharma #Brajwasi #RadheRadhe (@SharmaKhemchand) December 27, 2021

Despite being a p0rn actress, India accepted her in Hindi Cinema.#Hindus gave her lots of Love & Respect so that she can change her Image as a Porn Star but She returned to her reality and joined Anti-Hindu Mandali to hurt the #Hindu sentiments.

Arrest Sunny Leone & Salman Khan pic.twitter.com/POHPK1Yz2K  Diganta Hazarika (@Diganta701) December 27, 2021

How can Salman invite Sunny Leone & Kanika Kapoor to promote Madhuban song that insults Lord Krishna and Radha ?



Arrest Sunny Leone#BoycottBollywoodpic.twitter.com/fIVaAbouFp  KIZIE #JusticeForSushantSinghRajput (@Sushantify) December 27, 2021

What are your thoughts on the whole controversy? Is it legit or uncalled for? Let us know in the comments sections below.
Ranveer Singh is known for his quirky style and bold sartorial choices. The 83 actor is single-handedly headlining androgenous fashion in Bollywood and often breaks stereotypes. Whether it is a sling bag or a skirt, Singh has worn it all and like a boss.



 Instagram/Ranveer Singh

He is no stranger to heels as well. In fact, the first time he was spotted wearing heeled boots stirred quite a debate about gender stereotypes in fashion. However, he remained unfazed. The shoes he chose for his recent outing is proof.



 Instagram/Ranveer Singh

He was clicked at the airport with wife Deepika Padukone. The couple colour-coordinated their outfits, opting for neutral shades of brown, white, black and beige and nailed the twinning trend. While Deepika wore a basic white tee with baggy khaki pants, Ranveer wore a brown leather jacket, black ripped jeans and a cowboy hat.



 Viral Bhayani

However, what caught our eye was their footwear choice. Both Deepika and Ranveer paired chic boots with their outfits. It was army green combat boots for DP, while Ranveer chose black chelsea boots whose heels were even higher than his wifes shoes.



 Viral Bhayani

Ranveers boots featured about an inch of block heels that made him look a bit taller than Deepika. The shoes coupled with the hat and brown leather jacket gave us major cowboy style vibes. Seems like that was the mood board for his airport look.



 Viral Bhayani

The actor wore similar boots a couple of months ago, black with high block heels and the internet was divided between it being a revolutionary fashion moment and simply a troll-worthy look. Here he is again wearing chelsea boots with high heels and totally pulling it off.



 Viral Bhayani

The couple were seen at the Mumbai airport allegedly flying off to an exotic travel destination to celebrate New Year, in style.


AG Nessel Helps Save Consumers Electric Customers Nearly $198 Million

AG Nessel Helps Save Consumers Electric Customers Nearly $198 Million

Attorney General

Media contact: Lynsey Mukomel 517-599-2746

Public inquiries: 517-335-7622

December 27, 2021

LANSING - Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's latest intervention in a rate case before the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) contributed to an 88% reduction from Consumers Energy's original request.

MPSC's ruling in U-20963, issued Dec. 22, approved an annual increase of $27,118,00 in Consumers' electric rates. The original request, filed in March 2021, requested a $225 million increase, so the MPSC's decision represents a $197,882,000 reduction from the company's request.

For the average residential customer, this will represent an overall increase of approximately 0.64%, or $0.59 per month when new rates go into effect January 1, 2022.

Nessel's intervention and testimony argued that Consumers Energy would have a revenue sufficiency of approximately $20 million and should return money to ratepayers instead of seeking a rate increase. The Attorney General also argued against many of Consumers Energy's projections and expenses as unreasonable and not providing commensurate customer benefits.

"I commend the MPSC for recognizing Consumers' request was excessive and providing an order that properly addresses customer interests," Nessel said. "I will continue to advocate on behalf of Michigan consumers in cases where our utility companies seek to increase rates."

The order also incorporates the outcome from Consumers Energy's standalone electric and common utility plant depreciation case, U-20849. In that case Consumers sought an increase in depreciation rates of $42.9 million. Attorney General Nessel intervened in the case and found that depreciation rates should be decreased instead of increased and played a significant role in the parties reaching a settlement resulting in a decrease in depreciation rates of approximately $27.2 million.

MPSC's order also directs Consumers Energy to file additional information and support for areas of increased costs in future rate cases.

Consumers Energy Company, a subsidiary of CMS Energy, is headquartered in Jackson and serves approximately 1.9 million retail electric customers in the lower peninsula of Michigan.

Advocacy before the MPSC saved ratepayers $481 million in 2021, bringing the total saved since Attorney General Nessel took office to more than $1.8 billion.
Multiagency Buffalo Reef Task Force advances research goals, prepares for winter on Keweenaw Peninsula

Multiagency Buffalo Reef Task Force advances research goals, prepares for winter on Keweenaw Peninsula

(Today's MI Environment story is courtesy of John Pepin at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.)

The multiagency Buffalo Reef Task Force has made several advances in its efforts to learn more about the natural 2,200-acre Lake Superior reef and continues its collaborative work to protect this lake trout and lake whitefish spawning area.

Over the past roughly 100 years, historic copper mine tailings from the Wolverine and Mohawk mines - called stamp sands - were deposited at a milling site along Lake Superior, located in the community of Gay in Keweenaw County.

Since that time, the stamp sands have been moved by winds and waves south down the shoreline from Gay, roughly 5 miles, inundating natural sand beach areas and threatening to cover spawning habitat and recruitment areas important to Lake Superior whitefish and lake trout associated with Buffalo Reef at Grand Traverse Bay.

The north-south dividing line for the stamp sands migration is the mouth of the Traverse River at Grand Traverse Bay. Over the past few years, crews have worked to excavate and move stamp sands back from Lake Superior to limit transport farther south.

Powerful fall and winter storms have historically aided movement of the sands, further threatening the reef.

"The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy recently hired a contractor to keep the harbor near Buffalo Reef clear during fall and winter storm events," said task force member Stephanie Swart, Lake Superior coordinator for EGLE. "The first movement of stamp sands took place in mid-November. Last year, this work was funded by the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The current contract will remain in place through the end of February 2022."

Egg-trap cylinders

One storm this autumn disrupted some of the lake trout egg studies on the reef and has washed plastic egg-trap cylinders to shore where residents and beachcombers are finding them.

"These cylinders are a component of egg traps put on Buffalo Reef by biologists from the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey," said Mike Lowe, a fisheries biologist with the USGS. "The egg traps were placed on the eastern hump of Buffalo Reef during the last week of October with the purpose of collecting fertilized eggs from spawning lake trout.

"Unfortunately, a major storm in the following days destroyed most of the egg traps and released the cylinders in the water. Biologists have been walking the beaches north and south of the harbor entrance during subsequent research trips and have collected some of the cylinders."

Anyone finding one of the cylinders is asked to contact Bill Mattes, Great Lakes section leader for GLIFWC, at 715-682-6619, ext. 2120 or at bmattes@glifwc.org.

Advancing research goals

Meanwhile, Lowe is leading research on various aspects of the reef and stamp sands problem as the Buffalo Reef Task Force continues its work to create the Long-Term Adaptive Management Plan for the reef, which should be available for public review in late spring 2022.

Among the ongoing reef and stamp sand studies, researchers are working to determine exactly where lake trout and lake whitefish spawn and whether those areas are affected by stamp sands.

To do this, scientists are using acoustic telemetry to identify where both species are spawning relative to migrating stamp sands and forecast changes in the extent of both under various alternatives. Since summer 2019, 100 acoustic telemetry tags have been attached to fish, with 118 acoustic telemetry receivers deployed to record their movements.

Spawning-condition fish have been collected each year. Acoustic telemetry has narrowed the search for the most likely spawning areas. Egg traps have confirmed the presence of fertilized lake trout embryos on the reef.

Researchers are also working to find out whether the early life stage of either fish species is potentially affected by stamp sands. Laboratory experiments are being conducted on early stages of lake trout and lake whitefish with varying concentrations of stamp sands.

Each day, fertilization and hatching success are monitored. Once the embryos have hatched, researchers are assessing their relative condition, swimming capacity and ability to capture prey. Test results have shown lake trout fertilization success is impaired and lake whitefish hatching success is compromised. In addition, lake whitefish larvae may lack energetic capacity for sustained swimming.

"The key takeaway is that adult fish are still spawning at Buffalo Reef," Mattes said.

Researchers are also comparing juvenile lake whitefish abundance, age, growth and nursery habitat components across multiple spawning reefs in the region, including Grand Traverse Bay where the reef is located and Little Traverse Bay, both in Houghton County, Bette Grise and Great Sand Bay in Keweenaw County and Big Bay in Marquette County.

Efforts are also continuing to better understand what the current distribution of stamp sands is on the reef. This is a critical component to understanding the fish production potential of Buffalo Reef.

The reef and the stamp sands areas were mapped in August 2021 using multibeam echosounders and a towed camera system. Visual and laboratory analysis of the percentage of stamp sands is being studied.

"Imaging software will be able to discriminate between stamp and native sands," Peter Esselman, a fisheries biologist with the USGS, said. "The differences can be distinguished visually with native sands being small, rounded and mostly light-colored, compared with stamp sands which are large, angular and dark."

Mapping the percentage of stamp sand with images and physical samples is planned for 2022. Another project seeks to quantify the water and sediment chemistry found between reef boulders where lake trout and lake whitefish are, and are not, spawning. Samples will be collected with a heavy-duty pump and autonomous water sampling equipment.

Finally, work is ongoing to determine Buffalo Reef's contribution to current fisheries, and how has that changed since the initial impact of stamp sands to the reef in the late 1980s.

To find this out, researchers are studying otoliths, which are bodies containing calcium found in the inner ear of fish that incorporate elements from the surrounding water chemistry the fish are living in. The scientists are working to discover an "elemental fingerprint" in otoliths that can be used to identify fish produced at Buffalo Reef.

Juvenile lake whitefish study is in process, and the lake trout otolith study will take place next year. The data recovered can be compared with archived adult fish otoliths to determine past and present contributions of the reef to fish production.

Genetic studies will also take place early next year to estimate the genetic contributions of Buffalo Reef lake trout recruits to the wider Lake Superior fishery.

For comparison, lake trout were collected from Keweenaw Bay, the Huron Islands and off Isle Royale, with additional samples to be collected in 2022 from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Similar studies will also be performed on lake whitefish.

An associated project begun this year and continuing until 2024 will tag and track 200 lake trout and 200 whitefish. Two receivers will be placed on each of 28 historical and known spawning reefs to determine their relative importance to lake trout and lake whitefish fisheries.

"We know adult fish are spawning at Buffalo Reef, but early life stages may be significantly impacted by stamp sands," Swart said. "Work is being done to integrate mapping, crevice and biological studies. Habitat changes will be forecasted in response to a range of management alternatives."

Beyond this extensive, ongoing research work, the task force will continue to provide technical assistance to its partners to identify and address additional data gaps.

The reef project, funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, is being executed in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.

For more information on Buffalo Reef or to sign-up for task force email updates, visit Michigan.gov/BuffaloReef.

Caption: Dredge working to remove stamp sands blown into Grand Traverse Harbor by storms (Photo courtesy of Neil Harri.)

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2021 Accomplishments Countdown: Supporting Small Businesses

2021 Accomplishments Countdown: Supporting Small Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 27, 2021

Contact: press@michigan.gov

2021 Accomplishments Countdown: Supporting Small Businesses

Governor Whitmer counts down to 2022 by highlighting administration's progress on 10 kitchen-table issues that makes a difference in people's lives

LANSING, Mich. - The Whitmer-Gilchrist administration is counting down the last 10 days of 2021 by celebrating Michigan's progress on 10 fundamental kitchen-table issues. Today we celebrate progress Michigan has made on supporting small business.

"Small businesses form the backbone of our economy and are cornerstones of so many communities across our state," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "As we usher in a new era of prosperity for Michigan, I am committed to ensuring small businesses can thrive. We will build on the bipartisan support we delivered for small businesses through COVID, including the 23 economic relief programs we set up supporting more than 25,000 businesses and retaining more than 200,000 jobs."

Getting Things Done

Governor Whitmer is committed to supporting small businesses as Michigan emerges from the pandemic and ushers in a new era of prosperity. Through COVID, the state implemented 23 economic relief programs for businesses, supporting more than 25,000 companies and retaining more than 200,000 jobs. Now, Governor Whitmer is dedicated to helping small businesses navigate existing programs and services available to help them recover and thrive for years to come. Recently, the governor laid out a $2.1 billion proposal to grow Michigan's middle class, support small businesses, and invest in communities by tackling several underlying issues. As Michigan's economic jumpstart continues, bolstered by a strong GDP, and a historic surplus, Governor Whitmer's proposals will tackle underlying issues faced by small businesses and take advantage of the massive influx of federal resources Michigan has received to deliver meaningful change that makes a real difference for small businesses and Michigan workers.

Key Numbers



Set up free virtual job fairs connecting over 2,600 employers and 9,900 job seekers.

Looking Ahead

Governor Whitmer laid out the $2.1 billion MI New Economy plan to grow Michigan's middle class, support small businesses, and invest in communities. It includes $651 million to support small businesses and create better jobs. Those funds would go towards delivering grants to small businesses, creating a more conducive business environment for high-tech, high-growth start-ups, preparing manufacturers and the workforce for opportunities of the future, and more.

Additional small business accomplishments can be found here.

"We appreciate the Governor's leadership and partnership, including with the legislature and local economic development organizations, to quickly advance the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve legislation," said Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP. "This legislation provides an important opportunity for the Upper Peninsula, including significant local industries like our extraction, manufacturing and research sectors. The fact that this action followed the Ford relocation decision so quickly is no surprise. It was that same decisive action that the Governor took in the early days of the pandemic in entrusting us locally with millions of difference-making dollars in grant funding for the benefit of the Upper Peninsula's small business community - an investment which continues to pay dividends today for the economic wellbeing of the entire region and state."

"Although there have been many important bipartisan accomplishments in 2021, we are especially appreciative of the work that was done to deposit $150 million into the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund, the 100% employer-financed fund that pays benefits to workers who are unemployed due to no fault of their own," said Wendy Block, Vice President of Business Advocacy and Member Engagement for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. "The COVID pandemic created a tremendous amount of universal stress, including on the UI Trust Fund and our job providers as they struggled to stay afloat and protect their employees. This deposit helps ensure adequate benefits for workers and avoids a crippling insolvency of the fund and the need for higher UI taxes on Michigan businesses."

"Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices has appreciated working with Governor Whitmer's administration on several initiatives to support the small business community in Michigan and has greatly valued being a part of policy development and small business site visits." Said Janetta King, Midwest Regional Director for Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. "We are encouraged that the Governor is continuing to prioritize small business recovery and growth with new, forward-looking economic proposals."

"Debora Smith Energy Partners has gained much of our success with the help of state of Michigan sponsored programs. We have worked closely with Michigan's SBDC and MEDC connecting us with a wonderful Michigan based lender to establish a line of credit and obtain a commercial mortgage. We would not be in our own building shipping close to $1 Million in products this year without that support." Said Debora Smith President of Debora Smith Energy Partners. "Michigan's support of small businesses has been tremendous. We've seen other small business friends and neighbors receive financial grants helping them weather the COVID-19 crisis, possibly unable to re-open without those funds."

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Gov. Whitmer Signs Bill to Address Substitute Teacher Shortage, Other Legislation

Gov. Whitmer Signs Bill to Address Substitute Teacher Shortage, Other Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 27, 2021

Contact: Press@Michigan.gov

Gov. Whitmer Signs Bill to Address Substitute Teacher Shortage, Other Legislation

LANSING, Mich. - Governor Whitmer signed House Bill 4294 to address the substitute teacher shortage, helping keep schools open and students learning in person. House Bill 4294 would temporarily allow trusted staff members such as secretaries, paraprofessionals, and others to work as substitute teachers until the end of the current school year.

"Making sure every child in Michigan has access to a high-quality public education is my top priority, which is why this year we made the largest investment in K-12 public schools in Michigan history without raising taxes," said Governor Whitmer. "The pandemic has been challenging for our children, teachers, and parents, and our educators have gone above and beyond to ensure Michigan's children have a bright future. Allowing schools to employ school staff that students know as substitute teachers will help keep school doors open and students learning in the classroom the rest of the school year. I am committed to working with the legislature to develop high-quality solutions to address these staff shortages long-term so that we can ensure that every child is able to access a quality education."

"Michigan already faced a severe educator shortage prior to the coronavirus pandemic", said Paul Liabenow, Executive Director of the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association (MEMSPA). "The pandemic has only exacerbated that shortage by further hindering school districts' abilities to fill vacant positions and keep buildings open, placing undue stress on educators already working tirelessly every day to ensure all students in Michigan receive quality, in-person instruction. House Bill 4294 will provide districts with additional flexibility to fill substitute teaching vacancies so students can continue to learn in a safe, supportive environment. On behalf of educational leaders throughout Michigan, we want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Representative Brad Paquette for their continued advocacy on behalf of educators and students throughout Michigan."

House Bill 4294 will temporarily allow schools to employ an individual without certification who already works at the school to substitute teach through the end of the 2021-2022 school year. House Bill 4294 will keep schools open and students learning in person.

House Bill 4294 was sponsored by Rep. Brad Paquette, R - Niles, and a copy can be found here.

View the governor's signing statement here:

Addressing the Truck Driver, Health Professionals Shortage

House Bill 4787 waives the knowledge test required for a commercial driver license for an individual with military motor vehicle experience, honoring the skills developed during military service and helping to address the truck driver shortage.

"This bill will help UP and Michigan veterans transition to civilian life by shortening the process to obtain a CDL," said Rep. Gregory Markkanen, R-Hancock. "I am proud to see it become law."

House Bill 4787 was sponsored by Rep. Gregory Markkanen, R-Hancock, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 759 amends the Public Health Code to allow qualified individuals authorized to practice a health profession in another state to practice in Michigan during an epidemic under certain circumstances, bolstering Michigan's access to mobile medical professionals to help weather the COVID-19 pandemic.

Senate Bill 759 was sponsored by Sen. Curt VanderWall, R - Ludington, and a copy can be found here.

Bottle Bill Enforcement Fund

House Bill 4780, 4781, 4782 and 4783 amends the beverage container deposit law to create the Bottle Bill Enforcement Fund by taking the first $1 million from unclaimed bottle refunds to allow MSP to run a grant program for local law enforcement to prevent, investigate, and prosecute bottle fraud.

House Bill 4780 was sponsored by Rep. Mike Mueller, R-Linden, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4781 was sponsored by Rep. Andrew Fink, R - Adams Twp., and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4782 was sponsored by Rep. Tim Sneller, D - Burton, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4783 was sponsored by Rep. Tyrone Carter, D - Detroit, and a copy can be found here.

Voting Equipment Maintenance

House Bill 4282, 4283, 4284, and 4295 amends the Michigan Election Law to make the $100 candidate filing fees nonrefundable for primary elections and directs that money to local governments to be used only for the purchase and maintenance of voting equipment.

"Most candidates didn't even realize that their $100 filing fee could possibly be returned to them," said Rep. Terry Sabo, D - Muskegon. "These bills remove that refund and make the jobs of our local clerks easier, while still allowing candidates the choice of gathering the signatures required or paying a now non-refundable filing fee."

House Bill 4282 was sponsored by Rep. Julie Calley, R - Portland, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4283 was sponsored by Rep. Terry Sabo, D - Muskegon, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4284 was sponsored by Rep. Matt Koleszar, D - Plymouth, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 4285 was sponsored by Rep. Ann Bollin, R - Brighton, and a copy can be found here.

Redistricting Commission

Senate Bill 728 amends the Open Meetings Act to clarify that the act does not permit the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) to meet in a closed session for any purpose.

Senate Bill 728 was sponsored by Sen. Ed McBroom, R - Vulcan, and a copy can be found here.

Jail Diversion Fund

Senate Bill 637 creates the community crisis response grant program, in accordance with the recommendations of Governor Whitmer's Mental Health Diversion Council. Under the new law, DHHS will distribute grants to local units to establish or expand community-based mobile crisis intervention services, giving priority to applications that demonstrate a commitment to best practices as identified by DHHS in coordination with the council.

"We must change how we respond to behavioral health emergencies -- so that we get people the help they need in times of crisis," said Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit. "Having more behavioral health professionals respond on scene with law enforcement will make a big difference for many. I am so grateful to have partnered with Senator Outman and many groups over the past year and a half on these bills which will help direct people to services they need, improve public safety, and keep people out of jail that really need our support."

Senate Bill 637 was sponsored by Sen. Stephanie Chang, D - Detroit, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 638 creates the Jail Diversion Fund. DHHS will distribute grants to local units to establish or expand behavioral health jail diversion programs in coordination between community agencies and law enforcement agencies

Senate Bill 638 was sponsored by Sen. Rick Outman, R - Six Lakes, and a copy can be found here.

Other Legislation

Together, House Bills 5502, 5503, 5504, and 5505 streamline the process for qualified manufacturers to file for these exemptions and for the state to review them.

House Bill 5502 was sponsored by Rep. Mark Tisdel, R - Rochester, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 5503 was sponsored by Rep. Diana Farrington, R - Utica, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 5504 was sponsored by Rep. Julie Calley, R - Portland, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 5505 was sponsored by Rep. Mary Cavanagh, R - Redford, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 5351 would amend the General Property Tax Act to increase the value of the eligible manufacturing personal property exemption to $180,000, from $80,000. HB 5506 prohibits the issuance of a new industrial facilities exemption certificate for any property that qualifies as eligible manufacturing personal property.

House Bill 5506 was sponsored by Rep. Jim Ellison, D - Royal Oak, and a copy can be found here.

House Bill 5351 was sponsored by Rep. Steve Johnson, R - Wayland, and a copy can be found here.

Part of the economic development and small business assistance package signed last week, House Bill 4082 would limit the power of the State Administrative Board to use its power to transfer funds between line items to move money out of the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve Fund created by 2021 PA 137, the Critical Industry Program created by 2021 PA 136, or the Michigan Strategic Site Readiness Program created by 2021 PA 134.

House Bill 4082 was sponsored by Rep. Ben Frederick, R - Owosso, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 723 would amend the Neighborhood Enterprise Zone Act to allow an application for a neighborhood enterprise zone (NEZ) certificate to be filed after a building permit has been issued for the project, under specified circumstances.

Senate Bill 723 was sponsored by Sen. Ken Horn, R - Frankenmuth, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 764 would amend the Income Tax Act to allow a taxpayer, for tax years beginning 2021, to deduct wagering losses claimed by the taxpayer on their Federal income tax return for that tax year.

Senate Bill 764 was sponsored by Sen. Curtis Hertel, D - East Lansing, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 671 would amend the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act to expand the transformational brownfield program to allow combination with other community development incentives, simplify reporting requirements, extend the sunset to 2027. The transformational brownfield program was at the heart of Bedrock's redevelopment of Detroit's historic downtown Hudson's site and surrounding area, as well as the redevelopment of the Vicksburg Paper Mill.

Senate Bill 671 was sponsored by Senator Ken Horn, R - Frankenmuth, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 212 would amend the requirements for affidavits of identity in the Michigan Election Law. Currently under the act, candidates must file an affidavit of identity when filing a nominating petition, qualifying petition, filing fee, or affidavit of candidacy. The bill would add that a candidate must also include information about the jurisdiction, term, party affiliation, and other details.

Senate Bill 212 was sponsored by Senator Ruth Johnson, R - Holly, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 213 would amend the Older Michiganians Act to clarify and expand access to long-term care facilities for the long-term care ombudsman.

Senate Bill 213 was sponsored by Senator Kim LaSata, R - Coloma, and a copy can be found here.

Senate Bill 461 and Senate Bill 462 together would amend the Medical Marihuana Facilities Licensing Act to require as a condition for licensure that an applicant have a liability insurance policy meeting certain requirements and refer license applicants to the Marijuana Regulatory Agency instead of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs and the Medical Marihuana Licensing Board.

Senate Bill 461 was sponsored by Sen. Curt VanderWall, R - Ludington, Senate Bill 462 was sponsored by Sen. Paul Wojno, D - Warren, and copies can be found here and here.

Senate Bill 698 would extend to 2022 a provision in the General Property Tax Act that taxable property located on tax day in an alternate location because of the COVID-19 pandemic may not be assessed in that alternate location, but instead must be assessed in its ordinary location.

Senate Bill 698 was sponsored by Sen. Jim Runestad, R - White Lake, and a copy can be found here.

###
NEW YORK (AP)  The jury considering the fate of Ghislaine Maxwell at her sex trafficking trial finished a third full day of deliberations Monday with no sign that a verdict is near and no clear signal either that there is dissension in their ranks.

Jurors in Manhattan federal court asked for multi-colored sticky notes and a white board, along with transcripts of some trial testimony, the definition of enticement and a question on the law. Judge Alison J. Nathan referred them to her legal instructions that she read to them just before they began deliberations a week ago.

The judge also requested that they deliberate an extra hour beginning Tuesday, unless that created a hardship.

The British socialite is charged with recruiting and grooming teenagers as young as 14 to be sexually assaulted by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwells lawyers say she was a U.S. government scapegoat after Epstein killed himself in 2019 in a Manhattan federal jail cell while awaiting a sex trafficking trial.

Maxwell, who was behind bars for her 60th birthday Saturday, was described as a central component to Epstein's plans by four women who testified they were sexually abused as teenagers by Epstein with help from Maxwell when she was his girlfriend and afterward.

Maxwell's lawyers said the memories of her accusers were corrupted by the passage of time and the influence of lawyers steering them toward multimillion-dollar payouts from a fund set up to compensate Epstein victims.

The jury, which deliberated two full days last week, already has asked to review the testimony of the four women, along with former Epstein housekeeper Juan Patricio Alessi. They have given little hint of their overall progress on six charges, including a sex trafficking count that carries a potential penalty of up to 40 years in prison.

On Monday, jurors asked for the transcript of testimony by Matt, the pseudonym of a television actor who testified that he is the ex-boyfriend of Jane, the pseudonym of an actor who is one of the four accusers who testified against Maxwell. The judge had ruled that some witnesses in the trial could testify with only first names or pseudonyms to protect their privacy.

Matt, who lived with Jane from 2007 to 2014, testified that Jane initially described Epstein as a godfather who helped her family pay bills after her father's illness and death depleted their finances. She was 14 when she met Epstein.

He said she eventually told him that the help Epstein provided wasn't free, but did not provide any details about what happened.

When he was asked what her demeanor was like when he asked Jane questions about her encounters with Epstein, he testified that she was ashamed, embarrassed, horrified.

Matt said she also told him that she felt more comfortable in her encounters with Epstein because there was a woman around. Matt said he contacted Jane after Maxwells July 2020 arrest and asked her if Maxwell was the woman she had referenced as making her feel more comfortable in her dealings with Epstein.

He testified that she confirmed Maxwell was the woman.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  Two civil rights groups are suing South Carolina, saying the newly drawn state House maps discriminate against Black people by diluting their voting power and again saying lawmakers are taking too long to approve U.S. House maps.

The groups amended an October lawsuit that said the General Assembly was taking too long to pass the maps, preventing potential candidates from researching the new districts and not giving enough time for lawsuits to be considered before the two-week filing period starts March 16.

Defendants traded one constitutional violation  malapportionment  for two others: racial gerrymandering and intentional racial discrimination, said court documents filed Thursday by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People with assistance from the American Civil Liberties Union.

The lawsuit was anticipated. South Carolina's maps have been challenged in courts, sometimes successfully, for the past 50 years.

The suit asks a federal judge to find the new House districts passed the General Assembly and signed into law by the governor earlier this month to be unconstitutional and if necessary to delay March filings and June primaries for the 124 seats until fairer districts can be drawn. It also asks the court to set a Feb. 15 deadline for the U.S. House maps to be finished.

The groups said they reserve their right to sue later over the 46 South Carolina Senate districts, which don't come up for election until 2024.

The lawsuit cites 28 of the 124 House districts where race was used to either exclude or concentrate Black voters in districts to dilute their overall political power.

There are lines that split Anderson into four districts like a shattered mirror to prevent Blacks from having enough clout to influence the result in any of the districts, the lawsuit said.

There is the bunny ear that extended into Chester to put Black voters in the city into a Fairfield County district that is already overwhelmingly minority instead of surrounding areas, the NAACP said.

The lawsuit also cites districts in Sumter where it said Black voters were shunted out of Republican Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith's district, as well as areas in Richland County; Orangeburg County; Florence and Williamsburg counties; and in Dillion and Horry counties.

Leaders in the state's Republican-dominated Legislature pointed out they didn't make significant changes to the districts drawn after the 2010 U.S. Census. Those maps were approved both by judges and under the federal Voting Rights Act  a requirement not needed this time because it was thrown out eight years ago by the US. Supreme Court.

They also said the maps kept more districts where minorities were the majority of voters than plans by the NAACP and other groups.

The NAACP said their plan had more districts where Black voters were 40% to 50% of the population and could influence more elections.

The House maps also were roundly criticized by groups like the South Carolina League of Women Voters, which said the number of general election races where the winning margin is projected to be within 5 percentage points was cut in half to just eight seats  or only 6% of the House.

The group ran a computer program that generated nearly 12 billion possible House maps and found just over 400 had more bias than the one proposed by the chamber.

Still unresolved are maps for the U.S. House. Both chambers have their own proposals. The state Senate's idea kept the districts similar to the 2010 map, but made the 1st District, which is the only thing approaching a competitive district, more Republican.

The House had a more radical change that would have kept the Charleston area more whole. but backtracked on the proposal before a public meeting scheduled for next Wednesday.

South Carolina added nearly 500,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census, but that growth was lopsided both geographically toward the coast and the South Carolina suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina, and racially as the number of people who identified themselves only as African American fell by more than 10,000 people.

___

Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.
MIDDLETOWN  The high school Aerospace and Manufacturing Center is preparing students for their careers in a city known as a worldwide leader in engine manufacturing.

We are Middletown. We are aerospace, course co-teacher Paul Pelletier said in a recent presentation to the Board of Education.

When you see, in urban/suburban communities, students struggling after they graduate, theres a disconnect there, Pelletier said, adding that connections are the key to success. We feel this program is really the center of the bulls-eye.

Stephen Socolosky, a licensed pilot and president of the Hartford chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association, co-teaches the classes.

There are 120 youth enrolled in the program  about 10 percent of the student body.

The program is devoted to teaching teens hands-on skills that will equip them with the training and certification necessary to join a growing job market.

Funding came from a portion of last years $1.08 million Alliance Grant.

Student perseverance and achievement were among the goals at the innovation center, Pelletier said. Thats a great feeling.

Once they obtain their certification, they can operate airplanes in their future careers.

Theyll be able to put their virtual reality goggles on, sit in a real cockpit and manipulate the controls, and, when they look out the window, its going to look as if theyre at 3,000 feet, Pelletier said.

The presentation showed a photo of two high school students hovering a drone similar to those used by Command Aviation, which has partnered with the program, Pelletier said.

In all, 42 students are enrolled in drone courses.

Command has a K-MAX helicopter, which has been used to conduct firefighting on the west coast, Pelletier said. Also, students can learn about weight and balance: the limitations of their aircraft.

Students are now studying Federal Aviation Administration regulations using virtual reality goggles to earn their drone certificate through the program, which was developed for MHS by Dauntless Software.

Drones are the next big thing, Pelletier said.

People have said, do you think that will take hold? The interesting thing is the kids really enjoy it, and we know when you have kids involved, its much easier for them to grasp the information, Pelletier told BOE members.

Some are participating in the Experimental Aircraft Association Young Eagles program, which exposes students to the world of aviation.

He hopes eventually to offer the pilot efficiency program developed for fire and police personnel. Students heavily involved in the MHS program will assist with adult programs.

In October, several youth had the opportunity to be aboard helicopter flights, and, over the summer, they participated in summer workshops at area airports, Pelletier added.

Since last year, youth have been working on building a small aircraft from individual parts. Middletown Public Schools Director of Innovation & Grants Natalie Forbes was instrumental in getting a classroom door enlarged so the plane could fit inside, Pelletier said.

The program is seeking participation from area companies that offer internships for students to get the additional skills needed in the workforce. Those interested can call the high school at 860-704-4500.
Community Health Center

MIDDLETOWN  Jermane Bond has been named director of research of the Weitzman Institute, a division of Community Health Center.

He comes to the institute with 20 years of research experience as a social epidemiologist, according to a press release. He is co-founder of the Health Equity Analytics Lab, and recently served as assistant research professor of the Department of Prevention and Community Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves says he would support efforts to revive the initiative process, months after the state Supreme Court ruled that the process was outdated and invalid.

The issue could come up during the legislative session that begins in January.

I think that access to the ballot is important, Republican Reeves said in response to questions at a news conference last week.

I dont think that one person writing a 2 or 3 million dollar check on any one issue to put it in our state constitution is the correct way to do it, he said. But I do think the citizens should have access to the ballot, and it ought to be done in a way where its challenging to get on the ballot but that it is possible.

Since the 1990s, Mississippi had used an initiative process that allowed people to propose constitutional amendments. If they gathered enough signatures from each congressional district, the initiative could go on the ballot.

The court invalidated the initiative process in May, when it handed down a ruling that also tossed out a medical marijuana initiative approved by voters six months earlier.

Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler challenged the medical marijuana measure shortly before the November 2020 election, arguing it was not properly on the ballot because signatures were gathered from Mississippi's five old congressional districts instead of the four current ones.

After a hearing detailed legal arguments, six of the nine justices agreed. Their ruling halted the state Health Department's work in developing a medical marijuana program. It also left Mississippi without an initiative process.

Some proposed initiatives were left in limbo by the Supreme Court decision.

People had been gathering signatures for months on one initiative that would put several proposed state flag designs on the ballot. The effort was promoted by those unhappy that legislators in 2020 retired the last state flag in the U.S. that included the Confederate battle emblem.

Days before the Supreme Court ruling, health care professionals announced they were starting to gather signatures on an initiative to expand Medicaid. They were trying to bypass the Republican-led Legislature, which has steadfastly rejected expanding the government health insurance program to people who work in low-wage jobs without private insurance. Medicaid expansion is an option under the health overhaul signed into law in 2010 by then-President Barack Obama; Mississippi is among the dozen states rejecting it.

Medical marijuana remains an unresolved issue.

A small group of legislators spent months negotiating a proposal that was similar to the initiative approved by voters. House and Senate leaders urged Reeves to call a special legislative session during the fall so the proposal could be put into law, but Reeves never did.

At the news conference last week, the governor said he would veto the current proposal because it could allow hundreds of thousands of people to have access to large quantities of marijuana  enough, he said, to make 1.2 billion joints per year in the state of about 3 million residents.

If there are 1.2 billion joints floating around Mississippi in any one year, I believe that is no longer medicinal, it is no longer for the purpose of helping those who badly need it, and it becomes recreational, Reeves said.

He said the widespread availability of marijuana could hurt economic development by discouraging people from working. Mississippi already has a low rate of workforce participation among working-age residents.

Reeves said he wants a medical marijuana program to include tighter control by physicians and a role for pharmacists. Legislators who have negotiated the proposal say they've done so in good faith, seeking to provide compassionate relief for people with debilitating illnesses such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or cancer.

____

Emily Wagster Pettus has covered Mississippi government and politics since 1994. Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EWagsterPettus.
BANGKOK (AP)  A court in military-ruled Myanmar postponed its verdicts Monday on two charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi in which she is accused of importing and possessing walkie-talkies without following official procedures, a legal official familiar with the case said.

The case in the court in the capital, Naypyitaw, is among many brought against the 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate since the army seized power on Feb. 1, ousting her elected government and arresting top members of her National League for Democracy party.

The court gave no reason for delaying the verdicts until Jan. 10, according to the legal official, who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities, who have restricted the release of information about Suu Kyis trials.

Suu Kyis party won a landslide victory in last years general election, but the military said there was widespread electoral fraud, an assertion that independent poll watchers doubt.

Suu Kyis supporters and independent analysts say all the charges against her are politically motivated and an attempt to discredit her and legitimize the militarys seizure of power while keeping her from returning to politics. If found guilty of all the charges she faces, she could be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison.

Suu Kyi was convicted on Dec. 6 on two other charges  incitement and breaching COVID-19 restrictions  and sentenced to four years imprisonment. Hours after the sentence was issued, the head of the military-installed government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, reduced it by half. She is being held by the military at an unknown location and state television reported that she would serve her sentence there.

Suu Kyi has been attending court hearings in prison clothes  a white top and a brown longyi skirt provided by the authorities. The hearings are closed to the media and spectators and the prosecutors do not comment. Her lawyers, who had been a source of information on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October.

A charge under the Export-Import Law of having improperly imported the walkies-talkies was the first filed against Suu Kyi and served as the initial justification for her continued detention. A second charge of illegally possessing the radios was filed the following month.

The radios were seized from the gate of her residence and the barracks of her bodyguards during a search on Feb. 1, the day she was arrested.

Suu Kyis lawyers argued that the radios were not in her personal possession and were legitimately used to help provide for her security, but the court declined to dismiss the charges.

The court on Monday also heard video testimony from the vice chairman of Suu Kyi's party, Zaw Myint Maung, in another case against her involving alleged violation of COVID-19 restrictions during last year's election campaign, the legal official said.

Zaw Myint Maung, who had been unable to appear in court earlier for health reasons, testified that people had gathered to see her when she visited Shwe Kyar Pin Ward during the campaign because they respect her, and it wasn't a violation of virus restrictions, the official said.

The offense falls under the Natural Disaster Management Law and the maximum penalty is three years in prison and a fine.

She is also being tried in the same court on five counts of corruption. The maximum penalty for each count is 15 years in prison and a fine. A sixth corruption charge, in which Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint are accused of granting permits to rent and buy a helicopter, has not yet gone to trial.

In separate proceedings, she is accused of violating the Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum term of 14 years.

Additional charges were also added by Myanmars election commission against Suu Kyi and 15 other politicians in November for alleged fraud in last years election. The charges by the military-controlled Union Election Commission could result in Suu Kyis party being dissolved and unable to participate in a new election the military has promised will take place within two years of its takeover.

The military's seizure of power was met by nonviolent nationwide demonstrations, which security forces quashed with deadly force, killing nearly 1,400 civilians, according to a detailed list compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

Peaceful protests have continued, but amid the severe crackdown, an armed resistance has also grown, to the point that U.N. experts have warned the country could be sliding into civil war.
CINCINNATI (AP)  Nancy Keating, a charitable volunteer and matriarch of a large family with deep and philanthropic ties to the Cincinnati area, has died. She was 94.

She died peacefully at her home Friday, son Mike Keating said in an email.

Keating was the wife of the late William J. Keating, who after leaving Congress in the 1970s spent three decades as an Ohio newspaper executive and served on the board of The Associated Press. Her brother-in-law Charles Keating was a finance executive who was a key figure in the 1980s national savings and loan crisis.

Mom was very kind, very wise and had a wonderful sense of humor," Mike Keating wrote. "She was always patient and calm with us. As they say, you cant pick your parents, but we were so blessed and so fortunate to have mom and dad as our parents.

Nancy Keating was president of her senior class and valedictorian at St. Ursula Academy in Cincinnati. She attended the University of Cincinnati, where she was active in student politics.

She christened the submarine USS Cincinnati in 1977 and served on the commission that marked Cincinnatis 200th birthday. She was a longtime soup kitchen and Meals on Wheels volunteer, her son wrote.

Her husband was a founding partner of a major law firm, was an assistant Ohio attorney general, judge and city council member, and was elected to the U.S. House in 1971 as a Republican. In 1974, he gave up his seat to run the Cincinnati Enquirer. Increased circulation and profits, a Pulitzer Prize and acquisition by the Gannett Co. followed.

He served on the AP's board for 15 years from 1977 to 1992 and chaired the global news cooperative for the last five of those years. He held executive positions at Gannett, where he served as general counsel, a regional newspaper president, and architect of the joint operating agreement that combined the business operations of Detroits two competing daily newspapers.

Keating for decades was a key civic leader in Cincinnati. His great-nephew Gary Hall Jr. won swimming gold medals in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. The University of Cincinnati aquatic center is named for William Keating, while he and his brother helped fund St. Xaviers natatorium, named for their father Charles H. Keating.

William J. Keating attributed his success to his wife and her support, Mike Keating wrote.

He would often say 'Its always Nancy and Bill Keating. I put her first because she was first to me in everything I ever did. She made me a better man, her son wrote.

She was preceded in death by her husband in 2020 and her son Bill Jr. in 2017. Survivors include six other children, 28 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren. The family plans private services but no visitation. Geo. H. Rohde & Son Funeral Home is handling arrangements.

___

This story was published Dec. 26, 2021. It was updated Dec. 27, 2021, to correct what years William J. Keating served on the board of The Associated Press. He served from 1977 to 1992, not 1987 to 1992.
Hartford Police / Contributed Photo

HARTFORD  Two 22-year-old men died after their car crashed into a utility pole in Hartford early Christmas morning, according to the Hartford Police Department.

Police responded to the intersection of Main and Montville streets just before 4 a.m. for a report of a serious one car crash. There, officers found a gray 2008 Acura TL that hit a utility pole, police said.
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP)  A new study has concluded that licensed child care centers in Connecticut have been missing out on millions of dollars in federal funds for food and nutrition.

UConns Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health surveyed more than 230 centers in 2019 about a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that reimburses for food that meets specific nutritional standards. The program supplies qualifying child care programs with nutritious meals and snacks.

The researchers found a lack of awareness, lack of knowledge about eligibility and burdensome reporting requirements as factors that weighed against participation. The study estimated more than 20,000 children from low-income homes may have missed out on the programs benefits and that families could have saved an average of $31 per week per child.

We want more child care centers to be participating in the program, Tatiana Andreyeva, the study's lead author, told the Connecticut Post. The numbers in our state were pretty low.

More than a third of providers said they thought they weren't eligible for the program because they didn't have a sufficient number of low-income children, the study found. But the study also concluded many providers lacked a full understanding of the program and its requirements.

Some cited administrative difficulties that posed challenges. Those were likely exacerbated by the stresses brought on by what historically has been a low-paid profession and which have been heightened during the pandemic.

A lot of these are small businesses, Andreyeva told the Post. They dont have a manager, an administrator. Theyre doing multiple jobs.

Susan Johnson, the director at The Childrens Center of New Milford, which is enrolled in the federal program, said the reimbursements do not always track with the actual price of nutritious food.

Theyre unbelievably low," she told the Post. "Theyre totally unrealistic in terms of what the cost of food is. Its been this way forever, and its just gotten worse.
LANSING, Mich. (AP)  Michigan public schools can use non-teaching staff as substitute teachers the rest of the academic year under a law designed to address a shortage during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that she signed the bill last week, calling it a temporary stopgap in a letter to lawmakers. It lets secretaries, paraprofessionals and other school employees without a teaching certificate  such as library aides, bus drivers, cooks and office workers  work as subs as long as they have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

The legislation had been approved by the Republican-led Legislature on largely party lines over objections from many Democrats and a couple of Republicans.

Allowing schools to employ school staff that students know as substitute teachers will help keep school doors open and students learning in the classroom the rest of the school year, the Democratic governor said in a written statement. I am committed to working with the Legislature to develop high-quality solutions to address these staff shortages long-term so that we can ensure that every child is able to access a quality education.

Michigan generally requires subs without a teaching certificate to have an associate's degree or at least 60 semester hours of college credit. There are exceptions for those teaching career and technical education classes, typically if they a professional license in the field.

Whitmer signed the bill despite opposition from the Michigan Education Association, the state's largest public employee union.

If elected officials are serious about solving this shortage, they need to work to raise educators pay and treat them like the professionals they are," spokesperson Thomas Morgan said. "Anything else is at best a stopgap solution to a massive problem.

The law is supported by school administrators who say the pandemic has exacerbated a teacher shortage and left school districts struggling to keep buildings open. Paul Liabenow, executive director of the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association, said the law will provide additional flexibility so students can continue to learn in a safe, supportive environment.

The bill sponsor, Republican Rep. Brad Paquette of Niles, is a former teacher. He told senators this month that a lot of school support staff have already proven that they care about kids, they want to be around kids. Students, he said, behave better when they know the substitute teacher.

When the Senate passed the bill, Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Livonia Democrat and ex-teacher, called it a faulty attempt to mitigate the substitute teacher shortage by playing musical chairs with support staff, taking secretaries and paraprofessionals among others away from their essential duties to sub for teachers in classrooms. We cant rip parapros away from their work with special education kids or secretaries from their critical duties as the first point of contact with anyone who seeks to enter the building.

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Follow David Eggert at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00
MIDDLETOWN  Happy New Year!

Now that a challenging 2021 is coming to an end, and 2022 is upon us, I would like to wish everyone in Middlesex County and throughout the great state of Connecticut a very Happy New Year. The beginning of a new year always brings optimism and the chance for a fresh start.

Before looking ahead, however, I want to take a moment to reflect on the past year, and to express appreciation to many partners, colleagues and friends.

Giving thanks

I first want to send out a word of thanks to the many elected leaders that have served us so well during this difficult period. Serving in public office is never easy, but serving during a pandemic is especially challenging.

These public servants at the local, state and federal levels have worked so hard over the past two years. Regardless of your political persuasion, I hope that you can join me in thanking them for their around the clock efforts, and for their public service.

On the chamber side, we are truly lucky to have a dedicated Board of Directors which is led by our outstanding Chairwoman Maureen Westbrook. Maureen, like all of our past chair people, exemplify what this chamber is all about, working together to make sure Middlesex County is a great place to live, work and play.

Businesses weather pandemic

In addition to our board leadership, the chamber staff has stepped up this year in so many ways in support of the Middlesex County business community. Led by our vice presidents Jeff Pugliese and Johanna Bond, our team worked hard every day to advocate for our membership.

I am very proud of Jeff and Johanna, along with chamber team members Steve Ciskowski, Danielle Aletta, Jennifer De Kine, Cathy Duncan, Daniellelee Gagnon-Smith, Sandy Heinly, Sierra Lopez, Lorenzo Marshall, Charles Mitchell and Haley Stafford. I know their efforts are recognized and appreciated in our community.

When it comes down to it, all of this is not possible without the unwavering support of our entire membership. I am so fortunate to travel around Middlesex County and experience firsthand the amazing diversity and level of commitment that exists within our regional business community.

From our large employers and outstanding corporate citizens, to the small and micro businesses and entrepreneurs who make such an impact, and everyone in between, we are truly blessed. From the members of our Executive Committee and Board of Directors, to our division and committee chairs, to our many supporters throughout Middlesex County, I thank you both personally on behalf of the chamber.

Pledges for new year

It is safe to say that the chamber is excited about the year ahead. We look forward to continuing our work on behalf of the business community in Middlesex County on a number of fronts. We will continue to develop our divisions and committees so that members can engage with state and local officials, and address issues of importance to their town or their industry sector.

We will continue to host important meetings, virtual and in-person, that feature important and helpful content for our members. We will continue to reach out to nonmember businesses and organizations and invite them to come aboard.

We will continue to implement vital workforce development and educational training programs that are helping to develop the community and create and retain jobs. We will continue to support new business growth and entrepreneurship in Middletown and throughout Middlesex County.

We also plan to continue our focus on manufacturing and tourism in 2022. These two critical industry sectors will be key to a full-blown economic recovery in our region and our state.

On the infrastructure front, we look forward to working with Connecticuts congressional delegation and leaders in our state to support important projects in Middlesex County. We will be sure to be a constructive partner on the East Haddam Swing Bridge Project, which will begin in the coming year.

This project is necessary for the safety of motorists, pedestrians and marine traffic, but it is sure to have a major impact on our community. The chamber will work with all stakeholders and strive to minimize the impact on our members and the business community at large.

We will also work closely with our legislative delegation at the state level during the very important upcoming session of Connecticut General Assembly. On all of these fronts and many more, we will do our very best.

In closing, I say without reservation, that I am very optimistic about 2022. You can bet that the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce will be on the move. Thank you for your great support, and happy New Year!

Larry McHugh is president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce in Middletown.
President Joe Biden on Monday signed into law the sweeping annual defense policy bill that supports a 2.7% base pay raise for service members in 2022, a slight decrease from the 3% raise troops got this year.

The $768 billion National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, also changes the way the military justice system will prosecute sexual assault and related crimes, launches an independent commission to review the 20-year war in Afghanistan, allows troops to take 12 weeks of parental leave and specifies that service members discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine can get no less than a general discharge under honorable conditions.

"There's a lot to be proud of in this bill," House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., said in a statement Monday hailing the bill being signed into law for the 61st straight year.

"The FY22 NDAA supports a well-deserved pay raise for our service members, diversity and inclusion initiatives across our military, and the Department of Defense's role in the Biden-Harris Administration's whole-of-government response to the climate crisis," Smith continued. "Ultimately, this year's NDAA focuses on what makes our country strong: our economy, diversity, innovation, allies and partners, democratic values, and our troops."

Read Next: Housing Company that Defrauded Military Ordered to Pay $65 Million

Annual base pay raises for service members are set by a federal formula that's tied to expected growth in private-sector wages and go into effect Jan. 1, even without the NDAA.

But the NDAA is often described as supporting or authorizing the pay bump since the funding level authorized by the bill would finance the raise.

Still, the NDAA is a policy bill, not a spending bill, meaning the funding in the NDAA won't become a reality until Congress passes a separate defense appropriations bill.

Right now, the Pentagon and the rest of the federal government are operating under a stopgap spending measure known as a continuing resolution, or CR, that essentially keeps the government on autopilot by extending the previous year's funding.

Service members still get the 2.7% pay raise in the new year even if funding isn't boosted, but defense officials have warned that the longer a CR goes on, the more they will have to dip into other funds to pay for that raise. The pay raise supported by Congress matches what Biden recommended in his fiscal 2022 budget request, which in turn matched the federal formula for military raises.

The current CR expires in February, and lawmakers have shown no progress on a regular funding bill.

This year's NDAA has been marked more by what was left out than what made it in. The bill passed both chambers of Congress with wide bipartisan majorities earlier this month.

A sweeping overhaul of how the military justice system prosecutes almost all major crimes that was included in the initial Senate version of the NDAA was left out of the final version of the bill negotiated by the leaders of the House and Senate armed services committees.

Still, the bill that was signed into law creates prosecutor positions called "special trial counsel" to handle cases of sexual assault and related crimes, as well as murder, manslaughter and kidnapping. While that's a narrower change than some lawmakers and advocates pushed for, other lawmakers and advocates have nonetheless hailed the reform as transformative and historic.

Also left out of the compromise NDAA was a provision that would have required women to register for the draft and another that aimed to provide the military with more tools to root out extremists from the ranks.

-- Rebecca Kheel can be reached at rebecca.kheel@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @reporterkheel.

Related: Defense Bill Headed to Biden's Desk as Military Justice Debate Rages On
The Navy has completed flushing the drinking water systems of two neighborhoods in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam almost a month after families complained about contamination, according to an update released by the Navy on Friday. More than 20 neighborhoods have yet to have the water in their systems cleared..

Since Dec. 17, more than 1,600 military families and other occupants of base housing have been forced to stay at hotels and another 2,200 were living in homes without drinkable water. Families reported that the water was making them sick, and that it had a foul odor smelling of gasoline.

The source of the contamination appears to be the Navy's World War II-era underground fuel storage facility known as Red Hill. The facility sits above the Pearl Harbor aquifer, and it has had a history of environmental problems. In October, the Hawaii Department of Health fined the Navy more than $325,000 for violations from Red Hill. Then, on Nov. 22, the facility accidentally released 14,000 gallons of fuel and water from a fire suppression system drain line, according to the Associated Press.

According to the latest progress map, the Pearl City Peninsula, Aliamanu Military Reservation communities -- more than 1,700 homes -- have had the distribution systems that serve them flushed of contaminated water. Only after the systems have been cleared will the Navy flush the water in homes, including running taps and cleaning out appliances.

Read Next: Housing Company that Defrauded Military Ordered to Pay $65 Million

If the Navy keeps to the current schedule, all homes should have new water in their pipes by the last week of January.

The Navy says that the flushing is being done with water from fire hydrants and the output is run through giant activated carbon filters before being put into the storm drains or allowed to drain over land.

In total, the service plans to bring 20 of these filtering systems to the island of Oahu to scrub the more than 25 million gallons of water it plans to flush.

"Once zones are flushed, water samples are taken and sent to a certified lab on the mainland for testing to confirm the drinking water meets federal and state standards," a Navy update said.

Assuming the samples come back safe, the Navy will move to flushing and sampling homes. Rear Adm. T.J. Kott, the commander of Navy Region Hawaii, said the plan is to flush every home, including appliances like water heaters and dishwashers, regardless of whether issues were reported.

The current schedule says the Pearl City and Aliamanu Military Reservation communities could be fully flushed and tested by the first and second weeks of January, respectively.

Another four neighborhoods, Red Hill Housing, Hale Moku, Hokulani and Moanalua Terrace, are having their distribution systems flushed now. More than 20 more areas are on the list.

-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.

Related: More than a Thousand Military Families in Hawaii Stuck in Hotels Through the Holidays
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KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has significantly expanded the pool of Ukrainian women who are required to register for possible military conscription in the event of a major war.

According to an updated regulation that went into effect Friday, Dec. 17, women between 18 and 60 who are "fit for military service" and work in a broad range of professions are required to register with Ukraine's armed forces. In the event of a major war, this expanded reserve of women can be mobilized as part of the national reserve to serve in a broad range of military specialties.

"This is not about conscription after reaching some age, as it is for men. It is about conscription in the wartime. And considering more than 122,000 Russian troops are at our borders, the decision seems logical, timely, and sensible," said Oleksandra Ustinova, 36, a member of Ukraine's national parliament, the Verkhovna Rada.

"This sends a powerful signal to Moscow that Ukrainians are ready to resist," Ustinova told Coffee or Die Magazine. "Although we strive for introduction of the contract army, in current situation, the decision to educate as many people as possible to hold arms and to be ready to serve seems a good one."

Russia invaded Ukraine's eastern Donbas region in 2014, and the fighting is ongoing along a static, entrenched front line. A recent Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border has spurred concerns about a full-scale Russian re-invasion this winter. Despite the looming threat, Ukraine has not yet mobilized its operational reserves, which include some 430,000 combat veterans of the Donbas war.

Women in certain professions were already eligible for military conscription, according to earlier legislation. However, the recent revision of the law regulating Ukraine's military reserves dramatically expanded the number of professions that qualify for mandatory registration with the armed forces. Now women who are librarians, journalists, musicians, veterinarians, and psychologists -- among many other varied professions -- are required to register for possible military service.

"I believe that military service for women is a perfectly logical initiative, given Russia's constant aggression," said Natalka Barsuk, 46, an economist who lives in Kyiv and is now eligible for the draft.

"It is very good that women have started to be taken into account," said Liudmyla Bileka, a 31-year-old volunteer combat medic who, besides serving in the war zone, has helped train Ukrainian soldiers in combat first aid.

"I have a positive attitude -- I registered myself voluntarily in 2014. The only issue is the education and training of these women," Bileka told Coffee or Die.

The pool of women who could potentially be mobilized is a bit narrower in terms of age than the pool of those required to register with the military. According to the updated law, Ukrainian women between the ages of 20 and 40 can be mobilized for military service as regular soldiers, and from 20 to 50 years of age for service as officers. There are exemptions for some women with children, as well as full-time students and graduate students.

The deadline for registration with military authorities has not yet been announced. The Ukrainian defense ministry is expected to release more information about registration procedures in the coming weeks. For their part, employers are required to ensure that their female employees are complying with the new law.

Women have served in the Ukrainian armed forces since 1993. Since the war began in 2014, women have played a key role for Ukraine's armed forces. They have served on the front lines as infantry, combat medics, and snipers. They also helped sustain the war effort as civilian volunteers by procuring vital supplies and equipment and delivering them to the front lines -- often under extremely dangerous conditions.

At the war's outset, many Ukrainian women volunteered for combat service within one of a number of ad hoc militias. Known as the "volunteer battalions," these combat outfits comprised civilian volunteers who often had little or no military background. Within these units, Ukrainian women served alongside their male counterparts, enduring the same risks and harsh living conditions.

It took years for the Ukrainian government to officially recognize the combat service records of those who had fought within the volunteer battalions.

In 2018, the regular Ukrainian military officially allowed women to serve in combat specialties, including as armored vehicle gunners, infantry commanders, and snipers. According to 2020 data, more than 31,000 women were serving in the Ukrainian armed forces at that time, representing 15.6% of the total force. By March 2021, that share was up to almost 22.5%, the Ukrainian military reported.

As of March, Ukraine's armed forces comprise more than 900 female officers in command positions, including 109 platoon commanders and 12 company commanders, according to the military.

In recognition of the women's front-line service, by March, the Ukrainian military had classified more than 13,000 women as "combatants." Of that number, 257 women received state awards for their combat service during the Donbas war. Nine of those awards were given posthumously.

Nolan Peterson is a senior editor for Coffee or Die Magazine and the author of Why Soldiers Miss War. A former US Air Force special operations pilot and a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Nolan is now a conflict journalist and author whose adventures have taken him to all seven continents.
Kumahood actor cum musician Kwadwo Nkansah popularly known as Lil Win has once again proven why he is regarded as one of the best entertainers of our time after putting up a spectacular performance at this year's 'Xmas With Lilwin' mega bash in Dormaa on Christmas day Saturday, December 25, 2021.

'X'mas With Lilwin ' is a musical concert which is organised by the multifaceted celebrity to celebrate the Birth of Christ with his fans. The much-publicised event which was held at the Benewaa Memorial Guest House in Dormaa saw thousands trooping the venue.

Immediately the MC for the night, Papa Kumasi introduced Lil Win on stage to perform there was tumultuous cheers from the crowd. At the time when the whole auditorium looked dull, Lil Win reignited the momentum with back to back selections of his hit songs.

Seriously, he did not exert much energy while performing his songs as fans grasped each one of them and owned it. His technique on the microphone and his interaction with the patrons was a master-class.

The peak of his scintillating performance was when he went bare-chested on stage while performing his hit song 'Mama Boss Papa ``.Going bare-chested on stage has been one of his iconic styles which distinguishes him and energizes his performance as well.

The actor cum musician who has never been disappointed with his fashion sense, spent over one hour on stage - during which he classically performed about 14 hit songs including Pepper Me, Ladder, 'Meyare' ,Oblogo''Mama Boss Papa', Koti Krom, Corner Corner.

Fans who spoke with this portal after the show lauded Lilwin for putting up such an amazing performance.

Watch excerpts of Lil Win's Performance in the video below:
This year's Masquerades festival at Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region has come to an end.

Also known as Ankos Festival, the Masquerade festival is a Ghanaian yearly festival where people from Sekondi-Takoradi who have travelled to other parts of the country, and even those abroad return home to a colourful display of people dressed in outrageous costumes who perform dance routines to demonstrate their abilities and talents.

This year's festival saw close to 50,000 people coming from all over the world patronising the much-publicised festival. One of the blistering moments that characterised this year's event was how all the masquerades jammed to the monster hit song of celebrated Ghanaian rapper; Captain Planet dubbed ''Abodie'.

Abodie a Twi word translated in English as Creature which was also produced by Lynx Music Signee Kuami Eugene gives Captain Planet the opportunity to recount his blessings and also expresses his gratitude to God.

From a line from the song, Captain Planet sang, If God blesses you, there is no creature that can hinder your blessing. The song was sung in Twi and Pidgin. The song which is regarded as one of the biggest songs produced in 2021 features the Lynx music signee Kuami Eugene.

As the various masquerades clubs parade through the main streets as part of the carnival to demonstrate their skills, culture and other arts to the general public by dancing and singing various songs with brass bands, the song that really got them heightened was 'Abodie'.

As the words in the song say, In a video sighted by Hotfmghana.com, the masquerades are seen thanking God for His guidance throughout the Year by singing and jamming to it.

The song really dominated the whole event and it's not surprising it has been heavily tipped to win the 'Most Popular Song of the Year' award at the 2022 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards.

Watch the video below:
The Reverend Father Stephen Dogodzi, SVD, Parish Priest of the St. Charles Lwanga Catholic Church, Abeka Lapaz, has cautioned Christians against being overly committed to church activities at the expense of their families.

People go to church every time, hour at the expense of their families. For some people, it is as if they have taken funeral contracts. Every funeral they will go, every party, they will go. It is not every funeral or party that you have to attend.

You will spend hours in traffic and return from work late, and as soon as you get home, then you go to bed. What family are you creating? Make quality time with your family, spouse and children. Let them feel you at home. Share meals and converse together.

He gave the caution while giving a homily at mass at the Church's observation of the Couples Day in Abeka, on Sunday.

Fr. Dogodzi observed that many people had 'houses' and not 'homes' where family could return to seek peace, joy and calmness after a hard day's work.

Create a home and not a house where you will be welcomed and where there won't be fire when you return from outside.

Many of us are owning houses and mansions but in it, there is no peace. If you cannot eat, chat and talk together as a family, then that place is a house and not a home, he added.

The Parish Priest implored married couples to stay united and achieve their dreams together, adding that it was by mutual obedience that their children were going to be obedient as well.

He charged them to communicate every time about everything, as that was the only way to settle their differences, adding that they had to bear in mind their children watched every action they took and listened to every word that they uttered to inform their attitudes and behaviours.

GNA
South Africans of all races stopped by Cape Town's St George's Cathedral on Sunday to pay their respects to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the anti-apartheid icon who has died aged 90.

"His significance supersedes the boundaries of being an Anglican," said mourner Brent Goliath, who broke down in tears outside the old stone building.

He told AFP he had been an altar boy and had met Tutu several times.

"I was very emotional this morning when I heard that he'd passed away. I thank God that he has been there for us," he said, wiping his eyes as he placed a bouquet of pink flowers under Tutu's photo.

In the cathedral yard, Father Michael Weeder, dean of the cathedral, paced up and down answering phone calls and speaking with workers shortly after Sunday morning mass.

Dozens of South Africans stopped at the cathedral, even though many people would not yet have heard of his death. By GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (AFP)

"He died a holy death," he told AFP near a makeshift shrine being prepared for the public to leave flowers.

Despite the loss, he said "it comes with some relief to the family because Father Desmond has been in a lot of pain over these past weeks".

Members of Tutu's family could be seen gathering and embracing each other in his former Cape Town residence behind a police security cordon.

'He fought for us'

Dozens of South Africans stopped at the cathedral, even though many people would not yet have heard of his death -- it is customary to switch off and spend the day after Christmas on the beach, rather than pacing the city.

Among those paying respects was Miriam Mokwadi, a 67-year-old retired nurse, who said the Nobel laureate "was a hero to us, he fought for us".

Many passersby remembered Tutu not just for his role in the fight against apartheid, but for how he has continued to hold the democratic government to account. By GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (AFP)

"We are liberated due to him. If it was not for him, probably we would have been lost as a country. He was just good," said Mokwadi, clutching the hand of her granddaughter.

Daphney Ramakgopa, 58, a local government worker, spoke of the loss the entire country was feeling.

"We looked up to him as the adviser to everyone in the country, especially our politicians," she said.

Many passersby remembered Tutu not just for his role in the fight against apartheid, but for how he has continued to hold the democratic government to account, constantly calling out corruption in the ruling African National Congress party.

South Africa: the apartheid years. By (AFP)

"I can't think of anybody with that kind of moral compass" left in South Africa, said Aki Khan, a 64-year-old sound engineer and veteran of the apartheid struggle.

"But I really do think his message has filtered through to young people."

Cape Town's famous Table Mountain is due to be lit up in purple from 2000 GMT until the date of the funeral, which has yet to be confirmed.

'Won't forget this man'

In the township of Soweto near Johannesburg, which became synonymous with apartheid-era repression, youngsters took selfies outside Tutu's former home, just a few metres from Nelson Mandela's house.

In the township of Soweto near Johannesburg, which became synonymous with apartheid-era repression, youngsters took selfies outside Tutu's former home. By ALEXANDER JOE (AFP/File)

Local resident Lerato remembered Tutu jogging around the surrounding streets in the morning and called his death "a big blow".

"This street is the only one in the world in which two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived. You can then imagine us, the neighbours around, we are really touched by his passing," she said.

Another resident, Samba, recalled seeing Tutu when he came to have a drink. "He was a down-to-earth person. It was great. I won't forget this man," he said.

"His legacy will be his love for all people. He always said that God is not the God of Christians, but God is God of all people," added Stephen Moreo, the Anglican bishop of Johannesburg.
MTN Ghana has announced that its Service Centres across the country will be closed for the Holiday Season from December 29, 2021 to January 3, 2022.

The closure of the Service Centres is part of broader measures taken by the business to stem the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic especially in the wake of the new Omicron variant, which has been proven to have a higher transmissibility rate.

Speaking on the development, Jemima Kotei Walsh, Chief Customer Care Officer, said, "The business will use this opportunity to encourage customers to use our digital channels during the period of the closure of the shops."

The channels include the company's Official Social Media Handles namely: Twitter: @MTNGhana or @AskMTNGhana; Facebook: MTNGhana, WhatsApp:0554300000 and 0555300000.

Customers may also call MTN's toll free number 100. MYMTN App and Ayoba are additional apps that can be used during and after this period.

In addition to these channels, field teams made up of retail vendors and Momo agents across the country will be operating and will provide additional support.

MTN Ghana continues to encourage all Ghanaians to observe the appropriate health protocols outlined by the Government, Ghana Health Service and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The death toll from the suicide attack in the eastern city of Beni, on the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern border with Uganda, has risen to seven, officials said Sunday.

The Christmas Day bombing at a crowded nightspot in the city centre also wounded 20 people, according to the updated toll issued by the authorities.

The military officers currently running the city under the state of emergency have blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the deadliest armed groups in the region, for the attack.

"At the current time, the provisional toll comes to eight dead, including a captain of the 22nd brigade who was at the restaurant with his wife and children," as well as the suicide bomber, said Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya.

Among the wounded were two young girls, two young boys, two women with fractures to their legs and two seriously wounded women, he added. Two local officials were also among the wounded.

Lieutenant General Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu, said identification of the bomber was difficult because of the state of the body but he remained confident it could be done.

North Kivu province sits just south of Ituri province and on DR Congo's border with Uganda.

Both provinces have been under a "state of siege" since May, during which Congo's army has taken control to facilitate operations against the ADF and other militia operating there.

On November 30, the DRC and Uganda launched a joint operation against the ADF in the east of the country to try to quell the bloody ADF attacks. Uganda has also blamed the group for a string of attacks on its territory.

The ADF was historically a Ugandan rebel coalition whose biggest group comprised Muslims opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.

But it established itself in eastern DRC in 1995, becoming the deadliest of scores of outlawed forces in the troubled region.

It has been blamed for the killings of thousands of civilians over the past decade in the DRC, as well as for bombings in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

The Islamic State group presents the ADF as its regional branch -- the Islamic State Central Africa Province, or ISCAP.

On March 11 this year, the United States placed the ADF on its list of "terrorist groups" affiliated with IS jihadists.
Two youth groups in the Ellembele District of the Western Region, SHAIP Africa and the National Alliance for Nzema Development, have condemned the alleged burning of a suspected illegal miner by security guards protecting a mining concession site belonging to Adamus Resources Limited at Nkroful.

The victim, Michael Budo, a physically-challenged person, on Thursday sustained life-threatening burns all over his body after the security personnel allegedly poured petrol on him and set him ablaze.

The incident is said to have occurred as the security officers accused him of trespassing as an illegal miner.

The General Secretary for the National Alliance for Nzema Development, Clement Blay, told Citi News that while they do not condone illegal mining, it is unacceptable for instant justice to be metted out to suspected illegal miners.

He said the youth groups were disappointed in Adamus Resources Limited and its security officers for perpetrating such a heinous crime against Mr. Budo.

We gather that the youth were there for illegal mining. We cannot ascertain if they had the requisite permit. We all support the fact that illegal mining should not be encouraged, because it is leading to the destruction of our water bodies and other vital resources that will endanger our very survival as individuals, but we are also not oblivious of the fact that instant justice is something that this country abhors and so we shouldn't encourage it in any way, and so we expect Adamus Resources which participated in this brutality to have known better as a corporate organization to ensure that we work within the laws of Ghana, he said.

The victim, in an earlier interview with 3News narrated his ordeal, explaining that, in the morning at about 7:30 to 8:00, I was at the site and went to fetch water. While doing that, I was arrested by land guards, handcuffed and taken back to where the Changfan is. When we got there, they started beating me with cutlass and fan belt.

After that, they left a pumping machine and diesel on my back and warned me not to let it fall. But the items fell and they started to beat me again. There was this one amongst them who threatened that I will be burnt together with the machine.

Then that one who has been threatening me, lifted the diesel and poured it on me. But one of them collected it from him. There was this fire close by where they had dumped all our belongings. I was asked to get close to the fire. Then that same guy went for the diesel again and poured it into the fire. Because they had pushed me close to the fire some of the flames touched my diesel drenched body and sparked fire.

I started screaming and rolling on the floor in an attempt to quench the fire. After, then he came to drag me to a nearby pit and opened the handcuffs.

When Citi News contacted, the Social Responsibility Manager of Adamus Resources, Francis Baah, confirmed the incident happened on their concession, but said it was not intentional.

He said the Esiama Police have commenced investigations into it.

Yes, there was an accident. Our security patrol team on their usual patrols went to one of the pits and encountered these illegal people. One guy was arrested and made to carry a Chafang machine that contains fuel. The fuel got into contact with fire. The issue is currently under investigation, he said.

citinewsroom
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare has reiterated the resolve of his administration to transform the Ghana Police Service into a world-class institution and the most respected organisation in Ghana.

To this end, he has assured personnel of his availability and that of leadership to listen to all concerns and ideas to make this possible.

He has, consequently, warned those who engage in misconduct and unprofessionalism to desist from those acts particularly in 2022 for us to regain the trust, confidence and respect of the public.

These were contained in his Christmas and New Year Message to personnel of the Service.

The senior-most police officer, who started his official duty on Sunday, August 1 , eulogised officers who lost their lives in the line of duty in the past year.

The Police Administration will do what is required to support their surviving families. Let us continue to keep them in our prayers.

He also commended all active officers for your courage, patriotic selflessness and unalloyed dedication towards the maintenance of law and order.

We are proud of you and we will not take you for granted, we recognise that your efforts contribute greatly to the peace and security of this country.

Dr Dampare and some members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) spent the Christmas eve in the Tema region on night foot patrol.

3news.com
While the "Fixthecountry" movement has a pretty cliche, it does not present any thought-out and well-defined problems and constructive ways of dealing with the continuing multi-faceted problems confronting the nation. While protest and activism are not new to Ghanaians, the recent wave of citizens fighting against government inefficiency, corruption, poverty, unemployment, and power outage has gained traction because of the power of social media. Many artists, journalists, and politicians have joined forces to declare they had had enough.

However, there is nothing new about the way the two political vampires are governing our country. We have all become accustomed to the value that quick and easy money brings. We have helped to create a culture of lawlessness. The political and the bureaucratic elites are not held accountable. Kids have a wise saying: "Why shouldn't I do it if I can do it and get away with it?" Why shouldn't politicians steal if they can steal and get away with it almost 100% of the time? Laws are made because people are sinful by nature.

We are selfish by nature, and unless restrained by law, only a few people will act right. If you do not believe my words, then consult the Bible if you are a Christian, or Thomas Hobbes and Machiavelli if you are a political science student. One philosopher said one Bible's claims that can be proven experientially or experimentally is that humans are sinful. Machiavelli believes that people are governed by two broad categories of motivation in politics: their loves and their fears, but mostly by fear. Fear of punishment is what drives people to act right.

There are massive corruption, bribery, and theft of public resources at every level of government. Party cronies and bureaucratic elites are growing brazenly rich while the ordinary people live in squalors, open sewers, and patients sleeping on hospital floors. There has been a waste and plunder on a breathtaking scale. A good portion of the money meant for the construction of roads and buildings are kickbacks to the officials awarding the contracts. No wonder many of these projects are abandoned immediately after the implementing party leaves office because money earmarked for such projects is shared among the political and bureaucratic elites. Successive governments have made vain promises to prosecute their successors but have failed to do so. When people saw the uncompleted and neglected housing projects, everyone was angry, but no one asked how much money was earmarked for the project and why they were not completed by the previous government.

All we know and could do over the years is to demonstrate and insult the politicians and rotate them, without having any well-thought-out plan to deal with the problems. Nevertheless, what these demonstrations had succeeded in doing over the years is to replace one corrupt party with another corrupt party. The fact that these governments have refused to prosecute their successors tells us that both parties have tacit agreement to look the other way while the other party is stealing, waiting for their turn. There is nothing new we do not know about these two parties. These demonstrations appear to be a knee-jerk reaction to perennial, intractable, pervasive, and systemic problems. So how do we fix the country? My question to my "fixthecountry" brothers and sisters is: What exactly do you want to fix? You can go on and insult and use these nice cliques, but at the end of the day you will come up with nothing if you don't know the fundamental problem or challenges you are dealing with.

What is going to happen after the demonstrations, insults, and name-calling to change the way the government works all the time? What fundamental problems in the country do you want to address? Whose problems are the identified problems? Why are they problems? Do the definers of these problems' interests align with the general interests of the nation? What makes these groups' interests different from the previous activists and demonstrators? Which of these problems are unique to this particular government? What are the immediate and long-term solutions to these problems?

What sacrifices are we willing as citizens to make to realize these goals? What behavioral and attitudinal changes do we want to see in the citizens to bring about the proposed changes? What new information do we have to help us deal with the identified problems? What dialogical discourse can we have to address the problems in meaningful and healthy ways? How do we conduct deliberative discourses among our competing interests group while mediating stresses based on religion, ethnicity, power, and inequities that engender consensus decision-making? How do we rank our problems?

I will deal with some of the issues I have raised in the future, but for now, I will say let's find a way to make every Ghanaian a law-abiding citizen. There is general lawlessness in the country, beginning from the ordinary person in the street to the president. No one is held accountable for anything. The constitution has created a president who is almost a monarch, so they are not accountable during or after their terms of office. So fix the constitution and fix all the laws emanating from it that create the general lawlessness in the country.

Second, we need to understand and accept that we need a change of mind-sets. We need to fix the Ghanaian mindsets that undermine development or progress. Many people talk about the unemployment problem, but the truth of the matter is that the unemployment problems stem from our poor work ethics. Our problem is not unemployment in itself, but rather our problem is lack of work ethic. There are many Ghanaians abroad and at home who want to invest to employ people, but they are afraid of losing their money because of the anti-social practices of many Ghanaian employees.

Let's call for fundamental principles of openness, accountability, and public debate. Citizens need to know what their government is doing to hold them accountable. Let's call for a government where checks and balances work- a good government relies on a system of checks and balances with the three co-equal branches operating independently. And more importantly, we need to fix the Ghanaian mindsets that undermine development or progress.

I have never heard anyone suggesting meeting a person like Professor Kwasi Prempeh who can guide us on some of the fundamental problems with the present Ghanaian constitution. He is a world-renowned expert in constitutional law. Those interested in the problems with the current constitution should consult Henry Kwasi Prempeh's work, "Presidential Power in Comparative Perspective: The Puzzling Persistence of Imperial Presidency in Post-Authoritarian Africa." Let us understand that insults and demonstrations alone cannot change the political and economic situation in Ghana. We need a well-thought-out plan.
Ghana has recorded over 1,000 new cases of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours, Modernghana News can report.

The Omicron variant has since caused an increase in the active cases in the country.

The latest information according to the Ghana Health Service has today seen the countrys active Covid-19 case count shooting up to 6,361.

The death toll is now 1,277.

Meanwhile, the United States of America has donated over a million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines to Ghana in the spirit of giving during the Christmas period.

Last Friday, the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, joined the Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on Friday to receive 1.7 million newly arrived doses.

The United States in the last four months has delivered more than seven million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Ghana in coordination with COVAX and UNICEF.
27.12.2021 LISTEN

Mama Love Foundation, an Obuasi based Non-Governmental Organisation has embarked on a charity program this Christmas dubbed lend a hand, give a can; sharing is caring.'

The NGO distributed sumptuous jollof rice with meat and assorted drinks, hampers, gifts bags, money and more to the needy, orphans and widows in some parts of Obuasi during the festive season.

Speaking on the rationale behind the project, President of Mama Love foundation Rev. Dr. Love Konadu said, the foundation has over the years prioritize the interest and well-being of the less privileged in the society. She said, " at Mama Love foundation we are committed to putting smiles on the faces of the aged, widows and orphans especially this festive season."

It would be recalled that the Mama Love foundation as part of its core mandate, in July this year, collaborated with UK based foundation Obuasi Sikakrom Association to organize a seminar that empowered women and gave capital to widows and a sickle cell patients to set-up businesses in Obuasi.

Aside the food distribution, the foundation also gave out capital to people to set them up and make them self reliant. This according to Dr. Love Konadu is part of their plans to unlock resources and create an enabling environment, so that young women are on a steady footing to meet the personal and economic challenges that confront them.

Meanwhile, Mama Love Foundation has organised dinner party for girls who are undergoing various forms of training under the sponsorship of the foundation.

The District Chief Executive for Obuasi East Honorable Faustina Amissah who sponsored the dinner party and was also present lauded the Mama Love foundation for giving hope to the less privileged in the society.

She said a time has come for society to acknowledge the roles played by NGOs who have volunteered to offer a helping hand to the hopeless in the society.

Hon Amissah appealed to the Girls to take their training seriously and be disciplined in their pursuit of economic empowerment.

The beneficiaries of the gesture from Mama Love foundation in an interview with the media praised the Foundation for coming to their aid this yuletide. Ama Asamoah, a widow at Boete said " I had no hope of enjoying this Christmas with my children. The donation from Mama has come at the right time."
Three teenagers who are said to be behind the burning to death of a Navy officer at Bakado near Sekondi have been put behind bars.

The victim, LS Okyere Boateng, died on Friday at the 37 Military Hospital, where he was receiving treatment for the severe burns he sustained in the attack on Wednesday, December 22.

Western Regional Police Commands Public Relations Officer DSP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, who confirmed the arrest to Connect FMs Nhyiraba Paa Kwesi Simpson, says the suspects, all students and aged 17 and 18, have confessed to committing the heinous crime.

According to the police, the suspects say they wanted to snatch the car the officer was using for online services but he was being stubborn, hence their action.

They will be arraigned before court on Wednesday, December 29, according to the Police.

---3news.com
Bangladesh has improved its quality of life, economic strength and prosperity, education and research in every field. And that is why in the past Bangladesh was said to follow the developed countries to move forward, today the countries of Africa are being urged to look forward to that Bangladesh. No development in Bangladesh today is a surprise, but the result of systematic hard work. Today Bangladesh is reaping the harvest of thousands of days of suffering of millions of people.

When Bangladesh achieved GDP growth of more than 6 percent for the first time in 2010, it was a surprise. Surprisingly, Bangladesh achieved this even during the global economic downturn.

Due to the global epidemic corona, Bangladesh's growth has slowed down. But where the growth of all the developed countries of the world was negative in these years, the achievement of Bangladesh was also noticeable.

Describing Bangladesh's growth, the BBC said in its analysis that by 2035, we will reach the list of the 25 strongest economies in the world. Bangladesh's economic progress is being compared to that of Singapore and Malaysia in the last century. Shijin Chan, former vice president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), described Bangladesh as one of the fastest growing economies in the Asia-Pacific region. And GDP growth will be 6.8 percent this year and 7.2 percent next year. On the other hand, the country's per capita GDP growth this year will be 5.5 percent and next year it will increase to 5.8 percent.

In 2015, Bangladesh was hailed around the world as one of the most successful countries in meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Bangladesh did well in all the eight goals. Bangladesh has achieved 13 out of 33 sub-indicators to achieve these goals. One of the main goals of the MDGs is to achieve the goal of poverty alleviation.

The target was to reduce the poverty rate to 29 percent by 2015, while Bangladesh has reduced the poverty rate to 24.6 percent. In addition, education, gender inequality, infant mortality, maternal health, disease control, and a sustainable environment these are just some of the key indicators to develop.

The matter has been made possible by following Bangladesh's own plan or model. Although it emphasized the return of the digital Bangladesh system, it did mention in each case the economic empowerment of marginalized people. A number of initiatives have been taken to reduce the dependence on city-centric industries, businesses and income systems, ranging from credit assistance, training activities, counseling assistance to the marginal level. At the same time, by spreading ICT education to the marginal level of the country, a skilled population is being formed through technical education.

Even in 2010, Bangladesh, which is in an economic position close to Pakistan, has left Pakistan far behind in terms of GDP per capita and has become a rival to India. At present, the average life expectancy of the people of Bangladesh is 74 years, which is higher than that of neighboring India and Pakistan. The average life expectancy in India and Pakistan is 70 and 68 years respectively.

Bangladesh is now a leader in the export of readymade garments in the world. Other cases are also moving forward. For example, the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh is said to be prosperous. There are 300 pharmaceutical companies in the country, which meet 97 percent of the local demand. They are even exporting drugs to the global market.

Export earnings from the pharmaceutical industry have increased eleven times in the last one decade. At present, 47 Bangladeshi pharmaceutical companies are exporting Bangladeshi medicines to about 147 countries of the world including Europe and America. Bangladesh has paid special attention to every aspect of its foreign exchange earnings as a result of which about 13.2 million Bangladeshi workers are currently working in 168 countries of the world.

Bangladesh ranks eighth among the top 10 countries receiving remittances from abroad. In all, from January 1 to December 10, 2020, the country received 20.50 billion dollars, which is about 12 percent more than the entire period of 2019. While the flow of remittances around the world has decreased due to the impact of Covid, the World Bank has expressed the view that the income from remittances of expatriates will increase in Bangladesh this year as well.

A number of initiatives have been taken in the joint efforts of the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare, the Ministry of External Affairs and High commission offices including providing comprehensive assistance to workers abroad and providing them with online passport renewal facilities. The expatriates are getting the benefits. At the same time, the Bangladesh government has created various opportunities for remittances and investment of expatriates through legal channels.

Through which crores of people of the country are benefiting. Not only that, Bangladesh has created new opportunities in the world labor market. Besides ordinary workers, Bangladesh is currently sending skilled workers abroad. At the same time, skilled experts in technology are also getting opportunities in the job market outside the country. About 7 lakh workers were being employed abroad every year, but in the year 2020, 2.2 lakh workers were employed due to Covid-19.

By 2030, Bangladesh wants to establish itself as a middle-income country, and the country's ready-made garment sector is a very effective industry in this regard. The labor-intensive garment sector developed slowly in the eighties. The garment industry is the largest export sector in Bangladesh. 83 percent of the total export income is coming from this sector (fiscal year 2019-20).

ICT is another important sector for receiving remittances in Bangladesh at present. There are more than 42 different projects under the ICT department. Through these projects, the Bangladesh government is helping young people to turn new ideas or technological ideas into business. Hi-tech parks and innovation centers have been set up to create technology hubs like Silicon Valley in the country.

Engineering and public universities are being prepared for research in this regard. Bangladesh is moving from a labor-dependent to a knowledge-based economy for the benefit of technological knowledge, and information technology is accelerating its growth. 100 million people in rural areas are being brought under broadband internet, which will create employment for 20 million people.

In addition, it is estimated that by 2021, the export of ICT products and services will be five billion dollars. The IT sector will emerge as the second largest sector after readymade garments. As a result, gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by more than 1 percent.

The agrarian economy has always been criticized by the Western world as a fragile economy. But today Bangladesh has become self-sufficient in food due to its dependence on agriculture. Achieving self-sufficiency in food is one of the reasons why the global economic downturn and epidemic Corona have not been able to have a major impact on the country's economy. Food production has increased almost five times (4.75) as compared to 1971 and now stands at 42.2 million tons (FY 2018-19).

Bangladesh has imported very little rice in the last few years and exported much. Bangladesh has reduced the price of fertilizer by 4 points to reduce the production cost of the crop. In the last decade, the cost of fertilizers (TSP, MOP, DAP) has been fixed to some extent reduced.

In the 2017-18financial year alone, it has produced 807.14 million metric tons of food grains. the agriculture budget is being increased day by day. Bangladesh ranks 4th in the world in rice production by inventing 108 high yielding varieties including paddy. It has provided agricultural inputs to 2 crore 8 lakh 13 thousand 46 farmers.

However, agricultural dependence on exports has declined, and the importance of the manufacturing industry and services has increased. After independence, the contribution of the industrial sector to GDP has increased from 9 percent, to about 35 percent in FY 2019-20, of which the contribution of the manufacturing sector is 24.2 percent.

Uninterrupted fuel supply is needed to keep this manufacturing sector of Bangladesh strong. Bangladesh is currently trying to ensure uninterrupted power supply by expanding the supply system through implementing various projects.

Bangladesh is in the top three in the list of countries leading in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Bangladesh is following all the models provided by the United Nations. At the same time, the country has its own goals. Implementation of Digital Bangladesh by 2021 is no longer a reality.

It is not surprising that the milestone of being a middle-income country by 2024 is not normal but it is normal and mega projects like Padma Bridge, Karnafuli Tunnel and Metro Rail starting from the Century Delta Plan show that the dream of Bangladesh to be recognized as a developed country by 2041 is to be realized. Not a very unrealistic thought. But it requires an uninterrupted development environment and strong leadership. And this is why the development management of Bangladesh has become a role model for underdeveloped countries in all development agencies including the United Nations and the World Bank.
Popular Jamaican dancehall artiste, Anthony Moses Davis, popularly known as Beenie Man, was arrested a few days ago by Ghanaian authorities for allegedly evading mandatory COVID-19 quarantine.

Citi News information suggests that Beenie Man tested positive for the virus upon arrival at the Kotoka International Airport last week and was sent into mandatory quarantine at the AH Hotel in East Legon by health officials.

However, the artiste reportedly escaped from the hotel and appeared on a number of media platforms before performing at the Bhim Concert organised by Ghanaian Dancehall artiste, Stonebwoy.

Citi News checks revealed that the artiste was detained by Immigration officials at the airport when he returned for his passport after the concert.

According to the Ghana Immigration Service, he has currently been released to the Ghana Health Service officials and his lawyers.

He is alleged to have produced a fake clearance certificate from the Ghana Health Service, which has become a subject of investigations by Ghanaian security officials.

Beenie Man also performed at the show alongside other high profile artistes from Ghana including Samini, Kwaw Kese, MzVee and Empress Gifty.

This comes a few days after the Ghana Health Service issued a statement to event organizers and the general public to adhere strictly to the coronavirus protocols, especially at a time when health centres have started recording high rates of Omicron virus infections across the world.

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French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce new Covid measures after a cabinet meeting on Monday as the country reels under a new surge in the number of cases due to the rapidly spreading Omicron variant.

Officials have warned that French hospitals again risk being overwhelmed after a record 100,000 cases were reported on Saturday, the highest daily level in France since the pandemic began nearly two years ago.

Health experts have estimated that the number of daily cases could continue to increase rapidly until at least mid-January, even though millions of people have received booster shots in recent weeks.

Nearly 3,300 patients are currently in intensive care wards, again above the threshold of 3,000 set by the authorities as manageable.

Macron will hold a crisis meeting at 4:00 pm via videolink from his Mediterranean holiday retreat at Bregancon with key members of his cabinet and representatives of French public health bodies.

What's on the menu?

One measure under consideration is to restrict admission to restaurants, cinemas and other public venues to people who are fully vaccinated -- and no longer to those with a recent negative test.

The pass as well as a negative test could also be required for bars or cafes without table seating, and possibly for nightclubs if they are allowed to reopen in January after the four-week closure ordered on 6 December.

Some doctors have also suggested a curfew for New Year's Eve, while a group of health workers want to postpone the return of students to schools after the holidays, set for 3 January.

Masks could also be required even outdoors, a measure already imposed in the Savoie region in the French Alps, and in other European countries.

Officials have been urging people not to hold parties or large family gatherings over the holidays. Some 22 million people out of an eligible 40 million have received Covid booster shots.
Some retailers of sachet water have increased the price of the product to 30 pesewas instead of 40 pesewas announced earlier.

The National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers had earlier announced that there will be an increment in the price of sachet water from the current 20 pesewas to 40 pesewas with the price of a 500ml bottled water going up to GH1.50 from the current GH1.00 on Monday, December 27, 2021.

But Citi News checks indicate that some of the retailers in Accra only increased the price of the product by 10 pesewas.

A trader told Citi News that We have increased the price of water to 30 pesewas. Some customers agreed and paid the new price, but some customers offered to buy the product at the old price. The increment will affect our business, so the government should do something about it.

I dont know why they have announced the increase. President Akufo-Addo should do something about it, another customer complained.

The National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers on Friday, December 24, 2021, announced an upward review of the prices of sachet water.

The President of the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers, Magnus Nunoo attributed the price change to the increasing cost of production including the cost of fuel, vehicle spare parts and imported packaging materials.

citinewsroom
It's not quite time to whip out the sunglasses and T-shirts, but a mild spell is heading to France for the end of year celebrations.

Meteorologists say temperatures will be above seasonal norms, with calm and mild weather forecast due to high pressure air that brings clear skies and sunshine.

From the middle of the week onwards, the pressure will rise again from the south and that will lead to mild temperatures over the country at the end of the year, said a Meteo France spokesperson.

The highs should arrive on 29 and 30 December when Perpignan in south-western France is expected to enjoy balmy climes of 19 celsius.

Winds

Before then winds of up to 100 km/h are expected to batter France's Atlantic coast as far north as Brittany.

On Tuesday, snow should replenish the ski runs in the French Alps before a bout of rain affects most regions in the south along the Mediterranean.

As the new year approaches, warm air sweeping from west to south west will get trapped by the high pressure system.

The average temperatures taken from 30 weather stations across France - the national thermal indicator - suggest a maximum high of around 15 to 16 celesius.

The year will come to an end with sunshine and stable weather settling over most of the country, added the Meteo France spokesperson

The sunshine will remain in the southern half of France and will even progress towards the north-east after the low clouds have cleared away.

"However, these clouds could be much more persistent over the rest of the northern half."
A Frenchman held in Iran for more than 18 months on espionage charges has begun a hunger strike to protest at his detention conditions, his family has said. The French foreign ministry has described the spying charges against Benjamin Briere as incomprehensible.

Briere, 36, was arrested in Iran last May, allegedly while flying a drone and taking photographs in a prohibited area.

"Benjamin started the hunger strike on December 25 because he was not allowed to call us for Christmas, but also to draw attention to the mistreatment he has suffered for 20 months," his sister Blandine Briere told the French AFP news agency.

"He sees no progress in his case."

His family describes him as an innocent tourist who set out in 2018 on a road trip in his camper van that began in Scandinavia before heading overland towards Iran.

His Iranian lawyer said in May that prosecutors had confirmed Briere would be tried for espionage as well as propaganda against the system.

A conviction for espionage is punishable by death in Iran.

Innocent pawns in a dangerous game

"The Iranian judiciary have not yet decided which court will try the case," said Blandine Briere.

"He is being held hostage for no reason," she added. "It is completely illegal and we don't know anything. Benjamin needs more from the French foreign ministry."

In Paris, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday: "The government is following our compatriot's situation with the greatest attention."

The French embassy in Tehran had been in regular contact with Briere, who the spokesman said was in Iran as a tourist when he was arrested.

The latest such visit took place on 21 December. And the embassy contacted him again on Monday, the ministry spokesman said.

Briere is one of more than a dozen western nationals held in Iran. Human rights activists describe the prisoners as hostages innocent of any crime, and detained at the behest of the powerful Revolutionary Guards to extract concessions from the west.

Briere is the only western detainee known to be held in Iran who does not also possess an Iranian passport.
South Africa on Monday began a week of mourning for revered anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate passed away on Sunday aged 90, stripping the world of a towering moral figure and the last great protagonist of a heroic South African era.

"He was brave, he was forthright and we loved him just for that, because he was the voice of the voiceless," President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters after visiting Tutu's family in Cape Town.

The funeral will be held on New Year's Day at St George's Cathedral in his former Cape Town parish, Tutu's foundation said, although ceremonies are likely to be muted because of Covid-19 restrictions.

Dozens of people braved rain to gather outside the cathedral on Monday, leaving flowers and messages.

The widow of South Africa's first black president Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, issued a statement to say she mourned "the loss of a brother".

Tutu "is the last of an extraordinarily outstanding generation of leaders that Africa birthed and gifted to the world", she said.

Mourners, including members of Tutu's family, gathered outside his home in Cape Town. By RODGER BOSCH (AFP)

"He stood resolute and fearless, leading demonstrations cloaked in his flowing clerical robe with his cross as his shield -- the embodiment of humankind's moral conscience."

The bells of St George's will ring for 10 minutes from noon each day until Friday. The cathedral has asked those who hear the sound to pause in their daily work and think of Tutu.

A memorial service will be held in the capital Pretoria on Wednesday. Family and friends will gather on Thursday evening around Tutu's widow, "Mama Leah".

On Friday, his remains will be placed in the cathedral on the eve of the funeral, although attendance at his farewell on Saturday will be capped at 100, according to the archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba.

Tutu's funeral will be held on New Year's Day at Cape Town's St. George's Cathedral, his former parish. By GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (AFP)

Around 400 people have already expressed their intention to attend the event.

But Makgoba told a press conference: "Only a fraction of those who want to be there can be accommodated in the cathedral. So please don't get on a bus to Cape Town."

Singing at the ceremony will also have to be moderated because of Covid curbs, officials said.

Tutu's remains will be cremated and his ashes will stay in the cathedral.

A 'shield'

Crackling with humour and warmth, Tutu will be most remembered for fearlessly speaking out against white minority rule, which garnered him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984.

Desmond Tutu. By Jonathan WALTER (AFP)

He was appointed archbishop in 1986 and used his position to advocate tirelessly for international sanctions against apartheid.

He coined the term "Rainbow Nation" to describe South Africa when Mandela became the country's first black president in 1994.

He retired in 1996 to lead a harrowing journey into South Africa's past as head of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which exposed the horrors of apartheid in terrible detail.

Panyaza Lesufi, a senior member of the African National Congress (ANC), which swept aside apartheid and remains in power, said Tutu's unique status had provided a "shield" during protests.

"When we were young activists we knew as long as Archbishop Tutu is there the police and the army will not shoot at us," he tweeted.

But Tutu's fight against injustice continued long after racial segregation ended.

He excoriated the ANC for fostering cronyism, corruption and incompetence after it was voted into office.

'Truly meaningful life'

Tributes poured in from across the globe, including from heads of state and religious leaders, with US President Joe Biden saying he was "heartbroken" by the news.

Barack Obama, the first black US president, hailed Tutu as a "moral compass".

Tutu coined the term 'Rainbow Nation' to describe South Africa when Nelson Mandela became the country's first black president. By ALEXANDER JOE, - (AFP/File)

Tutu's great friend the Dalai Lama, who is expected to speak at his funeral, said in a statement that "we have lost a great man, who lived a truly meaningful life".

Anglican leader Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said Tutu "was a great warrior for justice who never stopped fighting."

"When you were in parts of the world where there was little Anglican presence and people weren't sure what the Anglican Church was, it was enough to say 'It's the Church that Desmond Tutu belongs to'," Welby said in a statement.

Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997 and repeatedly underwent treatment.

He had been in a weakened state for several months and died peacefully at 7 am (0500 GMT) on Sunday, according to several of his relatives interviewed by AFP.

In his final years, his public appearances became rarer. This year, he emerged from hospital in a wheelchair to get a Covid vaccine, waving but not offering comment.

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The Council of Bono and Ahafo Associations of North America (COBAANA) has charged that the government to as a matter of urgency see to the completion of the Sunyani Airpor.

This follows a similar call by the Bono Regional House of Chiefs who are unhappy with the fact that the Airport and other projects in the Bono Region have not been completed.

In a press statement from COBAANA, it has stressed that works on the Airport should be fast-tracked.

The Council of Bono and Ahafo Associations of North America (COBAANA) wants to add its voice to the call on the government to as a matter of urgency complete the rehabilitation of the Sunyani airport, a statement from the group signed by General Secretary Augustine Boahen has said.

COBAANA argues that the call has become necessary due to the associations planned homecoming convention to be held in Ghana in 2023.

Below is the full statement from COBAANA:

COBAANA ADDS ITS VOICE TO THE COMPLETION OF THE SUNYANI AIRPORT

The Council of Bono and Ahafo Associations of North America (COBAANA) wants to add its voice to the call on the government to as a matter of urgency complete the rehabilitation of the Sunyani airport. Cobaana is an umbrella association of men and women from the Bono, Bono East and the Ahafo regions (formerly Brong Ahafo region) resident in North America who despite the separation of the old region, still see themselves as one people on a foreign soil determined to help in the development of their regions. This call has become necessary due to the associations planned home coming convention to be held in Ghana in 2023.

The Association on its calendar of activities planned for 2023 has a convention of all Bono and Ahafo citizens of North America (USA and Canada) to be held in Ghana to among other things undertake fund raising activities to support the development of our regions. It is expected that about 500 delegates will participate in major healthcare outreach by medical professional in our group and a major health infrastructure project will be undertaken. As development partners, COBAANA will count on the three Regional Coordinating Councils as well as the central government for support if our planned development initiatives are to succeed. That is why it is imperative that the completion of the Regional Airport whose rehabilitation has been in the works for some time now is very critical in facilitating the movement of our members who will be visiting many rural communities for our outreach projects during the convention in Ghana.

It should be recalled that the completion of the rehabilitation work of the Sunyani airport has been given several deadlines but they have all come and gone and yet the work is not complete. At a point, the contractor has to pack his equipment from the site for lack of payment. Not knowing when the next deadline would be given, COBAANA is of the view that all the bottlenecks and issues that are preventing the completion of the airport should be removed to allow the airport to start operating. On the issue of encroachers who have built close to the runway, COBAANA is of the view that such houses should be pulled down if that will speed up the completion of the airport schedule.

According to a release issued at the end of an Executive Meeting, the association is of the view that with such a number of delegates coming to Ghana for the 2023 convention, many of the delegates will opt for an air flight from Accra to the regions which to them will be easier and safer. One special aspect of this convention in Ghana is the fact that we are mobilizing our kids to come with their parents and many of them will be coming to their roots for the first time. Considering the bad road network, (Accra to Sunyani road) many parents will prefer flying their kids from Accra to Sunyani and hence the need for the airport to be completed.

Talks are also progressing with investors and business persons in North America with the view to bringing them to the three regions to explore the possibility of investing there. We need not emphasize more the need for a proper airport to ease the activities of these investors if they so decide to tap into the abundant resources in the regions.

The association wants to put on record that this statement is non-political and as such should not be given any political connotation. The economic importance of the operation of the airport cannot be overemphasized. It would be recalled that during the operation of the airport some years back, officials from Newmont Ghana in the Ahafo region were patronizing it and it was easing business activities in the three regions. With the operation of the airport, business men and women need not spend over six hours to travel from Sunyani to Accra to conduct business but rather can go to Accra and do their business and return within some short time.

If Ghana is to stand on its feet and survive without aid, every citizen is called upon to contribute to Ghanas development and this must be a shared responsibility between the citizens and their government. If Ghana is to thrive without aid, this shared responsibility must manifest in the building blocks we undertake to achieve this noble goal. Bono and Ahafo citizens both in Ghana and in the diaspora are taking the first step toward the development of our regions. What we expect from our government is to give us the tools we need to pursue our destiny.
27.12.2021 LISTEN

The -Turkey-Africa partnership was formalized within the 2008 Istanbul Summit, amid which two result reports were embraced, to be specific the Istanbul Statement and the Framework for Cooperation.

The moment Africa-Turkey Summit took put in November 2014 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The Summit received the Malabo Declaration, the Africa-Turkey Joint Implementation Arrange and the Network of the Key Need Ventures covering Trade and Investment, Peace and Security, Culture, Tourism and Education, Youth Strengthening and Innovation Exchange, Rural Economy and Agribusiness, Infrastructure: Energy, ICT and Transport as well as other subjects such as health and media.

AA photo

The Joint Execution Arrange and the Framework of Key Need Ventures constituted a road map to upgrade the participation between Turkey and the African Union. Africa -Turkey participation amplifies to what is being done with the African Union at a multilateral level and with person African nations at the respective level.

Third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit promises win-win solutions

The third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit is assembly in Istanbul. The two-day summit, facilitated by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is anticipated to dispatch a modern arrange in Turkeys relations with the African Union and African nations, according to Turkeys Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Villa Somalia  official Facebook Page

Villa Somalia  official Facebook Page

Summit agenda

Meetings between senior authorities started on 16 December.

The two-day summit motivation will incorporate investigating the participation between Turkey and African nations since the Moment Summit and drawing a system for the partnership prepare within the period ahead, according to 3rd Turkey-Africa Organization Summit Coordinator Ambassador Can Incesu.

The Third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit will give guidelines for our cooperation with Africa for the another 5-year period. Portion of the projects to be chosen within the Summit will concern our private sector directly, he says.

According to the AU, the Summit is anticipated to embrace a Turkey-Africa Partnership Joint Activity Plan 2021-2026 containing concrete activities to be actualized mutually by Turkey, the AU and its Part States.

It is anticipated to cover the following areas: Peace, security and governance; Trade, investment and industry; Education, STI skills, youth and womens Development; Infrastructure improvement and agriculture.

The Role of Somalia for the third Africa-Turkey Cooperation Summit in Istanbul

PRESIDENT FARMAAJO AND TURKISH PRESIDENT DISCUSS DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES

Istanbul, December 17, 2021; The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, HE Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who is on a working visit to the Turkey-Africa Cooperation Conference in Istanbul, met with his Turkish counterpart, HE Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The two Presidents discussed the strengthening of friendly relations and deep cooperation between Somalia and Turkey, as well as the acceleration of previous plans for cooperation in the areas of security, education, health, economy, investment and development, and the launch of further initiatives. as part of a new partnership plan between Africa and Turkey.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo shared with his Turkish counterpart the achievements of the Federal Government of Somalia in stabilizing the country, rebuilding security institutions, boosting the economy, debt consolidation process, counter-terrorism and infrastructure development.

The two Presidents reaffirmed the importance of the two countries development of cooperation based on the interests of the two nations and the need to enhance relations between Africa and Turkey. He lauded the significant achievements of the Somali people and government and encouraged Somali entrepreneurs to market their products in Turkey.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo thanked the President and the people of the Republic of Turkey for their brotherly support to the people and government of Somalia, and pointed out that the Turkish government is a close and strategic friend of Somalia, as the two Presidents offered Friday prayers together. and blessed them.

The President was accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation HE Abdi Said Muse Ali, the Director General of the National Presidency HE Mohamed Abdullahi Isse, our Ambassador to Turkey HE Jama Abdullahi Aideed and Director Abdisalam Saleban Kodar.

Villa Somalia  Official Facebook Page

Villa Somalia  Official Facebook Page

Villa Somalia  Official Facebook Page

Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Hersi

International Relations and Development Studies specialist

Somali Diplomat Rising
Armed with battle-tested drones, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been developing defence ties with African nations ahead of a major gathering of the continents leaders in Istanbul.

The most vital sector is the defence sector since this can be a modern resource. Turkey has pushed this sector a parcel, particularly drones, Federico Donelli, an international relations analyst at the University of Genoa, told AFP.

The two-day Turkey-Africa partnership summit beginning Friday comes quick on the heels of a top-level commerce gathering in October that centered on investment and trade. The another stage of this fast-blossoming relationship is security, experts say, with a have of African leaders looking to purchase up military equipment at cheaper costs and with less strings attached. Leaders and top ministers from 39 nations counting 13 presidents have affirmed participation, with Erdogan set to form a speech on Saturday.

Turkey military base in Mogadishu, Somalia

Ankara as of now features a military base in Somalia, and Morocco and Tunisia supposedly took their to begin with conveyance of Turkish combat drones in September.

Turkey, Angola share opportunities on defense, energy cooperation: President Erdogan

Anadolu Agency

Angola got to be the most recent to precise an intrigued in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) amid Erdogans to begin with visit to the southern African nation in October.

Turkey in August moreover marked a military cooperation promise with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has been entangled in a war with Tigrayan rebels for the past year.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speak to the media at a joint news conference in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021. (Turkish Presidency via AP, Pool)

Russias influence and the Turkey intervention

Russia has been the prevailing player on the African arms market, accounting for 49 percent of the continents imports between 2015 and 2019, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). But intrigued in Turkish weaponry is peaking.

The TB2 Bayraktar model is in tall request after it was credited with swinging the destiny of conflicts in Libya and Azerbaijans breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh within the past few years. The drones are made by the private Baykar company, run by one of Erdogans sons-in-law. Everywhere I go in Africa, everybody inquires about UAVs, Erdogan bragged after a visit to Angola, Nigeria and Togo in October. Some of the closest investigation has centered on Turkeys ties with Ethiopia, where a brutal conflict has murdered thousands, uprooted more than two million and driven hundreds of thousands into famine-like conditions, according to UN estimates.

By Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans

All that remained of two Il-76 cargo aircraft after being struck by MAM munitions fired from a Bayraktar TB2 over al-Jufra air base in July 2020.

Reports say Ethiopia needs to purchase Bayraktar TB2 drones after military cooperation understanding was signed with Ankara. A Western source said Turkey sent an undisclosed number of combat drones in back of Abiys campaign prior this year, but that Ankara has since reacted to international pressure and ended the deals. Ethiopia can purchase these drones from whoever they want, Turkeys foreign ministry spokesman said in October, neither affirming or denying the deals.

Residents sift through rubble from a destroyed building at the scene of an airstrike in Mekelle, in Tigray, on 28 October. Residents sift through rubble from a destroyed building at the scene of an airstrike in Mekelle, Tigray, on 28 October. Photograph: AP

Taking off sales

Official Turkish data does not break down the points of interest of military deals to individual nations, as it were giving the overall deals amount for each month. These have taken off marvelously within the past year. Turkish defence and aviation exports to Ethiopia rose to $94.6 million between January and November from around $235,000 within the same period last year, according to figures published by the Turkish Exporters Assembly.

Sales to Angola, Chad and Morocco experienced comparable jumps. Turkeys drones first made worldwide features after Ankara marked two deals with the UN-recognised Libyan government covering maritime and security in 2019.

It at that point swarmed the struggle zone with drones, slowing down an progress by revolt eastern powers supported by Turkeys territorial rivals and clearing the way for a truce. Turkey cemented its drones notoriety last year by making a difference Azerbaijan recover most of the arrive it lost to separatist ethnic Armenian powers in disputed Nagorno-Karabakh about three decades ago.

Now Turkey with drones has more cards to play when they need to deal with other nations, analyst Donelli said. This may be a exceptionally great bargaining chip for Turkey.

File Photo

Yeni safak, File

The Developing network

the Turkey-Africa relations was improved, in 2003 turkey have 12 embassies and invested $100 million and 2021 have 42 embassies and 6.5 billion of investment.

The head of Turkeys Foreign Economic Relations Board  the NGO that facilitated the October gathering in Istanbuldemanded the developing relationship was not almost weapons. We care almost the defence sector and our relations with Africa, the boards head Nail Olpak told AFP. But I would like to emphasize that in case we see the defence sector as it were as weapons, rockets, weapons, tanks and rifles, it would be wrong. He highlighted Turkish mine-clearing vehicles in Togo, which qualify as defence industry sales. Donelli agreed, alluding to Togos plans to progress its armed force with the bolster of Turkey through training and armoured vehicles, weapons and other sorts of equipment.

Turkey has allegedly set up a web of 37 military workplaces over Africa in all, in line with Erdogans confirmed objective of tripling the yearly trade volume with the continent to $75 billion within the coming years.

African Union chief urges Africa-Turkey cooperation against terrorism

Anadolu Agency File

Anadolu Agency File

Mr. Mohamed Abdullahi Hersi

International Relations and Development Studies specialist

Somali Diplomat Rising

December 18, 2021
Finance Committee of Parliament has commenced the process of consideration of the Tax Exemptions Bill 2021.

This follows the referral of the important bill to the committee by the Speaker of Parliament after it was laid in Parliament on the 16th of November 2021.

According to Citi News sources, the bill will be given utmost attention by the committee owing to the need for government to urgently put in place measures to block revenue leakages.

The bill, which seeks to streamline the tax exemption regime in the country, was first laid on the floor of Parliament in 2019, but was not passed before the tenure of the 7th Parliament elapsed on 7th January 2021.

In August 2021, a group of civil society organisations; Tax Justice Coalition, Ghana (TJC), the Parliamentary Network Africa (PNAfrica), and the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition Ghana (GACC), under the umbrella of the Legislative Advocacy Programme with funding from OXFAM rekindled efforts to ensure that the right tax exemptions regime is instituted in the country.

Following, the first reading and presentation of the bill, the parliamentary process requires that the Finance Committee considers it and reports to the plenary before the second reading stage where the policy and principles of the bill are debated.

As part of the process of consideration, the finance committee is expected to take memoranda from the public.

The bill was accompanied by a memorandum issued under the hand of the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.

It has 34 clauses that spell out the remit of the legal regime, the bill proposes.

citinewsroom
27.12.2021 LISTEN

The Ghana Police Service has issued a warning to Ghanaians especially religious leaders against false prophecies ahead of December 31st night service.

In a statement released on Monday, December 27, 2021, the police cautioned that under Ghanaian law, it is a crime for a person to publish or reproduce a statement, rumour, or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace, where that person has no evidence to prove that the statement, rumour or report is true.

The police stressed that it is also a crime for a person, by means of electronic communications service, to knowingly send a communication that is false or misleading and likely to prejudice the efficiency of life-saving service or to endanger the safety of any person.

The Police says any person found guilty under these laws could be liable to a term of imprisonment of up to five years.

We, therefore, wish to caution all Ghanaians, especially religious groups and leaders to be measured in their utterances, especially how they communicate prophecies, which may injure the right of others and the public interest, part of the Police statement has said.

It adds, The Ghana Police Service wishes to place on record that the Police are not against prophecies; we acknowledge that we Ghanaians are a religious people who know and believe in, the centrality of God in our lives.

Read the full Police statement below:
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa

27.12.2021 LISTEN

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa, who has just died at the age of 90, has a sharp tongue that took on the powerful of the world who gave comfort to the apartheid oppressors of Tutu's black South Africans. President Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mrs Margaret Thatcher of Britain were some of the leaders he berated most often.

Tutu had an impish sense of humour that enabled him to tell jokes about himself. One went like this: Archbishop Desmond Tutu died and went to the gates of Heaven to seek admission. Peter denied him entrance and sent him down  to the warmer place. IN a few days, Peter heard a loud banging at the gates of Heaven. Who's that? he demanded, The answer came: It's me the devil! You sent that Archbishop Desmond Tutu to me, remember? Well, he's caused so much trouble that I have come to seek 'political asylum' in yours!

HAHAHAHAHAHA! laughed Bishop Tutu  taking the audience with him.

Bishop Tutu, who had, earlier in his life, not been much impressed by a Christian religion whose officials and leaders often acted in silent concert with the racist rulers, was alerted to different approaches to Christianity by the actions of one man, a white cleric called Trevor Huddlestone, whom Tutu and his mother met one day whilst walking along the streets of Johannesburg.

Huddlestone took off his hat and smiled in greeting to Tutu's mother. In a South Africa where black women were looked upon by whites as inferior domestics, Huddlestone's unusual attitude moved Tutu greatly. So although his father was a Methodist, it was into the Anglican Church that Tutu enlisted himself. He eventually got appointed him to the highest Anglican position in South Africa, Archbishop of Cape Town.

Tutu was born in Klerksdorp, about 100 miles south-west of Johannesburg, in 1931. His father was headteacher of a local Methodist school. Later on in life, when Tutu was hospitalised with tuberculosis, he was pleasantly surprised to find that one of his most regular visitors was a man he recognised as the same Anglican priest who had taken off his hat for Tutu's mother in the street, Father Trevor Huddlestone!

(By the way, Huddlestone similarly impressed many young blacks, including the musician, Bro Hugh Masekela. Huddlestone presented Masekela with a trumpet, which Huddlestone had obtained from the greatest jazz trumpeter of the time, Louis Satchmo Armstrong!)

In appreciation of Trevor Huddlestone's doings, Tutu actually named a son, Trevor, after Huddlestone. Huddlestone, humble though he was, achieved great fame by publishing a fierce book  Naught For Your Comfort  which was one of the first books to tell the world, in lurid detail, about the horrors that apartheid represented to South Africa's black population.

I am glad to say that I was privileged to meet Bishop Tutu on one occasion. It was (as could be expected) at a humanitarian event  a vigil held at Trafalgar Square, in London, in 1995, for the Ogoni writer and activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other Ogoni environmental activists, who were murdered in a Nigerian jail by the Nigerian military dictator, General Sani Abacha. Their crime? Protesting against the ruination of Ogoni lands and waterways, by Shell Oil Company.

Bishop Tutu was also one of the South African leaders (the other was ex-President Thabo Mbeki) whom President Nelson Mandela sent to see Abacha to plead for the release from prison of the winner of the June 12 presidential election in Nigeria, Chief Moshood Abiola. Abacha made promises to both men to release Abiola. But he never fulfilled them.

Eventually, President Mandela was so infuriated by Abacha's recalcitrance that he gave me an interview, published in the London Observernewspaper, in which he described Abacha as a cruel dictator, who had set up a kangaroo court to hang environmental activists!

For his humanitarian work, Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984. The citation read:

The Prize was awarded to Desmond Tutu for his role as a unifying leader figure in the non-violent campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa....The means by which this campaign is conducted is of vital importance for the whole of the continent of Africa and for the cause of peace in the world..

The citation added that the Nobel Peace Prize had been awarded to a South African once before, in 1960, when it was awarded to the former president of the African National Congress, [Chief] Albert Tulip. The 1984 award should be seen as a renewed recognition of the courage and heroism shown by black South Africans in their use of peaceful methods in the struggle against apartheid. This recognition is also directed to all who, throughout the world, use such methods to stand in the vanguard of the campaign for racial equality as a human right.

It was the Committees wish that the Peace Prize now awarded to Desmond Tutu should be regarded not only as a gesture of support to him and to the South African Council of Churches, of which he is leader, but also to all individuals and groups in South Africa who, with their concern for human dignity, fraternity and democracy, incite the admiration of the world.

Bishop Tutu's proudest moment occurred when on 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and stayed with Bishop Tutu's family in Cape Town before making his way to Johannesburg. His relations with Mr Mandela remained warm, though they disagreed on some important issues, such as Nelson's divorce from Winnie Mandela.

Some South African activists blamed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, set up (under the chairmanship of Bishop Tutu) after the African National Congress won the first all-race general election of May 1994) Many blame the Commission for not doing enough to punish some of the worst murderers of the apartheid regime. Dome killed thousands of blacks during, and many black South Africans feel that mere confessions and expressions of regret should not have gained exculpation (more or less) for such brutes.

Among the apartheid crimes most resented were those by secret security forces personnel, who killed blacks and camouflaged their murders as black-on-black violence.

Also resented was the fact that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission remitted to an ordinary court, the trial of a notorious white doctor (nicknamed Dr Death) who had specialised in developing drugs that would kill only blacks. That Dr Death (Dr Wouter Basson) was allowed to be tried by an ordinary court, which allowed him to exercise the rights of normal defence, and is currently still practising medicine, has left a sour taste in the mouths of many.

But maybe it was not Archbishop Desmond Tutu's fault so much as the fault of the euphoric atmosphere under which blacks were tasting power in South Africa for the first time, and were persuaded by the white-owned media that forgiveness had to be the order of the day.

Whatever one thinks, one must remember that Archbishop Desmond Tutu truly believed that one must never allow oneself to behave as one's enemy would!

Adieu, dear Archbishop.
Ahmad Lawal, Muhammadu Buhari and Femi Gbajabiamila

27.12.2021 LISTEN

About this period last year, I read in the media an article written by Dr. Peter Afunanya, the DSS Public Relations Officer titled, the Professional Side of Bichi.

On ethical grounds, it was an extremely unusual article in that it was a civil servant writing about another public service official, nevertheless that is not the focus here.

To educate the public and the Nigerian law enforcement bodies, there ought to be a long-standing correction that the DSS or SSS is not by law a Secret Police.

As a Forensic/Legal/Clinical Psychologist and Police/Prison Scientist, secret police is a pejorative term which refers to a type of political police organization with authoritarian and totalitarian characteristics that engages in hidden operations against government's political opponents and protesters.

As one who was born and raised in the police barracks, I still recall the words special branch as part of the Nigeria police force. It was then called the Nigerian Security Organization (NSO).

From time to time my father, a police officer would assist newly posted officers of the Nigerian Security Organization (NSO) to obtain accommodation in the barracks. As I recall many of them acted ethically and professionally but they were not visibly known in the barracks. They got my admiration as a secondary school student.

The National security organization is now known as the State Security Service (SSS) or Department of State Services (DSS).

As a federal law enforcement agency, it is supposed to serve as a domestic intelligence agency of Nigeria. The State Security Service (SSS) roles and functions generally revolve around preventing and investigating any crime against the internal security of Nigeria. DSS is supposed to be about preventing and detecting threats of destabilization, terrorism, espionage, major inter-group disputes, and threats that undermines internal national security; and ensure the safety of the president, the vice president, and their respective families.

DSS exist to protect high-profile government officials, sensitive government offices, conduct sound and thorough security clearance of potential high official candidates. It is involved in protecting visiting foreign heads of state, former presidents and their wives, and events of national consequence as well as investigating and preventing financial crimes relating to the nation.

In terms of designation, I hope in the future its name is changed to what I call the Nigeria Secret Service, a more appropriate name that fits the above federalized functions.

I would think that among some of its men and women there are those who practice these functions professionally.

As one who is in and out of Africa for professional and academic works, the SSS has been known to successfully performed well in matters as it relates to internal security responsibility.

We recall how SSS in 2001, successfully detected the six fanatical Pakistani proselyters illegally entered Nigeria after been invited by the Lagos-based Tabliq, a radical Muslim NGO. They were arrested and afterward deported.

We all remember in 2010, how the SSS successfully intercepted a large cache of arms and ammunition coming from Iran at the Apapa port in Lagos; we all remember how SSS officials successfully infiltrated several religious fanatical groups in the country including the Boko Haram sect.

In 2011, the SSS rescued a kidnapped Parish Priest, Rev. Fr Sylvester Chukwura, of the St Bernard's Catholic Church in Orhionmwon local government area of Edo state, from his abductor's hideout after the kidnappers were enticed with the ransom sum.

We all remember how in 2016, one bad guy, Izuagie Mohammed got arrested by SSS in Benin City, Edo State for mimicking to be the Accountant General of the Federation. He was known for defrauding unsuspecting members of the public posing as the Nigerian AGF in the social media and promising people facilitation of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) empowerment loan. I believe their other secret achievements. The SSS stopped him successfully.

There is the successful put down by the SSS when in 2018 at Karu Village, Abuja, members of the feared BASALUBE kidnap group, known for kidnap activities and killing activities. Certainly, there are other unacknowledged successes.

In recent times, every day one wakes up around the world we hear allegations of some of its present-day employees behaving like Nigerian mafia, notorious boys/girls, gangsters, mobsters, native doctors, juju operatives, and errand boys/girls for ogas and madams (the so-called persons of status).

On professional and investigative grounds, let us look at some recent matters that are making some DSS officials look like awful moral, comical psychic, and nasty legal actors. Incredible.

Recently there is in the media a story titled, DSS detained me for six months, taunted me to transform to cat like Igboho Ekiti traditionalist, Ifasooto. So, I ask how is this part of law enforcement to the nation? Dada Ifasooto, who illegally spent six months in the custody of the Department of State Services in Abuja stated that I asked them to show me their search and arrest warrants, but they could not provide anyA DSS official interrogated me when I arrived in Abuja. He asked whether any herbalist followed those who came for my arrest, and I told him I dont knowThe official then informed me that the same people who arrested my boss, Chief Sunday Igboho, who turned to cats, were the ones who also came for me He mockingly told me to disappear then that I had been handcuffed and I told him I dont know what he was talking about They accused me of preparing charms for Chief Sunday Igboho, which is not true. I did not prepare any charm for him. I have not met him before. They also asked me whether I had been to Imo State, and I said I had not been to Imo or anywhere in the South-East. The officers then accused me of making charms for IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) but I told them that was not true as I had never been in contact with them.

Whether one likes Sanusi Lamido Sanusi or not, here is a lethal matter involving DSS where they acted abnormally as reported in the media: How I was manhandled by Police, DSS, others  Sanusi. With this type of heading, how is this a way to enforce laws?

In a March 12, 2020, Sanusi filed a lawsuit: The former emir was whisked to Nasarawa state by security operatives after his dethronement on Monday by Kano state governmentthe former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria who insisted that he wasnt given a fair hearing before being dethronedsaid that he was harassed and forced out of the palace without being allowed to pick up his personal belongings The applicant was separated from his family who were also carried out of the palace Upon arrival at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, he was conveyed first to Lafia, then to Loko town of Nasarawa State, after being driven for about seven hours in the dead of the night

As part of the courts response to the abuse by the SSS and other agencies, the media reported that the The judge subsequently voided the arrest, harassment, and banishment of Sanusi to Abuja and later to Nasarawa State and set it aside on ground of being an infringement of his fundamental human rights A sum of N10million was awarded to the former Emir as damages to be paid to him by the respondentsThe court also issued an order directing the respondents to tender a public apology to Sanusi to be published in two major national dailies for the embarrassment caused him by breaching his fundamental human rights.

So, I ask, is this strange tactic part of SSS officials sworn federal law enforcement duties?

Now, whether the SSS pay their part of the court ordered compensatory damages, as it is not unusual for officials to refuse court orders, the psychological cost to SSS in terms of continued bad name is what pains me and other criminal justice professionals.

Nigeria is still a democracy, and there is need for ethical leadership in our law enforcement agencies marked by ethical accountability and legal responsiveness.

Like other types of employment in Nigeria, where some jobs are gotten through bribery, favoritism, nepotism and influence, my hope is that in the future law enforcement candidate's suitability will be consequences from long hours and days of psychological screening by competent psychologists using modern assessment tools. Followed by multi-faceted hiring process that include a thorough background investigation, a credit check, a polygraph exam, physical abilities examination, and medical appraisal.

Future presidencies especially, must make sure that DSS and other law enforcement agencies are educated and monitored for them to learn to stay away from acts of civil repression and systematic human rights violations.

Psychologically, I am forced to think that the various acts of institutional foolishness across Nigeria could be due to the reality that the guiding Constitution is defective, as it was imposed by the armed forces, therefore lacks legitimacy.

It is important that now and, in the future, the presidency and National Assembly work together to respond to many of these shameful and laughable problems and do the right thing.

As I was almost ending this writing, I saw this in the media: Insecurity worsens as over 100 people are killed across Nigeria last week, by Premium Times. So, I ask the DSS, what do you have to lose by spending more energy and professionally tackling these ugly national discomforts? The DSS as a body of law enforcement professionals must renew their individual oath and act right.

John Egbeazien Oshodi who was born in Uromi, Edo State in Nigeria, is an American based Police/Prison Scientist and Forensic/Clinical/Legal Psychologist. A government Consultant on matters of forensic-clinical adult/child psychological services in the USA; Chief Educator and Clinician at the Transatlantic Enrichment and Refresher Institute, an Online Lifelong Center for Personal, Professional and Career Development. A former Interim Associate Dean/Assistant Professor at the Broward College, Florida. The Founder of the Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation, Center for Psychological Health and Behavioral Change in African settings. In 2011, he introduced the State-of-the-Art Forensic Psychology into Nigeria through N.U.C and the Nasarawa State University where he served in the Department of Psychology as an Associate Professor. The Development Professor and International Liaison Consultant at the African University of Benin, and a Virtual Faculty at the ISCOM University, Benin of Republic. Founder of the Proposed Transatlantic Egbeazien University (TEU) of Values and Ethics, a digital project of Truth, Ethics, Openness. Author of over 40 academic publications/creations, at least 200 public opinion writeups on African issues, and various books. He specializes in psycho-prescriptive writings regarding African institutional and governance issues.

John Egbeazien Oshodi wrote in via [email protected]
The Union Home Ministry on Monday extended the Covid-19 guidelines till January 31, 2022 and directed all the states and union territories to strictly comply.

In a letter to all Chief Secretaries of the states and UTs, Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said that the country has witnessed an overall decline in active Covid-19 cases, however, the new variant Omicron, which is reported to be at least three times more transmissible than the Delta virus, is posing a new challenge for the Covid containment measures.

In the countries with Omicron driven surge, the growth trajectory of cases has been very steep and also a total of 578 Omicron cases have already been reported in 19 states/UTs, he added.

"I would like to reiterate that all the states/UTs must observe all precautions and not let the guard down. Local/district administration, based on the normative framework and assessment of the situation, should promptly take appropriate containment measures and the states may consider imposing need based, local curbs or restrictions to control the crowd during the festive season," Bhalla said in the letter.

The Home Secretary also said that globally, Omicron cases have already been reported in 116 countries. Further, surge in cases is also being reported across various countries, especially in the USA, the UK, Europe (France, Italy, Spain), Russia, South Africa, Vietnam, Australia and in this background, the Union Health Ministry has provided an advisory on December 21, 2021, a normative framework has been provided.

"With distinct presence of the Delta variant and detection of Omicron cases in many states, there is a need for greater foresight, data analysis, dynamic decision making, and strict and prompt containment actions at the local and district levels, based on the assessment of the situation," the letter further reads.

Emphasising on the continued focus on the fivefold strategy of "Test-Track Treat Vaccination and adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour, he also said that to avoid the possibility of surge in cases, especially keeping in view the new virus of concern Omicron, the State enforcement machinery should strictly implement the norms of health protocols and appropriate behaviour such as wearing of face masks and maintaining safe social distancing in all public areas and gatherings.

Referring to the review meeting held by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 23 on the situation arising out of the increase in Omicron cases, he said that under the PM's direction of 'Satark' and 'Saavdhan', it was important to maintain a high-level of vigil and alertness at all levels and all state governments should ensure that the health systems in the states are strengthened to meet any challenge posed by the new variant.

Further, the state governments/UT administrations should ensure that the oxygen supply equipment are installed and are fully functional and the buffer stock of essential drugs should also be maintained, he added.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.
Investors, depositors and employees of RBL Bank, and those whose job it is to track the banking world, had their Christmas celebrations rudely disrupted with a bombshell communication to stock exchanges from its board of directors. It said that Vishwavir Ahuja, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO ) had proceeded on leave with immediate effect and the board had given interim charge to executive director Rajiv Ahuja. Further, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had appointed its chief general manager, Yogesh K Dayal, as additional director at RBL Bank for two years.

Things have moved rapidly since this announcement. On Sunday evening, Rajiv Ahuja and some board members addressed an analysts conference in an effort to calm investors and, possibly, stem a sharp correction in the stock price on Monday morning and reassure depositors.

The investor conference, despite Rajiv Ahujas best efforts, was unconvincing. We now learn that Vishwavir Ahuja has gone on 'medical leave'. Yet, in answer to another question, Rajiv Ahuja indicated that 25th December was the former MDs last day in that role and he did not give a clear answer on whether he would continue to remain a director. This suggests Vishwavir Ahuja is making a clean break from the Bank; but the Banks website continues to show him as a director, even while it has been updated to include Yogesh K Dayal, the central banker, whose appointment coincided with Vishwavir Ahujas exit. The investor conference, despite Rajiv Ahujas best efforts, was unconvincing. We now learn that Vishwavir Ahuja has gone on 'medical leave'. Yet, in answer to another question, Rajiv Ahuja indicated that 25th December was the former MDs last day in that role and he did not give a clear answer on whether he would continue to remain a director. This suggests Vishwavir Ahuja is making a clean break from the Bank; but the Banks website continues to show him as a director, even while it has been updated to include Yogesh K Dayal, the central banker, whose appointment coincided with Vishwavir Ahujas exit.

Last year, RBI had rejected the boards request for another three-year term for Vishwavir Ahuja, agreeing only to a one-year extension that would have ended on 30 June 2022. What caused the central bank to cut this short by hastening his exit six months ahead of time by appointing a director that, too, on a significant holiday weekend? Last year, RBI had rejected the boards request for another three-year term for Vishwavir Ahuja, agreeing only to a one-year extension that would have ended on 30 June 2022. What caused the central bank to cut this short by hastening his exit six months ahead of time by appointing a director that, too, on a significant holiday weekend?

In the recent past, the regulator has appointed directors at Yes Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank and Ujjivan Small Finance Bank signalling the need for a closer attention to its working. RBLs con-call on Sunday evening had no convincing explanation for Mr Dayals appointment, although such a move invariably signals financial trouble. Its press release on 26th December is emphatic that the sweeping developments are not on account of any concern on advances, asset quality and deposits level of the Bank. We want to allay any concerns any of you may have in this regard. The Bank has the full support of the RBI. It put out some numbers to show that its financial performance trajectory has been improving.

Even as people were assessing the situation, CNBCTV18 pulled another rabbit out of a hat. Citing RBI sources, it said, billionaire investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and RK Damani, the founder of D-Mart, had approached RBI to buy a 10% stake in the Bank and that the central bank was examining the request. Time will tell whether this astounding request, given its timing, was just a ploy to counter any price impact and reassure depositors. The two investors were reported to be keen on a similar stake in Yes Bank, but nothing materialised. The question here is: Does RBL need capital or an immediate bailout? The RBLs press release puts its capital adequacy at 16.3% and Rajiv Ahuja, in his con-call, said that the Bank does not require capital immediately.

RBI Is Answerable

My sources at RBI also insist that the Bank does not need a bailout. If so, the banking regulator definitely owes people an explanation for its actions. The banking regulator has the power to ratify top appointments at banks, but it also has a duty to ensure smooth and seamless transition in a business acutely sensitive to public opinion. RBL already has a retired central banker, Chandan Sinha, on its board. He has also been its nominee on several bank boards and RBI committees. The regulator had the benign option of engaging with Mr Sinha; instead, it chose to send a clear negative signal by appointing its chief general manager that, too, on Christmas day.

If the refusal to grant Vishwavir Ahuja is merely a policy decision because he has been around for 11 years, RBI needs to demonstrate that such a policy is uniformly applied and based on clear evaluation metrics.

Vishwavir Ahuja had a stellar record, until recently. After a long stint at Bank of America that he quit as MD, he took charge of the tiny, Kolhapur-based Ratnakar Bank and grew its balance sheet 40 times over the past 11 years, with smart re-branding and public listing. RBL now has a geographical reach across 28 states with 445 branches and advances crossing Rs58,000 crore and had been growing at 30% in the past five years. Its rapid growth suddenly hit the rocks after an aggressive change in focus to unsecured retail lending, including microfinance and credit cards. Non-performing assets (NPAs), which accelerated in the past three years, were further exacerbated after the COVID-19 pandemic leading to a net loss of Rs459 crore in the June quarter of FY21-22 (against a net profit of Rs141 crore in the year-ago period). But profits had already been declining since the second half of FY18-19 after the focus shifted to retail banking.

In a letter to the finance minister, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) points out that RBLs NPAs have soared in the past three years from Rs357 crore to Rs2,600 crore and the bulk of its operating profit rise has been used to provide for bad loans. Total provisions in the June FY21- 22 quarter rose to Rs1,426 crore. RBL confirms that it has issues in retail credit, microfinancing and credit cards but claims that it has absorbed the challenges to asset quality after the pandemic and its slippages as well as NPAs will be improving in the current quarter.

While COVID impacted all businesses and banks, RBL took a hit due to its focus on microfinance, rural customers and small businesses, as the former MD had admitted previously. RBLs exposure to large corporate groups has also been a worry. Earlier in December, the Bank decided to sell its loans to 25 corporate groups including the beleaguered Future group.

All this has already impacted its stock price. In fact, from the heights it had reached in May 2019, RBLs stock price had already halved by the time COVID-19 hit. On 24 December, before the big upheaval, RBL dropped 2.67% to Rs173.20, marking a decline of over 25% year-to-date when the stock market has gone up 20%, despite the recent turmoil.

Until November 2020, Vishwavir Ahuja had successfully raised funds twice, exuded confidence about achieving double-digit growth in FY21-22 and seemed sanguine about corporate loans, despite problems with four or five large corporate accounts. But it is clear that the Bank needs a quick course-correction and to reduce cost of funds, exposure to microfinance and credit cards and bring down expenses. If the present board and managment had bought into Vishwavir Ahujas focus on rapid growth and a shift to retail banking, will the continuity factor touted by the Bank in asking Rajiv Ahuja to take over as interim CEO really boost investor confidence?

We will know more in the coming days; but, as of now, the crash in its stock prices shows that the market is unconvinced. This is partly due to the regulators own record of consistently failing to initiate timely action against non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) as well as banks. If the regulator wants us to believe that this time it is different, it needs to issue a detailed statement rather than resort to confusing media leaks.
While the Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramanas tenure so far has been promising, the potential of the Supreme Court to stand up to the challenges of majoritarianism in politics and civil society will continue to be tested in the coming year, writes INDIRA JAISING.



IT is not possible any longer to analyse the functioning of the Supreme Court of India on an annual basis without also examining the larger political climate within which it functions. It is now more than obvious that the functioning of the Supreme Court is almost always impacted by the political dispensation under which the country functions. The Constitution itself constitutes India into a Sovereign, Secular, and Democratic Republic. However, history has shown that whenever there is a majoritarian government (especially one with a brute majority in the Parliament) in the country, the Supreme Court appears to swing whichever way the wind blows. In other words, the Supreme Court tends to also become a majoritarian institution.

This is, of course, completely contrary to its assigned role under the Constitution, as per which there is meant to be a separation of powers between the executive, legislature, and judiciary. Jurists tell us that the Supreme Court is meant to be a counter-majoritarian institution since the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to minorities, and non-discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. It is expected that these guarantees will be strongly defended by the Supreme Court. This is particularly so when it comes to Indias unique Constitution since it guarantees direct access to the Supreme Court under Article 32 , which was described by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as the soul of the Constitution.

History, however, shows that in times of majoritarian rule the Supreme Court has not functioned as a counter-majoritarian force. Perhaps it is not fair to lay the entire blame on the Supreme Court for the collapse of our fundamental rights for the reason that the present ruling dispensation has perfected the art of functioning in an extra-constitutional framework. The Constitution has been cannibalized, not necessarily through amendments to the Constitution or legislation, but simply by ignoring the Constitution through practice, thereby subverting the rule of law.

The prime example of this is the lynching of minorities and more recently the disrupting of namaz in Gurgugram through mob violence. Courts are accustomed to dealing with statutes and constitutions, and not with practices. A particular attack on a minority will be seen as an aberration or a one-off abuse of the law. However, the abuse of process has now been raised to the level of a policy, leaving us all vulnerable to attacks by violent mobs without any remedy, except to file individual FIRs (first information reports), which are of little use as they wind their way up through the courts.

Prosecution is in the hands of the State, and it selectively chooses to prosecute only its critics, not its supporters. In the present scenario , the Hindutva hate-mongers have rarely ever been prosecuted while human rights defenders have found themselves behind bars. All this has happened with the express consent of those who are charged with the duty of protecting our Constitutional rights, especially the Constitutional right to life and liberty.

The Constitution has been cannibalized, not necessarily through amendments to the Constitution or legislation, but simply by ignoring the Constitution through practice, thereby subverting the rule of law. The abuse of process has now been raised to the level of a policy, leaving us all vulnerable to attacks by violent mobs without any remedy, except to file individual FIRs (first information reports), which are of little use as they wind their way up through the courts.

If one were to judge the term of the Supreme Court on the deference of human rights in the Modi years, one would have to say that there is a failure of the role of the Court in protecting fundamental rights.

Nevertheless, an evaluation of the specific role of the Supreme Court during the year 2021 is in order, especially since in April 2021 we saw a new Chief Justice of India (CJI), a judge who has been hailed by some as a saviour. Whether or not he is, history will tell, but compared to his predecessors, he seems more transparent, participatory, and committed to the right to life and liberty.

Chief Justices Bobde and Ramana: contrasting tenures

Much has been said about the previous CJI Sharad Arvind Bobde, which need not be repeated here. One of his most significant acts before he demitted office in April 2021 was to stay the three farm laws in January 2021. The order was certainly out of the ordinary since it came on the express opposition of the Union of India. It could be hailed as an interim order to celebrate. However, sadly, there is a different interpretation as well, that it was intended to diffuse public protests and defer a decision on the constitutionality of the laws. The case will go down in history as perhaps the only one which was completely boycotted by the affected community, namely the farmers, who continued the protest notwithstanding the questionable stay of the laws. The constitutionality of these laws will now never be decided, given their repeal.

This brings us to the Supreme Court of India as it has functioned under CJI Ramana. There was much speculation whether he would at all be appointed CJI given that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had lodged a complaint against him to the then CJI Bobde alleging that Justice Ramana and his relatives had engaged in corruption in relation to the acquisition of land in the newly-established city of Amravati, and was attempting to destabilize the Andhra Pradesh Government by allegedly influencing hearings and decisions in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Nevertheless, true to tradition, he was not superseded and was recommended as his successor by the outgoing CJI Bobde upon his retirement.

The case will go down in history as perhaps the only one which was completely boycotted by the affected community.

We have seen his functioning for around eight months from which must be excluded the summer vacation, the Dussehra vacation, the Diwali vacation, and the Christmas vacation. Given the limited number of days we are left with to evaluate the functioning, his tenure to date must be seen as fairly dramatic and breaking with tradition in some ways.

Chief Justice Ramana does not hesitate to speak his mind while in court. Such as, for example, when he said that the law of sedition belongs to a bygone era. He has liberally accepted invitations to speak at book launches and social events, which gives us a rare glimpse into the mind of the judge. When speaking about the lack of representation of women in the judiciary, he supported reservations for women in the judiciary and said , Its a womens right. And they deserve to have it. He later clarified that what he meant was that there should be affirmative action in favor of women becoming judges so that they have their fair representation in the judiciary.

During a law day event, he said that the task of securing justice was not the responsibility of the judiciary alone and that the other two wings of governance, the executive and legislature were also repositories of constitutional trust to secure justice. He is a media-savvy judge, and all this makes for a very welcome change.

While one is used to retired judges speaking out, it is not often that we see sitting judges speak their minds. In that sense, Justice Ramana does make history, as did Justice Gautam Patel speaking at The Leaflets Constitution Day event.

While all this might seem flattering to the judges, we must record that the CJI has warranted criticism for not listing cases of great importance, such as the petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, electoral bonds, and the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, among others.

More recently, retired Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi pointed an accusing finger at him in his recently released book, stating that the challenge to Article 370 was assigned to Justice Ramana and he alone was responsible for the delay in hearing the case. We dont have a response from Justice Ramana yet, except we know that the matter has not been listed.

Two significant decisions on the administrative side gave cause for serious concern, viz., the non-appointment of Justice Akil Kureshi to the Supreme Court, and the transfer of Justice Sanjib Banerjee from the High Court of Madras to the High Court of Manipur. Neither of these decisions has been satisfactorily explained.

The year also saw the filling up of nine of the ten vacancies on the Supreme Court. We all knew that one of the reasons for the vacancies not being filled up was that Justice Rohinton Nariman, who retired on August 12, had a serious objection to the non-appointment of Justice Akil Kureshi. It was the largest number of appointments that the Supreme Court has seen in one go. It includes the appointment of three woman judges, one of whom will almost certainly go on to become the first woman to hold the office of Chief Justice of India  albeit for only 25 days. Nevertheless, Justice Ramana has shown a commitment to increasing the number of women judges across the country. It is rather obvious though that he will not be able to take this commitment forward without the concurrence of the collegium and the government.

Supreme Court and the vaccine case

Speaking for the Supreme Court, a bench headed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud suo motu intervened when the second wave of COVID was at its height earlier this year. What was interesting was his comment : We are not only judges but also citizens. The judgment of the bench had negative and positive consequences. Dispelling the fear of civil society, the court refused to interfere with the progressive functioning of the high courts on the issue of COVID-19.

The policy of procurement by Union Government of 50 per cent of vaccines from manufacturers and 25 per cent each by states and the private sector, undid one of the most successful government-run free vaccine programmes in the world. The success was due to the fact that the vaccine programme was based on 100 per cent procurement by the Central Government and distribution by the States free of charge. Changing this policy was flawed and was the main reason that vaccines were not available quickly when required. The rollout faltered.

When the bench headed by Justice Chandrachud gave an opinion in what it called a dialogic process and found that the policy prima facie violated Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, the union government switched gear and increased its procurement to 75 per cent, but the 25 per cent for the private sector was kept intact, for no explicable reason.

This was challenged before the Supreme Court. That apart, though petitions and applications filed at the Supreme Court prayed for compulsory licensing of drugs and vaccines, no decision was taken on them, although the Court could have taken one to make the vaccines available. There was also no explanation as to why the production of vaccines in India was limited to two leading companies, leading to severe shortage and limitations.

Diffusion of technology and production could have been increased to meet the shortages. When these were challenged, the matters were listed but for inexplicable reasons deleted. The matters have not come up again. No wonder, some have commented that the Supreme Court let the government off the hook on the vaccine rollout and compulsory licenses. Very often, it seemed that while the Supreme Court was dragging its feet, the high courts rose to the occasion during the second wave of COVID.

Questionable post-retirement positions

The year also saw the predictable appointment of Justice Arun Mishra as Chairperson of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). While post-retirement appointments have become gifts to pliable judges, it was shocking to see the chairperson of the NHRC make an anti-human rights comment on the occasion of the NHRCs foundation day, when he said that there is a new tendency to accuse India of human rights violations at the behest of international forces. Perhaps the Commission should be renamed National Commission against Human Rights.

Justice Ashok Bhushan, who retired on July 4, was appointed as the chairperson of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal within three months of his retirement from the Supreme Court. Justice Gogoi, who retired on November 17, 2019, accepted a nomination as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha, which was also seen as a transparent post-retirement sinecure. There is hardly an office left to which retired judges are not appointed except maybe that of the Vice President or President, which many of them are probably aspiring to. (Former CJI, M.Hidayatullah remains the only former Supreme Court Judge to have occupied the post of the Vice President from 1979 to 1984) Disturbing reports r ecently emerged of Justice Bobde visiting the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sanghs headquarters in Nagpur to meet its Sarsangchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, leading to speculations.

Civil liberties highs and lows

One of the most historic decisions of the High Court of Bombay this year was the grant of medical bail to Poet Varavara Rao in February 2021: historic for the reason that he was alleged to be a terrorist and an accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. The judgment recognizes that there is justice behind prison bars and that even prisoners have the right to health which cannot be jeopardized by State action. The court held that his continued incarceration would not be compatible with this right to health given that prisons across Maharashtra had no medical facilities capable of treating his condition.

The tragic death of Father Stan Swamy in custody, at the Holy Family Hospital, was a black mark, to say the least, on the prison administration in Maharashtra and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which persistently failed to recognize his cries for medical help.

Fortunately, the end of the year also saw the Bombay High Court granting default bail to Sudha Bharadwaj, but tragically denying bail to eight other accused persons under the mistaken impression that they had not applied for default bail. At the time of writing, efforts are being made to correct this obvious error and hopefully, the other eight will also get default bail. This, however, does not address the question of whether the four people arrested by the NIA in this case, namely Gautam Navlakha, Anand Teltumbde, Jyoti Jagtap, and Hani Babu will be entitled to default bail, and efforts are being made to argue for bail on merits.

CJI Ramana has warranted criticism for not listing cases of great importance, such as the petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Citizenship Amendment Act, electoral bonds, and the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, among others.

Petitions were filed in the High Court of Bombay challenging the Bhima Koregaon prosecution on the ground that evidence was planted on the computers of Rona Willson and others by remote malware, and demanding an investigation into their framing for false prosecution. They remain pending at the time of writing.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court was much criticized for denying bail to humourist Munawar Faruqui for an anticipated performance that never occurred, which would have allegedly caused communal disharmony. It was the vigilance of the Supreme Court by a bench presided by Justice Rohinton Nariman that finally granted him bail.

Through an interim order on August 19 this year, a division bench of the Gujarat High Court headed by then Chief Justice Vikram Nath (who has now been elevated to the Supreme Court) stayed Sections 3, 4, 4A to 4C, 5, 6, and 6A of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 passed earlier this year, pending further hearing. These included a provision that termed interfaith marriages as a means for forceful conversion.

The policy of procurement by Union Government of 50 per cent of vaccines from manufacturers and 25 per cent each by states and the private sector, undid one of the most successful government-run free vaccine programmes in the world. The success was due to the fact that the vaccine programme was based on 100 per cent procurement by the Central Government and distribution by the States free of charge.

Among the judgements of the Delhi High Court what stands out are the judgments granting bail to students Natasha Narwal, Devanagana Kalita, and Asif Iqbal Tanha. Moving a step further, an NIA court in Assam discharged Akhil Gogoi of all charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act on July 1, 2021 marking the end of his prolonged and unjustified incarceration, leading to a deterioration of his health.

On the eve of Independence Day, 2021 the High Court of Bombay stayed Rule 9(1) and 9(3) of the new Information Technology Rules, 2021 for digital media pursuant to a petition filed by The Leaflet challenging the vires of the said rules. This was a huge victory for the freedom of speech and expression and the rights of the free press, most of which now operate heavily in the digital sphere.

Executive excesses

News broke in July that over 300 Indian individuals, which included politicians, lawyers, activists, and journalists were among those on a list of 50,000 for cyber-surveillance targets across the world. Their phones were either hacked or identified for snooping. This was done through Pegasus, a spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli tech company. Petitions were filed in the Supreme Court by affected parties as well as public-spirited individuals seeking a court-monitored investigation. After seeing that the union government was unwilling to acknowledge the allegations or agree to an independent investigation, the Supreme Court on October 27 formed a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice R.V. Raveendran to probe the veracity of the allegations against the union government for its use of Pegasus to target activists, journalists, politicians, judges and government officials.

A few days before the Parliaments winter session, the President of India promulgated two Ordinances, namely, the Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021 to extend the tenures of the Director, Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), respectively, up to five years from the current two years tenure. This has received widespread criticism both from the opposition as well as civil society. A petition has already been filed in the Supreme Court to challenge these ordinances. It will be an interesting journey ahead.

Justice Gogois book is selling well, perhaps because it is the first time that a retired CJI has written a book in a typical American style, in simple prose, and in a racy manner, disclosing what went on in the collegium when it came to appointment or non-appointment of judges. He also chooses to cast aspersions on his brother judges, some of whom have retired, while others are sitting judges.

A dubious introspection

December saw the release of an autobiography by former CJI Gogoi. While this is in no sense a review of the book, which must await another day, publishers have informed me that his book is selling like hot cakes. Why is it so? The book in no sense of the word succeeds in absolving the former CJI of the main allegations made against him, namely that of sexually harassing an employee of the court, sitting in judgment on his own case, delivering sealed cover justice, and accepting a Raja Sabha appointment as a gift for judgments delivered. Yet, why does it sell? Perhaps because it is the first time that a retired CJI has written a book in a typical American style, in simple prose and in a racy manner, disclosing what went on in the collegium when it came to appointment or non-appointment of judges. He also chooses to cast aspersions on his brother judges, some of whom have retired, while others are sitting judges. We have to wait and watch and see if they will respond. Meanwhile, Justice Gogoi is laughing all the way to the bank, generating good royalties which we hope he will donate to a worthy cause.

And while you are waiting to see the fall out of the book, we wish a happy new year to all our readers.

(Indira Jaising is a human rights activist and senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India. She is also the co-founder of The Leaflet. The views expressed are personal.)
December 27, 2021

When China Does Great Question Its Cost

There seem to be general meme directives for 'western' outlets with regards to official enemies.

Russia is said to weaponize everything. The position of China is not (yet) seen as in military terms. The emphasis is on economic competition. Any undeniable Chinese achievement must be declared to have been a bad investment. The directive thus reads:

"When writing about China's achievements - question their purported cost."

The results:

Posted by b on December 27, 2021 at 13:19 UTC | Permalink

Comments
Orange slug-like creature

DeAnn Fisher Kiser and her hiking Facebook friends are having a tough time identifying what she calls a mysterious slug-like creature she saw along Austin's Walnut Creek Trail on Sunday.

In early January, DeAnn Fisher Kiser and her hiking Facebook friends were having a tough time identifying what she called a mysterious slug-like bug she saw along Austin's Walnut Creek Trail.

She said the orange slimy, rubbery creature was about 10 inches long and nearly 2 inches wide. Kiser said some of her friends joked that it was a Cheeto puff or a carrot but were left stumped.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife staff said it was an imperial moth in its pre-pupal stage, which is the inactive period in the development process of metamorphic insects. TPWD said the insect doesn't usually start pupation until late fall but added the warm winter may have caused its early sighting.
FAYETTE, Miss. (AP)  Seven people were shot and wounded during a Christmas party at a small town in southwestern Mississippi.

The shootings happened early Sunday at the Fayette Community Center. Five of the wounded were taken to Merit Health hospital in Natchez.
Desmond Tutu, South Africas foe of apartheid, dies at 90 View Photo

JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Desmond Tutu, South Africas Nobel Peace Prize-winning icon, an uncompromising foe of apartheid and a modern-day activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, died Sunday at 90. South Africans, world leaders and people around the globe mourned the death of the man viewed as the countrys moral conscience.

Tutu worked passionately, tirelessly and non-violently to tear down apartheid  South Africas brutal, decades-long regime of oppression against its Black majority that ended in 1994.

The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later as the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, as well as frequent public demonstrations, to galvanize public opinion against racial inequity, both at home and globally.

Nicknamed the Arch, the diminutive Tutu became a towering figure in his nations history, comparable to fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, a prisoner during white rule who became South Africas first Black president. Tutu and Mandela shared a commitment to building a better, more equal South Africa.

Tutus death on Sunday is another chapter of bereavement in our nations farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Tutu died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Center in Cape Town, his trust said. He had been hospitalized several times since 2015 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997.

He turned his own misfortune into a teaching opportunity to raise awareness and reduce the suffering of others, said the Tutu trust.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Tutu as a moral compass for me and so many others. A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere. He never lost his impish sense of humor and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries.

A seven-day mourning period is planned in Cape Town before Tutus burial, including a two-day lying in state, an ecumenical service and an Anglican requiem mass at St. Georges Cathedral in Cape Town. The southern citys landmark Table Mountain will be lit up in purple, the color of the robes Tutu wore as archbishop.

Throughout the 1980s  when South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence and a state of emergency gave police and the military sweeping powers  Tutu was one of the most prominent Black leaders able to speak out against abuses.

A lively wit lightened Tutus hard-hitting messages and warmed otherwise grim protests, funerals and marches. Plucky and tenacious, he was a formidable force with a canny talent for quoting apt scriptures to harness support for change.

The Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 highlighted his stature as one of the worlds most effective champions for human rights.

With the end of apartheid and South Africas first democratic elections in 1994, Tutu celebrated the countrys multi-racial society, calling it a rainbow nation, a phrase that captured the heady optimism of the moment.

Tutu also campaigned internationally for human rights, especially LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage.

I would not worship a God who is homophobic, he said in 2013, launching a campaign for LGBTQ rights in Cape Town. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say, Sorry, I would much rather go to the other place.

Tutu grew disillusioned with the African National Congress, the anti-apartheid movement that became the ruling party after South Africas 1994 election.

Tutu was particularly incensed by the South African governments refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama, preventing the Tibetan spiritual leader from attending Tutus 80th birthday as well as a planned gathering of Nobel laureates in Cape Town. The government rejected Tutus accusations that it was bowing to pressure from China, a major trading partner.

Tutus life was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good. He was a true humanitarian, the Dalai Lama said Sunday.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born Oct. 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, west of Johannesburg, and became a teacher before entering St. Peters Theological College in Rosetenville in 1958. He was ordained in 1961 and six years later became chaplain at the University of Fort Hare.

He became bishop of Lesotho, chairman of the South African Council of Churches and, in 1985, the first Black Anglican bishop of Johannesburg. In 1986, Tutu was named the first Black archbishop of Cape Town.

As head of South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Tutu and his panel listened to harrowing testimony about torture, killings and other atrocities during apartheid. At some hearings, Tutu wept openly.

The commissions 1998 report lay most of the blame on the forces of apartheid, but also found the African National Congress guilty of human rights violations. The ANC sued to block the documents release, earning a rebuke from Tutu. I didnt struggle in order to remove one set of those who thought they were tin gods to replace them with others who are tempted to think they are, Tutu said.

Tutu is survived by his wife of 66 years, Leah, and their four children.

Asked once how he wanted to be remembered, he told The Associated Press: He loved. He laughed. He cried. He was forgiven. He forgave. Greatly privileged.

___

AP journalist Christopher Torchia contributed to this report.

By ANDREW MELDRUM

Associated Press
Young South Africans learn of Tutus activism for equality View Photo

JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Archbishop Desmond Tutus legacy is reverberating among young South Africans, many of whom were not born when the clergyman battled apartheid and sought full rights for the nations Black majority.

Tutu, who died Sunday at the age of 90, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for those efforts.

Even though they did not know much about him, some young South Africans told The Associated Press on Monday that they understood his role as one of the most prominent figures to help their country become a democracy.

Zinhle Gamede, 16, said she found out about Tutus passing on social media and has learned more about him over the past day.

At first I only knew that he was an archbishop. I really did not know much else, Gamede said.

She said Tutus death had inspired her to learn more about South Africas history, especially the struggle against white minority rule.

I think that people who fought for our freedom are great people. We are in a better place because of them. Today I am living my life freely, unlike in the olden days where there was no freedom, she said.

Following the end of apartheid in 1994, when South Africa became a democracy, Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that documented atrocities during apartheid and sought to promote national reconciliation. Tutu also became one of the worlds most prominent religious leaders to champion LGBTQ rights.

As a gay person, it is rare to hear people from the church speaking openly about gay issues, but I found out about him through gay activists who sometimes use his quotes during campaigns, said Lesley Morake, 25. That is how I knew about him, and that is what I will remember about him.

Tshepo Nkatlo, 32, said he is focusing on the positive things he hears about Tutu, instead of some negative sentiments he saw on social media.

One of the things I picked up on Facebook and Twitter was that some people were criticizing him for the TRC (Truth and Reconciliation Commission) because there are still many issues regarding the TRC, Nkatlo said, referring to some who say Tutu should have been tougher on whites who perpetrated abuses under apartheid and should have ordered that they be prosecuted.

South Africa is holding a week of mourning for Tutu. Bells rang at midday Monday from St. Georges Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town to honor him. The bells at the peoples cathedral, where Tutu worked to unite South Africans of all races against apartheid, will toll for 10 minutes at noon for five days to mark Tutus life.

We ask all who hear the bells to pause their busy schedules for a moment in tribute to Tutu, the current archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said. Anglican churches across South Africa will also ring their bells at noon this week, and the Angelus prayer will be recited.

Several services in South Africa were being planned to honor Tutus life, as tributes came in from around the world.

Tutus coffin will be displayed Friday at the cathedral in Cape Town to allow the public to file past the casket, which will reflect the simplicity with which he asked to be buried, Makgoba said in a statement. On Friday night Tutus body will lie alone in the cathedral which he loved.

A requiem Mass will be held Saturday and, according to Tutus wishes, he will be cremated and his ashes placed in the cathedrals mausoleum, church officials said Monday.

In addition, an ecumenical and interfaith service will be held for Tutu on Thursday in South Africas capital, Pretoria.

South Africans are laying flowers at the cathedral, in front of Tutus home in Cape Towns Milnerton area, and in front of his former home in Soweto.

President Cyril Ramaphosa visited Tutus home Monday in Cape Town where he paid his respects to Tutus widow, Leah.

He knew in his soul that good would triumph over evil, that justice would prevail over iniquity, and that reconciliation would prevail over revenge and recrimination. He knew that apartheid would end, that democracy would come, Ramaphosa said Sunday night in a nationally broadcast address.

He knew that our people would be free. By the same measure, he was convinced, even to the end of his life, that poverty, hunger and misery can be defeated; that all people can live together in peace, security and comfort, said Ramaphosa who added that South Africas flags will be flown at half-staff this week.

May we follow in his footsteps, Ramaphosa said. May we, too, be worthy inheritors of the mantle of service, of selflessness, of courage, and of principled solidarity with the poor and marginalized.

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and ANDREW MELDRUM

Associated Press
Edward O. Wilson, biologist known as ant man, dead at 92 View Photo

BOSTON (AP)  Edward O. Wilson, the pioneering Harvard biologist who advanced the provocative theory that human behavior such as war and altruism has a genetic basis and warned against the decline of ecosystems, has died. He was 92.

Wilson was called Darwins natural heir, and was known affectionately as the ant man for his pioneering work as an entomologist, according to an announcement posted Monday on the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundations website. He died on Dec. 26 in Burlington, Massachusetts.

It would be hard to understate Eds scientific achievements, but his impact extends to every facet of society. He was a true visionary with a unique ability to inspire and galvanize. He articulated, perhaps better than anyone, what it means to be human, David J. Prend, chairman of the board of E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, said in a statement.

The professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author first gained widespread attention for his 1975 book, Sociobiology: The New Synthesis, in which he spelled out the evidence suggesting a link between human behavior and genetics. The work created a storm of controversy among activists and fellow academics who equated sociobiologys groundbreaking theories with sexism, racism and Nazism.

More recently, Wilson has championed the importance of preserving diverse species and ecosystems. The diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize, he said in 1993.

Less than 10% of the Earths species have scientific names, he said, making it a still mostly unexplored planet.

In 1979, On Human Nature  the third volume in a series including The Insect Societies and Sociobiology  earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with The Ants, which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.

Among his other honors was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of Americas 25 most influential people in 1996.

Wilsons sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs. nurture debate among scientists. Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior.

Critics argued that such a theory bolstered social injustice, including discrimination against women, by saying that the inequality is written in human genes. Fifteen Boston-area scholars joined in a letter denouncing it, and in one case protesters dumped a pitcher of ice water on Wilsons head while he was speaking at a scientific meeting in 1978.

He didnt think genes determine all human behavior, but in rough terms  maybe 10 percent of it. He said later that the intensity of the reaction frightened him and for a time he gave up giving public lectures.

I thought my career was going up in flames, he said.

His 2006 book, The Creation, argued that the fields of science and religion, the most powerful social forces on Earth, should work together for protection of nature.

The following year, he joined with more than two dozen other leaders in religion and science in signing a statement calling for urgent changes in values, lifestyles and public policies to avert disastrous climate change. Among the religious leaders taking part were the Rev. Rich Cizik, public policy director for the National Association of Evangelicals.

The launching point for Wilsons studies was a creature that had fascinated him since his teens  the ant.

Showing an Associated Press reporter a dramatic microscopic view of an ant specimen in 1993, he commented, I call it looking in the face of creation. Youre looking at something that may be a million years old, and nobodys seen it before.

His and Holldoblers book The Ants featured detailed photographs of ants crawling through their daily lives, copulating, regurgitating food, and stinging to death other insects. It meticulously detailed the ants every move.

He noted that the study of ants offered insights into the state of the environment, because the welfare and diversity of ant populations might be useful as an indicator of subtle destructive changes in a seemingly normal area.

Wilson was born in 1929 in Birmingham, Alabama. As an only child whose parents divorced when he was 7, Wilson found comfort in nature, which he called his companion of choice.

He also had to deal with the loss of sight in one eye in a fishing accident and, in his teens, a partial hearing loss.

The Boy Scouts provided Wilson an opportunity to further his enthusiasm for nature, and by the age of 15, Wilson had risen to the rank of Eagle Scout.

He graduated from the University of Alabama in 1949. He received his Ph.D. in biology from Harvard in 1955 and became an assistant professor there in 1956. Wilsons field research included stops in Australia, New Guinea and Sri Lanka, in addition to his ongoing work at home.

While living in Mobile, Alabama, Wilson is credited with becoming the first person to identify invasive fire ants that had arrived from South America on ships. Later, as a student at the University of Alabama, he detailed that the ants were spreading rapidly across the South.

I believe I was the first to find that ant in the U.S., certainly the first to study it in any detail, Wilson told American Entomologist in 2014.

He sat on the boards of directors of several environmental organizations, including The Nature Conservancy. He was honored for his conservation efforts with the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature in 1990 and the Audubon Medal of the National Audubon Society in 1995.

Wilson is survived by his daughter, Catherine. He was predeceased by his wife, Irene.
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP)  The city of Santa Monica will offer affordable housing to Black families forced out during freeway construction and other urban renewal projects of the 1950s, according to a newspaper report Sunday.

Some 600 families lost their homes when Interstate 10 was built through the Pico neighborhood, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Starting in January, those former residents and their descendants will be offered priority access to apartments with below-market rents in the hopes that theyll come back to the coastal city in Los Angeles County.

Affordable housing will also be available for families removed when they city bulldozed another Black area, Belmar Triangle, to build the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.

Children and grandchildren of those who were displaced will be eligible.

We will be able to right a historic wrong, Santa Monica City Councilwoman Kristin McCowan told the Times. Eventually, were going to do that for more and more people. And if other communities start to do their share, you can see a real tidal wave potentially across the country.

The city program initially will be open to 100 displaced families or their descendants who earn limited incomes, but city leaders hope their efforts will grow into a national model to address past racist policies.

Santa Monicas act of civic penance is an attempt to recognize the harm done to largely Black communities during the post-World War II era of freeway building and urban renewal, the Times said.

The program is part of a nationwide movement to compensate residents for racist harms related to housing and property. In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that authorized the return of shorefront land known as Bruces Beach to the descendants of a Black couple who were run out of Manhattan Beach nearly a century ago.

Nichelle Monroe, whose grandparents were forced out of the Pico neighborhood, told the Times that she has mixed feelings about the new housing program and the citys other recent efforts to recognize Black history. Monroe believes the city should be making it easier for her family to actually buy a home in the community.

But what else is there? Monroe said. The theft is still there. The generational wealth is still gone.

Nationwide, more than 1 million people lost their homes in just the first two decades of interstate construction alone, according to the Times. Early on, highway planners targeted many Black neighborhoods for destruction, and displaced families often received little compensation.
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SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet seen Dont Look Up.

At the beginning of Adam McKays Dont Look Up, Michigan State astronomy grad student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a new comet. With her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), they realize its heading toward Earth, and will cause an extinction-level-event for the entire planet in a little over six months. For the rest of the movie, Kate, Randall and Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), of the, uh, Planetary Defense Coordination Office try to convince those in charge  U.S. President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) and billionaire tech mogul Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance)  to do something about it. The problem is likely solvable, if the world unites together to try to fix it.

So you can probably guess how the movie ends  the Earth is destroyed. Isherwell convinces President Orlean to wait until the comet is close to Earth so his company, BASH, can send drones to blow it up into harmless pieces that can be mined. Of course, his plan doesnt work  and whoops! Goodbye, world.

McKay, who wrote and directed the Netflix film, wanted to make a movie about the impending climate apocalypse  one that was a big, broad comedy, as he called it in a recent interview with Variety. And that was McKays plan before the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe, causing new and horrifying variations of anti-science denial. The idea, McKay said, was always that it was going to involve absurdist comedy and some reality  can you blend those two things?

To achieve that synthesis, Dont Look Up attempts a tonal high-wire act; the movie is heading, after all, toward the end of the world, and the deaths of Kate, Randall and Teddy. Along the way, Dont Look Up satirizes modern life, skewering media, politics and the culture of fame and celebrity.

Dont Look Up, in other words, has a lot to do. To bring about those goals, McKay wanted to take away the guaranteed happy ending that filmgoers have grown used to, and break that traditional three-act Hollywood thing that we know so well.

There could be something powerful about just not having that, he said.

The result of taking away that structure was a triple ending. McKay spoke with Variety about how he ended Dont Look Up.

One Last Supper as the World Ends

When Randall Mindy becomes an international celebrity, and the primary media messenger about the comet, he gets a glow-up and loses his way  he ends up ditching his wife (Melanie Lynskey) and their kids. But knowing that Isherwells attempt to break up the comet will likely fail, Randall shows up on his Michigan doorstep to have a family dinner  with Kate and her new boyfriend, Yule (Timothee Chalamet)  and asks to be forgiven. Teddy comes for dinner as well, and Dont Look Up cuts between the intimate Mindy dinner and the disastrous comet mission at BASH that will doom Earth.

After Isherwell and Orlean ditch the mission control room to escape the planet, and Orlean forgets that her son and chief of staff, Jason (Jonah Hill) exists, leaving him to die, she offers Randall a spot on the ship, which is decked out with cryo-chambers, and will search for a habitable planet. Im good, he tells her, adding that she should have fun with Jason. Jason? she says. Oh, shit.

McKay said that these days, with the world becoming more surreal by the day, he wanted to create a blend where absurdist, ridiculous comedy lives right next to sadness, he said. The whole movies trying to just process basically the question of what the eff is going on in reality. Along with The Big Short and Vice, his most recent films, You can almost call them the what-the-eff-is-going-on trilogy.

I just think were having to deal with these strange feelings being next to each other, McKay continued. So the trickiest part of the movie was the ramp down into that tone in the last 20 minutes.

At the dinner table, the Mindys and their chosen family are trying to make their last meal meaningful, as composer Nicholas Britells score kicks in. Remembering things to be thankful for, one of Randalls sons wistfully recalls sleeping in the backyard and waking up to a baby deer: That was the best day of my life, he says.

Im grateful we tried, Kate says. Man oh man, did we try, Teddy echoes.

Randall calls for a prayerful moment, despite their not being religious. Which is when Yule takes over, delivering a blessing, and asking for God to soothe them.

McKay, whose mother was a born-again Christian, said it was that scene that hooked Chalamet.

I was talking to Chalamet about maybe doing this little part, because weve wanted to work together, he said. And he was like, Yeah, I dont know if theres enough there. McKay didnt disagree. But then, McKay said, Dont Look Up co-producer (and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist) Ron Suskind, asked him Wheres faith in this movie?

And I was like, Oh, youre right. Youre right! McKay said. I think were so used to thinking of religion as denominations, and now its become a political cudgel in this country. I forgot about real faith. And it was just a lightbulb moment where its like, I know who Timothees character is. With the addition of Chalamets Yule, McKay said, the team was complete.

And that might be my single favorite moment in the entire movie, McKay added.

As the world starts to end for real, Dont Look Up zooms out of the Mindy home, and visits some of the characters weve met throughout the story  such as the happy-talking news anchors, Brie (Cate Blanchett) and Jack (Tyler Perry), who are drowning their sorrows at a high-end bar. We also see what ordinary people are doing as the comet hurtles toward Earth, and then makes its impact. Back at dinner, the Mindys talk about store-bought apple pie and grinding coffee beans as the table starts to shake.

With Britells piano score behind him, Randall says, The thing of it is we really  he pauses  we really did have everything, didnt we? I mean, if you think about it.

That line was DiCaprios idea, McKay said. They were filming the dinner scene in a house in Massachusetts in the freezing cold. Between takes, DiCaprio came up to McKay and script supervisor, Cate Hardman. And he said, You know, I feel like I should say something, McKay said. And he said the line  he didnt even read it in character. And immediately Cate, whos this tough Texan, and I both immediately teared up, and my voice cracked a little bit.

Affecting a choked-up voice, McKay said, I just went, Yup, I think you should try that!

Yet the line nearly didnt make it into the movie. Working with editor Hank Corwin, McKay said: We were so afraid of it in the edit room, because it just whacked us so hard. We didnt even have it in the cut for a while. And then toward the end, we were like, You know what? Weve gotta try that line.

And it was just the gut punch of all gut punches.

McKay said the original ending of the dinner scene just cut to black, rather than seeing the Mindys house be engulfed. Raymond Gieringer, our VFX supervisor, showed me this test thing that someone had done for a VFX technique of a wall like rolling through a room, and I was like, Wow, that is powerful. I think weve got to try that! McKay said. Thats how we got the shot behind Rob Morgans character of the wall coming apart, the window breaking behind Leo, the kitchen shattering behind Jen.

Getting the ending right was, McKay said, a process of constantly tweaking, tweaking, tweaking.

How much of the world you show? McKay said. What do you do with that music? How far do you go? Are we going too far? We want to feel sad, but we dont want to be traumatized. Like, I want to tear up, but I dont want to, you know  sob uncontrollably!

Death by Brontaroc

Before the world ends, President Orlean asks Isherwell about BASHs algorithm that can predict how people will die. I dont think I want to know  yes, I do! I want to know, she says. Isherwell answers immediately: Youre going to be eaten by a brontaroc. We dont know what it means.

A what? Orlean asks. A brontaroc, Isherwell says. Orlean is flummoxed: Oh.

And so in a mid-credits scene, we see the ultra-rich peoples escape space ships land on their new planet 22,740 years later  and they emerge naked. The cryo chambers were 58% successful, Isherwell announces triumphantly. Which is much better then anticipated! Orlean says, We only had 47 dead in our section. Isherwell is pleased: I think this is going to work out quite well. Quite well indeed!

A colorful creature emerges, and Orlean marvels at it. Look at that beautiful animal, she gasps. I wonder, are those feathers, or are they scales?

The brontaroc bites her in the face, and then ravages her. As the crowd watches in horror, Isherwell says, I believe thats called a brontaroc. Other brontarocs begin to close in on them  Whatever you do, dont pet them! Isherwell shouts  as the Britell and Bon Iver collaboration Second Nature, which played over the credits, surges again.

According to McKay, it was Streeps idea that her narcissistic character would want to know how she was going to die. We were shooting the scene with Rylance, Meryl and Jonah in the BASH control room for the second launch, McKay said. Im like, We should play around. Why dont you guys talk about something? You never know. It could show up. And Meryl, whos such a great improviser, says, I want to know how Im gonna die!

They started riffing, and it was decided that Hill would die in three days from eating tainted human flesh. McKay realized that Streeps character would escape Earth, and posited, What if youre eaten by a creature?

Mark, Meryl, and I kind of cleaned it up a little bit, McKay continued. I think every time we said the name of the creature, it changed  and the take we used was a brontaroc. And then after we shot it, I said, Thats really funny. We should end with her getting eaten by a brontaroc!

Once again, McKay turned to VFX superviser Gieringer, saying: Were adding a new beat. Were creating a whole new creature.

They shot two different scenes as mid-credit endings. The original ending was, Oh, lets start building our houses. And then someone says, Oh, the pod carrying all the workers blew up. And then it was Mark Rylance going, Ill give anyone who builds me a house a billion dollars. And then the guy next to him was like, Ill give $2 billion. And then you realize theyre all billionaires.

Theyre going, Ill give $5 billion! $10 billion! And we just pulled out on that.

Does President Orleans violent death presage that life on the new planet is doomed? McKay thinks about it for a second. Does it mean everyone on every one of the ships gets eaten by brontarocs? he asks himself.

Actually, yeah. I think it does.

Jason Orlean, Last Man on Earth

Filmmakers and television creators who work with Netflix tend to complain about the credits being cut off from their work, because it takes away the individual glory of the people who worked on those projects. One way to thwart that autoplay technology, though, is an end-credits scene, which McKay has done on movies such as Anchorman and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

In Dont Look Up, he wanted to use the device to further lighten the mood after the movies devastating ending. He remembers assuring Netflix executives that the movie wouldnt sink under its weight. I kept telling [Scott] Stuber and Kira [Goldberg] at Netflix, Dont worry, theres a lot of ways I can cut this ending, McKay said, especially if we have a revolt on our hands.

I mean, I wanted to challenge the audience, McKay said with a laugh, but I dont want them to jump over their seats and attack me.

While they were filming in Boston, they came up with an idea for the end credits scene. What if Jason Orlean, who you could argue is maybe the most despicable character in the movie  what if hes the last guy on Earth?

In the scene, Jason emerges from the rubble and takes a selfie. The day of the shoot was freezing. It was ice cold; it was the coldest day of the entire shoot, McKay said. They were filming in a parking lot outside of their production office. And poor Jonah, McKay said. Were, like, All right! Get in the hole. And it was misery.

Because of the frigid weather, McKay did something unusual.

I said, Jonah, Ive never done this in my life. But if you get this on one take, I wont do another take. And then I went behind the monitor, and I was like, I shouldnt have said that. Because I always get a second or a third take, McKay said. And then Jonah improvised the beat about Like and subscribe, Im the last man on Earth!

After making sure theyd gotten the shot, especially since they were shooting on real film, McKay kept his promise to Hill. He said not only does the scene make him laugh, but its a reference to Time Enough at Last, the famous Twilight Zone episode from 1959. The episode stars Burgess Meredith as a bookworm whos the lone survivor after a nuclear bomb goes off. He finds solace in a library  but then his glasses break. Im a huge Twilight Zone geek, McKay said.

I like little scenes at the end of the credits, he continued. I mean, it depends on the movie  you obviously wouldnt do it with, like, The Lost Daughter. But with a movie like this  thats a blend of broad comedy with a disaster and horror  I thought it was kind of perfect.

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Jean-Marc Vallee, the Quebecois director of films including Dallas Buyers Club and TV projects such as Big Little Lies, died at his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada. He was 58.

Vallee died from a heart attack, according to his representative Bumble Ward.

His producing partner, Nathan Ross, said in a statement, Jean-Marc stood for creativity, authenticity and trying things differently. He was a true artist and a generous, loving guy. Everyone who worked with him couldnt help but see the talent and vision he possessed. He was a friend, creative partner and an older brother to me. The maestro will sorely be missed but it comforts knowing his beautiful style and impactful work he shared with the world will live on.

Vallee earned an Oscar nomination for best editing for 2013s Dallas Buyers Club, which won Oscars for Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey. The film was based on the true story of Ron Woodroof, an AIDS patient who smuggled pharmaceutical drugs into Texas and distributed them to fellow AIDS patients through the Dallas Buyers Club.

The next year, he directed Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon and based on the bestselling memoir about a former heroin addict who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail to help find herself.

He continued to work with Witherspoon on the HBO series Big Little Lies, for which he won the Emmy for directing a limited series, movie or special. Adapted from the bestselling Liane Moriarty novel, the limited series also starred Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman and Shailene Woodley, and it drew acclaim for its lushly photographed look at the lives of wealthy coastal families who must confront a sudden death in their midst.

Vallees next HBO project was another suspenseful HBO mini-series based on a popular book, Sharp Objects.

Jean-Marc Vallee was a brilliant, fiercely dedicated filmmaker, a truly phenomenal talent who infused every scene with a deeply visceral, emotional truth, said a statement released by HBO. He was also a hugely caring man who invested his whole self alongside every actor he directed. We are shocked at the news of his sudden death, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies to his sons, Alex and Emile, his extended family, and his longtime producing partner, Nathan Ross.

Born in Montreal, Vallee studied film at the Universite de Montreal. After making music videos and short films, he made his first feature Black List.

After making 2005s acclaimed Quebec film C.R.A.Z.Y., based on the life of a close friend, he directed The Young Victoria, which garnered three Academy Award nominations. His other films included Cafe de Flore, Los Locos, a Western written by and starring Mario Van Peebles, Loser Love and Demolition, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

Vallee was set to direct another series for HBO, Gorilla and the Bird, based on a memoir by Zack McDermott about a public defender who suffers a sudden psychotic break.

He is survived by two children and three siblings.

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CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  An attorney accused of lying to obtain millions of dollars in loans has been convicted of bank fraud and other charges in New Hampshire.

Joseph Foistner, 67, of Mont Vernon, was a licensed attorney in Massachusetts when he used fraudulent means to apply for over $8 million in loans and laundered money between 2015 and 2018, the U.S. Attorney's office said Monday. According to prosecutors, he submitted misleading documents suggesting he was operating a lucrative international firm when he actually had neither paying clients nor income.
From the founder of a famed dating app to the leader of a jewelry empire, these Texas moguls have made Forbes' most recent list of Americas Richest Self-Made Women.

Got stock market FOMO? This $99 yearly stock advisor might fix it

The annual list, published August 5, looks at the country's 100 most successful women entrepreneurs and executives. The cutoff to make the list climbed to $225 million, up from $150 million last year.

These Texas women join the ranks of big names like Oprah Winfrey, Dolly Parton, and Rihanna.

Thai Lee  No. 6

Coming in highest among Texas women is Thai Lee, the Austin-based CEO of IT company SHI International. Lee's $4.1 billion fortune earned her the No. 6 spot. Her net worth has increased by $2.6 billion since March 2017.

SHI International accounts for $11.1 billion in sales and has over 20,000 customers that include other big company names like AT&T and Boeing.

Lee was born in Bangkok and grew up in South Korea. She moved to the U.S. for high school and eventually earned her MBA from Harvard. SHI International's beginnings trace back to when Lee and her now ex-husband bought a software reseller for less than $1 million in 1989.

Whitney Wolfe Herd  No. 21

Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Bumble

Austin-based Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO and co-founder of gender norm defying dating app Bumble, had perhaps the biggest leap in net worth among the Texas women in the top 50, coming in at No. 21 with a $1.3 billion empire.

That net worth is up nearly $11 million from February this year when Bumble went public on the stock market. (Its closing share price soared 63 percent on its opening day.) She became the youngest self-made billionaire with Bumble's initial public offering, according to Forbes.

Wolfe Herd founded the dating app in 2014 after leaving Tinder. Bumble, Bumble Biz, Bumble BFF, and its secondary dating app Badoo operate in 150 countries with 2.8 million paid users as of March 2021.

Robyn Jones  No. 21

Robyn Jones, the vice chairmen and co-founder of Fort Worth-based Goosehead Insurance, ties for No. 21 with Whitney Wolfe Herd with $1.3 billion.

Jones is an Alberta, Canada, native that founded a property and casualty insurance agency in 2003 while also raising her six children.

Her husband joined her company in 2004, and the couple took Goosehead public in 2018. The company now owns 46 percent of the $739 million in Goosehead's 2019 written premiums business, which has nearly 1,000 franchises, according to Forbes.

The company is named after her granddaughter, Lucy "Goosehead" Langston.

Kendra Scott  No. 35

Rick Kern/Getty Images for Kendra Scott

Her name really needs no explanation, but for those who don't know Kendra Scott, she is the founder of the Austin-based jewelry brand of the same name.

Scott comes in at No. 35 on the Forbes list with a net worth of $800 million, a fortune that comes from her majority stake in the company that has annual sales of about $360 million, according to Forbes.

She started making jewelry out of her spare bedroom in Austin in 2002, and the company now has over 100 stores and is sold in retailers across the country.

Scott stepped aside as CEO in February 2021, but continues her role as executive chair.

April Anthony  No. 37

Coming in at No. 37 is April Anthony, founder of Dallas-based Encompass Health Home and Hospice, who has a net worth of $760 million.

Anthony founded Encompass in 1998 and then later sold the company for $750 million to publicly traded HealthSouth in April 2021, when she also stepped down. From 1998 to 2021, Anthony built up Encompass by acquiring 17 home health care providers, according to Forbes.

Before Encompass, she bought her first home health company, Liberty Health Services, in 1992 while just 25 years old.

She also started enterprise software provider Homecare Homebase that was bought by Hearst at a valuation of $625 million in 2013.

Other Texans in the top 100:

Coming in at No. 52 is Lisa Su. The Austin-based CEO of semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Devices has a net worth of $600 million, according to Forbes.

With a $480 million fortune is No. 66 Kathleen Hildreth, who cofounded aviation-maintenance company M1 Support Services in 2003. Hildreth is based in the DFW area.

Rounding out the top 100 is Gwynne Shotwell at No. 69. President and COO of SpaceX, Shotwell has a net worth of $460 million, and is based in Jonesboro.
After Andy and Erin Gress had their fourth child, Andy decided it was time for him to "step up" and help with the family planning. So he did something that the mere thought of makes some men cringe: He got a vasectomy.

It was early one morning last winter - a brief moment of peace, before juggling getting the kids ready for online school and work Zoom calls. He happened to see a local news story about discounts being offered during "World Vasectomy Day." He made an appointment that day.

His wife had taken birth control pills, but she struggled with the side effects. She had worked as a night nurse through four pregnancies, and the couple had children ranging in age from 2 to 11.

"The procedure was a total relief, almost like the covid shot - like I'm safe now," said Gress, who works in higher education. "I wanted to man up."

But Gress's action wasn't just about his family. He also believed he should do more to support his wife and other women who don't think the government should decide what they do with their bodies. "I've seen the miracle of life," he said. "But I've also seen kids who are born into poverty and misery and don't have a fair shot."

With the Supreme Court set to decide the fate of Roe v. Wade next year and with more than 20 states poised to ban or impose restrictions on abortion depending on what the court decides, some reproductive rights advocates say it is time for men to take a more active role in both family planning and the fight for reproductive rights.

In their own form of protest, state lawmakers in Alabama, Illinois and Pennsylvania introduced legislation that highlights the gendered double standards with regards to reproductive rights.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Chris Rabb, a Democrat, introduced "parody" legislation this fall in response to the Texas law that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion. Rabb's proposal would require men to get vasectomies after the birth of their third child or when they turn 40, whichever comes first. It would be enforced by allowing Pennsylvanians to report men who failed to comply, for a $10,000 reward.

"As long as state legislatures continue to restrict the reproductive rights of cis women, trans men and nonbinary people, there should be laws that address the responsibility of men who impregnate them. Thus, my bill will also codify 'wrongful conception' to include when a person has demonstrated negligence toward preventing conception during intercourse," Rabb wrote in a memo about his proposal, as reported by the Keystone.

Rabb, a father of two who had a vasectomy in 2008, noted that he only had to discuss his choice with his wife and his urologist. The point of his proposal, he said, was to highlight the sexism, double standard and hypocrisy inherent in the antiabortion debate. But it blew up in a way he didn't expect.

"I underestimated the vitriol this proposal brought," Rabb said in an interview, adding that he received thousands of hate-filled emails, Facebook posts and even death threats. "The notion a man would have to endure or even think about losing bodily autonomy was met with outrage, when every single day women face this and it's somehow OK for the government to invade the uteruses of women and girls, but it should be off limits if you propose vasectomies or limit the reproductive rights of men."

Since Dec. 1, when the Supreme Court heard a case that is expected to decide the future of Roe v. Wade, social media has been filled with tweets, memes and quips using tongue-in-cheek humor to point out how men's role in reproduction is almost never talked about. "Against abortion? Have a Vasectomy," says one bumper sticker.

Koushik Shaw, a doctor at the Austin Urology Institute in Texas, said his practice saw about a 15% increase in scheduled vasectomies after the Sept. 1 Texas abortion ban went into effect.

Patients are saying "'Hey, I'm actually here because some of these changes that [Gov. Greg] Abbott and our legislature have passed that are really impacting our decision-making in terms of family planning,' so that was a new one for me as a reason - the first time, patients are citing a state law as their motivating factor," Shaw said.

Advocates say they want to be clear: They are not pushing vasectomies as a replacement for the right to obtain an abortion, nor do they believe men should have a say in the decision to have an abortion. In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled in Planned Parenthood v. Danforth that the father's consent to an abortion was no longer required, largely because of a risk of violence or coercion in a relationship.

Doctors who perform vasectomies say they want men to be open and comfortable talking about the procedure instead of recoiling in horror at the idea, said Doug Stein, a urologist known as the "Vasectomy King" for his billboards, bar coasters and ads at child support offices around Florida.

"An act of Love," for their partners, "the ultimate way to be a good man," is how he and others market the procedure.

"It's a remarkable trend in the family planning community of recognizing and promoting vasectomy and birth control for men, where this was once considered more fringe," said Sarah Miller, a family medicine doctor who has a private practice in Boston and joined Stein's movement.

Advances in the needle- and scalpel-free 10-minute procedure need a cultural push and maybe some fun to make men less bashful around doctors coming near their "junk," Stein said.

He has a full-time vasectomy and vasectomy-reversal practice in Tampa and has traveled the world performing the procedure. He was inspired by his concern about population growth, but he also wanted to empower men to be responsible.

Stein, a father of two, had his own vasectomy more than 20 years ago.

Reliable statistics on the number of men who have sought vasectomies since the Texas ban and the U.S. Supreme Court hearing aren't available, doctors say. But, Miller said, she has seen an increase in patients at the small clinic she opened in Boston less than three years ago because she couldn't believe "the paucity of options for men and people with men parts."

At one point, she was told that vasectomy was not considered part of family planning, and she had to make her own arrangements to get the necessary training.

"It warms my heart to hear men say, 'I am so nervous, but I know this is NOTHING compared to what my wife has gone through,'" she said in an email.

"It's outrageous that we don't have more contraceptive options for people with man parts," Miller said. "There's even a misguided sense that birth control is not a man's job. That men can't be trusted, or that they would never be interested, and that has led to lack of funding and development," she said.

Engaging men in the abortion debate is tricky, experts say, because on the abortion rights side, men don't want to be viewed as questioning a woman's right to choose. And on the antiabortion side, the procedure is viewed as murder. But some abortion rights advocates contend that men have a huge stake in legal and safe abortions, and "the fact we're not out there fighting every bit as hard as women is shameful," said Jonathan Stack, a co-founder with Stein of World Vasectomy Day.

"The quality of life for millions of men will be adversely affected if this right is taken from women," said Stack, a documentary filmmaker who made a film about Stein called "The Vasectomist."

Stack said that while filming the documentary, he would ask men: "Why are you choosing to do this?"

"They expressed something rarely heard in films about men - love or kindness or care," he said.

"I had already come to believe that there was a story about masculinity that was not being told - not of power and control or rage, but of alienation, of insecurities, of uncertainty and of fear," he said.

"We already know that men don't always want to wear condoms, or they don't work, or well, they take them off," Esgar Guarin said with a sigh and chuckle. He is a family medicine doctor who runs SimpleVas in Iowa and performed Gress's vasectomy.

Guarin trained under Stein and joined his movement. "We have to invest in helping men understand how easy and safe vasectomies are," he said. After having two children, Guarin performed a vasectomy on himself.

The doctors also started "Responsible Men's Clubs," chat groups where men can share information such as how sexual performance is just fine after the procedure, and that it "doesn't take away their manhood, but in fact makes them a better man," Guarin said.

One man asked for a sort of "vasectomy passport," a letter from Guarin to show his wife that sex would now be free of worry.

Brad Younts, 45, said his wife, Lizz Gardner, wants him to become a "vasectomy evangelist," after he had the "simple procedure" without any problems.

"Men are big babies. Considering everything women go through - menstruation, Pap smears, OB/GYN visits," said Younts, who lives in Chicago. "I'm proud I did it. And I went on to tell two friends who are also looking into it, too."
Courtesy of SAPD

The San Antonio Police Department continues its search for 3-year-old Lina Khil, who's been missing for one week. Khil was last seen at a playground at her family's apartment complex on the 9400 block of Fredericksburg Road on December 20. Family members believe she was abducted.

SAPD Police Chief William McManus said they are still treating the case as a missing person case and not an abduction. However, McManus added that he did request the FBI's child abduction unit. Police also released a raw video of Khil on YouTube on Christmas Eve to help with the investigation.
One of the Bay Areas favorite vacation destinations was just named Zillows most popular place of 2021.

Not only was South Lake Tahoe the most popular place overall, but it also earned the No. 1 spot in the real estate marketplaces lists of most popular small town and most popular vacation town.

This is the first year Zillow shared the list, which analyzed page views per listing, home values and affordability with growth potential, using data from October 2020 to November 2021. The real estate marketplace also cited South Lake Tahoes small-town vibe and short driving distance to the Bay Area, Sacramento and Reno, Nev. as reasons for its high desirability.

The Lake Tahoe town had 5,469 page views per listing according to Zillow, though rising home values in the region may be the biggest indicator of popularity. South Lake Tahoe hit a median of $692,792 this year, up 34.9% in the past year. Values are up from $515,000 in November 2020, and $447,000 in November 2019.

South Lake Tahoe shot to the top of our list because it has everything you would dream about in a place to live. Its a beautiful area, with a small-town vibe and big-city amenities, and of course some of the best year-round outdoor recreation in the country, said Zillow spokesperson Matt Kreamer. It certainly doesnt hurt that its fairly close to some of the largest population centers in the country, so its a natural place for millions to think of first when theyre dreaming about a vacation home or new place to work remotely.

After South Lake Tahoe, Calabasas, Calif. was dubbed the most popular small town and Big Bear Lake, Calif. topped the list of most popular vacation towns. Newport, Ore. was named the most popular beach town.
Federal officials making unannounced inspections this summer of a large beagle-breeding facility in Virginia found dozens of animal welfare violations: records indicating that hundreds of puppies had died of "unknown causes" over a span of months; dogs' food dispensers teeming with insects; and reeking kennels with piles of feces, urine and food underneath them.

Based on the routine inspections conducted in July, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture cited Envigo - an Indianapolis-based firm that breeds dogs and sells them as research animals to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries - for mistreatment of beagles and poor conditions at the facility in Cumberland, Va., about 50 miles west of Richmond.

Officials said records at the facility showed that in a seven-month period, more than 300 puppies died of "unknown causes." There were incomplete records on the deaths.

According to inspection reports posted online on Nov. 15, authorities found more than 500 puppies and dogs kept inside a building and experiencing "discomfort, lethargy or stress" because the temperature was above 85 degrees for at least five hours, and there was no air conditioning.

The officials from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service also raised concerns about infrequent cleaning in areas where dogs nursing puppies could face possible disease and sickness. Flies, beetles and ants were found on self-feeders in some of the kennels. At least a dozen dogs had problems including eye conditions, "severe dental disease" and inflamed paws, according to the inspection reports.

An Envigo spokesman said the company has been working with the USDA to correct the issues it outlined and added, "The highest quality of animal welfare is a core value of our company."

Envigo said the use of animals for research is "essential for developing lifesaving medicines, medical devices and biologics, such as vaccines." Its animals, the company said, have "an integral role in the development of advanced pacemakers for heart patients" and in "critical research into Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis."

Institutions and universities often spend thousands of dollars to do medical research on animals. Beagles are bred for use in research because they are small and docile, according to animal welfare experts.

The Cumberland facility has been in operation since the 1960s and was previously run by another company called Covance. Envigo took over some of Covance's operations in 2019.

USDA inspectors found other issues that violated the Animal Welfare Act at Envigo's facility in Virginia:

- Nearly 50 dogs had fight wounds.

- Food was withheld for 42 hours from roughly a dozen female dogs that were nursing 78 pups. Officials at Envigo said it was the facility's "standard operating procedure for weaning which they believe reduces the risk of mastitis" - inflammation of the mammary glands.

PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - had launched its own, roughly seven-month undercover investigation of the Envigo facility in Virginia and said its investigator found workers with no veterinary credentials sticking needles into puppies' heads to drain hematomas without any pain relief for the animal, and cases in which puppies "fell through holes in the cages and ended up in drains, soaked with water, feces and other waste."

Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA's senior vice president of cruelty investigations, said her group's work showed that "they never get to be dogs. They're destined to exist in cages."

Envigo's spokesman said in a statement that the company believed that PETA's allegations are "misleading and lacking important context."

The USDA did not issue any fines or penalties after the inspections in July.

Envigo and its predecessor, Covance, had more than a dozen contracts potentially worth around $1.2 million with the National Institutes of Health to sell the agency dogs that were allegedly used in medical research, according to PETA.

A spokeswoman at NIH said the agency has purchased dogs from Envigo's Cumberland facility "in the past, but no future purchases are planned."

PETA said it also found online articles in recent years that it says show that several institutions, including Temple University, the Medical University of South Carolina, Virginia Tech and N.C. State University appeared to have done business with Envigo or Covance. The schools issued the following responses to the findings:

- Steve Orbanek, a spokesman for Temple University in Philadelphia, said in an email that it is "committed to the care and humane treatment of research animals" but would not go into details about specific contracts or deals.

- Montez Seabrook, a spokesperson at the Medical University of South Carolina, said that while they were aware of concerns about animals' conditions at Envigo's facility in Virginia, MUSC had "stopped the use of these animals in research on our campus" in 2017."

- At Virginia Tech, spokesperson Mark Owczarski said the institution has bought dogs from Envigo's Virginia facility for its veterinary college in the past but ended that in 2020. This fall, he said, Envigo donated animal cadavers to the school's vet college, but officials said they "did not seek or solicit this donation, nor did the college intend to purchase any cadavers from them but accepted them to aid in the education of future veterinarians."

- Mick Kulikowski, a spokesperson for N.C. State, said the university bought six dogs from Envigo in the past two years for research and "all were in good health." After the research, he said, the dogs were adopted.
By Jake Johnson. Originally published at Common Dreams

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday demanded that Congress act urgently to ensure the widespread distribution of N95 masks to U.S. households as the highly contagious Omicron variant continues to rip through the country, overwhelming already-strained hospitals nationwide.

As we face the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, we should remember that not all face masks are created equal, Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, wrote on Twitter. Congress must demand the mass production and distribution of N-95 masks, the most effective way to stop the spread of the Covid virus.

Ideally, a set of masks would be mailed to each U.S. household every month.

Sanders call comes as experts are vocally emphasizing the importance of high-quality masks in stemming the transmission of Omicron, which was first detected in southern Africa last month and has since become the dominant variant in the U.S. and other countries.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Omicron now accounts for nearly 75% of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S., which has recorded the most coronavirus deaths in the world. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief medical adviser, warned Sunday that Omicron cases likely will go much higher in the coming days.

Even though were pleased by the evidence from multiple countries that it looks like there is a lesser degree of severity, weve got to be careful that we dont get complacent about that, Fauci said in an appearance on ABC. It might still lead to a lot of hospitalization in the United States.

With Omicron infections spiking, public health experts have stressed that medical-grade N95 masks are easily preferable to cloth masks, whichaccording to University of Oxford professor Trish Greenhalghare often mere fashion accessories that dont provide adequate protection.

Linsey Marr, a virus researcher at Virginia Tech, similarly argued in an interview with NPR last week that cloth masks are not going to cut it with Omicron.

I have a lot of confidence in the vaccines, if youre boosted, in protecting against severe outcomes, and I have a lot of confidence in an N95 and similar types of respirators, Marr said. And I think that with those two things, you can still go about a lot of your normal activities.

Last week, after initially mocking the idea, the Biden administration announced a plan to distribute 500 million rapid at-home coronavirus tests to U.S. households that request them. But the federal government has yet to pursue a similar strategy with masks despite months of pleas from healthcare workers, experts, and lawmakers.

Ideally, a set of masks would be mailed to each U.S. household every monththe costs of doing so pale in comparison to the pandemics toll on lives and the economy, physicians Abraar Karan and Ranu Dhillon and patient advocate Devabhaktuni Srikrishna wrote in a January op-ed for STAT.

The use of such masks would, in combination with other risk-reduction strategies, create safer workspaces for essential workers, the trio argued.

In July of 2020, Sanders introduced legislation that would have required the federal government to manufacture and deliver high-quality masks to every person in the country. The bill garnered dozens of co-sponsors in the House and Senateas well as the endorsements of a number of advocacy organizationsbut has not advanced in either chamber.

While the U.S. is no longer facing the kinds of severe N95 shortages that hampered the nations early response to the pandemic, quality face-coverings can still be difficult to find due to the proliferation of counterfeits on Amazon and other e-commerce sites. Nonprofit groups such as Project N95 have attempted to help people navigate the morass of fakes and locate genuinely high-quality masks.

In recent days, public health experts have criticized the CDC for explicitly recommending against N95 masks for the general public in its formal guidance, which argues that such masks should be prioritized for healthcare personnel.

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and visiting professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, told CNN last week that it has been many months since supply of N95s [has been] an issue.

If were going to go as far as to say that masks are requiredwhen we dont come from a mask-wearing culture and people dont like wearing masksat least recommend that they wear the most effective mask, said Wen.
(Natural News) In order to make sure all citizens stay safe against the Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19), the government of Austria is hiring hitmen to hunt down vaccine refusers.

This army of inspectors, as Blick is calling them, will be tasked with enforcing the countrys new mandatory injection policy, defiance of which comes will come with fines.

The city of Linz, population 200,000, is reportedly at the forefront of this hitmen scheme because it currently has a vaccination rate of around 63 percent, which is considered to be low.

Linz now wants to hire people who are supposed to hunt down vaccine refusers, Blick further reported.

The role of these inspectors will be to check on whether those who do not get vaccinated really pay for it.

The inspectors enforcing these fines will be paid a wage of 2,774 euros (around $3,143) 14 times per year. This amounts to 38,863 euros (around $44,040) per year.

The job includes, among other things, the creation of penal orders as well as the processing of appeals, reports explain, adding that workers will need to be resilient and agree to work plenty of overtime.

Austrian citizens are the only people who qualify for these jobs, and all of them must either be fully vaccinated or fully recovered from a Fauci Flu infection in order to get paid.

Austria is ground zero for covid fascism

As we reported, Austria recently became the first country in the world to require that all citizens be forcibly vaccinated for the Wuhan Flu.

Those who refuse could be imprisoned for upwards of a year and forced to pay for that imprisonment themselves.

Austrians who dont get vaccinated by February face fines of up to 7,200 ($8,000) for non-compliance, and those who refuse to pay would also face a 12 month jail sentence, Infowars further reported.

This tyranny was implemented by Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg, who believes that Austrians should have no free will when it comes to making their own medical decisions.

Schallenberg told the media that he is upset that only 65 percent of the country got willingly injected despite an intensive media campaign. Consequently, Schallenberg is now punishing the entire nation because he is unhappy with the turnout.

This is irresponsible, this deranged lunatic complained. This is actually an attack on our health system. Because of these radical anti-vaxxers and because of fake news, too many of us have not been vaccinated. We dont want a fifth wave.

Part of Schallenbergs plan is to book appointments for the unvaccinated without their consent. Those who fail to show up will be fined and imprisoned  basically as much as he can get away with, he is planning to do.

It is difficult to imagine a person as stupid as Austrian Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg  except for every other political leader. He, like his peers, thinks lockdowns and vaccination are making people safe and happy by denying them freedom and killing and injuring them with the spike protein in the mRNA vaccine,' wrote a commenter at Natural News.

The persistent insistence on a vaccine that does not protect but does kill and injure raises questions about what the real agenda is. The master criminal Fauci and his Big Pharma overlords have set humanity up for endless mRNA booster jabs until everyone is dead.

Another responded that Schallenberg is not stupid and knows exactly what he is doing. Depopulation is the plan, as is global rule and tyranny, forever.

They know exactly what theyre doing, and what the results will be, another noted. They have no concern whatsoever for anyones health, except their own  High vaccination rates beget bribes, and that is their sole motivation.

More related news about Fauci Flu injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

Infowars.com

NaturalNews.com
(Natural News) America has now become an evil communist empire, says Michael Heath, president of Helping Hands Ministries, during the Dec. 20 episode of America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond on Brighteon.TV.

America is now communist. We literally are the evil empire. Its been that way for two years now. I mean, it legally, politically, religiously, in every way. The United States of America as an empire is imposing evil on the world, said Heath, who is running for governor of Maine.

We are under communism, period, no debate about it. We dont have a constitutional republic right now. So the only question before us is will we restore the constitutional republic that we inherited and which weve squandered? Ever since the mid-20th century, weve allowed it to weaken because people wont stand for their constitutional rights.

We have given up on it. Were not living by our constitution today, because we the people, each individual citizen, will not assert their rights, the rights that they have under the Constitution.

Heath added that Christianity is the path towards discovering all truth, especially in the West. Christianity and the church are essential to the functioning of our constitutional republic.

Heath, a former member of the Christian Civic League of Maine  the oldest Christian political organization in the said state, stressed that Christianity brings morality into the republic, which enables individual citizens to choose goodness and be supported over a lifetime.

Its Christianity that brings all thats required for the human imagination and for the human soul and for the human mind to flourish, said Heath, who stated that the only path forward for Western nations is Christianity.

Christian ideas are now taken for granted in the world

The Helping Hands Ministries president cited that when Christianity spread throughout the world a lot of its ideas related to liberty, freedom, and private property rights including sophisticated political ideas have been taken for granted today.

Those sophisticated ideas about liberty and freedom and private property rights. They grew up in Northern Europe. And they grew up because of the philosophy and the philosophical and theological work within Christianity. And the nation-state idea was born there. And now its all taken for granted all over the world, he added.

So the path forward is our constitutions. The path forward is the principles articulated in our Constitutions and are in at the federal level at our Bill of Rights, and then the amendments to our Constitutions. At the state level, these Constitutions are the supreme law of our lands.

Diamond said that we need to understand who is the higher authority, what power they have, and if they are operating in the authority that they have either from God or the Constitution. He added that we should obey the government if their authority comes from God or the Constitution.

The America Unhinged host also called on Christians who think that Christians shouldnt be involved in government and politics to open up their Bible and read it once in a while. He also took note of the Biblical truth that countries are either blessed or cursed based on whether they recognize the Lord as king.

The Bible is very clear on that every nation that forgets God will be turned into hell, and America is no exception to that rule, Diamond explained. (Related: Christianity now criminalized in America.)

The theologian and speaker also clarified in a previous episode of America Unhinged that the concepts of God, government and peoples rights are interconnected and cannot be separated. He added that the separation of God from the government is a concept not found in the Constitution and this has led to the collapse of the U.S.

Diamond also said that he understands the communist tactic and got a quote from Joseph Stalin on how to destroy America.

America is like a healthy body. And its resistance is threefold. Its patriotism, its morality and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within, said Diamond quoting Stalin.

So they attacked our spiritual life with separation of church and state in the early 60s. When that fell, our morality fell, the only string really holding America on and were living on the last string at this point, is our patriotism. And I know that the America first stuff that Trump brought in really revived the, you know, strengthened our patriotic resolve, the theologian and TV host stated.

But again, were not going to turn this around until we put those other two platforms and those pillars back in place, our spiritual life and our morality So were going to have to strengthen those two pillars again, our spiritual life and our morality in order to make this very hard for the communists to take down.

Watch the full Dec. 20 episode of America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond on Brighteon.TV.

You can catch America Unhinged with Dr. John Diamond every weekday from 9-10 a.m. p.m. on Brighteon.TV.

Sources include:

Brighteon.com

Truth.news
(Natural News) While we believe in our countrys founding legal principle that anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty, it sure seems like CNN has a penchant for hiring perverts who are enamored with children and underaged girls.

Last week, Project Veritas published a report based on a whistleblowers text messages that a CNN producer had fantasized about having sex with his fiances underage daughter, while also soliciting obscene pictures from the young girl.

In one text message exchange, the producer told the source how his fiances daughter was wearing very closely cut bottoms at the pool, going on to use extremely graphic language to describe how he saw the outline of her private parts.

Other texts were too graphic and sickening to directly quote. The messages and videos were obtained by a woman who engaged in a sexual relationship with the producer in question for a decade, Project Veritas noted on the organizations website, which added:

Project Veritas first course of action was to reach out to authorities. Following that, we reached out to the mother of the children to ensure their safety. Project Veritas then reached out to his employer, CNN, to inform them of the situation and give them the opportunity to comment. As of this press release, we are still awaiting a response.

The producer in question also solicited sexually explicit photos of the sources underage daughter, PV reported.

The undercover journalism organization went on to say that, at the time, there were no plans to release the producers name. But this week, the group changed directions and identified him after ensuring that the family involved was safe  Rick Saleeby, who is a producer on The Lead with Jake Tapper.

After the group published its stories and named the producer, the mother reached out to PV in a text:

I wanted to reach out to sincerely thank you again. I am very grateful toward you guys and everything youve done for me and my children. Our world has just been completely flipped upside down, but none of that matters. We are all safe. Im hoping, praying, and pushing for charges to be brought against him, so he can never do this to another child/family again.

I want the public and any predators to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will go to the absolute ends of the earth to protect my babies. And I am tremendously grateful that you guys have saved us all from him.

Despite the hardships ahead, I am going to continue to sit with these feelings of gratitude toward you guys and the woman who provided you with the information. Gratitude will get us through to the other side of all this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and Merry Christmas. [heart emoji]

News of this latest producer comes on the heels of another CNN producer, now fired, who once worked for former host Chris Cuomo.

John Griffin was arrested earlier this month and stands accused of directing the purported mothers of underage girls into online training sessions to teach their daughters to be sexually subservient to men, as well as flying a mother and her 9-year-old daughter out to his Vermont ski lodge where he allegedly engaged in illegal sex acts with the child, Western Journal reported.

A grand jury in Vermont indicted Griffin, a 44-year-old Stamford, Conn. resident, on charges of attempting to entice young girls into sexual activity last week.

According to the indictment, from April to July of 2020, Griffin utilized the messaging applications Kik and Google Hangouts to communicate with people purporting to be parents of minor daughters, conveying to them, among other ideas, that a woman is a woman regardless of her age, and that women should be sexually subservient and inferior to men, a press release from the Department of Justice, US Attorneys Office, District of Vermont, read.

On these communication platforms, Griffin sought to persuade parents to allow him to train their daughters to be sexually submissive. In June of 2020, Griffin advised a mother of 9- and 13-year-old daughters that the mothers responsibility was to see that her older daughter was trained properly, the statement continued.

This Is CNN.

Read more stories like this at CNNSoFake.news.

Sources include:

NaturalNews.com

ProjectVeritas.com
(Natural News) Over the past several years, avocado oil has really grown in popularity due to the many known health benefits of avocado fruit. But is all avocado oil created equally? Not exactly.

New research published in the journal Food Control has found that, much like olive oil, avocado oil purity and quality varies dramatically.

The report found that the vast majority of commercially available avocado oils labeled as extra virgin and refined are adulterated and / or of poor quality. A whopping 82 percent were also found to have gone rancid before their expiration date.

Disturbingly, three of the 22 avocado oils tested as part of the research did not even contain avocado oil at all, and were instead composed of something else entirely such as soybean oil.

Study co-author Selina Wang says she expected to find some percentage of adulterants within the lineup, but was instead shocked to learn that all of the avocado oils tested were adulterated.

This study analyzed avocado oils currently on the market in the U.S. to evaluate their quality (e.g., free fatty acidity, peroxide value, UV absorbances, vitamin E) and purity (e.g., fatty acids, sterols, triacyglycerols), she said.

Our results showed that the majority of commercial samples were oxidized before reaching the expiration date listed on the bottle. In addition, adulteration with soybean oil at levels near 100% was confirmed in two extra virgin and one refined sample.

Know what youre buying before feeding potentially rancid or adulterated oils to your family

An oil can only be considered authentic and pure when no other additives or oils have been added to it. It must be 100 percent what it says it is, otherwise it cannot be labeled as a specific oil.

Other factors considered include quality of raw material, the extraction process used, and storage methods. However, the biggest factor is mostly related to the level of hydrolysis of the fruit and oxidation of the oil.

Based on this, the studys authors are now compiling a database to support standards development for this industry.

All of the 22 avocado oil samples obtained for the research were purchased from one of six different grocery stores or two online sources. They covered major brands and types of oils, including extra virgin, unrefined and refined. The oils came from either California, Mexico, Brazil or Spain.

The vast majority of them tested as low quality, meaning they were improperly stored or stored for too long, or used damaged or rotten fruits. In some cases, extreme or harsh processing damaged the quality of the oil.

While previous researchers have proposed a healthy level of free fatty acidity (FFA) should be between 0.1% and 0.55% for refined avocado oils, three of the 22 samples had FFA values close to 2.5%, reported Dr. Joseph Mercola about the studys findings.

Extra virgin avocado oils had an FFA range between 0.03% and 2.69%, with an overall average of 1.31%.

Unhealthy avocados are those that become damaged, bruised or overripe. In some cases, the fruit is infested with insects or even black before it is overheated, processed and pumped into bottles labeled avocado oil.

Another major problem with most commercial avocado oils is high oxidation. Oxidated oil is highly inflammatory and essentially toxic, and yet most oils that remain liquid at room temperature fall into this category, avocado oil included.

A lack of industry standards is largely to blame for this disturbing situation, which is why some are now calling for reform. The reality is that true avocado oil is extremely healthy, but one of the problems is finding the real thing.

More related news about food industry deception can be found at Deception.news.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com
Kathleen Landerkin, the current Correctional Training Facility (CTF) Deputy Warden at the Department of Corrections in the District of Columbia, assists in overseeing day to day operations, inmate transportation, and case management.

(Natural News) (Article by Kylie Thomas republished from NationalFile.com)

Though she holds a position of power of January 6 inmates, Landerkin continued to spout anti-Trump and anti-Republican rhetoric on her Twitter until she deleted her account earlier today.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted at Landerkin, You are responsible for human rights violations in the DC Jail and torture and abuse of pre-trial defendants.

She included a screenshot of one of Landerkins tweets that read F**k everyone who supports Trump.

https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1469652392681607176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1469652392681607176%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnationalfile.com%2F1-6-dc-jail-deputy-warden-deletes-twitter-vulgar-anti-trump-tweets-exposed-fk-everyone-supports-trump%2F

Alex Brusewitz, the CEO of XStrategies, conducted an advanced search of her twitter by typing Trump and dozens of anti-Trump tweets came up such as The Trump family is a crime family and the GOP in [sic] complicit, and Trump is doing more damage to this country then [sic] foreign terrorists ever have.

https://twitter.com/alexbruesewitz/status/1469666224552517637

She has referred to Trump supporters as deplorables, the same word Hillary Clinton used to describe Trump supporters in 2016 and claimed that white men are more dangerous than immigrants.

In September of 2018, Landerkin revealed that she had a Resist bumper sticker on her vehicle.

She had another bumper sticker featuring President Trump depicted as a baby wearing a diaper, and a third with the American flag upside down, an international signal of distress, with the words Not My President written under it.

Ironically, while Landerkin opposed President Trump and maintains that he lost the 2020 election, Landerkin also did not believe his supporters would turn up to protest in large numbers in Washington, D.C.

Since January 6, Landerkin seemed to accuse sitting members of Congress of conspiring with the inmates she would soon supervise to launch an insurrection.

Landerkin also appears to be a partisan Democrat and a supporter of President Barack Obama. She also claimed that, because President Trump did not win the popular vote in 2016, the electoral college should be abolished.

Since 2018, Landerkin has lectured white people and made her disdain for white men known.

Landerkin also routinely responded to Republican elected officials, candidates, and pundits on Twitter. She rarely  if ever  received a response.

Inmates in the D.C. prison are being transferred to other prisons after the U.S. Marshals Service found evidence of systemic failures and unacceptable living conditions. The USMS found human rights being violated by the prison, such as guards that punitively withheld food and water from inmates, inmates that stood in human sewage because the toilets were clogged, and guards that have assaulted inmates.

In addition, Greene has described the conditions of the prison as unusually cruel, saying that inmates have been denied access to their attorneys, have been denied haircuts or razors to shave for months, and have not been given proper medical treatment when they needed it. When Greene tried to access the prison post-1/6, Deputy Warden Kathleen Landerkin denied Greene and fellow congressional staff access. Before 1/6, there was never an issue with congressional staff accessing the facility.

Landerkin knows that defendants have the right to a fair and speedy trial. Unfortunately, there are 1/6 defendants that are still waiting their sentencing date.

In fact, [Landerkin] locked us out before, said Greene. Its clear that there was a lot to hide.

Greene said the 1/6 defendants have been told that they have to denounce President Donald Trump and that their views are the views of cult members.

Marjorie Taylor Greenes office released a complete report titled Unusually Cruel: An Eyewitness Report from Inside the D.C. Jail that details human rights violations of 1/6 defendants (pdf).

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth has ordered that both Quincy Booth, the director of the citys Department of Corrections, and Wanda Patten, the warden of the DC Jail, to be held in contempt of court. While no sanctions or penalties are imposed, the judge said it needed to be determined if civil rights of the inmates in the prison are being violated.

Kathleen Landerkin deleted her Twitter account a few hours following Marjorie Taylor Greenes tweet.

Read more at: NationalFile.com
(Natural News) An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack could disable every homes, hospital, supermarket, communication channels, banking systems and other corporate settings connected to an electrical grid. It could also hurt our environment, family, wellbeing and assets.

Being prepared for an EMP attack is a preparation for everything else.

If theres an electrical magnetic pulse, that stops everything. It stops first responders, hospitals, food production, my electronics, my car and the ability to communicate because cell phones arent going to be working, said David Gilmore, also known as LDS Prepper, during his recent LDS Prepper Show.

When I started thinking about what am I going to prepare for what scenario, I decided its going to be an EMP because if Im prepared for an EMP, then Im going to be pretty well prepared for everything else.

Andrew Bucchin, the sales and marketing director of EMP Shield, agreed. Me and my group of friends have always been concerned about the risks of EMP and I really agree with you that if youre prepared for EMP, you can pretty much be prepared for anything because it is such a catastrophic event, said Bucchin during his guest appearance in the LDS Prepper Show.

Bucchin also gave an overview about EMP including nuclear EMP and its E1, E2 and E3 components. This type of event is very real. In fact, this is one of the most catastrophic weapons in any militarys arsenal, Bucchin said. He added that during an EMP attack, the micro electronics in most devices are going to be destroyed and the damage is going to be primarily happening to transistors, resistors diodes and microprocessors.

Historic cases of EMP attacks

An EMP is an intense burst of electromagnetic energy caused by a sudden and quick acceleration of charged particles. The resulting energy of an EMP destroys electronic devices that it comes across. Its effect may spread to buildings, power lines and motor vehicles. (Related: EMP threat to U.S. power grid identified just weeks ahead of vitally important elections.)

The three major causes of EMP are nuclear explosions, solar storms and lightning bolts.

The result of a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) from a nuclear warhead could appear in towering heights. An example is the U.S. nuclear bomb test that was 402.3 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean. It damaged telephone lines, streetlights and Soviet satellites, and the effects of the electrical disturbance effect occurred 1,448.4 kilometers away in Hawaii.

The first ever written case of an EMP attack was in 1859 and it happened in the form of a solar storm and, which is now called the Carrington Event.

It was considered a terrifying experience that involved the emission of solar flares or coronal mass ejection and sunspots followed by a geomagnetic storm. The effect of event brought down the telegraph system in the U.S. and parts of Europe.

The Carrington Event was the equivalent of millions of nuclear weapons going off in the atmosphere.

There have been a few cases and scares, including a mild storm that occurred in Canada in 1989. It jammed weather satellites and radio signals, which led many people to believe that a nuclear attack was imminent.

The possible threat posed by EMP has been debated for a long time now, but the government is not serious in protecting its people against what scientists consider as a real threat to humanity. Most experts admit that an EMP attack is far more deadly than a nuclear bomb.

The question now is whether we are ready and prepared if an EMP attack happens.

Preparing for a possible EMP attack

It is important to know that an EMP cannot directly harm a person, pets or plants. It has also been proven that older motor vehicles, which have more metallic bodies and less electrical wiring, are less prone to the pulses released during an EMP strike.

An EMP attack can affect your electronics and make it harder for you to move around. You can prepare for pre-EMP and post-EMP attacks by observing the following reminders:

Learn to care for your personal self and others

Prioritize self care not only with yourself but also with your family, your close relatives, and neighbors before and after an EMP attack happens. This also calls for training on first aid procedures and fixing your home for any loose structures.

Create a Faraday cage or Faraday shield

A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure made of highly conductive metal that blocks electromagnetic energy. Having one at your home will also enable you to store crucial survival items like an emergency phone or portable solar panels safely away from an EMP. Small Faraday cages are much easy to assemble and are adequate to box crucial survival electronics.

Form a non-electric backup plan

Having a non-electric backup plan for your important needs can help minimize the effects of an EMP attack. Have an excess non-electric prepping supplies that will better prepare you for a condition where electronics dont work. Storing candles and firewood along with flashlights will guarantee that you are ready for a prolonged blackout.

Place an EMP surge protector at your home

An EMP surge protector is a device that guards your homes power supply from an EMP. When a power surge destroys the grid and shuts off electrical services, electronic systems will not be damaged if plugged into a surge protector. If your home is properly shielded with a high-quality surge protector then you will experience a lesser critical power disruption.

Store batteries at your home

A stock of batteries means having an abundance of backup electricity to power your devices once an EMP subsides. When the grid goes down, batteries will be your only reasonable source of electricity for a period of time. Your battery stockpile will be safe during an EMP attack when it is not in use.

Double-lock your steel doors and upgrade your home security

Make sure that you install double-lock, solid core, steel doors. You should also upgrade the security system of your home with rechargeable backup batteries.

Boost your firearms for added security

If possible you should augment your firearms to allow you to handle your familys security during an EMP attack.

Employ fire-resistant materials at your home

Use as much as possible fire-resistant roofing and household materials to prevent or lower your homes chances from catching fire or being burned down.

Know basic first-aid medical techniques

Learn some basic first-aid techniques by having a complete first-aid kit with suture kits, needles, aspirin, ointments, and over-the-counter medications.

It is also important that you have a medical book for reference during first aid. The most common hazards during an emergency are excessive blood loss, obstructed airways and shock. Learn first-aid skills from the Red Cross and local YMCA training. Most of their training lets you identify and treat the most common dangers during an emergency.

An EMP attack is more likely today with more people connected to the national electrical grid, along with the increasing use of sophisticated electronics.

We can increase our chances of survival by preparing sufficiently. You can start by planning for basic needs, shielding our electronics, acquiring first-aid skills, and keeping physical copies of important documents.

Watch the full episode of LDS Prepper below.

This video is from the LDS Prepper channel on Brighteon.com.

Follow SHTF.news for more news related prepping and SHTF events.

Sources include:

EMPSurvive.com

DoomsdayMoose.com

Brighteon.com
(Natural News) For a country that prides itself on both compassion and justice when it comes to criminality, there are times when it seems that our nation has neither.

Case in point: A young Houston-based truck driver is about to go to prison for the rest of his life  or 110 years, whichever comes first  after a fiery crash he caused by accident on I-70 in Colorado in 2019 killed four people and injured several others.

Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos, 23 has nothing on his driving record, or on his criminal history. He had complied with every single request by the Jefferson County courts, and investigators on the case. Hes [sic] passed all of the drug and alcohol tests that were given including a chemical test. This accident was not intentional, nor was it a criminal act on the drivers [sic] part, a petition on Change.org with more than 4.5 million signatures reads.

Aguilera-Mederos was handed the insane sentence last week after he was found guilty on all 27 counts, Fox News reported. But thats because Colorado District Court Judge A. Bruce Jones, who handed down the sentence, said his hands were tied by state minimum sentencing mandates.

Mederos, 23 at the time, was driving his rig along Interstate 70 near Lakewood, Colo., on April 25, 2019, when he collided with around two dozen vehicles including four other tractor-trailers that had slowed to a crawl in rush-hour traffic. The crash caused a massive fireball that consumed several cars and trucks, American Wire reported. After the crash, investigators said that he lost control of the 18-wheeler he was driving after its brakes failed on the interstate near Denver. He then failed to take runaway truck ramps and his speed had risen to around 85 miles per hour when he slammed into cars that were parked on the highway.

During his trial, prosecutors argued that he could have taken one of several runaway truck ramps before he crashed into the vehicles but he instead made a bunch of bad decisions, according to The Denver Channel.

I am not a criminal, he said at his sentencing while shedding tears. I am not a murderer. I am not a killer. When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.

Since Aguilera-Mederos sentencing, videos that went viral on TikTok appear to show long lines of tractor-trailer rigs allegedly engaging in a boycott of the state of Colorado.

They just offered me $5 the mile to go to Colorado. You know what I told them?No trucks to Colorado. Lets show the entire country what us truckers can do when we stand together, one purported driver with the username @semi__crazy posted.

This truck is no longer going to Colorado. We want justice for Rogel Aguilera. Truckers, he needs our help, user @ntgi2020 posted.

That said, an official with the Colorado Motor Carriers Association noted on Friday the organization was not aware of any serious boycott.

Im not seeing really anything thats showing up of that boycott in terms of companies missing shipments or other things like that, Greg Fulton, president of the Colorado Motor Carriers Association, said.

He went on to say that while he understands the sentiments for Aguilera-Medero, describing the crash as a mechanical failure, which was his defense, is not correct.

I think in our eyes is inexperience, a lack of familiarity with the driver of the mountainsI dont think the company should have put them in this situation, Fulton said.

Nevertheless, and while the loss of life is tragic, nothing noted during his trial suggested he intentionally killed anyone or that he was purposefully negligent  and yet this working man is going to prison for the rest of his natural life.

Meanwhile, Washingtons criminals like Hillary Clinton and James Comey, whose careers were built on harming our country, remain free.

Justice, anyone?

Read more stories like this at Collapse.news.

Sources include:

Change.org

TheDenverChannel.com

AmericanWireNews.com
(Natural News) Columbia University researchers have found that the true death count from Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination is substantially higher than the official figures from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC claims that only 20,000 people have died from Fauci Flu injections, but Columbias underreporting factor estimates that 20 times that number, or around 400,000 deaths, is far more accurate.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a government-run database of vaccine injuries, currently shows around 20,000 deaths and nearly 103,000 hospitalizations from Chinese Virus shots. In total, as of December 3, there are nearly 1,000,000 adverse events logged in conjunction with the jabs.

The problem with VAERS is that it only captures a very small percentage  as little as one percent  of vaccine injuries and deaths. Because of this, scientists often use multipliers to estimate the true count. (RELATED: Many covid vaccine-related deaths are never even autopsied.)

An abstract of this latest study on covid injection deaths explains that accurate estimates of COVID vaccine-induced severe adverse event and death rates are critical for risk-benefit ratio analyses of vaccination and boosters against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in different age groups.

For the research, the Columbia scientists used the regional variation in vaccination rates to predict all-cause mortality and non-covid deaths in subsequent time periods. This was based on two independent, publicly available datasets from the United States and Europe.

They found that more than six weeks after injection, covid jabs had a negative correlation with mortality. Within five weeks, however, the jabs predicted all-cause mortality in nearly every age group with an age-related temporal pattern consistent with the U.S. vaccine rollout.

Comparing the studys estimated vaccine fatality rate with the CDC-reported rate, the researchers concluded VAERS deaths are underreported by a factor of 20, which is consistent with known VAERS under-ascertainment bias,' reported WND.

Based on these findings, the Columbia team declared that the risks associated with Chinese Virus injections, including the boosters, outweigh the benefits in children, young adults and older adults with low occupational risk or previous coronavirus exposure.

They further emphasized that there is an urgent need to identify, develop and disseminate diagnostics and treatments for life-altering vaccine injuries.

True covid vaccine death count could actually be more than 820,000

It turns out that the findings of the Columbia study might still represent a major undercount. The true death count from Chinese Virus injections could be more than double even the 400,000 figure.

Steve Kirsch, executive director of the Vaccine Safety Research Foundation (VSRF), recently conducted an analysis comparing anaphylaxis rates published in a study to the rate found in VAERS. Based on this, Kirsch estimates that the true death toll from the shots is more like 41 times higher, or around 820,000.

Using whistleblower data from the CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), Kirschs analysis arrived at an underreporting factor of 44.64, which suggests the death toll could be even higher than 820,000.

This number is higher than the official number attributed just to covid, by the way  and we all know that number if highly inflated because everything these days is counted as a covid death.

In other words, the number of deaths from the vaccines is far higher than the number of deaths from the actual virus (assuming there even is one).

Probably because an actual autopsy would reveal the spike protein is a synthetic version of HIV, XMRVs, SIV, Hepatitis C, with an unusually large collection of graphene oxide in the brains and clotting points, wrote one commenter at Natural News about why few, if any, autopsies are being conducted.

More of the latest news about covid injections can be found at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

WND.com

NaturalNews.com
A picture taken on November 18, 2021 shows an abandoned cat at a shelter cared for by the Brigitte Bardot Foundation in Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, Western Paris. - The French Parliament definitively adopted a bill against animal abuse, with the progressive ban on wild animals in circuses and dolphinariums, the sale of puppies and kittens in prohibited pet stores and tougher penalties for abuse or abandonment. (Photo : Photo by THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images)

In a recent interview with a couple who owns a cat from New Zealand, this cat has a public image as a skilled robber. The cat managed to pick up illicit substances and a couple of lacy black undergarments.

This furry thief is also known for illegally taking ladies lingerie and a potential crime list of objects.

Thief Cat in New Zealand Brings Home Bag of White Powder

Keith, a five-year-old cat from Christchurch, New Zealand, seems to have a habit of stealing stuff that do not really directly relate from him for the past three years.

This time, however, he flabbergasted his owners by taking home a bong and a plastic container bag found to contain an unknown powdery substance.

Ginny and David Rumbold, the cat's owners, has said that the kitty has previously managed to bring home a lengthy list of missing property, which would include black-laced undies, corsets, footwear, and sometimes even live eels from Christchurch's Heathcote stream.

A neighborhood tradesperson's steel-toed footwear is a personal favorite of Keith. Notwithstanding the fact that the individual is bearing down his work boots with fluorescent green 2.5-kilogram body weight, Keith manages to squeeze them back to the house - each footwear at a time.

A deputy sheriff notified the New Zealand-based local news site info that his branch was "attempting to play cat and mouse with this illustrious wrongdoer."

Security forces, even though, refrained from commenting on the unknown origin powdery substance.

Also read: 250 Puppies Killed in 'Revenge Massacre' by Enraged Monkeys in India

A Cat Steals Undergarments and Shoes From Neighborhood

"Keith has a thing for footwear, he absolutely adores branded sneakers which includes the known brands like Nike or Adidas. He also has a thing for pretty ladies' swimsuits, protective clothing," Ms. Rumbold explained to media.

Keith had pretty much abandoned a set of underwear on the couple's backyard gate.

"I told him precious stones and liquid assets would have been preferable, but this has not actually occurred yet," Ms. Rumbold remarked.

The Rumbolds have opted to storing their cat's inadequately gains in two plastic canisters on their front doorway, where neighbors can come and get them. Restoring the items, however, has diminished in deterring Keith, who has a history of taking a same object repetitively.

Keith was also "imprisoned" by his owners; however, the animal became enraged and gotten rid their Christmas tree bare, scattering ornaments throughout the residence.

The Rumbolds were compelled to draw an official apology note to their neighbors before collecting Keith's loot and storing it in two distinct compartments.

Local residents, according to Ginny Rumbold, were much more bewildered than irritated by the cat's kleptomania. Keith's new observations, however, have come to the attention of government municipalities.

They were once again instructed to search the large containers for any unusual items Keith might well have forcibly taken from family members.

The neighbors, on the other hand, are trying to take it in stride and appear to be unconcerned.

Also read: Teacher Sacked After Repeatedly Kicking, Slapping Horse in Viral Footage
The deaths of dozens of koalas in Victoria prompted Australia regulators to issue hundreds of animal cruelty charges.

In 2020, dead koalas were found at a timber plantation that was partly cleared at Cape Bridgewater. Due to dehydration and injuries incurred during the incident, other koalas were euthanized.

Mass Deaths of Koalas

A landowner and an earthmoving company have been accused of injuring and murdering the animals by cleaning the field. Each of them faces 126 charges, according to BBC News.

One case of animal cruelty has been filed against a second company, a contractor, for disturbing the koala population.

They haven't yet made a formal appeal. The Conservation Regulator of Victoria, Australia, did not identify the accused.

Shaimaa Khalil, a BBC Sydney reporter, adds that each crime carries a hefty fine or a potential term of 12 months in prison.

There are just a few isolated pockets of blue gum trees left in the plantation, which is an essential koala habitat. In the few surviving trees, there were dead koalas. Bulldozers may have killed others.

21 koalas were discovered dead and 49 others had to be euthanized by Australian broadcaster ABC, according to ABC's website.

According to the Victorian Conservation Regulator, the event endangered 200 koalas. In Victoria, koalas are a protected species.

Helen Oakley, a local homeowner, saw the dead animals and filmed a video of herself grieving and conveying the news, which sparked an inquiry into the incident.

Also Read: Koalas climb like apes but bound on the ground like marsupials

Government Intervention in the Situation

Victoria's state government promised that those responsible will be held accountable for the killings when they were first reported on social media by a citizen.

More than 250 animal cruelty violations were filed against the property owner and the company, including 36 counts of severe cruelty for causing fatalities. One more contractor was charged with a felony cruelty crime. Officials failed to get the names of either the landowner or the firms in question.

In February, the matter will be heard in court. A person or a corporation may face a maximum penalty of $65,500 or two years in jail for a single accusation of severe animal cruelty resulting to death.

All of Australia's states and territories have designated the koala a "vulnerable" species and are working to safeguard the marsupials. The devastating wildfires that ravaged large swaths of the nation in 2019 had a significant impact on its population.

Decline in Koala Population

In spite of the fact that the koalas have evolved to cope with wildfires, climate change and human activity are placing new pressures on the creatures' capacity to withstand flames.

It's impossible to determine how many koalas are left in Australia, but experts estimate that their numbers have dropped by as much as 80% in certain areas..

It has been suggested that researching and rescuing koalas might be crucial in the development of a human vaccine against chlamydia because of their similar sensitivity to human infection.

Australian officials initiated a project to count the koala population and document where they reside in the wild last year, a formidable task since koalas are difficult to identify in the wild.

In trees, marsupials are easy to overlook if they sit stationary and are concealed by the canopy. There were also acoustic studies and detection dogs sent by government agencies.

Related Article: [WATCH] Australian Woman Saves Koala From Bushfire

For more news, updates about koalas and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Norwich pastor publishes new book Norwich pastor publishes new book

Dr Alan Clifford, pastor of Norwich Reformed Church, has published a book on the life and ministry of 18th century church leader Edmund Calamy the Elder.



It is the 350th anniversary of Edmund Calamy's birth. The Calamy family was a prominent family in English Nonconformity from the period of Stuart Puritanism down to the Victorian era. The most famous of the family is Edmund Calamy III (1671-1732), who was an English Presbyterian churchman and historian. Ordained at the London meeting-house of Samuel Annesley, the Presbyterian grandfather of John Wesley, Calamy served Christ faithfully in London during the first third of the eighteenth century.



Dr Clifford has written numerous books, what is unique about this publication is that a publisher - H&E Publishing -requested it! It started life as an article on Facebook, and has been developed into a 48 page booklet.



Dr Clifford is encouraged that the booklet has been well received by Christians of many denominations and says that the teachings of Calamy are relevant to us today. "Dr Edmund Calamy's life and ministry in early 18th century London inspires hope in our dark days, surrounded as we are by secular materialistic forces. Dr Calamy provided a secure and solid foundation for faith when humanistic rationalism was gnawing at the roots of Christianity. With unflinching faithfulness, his ministry looked forward to the great Methodist Evangelical Revival of the 18th century."





The book is available on Amazon



Helen Baldry, 27/12/2021
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
(Newser)  The New York Times is calling it "one of the most extraordinary discoveries of Renaissance artwork in years," a find made all the more remarkable because it fell into a man's hands for just $30. That's how much an unidentified man spent in 2016 on the small drawing of the Virgin Mary and child at a Massachusetts estate sale. It's now thought to be a drawing by Albrecht Durer, a famed German artist whose drawings were assumed to all be accounted for, with the last "new" one found in 1932. The path between that sale and what happened last week at the British Museum in Londona panel of experts deemed it a Durer drawinginvolved a rare-book purveyor in Massachusetts who is friends with the estate-goer, had seen the drawing, and had noted the initials "AD" at the bottom.

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Artnet reports the man, suspecting it was possibly a work by Durer, had taken it to a few experts, only to be told he was wrong. Then the twist of fate: In 2019, Boston art dealer Clifford Schorer was headed to a retirement party for the head of the Yale Center for British Art, forgot his gift, Googled rare book dealers, and found Brainerd Phillipson's shop. After he purchased some books, Phillipson mentioned the possibility of his friend owning a Durer drawing, reports the Boston Globe. As the Times explains, Schorer dismissed it as a likely engraving, which are more plentiful. "As someone who knows Albrecht Durer in and out, its impossible," he advised.

But 11 days later, when he was texted photos of the work, he got in the car and was at the man's house within the hour to examine it. "It was either a masterpiece or the greatest forgery I had ever seen," said Schorer; he made a deal with the man to sell the drawing. The Times details Schorer's two-year quest to authenticate the drawing, which has taken him around the globe and involved a few detractors (one researcher in Austria believes it was made by Durer apprentice Hans Baldung). It's expected to go on sale in 2022 with an eight-figure price tag, with some suggesting it could fetch as much as $50 million. (Read more art stories.)
(Newser)  Accused Capitol rioter Thomas Sibick would like to be able to use dating apps while he awaits trial. An attorney for Sibick, who is on home incarceration at his parents' home in Buffalo, NY, made the request via a motion filed Saturday asking the judge in the case to modify Sibick's release conditions, WUSA9 reports. The 36-year-old was originally being held at a jail in Washington, DC, but in October his lawyer argued the "cult-like" group of fellow January 6 suspects being held there were likely to further radicalize his client, and the judge released him to the custody of his parents.

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But she forbade him to watch political television or use social media. In the motion filed Saturday, Sibick's attorney asks that he be allowed to attend the wake of a friend who recently died, and that he be allowed to access websites for the purposes of finding a job as well as "interact[ing] with members of the opposite gender for the purpose of establishing a friendship." However, the judge has ordered him to be on 24-hour lockdown, so any dating or working would need to be done remotely. Sibick is accused of beating a police officer, ripping off his badge and radio. His lawyer says Sibick now sees the Capitol breach as "a disgrace to our nation" and holds former President Trump responsible, the Guardian reports. (Read more Capitol riot stories.)
(Newser)  Update: As of Monday, the stretch of Interstate 80 that was shut down due to a major storm in the western US had hit 81 miles, the New York Times reports. The highway is closed near the Sierra Nevada mountain range, from Placer County near Sacramento to the Nevada state line. Several other major highways remain closed in northern California as record-setting amounts of snow fallgood news for the previously parched state's water supply, but bad news for the more than 115,000 people without power as of Monday morning. In southern California, another storm is expected Tuesday night, and could continue until Friday morning, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Pacific Northwest is experiencing frigid temperatures, and Nevada and Arizona are also seeing impacts, per the AP. Our previous story from Monday follows:

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A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days, the AP reports. Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car pileup on Interstate 395, where drivers described limited visibility on Sunday. Further west, a 70-mile stretch of Interstate 80 was shut until at least Monday from Colfax, California, through the Lake Tahoe region to the Nevada state line. The California Department of Transportation also closed many other roads while warning of slippery conditions for motorists.

Expect major travel delays on all roads, the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada, said Sunday on Twitter. Today is the type of day to just stay home if you can. More snow is on the way too! The weather service issued a winter storm warning for greater Lake Tahoe until 1am Tuesday because of possible widespread whiteout conditions and wind gusts that could top 45mph. Turbulent weather stretched from San Diego to Seattle. More than a foot of snow was reported near Port Angeles on Washington state's Puget Sound. Portland, Oregon received a dusting, but the city was expected to get another 2.5 inches by Monday morning, according to the weather service. Rare snow even piled up in Northern California's Santa Cruz Mountains, CBS San Francisco reports.

In California, rockslides caused by heavy rain closed more than 40 miles of coastal Highway 1 in the Big Sur region south of the San Francisco Bay Area. There was no estimate for the reopening of the scenic stretch that is frequently shut after wet weather. The latest in a series of blustery storms hit Southern California with heavy rain and wind that flooded streets and knocked down power lines late Saturday. Powerful gusts toppled trees, damaged carports and blew a track-and-field shed from a Goleta high school into a front yard two blocks away, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. No injuries were reported. The continuing storms were welcomed in parched California, where the Sierra snowpack had been at dangerously low levels after weeks of dry weather.

(Read more winter storm stories.)
(Newser)  When the US struggled during its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to put down outnumbered and outgunned insurgents, Ukraine was paying attention. It's looking at a possible invasion now by Russian forces and Russian-backed separatists, and one of Ukraine's strategies is preparing a civilian force to pick up the fight after an invasion, the New York Times reports. "We have a strong army, but not strong enough to defend against Russia," said a doctor undergoing military training. "If we are occupied, and I hope that doesn't happen, we will become the national resistance."

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The army has been training volunteers on weekends since last year, and they're being divided into units of the new Territorial Defense Forces. In addition, signups pay their own way to be trained by private paramilitary organizations. The goal isn't to defeat Russia's military, which Ukraine's generals say even their regular forces would be unlikely to do in an all-out war, per the Times. The idea is to establish a strong civilian force that's able to disrupt foreign occupying troops, and that could act as a deterrent to an invasionjust as a strong military does. The military wants to have 100,000 volunteers ready. But there are risks to building such a force.

A study by the Institute for the Study of War in Washington warned that Ukraine's internal political divisions could turn the militias into a problem. An invasion might lead the armed groups to "quickly turn into a decentralized insurgency in many parts of the country," the study said. For now, the volunteers are working quickly to be ready. "People who are prepared won't panic," said a 25-year-old woman practicing rushing to a fallen soldier with her medical kit. The way a 56-year-old ad executive learning explosives sees it: "The more coffins we send back, the more the Russian people will start thinking twice." (Putin sounds unyielding about the Ukraine standoff in his end-of-the-year press conference.)
(Newser)  A Christmas Day party ended in tragedy for one California family, with a 23-year-old arrested for allegedly murdering his grandmother and his dad's girlfriend. Detectives say family members had assembled at the Reedley, Calif., home to exchange gifts when Austin Alvarez arrived. Per a press release from the Fresno County Sheriff's Office, "During the visit, Alvarez fired shots striking his grandmother (Magdalena Alvarez) and his fathers girlfriend (Meisa Rashid)." Both women, ages 58 and 39, respectively, died of their wounds.

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He then left the house and allegedly spotted his dad in a parked vehicle and fired shots in his direction. Officers arrived at the house around 1:45pm. Detectives say they were told the suspect had taken off in a GMC pickup, reports the Fresno Bee; Alvarez was apprehended some 10 miles away. Sheriffs detectives say they have not established a clear motive. Alvarez was booked into the Fresno County Jail on suspicion of two charges of murder and one of attempted murder, with bail set at $2.5 million. (Read more double homicide stories.)
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Our Interest in the News Wasn't What It Was in 2020

The AP rounds up some numbers that show the decline
(Newser)  Update: A Brooklyn man accused of shooting both of his parents in their Long Island home on Christmas morning was apparently angry over a custody issue, local police now say. Dino Tomassetti, 29, "wanted to take his 1-year-old away from his parents and the natural mother, which he did not have custody to," Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Wednesday, per CBS New York. "That's when the argument started." Per court papers, Tomassetti also "repeatedly bashed his father in the head" with his weapon after he'd shot the 65-year-old and his 64-year-old mother, reports the New York Daily News. Tomassetti has been extradited from New Jersey, where he was apprehended by authorities, to Long Island on Wednesday. He faces two charges of attempted murder, for which defense attorneys say he'll enter pleas of not guilty. The infant boy is now said to be in the custody of his mother. Our original story from Monday follows:

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A Brooklyn man spent part of Christmas Day on the run after shooting his parents at their Long Island mansion, police say. Dino Tomassetti was arrested in New Jersey around 2pm Saturday after police used GPS to track his SUV, the Daily Voice reports. Sources tell the Voice that parents Rocco Tomassetti, 65, and Vincenza Marsicano-Tomassetti, 64, required surgery after the Saturday morning shooting. Nassau County police say Tomassetti shot his father in the back and his mother in the head around 10am at their home in Hewlett Harbor, reports the New York Daily News. Police say both victims were still conscious when they were hospitalized.

Tomassetti, who was taken into custody without incident, was charged with being a fugitive from justice and is being held in the Bergen County Jail pending extradition to New York. No motive for the shooting has been disclosed. The New York Post reports that the family has long been a major player in the construction industry. Rocco Tomassetti owns a Brooklyn-based cement company and his late father, Dino Tomassetti Sr., owned the Laquila Group construction chain, which was indicted in 1987 over an alleged waste disposal scheme linked to organized crime. (Read more Long Island stories.)
(Newser)  A pathology service in Sydney, Australia, had to scramble to correct a major error over the holiday weekend after telling 400 people who had tested positive for COVID that their tests were negative. Almost a thousand more people were told their tests were negative when in fact the results werent in yet. SydPath says theyve contacted all of the affected people, the New York Times reports. The lab added that the mistake was made at a time of unprecedented Covid testing activity. Australia is seeing a surge in cases and at least one death so far from the omicron variant.

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The health minister in New South Wales state, Brad Hazard, is asking people to skip getting tested unless they have symptoms, been exposed to the virus, or need a negative test to travel, Australias ABC TV reports. And the wait for test results has increased lately. Hazard said its a possibility that everyone in New South Wales will get the omicron eventually, and encouraged everyone to get vaccinatedplus a booster shotto minimize the disease. The state government has said theyll provide free testing kits, but have yet to pin down when that will happen. Meanwhile, Australian cities have gone back to mask mandates (Read more COVID-19 stories.)
(Newser)  A Republican Senate candidate in Arizona is hoping to raise more than $570,000and highlight his Silicon Valley connectionswith an NFT. Blake Masters tells Axios that he hopes to gain support "from folks who are less conventional political donors and more founders and builders who want to see new thinking and new energy in our politics." The limited-edition digital token, which can be seen hereshows a version of the cover art for Zero to One, the 2014 book Masters co-wrote with conservative tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel. Masters says a maximum of 99 of the NFTs will be sold, with half the $5,800 price to be spent on the Republican primary and the other half on the general election campaign next year.

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Thiel was one of Masters' professors at Stanford Law School and Masters now helps run Thiel Capital, which invests in tech startups. Masters, 35, tells Axios that the best NFT projects are those that "create or support certain communities where people share an excitement about something in particular" and aren't just "random art on the blockchain." Masters is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, the former astronaut who won a special election last year for the seat formerly held by Sen. John McCain.

"The left wants to do more with more. The right wants to do less with less. But we need to do more with less," the fundraising page says. "That's the definition of 'technology.'" Masters says NFT buyers will also receive a signed hardcover copy of the book, an invitation to a party for token holders, and "access to a private Discord chat for token holders." The Hill reports that Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich is ahead in the polls for the GOP nomination, though Masters is expected to get Donald Trump's endorsement. (Read more NFT stories.)
Alaska Public Health Centers, including Fairbanks Public Health Center, are offering two free rapid tests per family. An employee of the Fairbanks Public Health Center confirmed that tests are available, saying all people need to do is wear a mask and stop in. Ana Ramirez/TNS
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Representative of His Majesty the King for Humanitarian Work and Youth Affairs, His Highness Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has commended the royal support to charity and humanitarian work.

HH Shaikh Nasser thanked His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Honorary President of the Royal Humanitarian Foundation (RHF), and His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister.

HH Shaikh Nasser expressed appreciation to the executive directorate and all employees of RHF for their distinguished role in serving the orphans, widows and the needy.

He was speaking on the occasion of RHFs winning the second edition of the Prince Mohammed bin Fahad Prize for Best Charity Performance in Arab Countries (2019-2020), which was organised by the Arab Leagues Organisation for Administrative Development under the theme Towards a Better Future for Institutional Charity Work in the Arab World.

HH Shaikh Nasser described the achievement as a reflection of the royal support to charity work and humanitarian efforts by Bahrain to provide aid to people suffering from conflicts, wars and natural disasters.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The Shura Council yesterday rejected two bills that sought to amend the Civil Service Law to reserve all jobs under the public sector, including contract jobs, for Bahrainis.

The council voted by a majority, with one member abstaining, to reject the two bills following the recommendations of the Legislative and Legal Affairs Committee.

It observed that foreigners need to be hired for jobs in case of not finding a suitable Bahraini candidate who meets the qualifications to occupy the required position.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain and India are committed to bolstering growing bilateral cooperation, especially in the health field.

Supreme Council for Health President, Lieutenant-General Dr Shaikh Mohamed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa yesterday received Indian Ambassador to Bahrain Piyush Srivastava in the presence of SCH Secretary-General Ibrahim Ali Al Nawakhdha.

Dr Shaikh Mohamed bin Abdulla stressed the depth of the distinguished cooperation between Bahrain and India, praising the steady progress of the friendly bilateral relations at all levels, and affirming Bahrains keenness to bolster its cooperation with India, especially in the health field.

Ambassador Srivastava also hailed the distinguished level of the friendly Bahraini-Indian relations.

He also praised the key role played by SCH to develop the healthcare sector in Bahrain, confront the pandemic and provide health coverage for all, affirming Indias readiness to enhance its health cooperation with the kingdom.

Dr Shaikh Mohamed bin Abdulla briefed Ambassador Srivastava about the role of the SCH in developing and following up on the implementation of the national health plans, particularly the National Health Insurance Programme, as well as in enhancing the healthcare sector in the kingdom.

The SCH discussed with the envoy the prospects for health cooperation between the two countries, especially regarding the organisation of visits by doctors and consultants, exchanging experiences in terms of training and research, benefiting from Indias experience in the health sector, particularly medical subspecialties, and attracting Indian investments in health sector projects, especially in pharmaceutical factories, and the continuation of the existing cooperation in confronting the coronavirus pandemic for the benefit of both countries.

The meeting also focused on ways to develop bilateral cooperation regarding overseas treatment, taking advantage of the distinguished medical and treatment services and capabilities in India, and in coordination with all health entities in the Kingdom.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

A 48-year-old expatriate woman, who has been stranded in the Kingdom for the past 16 years, is all set to fly home  thanks to the efforts of three ex-pat social workers.

Indian national Uma Marimuthu came to the Kingdom in 2006 with great hopes of working as a housemaid and supporting her children and relatives back home.

But, those hopes did not take off as she failed to find consistent income.

According to social workers, the manpower agency, which brought Uma to the Kingdom, did not obtain her residency permit.

They would make her work for different employers and most often, without payment.

Eventually, Uma broke off ties with the manpower agency and began working as a housemaid.

Her stay in the Kingdom was not legalised as the manpower agency did not release her passport and other legal documents.

Two years ago, after suffering from diabetic retinopathy, she started losing her eyesight.

Sudheer Thirunilath, World NRI Council Humanitarian Director for the Middle East, told The Daily Tribune that Uma was partially blind when he met her a few months ago.

We took her to an eye hospital, where she is receiving treatment.

Her expenses are now being taken care of by some good-minded people, Sudheer said.

A group of social workers led by Sudheer, Mr Senthil of Annai Thamiz Mantram and Azhkar Poozhithala of Hope Bahrain came to her rescue.

They took up their case with the Indian Embassy, which issued her an outpass.

Uma hails from Thanjavoor district in the South Indian State of Tamil Nadu.

She has three children and six sisters, all dependent on her
Cold weather is here in Bahrain, expatriates can heave a sigh of relief again

Cold weather is here in Bahrain, expatriates can heave a sigh of relief again

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Cool temperature is now on our doorstep as a relatively mild winter is finally coming in Bahrain. Weathermen have forecast unsettled weather this week with scattered rains in some parts of Bahrain.

Mornings are getting chillier by the day, and people are struggling to fight off the cold weather.

What does that mean for expatriates?

Expatriates, who makeup 52.6% of the population and play a key role in the development of the national economy, can now heave a collective sigh of relief  although only temporarily!

Power bills have already gone down last month and will continue until March or April next year.

Every hot summer month  from May to October  expatriates all have the same issue and concern: extremely high electricity and water bills! This year is no exception.

The issue has caused an uproar among the ex-pat population as it comes at a time when many have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

Utility bills are a significant part of every households monthly budget.

And as always, utility bills are the highest during the summer months due to the increased use of air conditioners and water, making it a struggle for many expatriates.

Since 2016, ex-pats are charged 29 fils per unit for electricity and 750 fils per unit for water.

Bahrainis pay 3 fils per unit for electricity under 3,000 units, increasing to 9 fils for anything above this.

This means ex-pats pay a massive 866 per cent more than Bahrainis.

The abnormally high utility bills are causing a sizeable burden to low-income expats.

Absurdly high utility bills are weighing down on them as many are unable to cope with the rising costs.

Many of them struggle to pay bills and they leave Bahrain for good as their entire salary is just going towards expenses.

For other expatriates, especially those with families, it is unreasonable to pay utility costs that almost amount to the rent, so they are forced to send their families home.

Expenses are soaring but salaries remain the same  there is no increase, in fact  and in some sectors salaries are not paid on time by many employers.

This is making the situation worse for expatriates who send money to their families back home.

Many are forced to move into shared accommodation because they are struggling to meet rising expenses, foremost of which is the soaring electricity and water bill.

Tenants, bachelors, couples and large families, who live in apartment buildings that share electricity and water bills also complain about what they describe as an unfair system.

In some cases, expats are paying utility bills that are even higher than their monthly rent.

Indeed, the pleasant cold weather is here again so expatriates can make the most of the coming months until April when utility bills are still affordable.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Kuwait Finance House  Bahrain (KFH  Bahrain) announced the conclusion of its National Day event Breakfast on Us, which treated all KFHs cardholders to a complimentary breakfast at one of three local restaurants: Basta 23, Haji and Lumee.

The 3-day event was held from the 16th to the 18th of December 2021.

In celebration of this day, KFH  Bahrain also announced its introduction of an exclusive design for its ATM cards, innovatively designed with the emblem of Bahrain, for all current and new customers.

Customers can obtain the card by applying through the KFH JAZEEL Banking app or by visiting any branch of the Bank in the Kingdom.

Commenting on the occasion, Hamed Mashal, Head of Retail Banking at KFHBahrain, said: It is with great pleasure that we announce the conclusion of our special event in conjunction with the Kingdoms National Day and His Majestys Accession Day.

We would also like to express our gratitude and thanks to all the restaurants that participated in the event and wish them continued success.

We look forward to hosting more events for our customers to express our appreciation of their loyalty towards the Bank.

We encourage everyone to join the KFH  Bahrain family and benefit from the exceptional offers presented by the Bank.

Abdulrahman AlKhan, Head of Cards & E-Channels at Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain commented: We are delighted to be introducing this exceptional, exclusive card design on such a special occasion such as the National Day.

Furthermore, we remain committed to fulfilling the needs of our customers, while tailoring our offerings to share with them those special moments and continue fostering meaningful connections.
DANBURY  While prepping for family gatherings, cooking for holiday meals, and packing for vacations, residents in the greater Danbury area are clamoring for COVID tests, often to no avail.

Theyre showing up at hospital emergency rooms and clearing out pharmacies in search of rapid tests. Theyre overwhelming local testing systems and seeking advice in Facebook groups. One Danbury Urgent Care saw a Christmas Eve test line that stretched out the building doors. Daily positive cases in Danbury have hit triple digits twice since Dec. 21. Those two times were the first since January.

Connecticut, like the rest of the country, is struggling to meet a surging demand for COVID-19 tests. Its the same story in most towns: limited tests for an ever-growing line. And health providers are expecting even greater volumes searching for tests in the coming weeks as cases continue to surge.

New Milford Mayor Pete Bass said their health departments testing site was seeing unbelievable demand last week and through the weekend. In fact, there were so many people coming to them for tests that it closed the clinic to non-residents, prioritizing testing for New Milford and Washington residents, Health Director Lisa Morrissey said.

And tests that would usually come back in about 72 hours or less are now taking roughly five days to return.

That meant that New Milford residents who tested on Tuesday or Wednesday were still waiting for results on Christmas Day. Morrissey expects to see the impact of those delayed turnaround times in the next few weeks with further positive cases.

We know that people who did not have their results in hand were still gathering, she said.

While New Milford is able to offer their own test site, other towns have to refer their residents to Danbury-based sites or local retail pharmacies.

One Danbury-area health provider, Connecticut Institute for Communities, Inc. (CIFC), reported a large increase in test requests specifically from asymptomatic exposure and travel, as well as an inundation of calls from non-patients. The demand was so great that the health provider set up a recording machine on their phone line to provide information while freeing up the line for patients in need of immediate care, said Katie Curran, CIFC CEO and president.

If our experience last year post-holiday and what is happening in other parts of the country is any indication, demand for testing will most definitely increase in the coming weeks as a result of holiday gatherings and exposures (and additional travel requests), wrote Curran in an email to Hearst Connecticut.

Plan of action

In response to incongruous testing supply and demand, Gov. Ned Lamont announced a plan on Monday to send three million COVID-19 at-home rapid tests across the state, in addition to six million N95 masks. The test kits will start being distributed on Thursday.

There are three simple and effective interventions to fight off the current surge of COVID-19 from the Omicron variant - vaccination, masking, and testing, said Connecticut Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani in a press release. We will be distributing two of these - masks and tests - so that our communities can work as quickly as possible to get past this surge.

CIFC also expects to receive its first order of about 450 at-home kits for their patients later this week, and about 900 more the following week.

Bethel First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker experienced first-hand the time it took to schedule a test before gathering with family for the holidays, and said that its important for residents to go ahead and schedule an appointment if they know theyll need a negative test.

Dont wait. Go online and get your appointment, he said. It might take a few days.

But dont go to local hospitals - specifically emergency departments - a Nuvance spokesperson said in a statement Monday. Nuvance runs both Danbury and New Milford hospitals.

Please utilize the emergency department for medical emergencies... There are many convenient and less expensive options now like retail pharmacies and at-home tests. This will help prevent the spread of the virus to others and healthcare workers who want to be available to our communities, they said.

Government exposure

For the most part, town hall functions across the greater Danbury area have not been affected by the sudden rise in cases and holiday surge.

Bethel and New Milford have had some staff put on quarantine, but these have not disrupted the day-to-day town operations, as many employees can effectively work from home, the first selectmen reported. Bethels mask mandate has helped workers in the small office spaces stay healthy, with no cases reported in the offices, First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said Monday.

We are thinly staffed to begin with, and we really cant afford to have a lot of people out quarantining because theyve been exposed, Knickerbocker said.

Redding, on the other hand, had to close its town office doors to the public this week due to a high volume of cases among its employees. The offices are available by appointment only as of Monday, and masks are required in town buildings regardless of vaccination status.

Bass showed no indication of implementing a mask mandate, and said that he and Health Director Lisa Morrissey were closely monitoring the situation. The two had a conference call Monday afternoon to discuss the situation and the coming weeks. Anyone who is unvaccinated has to wear a mask in town buildings.

Brookfield still has a mask recommendation but no requirement in town buildings, which drew criticism from members of the Democratic Town Committee last week. First Selectman Tara Carr issued new guidance on Dec. 10 highly encouraging all residents to wear a mask in public buildings, but not requiring them to do so.

Still, Knickerbocker expects some other local leaders to follow suit with their own mandates in the coming days and weeks. He is expecting another COVID case rate increase when the state releases its weekly dataset on Thursday.

Looking ahead

Morrissey is hoping to soon expand testing capabilities for the five towns she currently oversees, as well as purchase additional at-home test kits for residents using state funds.

I know that its a trying and very challenging time, Morrissey said. The fact that people are trying so hard to get tested really speaks to the fact that people are taking this seriously.

She advised those who have any symptoms but are stuck waiting for a test or results to assume theyre positive and isolate.

The number of cases that were seeing, its just been skyrocketing, Morrissey said. We havent seen levels like this since 2020.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) will convene a meeting with senior officials of the Union Health Ministry including Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday to discuss about the current COVID-19 situation as five states are going into polls next year, informed ECI sources. Assembly elections are due in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab for next year.

The Election Commission of India will convene a meeting on December 27 at 11 am with senior officials of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare including Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The meeting will discuss the prevailing COVID19 situation for upcoming Assembly elections in five states, highly placed sources said. Earlier, amid the COVID variant Omicron scare, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday requested the Election Commission of India to immediately postpone the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh for 1-2 months.

The court also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ECI to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties in the state. Meanwhile, India reported 6,987 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday. As per the Union Health Ministry report, with 162 more fatalities reported, the total death toll mounted to 4,79,682. The Omicron tally across the nation has surpassed 400-mark. So far, a total of 17 States have reported the new Covid variant, which was first detected in South Africa, said the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project. The 210 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 1800 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 750 million units of electricity per year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh today to lay the foundation stone of hydropower projects worth over Rs 11,000 crore. According to Prime Ministers Office, PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of the Renukaji Dam project, lying pending for around three decades. Six states viz Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi were brought together by the Centre for making the project possible, reads the press release. The 40 MW project will be built at a cost of around Rs 7000 crore. It will prove to be immensely beneficial for Delhi, which will be able to receive around 500 million cubic metre water supply per year, reads the official statement.

Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone of the Luhri Stage 1 Hydro Power Project. The 210 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 1800 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 750 million units of electricity per year. The modern and dependable grid support will prove beneficial to the surrounding states of the region as well.

The foundation stone of the Dhaulasidh Hydro Power Project will also be laid by PM Modi on Monday.

This will be the first hydropower project of Hamirpur district. The 66 MW project will be built at a cost of over Rs 680 crore. It will lead to the generation of over 300 million units of electricity per year, read the release. Prime Minister will inaugurate the Sawra-Kuddu Hydro Power Project. The 111 MW Project has been built at a cost of around Rs 2080 crore. It will lead to generation of over 380 million units of electricity per year, and help the state earn revenue worth over Rs 120 crore annually, it added.

Prime Minister will also preside over the second ground-breaking ceremony of the Himachal Pradesh Global Investors Meet. The Meet is expected to give a boost to investment in the region through the start of projects worth around Rs 28,000 crore.
West has to stand together against China whose leadership often plays western countries against each other, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a recent interview. In an interview with Canadian television network Global television, Trudeau said like-minded countries should show a united front against Beijings increasingly coercive diplomacy.

We need to do a better job of working together and standing strong so China cant play the angles and divide us one against the other, Trudeau said. He added, Weve been competing and China has been from time to time very cleverly playing us off each other in an open market competitive way. We need to do a better job of working together and standing strong so that China cant, you know, play the angles and divide us one against the other. The Canadian PM said the problem occurs as many Western countries attempt to gain access to Chinas market, letting it dictate the terms and pitting Western states against each other as competitors.

Since the past few years, Canadas ties with China have strained over a slew of issues. This discord started after Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, a Chinese national, was arrested in Vancouver in 2018. Soon after the incident, China detained two Canadians. This move saw as retaliation for Mengs arrest. Meng eventually reached a deal with US prosecutors in September this year, which later led to the release of the two Canadian nationals.

Earlier this month, the Canadian PM had announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Canada remains deeply disturbed by reports of human rights violations in China. As a result, we wont be sending diplomatic representatives to Beijing for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Well continue to support our athletes who work hard to compete on the world stage, Trudeau had tweeted.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP)  Elliana Davis was celebrating her 11th birthday recently and knew just where she wanted to eat and even who she wanted for a server.

Elliana chose Shanghai Bistro in Eau Claire in part because she loves its sushi, but mostly because she adores the Asian restaurants new employee: Jonny 5.

The 3-foot-tall robot server, named after a fictional robot in the 1980s Short Circuit films, has been delivering plates of sushi, fried rice and pad Thai to diners since the end of October, the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reported.

Jonny 5 has been a valuable addition to the staff and helped Shanghai Bistro navigate a labor shortage that has hit restaurants particularly hard, said owner Henry Chan.

Its definitely proven itself, Chan said. Its working out really well.

Chans goal in leasing the robot is to improve efficiency by having Jonny 5 do a healthy portion of the running back and forth between the kitchen and the tables, so servers can focus on offering personal service, filling drink orders faster and chatting with customers.

Its a huge benefit to us. Our efficiency just shot through the roof because of how fast food goes out, Chan said, noting that the robot already has helped things go smoothly on days when the restaurant was short-staffed or someone called in sick.

While some folks worry that such robots will eliminate food-service jobs  leading to angry social media posts in some parts of the country  Chan said he doesnt see it that way, especially amid a tight labor market that has many restaurants displaying help wanted signs.

Its not taking away any jobs, he said. Its just doing jobs that are hard to fill or nobody wants.

The cost of leasing the model, called Servi by manufacturer Bear Robotics, is about the same as the cost of employing a human server in the Chippewa Valley, Chan said.

Chan emphasized that the robot cant fully replace a human being because it requires a person to run it. He calls the job of the person who primarily operates the robot an expedited robotics technician  a title he hopes makes recruitment easier.

Jonny 5, which gives a whole new meaning to meals on wheels, works by using a mix of cameras, sensors and LIDAR  sometimes called 3D scanning  to navigate around the restaurant without bumping into people or tables. If a person walks in front of it, the robot will stop and go around or say excuse me.

The process begins when a person in the kitchen sets the food on Jonny 5 and then tells the robot to bring it to a certain table or to the front counter for takeout orders. The robot then whisks the order to the programmed table, where it stops and says, Please take your food. When a weight sensor detects the food is gone, the robot says, Thank you. Please enjoy your food, before heading back to the kitchen.

Shanghai Bistro customized Jonny 5 with a note that reads, Please tip the humans or they wont plug me in, and added foam reindeer antlers for the holiday season.

The robot also can be programmed to play Christmas music, as it has been lately, or even sing Happy Birthday, as it did much to the delight of Elliana on her recent visit.

We didnt know it sang Happy Birthday. That was a big surprise, said Ellianas father, Mike Davis. When it sang, she just smiled and got all blushy. She was so happy.

Though it was the second visit to Shanghai Bistro since Jonny 5s debut for the Davises, the robot hasnt lost its luster with Elliana.

She keeps bugging me about going back because of that robot, Mike Davis said with a chuckle.

Chan has been impressed enough by the robots performance and reliability that he has already ordered a second one.

We need more to stay efficient so were not waiting for the robot to come back to the kitchen, he said.

Bear Robotics, the brainchild of restaurant and tech entrepreneurs, reports that the robots have traveled more than 189,000 miles and delivered to more than 16 million tables in locations around the world.

In Eau Claire, the novelty remains a strong marketing tool for Shanghai Bistro, with customers routinely pulling out their cellphones to take photos of Jonny 5 when he rolls up to their table.

While Chan isnt predicting the robots will take over the world, he is convinced its only a matter of time before robots are seen more widely in restaurants and other businesses.

Its all coming, Chan said. The technology is here, and its here to stay. It just has to be implemented in different industries.
CT State Police / Contributed

Connecticut State Police troopers responded to over 1,000 fewer calls for service during this years Christmas weekend enforcement, with less than half as many driving under the influence arrests as well, according to data released by the agency Monday.

Troopers were dispatched to 3,199 calls for service from midnight Dec. 24 to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Last year, troopers were sent to 2,591 calls for service.
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo

EAST HADDAM  U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, and Gov. Ned Lamont visited East Haddam Dec. 20 to discuss the states priorities on needed infrastructure upgrades in light of the recently enacted federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Courtney voted to pass the bipartisan IIJA Nov. 5. The first installment of increased federal highway funding for Connecticut is under the new bill  $65 million in Federal Highway Administration funding for FY 2022, an approximately 21 percent from 2021, a press release said.
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP)  A Missouri woman has been charged with killing her boyfriend with a sword on Christmas Eve.

Cape Girardeau Police said 32-year-old Brittany Wilson was found outside the home she shared with her boyfriend Friday night with blood on her clothing, and a sword was lying in the front yard. Cape Girardeau is in southeast Missouri about 115 miles (185.07 kilometers) south of St. Louis.
MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin said Sunday he would ponder a slew of options if the West fails to meet his push for security guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe.

The Kremlin presented its security demand amid tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine in recent weeks that has fueled Western fears of a possible invasion. U.S. President Joe Biden warned Putin in a video call earlier this month that Russia will face severe consequences if it attacks Ukraine.

Russia has denied an intention of launching an invasion and, in its turn, accused Ukraine of hatching plans to try to reclaim control of the territories held by Moscow-backed rebels by force. Ukraine has rejected the claim.

Putin has urged the West to move quickly to meet his demands, warning that Moscow will have to take adequate military-technical measures if the West continues its aggressive course on the threshold of our home.

Asked to specify what such Moscow's response could be, he said in comments aired by Russian state TV Sunday that it could be diverse, adding that it will depend on what proposals our military experts submit to me.

The U.S. and its allies have refused to offer Russia the kind of guarantee on Ukraine that Putin wants, citing NATOs principle that membership is open to any qualifying country. They agreed. however, to launch security talks with Russia next month to discuss its concerns.

Putin said the talks with the U.S. will be held in Geneva. In parallel, negotiations are also set to be held between Russia and NATO and broader discussions are expected under the aegis of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In remarks broadcast Sunday, Putin said Russia submitted the demands in the hope of a constructive answer from the West.

We didn't do it just to see it blocked ... but for the purpose of reaching a negotiated diplomatic result that would be fixed in legally binding documents," Putin said.

He reaffirmed that NATO membership for Ukraine or the deployment of alliance weapons there is a red line for Moscow that it wouldn't allow the West to cross.

We have nowhere to retreat, he said, adding that NATO could deploy missiles in Ukraine that would take just four or five minutes to reach Moscow. They have pushed us to a line that we can't cross. They have taken it to the point where we simply must tell them; Stop!"

He voiced concern that the U.S. and its allies could try to drag out the security talks and use them as a cover to pursue a military buildup near Russia.

He noted that Russia published its security demands to make them known to the public and raise the pressure on the U.S. and its allies to negotiate a security deal.

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in remarks broadcast Sunday that NATO's expansion to Ukraine or other ex-Soviet nations is a matter of life or death for us.

He noted that Friday's test-firing of Russia's Zircon hypersonic missiles would help make Russia's push for security guarantees more convincing.

Friday's launches were the latest in a series of test of Zircon, which Putin said is capable of flying at nine times the speed of sound to a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). They marked the first time Zircon missiles were launched in a salvo, indicating the completion of tests before the new missile enters service with the Russian navy next year and arms its cruisers, frigates and submarines.

Peskov on Sunday also pointed at Putin's earlier warning that a Ukrainian offensive against the rebel-held territories would entail grave consequences for Ukraine's statehood, adding that they know it well in Kyiv and they know it well in Washington.

Russia annexed Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and shortly after threw its support behind a separatist rebellion in the countrys east. Over more than seven years, the fighting has killed over 14,000 people and devastated Ukraines industrial heartland, known as the Donbas.
NEW HAVEN  In popular culture, Benedict Arnold has become a symbol  the prototypical traitor, the American hero who defected to join the British during the Revolutionary War, his name synonymous with betrayal.

But city man and amateur historian Robert Greenberg hopes to help spur local residents to consider him more concretely. Arnold lived on Water Street; there is potentially still evidence of his day-to-day existence there buried just beneath the surface.

Earlier this month, Greenberg gathered with local and state officials and students from High School in the Community as a portion of the institutions parking lot was scanned with radar, setting the stage for the planned excavation of the purported foundation of Arnolds former home.

(I want) the city, and mostly the students, to think about what theyre walking on, said Greenberg this week. The essence of that 300, 400-year history is still under us.

It was the latest step in an endeavor that has spanned more than a decade for Greenberg, he said. The specific site of Arnolds home, demolished in the early 1900s, was previously unclear, obscured by urban renewal and construction in the area.

By comparing pictures and overlaying historic maps on current Google satellite images, Greenberg said he zeroed in on the site.

After an existing structure there was demolished in 2015, he garnered permission and did a little digging with a pry bar  a few inches down, he found the top of the foundation of the home. There was a button dating back to 1851; a vintage pipe.

Noah Webster also lived in the home, Greenberg noted, as he began writing the now-famous Websters Dictionary.

I felt this really deep magnificence to the land itself, said Greenberg. (There are) places in America where you can feel the ghosts.

After the site was opened, Laura Macaluso, a graduate of Southern Connecticut State University and friend of Greenbergs, got in touch with state archaeologist Sarah Sportman, paving the way for the radar scan.

Macaluso said this week she was intrigued by the figure of Benedict Arnold for some years. She wrote her dissertation on public art in New Haven, and came across a painting of the man in City Hall. Puzzled, she learned of Powder House Day.

On April 21, 1775, then-Capt. Benedict Arnold led soldiers to demand the keys to New Havens powder house from the alders of the time, then marched to Cambridge to offer aid in the wake of the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Arnold struck her as an interesting figure, she said. Some of her work focuses on public art and monuments  how people commemorate and shape memory. Arnold evokes different legacies in different places, she noted.

I think what Im really interested in is trying to figure out how the memory making begins, said Macaluso. How much of (his historic legacy) is Benedict Arnold, and how much is people making memory?... Hes just eternally useful as a figure.

Macaluso said she hoped learning about Arnolds time in New Haven prompted people to consider the changing nature of the Water Street area, which now features I-95, and of the city as a whole.

The discovery of the houses site, she said, was a way into what seems like literally buried history.

We can understand a little bit more about his life, said Macaluso. We can also understand learn about this town, this state, this country. Its the kernel of something much bigger to me.

Greenberg, who has curated a collection of city artifacts titled Lost in New Haven, said he hoped to one day establish a permanent archaeological exhibition or pop-up museum at Arnolds former home, allowing students to readily consider the events that had occurred right by their place of learning.

Ben Scudder, whose U.S. History class at High School in the Community went out to meet with Greenberg, said he hoped that would happen.

It had been a boon for Greenberg to speak with them, he said  it was a chance to get students excited about history and let them see some of it first-hand, which has become more difficult during the coronavirus pandemic. The idea that Benedict Arnold lived next door reinforced the storied nature of Connecticut history, he said  colonial-era happenings took place right here.

Scudder said his class had spent time afterwards talking about the name Water Street. It had not occurred to many of the students, he said, that the area used to be on the water. He said hoped those conversations sparked curiosity in them, and an awareness of the malleable nature of our world.

There are things all around them that have changed or been changed over time, said Scudder. (I hope they think) whats in my backyard? Whats in the park next door?

Greenberg noted his grandfathers instilled a love of history in him from a young age, with one setting up pop-up exhibitions of artifacts and curiosities in New Haven, hoping to spark conversation among residents.

With the Lost in New Haven exhibition, Greenberg said he strove to create a history carnival, and example of the spectacle and mysteries of the city, he said. There is rich history in New Haven, he said  sites lost to time.

Exploring it and cataloging it has become a calling, influenced by the memories of his family, he said. He would like to pass the knowledge down to future generations, as Native Americans did, telling stories around the campfire.

Why was I put on this earth? Why am I here? I got this weird calling, Greenberg said. Its an honor for me to have found (the Benedict Arnold site).

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) has confirmed the arrest of three suspected bandits who fled Magami area, Zamfara, as a ...





The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) has confirmed the arrest of three suspected bandits who fled Magami area, Zamfara, as a result of heavy security presence.





Mr Ikor Oche, the NSCDC Public Relations Officer, who confirmed the development at a news conference, said that the suspects were arrested at the state mass transit motor park in Gusau on Monday.





Oche said that the suspects were arrested early in the morning while trying to board a vehicle leaving for Taraba to joined other members who had already relocated.





He said: Tukur Halilu, 27 years, is from Gabaru Village, Nahuche district, Bugudu Local Government Area of the state, and under a notorious bandits leader, Magajin Kaura.





According to him, Halilu confirmed to be engaged in cattle rustling in all the villages around the local government.





He said that two other suspects, Mr Hussaini Altine, 40 years, and Mr Abubakar Altine, 60 years, were from Agamalafiya village, Rijiya ward, Gusau Local Government Area.





Although Abubakar Altine claims innocent, Hussaini confesses to belong to the camp of notorious bandits, Gugurawa, he said.





The NSCDC spokesperson, however, said that Hussaini Altine had taken part in three different bandits attacks in Kurya, Bagawuri, Agamalafiya and Rijiya.





He added that the suspects were under intensive investigation that could spark further arrest of more suspects before prosecution.
Nollywood star, Yul Edochie, on Monday advised Ghanaian rapper, Shatta Wale, to apologise for throwing shades at Nigerian artistes. ...

Nollywood star, Yul Edochie, on Monday advised Ghanaian rapper, Shatta Wale, to apologise for throwing shades at Nigerian artistes.

The actor was reacting to Shatta Wales rant on Sunday, where the rapper threw shades on Nigerian artistes after selling out a Ghanaian stadium.

They said I wont be able to fill my own stadiums, I dont need any Nigerian artiste to sell out Ghanas stadium, f**k Nigerian artistes, the rapper had said.

On Monday, Shatta Wale also took to his Twitter page to blast Nigerians, telling them to be grateful to Ghana for supporting Nigerian artistes.

In response to his rants, Yul Edochie, who had affirmed his intentions to run for Nigerian Presidency, stated that the rapper should apologise for his utterances.

The actor posted on his social media platforms, Dear Shatta Wale, coming out to say F**k Nigerian artistes is extreme and too low for a man like you. Thats hate.

I remember when Nigerian movie producers were giving all the lead roles to Ghanaian actors a few years back, no Nigerian ever came out to say F**k Ghanaian actors.

I have lots of fans from Ghana who send me goodwill messages daily, inviting me to Ghana and I appreciate all of them.

Im a fan of your music. Your track with Beyonce is always on repeat in my car.

No matter what is pissing you off, a man like you with a large fan base should be using it to promote peace and unity among Africans and the rest of the world. You should apologise for such a statement.
The Coalition of Progressive Youths and Student Leaders (CPYS) has asked Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ...

The Coalition of Progressive Youths and Student Leaders (CPYS) has asked Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to support a young candidate as the partys national chairman.

The coalition said it will support Tinubu for the 2023 presidency if the former Lagos governor backs a youth to lead the APC.

Samuel Olalere, convener of the coalition, on Sunday, said the APC must cater to the interest of youths in 2023.

Olalere said Tinubu possesses the right mix of experience and network to lead the country after President Muhammadu Buharis tenure.

Leadership, especially at the level of the presidency, is often not a function of brawl and physical strength, he said.

This is why we believe that the President of Nigeria in 2023 should be a man with requisite maturity tapered with age, someone with proven ability to discover and deploy Nigerias vast human potentials and talents to advance the progress of the country.

The person that fit this bill in our considered estimation is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the APC.

This is, therefore, a direct charge to Asiwaju Tinubu to not only lend support but also lead the way for our legitimate agitations for a younger National chairman of the APC at the February 2022 convention.
Real Madrid are set to offer Eden Hazard back to Chelsea as part of a deal for Reece James, El Nacional reports. The LaLiga giants hope to i...





Real Madrid are set to offer Eden Hazard back to Chelsea as part of a deal for Reece James, El Nacional reports.





The LaLiga giants hope to invest in a new right-back position to provide cover for Dani Carvajal next year.





And as a result of that, Real Madrid manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has asked the clubs President, Florentino Perez to make a move for James.





Perez hopes to solve two problems in one go by bringing in James to Real Madrid and offloading Hazard back to Chelsea as part of the same deal.





Even though Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, would be happy to bring Hazard back to Stamford Bridge, he may not want it to come at the expense of one of his teams star players.





Recall that Real Madrid signed Hazard from Chelsea in 2019.





The Belgium international has failed to make an impact since joining Real Madrid from Chelsea for 88.5 million two years ago.





The 30-year-old, who has been linked to a return to Chelsea, has been hampered by injuries throughout his time at Los Blancos.





The attacking midfielder is a Chelsea fan favourite and is likely to be welcomed back to the west London club with open arms.
Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has named one area Liverpool is better than his team. Guardiola said that Jurgen Klopps Liverpool i...





Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has named one area Liverpool is better than his team.





Guardiola said that Jurgen Klopps Liverpool is better than Man City in terms of quick attacking.





Liverpool and Chelsea are six points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City on the log, but the Reds have a game in hand.





We cannot attack quicker. We are not Liverpool, Guardiola was quoted by Manchester Evening News as saying.





They are masters at that, we are not. We dont know what we have to do with that. We know we have to drive, to drive, to drive and to play with the ball.





Guardiola added, Patience doesnt mean lazy, slow. Its the ball. If you have the ball, you are in order and everything is stable.





Stability is the ball. Its not about defending 40 metres behind or 40 metres upfront, or high pressing, or defending, or long balls, or whatever. To be stable as a team, its the ball, no more than that.
Gunmen have abducted a mobile policeman attached to Operation Farauta, a special task force working to tackle kidnapping in Adamawa State. S...





Gunmen have abducted a mobile policeman attached to Operation Farauta, a special task force working to tackle kidnapping in Adamawa State.

Sources said the policeman who is a resident of Mubi, a principal town in the northern part of Adamawa, was deployed to Mayo-Belwa local government to be part of efforts to tackle kidnapping which has become rampant around Mayo-Belwa.

Operation Farauta is a joint team comprising police, soldiers and local hunters formed in Adamawa State to check rising incidents of kidnapping and armed robbery perpetrated mostly by a youth gang called Shilla Boys in local parlance.

The abduction of the MOPOL is said, however, to be possibly a case of mistaken identity.

It was gathered Monday morning that gunmen who stormed Mayo-Belwa around 7:00pm on Sunday in a convoy of motorcycles were on the trail of a rich man in the area called Idi Bage.

According to a source, The man whom the gunmen were looking for owned a mansion beside the Mayo-Belwa to Jalingo highway and who is known to always dress immaculately.

Luckily for him on that fateful day, he did not dress elegantly but had changed into a casual local dress.

Unfortunately, the MOPOL who wore an expensive-looking flowing gown in celebration of Christmas was mistaken for the rich man.

In a telephone conversation with newsmen on Monday afternoon, the Police Public Relations Officer in Adamawa State, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the abduction.

Nguroje said, Yes, it is true. The officer was swooped on and taken away while he was in a relaxed atmosphere with his friends.

He said the state Police Commissioner, CP Adamu Barde has ordered a search to rescue the abducted officer and apprehend the abductors
Popular Ghanaian artiste, Shatta Wale has thrown a shed at Nigerian artistes after selling out stadium for his concert. Shatta Wale at his c...





Popular Ghanaian artiste, Shatta Wale has thrown a shed at Nigerian artistes after selling out stadium for his concert.





Shatta Wale at his concert at the Ghanas biggest stadium, said he was told he could not fill up the stadium for his concert.





Making boast of filled up stadium, Shatta Wale said he does not need Nigerian artistes to sell out concert.





He said: I just want to speak my mind.





They told me I wouldnt sell out the stadium but see it now.





I dont need any Nigerian artistes to sell out my concerts. F** k Nigerian artistes.





This is not the first time Shatta Wale will call out Nigerian artists.





Recently, Shatta Wale indirectly mocked Davido after he bought a Rolls Royce days after the OBO crooner showcased his on social media.





On his Instagram story, Shatta wrote, I dont use my fathers money for hype I use my own money to do my own shit. Real hustlers are real money makers.
Photographs showing how Uche Nwosu, son-in-law of Imo West Senator, Rochas Okorocha, was treated when arrested by security operatives have e...





Photographs showing how Uche Nwosu, son-in-law of Imo West Senator, Rochas Okorocha, was treated when arrested by security operatives have emerged.





Recall that armed police officers had stormed the St Peters Anglican Church, in Eziama-Obieri, Nkwerre Local Government Area of the state, and arrested Nwosu.





The police officers had harassed and shot sporadically before whisking Nwosu away.





The former governorship candidate of the Action Alliance, AA, was picked up during a church service, after the burial of his mother.





In less than 24 hours, Nwosu was released by the police unconditionally.





Nwosus release was made public by his Special Adviser on Media, Nwadike Chikezie.








Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has described the reaction of the Imo State government to the invasion of a Church and ...





Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has described the reaction of the Imo State government to the invasion of a Church and the violent arrest of the former gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 Imo election Uche Nwosu as nothing but a celebration of utter nonsense borne out of crass ignorance.





HURIWA recalled that while addressing reporters on Sunday in Owerri hours after the incident of the forceful arrest of Nwosu, the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy Declan Emelumba claimed that it was not in anybodys place to tell the police how to arrest a suspect.





The police were said to have created panic at Eziama-Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area of Imo as they stormed St. Peters Anglican Church and left with Nwosu.





But HURIWA through a media statement authorised by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko dismissed the notion that the police has the right to adopt any style they deemed necessary in arresting accused persons, describing the speech as an illiterate statement which attempts to justify police brutality and amounted to a fallacy because it seeks to state that Nigeria is a jungle where might is right and the rule of brute force holds sway.





HURIWA has therefore challenged the Imo State Information Commissioner to come for tutorials at its Legal department to understudy the essence, import and significance of the newly signed THE NEW POLICE ACT, 2020 and chapter four of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended.





HURIWA wishes to refer to the scholarly presentation on the summary of the new Police Act done by some legal experts in which they rightly averred that the Nigeria Police Force (Establishment) Act, 2020 (the new Act) which came into force on the 17th of September 2020, repealed the Police Act of 2004 even as the legal opinion moulders stated that the general objective of the new Act is to provide an effective police service that is based on the principles of accountability and transparency, protection of human rights, and partnership with other security agencies. In achieving this objective, the Act did not only improve on the provisions of the erstwhile Act, it has its own novel provisions.





HURIWA pointed the need for the observance of the right to the human dignity of the person said to be in conflict with the law.





HURIWA restated that in ensuring that the new Police Act fulfils its objectives, provisions were made in accordance with global best practices and in compliance with some recent National Laws on Administration of Justice in Nigeria. This is to eliminate the areas of seeming discrepancies between the old Police Act and other corresponding national Legislations.





HURIWA said the violent abduction of Uche Nwosu from the Church and the attack on his wife and his mother in law by the arresting armed officers clearly violates the provision of the new Police Act on the Notification of Next of Kin.





HURIWA said the deployment of physical torture violates both the newly domesticated anti-torture legislation and its provision in the 2020 Police Act that outlaws Torture and Inhumane Treatment just as the New Act provides for the right to the dignity of the human person as a fundamental right guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution.





A person who is arrested must also be granted this right. He must not be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. This provision is also included in Section8(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015. 
Imo West Senator, Rochas Okorocha has given the police 24 hours to officially publicize the offence of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu. O...

Imo West Senator, Rochas Okorocha has given the police 24 hours to officially publicize the offence of his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu.

Okorocha vowed to take legal actions to force the police to release the politicians alleged offence if it fails to meet his demand in the next 24 hours.

Nwosu who is a former Chief of Staff to Okorocha was arrested on Sunday at the St Peters Anglican Church, Eziama Obieri in the Nkwerre Local Government Area of the state.

The armed police officers had arrested Nwosu during the church service after his mothers burial.

He has, however, been released unconditionally by the state Police Command.

However, speaking with journalists in Owerri, the state capital, Okorocha said: I am going to wait for 24 hours to know what Nwosu has done. We want to know his offences.

24 hours is enough for the police to do that which is legal. They should let the world know about his offences and failure to do that I will take legal action to demand his release.
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 19F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected. Heavier amounts in persistent snowbands..

Tonight

Snow this evening will transition to snow showers late. Low 19F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected. Heavier amounts in persistent snowbands.
Following the story of New Orleans food means rolling into a lot of great meals and tracking changes in a field thats constantly in flux. It also means spending time with people who make their living in hospitality and pour so much of their energy, personality and convictions into the work.

The past year brought hardship and heartache, and much of it was reflected in the hospitality sector. Yet there was also much joy, and so many examples of the heart and soul, the ingenuity and generosity that people bring to this field.

Their stories filled my notebooks through the year; looking back, now they fill me with gratitude for what they shared and allowed me to share with you.

Each tell their own tale, though together they help demonstrate what I love about New Orleans: connectedness, character and a culture you can experience through something as immediate as a meal.

This is a column of thanks for people I met through the year and those I got to know a little better through the lens of 2021. Lets hear from a few of them below.

Family-style at Moscas

Time well spent at Moscas Restaurant (4137 U.S. 90, Westwego, (504) 436-8950) left me with a new appreciation for what garlic does to chicken, what rosemary does to shrimp and what time does to our relationships with restaurants.

Moscas famously serves a family-style menu, with dishes to pass around the table.

What I learned here, though, was how the entire restaurant is a demonstration of what family-style businesses mean  with all their character, quirks, value and also their vulnerabilities, all the ways they are susceptible to what happens through generations of business life and family life commingled.

Its more than a business, because everybody I love that Ive lost is connected to me here, said Mary Jo Mosca, whose in-laws started the restaurant in 1946. They sacrificed and made such amazing friends. I know how they struggled to keep it going. Someday well have to close, but its always about more than just making a living here.

Mary Jo still runs the kitchen, while her daughter Lisa Mosca runs the restaurant. She and her husband are raising their own young children amid restaurant life.

See the full story here.

From Jerusalem to Metairie

Back when Mazen Seder drove a taxi, hed bring batches of home cooking to his fellow cabbies at the airport, mostly homesick men from overseas. Their response encouraged him to start a restaurant.

Today, that restaurant is Kabob House (4301 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, (504) 581-8695). Its become a showcase for the Palestinian street food Mazen and his wife Maha grew up with in their native Jerusalem, and the traditions theyve maintained as theyve raised their own family here.

Each of their three children has a role in the business, and each oversees particular dishes on a roster that runs far deeper than the printed menu.

That could be the knafeh, a magnificent dessert with a red semolina crust over thick, stretchy white cheese. Or it could be the mansaf, a platter mounded with lamb shank over aromatic yellow rice with yogurt gravy.

Mazens sense of satisfaction as others partake in his familys food is written across his beaming face.

We are together as a family here, he told me, with a warmth that suggests that the notion of family extends broadly. I am very happy here.

See the full story here.

Garlic butter and brotherhood

The recipe hasnt changed from the days when Demond Dee Matthews was cooking outside his brothers 9th Ward barbershop: Its boiled seafood, passed over the grill for an edge of char and splashed with garlic butter sauce.

Now Dees is a full-fledged restaurant (1401 St. Bernard Ave., (504) 388-8368). Harnessing the potential of a street food success for the next step can be a tricky turn. One reason Matthews could do it was the people he found on his side. His staff are the same people he grew up with in the Florida housing project; the bonds of family and friendship run deep.

Theyre the reason this is happening the way it is, Mathews told me. If we werent here, these are the same guys Id be cooking with in the backyard.

See the full story here.

Sidewalk solidarity at Howlin' Wolf

The stage inside the Howlin Wolf (907 S. Peters St., (504) 529-5844) music club was quiet after Hurricane Ida. But on the sidewalk just outside a barbecue smoker was blowing, seafood boiling rigs were roaring and an ad hoc team of chefs and restaurant workers from across the city were cooking together again.

In the Ida blackout, many restaurants gave away fresh ingredients before they spoiled. The Howlin Wolf rapidly emerged as a hub for many with the same instinct.

We are so tight-knit in this city, said club owner Howie Kaplan. This was just people talking with each other, and the support started up.

Kaplan marshaled a similar effort early in the coronavirus crisis, working with a broad network of other organizations and volunteers. This network snapped back into action. That included the community group Culture Aid NOLA, which was also formed in the pandemic.

We have the volunteers, they know the chefs; they know how to cook, we know how to organize and distribute, said Culture Aid NOLA founder Erica Chomsky-Adelson.

The effort produced thousands of meals daily that went to first responders, elder care facilities, newly arrived linemen and plenty of people who found a hot meal and a dose of humanity right there on the sidewalk.

See the full story here.

Opening new possibilities

The raw bar menu at Sidecar Patio & Oyster Bar (1114 Constance St., (504) 381-5079) is detailed like wine tasting notes and reads like a love letter to the world of oysters.

It also conveys a sense of purpose in building oyster connoisseurship at a time when the oyster world is changing, with new producers and adaptations emerging.

The woman behind Sidecar's oyster program, Lindsay Allday, has developed close bonds with the producers, especially the local ones who are working to develop the niche for specialty, place-based oysters in Louisiana.

People get so excited about oysters. There's something inherently sexy and adventurous about them, Allday said. Each one is its own puzzle; each one is different every time.

Finding women behind the oyster bar is still rare, but Allday is breaking that open like the hinge on a knotty shell.

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See the full story here.

Turning Tables at the bar

All too often, bartender Toure Folkes was the only Black person in the room at cocktail industry events. That spurred Turning Tables (turningtablesnola.org) the nonprofit he leads, which is tackling racial inequity in hospitality with training, mentorship and the ethos of a movement.

It graduated its second class early in 2021, a time when the pandemic had shaken the industry that its participants want to join. At the same time, the national discourse on race has fixed on many of the issues that propel Turning Tables.

For Folkes, those dual dynamics make this a pivotal time for the program. He found people in the industry who were assembling new networks, sometimes across the country, and many were eager to connect with its mission.

The blessing of this year was the world stopped in some places and some people gave up on this industry, said Folkes said. But our students didnt. Theyve kept pushing.

One of the students who graduated Turning Tables in 2021 is Jeri Guilford, who you can now find at Seafood Sally's and Anna's.

When the world is telling you what you cant do or that this isnt the town for you, its hard to see what you really can do, Guilford told me. But I have my own ideas now; this has empowered me to go after them. I dont need anyone else to validate me. I dont see their walls anymore.

See the full story here.

Plate lunch recovery index

What does it take to keep seemingly simple, inexpensive home-style plate lunches around? For Cheryl and Paul Timphony, it means starting the day at 3 a.m. to have short order breakfasts ready, preparing a weekly schedule of comfort food specials and employing a small fleet of bicycle delivery men to whisk the over-stuffed cartons to offices, hotel break rooms and shops.

Thats the only way you can do it, if you want to do it right, and thats the only way were doing here, Paul Timphony said of his labor-intensive methods.

The couple runs Hobnobbers Variety Bar & Restaurant (139 Carondelet St., (504) 525-5428), one of a small and shrinking circuit of old-fashioned restaurants catering to downtown workers.

In the spring, these places provided a gauge on how downtown was coming back, as offices slowly began repopulating. There would be more swings in trajectory as the year progressed. But the people behind these low-key, tucked-away cafes also offered some long-view perspective.

At another example, Lenis Cafe (741 Baronne St., (504) 523-0069), Despina Patselikos shrugged off any suggestion that the pandemic could mean the end for Lenis.

My husband really wants to do his work. This is what he does, she said, looking into the kitchen as Pete Patselikos finished the last orders of the day.

There are ups and downs, she said. I remember the 80s, the oil bust, those were scary times too.

See the full story here.

Building bridges at Golden Gate

A few years ago, Bleidys Lobelo was selling plate lunches from home as a side gig to her hotel jobs. By 2019, she had opened a stand at a west bank flea market. She named it Golden Gate after the nickname for her hometown, Barranquilla, a port city in Colombia.

Her plates were beautifully presented, her flavors were deep and soothing. Her dream, as she told anyone who asked, was to grow the business into a proper restaurant.

She got that chance after she catered an event at Colmex Construction, a local firm run by a fellow Colombian immigrant, Angelica Rivera. Her empanadas reminded Rivera of home; the chef's drive to make her own business reminded the self-made businesswoman of herself.

She offered Lobelo space within the Colmex office and this new Golden Gate Bistro (4334 Earhart Blvd., (504) 503-1049) is now a hub of Colombian flavor, art and style.

When you have a dream, and you see it coming day by day, that is a good feeling, Lobelo said.

See the full story here.

Creole unity in Treme

At his Treme restaurant Fritai (1535 Basin St., (504) 264-7899), chef Charlie Pierre combines the flavors of his Haitian heritage with his own vision as a young chef.

But Fritai does not just connect the commonalities between New Orleans and Haiti. It also draws a thread of unity through Creole flavor, its roots in the African diaspora, its polyglot evolution and its future trajectory as people in the next generation explore and frame it on their terms.

There was such an opportunity here because the connections are everywhere, but they havent been revealed, Pierre said. This food makes sense here. And this food can teach people. You just need to show them.

See the full story here.

Fleur de Lilly

How do we keep ourselves positive and productive when theres so much strife and discord? Maybe we get a little more fuel from the people around us, the people we go out of our way to see.

That was my conclusion after yet another meal at Lillys Cafe (1813 Magazine St., (504) 599-9999) that proved gratifying far beyond the delicious Vietnamese pho, banh mi and spring rolls.

Through the pandemic, through the undulating waves of stress and tension weve all been navigating, I realized Ive also been drawn here for the special kind of hospitality that owner Lilly Vuong cultivates between the flowery decor and soothing flavors.

Lilly's is such a small restaurant, it feels like you're dining with everyone in the room. As Vuong goes from table to table, a sense of welcome and kindness radiates with her. The food comes out quickly here; the feeling of good cheer and well-being is lasting, and maybe even portable. I felt like I was taking positive energy with me when I left the restaurant.

See the full story here.

+9 New Orleans restaurant losses, revivals and lessons that carry though tumultuous 2021 On Mardi Gras 2021, parades were canceled, bars in New Orleans were ordered closed and the day started bitterly cold. But at least some restau

+16 Comebacks for these historic New Orleans restaurants added bright spots to a tough year New Orleans food lovers are always looking for the next neighborhood hot spot or crosstown destination to try out. This year though, some of t

+20 Sizing up the biggest New Orleans restaurant closures of 2021, and whats replacing them Fine bistros and sandwich shops, restaurants that stood apart and spots that were just always there, maintaining their own traditions. These w
The Tipitinas Record Clubs current release, Dirty Dozen Brass Band with Dizzy Gillespie: Live in New Orleans, brings up some old memories for Gregory Davis. The Dirty Dozen trumpeter and co-founder remembers when Gillespie in the early 1980s stopped into the Glass House, the Central City bar where the brass band reigned on Monday nights.

I dont remember who it was that brought him up there, but he came. And I saw him standing off at the bar, and I remember him just hanging for whatever set we played, Davis says. I didnt know he was there at first, but then I realized that that person just standing there and listening was Dizzy Gillespie.

Gillespie would see the Dirty Dozen a few times when he was in town, at the Glass House and the Blue Room at the then-named Fairmont Hotel, Davis says. And when the Dirty Dozen traveled to Europe, playing the same festivals as Gillespie and his group, the brass band got to know the iconic trumpet player.

I can see it like it was yesterday, us sitting out there on the beach and talking, says Roger Lewis, Dirty Dozens baritone saxophonist. He has a photo of himself with Gillespie and saxophonist James Moody hanging out in Nice, France.

Gillespie would later appear on the Dirty Dozens 1989 classic Voodoo, but before that, he joined the band for an exciting night at the Orpheum Theater in 1986. Its possible the gig could well have faded into a You shouldve been there memory, but the show was recorded  both Davis and Lewis say they had no idea  and the cassette was recently rediscovered. Now, the concert has a new life on vinyl through the Tipitinas Record Club.

The club will present the Dirty Dozen Brass Band for a concert Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Tipitinas.

Last year, Ben Ellman, Rob Mercurio and their Galactic bandmates created the Tipitinas Record Club, a sidearm of the storied music venue that they own. The club is dedicated to pressing collectible vinyl albums of rare, unreleased and re-issued New Orleans music. The vinyl records, released bi-monthly, are first sent to club subscribers, and its rare to find copies available outside of the club.

In its first year, the club has pressed live recordings of James Booker and The Radiators, Professor Longhair  in an intimate concert at home with family and friends  and re-issues of Ernie K-Does self-titled album and Galactics Coolin Off.

Ellman and Mercurio came across the cassette of Dirty Dozen and Gillespie in the personal collection of Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis. I dont think another copy of that existed other than on a hand-scribbled cassette, Ellman recently told The Times-Picayune.

Ellman and Mercurio produced the new release, which was mastered by Brent Lambert. Pressed to red vinyl, the packaging also includes liner notes by Kalamu ya Salaam.

The nine-song album features the Dirty Dozen and Gillespie taking on songs like Lil Liza Jane and Dirty Dozens My Feet Cant Fail Me Now as well as Thelonious Monks Blue Monk, Duke Ellingtons Caravan and Gillespies own A Night in Tunisia.

The Dirty Dozen repertoire, ya Salaam writes, is any damn song they feel like funking with, from traditional tunes jazzed up like they do Lil Liza Jane; to their deep investigations of classic compositions like Night Train or Caravan.

Songs like Blue Monk and Night Train were part of the Dirty Dozen repertoire at the Glass House for months and years, Gregory Davis told Gambit. It was the Dirty Dozens willingness and ability to experiment and incorporate bebop and other genres that elevated the brass band.

Gillespie wanted to play what we were playing, the kind of music we were playing, Davis says. He wanted to play with us and what we were doing.

The group and Gillespie had talked a couple of times over the phone about the nights set list, Davis says, but the night of the show, there was some issue with Gillespies travel and the Dirty Dozen had to sound check without him. When Gillespie made it to the Orpheum, they had just enough time to meet in the dressing room, talk about the songs, and then it was show time.

The energy  it was high energy, man, Lewis says. It was a great show.

Davis says the show didnt quite sell out  although Lewis thought it had  but that didnt matter. The people were on their feet dancing.

Dizzy Gillespie  youre talking about a beautiful human being. Not just a great musician, but just a beautiful spirit, Lewis says. One of my dreams was to play with one of the fathers of the bebop era. Just to be on stage with that guy, it was mind blowing for me.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band plays 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29, at Tipitinas. Tickets are $18 at tipitinas.com. For more information about the record club, go to tipitinasrecordclub.com.
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A 30-year-old man was injured Sunday night in a shooting in the St. Claude neighborhood, New Orleans police said.

Authorities were called at 9:47 p.m. to a shooting in the 1300 block of Lesseps Street (map).

A man pulled next to the 30-year-old and fired multiple shots, police said. They didn't say if the men were in vehicles or on foot.

The 30-year-old was shot in the leg and taken via ambulance to a hospital, where his condition was not immediately available. No other details were available, including a possible motive or a description of the shooter.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Louisiana researchers have identified 14 new species of shrews on an Indonesian island where seven in that genus were previously known.

There were so many and some look so similar that after a while Louisiana State University biologist Jake Esselstyn and his colleagues began hunting for Latin words meaning "ordinary."

"Otherwise I don't know what we would have named them," said Esselstyn, who also named the seventh known species of the pointy-nosed insect-eating mammals on the island of Sulawesi.

That's why shrews whose species names mean such things as "hairy-tailed" and "long" have been joined by "Crocidura mediocris," "C. normalis," "C. ordinaria," and "C. solita"  the last of those meaning "usual."

+2 The ivory-billed woodpecker was declared extinct. Some in south Louisiana have their doubts. A few years ago, Ron Usner was sitting at his computer when he heard a noise outside his window.

The 101-page paper will be "super valuable for all current and future students of mammal biodiversity," said Nathan S. Upham, assistant research professor at Arizona State University's School of Life Sciences and lead creator of the American Society of Mammalogists' online Mammal Diversity Database.

He was not involved in the study, which was published Dec. 15 in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History and also involved researchers from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Museums Victoria in Australia, and the University of California.

It's been 90 years since this many new species were identified in one paper, Esselstyn said. The 1931 paper by George Henry Hamilton Tate identified 26 possible new species of South American marsupials, but 12 were later found not to be separate species for a total of 14 new ones, he said.

Esselstyn led a decade of trips to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi to collect the animals, which are relatives of hedgehogs and moles. All weighed less than a AA battery, ranging from about 3 grams  just over one-tenth of an ounce, or about the weight of a pingpong ball  to about 24 grams (0.85 ounces). The largest species had bodies averaging 95 millimeters, or about 3.7 inches long.

At the start, he was hoping to clarify how the six species then known in the genus Crocidura had developed. "I was interested in questions about how shrews interacted with their environment, with each other, how local communities were formed," he said.

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But he quickly realized that species had been sorely undercounted.

"It was overwhelming because for the first several years, we couldn't figure out how many species there were," he said.

Five had been identified in 1921 and a sixth in 1995. Esselstyn's team identified the seventh species, the hairy-tailed shrew, in 2019.

For this paper, they examined 1,368 shrews, more than 90% of them collected by Esselstyn's group, which trapped the animals on a dozen mountain sites and two in the lowlands of Sulawesi.

The island is shaped rather like a lower-case letter k with the top of the stem bent sharply eastward.

That odd shape has contributed to species diversity, Esselstyn said. "There are consistent boundaries between species ... whether you're looking at frogs or macaques or mice. It suggests some sort of shared environmental mechanisms."

Researchers have found at least seven such zones  roughly, the island's central mass, the three "legs" of the k, and three zones on the long bent neck.

Genetic analysis may indicate how long ago or recently similar species split apart and whether they've been in regular contact with each other since then, Esselstyn said.

"It's a difficult problem. But I think we can do it now that sequencing genomes is relatively low-cost," he said. "A few years ago we couldn't have done it but it's relatively feasible now."
When Hurricane Ida knocked out all eight of the transmission lines that bring power to New Orleans, it highlighted a vulnerability in the way the state keeps the lights on. The entire city went dark.

But what if the lights could stay on  at least in some places  even if the transmission towers that take electricity from the power plants and transport it to where people live failed again? What if the power was being generated in those neighborhoods?

That question, of whether Louisiana can embrace distributed energy, has taken on new life after Ida left millions in the dark earlier this year.

The advocacy group Together New Orleans, in a series of community gatherings, sketched out a push for 85 to 100 community lighthouses around the city, where churches or other community centers would be equipped with solar panels and back-up batteries that could keep some power flowing even if a storm knocked out the broader grid.

The Alliance for Affordable Energy also sees such microgrids as a way to make southeast Louisiana more resilient in the face of storms, which are increasing in intensity and frequency because of climate change. And the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association is asking the Louisiana Public Service Commission to push for community solar.

The effort would require rethinking how Louisianas electric grid works, something advocates say is overdue.

We need more reliability, we need more resilience to the grid, and we need more assets in the grid, said Jon Wellinghoff, a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees utilities at the federal level. He now works for the electricity market startup Voltus, Inc.

"These things go against the old traditional historical utility business model," he said. "That business model, as we all know, is not working for us anymore."

Microgrids are also part of Gov. John Bel Edwards' Climate Initiatives Task Force, which aims to get Louisiana to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The task force noted there is money in the infrastructure bill to help implement microgrids and recommended immediately deploying microgrids and dispatchable batteries through pilot projects.

But there are limits to how much solar can help in Louisianas fight to make its electric grid more resilient, experts say.

For one, they are expensive. To create a microgrid that can operate when the rest of the grid is knocked offline  even a basic one, with a few solar panels on a roof  expensive batteries are needed. The upfront cost is too high for many homeowners across south Louisiana and renters usually dont have the option to install them.

Louisiana ranks 49th among the 50 states for renewable energy consumption as a share of the states total, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Louisiana relies heavily on natural gas to fuel its power plants.

Entergy Louisiana also believes microgrids are key to building a more resilient grid. However, the company is focused on natural gas-powered microgrids, not renewables.

Terrence Chambers, director of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy Center, said solar investments are part of a broader array of projects that need to be pursued if were serious about improving the reliability and resiliency of the grid.

Utility-scale solar has gotten cheap enough that its cost-competitive with certain natural gas plants in terms of power generation, Chambers said. But there are other costs that come into play when looking at microgrids. Solar, unlike fossil fuels, requires batteries to store power, because the sun doesnt shine all the time. And batteries are still costly, though they are becoming cheaper and more reliable. Plus, solar systems tend to survive storms very well, he said. Along with batteries, solar systems that can operate independently of the grid need a special power inverter, Chambers said, driving costs up further.

For instance, a Lazard analysis this year showed the low-end costs of building a utility-scale solar system, at around $28 per megawatt-hour, were cheaper than building a gas combined cycle plant. But community solar and residential rooftop solar are both generally more expensive, at $59 and $147 per megawatt hour, respectively. When factoring in battery storage, solar costs rise even further.

The average monthly bill for all of Louisiana was about $116 last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That translates to approximately $97 per megawatt hour, which includes the generation costs as well as all the other costs involved in getting power to a customer.

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I think microgrids can be one piece of a larger solution, Chambers said. Theyre not the one solution. Theres a lot of other things that could be done. And I think solar can play a part.

Christopher Burgess, who works on renewable energy projects in the Caribbean for the Rocky Mountain Institute, said places like Louisiana can use microgrids to ensure critical assets like pumping stations, hospitals and the like keep power when the rest of the grid fails.

+5 New Orleans restaurants helped neighbors post-Ida. Could solar extend that help next time? Immediately after Hurricane Ida, some of the first grassroots disaster response in New Orleans came through small independent restaurants.

Because the current electric grid in Louisiana is centralized around gas-fired power plants, power must be transported longer distances through transmission and distribution lines that are vulnerable to hurricane winds.

Entergy Louisiana President and CEO Phillip May has said solar has its place, but pointed to its high costs, and said ratepayers in Louisiana cant afford higher bills. He also pointed out that solar microgrids would have to be built to withstand higher winds in the face of increasingly strong hurricanes.

Entergy recently asked the state Public Service Commission for permission to install natural gas generators at several commercial and industrial sites. Spokesperson David Freese said these power sources would let those businesses continue providing goods and services to the community while power is being restored elsewhere during and after a hurricane.

Freese said Entergy will continue to evaluate microgrid opportunities, including solar-powered systems. But he stressed that the technology is still expensive when all of the costs are factored in.

Since solar technology only produces energy during daylight hours, some form of energy storage (e.g., batteries) would need to be coupled with solar for a resiliency application, he said. That, he added, would provide further challenges to pursuing solar microgrids.

Wellinghoff, of Voltus, agreed that if such systems were purchased through the traditional rate base model, it could be too costly for ratepayers. Instead, Wellinghoff said third-party companies should be allowed to make such investments and sell the power into the grid. Entergy and other utilities would be required to buy it through MISO, the grid operator that oversees the buying and selling of power.

That has been the subject of a months-long fight between organizations like Voltus, which aggregates small-scale distributed energy and sells it, and state regulators and utilities like Entergy and the PSC over federal rules about what type of access aggregators of distributed energy systems have to the grid.

Stephen Wright, head of the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association, has pushed for Louisiana regulators to embrace solar. The group said the PSC should lift caps that make it harder for big electricity users to build solar systems and open probes addressing community solar and net metering, which credits solar panel owners for power they put into the grid.

Wright said battery technology is improving so much that its financially viable to build solar systems that can operate independently of the grid. He said he will be pushing the Legislature to pass incentives for residential and utility-scale batteries.

If we can make those more affordable for folks, thats really key, Wright said. Especially when you have a gas crunch, your battery can continue to recharge itself.

Louisiana faced a gasoline shortage after Ida, a result of refineries going offline, gas stations being knocked out and a huge number of people turning to gas-fired portable generators to power their air conditioners and refrigerators. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry spent millions of dollars delivering diesel trucks to keep hospitals, police and fire departments and others running on generator power.

After Ida, the St. Peter Apartments in New Orleans lost power like everyone else. But after about a day, the apartments lit back up, thanks to a solar system that helped make the complex Louisianas first net-zero apartment building, according to its developer, SBP. A nonprofit, SBP, originally named the St. Bernard Project, sprung up out of Hurricane Katrinas troubled recovery.

Zack Rosenburg, co-founder and CEO of SBP, said the idea was to eliminate the massive stressors faced by people, especially those with fewer resources, during disasters. The organization partnered with Entergy, which donated $1.1 million, to install a solar system and make the apartments energy-efficient. After Ida, the apartments were able to get eight hours of electricity a day.

SBP financed the project with a grant and low-income tax credits, Rosenburg said. But he believes the model could be used more broadly in New Orleans. A private developer could take the savings that customers get on their electric bills to help finance the costs of the system, and take advantage of tax credits for solar, he said.

I think the economic model is working for developers, Rosenburg said. Our view is theres never change unless theres pain or deep opportunity. Were trying to show theres deep opportunity.
With the threat of an omicron-fueled coronavirus surge looming, Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said she will renew her push to create a health department, something the parish has never had before.

The events of the last two years plus the pandemic-related challenges that await have highlighted the need for the parish to have its own health department, Lee Sheng said. Such an agency, she argued, would make parish government more nimble in its response to health challenges.

"Substance abuse is increasing in Jefferson Parish," she said, ticking off a list of issues a health department could help tackle, including mental health and the needs of an aging population.

She pointed to the hiring of Sarah Babcock, whom Lee Sheng brought on for a top administrative role earlier this year. Babcock has a public health background and before coming to Jefferson Parish, worked in New Orleans' Health Department.

"She was hitting the ground with COVID and helping us with the response," Lee Sheng said. When Hurricane Ida hit, Babcock was on the front lines of the evacuations and aid programs run by the parish.

"Sarah was critical on that front," Lee Sheng said.

The department could start with a small staff of three or four people, Lee Sheng said, who could help find grant funding to help cover the cost of health programs. Lee Sheng has made her case to the parish's Charter Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations early next year on potential changes to the parish's governing document. Regardless, forming a new department would require Jefferson Parish Council approval.

That's where the difficulties lie. Several council members recently said they had reservations about the plan.

The thrust of those objections focused on funding for the department. There is no funding for the department in the budget. Instead, Lee Sheng has suggested that the department's startup costs could be footed by an as-yet unspecified portion of the $84 million in American Rescue Plan funds coming to Jefferson.

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Using ARP funds, or any other one-time funding source, would be a "tough sell," said Council member Deano Bonano.

Some of his colleagues agree.

"I'm certainly opposed to it from those funds," Dominick Impastato said. "That seems like a major risk."

Adding a department would duplicate services already offered by the state and federal authorities, he said.

"It's very redundant," he said. "I'm not understanding why we have to do something different from what state and federal health departments do."

At-Large Council member Scott Walker was also skeptical.

"I think there are a lot of questions," he said. "It seems like we are making government bigger and adding an expensive department at a time when I am not sure, fiscally, how necessary it is at this time."

But Council member Marion Edwards said he thinks the idea has merit.

"I think we need to explore finding some grant money and other things to assist," he said. "Having an in house person that we could trust and rely on ... I don't see how that could be anything but a positive."
Xiaomi has been teasing the upcoming software update for its Pad 5 tablet. Known as MIUI 13 Pad or MIUI 13 for Pad, the customized operating system promises to bring a couple of useful upgrades for owners of the Xiaomi Pad 5. MIUI 13 is expected to be officially launched in China on December 28.

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Xiaomi hit a home run with its Xiaomi Pad 5 and Pad 5 Pro tablet releases, with the latter slate scoring especially well in our thorough tests. The tablets were launched with MIUI 12.5 for Pad, and they will soon be updated to MIUI 13 along with many of Xiaomis newer smartphone releases. According to one of the companys official Weibo channels, Pad 5 owners can expect a couple of productivity boosts at least.

The first one is somewhat typically vague for Xiaomi, with the promo image claiming the top 3,000 applications have been fully adapted for MIUI 13 for Pad, so that Xiaomi Pad 5 owners can use any of these apps knowing that they have been full optimized for their tablet. While its likely the claim will refer to the most popular apps used in China, many of them will also be globally popular, so this optimization should benefit international users of the Pad 5 and Pad 5 Pro.

The next update that will be brought in by the MIUI 13 Pad update is much more specific: Users will be able to multitask more freely on the Xiaomi Pad 5 thanks to dual-window capability. The same app, such as a browser, will be able to be opened in two windows, allowing the user to carry out multitasking activities such as shopping and reading product reviews at the same time. MIUI 13 for Pad will be launched at the Xiaomi event taking place on December 28, which starts at 19:30 China time.

Buy the Xiaomi Redmi 9 on Amazon
Motorola sought to build on lingering Razr nostalgia to push the series inaugural foldable version, although this world-first did not exactly meet with universal acclaim. Nevertheless, the OEM has just announced that it is not giving up on the renewed, Android-powered line, and will persist with a much-improved third generation.

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Motorola ran a successful race to beat Samsung to the title of the worlds first truly consumer-ready clamshell foldable. Nevertheless, the first-gen Razr never really became the modern-day flip phone many tech fans might have hoped for with its rushed design and lackluster software support. Its 5G-capable successor proved little better in either regard, and remains on Android 11 at best to this day.

Its critical reception might have helped explain the total absence of a 3rd-gen Razr in 2021, leaving the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 to take its field alone. However, the Lenovo-owned brand has abruptly announced that it will be back in the clamshell foldable arena soon.

The OEM representative Chen Jin has confirmed that there will be a new Razr soon. This device is now slated to bring improvements in terms of design, performance and UI: 3 main points of detraction in the first 2 foldables.

The executive did not reveal when this device might debut exactly; however, it is more certain the Razr 3 will, in a contrast to its forebears, see a China-only launch event prior to any release to the rest of the world.

The Motorola Razr 5G is currently priced at US$800 on Amazon
The Indiana Supreme Court has expanded the limited number of people eligible to recover damages for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

Typically, a lawsuit seeking payment for emotional distress only can be pursued in Indiana by a person who suffers a direct physical injury, suffers an injury that also injures or kills a third-party, or witnesses a relative's death or severe injury immediately after it occurs.

In a 3-2 decision, the state's high court said Wednesday it also now is allowing a parent or guardian to seek damages from a child caretaker when the parent or guardian discovers, with irrefutable certainty, the caretaker sexually abused their child and that abuse severely impacted the parent or guardian's emotional health.

The new rule follows the 2015-16 sexual assault of a profoundly disabled child by an instructional assistant responsible for her care at a school in the Metropolitan School District of Pike Township in Indianapolis.

According to court records, the perpetrator eventually confessed to her actions some two years afterward. She later pleaded guilty to child molesting and received a 13-year sentence.
CROWN POINT  An Illinois man posted a $6,000 cash bond last week after he was extradited to Lake County to face charges he raped a 16-year-old girl after arranging online to meet her in Hobart.

Connor N. Smith, 31, of Orland Park, has not yet entered pleas to charges of rape, sexual battery and two counts of criminal confinement, Lake Criminal Court records show.

The girl told Hobart police she met a person known as "Champ" on the Omegle app, which is marketed as a way to "talk to strangers."

She said she began communicating with "Champ" through Snapchat, and she gave him the address to her relatives' home in Hobart, according to court documents.

The girl told investigators she snuck out of the house but had a bad feeling immediately after getting into Smith's truck, records state.

Smith is accused of forcing the girl to perform a sex act on him after picking her up July 16 in Hobart and taking her to a hotel.

The girl told police Smith sexually assaulted her inside a hotel room, urinated on her and forced her to drink his urine by holding her nose, court records state.
MERRILLVILLE  Police found three people hiding in a crawlspace on Christmas Eve while investigating after an 8-year-old child suffered an accidental gunshot wound to the leg, an official said.

Merrillville police were dispatched about 8:50 p.m. Friday to Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus after the child arrived for treatment, Assistant Police Chief Kosta Nuses said.

Officers learned the child had been shot at a home in the 5800 block of Van Buren Street, and no one called police or medics, he said.

A resident at the home gave police consent to search the residence to check for other possible victims, obtain the firearm and photograph the scene, Nuses said.

During the search, officers found three people hiding in a crawlspace. Two of the people had active warrants and were taken into custody, police said.

A preliminary investigation showed the 8-year-old found an unattended handgun in a room within the home, Nuses said. The shooting appeared to be accidental, he said.

Officers arrested a person inside the home on suspicion of charges linked to the child's shooting. That person's name was not disclosed, pending formal charges.
It's been more than seven months since a former Avon, Indiana, woman told a Lake Criminal Court judge how disgusted she felt after a 53-year-old Gary man kidnapped her from a bus station and raped her in 2019.

The man responsible for the crime, Montrelle D. Dubose, wasn't there to hear the woman's victim impact statement May 7 because he stopped showing up for his trial in April and was convicted and sentenced in absentia.

Judge Samuel Cappas declared Dubose "the epitome of the definition of a sexual predator" and sentenced him to 120 1/2 years in prison.

The U.S. Marshals Service this week announced it is offering rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Dubose and four other men, who are each wanted for murder.

Todd Nukes, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Indiana, said his agency is committed to working with its federal, state and local law enforcement partners to improve public safety and reduce violent crime.

"Our collaboration to apprehend violent fugitives in our communities is unwavering, and we will continue to place a high priority on our fugitive mission for the safety of all," Nukes said.
WHITING The license plate readers installed by the city about one month ago at the intersection of 129th Street and Indianapolis Boulevard have made their presence felt.

Mayor Steve Spebar told those attending a public forum last month that the readers were in the process of being installed and explained how they would work.

The readers are cameras that take pictures of license plates as vehicles pass by, and that information is relayed to the police if there is a problem associated with the vehicle.

During the City Council's Dec. 21 meeting, Spebar spoke of how a suspect in a Gary murder was caught by the license plate reader system while traveling through Whiting.

"It notified our officers," Spebar said. "We were able to arrest that suspect. So already the system paid dividends by taking a murder suspect off the streets."

Spebar said the cameras were installed with the safety of residents in mind and also to assist the police department.

In other city news, the City Council has approved a collective bargaining agreement with Whiting Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #68.
VALPARAISO  Porter County has now been deemed a Broadband Ready Community in the hopes that fast internet will be deployed in underserved areas of the county.

The Board of Commissioners approved the ordinance at its last meeting.

With this new ordinance, an investor is planning to put $80 million into broadband infrastructure in the county, consultant Stu Summers told the board.

This is like bringing water and sewer to a community, Summers said.

For basic service, customers could receive fast internet service for as little as $35 a month, with a grant covering part of that fee, he said.

Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, has chaired the countys broadband task force. Its kind of like being shovel-ready, she said, in that the ordinance paves the way for future development.

President Joe Bidens Build Back Better plan includes federal funding for extending broadband service, Summers noted.
Rossi spent the last five summers staring at the front of the brochure  upside down. From his usual perch at the Indiana Dunes visitor center, Rossi spends much of his day showing hikers the brochure's map. Before starting the audio project Rossi said he wasn't sure if he had "ever even looked at the back of the brochure."

Adorned with vibrant photos of the park's many habitats, graphics showing the impact of the glaciers and sepia-toned images of the park's early days, the brochure is packed with information. The team broke the brochure into 34 sections, spanning the history of the park to its many unique biological features.

Each recording includes a synopsis, which Butler said is the "first glance of what you see" and an in-depth description. The in-depth description is what happens "when you look at the photo for more than 10 seconds. Then the details really start coming out," Rossi said.

"It has changed my perspective, now I really appreciate what the park is all about," Butler said. "Listening to it you go, 'Wow, there is so much more going on,' ... even if you are not blind it is a great tool to have."
WASHINGTON  The Justice Department said on Monday that it had seized much of the ransom that a major U.S. pipeline operator had paid last month to a Russian hacking collective, turning the tables on the hackers by reaching into a digital wallet to snatch back millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

Investigators in recent weeks traced 75 Bitcoins worth more than $4 million that Colonial Pipeline had paid to the hackers as the attack shut down its computer systems, prompting fuel shortages, a spike in gasoline prices and chaos at airlines.

Federal investigators tracked the ransom as it moved through a maze of at least 23 different electronic accounts belonging to DarkSide, the hacking group, before landing in one that a federal judge allowed them to break into, according to law enforcement officials and court documents.

The Justice Department said it seized 63.7 Bitcoins, valued at about $2.3 million. (The value of a Bitcoin has dropped over the past month.)
JERUSALEM  An oil tanker managed by an Israeli-owned shipping firm was attacked on Thursday night off the coast of Oman, killing two crew members, according to the firm and three Israeli officials.

Two of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said the attack appeared to have been carried out by several unmanned Iranian drones that crashed into living quarters underneath the ships command center, or bridge.

The incident was apparently the latest salvo in a maritime shadow war between Iran and Israel, and the first attack known to have killed civilians.

The Israeli-owned firm, Zodiac Maritime, said that the two crew members killed were from Britain and Romania, and that on Friday afternoon the vessel was sailing under the protection of an American naval escort. A U.S. Defense Department official said that two American Navy vessels had responded to a distress call but were not escorting the ship.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has insisted that nursing homes are equipped to do the job of administering boosters. She has also suggested that the problem lies not with the nursing homes, but with resistant family members or residents who are unable to provide consent because of cognitive decline.

The numbers are not where they should be, she said on Friday.

The citys health commissioner, Dave A. Chokshi, said on Dec. 19 that if any nursing homes lacked a pharmacy to administer boosters, the city would deploy vaccination teams. A health department spokesman said Saturday that the city had arranged vaccination clinics for those that did not have pharmacy partners, but did not provide any additional details.

Nursing homes have also struggled to vaccinate their staff members. Nursing homes lost more than 4,000 employees after New Yorks vaccine mandate went into effect in late September, and many operators fear that requiring boosters will lead to more resignations.

Today, New York is among the lowest-ranked states for getting boosters into the arms of nursing home employees, with just 17 percent of those workers having gotten the shot. That is below the national average of 22 percent, according to the American Health Care Association, which represents 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities nationwide.

Industry officials say they are making progress with residents getting booster shots. The Greater New York Health Care Facilities Association, which analyzed state data, found that the more than 1,100 long-term care facilities across the state had held nearly 4,800 booster clinics on site and 619 booster clinics for residents at pharmacies or doctors offices as of mid-December.

The organization estimates that about 12 percent of fully vaccinated nursing home residents did not yet qualify for a booster because they had only recently received an earlier dose of the vaccine or monoclonal antibodies. Another 21 percent had either declined a booster or the nursing home had yet to receive consent from relatives.

Its an ongoing effort to encourage boosters, said Stephen Hanse, president of the New York State Health Facilities Association, which represents 350 nursing homes across the state.
The most important thing to know about rapid tests is that they are most effective when you are most contagious. So the best time to use one is immediately before a gathering.

As Dr. Emily Landon, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago, describes it, rapid tests have something like an expiration date. After around 12 hours, you shouldnt trust a negative test, because if youre infected you may have moved into a different stage of the illness. So even if youre testing regularly, you should take a rapid test shortly before meeting up.

The way to do it is when you get together for your gathering, have everyone do the test before they take off their mask, or right before they come to the gathering, Dr. Landon said. If your holiday season involves staying with different friends or family, you may want a more robust approach  testing every day.

Then, theres the after party. Gathering with people outside your household increases the chance of transmission, even though that chance can be mitigated with rapid testing.

Its reasonable to continue using rapid tests after a party if you remain anxious, Landon said, but it gets expensive and is not strictly necessary. (If youre worried that you have been exposed to Covid, our colleague Tara Parker-Pope suggests that you test at least twice over a three- to four-day period. She also has a good rundown on the tests that are available.)

If you feel symptomatic after a gathering, you should get tested, and rapid testing is not enough. Thats where P.C.R. testing comes in. Theyre more sensitive than rapid antigen tests but are generally not as accessible, and results often take a day or more to come in.

Certainly if anybody develops symptoms after that gathering, you want them to get tested immediately, because if there is a vulnerable individual they could go and get monoclonal antibodies  or eventually, get access to things like Paxlovid  and take them in order to prevent infection, Landon said.
Omicron causes thousands of flight cancellations

Thousands of flights around the world, including more than 1,000 in the U.S., were canceled over one of the biggest weekends for travel in the year as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus sickened crews and disrupted travel plans.

The cancellations came at a time when many flew to spend the Christmas holiday with their families. Roughly two million people passed through screening checkpoints in the U.S. each day last week, and the numbers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were nearly double the equivalent figures last year.

As the Omicron variant spreads rapidly, the U.S. is experiencing a sharp rise in Covid cases, with the average daily caseload exceeding this summers peak, which was driven by the Delta variant. Hospitalizations are starting to tick up, too, although not at the same rate as cases.

Cautions: It looks like there is a lesser degree of severity, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the U.S., said of the Omicron variant. But he warned against complacency, noting that there were still tens of millions of unvaccinated Americans.
At the same time, California cabernet can be legitimately criticized. Too much is made, often from areas not suited to cabernet, for one thing. A lot of cabernet, both inexpensive and ultraexpensive, is overly manipulated, for another.

As I do each month, I suggested three bottles for people to drink over the course of the month. They were: Camp Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, Domaine Eden Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 and Broadside Paso Robles Margarita Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2018.

The idea was to try three cabernets from three different places outside Napa Valley. The three also happen to be quite different in style, which I hoped might signal that speaking overly generally about California cabernet is often foolish.

The variations in the wines are partly a matter of place and vintage, but not entirely. The biggest factor is the intent of the winemaker. Every decision  methods of farming, harvest date, winemaking particulars  is made in hopes of achieving a particular goal determined by the producer.

Its worth mentioning, too, that cabernet sauvignons in California are often blends of grapes. The rule in the state is that a wine must be at least 75 percent cabernet if the wine is to be labeled varietally. Each of the featured bottles is a blend.

The Camp was 86 percent cabernet, 12 percent merlot and 2 percent malbec. It was ripe and juicy, easy to drink despite its youth, with a cedary aroma and flavors of herbs and red fruits. It was not lean, but it was well toned, without a lot of the fleshiness or sweet fruit often associated with Napa cabernets.

Overall, I found it uncomplicated yet savory and refreshing, a good drink of wine. It was $22.

The Domaine Eden, 82 percent cabernet, 11 percent merlot and the rest cabernet franc, petit verdot and malbec, was more than twice as expensive at $51, which discouraged many people from trying it. It was terrific.
Chicagoans may be picky when choosing purveyors of Italian beef in their hometown. But they are even tougher on those who try to create the beloved sandwich outside Chicago.

If you do it in California, and its not exactly like they want it, theyll let you know, said Chris Caudill, an owner of Roys Chicago Dogs at the Yard, in Petaluma, Calif.

Nonetheless, a growing number of brave souls  often displaced Chicagoans  have taken up the challenge of making the citys least-understood local delicacy a national thing.
Donald H. Elliott, who as chairman of the City Planning Commission in the late 1960s and early 70s proposed a visionary master plan for New York, imposed innovative urban design standards for public and private projects, and enlisted local communities in government decision-making, died on Dec. 23 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 89.

His death was confirmed by his son Drew.

Mr. Elliott recruited a team of young progressive architects who were frustrated by decades of Robert Moses urban renewal by bulldozer diplomacy and by the citys bureaucratic embrace of drab, Stalinesque architecture for public works. In so doing, he indelibly altered the cityscape.

He oversaw the establishment of special zoning districts that preserved midtown theaters, retailers on Fifth Avenue and the historic South Street Seaport from major development and helped deliver the final death knell for the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have skewered Greenwich Village, a last gasp for Mr. Moses as a city and state public-works power broker.

Under Mr. Elliotts watch, owners of landmark buildings and other properties were granted more leeway to sell air rights  the empty space above their existing buildings that they could have used under existing zoning laws. Owners can sell those rights to the developers of nearby properties, enabling them to construct a new building that is bigger than would otherwise be allowed.
A federal judge on Monday ordered New York City officials to install more than 9,000 signal devices at intersections to make it easier for pedestrians who are visually impaired to safely cross the streets.

In an opinion released Monday morning, Judge Paul A. Engelmayer criticized city officials for failing to make the vast majority of New Yorks more than 13,000 intersections safe for thousands of blind and visually impaired residents. He ordered the appointment of a federal monitor to oversee the installation of the signal devices, which use sounds and vibrations to inform people when it is safe to cross a roadway.

The ruling will change the face of New York Citys street corners, the vast majority of which are only governed by visible cues like flashing countdowns, red hands and walking figures. It also marks a significant advancement for disability rights in major urban centers, many of which have not fully embraced accessible crossings for blind residents.

There has never been a case like this. We can finally look forward to a day, not long from now, when all pedestrians will have safe access to city streets, said Torie Atkinson, a lawyer for the American Council of the Blind and two visually impaired New Yorkers, who filed the suit. We hope this decision is a wake-up call not just to New York City, but for every other transit agency in the country thats been ignoring the needs of people with vision disabilities.
Key promises to address the conflicts root causes, like a greater government presence in rural areas to support small farmers and provide alternatives to growing coca, have gone unmet. Small armed groups are proliferating and adding recruits. Social leaders have once again become targets. Homicides have increased to levels not seen since 2013 and in rural areas, armed and criminal groups massacre civilians in numbers last experienced a decade ago.

President Ivan Duques government has never provided sufficient funds for the rural provisions. Colombias comptroller general estimates that at the current rate of spending, it would take 26 years to fulfill the accords commitments. The accords core effort to bring the state into conflict zones has received barely a seventh of its expected 15-year budget, by the most generous estimate.

Disinvestment has obstructed plans to build roads, connect towns to the electrical grid, provide potable water, title land and carry out tens of thousands of projects.

Recent events have made it even less likely that the government will spend what it needs to. Lower prices for principal export commodities like oil, coal and coffee have crippled the national budget, which has been further squeezed by the need to care for almost two million Venezuelan migrants and refugees and the costs of dealing with Covid.

Can Colombia afford to abandon peace? Of course it cannot: It is horrifying even to contemplate returning to a conflict that claimed more than 260,000 lives, disappeared 80,000 people and displaced eight million from their homes.

There will be presidential elections in May. To accelerate application of the accords, the new president will need to overcome resistance from those unwilling to reduce their privilege. One way is to demand that the judicial system investigate ties between organized crime and landowners, machine politicians and factions of the security forces, prosecuting when necessary. The violent opposition to the accords reforms by these groups is a key reason Colombia is the most dangerous country in the world to be a human rights defender or environmental activist.
To the Editor:

Re Guilty Verdict for Ex-Officer Who Shot Man (front page, Dec. 24):

After seeing the videos of the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by Kimberly Potter, I dont believe that Ms. Potter should have been convicted of any crime. Clearly she made a terrible mistake, and it may seem inexcusable for a 26-year police veteran to mistake her gun for a stun gun. However, the sudden, unexpected, aggressive action by Mr. Wright  at close quarters  can cause an officer, even a veteran, to get fearful.

A suspect in physical contact with an officer who was attempting to handcuff him suddenly breaking free and jumping behind the wheel of his car is not committing a passive and harmless action. Mr. Wrights sudden action surprised Ms. Potter, who is responsible for her fellow officers safety as well as her own. She made a horrible mistake, one that may disqualify her to continue as a police officer, but not one that should make her a convicted criminal.

Michael J. Gorman

Whitestone, N.Y.

The writer, a retired New York Police Department lieutenant, is a lawyer.

To the Editor:

Kimberly Potter was convicted of manslaughter for killing Daunte Wright when she mistakenly used a handgun instead of a Taser. In contrast, Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd by compressing his airway, allowing about nine minutes to pass during which he could have reconsidered and potentially saved Mr. Floyds life.
Hey, its Michael. This week, The Daily is revisiting some of our favorite episodes of the year and hearing whats happened in the time since they first ran. Today: We return to the countrys labor shortage to find out why so many Americans have left their jobs since the start of the pandemic and whether the people we talk to back in August are working again. Its Monday, December 27.

Walking up and down 18th Street in the nations capital.

This is Clare Toeniskoetter. I am on Smith Street in Brooklyn.

This is Sydney Harper, producer with The Daily here in D.C.

clare toeniskoetter

Hi.

speaker

Hi, how are you?

sydney harper

Hi, Im a producer with The New York Times, a daily news podcast. Were turning to an episode looking at businesses and local restaurants hiring people and if theyre having trouble finding people. Can I get your name and your role here.

dave delaplaine

Dave Delaplaine, general manager.

vanessa

My name is Vanessa. And Im the manager here at Xochitl Taqueria.

jonathan

My name is Jonathan. This is my familys restaurant.

daniel

Hi, Im Daniel from Savelli Restaurant in Brooklyn.

simona

Im Simona. Im a manager at Mama Capri.

clare toeniskoetter

How big was your staff pre-pandemic? And how big is it now?

vanessa

So in February, I believe we had about 13 employees. Now its six of us.

dave delaplane

Pre-pandemic, we had a staff close to 50.

sydney harper

What are you at now?

dave delaplane

I have 30 now, Id say.

sydney harper

So youre actively hiring, then, right now?

dave delaplane

Yes, always.

vanessa

Its been so extremely difficult trying to find employees.

daniel

Hiring is something crazy right now.

^simona

Finding waitstaff.

vanessa

Servers.

jonathan

Bartenders.

vanessa

And the kitchen probably is the hardest.

daniel

Busboy, runner.

jonathan

Sous chef.

daniel

Pizza guy.

speaker

Experienced grill cook.

vanessa

Line cooks.

jonathan

Line cooks.

speaker

Line cook.

interposing voices

Dishwashers.

daniel

Sometimes I clean dish myself.

vanessa

Ive even had to do the kitchen, Ive had to do deliveries.

jonathan

I was cooking in the kitchen last week. I have a huge burn on the bottom of my leg.

sydney harper

Oh, wow, yeah, I can see it. Are you OK?

jonathan

Im OK. But it tells you that I shouldnt be working in the kitchen, most likely.

vanessa

Well take anybody. And were willing to work with them and train them.

jonathan

We get down on our knees and we beg.

vanessa

But we cant even get that.

sydney harper

Where do you think everyone went? What do you think is happening?

shiva

Everybody is getting free money sitting at home. Thats all the reason is. Its very clear.

vanessa

The government is just giving out so much help. Theyre basically making more money to stay home.

simona

If I was getting $600 a week, I would not be going to work either. I would be chilling out with my money.

daniel

This unemployment, it makes people more lazy. People rather stay home and watching TV than go back to work.

caleb orth

Hello?

diana nguyen

Hi, is this Caleb.

caleb orth

This is.

diana nguyen

Hey, Caleb, its Diana. Is it still an OK time for you to talk?

caleb orth

Absolutely.

diana nguyen

Just to start, can you introduce yourself. Tell me your name and your age and where you live in the U.S.

caleb orth

Sure. My name is Caleb Orth. And I am 35. I am pretty new to Chicago. I just moved here at the beginning of June. Ive worked in kitchens since I was 19. I didnt go to college. I went to culinary school. I wanted to be a chef. And I really tried to make that happen throughout my 20s and early 30s. And I got really far. My last job that I had before the pandemic was in Portland, Oregon, at a seasonal, highly-acclaimed, sort of American-Italian restaurant. It was the kind of place that had the sort of prestige, but it was by no means a dream job. Working in the back of the house in a restaurant, especially a restaurant like that, of that caliber, is more than a full-time pursuit. It is a complete lifestyle. So when I say that I worked there, what I mean by that is I worked there 80 hours a week. I worked there from 11:30 in the morning until 1 oclock in the morning most days. So thats very unsustainable to me, just the culture of the work itself. You dont eat meals at appropriate times. Youre always standing. Youre working so hard.

katya barmotina

I would usually work a shift at this restaurant nearby.

cris

Working in a kitchen where were, like, regularly 80, 90 degrees, sometimes even 100, being right next to ovens and heaters and grills and fryers.

adam

You know, waiting tables jobs can also be very kind of psychologically damaging in some ways, because you have interactions with people who dont respect you.

cris

It would be horrible. We would be soaked in sweat.

katya barmotina

And then Tuesdays and Thursdays I would sub in for, like, a barista shift.

cris

It Standing for eight hours, and just five minutes to sit down and eat something quick.

adam

You have to learn to perform at a level thats, like, essentially flawless.

cris

Basically living paycheck to paycheck.

katya barmotina

I was depressed.

cris

It can be very overwhelming. Were constantly overworked.

ariel

Theres a lot of multitasking.

cris

Underpaid.

ariel

Remembering stuff.

cris

Underappreciated.

adam

Theres a lot of pressure.

cris

You know, like, dropping the meat and the chicken. So theres oil everywhere. When you put the meat down, sometimes oil drips down. So for a very long time, I had a lot of burns and scars on my hands. I still have some scars. I dont think theyll go away.

katya barmotina

It sucked. It really sucked.

caleb orth

My last day of work was March 15, 2020. The night before, we had a very, very slow service. And I remember talking with one of the other guys that was in kitchen management. And I just said, hey, tomorrow I might be a little late, because Im going to go to the store, and Im going to stock up on supplies in case this gets bad. And so when I was at the grocery store the next day, buying food and stuff, with everybody else in the city, I got called. And they said, were closed indefinitely. We dont know whats going to happen. Everybody still has a job right now. But we dont know how long this is going to last. Then we got an email about five days later basically laying off the entirety of the staff.

katya barmotina

My name is Katya Barmotina. I am 25. I am a musician, teacher. I live in Brooklyn in Bed-Stuy. And I grew up here too. So yeah, thats me.

ben casselman

Tell me about unemployment. Did you  did you start applying right away?

katya barmotina

I didnt apply right away because I thought, you know, I have money. I have savings. And then, two months later, when I had, like, maybe one months rent, I was like, no, we got to do it now. We have to apply. This is a bad situation now.

ben casselman

Once unemployment started to come in, do you remember how much you were getting a week at first?

katya barmotina
When Russias military blasted an old satellite to smithereens last month with an antisatellite missile, American officials reacted angrily, warning that thousands of tiny pieces of new orbital debris could endanger astronauts on the International Space Station. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, Russias space agency, seemed to share some of that frustration.

No, I dont like it, Mr. Rogozin, who initially downplayed the threat of the debris, said in a recent interview. He noted his concern that there is a lot of debris scattered across the orbit.

While the danger to the space stations astronauts has waned, the diplomatic impact of Russias military action in orbit looms large. The Nov. 15 weapon test prompted a rare intersection of two components of bilateral ties between the U.S. and Russia: on the one hand, the bravado and provocations that define their testy military relationship; on the other, longstanding amity between NASA and the Russian space agency.

For two decades, the space station has been a symbol of diplomatic triumph between the U.S. and Russia, typically insulated from tensions on Earth. Russian astronauts traveled to orbit on the space shuttle, and when it stopped flying, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft became NASAs only ride to orbit for nearly a decade. The station also requires the two space powers cooperation to function: The Russian segment depends on electricity generated by American solar panels, while the station as a whole depends on Russian equipment to control its orbit.
Alma Partida knew her breastfeeding journey was coming to a close in June. She had nursed her daughter, Alessa, for nearly 18 months  longer than most mothers in the United States do  and the process had not been easy.

First there was Alessas birth, by emergency cesarean section, in February 2020. In the hospital after surgery, Ms. Partida struggled to breastfeed. Once she and her daughter were discharged, nursing was still challenging.

It was a really long journey, said Ms. Partida, a 29-year-old speech language pathologist in Watsonville, Calif. Now that it was ending, she wanted to find a way to mark it.

While scrolling through posts on a parenting Facebook group, Ms. Partida came across an unusual but fitting keepsake: a pendant containing a white stone. The main ingredient? Breast milk.
Its a booming market. OneTrust, a leader in the field, has been valued by investors at $5.3 billion. BigID, a competitor, raised $30 million in April at a $1.25 billion valuation. Another company that targets privacy regulations, TrustArc, raised $70 million in 2019. Yoti, a start-up that provides the kind of age-verification services that regulators are increasingly turning to to shield children from harmful content, has raised millions of dollars since it was founded in 2014.

The emergence of these companies shows how complex regulations governing the web have become  and how much more complicated it is expected to get. Several privacy laws will take effect around the world in the coming years, with more countries and states expected to consider their own proposals.

They are all reactions to an underlying problem  and they all have their own flavor, they all have their own interpretations and they all have their own focus points, said Bart Willemsen, an analyst at Gartner, a market research firm. These regulatory changes nudge organizations  in addition to perhaps any ethical concerns they may have had  to really up their game here.

Many of the new companies owe their start to the General Data Protection Regulation, a European Union law passed in 2016 that pushes websites to ask their users if they agree to being tracked online. It also mandates companies to catalog the personal data they hold.

The European rule was a landmark moment in the fracturing of internet regulation, putting Europe far ahead of Washington in creating guardrails for tech.
In the tech industry, 2021 was a year of profits and pivots.

Thanks in part to the pandemic and the digitization of our lives, all of the big tech companies got bigger. Facebook changed its name to Meta, Jeff Bezos went to space, Jack Dorsey left Twitter and Silicon Valley fell harder for crypto.

Every December, partly to cheer myself up after a year of covering techs scandals and shortfalls, I use this column to lift up a handful of tech projects that improved the world during the year. My criteria are somewhat loose and arbitrary, but I look for the kinds of worthy, altruistic projects that apply technology to big, societal problems, and that dont get much attention from the tech press, like start-ups that are using artificial intelligence to fight wildfires, or food-delivery programs for the needy.

Especially at a time when many of techs leaders seem more interested in building new, virtual worlds than improving the world we live in, its worth praising the technologists who are stepping up to solve some of our biggest problems.

So here, without further ado, are this years Good Tech Awards.

To DeepMind, for cracking the protein problem (and publishing its work)

One of the years most exciting A.I. breakthroughs came in July when DeepMind  a Google-owned artificial intelligence company  published data and open-source code from its groundbreaking AlphaFold project.
In March 2020, as lockdowns fell into place worldwide, The Timess Travel desk launched a new visual series to help readers cope with their confinement. We called it The World Through a Lens  and, frankly, we didnt expect it to last this long.

But as the weeks turned into months, and the months into years, weve continued publishing photo essays each Monday morning, carrying you  virtually  from the islands of Maine to the synagogues of Myanmar, and nearly 100 other places in between.

We hope the series has offered you a little solace and a little distraction throughout the pandemic  and perhaps a chance to immerse yourself, if momentarily, in a distant place or culture that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Below are some of our favorite World Through a Lens essays from the past year. (You can browse the full archive here.)
When Chelsea Cox dropped off a card at the sheriffs house, she did not expect to have a gun pointed at her forehead.

She had driven some girls from her church to his house in Blackfoot, Idaho, on the evening of Nov. 9. They taped a thankful turkey card to the door and sprinted back to the car, according to an affidavit filed this month by the Idaho attorney generals office. The delivery was supposed to be a nice surprise.

But the sheriff, Craig Rowland of Bingham County, Idaho, saw them and thought that they were casing the neighborhood, according to the affidavit.

He brought his service gun outside and waved at the car to stop driving. Ms. Cox, a family friend, stopped the car and opened the door.
The clean-energy public relations campaign is the newest threat to the Nez Perce, who for generations have watched fish populations decline and pollution rise. Mining interests drove them out of their homelands and fouled their rivers and ancestral hunting grounds. For a community trying to preserve its culture and kinship with the territory, an effort that has involved millions of dollars invested in restoring fish stocks, the proposed mine represents another existential threat.

A review by the Environmental Protection Agency found that Perpetuas initial plan for a 20-year operation would inflict disproportionately high and adverse impacts on tribes, according to a November 2020 letter from the agency, and environmental groups have warned that the mine could damage or destroy huge swaths of fish habitat.

The Nez Perce are not alone. Across the American West, tribal nations are on the front lines of a new debate over how to balance the needs and costs of clean energy. Extracting the fuels of the future is a process that is often far from clean, and just as fights over the environmental costs of oil exploration helped define the fossil fuel era, conflicts like this one are creating the battle lines of the next energy revolution.

The push to unearth new minerals presents a hard choice for the Biden administration in politically divided Western states where mining remains an important source of jobs and political power. The choices are destined to grow more challenging as commodities like lithium, copper, cobalt and antimony become more valuable, and critical to the nations future.

Perpetua says its Idaho mine holds enough antimony to one day power a million homes using hulking batteries that would capture and release energy created by solar farms. Perpetua and its partner, the battery-maker Ambri, say the batteries would last for 20 years and lose little of their power-storing capacity over their lifetimes, potentially revolutionizing Americas power grids.

But the batteries are a new technology that have yet to prove their effectiveness in the real world. And it will likely be at least another five years before any Perpetua project is able to deliver any antimony to be made into batteries.
Those provisions are the most transformational thing that has been done by the House Armed Services Committee in my 25 years of service, said Representative Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington and the chairman of the committee. Theres a lot to be proud of in this bill.

The measure passed the House and the Senate this month with wide bipartisan support, despite the liberal House members and the 11 senators who voted against it, citing its steep price tag and the stripping away of policy provisions that would have levied penalties against Russia and Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses, required women to register for the draft and cracked down on extremism within the uniformed services.

But Republicans did not get everything they wanted. Democrats blocked an effort by House conservatives that would have declared that Congress had lost confidence in Mr. Biden over his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The bill overcame intense partisan and intraparty dysfunction that has plagued Congress this year: The Senate neither passed its own defense bill nor considered any amendments, denying lawmakers the chance to vote on several foreign policy issues.

Instead, top congressional officials huddled behind closed doors to cobble together a House bill that could quickly pass both chambers. Those involved in the effort expressed their relief on Monday.
Image Workers at a recreational-vehicle company last year in LaGrange, Ind., where many residents are Amish. Credit... Brendan Smialowski/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images

In the United States, over 204 million people are fully vaccinated, but thats still only 62 percent of the population, much lower than in most other wealthy countries.

At the county level, vaccination rates range from about 83 percent in places like Montgomery County, Md., a populous area just outside Washington, D.C., to around 15 percent in rural places like McPherson County in northern South Dakota.

As the Omicron variant surges, and experts say that vaccinations strongly protect against severe illness, U.S. public health officials are closely examining ways to reach the least-vaccinated areas. But the roadblocks are not the same everywhere. Some clearly have to do with politics: Republican-leaning areas have generally been vaccine laggards. But pockets of the country can have their own quirks unrelated to partisanship.

Here is a look at the challenges faced by three counties where, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, vaccination rates are among the lowest in the nation. (State figures for those counties may vary from the C.D.C. data because of differences in methodology, reporting lags and other factors.)

LaGrange County, Ind.

Resistance to vaccines is not new in LaGrange County, a rural area along Indianas border with Michigan. Just 22 percent of residents are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, and, according to Dr. Tony Pechin, the county health officer, only 15 percent of children in the county are up-to-date on standard vaccines by the age of 2.

Dr. Pechin said that he had encountered the usual conspiracy theories about vaccines, and that even some longtime patients would not heed his advice to get the shots.

But the most important factor, he said, is that about half the countys 40,000 residents are Amish, a group that overwhelmingly rejects the vaccines. Among non-Amish residents, he said, the vaccination rate is 45 to 48 percent.

Dr. Pechin said that a pharmacy frequented by Amish residents was among the first in LaGrange County to receive doses but had vaccinated just eight people in six months.

The state health commissioner sent a delegation to meet with Amish leaders in the spring, and the C.D.C. sent another over the summer.

When they were done, Dr. Pechin said of the envoys, they called me and just said, Good luck, Tony.

Cameron Parish, La.

When Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron Parish in August 2020, many residents left damaged homes behind and took refuge inland  and have yet to return.

According to the C.D.C., the vaccination rate is just 17 percent. But Louisiana health officials say that those figures do not take account of the population shift.

Although the numbers look awful, theyre not as bad as they appear, because of an outflux of people due to the natural disasters, said Dr. Lacey Cavanaugh, a regional health officer for the Louisiana Department of Health.

Image Sifting through debris of a home damaged by Hurricane Laura in Cameron Parish, La., in August 2020. Credit... Bryan Tarnowski/Bloomberg, via Getty Images

But if the statistics were calculated to reflect the current populations of Cameron Parish and others ravaged by recent storms, she said, they would probably still show vaccination rates below national averages. Laura destroyed much of the parishs limited health infrastructure, so for months, health officials administered vaccines in a tent in a hospital parking lot. And for residents consumed by the work of repairing homes and businesses, getting vaccinated fell low on the priority list.

State health officials have worked to bring vaccines directly to disaster recovery events, and advised residents that getting sick with Covid-19 could make the road back even harder.

Once youre protected from the virus, Dr. Cavanaugh said, thats one less thing for you to worry about.

Winston County, Ala.

A rural county with a history of going its own way  it refused to join Alabama in seceding from the Union during the Civil War  faces many of the challenges that have hampered the states vaccine uptake.

Vaccine misinformation is still spreading on social media, said Dr. Karen Landers, a regional officer with the states Public Health Department, despite months of efforts with local leaders, faith-based organizations and pharmacies. The countys vaccination rate has stalled at around 21 percent, according to the C.D.C.

Image A meeting of the local Republican Party in October 2020 in Double Springs, Ala. The state hasnt had a mask mandate since April. Credit... Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse, via Getty Images

Persuading young people that they are vulnerable to the disease and need a vaccine can be a particularly acute problem, she said. But Dr. Landerssaid she remained determined: We know that not everyone will listen to us, but that does not alleviate our responsibility.
Richard Marcinko, the hard-charging founding commander of Navy SEAL Team 6, the storied and feared unit within an elite commando force that later carried out the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, died on Saturday at his home in Fauquier County, Va. He was 81.

His son Matthew Marcinko said the cause was believed to be a heart attack.

Commander Marcinko, a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, climbed the ranks to command Team 6 and wrote a tell-all best seller that cemented the SEALs in popular culture as heroes and bad boys. Though he led Team 6 for only three years, from 1980 to 1983, he had an outsize influence on the groups place in military lore.

After a failed 1980 mission to rescue 53 American hostages seized in the takeover of the United States Embassy in Tehran, the Navy asked Commander Marcinko to build a SEAL unit that could respond quickly to terrorist crises. The name itself was an attempt at Cold War disinformation: Only two SEAL teams existed at the time, but Commander Marcinko called the new unit SEAL Team 6, hoping that Soviet analysts would overestimate the size of the force.

He flouted rules and fostered a maverick image for the unit. (Years after leaving the command, he was convicted of military contract fraud.) In his autobiography, Rogue Warrior, published in 1992, Commander Marcinko described drinking together as important to SEAL Team 6s solidarity; his recruiting interviews often amounted to boozy chats in bars.
She stood to the right of much of the field and was arguably the furthest right of the three Republicans nominated for statewide office. She favors strict limits on abortion, calling Democratic abortion policies wicked; she is an advocate of vouchers to help students pay for private school tuition and of tighter restrictions on voting; and she insists that gun control laws do not deter crime  gun ownership does. A photo that went viral last spring, showing her holding an AR-15 while wearing a blazer-and-dress outfit suitable for a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, propelled her as much as anything to the Republican nomination.

Ms. Sears derides the left as too concerned with race but often explains her politics as rooted in Black history, stressing Marcus Garveys rhetoric on self-reliance as a Jamaican immigrant in Jim Crow America, emphasizing that Harriet Tubman carried a gun and referring to the infamous Tuskegee experiments in explaining her opposition to Covid-19 vaccine mandates. If the Democrats are always going to talk about race, then lets talk about it, she said.

She rejects the notion that the problems Republicans have attracting Black voters might run deeper than mere neglect. She was angered when Republicans nominated Corey Stewart, who had a history of associating with Neo-Confederates, for the 2018 U.S. Senate race in Virginia. But she said this didnt give her qualms about the party. She remains a champion of Mr. Trump, who openly endorsed Mr. Stewart; indeed, she was the national chairwoman of a group called Black Americans to Re-elect the President.

Jennifer McClellan, a Democratic state senator from Richmond, agreed that Democrats could not assume that Black people would show up for them at the polls, saying that Black voters, like any voters, choose candidates based on who they believe is going to help solve their problems. But, she continued, little that Ms. Sears has said suggests she would be that person in office.
CAPE TOWN  The bells of St. Georges Cathedral in Cape Town rang out on Monday as South Africans began a week of mourning for Desmond M. Tutu, the first Black archbishop of Cape Town, who died on Sunday at 90.

The cleric was one of the most powerful voices in the anti-apartheid movement, and remained a voice of moral conscience in the decades after the system of institutionalized segregation crumbled in South Africa. His death was met with an outpouring of tributes in South Africa and from around the world.

Undeterred by gray weather and a cold drizzle, mourners placed flowers along the walls of the church. Several recalled personal encounters as they signed a book of remembrance for the archbishop, a testament to how accessible he was to the South African public despite his global stature.

He met my son whos blind and took to him nearly 20 years ago, said Maeve King, tearing up. She said it was extraordinarily special that the archbishop had been kind and treated her son like he was just like everyone else. Besides what he did for this country, besides his integrity, besides his honor, besides the magnificent man that he was.
NAIROBI, Kenya  Somalias president suspended the countrys prime minister and marine forces commander on Monday, a sharp escalation in a political dispute that threatens to further destabilize the troubled nation on the Horn of Africa.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed suspended Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble over allegations of corruption and misuse of public land. Mr. Mohameds office had earlier accused Mr. Roble of posing a serious threat to the electoral process and of carrying out activities that violated his mandate.

Mr. Roble refused to accept the order and accused Mr. Mohamed of deploying troops to attack his office and those of the cabinet to prevent them from carrying out their duties. The moves, he said in a televised address, were a blatant attempt to overthrow the government, the Constitution and the laws of the land.

On Monday, foreign governments and international observers expressed concern that the dispute could set off yet another cycle of violence in a nation battered by decades of fighting.
Days after a clinic in Sydney, Australia, mistakenly told 400 people they had tested negative for the virus, when, in fact, they had tested positive, the lab announced on Tuesday that an additional 486 people preemptively sent negative results were also positive.

The news comes as pathology clinics and hospitals across Australia were struggling with high demand for coronavirus testing and amid a surge in coronavirus cases in Australia.

On Monday, the number of daily new cases rose above 10,000 for the first time and officials recorded the first death linked to the Omicron variant. It was man in his 80s in New South Wales who had received two vaccine doses and had underlying health conditions, the state authorities said.

SydPath, the pathology service of St. Vincents Hospital in Sydney, the countrys most populous city, said that on Christmas night it mistakenly told 400 coronavirus-positive people that they had tested negative.
MADRID  At Casa Lucio, an old-fashioned eatery near the royal palace in Madrid that the former Spanish king, Juan Carlos, used to frequent, people chattered on a recent afternoon about the disgraced monarchs possible return. Javier Blazquez, whose family owns the restaurant, said he was ready to welcome back his favorite guest.

In 2014, after a raft of scandals, the king of nearly 40 years abdicated the throne. When prosecutors began investigating his finances, he mysteriously vanished in 2020, then he resurfaced weeks later in the United Arab Emirates, where the Spanish prosecutors could not reach him.

But recent months have seen a turn of luck for Juan Carlos, 83. A number of the cases against him have either been dropped or cleared up, leading to calls from some Spaniards to let him come home without fear of spending the rest of his life in jail.

Im happy for him to come back, Mr. Blazquez said. The reign of Juan Carlos brought the longest era of peace and prosperity for Spain.
Iraqs Federal Supreme Court on Monday upheld the results of the countrys October parliamentary elections, resolving a dispute that had stalled the formation of a new government as Iran-backed Shiite Muslim militias contested gains by a rival Shiite political bloc.

The court certified the victory of Muqtada al-Sadr, the influential Shiite cleric who is regarded as a possible ally, if a wary one, for the United States in Iraq. His party won 73 of the 329 seats in Parliament, more than any other and up from 54 in 2018. It handily beat an alliance of Iran-aligned militias led by the Fatah coalition.

For Fatah and its allies, Mr. al-Sadrs victory upset the traditional balance of the Shiite powers that have dominated Iraqi politics since the fall of Saddam Hussein almost 20 years ago and threatened to dent Iranian influence in Parliament. Mr. al-Sadr  an Iraqi nationalist whose forces once battled the Americans but who is now viewed as more hostile to Iran  is poised to play a strong role not only in Parliament but also in choosing the next prime minister.

Mr. al-Sadr thanked the court, the election commission and the Iraqi people in a Twitter post on Monday and called for the formation of a government of national majority that is neither Eastern nor Western. Earlier he visited the shrine of Imam Ali in the city of Najaf, one of the holiest sites in Shiite Islam, to offer thanks.
An Israeli hospital on Monday began a study to test the safety and effectiveness of a fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, as health officials continued to deliberate over rolling out fourth shots for vulnerable people nationwide.

Officials at Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv, said that their study was the first of its kind in the world and involved administering an additional shot to 150 medical personnel who had received a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at least four months ago.

The moves in Israel, an early leader in Covid vaccinations, are being closely watched as governments worldwide struggle with how to confront the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, which is driving record numbers of new infections in parts of the United States, Europe and other places. Even as some studies suggest that Omicron infections are milder than those caused by other variants, the surges are already stretching health systems, and experts warn that it could lead to many more deaths.

With studies showing that Covid vaccines still protect people from getting seriously ill from Omicron, a panel of medical experts advising the Israeli government recommended last week that health officials offer a fourth shot for people ages 60 and older, for those with weaker immunity and for medical workers.
Having overcome vaccine shortages and inadequate cold storage for shots, Nepals Covid-19 immunization drive has now been hampered by another problem: a shortage of syringes.

Nepals Health Ministry announced on Monday that a second drive to administer donated Pfizer vaccines to children had been postponed indefinitely.

Sagar Dahal, chief of Nepals national immunization program, said that the authorities in the small Himalayan nation had planned to start administering shots to children ages 12 to 17 in eight districts starting on Tuesday. But we couldnt arrange syringes for vaccines meant for children and the scheduled inoculation campaign has been postponed for the time being, he said.

Mr. Dahal added that, although officials had recently scrambled to find five million syringes for other vaccines  the Indian-manufactured Covishield and the Chinese vaccine Vero Cell  they couldnt arrange the smaller syringes needed for the Pfizer shots, which were the ones to be administered to children.
What should I do if my flight is delayed?

Under federal law, airlines are obliged to provide a full refund to customers if a flight is significantly delayed and the passenger chooses not to travel. What constitutes a significant delay is determined by the airline, but Mr. Keyes said that two hours is usually a good rule of thumb. You should check your airlines website for its contract of carriage, which outlines the policies, for more specific information.

If you choose to travel, you should get in line to speak with a gate agent to discuss your options. Youll typically be placed on the next flight with available seats. You can also call the airline, but considering the long wait times on a lot of U.S. customer service lines, Mr. Keyes recommends trying one of the airlines international numbers, which are listed on their websites contact us pages and might have a shorter wait.

You want to make sure you know what the cellphone rates are, he said, but if youre calling Canada, its like two cents a minute. Its going to be a 20-minute call versus a three-hour wait if youre calling a U.S. hotline. I think its worth 40 cents.

If you booked through an online travel agency, such as Expedia or Orbitz, you will need to call it directly to resolve your issue. The airline generally wont want to deal with you, Mr. Keyes said.

If you choose to keep traveling, you are not entitled to compensation under federal law, but some airlines may offer it if the delay is their fault, such as if its caused by a mechanical or staffing issue.

American Airlines, for instance, will arrange an overnight stay for customers whose flight is delayed and does not board before midnight on the scheduled arrival day, said Andrea Koos, a spokeswoman for American Airlines.

JetBlue offers compensation for flights delayed three or more hours, from $50 to $200, depending on the length of the delay. If your flight was booked directly through the airline, it will email you within seven days of the flights scheduled departure to provide instructions for receiving compensation, according to its Customer Bill of Rights. If you booked through a third party, such as Expedia or Orbitz, youll need to call that companys customer service line to ask for potential compensation.
The Man That Rescues Dogs, an animal shelter in Chonburi, Thailand, cares for over a thousand stray dogs, including a few paralyzed animals that get to run with the pack again, thanks to the care and attention of the staff.

Michael J. Baines is the man behind The Man That Rescues Dogs. The Swedish national moved to Chonburi in 2002 to open his own restaurant, but quickly noticed the large number of stray dogs roaming through the city, many of which could barely survive on the scraps they found every day. In 2011, Baines became attached to one special stray that started coming to his restaurant every day, and soon noticed that his patron wasnt the only one in need of help. Michael started caring for a handful of strays, then for a few dozen, and before he knew it, he was providing food for almost a hundred canines. In 2017, The Man That Rescues Dogs animal shelter was founded, and in the four years since, the staff there not only rescued over 1,000 dogs, but gave a few paralyzed ones their mobility back.

Photo: The Man That Rescues Dogs/Facebook

Theres nothing quite like the joy on a dogs face as it runs with a pack, which is why The Man That Rescues Dogs decided that simply rescuing strays and providing food for them wasnt enough. Michael J. Baines used to take sick dogs to veterinarians in Chonburi himself, but there was little they could do for paralyzed animals that had been hit by cars or physically abused by humans. In 2019, through his foundation, he set up a clinic with two on-site veterinarians to provide care for his shelter dogs and provide services free of charge care for other pets in the area.

With donations from animals lovers both in Thailand and abroad, The Man That Rescues Dogs not only managed to increase the number of dogs it could take in and treat, but also managed to help almost thirty paralyzed canines run again.

Without a doubt, its giving the sick, neglected, abused street dogs of Thailand the second chance that they deserve, Baines told Bored Panda. When you see a paralyzed dog in their wheelchair for the first time, running free and smiling, thats right up there as one of the best parts of the process.

Its almost like they have no idea that they have a disability and once you put them in the wheelchair for the first time, its like there is no curve of learning, Christopher Chidichimo, a member of the shelter staff, recently told Reuters.

According to The Man That Rescues Dogs website, caring for a disabled dog is a lot simpler than a lot of people imagine. All you need to do is get it into the wheelchair, which takes about 30 seconds, and help them urinate by gently applying pressure on their bladder five times a day. But to the dog, it makes all the difference in the world.

A shelter in Thailand, home to more than 600 disabled stray dogs, faces financial hardships as the coronavirus pandemic stifles visitors and donations, forcing them to end certain campaigns in the process https://t.co/OhZK0jJUYx pic.twitter.com/vXSvjFQVGC  Reuters (@Reuters) February 5, 2021

The Man That Rescues Dogs currently cares for 27 paralyzed dogs, and the shelter hopes that their success stories will inspire more animal lovers to adopt disabled canines and offer them a better life.
Part of a consignment of drugs discovered in parcels during a search by Revenue officers in Dublin this week were destined for an address in Offaly.

As part of routine operations, Revenue officers examining parcels at premises in Dublin seized 8.9 kgs of herbal cannabis and 17 grams of MDMA, with an estimated value of almost 180,000.

The illegal drugs were discovered with the assistance of detector dog Bailey, concealed in parcels that originated in the US, Canada, Spain and the Netherlands and were labelled as tea, books, bedding, textiles and wigs. The parcels were destined for addresses in Counties Dublin, Louth, Laois, Offaly, Waterford and Cork.

Separately yesterday, as part of routine operations, Revenue officers examining parcels at a premises in Athlone seized illegal drugs worth over 300,000 including almost 5kgs of ketamine, 3.4kgs of Chloromethcathinone (CMC) crystals and 1.25 litres of Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate (GHB).

The illegal drugs originated in the Netherlands and were destined for addresses in Northern Ireland, Meath and Dublin.

Investigations into both seizures are ongoing.

These seizures are part of Revenue's ongoing operations targeting the importation of illegal drugs. If businesses or members of the public have any information regarding smuggling, they can contact Revenue in confidence on Confidential Phone Number 1800 295 295.
Met Eireann has put Ireland on alert for heavy rain and potential flooding this week.

In a Weather Advisory, Met Eireann says that this week across Ireland from Monday night onwards, spells of rain, which will be heavy at times, coupled with already saturated soils, may lead to localised flooding.

According to Met Eireann, early tonight, most areas will be cloudy with patchy light rain, drizzle and mist. Rain will become more persistent overnight and it will turn blustery with fresh to strong westerly winds developing. Clearer conditions with scattered showers will move into southern areas later. Lowest temperatures of 3 to 7 degrees.

The latest forecast for Tuesday is for the weather to be wet in many areas to begin on Tuesday but it will be drier in the south and southwest with just scattered showers. The rain will gradually clear eastwards through the morning, leaving sunny spells and isolated showers by the afternoon. It will be blustery in the morning with fresh to strong westerly winds, but they will ease through the afternoon, becoming light and variable by evening. Highest temperatures of 7 to 11 degrees.

Rain will develop in the southwest early on Tuesday night and will extend northeastwards across the country overnight, turning heavy at times and giving a risk of localised flooding. Lowest temperatures of 0 to 7 degrees, coldest in the north early in the night. Light southerly winds will increase moderate to fresh.

According to Met Eireann, Wednesday morning will be wet and breezy with some heavy falls of rain in places, along with fresh and gusty westerly winds. The rain will gradually clear northeastwards through the morning and will be followed by dry weather with sunny spells and lighter winds. However, cloud will build from the south as the day goes on and patchy rain will move into southern areas during the evening. It will be very mild for the time of year with highest temperatures of 11 to 14 degrees.

Mostly cloudy on Wednesday night with scattered light rain and drizzle, becoming isolated later. Staying mild with temperatures only falling to between 8 and 12 degrees, with light to moderate south to southwest winds.

Thursday will be cloudy, wet and breezy. A band of rain will move northwards over the country and will be heavy at times giving a risk of localised flooding. The rain will be accompanied by fresh to strong southerly winds. It will be mild again with afternoon temperatures of 10 to 13 degrees.

Thursday night will be breezy or windy with fresh to strong and gusty south to southwest winds. There will be widespread rain or heavy showers early in the night but drier and clearer conditions will gradually spread from the south as the night progresses and winds will decrease too. There will be little change in temperatures from day to night, staying around 9 to 12 degrees.

According to Met Eireann, Friday will be dry and bright to start the day but more rain will move in from the Atlantic during the afternoon and evening, turning heavy at times. It will become breezy again too as fresh southerly winds develop. Highest afternoon temperatures of 9 to 13 degrees.
Archives in Offaly covering the War of Independence period are varied and interesting. This blog will give a short overview of archival material in Offaly Archives in collections of local government records and private papers, drawn from both the collections of Offaly County Library and Offaly History. Links will be provided to online descriptions and digitised resources on the online catalogue offalyarchives.com This will also include links to the catalogue of the Rosse Papers at Birr Castle, another local repository of important source material.

Local government archives, such as the records of the county council and of the urban and rural district councils, record the massive political change following the establishment of Dail Eireann in January 1919. By the time the local elections of 1920 were held, Sinn Fein had the majority of seats on the County Council. Kings County Council was renamed Offaly County Council in June 1920 and allegiance to the new Dail was ratified by many of the district councils, e.g. Tullamore Rural District Council recorded the following motion on 2 October 1920:

Circular letter from Dail Eireann was read, directing that the Council sever all communication with the Local Government Board, Custom House and send all communication to Dail Eireann instead. Resolved.

Detail from the minutes of the meeting of Kings County Council, on 19 June 1920 where a proposal to change the name of the council to Offaly County Council was adopted.

The issue of the internment of Republican prisoners in camps in the Curragh and elsewhere occurs frequently in local government minute books, e.g. Eamonn Bulfin, chairman of Kings County Council before being deported to Argentina, proposed the following on 25 February 1919:

Proposed by E. Bulfin, seconded by M. H. White & resolved that we call the attention of the civilised powers and peoples of the world to the inhuman treatment of Irish political prisoners interred in English and Irish jails.

In September 1920, a decision was taken by Tullamore UDC to cancel its original resolution adopted in 1916 condemning the 1916 Rising. A handwritten order in red ink over the original condemnation is a visual reminder of the complete reversal of political opinion in four short years.

There are two surviving autograph books created by local prisoners of the internment camps, namely John Lennon of Harbour Street, Tullamore (now fully digitised), and Seamus OBrennan, Church Street, Tullamore. These contain the signatures and the addresses of many imprisoned men from Offaly along with artwork depicting life in the camps in the Curragh. There are further autograph books of local origin in private collections.

Elsewhere, the surviving records of the large estates reflect the effect of the instability of the political situation during this period. Reginald Digby filed the following annual report in 1919 with a curiously positive statement concerning life on Lord Digbys Geashill Estate,:

Though Ireland remains in a disturbed and unsatisfactory condition, this immediate neighbourhood has been very free from agitation, and from a continuance of high prices for all agricultural produce and abundant crops, the Irish farmer is enjoying an era of unprecedented prosperity.

His successor as land agent, Lewis Goodbody of A. & L. Goodbody Solicitors, submits a less sanguine description of events on the ground the following year, 1920:

Ireland continues in a disturbed and unsatisfactory condition. This neighbourhood has not escaped the general destruction of Constabulary Barracks, the only three barracks on your estate having been maliciously and wantonly burnt and wrecked, those at Clonmore being wholly destroyed and those at Geashill and Killeigh partially so. The police authorities having vacated them prior to their destruction have since abandoned same, with a consequent loss of future rental. Claims for compensation for substantial amounts have been lodged and are still pending.

Over at Birr Castle, the estate was managed by land agent Toler R. Garvey At this time, the 6th Earl of Rosse was in his minority, having succeeded to the earldom at the age of 12 when the 5th Earl died in 1918 of injuries sustained in the Great War. During the War of Independence he was away at school in England and the castle and demesne was looked after by Garvey. Copies of Garveys outgoing correspondence survives and in it he records various agitations in that part of the county, and laments a former way of life such as this description in a letter to V. J. Beaumont Nesbitt, Tubberdaly, Edenderry:

Although things are very bad they are not a bit worse than I had anticipated, but we must reach an end of it sometime and we, or whoever is left, may once again be able to live in peace, though I dont think they will ever know the comfort and good times which we had in the past.

The Rosse Papers also contain a vivid description by Lady Bandon, in reply to the Hon. Geoffrey Parsons, of the kidnapping of Lord Bandon, of Castle Bernard, County Cork, in July 1921, which must have been disquieting reading for fellow landowners:

My dear Geoffrey, how nice of you to write thousands of thanks to you both for your most kind sympathy in our terrible tragedy. If only I could have tiding of my dear B. I can only trust that he may be restored to me but the suspense is so trying and what he must suffer in mind & body The way they treated us was like the French revolution. I can never forget it  & [?] men taken away & hearing shots fired. The head male was so insulting to me  saying there is no Lord Bandon & that the likes of us had ruined the country. Thank God I kept my head & prevented their being too rough to B. when he tried to struggle with them. I feel people in England dont realise what loyalists are suffering over here. I know so many appalling things.

Following The Truce of 11 July 1921, political tensions between the Pro-Treaty and Anti-Treaty supporters crystallised and set the scene for the Civil War which officially broke out in June 1922. In this intervening year of fractious hostility, Garveys letterbooks at Birr reveal the anxiety surrounding the situation for landowners:

I enclose Notice from the Local Government Board of their intention to take the land at Croghan after all, but in view of the Settlement just arrived at on the Irish question, it seems very doubtful that they will proceed with the matter. Things have moved rapidly since I saw you and we shall soon be face to face with a totally new situation.

The end of the War of Independence and the establishment of the Irish Free State saw a big change to the system of local government and consequently local government records. The boards of guardians which oversaw public health were replaced by county boards of health and the workhouses were renamed as county homes. The minute books of the boards of guardians for each district in Offaly end at 1921 when all of their functions and services were transferred. These minute books reflect a changing political landscape in Ireland beginning with the documentation of the workhouse system of poor relief from the 1830s, to the Great Famine and its consequences, right through to the days of revolution and independence. One of the final entries in the Birr Union minute books illustrates the dramatic events of this time in local government:

The clerk reported that the current minute book disappeared out of the office since the last meeting, that the chairman Mr Delahunty and three other members have been arrested viz., J. J. Horan, Thos. McIntyre and Francis Bulfin, and that a number of other members are on the run

The Clerk further reported that the Office had been recently raided by Crown Forces and that they enquired for letters from Dail Eireann and for the missing minute book. He was not however able to give them any information on the subject and after warning him that should any letters etc from Dail Eireann be found addressed to him, he will be arrested. The party then withdrew. (25 June 1921)
Sky News 27 Dec 2021

Sarah Weddington, who won a landmark court case to make abortions legal across the US, has died at the age of 76.
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The tourism and hospitality sector has been among those most severely affected by the pandemic. With uncertainty over the Omicron variant persisting, the federal minister responsible for the industry said the return of international travellers could still be a long way off.
Of all the passengers in the line, he was the only one submitted to the indignity of a body search.
State authorities are looking at allowing interstate travellers to do a rapid-antigen test, rather than a PCR test, on day five.
The need for Boeing 787 pilots in Queensland to isolate for 14 days after each international service has put pressure on crewing.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Polands president on Monday said he has decided to veto a media bill that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling share in TVN, a Polish TV network.



President Andrzej Duda noted that the bill was unpopular with many Poles and would have dealt a blow to Polands reputation as a place to do business.



Duda, who was facing pressure from the U.S. government to veto the bill, also argued that it is important for Poland to be seen as an honorable partner with its allies.



The bill, recently passed by the lower house of parliament, would have prevented any non-European entity from owning more than a 49% stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland.



Its practical effect would have targeted only one existing company, Discovery Inc., forcing the U.S. owner of Polands largest private television network, TVN, to sell the majority or even all of its Polish holdings.



Polish government leaders pushed the legislation and argued that it is important for national security and sovereignty to ensure that no company outside of Europe can control companies that help form public opinion.



Yet many Poles saw the bill, pushed by the ruling Law and Justice party that Duda is aligned with, as an attempt to silence a broadcaster with an all-news station, TVN24, and an evening news program on its main channel viewed by millions.



Mass nationwide protests were recently held in support of the station and of freedom of speech more broadly.



Discovery had threatened to sue Poland in an international arbitration court, vowing to fight for its investment. The network was first bought by another U.S. company, Scripps Networks Interactive, for $2 billion and later sold to Discovery.



It represents the largest ever American investment in Poland and the...
The Greek and Tunisian coast guards have also reported successful rescue missions. Nonetheless, dozens of people have died in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the past several days.
Government critics say the proposed media law was aimed at silencing dissent. But Andrzej Duda said it would have dealt a blow to Poland's reputation as a place to do business.
Two otherwise unconnected Christmas week episodes  one involving an insult to President Biden, the other Project Veritas and the New York Times  bring freedom of speech to the forefront.
The Greek and Tunisian coastguards have also reported successful rescue missions. Nonetheless, dozens of people have died in shipwrecks in the Mediterranean over the past several days.
Bangladeshi police have arrested one of the four owners of a ferry involved in a massive fire in which at least 39 died. Seven..

Deutsche Welle 27 Dec 2021
Flags in South Africa will be flying at half-staff this week as the country prepares to say goodbye to the anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu.
The US actress names her new dog after the Australian minister who said her dogs should go home in 2015.
Newsy 18 Dec 2021

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The Taliban has said women in Afghanistan should not be offered long distance taxi services unless they are accompanied by a male chaperone.
Thousands of cancelled global flights disrupted what is traditionally a peak week of Canadian travel because of airline staffing shortages caused by COVID-19.
DALLAS (AP)  Sarah Weddington, a Texas lawyer who as a 26-year-old successfully argued the landmark abortion rights case Roe v. Wade before the U.S. Supreme Court, died Sunday. She was 76.



Susan Hays, Weddingtons former student and colleague, said she died in her sleep early Sunday morning at her Austin home. Weddington had been in poor health for some time and it was not immediately clear what caused her death, Hays told The Associated Press.



Raised as a minister's daughter in the West Texas city of Abilene, Weddington attended law school at the University of Texas. A couple years after graduating, she and a former classmate, Linda Coffee, brought a class-action lawsuit on behalf of a pregnant woman challenging a state law that largely banned abortions.



The case of Jane Roe, whose real name was Norma McCorvey, was brought against Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade and eventually advanced to the Supreme Court.



Weddington argued the case before the high court twice, in December 1971 and again in October 1972, resulting the next year in the 7-2 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.



Weddingtons death comes as the Supreme Court is considering a case over Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that's widely considered to be most serious challenge in years to the Roe decision.



While that case was before the court, Weddington also ran to represent Austin in the Texas House of Representatives. She was elected in 1972 and served three terms as a state lawmaker, before becoming general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later working as advisor on women's issues to President Jimmy Carter.



Weddington later wrote a book on Roe v. Wade, gave lectures and taught courses at the University of Texas at Austin and Texas Womens...
It's been a strange year for video games.



There's no way for any of us to know just how much release schedules were..

Mashable 08 Dec 2021
The Oregon dad who pranks Joe Biden by saying "Let's Go Brandon" during a live stream says he meant no disrespect to the president, he now claims he receives threats.
Around a third of the flights canceled on Monday were set to depart from or arrive in the US, including routes operated by United and American Airlines.
An armed 19-year-old man arrested Saturday morning for trespassing at Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II is staying for Christmas, has been detained by police under the Mental Health Act,...
The search for a teenager who went missing while swimming with friends in the Murray River in Australia on Christmas Day has entered day three as his former school issued a heartfelt letter of support to the community.Jules Lunanga,...
The locked-down Chinese city of Xi'an has tightened Covid-19 controls to the "strictest" level, banning residents from driving cars around town in an effort to control the country's worst outbreak in 21 months.
Washington Post 27 Dec 2021

The law would have required Discovery, a U.S. company, to sell off its majority ownership of a large Polish media outlet.
autoevolution 05 Jan 2022

Just because things didnt work out with someone is not a good reason to ditch a good car, especially if its a Tesla. Just ask..
Microgaming Brings Its Finest Games to Buenos Aires City and Province

Published December 27, 2021 by Florin P

Microgaming enters the Argentinian market and will supply 49 of their finest games to players from Buenos Aires City and province.

Microgaming already has a strong presence in South America and it recently expanded its operations across the continent. The Buenos Aires city and province are the latest markets to have opened in 2021, welcoming licensed gambling operators and developers. Microgaming is the first online gaming supplier to enter this newly regulated market and provide local players with state-of-the-art games.

Microgaming Strengthens its Commitment to Latin America

The decision to enter the Argentinean market makes perfect sense in the context of Microgaming expanding its presence in South America. By securing the necessary license, the company can now provide local players with its finest games through a market-compliant solution. Several online casinos using their software have also secured licenses that allow them to lawfully operate in Argentina. Many more are expected to follow suit in the weeks and months to come.

The software developer has a huge portfolio of games and eventually, most of them will be available to Argentinean punters. For the time being, only 49 games will be made available to both markets including some of the best-known and most popular slots. Local players will be able to enjoy Immortal Romance, Thunderstruck II, and Break Da Bank Again classic slots as well as the new releases. All will be delivered through the reliable and proven aggregation platform, so players can expect a flawless gaming experience.

Argentina Opens up to Online Gambling

The Buenos Aires city and province are the pioneers in Argentina, after regulating online gambling. Microgaming already has a strong presence across the continent and was well-positioned to enter this new market in force. They have been operating in LATAM since 2018 when they entered the Colombian market and plan to continue their expansion. There are several other newly regulating Argentinian provinces whose players will soon benefit from unrestricted access to their finest games.

Microgaming has been around for nearly three decades and over the years it built a reputation for professionalism. Their business model is built on fair play and safe gambling, so they celebrated the new regulations in Buenos Aires and the province. In addition to providing state-of-the-art games to local players, they also provide customers with support in obtaining the necessary licenses. Argentinean players will be the main beneficiaries, as they will have the opportunity to play the finest games in a safe environment.
Opalesque Industry Update - The Bahamas has been under enhanced monitoring since the adoption of its Mutual Evaluation Report by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) in 2017. In line with the CFATF Procedures for the Fourth Round of Mutual AML/CFT Evaluations, the country has reported back to the CFATF on the actions it has taken since its mutual evaluation and its 3rd Enhanced Follow-up Report. In May 2021, The Bahamas made application to the CFATF for re-rating compliance of 10 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendations and review of compliance of 2 Recommendations that were revised post the country's mutual evaluation. The CFATF has re-rated the country in relation to Recommendations 6, 7, 24 and 33 from Partially Compliant to Largely Compliant and Recommendations 19, 22, 26, 27 and 28 from Partially Compliant to Compliant. Today, The Bahamas is Compliant with 18 Recommendations and Largely Compliant with 20 Recommendations, positioning the country in the top tier amongst FATF and FATF-Style Regional Body global network. The Bahamas will continue to work with CFATF to remediate the remaining outstanding matters with Recommendations 8 and 15 as we work towards becoming compliant and largely compliant with the 40 FATF Recommendations. We wish to acknowledge and thank the tremendous dedication and commitment of the coordinating team of the Office of the Attorney-General comprising members of the International Legal Cooperation Unit and the Compliance Unit, led by the National Identified Risk Framework Coordinator, Dr. Cassandra Nottage, and members of the I R F Steering Committee particularly - the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, financial and non-financial sector regulators (Central Bank of The Bahamas, The Securities Commission of The Bahamas, The Insurance Commission of The Bahamas, The Compliance Commission, and the Gaming Board), The Royal Bahamas Police Force (Financial Crime Unit) and The Financial Intelligence Unit, for the sustained efforts to address all deficiencies identified in the country's published 2017 CFATF Mutual Evaluation.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  Desmond Tutu, South Africas Nobel Peace Prize-winning icon, an uncompromising foe of apartheid and a modern-day activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, died Sunday at 90. South Africans, world leaders and people around the globe mourned the death of the man viewed as the countrys moral conscience.

Tutu worked passionately, tirelessly and non-violently to tear down apartheid  South Africas brutal, decades-long regime of oppression against its Black majority that ended in 1994.

The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later as the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, as well as frequent public demonstrations, to galvanize public opinion against racial inequity, both at home and globally.

Nicknamed the Arch, the diminutive Tutu became a towering figure in his nations history, comparable to fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, a prisoner during white rule who became South Africas first Black president. Tutu and Mandela shared a commitment to building a better, more equal South Africa.

Tutus death on Sunday is another chapter of bereavement in our nations farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said.

Tutu died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Center in Cape Town, his trust said. He had been hospitalized several times since 2015 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997.

He turned his own misfortune into a teaching opportunity to raise awareness and reduce the suffering of others, said the Tutu trust.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Tutu as a moral compass for me and so many others. A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere. He never lost his impish sense of humor and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries.

A seven-day mourning period is planned in Cape Town before Tutus burial, including a two-day lying in state, an ecumenical service and an Anglican requiem mass at St. Georges Cathedral in Cape Town. The southern citys landmark Table Mountain will be lit up in purple, the color of the robes Tutu wore as archbishop.

Throughout the 1980s  when South Africa was gripped by anti-apartheid violence and a state of emergency gave police and the military sweeping powers  Tutu was one of the most prominent Black leaders able to speak out against abuses.

A lively wit lightened Tutus hard-hitting messages and warmed otherwise grim protests, funerals and marches. Plucky and tenacious, he was a formidable force with a canny talent for quoting apt scriptures to harness support for change.

The Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 highlighted his stature as one of the worlds most effective champions for human rights.

With the end of apartheid and South Africas first democratic elections in 1994, Tutu celebrated the countrys multi-racial society, calling it a rainbow nation, a phrase that captured the heady optimism of the moment.

Tutu also campaigned internationally for human rights, especially LGBTQ rights and same-sex marriage.

I would not worship a God who is homophobic, he said in 2013, launching a campaign for LGBTQ rights in Cape Town. I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say, Sorry, I would much rather go to the other place.

Tutu grew disillusioned with the African National Congress, the anti-apartheid movement that became the ruling party after South Africa's 1994 election.

Tutu was particularly incensed by the South African governments refusal to grant a visa to the Dalai Lama, preventing the Tibetan spiritual leader from attending Tutus 80th birthday as well as a planned gathering of Nobel laureates in Cape Town. The government rejected Tutus accusations that it was bowing to pressure from China, a major trading partner.

Tutus life was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good. He was a true humanitarian, the Dalai Lama said Sunday.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu was born Oct. 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, west of Johannesburg, and became a teacher before entering St. Peters Theological College in Rosetenville in 1958. He was ordained in 1961 and six years later became chaplain at the University of Fort Hare.

He became bishop of Lesotho, chairman of the South African Council of Churches and, in 1985, the first Black Anglican bishop of Johannesburg. In 1986, Tutu was named the first Black archbishop of Cape Town.

As head of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Tutu and his panel listened to harrowing testimony about torture, killings and other atrocities during apartheid. At some hearings, Tutu wept openly.

The commissions 1998 report lay most of the blame on the forces of apartheid, but also found the African National Congress guilty of human rights violations. The ANC sued to block the documents release, earning a rebuke from Tutu. I didnt struggle in order to remove one set of those who thought they were tin gods to replace them with others who are tempted to think they are, Tutu said.

Tutu is survived by his wife of 66 years, Leah, and their four children.

Asked once how he wanted to be remembered, he told The Associated Press: He loved. He laughed. He cried. He was forgiven. He forgave. Greatly privileged.

___

AP journalist Christopher Torchia contributed to this report.
BAGHDAD (AP)  Iraqs top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October. The development marked another boost for an influential Shiite cleric who had been confirmed as the winner of the vote.

The appeal was submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, head of a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the Oct. 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraqs electoral commission had confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr secured 73 out of Parliaments 329 seats. The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance, which represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, secured 17 seats  down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Supreme Court had not ratified the election results, pending the appeal filed earlier this month by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition. Mondays verdict read out by Judge Jassim Mohammed rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited alleged technical and legal violations.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdads heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the courts decision. Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city. The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraqs newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraqs affairs through Iran-backed militias.
When Andrea arrived at the Midland's Open Door Women and Childrens Crisis Shelter with her children on a frigid January day, the knowledge that she had found a place to stay brought an instant emotional relief.

Being a parent, being homeless  it breaks down your character, Andrea said.

The heavy burden of searching for a warm bed at night, or for a meal at the dinner table, vanished. Yet, even as opportunities and second chances lined up for Andrea and her family, there was another fear that sometimes replaced those worries: the anxiety of stigmas, stereotypes and perceptions.

Andrea grew up in a large, low-income family, and she was often bullied as a child because of where she called home. Now a grown woman and a mother, it was hard to detach herself from that identity and the fear that being homeless made her someones idea of a bad mom.

Shed resisted seeking shelter for weeks; placing her children with relatives, she couch-surfed instead. But Andreas decision to call the Open Door for shelter was a call she made not just for herself, but for her kids, to make sure they were safe and could continue to be a family together.

Im just trying to make a better life, Andrea said. You cant give up."

While Andrea and her children stayed at the shelter, Andrea connected not only with a new supportive community, but also with her faith. Her perspective started shifting focus, and instead of fixating on what other people saw when they looked at her, Andrea fixed her eyes on Christ and her identity in him.

After a few months in the shelter, Andrea and her family secured long-term housing. As Andrea began the hard work of adjusting to life outside of the shelter, it felt like everything was falling into place.

I started crying, Andrea shared. I did it! I made that first step, and it was like, I can do this.

Andrea still stops by the Open Door for support and to catch up with friends.

When Im around here, I get compliments, and Im not used to that. Im used to the door slamming in my face, Andrea said. It feels like a family, like my long-lost family.

Andrea and her children are still adjusting to all that life has in store for them, but with her new supportive community and her faith in God, she is full of hope.

Baby steps first, Andrea said. I put my full trust in God; its proven to work.

Midland's Open Door has two shelters, one for men and another for women and children. Community members help stock Open Door with items to serve those in need.

With a busy winter season ahead, the nonprofit asks for help to provide hospitality for all guests.

At its shelters, the ministry is in need of the following items to support its guests: Kleenex, cough drops, toilet bowl cleaner, dish soap, disinfectant wipes, and alcohol-free cold and flu medication.

Within the pantry that helps feed community members in need, Open Door is accepting the following donation items: paper bags for lunches, snack bags, coffee creamer, olive oil, unsalted butter, mayonnaise, canned mushrooms, chicken or vegetable stock, egg noodles, ground beef or venison, tomato juice, shredded parmesan cheese, and Swiss cheese.

The Midland Daily News contributed to this story, which was originally told in Midland's Open Door's 2021 holiday newsletter.
Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - The United Kingdom has reiterated its strong commitment to the ongoing political process in Libya and the holding of early parliamentary and presidential elections, a statement from the British embassy in Libya said
Bamako, Mali, (PANA) - After the botched phase of the National Conference on Refoundation (ANR), held from 11-23 December throughout Mali, the national phase opened here Monday at the International Conference Centre
Photo: (Photo : RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images)

A transgender dad expressed his disappointment for the medical staff, who kept calling him a mom when he gave birth to his son at a Los Angeles hospital in October 2020.

Bennett Kaspar-Williams, 37, transitioned around 2014 and eventually met Malik, his husband, in 2019. Kaspar-Williams had surgery on his breast as part of his transition but kept his genitalia. He was on testosterone hormone therapy for years to prevent the functions of his ovaries until he and Malik decided they would like to have a child together.

The transgender dad and his husband conceived naturally soon after Kaspar-Williams stopped his hormone treatment, and he gave birth to Hudson via caesarian section in October 2020. He believes, however, that womanhood and motherhood are two different things.

Read Also: American Medical Association Wants To Remove 'Sex' on Birth Certificates

'A False Equivalency'

Speaking with Daily Mail, Kaspar-Williams said that it's high time people "stop defining 'womanhood' in terms of 'motherhood' because it's a false equivalency." He noted that not all women could bear children, and not all people who have children are moms. For this dad, his body is a tool that should not be stereotyped into a gender.

The father relayed that during his stay at the hospital, the nurses constantly misgendered him by calling him "ma'am" or "mom" and "mother" despite his full beard or flat chest. He even wrote "male" on all of his hospital forms, yet the staff refused to recognize that he's a man.

Kaspar-Williams said it was unavoidable to be misgendered in the hospital because the institution of pregnancy is centered around motherhood. However, Kaspar-Williams noted that he never felt "feminine" while he was pregnant. He also didn't feel any uneasiness or dissatisfaction about carrying his child.

Other Transgender Dads Who Had Babies

The dad is not the first man to get pregnant and give birth. In 2008, Thomas Beatie became famous for his guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show to talk about his pregnancy. At that time, not many people were familiar with transgender men. Beatie then went on to have more children the natural way with his then-wife before their divorce a few years later.

Myles Brady Davis of Chicago, who transitioned as a man, won his case to be listed as the "father" on his baby's birth certificate even though Illinois considers the person who gave birth to a child as the "mother." Davis's daughter, Zayn, was conceived via IVF after he stopped taking hormone pills. He used the sperm of his wife, Precious, a transgender woman.

In 2017, Trystan Reese of Portland gave birth to Leo, his son, with partner Biff Chaplow. They are already parents to two adopted kids from Chaplow's side of the family. Reese said that he was under medical supervision during the entire phase of his pregnancy.

Jesse Ballard and his wife Maria, both transgender, welcomed their baby in 2020. The family had help from the University of Michigan Health, where a few other transmasculine people have also gotten pregnant outside of their routine operations.

Related Article: World's First 'Pregnant Man' Thomas Beatie Details Happy Life With Wife and Kids
Our non-Apple patent site called Patently Mobile first covered a Microsoft for a foldable device in January 2017, four years prior to it's debut on the market as the Surface Duo. We covered others prior to its debut here: 01, 02 & 03. On December 23, 2021, the U.S. Patent Office posted a new Microsoft patent application titled "Multi-Panel Device." Originally filed three months prior to the original Surface Duo launched. It is in this patent that Microsoft also envisions a possible move towards introducing a 3-Display Panel version of their Surface smartphone.

Patently Apple posted an IP report about Samsung contemplating a 3-display panel version of their Galaxy Fold smartphone back in October 2020. Once pricing drops for the dual display devices, like they're beginng to with the new Oppo folding phone at $1,200, a 3-display panel device could be where this trend goes.

Microsoft's patent FIG. 14 below illustrates a 3-display device #1400. A first display panel #1402 is connected to a second display panel #1404 via a first hinge #1406. The second display panel is connected to a third display panel #1408 via a second hinge #1410. The first and third display panels may pivot, such that the three display panels are stacked on top of each other in order to reduce an overall form factor of the multi-panel display device.

Microsoft's patent FIGS. 10 and 11 represent the original Surface Duo smartphone.

For those wanting to drill down further into the details of Microsoft's patent application 20210397281, click here.

Patent #2: Device Orientation Sensor

For those following Microsoft's Surface device evolution, a second patent application that was published by the U.S. Patent Office on December 23, 2021 covered their original Surface Neo device which was a foldable tablet. The patent covered Surface Neo's "Orientation Sensor."

Microsoft's patent FIG. 4A below illustrates the keyboard accessory #404 in a stowed or 360-degree orientation relative to portion #106. FIG. 4B shows the accessory rotated 90 degrees relative to the orientation of FIG. 4A. FIG. 4E shows the accessory rotated approximately 360 degrees relative to the orientation of FIG. 4A to a deployed or zero-degree orientation against display 402(2). FIG. 4F shows the first portion closed on the second portion with the accessory sandwiched in between and keeping the first and second portions slightly spaced apart.

For those wanting to drill down further into the details of Microsoft's patent application 20210396549, click here.

Microsoft's original foldable tablet was branded the "Surface Neo" that was originally due to debut in Q4 2020, then delayed to Q4 2021. Due to COVID-19, supply shortages and other factors, Microsoft decided to sideline the project.

A strong secondary reason for the project failing to launch, for the time being at least, is that Microsoft, Intel and Samsung created an alliance to co-develop future foldable display tablets using a single 17" display panel instead of two separate displays with a clearly visible face-hinge like Surface Neo was to be. The collaboration was known as Horseshoe Bend Project. We covered a major Microsoft patent supporting the Horseshoe Bend Project in April of this year, here.

Once processors and key components are readily available, I'm of the view that foldable tablets will finally make their way to market.

In March of this year, Apple finally revealed that one of their foldable device patents was in fact for a future foldable tablet/iPad. Foldable tablets could definitely be one of the next product battlegrounds along with Apple's entry into Mixed Reality Headsets in the not-too-distant future..
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo say at least six people have died in a suicide bomb attack on a crowded restaurant in the eastern city of Beni.



Police prevented the bomber from entering the building, but he blew himself up at the entrance killing himself and five other people.



Another 13 people were injured.



The officials blamed Saturday's attack on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a militant group said to be linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS).



So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.



More than 30 people were celebrating Christmas at the In Box restaurant when the bomb went off, two witnesses told AFP news agency.



Children and local officials were reportedly in the restaurant at the time.



"I was sitting there," local radio presenter Nicolas Ekila told AFP. "There was a motorbike parked there. Suddenly the motorbike took off, then there was a deafening noise."



After the explosion, the military officer responsible for the state of emergency in the country's east told residents to return home for their own safety.



There have been frequent clashes in Beni between the army and Islamists in recent weeks.



In November, Congolese and Ugandan forces began a joint operation against the ADF in an attempt to end a series of brutal attacks.



Authorities in Uganda say the group is behind a series of recent attacks in the country, including in the capital Kampala.

Source: BBC









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Former US President Barack Obama has joined the tributes being paid to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has died aged 90.



Mr Obama described the churchman as "a mentor, friend and moral compass".



A contemporary of Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Tutu was one of the driving forces behind the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he had helped bequeath "a liberated South Africa".



One of the country's best known figures at home and abroad, Archbishop Tutu was awarded the Nobel prize in 1984 for his role in the struggle to abolish the apartheid system enforced by the white minority government against the black majority in South Africa from 1948 until 1991.



Tutu's death comes just weeks after that of South Africa's last apartheid-era president, FW de Klerk, who died at the age of 85.



Church officials in South Africa say a week of tributes is being organised. The plans include two days of lying in state to allow the public to pay their respects as well as a requiem mass, local media report.



Mr Obama said: "Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere."



"He never lost his impish sense of humour and willingness to find humanity in his adversaries, and Michelle and I will miss him dearly."



President Ramaphosa said he was "an iconic spiritual leader, anti-apartheid activist and global human rights campaigner".



He described him as "a patriot without equal; a leader of principle and pragmatism who gave meaning to the biblical insight that faith without works is dead".



"A man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility against the forces of apartheid, he was also tender and vulnerable in his compassion for those who had suffered oppression, injustice and violence under apartheid, and oppressed and downtrodden people around the world."



In a message of condolence, Queen Elizabeth II said she remembered with fondness her meetings with him, and his great warmth and humour.



"Archbishop Tutu's loss will be felt by the people of South Africa and by so many people in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and across the Commonwealth, where he was held in such high affection and esteem."



The Nelson Mandela Foundation was among those paying tributes, saying Tutu's "contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies".



"He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd."

Source: graphic.com.gh









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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has joined the tributes being paid to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who has died aged 90.



In a tribute posted on social media, the President described Archbishop Tutu as "the greatest religious leader of his generation, renowned freedom fighter, fearless anti-apartheid activist, committed human rights leader, iconic Nobel Peace Prize winner", who "fulfilled his life's purpose on earth, and receives the plaudits of a grateful posterity".



Read the full text below



On behalf of the people and Government of the Republic of Ghana, I extend our deepest condolences to President Matemela Cyril Ramaphosa, the people and Govenment of the Republic of South Africa and his family on the death of one of Africa's most noble, patriotic sons, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Redoubtable priest, arguably the greatest religious leader of his generation, renowned freedom fighter, fearless anti-apartheid activist, committed human rights leader, iconic Nobel Peace Prize winner, he fulfilled his life's purpose on earth, and receives the plaudits of a grateful posterity.



The history of Africa's struggle for freedom from colonialism, imperialism and the racist ideology of apartheid has been immeasurably enriched by the contribution of this jovial, dedicated and principled defender of the liberties and rights of Africans and oppressed peoples of the world.



His work as chairperson of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa, established by his outstanding compatriot, contemporary and friend, Madiba, President Nelson Mandela, the 1st President of democratic South Africa, was instrumental in promoting reconciliation amongst the peoples of South Africa in the post - apartheid era, which enabled a united South Africa to emerge from the debris of apartheid, much to the astonishment of many in South Africa and around the world.



The Commission provided an example which was followed elsewhere in several countries in Africa, where systematic violations of human rights had at a given moment become part of their political culture, including in our own Ghana.



He run his race set before him, and leaves behind indelible footprints in the sands of time.



May his soul rest in perfect peace in the bosom of the Almighty, until the Last Day of the Resurrection when we shall all meet again. Amen!





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has urged the public to expose criminals for a reward and help the police Administration in its renewed fight against crime.

Those who know criminals must sell them to the police by exposing the criminals and getting money for sharing credible information that will lead to the arrest and prosecution of such miscreants, he said.



He said the criminals live within communities and are known by the public who sometimes cover up for such lawbreakers.



The IGP made the call during a visit to the Tema Regional Police Command on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2021.



The police chief who was to spend his day and night in the Tema region, was visiting some victims of crime such as the mobile money vendors who were attacked at Sun City, Adjei Kojo, and also hold community engagements with traditional leaders, youths, the business community and other groups.



Assurance

During his interaction with the victims at Sun City, Adjei Kojo, he assured them that the police would do everything possible to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators behind the attacks on mobile money vendors.



He has consequently placed a GH20,000 bounty on the heads of the persons behind the crime.



He also held community engagements with residents of Sun City, Adjei Kojo near Ashaiman, and Tema Manhean where he urged community members to partner police to deal with crime related activities.



Police presence

Dr. Dampare has also directed the Tema Police Command to saturate the Tema City and other areas such as Ashaiman and Adjei Kojo, Gbetsile and Afienya with police presence.

He asked police personnel to stop taking bribes from the public and the public to desist from giving monies to the police.



Dr. Dampare said the role of traditional leaders and opinion leaders was key in fighting crime in all communities and urged them to support the police.









Source: graphiconline.com









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The Gambias former leader Yahya Jammeh should face prosecution for murder, torture and rapes, according to a new report by a commission established after he fled into exile five years ago.



The long-awaited report released late on Friday recommends that a special international court be set up to try Jammeh and others in West Africa, but outside of The Gambia.

Over a period of 22 years, starting from July 22, 1994, Yahya Jammeh and  co-perpetrators committed very serious crimes against the people of The Gambia, the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commissions report said.



The commission was set up in January 2017 by President Adama Barrow, whose election in 2016 put an end to more than 20 years of dictatorship.



The report, which is based on years of witness testimonies, had already been presented to Barrow, but its posting online on Friday marked the first time the complete findings were made public.



Gambian Justice Minister Dawda A Jallow said the government was committed to the implementation of the report, but would not release a paper before May on how it plans to go forward.



Reed Brody with the International Commission of Jurists said he expected pressure to now mount on The Gambias leader to deliver justice without further delay for victims who have already waited five years, and in some cases much longer.



There is still a lot that needs to be done, but I wouldnt be surprised if we see Yahya Jammeh in a court sooner rather than later, said Brody, who also played an instrumental role in bringing former Chadian President Hissene Habre to trial at a special court in Senegal.



Jammeh, who ruled The Gambia for 22 years, lost the 2016 presidential election, but he refused to concede defeat to Barrow. He ultimately took exile in Equatorial Guinea amid threats of a regional military intervention to force him from power.



It remains unclear whether Equatorial Guinean authorities would extradite Jammeh should criminal charges be filed.



The truth commission was mandated to establish an impartial historical record of abuses committed from July 1994 to January 2017.



The former leader went into exile in Equatorial Guinea in 2017 after Barrows election victory, but retains considerable support in the country.



More than two years of hearings that led to the report documented human rights abuses and horrors that occurred under Jammehs rule.



Human rights groups say arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and summary executions became the hallmark of the regime. Testimonies made by perpetrators before the truth commission confirmed that some killings were done at Jammehs direction.



The commission report also said Jammeh had raped women, including Fatou Jallow, who later testified before the panel and published a book earlier this year about her ordeal.



Jammeh denies any wrongdoing.













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From a rally promoting awareness of gun violence to a fire at the old Aiken County Hospital  the Aiken Standard's photographers captured local moments all year long.

We've selected 10 of our favorite local news photos from 2021 to share with our readers.

Included in our roundup of top local photos are scenes from the first day of school this fall; a snapshot from the Battle of Aiken reenactment, held each February; and an image of a 100-year-old World War II veteran receiving his COVID-19 vaccine.

Many more moments are included. We hope our readers appreciate the sights and scenes Aiken Standard reporters documented all year round.

----

1. Vaccinated: Ben Rouse, a 100-year-old World War II veteran, receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Trinity on Laurens Retirement Community in Aiken in January. S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster watched. (Colin Demarest/Staff)

2. Flag Day: Jack Campbell, 8, submits a U.S. flag for retirement in June with help from his paternal grandfather, Air Force veteran Ron Campbell, in memory of Ron Campbell's dad, Air Force veteran Carl Campbell, during VFW Post 5877's Flag Day ceremony. (Bill Bengtson/Staff)

3. Gun violence rally: Members of the community gathered at the Aiken County courthouse in June for a Rally and Walk to Promote Gun Violence Awareness, organized by Tiffany Walker, who lost her nephew to gun violence in 2016. Under cloudy skies, family members who lost loved ones to gun violence told their stories of loss and pain, urging the community to come together to fight against gun violence in the community. (Alexandra Koch/Staff)

4. Old hospital fire: Firefighters set up and climb a ladder as smoke pours out of the old Aiken County Hospital in July. (Colin Demarest/Staff)

5. Battle of Aiken: The Union and Confederate cavalries clash during the Battle of White Pond reenactment at the Battle of Aiken festival in February. (Dede Biles/Staff)

6. National Night Out: Payton Surry, 9, connects with the ball during National Night Out festivities in Perry Memorial Park in August. (Bill Bengtson/Staff)

7. House fire: Several fire departments responded to a house fire off Good Springs Road in Aiken County in April. Two people are seen entering the home. (Colin Demarest/Staff)

8. First day of school: Has Slone, right, helps a girl out of a car at J.D. Lever Elementary School on the first day of school in August. (Colin Demarest/Staff)

9. War memorial: Lowell Koppert, the chairman of the Aiken County Veterans Council and a former Green Beret, stands on the side of Wire Road in Aiken County on his way to the SC Statehouse in Columbia in an effort to relocate a Vietnam War memorial in Aiken. (Colin Demarest/Staff)

10. Peach season: Titan Farms employee Rene Santillan Nunez, from the Mexican state of Nayarit, strips some blossoms from a peach tree in Ridge Spring in March, looking to boost the quality and size of fruit to come in two or three months. (Bill Bengtson/Staff)
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WASHINGTON  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday the U.S. should consider a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel, signaling a potential embrace of an idea the Biden administration has previously eschewed, as COVID-19 cases spike.

Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief science adviser on the pandemic response, said such a mandate might drive up the nation's lagging vaccination rate as well as confer stronger protection on flights, for which federal regulations require all those aged 2 and older to wear a mask.

When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated," Fauci told MSNBC. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think thats something that seriously should be considered.

The Biden administration has thus far balked at imposing a vaccination requirement for domestic air travel. Two officials said Bidens science advisers have yet to make a formal recommendation for such a requirement to the president.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said a vaccine mandate on planes could trigger a host of logistical and legal concerns.

The U.S. currently mandates that most foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, though citizens and permanent residents only need to show proof of a negative test taken within a day of boarding.

Federal rules dont require people travelling by air within the U.S. to show a negative test. Hawaii requires travelers to test or show proof of vaccination to avoid a mandatory quarantine.

Biden did not respond to questions on whether he was considering implementing a domestic air travel vaccination requirement, but he told reporters that the subject was discussed on a call with the nation's governors Monday morning.

They asked Dr. Fauci some more questions about everything from whether or not he thought he was going to move to test at home  I mean, on air flights and that kind of thing, Biden said of the call before departing the White House for his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Earlier this year the White House explored a domestic vaccination requirement for flights, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. But officials have not been eager to mandate vaccination for domestic air travel because they expected it to face immediate legal challenges, mitigating its potential effectiveness as a tool to drive up vaccinations.

Pressed last week on why Biden had not mandated vaccinations for domestic air travel, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC that we know that masking can be, is, very effective on airplanes."

We also know that putting in place that additional restriction might delay flights, might have additional implications, she added. "We would do it, though, if the health impact was overwhelming. So we rely always on the advice of our health and medical experts. That isnt a step at this point that they had determined we need to take.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 241 million Americans, about 77 percent of the eligible population aged 5 and over, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Officials believe, though, that there is some over-count in the figures due to record-keeping errors in the administration of booster shots.

Since the summer, the Biden administration has embraced various vaccination requirements as a way to get unvaccinated Americans to roll up their sleeves. It has instituted requirements that federal workers, federal contractors, and those who work in health care get their shots, and that employers with 100 or more employees institute vaccination-or-testing requirements for their workers.

Those vaccination requirements have been mired in legal wrangling, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments Jan. 7 in cases seeking to overturn them.

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed.
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COLUMBIA  The University of South Carolina is offering a new degree program focused on cyber technology.

The popularity of cyber-related degrees has risen in the Palmetto State. The Citadel and College of Charleston have a joint cybersecurity master's degree, according to the S.C. Commission on Higher Education. South Carolina State University, hoping to increase the visibility of its cybersecurity offerings, started a bachelor's program in late 2020. And Lander University was approved for a bachelor's program for fall 2021.

Statewide, there are at least 16 collegiate degree and certificate programs in the field. But USC said it hopes to set itself apart with a broad degree that goes beyond just security and operations, to encompass policymaking and ethics, as well.

So far, 38 students have enrolled in the new program, said Joel Samuels, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, "which is quite a large number for a program that just became a formal degree this fall. It's a major we expect to grow very quickly."

In anticipation of the degree, several students began taking courses before it was finalized and the first graduate is expected in the spring.

"There were certainly courses at the university that had different elements of various cyber matters," Samuels said. "There was not a unified singular degree that addressed the topic."

There are an estimated 3.5 million unfilled cyber-related jobs worldwide, Samuels said, citing Cybersecurity Ventures research firm.

"So there's a huge need in the country for this skill set," Samuels said.

Cyber policy is what regulates all aspects of virtual data movement, privacy and network usage, in addition to defending against breaches of privacy. It walks the line between national security, business interests, and individual privacy and free speech.

Experts in the field might help craft laws or be hired by a corporation to oversee surveillance and ensure legality.

Samuels said that when USC was developing the degree program, it heard from state and federal government personnel, as well as private industry, that its vision was unique and desperately needed.

"This is really filling a gap where very few other universities have a degree," he said. "There are many universities that have a cybersecurity degree. There are virtually none that have a degree that focuses on cyber policy, cyber ethics and cyber operations."

Because of demand, Samuels thinks the degree program will grow to enroll 200 students within five years.

Under the leadership of former President Bob Caslen, USC sought to take advantage of the proximity of Fort Gordon, 80 miles west in Georgia, where the Army's cyber headquarters is now housed. School leadership hoped the school would be able to land more federal contracts and boost its technical prowess.

But Samuels said the new degree program was not created with the military or any particular entity in mind.

Some of the details are still being finalized, but students are expected to have a choice of focus areas where they might take extra coursework within the degree. Those include global cyber cultures, cyber tools and digital skills, policy and governance, society and ethics, and cyber developments and challenges.

"It's about making sure that we're actually developing a holistic degree that prepares students for a quickly evolving area of the professional workforce," Samuels said.

Editors note: This story has been changed to correct the estimated number of unfilled cyber-related jobs worldwide.
The goal Kerianne Krause, Tyler LaCorata and Ryan Sadis have for their new distillery is in the name itself: They want to go beyond just distilling and create an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities.

This dream that started in 2020 became a reality Dec. 17 when Beyond Distilling Co. hosted its grand opening at 2157 Rich St. in North Charleston.

At the party, Vuture Food and Two Twenty Two Pastry served vegan eats, and Beyond unveiled its first three products: bourbon, tropical gin and coconut rum.

The distillery has a small tasting room and outdoor tiki lounge, but most of Beyond Distillings sales will be made through distribution or in-store pickups.

So far, two employees with disabilities have been integral to the distilling operation by assisting with bottling, blending the barrels and proofing down the spirits.

You can just see that they are so happy to be here, LaCorata said. We just want to make it the norm.

Krause created a program book to help guide the hiring and training of people with disabilities at the distillery. According to LaCorata, they try to keep things light and fun for all employees.

We like to do a relaxed kind of feeling because we know that working at your job is half your life, so we want to make it enjoyable, he said.

LaCorata, who worked as a chef before immersing himself in the world of distilling, said they will eventually release more barrel-aged products at the 300-barrel distillery.

In the future, look for rye whiskey, brandy and whiskey distilled from three different beers: a pale ale, Belgian beer and stout.

Those are all very unique kinds of spirits, said LaCorata, who has distilled with craft beer and even Pabst Blue Ribbon in the past. The pale ale one we want to sit a little longer because we have all the hops.

LaCorata anticipates the aging process for the stout whiskey, which has notes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee, to be complete in 2022.

Once they settle in, Krause, LaCorata and Sadis will also open up the distillery for private events, such as cooking and cocktail classes.
Even though the start of 2021 was marked by the devastating second surge of the coronavirus pandemic, there was reason to feel hopeful.

Vaccines were becoming available and research suggested they were highly effective in terms of preventing infections and staving off serious illness.

Many South Carolinians were so eager to be vaccinated that a website set up by the Medical University of South Carolina to schedule vaccine appointments for health care workers went viral in early January when the site was leaked to the wider public.

President Joe Biden, inaugurated on Jan. 20, promised that 100 million shots would be administered during his first 100 days in office.

March 6 marked the grim one-year anniversary of the first documented coronavirus case in South Carolina, but the second surge of the pandemic was well on its way out by then.

And for a while, things seemed like they might be returning to normal.

But that was before the highly contagious delta variant ushered in a third surge in mid-July. South Carolina passed 10,000 COVID deaths in August. Then, 11,000 deaths, 12,000, 13,000, 14,000. For several deadly weeks, hospital ICUs were completely full and a severe nursing shortage threatened patient safety.

"During this wave, what strikes me most is peoples obsession with being right versus doing right," said Dr. Melvin Brown, an emergency room physician, who wrote an essay for The Post and Courier about the third surge in September.

"Naysayers are convinced there will be a poor long-term outcome (associated with the vaccine), and they have managed to turn a blind eye to the ever-present strains on our liberties and commerce," Brown wrote. "They want so badly to come out on the other end as smarter than the rest of the 'sheep' who lined up for vaccine. And yet medication for livestock is a viable option."

The third wave was already retreating when Brown described his frustrations with vaccine hesitancy.

And while COVID activity appeared to calm down for a while, South Carolina will close out 2021 braced for another wave. Reported cases appear to be climbing again. Barely half of all eligible South Carolinians are fully vaccinated.
Insights

If something bad happens, there has to be someone around who can take the blame for the misfortune. To judge from the front page court cases w Read more
On Christmas day, the following statement popped up on Twitter:

Just so were clear on the Rights agenda  racism good, abortion bad, money good, women bad, capitalism good, sustainability bad, stupidity good, science bad, power good, equality bad, white people good, nonwhite people bad. Stench, indeed.

Who wrote this simple-minded rant? Monica Casper. Who is Casper? The dean of the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University in California.

What support did Casper provide for any of her derogatory characterizations of the views of people on the opposite side of the ideological divide from her? None.

Being a left-wing academic means youre free to indulge in mindless name-calling  to mimic tweets from the deepest, most deranged regions of the far-left fever swamp  without having to provide evidence or analysis.

The explanation for Caspers tweet isnt to be found in evidence, analysis, or, indeed, rationality. Perhaps it can be found in this post that Steve Hayward put up yesterday.

By the way, according to this source, it costs $30,522 a year for California residents to attend San Diego State University. For out of state students, the cost is $42,402.
Kamala Harris has apparently never heard of Healeys First Law of Holes (named reportedly after the British Labour Party grandee Denis Healey several decades back), which goes: If youre in one, stop digging.

The Wall Street Journal editorial page today notes her completely unserious word salad about strategic threats to the United States, which includes this:

Frankly, one of them is our democracy. And that I can talk about because thats not classified. . . . there is I think no question in the minds of people who are foreign policy experts that the year 2021 is not the year 2000. You know, I think theres so much about foreign and domestic policy that, for example, was guided and prioritized based on Sept 11, 2001. And we are embarking on a new era where the threats to our nation take many forms, including the threat of autocracies taking over and having outsized influence around the world. And so I go back to our point about the need to fight for the integrity of our democracy. In addition, it is obviously about what we need to do in the climate crisis.

The Journal comments: This isnt the real world of threats we are living in, and its dangerous that a year into the job she still cant talk realistically about national security. The Vice President needs an intervention from people outside her political bubble.

But Kamala couldnt put away her shovel. Behold:

Lets see: Kwanzaa was invented in 1966, when Harris was two years old. I suppose it is possible it caught on quickly in the Harris household, though I doubt it. I dont think it really caught on until the 1980s or later, well after Harris exited childhood. This appears yet another attempt at Harris claiming authenticity for the identity mould she has chosen for herself.

Memo to the Biden White House: Please please please send Harris out for more high profile media interviews!
The New York Times somehow obtained privileged legal memoranda rendering advice to Project Veritas on how to stay within the lines in the course of its journalistic work. The Times published the misappropriated memoranda and reported on them in a long story by Adam Goldman and Mark Mazzetti  two perpetrators of the Russia hoax with deep connections to the FBI/national security establishment. Their November 11 story is posted online here.

Project Veritas founder James OKeefe and former associates were raided by the FBI in the investigation of the loss of Ashley Bidens story. News of the raids was leaked to the Times. Two of the four reporters (count em) and two news researchers who contributed to the November 5 Times story on the raids  Michael Schmidt and Adam Goldman  were on the Timess Russia hoax team. The work of the Times Russia hoax team on the Project Veritas stories signifies something deeply insidious about the Times project itself.

In my first post on the current court order restraining the Times, I contrasted two cases. In one case Project Veritas is under investigation in connection with the loss of Ashley Bidens diary. In the second case Project Veritas is itself the victim of a misappropriation of privileged memoranda that somehow landed with the Times. In the former we have a federal case featuring FBI raids conducted under the supervision of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and accompanying leaks to the Times. In the latter we have Project Veritas fending for itself in the lawsuit against the Times.

Its a contrast that has gone unnoted in the coverage of the court order restraining the Times, but it seems to me of interest. Now Professor Jonathan Turley elegantly draws the contrast in his post Ashley Bidens diary: Will the FBI raid the New York Times? Here is one slice that bears on my own 2006 Weekly Standard column Exposure (asking whether the Times is a law unto itself):

What is most striking is that the New York Times story is an attack on both core media and legal values. In his opinion, Judge Charles Wood describes how the New York Times was given the legal memos of PV counsel Benjamin Barr. The memos sound like typical legal analysis for a news organization in explaining the legal standards that would apply in possibly publishing material from the Ashley Biden diary. I have worked both sides in media cases over three decades and I have written memos on the legal considerations for publication. Often these memos talk about how far a publication can go under existing law. That appears to be the tenor of the Barr memo. The New York Times clearly has a long line of such memos on the publication of classified or stolen material and would cry foul if those were stolen and published. The Times described the memos as providing legal advice about how different PV operations could violate various laws, including the Espionage Act and Section 1001. The memos give guidance about how PV can remain in Mr. Barrs view, on the right side of these laws. So the New York Times wants to publish the legal advice given to another publication on how to stay on the right side of federal laws. There is no concern how such reporting undermines the ability of reporters and lawyers to work in this field. In decades as a legal commentator, law professor, and lawyer in this area, I have never seen such an intrusion into this area of confidential communications of a news organization by another news organization. Putting aside the horrendous judgment of the New York Times, the story returns us to the glaring contradiction with the Ashley Biden story.

In his penultimate paragraph Professor Turley writes: The many questions in these cases should be answered by both the Justice Department and the media. For the FBI, the concern is whether it is now acting like a type of Praetorian Guard for the First Family. For the media, the concern is that some outlets are now acting like a type of state media for the Biden Administration.

Its not gonna happen, but Professor Turleys excellent column deserves attention far beyond that which it is likely to receive as a post on his personal site. Please check it out and pass it on.
I have said this many times, but it bears repeating: the shutdown policies that have devastated the lives of our children and young people were not just a blunder, but a crime. Jan Crawford of CBS put it well this morning on Face the Nation:

They will be paying for our generations decisions the rest of their lives: @JanCBS explains why she thinks 2021's biggest underreported story was the devastating impact of COVID policies on children pic.twitter.com/AUU1f6AFNi  Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) December 26, 2021



Heck, the point is so obvious that even the New York Times might be catching on:

High schoolers across the U.S. have reported some of the most alarming mental health declines, evidenced by depression and suicide attempts. Adolescents have failed classes critical to their futures at higher rates than in previous years. https://t.co/qAHy2ab728  The New York Times (@nytimes) December 25, 2021



In my opinion, the various governments responses to the covid epidemic represented the worst failure of public policy in the U.S. since (at least) the Vietnam War. And a number of other countries did even worse.

PAUL ADDS: Theres no doubt that the pandemic and aspects of the response to it have been harmful to children. However, some of the commentary about this subject underestimates the resilience of the vast majority of young Americans.

Take one of the concerns cited in that New York Times tweet. Ten years from now, how much of a setback will it be that someone failed a class in 2020? Not much of one in most cases, I dare say. And in cases where failing a class turns out to be a major long-term setback, the student was probably destined to be derailed further down the line.

Drug addiction and depression are obviously more serious matters. But I wonder whether most kids who turn to drugs or become seriously depressed because they are cooped up during a pandemic are likely to turn to drugs or become depressed due to some other frustration or setback as they face the inevitable stresses of being teenagers and becoming adults.

We wont be able to quantify even roughly the medium and long-term effects of the pandemic and the pandemic response on kids who lived through it until a good deal more time has passed.

I agree, however, that there will be some level of negative medium and long-term effects. And who can disagree that there have been short-term negative impacts? Im certainly glad my kids werent in school in 2020 and 2021.
The Presidency says there is nothing abnormal for presidential aides testing positive to COVID-19, and are now on self isolation in their respective abodes.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, who stated this when he appeared on Sunday Politics on Channels Television, said such incidents only confirmed that the presidential aides are human and not immune to happenings around them.

PREMIUM TIMES had on Saturday reported that some presidential aides had tested positive to Coronavirus.

Mr Adesinas statement is the first subtle confirmation that presidency has been hit by the scourge according to sources who spoke with Premium Times.

PREMIUM TIMES had reported how the rampaging coronavirus pandemic hit Nigerias State House, as some administration officials and aides of President Muhammadu Buhari have contracted the virus.

But the Nigerian government had kept sealed lips on the matter until the news broke out.

Presidency sources named those believed to have been infected by the virus to include the Permanent Secretary in the State House, Tijani Umar; the Presidents aide-de-camp (ADC), Yusuf Dodo; his chief security officer (CSO), Aliyu Musa, and his senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu.

One source included the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on the list. But the minister later told PREMIUM TIMES he was neither infected nor down with the virus.

But Mr Shehu, who confirmed that he was afflicted by the mild variant of the COVID-19, in a text message shared with our reporter on Saturday, said he has no confirmation of other cases mentioned to him.

He added that he was already fit, claiming he just completed his physical exercises when our reporter called, but that it would require scientific evidence to claim that he no longer had the virus.

His message read in part; I have no confirmation of the cases you mentioned, but yes I have been afflicted by the mild variant of the COVID-19. I felt okay from the beginning, maybe because one had received all three jabs, and right now, I feel 100 per cent. I just finished my hour-long running exercise.

But the strange thing about this ailment is that it is the scientists, not you, that will say you are okay. Right now, Im taking my prescriptions and isolating, and would go back for a test to ascertain if the virus is still here or it has left me. Thanks for your goodwill.

Efforts to get the reaction of Mr Garbas colleague and special adviser on media and publicity to the president, Mr Adesina, on the matter, then were unsuccessful as his phone always indicated busy when called many times, and he also did not reply to a short message sent to him, many hours after.

Presidential aides human

Meanwhile, Mr Adesina in his reaction to Channels TV said: Well, what I like to say is that presidential aides are just human. They can fall sick. If anything happens to human beings it can also happen to presidential aides.

The fact that we are presidential aides does not make us to be immune to certain things. If there is a virus that is ravaging society. Well, it can touch anybody.

So Malam Garba Shehu has confirmed that, yes, he tested positive but he said its mild. And I believe that by now, because its happened since Wednesday, by now, he should almost have beaten it if he had not beat it already. There is no cause for alarm.

Commenting on his contact with Mr Shehu recently, the media aide said: Well, I also believe God for the best. If it happens (I get infected), Ill recover. So thats it.

Asked how many of the Presidents aides in the State House have been infected, Mr Adesina said: No. That will not be within my purview to discuss maybe if you get the Presidential doctor or anybody in the medical side, they will tell you.

I wouldnt know because, it is a private thing. If it happens to anybody, it is between that person and possibly the doctor. Its not going to be general knowledge.

So I may not be able to say.

Mr Adesina also dismissed the fear being expressed in some quarters over the presidents health following his exposure to his aides believed to have been infected with the virus.

He said: Well, I think Mr. President is quite fine, he is doing his normal routine, following his normal schedule. But if anybody close to him test positive, that person is required to stay away till he tests again, and he tests negative.

So, Mr President is following his normal schedule and routine. (NAN)
Armed persons for several hours late Saturday attacked 15 communities in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, killing at least seven people.

Residents said the attacks started from late on Saturday, Christmas Day, to the early hours of Sunday.

Apart from the people killed, at least 33 women were kidnapped by the armed bandits, the residents told BBC Hausa in interviews monitored by PREMIUM TIMES.

The villages attacked include Geba, Kura, Duma, Gana, Tsakuwa, Gidan Kada and Gidan Kaura.

The residents said most of the villages were deserted on Sunday evening for fear of more attacks with residents taking refuge in Damba Estate in the state capital.

They took 10 women in Kura village. In Bayauri, we knew they took nine women including young ladies, while seven women were taken in Gana and went to Duma and abducted another seven in the early morning of yesterday Sunday, one of the residents told BBC Hausa.

He added that those who escaped the attack in Kura said seven people were killed but they could not retrieve their corpses for proper burial.

ALSO READ: Gunmen abduct two men on Christmas Day

A resident of Damba Quarters said: Theyre here in Damba with mostly women and children in the open. Theyve not found shelter but we at least make them safe here.

No food, no decent clothing. I feel bad for them and the situation is terrible. Its as if there is no government in this country, the Damba Quarters resident said in the interview.

The Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara, confirmed the attacks but said security agents chased the bandits away from the villages.

They were soldiers stationed in all the areas and they quickly went in when Geba community was being attacked. When the soldiers reached Geba, three residents have been wounded already but they save them and chased the bandits away, he told BBC Hausa.

Mr Dosara denied that the 15 communities were not protected during the attacks.

The police have yet to react to the latest attacks.

The police spokesperson in Zamfara State, Mohammed Shehu, did not respond to calls and SMS sent to him by PREMIUM TIMES.

Zamfara is one of the states most affected by banditry in Northern Nigeria with terror groups attacking communities at will. Other states are Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger.

Thousands of people have been killed or kidnapped this year by the bandits despite the heavy deployment of security operatives to the area.
Access to electricity, no doubt, is a catalyst for any nation in its drive for industrialisation.

The importance of power to socio-economic development, creating myriad of opportunities for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to thrive, cannot be overemphasised.

For a nation like Nigeria where MSMEs constitute a large percentage of its economic activities, the power sector must be well positioned in its desire for economic prosperity.

The country plans to generate 30,000MW by 2030 with 3,000MW coming from renewables and 27,000MW from its power plants to serve its over 200 million people.

However, power generation still hovers just above 5,000 MW despite the 13,000MW installed capacity eight years after the sector was privatised.

From generation to transmission and distribution, Nigerians continue to ask for more, in their bid to get brighter homes.

Review

As 2021 comes to a close, a review shows some of the major issues that shaped the sector in the outgoing year, with industry players also projecting into 2022.

2021 saw the completion of the first phase (Phase zero) of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) flagged off by the Federal Government on October 30, 2020.

The key objectives of the NMMP include, to increase Nigerias metering rate, and elimination of arbitrary estimated billing.

It is also aimed at strengthening the meter value chain by increasing local manufacturing, assembly and deployment capacity.

The programme seeks to support Nigerias economic recovery by creating jobs in the local meter value chain, reducing collection losses and increasing financial flows to achieve 100 per cent market remittance obligations of the electricity distribution companies (DisCos).

It will further improve network monitoring capability and availability of data for market administration and investment decision making.

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said about 980,000 electricity customers were metered across the country under the Phase Zero.

The power sector regulatory agency said the second phase (Phase One) of the scheme would begin in the first quarter of 2022 with about four million meters to be supplied strictly by local manufacturers.

Job creation

Kola Balogun, Chairman, Momas Electricity Meter Manufacturing Company (MEMMCOL), said the second phase could create 500,000 jobs for Nigerians through local manufacturing and installation of prepaid meters.

He said: The President Muhammadu Buhari administration must be commended for initiating the NMMP because there is an urgent need to bridge the metering gap in the power sector.

I want to appreciate the government because the intervention that came to manufacturers under the phase zero was a huge success.

It gave manufacturers the opportunity to have a tested process in place to know their capabilities and capacities and what they can give to the market.

The volume given to us was tested against the equipment, manpower and why we need to upscale further.

In May, the Federal Government announced that it was planning to sell five power Generation Companies (GenCos) to investors through the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

The bidding processes for the GenCos, which are part of the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), have already commenced.

The NIPP projects being considered for sale are: Geregu Generation Company Ltd. installed capacity at ISO condition of 506 Megawatts (MW); Benin (Ihovbor) Generation Company Ltd. with 507 MW and Calabar Generation Ltd with 634MW.

Others are Omotosho Generation Ltd. with 513MW; and Olorunsogo Generation Company Ltd. with 754MW.

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Adeola Samuel-Ilori, National Coordinator, All Electricity Consumers Protection Forum (AECPF) shared his view on the development.

Mr Samuel-Ilori noted that while the BPE had directed that the bidders must have prior experience in power generation, the government must, however, ensure that they adhere to the requirements.

We dont want it to be mere rhetorics as we have seen in the sales of critical national assets in the past; particularly in the same power sector.

For us, as electricity consumer group, we can only support the selling of these power plants to investors that have both technical and financial competence.

Anything short of that will not be good for the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry and will further put more electricity consumers in darkness, he said.

On September 1, President Muhammadu Buhari sacked the Minister of Power, Salleh Mamman, in a minor cabinet reshuffle.

The president replaced him with Abubakar Aliyu, who until his appointment was Minister of State for Works.

Mr Aliyus mandate is ensuring that the Federal Governments vision for the power sector, which is to improve access to electricity for all Nigerians in order to lift the country out of poverty, is achieved.

Since assumption of office, the minister has held several engagements with stakeholders in the sector with a view to finding lasting solutions to its challenges.

However, electricity consumer groups believe that ensuring that the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) adequately performs its statutory responsibilities should be a major focus of the new minister.

The groups, the Energy Consumer Rights and Responsibilities Initiative (ECRRI) and AECPF, said this would unlock the potential of the sector.

Mr Samuel-Ilori of AECPF and Surai Fadairo, National President, ECRRI, said the minister should be firm on NERC and oversee the regulatory agency to protect the interest of consumers.

Another notable occurrence in the year was the management change in the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

An industrial action against the company on December 6 resulted in a total blackout within the DisCos network area for about 14 hours before it was called off.

The development led to the sacking of the AEDC management by the lender (Receiver Manager) which provided the acquisition loan for KANN Utility Company Limited to acquire majority stake in the electricity distribution company during the privatisation exercise in 2013.

Meanwhile, eight years after the power sector was privatised, calls by experts and stakeholders abound for the government to review the performances of the players in the industry value chain.

Views

Muda Yusuf, an economist and former Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the entire experience had given privatisation a bad name.

There were issues of due diligence, technical capacity, financial capacity, political interference, metering issues, commercial losses, technical losses, tariff rigidities and the economics of the private sector investment in the sector, he said.

Also, Sina Odugbemi, Convener, Wheres the Light Movement, said Nigerians have not experienced the desired objectives of available, accessible and affordable electricity supply over seven years after the sector was privatised.

He said: The only way forward is for government to reverse the privatisation policy and bring back the power sector under exclusive public ownership.

Nigerians have witnessed both; that is, public and private ownership. Service under the so-called private investors is worse.

We advocate the democratic control and management by workers and consumers in a more transparent manner.

Challenges

Deficit of infrastructure across the value chain of the power sector remains another challenge which affected stable power supply in the country in the year under review.

From generation to transmission and distribution value chain, the sector is in dire need of infrastructure upgrade to meet the energy needs of the populace.

Joy Ogaji, Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), said only 25 out of 150 GenCos licensed by NERC were operating optimally in Nigeria.

She said that the less than 6,000MW generated by the GenCos was not being optimally utilised due to load rejection by electricity Distribution Companies for various reasons.

Ms Ogaji said gas supply constraints was also one of the major challenges facing GenCos and responsible for the drop in power generation.

She said that this could be remedied by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation agreeing to supply 60 per cent of the gas needed by the thermal plants.

Roger Brown, Chief Executive Officer, Seplat Energy Plc, said the lack of access to electricity by Nigerians was a huge opportunity for investors

He said Nigerias Gross Domestic Product was currently N468 billion and was expected to rise to N973 billion by 2040 which would increase energy demand in the country.

Experts believe that much progress could be achieved in the power sector in 2022, especially if the government is able to follow through with its deal with German electricity giant, Siemens Group.

The deal signed in February 2020 aims to not only enhance the distribution network but also increase generation capacity to the tune of 40,000MW.

Nigerians are expecting better times in terms of electricity supply and cant wait to reap the benefits of such plans.

(NAN)
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, says the amended electoral bill, which President Muhammadu Buhari declined assent to will worsen insecurity and political instability if allowed to stay.

The minister, who made this position known in a phone in programme on Radio Kano, monitored in Abuja, also maintained that the electoral bill had excessive cost implications, and hence would not be signed by the president.

The amended bill had many innovations that would improve the electoral fortunes of the country and allow it to be at par with global standards.

But President Buhari, who had vowed to reform the electoral process, after clinching the presidency in his fourth attempt, declined his assent over an aspect of the bill: direct primaries for parties as against indirect primaries which allowed governors more latitude to influence the electoral process.

It is not yet clear if the nations lawmakers would override the presidents veto as the constitution allows.

But according to Mr Malami, the new electoral bill has not captured the interest of all Nigerians. He said signing it into law by the president will further create more crisis in the political space.

He said: What you should understand about leadership of the country most especially as it regards President Muhammadu Buhari on any law presented to him for signing, the president is entitled to certain rights.

When you talk about politics he has rights, if you talk about economy the business community also have rights on him, if you are talking about 60 per cent of Nigerians that are not politicians, if you talk about the economy he also has rights.

if you are talking about security, there is also what is expected from him. The president has to consider laws that are sustainable.

The job of the president is that of politics, economy, business, security, legislations, politicians and non-politicians.

This is because the leadership of the country is not for the politicians alone, it is a leadership that affects social life of the people, their religion, economy, security and others.

This is contrary to the leadership of the legislators which is solely political.

According to the minister, the lawmakers are only concerned about their political inclination while the president is concerned about the entire lives of Nigerians made up of politicians and non-politicians.

He said any bill signed into law by the president must be in the interest of all Nigerians irrespective of their inclinations.

He is after satisfying the interest of the over 200 million Nigerians he is serving and not a particular sector, he added.

On the financial burden in the new electoral bill rejected by the president, Mr Malami said:

Today INEC requires N305 billion for the 2022 general elections. Now if the general election, which is not the newly proposed electoral system, will cost this much, how much will it cost to do the same election in the APC? It might cost at least N200 billion because it will involve everyone.

Although the good side of the law is that INEC is required to monitor it.

Therefore if it is assumed that every political party will spend N200 billion, how much will then be spent in conducting the same primary election in 18 political parties just to produce a qualified candidate?

Lets assume there are about 60 million politicians in the country, what about the remaining over 160 million Nigerians who have nothing to do with politics? Are you fair to them?

All the people want are good projects, good road from Abuja to Kano, potable drinking water, good education, school feeding programme and the rest of them.

Are you fair to the 160 million Nigerians using their wealth just to conduct primary election to produce a party candidate, despite other demands by the public?

My answer to this is that, to spend this N305 billion that will be given to the INEC and the about N200 billion to be given to the political parties is not fair to the remaining 160 million Nigerians who have no business about politics and political appointments.

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Their business is just a better life in Nigeria. This is the issue of cost implications.

The minister also spoke on the untiring efforts of the Buhari administration to safeguard and rescue the nations economy from collapse in 2015, saying the president rescued the situations via implementation of transformative policies and programmes.

He recalled that state governments were also rescued through the provision of numerous bailout funds by the Buhari administration.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chairman, Nigerian Governors Forum, Kayode Fayemi, on December 21, visited the Presidential Villa Abuja to thank President Buhari, on behalf of his colleagues, for addressing economic challenges facing state governments through the provision of financial assistance.

He also saluted the president for his efforts towards ensuring peace and stability across all troubled states in the country.

Mr Malami said Mr Buhari did not stop at assisting the state governments but also introduced programmes such as N-power and COVID-19 interventions that provided employment opportunities to many Nigerians.

Despite the rising insecurity and killing across the country, Mr Malami also narrated the various efforts of the administration towards addressing the nations security challenges.

Before Buhari came, there were so many challenges in the security sector, but now, we have succeeded in preventing the attacks. Its been long that I heard about attack in markets, worship places and so on, he added. (NAN)
Former president Olusegun Obasanjo will lead other dignitaries to attend the bi-annual symposium dedicated to the memory of the late emeritus professor, Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos.

A statement by the family said Mr Obasanjo had made a commitment to attend in a letter sent to the family.

Mr Ibidapo-Obe, who was also the founding Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Ebonyi State, and Founding Chairman of Council, First Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State, died in January.

The ceremony is being organised by the late professors wife, Sola Ibidapo-Obe, and the Oye Ibidapo-Obe Foundation for Educational Transformation. It is scheduled to hold on January 7, 2022, with the theme, Viewing The World Through the Lens of Big Data.

The event will be held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, and hosted by Jim Ovia, the Chairman of Zenith Bank Plc.

Other supporters of the ceremony are Wale Babalakin, former pro-chancellor, University of Lagos, and cousin to Mrs Ibidapo-Obe; Olu Olowokere, a professor at Texas Southern University, Houston; Ade Bello a former vice chancellor of the University of Lagos. Messrs Olowokere and Bello are long-term friends of the Ibidapo-Obes.

The symposium

The first session of the programme will be held between 10 a.m.  12.30 p.m., with welcome address and introductions by Mr Bello, who is the event Chairman.

In the session, there will be presentations by Deji Badiru on the topic, Data analytics and Systems Engineering and David Olowokere addressing the topic, Big Data and Changing Landscape of Science, as well as Kunle Kehinde speaking on Machine Learning: A New Framework for Accelerating Scientific Discovery.

The second session, a ceremonial one, will see Akinbambo Ibidapo-Obe, son of the deceased, presenting a welcome address. Mr Obasanjo will serve as Chairman and deliver a topic themed, On the Assessing and Improving of Accuracy of Nigerian Population and Demographic Data.

The keynote address will be delivered by Mr Ovia on the topic, Using the Lens of Data for a Renewed Global Economic Evolution (Banking and Big Data). Ayo Ogunye will then oversee the proclamation of the establishment of Oye Ibidapo-Obe Endowed Chair in Engineering at the University of Lagos.
The family of Timothy Adegoke, a Masters student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, and youth in his home town of Ikolaba, Ibarapa East local government area of Oyo State, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest to demand justice for the slain student.

Mr Adegoke was reportedly killed at Hillton Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State, belonging to one Adedoyin Abdulrahman.

Mr Adegoke had traveled to Ile-Ife to write an examination. He lodged in the hotel on November 5, but his corpse was found days later, reportedly exhumed beside the hotel.

The police in Osun State had confirmed the arrest of Mr Abdulrahman and five other suspects in relation to the murder.

On Monday, youth in Ibarapa staged a peaceful protest demanding the prosecution of those responsible for the killing of their kinsman.

The elder brother of the deceased, Olugbade Adegoke, told PREMIUM TIMES that the family wants a thorough investigation of the case, as well as immediate closure of the hotel.

We are demanding for justice. All the youths in Ikolaba are demanding justice. I am glad the investigation has been done. I went to Abuja three days ago and I was told to go and prepare for court, that Adedoyin would be charged, Mr Adegoke said.

Ibrahim Adams, who spoke on behalf of the youth, noted that the protest would gradually move from Oyo State to every other state of the South-west if justice is not served on the matter.

Our brother was killed and all we are demanding is justice, are we asking for too much ? For now we still have believe in the handling of the IGP and we know that justice will be served.

 We wont mind to take this protest to every other parts of the southwest, if we notice any form of foul play In this very matter.
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), First British Charity Home Foundation, on Monday, fed at least 100 suspects and police officers in Lagos to celebrate the Christmas season.

The owner of the Foundation, Evans Uchendu, who led his team to various police formations, said the gesture was aimed at putting smiles on peoples faces.

We visited Ijesha and Itire police stations, alongside the State Criminal Investigation Department, Alagbon close, in Ikoyi.

We provided them with good water, soft drinks and foods to over 100 policemen and suspects in custody.

We donated automatic blood pressure monitor and emzol paracetamol, prayed with the officers and encouraged them for their good works at securing lives and property.

We also prayed for the suspects and encouraged them to stay away from illegality, he said.

He also said that part of the vision of the Foundation is to reach out to the elderly in the villages, especially those with no children to cater for them.

By the grace of God, the vision of this Foundation is to feed every suspect in police cell and inmate in prison custody starting from Lagos.

This is because I know from my working relationship with the police that nearly all of them, some victims of circumstances, are being fed by their Investigating Police Officers, using their meager salaries.

We are not doing this because we have enough but looking at the present economic reality, you will appreciate what I am talking about, he said.

(NAN)
Nigeria on Sunday recorded eight additional deaths and 1,547 fresh cases across 10 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The latest statistics by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) reveals that the FCT ranked first on the log with 806 infections. The infection toll has increased to 237,561 while the fatality toll now stands at 3,022.

This development indicates that the fourth wave of the pandemic is biting harder across the country, especially in Lagos State and the FCT. The latter, according to the latest data from the NCDC, accounted for a backlog of three deaths for December 25 and 26, 2021.

The NCDC further noted that of the new cases, the FCT reported a backlog of cases with 128 and 302 for December 24 and 25, 2021, respectively.

According to the latest statistics, the number of discharged cases now stands at 212,550, as the FCT also announced 32 discharges for December 25 and 26, 2021.

Breakdown

Apart from the FCT, Lagos State, which has contributed more to the surge in infections reported 401 new infections on Sunday.

Borno State in the North-east followed on the log with a backlog of 166 cases for December 24, 2021.

Next on the log is a line up of four south-western states with infections reported on Sunday. While Oyo State registered 78 cases, Ogun, 47; Osun, 30; and Ekiti, seven cases.

Also, three North-western states: Katsina, Kano and Jigawa reported seven, four and a single case respectively.

The NCDC noted that Bauchi, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers and Sokoto States reported that they recorded no cases on Sunday.
Fishermen in Akwa Ibom State have accused ExxonMobil, the American multinational oil and gas corporation, of refusing to take responsibility and pay compensation for a series of oil spills that occurred in the state between 1998 and 2012.

The fishermen said they were encouraged to take their case out of the court in expectation a settlement will be reached. Years after, despite several petitions and reminders to government officials and the company, nothing has been done to help them.

The fishermen, under the Akwa Ibom Cooperative Fisheries Association, said oil spills occurred between 1998 and 2012, leading to the destruction of their nets and other fishing tools and livelihoods.

The group held a protest in Abuja in July to press ExxonMobil to pay for damages for hardships its members suffered in the last 14 years as a result of oil spills, estimating the compensation at N11 billion.

On October 4, 2021, it sent a petition to the National Assembly through the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, requesting the Nigerian governments intervention in the push for compensation from the oil firm.

On 24 September, 2021 the group sent a reminder to the lawmakers through the office of Ike Ekweremadu, the Enugu senator.

We, the board of directors and members of Akwa Ibom Co-operative Fisheries Association Limited wish to remind you of our plight and request contained in our letter of 24 July, 2018 (copy attached) on the above subject and to express our utter disappointment at the way our matter of injustice and spiteful treatment is being handled by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the notice read.

The union said it went to court in 2005 to seek redress, but ExxonMobil quickly approached Eme Ufot Ekaette, a former senator, to plead with them to withdraw the case from court, with a promise that they were willing to settle the matter and pay compensation to enable them to return to business.

Documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES showed that the group filed a suit against the oil firm in 2005 but on 7 January, 2008, the group withdrew the case with the applicant number CA/C/3/2006 from court.

In 2010, the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology under the then chairmanship of Grace Bent told ExxonMobil to compensate the group for the ruin the spills wrought on the community. The company has failed to comply 11 years later, the group said.

In 2015, ExxonMobil replied to a letter from the group, acknowledging that oil was released on January 12, 1998 from its Usari Idaho pipeline after scientific investigation but no damage was discovered in the environment.

It also confirmed that an oil spill occurred through the same pipeline in November 2012 but at the time of responding to the letter, its investigation was in progress.

A tale of endless havoc

Several oil spills occurred in Akwa Ibom between 1998 and 2012. An ExxonMobil pipeline in 2010 spewed multiple gallons of oil into the Akwa Ibom water, aggravating the unrelieved woe of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta.

The spill occurred at an ExxonMobil platform between 32 and 40 kilometres offshore at a platform, which feeds the Qua Iboe oil export terminal. The oil firm declared force majeure on Qua Iboe oil shipments due to the pipeline damage.

The leakage discharged barrels of crude into the Atlantic Ocean, contaminating the waters and coastal settlements in the predominantly fishing communities along Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

The group of Akwa Ibom fishermen, whose members travelled nearly 1000 kilometres to Abuja, submitted a petition on July 8, to the National Human Rights Commission, requesting that the Nigerian government help them get justice.

The director, corporate affairs & external linkages, at the NHRC, Halima Oyedele, promised the aggrieved protesters that their grievances will be addressed.

The group said it has made significant efforts to get the oil firm to pay the compensation since the first oil spill in 1998.

They said a panel set up by ExxonMobil to handle spills-related issues received their complaints but has failed to redeem its pledge to pay them.

The leaders of the group, Johnson Ntegwung and Effiok Essien, said their members were asked by ExxonMobil to hand over all damaged fishing equipment, and that the submitted tools were destroyed by the company on the explanation that they did not want those items to be recycled for further claims.

That pursuant to the above, the panel of enquiry, therefore, made recommendations that the total sum of N100, 000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) be paid to each of the fishermen whose fishing equipment had been damaged as a result of the spills, at least to cushion the effect of the fishermens predicament due to the spills, the group said.

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted ExxonMobil, the spokesperson, Ogechukwu Udeagah, denied knowledge of the case.

He requested details of the court case be sent to him. After the documents were sent, Mr Udeagah promised to send the documents to the legal department.

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But at the time of filing this report, he did not respond.

Also, a spokesperson for the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Idris Musa, Okey Emeh, said he could not comment on the case as it was in court.

The DG cannot say anything for now, the matter is still in court. It is against the law to speak about a case that has no judgement yet, Mr Emeh said in August.

But the fishermen group insisted the matter was agreed to be settled out of court in 2008.
Photos of Uche Nwosu, son-in-law to former Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, have surfaced on Facebook, showing him in handcuffs, seated at the back of a car, a day after his controversial arrest by the police on Sunday.

Mr Nwosu, a former governorship candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2019 governorship election in Imo, wore only a singlet in the photos, giving credence to the claim that he was assaulted and his clothes torn during his arrest.

Mr Nwosu looked calm in the photo. An officer, whose face is not captured, sat beside him.

It is unclear, for now, who took the photos and why.

Mr Nwosu, alongside his family, including Mr Okorochas wife, was holding a thanksgiving service at the Saint Peters Anglican Church, Nkwerre, in Imo State, after his mothers burial, when the officers invaded the church and arrested him.

An aide to Mr Nwosu, Darlington Ibekwe, said the officers, who came in three vehicles, slapped and pushed to the ground Mr Okorochas wife, Nkechi, and her daughter, Uloma, who is Mr Nwosus wife when the duo tried to enquire why they were arresting Mr Nwosu.

The officers fired gunshots in the air as they whisked the man into a waiting car and zoomed off.

Because of how the arrest was made, many people initially thought Mr Nwosu was abducted by unknown gunmen, until the police in Imo came out to say he was in their custody.

The police, however, have not said why Mr Nwosu was arrested.

No warrant of arrest, no invitation

Mr Okorocha said in a report by Daily Times that the police did not have a warrant of arrest against his son-in-law, nor did they invite him for questioning.

In the course of their activities, they pushed down my wife and tore my daughters clothes. No warrant of arrest. No invitation. We suspected kidnapping at first. Many people were injured while running. Uche Nwosu was dragged into a bus carrying Imo State Government number plate, said Mr Okorocha who is the senator representing Imo West District.

The senator accused the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, of being behind the arrest, an accusation the state government has denied.

He should allow the police to do their job. Okorocha should know that police have the right to arrest anybody, the state Commissioner for Information, Declan Emelumba, told reporters on Sunday in Owerri.

Mr Okorocha, while he was the governor of Imo, wanted his son-in-law, Mr Nwosu, to succeed him. When Mr Nwosu failed to get the All Progressives Congress governorship ticket, he moved over to the relatively unknown Action Alliance where he stood for the 2019 election, with Mr Okorochas backing.

The APC, with Mr Uzodinma as its candidate, lost the election but later reclaimed it through a court judgment.

Governor Uzodinmas administration has been going after Mr Okorocha, claiming that the senator looted the state when he was governor.
The police have released Uche Nwosu, a son-in-law to a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.

Mr Nwosu, a former candidate of the Action Alliance in the 2019 governorship election in Imo, was arrested by masked police officers inside a church on Sunday during a thanksgiving service in the state.

A story by the Punch newspaper quoted a media aide to Mr Nwosu, Chikezie Nwadike, as saying that he (Mr Nwosu) did not spend a night in the police custody.

The media aide disclosed this in a statement issued on Monday, according to the paper.

Mr Nwadike said Mr Nwosu was not invited by the police before his controversial arrest.

He said Mr Nwosu is fine and that he thanked Nigerians for their support during his ordeal.

The police are yet to disclose why Mr Nwosu was arrested.

While we await a Police report on the reasons for the abduction and arrest, we call on everyone to remain calm and focused because God is in charge of the whole situation.

Ugwumba Uche Nwosu is a perfect gentleman who has great deal of respect for constituted authorities and has never for once caught up in civil disobedience. There was never an invitation and if anyone says otherwise, let the person come forth with evidence, the statement said.

Meanwhile, photos of Mr Nwosu in handcuffs have been trending on Facebook.

Mr Nwosu wore only a singlet in the photos, giving credence to the claim that he was assaulted and his clothes torn during his arrest.

He looked calm in the photo. An officer, whose face is not captured, sat beside him.

It is unclear, for now, who took the photos and why.
The Bayelsa Government Technical Committee on the November 5 oil leak at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 in Nembe on Sunday faulted claims that the leak was caused by sabotage.

OML 29 oil block is operated by Aiteo Eastern Exploration and Production Company, an indigenous oil firm that acquired the asset for about $2.4 billion following the 2015 divestment by Shell Petroleum Development Company.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that regulatory agencies investigating the incident had on December 22 attributed the spill to sabotage, while the Bayelsa committee claimed the spill was due to equipment failure.

The regulators are the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Biriyai Dambo, chair, Technical Committee, in a statement dismissed the claim and faulted the procedures adopted in arriving at the conclusions.

Mr Dambo, who is also the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Bayelsa, said the divergent views held by the parties could not be resolved and so rendered the Joint Investigative Visit (JIV) inconclusive.

The JIV is a statutory probe that follows every reported leak incident to unravel the cause and volume of crude discharged into the environment.

The JIV is usually convened by the operator of the leaked facility and it comprises representatives of the oil firm, affected communities, regulators and the state Ministry of Environment.

Mr Dambo noted that the components and accessories of the wellhead that were to be inspected had been removed and replaced, which amounted to tampering with and concealing the equipment and evidence.

We are shocked

According to the statement, there have been similar incidents of oil spillage, although of lesser magnitude, from the same Santa Barbara Wellhead 1 in OML 29 in 2018 and 2019, which Aiteo had previously admitted.

The committee expressed regrets that till date there has been no remediation nor safeguards against future recurrence put in place or enforced by Aiteo and NOSDRA over the said spills.

According to the statement, requests for remediation of the earlier spills by the affected communities were rebuffed, until this major blowout happened in November.

We were shocked to note that on the day of this latest JIV, when asked about these previous incidents at the exact same wellhead, AITEO denied and NOSDRA kept silent.

During the course of the JIV, the behaviour and utterances of representatives of NOSDRA and NUPRC called into question their independence and neutrality.

We are convinced that NOSDRA and NUPRC are biased and are playing a script in cahoot with AITEO.

We have very convincing evidence which we will bring to light at the appropriate time and through the appropriate fora that NOSDRA and NUPRC are completely biased.

They have taken a premeditated position in favour of Aiteo against the interest of the people of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta.

This is terribly sad and unfortunate given the fact that NOSDRA and NUPRC are supposed to be regulators and as such should be unbiased and act at all times with integrity.

Finally, the Government of Bayelsa State completely rejects the JIV of Wednesday, December 22, 2021, the statement read in part.

Mr Dambo maintained that the position of Bayelsa government is that the cause of the spill was equipment failure and that it would take all appropriate steps to pursue environmental justice for itself and the affected communities.

He said such redress would put an end to the perennial pollution of the environment through reckless and irresponsible oilfield practice that is condoned by a weak or compromised regulatory system.

(NAN)
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Sunday denied being infected with COVID-19.

The minister spoke via a statement by his spokesperson in reaction to reports Saturday that he was among top government and presidency officials who recently contracted the virus, unsettling the nations seat of power.

Some of the presidential aides who tested positive for the virus confirmed their status to PREMIUM TIMES but declined to comment on the outbreak of the disease among other presidential aides.

Until PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported the outbreak, it had been kept under wraps by officials with the First Ladys office only saying aides had been asked to go home, without giving any reason.

While some of the officials affected commented on their status in interviews with this newspaper, Mr Mohammeds spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, did not return repeated calls or reply to a message sent to him before our initial story was published.

The presidents senior special assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, who presidency sources told PREMIUM TIMES tested positive, confirmed his status in a text response to this newspaper. He said he felt okay despite the positive test but could not comment on the status of other aides.

A day after our story was published, however, Mr Adeyemi, on Sunday, made his principals position known in a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES, saying Mr Mohammed was neither positive for the virus nor down with the disease.

But the minister, who demanded a retraction of the report and an apology, is yet to comment on the impacts of the pandemic on the villa and how close aides of President Muhammadu Buhari are currently placed on isolation.

Before publishing its initial report, PREMIUM TIMES tried for more than 24 hours to reach the minister, his spokesperson and some presidency officials. They did not answer multiple telephone calls or reply to text messages sent to them.

In his Sunday statement, Mr Mohammed did not comment on the efforts made to confirm his health status and did not say what the government is doing to prevent further spread of the disease at the presidential villa.

He however said, That report, which was first published by an online newspaper and then latched on to by some mainstream lapdog media, once again highlights the uphill task we face in our campaign to stamp out fake news and misinformation.

A journalism mantra says when in doubt, leave it out. Also embedded in the code of ethics for journalists are the basic principles of truthfulness and accuracy, among others. The report in question did not meet those standards.

The statement said the minister attended official functions between Wednesday and Friday at the villa and that the report that he was barred from the complex after testing positive to COVID-19 was incorrect and caused the minister some embarrassment, especially in a season of joy.

Mr Adeyemi said the minister was at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, an extraordinary FEC meeting on Thursday and also witnessed the swearing in of the Minister of State for Works and Housing on Friday.

All these events took place at the Villa, where the correspondents of many media organisations are deployed.

In fact, the Minister coordinated the post-FEC press briefing on Wednesday and Thursday.

Could he have done this from the imaginary isolation centre where he was consigned by a mischievous reporter? the statement read.

It added: As a member of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, the Minister has the added responsibility of leading by example.

He would not have hesitated to publicly announce his COVID-19 status if indeed he has contracted the virus.

After all, he is not only fully vaccinated, he has also taken the booster shot, a situation that offers him different layers of protection even if he contracts the virus.

For those who contract the virus, they deserve our empathy and prayers, not stigmatization.

Presidential aides human

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, on Monday commented on reports that some presidency officials were down with COVID-19. He, however, did not provide details regarding affected officials and the impact of the development on governance.

Speaking on Channels TV, Mr Adesina said: Well, what I like to say is that presidential aides are just human. They can fall sick. If anything happens to human beings it can also happen to presidential aides.

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The fact that we are presidential aides does not make us to be immune to certain things. If there is a virus that is ravaging society. Well, it can touch anybody.

So Mallam Garba Shehu has confirmed that, yes, he tested positive but he said its mild. And I believe that by now, because its happened since Wednesday, by now, he should almost have beaten it if he had not beat it already. There is no cause for alarm.

Commenting on his contact with Mr Shehu recently, the media aide said: Well, I also believe God for the best. If it happens (I get infected), Ill recover. So thats it.

Asked how many of the Presidents aides in the State House have been infected, Mr Adesina said: No. That will not be within my purview to discuss maybe if you get the Presidential doctor or anybody in the medical side, they will tell you.

I wouldnt know because, it is a private thing. If it happens to anybody, it is between that person and possibly the doctor. Its not going to be general knowledge.

So I may not be able to say.

Mr Adesina also dismissed the fear being expressed in some quarters over the presidents health following his exposure to his aides believed to have been infected with the virus.

He said: Well, I think Mr. President is quite fine. He is doing his normal routine, following his normal schedule. But if anybody close to him test positive, that person is required to stay away till he tests again, and he tests negative.

So, Mr President is following his normal schedule and routine.

A regime of Secrecy

While no one has officially denied the outbreak of the pandemic at the State House, PREMIUM TIMES, however, is unable to understand why the Nigerian government has failed to publicly declare the status of the affected public officials so that whoever among the public that may have had contact with them within the period could either self-isolate or go for testing.

It is a culture of practice among public officials in Nigeria, and particularly at the centre, to conceal the health conditions of public office holders.

From the years of the late President Umar YarAdua to the incumbent Mr Buhari, the public has always been in the dark over the nature of ailments their leaders were being treated for.

Many Nigerians have consistently criticised this practice but the government has also relied on laws supporting the confidentiality of a persons health status.

How it is done in other democracies.

In December 2020, during the administration of the former President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, when many presidential aides contracted the coronavirus infection, the American government informed the public and disclosed the identities of the aides who tested positive.

Earlier in March of the same year when Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom (UK) contracted the virus, he instantly informed the public of his health status and there were regular updates until he was discharged and was declared fit to govern again.

Shortly after returning from a visit to four West African countries including Nigeria earlier in December, President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa publicly announced that he tested positive for the virus.

Apart from delegating all official responsibilities to his deputy, David Mabuza, Mr Ramaphosa also used the opportunity to advise the people against letting down the guards even after being fully vaccinated.

However, in Nigeria, the government has a culture of keeping the health status of its political leaders secret including where they are receiving treatment.

It was until the death of the late chief of staff to Mr Buhari, Abba Kyari, that Nigerians were formally told that he was treated for the coronavirus disease in Lagos, the countrys commercial capital.
 the skies of Rivers State are often covered with thick dark clouds, and soot particles can be seen dropping on cars, clothes, houses, and markets. This anomaly has significant health and economic implications and must be dealt with now. Countries often face dilemma promoting unfettered economic growth, within the frame of resulting public and environmental welfare, which could be of highly deleterious effects. We must not play politics with this issue because of the enormous negative consequences that it portends.

As you read this column, there is a high probability that there is at least a 500 per cent increase in the number of persons who are suffering from respiratory-related ailments in Rivers and Bayelsa States in, comparison to the 2014-2016 rates. An estimated 500,000 persons have had their immune systems compromised and exposed to the extreme of the prevalent viral infection, and another unconfirmed number of persons are suffering from severe kidney, liver, and mental problems. There is most likely a rapid increase in cancer-related cases. In addition to this sad state of health is a 30 per cent spike in morbidity and mortality rates in Rivers and Bayelsa States since 2016. This is the findings of the Professor Precious Ede-led Technical Committee empanelled by Rivers State Government, which did a comparative investigation on the impact of soot pollution, 18 months before August 2016 and 18 months after August 2016, when the problem became noticeable.

This picture reflects what the more significant population of people resident in Rivers and parts of Bayelsa States pass through daily due to the environmental challenge of soot. Also known scientifically as black carbon, soot is a term for ultra-fine particles, PM 2.5, produced by the incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. It is a dark unwanted by-product of burning diesel fuel in vehicles, biomass in stoves for cooking and heating, coal in small industrial operations, and agricultural waste in post-harvest fields.

The primary sources of soot in Nigeria include illegal and legitimate refineries, petrochemical industries, gas flares, the burning of fuels like diesel and petrol used in transportation vehicles or electricity generators, the incineration of vehicle tyres or oil spills by incompetent contractors, or the burning of sundry wastes, and bush. The US Environmental Protection Agency describes soot as one of the deadliest forms of air pollution.

A recent investigation, reported by The Guardian, revealed that artisanal refining, which is the prime cause of soot pollution, is occurring in 14 of the 23 council areas of Rivers State. The activities of the refiners are said to be causing the incomplete combustion of crude, which then releases carbon monoxide and sulphur into the atmosphere. A few years ago, Port Harcourt was rated as the worst polluted city globally, with an air index of 188, followed by Beijing, China, which ranked 182, and Delhi, India at 181.

Following an outcry of citizens facing severe breathing difficulties, the Rivers State Ministry of Environment set up a scientific investigation team of 20 experts from various inter-disciplinary and relevant fields. The report they produced reveals that illegal bunkering and gas flaring are two significant sources of soot in the State, and about 22,077 persons have suffered from respiratory-related ailments in the past four years (2016- 2020). The predictions of many health professionals are that if nothing is done urgently to stop the production of soot, many residents might experience chronic respiratory diseases, heart problems; suffer cancerous and non-cancerous conditions; and thereby increase the mortality rate in the States.

This is becoming real as some persons, who have found it challenging breathing while in Port Harcourt, have left the city. Many people who live in Rivers State and the neighbouring Bayelsa will most likely succumb to COVID-19 due to compromised respiratory systems caused by soot pollution. Studies have found a strong link between municipal soot or air pollution and COVID-19 cases.

Besides the local environmental and health issues, black carbon (soot) fuels global warming in two ways. One, it heats up when exposed to sunlight. Two, like most dark substances, soot absorbs rather than reflects light. When black carbon falls on the ground, usually after a few days the earths surface becomes darker, thereby reducing the planets reflectivity. This traps far more heat per unit mass than carbon dioxide, making it the second-biggest contributor to global warming.

This deadly air pollution came to light in 2016 when the skyline in several parts of the Port Harcourt city was covered with dark particulate matter. The state government set up a committee that produced a report with the central recommendation to set up modular refineries to solve the problem of soot. However, the lack of political will by the state administration, alongside failure by the Federal Government, its relevant agencies, international health and environmental organisations, to implement the report or swiftly initiate moves to tackle the air plague or put in place regulations that will reduce it, has made the challenge of soot to linger.

As the wave of soot occurrence has however escalated, the air quality index in the State has worsened. Amidst public outcry, the State Government has acted aloof and indifferent, even when there is a degradation of the environment and danger to the health of residents. Paying lips service to this significant problem is a folly taken too far. Lives are at stake, and the State Government must do something now.

A cursory review of the problem of soot will reveal why an urgent and focused synergistic approach is needed to tackle this social, scientific, economic, health and environmental challenge that poses a significant threat. I make bold to say that the effect of soot, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic poses an existential threat to all residents of Rivers State.

There is the temptation to think that this environmental pollution challenge of soot is a problem for residents of Rivers State and the neighbouring Bayelsa State alone. Science has proven otherwise. Environmental challenges in any part of the world, as you have in Rivers State, are intertwined with and interlinked to those occuring in other parts of Nigeria and the world. The problem of soot that has been reccurent in Rivers State in the past four to five years is a problem for all Nigerians and the global community. An environmental issue in one part of the globe contributes to environmental pressure in other regions. Specifically, air pollution linked to carbon processing contributes to global warming, ozone layer depletion, acid rain pollution and ocean acidification.

The spate of environmental pollution nationwide, which no one takes full responsibility for tackling, is expressed in Rivers State. And, the neglect of soot in the State by the government at all levels and the international community sends a strong message that these state, national, and supranational agencies no longer seem to care about the lives of six million Nigerians, who face the threat of extermination daily.

Being inundated with petitions for over five years, the relevant Federal Government agencies have failed to rise to the responsibility of discharging their statutory roles, which means our government seems to no longer prioritise the health of citizens. In every sense, the problem of soot in Rivers and Bayelsa States is a national problem denting our collective conscience. A state and federal government that ignore the threat of extermination of six to 10 million of its citizens cannot be said to have their welfare at heart.

The Rivers State Government, which has a moral responsibility to protect the lives of people in its jurisdiction, has done little or nothing tangible to mitigate this problem. The soot report completed in the past three years, has been gathering dust in the statehouse, and none of its recommendations has been adequately implemented. Even the actions of the State Government have been inimical to any tangible progress in protecting the environment, since they neglect or jettison the environmental impact assessment of some of the projects carried out in the State to reduce pollution.

By commission or omission, the state government, security agencies, and other regulatory bodies have allowed illegal refining activities to carry on unabated in the States. Even citizens know where unlawful petroleum refining activities occur and where the products are bought and sold. It is an open secret, and government at all levels have not done much to cut off the supply side of this illegal economic activity.

Several times, the Rivers State Government has touted the establishment of modular refineries in 2021 as the panacea to the soot problem. It claims that the modular refinery is the main thing to curb it (soot}. As the wave of soot occurrence has however escalated, the air quality index in the State has worsened. Amidst public outcry, the State Government has acted aloof and indifferent, even when there is a degradation of the environment and danger to the health of residents. Paying lips service to this significant problem is a folly taken too far. Lives are at stake, and the State Government must do something now.

I note with utmost dismay that a joint mission of the UN/UNEP and WHO has investigated the soot in the area and met with affected groups in Port Harcourt. However, nothing came out of it, and neither has any meaningful actions emanated from these organisations to improve the air quality in Rivers State.

There are several federal agencies, such as the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA), Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NRC), as well as the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESRA), saddled with the responsibility of regulating the environmental aspect of the petroleum value chain in Nigeria. These agencies are yet to wake up to the reality of tackling the menace of illegal mining and refining of oil in Rivers State. This abdication of responsibility of combating the menace of soot by both the respective environmental and security agencies can be equated to enabling ecological terrorism.

I must acknowledge that illegal mining and refining of petroleum products seem to be the mainstay of economic activities in some villages and towns in Rivers and Bayelsa States, and they provide income, while being the sources of livelihoods of many in the involved areas. Inadvertently, one can argue that these illegal activities have helped to stem the restiveness of the youths in communities where the illegal activities are going on.

However, I must say that we cannot solve illegality with illegality. Government should provide an enabling environment for legitimate economic activities in these communities, instead of using the allowance of the criminal activities of illegal refining of petroleum to placate angry and unemployed youths in these areas. It is counter-intuitive to do that, given that the little economic gains from these illegal activities will be far outweighed by the soots damaging impact and health implications.

Irked by the surging menace of soot, residents of Port Harcourt had taken specific actions to draw the governments attention ot this  they mobilised themselves, staged a peaceful protest, and launched a campaign on social media platforms to raise the alarm continually. They used radio and television to mobilise and inspire actions by the government and relevant stakeholders. In a determined spirit of bringing the menace to an end, a civil society group, the Extra Step Initiative (ESI), in August 2019, sued the Federal Government for the continuous pollution of the environment in the State.

The ESI carried out further studies and compiled a petition of about 300 pages, sent it to the United Nations, and copied the World Health Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and all the organs concerned, including world leaders. The British Prime Minister at the time, Theresa May, acknowledged receipt of the report, but Britain has done nothing about soot pollution in the areas affected till date.

I note with utmost dismay that a joint mission of the UN/UNEP and WHO has investigated the soot in the area and met with affected groups in Port Harcourt. However, nothing came out of it, and neither has any meaningful actions emanated from these organisations to improve the air quality in Rivers State.

In conclusion, the skies of Rivers State are often covered with thick dark clouds, and soot particles can be seen dropping on cars, clothes, houses, and markets. This anomaly has significant health and economic implications and must be dealt with now. Countries often face dilemma promoting unfettered economic growth, within the frame of resulting public and environmental welfare, which could be of highly deleterious effects. We must not play politics with this issue because of the enormous negative consequences that it portends.

Dakuku Peterside is a policy and leadership expert.

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The clarification offered by the chairman of the award committee for excluding submissions by online media reporters in the 2021 entries was quite clear, though unacceptable. I still believe it was an embarrassing mistake. The good news is that the Committee found a winner without compromising standards.

When the Ray Ekpu Prize for Investigative Journalism was instituted in July, I was one of the few people who doubted whether a clear winner would emerge at its first outing. I even suggested, silently, that the execution of the award should be delayed till 2022. I had my reasons.

First, my scepticism stemmed from the fact that journalism in Nigeria has, in recent times, unfortunately, moved from purposeful investigations to mere run-of-the-mill reporting. Worse still, with the advent of a misnomer called citizen journalism, which is simply embellished gossip by another name, news, instead of being reported, are manufactured or cooked up by quacks who have invaded the business.

Under this scenario, my genuine concern was whether the people tasked with the execution of the award would not settle for something rather too inferior just to ensure that a winner emerged. I considered that my colleagues operating within the jurisdiction of the award, would not be ready for the competition in 2021. I guess I was wrong.

Second, I also considered that the integrity of the award could be rubbished if it were given to an unqualified winner in an attempt to meet the deadline. Our man Ray Ekpu, symbolises quality in several fronts. In journalism, he ranks among the best anywhere. Therefore, giving the award to an incompetent winner would be amount to devaluing the person in whose name the award is instituted.

I also thought of Udom Inoyo  the man who voluntarily instituted the award in honour of Uncle Ray. I recall what he told journalists on the day he unfolded the Prize in Uyo at the Press Centre: let me draw your attention to one more thing which you can do for yourselves, and by extension, society. It is called differentiation. Many self-styled journalists may be doing damage to this noble profession. You must help separate the wheat from the chaff so that the integrity of journalism remains undiluted.

I thought of how he would feel if the chaff and not the wheat were to win the award. Someone told me that the former ExxonMobil Chief had thought of being a journalist when he left the University. Thank God he changed his mind. I can only imagine his regrets by now if he had chosen that path. Thats a story for another day!

Udom, without doubt, was compelled to institute the award based on his lifetime admiration of Uncle Ray; whose professional integrity remains unquestionable. Over the years, he said Ray has engaged in investigative reporting and sound journalism in ways that have contributed to the growth and development of the Nigerian nation.

The award therefore is meant to inspire young reporters towards aspiring to become another Ray Ekpu  a tested, unblemished symbol of quality, bold and truthful reporting. Udom chose, in his wisdom, to limit the award, which carries a N500,000 prize, to journalism practitioners in Akwa Ibom State.

In my last analysis on this award, shortly after the panel of judges was announced, I suggested that it would be better not to have a winner than to have an unqualified winner. But then, after taking a look at those who formed the panel, I was relatively convinced that nothing would deliberately go wrong; and that professionalism would be allowed to overshadow every other consideration.

About two months ago, the award committee came public with its guidelines and identities of members. My confidence soared further. Nsikak Essien, the chairman of the panel, came ready-made for the job. He had edited the defunct Business Concord  a paper noted for quality contents and professional handling. He was later moved to edit the National Concord, all owned by the late M.K.O. Abiola. Both publications died when the owner passed on under questionable circumstances; while in detention.

The panel also has Kayode Komolafe, a fine professional and a columnist with ThisDay newspaper; Akpandem James, former managing director of Independent newspaper; Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Amos Etuk; Professor Ini Uko of the University of Uyo; and Mrs Emem Nkereuwem, from Inoyo Toro Foundation.

Some aspects of the guidelines put forward by the Committee stated that each entry for the award would be assessed on the basis of the depth of investigation; conformity with the ideals of journalistic excellence; style and language of presentation; its contribution to good governance in public office; and its impact on the fight against corruption and impunity.

Other criteria are: Contribution of the report to national unity and ethnic cohesion in the state; promotion of human and individual rights; its relevance to the fight against societal ills like rape and girl child abuse; efforts to check poverty and abuse of the environment; and attempts to check drug abuse, cultism and general insecurity.

Lets get something clear here. The award is for investigative journalism. That means, I can pick any issue of interest as long as the facts are undeniable. My report must also have depth and conform with the ideals of sound journalism. By stating that the report must be impactful on the fight against corruption, rape, girl child abuse, check poverty and abuse of environment sounds like attempt at compartmentalising the issues that could win the Prize!

The clarification offered by the chairman of the award committee for excluding submissions by online media reporters in the 2021 entries was quite clear, though unacceptable. I still believe it was an embarrassing mistake. The good news is that the Committee found a winner without compromising standards.

On December 10, Nsikak announced the winner of the award in the following words: May I on behalf of the members of the Committee thank all stakeholders in journalism practice in Akwa Ibom State for this opportunity to contribute to the effective delivery on the professional mandate.

We are particularly grateful to the Inoyo Toro Foundation which instituted this award in honour of Mr. Ray Ekpu, our own poster boy in good journalism and the most decorated journalist from Akwa Ibom State.

The Committee called for entries for the pioneer edition of the award from all media genres except online media. The online media were excluded in the maiden edition because we wanted more information on their Akwa Ibom State based media practitioners on this platform. From next year, practitioners on the online media platform will be considered for the award.

At the close of acceptance of entries, the Committee received 18 entries only. The distribution stood at: Radio, none; Television, none; Print media, 17; Online media; one.

In order to hopefully expand the volume of entries and hence enrich journalism practice in the state, the mandate of the Committee has been expanded by the Inoyo Toro Foundation to include collaboration in hosting workshops and seminars on investigative journalism. We have already secured commitments from three institutions for collaboration next year.

Beginning from next year there will be consolation prizes for first and second runners up. We have equally secured commitment on this from a very reputable corporate house.

All entries were scored on the following criteria: relevance of subject; authenticity of investigative work; depth of investigation; presentation and language; and impact on society and democracy.

The winning entry is: Akwa Ibom Governor, SSG in Multibillion Naira Scandal, published in the November 17-23, 2020 edition of The Mail newspaper. The report was authored by Ekemini Simon and Abasifreke Effiong.

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By the powers conferred on me as the Chairman of the Committee, I declare Ekemini Simon and Abasifreke Effiong as the joint winners of the 2020/2021 maiden edition of the Ray Ekpu Prize for Investigative Journalism.

That was it. Winners finally emerged. A standard has been set. I congratulate the Committee on some key aspects. First, it refused to bend the rules. I am aware of situations that would have caused that to happen. Second, by finding a local, hitherto unknown weekly newspaper fit for the big prize, a message has been sent that excellence does not necessarily need to wear national colours.

It was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said in a lecture in 1871 that If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door. The Mail has just fulfilled that prophesy. Henceforth, people would pay more attention to whatever The Mail publishes.

The Committee has also initiated certain moves that would turn the award into something bigger than what Udom dreamt of. The moment workshops on investigative reporting are mounted with the aim of improving the quality of reporting, in terms of ethical standards and depth of presentation, then this Committee would have succeeded tremendously.

For instituting this award, Udom Inoyo has made a historic move towards reinventing and enriching journalism practice, not just in Akwa Ibom State, but in Nigeria. He has ignited an intellectually creative and rewarding competition for something in the mould of the Pulitzer or even the Nobel Prize. Ray Ekpu Prize for Investigative Journalism is a visionary initiative that should be well-applauded and sustained.

Sam Akpe is a journalist and editor.
Some idle minds have speculated baselessly that the timing of the book was designed to drum up support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubus presidential bid. That is cheap blackmail. Those who make the claim do not know Baba Akande. He has rendered a honest account of his life journey as he recalls it. If he had any ulterior motive, he would probably not include many incidents and details that some have found rightly or wrongly controversial and provocative.

More than two weeks after Chief Bisi Akandes My Participations was presented to the public at an impressive ceremony in Lagos attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, the book has not ceased to arouse interest and stoke controversy in some quarters. This is particularly noteworthy given the fact that the ultimate measure of the importance of any book or academic exercise is whether or not it generates peoples interest and contributes meaningfully to the body of knowledge.

In writing the book, Chief Akande was out to present his own life history and political trajectory in the hope that it would enrich public discourse and help advance democratic good governance in the land. Has that goal been achieved or more appropriately will it be achieved? I think so. I hope so.

Let me say from the get-go that My Participations rides on Baba Akandes well-acknowledged character and integrity. A writer or author that lacks integrity lacks everything. Baba was sold early in life on the noble values of honesty, integrity, conscience, courage, hardwork, perseverance and the importance of a good name, among others.

It was therefore no surprise that he adored the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, reading all his books and about his interventions in public affairs. Writing on Page 17 of My Participations, Baba states that: It was not surprising that as I was growing up and becoming more knowledgeable, I became totally indoctrinated and began to study Chief Awolowo and his Action Group. I read all his books and vowed to emulate him in self-discipline, fearlessness, dignity, courage and patriotism.

Sired by parents who worked so hard yet found it difficult to convert the hard work to wealth, Baba Akande literally tutored himself. Yet, without seeing the four walls of a university, except for the occasional courses he took later in life, by age 22, he was already a qualified accountant.

Chief Akande has also long made his name as a no-nonsense public administrator who insisted that governance should not be business-as-usual and should follow the principles of efficiency, accountability, probity and transparency, as obtains in the private sector. He refused to back down on his ideals or kow-tow to his assemblymen, when in office, even in the face of the threat of impeachment.

In My Participations, some of the political actors mentioned were taken on their words. Baba Akande provides detailed accounts of events and developments. He gives exact dates, those present, what they said, what he said, the issues at stake, in some cases the figures involved; where he makes payments, he provides receipts and other details. However, it is reasonable to expect that those who have found themselves on the negative side of the accounts recounted in the book would naturally fight back, rather than remaining silent and lapping it up. However, it is my considered view that notwithstanding all that has been put out in response or to counter some of the accounts in the book by those who believe they have been wrongly hit or received the sharp tongue of the author, the integrity of Baba Akande and high quality of the book remain unassailable.

Backlashes are unavoidable in a good book because an honest man like Baba Akande speaks truth; dont expect him to speak sweet, to paraphrase author Amit Kalantri.

We must also note that autobiographies are the personal recollections of the writer. Those who feel slighted or uncomfortable with what has been written are free to come up with their own accounts. This is welcome and will also help to push forward the discourse.

Nobel laureate Professor Wole Soyinka had forewarned about this tell-it-all, razor-sharp book in his Foreword, saying the book is one historic reckoning that will make many uncomfortable. Many will be reminded of the roles played by them, which they would rather the nation, indeed the world, forgot.

My Participations is not all about political actors and their affairs. Chief Akande makes serious efforts at advancing democracy and good governance, as he promised. How has the book advanced the debate on these twin issues? These are just some samplers:

Number one, Chief Akande writes against money politics, believing people should be elected on the basis of merit and acceptability by their constituents. He demonstrated this in the story of his election to represent Ila-Orangun/Odo-Otin Constituency in the 1977-1978 Constituent Assembly. Narrating the episode, he disclosed that a few weeks to the CA elections, a number of the councillors from his constituency who were to constitute the Electoral College to elect Ilas representative at the assembly, called him for a meeting. They told him how another aspirant had been offering N200 to each of them and advised him to give N3000 to checkmate the said aspirant. I refused bluntly and walked out on them in anger, he wrote.

However, early the next morning, a wealthy Ila farmer approached him, urging him to meet the councillors demand for N3000, while promising to contribute half of the money. He spurned the advice and the offer of monetary assistance to bribe the councillors. Baba Akande refused to attend the palace meeting and did not return to Ila until a day after the election. At the end of the day, he won the election to represent the constituency at the CA. The lesson: This episode can be helpful in the ongoing debate about direct and indirect primaries, wherein the former option flows on popular participation and acceptance, as opposed to the latter, which is a delegate system that is tantamount to cash and carry.

Still talking about the ill of money politics, Baba brings out the sharp contrast between people-driven and money-induced leadership while narrating another story on Page 257. He writes: On the first outing of AD, Iyiola Omisore (Senator) was in the same car with me when we joined Bola Iges entourage, which led Baba Abraham Adesanya to Osun via Iwo. Buoyed up by the excitement of the tumultuous welcome with which the grassroots political enthusiasts were receiving us and forming roadblocks from road junction to road junction with a view to persuading us to stop and talk to most communities that were not included in our original itinerary, Iyiola wondered how such huge crowds could be so freely and effortlessly attracted. He narrated how he would always distribute transport and feasting money through his political associates during General Sani Abachas military political transition before people could be mobilised to welcome him or attend his meetings. I let him realise the difference between politics of credible personalities and the artificiality of money politics, which the military introduced to Nigeria.

Two, with a fractious deputy and gluttonous assemblymen, that Baba Akande had a turbulent time as governor of Osun State (1999-2003) is never in doubt. Babas plans for the State were at variance with their own agenda. Chief Akande wanted and planned to ensure due process in public procurement. Recalling his experience running the state, he writes on Page 278 thus: The implementation of the AD manifesto as contained in the booklet confused some members of my cabinet and attracted suspicion from the legislature. It is a compendium of what was then termed in Obasanjos Federal Government parlance due process.

Unfortunately, he added, very few of the members of the executive and legislature had been exposed to the act of good governance and the wonders of modern technological development beyond local government levels before coming to Osun State Government. The point here is: Baba had been a strong advocate of due process in conducting governments business long before he got to office in 1999.

Three, when Chief Akande disclosed in the book that there is no restructuring in the APC Constitution, many were surprised and shocked. However, the APC had since set up the el-Rufai Committee, which made far-reaching recommendations regarding restructuring. Now, APC members and sympathisers can put pressure on their leaders to adopt the report and insert it into their constitution.

Four, in the book, Baba Akande unwittingly reopens the debate on the unending controversy over the National Assemblys exercise of its power of appropriation. Drawing from his experience with his House of Assembly, Baba writes: I know as a member of the Constituent Assembly (1977-1978), which enacted the 1979 Constitution after which the 1999 Constitution was patterned, that the House of Assembly has enormous powers for mollification and provocation, depending on the actors and the situations.

He added: The indiscreet use of the powers of provocation has destroyed irretrievably democracy in Nigeria since 1962. That is why I am sad to observe that every House of Assembly in Nigeria today particularly the National Assembly, has been unduly emphasising the powers of provocation most dangerously since the beginning of the present democratic experiment.

Given his position on the matter, he writes: I quoted Sections 120 (3) and 121 (1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and emphasised that the powers of the legislature about budgetary and monetary allocation are limited to the vetting and scrutinising the financial estimates of a state for any particular financial year before the commencement of that financial year.

Many, particularly members of the national and state assemblies, will disagree sharply with Baba Akande. That is the essence of the debate, actors canvassing their positions. It is also the kernel of My Participations.

Some idle minds have speculated baselessly that the timing of the book was designed to drum up support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubus presidential bid. That is cheap blackmail. Those who make the claim do not know Baba Akande. He has rendered a honest account of his life journey as he recalls it. If he had any ulterior motive, he would probably not include many incidents and details that some have found rightly or wrongly controversial and provocative.

Tunde Rahman, former Editor of ThisDay on Sunday, is Media Adviser to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

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Ms Kadaria Ahmed is a reputable journalist with nationalist fervour. By virtue of her profession, she has access to numerous pieces of on-field information, which naturally places her ahead of many of her contemporaries in Nigeria. She is well-known for many things as far as the countrys sociopolitical evolution is concerned because her profession and passion have placed her in a promising position of importance, allowing her to represent the interest of the common people and project their grievances and views. Thus, when she introduced herself and stated that her interview with Professor Attahiru Jega would be segmented into three phases, her intention was made bare. The segments  Politics, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Pan-Africanism  were meant to spark a conversation that would have all-round advantages to the community of people who are hungry for a better Nigeria and the international audience calculating when Nigeria would live up to its name as the giant of Africa. It does not need reiterating that the reason for Ms Ahmeds breakdown of her interactions with our guest was to achieve something important concerning the socioeconomic and sociopolitical currency of the nation. To a considerable extent, Professor Jega is a tireless figure whose pedigree is a mix of public activism and political participation.

Starting her drilling with the political segment, it was quite revealing that Ms Ahmed would be curious about Nigerias political intimations, which, in most cases, have become strong reasons for shaping the public opinion on the issue of politics in the country. To some, Nigeria faces perennial challenges of system dysfunctionality not because there is something inherently wrong with the country or because, as has been wrongly generalised, the black people have an inherent inability to drive enviable development by themselves without the help of outsiders. But Nigerias problems have persisted because some people have continued to display erratic behaviour while at the corridor of power through the perpetual betrayal of their individual ideological beliefs and the moral hara-kiri they commit whenever they are shown the colour of money. This means that the political parties in the country are weakened not by ideological manoeuvring of their collective beliefs but by the conscious efforts of the people holding the reins of power, who, in turn, control their economic directions. The two major political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressive Congress (APC), are seminally indicted in this embroilment because they have been weakened to the point that they cannot intervene when their members dig the countrys grave.

So, the question, Does the Professor of political science, Attahiru Jega, believe that the two identified political parties are irredeemable? was timely due to its sociopolitical dimension, and urgent because of its historical significance. Jega is an important force as far as the countrys political system is concerned. This is not only because he has acted in different aspects of the countrys political landscape, but he is also a very intimidating force in producing ideas useful for shaping a people and a country if the system calls for it. Perhaps because he was dissatisfied with Nigerias political process, our guest confirmed his membership of a political party that reflects his political philosophy and is fair enough to accommodate plural views and manage diversities in a more organised manner. Anyone familiar with the countrys political landscape knows that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than any other political party other than PDP or APC to ascend power. This knowledge has always been the driving force for belonging to political parties. People do not realise that joining either of the parties makes no difference, but it would be difficult to challenge them to win a political duel.

With their knowledge of Nigerias political system and process, the mercantile political jobbers have mastered Stalins ideological style because they have made substantial efforts to transform the ideology of draining all nutrients necessary for citizens development or growth, and have gone a step higher in mastering the art of diabolism. For example, the Nigerian government would award projects, then go to sleep and re-award the same project repeatedly after grandstanding padding of the financial requirements and allocation of funds for the execution of the project that should be completed within a few years. Thus, the insincerity of Nigerias two leading political parties, the PDP and the APC, has become domestic knowledge. They wield so much power and autocratic authority that any one of them in power would become the haven of security for anyone who has committed criminal offences against the country in the past. Their members become saints as long as they belong to those parties and are immune to public criticism. So, when Kadaria asked if this knowledge informed Jegas decision to join a new political party, the answer could not be unanticipated.

Although we did not expect the interviewees response to be negative because it is common knowledge that the two parties are mere duplications of each other in matters of ideological convictions, and the commitment to stay true to these ideologies cannot be broken by nationalist spirit, we are more educated as to the reason for the initiation of an elopement process that pushed him into joining a different political party entirely. Professor Jega believes that the two parties are a marriage of convenience for the individuals in the system. They are populated by politically active elites who rarely pursue collective dreams with the same enthusiasm and desire as they do personal ambitions. To them, the loyalty to their pocket is ultimate, and anyone or factor that stands in their way of achieving this provincial dream or intention would be crushed with all their might. For political parties who have such an ideological view, it is difficult to have true intentions behind most of their actions. Essentially, the country is breeding merchant politicians who genuinely install patrimonialism as a government system and see every electoral process as an opportunity for investment. Their time, energy, and resources are considered an investment that would be harvested when they have the opportunity to ascend power. They are either awaiting their turn when they would be awarded juicy contracts or allocated different opportunities at the expense of the masses.

Like a business strategy, these politicians go into elections with the ambition to win at all costs, mostly because they cannot bear the pain of losing. They would naturally want to accrue their expended wealth and energies back with increased returns. The historical dimension of the question was what drew Professor Jega into digging into the political history of APCs formation. According to him, the party had the cornucopia of wounded aspirants in the arsenal and a pile of business and political merchants who specifically had a capitalist relationship with the political party and would not back down until their economic investment was recouped. Therefore, it was difficult for the party to talk about a genuine interest in service because not only would they be indebted to many who have offered their kind and cash in the process of their ascendance, but they would also be needlessly yielding to the pressure they mount. The APC was immediately populated, not by politically neutral people, but by those whose pedigree was questionable because they previously held public positions that performed below expectations. They came into the party with their financial largesse and offered a soiled hand of friendship to those seeking to consolidate power from the centre. Upon ascension, it became a moral burden for the partys leadership and the country to challenge these known criminals because they were already indirectly embroiled in the action.

As expected, this response was a pointer to several layers of questions, the topmost of which are those affecting the countrys electoral system. In fourteen months from now or thereabout, the country will witness another round of elections in which leaders will be elected into different political offices. Given that the said political parties have demonstrated their capacity for ideological compromises, which often result in the commodification of the available posts for the highest bidders or the imposition of people who will do their masters bidding into these offices, Ms Ahmed wondered if Nigerians should be worried that the future again is gloomy since their political future is almost decided already, negatively at that? What should be the working alternative to wrestle the political jobbers out of power so that the two dominant political parties would not be allowed to repackage themselves into power just as they have done for many years? Suggesting the evolution of a third force who can challenge these parties, Professor Jega is of the view that such effort is not impossible because it appears that it is the only one that looks feasible if the ambition is to dislodge the countrys political system from the PDP or APC hostage framework.

Therefore, a broad alliance of progressive forces is a political antidote to the perpetual challenges of sociopolitical inanities that keep ravaging the country. They must arise and be strategic in their focus. Their ambition should not necessarily be to grab power at the highest political cadre of the country, that is, the presidency or the leadership of other arms of government. They can mobilise public support and garner their population strength to occupy basic political positions in Nigeria for grassroots impact at the local level. When people of similar ideas and philosophies collaborate on something of that importance, they would understand that they are investing their energies in the rejuvenation or the revival of the countrys dampened spirit of nationalism, which would propel them into taking actions that will transform the country and plant its roots deep into the heart of global development. Nigeria is blessed with sufficient materials, both human and natural resources, needed for its transformation for all intent and purposes. The country is only sabotaged by the people who do not have good intentions or the moral confidence to accept their inadequacies. Anyone can dream of getting a country out of its perpetual problem of backwardness, but it takes a different level of confidence to remain committed to that ambition in the face of surplus and power that they have never seen before.

As Ms Ahmed admitted at the beginning of the interview, the second segment of her questions addressed the issue of the INEC and the countrys political process. She asked Professor Jega, our honourable guest, if the INEC as an institution has a role in instilling political discipline in the country and what these roles would be. Closely trailing this is the question about our guests thoughts on the reformatory possibility of the new electoral reforms that have been transformed into bills awaiting the Presidents signature. Professor Jega hinted that there is a legal framework that is statutorily expected to function and operate. Therefore, these stipulated injunctions determine what it does or do not do.

Meanwhile, Nigerias political merchants become more tactical in their conduct than the majority of the citizens would ever imagine. They look for all means possible to disqualify individuals who aspire to improve the polity. They are systematically doing this by digging up documents that would disqualify potential people-oriented candidates who can help salvage the country from impending failure.

Due to this arrangement, the INEC faces a big difficulty in facilitating changes to the operations of political parties during elections. When monies are allocated to implementing the countrys political process, candidates who join the system would be seen not as having the peoples genuine interest at heart but as investing in a business where they would have the opportunity to reap back in manifolds. In this case, the winners of these elections dip their hands into the states coffers and expend as much as possible to prepare themselves again for future political engagements. This means that the ability to challenge them in the act is inherently difficult because they are not given the power to check their financial behaviours while in power and are also not equipped to check what they spend while seeking political offices. This is where the problem becomes more complicated. The spending in the pre-election period has done maximum damage to the countrys democratic culture. Rigging in the countrys electoral system does not manifest in stealing the ballot boxes by hoodlums and touts; it begins with systematically buying votes by sharing monies with the potential electorates. And because they are deprived of good living due to endemic poverty, the electorates usually embrace all opportunities to get these monies.

On the prospect of the INEC interfering in the affairs of political parties, Professor Jega argues that there is a limitation of influence on what the electoral institution can do. The internal affairs of a political party are exclusively theirs, and the fact that they should determine how they intend to run their affairs is not up for social debates. It is assumed that every political platform is built on a specific philosophical basis that projects their views and values, their objectives and aspirations, and how they intend to achieve a better society through frameworks that they believe are practicable and practical. It means that when there is internal wrangling, they need to be addressed by the internal organs created to carry out that specific assignment. Whatever they decide to be, the established norms they have identified as the pillars of their political structure will guide their collective agenda. So, it is really difficult, if not generally impossible, for the INEC to have some level of interference on how the parties conduct themselves and their activities. As a result, how political parties conduct their primary elections reflect their philosophy and political views. Whether they function as democratic groups is a subject of debates and contestations. They will need to consider their integrity if they realise that things are not moving in the direction they should.

Amidst all these, it is important to ask where the representation of women stands in the countrys political system. Ms Ahmed is curious about this because female representation in the country is a source of perpetual worry as it has significantly dwindled in recent years. This declination of female inclusion means that important decisions affecting their demography would be taken, which will have very devastating consequences. In response to the question, Professor Attahiru Jega revealed that the exclusionary politics that cut out the participation of women is an ominous signal itself. To confront this existential challenge, he had made measurable efforts to improve the status quo so that there would be substantial involvement of women as a gender and youth (including males and females) as a category. They have considerably expanded their reach to ensure a general improvement in this area. It is important to be diplomatic and essentially strategic to address this effectively. One way of achieving this is to ensure that they increase the legislative seat for women, as this would signal that the legislators positions are not threatened. Since the power to change the system lies with them, it would not be possible to force them into making decisions that would supplant their importance. However, reserving more seats for women is also a good global practice.

On the Pan-African identity, our interviewer tries to interrogate the guest about his position on the issue of Islamic militancy that has besieged the continent. It appears that terrorist attacks that are now prevalent across every region in the continent have a particular agenda they push or ambition in mind. There must be strategic efforts and methods to contain their cyclone of destruction. Professor Jega addresses this issue by saying that the scourge should be seen as a global challenge that needs a global alliance for its fumigation. A given supply chain helps promulgate these violent crimes, and because they appear transnational, global coordination is needed to stem its violent tides. Beyond this, any country faced with the consuming insecurity problems must have an in-house capacity to deal with issues that threaten their peace or attempt to tear down the fabric of their security architecture. They need to rise to these challenges before they graduate into what will overstretch their systems and ridicule their institutions in the long run. Nigeria is a constant victim of terrorist activities because the country lacks a strong security institution, and the available ones are losing the ability to confront these challenges. Their helplessness is caused by the general shortage of security personnel and the governments underfunding of the security apparatus. Consequently, the country and the continent as a whole suffers from the hands of terrorists who have been unrelenting in their mission to keep disrupting peace and destroying innocent lives.

Toyin Falola, a professor of History and University Distinguished Teaching Professor, is Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at The University of Texas at Austin.

This is the third report on the interview with Professor Attahiru Jega on December 12. The extensive interview, which has received millions of views across different platforms, exposes Nigeria in all of its ugliness while also offering a path out of the present predicament. This report covers the segment between Professor Jega and Kadaria Ahmed. For the transcript, see YouTube or Facebook.
Lagos, Nigeria (December 2021)  Fan Milk Plc, makers of well-loved ice cream brands including Fan Ice and Go Slo, today unveiled its newly completed state-of-the-art frozen dairy product line in Ibadan, Oyo State. Fan Milk Plc is part of the Danone group, a world leading food company (# 1 globally in fresh dairy products). This new product line is proof of Fan Milk Danones commitment to propelling socio-economic growth and investment in Nigeria.

The event, which marked the Diamond Jubilee (60th) celebration of Fan Milks years of operations in Nigeria was graced by His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State. He was ably represented by the Chief of Staff, Segun Ogunwuyi, who said, Ibadan city has been home to Fan Milk Plc since the 1960s, when it was only a recombination plant, a distribution centre and less than 30 employees. It has now developed into an international brand impacting the Nigerian population and other countries on the continent as part of the Danone Company. We remain committed to supporting businesses, creating the right environment, providing adequate infrastructure and security. We assure Fan Milk Danone of our unwavering commitment to its business growth.

Special guests of honor that graced the commissioning event included Olawale Abdul-Mojeed Mogbonjubola, Deputy Chief of Staff; Adeniyi Olabode Adebisi, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development; Seun Fakorede, Commissioner for Youth and Sports; Olasunkanmi Olaleye, Commissioner for Trade, Industry, Investment and Cooperatives; Wasiu Olatunbosun, Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism; and Jide Ajani, Special Adviser Media to the Governor.

In attendance also was Laurence Monmayrant, the Consul General of France in Lagos who said, We are proud of the social impact Fan Milk continues to deliver through its business model. The French Government is committed to attracting investors into Nigeria and ensuring French companies like Fan Milk, Danone, can grow in the country

Fan Milk Danone reiterated its commitment to strengthening local investments which would result in improved production capacity, efficiently fulfill demands, and deliver on their promise to produce high quality and nutritious products to all customers nationwide. Ferdinand Mouko, MD Fan Milk Danone Nigeria, said, The Company was established in 1961 and are happy about the scale of our reach and business  800 employees, ten distribution centres and over 20,000 agents and vendors combined. With this new infrastructure, we can bolster our manufacturing capacity while contributing to employment opportunities and wealth creation for the people in Oyo State and Nigeria at large. We are committed to growing with Oyo State, as we collaborate with the states government. He concluded by thanking His Excellency, Seyi Makinde, Governor of Oyo State, for his continued support and encouragement which allowed the growth of Fan Milk in Oyo state.

Also reiterating the importance of the Nigerian market to Danone and the companys commitment to investing in Nigeria, Domenico Albanese, Danone Vice President of Operations in Africa, Middle East, and Asia, stated that the project cost Eight (8) Million Euros to accomplish, which accounted for 50 per cent of the companys capex for Africa in 2021. This investment will be bolstered by the construction of a new yoghurt line expected to open by June 2022 and a recently commissioned water treatment facility to support four neighbouring educational institutions  Eleyele High School, School of Hygiene, School of Nursing, and the School of Health technology.

Fan Milk Danone promises to keep innovating to better serve the Nigerian populace and foster a healthy and sustainable ecosystem, employing the very best of technology, people and processes to produce high quality and nutritious products for Nigerians.

Other distinguished personalities that attended the event were the Chairman of Board of Internal Revenue, Femi Awakan; Director-General, Oyo State Investment and Public Partnership Agency (OYSIPA), Lola Olutola; Chief Press Secretary, Taiwo Adisa, and the Special Assistant Communications to the Governor, Oladayo Ogunbowale.

About Fan Milk

Fan Milk Plc was established in 1961 selling healthy and nutritious dairy products. It is now part of the Danone group, a world leading food company. Since this investment from Danone there have been some phenomenal changes in the operations and business performance of Fan Milk. The business management has been re-ordered and synergised to include Danones Early Life Nutrition (ELN) business, responsible for the distribution of Danones infant milk formula in Nigeria.

Fan Milk Plc operates its head office and production facility in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Fan Milk currently employs over 800 people, with a unique ecosystem that contributes to economic empowerment  currently engaging over 17,745 vendors and 1,200 agents to distribute its nutritious frozen dairy products to individuals and families across the country. Further to this, the introduction of Danones Early Life Nutrition products also broadens the scope of Fan Milks impact in Nigeria.
By Yusuf Omotayo

On November 22, 2021, Honeywell Group (HGL) and Flour Mills of Nigeria (FMN) announced that they had signed an agreement for the proposed combination of FMN through its affiliates and Honeywell Flour Mills Plc, a portfolio company of Honeywell Group. HGL is expected to dispose of a 71.69 per cent stake in HFMP to FMN at a total enterprise value of NGN80 billion.

As Obafemi Otudeko, Managing Director of Honeywell Group Limited, puts it, the merger is in line with the evolution of Honeywell Group and our vision of creating value that transcends generations. For over two decades, we have supported Honeywell Flour Mills to build a strong business with a production capacity of 835,000 metric tonnes of food per annum. Following the transaction, Honeywell Group will be strongly positioned to consolidate and expand its investment activities, including as a partner of choice for investors in key growth sectors.

At a glance, this merger offers a high level of potential growth for the Nigerian food industry. Nigerias food insecurity remains a serious worry and this has been exacerbated by terrorism and banditry.

The COVID-19 pandemic with its lock-downs also had an adverse effect on the Nigerian economy. This also affected the food industry, from production to processing and distribution. As a result, the most vulnerable households are badly affected by rising food prices.

According to USAID, Nigeria is facing a food security crisis that is compounded by the COVID-19 global pandemic and its effects on the food value chain in the country. The pandemic has significantly disrupted already fragile value chains across the country, including peoples ability to produce, process, and distribute food. The disruption to agricultural productivity and markets has a negative knock-on impact on livelihoods, especially among the most vulnerable households.

This HFMP-FMN merger is strategically positioned to address two critical issues related to food production in Nigeria: rising population and urban development. By joining forces, both companies will continue in their effort to boost Nigerias food production capacity, but at a much higher level.

Despite having vast arable land, Nigerias food production capacity remains insufficient to cater to its growing population of over 200 million people. The majority of this population growth is happening in urban areas. In 2020, Nigerias urban population was 52 per cent. This section of the countrys population has ballooned steadily over the last 50 years from 18.2 to 52 per cent. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN, the private sector  big or small, local or global  is a key ally in the global fight against food insecurity, malnutrition and rural poverty.

Beyond addressing food production needs, this merger, when analysed from a consumer, business, employee or customer perspective, provides an all-inclusive answer to critical national and continental questions.

With Nigeria being a signatory to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), this merger positions Nigeria as a powerhouse for intracontinental food processing and distribution rather than being a dumping ground. This strategic placement will also boost the countrys export potential and tilt the scale in its favour.

For stakeholders, this merger also promises long-term preservation of trust. With an over 85-year combined track record of FMN and HFMP, it presents an opportunity for those who have been a part of the journey over the years to reap more benefits with this merger.

Over the years, employees of both companies have benefitted from a working environment with a shared mandate of career development and reward. The scale of the merger provides employees of the consolidated company with more career development opportunities in a larger organisation.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to job loss in the country according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. From available data, more than 20% of workers lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic. Nigerias unemployment rate rose to 33.3 per cent  the highest in five years and the second-highest in the world.

This merger has the potential to create more jobs in the economy as it will have more brands and categories, and a larger and more geographically diverse footprint. Analysts speculate that 17,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created as a result. With an expected increase in food production and processing, the demand for more skilled workers in the industry will have a ripple effect on other sectors as well as on other businesses.

In his assessment of the merger, Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin speculates that the combination of the two supply chains and contract growing networks under a single chain of command promises to result in probably the greatest ever economies of scale in the history of Sub-Saharan African agriculture. FMN currently operates 17 high-level food processing facilities across 12 states in Nigeria. HFMP operates 3 facilities in Lagos and Ogun, with a supply chain stretching across the entire country. FMN is a leader in logistics, distribution, packaging and port operation, while HFMP is best-in-class for quality standards and operational efficiency. Combining these two advantages under one roof has simply never been tried before, and to an extent, even I can only speculate as to how huge an impact this could have on Nigerias food industry.

For investors, HFMPs listing is expected to be retained for the foreseeable future with minority shareholders of HFMP treated fairly and in line with capital market regulation. The stability and progress offered over the years is expected to be sustained in both the short and long term.

This merger from an analytical perspective projects an all-man winner in the long run. For stakeholders, it offers the opportunity to be part of a steady growth in Nigeria, as it positions greater opportunity in the continent. For the consumer and customer, it addresses the critical issue of food insecurity and is a way to stabilise the menace of rising food costs. For businesses and investors, this merger offers a robust reward because of the combination of two powerhouses with a track record of growth and success. For employees and the labour force, this is a timely intervention for a much-needed respite at a period where job loss and unemployment has gone over the roof.

Yusuf Omotayo is a writer and journalist living in Lagos
The police in Anambra State have arrested one Emmanuel Nwafor, 25, for alleged involvement in the attack on Ajali Police Station in Orumba North Local Government Area on September 30.

The police spokesperson in the state, Toochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this on Sunday in a statement made available to journalists in Awka.

Mr Ikenga, a deputy superintendent of police, said the suspect, Mr Nwafor, hails from Umuevee Ajalli, Orumba North Local Government Area.

Mr Nwafor is suspected to have played an active role in the arson attack on the station.

The police said a motorcycle, allegedly looted from the station during the attack, was found in his possession and recovered.

The suspect is already making useful confessions as to the whereabouts of other suspects, the police said.

Mr Ikenga said the arrest followed the directive of Echeng Echeng, the commissioner of police in Anambra, who ordered intelligence gathering strategy towards dealing with the spate of insecurity in Anambra, since he assumed office.

Anambra, like other states in Nigerias South-east, has recorded deadly attacks on public institutions, including police facilities.

Several police officers have been shot dead and police facilities set ablaze in the attacks which have been linked to the agitation for an independent state, Biafra, in the region.

(NAN)
- Basiz Fund Services extends its efforts to the state of Tripura and invests in ITeS sector -

MUMBAI, India, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Basiz Fund Services, India's sole global fund administrator embarked on a new journey by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government of Tripura in presence of Shri. Manoj Kanti Deb, Minister of Industries, Government of Tripura; and Shri Dr. P.K. Goyal, Principal Secretary Industry, Government of Tripura.

The first-ever two-day investment summit, 'Destination Tripura' organized by the Department of Industries and Commerce, Government of Tripura with the active support of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Invest India garnered immense enthusiasm among the investors community and received a business investment of Rs. 2,564 crores from different private partners.

Basiz Fund Services participated in the Summit under the ITeS category. The MoU aims to build state-of-the-art ITeS centre with world-class facilities in Tripura. This investment will generate substantial employment opportunity in the state, with direct employment for 100 people.

"Tripura is brewing growth opportunities, and we are privileged to sign this MoU with the Government of Tripura," Mr. Aditya Sesh, Founder & Managing Director of Basiz Fund Service Private Limited, remarked of the development. "The MoU represents a long-term partnership between the Tripura government and Basiz Fund Services, with the shared goal of improving the state's ITeS sector. I am sure that with initiatives like these, the north-eastern state will become a gateway between Southeast Asia including Bangladesh, which will offer immense potential for the whole country."

Given the obvious social and economic benefits that the investments provide, the Tripura government has committed to assisting in the simplification of regulatory processes and clearances for the project in order to improve overall ease of doing business. With initiatives like these, the summit attracted investment to the state, allowing units to be established while utilising locally available resources, adding value, and expanding employment opportunities in the state.

Earlier this year, the company also received authorisation from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) Nod to open branch in GIFT City. The authorisation enabled Basiz Fund Services to offer a full-fledged range of professional services to the Alternative Investment Fund Industry in funds domiciled in GIFT IFSC and elsewhere.

About Basiz Fund Services:

Basiz Fund Service Private Limited (www.basizfa.com) has been in operation for the last 15 years with clients and manpower spread across Singapore, India (Mumbai, Chennai, GIFT City - Gandhinagar), Bahrain and USA (New Jersey). CA. Aditya Sesh is a Chartered Accountant by training & a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He is the Founder & Managing Director of Basiz Fund Service Private Limited and has been closely associated with the financial services industry, notably the international fund accounting and administration industry for the past 25 years.

Basiz, which is an Ops Global Singapore Company, is the first Fund Administrator to be approved to operate in Gujarat International Fin-Tec (GIFT) City, India's first offshore financial destination. The company has a current AUA of around USD 4 bn which is rapidly moving towards the USD 5bn mark with a history of over USD 18bn, spread across various asset classes.

SOURCE Basiz Fund Services
A striking takeaway of this unified solution is its positioning as a 'mining super app', also the first of its kind in India for the sector. IntegratORE offers an end-to-end solution in a seamless interface, providing Total Experience (TX).

"We are delighted to announce the launch of IntegratORE, our unique offering in the mining domain. It marks the culmination of over a decade of our efforts invested in conceptualizing digital mining solutions for governments and private enterprises. As the creator of this digital aggregator, CSM Technologies believes IntegratORE heralds a new wave of ground-level reforms in mining. Being location and client agnostic, IntegratORE can serve all stakeholders," said Priyadarshi Nanu Pany, President & CEO, CSM Technologies.

The mining sector is uniquely placed in terms of challenges since it operates in the remote hinterland and leans on multi-modal transportation. As a homogenous, digital platform, IntegratORE connects all the critical constituents of the mining ecosystem like mineral excavation, stacking of ore with grade identification, stockyard management and weighment operations and multi-modal logistics. It leverages data analytics and real-time reporting, crunching them in an intuitive dashboard to enable both the government machinery and mine owners to take prudent decisions.

For governments, IntegratORE is equipped with features like royalty assessment & collection, reporting & return filing, applications for permits & licenses, integration with dispatch processes, real-time stock-keeping, and real-time and monthly reconciliations of receivables and payables. It has many useful components for enterprise miners too- IoT (Internet of Things)-based productivity solutions for weighment and dispatch processing, AR/VR based mineral grade determination, digitalized logistics operations across all touchpoints, in-premise trace and track, in-premise guidance systems, MIS reports and dashboards and despatch planning and scheduling.

IntegratORE has many USPs that place it over peer solutions- customizable and easy-to-configure solutions centred on Total Experience (TX) for users, easy API access for ensuring truly connected solutions, cloud-friendly; flexible hosting and implementation, analytics and dashboards for data access and real-time visibility, best of IoT and Emerging Tech offerings embedded into the solutions, plug and play modules for custom needs and services and handholding hypercare support for seamless implementation.

About CSM Technologies

A Bhubaneswar-based IT consulting company, CSM Technologies is known for its forte in GovTech solutions. The firm has designed and delivered groundbreaking solutions across domains like mining, agriculture, food supplies & public distribution, education et al. in India, US and Africa. The company has big stakes on Emerging Technologies and is helping enterprises to accelerate their drive for digital transformation.

Media Contacts:

Mr Bibhuti Bhusan Routray

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.csm.co.in, www.integratore.tech



Image: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1716311/Integratore.jpg

Related Links

http://www.csmpl.com/



SOURCE CSM Technologies Private Limited
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Reveling in happy moments, soaking them in and storing them away to cope with anticipated future sadness is a phenomenon named and explored as "banking happiness" in new research from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The study confirms such behavior, but "at this stage, we don't have enough research to say whether it's good to do this -- we're explaining that banking happiness can happen, so consumers can be aware of their own behavior and what's driving it," says Maryland Smith Assistant Professor of Marketing Ali Faraji-Rad, co-author of the work with Leonard Lee of the National University of Singapore.

The findings are published in "Banking Happiness" in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"It's well documented in marketing and consumer behavior research that when people are sad, they try to do things to make themselves happier  whether it's shopping, eating, watching comedies," Faraji-Rad says. "Do people have this belief that they can do things to offset the sadness or be able to withstand the sadness when it comes?"

Faraji-Rad says his sister helped to spark the research. As a fan of the television phenomena Game of Thrones, he says before watching the show she would do things like binge on chocolate to withstand the sad scenes she knew were inevitable in the show, which was notorious for killing off main characters without warning.

"That was kind of the backdrop that started it for me  thinking that banking happiness could be a thing," Faraji-Rad says.

He and Lee ran a series of experiments to test whether knowing something sad was coming up would increase the likelihood that, when given a choice, participants would go for a happy option  in the studies, songs and movie clips. In some studies, they also tested whether people would draw on positive memories when faced with upcoming sadness. They also tested whether consumers would draw on banked happiness or just try to manage their mood in reaction to a sad event when it actually occurred.

"We show that many people do have this lay belief that you can actually bank happiness," Faraji-Rad says.

They also looked at people's tendency to be future-oriented or live more in the present, finding that those future-looking consumers are more likely to bank happiness. "We already know that happy memories are helpful when you have sadness," Faraji-Rad says. "People want to create this resource of happy memories that they can tap into. Whenever they are feeling sad, drawing on those memories and that nostalgia can make people feel better."

Positive moods also can be a buffer, he says  but just in the short-term. So, if you are feeling good now, it helps while you are feeling sad. But usually that mood quickly dissipates and that's when memories kick in.

"People who believed in banking happiness were generally more likely to choose happy stuff, whether or not they were told that sadness was coming or not," says Faraji-Rad. "And if they are told that a sad thing is coming up and then they are given a happy thing to consume now, they actually will consume it with more engagement. It's because of the motivation to become happy  they really want to get the most out of the happy thing."

Go to Maryland Smith Research for related content at https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/research/maryland-smith-research and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski at [email protected].





SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
Following in the footsteps of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Beyond2020 - launched by the Zayed Sustainability Prize in partnership with several leading organisations - aims to further his humanitarian legacy by donating sustainable technologies and solutions to vulnerable communities around the world. Rwanda marks the 11 th deployment of the initiative, which will continue to offer life-transforming interventions to a broader number of beneficiaries worldwide, providing tech for good and fostering development that is inclusive and sustainable.

H.E Hazza Mohammed Al Qahtani, UAE Ambassador to Rwanda, said: "The UAE is proud to support critical access to healthcare in Rwanda through its humanitarian initiative, Beyond2020. Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has been the greatest test for healthcare globally. Expanding access to robust and resilient healthcare systems is of pivotal importance in managing the post-COVID-19 recovery, especially when it comes to overcoming service disruptions."

H.E Al Qahtan added: "In recognition of the UAE's Golden Jubilee, the nation is now driving forward its 10 Principles for the next 50 years under the guidance and directives of the UAE's wise leadership. One of the principles prioritises foreign humanitarian aid as an essential part of the UAE's vision, inspired by the ambitions of our Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed, to help international communities achieve sustainable economic and social development."

H.E Emmanuel Hategeka, Rwanda's Ambassador to the UAE said, "Universal access to health care is one of Rwanda's top priorities. We value the intervention by Beyond2020 and its partners which aligns directly with the Rwanda Government's ongoing efforts to increase access to a more modern and world-class health apparatus for its people."

Known as the land of 1,000 hills, more than 80% of Rwanda's population lives in rural areas where the mountainous terrain makes accessing distant health facilities a true challenge. While Rwanda is recognised globally as a leader in improving health services through its successful adoption of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), community access to primary care remains a barrier to continued progress. With poor access causing people to seek healthcare later and less often, preventable, and treatable illnesses can become life-threatening in remote rural settings.

Reducing the distance between patients and health centres can significantly increase the use of health services and improve key health outcomes. Identifying rural access to healthcare as a priority, Rwanda's Ministry of Health (MoH) has signed a public-private partnership agreement with One Family Health (OFH), a leading global non-profit organisation and a Zayed Sustainability Prize 2020 finalist under the 'Health' category, to establish 500 clinics in rural communities and 156 clinics have already been opened to date.

The clinics operate on a mobile health system (mHealth) that enables nurses to manage service data and patient records electronically allowing for more efficient clinic operations. One Family Health leverages contributions from multiple government agencies and private partners and harnesses entrepreneurial principles to deliver primary care through franchised clinics in underserved areas. The franchised clinics provide an opportunity to experienced nurses to become entrepreneurs, while offering basic preventive and curative primary care services that address the key drivers of community illness, such as acute respiratory infections, malaria, and diarrheal disease.

As the international community prepares to take stock of climate action efforts against the backdrop of national and regional recovery plans, the expanded humanitarian outreach of Beyond2020 continues to be crucial in alleviating the challenges of some of the world's most vulnerable communities.

H.E Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), a partner of the initiative said: "The Beyond2020 initiative directly aligns with ADFD's mission to provide strategic financial support and other tools that help strengthen capacity and build self-sufficiency for developing countries to achieve high priority economic and social development objectives while advancing UN Sustainable Development Goals. This new project in Rwanda is an excellent example of the tangible impacts on people's lives by giving them access to universal healthcare through medical clinics in rural communities."

Through this deployment, four clinics have been established in disadvantaged communities, while four nurses have been empowered and trained in business management and 12 new jobs have been created to support operations across the four businesses. The clinics also provide direct surveillance, screening, and referral of any suspected cases of COVID-19 or other emerging epidemics.

As part of the initiative's impact to-date, a total of ten deployments have been rolled out, including energy, health, water and food-related solutions in Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Jordan, Egypt, Cambodia, Madagascar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. In addition to Rwanda, another 9 countries have been identified as deployment grounds going forward.

Beyond2020 brings together a leading number of partners which include Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Mubadala Petroleum and Masdar.

About the Zayed Sustainability Prize

Established by the UAE leadership, in 2008, to honour the legacy of the founding father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Zayed Sustainability Prize is the UAE's pioneering global award for recognising sustainability and humanitarian solutions around the world.

The Zayed Sustainability Prize acknowledges and rewards global pioneers and innovators who are committed to accelerating impactful sustainable solutions.

Over the past 14 years, the Prize has awarded 86 winners. Collectively, they have positively impacted the lives of more than 352 million people around the world. The Zayed Sustainability Prize categories are Health, Food, Energy, Water and Global High Schools.

For more information, please visit www.ZayedSustainabilityPrize.com or go to our social media platforms on, Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , YouTube .

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1716678/Zayed_Sustainability_Prize_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1716679/Zayed_Sustainability_Prize_2.jpg

SOURCE Zayed Sustainability Prize
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C., Dec. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Congressional Medal of Honor Society regretfully announces that Gary B. Beikirch, Medal of Honor recipient, passed away Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Rochester, New York, at the age of 74.

Sgt. Beikirch was the medical aidman for Detachment B-24, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, U.S. Army, at a remote Special Forces camp on the border of Laos in Vietnam's Kontum Province when the enemy attacked on April 1, 1970. The camp was upheld by 12 Green Berets and a force consisting of local Montagnards. During the intense firefight that ensued, Beikirch repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire and mortars to treat the injured and dying and carry them back to shelter, ignoring his own wounds. Pairs of Montagnard troops helped him reach the wounded when it became too difficult to move under his own command. He continued aiding others until he collapsed and was immediately medevacked from the area.

For all the lives he saved on that day, Beikirch was presented the Medal of Honor by President Richard M. Nixon on Oct. 15, 1973, in a White House ceremony.

Beikirch was born in Rochester, New York, on Aug. 29, 1947. He began college after high school but quit "to broaden [his] experiences" with the Green Berets, as he put it once. He was placed in the Airborne Infantry. Eventually, he made it to the Army's elite Special Forces school.

Following his discharge from Army service in 1971, Beikirch returned to college. He received ordination from White Mountain Seminary (Lancaster, New Hampshire); a bachelor's degree in Sociology-Psychology from the University of New Hampshire (Durham, New Hampshire); and a master's in Education in Counseling from the State University of New York, Brockport. He used this education as a veterans' counselor and worked as a guidance counselor for middle schoolers in the Rochester, New York, region.

He is survived by his wife, Loreen, five children, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Burial arrangements are pending currently.

There are 66 recipients alive today.

About the Congressional Medal of Honor Society

The Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Medal of Honor and its Recipients, inspiring Americans, and supporting the Recipients as they connect with communities across the country. Chartered by Congress in 1958, its membership consists exclusively of those individuals who have received the Medal of Honor. There are 66 living Recipients.

The Society carries out its mission through outreach, education and preservation programs, including the Medal of Honor Museum, Congressional Medal of Honor Outreach Programs, the Congressional Medal of Honor Character Development Program, and the Congressional Medal of Honor Citizen Honors Awards for Valor and Service. The Society's programs and operations are funded by donations.

As part of Public Law 106-83, the Medal of the Honor Memorial Act, the Medal of Honor Museum, which is co-located with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's headquarters on board the U.S.S. Yorktown at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was designated as one of three national Medal of Honor sites.

Learn more about the Medal of Honor and the Congressional Medal of Honor Society's initiatives at https://www.cmohs.org.

SOURCE Congressional Medal of Honor Society
NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

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SOURCE BizVibe
BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Goodwill Association of Michigan, which covers ten regions within the state, would like to thank supporters of our retail stores and donation centers throughout the year, as we've dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many Goodwills help individuals overcome barriers with workforce development programs including training and career opportunities. Others support people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity. Sales of donated items at Goodwill retail stores provide major funding for these programs.

Whether shopping at Goodwill locally or throughout the state, you can check out the following Websites for donation and store locations and hours:

Goodwill Industries of Central Michigan's Heartland

goodwillcmh.org

Headquarters: Battle Creek

Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit

goodwilldetroit.org

Headquarters: Detroit

Goodwill Industries of Greater Grand Rapids

goodwillgr.org

Headquarters: Grand Rapids

Goodwill Industries of Mid-Michigan

goodwillmidmichigan.org

Headquarters: Flint

Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan

goodwillnmi.org

Headquarters: Traverse City

Goodwill Industries of Northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan

gwnwup.org

Headquarters: Marinette, WI

Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Michigan

goodwillsemi.org

Headquarters: Adrian

Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan

goodwillswmi.org

Headquarters: Kalamazoo

Goodwill Industries of St Clair County

goodwillscc.org

Headquarters: Port Huron

Goodwill Industries of West Michigan

goodwillwm.org

Headquarters: Muskegon

We wish everyone a healthy and safe holiday season.

Contact: Hilda Harris

Phone No.: 269-788-6500 x2040

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Goodwill Industries of Michigan
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According to the recent market study by Technavio, the Industrial Valves and Actuators Market Share in Industrial Machinery Sector is expected to increase by USD 13.27 billion from 2020 to 2025, with an accelerated CAGR of 4.31%. The report provides a detailed analysis of drivers & opportunities, top winning strategies, competitive scenario, future market trends, market size & estimations, and major investment pockets.

APAC will register the highest growth rate of 36% among the other regions. China and Japan are the key markets for industrial valves and actuators.

Download FREE Sample: for more additional information about the key countries in APAC

Vendor Insights-

The industrial valves and actuators market is fragmented and is expected to provide a favorable growth environment to new and existing players in the coming years

ABB Ltd.- The company offers a range of valve and actuators such as PME 120, RHD 250, RHD 500 and others.

Danfoss AS- The company offers motorised controls and valves that improves temperature control and reliability while increasing the energy efficiency of the system.

Emerson Electric Co.- The company offers valves, actuators and regulators that control valves under the Bettis brand name.

Find additional highlights on the vendors and their product offerings. Download Free Sample Report

Regional Market Outlook

The industrial valves and actuators market in APAC is expected to garner significant business opportunities for the vendors during the forecast period. China and Japan are the key markets for industrial valves and actuators in APAC.

Rising populations and high rates of urbanization have stressed water and wastewater infrastructure in APAC. As freshwater resources are depleting, potable water requirements have become imperative over the past few years. APAC has a dearth of water infrastructure, particularly in the wastewater treatment sector. As a result, governments in APAC have stressed the development of infrastructure facilities to improve the state of the water and wastewater treatment industry. It is expected that the wastewater treatment industry in APAC will record momentous growth during the forecast period, which will drive the market demand for valves and actuators.

Download our FREE sample report for more key highlights on the regional market share of most of the above-mentioned countries.

Latest Drivers & Trends Driving the Market-

Industrial Valves and Actuators Market Driver:

Increasing investments in modernizing industrial facilities:

Modernizing plant facilities to incorporate automation has become an essential aspect of any manufacturing process. Modern equipment and control technologies ensure that all activities and sub-processes are streamlined, efficient, and faster. The emerging trends in automation are expected to shape the competitive landscape of the global industrial sector. Manufacturers today are allocating a reasonable share of their annual budgets behind technologies that can modernize the manufacturing setup, yielding faster and better returns in the future. During the forecast period, it is expected that industrial valves and actuators will form an integral part of the process industries primarily due to a wide range of applications, the simplicity of use, cost, and energy-efficient properties.

Industrial Valves and Actuators Market Trend:

Evolution of valve diagnostics:

Control valves have increasingly become an essential part of modern automation requirements in industries that use advanced diagnostic techniques and technologies. The final control element can directly impact the operational performance of a manufacturing facility regarding profitability, plant efficiency, safety, and quality. Valve diagnostics have eased the responsibility handled and carried out by maintenance teams and process control personnel in monitoring valve performance and receiving actionable information. It also helps in identifying planned maintenance requirements and accurate diagnose of valves, resulting in an improved process output with minimum delay in operations. The advent of microprocessor-based valve positioning systems and the integration of information related to valves with supervisory systems have enabled real-time tracking and monitoring of industrial valves. Online valve diagnostics can greatly enhance the process integrity and assist personnel in anticipating, detecting, and addressing future problems. It allows data generated from sensors and other digital valve positioners (DVPs) to be assimilated, analyzed, and presented to the end-user, eliminating complex calculations and analyses that need to be carried out. These factors increase the sales of industrial valves and actuators.

Find additional information about various other market Drivers & Trends mentioned in our FREE sample report.

Here are Some Similar Topics-

Sanitary Valves Market by Product, End-user, and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025: The sanitary valves market share is expected to increase by USD 546.11 million from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 5.02%. Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Industrial Rack and Pinion Market by Application and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2021-2025: The industrial rack and pinion market has the potential to grow by USD 636.51 million during 2021-2025, and the market's growth momentum will accelerate at a CAGR of 7.81%. Download Exclusive Free Sample Report

Industrial Valves and Actuators Market Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2020 Forecast period 2021-2025 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.31% Market growth 2021-2025 $ 13.27 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 3.58 Regional analysis APAC, Europe, North America, MEA, and South America Performing market contribution APAC at 36% Key consumer countries China, US, UK, France, and Japan Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled ABB Ltd., Danfoss AS, Emerson Electric Co., Flowserve Corp., General Electric Co., Georg Fischer Ltd., Honeywell International Inc., Rotork Plc, Schlumberger Ltd., and The Weir Group Plc Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized.

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Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.



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SOURCE Technavio
MANAMA, Bahrain, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Binance, the world's leading blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure provider, has received in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) to establish itself as a crypto-asset service provider in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The in-principle approval comes after Binance applied for a license from the CBB as part of its plans to become a fully-regulated centralized cryptocurrency exchange.

Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance, said: "Recognition and approval from national regulators, such as the Central Bank of Bahrain, is essential to build trust in crypto and blockchain and help further improve mass adoption. The CBB has been a progressive pioneer in developing a robust crypto-asset framework focusing on compliance with global standards of anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, transaction monitoring, consumer protection amongst others. It sets a benchmark bridging traditional financial systems and the crypto industry to facilitate safe adoption and deployment."

The in-principle approval from the Central Bank of Bahrain still requires Binance to complete the full application process, which is expected to be completed in due course.

CZ added: "The Central Bank of Bahrain has demonstrated leadership and forethought in addressing crypto as a future asset class. I am grateful for the support from the Central Bank of Bahrain and the broader Bahrani ecosystem during the process. The approval recognizes Binance's commitment to comply fully with regulatory requirements and our broader commitment to anchor operations and activities in Bahrain."

The move from the Central Bank of Bahrain makes it the first regulator in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region to grant in-principle approval to a Binance entity, demonstrating the Kingdom of Bahrain's global leadership in Fintech regulation.

The Bahrain development demonstrates Binance's strong commitment to the Middle East and North Africa region. Earlier in December, Binance announced the signing of a cooperation agreement between Binance and the Dubai World Trade Centre to help advance Dubai's commitment to establishing a new international Virtual Asset ecosystem that will generate long-term economic growth through digital innovation.

SOURCE Binance
OSLO, Norway, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Borr Drilling Limited (the "Company") (NYSE and OSE: BORR) is pleased to announce that it has reached agreements in principle with its largest creditors, the Singaporean yards, to refinance and defer a combined $1.4 billion debt maturities and delivery instalments from 2023 to 2025. This is a major step forward in the Company's previously announced target to address its debt maturities and commitments currently due in 2023.

In return for these concessions, the Company has agreed to make cash repayments on the accrued costs and capitalised PIK interest owed to the yards during 2022 and 2023, in addition to what was agreed in the January 2021 amendments. These additional payments amount to $22.4 million at the completion of the amendment agreements for the deferral (including $6.5 million of amendment fee), expected to be in January 2022 and an additional $28.6 million payable later in 2022. It is also agreed that the payment of the remaining deferred yard costs and capitalised interest originally due in 2023 will be paid out during 2023 and 2024. In addition, regular payments of cash interest and capital costs for deferring deliveries will commence in 2023. The agreement in principle also contemplates applying a portion of future net equity offerings (approximately 35%) to repay amounts owed to the yards, first to be applied to the accrued and capitalised costs, and secondly to repay principal.

Both agreements are subject to the yards' board approvals, expected in mid-January 2022, and the consent from the Company's other creditors.

The Company expects to seek raising approximately $30 million in new equity to cover the incremental $22.4 million cash payments due to the shipyards at the completion of the agreements.

Based on the contracted backlog, expected roll-over of current contracts and additional contract awards through 2022, Borr Drilling expects to have at least 18 rigs operating mid 2022, generating a significantly higher level of Adjusted EBITDA compared to the $20 million reported in the third quarter 2021 with 13 rigs operating. The new debt structure with no scheduled debt amortisation to the yards and reasonable interest cost level until 2025 secures a low cash break even for the Company.

"Borr Drilling is very appreciative of the support received from its main creditors. It is a testament to the trust placed in Borr Drilling, and confidence in the recovery of the market we now see unfolding. With a very large portion of the debt now being deferred, strong operational performance on our 18 rigs contracted and the expected further improvements in Adjusted EBITDA, we are positioned to fully benefit from a recovery in the jack-up drilling market. We believe that the current transaction benefits all stake-holders, creating a long-term solution with upside for both debt and equity holders" says CEO Patrick Schorn

This agreement in principle with the yard, if approved, contemplates that Borr Drilling will refinance maturities of its Senior Secured Credit Facilities and Hayfin facilities and convertible bonds to mature in 2025 or later and if such refinancing is not complete by June 2022, the refinancing of maturities and delivery deferrals will revert to the current schedule. Borr Drilling will continue to engage with these lenders to find a solution to defer or refinance the remaining debt maturities currently due in 2023, giving the Company a complete long-term financing solution.

Hamilton, Bermuda

27 December 2021

Forward looking statements

This announcement includes forward looking statements, which may be identified by words such as "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intends", "may", "should", "will", "likely" and similar expressions and include statements with respect to the agreement in principle with the yards, including the expected terms and conditions of such agreement in principle, expected payments to the yards under such agreement in principle, the expected approval of such agreement by the boards of directors of the yards, the plan to seek an equity raise and the intended amount of such raise and expected conditions of such a raise, expected Adjusted EBITDA in 2022, our expectation that we will be able to benefit from an expected recovery in the market, the expectation that this agreement in principle with the yards will create the basis for a long term solution with upside for debt and equity and other expected benefits of the agreement in principle with lenders and our plan to seek an agreement with other creditors and other non-historical statements. The forward-looking statements in this announcement are subject to risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements included herein, including risks relating to the agreement in principle with the yards, including the risk that board approvals for the agreements above are not obtained, the risk that we are unable to obtain necessary consents from other creditors, raise the required equity or reach final agreement and execute definitive documentation with the yards for this agreement in principle and risks relating to the final terms of such agreements, risks relating to meeting conditions to these agreements, including the payment requirements of these agreements, the risk that we may not be able to refinance our Senior Secured Credit and Hayfin facilities and convertible notes required a condition to this agreement with the yards, risks relating to the contemplated equity raise risks relating to our liquidity including the risk that we may have insufficient liquidity to fund our operations, risks relating to business and industry including industry conditions, the risks that actual results will be lower than those anticipated, risks relating to cash flows from operations, the risk that we may be unable to raise necessary funds through issuance of additional debt or equity or sale of assets and the risk that future equity raises will dilute existing shareholders, risks relating to our debt instruments including risks relating to our ability to comply with covenants and obtain any necessary waivers including risks relating to the covenant waiver under the Senior Secured Credit facility which extends to the end of March 2022 including risks associated with obtaining an extension of such waiver and the risk of cross defaults, risks relating to our ability to meet our debt obligations and obligations under rig purchase contracts and other risks included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including those set forth under "Risk Factors" in our annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2020 and prospectuses filed with the Norwegian NSA.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to buy, sell or subscribe for any securities described herein. The equity raise referenced herein has not been and will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/borr-drilling-limited/r/borr-drilling-limited-announces-agreement-to-defer--1-4-billion-of-debt-maturities-and-yard-instalme,c3478767

SOURCE Borr Drilling Limited
NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Bernstein Liebhard LLP announces that a securities class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of investors who purchased or acquired common stock of Chegg, Inc. ("Chegg" or the "Company") (NYSE: CHGG) between May 5, 2020 and November 1, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"). The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Chegg common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options, please visit Chegg, Inc. Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit or contact Joe Seidman toll free at (877) 779-1414 or [email protected] .

Chegg is a provider of online research tools, online tutoring services, digital and physical textbook rentals, and other educational resources.

According to the complaint, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (i) Chegg's increase in subscribers, growth, and revenue had been a temporary effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in remote education for the vast majority of United States students and once the pandemic-related restrictions eased and students returned to campuses nationwide, Chegg's extraordinary growth trends would end; (ii) Chegg's subscriber and revenue growth were largely due to the facilitation of remote education creating an unstable business proposition fraught with dangers for cheating, rather than the strength of its business model or the acumen of its senior executives and directors; and (iii) as a result, the Company's current business metrics and financial prospects were not as strong as it had led the market to believe during the Class Period.

Chegg and several of its senior insiders made materially false and misleading statements during the Class Period about the primary drivers of the Company's success dramatically increasing subscribers, growth, and revenues. Defendants falsely touted that the Company was "in a unique position to impact the future of the higher education ecosystem" and that the primary cause of the Company's success was "[o]ur strong brand and momentum" which would allow Chegg "to continue to grow and take advantage of the ever-expanding opportunities in the learner economy." In fact, defendants knew that Chegg's increase in subscribers, growth, and revenue was a temporary effect of the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in remote education for the vast majority of U.S. students. Defendants were also aware that the platform was helping students cheat on their exams. Once the pandemic-related restrictions eased and students returned to campuses nationwide and schools and universities implemented protocols to eliminate cheating, students predictably stopped subscribing to the platform. In short, Chegg had no basis to believe that the extraordinary, but temporary, growth trends would continue, but failed to adequately inform investors of that reality.

While Chegg's stock price was artificially inflated, several officers and directors sold $95 million worth of stock  far exceeding the amount sold in the prior comparable period  including $48 million by the Company's Co-Chairman, CEO and President and $25 million by the Company's President of the Learning Services division. Certain putative class members traded contemporaneously with these defendants and were damaged thereby. In addition, the Company took advantage of the artificially inflated trading price of Chegg stock by selling more than $1 billion of common stock to investors in a February 18, 2021 secondary offering at the artificially inflated price of $102 per share. Certain putative Class members purchased stock directly in this secondary offering and have standing to assert additional claims against the Company and the underwriters of that offering pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933.

On November 1, 2021, Chegg revealed its financial results for the first quarter during which students returned to campuses across the United States. Chegg stunned investors with fewer-than-expected enrollments and did not provide 2022 guidance. In fact, CEO and President Dan Rosensweig admitted that defendants were aware of the slowdown in September 2021.

On this news, the Company's stock price plummeted nearly 50% (from over $62 to $32 per share) on more than 45 times the average daily volume as investors realized defendants' statements about subscribers, growth, and revenues had been misleading, which decline immediately erased billions of dollars in market capitalization.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than February 22, 2022 . A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff. If you choose to take no action, you may remain an absent class member.

If you purchased or otherwise acquired Chegg common stock, and/or would like to discuss your legal rights and options please visit https://www.bernlieb.com/cases/chegginc-chgg-shareholder-lawsuit-class-action-fraud-stock-473/ or contact Joe Seidman toll free at (877) 779-1414 or [email protected] .

Since 1993, Bernstein Liebhard LLP has recovered over $3.5 billion for its clients. In addition to representing individual investors, the Firm has been retained by some of the largest public and private pension funds in the country to monitor their assets and pursue litigation on their behalf. As a result of its success litigating hundreds of lawsuits and class actions, the Firm has been named to The National Law Journal's "Plaintiffs' Hot List" thirteen times and listed in The Legal 500 for ten consecutive years.

ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.  2021 Bernstein Liebhard LLP. The law firm responsible for this advertisement is Bernstein Liebhard LLP, 10 East 40th Street, New York, New York 10016, (212) 779-1414. The lawyer responsible for this advertisement in the State of Connecticut is Michael S. Bigin. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.

Contact Information:

Joe Seidman

Bernstein Liebhard LLP

https://www.bernlieb.com

(877) 779-1414

[email protected]

SOURCE Bernstein Liebhard LLP

Related Links

http://www.bernlieb.com


INDIANAPOLIS, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DRONEDEK Corporation, one of the first companies in the world to patent a smart mailbox designed for secure drone delivery, will demonstrate its device at CES  the most influential tech event in the world.

DRONEDEK Corporation

"We're gearing up for what we think will be exceptional opportunities to showcase our patented device to some of the most important organizations in the world," said DRONEDEK CEO and founder Dan O'Toole. "Our technology is ahead of the market right now, but we're going to see huge movement in the U.S. delivery-by-drone market next year. We're ready for it, and we want to demonstrate just how ahead of the pack we are. There's no better audience for that than CES."

DRONEDEK holds a first-position patent portfolio for its smart mailbox for drone package receiving, sending and storage. It is a feature-rich, secure mailbox that accepts delivery via robotic, unmanned driverless, aerial drone or conventional means and will also enable users to send out packages. DRONEDEK is set to disrupt all shipping verticals to include receiving or sending food, medicine, groceries, or other parcels.

The DRONEDEK team will be headquartered in Hall G - Eureka Park, Booth 61125 throughout the show, which runs January 5-8 in Las Vegas. A second station will be within the CalChip Connect booth at 10215 in the North Hall.

"We're thrilled to have DRONEDEK as one our featured Solution Providers in our booth at CES this year," said CalChip Connect President and Co-Founder TJ Rancour. "Decentralized wireless will empower IoT developers to solve hard problems with creative solutions, like DRONEDEK is doing for secure mail delivery," he said.

The DRONEDEK mailbox also accepts traditional mail delivery and is destined to become an everyday utility service like power or water. The device is capable of keeping packages hot or cold; will alert users to package arrival; recharge drones; and even serve as an emergency alert if necessary. An app controls when the device is opened for delivery or retrieval and also controls its emergency alarm features.

DRONEDEK solves three of the most critical challenges of delivering packages in "the last mile" of the delivery route by:

Reducing expense - the average cost of drone delivery for that last mile is $1 compared to $2 by truck.

compared to by truck. Increasing efficiency  drone delivery eliminates the need for trucks to drive repeatedly through neighborhoods.

Providing absolute package security  packages are locked in the mailbox and opened only via the owners' app.

About DRONEDEK: DRONEDEK is the branded leader in the emerging, next-generation mailbox of drone and autonomous delivery space. Its smart mailbox completes the last inch of the last mile of package delivery with its patented smart, secured receptacle technology. See the mailbox and learn more at DRONEDEK.com

Media Contact: Cheryl Reed/ 317-446-5240

SOURCE DRONEDEK Corporation
BEIJING, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- On December 20, the Hurun Research Institute released its Global Unicorn Index 2021, a list of unlisted companies founded after 2000 that are now worth more than $1 billion. Ranked on the list was FOR-U Smart Freight, the only road freight platform from mainland China to make the list, the fourth time that FOR-U Smart Freight has been selected on unicorn-related lists this year.

Publicly available information shows that Hurun Research Institute has been tracking Chinese unicorns since 2017 and global unicorns since 2019, and that this is the third time that the institute has released a global unicorn index.

According to the index, there are 1,058 unicorns in 42 countries and 221 cities worldwide. In China, there are 301 unicorns, 74 more than last year. The total value of unicorns listed on the index is RMB 23.7 trillion, or equivalent to the GDP of Germany. Bytedance, Ant Group, and SpaceX were named the top three unicorns in the world.

According to the index, the top five industries most disrupted by unicorns are corporate management, financial services, retail, healthcare, and logistics. Unicorns in the logistics industry account for 4.4% of global unicorns in 2021, an increase in ranking from last year.

Over the past few years, the logistics industry has attracted a large number of innovators with technology and capital, but very few companies have achieved real market success. Those that have are starting to see a payback period. According to research from Accenture into Chinese unicorns this year, in terms of average valuation, unicorns in the logistics and transportation sector are leading the way.

Among the top 10 new global unicorns on the list, companies from the logistics and express delivery sector occupy four places, making it the most noteworthy sector for new unicorns.

There are 31 companies from the logistics industry on the index, 14 of which are from Chinaincluding FOR-U Smart Freight, Didi Freight, and Shunfeng Expressas well as six other domestic logistics companies. FOR-U Smart Freight is the only road freight platform from mainland China in the Global Unicorn Index 2021.

FOR-U Smart Freight has built a smart logistics system with big data and AI technology at its core, realizing the standardized and intelligent operation of each transaction link, from inquiry to settlement, and has built high-quality service standards in the fragmented and non-standardized road freight market.

At present, FOR-U Smart Freight is the first platform to apply AI technology to the truck-load transport trading market, and the only platform in the industry that has achieved second-level pricing for long-distance truck-load freight.

In 2021, FOR-U Smart Freight was selected as a unicorn on four lists by virtue of its innovative value in technology-enabled road freight, as well as the sustainability of its potential growth from new business models and the outstanding contributions it has made in new technologies and forms of service.

In April this year, FOR-U Smart Freight was selected in the China Unicorn Enterprise Research Report 2021, released by Great Wall Strategic Consulting; in June, the 2021 Nanjing Unicorn and Gazelle Enterprise Development White Paper was released, with FOR-U Smart Freight selected as a unicorn; in December, 36 krypton Research Institute released its 2021 China Unicorn Enterprise Development Research Report, listing FOR-U Smart Freight again; while in the same month, FOR-U Smart Freight was included in the Global Unicorn Index 2021, released by the Hurun Research Institute.

In addition to releasing this Index, the Hurun Research Institute also released its 2021 Global Top 100 Unicorn Investment Institutions, as well as its 2021 China Top 30 Unicorn Investment Institutions. Among them, FOR-U Smart Freight's institutional shareholders including Matrix Partners China, Legend Capital, and Eastern Bell Capitalwere all selected on the 2021 China Top 30 Unicorn Investment Institutions report.

SOURCE FOR-U Smart Freight
But now, change has come to the world of 1lb propane tanks. And those same local retailers are leading the charge to reduce waste with an exchange program called Little Kamper propane.

Millions of people use millions of single use 1lb propane tanks every year. And few of them are properly recycled.

Little Kamper propane uses sturdier 1lb tanks that are designed to be refilled in a program where customers buy, use, and then exchange their empty tanks for pre-filled replacements at participating Little Kamper retailers. And so far, it's local retailers who are signing up to offer their customers the zero-waste alternative to disposable tanks.

"Local retailers adapt quickly to the needs of their customers and the communities they serve," observed Josh Simpson, Vice President of Little Kamper propane. "Their eyes and ears are wide open when it comes to finding and trying new products. They also embrace the opportunity to adopt sustainable products that reduce waste and bring happy customers back for more."

Retailers Are Happy

The local retailers are happy campers. They have a bright green alternative to the dark green tanks, and things are progressing well.

"We are grateful to work with a great vendor partner like Little Kamper who has a great product that supports a mission of sustainability and environmental stewardship," offered Mark Schulein of Crown Ace Hardware in Huntington Beach, CA. "Our customers have been very supportive of this new option for their propane. That's what we call a win, win, win!"

"Little Kamper Propane is a great addition to our product assortment. Our customers love the option of purchasing a product that helps protect the environment!" enthused Katie Swanson from Next Adventure sporting goods in Portland, OR.

"Little Kamper is exactly the type of company and product that will continue to keep our outdoor retail business thriving," commented Josh Haring of The Mountain Air in San Luis Obispo, CA. "We're not only providing a great service, but a product that offers a solution to a problem we can all get behind wholeheartedly. We're also supporting a company in Little Kamper that supports us 100% while working to increase circularity in this industry."

Success in Yosemite Signals Growth in 2022

The Little Kamper program made a breakthrough when they reached an agreement with Aramark's Yosemite Hospitality, LLC to sell and exchange Little Kamper tanks in Yosemite's retail operations in 2020. Despite the challenges created by wildfires and COVID-19, the Little Kamper supply chain was never interrupted and sales were strong even though park visitation was well below normal. 2022 promises to be a year of big steps forward as other state and national park concession operators are adopting waste reduction practices to help conservation efforts within the parks. The exchange program leaves no waste to collect and the customers pay for the program.

The Little Kamper program started in Northern California and has expanded gradually to serve retailers in the Western US. In 2022, two new Little Kamper production facilities will open and the program service area will expand to cover all of the lower 48 states. "Propane is the most popular outdoor recreation fuel in America," explained Simpson, "and much of that recreation occurs in places that folks care about and want to preserve. We're offering people a tank that's designed for reuse in a program that's designed to reduce waste and protect our campgrounds, parks, and beaches in the process." With the support of local retailers and a growing number of outdoor enthusiasts, the future of zero-waste propane is looking bright green. For more information or find your nearest Little Kamper retailer, visit www.LittleKamper.com

SOURCE Little Kamper, Inc.

Related Links

https://www.littlekamper.com


Lunit meets MDSAP requirements as a global standard medical AI software manufacturer

QMS audit exemption in the US, Canada , Japan , Australia , and Brazil

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Lunit, a leading AI software company for cancer screening and treatment, announced it has obtained MDSAP (Medical Device Single Audit Program) certificate.

The MDSAP, operated by International Medical Device Regulators Forum (IMDRF), is a global audit program that leverages regulatory resources to manage an efficient, effective and sustainable single audit program.

A certified manufacturer is allowed for a single quality management system audit in place of multiple audits for five countries, including the United States (FDA), Canada (Health Canada), Japan (MHLW), Australia (TGA), and Brazil (ANVISA). The certification is considered evidence of a medical device manufacturer's commitment to product quality and regulatory compliance.

In 2021, FDA said it would accept MDSAP audit reports as a "substitute" for routine agency inspections. In 2019, the Canadian government strengthened market requirements to allow only those who acquired MDSAP certificates.

According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the medical device market size in the above five countries is estimated at USD 223.2 billion, which makes up about 55 percent of the global medical device market.

"MDSAP certificate signals global recognition for an excellent quality management of our products," said Brandon Suh, CEO of Lunit. "We are looking forward to speeding up global market expansion with our AI solutions both currently commercialized and in the pipeline."

Lunit INSIGHT CXR for chest X-ray images and Lunit INSIGHT MMG for mammography are already used at 450 medical institutions in 38 countries worldwide.

Lunit has recently obtained FDA clearance for Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage for emergency disease triage and Lunit INSIGHT MMG for breast cancer detection.

Lunit plans to expand its solution lineup to include the AI biomarker platform Lunit SCOPE and other AI software, such as Lunit INSIGHT Chest CT and Lunit INSIGHT DBT for breast tomography.

SOURCE Lunit

Related Links

https://lunit.io/


BREA, Calif., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Envista Holdings Corporation (NYSE: NVST) ("Envista") today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Nobel Biocare N1 implant system. Boasting a biologically driven design of components and forward-thinking treatment protocols, the N1 implant system represents a significant step forward in patient-centric implant solutions.

More than an implant, N1 is a comprehensive system of dedicated instruments, prosthetic components, and surgical protocols. New features of the system include an implant designed for immediate placement and predictable insertion torques, a trioval conical connection for the abutment to slide into place, and an emergence profile designed for soft tissue maintenance.

Innovative site preparation for greater patient comfort

The Nobel Biocare N1 system includes the novel feature of the OsseoShaper, an instrument that redefines site preparation and is set to reshape implantology with optimized workflows, greater patient comfort and faster treatment times. By gently 'shaping' the osteotomy at low speed and without irrigation, the OsseoShaper reduces noise and vibration compared to conventional drilling protocols. This leads to improved patient comfort and has been shown in pre-clinical studies to preserve vital bone.

Embracing surface chemistry and digital workflows

Fully embracing the new Mucointegration concept, the Nobel Biocare N1 features the Xeal and TiUltra surface treatments. With their specially tailored surface chemistry and topography, TiUltra implants and Xeal abutments can benefit from this design to optimize tissue integration at every level. Nobel Biocare N1 will be further integrated into the digital workflow with the DTX Studio suite, giving dental professionals more opportunities to provide patients with shorter time to teeth.

Amir Aghdaei, Chief Executive Officer, Envista, stated, "For over 50 years, Nobel Biocare has been a pioneering force behind implantology. The demand for high quality patient-centric solutions is higher than ever, and the Nobel Biocare N1 system enables clinicians to set a new standard in personalizing, digitizing, and democratizing the implant treatment experience they can offer patients."

Patrik Eriksson, President Nobel Biocare, explained, "Drilling protocols have hardly changed over the past 50 years. However, the OsseoShaper provides a completely new approach designed for patient comfort, streamlined workflow, and improved predictability; while at the same time, respects biology to achieve fast osseointegration. We are excited to partner with clinicians to bring the N1 system to US-based patients."

About Nobel Biocare

Nobel Biocare is a world leader in the field of innovative implant-based dental restorations. The company's portfolio offers solutions from single tooth to fully edentulous indications with dental implant systems (including key brands NobelActive and NobelParallel and ceramic implant NobelPearl*) a comprehensive range of high-precision individualized prosthetics and CAD/CAM systems (NobelProcera), digital solutions for treatment planning and guided surgery (NobelClinician and DTX Studio suite) as well as biomaterials. Nobel Biocare supports its customers through all phases of professional development, offering world-class training and education along with practice support and patient information materials. The company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Production takes place at five sites located in the United States, Sweden, and Germany. Products and services are available in over 80 countries through subsidiaries and distributors.

*Distributed by Nobel Biocare. Manufactured by Dentalpoint AG

About Envista

Envista is a global family of more than 30 trusted dental brands, including KaVo, Kerr, Nobel Biocare, and Ormco, united by a shared purpose: to partner with professionals to improve lives. Envista helps its customers deliver the best possible patient care through industry-leading dental consumables, solutions, technology, and services. Our comprehensive portfolio, including dental implants and treatment options, orthodontics, and digital imaging technologies, covers an estimated 90% of dentists' clinical needs for diagnosing, treating, and preventing dental conditions as well as improving the aesthetics of the human smile. With a foundation comprised of the proven Envista Business System (EBS) methodology, an experienced leadership team, and a strong culture grounded in continuous improvement, commitment to innovation, and deep customer focus, Envista is well equipped to meet the end-to-end needs of dental professionals worldwide. Envista is one of the largest global dental products companies, with significant market positions in some of the most attractive segments of the dental products industry. For more information, please visit www.envistaco.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. There are a number of important factors that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those suggested or indicated by such forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. These factors include, among other things, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including new variants of the virus, the pace of recovery in the markets in which we operate, the conditions in the U.S. and global economy, the markets served by us and the financial markets, the impact of our debt obligations on our operations and liquidity, developments and uncertainties in trade policies and regulations, contractions or growth rates and cyclicality of markets we serve, fluctuations in inventory of our distributors and customers, loss of a key distributor, our relationships with and the performance of our channel partners, competition, our ability to develop and successfully market new products and services, the potential for improper conduct by our employees, agents or business partners, our compliance with applicable laws and regulations (including regulations relating to medical devices and the health care industry), the results of our clinical trials and perceptions thereof, penalties associated with any off-label marketing of our products, modifications to our products that require new marketing clearances or authorizations, our ability to effectively address cost reductions and other changes in the health care industry, our ability to successfully identify and consummate appropriate acquisitions and strategic investments, our ability to integrate the businesses we acquire and achieve the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions, contingent liabilities relating to acquisitions, investments and divestitures, significant restrictions and/or potential liability based on tax implications of transactions with Danaher, security breaches or other disruptions of our information technology systems or violations of data privacy laws, our ability to adequately protect our intellectual property, the impact of our restructuring activities on our ability to grow, risks relating to currency exchange rates, changes in tax laws applicable to multinational companies, litigation and other contingent liabilities including intellectual property and environmental, health and safety matters, risks relating to product, service or software defects, risks relating to product manufacturing, commodity costs and surcharges, our ability to adjust purchases and manufacturing capacity to reflect market conditions, reliance on sole or limited sources of supply, the impact of regulation on demand for our products and services, labor matters, international economic, political, legal, compliance and business factors, and disruptions relating to war, terrorism, widespread protests and civil unrest, man-made and natural disasters, public health issues and other events. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in our SEC filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal year 2020 and our Quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and except to the extent required by applicable law, we do not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events and developments or otherwise.

Contact

Stephen Keller

Investor Relations

Envista Holdings Corporation

200 S. Kraemer Blvd., Building E

Brea, CA 92821

Telephone: (714) 817-7000

Fax: (714) 817-5450

SOURCE Envista Holdings Corporation
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Paradox , the conversational recruiting platform built to give every recruiter, hiring manager, and talent professional an assistant to get work done, today announced a $200M Series C investment. The round was led by Stripes, Sapphire, and Thoma Bravo, and included participation from Workday Ventures, Willoughby Capital, Twilio Ventures, Blue Cloud Ventures, Geodesic, Principia Growth, DLA Piper Venture Fund and current investor Brighton Park Capital.

Paradox's vision is embodied by Olivia  the conversational AI assistant helping companies like Unilever, Nestle, McDonald's, CVS Health, and General Motors automate tasks like candidate screening, interview scheduling, onboarding, and more through smart, simple, mobile-first experiences. In just five years, Olivia has helped 500+ global clients save millions of hours of manual work  freeing their teams up to spend time with people, not software.

"When we created Paradox, we saw a future where software became invisible  driven by conversations that untether people from their desktop through an assistant who gets work done for them. That vision is now taking hold in some of the biggest companies in the world and we couldn't be prouder of that accomplishment," said Paradox founder and CEO, Aaron Matos .

"This fundraise was entirely about team building. It's a new starting line in a bigger race that resets expectations of the future we can create with our clients. We'll continue to build the most innovative software in the industry, all while we grow and develop Team Paradox  the collection of people working tirelessly every day to create magical moments for our clients and their candidates. We're humbled and honored to partner with investors who share our vision."

Helping Global Clients Solve Real, Painful Hiring Problems

Unilever Global Head of Employee Experience Tom Dewaele said his organization was attracted to Paradox in the first place because they saw a partner that thought differently about building recruiting software.

"For more than 120 years, Unilever has been a pioneer, innovator, and future maker  and when we look at technology partners, we seek out the same characteristics," said Dewaele. "We're proud to partner with Paradox to drive innovation around the experiences we create for candidates and our team."

Michael Ferranti, Chief People Officer at Regis Corporation  one of Paradox's earliest clients  shared that sentiment. "We operate in an incredibly competitive industry where speed and experience are critical for candidates and our franchisees," Ferranti said. "Paradox checks both boxes  providing a fast, frictionless hiring experience that actually works. You don't hear people rave about hiring software very often, but we've had fantastic feedback from the field. We can't wait to continue building with their team."

For Gui Neves, Global Talent Acquisition Sourcing and Solutions Lead at Nestle, Paradox's impact has been twofold  helping recruiters get work done faster with automated interview scheduling and giving candidates an always-on concierge throughout the hiring process. "Olivia has been an incredible enhancement to our recruiting team's day-to-day," said Neves. "Our ability to engage with candidates across 47 countries in 18 different languages 24/7 has been critical to achieving our hiring goals, especially when candidates prefer to schedule their interviews on weekends or after working hours, as shown in Paradox reporting. We look forward to our continued partnership and success with Paradox."

Paradox's focus on client outcomes has paid dividends. The company was recently ranked as the fastest-growing company in HR Tech in the Deloitte Fast 500. And in September, it was awarded HR Executive's prestigious Top Product award for the second time in three years. The company's three-year revenue growth rate is nearly 2,000% and it currently serves more than 500 clients globally.

Partnering with World-Class Investors on a Big, Bold Vision

With companies of every shape and size facing hiring headwinds heading into 2022  from restaurant franchisees hiring dozens of hourly workers to large organizations hiring thousands every year  there's never been a greater need for recruiting technology that simplifies the hiring process, for both candidates and talent professionals. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics' revealed that unemployment was at a 21-month low (4.2%) and there were 11 million job openings at the end of October.

Paul Melchiorre , an Operating Partner at Stripes , who will be joining the Paradox Board of Directors, said Paradox is addressing critical needs that can help employers overcome those hurdles, both today and well into the future. More importantly, the company is doing it in a way  both technologically and philosophically  that's fundamentally different from software of the past.

"There's been a fundamental shift in how workers in every corner of the labor market find, assess, and decide on jobs. These structural changes have introduced a much heavier burden on recruiters and hiring teams than ever before," said Melchiorre, who previously served as the CRO of Anaplan and Global VP of Ariba. "Paradox's best-in-class product and demonstrable ROI for recruiters and candidates alike uniquely positions them, and their clients, to lead the way in improving recruiter productivity and worker outcomes."

For Sapphire Partner Rajeev Dham , the decision to co-lead the round was all about partnering with a team that has the potential to grow into the next great technology company in the industry.

"At Sapphire, we seek to partner with companies of consequence  organizations that we believe will make a meaningful, lasting impact. Paradox is exactly this kind of company," said Dham. "We've seen the war for talent unfold over the last several years leading to one of the most hypercompetitive, fast-paced talent markets anyone has ever experienced. The need for easy, automated HR and recruiting technology has never been greater. I'm thrilled to be co-leading this financing, and joining the Paradox journey as they completely transform the recruiting process with conversational AI, simplifying and improving the candidate and recruiting experience."

Similarly, Robert (Tre) Sayle , a partner at Thoma Bravo , said his firm  which invests in software companies seeking significant growth  was drawn to Paradox for the critical role it plays in making recruiting and HR organizations more productive and efficient. "The technology and vision behind Paradox is revolutionary  allowing companies across industries to use the power of conversational software to streamline the hiring process while providing a far superior candidate experience," Sayle said. "We're excited to leverage our software and operational expertise to help accelerate Paradox's growth and product innovation."

Building a Winning Team for the Long Game

Despite its success, Mike Gregoire , co-founder and Partner at Brighton Park Capital and Paradox's Chairman, said he's confident the company's best days are yet to come.

"Paradox has assembled a world-class team, united by a conviction that the hiring process can and should be easier for recruiting and HR professionals," said Gregoire, who previously served as the CEO of Taleo and CA Technologies. "This is a vote of confidence in the company and the people, but the amazing thing is that Paradox is just scratching the surface of its potential."

Paradox plans to significantly grow its team in 2022  and the company is actively hiring people ready to commit, disrupt, and build in a big way. Headquartered in Scottsdale with offices in Chicago, Baltimore, Tel Aviv, Singapore, and Vietnam, Paradox is hiring numerous roles across all parts of the organization, with heavy focus on client success, sales, implementations, product management and technical product roles, talent, marketing, engineering, and more. To view open positions, visit the company's career site and chat with Olivia at careers.paradox.ai .

The $200M investment now values the company at $1.5 billion.

About Paradox

Launched in 2016, Paradox is building the world's leading conversational recruiting software to drive automation with a human touch. Serving global clients with hiring needs across high-volume hourly and high-skilled professional roles, Paradox's conversational assistant Olivia does the work talent teams don't have time for  streamlining tasks like screening, interview scheduling, and more through fast, easy, mobile-first interactions.

In just five years, the Scottsdale-based startup has earned the trust of the world's largest employers  including Unilever, McDonald's, CVS Health, Lowe's, General Motors, and Shaker Recruitment Marketing  and won numerous awards, including Human Resource Executive's Best HR Product of 2019 and 2021, and consecutive honors in 2020 and 2021 as one of Forbes Top Startup Employers. The company acquired Traitify, the world's fastest personality assessment, in August 2021 and was recently ranked the fastest growing company in HR Tech by the Deloitte Fast 500. To learn more about Paradox's product, visit www.paradox.ai . To explore open opportunities on its team, visit careers.paradox.ai .

For more information about Paradox's investors, please visit their websites: Stripes , Sapphire , Thoma Bravo , Workday Ventures , Willoughby Capital , Twilio Ventures , Blue Cloud Ventures , Geodesic Capital , Principia Growth , and Brighton Park Capital .

Counsel

Leading global business law firm DLA Piper LLP (US) represented Paradox on the fundraising. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as legal counsel for Stripes and Sapphire Ventures, Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel for Thoma Bravo and Willoughby Capital, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP served as legal counsel for Brighton Park Capital.

About Stripes

Stripes is a leading growth equity firm that partners with founders who are building the best products in the software and consumer markets. Stripes' software practice invests in leading horizontal and vertical software platforms servicing customers from SMB to Enterprise around the world, including Monday.com, Upwork, and On. Stripes strives to serve its partners by delivering valuable resources to create transformative companies. For more information please visit Stripes .

About Sapphire

Sapphire is a leading global technology-focused venture capital firm with more than $8.8 billion in AUM and team members across Austin, London, New York, Palo Alto and San Francisco. For more than two decades, Sapphire has partnered with visionary management teams and venture funds to help scale companies of consequence. Since its founding, Sapphire has invested in more than 170 companies globally resulting in more than 30 IPOs and 45 acquisitions, including Box, DocuSign, Fitbit, LinkedIn, and Square. The firm's investment strategies  Sapphire Ventures, Sapphire Partners and Sapphire Sport  are focused on scaling companies and venture funds, elevating them to become category leaders. Sapphire's Portfolio Growth team of experienced operators delivers a strategic blend of value-add services, tools and resources designed to support portfolio company leaders as they scale. To learn more about Sapphire, visit: https://sapphireventures.com .

About Thoma Bravo

Thoma Bravo is one of the largest private equity firms in the world, with more than $83 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in growth-oriented, innovative companies operating in the software and technology sectors. Leveraging the firm's deep sector expertise and proven strategic and operational capabilities, Thoma Bravo collaborates with its portfolio companies to implement operating best practices, drive growth initiatives and make accretive acquisitions intended to accelerate revenue and earnings. The firm has offices in Chicago, Miami and San Francisco. For more information, visit thomabravo.com .

Media Contact

Josh Zywien

Chief Marketing Officer

[email protected]

SOURCE Paradox
OSLO, Norway, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Photocure ASA (OSE: PHO), the Bladder Cancer Company, announces that its partner and exclusive distributor, Asieris MediTech in mainland China and Taiwan has communicated the first patient experience with Hexvix in the Bo'ao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in Hainan Province. Asieris communicated that Hexvix received its first prescription in China by Hainan General Hospital and the first patient procedure was completed on December 26.

With this pilot program Asieris intends to gain further experience and build networks, in which special access policies allow for foreign drug usage and real-world data collection in advance of obtaining regulatory approval. The first clinical use of Hexvix in China under the special access program was supported by an online conference to engage Urology experts.

Prior to this event, Asieris had obtained authorization for a first usage of Hexvix in this pilot zone, positioned as an international medical tourism destination, a cutting-edge medical R&D and transformation base as well as a gathering place for national new medical institutions.

"To address the urgent clinical needs in bladder cancer and leverage the support from pilot policies and medical institutions in Bo'ao, Hainan, Asieris has taken the lead to introduce global leading innovative drug Hexvix into Bo'ao Lecheng," said Kevin Pan, CEO of Asieris. "It is another important milestone that Asieris has achieved in promoting the integrated solution of diagnosis and treatment. Asieris will continue to advance the launch of Hexvix in China, allowing patients to benefit from this cutting-edge diagnostic technology as early as possible.

The patient procedure was performed by the urology team of Hainan General Hospital, and remotely guided by Professor Ye Dingwei, Vice President of Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. In the release, Professor Ye commented "Hexvix provides a new option for the diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer. There is a large number of patients with bladder cancer, the recurrence rate is high, and the unmet needs must be addressed. I look forward to the launch of this product as early as possible to offer a more effective choice for patients early."

Read Asieris' full media release here: https://asieris.com/bladder-cancer-diagnosis-drug-hexvix-completed-first-patient-procedure-in-boao-lecheng/

The Hainan Bo'ao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone (the "Pilot Zone") was established with the approval of the State Council in 2013 and granted certain preferential policies. It aims to gather international and domestic advanced medical tourism services and international cutting-edge medical scientific and technological achievements, and to create a cluster region for international medical technology service.

"We continue to be impressed by our partner Asieris. Its teams demonstrate complete dedication to bringing the Hexvix product to China as fast as possible to meet urologists' and patients' needs. The acceptance of Hexvix within the Hainan pilot zone is a milestone on this journey and the special access program will bring valuable experience and knowledge for how to succeed with Hexvix throughout mainland China and Taiwan once regulatory approvals are received," said Dan Schneider, President and CEO of Photocure. "It is a privilege to join forces with Asieris to ensure we provide best-in-class bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment solutions for patients in China."

Note to editors:

All trademarks mentioned in this release are protected by law and are registered trademarks of Photocure ASA

About Bladder Cancer

Bladder cancer ranks as the seventh most common cancer worldwide with 1 720 000 prevalent cases (5-year prevalence rate)1a, 573 000 new cases and more than 200 000 deaths annually in 2020.1b

Approx. 75% of all bladder cancer cases occur in men.1 It has a high recurrence rate with an average of 61% in year one and 78% over five years.2 Bladder cancer has the highest lifetime treatment costs per patient of all cancers.3

Bladder cancer is a costly, potentially progressive disease for which patients have to undergo multiple cystoscopies due to the high risk of recurrence. There is an urgent need to improve both the diagnosis and the management of bladder cancer for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems alike.

Bladder cancer is classified into two types, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), depending on the depth of invasion in the bladder wall. NMIBC remains in the inner layer of cells lining the bladder. These cancers are the most common (75%) of all BC cases and include the subtypes Ta, carcinoma in situ (CIS) and T1 lesions. In MIBC the cancer has grown into deeper layers of the bladder wall. These cancers, including subtypes T2, T3 and T4, are more likely to spread and are harder to treat.4



1 Globocan. a) 5-year prevalence / b) incidence/mortality by population. Available at: https://gco.iarc.fr/today, accessed [April 2021].

2 Babjuk M, et al. Eur Urol. 2019; 76(5): 639-657

3 Sievert KD et al. World J Urol 2009;27:295300

4 Bladder Cancer. American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladder-cancer.html

About Hexvix/Cysview (hexaminolevulinate HCl)

Hexvix/Cysview is a drug that preferentially accumulates in cancer cells in the bladder making them glow bright pink during Blue Light Cystoscopy (BLC). BLC with Hexvix /Cysview improves the detection of tumors and leads to more complete resection, fewer residual tumors and better management decisions.

Cysview is the tradename in the U.S. and Canada, Hexvix is the tradename in all other markets. Photocure is commercializing Cysview/Hexvix directly in the U.S. and Europe, and has strategic partnerships for the commercialization of Hexvix/Cysview in China, Canada, Chile, Australia and New Zealand. Please refer to https://photocure.com/partnering-with-photocure/our-partners/ for further information on our commercial partners.

About Photocure ASA

Photocure: The Bladder Cancer Company delivers transformative solutions to improve the lives of bladder cancer patients. Our unique technology, making cancer cells glow bright pink, has led to better health outcomes for patients worldwide. Photocure is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: PHO). For more information, please visit us at www.photocure.com, www.hexvix.com, www.cysview.com

CONTACT:

Dan Schneider

President and CEO

Photocure ASA

Email: [email protected]

Erik Dahl

CFO

Photocure ASA

Tel: +4745055000

Email: [email protected]

David Moskowitz

Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +1 202 280 0888

Email: [email protected]

Media and IR enquiries:

Geir Bjrlo

Corporate Communications (Norway)

Tel: +47 91540000

Email: [email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/photocure/r/photocure--partner-announces-first-patient-procedure-with-hexvix-in-china-under-special-access-progr,c3478581

SOURCE Photocure
NORWELL, Mass., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- radius financial group inc., a leading, private, full-service mortgage lender and insurance agency with a commitment to delivering a measurably superior experience to clients, announced the addition of a new Advisory Board member, Jennifer Whip. The radius Advisory Board helps to shape new solutions and go-to-market strategies that meet the dynamic needs of customers, partners and industry alike, at all stages of the traditional and digital journey.

Jennifer Whip, Principal, Cambridge One, LLC

Most recently, Jennifer was managing director for Garrett, McAuley & Co., a position she held following her retirement from a 26-year career at Fannie Mae. While at Fannie Mae, Jennifer was the lead executive responsible for driving the diversification and growth of its single-family business and expanding its offering of new products and tools to aid client success.

Jennifer currently serves on the Boards of Directors at Flagstar Bank in Troy, Michigan, Abacus Federal Savings Bank in New York, New York, and Chesmar Homes in Houston, Texas. She was also named in Diversity Journal's 2013 Women Worth Watching.

Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Colorado with a BA in Economics, Villanova University with an MBA, and the Executive Development Program at Harvard Business School. She is also a Certified Mortgage Banker and volunteers with the CMB Society as resident CMB, instructor, sponsor, examiner, and content writer. Jennifer is a frequent guest speaker at industry conferences and has been in the mortgage industry for more than 30 years.

Current radius Advisory Board members include:

Joseph L. Garrett , Principal, Garrett, McAuley & Co.

, Principal, Garrett, McAuley & Co. Jeff Lundgren , Financial Services Executive, Board Member

, Financial Services Executive, Board Member Kevin Malloy , Commercial Real Estate Executive

, Commercial Real Estate Executive Anthony Coniglio , Chief Executive Officer, NewLake Capital Partners, Inc.

, Chief Executive Officer, NewLake Capital Partners, Inc. Jay Brinkmann , Principal, BrinkEcon

, Principal, BrinkEcon Jennifer Whip, Principal, Cambridge One, LLC

Rob Chrisman , Founder, Chrisman, LLC

Sarah Valentini, co-founder of radius financial group says, "We're honored to announce that Jennifer Whip has accepted our invitation to join the radius Advisory Board. We're humbled to have such an accomplished group of leaders. Her expertise and worldwide reputation are unmatched."

About radius financial group inc.

radius financial group inc. has been nationally and locally recognized for its continued growth and achievements since 1999. Visit us at www.radiusgrp.com or facebook.com/radiusgrp. For more information about the radius Advisory Board visit https://www.radiusadvisoryboard.com/

For more information, contact:

Dustin DeMeritt, Director of Marketing

Phone: 781-742-6500 x702

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE radius financial group inc.
NORWELL, Mass., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- radius financial group inc., a leading, private, full-service mortgage lender and insurance agency with a commitment to delivering a measurably superior experience to clients, announced the addition of a new Advisory Board member, Rob Chrisman. The radius Advisory Board helps to shape new solutions and go-to-market strategies that meet the dynamic needs of customers, partners and industry alike, at all stages of the traditional and digital journey.

Rob Chrisman, Founder Chrisman, LLC (www.robchrisman.com)

Most know Rob from the mortgage commentary he sends out six days a week, but he began his career in mortgage banking - primarily capital markets - 36 years ago in 1985 with First California Mortgage, assisting in Secondary Marketing until 1988, when he joined Tuttle & Co., a leading mortgage pipeline risk management firm. He was an account manager and partner at Tuttle & Co. until 1996, when Rob moved to Scotland with his family for 9 months.

He returned to the United States in mid-1997 and ran Secondary for Standard Financial, a sub-prime lender in northern California. In late 1997 Rob was hired by CrossLand Mortgage to start and be the president of a sub-prime company named OnCall Mortgage (a division of CrossLand). OnCall Mortgage was in existence until Wells Fargo purchased First Security Bank (the owner of CrossLand) at the end of 2000.

Rob then joined CMG Mortgage, as the Director of Secondary Marketing. In early 2003 he re-joined Tuttle Risk Management Services, Inc. TRMS (which became Compass Analytics, now Black Knight) providing mortgage pipeline risk management for mortgage companies and thrifts that seek to originate and sell loans into the secondary market. In November of 2006 Rob left TRMS to become the Director of Capital Markets for RPM Mortgage, a retail residential lender, leaving there in late 2008 to focus not only on publishing a widely read daily market commentary on current mortgage events but also on his family.

He is on the Board of Directors of Inheritance Funding Corporation, a financial services company which advances capital to heirs, of AXIS Appraisal Management, and of the California MBA. He is also a member of the Secure Settlements Advisory Board and an associate of the STRATMOR Group. Rob has provided expert witness services for mortgage and real estate-related cases and has lectured to groups around the country.

Rob holds a BS from California Polytech, San Luis Obispo and an MBA from UC Berkeley.

Current radius Advisory Board members include:

Joseph L. Garrett , Principal, Garrett, McAuley & Co.

, Principal, Garrett, McAuley & Co. Jeff Lundgren , Financial Services Executive, Board Member

, Financial Services Executive, Board Member Kevin Malloy , Commercial Real Estate Executive

, Commercial Real Estate Executive Anthony Coniglio , Chief Executive Officer, NewLake Capital Partners, Inc.

, Chief Executive Officer, NewLake Capital Partners, Inc. Jay Brinkmann , Principal, BrinkEcon

, Principal, BrinkEcon Jennifer Whip, Principal, Cambridge One, LLC

Rob Chrisman , Founder, Chrisman, LLC

Keith Polaski, co-founder of radius financial group says, "Rob's deep understanding of the mortgage capital markets, all things mortgage, and extensive industry network will be invaluable to radius as we grow forward." Adding, "I'm an avid reader of Rob's daily newsletter, it's an honor to have him on our team and I look forward to working with him."

About radius financial group inc.

radius financial group inc. has been nationally and locally recognized for its continued growth and achievements since 1999. Visit us at www.radiusgrp.com or facebook.com/radiusgrp. For more information on the radius Advisory Board visit https://www.radiusadvisoryboard.com/

For more information, contact:

Dustin DeMeritt, Director of Marketing

Phone: 781-742-6500, x702

E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE radius financial group inc.
GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Mentice, a world leader in simulation solutions for image-guided interventional therapies, announced today that Siemens Healthineers China, a leading medical technology company, will include Mentice VIST  Virtual Patient simulators with the sale of every Corindus CorPath GRX Robotic system (CorPath GRX) in China on an initial 3-year agreement, starting 2022.

The integration was showcased during the 4th CIIE (China International Import Expo) in Shanghai on November 5th  10th, 2021, an event jointly hosted by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government.

The unique package will be offered by Siemens Healthineers (China) and enables interventional specialists to get access to Mentice high-fidelity simulation solution integrated with the CorPath GRX robotic surgery system.

The Mentice Virtual Patient integration into the Siemens Healthineers CorPath GRX Robotic surgery system creates an immersive and patient-free training environment, where interventional specialists can acquire, retain, and enhance their procedural skills as they transition into robotic-assisted vascular interventions. During the last several months, with Mentice together, Siemens Healthineers has carried out two training sessions of robotic assisted intervention procedures under simulation to interventional specialists from not only cardiology but vascular surgery.

CorPath GRX is designed to protect and assist interventional specialists in complex PCI with precise device control and can eliminate radiation exposure for primary operators during procedure. The integration into the VIST Virtual Patient can further support standardization of procedures while optimizing procedural outcomes and patient experience.

"The bundling of Mentice VIST  Virtual Patient and CorPath GRX for the greater China market is a breakthrough and is opening new opportunities for clinical teams to improve their overall performance, drive operational efficiency, and more importantly, help support patient outcomes." says Goran Malmberg, CEO and Group President of Mentice. "The VIST Virtual Patient provides an immersive, high-fidelity, data driven based continuous skill improvement environment accessible right from the CorPath GRX system making this integration the most sophisticated options in the field of endovascular skills acquisition and robotic surgery in the market today. We look forward to rolling out this program and supporting SHS CN activities and their customers Robotic initiatives over the coming years"

"The integration and bundling of the Mentice VIST  Virtual Patient with CorPath GRX is a key part of Siemens Healthineers strategy to bring out robotic surgery solutions in greater China. ", says Dr Pu Zheng Rong, Vice President, Advanced Therapies, Greater China, Siemens Healthineers." The combination enables a commitment from SHS CN to ensure our customers receive the latest available technologies to support their Robotic program, that allows a safe and reproducible learning environment.", concludes Dr Pu Zheng Rong.

About Siemens Healthineers

Siemens Healthineers is a leading medical technology company with over 120 years of experience and 18,500 patents globally. An estimated five million patients globally everyday benefit from their innovative technologies and services in the areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine, as well as digital health and enterprise services.

For more information, please contact:

Goran Malmberg, CEO, Mentice

E-post: [email protected]

US Mobile. +1 (312) 860 5610

Sweden Mobile +46 (0) 703 09 22 22

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/mentice-ab/r/siemens-healthineers-to-include-mentice-vist---simulators-with-corindus-corpath-grx-robotic-pci-syst,c3478646

SOURCE Mentice AB
Soin Therapeutics was recently granted orphan drug status by the FDA for the use of low dose naltrexone to treat CRPS. "The new formulation has several advantageous features that will likely be quite helpful to treat CRPS patients. As a practicing physician who treats these patients in my practice, I see the strong unmet need for a new helpful treatment option to treat CRPS," noted pain management specialist Dr. Amol Soin, who is also the founder and CEO of Soin Therapeutics.

Dr. Amol Soin went on to say "We plan to commence late-stage efficacy trials in 2022 with the hope of obtaining FDA approval after trial completion. Finally, help may be on the way for patients who are suffering from CRPS. It is a debilitating disease, and we feel we have something special with our new proprietary formulation that could be quite impactful. Soin Therapeutics looks forward to testing our solution at clinical sites across the USA soon."

About Soin Therapeutics: Soin Therapeutics Inc (STI) is a biotechnology company based in Dayton, OH and has developed multiple different drugs to treat several chronic conditions. Its lead product, a novel proprietary formulation of low dose naltrexone received orphan drug status from the FDA to treat CRPS. STI is planning to commence a large national late-stage efficacy trial in 2022 of their lead product in CRPS patients. For more information contact Dr Amol Soin at [email protected]

SOURCE Soin Therapeutics
Drew Nixon agrees.

"It gives us a great sense of pride to continue our growth in South Carolina," Drew Nixon said. "We're excited to bring the full array of customization and automotive styling services Tint World offers to Lexington residents at this brand-new location!"

Tint World Lexington, South Carolina will offer the latest in automotive aftermarket accessories, ultra-premium window tint, expert installation, and a staff of highly experienced installers and technicians.

"The Nixons opened their Charleston location in 2019 and we've enjoyed tremendous success in South Carolina. This new Lexington location will expand on that prosperity," said Charles J. Bonfiglio, president and CEO of Tint World. "Drew and Tom are real go-getters. I know their initiative and drive will result in another home run for the Tint World family. We are fortunate to have them as part of our team."

The address of this new location is 520 N Lake Dr., Lexington, SC 29072 and they can be reached at (803) 828-0008. It will be open Monday  Saturday. For more information about the products and services Tint World Lexington offers, request a quote, or to book an appointment, visit their website at https://www.tintworld.com/locations/sc/lexington-071/.

Tint World Automotive Styling Centers offer sales and installation of auto accessories, mobile electronics, audio video equipment, security systems, custom wheels and tire packages, window tinting, vehicle wraps, paint protection films, detailing services, nano ceramic coatings, maintenance and repair services, and more. Tint World is also the leading provider of residential, commercial and marine computerized window tinting and security film services with locations throughout the U.S. and abroad, with franchise opportunities available worldwide.

About Tint World

Founded in 1982, Tint World Automotive Styling Centers is America's largest and fastest-growing automotive accessories and window tinting international franchise, specializing in car and truck accessories, mobile electronics, audio-video equipment, security systems, detailing services, nano ceramic coatings, custom wheel and tire packages, maintenance and repair services, and much more.

Tint World services include residential, commercial, and marine window tinting films, solar films, decorative films, safety, and security films. Tint World has locations in the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, with master franchise opportunities available worldwide. To find out more, please visit www.TintWorld.com or http://www.tintworldfranchise.com/.

Tint World Contact:

Charles J. Bonfiglio, CEO

(888) 944-8648

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Heather Ripley

Ripley PR

865-977-1973

[email protected]

SOURCE Tint World
NEW YORK, Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- ValueBlue, a leading and innovative provider of SaaS solutions in the digital transformation market, announces its expansion to a New York office by adding to the executive team. ValueBlue has added Brenda Cowie as Senior Vice President, Sales, and Strategic Partnerships , for the Americas. This strategic decision is a commitment to further pursue ValueBlue's North American expansion.

"We are looking forward to strategic growth and expanding our team, especially our New York office, in 2022," says Wilko Visser, CEO, and co-founder of ValueBlue. "Brenda Cowie will be a wonderful addition to our team, and we are looking forward to her companywide successes." Brenda will spearhead the commercial sales teams and form strategic partnerships with industry associations, SI's, and analyst communities. Cowie's new role combines her strong background in consultative solution sales with a core SaaS product. She has a proven track record of driving and closing enterprise deals.

Brenda Cowie's prior role was Global Client Director at Diligent, a GRC SaaS software platform, where she was responsible for driving revenue through the proactive cultivation of global customer accounts, senior relationship management, and revenue growth of Diligent's most significant and most critical clients. Before joining Diligent, Brenda served as Vice President Client Services at BiZZdesign, a SaaS platform in the Enterprise Architecture space where she founded their North America practice. She was responsible for new business development, strategic partnerships, account management and was also involved in analyst relations. Brenda also worked on sales and pricing strategy, customer intimacy initiatives, and team building.

At ValueBlue, Cowie will be responsible for the revenue growth of the company's global expansion into the Americas. Brenda will spearhead the commercial sales teams and form strategic partnerships with industry associations, SI's, and analyst communities. Cowie's new role combines her strong background in consultative solution sales with a core SaaS product. She has a proven track record of driving and closing enterprise deals.

"I am very pleased to be joining ValueBlue and contributing my expertise to the team at this prime stage in the company's growth," says Brenda Cowie. "I look forward to working closely with Wilko Visser and Jelle Visser to execute our expansion strategy throughout North and South America."

In addition, ValueBlue's CEO Wilko Visser will also be making a move to New York City this January and will be based out of ValueBlue's Manhattan office. ValueBlue's co-founder, Tom de Ridder, will also be moving to New York City later in the first quarter of 2022.

ValueBlue is currently hiring sales executives and a number of other commercial roles based on the New York office. Job listings can be found at the following link: careers.valueblue.com

"We are looking forward to strategic growth and expanding our team, especially our New York office, in 2022," says Wilko Visser, CEO, and co-founder of ValueBlue. "Brenda Cowie will be a wonderful addition to our team, and we are looking forward to her companywide successes."

About ValueBlue

ValueBlue is the leading company behind the software platform BlueDolphin  the Enterprise SaaS tool that helps CIOs and Enterprise Architects plan, collaborate and manage business transformation.

The collaboration platform speeds up Agile Business Transformation for CIOs and Enterprise Architects across the globe. With BlueDolphin, 165+ customers like AS Watson, Randstad, Wyndham Hotel Group, and Rituals plan and manage transformation based on data insights and business impact. With offices in EMEA, the USA, and APAC, the Company has enjoyed double-digit year-over-year growth over the past four years. For more information, please visit: https://valueblue.com/

Media Contact

Amy Flores

Firecracker PR

[email protected]

(888) 317-4687, ext. 706

SOURCE ValueBlue
Editor in chief of "Controinformazione" Luciano Lago noted that "Western propaganda is likely to distort the actual situation as it is quite persistent in focusing on the presence of the Russian troops at the border with Ukraine being a threat of invasion. In reality they don't mention that the Russian forces remain within the territory of Russia, while at the same time a tremendous increase of USA, UK and Canadian military presence has been seen in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic states. The key point to argue about here is who is posing the actual threat outside of the propaganda narrative."

Lago claimed that the USA and NATO are provoking Ukraine into a conflict with Russia in order to isolate Russia from Europe, especially Germany, through destruction of all the forms of economic cooperation, using sanctions and blockage of the North Stream 2 project. In his opinion, the United States has been doing whatever it takes to prevent Russia and EU to get closer and shape a common Eurasian political and economic space.

"Starting from 2014, when Maidan protests took place and the following and the military conflict has started in Donbass region, the civil population is doomed to live under war conditions, especially in the villages located close to the front line" - says the president of Veneto-Russia Association Palmarino Zoccatelli. "Despite ceasefire agreements, the Ukrainian army keeps bombing infrastructure objects and frontline villages, causing more destruction and casualities," he adds.

Representative of the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic Eliseo Bertolasi in Turin said that Euromaidan events can be interpreted as a coup-d'etat supported by external forces. Bertolasi highlighted that NATO is interested in pulling Ukraine into the alliance to increase pressure on Russia. "If Ukraine was a full scale NATO member, in case of a military conflict with Russia the famous Article 5 on collective defence could have been applied, which means that each alliance member 'will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area'." He also pointed out that the EU is now acting within the framework of globalist logic of the USA and supports the conflict with Russia against its pragmatic interests.

Discussing the EU Eastern Partnership program, Bertolasi drew attention to the fact that "the EU is not really willing to give out funds to its members. Despite that, for the countries of the Eastern Partnership the funds are available even for such vague goals as support of democracy." At the end of his speech he emphasised the current situation in the region: "Today we are facing a real threat of a war starting with a false flag operation or provocation, the consequences of which could be terrifying. The situation remains very tense, and even if the dialogue becomes less and less probable, it has to be the key priority for diplomacy."

Palmarino Zoccatelli, president of the "Veneto  Russia Association"



SOURCE Veneto - Russia Association
United Nations, Dec 27 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has mourned the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, calling him a towering world figure for peace.

"I was greatly saddened to learn of the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, an unwavering voice for the voiceless," Xinhua news agency quoted Guterres as saying.

"Archbishop Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world. During the darkest days of apartheid, he was a shining beacon for social justice, freedom and non-violent resistance." Archbishop Tutu's relentless determination to build global solidarity for a free and democratic South Africa was fittingly recognised by the Nobel Committee in its decision to award him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. As chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he made an immeasurable contribution to ensuring a peaceful, yet just, transition to a democratic South Africa. His great wisdom and experience were always communicated with humanity, humor and heart, said Guterres.

Archbishop Tutu was a steadfast champion of multilateralism and had important roles, for example, as a distinguished member of the United Nations' Advisory Committee on Genocide Prevention, and on a High-Level Fact-Finding Mission to Gaza in 2008. In recent decades, Archbishop Tutu continued to fight passionately for action on many of the critical issues of today: poverty, climate change, human rights and HIV/AIDS, among others, he said.

"Although Archbishop Tutu's passing leaves a huge void on the global stage, and in our hearts, we will be forever inspired by his example to continue the fight for a better world for all," said Guterres.
Kanpur/Kannauj, Dec 27 : Kanpur perfumer Piyush Jain was arrested on Sunday night for evasion of Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Jain recently made headlines after pictures of a raid at his premises showing officials counting heaps of currency notes with note counting machines went viral recently. A sum of Rs 284 crores in cash were seized from his home in Kanpur and Kannauj.

Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) Ahmedabad recovered Rs 10 crore more cash from the factory and residence of perfume businessman Piyush Jain, who is the promotor of Odochem Industries of Kannauj district in Uttar Pradesh, official sources said.

Unaccounted sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores have also been seized from Jain's factory, sources said.

Raids were also carried out at offices and godowns owned by a transporter - M/s Ganpati Road Carriers, also in Kanpur - after which the action shifted to Piyush Jain's premises.

"This is the biggest recovery in the history of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC)," said Vivek Johri, the Chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).

According to DGGI sources, the searches which started on Friday, unearthed Rs 177 crore from Jain's Anandnagar house in Kanpur and Rs 107 crore unaccounted cash from his Kannauj house.

A team of 50 tax officials, comprising units from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat (Ahmedabad) were involved in search operations.

Sources privy to the probe said Jain was taken to a safe house and questioned for several hours. A set of questions were posed to him but he was not able to satisfy the investigators.

Jain was arrested for evasion of tax and making multiple invoices in the name of fake firms.

Sources said that during interrogation, Jain claimed that Rs 284 crore in cash recovered from his houses was his money accumulated after selling 400 kg of gold left by his ancestors.

As per the officer, on being asked about the reason for selling gold, the trader said that he had a requirement of cash for investment in business. "Piyush said he sold gold in batches, for the past many years, to small jewellers," said the DGGI officer.

Meanwhile, to investigate the truth of his claims, the investigating officers are engaged in breaking the safes and walls of his ancestral Chhipaiti house in Kannauj. Agencies have also recovered 250 kg of silver and 25 kg of gold from Kannauj residence.

IT department sources said that there are 36 people inside the businessman's house and factory, including officers of GST Intelligence and Income Tax.

Nine drums of 'sandal' oil has also been found here and bundles of Rs 2,000 notes have been recovered from cardboard boxes. Note counting machine has also been found in the businessman's house.

Meanwhile, a cellar has also been found in Piyush's Kannauj residence. The investigation team has also expressed the apprehension of some more secret lockers in the walls of Piyush Jain's house. A team of architects and experts have been called from Lucknow to trace them out.

During the searches, some diaries and bills were also found by the officials.
Dharwad, : Dec 27 (IANS) Karnataka police have taken six boys into custody for the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl after they blackmailed her of making her private video viral in Dharwad district, sources said on Monday.

The preliminary inquiries have revealed that the girl was gang raped for over three months by the accused. The parents of the girl have lodged a complaint with Shahar police station in Dharwad on Sunday in this regard.

After taking the boys into custody, they were sent to a remand home, where they are being questioned.

According to the police, the victim was in love with one of the accused minors. When she was in a private moment with him, the other boys recorded the video.

Later, blackmailing the girl that they would make the video viral, the accused continuously gang raped her and also shared the video which has gone viral among their contacts.

In her statement, the victim said that she was in love with a neighbourhood boy and he forcefully had sex with her.

The girl did not reveal about her ordeal, blackmailing and sexual assault by the gang of minors fearing that her video would go viral on social media.

The police are investigating the case.
Washington, Dec 27 : Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines have cancelled more than 750 flights combined on Christmas Day, and cancellations were set to continue, upending plans during one of the busiest travel periods of the year, according to US media outlets.

"All four airlines said Omicron cases among staff were driving cancellations," Xinhua news agency quoted a USA Today report as saying on Sunday.

In a statement, Delta Air Lines said that "a combination of issues, including but not limited to inclement weather in some areas of the country and the impact of the Omicron variant, are driving cancellations and potential delays".

"Holiday travel is generally a stressful enterprise, but a rapid surge in cases of Covid-19 caused by the Omicron variant have caused hundreds of flight cancellations, adding another layer of difficulty to the proceedings," an NBC News report said on Sunday, noting that several major airlines are dealing with a shortage of workers.

CNN said that "major US airlines cancelled hundreds of more flights on Sunday, the third day in a row of mass cancellations and delays over Christmas weekend, as staff and crew call out sick amid the Omicron surge", adding that almost 700 flights were cancelled and another 1,300 were delayed on Sunday.

Delta Air Lines said it expected to cancel more than 300 flights, on top of 368 scratched on Saturday.

United Airlines cancelled nearly 100 mainline flights on Sunday due to staffing concerns, while roughly 25 per cent of its customers have been able to re-book to arrive earlier than their original plan.

JetBlue spokesperson Derek Dombrowski was quoted as saying that the airline has seen an "increasing number" of sick calls due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, despite entering the holiday season with the highest staffing levels since the start of the pandemic.

American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the company was "working hard" to re-book customers quickly.

United spokesperson Maddie King said the airline was also working to re-book as many people as possible "and get them on their way for the holidays".

Globally, airlines cancelled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas Eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas, according to FlightAware, a flight tracker website.

That included about 1,700 flights within, into or out of the US.

In an effort to head off staffing shortages and flight cancellations, US carriers have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce recommended isolation periods for fully vaccinated people recovering from Cvid-19, The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.
Damascus, Dec 27 : As many as 241 civilians have been killed in 2021 by landmines and other explosive materials left in previous war zones across Syria, a war monitor said Sunday.

The number includes 114 children and 19 women as a result of the explosions, most of which occurred in the first quarter, Xinhua news agency quoted the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.

The watchdog called on the concerned international organisations to help remove the war leftovers from Syria and to raise the awareness of the Syrians about the danger of such materials.

State news agency SANA has reported many incidents in which civilians were killed by landmines, saying terror groups had planted them in areas they used to control during the 10-year-long Syrian war.
Kabul, Dec 27 : A top official of the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan said that the the US should not interfere in the affairs of the war-torn nation, adding that it is capable of taking decisions independently, the media reported.

The remarks were made by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, while he addressed a gathering on Sunday, reports TOLO News.

Regarding the withdrawal of US forces in August that led to the Taliban taking control of the country, Stanekzai said that "American soldiers fled from Afghanistan in the dark of the night".

He said that the country is independent now and that the last four months have been the first time in four decades in which Afghans are taking their decisions independently.

"The enemies," he said, should not think that Afghanistan is weakened by 40 years of war as it has the ability to fight another 40 years if it has to.

The Deputy Foreign Minister acknowledged that hundreds of Afghans were leaving the country for Iran on a daily basis over economic problems and that most of them fail to cross the border or lose their lives on their way.

He asked Afghanistan's neighbours to help the country, open their borders to refugees and ease visa norms.

Stanikzai said that Afghan women and girls have the right to work and education, but added that Afghanistan's culture is different from that of the West.

He admitted that solidarity among the people within the country and building relations with the world countries are two big challenges ahead of the Islamic Emirate.

Also addressing the gathering, Anas Haqqani, also a member of Taliban government, said "the world does not want Afghans to become self-reliant", TOLO News reported.
Lucknow, Dec 27 : Seven people have been injured during the past 24 hours in attacks by a leopard that has been roaming in different localities under the Gudamba police circle in Lucknow.

The leopard has been sighted in Kalyanpur, Adilnagar, Paharpur, Phoolbagh, and Jankipuram (Sector-H) areas of the city and its movement has been caught on CCTV cameras.

A team of forest department officials has been making futile efforts to trap the big cat or even tranquilize it.

The movement of the leopard was caught in the CCTV cameras installed in the residential areas of Gudamba.

People living in these areas have stopped moving out of their houses and are playing loud music to scare away the big cat.

A woman, Dharmdai Rawat, who stays on a school campus in Kalyanpur, was the first to be attacked by the feline. The injured woman was given 32 stitches on Sunday.

"I was working in the fields on Sunday afternoon when all of a sudden the leopard hit on my back," she said. Her son Veeru who tried to save her was also attacked and injured.

Another man, Yusuf, was also attacked in the same locality.

At least, five forest department teams comprising 25 members have been stationed in Adilnagar, Kalyanpur and Paharpur areas of Gudumba.

Though the forest officials conducted an extensive combing operation, they failed to trap the wildcat.

Later, on Sunday evening, R.S. Massih, 76, was attacked by the leopard. The leopard fled after hearing commotion.

Around midnight, the leopard got trapped in a net laid in a pit but it managed to escape and attacked some persons who had reached there to get a view of the animal.

In one CCTV footage, the leopard can be seen jumping over a boundary wall of a house and running away with a pet dog of the owners.

Additional deputy commissioner of police, north zone, Prachi Singh said police and forest officials were on the lookout for the leopard. "Officials have been asked to cordon off the area in case they spot the leopard," she added.

District forest officer (DFO), Lucknow, Ravi Kumar, who is supervising the operations, said, "It appears that the three-year-old leopard has strayed from Barabanki. We are trying to trap it so that it can be released in the wild," he said.
Lucknow, Dec 27 : Uttar Pradesh has seen another spurt in Covid cases in the past 24 hours with 59 new cases being reported.

The total number of active cases under treatment in the state has crossed the 300-mark.

In all, 59 new Covid-19 cases were reported till Sunday while in the past 48-hours 96 new cases have been detected.

"In the past 24 hours, 18,587 Covid samples were tested and 59 new cases were reported," said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary (medical health), in a press statement.

At present, the state has 323 Covid active cases.

"Lucknow reported 17 Covid cases in the past 48-hours, of which five cases were reported on Saturday and 12 on Sunday. The rising trend has to be checked with compliance of Covid protocol by one and all," said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.

Among the new cases in Lucknow, two had returned from Dubai on December 19 and 24. One passenger who returned from Jharkhand and another from Mumbai tested positive for Covid.

A patient, who came from Jaunpur for treatment at KGMU, also tested positive while four tested positive during the contact tracing of a positive case. Another person tested positive at Lohia institute.

Dr Manoj Agrawal, chief medical officer of Lucknow, said that people should avoid journeys and travel only when it is necessary. He said that the use of masks was essential for the safety of self and others.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh reported on Sunday its third Omicron case after a 29-year-old woman, who returned from the US to Rae Bareli, tested positive for Covid-19 and later her sample taken for Omicron also came positive.

"The woman reached New Delhi from Florida (US) and then came to Rae Bareli. We took her sample on December 16 and it tested positive for Covid-19 in the RT-PCR test. The genome sequencing was done thereafter and it came out to be Omicron," said Dr Virendra Singh, chief medical officer (CMO), Rae Bareli. The woman is a photographer.

"The condition of the woman is fine and all her 12 contacts have tested negative for Covid," said Dr Singh.

Earlier, two omicron cases were reported in Ghaziabad.

Meanwhile, the third phase of sero-surveillance is starting in UP on Monday.

Under the fresh round, random sampling will be done among adult men, women and children in five districts while in 20 other districts sampling will be done in timeline.

Six hundred and forty samples each will be collected from Ballia, Shahjahanpur, Kushinagar, Ghaziabad and Sambhal, totalling to 3,200 samples. In these districts, samples will be taken in the ratio of 3 adult men to 3 adult women and 3 children. Sampling will be done at random.

All samples have to be collected in December. "We will begin sampling from Monday. A list of people from whom samples have to be taken is ready," said a senior health official in Lucknow.

In 20 other districts, 100 samples will be taken in different categories. The first category is of health workers who had tested positive for Covid between May 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.

Another category will be of 264 samples from among health workers who did not test positive till vaccination started on January 16, 2021. The next category is of people above 60-years of age who tested positive in the RT-PCR report between July 1, 2020 and February 28, 2021. A total of 332 samples will be taken collectively from all districts.
Kathmandu, Dec 27 : As the threat of the new Omicron Covid-19 variant looms large, Nepal is struggling to vaccinate its targeted population against the virus.

Even though the South Asian country has been receiving a steady supply of vaccines in recent months, it is now struggling to store them and inoculate more of the population due to the lack of adequate storage capacity and necessary human resources, Xinhua news agency quoted officials as saying.

Till date, 32.9 per cent of Nepal's estimated 30-million population has been fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health and Population.

"The level of vaccination is still low amid the Omicron threat," Sher Bahadur Pun, chief medical officer at the Kathmandu-based Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital, told Xinhua.

"I have found that some older people have not been vaccinated for being unwilling to queue in the vaccination centres. Some people are still not aware of the importance of vaccines against the pandemic," he said.

Nepali health officials acknowledged that the vaccination rate is still low and they are trying to increase the coverage.

"The World Health Organization has advised us to increase the portion of fully vaccinated to 40 per cent of the total population by December and we are reaching close to that level," said Bibek Kumar Lal, director of the Family Welfare Division at the Department of Health Services.

"We have also rolled out a vaccination campaign for people aged 12-17 after first vaccinating people aged 18 and above." Nepal has so far identified three Omicron cases and despite the potential threat, the Himalayan nation cannot double or triple the vaccination rate anytime soon, officials said.

"We have been vaccinating around 250,000 people on a daily basis. Sometimes we inoculated as many as 350,000 people in recent days," said Sagar Dahal, chief of the country's National Immunization Program.

"In the past, we vaccinated a maximum of 300,000 people in a day." The government is making efforts to expand the vaccination drive that started in late January, he said.

"But we're facing difficulty in expanding the vaccination drive due to the lack of trained human resources and logistics," he said, adding that it also takes time to raise public awareness and create momentum for the drive.

"Due to the delayed supply of syringes, the vaccination campaigns were affected in some districts," said Lal.

"On Thursday (December 23), we received a supply of five million syringes, which will be enough for us to run a vaccination drive for a few weeks. An additional 60 million are also in the pipeline." Since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, Nepal has registered a total of 827,271 Covid cases and 11,585 deaths.

In recent months, the country has been reporting new daily cases mostly in 200-300 and new deaths mostly in a single-digit number.

In contrast with those hard times, Nepal has an adequate supply of vaccines for now, and the government aims to vaccinate all the population by mid-April next year.

As of Sunday, the country has received 39.2 million doses of vaccines, with an additional 20 million to be supplied by February next year, according to the Health Ministry.

The country has requested delayed shipments due to a lack of enough refrigeration facilities.

"We have a stock of about 9 million vaccine doses and the storage facility is already stretched," said Dahal.

According to the official, the existing storage capacity may accommodate an additional 20 million vaccines only.

"So we have asked the companies which are willing to supply extra vaccines to Nepal to delay the shipments till February," he added.
Los Angeles, Dec 27 : Hollywood star Tom Holland is getting the last laugh on haters who think he's too short to date Zendaya.

The 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' actor was spotted liking a post claiming "short men have more sex" after being trolled over his height, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The 25-year-old actor has caught the attention of his fans after he cheekily liked a post about sex by Lad Bible on Instagram.

The post, shared on December 23, featured an image of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito from the 1988 film 'Twins' alongside a tag that read: "According to science, short men have more sex." When Holland's hilarious Instagram gesture was captured and shared by CommentsByCelebs, his fans quickly swung into action in the comments section to share their thoughts. "I feel like Tom forgets he's famous," one fan commented.

Another added: "Tom said yuo thats me!!!" A third sent a message of support, writing: "We love you, our short king." A fourth said, "Celebrities can't even browse through Instagram in peace. They always getting exposed." Prior to this, Holland pointed out that he doesn't see any problem with his and Zendaya's height difference. In an interview, the 'Chaos Walking' actor slammed "stupid assumption" saying that men should be taller than their partners.

In the December 10 episode of SiriusXM Town Hall, host Jessica Shaw began asking the couple about their visible height difference during their onscreen kiss in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home'.

In response, the Spider-Man depicter in MCU said: "Not that much taller. Let's put this out there. Maybe like an inch or two at best.

"It's not like, people say like, 'How did you guys kiss? It must have been so difficult'." After Jessica clarified that she viewed height constraints on women and men as "misogynistic" and "problematic," Zendaya and Tom agreed.

Tom went on calling it a "stupid assumption" that it would even be an issue.

"This is normal too," Zendaya chimed in.

The actress portraying Chani in 'Dune' shared: "My mom is taller than my dad. My mom's taller than everyone." Tom then said that height stereotypes were "ridiculous".

Tom went on to recall the moment when he was auditioned for his role as Spider-Man, "I remember when we were doing the 'Spider-Man' screen tests...but every girl that we tested for both roles was taller than me." "I wonder whether that was a decision (director Jon Watts) had made. There was no one that tested that was shorter than I was." "To be fair, I am quite short," Tom continued, before elaborating: "So maybe that was a decision Jon Watts made and something he was aware of and wanted to break the stereotype. I think it's great." Jacob Batalon, who plays Ned Leeds in 'Spider-Man', added: "It's not a weird thing for women to be tall." "It just sucks that it has to be a conversation," Jacob said, defending his co-star.

"Like it can't just be normal." Zendaya also said she "honestly never thought of it as a thing because my parents were always that way, so I didn't know that people cared".

The chatter about their height difference sparked after Zendaya and Holland addressed their height difference during an interview on 'The Graham Norton Show' on December 3.

At the time, the stars shared a hilarious story about a failed stunt due to their heights.
Bhopal, Dec 27 : Indore in Madhya Pradesh has reported as many as eight cases of Omicron infections, the state health said on Monday.

Of the eight cases, three had returned from the United States, two each from the United Kingdom and Tanzania, and one from Ghana.

This is the first time that the Madhya Pradesh government has officially confirmed the presence of Omicron cases in the state. "Eight Omicron cases have been found in Indore. Out of these, six have recovered and have been discharged while two are undergoing treatment, Narottam Mishra, the state government's spokesman said.

He said around 3,000 people recently returned to Indore from abroad and 26 of them were found to be infected with the Coronavirus. "Omicron was confirmed in the genome sequencing of eight of these people," he said.

The samples of these people, who returned to the state's industrial hub Indore from different countries, were taken between December 17 and 21, according to officials.

Those infected includ two men aged 20 and 30 years, who came from New York (US) on December 14 and 19 respectively, a 23-year-old woman who arrived from London (UK) on December 14, two women aged 33 and 26 who returned from Tanzania (east Africa) on December 19, a 33-year-old woman who returned from Ghana (west Africa) on December 17, and two men aged 26 and 31 years, who arrived from Dubai on December 13 and 18 respectively, they said.

Night curfew has been imposed in the state between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. since December 23. Taking into consideration the Covid situation, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stated that more restrictions are likely in coming days.
Recently, the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit was held in Istanbul from December 16-19. The first Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit was held in Istanbul, the second in Malabo. Over 100 government ministers and 16 Presidents from Africa attended the summit, which was held under the theme, 'Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity.

Africa - market of the future Cooperation between Ankara and Africa, which is steadily increasing, is of vital importance to Turkey. Trade volume between Turkey and Africa is enormous.

Economist Guven Sak of the Turkish Institute for Economic Policy (TEPAV) in a recent interview said "Continental Africa has the world's youngest population and also its fastest population growth". According to UN estimates, Africa's population will have at least tripled by 2100, growing to over four billion. Sak sees expanded relations as a natural result of investment opportunities in the areas of urban infrastructure, logistics, energy and construction besides the fact that Africa is extremely rich - both in traditional as well as renewable energy resources.

A growing network of ties Relations between the two regions kicked-off on a positive note and improved dramatically since Ankara declared 2005 "Africa Year". Turkey's central government realised that lucrative business opportunities were to be found in industrial production and construction. In addition Turkish businesses and non-governmental organisations, especially those working in the education sector, established a presence on the continent.

Growing business ties also resulted in improved diplomatic ties. Turkey has been a "strategic partner" to the African Union since 2008, conducting meetings with African heads of state and government.

Military cooperation Security ties between Turkey and the continent have also increased considerably since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2014. Somalia, Turkey's doorway to sub-Saharan Africa, has been the site of TURKSOM - Turkey's largest overseas military base - since 2017.

Therefore, arms exports were a big topic at the Istanbul summit. Turkish arms and aeronautics exports to Ethiopia, for instance, shot from around $235,000 in January to nearly $94.6 million in November according to the Turkish Exporters' Assembly. Sales to Angola, Chad and Morocco have seen similar jumps.

One of Turkey's best-selling items is the Bayraktar TB2 combat and surveillance drone. It has been used in a number of conflicts and has proven itself highly effective. Reuters recently reported that Morocco and Tunisia took delivery of Turkish combat drones in September, adding that a large number of other African nations have also voiced their interest as well.

Turkey's trade with Africa surpassed $25.3 billion last year, and this figure has already reached $30 billion in the first 11 months of 2021.

Africa's potential With the area it covers on the international level, its geo-strategic position, and the economic and commercial potential it has, Africa has become one of the most important actors of the 21st century. The advantageous investment opportunities it has as a continent and the relations it recently developed with different countries and regions have begun to make Africa a centre of attraction in all areas.

The president of the African Union in his address called for a sturdy collaboration between Africa and Turkey against terrorism, and that sustaining peace and safety on the continent is vital for attaining maintainable development.

Talking about the summit, Felix Tshisekedi, ruler of the Democratic Republic of Congo, confirmed Africa's trust in Turkey's proficiency in several fields, stating: "Africa needs concrete projects in the areas of trade, infrastructure, agricultural development, governance, and health." "In some parts of Africa, unfortunately, there is instability and insecurity due to terrorist activities. Therefore, it is a must to ensure peace and security in order to move forward," he said, while emphasising the necessity for collaboration in the face of terrorism.

Erdogan has also called for African representation at the UN Security Council. At the summit he said it is a "great injustice" that the African continent, with its population of 1.3 billion, is not represented at the Council.

Referring to his slogan, "the world is bigger than five", protesting the unrepresentative setup of the UN Security Council, Erdogan said Turkey's efforts were also meant for its brothers and sisters in Africa, as well.

Bilateral ties boosted The summit also helped Turkey in reviving old ties with nations like Egypt and Libya.

Egypt and Turkey are two regional heavyweights. They used to be good partners but broke off all diplomatic ties in 2013 following a military coup that overthrew Egypt's first democratically-elected government, led by the Muslim Brotherhood - an Islamist movement close to Ankara. Egypt's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamdi Sanad Loza, who attended the summit said that participating countries would contribute to regional development, stability and security. Loza also discussed cooperation between Turkey and Egypt in the sectors of trade, investment and tourism.

After eight years of frozen relations, the two countries launched discussions in Cairo in May to renew ties. A second round of talks took place in September in Ankara but embassies were not reopened. The Turkish foreign minister also met with acting Speaker Fawzi al-Nuwari of Libya's House of Representatives.

Turkey's alternate vision Africa, which was associated with poverty, civil wars and migration in the past, is one of the world's up-and-coming regions in the 21st century. China, Russia, France, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India have a strong presence in Africa together with Turkey. Yet Turkey's vision for Africa represents an "alternative" to the current practices of former and new colonial powers.

Western nations are charged with sticking to their old colonialist ways. For example, France cannot get rid of its shameful baggage in the continent. Meanwhile, experts warn that China sets a "debt trap" in the name of economic development. Russia's role as a "provider of security", in turn, is a source of concern. Consequently, Turkey's vision, which originated in humanitarian aid and rests firmly on the principles of equality, mutual benefits and "winning together, attracts more and more interest.

Unlike Western countries, Turkey continues to strengthen and diversify its policy, which aims to ensure security, stability and welfare in the rising star of our century, Africa, in all dimensions. Turkey has deepened its economic, commercial and political relations with Africa with the "African Initiative". This initiative is "win-win" centred and based on mutual benefits with the principle of "developing together and growing together". The vision reflects Turkey's commitment to see Africa from an African perspective and to promote mutual development, beneficial to both.

(Asad Mirza is a political commentator based in New Delhi)
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The BJP is expected to contest the urban Assembly seats in Punjab in alliance with former Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress (PCL).

Sources in the saffron party said that the former chief minister's Punjab Lok Congress will field its candidate from the Assembly constituencies in the rural areas.

Both the parties, however, announced to contest the Assembly polls together, but they have yet to announce formula for seat sharing. Sources claimed that the former Punjab chief minister was likely to meet senior BJP leaders and finalise the formula on Monday.

In an attempt to become a political force to be reckoned with in Punjab, the BJP is likely to get all the urban Assembly constituencies in the upcoming polls in alliance. The saffron party is putting extra efforts to win these urban Assembly constituencies.

Sources claimed that the BJP will get a major share and expect to contest from more than half of the seat. "We will have a majority share and most of the Assembly seats are urban and semi urban areas. There are over three dozen urban seats and we are likely to get all the seats. We also get some semi-urban seats," a BJP leader said.

Earlier this month, the BJP and former chief minister Amarinder Singh had announced to fight the forthcoming Assembly election together. "Our alliance is confirmed. Only seat-sharing talks are going on. We will see who will contest which seats and winnability is the sole criteria for deciding seats. Where the BJP will contest we will support and they will support us on the seats we will be contesting. We are prepared and will win the election. 101 per cent sure of winning the election. We are no in contest with anyone," former chief minister had said.

Punjab election will be held in February - March next year along with Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Earlier, after its alliance broke up with its oldest partner Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the BJP has announced to contest all the 117 Assembly seats in Punjab. In 2017, the BJP had won three seats out of the 23 it contested.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : An injured nilgai (a type of antelope) that was rescued from near the premises of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) in the national capital's Mandawali area, is currently being treated at the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

The nilgai with an injured leg was spotted by a passer-by outside the DJB premises on Sunday evening. He immediately informed the Delhi Forest Department.

The Forest Department in turn contacted Wildlife SOS for reinforcements to conduct the rescue operation.

A joint operation conducted by officials of the Forest Department and Wildlife SOS later successfully rescued the animal using rescue equipment and safety nets.

"Agitated by its injury and the crowd that had gathered, the nilgai began scurrying across the busy road. It took the rescuers almost an hour to safely transport the distressed antelope to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, where it is currently receiving medical care," a statement from Wildlife SOS said on Monday.

CEO and Co-founder of Wildlife SOS, Kartick Satyanarayan, said: "The nilgai or blue bull is the largest Asian antelope, and this species is endemic to the Indian subcontinent. Due to their large size, rescue operations involving Nilgais need to be carried out with utmost caution. Wildlife SOS was able to assist the Forest Department with timely intervention and ensure the safety of this injured Nilgai." Deputy Director-Special Projects for Wildlife SOS, Wasim Akram, said: "It took us almost an hour to carry out the rescue as we did not want to ambush the distressed animal. Nilgais straying into human dominated areas in Delhi NCR is not uncommon these days. We are grateful to the public for being sensitive to the plight of the injured animal." Wildlife SOS is a non-profit charity established in 1998 with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress across India. It also runs wildlife and nature protection projects to promote conservation, combat poaching and illegal trade of wild animals.

In January, the Forest Department had evacuated a nilgai from the park near Purana Qila and sent it to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary.

That time, the nilgai had strayed into the urban areas and was found roaming around that park for almost a month before it was picked up. Luckily, the animal was not injured.
Chennai, Dec 27 : The Tamil Nadu forest department has decided to approach the state Industries department and a private company to hand over part of their unsurveyed salt-pans and swamp areas measuring about 28,000 hectares to develop the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary into one of the world's best flamingoes and waders habitats in the world.

The Tamil Nadu forest department and the Bombay Natural History teams on Saturday conducted a joint inspection of the Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary and found a heavy presence of flamingos in the area. The team which included Tamil Nadu Chief Wildlife warden Shekhar Kumar Neeraj said that they counted around 10,000 flamingos near the Chemplast salt-pans, which is west of the Great Vedaranyam swamp.

The wildlife officials, according to a statement from the state forest department were enthused by the presence of two chicks of the flamingoes among the birds and this was an indicator of the bird's nesting and breeding in the area.

Shekar Kumar Neeraj while speaking to IANS said, "The presence of chicks in one of the congregations of the flamingoes is a clear indicator that the birds and nesting and breeding in a closer area and mostly it could be in the Trincomalee or Mannar area of Sri Lanka." He said that steps would be taken to put the Point Calimire Wildlife and Bird sanctuary on the global ecotourism map by adding high-quality facilities and conservation tools.

Painted Storks, pelicans, red beaked Caspian tern, wood sandpiper, seagulls, stilt, and redshank were some of the other species of birds spotted by the team of Forest department and Bombay Natural History Society.

Forest department officials said that some of these migratory birds reached the sanctuary from Russia and the Arctic regions.
Mumbai, Dec 27 : TV actress Yesha Rughani, who is known for her titular role in the show 'Muskaan', will be seen in the upcoming daily soap 'Kabhi Kabhie Ittefaq Sey'.

The actress talks about playing a complex character of Gungun Bhatnagar.

She says: "Gungun is a character who is very unique, very different and very rare. It's the most challenging character by far that I am going to play. People like Gungun are often misunderstood. They do not usually seem to be able to get through the layers of this complex personality. Nevertheless, she is a gem of a person with a golden heart. She has her part of struggles and is quite protective of her own feelings which make her a very difficult character to portray. At the same time though, she is somebody who belongs to this generation." The 29-year-old actress shares further about the various preparations she has done for essaying this character on-screen.

"As I said, the character I play is quite different from the regular ones that we often come across and therefore the way I prepare for it is by trying to find behavioural similarities and ways that I can relate to the character and this is something I do while playing any character. I have personally been an only child and really pampered and so is Gungun, so I try to draw those similarities between me and her. I try to relate her to a few other people that I know in real life and that's how I prepare myself to be Gungun." The 'Hero: Gayab Mode On' actress recalls shooting in Lucknow for the show.

"We were in Lucknow, shooting a few very interesting scenes. I think shooting outdoors is a different feeling altogether which I really enjoy. Gungun is from Lucknow so it was all the more exciting for me to be there. I was roaming the streets of Lucknow like a 'Nawab' so yes, it was all pretty fun to do as it got me closer to my character." When asked how the audience will relate with the show and what is in store for them, she replies: "There is so much in store! There's too much love, also love that you feel towards your family and a lot of laughter. The show all in all shouts of happy vibes and no ounce of any negativity. It speaks loudly of the importance of relationships in one's life and how some people are fortunate enough to have those and those who aren't, somehow end up meeting nice people along the way anyway which keeps them going. So, people have a lot of family bonding and love to look forward to."
Kabul, Dec 27 : Hundreds of residents Afghanistan's Panjshir province took to the streets to protest against the murder of a young man, who the demonstrators claim was shot dead by Taliban affiliates, the media reported on Monday.

During the protest that took place on Sunday in Annaba district, the demonstrators "carried the dead body to the office of the provincial governor and asked for justice", Khaama Press reported.

The angry protesters were chanting "Death to Taliban", "Death to stooges of Pakistan", and "Long live Ahmad Masoud".

The residents of the district have claimed that the 24-year-old victim, Nazir Aqa, was killed by the Taliban affiliates but the motive behind the murder is yet to be ascertained.

In a statement, the Taliban officials in Panjshir confirmed the killing, but called the incident a "misunderstanding", reports Khaama Press.

They added that the murder suspects have been arrested.

Panjshir was the last province of Afghanistan that fell to the Taliban in August.
Seoul, Dec 27 : Covid-19 clusters have been on the rise at educational facilities in Seoul, the city government said on Monday.

The Seoul government said as many as 270 children tested positive for the virus last week as parts of infection clusters traced to daycare centres, kindergartens and other educational facilities, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The number of Covid-19 infections traced to an English language academy in the southern ward of Gwanak reached 76 from December 19-25, while similar clusters at two daycare centres in Dongjak Ward and Yeongdeungpo Ward reported infections of 58 and 28, respectively.

Last week's 270 infections from educational facility clusters marked a threefold increase from 90 such infections during the preceding week, the government noted.

Seoul also reported 152 Covid-19 cases related to multi-use facilities, 142 patients related to hospitals and nursing facilities, 78 patients related to companies and 34 patients related to religious facilities last week, it added.

The government said the capital's infection reproduction index has remained below 1 since December 19 and the average daily number of confirmed Covid-19 cases was 2,258.6 last week, down from 2,684 in the preceding week.

But the weekly number of Covid-19 deaths in Seoul increased from 163 to 178 in the same period, it added.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Pakistan will on Monday unveil its first-ever National Security Policy at a meeting in which civil and military leadership will discuss internal and external security issues, Dawn reported.

According to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the high-powered National Security Committee which will be attended, among others, by senior military officials, including Chief of the Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence Director General Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum.

"It will be the first-ever National Security Policy to be approved at the meeting and later it will be made public," the Minister said.

When asked about salient features of the policy, he said the policy would cover all internal and external security aspects, including the situation in Afghanistan and its impact on Pakistan and India, among others.

The draft puts economic and military security at the core of policy and outlines the challenges and opportunities facing Pakistan in the coming years.

In addition, it would provide policy guidelines for mitigation and actualising opportunities through a "whole-of-government approach", The Express Tribune reported.
Riyadh, Dec 27 : Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen accused Lebanon's Hezbollah of targeting Riyadh through the Sanaa International Airport, Al Arabiya News reported.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki highlighted some evidence of the involvement of Hezbollah in Yemen, reports Xinhua news agency.

At the press conference, he showed pictures of Hezbollah's members training the Houthi militia to launch explosive-laden drones.

The spokesman said that since the beginning of the war in Yemen in March 2015, Houthis attacked the kingdom with 430 ballistic missiles and 851 bomb-laden drones, causing the deaths of 59 Saudi civilians.

Houthis have been targeting various areas in Saudi Arabia, especially border cities and vital establishments, such as energy facilities and airports.

Most of these attacks had been intercepted before reaching their targets.

Recently, the coalition has been air-striking military targets of Houthis in Yemen to deter the militia from launching attacks.
Chhindwara, Dec 27 : When a group of passionate people in a community come together, they are bound to bring in a positive change not only in their own lives but also in their surroundings. This was proved by the residents of Paradsinga village in Madhya Pradesh - an irrigation pond they dug on a marshland has helped not only improve the groundwater levels in the area but also diversify their farming and turn their fields into a thriving hub of biodiversity.

Paradsinga, a tiny village in Chhindwara district close to the state's border with Maharashtra, lies on the agricultural belt known for its BT cotton production. The village is largely dependent on rainwater for irrigation and as it is on a plateau, the groundwater table here is very low. Even tube wells are not of much help because they dry up much before the summer peaks, making BT Cotton the ideal and overwhelmingly popular crop.

Considering the scenario, Shweta Bhattad, a young farmer in Paradsinga, and her friends decided to spearhead a movement that would slowly but steadily bring about a change in their village. They consulted Amitabh Pawde, a civil engineer who left his job with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) 14 years ago to take up full-time farming at his native village, Yerla Pawde, in Nagpur district. He is recognised as an expert on rainwater harvesting in Maharashtra.

Pawde said: "When I visited Paradsinga around six years ago, I was shown a piece of land at Bhattad's farm. It was a marshy patch and considered a 'wasteland' because silt carried by rainwater from surrounding fields gathered on it. I was told that much effort was made to raise crops on it, but whatever was sown there invariably rotted because of water accumulation during rains. However, I was sure that it was the best patch of land in the entire village because it gathered a thick layer of topsoil carried by the rainwater from other fields. I told the villagers that it was an ideal location to dig an irrigation pond." The villagers joined hands and the process began without further delay. They hired earthmovers to dig a 100x100-foot pond. However, with the absence of springs to fill the pond, they had to wait for the rains. Pawde said: "When it rained, the overflow from the nearby fields did the needful. I supervised the project, and the soil that was dug out was used to construct the embankments of the pond which now nurture rich vegetation. We ensured that the embankments had enough slope so that the wild animals that came there to drink water would not slip and drown in it." It was the Bhattad family that spent the major portion of the money to dig the pond, although the rest of the amount was provided under a government scheme. A number of farmers in the village also contributed their efforts by stone pitching (fortifying with stone) the inflow and outflow channels of the pond.

Ganesh Dhoke, a farmer, said: "This is the first, and till date, the only irrigation pond in our village. The idea was to harvest the excess rainwater for irrigation and the recharging of the groundwater table. The results were immediately visible in nearby wells. The move has inspired many farmers even in the nearby villages. This pond has made our entire village proud." Bhattad said another major and satisfying result of digging the pond was that it has made remarkable changes in the biodiversity in the area within a span of six years.

"A number of trees of indigenous varieties such as Gum Arabic (babool), Indian Jujube (ber), mango, baobab (gorakh chinch), blackberry (jamun), Indian rosewood (sheesham), orchid tree (kanchan), Indian beech (karanja) and Sesbania (agasti) grow around the pond and provide a home to hundreds of birds," she said.

"A few years ago, we were totally dependent on cash crops such as BT Cotton and pigeon peas (tur dal). However, with the improvement of water table in the area, we now grow the desi kapas variety of cotton, maize, sorghum (jowar), pearl millet (bajra), sesame seeds (til), peanuts, gram, wheat, flax seeds, coriander, Roselle (ambadi bhaji), French beans, bottle gourd, snake gourd and eggplant," Bhattad said.

This crop diversity also promises to improve nutrition levels among residents.

Ripple effect The pond has inspired farmers in the neighbouring villages, too. Shyamala Sanyal, a farmer in Killod village which is barely five kilometres away from Paradsinga, has also dug a pond to harvest rainwater. "I am an ardent nature lover and was inspired by Bhattad's pond. I, too, wanted to harvest rainwater. Even though the water levels in my wells were not bad, I noticed a significant rise after I dug the pond in my farm," she said.

Motivated by the success of Bhattad's irrigation pond, some farmers in Paradsinga are making efforts to take rainwater harvesting a notch higher. They have started constructing bunds in their fields to arrest the free flow of rainwater and stop the erosion of the fertile topsoil. The farmers were introduced to the technique by Tanmay Joshi, a young farmer who learnt the technique from other self-taught experts in Wardha.

"We keep drawing groundwater, but seldom make efforts to recharge it. Bunds not only stop soil erosion but also help boost the biomass content and porous nature of the soil. This improves the soil's fertility and reduces farmers' dependence on chemical fertilisers. We have planted trees such as mulberry, fig, pomegranate, guava, drumsticks and mango on these bunds to strengthen them as well as to reduce the farmers' dependence on cash crops," Joshi said.

Ganesh Dhoke, another farmer, said: "Earlier we used to buy almost all vegetables and wheat for our daily needs. However, now we are growing them on our own lands. This saves us money as well as provides better nutrition." Bhattad's move has drawn a lot of attention in the area, and it is slowly bringing about change in agricultural practices. She said: "Because they are used to farming BT Cotton which requires less water and brings quick returns, many farmers do not want to raise other crops that would require rainwater harvesting measures such as ponds and bunds. However, our initiative is slowly changing people's mindsets, motivating them to raise indigenous crops that are not harsh on the soil in the long run." (The author is a Bhopal-based freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)
Sanaa, Dec 27 : At least 18 Yemeni soldiers were killed in fighting between the army and Houthi militia in the oil-rich province of Marib, a government military source.

"Eighteen soldiers were killed today in the battle in the desert area of al-Balak al-Sharki in southern Marib," the source told Xinhua news agency late Sunday.

"There were also many Houthis killed in the battle by airstrikes carried out by the Saudi-led Arab coalition," he said, without providing a specific number.

The Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported 16 coalition airstrikes on al-Balak al-Sharki area without providing further details.

The Iran-backed militia have made major advances in the past months in Marib, seizing control of several districts around the government-controlled central city.

In February, the rebel group began a major offensive to capture the oil-rich province, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Union Health Ministry on Monday submitted a report on the rising Covid cases along with the new variant Omicron and the status of vaccination coverage across the nation to the Election Commission.

According to a source with the ministry, the Election Commission and Union Health Ministry discussed the rising number of new Covid variant Omicron cases across the country with special focus on the five poll-bound states. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan presented a detailed report on the transmissibility of the Omicron variant in the states.

Asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the health secretary said that nothing can be said at the moment. The daily Covid caseload can see around 25 per cent jump in next few months as per the present rate of infection, he said in the meeting.

The health officials also gave details about the districts where the R value has increased, said the source.

The Assembly election is scheduled for five states - Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022.

However, the schedule for the Assembly poll is likely be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness in the state on Tuesday.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Hyderabad, Dec 27 : Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee chief A. Revanth Reddy was arrested here on Monday as he was leaving for Erravalli village to lead a protest at the farmhouse of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

High tension prevailed outside the residence of Revanth Reddy at Jubilee Hills as scores of his supporters tried to resist their leader's arrest.

As soon as the TPCC chief emerged from his house, police officers stopped him. They forcibly took him to a police vehicle, leading to strong protest from Congress workers who had gathered there. They tried to stop a police vehicle carrying their leader. This led to pushing and jostling between the two sides.

Amid the melee, police shifted Revanth Reddy to a police station.

Revanth Reddy, who is also a Member of Parliament, was placed under house arrest early Monday. Large number of policemen were deployed around Revanth Reddy's house in view of the call given by him to organise Rachabanda programme over what he calls the failure of the state and central governments in procuring paddy from farmers.

Several Congress leaders were either placed under house arrest or were detained while they were heading to Erravalli in Siddipet district from various parts of the state.

Earlier, Revanth Reddy vowed to go ahead with the protest despite restrictions imposed by the police. "Is Erravalli a prohibited area? Why are we being prevented from going to that village?" the Congress leader asked. He claimed that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was afraid of their visit.

The TPCC chief slammed both the TRS and BJP over the issue of paddy procurement. He said both the parties have a secret understanding to mislead the farmers.

He claimed that the visit by a delegation of state ministers to Delhi and BJP state president Bandi Sanjay's hunger strike over unemployment were part of the secret understanding between the two parties.

Revanth Reddy had on Sunday released photographs of paddy cultivated at the chief minister's farmhouse. "On one hand the chief minister is saying that the government will not procure paddy from farmers while on the other he has taken up paddy cultivation over 150 acres at his farmhouse," the Congress leader said.

Senior Congress leader Mallu Ravi clarified that they were not going to Erravalli to lay siege to the chief minister's farmhouse but they were still stopped. He said the protest at the village was part of the state-wide programme being organised by the party.

He condemned the arrests of Congress leaders and alleged that the police were acting as KCR's private army.
Khartoum, Dec 27 : Sudanese security authorities have announced the arrest of 114 protesters over violations during demonstrations in the capital Khartoum.

"A total of 114 suspects have been arrested and legal measures have been taken against them," Khartoum State's Security Affairs Coordination Committee said in a statement.

"Some violations were detected, including an attack on the auto inspection building in eastern Nile, attempted attack on Bahri city's police station, smashing of windows of four police vehicles, and the destruction of floors, billboards and traffic signals," it added.

The committee stressed that the police dealt with the violations using "minimal force" with tear gas.

The statement stated that there were some injuries among the citizens, most of whom were due to suffocation and stampede, adding that 58 policemen were also injured during the protests.

Thousands of Sudanese citizens demonstrated in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Saturday to demand civilian rule.

The African nation has been suffering a political crisis after General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on October 25 and dissolved the sovereign council and government.

However, on November 21, Al-Burhan and the then removed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed a political declaration, which included reinstating the latter to the post, but the deal has so far failed to calm the street.
Seoul, Dec 27 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with the chiefs of conglomerates on Monday and asked them to keep hiring youth amid the difficulties of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Moon made the remark during a luncheon for the executives of companies taking part in a government-led youth jobs project called "Youth Hope ON", reports Yonhap News Agency.

"South Korea's rise to an advanced nation, despite its small territory and lack of natural resources, was thanks to our well-educated and excellent talent and abundant human resources," the President said. "Talent is the surest destination of a business' investment." The luncheon was attended by Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, KT CEO Ku Hyeon-mo and POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo.

Moon expressed his appreciation to Samsung and Hyundai for their respective efforts to nurture a talented workforce.

This was the first meeting between Moon and the Samsung vice chairman since Lee was released from prison on parole in August.

Moon also said the responsibility to create good jobs ultimately falls on businesses, even though the government can provide its full support.

"I ask that you become the secure support of young people, so that they do not descend into a lost generation due to Covid-19," he said.
Mumbai, Dec 27 : The Maha Vikas Aghadi government on Monday assured action against a religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj, who used abusive words against the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi at a congregation in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

The Chhattisgarh government has already booked at least two persons, including Kalicharan Maharaj -- hailing from Akola in Maharashtra -- who not only used derogatory and abusive words against Gandhiji but even glorified his assassin Nathuram Gode, during a two-day 'Dharma Sansad' held in Raipur on Saturday-Sunday.

When the issue figured prominently in the Assembly Monday, members from both the ruling party and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party slammed Kalicharan Maharaj and demanded action against him.

"I assure... There will be action (against Kalicharan Maharaj). The MVA government will gather the full information and follow-up with stringent action in the matter," Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said in the House.

The matter was raised in the Hower House by Minority Affairs Minister Nawab Malik of the Nationalist Congress Party and others joined in.

State Congress President Nana Patole, Congress Minister Vijay Wadettiwar, BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar and others spoke on the issue.

"The derogatory language used by Kalicharan Maharaj, a 'farzi baba' (fraud godman) has gone viral on social media networks... You may differ from Bapu's ideology but can his killers be glorified like this. This has been happening for over the past seven years... Temples (of Godse) are being built, let us now take action and set an example," Malik urged.

He said that "any insult to Gandhiji is an insult to the nation" and the government would get more information to proceed ahead in the matter.

Wadettiwar said that Mahatma Gandhi is a 'Maha Manav' (great soul) and his statues are available in 56 countries... but yet such insulting language is being used, while Mungantiwar said he agreed that there must be strict action against such utterances.

Following an outrage with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi flaying the development, the Chhattisgarh Police on Sunday lodged a first information report against Kalicharan Maharaj and others for the slur.

The police move followed a complaint by Congress former mayor of Raipur Pramod Dubey after video clips of the offensive words used by Kalicharan Maharaj went viral Sunday.
Tripoli, Dec 27 : The Libyan Red Crescent said on that 27 bodies of illegal immigrants were recovered off the coast of Al-Allus town, some 95 km east of the capital Tripoli.

"Bodies recovery team recovered 17 bodies of illegal immigrants, including an infant, off the shore of Al-Allus," Xinhua news agency quoted the Red Crescent as saying in a statement.

"With the help of the Coast Guard in a nearby location, the team recovered additional 10 bodies of illegal immigrants, including two women, and rescued three others who were provided with first aid assistance," it added.

According to the rescued migrants, a number of migrants remained missing.

Search is underway for the missing.

Libya has been suffering insecurity and chaos since the fall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, making the North African country a preferred point of departure for illegal immigrants who want to cross the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

So far this year, a total of 31,456 illegal migrants have been rescued and returned to Libya, while hundreds of others died and went missing off the Libyan coast on the Central Mediterranean route, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
New York, Dec 27 : NASA's next-generation James Webb telescope enroute to space to probe galaxies, distant worlds will take 29 days to reach its orbit, about 1 million miles from Earth.

The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope was launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana on December 25, kicking off a long-delayed, potentially transformative mission to study the early universe, nearby exoplanets and more.

The telescope is headed for the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), a gravitationally stable spot 1.5 million kilometres from our planet in the direction of Mars, Space.com reported.

"The Webb observatory has 50 major deployments... and 178 release mechanisms to deploy those 50 parts," Webb Mission Systems Engineer Mike Menzel, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a deployment-explaining video called "29 Days on the Edge" that the agency posted in October.

"Every single one of them must work. Unfolding Webb is hands-down the most complicated spacecraft activity we've ever done," Menzel said.

About half an hour after liftoff, Webb deployed its solar panels and started soaking up energy from the sun. And last night, the big telescope also performed a crucial 65-minute engine burn that put it on course for L2.

Here's a brief rundown of the big steps yet to come.

One day after launch, Webb will rotate its high-gain antenna toward Earth to further facilitate communications with its handlers. A day after that, the spacecraft will perform another engine burn to refine its trajectory toward L2. And three days after launch, the pallet holding Webb's huge sunshield -- a five-layer structure designed to keep the infrared telescope and its instruments cool -- will be lowered, the report said.

At around 10 days after launch, Webb will extend its 0.74 metres secondary mirror, which is so named because it's the second surface that deep-space photons will hit on their way to the telescope's instruments. Twelve to 13 days after launch, Webb's 6.5 metre primary mirror -- composed of 18 hexagonal segments, will shine. The mirror's two side "wings" will extend and lock into place, giving the surface its full size.

At that point, Webb will be in its final configuration. The huge observatory will arrive at its destination slightly more than two weeks later, conducting another engine burn 29 days after launch to slip into orbit around L2, where a different set of ramp-up procedures will begin, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Webb team will also test and calibrate the telescope's four scientific instruments. The team aims to start regular science operations six months after launch.

"We're looking at the end of June," Webb Deputy Senior Project Scientist Jonathan Gardner, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, told Space.com earlier this month.
Seoul, Dec 27 : South Korean President Moon Jae-in's approval rating rose 0.9 percentage points to 41.1 per cent last week, a new poll revealed on Monday.

The negative assessment on Moon's conduct of state affairs slipped 1.5 percentage points to 55.3 per cent, according to the Realmeter survey.

Support for Moon's ruling Democratic Party fell 0.4 percentage points to 32.7 per cent last week, reports Xinhua news agency.

The main conservative opposition People Power Party won 37.2 per cent of support last week, down 2.0 percentage points from the previous week.

The minor centre-right People's Party gained a 7.9 percent of approval score, followed by the minor centre-left Open Democratic Party with 6.4 per cent and the minor progressive Justice Party with 3.5 per cent.

As for the approval rating of presidential candidates, support for the Democratic Party's Lee Jae-myung advanced 1.7 percentage points over the week to 39.7 per cent last week.

Support for the People Power Party's Yoon Suk-yeol declined 4 percentage points to 40.4 per cent last week.

The country's presidential election is scheduled for March 9, 2022.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Amidst repeated domestic boycotts of Made-in-China, trade volume between India and China hit a record high of $100 billion by November, the Global Times reported citing the latest data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

Chinese state media pointed out that while there are those in India who are concerned about the trade deficit, advocating not to rely too much on trade with China, the data speaks for itself.

"Whatever the political considerations of these people, seeing China as India's enemy should not be an option for India and one that India cannot afford to make. Further increasing cooperation is the right choice," the Global Times report said.

India has long hoped to reduce its trade deficit with China, but making bilateral trade more balanced cannot be done by curbing Chinese exports to India, which would only hurt the Indian economy. Further boosting China's imports from India is the right way to go, and there is room for coordination between the two sides in this regard, and it should be a joint effort, the report said.

The record two-way trade provides the best evidence of the two countries' economic complementarities and the strong resilience of bilateral economic relations. In particular, by importing Chinese products at relatively low prices, India has saved more foreign exchange reserves and improved capital efficiency, Global Times reported.

Also, India's large imports of machinery and electronics from China and Chinese investment in the country's smartphone sector have greatly served the needs of the Indian people and boosted Indian exports to third countries, it added.

"Cooperation in manufacturing between India and China has great potential, and this cooperation will also create the basis for a more balanced trade between the two countries in the future. Therefore, India needs to unwind some of its inappropriate practices towards Chinese investment," the report added.

"Like it or not, India is already tightly connected to China and embedded in the international supply chain. The challenge for both sides is not who will replace whom but how to work together to strengthen their positions in the global supply chain." "It would only mean greater danger if China-India commerce were not deepened but gradually disconnected," the Chinese state media warned.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at Sanjeev.s@ians.in)
December 27 : Shilpa Shetty, who is on a vacation in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, with husband Raj Kundra and children Viaan Raj Kundra and Samisha Shetty Kundra, shared a cryptic post on making mistakes on her Instagram stories.

Shilpa took to her Instagram stories on Monday and shared a screenshot of a book page that had Tallulah Bankheads quote about making the same mistakes if she lived her life again. The quote read as, If I had my life to live again, Id make the same mistakes, only sooner. The page further reads, Mistakes can make us more interesting than the things we do right. We may cause pain to ourselves or others, hamper our professional progress, or just plain embarrass ourselves. But, oh! what we learn from our mistakes.

Image Source: Instagram/theshilpashetty

The book further read as, I dont seek out to make mistakes but I make them anyway. But I have to admit, now that some time has gone by, some of my mistakes have been a lot fun. To the post, Shilpa added, Mistakes were made and No regrets stickers.

Months after Raj Kundra was released from jail in porn apps case on bail, Shilpa and her family went on a vacation in Mussoorie. The actress has been sending pictures and videos from her vacation, giving glimpses of her adventurous holiday.

Shilpa even celebrated Christmas with her husband, kids and their friends in Mussoorie. In a photo shared by the actress on her Instagram stories, the couple was seen posing in front of a Christmas tree. She captioned the photo, Christmas couldn't get better than this. She also added a Christmas tree sticker on the picture that read Merry Christmas. Shilpa also shared several videos, wherein the actress was seen trekking in the mountains.

The actress shared a video, where she was seen at the Kempty Fall. Sharing the picture, Shilpa wrote, Ho ho ho Merrrryyyyy Christmas to all my Instafam.. An unusual Christmas.. we trekked all the way down to Kempty Fall stream to have lunch here .. Its trips like these that make me realise how Incredible India really is!

In another video, Shilpa was seen relishing hot jalebi and rabri as she wrote, 8 degrees Celsius brrrr nothing beats Hot Jalebi and Rabri with your Chai Sunday binge guys.

Last week, Raj Kundra issued a statement on the pornography case and called it a witch hunt. After much contemplation, considering there are many misleading and irresponsible statements and articles floating around and my silence has been misconstrued for weakness. I would like to start by stating that I have NEVER been involved in the production and distribution of pornography EVER in my life. The business also said that he was ready to face trial, as he was sure that truth would prevail.
The Government of India has finally acted and announced the setting up of a special panel to review the enforcement of the Armed Forces Special Powers in Nagaland (AFSPA).

There is more to it than one can see on the face value. The panel has been given three months time to submit its report instead of 45 days as was being pushed by the Nagaland government.

Including an Intelligence Bureau nominee as a member and Lt Gen B.S. Raju, DG Military Operations (DGMO) as the special invitee shows the centre wants to broadbase the scope of the study of AFSPA enforcement by the panel. It also wants to incorporate various delicate matters like allegations of 'extortion racket' allegedly prevalent in the state.

Earlier, Governor R.N Ravi, now shifted to Tamil Nadu, had pointed out the alleged extortion racket run by some of the Naga groups who were talking to the centre. Some militant organisations, government sources claim, also stated that they had the 'right' to collect taxes.

In December 2020, there were some differences between Ravi and state Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on these issues.

In an office order the North East division of the Union Home Ministry said Dr Vivek Joshi, Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India will head the special panel to study

AFSPA review issues vis-a-vis the state of Nagaland.

Following Oting shooting and killing of Kontak civilians and sustained pressures from various organisations, the state assembly on December 20 passed a unanimous official resolution

seeking immediate repeal of the controversial law - which sort of gives some impunity powers to the armed forces.

Indian security forces and even Defence Ministers including A.K. Antony (of Congress) and Mulayam Singh (of Samajwadi Party as a former Defence Minister) during the UPA regime had opposed repealing or any dilution of AFSPA in the past.

The order issued on Monday says, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home, Piyush Goyal will be the member secretary of the panel and it will have Lt Gen P.C. Nair, DG Assam Rifles among others as members.

Other members of the committee are J. Alam, Chief Secretary, Nagaland, T. John Longkumer, DGP, Nagaland, Dr M.S. Tuli, Joint Director Intelligence Bureau and Lt Gen B.S. Raju, DG Military Operations, will be the special invitee.

"The terms of reference of the committee shall be to review the application of AFSPA in Nagaland and make suitable recommendations within a period of three months".

On Sunday, Dec 26, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio (NDPP), deputy CM Y. Patton (BJP) and former Nagaland Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang (NPF) had stated that the committee will submit its report within 45 days and "withdrawal of the Disturbed Area and AFSPA will be based on the recommendations of the committee".

The Chief Minister and his colleagues also said that the Additional Secretary Home would head the panel.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has welcomed the 'decision' to constitute a panel to review enforcement of AFSPA in Nagaland, but he said the panel must review AFSPA matters across all north eastern states.

The Army said on Sunday that the inquiry ordered by the Army is progressing "expeditiously and efforts are being made to conclude it at the earliest. The Army is fully cooperating with the SIT inquiry ordered by the Nagaland govt".

Union Home Minister Amit Shah met three Naga leaders - Rio, Zeliang and Patton on December 23 and also Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who for his part has favoured continuing AFSPA in his state.

"The Indian Army wishes a happy new year to the people of Nagaland and we pray for good health, peace, happiness and prosperity for the people. We once again deeply regret the loss of lives during the December 4 incident in Mon district," a statement said on Sunday.

Sources said the CRPF, which has about 35 battalions in the Northeast, including some in Assam and two in Nagaland, have also 'opposed' any changes in the status quo.

Sources close to the NNPG leadership have said only a final peace pact can bring a 'natural end' to all controversies pertaining to the AFSPA and deployment of security forces in Nagaland and other Naga inhabited areas.

The AFSPA as a tool gives security forces 'powers' to conduct operations and arrest anyone without any prior warrant. It also gives immunity to the forces in case they open fire and shoot someone.

There is another complexity on the issue as the AFSPA application ends by December end and to ensure central forces functioning and presence in the state, it may have to be extended for a period of six months or so.

Convening of a one-day special assembly session of the assembly on December 20 against the AFSPA was the 'maximum' push by the Rio government - comprising NDPP (of Rio) and BJP and NPF, which was once a key opponent of the NDPP.

At the national level politics, the BJP generally takes pride in describing itself as a pro-armed forces political outfit.

In fact, prior to December 2017, Rio was also with NPF and even elected to Lok Sabha in 2014 as NPF candidate.

But he split and quit the regional party organisation to float NDPP after NPF chief Shurhozelie decided to nominate T.R. Zeliang as the chief ministerial candidate for 2018 elections.

(Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of books, 'The Talking Guns: North East India' and 'Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth')
Hyderabad, Dec 27 : BJP national general secretary in charge for Telangana Tarun Chug on Monday challenged Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao for an open debate on the performance of the central and state governments during the last seven years.

He said BJP state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar was ready for a debate with the chief minister on the performance of Narendra Modi government at the Centre and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government in the state.

Tarun Chug was addressing the BJP workers at Bandi Sanjay's day-long protest programme 'Nirudyoga Deeksha' to demand the state government to fill all vacancies.

Sanjay, who is also a Member of Parliament, was sitting on day-long fast at the BJP state office in Nampally area here.

The BJP had planned to organise the protest at Indira Park but police denied the permission for the same, forcing the saffron party to change the venue.

Tarun Chug alleged that 600 youth in Telangana committed suicide as the TRS government failed to provide them jobs. He recalled that Chief Minister KCR had assured the youth after formation of Telangana their life will change for better and had promised a job for every house.

The BJP leader said KCR and his government will not escape from the curse of 600 families. Claiming that anger is brewing among youth across the state, he remarked that a volcano is set to erupt.

Tarun Chug said the TRS government should spell out as to how many of two lakh vacancies in government departments were filled.

He alleged that KCR had also gone back on his promise to pay Rs 3,016 monthly unemployment allowance to every unemployed youth.

He said KCR had promised jobs for every house and a golden Telangana but only his family has benefited in Telangana state. Stating that BJP is the only alternative to TRS, he asked the party cadres to go to people and highlight the failures of the TRS government.

Actor politician Vijayshanti, former minister Eatala Rajender and other leaders attended the protest programme.

Earlier, while slamming Bandi Sanjay for his hunger strike, state minister for industry and information technology K. T Rama Rao alleged that he was indulging in opportunistic politics since BJP leaders were unable to explain to the people the Centre's failure to provide jobs.

Rama Rao, who is also TRS working president, alleged that the BJP leader was trying to instigate the youth and divert their attention from their education and job searches.

In an open letter to state BJP chief, minister KTR claimed that the state government provided more jobs than promised. He advised Sanjay to undertake 'deeksha' at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and question Prime Minister Narendra Modi as to why 15 lakh vacancies were pending at the national level.
Sydney, Dec 27 : A fully vaccinated elderly man in his 80s from New South Wales (NSW) in Australia is believed to be the first person to die due to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, even as 520 patients are hospitalised in the country due to the virus.

The man died at Westmead Hospital and was a resident of the Uniting Lilian Wells aged care facility at North Parramatta, in western Sydney, where he acquired his infection, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He was fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions.

NSW Health's Christine Selvey said the man was believed to be the first person to die in the state after being infected with the Omicron variant and urged people to come forward for a booster or third dose if they were eligible.

According to federal government data released last week, 33 residents and 11 staff members at the North Parramatta aged care facility have recently been infected with Covid-19.

On Monday, 520 Covid-19 patients were in hospital, 55 of whom were in intensive care in NSW as 6,324 new cases were recorded and QR codes and density limits returned in certain settings, the report said.

Two other deaths due to Covid-19 were reported: a woman in her 90s who died at Wyong Hospital and a man in his 80s who died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Both had received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Brad Hazzard said everyone in Australia will "get Omicron at some stage".

"Everybody in Australia will get Omicron, and what we're seeing at the moment is far milder symptoms," he said, urging people against calling an ambulance or going to hospital if their symptoms were not severe, with about 2,000 hospital staff currently on furlough.

"That's putting enormous pressure on other staff in our hospitals," he was quoted as saying.

Hazzard said that people who tested positive and didnaAt have to go to hospital would be able to leave isolation after 10 days if they were symptom-free.

"You can leave your home because we know that you are very unlikely at that point to be infectious," he said.

South Australia has scrapped the PCR test requirement for incoming travellers while heightening restrictions for venues and home gatherings, but is asking visitors to take rapid antigen tests.

The NSW government is expecting pressure on Covid-19 testing centres to die down in the New Year after people's travel plans take place.

Senior ministers are in discussions about the procurement of more rapid antigen tests to cope with ongoing demand, with an announcement expected soon.
Mandi : , Dec 27 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the Centre is working towards tackling the problem of single-use plastic and the country has already achieved the target set for 2030 of making 40 per cent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy.

Addressing a massive public meeting at the Paddal ground in this Himachal Pradesh town, known as Chotti Kashi, on the completion of the four years of the BJP government led by Jai Ram Thakur, the Prime Minister said that the government is also alert about the damage caused to the mountains due to plastic.

"Along with the nationwide campaign against single-use plastic, our government is also working on plastic waste management." Urging the tourists, he said it is also their responsibility not to litter the hills and rivers with plastic.

After inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of four mega hydropower projects of Rs 11,000 crore, Modi said these projects are a part of the climate-friendly new India and aim at conserving the environment.

Highlighting the country's efforts towards conserving the environment along with building developmental infrastructure, the Prime Minister said this step was being recognised even globally.

"From solar power to hydropower, from wind power to green hydrogen, the country is working continuously to make full use of every resource of renewable energy," Modi said.

"India has achieved the target which was set for 2030, of making 40 per cent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy this year itself. The whole world is praising India for how our country is accelerating development while saving the environment. Our country is working continuously to make full use of every resource of renewable energy." Modi laid the foundation of the Rs 7,000-crore Renukaji dam project along with other hydro projects. The Renukaji dam in Sirmaur district, which was laying pending for three decades, will substantially add to the water supply of the national capital. Six states -- Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi -- were brought together by the Centre for making the project possible.

Before launching the projects, Modi, whose visit to the state in the Jai Ram Thakur government was fourth, also attended the second ground-breaking ceremony of Himachal Pradesh's Global Investors' Meet that is expected to give a boost to investments through 287 projects of Rs 28,197 crore.

The first groundbreaking ceremony was held in the state capital on December 27, 2019, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Repeatedly enumerating the benefits of the 'double engine government', meaning the same party government both in the Centre and the state, the Prime Minister, who was donning a Himachali cap and shawl, said the development and transformation of Himachal Pradesh under the BJP has not stopped. "In these four years, for two years we fought strongly against corona and also didn't allow development projects to stop." "Several developmental projects have come up in the state, and infrastructure has improved drastically under the Jai Ram Thakur government." Trying to build rapport with the people, Modi, who started his half an hour speech in a local dialect and said he was blessed to be in 'Chotti Kashi', congratulated the state government for completing four years. "Four years have seen the state transform rapidly under the leadership of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur." He said his government has decided that the age of marriage for daughters and sons should be the same. "With this move, the daughters will get full time to study and make a career," said Modi, who got a loud applause from the women audience.

The Prime Minister, who thanked the audience for gathering despite the harsh winter, said Himachal Pradesh had set an example through organic and natural farming as the state. He said the state has an immense potential in pharmaceuticals, besides food processing and agriculture and these must be developed.

"The work done by our government in the last seven years to increase the security of the country, the decisions taken for the soldiers, ex-servicemen, have benefited the people of Himachal as well." Indirectly slamming the previous Congress governments, Modi said, "There are two development models in the state. One is 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas'. The other model is 'Khud ka swarth, parivaar ka swarth'. The Himachal government is working on the first model." Interestingly, local Congress Member of Parliament Pratibha Singh was conspicuous by her absence from Modi's programmes.

Earlier, Chief Minister Thakur said the state government has reformed in every sector and benefited its citizens.

He thanked the Prime Minister for his special attention and love for the state.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Imphal, Dec 27 : A 48-year-old man from Manipur has tested positive for Omicron, becoming the first case of the new Covid-19 variant in the northeast, a health official said on Monday.

Khoirom Sasbeekumar Mangang, Additional Director of the state's Health and Family Welfare Department, said the man from Imphal West had recently visited Tanzania.

After the man returned to the state, his sample was collected on December 21 which was sent for genome sequencing to the Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD) at Takyelpat near Imphal.

"According to the report of the IBSD, the sample had tested positive for the Omicron variant on Monday. Three from the man's family have also tested positive for Covid-19. Their samples were not yet confirmed for the Omicron variant," Mangang told IANS.

The patient is currently undergoing treatment in the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences at Porompat in Imphal, Mangang, who is also the spokesperson for the Manipur health department, said, adding that his condition was now stable.

In March 2020, a 23-year-old woman, who had returned to Manipur from the UK, became the first coronavirus case in the entire northeastern region.

She was also the first Covid-19 patient to recover in the northeast.

According to Manipur's health department, the cumulative number of Covid-19 positive cases in the state currently stands at 1,25,723, with a recovery rate of 98.26 per cent.

Of the total number of cases, 4,434 are Central security personnel According to data from the Union Health Ministry, the Covid death ratio in Manipur is 1.59 per cent against the national average of 1.38 per cent.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, Dec 27 : Manish Gupta's crime film '420 IPC' starring Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey and Gul Panag which released recently has been garnering a positive response for its narrative style driven through the intricacies of the Indian Penal Code.

Manish, whose credits include films like 'The Stoneman Murders' (writer and director), 'Sarkar' (writer) and 'Section 375' (writer), recently spoke with IANS and unravelled what went into the making of a film that explores the layers of courtroom proceedings in a financial fraud case.

Explaining the germ of '420 IPC', he says, "I'd got the idea for '420 IPC' during the three years of extensive research that I'd carried out for my previous courtroom drama 'Section 375' during which I came across court procedures involved in economic offence cases - which I found to be an unexplored premise for a film." He adds, "Carrying out further research, I discovered that people with upper economic status and a high pedigree of intelligence and education are involved in economic crimes. So the court proceedings involve more brain work, thus lending a more cerebral premise for a film." Manish himself took the onus of the film's research as he says, "There was no research team. I carried out the research personally and singlehandedly by attending numerous court hearings and interviewing lawyers, court staff members, policemen, etc. I'd already done a heavy amount of research for 'Section 375', so I had a lot of basic research material already with me." Commenting on the value that his lead actors Vinay and Ranvir add to the film, he mentions, "Vinay and Ranvir infuse a lot of believability into the narrative. Both are brilliant actors which goes without saying but at the same time, both have the ability to absorb their characters so well that the viewer sees a real person, rather than an actor." Probe him if there were a lot of improvisations on the sets, he quips, "Not really, because my scripts are usually written with great clarity. In '420 IPC', as in all my films, since I was the director as well as the screenplay and dialogue writer, so while writing, I'd already directed the film on paper." Looking at his filmography, one can easily say that the filmmaker-writer has a knack for grey stories and characters. Explaining his fascination with grey shades, he furnishes the closing answer, "In reality, no person is completely good or bad. All human beings possess good and bad qualities, although to varying degrees. That's exactly what I depict in my films."
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Congress suffered a major setback in the Chandigarh municipal polls ahead of the crucial Assembly elections in the state as the AAP emerged as the single largest party followed by the BJP.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was contesting the elections for the first time, has registered an impressive performance. The Congress, which was aiming to defeat the BJP, has been pushed to the third place as per the trends and results in the afternoon.

AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal said that "this victory in Chandigarh is a sign of upcoming change in Punjab." But the Congress has not reacted to the results and is waiting for the final outcome.

The Congress, which was already facing an anti-incumbency factor in Punjab, will have to fight a three-front battle -- the resurgent AAP, the BJP-Amarinder Singh and the Akali Dal-BSP fronts. The party which was hoping to reap dividends from the farmers' agitation has to rethink its strategy after the unions forged a political party in the state.

The Congress, which is mired in infighting in the state, will have to gear up for the Punjab polls. There may not be an easy walkover in the Assembly polls as the Congress had thought after replacing Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister in the state and appointing Charanjit Singh Channi to get the Scheduled Caste votes, which is the highest in the country, but the recent issues of sacrilege and lynching has put the Chief Minister on the back foot.

The AAP has won 14 out of the 35 seats in the Chandigarh Municipal polls, the BJP bagged 12 seats, the Congress has won only eight seats and has been pushed to the third spot, while the SAD won only one seat.
Mumbai, Dec 27 : The shooting for Vidyut Jammwal-starrer 'Khuda Haafiz Chapter II - Agni Pariksha' has been wrapped up.

The upcoming film directed by Faruk Kabir wrapped up its shoot with the last schedule shot in Egypt.

Vidyut said: "Essaying Samir has been an adventurous journey spanning across two wonderful films directed by the brilliant Faruk Kabir." "As we wrap the second one, I'm grateful and proud to be on a film that pushed me to my limits. It made performing stunts and action sequences even more exciting for me. I hope to give the audience something memorable and epic with this one." Filmmaker Faruk Kabir added that shooting in Egypt was a great adventure.

He said: "Before wrapped the film, we shot there for 15 days and we felt thoroughly welcomed in this mystical country. The landscape that it offers 'Khuda Haafiz Chapter II Agni Pariksha' is phenomenal. It makes the visually palatable and amps up the thrill." Kumar Mangat Pathak, Managing Director at Panorama Studios, said: "We've repeated the team of the first instalment and the comfort, friendship and pace of work that they maintain are commendable. With the film wrapped, we're excited about launching into post-production and announcing its release date." Panorama Studios International presents 'Khuda Haafiz Chapter II - Agni Pariksha', a Panorama Studios production, written and directed by Faruk Kabir, produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak, co-produced by Sanjeev Joshi, Aditya Chowksey and Hasnain Hussaini.

It also stars Shivaleeka Oberoi.

The second chapter outlines the intense action love story between the lead characters essayed by Vidyut Jammwal and Shivaleeka Oberoi, who are both tasked with facing challenges posed by circumstances and society.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Balrampur : , Dec 27 (IANS) A village headman was shot dead and another person injured allegedly over election rivalry, police said on Monday.

Radhe Shyam Verma, 55, a village headman of Rupnagar, was returning home from his field on Sunday when some people shot him in the Maharajganj Terai police circle area.

Manish Verma, who rushed to help Verma, was also shot at.

Both were taken to a hospital, where doctors declared Radhe Shyam Verma brought dead and Manish Verma was referred to the district hospital for treatment.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Hemant Kutiyal said a case has been registered against four people, and four teams have been formed to arrest them.

Additional police force has been deployed in the village to maintain peace and order, he stated.
Patna, Dec 27 : A group of Brahmins who had assembled at former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's residence in Patna on Monday, alleged that they were manhandled by his supporters.

A large number of Brahmins assembled at the residence of Manjhi to eat at a Brahmin-Dalit Ekta Bhoj (unity banquet) organised by the former. They were served Chura (flattened rice), curd, tilkut (a kind of sweet made of sesame seeds) and vegetables for the feast.

Suddenly, one of the Brahmins alleged that he was manhandled by the supporters of Manjhi's party Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM). He alleged that HAM men forced him and others to eat the meal even as they did not want to.

"We raised strong objection over the way they served food to us. They cannot force us to eat the meal. If they would not respect us, why would we eat food there? Hence, we boycotted the Bhoj (feast) and came out from his residence," Yash Raj, one of the leaders of the Brahmin community who to the residence of Manjhi, said.

Yash Raj was the one who spearheaded the protest against Jitan Ram Manjhi on December 23. He along with several others went there and also organised Satyanarain Puja (worship of Lord Vishnu). On that day, he claimed that his group would go to the house of Manjhi to eat.

Many Brahmin leaders claimed that the ruckus started after some of them asked questions to Manjhi.

"Manjhi had organised conditional Brahmin-Dalit Ekta Bhoj. He put conditions on the people of our community that those who do not eat non-vegetarian food, do not drink liquor or are not involved in any crime, are invited for the Bhoj. We asked Manjhi to clarify who is he to ask people what we eat and what we should not. After this question, the supporters of Manjhi manhandled us," Yash Raj said.

When the situation turned ugly, some of the supporters including national spokesperson Danish Rizwan requested the Brahmins to continue eating. If they have any objection, it can be resolved through dialogue, he said.

However, the Brahmins did not listen to them and boycotted the Bhoj. They also accused Manjhi of inviting them for the Bhoj and doing politics over it.

Jitan Ram Manjhi, while addressing Dalits in Patna on December 19, had made derogatory remarks against Brahmins. He said that Brahmins used to do Satyanarain Puja in our houses but they do not eat food in their houses. Instead of food, they demand money from us.

Manjhi, after his abusive remark, publicly apologized twice and took back his words. He also said that he is not against Brahmins but against Brahminism.
Lucknow, Dec 27 : With the Assembly elections not far away, it is raining freebies in Uttar Pradesh. Major political parties and their leaders are raining sops on voters even before their official manifestos are released.

The trend began with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announcing 300 units of free electricity if voted to power. The party said that all power arrears would be waived off and farmers would be given free electricity.

The party also promised employment guarantee and a larger budget for education.

Even as other political parties pooh-poohed the ideas saying it was unfeasible, AAP spokesman Vaibhav Maheshwari said, "We have achieved this in Delhi already and other parties are unnerved on the issue. The Delhi model of governance is our biggest strength." The Rashtriya Lok Dal, which released its manifesto in October, has promised one crore jobs to the youth with 50 per cent representation to women in police to check the increasing number of crimes against women.

"We have also resolved to fill all the vacant posts in police, education and health departments within six months," the manifesto says.

The RLD, if voted to power, has also promised to enhance the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi amount from Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000 for small farmers. The party further promises to increase MSP for main crops and ensure MSP for farmers.

The Congress, on the other hand, is focussing on women power. The party, apart from promising 40 per cent reservation for women in the Assembly tickets has even released a women manifesto that promises smartphones and electric scooty for girls, increase in pension for widows and elderly women, increase in honorarium for ASHA and anganwadi workers and free bus travel for women in the state.

The Congress has also promised three free gas cylinders in a year for women.

The Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia (PSPL), headed by Shivpal Singh Yadav, has promised a job for one daughter and one son in a family. He also promised Rs five lakh each for every unemployed graduate.

Harish Chandra Srivastava, the BJP spokesman, meanwhile said, "The BJP makes a manifesto that is based on people's aspirations and we fulfill the promises that we make -- like we did after the 2017 manifesto. We do not make promises that cannot be fulfilled. Parties that are making fantastic promises know that they are not coming to power and do not have to fulfill their words." Samajwadi Party spokesman Sunil Singh Sajan, on the other hand, said, "People believe in us because we delivered all that we promised in our 2012 manifesto. The BJP has failed to live up to its promises -- whether it was doubling the income of farmers or giving jobs. Our manifesto, when it comes, will reinforce the people's faith in Samajwadi Party."
New Delhi, Dec 27 : More troubles are looming for Piyush Jain as the Enforcement Directorate is now mulling to lodge money laundering case against the Kanpur based businessman, who was arrested by the GST team for tax evasion.

The Intelligence Unit of GST had raided the premises of Piyush Jain on Sunday. They had to call a Bank employee to count the notes recovered from his house. "It was Rs 250 crore which we recovered from his premise. Piyush could not give any satisfactory answer as to from where he got the money. We have shared information with Income Tax Department and other agencies. ED was also given a set of documents in this respect," said a source.

The source said that now ED will soon lodge a case under relevant sections of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED is currently waiting for a final report of the GST department.

On Sunday, teams of GST and I-T department following a tip off conducted raids at Kanpur, Kannauj and Mumbai. The I-T department is currently making a list of his Benami properties. This will be shared with the ED to decide future course of action.

"We have recovered documents pertaining to his Benami properties worth Rs 300 crore. We have doubt that he was helping few politicians to launder money through Benami properties. The ED officials are in touch with us, once we complete the file, we will give it to ED," said a GST source.

On Sunday, Piyush Jain was arrested by the central agencies on tax evasion charges. A case against him under section 69 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act was lodged by the central probe agency.
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Bengaluru Police Commissioner Kamal Pant stated on Monday that cases will be lodged against those who violate the curfew imposed by the government from Tuesday onwards.

The ruling BJP has clamped night curfew from December 28 to January 7 in the state amid fears of the Omicron variant spreading. The clampdown has brought the curtains down on the New Year celebrations in the state.

"As per the government orders, the curfew will be imposed in Bengaluru between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. There is no scope for any activity in pubs, clubs and other commercial establishments," he said.

If anyone is found violating the curfew they will be booked under the National Disaster Management Act (NDMA), he warned. The police will not let people roam during the night curfew, he added.

He stressed that there will be no movement of vehicles and people on M.G. Road, Brigade Road, Koramangala and Indiranagar after 10 p.m. The police will take extra measures on New Year's eve to enforce the curfew.

Most of the happening pubs and restaurants are located in these areas and the people of Bengaluru traditionally celebrated new year on M.G Road and Brigade Road. Vehicle movement used to be stopped to allow the celebrations.

CCTV's will be installed everywhere and no passes will be issued. Those who move out on an emergency should show proof, those who are undertaking journeys must show their tickets and those who go to work will have to show their identity cards, he said.
Chandigarh, Dec 27 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday won most seats in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls on its debut.

The ruling BJP's Mayor, Ravi Kant Sharma, and two former Mayors, Davesh Moudgil and Rajesh Kalia, faced humiliating defeats.

Of the total 35 seats, AAP managed to win 14, followed by BJP (12), Congress (8) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (1).

The polling, which saw 60 per cent voter turnout, was held on December 24.

Former Mayor Moudgil, who was allotted ticket at the last moment on the intervention of former MP Satya Pal Jain, lost to AAP's Jasbir Singh Laddi by 939 votes in Ward 21.

Moudgil was facing anti-incumbency factor owing to lack of development works in his ward. He was also facing opposition from the party leadership in the city due to his insubordination while at the helm.

Sitting Mayor Sharma lost his seat to Damanpreet Singh from Ward 17 by a margin of 828 votes.

Gurpeet Singh of the Congress won by nine votes in Ward 34, while Harpreet Kaur Babla, wife of leader of opposition Devinder Singh Babla, won by 3,103 votes in Ward 10, the highest winning margin so far.

Sarbajit Kaur of the BJP won by 502 votes in Ward 6, SAD's Hardeep Singh won by 2,145 votes in Ward 30, while former Congress Mayor Kamlesh also faced defeat.

Chandigarh Congress President Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla also lost. BJP President Arun Sood's seat, from where the party's Vijay Rana contested also lost.

AAP's election campaign committee chairman Chandermukhi Sharma also lost his seat.

Before the elections, the AAP had promised free 20,000 litre water per month per house, free public parking lots, free door-to-door waste collection, free primary education and mohalla clinics.

Responding to the results, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said it is a "victory of Kejriwal's model of governance as people were yearning for a change for years." The BJP had swept the last civic body polls, winning 20 of 26 wards. Chandigarh had 26 seats in the previous civic elections.

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Mumbai, Dec 27 : Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif wished Salman Khan on his birthday on Monday. The actress took to her Instagram and posted a picture of Salman in her story section.

She wrote on the picture, "@beingsalmankhan the Happiest birthday to u May all the love light and brilliance u have be with you forever (sic)." Katrina and Salman have shared a good equation over the years and have worked together in many films like 'Ek Tha Tiger', 'Tiger Zinda Hai', 'Bharat', 'Partner' and 'Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya?'.

Earlier, ahead of his birthday, Salman was rushed to a hospital after he was bitten by a snake. However, the actor was discharged from the hospital after a few hours as the snake wasn't venomous. The actor even greeted the media outside his Panvel farmhouse after making a recovery.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Chennai, Dec 27 : Several salespersons of Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi, Tirunelvelli, Madurai and Dindigul districts have alleged that the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishment (Amendment) Act passed by the state Legislative Assembly providing them seats to prevent them from standing through the day was not being practiced.

The Act, stating that the shops and establishments across the state must have seats for salesmen and saleswomen to prevent them from standing through the day, was passed by the Assembly in September 2021.

Kavitha RA (23) has been working in a well-known textile shop since she turned 18 and hails from a rural part of the Tirunelveli district. When contacted by IANS, Kavitha said: "I have to stand from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. when the shop downs its shutters. I came to know from a friend of mine who is working in Chennai that the government had enacted an amendment giving us the right to sit. Rights have to be equal across the state and I do want the district administration to implement this for us also." She said that the shop belongs to a prominent family and police and district administration would turn their backs to the plight of the salespeople in the shop.

Another salesman, Karventhan, (36) (name changed) also said that he was experiencing the same plight. Speaking to IANS he said: "There is no change here and we are not allowed to sit except during lunch hours and during break time. The shop is under CCTV monitoring and the manager is always watching and if we sit, we are given a stern warning. If the government has passed the amendment, why is it not being implemented." In Madurai also, a similar situation prevails in textile shops and grocery supermarkets with the salesmen and girls not allowed to sit except during break.

Thenmozhi (27), working with a prominent textile shop for the past nine years said that she was used to standing but turned weak due to this. She said that she has developed several health issues, including varicose veins, by standing for long hours at a stretch.

A study by the labour department of Madurai has revealed that the salesmen and girls in almost all the shops in the districts of Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Dindigul, and other places suffer from varicosis vein in their legs and stagnation of blood.

However, labour department officials told IANS that they are conducting a meeting with the department, trade unions, and the management participating in it. The labour department is planning to create awareness to comply with the rights of the salesmen and sales girls in shops and establishments of South Tamil Nadu.

An owner of a major textile group based out of Tirunelveli, however, said that he has implemented the amendment in his shop once the amendment came into effect.
Dakshina Kannada, Dec 27 : A man who sexually exploited a girl for years by luring her with narcotics, was arrested on Monday in Surathkal in the district.

The accused has been identified as Mohammad Shareef (47), a resident of Katippala near Surathkal.

According to the police, after the victim's mother came to know about the exploitation, she lodged a complaint at the Surathkal police station. She alleged that Mohammad had been supplying her daughter drugs and sexually exploiting her for the last four years.

On December 22, he had made a phone call to the victim and asked her to come near Big Bazar, close to Lalbagh area from where he took her to an undisclosed location and sexually exploited her again.

Based on the complaint, the cops then arrested Mohammad.

Sources close to the victim's family revealed that the police had been informed earlier also but no action was initiated against the accused person then.

They said that the accused had tried to lure the victim into drug peddling and they have sought the help of the police and activists to bring her out of the nexus.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Despite a lapse of 14 years, the mystery surrounding the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was murdered after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindis Liaquat Bagh, is yet to be solved, and the case is still pending in the Lahore High Courts (LHC) Rawalpindi bench, Express Tribune reported.

Twenty party workers were killed and 71 others were seriously injured in the attack on the former Pakistan premier.

In the aftermath of the incident, four inquiries were conducted into the high-profile case with the police joint investigation team (JIT), the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the United Nations (UN) and Scotland Yard striving to solve the matter.

However, these inquiries and investigations yielded no results as the Bhutto family did not pursue the case in the special anti-terrorism court (ATC), the report said.

A total of 12 challans were filed in this case, 355 appearances were recorded, 10 judges were changed and 141 witnesses, including 68 prosecution witnesses, were testified. Sixteen people were accused in the case, but only eight of them were arrested.

The main accused, Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud, was killed in a drone strike. Five other accused - Nadir Khan alias Qari, Nasrullah, Abdullah alias Saddam, Ikramullah and Faiz Muhammad Kaskat - were also killed in encounters with intelligence agencies at different places.

The suicide bomber who attacked the former Prime Minister was identified as Saeed Blakel, who died in the blast. The police arrested five accused, Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Rashid Ahmed, Rafaqat and Hasnain Gul.

The FIA also arrested then Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, former city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz and superintendent of police (SP) Rawal Khurram Shehzad as accused in the case. However, they were later granted bail by the high court.

On August 31, 2017, Judge Muhammad Asghar Khan of the special ATC pronounced the verdict after nine years, acquitting five accused, and declaring Musharraf as a fugitive on absenteeism, and issued permanent arrest warrants, besides confiscating his movable and immovable property, the report said.
Haveri, : Dec 27 (IANS) As many as 80 school children fell sick on Monday after consuming sambar in which a dead lizard was found in Venkatapura Tanda village near Ranibennur in Haveri district of Karnataka.

The incident took place in the Government Primary school of Venkatapura Tanda. The children fell sick after consuming midday meal. All of them have been rushed to the government hospital in Ranibennur town.

According to sources in the education department, the condition of two of the children is stated to be "critical". The rest 78 students have recovered after initial treatment.

Eye witnesses have told authorities that when midday meal was being served to the students at the school, one of the boys was served sambar with a dead lizard.

On seeing the lizard, the boy alerted others and immediately started vomiting.

Soon, other students also started to fall sick. The district administration has directed the authorities to take appropriate action on negligence by the school authorities.
Chennai, Dec 27 : Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader O. Panneerselvam (OPS) has demanded a detailed inquiry into the recruitment of 18 persons in the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Southern Region.

In a statement on Monday, the AIADMK leader said that the AICTE officials have said that there were only 13 vacancies and fraudsters were cheating job aspirants with false claims. He called upon a detailed investigation by the police on the matter and to prevent job seekers from being duped.

The senior leader also asked the government to look into the charge made by the AICTE officials that the bank account details of the job seekers were sought by the fraudsters and demanded immediate intervention from the government.

O. Panneerselvam called upon the Tamil Nadu government to nip such things in the bud to prevent people from getting cheated by fraudsters who are duping people with their hard-earned money.

notably, a gang of fraudsters had interviewed youths from rural districts of Tamil Nadu for several posts stating that these were for AICTE, Southern Region. The gang had informed the youth that there were positions like state coordinator and head inspection officer that never existed.

The gang members, according to job aspirants, had even conducted written tests and called only those who had scored 50 per cent marks in the exam for interview.

The candidates were even asked to come for the interview with mandatorily trimmed hand nails, clean shave appearance, and separate dress code for male and female candidates.

The racket came to light when some candidates called upon the regional office of the AICTE who informed the aspirants that there were no such vacancies and that the AICTE had not conducted any such tests or interviews.
San Francisco, Dec 27 : Healthtech company Movano will showcase a wearable in the form of a ring at the CES 2022 in Las Vegas that claims to measure your health data to monitor health and, hopefully, chronic diseases in the future.

The Movano ring will measure basic metrics, including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), sleep, respiration, temperature, blood oxygen levels, steps, and calories burned.

After reading the data, the ring will "take a more proactive approach to mitigating the risks of chronic disease", reports The Verge.

The wearable, which still needs the US FDA clearance, can predict and reveal, via its smartphone app, how your exercise habits impact your sleeping patterns, and more.

There is already one such ring called the Oura Ring, along with Whoop and Fitbit, that scan sleep and recovery data.

However, Movano says it wants its insights to be more actionable than other available products.
Patna, Dec 27 : Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asked people of the country to avoid coming to the state if they wished to consume liquor, even as Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana referred to the state's prohibition move as "short-sighted".

Nitish Kumar made his statement made during the third programme of his Social Reforms Campaign in Sasaram. He had started the drive from Motihari and then went to Gopalganj.

Addressing the gathering in a newly-built stadium in Fazajganj area of Sasaram, he quoted Mahatma Gandhi who had said that consuming liquor does not result in money loss only, but also makes a people mentally corrupt.

"Bapu said that if he become a dictator for an hour, he would shut all liquor operations in the country.

"We cannot allow anyone to drink liquor in the state. If you wish to come here to drink liquor, I would suggest that please do not come here," he said.

Nitish Kumar also sought to cite World Health Organisation (WHO) data in favour of his ban, noting 27 per cent of all road accidents take place as drivers are in an inebriated condition.

"If you want to live a long life, you should avoid liquor," he said.

Nitish Kumar earlier said that liquor ban in Bihar cannot withdrawn at any cost, and threatened those who challenge it or give statements in public should be liable to face legal action as per the laws.

On the other hand, CJI Ramana declared that the liquor ban of Bihar a "shortsighted decision" of the Nitish Kumar government.

Participating in a discussion on the futuristic challenges to the Indian judiciary at the Sidhartha Law College in Vijaywada, he pointed out that every policies need to address futuristic planning, evaluation and constitutionality before its implementation on ground.

"The liquor ban decision of Nitish Kumar government in 2016 has left a large number of cases pending in the courts. Even hearings for bail in simple cases are taking one year time in the courts.

"The applications pertaining to bails in liquor prohibition act are submitted in large numbers in the high court. Due to short-sighted policies implemented by different governments, it is affecting the works of courts in the country. Every law need to be discuss thoroughly and with solid points before implementation," the CJI said.

Earlier, the Patna High Court has also made strong remarks on the liquor ban and large number of bail applications filed before it. While it has set up a special court in every district for the hearing of bail pertaining to persons booked under liquor violations, the accused are filing bail pleas in large numbers before the high court after their pleas are rejected by the special courts.

At present, 11,000 people were arrested on the charges of violating liquor prohibition law in Bihar, and they form a majority of the prison populations. For example, the Beur Central jail in Patna has a capacity of 5,500 and 2,100 of them are behind bars on the charge of liquor violation.

As per data, over 50,000 people were sent to jail in first 8 months of 2021 in Bihar for violating the liquor ban.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : A prisoner was allegedly stabbed by his fellow inmates at the high-security Tihar Prison in the national capital, an official said here on Monday.

According to the official, the incident took place at Jail No. 3 of the prison on Saturday.

"The inmate identified as Prakash, alias Chinu, was attacked by three to four inmates of his ward with a hand-made knife," Director General (Prisons) Sandeep Goyal informed.

During the attack, the 26-year-old inmate sustained stab injuries on his thigh and back. The scuffle was stopped by the jail staff, who immediately intervened after which, the injured inmate Prakash was rushed to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital.

As per latest information, Prakash is currently under treatment at the said hospital.

Notably, the incident comes on the same day when IANS learnt that five prisoners at the Tihar Jail have died in the past eight days. Goyal has said that the deaths of the prisoners took place in different jails and "none was related to any kind of violence".

"In all these, the circumstances indicate natural causes like old disease or other unknown reasons," Goyal said, adding that as per rules, inquest proceedings are being conducted by Metropolitan Magistrate in each case.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Election Commission of India is unlikely to postpone the state polls due early next year, sources said. The health Secretary on Monday briefed the Commission about the Omicron threat in the country specially in the poll bound states.

The commission has asked the government to vaccinate all those on election duty ahead of the polls. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan submitted a report to the commission according to which the assembly polls in Manipur, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and UP are likely to be held at the scheduled time as mandated by the Constitution. The assembly tenure of UP is due to end in May.

Former CEC S.Y. Qureshi told IANS, "postponement of elections is out of question and it will be violation of the Constitution and the Commission will take into account all the factors while it may ban rallies." A source with the ministry said that the Election Commission and Union Health Ministry discussed the rising number of cases of new Covid variant Omicron across the country with special attention on the states going to polls. Rajesh Bhushan presented a detailed report on the transmissibility of Omicron to the Election Commission.

According to a source, on being asked about the Omicron spread in the next three months, the Union Health Secretary said that this time nothing can be said exactly at the moment. The daily Covid caseload can see around 25 per cent jump in next few months as per the present rate of infections, he said in the meeting. The health officials also detailed the districts where R value has increased, said the source.

The assembly elections are scheduled for five states - Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab in 2022. The dates could be announced in the first week of January, said the source. The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other officials are scheduled to visit Uttar Pradesh to take stock of the poll preparedness on Tuesday.
London, Dec 27 : Manchester City forward Ferran Torres has reportedly passed his Barcelona medical ahead of his A55million switch to the club once the transfer window opens in January. After the forced retirement of Sergio Aguero, Torres is viewed as Barcelona's top target.

The 21-year-old Spanish forward arrived at Barcelona for a medical on Monday as his transfer from Manchester City moved a step closer. Man City only signed Torres from Valencia in the summer of 2020, but he attracted the interest of Barcelona and their new manager Xavi, who singled him out as their priority for the January window.

"The two clubs have agreed an initial fee of A47.6m for the Spain star to be transferred when the January window opens, as well as a further potential A8.5m in performance-related bonuses; of those additional payments, A6m of them are understood to be straightforward and easy to hit," Manchester Evening News reported.

Torres, who has been injured since October with a fractured metatarsal picked up on international duty, posted a video on social media on Sunday of him training on his own in a pitch in Valencia. And on Monday morning he was snapped arriving at a Barcelona hospital to undergo a medical with his new club.

Guardiola has already said that City will not be signing a replacement for Torres next month. He reiterated that the club know they need to buy a No.9 to replace Sergio Aguero.
Jerusalem, Dec 27 : About half of the coronavirus cases in Israel sent for genetic sequencing are found to be caused by the Omicron variant, health officials said on Monday.

Covid cases in Israel have been on a sharp rise for several days. In the last week, almost 10,000 new cases have been reported, marking an 81 per cent increase from the previous week, Jerusalem Post reported.

According to the latest update on Saturday night, there were 1,118 identified Omicron cases in the country and another 800 people were highly suspected of carrying it, but likely the number is much higher.

"No one, and especially those who have children in the education system, will escape this wave in a way or another," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was quoted as saying on Ynet, even as the country on Monday started the fourth dose of Covid vaccines.

Until recently, the Delta variant was still considered to be the dominant one in Israel, but experts believe that the new explosion in the number of cases must be caused by Omicron, which is known to be highly contagious.

A panel of experts from the Hebrew University stated that Omicron is set to become the dominant strain of Covid in Israel within one to two weeks, and it could spread so fast that quarantine will become "rampant", The Times of Israel reported.

Prof Nadav Katz predicted that the number of new infections will double weekly, and that the proportion of them that are Omicron will grow sharply. If this happens, Covid restrictions are likely to be bolstered with social distancing rules, such as more work-from-home in the private sector, within two weeks, he said.

The new variant has been detected in wastewaters in 19 different locations in the country, Health Ministry data showed, demonstrating that it is now widespread, the report said.

While there is limited data on virulence of the variant, Katz noted that almost 1 in 20 children will end up in serious condition. The researchers predict that by late January, around 4 per cent of the seriously ill will be children.

"This emphasises the benefits of vaccinating children," they said in a statement.

About 90,512 people, almost 1 per cent of Israelis, are currently in quarantine, according to the Health Ministry. This includes the Prime Minister, who entered quarantine after one of his daughters was found infected with Covid. While Bennett himself has tested negative, he said he was going to continue to isolate as a precaution.

Further, Israel is also registering an increase in serious morbidity, the report said. As of Monday, there were 87 serious patients. While the number remains limited and only slightly higher than in previous days, when it stood at around 80-82, there was a rise of 108 per cent of new serious patients in the past seven days compared to the seven days before.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Union Home Ministry on Monday clarified that the government has not frozen the bank accounts of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity (MoC) and the State Bank of India has informed that MoC has sent a request to freeze its accounts.

The Ministry also said that the renewal application under Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) for the renewal of FCRA registration of Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was refused on December 25, 2021 for not meeting the eligibility conditions under FCRA 2010 and Foreign Contribution Regulation Rules (FCRR) 2011.

It also said that no request or revision application has been received from MoC to review this refusal of renewal.

The MHA clarification came after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday tweeted that the central government froze all bank accounts of the MoC on Christmas and over 22,000 patients and employees have been left without food and medicine.

"While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised", she further said in her tweet message.

The officials in the Home Ministry further said that Missionaries of Charity (MoC) was registered under FCRA vide Registration No 147120001 and its registration was valid up to Oct 31, 2021 only. The validity was subsequently extended up to December 31, 2021 along with other FCRA Associations whose renewal application was pending, they added.

However, while reviewing the MoC's renewal application, some adverse inputs were noticed. In consideration of these inputs on record, the renewal application of MoC was not approved, the officials further said, adding that the FCRA registration of MoC is valid up to December 31, 2021 and it did not freeze any accounts of MoC, rather the State Bank of India has informed that MoC itself sent a request to freeze its accounts, the Ministry added further.

Though the Missionaries of Charity was not ready to say anything, sources privy to the development said that there were some complaints against the organisation and the central government was keeping an eye on some of its bank accounts.
Nagpur, Dec 27 : Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Narayan Rane, on Monday strongly defended his son Nitesh Rane, the MLA from Kankavli Assembly constituency, who has been charged with attempt to murder by the Kankavli police in Maharashtra.

The police have issued summons to Nitesh Rane with regard to an attempt to murder case registered by them.

"Nitesh has nothing to do with the assault. He has been framed with a malicious intent to gain advantage in the ensuing district bank elections," Rane alleged.

When asked whether Nitesh Rane is on the run, Narayan Rane said: "We don't need to go into hiding. He is an MLA and he is very much in Sindhudurg." The opposition is trying to frame Nitesh Rane in criminal cases as they have realised that they will lose in the upcoming district cooperative bank elections, the Union minister alleged.

He also hinted that the Rane familty will approach the court over the assault allegations against Nitesh Rane.

"We will have to go to the court if such false charges are levelled against Nitesh. He did not beat anyone and was not involved in any of the incidents," he added.
Jaipur, Dec 27 : After singing a Bollywood song, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot is winning hearts with another video where he is seen tying a pink safa measuring 51 metre in just two minutes with a smiling face in one go which left his followers stunned and surprised.

While tying this safa (headgear), Pilot stopped twice but finally tied the safa measuring around 51 metre in a record two minutes.

The video is going viral and has been seen many likes and retweets from different social media handles of his fans.

Pilot was in his assembly constituency Tonk on Sunday. During this visit, he held public hearings in five-six villages of the area including Ghas village located on the Sawai Madhopur road, about 40 km from the district headquarters. There the sarpanch presented him with a 51 meter long safa. Pilot started tying this safa on his own.

While a couple of workers kept straightening the safa, Pilot kept tying it on his head. Pilot's speed of tying the safa was just too fast and he finished the job in 2 minutes.
Seoul, Dec 27 : South Korea on Monday reported another suspected case of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a duck farm in a southwestern county, the Agriculture Ministry said.

According to the ministry, the latest case was reported at the farm raising about 10,000 ducks in Busan, 280 km south of Seoul, Yonhap news agency reported.

There is no poultry farm within one kilometer of the farm in question.

Health authorities have cordoned off the site and taken other precautionary measures to prevent the potential spread of the disease outside the farm, the authorities said.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is very contagious among birds and can cause severe illness and even death, especially in domestic poultry.

The country has been reporting a slew of bird flu cases since November this year.

Meanwhile in northern Israel, 5,000 cranes were found dead at the Hula Lake Reserve, amid an outbreak of avian flu that has also seen the culling of more than half a million chickens and turkeys, the Times of Israel reported.

Three other outbreaks of bird flu were discovered in chicken coops in Ein HaHoresh in the Hefer Valley, the Ram-On moshav in Gilboa and in Givat Yoav in the Golan Heights, Ynet reported on Monday.

The centres have been isolated and there is active monitoring of additional farms in the area.
Patna:Police baton charge on Panchayat ward Secretary members as they block the main entrance of Bharatiya Janata Party State office as part of a protest demanding confirmation and honorarium from the government in Patna on Monday December 27,2021. ( Image Source: IANS News

Patna:Police baton charge on Panchayat ward Secretary members as they block the main entrance of Bharatiya Janata Party State office as part of a protest demanding confirmation and honorarium from the government in Patna on Monday December 27,2021. ( Image Source: IANS News

Patna, Dec 27 : More than 50 ward secretaries were injured after police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse them in Patna on Monday. Around 5,000 ward secretaries who were staging a dharna for the last 13 days, assembled at the state BJP headquarters on Veerchand Patel Path in the city to press their demand for salaries and permanent jobs.

As they were assembled in large numbers outside the BJP office, Patna police reached at the spot and tried to disperse them using mild force. The protesters refused to vacate the place leading to a scuffle between them and the police. The protesters pelted stones at the police party, smashing police vehicles, breaking glasses. The vehicles were parked on both sides of the road.

The protesters also pelted stones inside the BJP office and damaged some property as well.

"We have been demanding for the last 13 days to address our grievances but no one from the government has listened to us. We assembled at BJP headquarters on the assurance by Panchayati Raj Minister Samrat Chaudhary, but he refused to meet us. Moreover, Patna police forcibly tried to drive us away from here," said one of the agitators, Rakesh Kumar who came from Nalanda.

The situation turned so ugly that the police had to resort to a lathicharge. Over 50 protesters including some women were injured in the police action. The police also used water cannons on them.

Meanwhile, an officer of Kotwali police said that an FIR has been registered against unknown persons for damaging private and government property. The videography of the entire incident has been carried out to identify the violators. More than one dozen policemen were also injured in the clashes.
Hyderabad, Dec 27 : AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that a mere FIR against those who called for genocide of Muslims at the Dharam Sansad at Haridwar will not help and demanded their arrest.

The Hyderabad MP told reporters here that the organisations who gave the call should be banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Haridwar police on Saturday named two more persons in the First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the alleged hate speeches.

The police earlier booked Wasim Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi, and others under Section 153A Indian Penal Code in the case.

Owaisi said the silence of the Samajwadi Party and Congress on the issue had exposed them. He said both the parties worried that they will not get the 'other vote' in ensuing elections. "They (speakers at Haridwar meet) even called for killing Manmohan Singh, who is former Prime Minister of this country. When will you react," he asked Congress leaders.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President said all political parties who believe in the Constitution and the rule of law have to break their silence because the Dharma Sanasad gave an open call for genocide of Muslims. "They said that the Rohingyas in Myanmar were killed and made homeless, Muslims in India should be dealt in similar way," he said.

Owaisi alleged that Dharam Sansad was held and such things were spoken there with the blessing and full support of the BJP government in Uttarakhand.

He also tweeted that Dharam Sansad at Raipur was also not possible without the support of the Congress government in Chhttisgarh. He pointed out that Ramsunder Das, who is the Chairman of Chhattisgarh Gau-Seva Commission and has a cabinet rank, was the chief patron of the Dharam Sansad.

Reacting to reports that Ramsunder Das walked off stage when Sant Kalicharan Maharaj was abusing Mahatma Gandhi, the MP made series of tweets.

He referred to Kalicharan's remarks that the MP, MLA, minister and Prime Minister should be hardcore Hidutvawadi, that if people don't cast votes, Islam will dominate the country and the remark that people should vote in maximum numbers to choose a rule who is staunch Hindutvawadi, no matter which political party he comes from.

"Didn't Ram Sundar find this statement objectionable? Isn't this statement condemnable? Congress leader Pramod Dubey, BJP leaders Satchidanand Upasane and Nandkumar Sai were also present in the audience when Kalicharan was delivering this speech. No one broke his silence," wrote Owaisi.

Owaisi said the talks of Hindu Rashtra, massacre of Muslims, love jihad took place under the patronage of a leader of the rank of cabinet minister of Congress. "The FIR has been registered only on the statement of Gandhiji. Does this mean the talk of our carnage is not a matter of concern," he asked.

The AIMIM leader also took a dig at Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. "Baghel ji can stage a dharna in Uttar Pradesh, but what is happening in his own state in the name of religion? Everyone is in this race that who is the biggest Hindu," he said
Stockholm, Dec 27 : New drugs against Covid-19 will significantly increase survival chances for coronavirus patients in severe condition in 2022, World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said.

The European Medicines Agency, the European Union's drug regulator has recommended the use of two Covid-19 antiviral pills -- Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's Molnupiravir -- ahead of their formal approval.

"I am also encouraged by new anti-viral drugs that are likely to come to market in 2022, which will greatly increase the survival chances of patients who end up in hospital with severe Covid-19," Kluge was quoted as saying to TASS news agency.

Both Paxlovid and molnupiravir have shown to reduce the chances of hospitalisation or death from Covid-19 in high-risk patients by 89 per cent and 30 per cent respectively.

Kluge also emphasised that the next-generation vaccines will be more effective against new emerging strains.

"I cannot predict the future. But it should be noted that the current vaccines are the first generation of Covid-19 vaccines. Future vaccines will be tweaked and adapted to new or emerging variants, thereby making them more effective.

"This is not dissimilar to what already happens with influenza vaccines, which are adapted to the new strains of flu almost on a yearly basis," he said.

According to Pfizer, lab tests show Paxlovid continues to work against the fast-spreading Omicron variant. CEO Albert Bourla estimated that the pills can avert 1,200 deaths and 6,000 hospitalisations for every 100,000 Covid patients who take the pills.

The authorisation for molnupiravir is limited to adults over 18 who have a high risk of severe illness and "for whom alternative FDA-authorised treatment options are not accessible or medically appropriate," the US Food and Drug Administration said in a statement. It's also not recommended for use in pregnant people.

Both Pfizer and Merck's pills should be taken early, within 3-5 days of getting Covid, and require several pills, multiple times a day for five days.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Lucknow, Dec 27 : For one who has thrown up the biggest cash haul in the history of the country, Piyush Jain can easily be mistaken as just another common man.

For one who stacked up crores in cash at his house and its walls, Jain's lifestyle has been astonishingly simple.

In his hometown Kanpur, Jain still rides an old scooter and his house was extremely modest though he recently renovated it. He owns a Qualis and a Maruti and when cash spilled out of his house, his neighbours were shocked.

"He was just another businessman in the perfume business and we never imagined that he would have so much cash stacked in his house. He never flaunted his wealth and even his lifestyle was very middle class," said R.K. Sharma, who lives in the Chippatti locality where Jain also lives.

Jain's father lives mostly in Kannauj while he and his brother Amrish live in Kanpur. Jain learnt the art of making perfumes and edible essences from him father, who is a chemist.

Jain, 52, was born in Kanpur and completed his education from there. He then joined the family business in Kannauj though he continued living in Kanpur.

His acquaintances claim that he had no political connections or friends in power.

"We have never seen him visit any politician or political party office. He never claimed to know any influential person either," said one of his associates, requesting anonymity.

Contrary to popular belief, Jain is in no way related to Pampi Jain, the Samajwadi Party leader who had launched the 'Samajwadi Itr' in Lucknow last month.

"The only thing common between the two is that they are both in perfume business, they both live in the same locality and both belong to the Jain community. Pushpraj Jain a.k.a. Pampi Jain is a SP MLC and it was he who launched the 'Samajwadi Itr'," said Kunal Yadav, a resident of Kannauj.

However, media reports connecting the two -- Piyush Jain and Pampi -- have led to a political slugfest in Uttar Pradesh.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday that now he knows why 'some people' were opposing demonetisation.

"The black money is now coming out of walls," he said.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav clarified that "this raid should not be linked with SP at all. Piyush Jain has no relation with SP MLC Pampi Jain".

SP leaders, in fact, claim that Piyush Jain's family is inclined towards the BJP and always supported the ruling party.

As political parties battle over Jain's affiliation, the party now seems to be over for this businessman.

As a senior official said, "Accumulating so much wealth is not possible without any patronage. As investigations progress, the truth will tumble out. As things stand, Piyush Jain can prepare for a long stint behind the bars and his pleasing perfumes may not be able to make life less unpleasant for him." On Monday, Jain was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a local court after he was arrested under Section 132 of CGST Act.

"Jain has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to sale of goods without payment of GST," said a GST official.
Kolkata, Dec 27 : Amidst the ongoing controversy regarding the Howrah Municipal Corporation, the state election commission announced the poll dates of four other municipal corporations in the state. The commission left out Howrah amid the ongoing row between the state government and Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar over a bill seeking its bifurcation.

The West Bengal State Election Commission on Monday announced that polls to four municipal corporations -- Siliguri, Chandannagar, Bidhannagar, Asansol -- will be held on January 22.

State Election Commissioner Saurav Das said that filing of nominations for the January 22 polls will commence on December 28.

"The last date for submitting nomination is January 3. The papers will be scrutinised the day after. January 6 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawing the nominations," Das told reporters.

Of the four, Asansol is the largest municipal corporation with 106 seats, followed by Siliguri with 47, Chandannagar with 33 and Bidhannagar with 41 wards, he said.

Repolling, if any, will be conducted on January 24, the SEC said.

Counting of votes will take place on January 25.

"The commission has adopted electoral rolls updated up to November 1, 2021," Das said.

He added that the model code of conduct will be applicable in the poll-bound areas from Monday.

However, the commission left out the Howrah Municipal Corporation because of the controversy. The controversy erupted after the Governor refused to sign the Howrah Municipal Corporation Amendment Bill passed by the Assembly.

The amendment bill was meant to bifurcate Howrah Municipal Corporation taking away 16 wards from the corporation and form Bally Municipality. The governor asked for more inputs from the state government before signing the bill.

The controversy deepened after the Governor refuted the submission made by the Advocate General that that Raj Bhavan cleared the bill. Responding immediately after that the governor embarrassed the government saying that he has yet to sign the Howrah Municipal Corporation Bill and it is under consideration as inputs from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are awaited.

The state government wanted to conduct the HMC election along with the election to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation but that couldn't be done because of the problem. Now the election of HMC is in jeopardy.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Hundreds of residents of Annaba district of Panjshir province in Afghanistan took to the streets in reaction to the killing of a young man whom they claimed was shot dead by the Taliban affiliates, Khaama Press reported.

The protesters carried the dead body of the victim to the office of the provincial governor and asked for justice.

The angry protesters were chanting "Death to Taliban", "Death to stooges of Pakistan", and "Long live Ahmad Masoud", the report said.

Residents of Annaba district claimed that the slain Nazir Aqa, 24, was murdered by the Taliban affiliates but the motive behind the killing is yet to be unveiled.

Provincial officials of the Taliban confirmed the killing and called it a misunderstanding.

A statement released by the Taliban officials in Panjshir province said that the suspects in the incident have been arrested.

In the meantime, affiliates of Abdul Hameed Khorasani, deputy chief of security of Panjshir province, also engaged in a fight with the protesters.

It is the first time that a relatively large demonstration was staged against the Taliban in Panjshir province, the report said.

Panjshir was the last province of Afghanistan that fell to the Taliban.
Photo taken on Aug. 16, 2021, shows the Kabul airport during evacuations in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Str/Xinhua/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

Photo taken on Sept. 13, 2021 shows soldiers guarding at the Kabul airport in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. (Photo by Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Dec 27 : As Qatar and Turkey seek to take control of operations at the Kabul airport, Afghan businessmen are urging the government to sign a contract with a company from the United Arab Emirates instead, as many Afghans have investments in the UAE and they fear access will be restricted, Tolo News reported.

According to the traders, over 200,000 Afghans are settled there and have millions of dollars invested in the UAE, the report said.

Last Thursday, Qatari and Turkish officials visited Kabul to discuss the management of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul with Islamic Emirate officials.

"This contract is important for the Afghans who are living here. This contract should be given to the UAE. If the flights between Kabul-UAE are halted, the traders will face serious problems," said Obaidullah Sadar Khail, head of the Afghanistan traders' council in the UAE.

Traders said that around 10 flights a day were being operated between Afghanistan and the UAE before the fall of the former government.

"We call on the Islamic Emirate to give the management of the airports to the UAE as this will help develop the country," said Farid Ruhani, a trader, the report said.

But some former members of the Afghanistan Aviation Authority gave a different opinion.

"The international norms and other measures should be observed so that Afghanistan can provide good air aviation services and facilitate revenue," said Imam Mohammad Wrimach, the former deputy minister of transport.

Earlier, the Ministry of Transportation said that it had not reached an agreement with any company to run the Kabul airport.

"Our technical team had a meeting with them (Qatari and Turkish delegates). The meetings will continue until we reach a good agreement," said Imamuddin Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation, the report added.
New Delhi, Dec 27: It has been exactly 14 years, and yet, the government has not been able to catch Pakistans most wanted criminal Ikramullah Mehsud. Mehsud is in Afghanistan under the protection of its Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of Haqqani Network terror group.

The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has now asked Sirajuddin to hand over Mehsud, who was part of a suicide member squad deployed to kill former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

"I appeal to the Haqqani Network and Afghanistan interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani to arrest Ikramullah and hand him over to us, because we need him," said Rehman Malik, former Interior Minister and a close confidant of Bhutto.

According to the Pakistani security agencies, Ikramullah was a back-up suicide bomber of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who was meant to detonate his explosive vest if the first attacker did not succeed.

But officials say he walked away after the other bomber blew himself up, killing Benazir Bhutto and at least 20 others at a rally in Rawalpindi on December 27, 2007.

Described as a senior leader of the TTP, Ikramullah is on a Pakistani list of most-wanted terror suspects, and has been named in court as the second suicide bomber.

The Pakistan People's Party leaders have blamed the Taliban for sheltering the killer of their leader.

"You want to sit on both sides - with the TTP and Pakistan. Pakistanis sacrificed their lives for them and helped their refugees, but they were supporting the enemies of Pakistan," said Rehman Malik adding that the whole operation to kill his leader was funded by the slain supremo of al-Qaeda - Osama Bin Laden, reports The News.

According to the PPP leader Rehman Malik, since the Taliban captured power in Afghanistan, his party has written four letters to the Interior Haqqani to deport Ikramullah, but neither Haqqani nor Pakistani spy agency Inter- Services Intelligence (ISI) and Imran Khan have shown any interest.

Rehman says that after becoming the Interior Minister in 2008, he expedited the investigation and according to the probe report submitted in the court, the conspiracy of killing Benazir Bhutto was hatched at Room No 96 of "infamous" Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Haqqanis are the patrons of this madrasa and most of the Taliban ministers and TTP leaders are closely linked with madrasa which is also known as the "factory of Jihad." According to Rehman the two suicide bombers were students of the same madrasa and were later trained by the Haqqani Network's suicide bomber wing.

Interestingly, the present chief of the TTP Mufti Noor Wali has also confessed that it was the TTP who killed Bhutto. "Bilal, also known as Saeed, and Ikramullah were tasked to carry out the attack on Bhutto. Bomber Bilal first fired at Benazir Bhutto from his pistol and the bullet hit her neck. Then he detonated his explosive jacket and blew himself up among the participants of the procession," he wrote in his book "Inqilab Mehsood South Waziristan - From British Raj to American Imperialism".

And Imran Khan is trying to make a deal with the same TTP group. "While negotiating with the TTP, Imran Khan should not forget that terrorists have inflicted deep wounds on us and have killed our loved ones, including the innocent children of APS Peshawar and troops," Rehman warned. He asserted that if his party comes to power, it "will put pressure on Haqqani to deport the killer of Mohtarma Bhutto." Analysts say that Haqqani, the Taliban's interior minister is an UN-designated terrorist with a $10-million bounty, will never deport any member of his squad of suicide bombers. After becoming the minister, in his first public appearance he felicitated his suicide bombers and families of "martyred" bombers in October and called them "heroes of the country".

(The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative
Ranchi, Dec 27 : A multi-storeyed underground palace, of immense historical importance, has been found during excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Navratangarh in Gumla district in Jharkhand.

The structure is believed to be around five and a half centuries old and date to the Naga or Nagavanshi dynasty.

The excavations being carried out by the ASI in and around the palace have yielded many important ancient remains. The department will carry out further studies to unravel the mysteries behind it.

Navratnagarh was declared as a heritage site in 2009 for conservation.

Shivkumar Bhagat, the Superintending Engineer of the ASI, who is supervising the excavation, says that the results of the ongoing excavation, which can go up to March 2022, can throw new light on the history of the Naga/Nagavanshi dynasty.

Navratangarh, in Chotanagpur, was the seat of power of the dynasty's 45th ruler, Durjan Sal.

Durjan Sal ruled the kingdom for the longest. According to the evidence found so far, he had built the fort here in 1571. It is said that this fort was of 9 storeys, so it was given the name of Navratangarh. The ruins of this fort have been there for years and have been an object of curiosity for local tourists, as well as archaeologists and historians.

After the excavations started this month, for the first time, it was known that the king had built a grand underground palace as well. The legend is that the king built the palace to protect against any attack by the Mughal rulers. A secret tunnel passage has also been found in this underground palace, whose excavation is still going on.

On the basis of the structure, it is being speculated that there must have been a secret place to house his treasure of diamonds and other jewels.

King Durjan Sal, who built the Navratan fort, has been known to history as a connoisseur of diamonds and there are many stories about him concerning his expertise in the precious stones. One of these is that Durjan Sal was taken prisoner by the Mughal satrap, Ibrahim Khan, due to non-payment of tribute, and lodged in Gwalior jail but was released after 12 years due to his insightful knowledge in fine arts and jewels.

Meanwhile, the scope of excavations and surveys going on here is huge and has been expanded to include other monuments such as Rani Mahal, Kamal Sarovar, Subhadra Balabhadra Temple, Raj Darbar, Tehkhana Santri post, Jaleshwar Nath Shivling in the mountain folds behind Navratangarh, Singhdwar outside Navratangarh, Kapil Nath Temple, Bhairavnath Temple, Radha Krishna Mandir, Dhobi Math, Rajguru Samadhi Sthal, Bauli Math, Vakil Math, Mausi Bari, Joda Nag Mandir, etc.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Increasing risk of Omicron is not dissuading 14 per cent of the citizens from venturing to a cinema hall in the next 60-days, a survey report by LocalCircles said on Monday.

The survey, which received close to 17,000 responses from citizens residing in 314 districts of India, also stated that 14 per cent citizens have already visited cinema halls or multiplexes to watch a movie in the last 60 days.

The figure is 40 per cent higher than the number of citizens who are likely to watch a movie at cinema halls or multiplexes in the next 60 days in comparison to a similar survey conducted in July this year.

Extrapolation of the data shows a grime picture.

According to LocalCircles, if 14 per cent citizens are planning to go to the theatre or multiplex to watch a movie in the next 60 days, and it is assumed that India has a population of 138 crore, it translates to about 19 crore citizens going to the theatre or multiplex to watch a movie in the next 60 days.

"Given the level of awareness and the very high risk, the Central and state governments and district administrations must watch the situation closely and the moment there is a visible trend of rising TPR day over day, cinema halls must be closed to prevent further spread," said Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles.

"Though most cinema halls and multiplexes claim that masks are mandatory, once the crowd is seated there is zero enforcement. Non-compliance has been reported by citizens on LocalCircles from across the country, stating that it is only for entry that some cinemas require people to be masked." Lately, with the release of 'Sooryavanshi', 'Spiderman No way Home' and last week's '83', people have started going to the theatres once again.

Upcoming movies like 'Jersey,' 'Deep Water' and 'The King's Man' are scheduled to release within the next two weeks and are likely to attract large crowds.

However, as this momentum builds, India has recorded nearly 600 cases of Omicron in the last four weeks and the daily Covid caseload in many parts of the country is once again rising.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to defer the implementation of GST rate hike on textiles and footwear.

The proposal is to increase the rate of tax from 5 per cent to 12 per cent on textiles and footwear.

In a letter to the minister, CAIT termed the move as 'illogical' and 'beyond the canon of GST tax structure', particularly at a time when the domestic trade in the country is on the verge of recovery from the colossal damage caused due to the last two spells of Covid-19.

"It is noteworthy to mention that the GST collection across the country is increasing every month and as such any increase in tax rates without consulting the stakeholders will run contrary to the 'ease of doing business' call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," the letter read.

"Therefore, we shall request you to defer the implementation of tax rate hike for certain period and meanwhile constitute a task force under the chairmanship of the Chairman, Central Board of Indirect Taxes, comprising representatives of trade and senior officials of the government to discuss the issue at length and arrive at a consensus," it added.

According to CAIT, there was no tax on textile or fabrics for a number of years.

"This increase in tax rate will not only hamper the domestic trade, but will also affect the exports adversely. Already the textile industry is not at a competent status with countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and China. On the one hand the government talks about 'Make in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', while on the other hand levy such high taxes creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and gloom." The letter also asked for an extension of income tax return filing date.

"The new portal of income tax is suffering from various glitches and filing of one return is taking more than a couple of hours. Further, the staff of the tax practitioners are to be trained to understand the new portal and its utilities.

"Not many professionals are well versed with the frequent changes being made on the portal, very less time has been provided after the introduction of the new portal, frequent changes in various 'Forms' and their utility is resulting in duplication of work, due to which a lot of time gets wasted. Many technical glitches are being faced on the portal due to which a lot of time gets wasted. Overlapping of dates for various compliances like due date of filing of income tax returns, GSTR 9, GSTR-9C are another complex issue," CAIT said.
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Monday that the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will become the top transport corporation in the country by improving its services and look, ensuring efficient utilisation of human resources.

Speaking at a function to induct electric and BS-VI diesel buses into the services of BMTC, the Chief Minister assured all necessary support from the government in this regard.

Noting that it would be difficult to operate transport corporations with the help of government subsidies, the Chief Minister said that a committee headed by retired additional chief secretary M.R. Srinivasa Murthy has been constituted for the revival of the transport corporations.

Apart from presenting its recommendations on plugging the loopholes in the transport corporations, the committee would also suggest ways and means to improve their service, raise resources and thus turn profitable, Bommai said.

Similarly, a committee headed by retired additional chief secretary K. Jairaj has been constituted for the rejuvenation of the Electric Supply Companies (ESCOMS), he said.

The Chief Minister also expressed happiness at the introduction of BS-VI buses, and BMTC's moves to acquire 300 pollution-free electric buses. Presently, 90 electric buses are being introduced, which would help in reducing air pollution in the city, Bommai said, as he appealed to the people to prefer electric vehicles for commuting.

Speaking on the possible ways to raise the revenue of BMTC, he recalled that previously many of the city-based public sector enterprises used to hire BMTC buses to ferry their employees.

"We will talk to PSUs like HAL and IT companies to convince them to utilise BMTC services," Bommai said.

The Chief Minister also suggested BMTC to change its look and design, to make the vehicles more appealing for the commuters.

Transport Minister B. Sriramulu, Cooperation Minister S.T. Somashekar and other dignitaries were present at the function.
Bengaluru, Dec 27 : Tamil Thaliavas and U Mumba settled for a 30-30 tie in the Pro Kabaddi League Season 8 at the Sheraton Grand, here on Monday. U Mumba raider V Ajith Kumar scored 15 points in the match and helped his team to secure a tie.

The first half began with Tamil Thaliavas defenders paying no respect for the opponents. Captain Surjeet Singh, ably supported by Sahil Singh in the left corner, thwarted Mumbai raiders Abhishek Singh and V Ajith Kumar in successive attempts. With lanky raiders, Manjeet and Bhavani Rajput's impressive raids the Thaliavas clinched their first all out in the 7th minute to open up an 8-point lead.

The Thalaivas had six successful tackles as opposed to none by U Mumba in the first 15-minutes but they lost their course in the final minutes of the first half.

Mumbai scored nine points in the last 5 minutes of the half though. Ajith Kumar produced a stunning 4-point Super Raid and an additional two points for an all out to reduce the Tamil Thaliavas' lead to just two points in the last minute.

The first half ended 17-14 in favour of Thaliavas but with momentum on Mumbai's side. Tamil Thaliavas continued with their aggressive approach in the early minutes of the second half with Bhavani Rajput looking their best raider.

But the Thalaivas continued to struggle against their former raider Ajith Kumar who clinched his Super 10 and helped Mumbai keep pace as his raid points fetched U Mumba an all out with six minutes remaining in the match.

However, in the final raid, Ajith Kumar went for the touch instead of sacrificing himself for a bonus point and the Thaliavas defence rounded him off to secure a tie.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Stating that the paddy procurement is progressing smoothly in Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2021-22 at MSP, the Centre on Monday said that a quantity of 443.49 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) has been procured till Sunday.

Paddy has been procured in KMS 2021-22 from the procuring states/UTs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan, a Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Ministry release said.

Till now, about 47.03 lakh farmers have benefitted with MSP value of Rs 86,924.46 crore, it said.

As much as 186 LMT was procured from 9,24,299 farmers of Punjab, who were paid Rs 36,623.64 crore in MSP value. It was followed by Haryana, where 55 LMT paddy was procured from 3,10,083 farmers who were paid Rs 10,839.97 crore, Telangana (52 LMT, 7,84,368 farmers and Rs 10,364.88 crore), and Chhatisgarh (47 LMT, 12,46,022 farmers and Rs 9,251.24 crore).

Incidentally, paddy procurement had become a widely discussed topic in Telangana in recent days. A delegation of TRS ministers and MPs that had camped here for six days could not extract a written commitment from the Centre to procure the entire stock of kharif rice. Union Food and Public Distribution Minister Piyush Goyal had assured in Rajya Sabha during a debate that the entire stock of Kharif rice would be procured by the Centre.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Five persons, who were arrested for allegedly making extortion calls to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, were on Monday sent to police custody till January 9 by Delhi's Patiala House Court.

The accused, who were allegedly demanding Rs 2.5 crore and threatening to release a video related to the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, were arrested on December 24.

The accused, whose three-day custody expired on Monday, were sent to police custody till January 9 by Duty Metropolitan Magistrate Udbhav Kumar Jain.

The court also allowed the police to take voice samples of two of the accused -- Amit Kumar Manjhi and Nishant Singh Rana -- after they informed the court that most of the calls were made by Amit.

According to the police, four accused persons were arrested from Noida and one was arrested from Delhi for making the extortion calls.

The complaint lodged by the personal assistant of the Union minister stated that Mishra received phone calls from some unidentified people demanding money.

Notably, Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra is a prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and was arrested in connection with the violence that was triggered after he allegedly ran his car over protesting farmers in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri when a group agitating against the Centre's three farm laws was staging a demonstration against the visit of UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on October 3. Two BJP workers, a driver, and a journalist were also killed in the ensuing violence.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : The Centre on Monday advised all the five poll-bound states to speedily ramp up the Covid vaccination of all eligible population for the first dose and ensure that those who were due for the second dose are administered the vaccines.

Among the five poll-bound states, while Uttarakhand and Goa have reported a higher vaccination coverage for the first and second doses than the national average, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Manipur have Covid vaccination coverage numbers below it.

A total of 142.38 crore vaccination doses have been administered as on date, of which over 83.80 crore vaccine doses are of the first dose and over 58.58 crore of the second doses.

In a meeting with these poll-bound states on Monday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan advised them to make district-wise weekly vaccination implementation plans for the purpose, and review the implementation status on a daily basis.

The poll-bound states were also advised to exponentially increase the testing to ensure that the infected cases are identified promptly for timely initiation of public health response measures, and to ensure that there is no sudden upsurge in numbers due to low testing.

The state authorities were strongly advised to ensure that recommended Covid Appropriate Behaviour is strictly followed and adequate measures are undertaken for their effective enforcement.

The schedule for the polls in early 2022 is likely be announced in the first week of January.
New Delhi, Dec 27 : Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday called upon automakers to roll-out of 'Flex-Fuel Vehicles' and 'Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles' within a period of 6 months.

In a series of tweets, the minister said: "In order to substitute India's import of petroleum as a fuel and to provide direct benefits to our farmers, we have now advised the automobile manufacturers in India to start manufacturing Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFV) and Flex Fuel Strong Hybrid Electric Vehicles (FFV-SHEV)...

"... complying with BS-6 Norms in a time bound manner within a period of six months." FFVs are vehicles capable of running on 100 per cent ethanol and gasoline.

"In line with Hon. Prime Minister's vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat and government's policy on promoting ethanol as a transport fuel...

"... Flex Fuel Vehicles are capable to run on a combination of 100% Petrol or 100% bio-ethanol and their blends, along with strong Hybrid Electric technology in case of FFV-SHEVs." According to the minister, the move will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles on a 'Well-to-Wheel' basis, helping India to comply with its commitment made at COP26 to reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one billion tonnes by 2030.
Hyderabad, Dec 27 : Actor Allu Arjun is pleased as punch with his maiden theatrical release in Hindi.

Almost two weeks into its release in five languages -- Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi -- 'Pushpa: The Rise' continues to bring in the crowds to the theatres.

"It's my first Hindi theatrical release. It's definitely far more beyond my expectations. When we released the movie, we didn't have much expectations. It is more like testing the waters. I'm so glad that we got it right in the first shot. It's been amazing that we got our first shot right," Allu Arjun told IANS.

Known for the classy urban look that he cultivated over the years, Tollywood's stylish star, as Allu Arjun is known, surprised everyone by opting for a rustic role in his first foray outside the south Indian languages market.

Although 'Pushpa' is his first offering to Hindi audiences, Allu Arjun is a known face, thanks to dubbed versions of his movies which are very popular in north India. His choice of movie and role was not a gamble, Arjun emphasises.

"I always keep experimenting with my looks for every film. This film is definitely very different from anything that I have done before. I was looking at it as a huge opportunity to do something very new. I absolutely didn't look at it as a risk. In fact, I was looking at it as the USP of the film. We were banking on the look for this film. I knew if we get it right, it'll be the USP of the film. We put a lot of effort to get it right. So, I think the credit goes to the director for bringing such a canvas and to get it right, and giving me full freedom to experiment as much as I wanted to," Arjun said.

'Pushpa: The Rise', which was released on December 17, has managed to bring in the audiences to theatres, despite the release of '83' on December 24. And Arjun feels that the realism in 'Pushpa' has worked its magic across audiences in India.

"I can't comment on '83' because I haven't seen the movie yet. What worked for 'Pushpa', I think, is that it's a mass film set in a very natural screenplay. I think that works for the audience. It has a very realistic treatment of a commercial film. So I think the realism connected across many other languages. When it is realistic, it has a more universal appeal. I think the realism in the film has caught the people's imagination," the actor said.
Kolkata, Dec 27 : Hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock and dismay over the alleged freezing of the accounts of Missionaries of Charity, the organisation came out with a clarification, stating that its accounts were neither frozen, nor suspended.

"We appreciate the concern of our well-wishers and extend our heartiest greetings for Christmas and the New Year. We would like to clarify that the FCRA registration of the Missionaries of Charity has neither been suspended, nor cancelled. Further, there is no freeze ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs on any of our bank accounts. We have been informed that our FCRA renewal application has not been approved," the organisation said in a statement.

"Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse, we have asked our centres not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved," the statement added.

The clarification came after the Ministry of Home Affairs said earlier in the day that the Missionaries of Charity's application for renewal of FCRA registration was refused on December 25 for not meeting the eligibility conditions, as some adverse inputs were received.

However, the statement signed by Sister M. Prema, Superior General of the missionary body set up by Mother Teresa, did not clarify whether it had asked the State Bank of India to freeze its accounts, as claimed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry said the SBI had informed that the organisation itself sent a request to the bank to freeze its accounts.

The MHA statement came hours after Mamata Banerjee claimed that the Centre had frozen all bank accounts of the organisation founded by Mother Teresa.

"Shocked to hear that on Christmas, the Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in India! Their 22,000 patients & employees have been left without food & medicines. While the law is paramount, humanitarian efforts must not be compromised," Banerjee had tweeted.

Earlier, CPI(M) leader Surya Kanta Mishra had tweeted, "Yesterday, Christmas Day, the Union Ministry FROZE ALL BANK ACCOUNTS of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. The Govt has frozen all the accounts in India, including cash in hand. Their 22,000 patients, including employees, are left without food and medicines." The Missionaries of Charity is a Catholic religious congregation which was established in 1950 by Mother Teresa.
New Delhi: Doctors sit in protest outside Sarojini Nagar Police Station against their halted NEET PG counselling ,in New Delhi on Monday December 27,2021. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi: Doctors sit in protest outside Sarojini Nagar Police Station against their halted NEET PG counselling ,in New Delhi on Monday December 27,2021. (Photo: Qamar Sibtain/IANS) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Dec 28 : Protesting resident doctors have called for total shutdown of medical services in Delhi hospitals after the police action against them on Monday afternoon.

The resident doctors, who have been protesting against delay in PG NEET counselling, were marching towards the Supreme Court when they were stopped by the police near ITO in the afternoon, and claimed that over a thousand of them were detained by the police.

Calling it a "black day" in the history of the medical fraternity, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) said: "There will be a complete shutdown of all healthcare institutions today onwards. We strongly condemn this brutality and demand immediate release of our FORDA representatives and resident doctors." "A Black Day in the history of Medical fraternity of the nation. Resident Doctors, the so called 'Corona Warriors', protesting peacefully to Expedite NEET PG Counselling 2021 in Delhi were brutally thrashed, dragged & detained by the cops. The medical fraternity of the nation must condemn this act in strongest words & come forward in support. We urge all State RDAs of the nation to join the agitation! We all stand united in this fight against injustice," the statement said.

Talking to IANS, RML Hospital RDA Vice President, Dr Ajay Kumar, said that over a thousand doctors have been detained by Delhi Police, and they want an apology "for such barbaric action".

Meanwhile, protesting doctors gathered at the Safdarjung Hospital in late evening to march towards the residence of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to protest. However, they were stopped on the way and taken to Sarojini Nagar Police Station.

RML Hospital RDA General Secretary Dr Survesh Pandey told IANS that they were detained at the Sarojini Nagar Police Station while on the way to the Health Minister's residence but released in the late night.

The doctors are holding a midnight meeting to intensify their protest.
Imphal, Dec 28 : Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav on Monday said the Loktak lake in Manipur, the largest freshwater lake in the entire northeast region, has floating land masses and 'phumdis' (series of floating lakes) available cannot be found in other places in the world.

The Loktak is not only a lake but also an important historic landmark of India's independence struggle. It is a sacred place from where Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose showed the dream of an independent India to the people of the country, he added.

The Minister said that everyone should think of developing the natural gift of nature as the periphery of the Loktak lake has a lot of species, including the endangered ones and lakhs of migratory birds arriving in the lake. He opined that development cannot be done without local participation.

Loktak lake, Deepor Beel in Guwahati, and Rudrasagar in Tripura are the three lakes in northeast India which are categorised as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. This convention provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Addressing a gathering at a function organised by the Loktak Development Authority at the Loktak Inland Water Transport complex in Sendra, Yadav added that it is our responsibility to fully implement the integrated management plan of Loktak lake and as a Union Minister he fully takes the responsibility.

He said development means to protect the natural beauty of the area, including the protection of the biodiversity, and to give a dignified life by uplifting the economic status of the people living in and around the periphery of the lake.

He assured the people that he would be coming back to the state in January 2022 to sit along with representatives of the local authority, villagers and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to discuss the integrated plan.

Yadav assured that he will give full support to the work plan taken up by the state government. The Union Minister on Monday took stock of the situation of the Loktak lake and Keibul Lamjao National Park in Bishnupur district which is an abode to various flora and fauna, including the state animal Sangai.

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said the government is unable to timely and wisely utilise the gift given by nature in the various forms of flora and fauna which is abundantly found in the state.

Stating that presently the Centre has recommended Rs 1,450 crore for the state, he added, the focus of the state government is to make Manipur as the number one tourist destination in the country.

The Forest department officials highlighted various flora and fauna found in the area and various reports regarding developmental efforts taken by the department for the protection and conservation of biodiversity in the area.

India Tourism Development Corporation Chairman Sambit Patra, Loktak Development Authority Chairman Sushindro Metei, among other officials were present in the event.
Baghdad, Dec 28 : The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court has ratified the results of the country's snap parliamentary elections, paving the way for the outgoing Iraqi President to call on the new parliament to hold its first session, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

The federal court on Monday ratified the results during its session, in which the court rejected an appeal against the October 10 election results and a request to stop the procedures for ratifying the election results, according to INA.

Earlier on Monday, a judge read out a verdict at the federal court headquarters in Baghdad, rejecting an appeal submitted earlier by Hadi al-Meri, Head of the al-Fateh (Conquest) Alliance, Xinhua news agency reported.

On November 30, the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the elections' final result, which showed that the Sadrist Movement, led by prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, took the lead with 73 seats, while the al-Fateh Coalition garnered 17 seats compared with 47 in the 2018 elections.

The political blocs, which lost their leading status in the elections, did not give up easily and began demonstrations and sit-ins, describing the election results as "manipulation and fraud".

According to the Iraqi constitution, the ratification of the results entails President Barham Salih to call on the new parliament to hold its first session under the chairmanship of the eldest parliament member within 15 days from the court's ratification, to elect a President of the parliament and then the President of the country, who will ask the largest alliance to form a government within 30 days.

The Iraqi parliamentary elections, originally scheduled for 2022, were held in advance in response to months of protests against corruption, poor governance, and a lack of public services. A total of 3,249 candidates within 167 parties and coalitions competed for 329 parliamentary seats in the elections.
Brussels, Dec 28 : Europe has persevered through a year of challenges in 2021, in the wake of Brexit and amid painstaking efforts towards economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the year draws to a close, the unfolding consequences of Brexit, speculations over a Polish exit from the European Union (EU), and the lingering migrant crisis have continued to weigh heavily on EU member states' sense of cohesion and solidarity.

In one of the most heart-breaking headlines, 27 undocumented migrants died in an English Channel boat accident on November 24 while trying to reach the UK from France. The accident triggered a squabble between the two countries, which blamed each other for the tragedy.

The channel shipwreck further aggravated Anglo-French relations, which had already been strained following London's signing of the AUKUS pact with the US and Australia in September, and the dispute over licenses for French fishermen to fish in British waters after Brexit.

Another major post-Brexit row concerns the Northern Ireland protocol, a deal agreed by the UK and the EU to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, Xinhua news agency reported.

But the arrangement has led to checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, creating a barrier to trade within the UK. After six months of unfruitful negotiations, the row will continue in 2022.

Analysts interpret Brexit as a warning sign for European integration, following which new divisions could be created between EU member states, notably between Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries, net-payers and net-recipients from the EU budget, and between member states in the north and south, and east and west.

"The threat of European disintegration following Brexit has reversed the seemingly irreversible course of 'ever closer union'," said University of Cambridge PhD candidate, Ugur Tekiner in an article, adding that the EU needs effective leadership to set a clear trajectory for the integration process.

Poland was in the limelight again in October after its top court ruled primacy of national constitution over EU law -- a ruling that challenged the supremacy of EU law, considered as a central pillar of European integration.

European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen said the ruling called EU foundations into question, "a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order." Critics of Poland's government feared the ruling would push the country further on the way out of the EU, though the government dismissed the idea as "fake news".

As the absolute majority of Poland's citizens strongly support its EU membership, only a few believe that the country, the largest beneficiary of EU funding, is leaving it.

The Polish government, led by the conservative Law and Justice party, has been in conflict with EU officials since it took power in 2015. The dispute is mainly over changes to the Polish judicial system, which give the ruling party more power over the courts.

Polish authorities say they aim to reform what they describe as a corrupt and inefficient justice system, whereas the European Commission believes such changes erode the country's democratic system of checks and balances and is holding up billions of euros to Poland earmarked in a pandemic recovery plan.

The Commission announced last week that it was taking legal action against Poland for violating EU law and compromising judicial independence of Polish judges, prompting a rebuke from Warsaw.

Meanwhile, a month-long standoff at the border between Poland and Belarus lasted from summer into winter. The border crisis escalated in November, when large groups of migrants tried to cross from Belarus into the EU, raising the specter of a humanitarian emergency.

The EU blamed Belarus for sending migrants over the border as retaliation for EU sanctions, whereas Minsk denied the accusation.

The European Commission put forward a set of temporary asylum and return measures to assist Poland, Latvia and Lithuania, three EU members bordering Belarus, in addressing the emergency. According to the proposal, migrants could be held in closed camps at the border for up to four months and faster deportations will explicitly be authorized.

The move, however, came under immediate criticism from some members of the European Parliament and rights groups, who said the new approach was unacceptable and "putting politics over people's lives," especially at a time when Belarus had already evacuated the main camps at its border with Poland and expatriated hundreds of asylum seekers.

The EU's -- and its individual member states' -- approach to migration has created what appears to be a permanent crisis of solidarity. This is a heated and increasingly divisive issue within the bloc and even within the member states, prompting the EU to tackle the crisis from its root.

The European Commission has proposed to make 2022 the European Year of Youth, hoping the younger generation will strengthen European solidarity and build a better future -- a mission already taken by some.

Since the age of 18, British humanitarian aid worker, Mary Finn has been involved in sea rescue operations for migrants off the coasts of Greece, Turkey and Libya. Now at 24, she bears witness to the situation of refugees in Europe and its consequences on European politics.

"We are not alone, there is a generation of young people who are not willing to stand by and watch humanity and our planet fall apart," she said in an Instagram posting after the premiere of a documentary on the experience of herself and her peers at Cannes Film Festival in July.
Moscow, Dec 28 : Russia has supplied weapons and equipment to Tajikistan recently to strengthen its defence capability, President Vladimir Putin has said.

The shipments were aimed at helping Tajikistan effectively counter threats coming from outside, Putin said on Monday during a meeting with visiting Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in Russia's St. Petersburg.

Calling Tajikistan a reliable and close ally of Russia, the Russian President expressed concern over the situation on the Tajik-Afghan borders, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rahmon said that the two countries closely cooperate in the field of security, and he was ready to discuss international and regional issues, particularly the Afghan problem, with Putin.
Tripoli, Dec 28 : A committee of the Libyan House of Representatives has called for a new roadmap to hold successful elections and form a new executive authority, following the elections were postponed.

"A new roadmap must be drawn up, set with durations and stages and not with dates, within a constitutional framework, in order to hold a successful electoral process and to ensure acceptance of its results," the committee said on Monday in a report.

The committee stressed the need to "initiate the amendment of the draft constitution through a technical committee appointed by the House of Representatives with fair participation of the High Council of State." It also highlighted the demand to "restructure the executive authority to achieve stability, which the current authority (Libyan Government of National Unity) has been unable to achieve." The High National Elections Commission has announced a proposal to postpone the Presidential elections to January 2022 instead of December 24, 2021, Xinhua news agency reported.

Thus, the House of Representatives formed a committee to propose a roadmap after December 24, aimed at considering several proposals to address the failure to hold the elections on time, in addition to determining the fate of the current interim government.

The elections are part of a roadmap adopted by the UN-sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in order to restore stability in Libya following years of political division and insecurity.
Khartoum, Dec 28 : Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council has asked the authorities concerned to investigate rape allegations against female protesters in Khartoum on December 19.

During a regular meeting for the Transitional Sovereign Council held at the Republican Palace in Khartoum and chaired by the Council's Chairman Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the council on Monday directed "the authorities concerned to investigate into what is being circulated in the media regarding the rape incident," according to a statement released by the council.

On December 21, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Office called for a prompt, independent and thorough investigation into allegations of sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, during protests in Sudan on December 19, Xinhua news agency reported.

Liz Throssell, Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office in Geneva, said she received reports alleging that 13 women and girls were raped or gang raped; and that women were reportedly sexually harassed while fleeing the area around the presidential palace in Khartoum.

Sudan has been suffering a political crisis after General Commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan declared a state of emergency on October 25 and dissolved the Sovereign Council and the government.

On November 21, Al-Burhan and the then removed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok signed a political declaration, which included reinstating the latter as Prime Minister, but the deal has so far failed to calm the streets.
New York, Dec 28 : A total of 1,033 flights within, into and out of the US were canceled and 2,982 faced delays as of 1:20 p.m. East Time, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware, as the recent Omicron-fueled Covid-19 surge has resulted in crew shortages and disrupted the operations of some airlines.

The cancellations on Monday included 264 by SkyWest, 141 by Alaska Airlines, 93 by United and 84 by American. A combined 1,700 flights had been canceled on Christmas eve and Christmas day, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The cancellations come at the busiest time of year for air travel," and major US travel hubs were "among the hardest hit," reported ABC.

"More than 2,500 flights have been canceled on Monday as Covid-19 cases surge across the globe. Of the more than 2,500 canceled flights, 1,000 were within, into or out of the US," reported CNN. Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights on Christmas eve, Christmas and the day after Christmas.

SkyWest had the highest number of cancellations among US carriers, with more than 250. The Utah-based airline cited both weather conditions at hubs and "increased Covid cases and quarantines among crew members" for the cancellations, while apologising for the inconvenience and working to resume normal operations as soon as possible.

"We're working as quickly as possible to get all our affected guests re-booked on other flights, while operating safely," Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

"Reservations are experiencing extremely long hold times of up to 11 hours." "We apologise to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans," Delta said in a statement.

"Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight." "We've got to make sure employees don't feel pressured to come to work when they've been exposed to Covid-19 or they think they may have the symptoms," said Captain Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association.

Bad weather and Omicron's impact on staffing influenced Delta, United, American and JetBlue flight disruptions over the holiday weekend. Travelers are advised to check flight status directly with their airline, reported USA Today.

Meanwhile, Delta and JetBlue have called on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated individuals to five days, to ease crew shortages. Many airlines are also offering bonus payments to employees to cover extra shifts to avoid more cancellations.

The US Department of Transportation requires airlines to offer a refund when they cancel a flight, regardless of the reason or type of ticket purchased. Delays are trickier because while the same rule applies to significant delays, each airline interprets "significant delays" differently.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Damascus, Dec 28 : The US is stealing natural resources from Syria and imposing illegitimate sanctions, Syria's Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said in an interview.

The US forces with the help of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia, continue to steal the Syrian oil, wheat, and cotton, Mekdad told the national TV on Monday.

He added that the SDF with the assistance of the US forces is holding 60,000 people in the al-Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria, noting that the SDF is stealing the aid that is sent to the refugees, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Minister claimed that US sanctions against Syria are "illegitimate" and aimed at destabilising the country.
Quthing Airport, Quthing, Lesotho [ UTG / FXQG ]

If you are planning to travel to Quthing or any other city in Lesotho, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Quthing Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Quthing Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Lesotho. Quthing Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided.

Quthing Airport Info:

Quthing Airport IATA Code: UTG Quthing Airport ICAO Code: FXQG Latitude : -30.4778 Longitude : 27.6425 City : Quthing Country : Lesotho World Area Code : 536 Airport Type : Small Quthing Airport Address / Contact Details :

Quthing (UTG), Lesotho Timezone : Africa/Maseru Quthing Airport Timezone : GMT +02:00 hours Current time and date at Quthing Airport is 02:22:22 AM (SAST) on Friday, Jan 7, 2022

Looking for information on Quthing Airport, Quthing, Lesotho? Know about Quthing Airport in detail. Find out the location of Quthing Airport on Lesotho map and also find out airports near to Quthing. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Quthing Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Quthing Airport, airlines operating to Quthing Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Lesotho. Scroll down to know more about Quthing Airport or Quthing Airport, Lesotho.

Quthing Airport Map - Location of Quthing Airport Load Map Lesotho - General Information Country Formal Name Kingdom of Lesotho Country Code LS Capital Maseru Currency Loti (LSL)

 1 LSL = 0.064 USD

 1 USD = 15.727 LSL

 1 LSL = 0.056 EUR

 1 EUR = 17.765 LSL

 More LSL convertion rates Tel Code +266 Top Level Domain .ls

This page provides all the information you need to know about Quthing Airport, Lesotho. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Lesotho or traveling to Quthing Airport. Details about Quthing Airport given here include Quthing Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes)

Coordinates of Quthing Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Quthing Airport

Location of Quthing Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc...

Quthing Airport Time Zone and Current time at Quthing Airport

Address and contact details of Quthing Airport along with website address of the airport

Clickable Location Map of Quthing Airport on Google Map.

General information about Lesotho where Quthing Airport is located in the city of Quthing. General information include capital of Lesotho, currency and conversion rate of Lesotho currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc...

UTG - Quthing Airport IATA Code and FXQG - Quthing Airport ICAO code
Risk Crisis and High Stress Communication Book from Dr. Vincent Covello Covellos work promises to be a useful addition to the literature in the field of risk communication, a subject of intense interest during the global pandemic.

Amid continuing concerns about the COVID-19 Omicron variant, risk communication practitioner and director of the Center for Risk Communication Dr. Vincent Covello offers his latest book, "Communicating in Risk, Crisis, and High Stress Situations: Evidence-Based Strategies and Practice" (Wiley-IEEE Press; December 2021).

Covellos work promises to be a useful addition to the literature in the field of risk communication, a subject of intense interest during the global pandemic.

In "Communicating in Risk, Crisis, and High Stress Situations" Dr. Covello examines the unifying issues in the field along with major strategies, tools and techniques.

The book is billed as a one-stop reference for the engineering, technical and scientific communities. As such, it includes an overview of the risk and crisis communication landscape, a look at risk and crisis message development, a study of risk assessment and risk management, decision-making techniques, and discussions of stakeholder engagement.

In addition to this book and consulting work around the globe, Dr. Covello has launched Pathway to Risk, High-Concern, and Crisis Communication, an online, video-based course on the principles and tools of risk communication.

Dr. Covello, a nationally and internationally recognized trainer, researcher, consultant and expert in risk communication, reports to have offered the course after receiving frequent requests for widely accessible risk communication training.

Located at the Pathway website (pathwaycommunication.com), the course comprises nine video lectures, nine printable course guides, and supplemental materials.

"Communicating in Risk, Crisis, and High Stress Situations" may be purchased from Wiley-IEEE Press and through major online vendors.

About Dr. Vincent Covello

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Vincent Covello has held numerous positions in academia and government, including Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Clinical Medicine at Columbia University. Before joining the faculty at Columbia, Dr. Covello was a senior scientist at the White House Council on Environmental Quality in Washington, DC, a study director at the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences, and the director of the Risk Assessment Program at the National Science Foundation.

About the Center for Risk Communication

Pioneers in the development and application of advanced communication methods, the Center for Risk Communication specializes in effective communication strategies during high-stress, emotionally charged situations. The centers science-based solutions are practical, applicable, and effective. At the center, senior consultants assess, guide, train, and develop tailored communication solutions that strengthen organizations.

About Pathway to Risk, High-Concern, and Crisis Communication

Pathway to Risk, High-Concern, and Crisis Communication is an internet-accessible, video-based training program for communicating effectively in emotionally charged situations where trust and credibility have been compromised. In this course, Dr. Vincent Covello shares guidelines for helping programs, providers and individuals communicate risk information clearly and effectively.
Kay Properties & Investments is a national Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investment firm. This was more than a successful DST 1031 exchange transaction. It represented a growing trend weve been seeing more and more within our investment community, said Dwight Kay, Founder and CEO of Kay Properties and Investments.

Kay Properties & Investments was recently contacted by a real estate investor couple who needed help completing a 1031 exchange into Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investments across multiple property types and geographic locations. While the couple were experienced investors with decades of real estate experience, they contacted Kay Properties in order to access the firms full DST marketplace of all-cash/debt-free real estate investment options, and the firms nationally recognized expertise in DST investments.

This was more than a successful DST 1031 exchange transaction. It represented a growing trend weve been seeing more and more within our investment community. There is a real need for our investors to have solutions for their investment real estate needs once the time comes for them to step away from active management. I was incredibly proud that our Kay Properties team of DST experts was able to help these two impressive and experienced investors achieve their objectives, said Dwight Kay, Founder and CEO of Kay Properties and Investments.

According to Kay Properties Vice President and DST 1031 investment expert, Alex Madden, when the couple reached out to Kay Properties, they were in a conundrum, and needed a firm who could help advise them on Delaware Statutory Trusts 1031 exchanges. They were looking for someone with the patience and resources to educate them on specific strategies while always enlightening them on both the potential risks and benefits of DST investments.

They had worked hard their entire lives and had acquired a portfolio of eight well-located condominiums that had appreciated phenomenally over the years. It was a big point of pride for them that they were able to pay off the mortgages on all their properties, said Madden.

Because the couple were first-time DST investors, Madden explained that he spent a significant amount of time in the beginning educating them on how to use DST investments as a 1031 exchange vehicle, and how the unique structure of the DST could potentially help them achieve their unique set of financial and nonfinancial goals. We also spent considerable time and energy discussing the potential risks of DST investments and going through these risk factors in detail.

They had been active and hands-on real estate investors for so long, so we understood there was going to be a learning curve. But they regularly attended and participated in our conference calls and our webinars, along with reading just about everything we had including the detailed offering memorandums business plans and risk factors, so that when they consulted with their CPA, they were prepared and had all of the right questions to ask. The main thing they wanted was to be completely hands off from active management as well as to defer associated taxes utilizing the 1031 exchange, said Madden.

Madden explained that while they had considered some triple net lease (NNN) properties at first, they also felt it was too late in their life to learn a whole new business model. They also felt that after making all the sacrifices over the years to become debt-free on their condominiums, it didnt make sense to take the risk of investing in a leveraged DST. Kay Properties has access to many leveraged DSTs for those needing to replace debt in a 1031 exchange as well as many debt-free DSTs for those not needing to replace debt nor wanting to take on the risk of leverage in their replacement properties.

So, with the help of Kay Properties team of DST experts, the couple invested in a multifamily apartment DST, a corporate headquarters DST, a dialysis medical building DST, and a self-storage DST. Each property was in a different geographical location, and each tenant represented a different industry.

Everything went well, and in the end, they were very pleased and appreciative of the Kay Properties business model. We spent the necessary time with them to understand their objectives, goals and risk tolerances and worked tirelessly with them and their CPA to build a 1031 exchange DST solution that would potentially achieve those objectives, said Madden.

About Kay Properties and http://www.kpi1031.com

Kay Properties & Investments is a national Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investment firm. The http://www.kpi1031.com platform provides access to the marketplace of DSTs from over 25 different sponsor companies, custom DSTs only available to Kay clients, independent advice on DST sponsor companies, full due diligence and vetting on each DST (typically 20-40 DSTs) and a DST secondary market. Kay Properties team members collectively have over 115 years of real estate experience, are licensed in all 50 states, and have participated in over $21 Billion of DST 1031 investments.

*NOTE: Past performance does not guarantee future results and DST investments may result in a complete loss of investor principal. This is an example of the experience of one of our clients and may not be representative of the experience of other clients. These clients were not compensated for their testimonials. Please speak with your attorney and CPA before considering an investment.

Diversification does not guarantee profits or protect against losses. All real estate investments provide no guarantees for cash flow, distributions or appreciation as well as could result in a full loss of invested principal. Please read the entire Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) prior to making an investment. This case study may not be representative of the outcome of past or future offerings. Please speak with your attorney and CPA before considering an investment.

All offerings discussed are Regulation D, Rule 506c offerings. There is a risk of loss of the entire investment principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Potential distributions, potential returns and potential appreciation are not guaranteed. For an investor to qualify for any type of investment, there are both financial requirements and suitability requirements that must match specific objectives, goals, and risk tolerances. Securities offered through Growth Capital Services, member FINRA, SIPC Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction located at 2093 Philadelphia Pike Suite 4196 Claymont, DE 19703.
This milestone brings us closer to realizing our longstanding vision of making financial services more accessible and inclusive globally. The interoperability our technology provides can change how money moves, creating a leap toward financial inclusion. - Adam Swartzbaugh, CEO, Almond Finance.

Almond Finance,a B2B technology provider offering a blockchain-based funds transfer infrastructure to connect financial institutions and their users globally, has closed a seed funding round of $2 million. The fundraising, led by Morningside Group, will drive hiring, product development and compliance requirements for multiple markets.

Almonds innovative platform provides interoperability between existing mobile wallet and payment services, allowing people to send money across borders - with or without a bank account.

The company is aiming to open its first money transfer corridor in Q1 2022, with an initial focus on Southeast Asia and North America. Almond is currently in discussions with potential partners from Thailand and Malaysia to build its network, and is finalizing agreements with two of the largest financial institutions in Cambodia.

Additionally, Almond is seeking U.S.-based banks, neobanks and credit unions to join its international money transfer network, enabling individuals to transact with its userbase in Asia.

It was a pleasure to work with the Almond Finance team on this funding round. They are an impressive and diverse group who are poised to disrupt the industry. We are expecting great success with their innovative platform, said Mick Sawka, Investment Manager at Morningside Group.

For more information and to inquire about joining the Almond Finance network, visit almondfinance.com or email money@almondfinance.com.

About Almond Finance

Based in Boston and Singapore, Almond Finance is a blockchain-based funds transfer infrastructure, connecting hundreds of financial institutions globally. We provide the technology and network to enable millions of users worldwide to send money across borders using their existing financial institutions. Our platform is an innovative transfer network built for speed, security and accessibility. Almond offers a suite of APIs that enable peer-to-peer transfers, digital currency-based international settlements and a white-labeled, web or mobile user interface.
Big Blue Swim School, one of the nations fastest-growing swim school franchises, is expanding in Utah and coming to two new states across the Mountain West region  Arizona and Nevada  through an agreement for 21 pools with Austin C. Smith, of Salt Lake City. Smith is an experienced investor most recently tied to the Savory Restaurant Fund, a value-add management company that focuses on delivering outsized returns through strategic growth and a unique value-add strategy . Now, hes ready to dive into a new investment as a franchise partner with Big Blue Swim School.

Between these three markets, we feel like there's immense opportunity, especially with 21 locations identified as tier-one sites, Smith said. And within those geographies, we see a lack of competition from other national, established swim schools. In Nevada, we dont have any national competitors currently, and in Utah and Arizona, we have few. So Big Blue has a real opportunity to come in and be the market leader in these geographies fairly quickly and capitalize on the existing whitespace.

Smith plans to open his first Big Blue Swim School in Utah by summer 2022, with goals to complete all 21 openings over the next seven years. Smith said he signed on as a franchise partner after learning about the high-quality investment opportunity and best-in-class consumer offerings provided by Big Blue.

About a year ago, I first learned about the opportunity with Big Blue, and from the very initial conversations I had with them, it was apparent that they were focused on the right things and that they understood the market and what it takes to scale a concept successfully, Smith said. As an investor, that's something that I'm always looking for: the right team. At the end of the day, the concept can be great, but if you dont have the right people involved, it doesn't matter how good the concept actually is.

Since opening in 2009, Big Blue has changed the way swim lessons are taught. One of the ways the brand stands out is by training its swim associates to become expert instructors, helping provide consistency for a child to build trust with them and differentiating them from most kids concepts.

What makes Big Blue so special is that we are teaching children a vital life skill and were helping them build confidence along the way. Our mission is to show kids that they can do anything by unlocking their full potential in the water, Big Blues founder and president Chris DeJong said. With Austins passion for the Utah community and his expertise in the Mountain West region as a whole, we know he will dive in and make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of children.

Smiths pools will also make life easier for parents by offering Big Blues ultimate flexibility in scheduling with its proprietary LessonBuddy app and advanced pool configurations.

All of our pools have room for progress move-ups immediately when kids are ready, and families can schedule multiple kids of various levels and ages to swim all at the same time, DeJong said. Our online software eliminates the challenges families can have when scheduling lessons for their family. And rescheduling lessons, when necessary, is always easy.

For franchise partners, LessonBuddy also allows them to manage the business remotely, maintaining efficiencies at the store. Additional top-tier franchisor support includes data-driven site selection, construction, technology, and marketing led by a team of experts.

With an aggressive growth plan in place, Big Blue has already signed 161 units in 22 states across the country. With a goal of reaching 170 units by the end of 2021, the brand is uniquely positioned to be the leader in the $3 billion learn-to-swim industry.

The swim school industry as a whole is set to grow tremendously over the next five to 10 years, and I think we're right on the cusp of that, Smith said. There's so much opportunity out there, and there are so many kids that need to have access to swimming lessons.

The total investment to start a new Big Blue Swim School is $2,334,223 to $3,641,998. To learn more about Big Blue Swim School franchise opportunities, visit https://bigblueswimschool.com/franchising/.

ABOUT BIG BLUE SWIM SCHOOL

Big Blue Swim School was founded in 2009 by competitive swimmer Chris DeJong. The first location opened in Wilmette, Illinois, followed by four additional Chicagoland schools. In 2017, Level 5 Capital Partners acquired a stake in the brand, and pools are now open in Chicago, Atlanta, Denver and Northern Virginia. Big Blue is currently growing through franchising with plans to have a minimum of 170 pools sold by the end of 2021. Big Blue Swim School's real estate expertise, strong brand, proprietary technology, and leadership support, coupled with its best-in-class consumer offerings, position its franchise partners for long-term success. To learn more about franchise opportunities with Big Blue Swim School, visit http://YourBigMomentStartsHere.com.
Expansion: Founded by CEO Joe Beverly, Blue Ox Moving and Storage has served the Houston area since 2013. With offerings including local moving, packing, storage solutions, and packing supplies, Blue Ox is one of the few full-service moving companies in the Southeast Texas region. Located at 7111 Perimeter Park Dr, Suite 312, Houston, TX, 77041, the new location will have state-of-the-art equipment for storing household goods and handling large-scale moves more efficiently. With these changes, the Blue Ox team is looking forward to better serving those in need of local moving services.

Trust is hard to come by, and Blue Ox has been earning the trust and respect of Houston area residents with concierge service to provide them with a stress-free move, taking great care with their personal belongings and memories. With a focus on the details, we meet the needs of our families who are striving to provide a pleasant moving experience each time.

About Blue Ox Moving and Storage

The Woodlands based Blue Ox Moving and Storage is family-owned. The company worked consistently to raise the bar in moving and storage services with exceptional customer service, customized moving solutions. An informative website offering resources to help clients experience a smooth and seamless move. For more information, visit http://www.blueoxmoving.com or call (832) 934-2583.
Morning Star and the Red Dragon: an exciting narrative that balances faith and fantasy. Morning Star and the Red Dragon is the creation of published author Charlotte Dickison, a loving wife who graduated from John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, in 1970.

Dickison shares, Morning Star and the Red Dragon is one whopper of a story told by a grandpa to his grandson. Christian fiction describing the lives of angelic sci-fi characters in the spiritual world of Paradise, combined with Grandpas family experiences filled with humor, drama, and mystery creates a fascinating read for teenagers and adults.

Morning Star is the main character based loosely on the Bible. A fictional character story of celestial beings in the spiritual realm. Residents in the spiritual universe are individuals aware of their existence, possessing their own personalities designed with specific talents and purpose. Grandpas story reveals a creative glimpse into the mystical world of the spiritual universe and culminates into a unique spin on the creation story, blending biblical, extrabiblical, archeological, and historical evidence.

Grandpa and his identical twin brother have experienced numerous hilarious, fascinating life situations; their stories are sprinkled throughout the book, adding a charming family spin. Additionally, Grandpa cleverly weaves story threads about family members life experiences while serving in the military; however, most of the stories originated from Grandpas creative imagination. Overall, a thoroughly thrilling, entertaining book packed with intriguing stories about peoples lives filled with drama and mystery.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Charlotte Dickisons new book is an entertaining and enjoyable fiction that takes readers on an imaginative adventure.

Dickisons novel is a fine balance of family, faith, and fantasy that will delight and entertain readers from any background.

Consumers can purchase Morning Star and the Red Dragon at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Morning Star and the Red Dragon, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Keystone acquisition is highly attractive as it expands our transaction range in the industries to which we are committed and know well. Importantly, we share many similarities with Keystone and look forward to working with Keystones accomplished management team.

Commercial Credit, Inc. (CCI), a Charlotte-based equipment and accounts receivable finance company and the parent company of Commercial Credit Group Inc. (CCG) and Commercial Funding Inc., announced today that it has acquired Keystone Equipment Finance Corp. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Based in Connecticut, Keystone Equipment Finance Corp. provides small-ticket equipment financing specializing in the transportation and construction related industries. Keystone will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of CCI, gaining and leveraging CCIs extensive resources. Keystones operations and management will remain in place, with no expected change in personnel.

Dan McDonough, President and CEO of CCI, stated, The Keystone acquisition is highly attractive as it expands our transaction range in the industries to which we are committed and know well. Importantly, we share many similarities with Keystone and look forward to working with Keystones accomplished management team as we continue to build our differentiated independent equipment finance business. Combining our highly complementary businesses will drive new benefits for both companies, our customers, and employees.

Todd Kaufman, President of Keystone, noted, The cultural fit and CCIs resources are a perfect match to perpetuate our long and successful track record. We are excited to provide our vendors and customers an expanded product line and continued exceptional service.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., a Stifel Company (NYSE: SF), advised CCI in connection with the transaction and Hovde Group advised Keystone Equipment Finance Corp.

About Commercial Credit, Inc.:

Commercial Credit, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiaries Commercial Credit Group Inc. and Commercial Funding Inc., provides equipment loans and leases to small and mid-sized businesses in the construction, fleet transportation, machine tool and manufacturing, and waste industries and accounts receivable factoring in a variety of industries. The companys sales force is located throughout North America. Commercial Credit, Inc. is headquartered in Charlotte, NC and operates full-service offices in Buffalo, NY, Naperville, IL, Hamilton, ON and Salt Lake City, UT. For more information, please visit http://www.commercialcreditgroup.com and http://www.commercialfund.com.

About Keystone Equipment Finance:

Keystone Equipment Finance Corp., based in West Hartford, Connecticut, is a nationwide provider of small-ticket equipment financing solutions specializing in the transportation and construction related industries. Keystone was originally founded in 1972 and has built long-standing relationships withstanding many business cycles by a commitment to customer service, speed, and consistency.
Why Fear When Our Steps Are Ordered: a potent reminder of the strength one can find through faith. Why Fear When Our Steps Are Ordered is the creation of published author Darjisa Santiago, a loving and dedicated mother of three young men. She carries bachelors and masters degrees in social work from Arizona State University.

Santiago shares, The inspiration in writing this book was to remind myself and others that we are not going through life alone and that we do have a comforter, the Holy Spirit, who is with us and cares about our every step, so we should not fear as our steps are truly ordered. God knows the beginning from the end, so we should have assurance in his goodness for us. This book is a summary of some of my personal life situations and how God showed up with his grace and mercy along with my familys support. Sometimes life has a way of throwing us curve balls, even knocking the wind out of us at times, but what remains consistent is how God loves us and wants the best for us even when we cannot see it for ourselves. It is in those difficult situations that he shows his sovereignty and gives us peace while we get to the other side.

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Darjisa Santiagos new book will encourage and challenge believers to build and nurture a strong relationship with God.

Santiago shares personal reflections and relevant scripture in hopes of motivating others in their faith.

Consumers can purchase Why Fear When Our Steps Are Ordered at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about Why Fear When Our Steps Are Ordered, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The Heart Intruder: A Collection of Poetry: a deeply personal collection of poetic verse. The Heart Intruder: A Collection of Poetry is the creation of published author Dr. Charles Dingle, a loving husband, father, and noted Gospel preacher who was born in Wilmington, North Carolina. Dr. Dingle is a lifetime student and has received degrees from United Christian Bible College, Cape Fear Community College, and University of North Carolina. He has also been in ministry for fifty years and has pastored for forty-seven years.

Dr. Dingle shares, It is a great blessing that Dr. Charles W. Dingle has embraced the talent given to him by God by writing this book of poetry. His walk with God and insight are evident in his penmanship of each word as he weaves a paragon of beauty and grace with every written verse. His sensitivity to the Spirit is felt in an array of poems that covers a plethora of emotions, thoughts, and feelings. Dr. Dingle shows that he is not a one-dimensional writer. He transcends from presenting theological sermons in his role as a pastor, teacher, and ecclesiastical leader to a Renaissance man full of love and compassion as he addresses matters of the heart with tenderness and skill. These matters of the heart truly blessed him not only as a fellow theologian but as a lover of Gods Word. Dr. Dingle was able to capture the essence of the love of Christ and put it in a form that embodies that love on every level for all that will have the distinct blessing of reading this book of poetry.

Dr. Stanley Roberts, Pastor

Published by Christian Faith Publishing, Dr. Charles Dingles new book is an engaging collection of lyrical verse inspired by the authors deep relationship with God.

Dr. Dingles collection touches on hopelessness, devotion, uncertainty, and many other thought-provoking concepts layered within this inspired collection of poetry.

View a synopsis of The Heart Intruder: A Collection of Poetry on YouTube.

Consumers can purchase The Heart Intruder: A Collection of Poetry at traditional brick & mortar bookstores, or online at Amazon.com, Apple iTunes store, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or inquiries about The Heart Intruder: A Collection of Poetry, contact the Christian Faith Publishing media department at 866-554-0919.
The State of Michigan has a complex network of laws that can result in a multitude of various criminal offenses, even ones that individuals may not be aware that theyre committing. When an individual is charged with a criminal offense in Michigan, they are facing a challenging legal situation that can have the potential to alter the rest of their lives.

As a Michigan native, criminal defense attorney Derrick George has seen the consequences of Michigan's harsh criminal justice system first hand. Based in downtown Royal Oak, his firm was founded over ten years ago with one of its primary goals being to help those facing criminal charges achieve a positive outcome in their cases.

It should be no surprise that the Metro-Detroit area has a large number of practicing criminal defense attorneys, which makes selecting the best one a difficult task. Expertise.com is an outstanding resource for those seeking expert legal help, handpicking top experts from across over 200 different professional services throughout the USA.

With a team of researchers on staff to comb over more than 60,000 businesses every month, they systematically find the top professionals in every area of the country. Thanks to their stringent selection process, only the top experts make the top of their lists. Employing a combination of accreditations, licenses, awards, data reviews, undercover mystery shoppers, and service capability assessments as part of this selection process, making it to the top of their list is a challenging feat for even the most seasoned professionals.

Despite the difficulty of making it on these top lists, George Law was featured as one of the best local firms specializing in criminal defense, along with over 16 other different practice areas of law. This doesnt come as a surprise to those who have experience working with George Law, as they are well known for their expertise and professionalism in all types of criminal matters. Their reputation of aggressively defending their clients has even earned them an A+ rating, making them one of the top choices for clients across the Detroit Metropolitan Area.

To learn more about George Law or set up a free consultation with one of the experienced lawyers at their Royal Oak based law firm, visit their website below.

https://www.derrickgeorge.com/
Law Office of Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP For more information about the class action lawsuit against Dejon Enterprises., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney toda.y

The Los Angeles employment law attorneys, at Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP, filed a class action lawsuit against Dejon Enterprises, Inc. alleging the company violated the California Labor Code. The lawsuit against Dejon Enterprises, Inc. is currently pending in the Orange County Superior Court, Case No. 30-2021-1236088-CU-OE-CXC. To read a copy of the Complaint, please click here.

According to the lawsuit filed, Dejon Enterprises, Inc. allegedly failed to fully relieve Plaintiff and other California Class Members for their legally required thirty (30) minute meals breaks. Employees were also allegedly required, from time to time, to work in excess of four (4) hours without being provided the legally required ten (10) minute rest periods. The California Supreme Court defines off-duty rest periods as time during which an employee is relieved from all work related duties and free from employer control.

Cal. Lab. Code  226 states that employers shall provide employees with accurate itemized wage statements showing, among other things "gross wages earned and all applicable hourly rates in effect during the pay period..." The lawsuit alleges that DEFENDANT allegedly violated this California Labor Code by allegedly failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements.

For more information about the class action lawsuit against Dejon Enterprises, Inc., call (800) 568-8020 to speak to an experienced California employment attorney today.

Blumenthal Nordrehaug Bhowmik De Blouw LLP is a labor law firm with law offices located in San Diego County, Riverside County, Los Angeles County, Sacramento County, Santa Clara County, Orange County and San Francisco County. The firm has a statewide practice of representing employees on a contingency basis for violations involving unpaid wages, overtime pay, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other types of illegal workplace conduct.
Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt Nashville has been on our potential playlist for quite some time. Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt presents an ideal opportunity for us to enter one of the top travel destinations in the country.

OTO Development is moving into Music City with the acquisition of Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt. The deal for this Nashville, Tennessee property was brokered by Hunter Hotel Advisors.

Headquartered in Spartanburg, South Carolina, OTO Development is part of The Johnson Group. The company develops, owns and operates a dynamic portfolio of select-service hotels across the country.

Nashville has been on our potential playlist for quite some time, says Corry Oakes, CEO of OTO Development. Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt presents an ideal opportunity for us to enter one of the top travel destinations in the country.

As one of the fastest-growing MSAs in the country, Nashville enjoys a unique diversity of hospitality demand generators, with a nearly even split between leisure, business and group travel. Long beloved as the Music City, Nashville is becoming a fast favorite for corporate relocations and expansions, with recent headliners such as AllianceBernstein, Amazon and Oracle.

Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt is ideally positioned to cater to all these travel segments. The extended-stay property is located in Nashvilles historic West End, just minutes from Lower Broadway. Its within walking distance of Music Row and convenient to Vanderbilt University as well as Vanderbilt University Medical Center and other prominent community hospitals.

Opened in December 2018, this 15-floor Hyatt House comprises 201 extended-stay guest rooms, including 125 suites, and more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space. The brands popular H bar and a rooftop pool highlight the amenities list, with added conveniences such as a well-equipped fitness center, in-suite kitchens/kitchenettes, complimentary breakfast, hotel shuttle and, for those who travel with their best friends, a pet-friendly policy.

People love coming to Nashville, whether for work or pleasure, and we look forward to helping them feel right at home in the apartment-style spaces at Hyatt House Vanderbilt, says Oakes.

Hyatt House Nashville at Vanderbilt is located at 2100 Hayes St. in Nashville, Tennessee. Make reservations by calling 615.320.9000 or visiting HyattHouseNashvilleAtVanderbilt.com. Follow the hotel on social: Facebook @HyattHouseNashvilleAtVanderbilt and Instagram @HyattHouseNashvilleVandy.

About OTO Development

OTO Development, part of The Johnson Group, is an award-winning, fast-growing hotel development and hospitality management company. Founded in 2004 and partnering with the Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott brands, OTO's industry leadership position is anchored by a portfolio of excellent hotels staffed by exceptional people. The company currently owns and/or operates ~70 hotels comprising approximately 8,000 room keys. OTO's growth is focused on developing new hotels in high-barrier-to-entry markets; purchasing and repurposing existing hotel properties; and expanding management contracts with clients ranging from publicly traded REITs to private equity firms to high-net-worth individuals. For more information, visit OTODevelopment.com.
Deciding to sell the dealership that my father purchased almost 50 years ago was not an easy decision. I sincerely appreciate George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard of Performance Brokerage Services working to bring in a group that will help the dealership grow and support the community." Cal Thomas

Performance Brokerage Services, North Americas highest volume dealership brokerage firm, is pleased to announce the sale of Thomas Chevrolet Buick in Perry, Florida from Cal Thomas to Key Auto Group.

Thomas Chevrolet Buick was established in 1972 by Cal Thomas father, Lewis H. Thomas. Cal and his brother, Al Ray, grew up in the business and shared their fathers love for the automotive industry. Thomas Chevrolet has been a staple in the community for nearly 50 years. When the sale was made public on Facebook, the community responded with an outpouring of support. Each customer has been a part of the Thomas Chevrolet family and is excited to celebrate Cal Thomas retirement.

Cal Thomas shared, Deciding to sell the dealership that my father purchased almost 50 years ago was not an easy decision. I sincerely appreciate George Chaconas and Courtney Bernhard of Performance Brokerage Services working to bring in a group that will help the dealership grow and support the community. I would like to thank our loyal customers for their support over 5 decades, and all the staff who became like family to my brother Al Ray and me.

Over the last 5 years, Performance Brokerage Services has advised on the sale of over 250 dealerships, making it the highest volume dealership brokerage firm in North America. In 2021, the company consummated over 70 transactions, marking a record-breaking year. George C. Chaconas, the exclusive advisor for this transaction and the Southeast Partner for Performance Brokerage Services commented, I had the pleasure of meeting Cal Thomas about 5 years ago and discussed potentially selling his familys automotive dealership. I am happy that we were able to identify a buyer so that Cal and his family could hand over their legacy of almost 50 years, allowing Cal and his brother to move into the next chapter of their lives and enjoy retirement. Courtney Bernhard and I look forward to helping Key Auto Group grow throughout the Southeast and thank everyone involved for making this a smooth transaction.

Anthony DiLorenzo, owner of Key Auto Group, began his career in the automotive industry in 1986, as a sales associate at Edwards Toyota. Key Auto Group was established in 1994 with the acquisition of Somerset Auto Center, and then added Portsmouth Chevrolet in 1997. Over the past 11 years, the company continued to grow, adding additional automotive dealerships, collision centers, a brewery, a rental car company and fitness centers. DiLorenzo has set the vision and mission for the entire group of businesses, which has grown to over 400 employees. The company states their goal to be one of the most recognized and well-respected auto groups in the Eastern U.S. and uphold the following values to help them achieve this vision: Respect, Integrity, Initiative, Value, Responsibility, Transparency, and Peer Development.

Supporting the execution of that vision, Regional VP, Todd Jackson, stated, Our group had been looking to expand into the Southeast and was very familiar with Performance Brokerage Services. After several discussions, Courtney Bernhard was able to successfully negotiate a deal with Cal Thomas of Thomas Chevrolet. We are very excited to help grow the dealership and support the community. We look forward to working with Courtney Bernhard and George Chaconas on more dealership acquisitions in the near future.

The dealership will remain at its current location at 2128 S Byron Butler Parkway in Perry, Florida and has been renamed to Key Chevrolet Buick of Perry.

Cal Thomas was represented by Logan Parker of Bass Sox Mercer in Tallahassee, Florida. No stranger to the area, Parker grew up in Perry, Florida and was a key player in getting the sale to the finish line.

Key Auto Group was represented by Stephen Roberts, Partner at Hoefle, Phoenix, Gormley & Roberts, PLLC in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

About Performance Brokerage Services

Performance Brokerage Services, Inc. is the nations highest volume dealership brokerage firm, specializing in buy-sell activity for automotive, commercial truck, motorcycle, RV and equipment dealerships.

With over 25 years of experience, 700 dealerships sold and a 90% closing rate, the companys reputation is unmatched and governed by the utmost ethical conduct and integrity.

The company offers a unique approach by providing complimentary estimates of value with no upfront fees, no reimbursement of costs and paid a success fee after the transaction closes.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, and supported by 5 regional offices in Utah, Florida, Texas, Virginia and New Jersey, clients benefit from national exposure with local representation.

As trusted and respected experts in the field, the company utilizes an extensive network of industry related attorneys, accountants, hundreds of registered buyers, and longstanding relationships with most of the auto manufacturers.

For more information about the services offered by Performance Brokerage Services, visit https://performancebrokerageservices.com.
The Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership (MNCEO) (http://www.mnceo.org) has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) (http://www.ottobremer.org), one of the nations largest philanthropic organizations. The grant will be used by the MNCEO to support education and awareness efforts across the state of Minnesota on the benefits of employee ownership in creating wealth equity and economic stability, with a focus on educating community leaders and business owners within the black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities.

This funding from the Otto Bremer Trust enables us to increase awareness of the powerful benefits employee ownership can offer businesses located in communities of color, empowering owners to create more rewarding, secure workplaces and help their employees generate personal wealth. It is critical that we get information on employee ownership out now as approximately 52,000 business owners in MN who are age 55 or older are beginning to retire and will ultimately sell or close their companies, said Sue Crockett, Executive Director of MNCEO. MNCEO is one of ten State Centers for Employee Ownership created by the Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) since launching in 2019 (http://www.eoxnetwork.org/statecenters/).

According to a study conducted by the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, increasing access and inclusion in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) can play an important part in reducing the racial wealth gap. ESOPs help employees build financial assets without taking from their paychecks, enabling them to contribute to retirement and transfer wealth to their children. The study found that women and people of color participating in ESOPs had larger savings than those who worked in a traditional business. Other research shows that employee-owned firms tend to offer higher paying jobs, better benefits, and increased job security and help to improve economic resiliency in communities.

Employee ownership is an important resource and we believe that MNCEO has the potential to make a difference in building wealth in Minnesota, including in historically marginalized communities that have been previously excluded from business ownership opportunities, said Daniel Reardon, Co-CEO and Trustee, Otto Bremer Trust.

Employee ownership rewards employees and helps them meaningfully participate in their business while at the same time providing quality jobs that remain rooted in their community, said Steve Storkan, Executive Director, EOX. We are honored that the Otto Bremer Trust recognizes the importance of employee ownership and the value it offers all communities, especially the BIPOC communities of MN, and we are grateful for their support. To support the work of MNCEO or to inquire on how you can support this grassroots movement visit https://www.mnceo.org.

###

About the Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership

The Minnesota Center for Employee Ownership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2019. Its mission is to engage business owners, their advisors, community leaders, and state and local government officials about employee ownership as a way to preserve businesses, provide local quality jobs, strengthen the communitys economic resiliency, and create equity and wealth for all employees regardless of their race, ethnicity or education. To learn more visit, https://www.mnceo.org.

About the Employee Ownership Expansion Network

The Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in Philadelphia, PA in 2018. Its mission is to significantly expand employee ownership in the United States by establishing and supporting a network of independent non-profit Centers for Employee Ownership. EOX has provided funding and technical assistance to support the opening of ten state centers for employee ownership. The organization aims to help create one million new employee owners by 2025 by having at least 70 percent of the US population living in a state with a center for employee ownership. To learn more, visit https://www.eoxnetwork.org.

Media Contact

Shannon Wojcik

585-831-6267

shannon@rkgcomms.com
Billie Lourd is sharing her experience with grief five years after her mom Carrie Fisher's death.

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The 29-year-old actress marked the fifth anniversary of Fisher's death Sunday with a tribute to her mom on Instagram.

Lourd posted a throwback photo of herself and Fisher posing with a koala and reflected on grief in the caption.

"People always ask me what stage of grief I'm in. And my answer is never simple," Lourd wrote. "I'm in a different stage of grief in each moment of every day. My grief is a multi course meal with many complicated ingredients. An amuse bouche of bargaining followed by an anger appetizer with a side of depression, acceptance for the entree and of course a little denial for dessert."

"And that's how grief should be - all things all at once - actually there is no 'should' in grief - grief just is whatever it is for you and that is how it 'should be,'" she added. "sending my love to anyone out there who needs it."

Fisher died at age 60 on Dec. 27, 2016. Actress Debbie Reynolds , Lourd's grandmother and Fisher's mom, died a day later.

Lourd previously sent love to grieving fans during the holidays in 2019.

"It's okay if everything ain't all merry and bright. It can be a mix of all of it. And it's all okay," Lourd wrote on Instagram. "Feel all the feelings -- the good and the not so good. Eat something delish they used to love. Put on one of their favorite songs. Tell a story about them. Cry about them. Call one of their friends you haven't talked to in a while."

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"Be kind and patient with yourself," she encouraged. "Don't grieve in silence. You're not alone."

Lourd is the daughter of Fisher and talent agent Bryan Lourd. She played Lt. Kaydel Ko Connix in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and is also known for her roles on Scream Queens and American Horror Story.
The fifth and final season of the dramedy Insecure ended Sunday night on HBO.

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Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore created the show, which was inspired by Rae's web series, Awkward Black Girl.

Rae co-starred with Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis and Natasha Rothwell.

The series' cast and creative team took to Twitter as the finale aired to reflect on their experiences making the show.

"I love y'all. Thank you for 5 seasons. #InsecureHBO," Rae tweeted.

"When I say @IssaRae the person is as bomb and genuine as she seems, it's an understatement. She's one of the best people I know. Periodt! #InsecureHBO," showrunner Prentice Penny posted.

Penny added: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't stressed how the finale was received. I did NOT want to direct it. I was scared of the heat it would get if it didn't measure up. Which is the exact reason why I know I needed to. So glad y'all received it in the spirit it was made. #InsecureHBO."

"It's nearly 7AM in London and I haven't slept but I wouldn't have missed sharing the @insecurehbo finale with you all for the world. My heart is full. #grateful #InsecureHBO," Rothwell said.

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"It was always her," Ellis tweeted, referring to the relationship between Issa and her beau, his character, Lawrence. "The love story some of y'all loved and some of y'all loved to hate. #IssaLaw #InsecureHBO."

Former Scandal star Kerry Washington directed several episodes of Insecure.

"Television will never be the same because of the ceilings @IssaRae, this talented cast, and this phenomenal crew shattered," Washington wrote online Sunday. "Thank you for letting me be a small piece of this gigantic legacy. It may be the end, but ya'll are just getting started #InsecureSeriesFinale."

Broadway actor Jelani Alladin also celebrated the show's success.

"ISSA. RAE. HAD. A. VISION. THEN. WORKED. HER. ASS. OFF. TILL. IT. CAME. TO. PASS. WE. THANK. HER. AND. ALL. THOSE. WHO. BELIEVED. IN. HER. VISION." Alladin tweeted.
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Cloudy with snow developing after midnight. Low 24F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 90%. About one inch of snow expected..

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Cloudy with snow developing after midnight. Low 24F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 90%. About one inch of snow expected.
A Reddit post calling for the completion of Super 7 garnered dozens of comments and a 72 percent approval rating from users earlier this month.

But local officials said the project is no longer a priority.

The project was proposed by the state between the 1950s and 1960s and envisioned a four-lane expressway connecting Route 95 in Norwalk to Interstate 84 in Danbury.

Over the years opposition mounted from residents that lived on or near Route 7 in towns like Wilton and Ridgefield, who argued that the project would pose adverse effects to the environment, property values and overall quality of life.

The state finally shelved the plan in 1993 and instead widened Route 7 in certain areas. It invested millions of dollars in upgrades to the thoroughfare in Wilton, including a major road-widening program in the late 2000s, First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice said.

During his time in Hartford, former state representative John Frey pushed the effort to widen Route 7 from two lanes to four between the Route 35 intersection in Ridgefield and the ramp up to I-84 in Danbury. The $62 million project was completed in fall 2011.

The Reddit chatter follows recent calls from state lawmakers to invest in Connecticuts existing infrastructure.

In November, a group of legislators requested the states transportation czar earmark newly-awarded transportation money from Washington to electrify the rail connection between Danbury and South Norwalk, and to expand passenger train service on the Danbury line to Brookfield and New Milford.

The hope is to secure funding for the two rail projects out of the $5 billion coming to Connecticuts Department of Transportation from the $1 trillion federal infrastructure package.

To keep people living here, Connecticut must invest in a transportation system that improves traffic conditions as well as quality of life, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said.

In addition to electrifying the Danbury line, he said the federal funding should also be used to improve I-84 at the changing ramp with I-684, in Brewster, N.Y. This week Marconi met with municipal leaders from Westchester County, state transportation officials and engineers to discuss ways to alleviate traffic on those interstates.

With technology today, people arent afraid to get off at any point because Siri or whoever they have whispering to them will give them their directions and tell them where to go, he explained. As a result, Were all experiencing traffic increases in smaller, out-of-the-way neighborhoods.

In terms of the states population, Were growing, Marconi said, and you have to take that into consideration when building transportation infrastructure.

While the state has a couple of improvement projects already planned for Route 7, Vanderslice said officials should also consider widening the thoroughfare where it intersects with Route 33 in Wilton. She said Connecticut also needs to invest in its internet and cellular infrastructure to keep people living here, noting that many now work from home.

Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito recalls his father, a former state legislator in the late 60s and early 70s, working on the project when the now-mayor was a kid.

Theres no easy way to get from Danbury to Norwalk, so it would have been a real plus if the project had happened, Esposito said.

Esposito would support the project if it were proposed today, but hes focused on mass transportation and creating a faster train from Danbury to New York City. Initial findings from a study of the old Maybrook line suggest thats possible, and would bring economic and environmental benefits to the region. The study is ongoing.

Marconi said he wants the state to avoid any further studies on improving its infrastructure. Weve done the studies, we know what we need to do  damn it, go out and do it, he said. We need to use the past as a lesson that will lead us to the future, and I believe that future does not include a Super 7.

Julia Perkins and Rob Ryser contributed to this story.

alyssa.seidman@hearstmediact.com
SYDNEY (AP)  Australias New South Wales state reported more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and confirmed its first death from the omicron variant.

The fatal case was identified as a man in his 80s who was infected at an aged care facility in western Sydney. He was fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions.

New South Wales, the country's most populous state, reported 6,324 new infections Monday, a fall of 70 from the record number a day before. There were 524 people in hospitals, including 55 in intensive care.

New measures came into force in New South Wales on Monday, including limits of one person per 2 square meters (22 square feet) in bars and restaurants and required check-ins with QR codes in hospitality venues.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the state government is considering lifting the requirement for health workers to isolate after being exposed to COVID-19 because of staff shortages.

Victoria state reported 1,999 new cases on Monday with three deaths.

State COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar said Victoria has moved to random genome testing for the omicron variant to better understand its spread.

Meanwhile, a Sydney laboratory which on Sunday said 400 people who received negative reports from COVID-19 tests had in fact tested positive now says almost 1,000 others also received premature negative results.

SydPath, based at Sydney's St. Vincent Hospital, said 995 people who were tested on Dec. 23 and 24 had prematurely received negative results.

In fact their true result had not yet been determined, the pathology service said in a statement Monday. It said all the affected people have been told they will receive their accurate test results by Monday night.

"We are sincerely sorry for this error and acknowledge the significant impact it has had on those involved, it said.

The laboratory blamed the false negatives on human error, saying the testing system has been under severe strain.

SydPath have put procedures in place to ensure this cannot happen again, it said.
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP)  A truck driver sentenced to 110 years for an explosive crash that killed four people in suburban Denver moved a step closer Monday to potentially having his prison term reduced.

Judge Bruce Jones scheduled a hearing for Jan. 13 to reconsider Rogel Aguilera-Mederos' sentence following widespread outrage over the severity of his punishment and an unusual request by prosecutors to revisit the matter.

During a virtual hearing to discuss the request, one of Aguilera-Mederos lawyers, James Colgan, said the defense needed some time to do research to see if there were any similar cases that could help guide its approach.

Jones said he wanted to learn more about whether the law that allowed him to reconsider the sentence gave him discretion to set whatever sentence he wanted.

He said victims would be able to speak at the in-person hearing about whether Aguilera-Mederos should be resentenced. But he noted he did not want them to go through that stress unless they wished to.

I am a captive audience if they want to speak to me, he said.

Around 5 million people have signed an online petition seeking clemency for Aguilera-Mederos. In addition to the prosecution's request to lower the sentence, Aguilera-Mederos has requested clemency from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

Last week, District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement she would seek a term of 20 to 30 years in the 2019 wreck on Interstate 70 west of Denver. She said that sentencing range reflects an appropriate outcome for Aguilera-Mederos' conduct, noting that the crash was not an accident.

After Monday's hearing, King said her office made the reconsideration request to give the court the ability to impose a sentence not bound by the state's mandatory sentencing laws. She said the judge, knowing the case well, was in the best position to decide a new sentence and urged people to be patient as the court process plays out.

Jones imposed the 110-year sentence against Aguilera-Mederos on Dec. 13 after finding it was the mandatory minimum term set forth under state law.

I will state that if I had the discretion, it would not be my sentence, the judge said during the hearing.

Leonard Martinez, another lawyer for Aguilera-Mederos, has said the district attorney's new requested sentencing range is not consistent with similar cases in Colorado and the United States.

Colorado law allows for sentences for crimes deemed violent to be modified in cases with unusual and extenuating circumstances, but those sentences cannot take effect until 119 days after a person enters prison. King and defense lawyers believe Jones can impose a new, reduced sentence before that and have it take effect later.

Aguilera-Mederos testified that he was hauling lumber when the brakes on his semitrailer failed as he was descending a steep grade of Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountain foothills on April 25, 2019. His truck plowed into vehicles that had slowed because of another wreck, setting off a chain-reaction wreck and a fireball that consumed vehicles and melted parts of the highway.

He wept as he apologized to the victims families at his Dec. 13 sentencing.

"When I look at my charges, we are talking about a murderer, which is not me, he said. I have never thought about hurting anybody in my entire life.

Prosecutors argued he should have used a runaway ramp designed for such situations. Aguilera-Mederos, for his part, said he was struggling to avoid traffic and trying to shift to slow down.

The crash killed 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lamas Arellano, 67-year-old William Bailey, 61-year-old Doyle Harrison and 69-year-old Stanley Politano. Relatives of victims supported at least some prison time at his sentencing hearing.
SEATTLE (AP)  Severe weather sweeping parts of the U.S. brought frigid temperatures to the Pacific Northwest, heavy snow to mountains in Northern California and Nevada and unseasonable warmth to Texas and the Southeast.

Emergency warming shelters were opened throughout Oregon and western Washington as temperatures plunged into the teens and forecasters said an arctic blast would last for several days. Sundays snow showers blew into the Pacific Northwest from the Gulf of Alaska, dumping up to 6 inches (15 centimeters) across the Seattle area.

The National Weather Service said Seattles low Sunday was 20 degrees F (-6.7 C), breaking a mark set in 1948. Bellingham was 9 degrees F (-12. 8C), three degrees colder than the previous record set in 1971.

State officials in Oregon have declared an emergency. In Multnomah County  home to Portland  about a half dozen weather shelters were open. Seattle city leaders also opened at least six severe weather shelters starting Saturday through at least Wednesday.

In West Seattle, Keith Hughes of the American Legion Hall Post 160, said his warming center can welcome about a dozen people  its capacity limited by lack of volunteer staff.

Volunteers, this is a problem for myself as well as everyone else in town, its really hard to get with COVID going on, he said.

Winter weather led to canceled flights in Seattle, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada closed key highways, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days.

At Donner Pass in the Sierra, officials with the University of California, Berkeleys Central Sierra Snow Laboratory on Monday said recent snowfall has smashed the snowiest December record of 179 inches (4.6 meters), set in 1970. The record is now 193.7 inches (4.9 meters) as more snow is expected.

The Northstar California Resort in Truckee closed its mountain operations on Monday amid blizzard conditions. The ski resort has received more than 6 feet (1.8 meters) of snow over the last 48 hours, according to the resort's Facebook post.

Search and rescue crews are looking for a missing skier who was last seen Saturday morning on a lift at the ski resort, KCRA reported.

The snowpack in the Sierra was at dangerously low levels after recent weeks of dry weather but the state Department of Water Resources reported on Monday that the snowpack was between 145% and 161% of normal across the range with more snow expected.

In Nevada, freezing air and blinding snow blasted across the northern part of the state on Monday, affecting travel and business, closing Sierra Nevada highway passes, delaying airport flights and shutting state offices.

Interstate 80 remained closed due to poor visibility and heavy snow from the Nevada state line to Placer County, California. An avalanche blocked a state route that connects Tahoe City to some ski resorts in Olympic Valley and authorities urged motorists to avoid nonessential travel.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak ordered nonessential state workers other than public safety and corrections personnel to remain home due to the storm.

Weather and travel advisories stretched to northeast Nevada and Elko due to the possibility of blowing and drifting snow.

The storms that have been pummeling California and Nevada in recent days also brought rain and snow to Arizona. A record inch of rain in one day was reported at the airport in Phoenix Friday when 11 inches (28 centimeters) of snow fell at the Arizona Snowbowl ski resort just outside Flagstaff. Another 6 inches (15 centimeters) of snow were recorded in the 24 hours ending Monday morning.

More storms are expected to hit the desert state starting Monday afternoon and continuing throughout the week.

Temperatures were unseasonably warm in parts of the Southern Plains, including in Arkansas, where several cities broke records on Christmas Day for daily high temperatures.

But forecasters warned that severe storms were possible midweek when a storm system moves through the Deep South, with Alabama and Mississippi at greatest risk for bad weather, according to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.

Heavy snow will start winding down by Monday evening in Californias Sierra Nevada and the area is expected to get a break from the cold snap by Thursday, said Emily Heller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Temperatures in western Washington and Oregon arent forecast to rise above freezing until at least Thursday, and possibly not until the weekend, forecasters said.
Malayalam superstar Mohanlal is currently gearing for his new project, Barroz: Guardian of D'Gama's Treasure. The filmmakers, on Sunday, unveiled the teaser of the film. The first glimpse of the highly-anticipated 3D film shows Mohanlal playing the titular role. He is seen donning the cap of a director. The short video is kind of homage to the filmmakers he has worked with so far.

Mohanlal's Barroz: Guardian of D'Gama's Treasure teaser released

The teaser clip begins with Mohanlal getting a final check on lights and camera before calling for 'action.' In front of the camera, he is also seen walking wearing a costume and makeup of Barroz. He introduces himself as the Guardian of D'Gama Treasure. The clip then shows Mohanlal shouting 'cut.' He applauds the actor (played by himself) and compliments him by saying 'excellent.' However, he contemplates for a second and decides to do one more take of the scenes. Actor Mohanlal obliges the director's request without any questions.

Touted to be a children's fantasy drama, Barroz is set against the backdrop of the maritime history of Portugal, Spain, Africa and India. The film is based on filmmaker-writer Jijo Punnooses story of the same name. The plot focuses on a mythical figure called Barroz, who has been guarding Vasco da Gamas treasure for over 400 years and he will hand over the treasure to only the true successors of Gama. The film also stars Prithviraj.

Meanwhile, for the unversed, Mohanlal was recently seen in Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, which is helmed Priyadarshan. The actor features in the Malayalam magnum opus -- set in the late 15th century and early 16th century -- as Kunjali Marakkar IV, considered to be one of the greatest naval chiefs of India.

The actor, who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, has featured in nearly 350 films in his career of more than four decades. At the 67th National Film Awards announced this year, Marakkar won the best feature film, best special effects, and best costume honours. The film was shot simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil. For its streaming run, Marakkar will be available on Prime Video in Hindi and Telugu as well. He was also seen in Drishyam 2, a thriller that was released earlier this year.

(Image: Instagram/@mohanlal)
New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) The Indian Navy has sent its training ship INS Sudarshini to the Gulf region including Iran and Oman as part of its efforts to enhance bilateral maritime cooperation with the friendly navies.

The ship, on a month-long deployment, has already made port calls at Muscat, Dubai and Bandar Abbas besides engaging in professional interactions with the Royal Oman Navy (RNO), UAE Navy and Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Navy, officials said.

"The ship built at Goa Shipyard Ltd showcased indigenous shipbuilding capabilities and revisited India's historic maritime linkages with the Gulf," the Navy said in a statement.

"The ship, during the deployment, undertook various training exchanges, wherein sail training was imparted to trainees from RNO and IRI Navy and sea sorties conducted," it added.

It said the ship also participated in bilateral maritime partnership exercises with RNO and IRI for enhancing interoperability between the navies.

Separately, Indian Naval ship Kesari entered Port of Maputo, Mozambique on Saturday.

"This is the eighth such deployment in consonance with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)' and is being conducted in close coordination with the Ministry of External Affairs, and other agencies of the government of India," the Navy said.

It said these deployments were conducted in solidarity with India's extended maritime neighbourhood. The Navy said, "500 tons of food aid has been shipped by INS Kesari to support the efforts of the government of Mozambique to cope with the ongoing drought and concurrent challenges of the pandemic." "India also remains committed to supporting the capacity building efforts of the Armed Forces of Mozambique. To this end Kesari is carrying two fast interceptor craft and self-defence equipment to be handed over to the armed forces of Mozambique," it said.

INS Kesari, a landing ship tank (Large)., had undertaken a similar mission in MayJune 2020 to provide humanitarian and medical assistance to Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros, including deployment of medical assistance teams of the Indian Navy in multiple locations.

"Since May 2020, the Indian Navy has deployed ships to 15 friendly foreign countries under SAGAR missions," the Navy said.

"These deployments spanned over 215 days at sea have delivered a cumulative assistance of more than 3,000 MT of food aid, over 300 MT LMO (Liquid medical oxygen), 900 oxygen concentrators and 20 ISO containers," it said.

The Navy said while undertaking these missions, Indian Naval ships have traversed a cumulative distance of close to 40,000 nautical miles which it said is "nearly twice the circumference of the earth".

"With a steadfast intent of making such high quantum of humanitarian assistance reach its destination in time, personnel from ships and shore organisations of Indian Navy have invested close to a million man-hours to deliver succour to our friends overseas," it said. PTI MPB TIR TIR

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
In yet another instance of hate speech, a Dharam Sansad held in Chhattisgarh's Raipur on Sunday, where a Hindu leader Kalicharan Maharaj used insulting language against Mahatma Gandhi, hailing his assassin Nathuram Godse. Kalicharan claimed that Muslims captured Pakistan and Bangladesh via politcs and were aided by Gandhi. Thanking Godse, Kalicharan blames the administration for being mere puppets (of the Muslims).

Dharam Sansad in Raipur abuses Gandhi

"Islam captured nation via politics. They captured Pakistan and Bangladesh in front of our eyes. That *expletive* Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi destroyed everything. My salutations to Nathuram Godse ji fro klling him. Oppression is necessary to control these people (Muslims), otherwise, they become cancer," said Kalicharan.

He added, "No one is telling you to do riots. You are not prepared, Muslims are very well-prepared. Even police warn us not to take out saffron rallies in Muslim areas. Police are slaves of administration, administration are slaves of govt, govt are slaves of politicians".

Aggrieved at Kalicharan's blatantly communal speech, another Hindu leader Mahant Ram Sunder Das boycotted the event, walking off the stage. Questioning the audience as to why they clapped for Kalicharan's speech, has asked 'Was Gandhi really a traitor?' to low murmurs of 'No'. Stating that this was not the agenda of Dharam Sansad, he distanced himself from the event.

"You clapped for that speech. I want to ask, was Mahatma Gandhi really a traitor? Remember the circumstances under which India got freedom and he was awarded the honour of 'Father of the nation'. And we are using the Dharam Sansad to curse him? I boycott this Dharam Sansad," said Das.

Slamming the communal speech, AAP MP Sanjay Singh expressed shock at the insult to the Father of our nation. Similarly, Congress lauded Das for standing up to Kalicharan stating 'A Hindu cannot remain silent at insult of Gandhi'. An FIR has been registered at Tikrapara police station on the complaint of Pramod Dubey against Kalicharan Maharaj for his abuse against Gandhi.

         



                       



          pic.twitter.com/WbMAlWnqfB  Congress (@INCIndia) December 27, 2021

Haridwar Dharam Sansad

This event comes close at the heels of the 'Dharam Sansad' in Haridwar organised by controversial monk Yati Narasinghanand, where many hardline monks called for 'genocide against Muslims', among a few other call to action in the event. Other leaders like Annapurna Maa - General secretary of Hindu Mahasabha, claimed that she will use 'weapons' to defend Hindu Sanatan Dharm from those threatening it. Most leaders also vowed to emulate Nathuram Godse and kill anyone who hurt religious sentiments.

Videos, now viral on Twitter, from the event show Bihar's Dharamdas Maharaj threatening to kill ex-PM Manmohan Singh for saying 'minorities have first right over national resources'. Emulating the Mahatma's assassin, he said that he would 'not have hesitated to shoot at him (Singh) six times in the chest', had he been an MP. Narasinghanand, who has habitually spewed communal statements, coined the term, "Shastrameva jayate', on the lines of India's motto - 'Satyameva Jayate'. An FIR has been filed by Uttarakhand police against Wasim Rizvi aka Jitendra Tyagi and others under Section 153A.
Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) The Maharashtra government on Monday assured stern action against Hindu religious leader Kalicharan Maharaj for allegedly using derogatory words against Mahatma Gandhi.

Maharashtra Minority Affairs Minister raised the issue in the state Assembly and demanded that the religious leader be booked for treason and arrested.

During a 'dharma sansad' at Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Sunday evening, Kalicharan Maharaj had allegedly used an abusive word against the Father of the Nation and hailed his assassin Nathrum Godse.

Later, following a complaint by a Congress leader an FIR was registered in Raipur against the religious leader under Indian Penal Code sections 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes) and 294 (obscene acts), according to police.

The issue of his comments against Mahatma Gandhi figured in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday.

NCP member Nawab Malik said in the House that Kalicharan Maharaj hails from Akola in Maharashtra.

The religious leader should be booked for treason and arrested, Malik said.

BJP member Sudhir Mungantiwar wondered what was the state Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA-comprising the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) government doing and why not taking action against Kalicharan Maharaj.

Malik's demand was supported by Congress members Nana Patole and Vijay Wadettiwar.

They urged the Chair to give directions to the state government.

To this, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said Malik and Wadettiwar were representatives of the government.

"It is the job of the government to take action. The MVA government will seek a report about the comments (of Kalicharan Maharaj) and take stern action," Pawar said.

During the event in Raipur, Kalicharan Maharaj had said, "The target of Islam is to capture nation through politics. In front of our eyes they had captured in 1947 (referring to partition)...They had earlier captured Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. They captured Bangladesh and Pakistan through politics...I salute Nathuram Godse that he killed Gandhi." PTI MR GK GK

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, December 27, slammed the political parties who governed the state before 2017 and said the parties only did vote bank politics. According to CM Yogi, opposition political parties attacked 'Ram Bhakts' with an aim to get more votes.

Addressing a public event in Pratapgarh, Yogi Adityanath said, "Earlier government had no place for the poor, widows because they only did vote bank politics. They felt that by firing at 'Ram Bhakts' they would get votes, so they did that".

Citing the difference between the earlier parties and the BJP-led government, Yogi said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pledged to build Ayodya Ram Mandir which is being constructed.

Yogi attacks opposition over black money scandal

Referring to development projects taken up in Pratapgarh, the Chief Minister stated, "Today we inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of projects worth Rs 554 crores here. Now Pratapgarh has its own medical college".

He then asked the earlier government why no medical colleges were built in the region. He said BJP delivers what they promise.

CM Yogi Adityanath said, "Today Rs 554 crore is being spent on development here. This money was not spent on development 5 years ago, this money used to go into the hands of brokers, and chin was taken in the walls. Today the Income Tax Department is withdrawing that money, now that money will be spent in building the house of the poor".

Earlier on October 5, PM Modi digitally handed over 75,000 keys to beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) residences in 75 districts in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh polls

Uttar Pradesh is gearing up for its Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in 2022. By winning 312 Assembly seats, BJP won the 2017 Assembly elections. In the 403-member Assembly, BJP secured a 39.67% vote share. Congress secured only seven seats while Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP won 47 seats and 19 seats respectively.

Image: ANI
US space agency NASA has hired a British priest in a bid to understand how the discovery of extraterrestrials would change the way we see the universe. According to Daily Mail, Rev Dr Andrew Davidson, a priest and theologian at the University of Cambridge, is among 24 theologians to have taken part in a NASA-sponsored programme at the Center for Technological Inquiry (CTI) at Princeton in the US. The programme aims to assess how the worlds major religions would react to the news that life exists in worlds beyond our own.

As per the media outlet, CTI has described it as building bridges of under understanding by convening theologians, scientists, scholars, and policymakers to think together - and inform public thinking - on global concerns. It aims to answer questions such as Where do we draw the line between the human and the alien? And What are the possibilities for sentient life in other places?

In a blog post, Rev Dr Andrew Davison said that religious traditions would be an important feature in how humanity would work through any such confirmations of life elsewhere. Because of that, it features as part of NASAs ongoing aim to support work on the societal implications of astrobiology, working with various partner organisations, including the Centre of Theological Inquiry at Princeton, Davison added. The British priest revealed that he is now set to publish a book next year, titled Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine, which notes that the world is getting closer to finding life on other planets.

Separately, Carl Pilcher, head of NASA's Astrobiology Institute until 2016, said that the programme is considering the implications of applying the tools of the late 20th and early 21st-century science to questions that have been considered in religious traditions for hundreds of years. Pilcher added that the possibility of discovering alien life is very high, as there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the universe.

Alien contact could be 'extremely dangerous'

Meanwhile, it is to mention that earlier this year physicist Mark Buchanan wrote a piece in the Washington Post in which he said trying to establish contact with aliens could be extremely dangerous and could also possibly end the life on earth. It should be noted here that scientists around the world have not denied signs of life beyond the solar system.

According to a report by the International Business Times, there are several alien abduction tales on the internet, most of which appear to be staged hoaxes. There are, however, some gripping stories that still remain unanswered. Chris Jones, a researcher with the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), suggested a few weeks ago that alien abduction accounts reported by people from all around the world could be true.

Image: AP/Unsplash
As China continues on its grand shipbuilding projects, it launched three warships this week for the Pakistan and Thailand Navy. According to Naval News, China's Hudong Zhonghua shipyard located near Shanghai launched two Type 054 Frigates and one Type 071E landing platform dock (LPD). In detail, the Type 054A frigate was meant for the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or the Chinese Navy), a Type 054AP for the Pakistan Navy and a Type 071E LPD for the Royal Thai Navy.

As per the media outlet, the Type 054A frigate is the 34th ship-in-class for the Chinese Navy. The Type 054AP Tughril-class warship is the fourth and final ship of the class ordered by Islamabad from Beijing. The Type 071E LPD is the first and so far the only ship of the class for the Thailand Navy. All three warships were built in the same dock, therefore, they were simultaneously launched.

About Type 054 Frigate and Type 071E LPD

The Pakistan government had signed an agreement with China for two warships in 2017. Additionally, it also signed a contract for two more ships three years ago. Last month, PNS Tughrill was commissioned into the Pakistan Navy. The first vessel was launched in August 2020 with the other two warships launched this year.

The Type 054A is a multi-role frigate. It is recognized as the backbone of the Chinese Navy fleet of surface combatants with 30 vessels in commission. They have a length of 134 meters, a beam of 16 meters for a displacement of 4,000 tons. Additionally, they have a crew complement of 165 sailors.

As China also delivered the Type 071E LPD to the Thailand Navy, it is to mention that the landing platform dock cost nearly $200 million. This is the first time Beijing has delivered the Type 071-class amphibious vessel to Thailand which is also part of the Chinese Navy. According to Naval News, the warship can reportedly carry 800 marines and 20 amphibious vehicles. Type 071 is 210 meters long and 28 meters wide with a full load displacement of 25,000 tons.

(Image: AP/Twitter)
The National Board of Health in Denmark has approved the use of US drugmaker Mercks pill for COVID-19 treatment that goes under the name molnupiravir or Lagevrio. The Danish Society for General Practice(DSAM), which is the professional community of general practitioners, have criticised the decision, reported local media outlet DR.DK. Danish doctors have refused to prescribe the medicine to patients citing the documentation.

Anders Beich, DSAMs COVID-19 spokesman, highlighted that the evidence for the impact of the COVID-19 pill is too poor. He expressed that they were of the view that the documentation related to the tablet is flimsy and further called it ineffective. He told DR.DK that the tablets might delay the proper treatment of patients. Beich stated that the disease might get worse in the patient if they do not take action. The Danish Medicine Agency has also criticised the recommendations of the National Board of Health on the use of medicines.

Steen Werner Hansen, chairman of the Medical Council, pointed out that they have treatment that is effective for patients and they work better and are documented better than this pill, as per the DR.DK. Jan Gerstoft, the professor of infectious disease in Rigshospitalet, noted that the initial study of treatment showed positive results, however, it showed different results later. Gerstoft explained that the positive results were observed largely in South America, where special COVID-19 strains were witnessed. Jan Gerstoft mentioned that there was virtually no effect in the US and Europe.

National Board of Health recommends the use of Merck's anti-COVID-19 pill

The National Board of Health has recommended that the tablets be prescribed to COVID-19 patients who have symptoms or belong to a certain age group, as per the DR.DK News report. The National Board of Health has recommended the molnupiravir or Lagevrio medicine for people aged above 70 years regardless of their vaccination status. The doctors can prescribe the medicine to unvaccinated people who are at increased risk of serious illness due to COVID-19 infection. Furthermore, vaccinated people who are under the age of 80 years, however, they might face an increased risk of serious illness due to coronavirus. According to the National Board of Health, treatment with the tablets should be started within the first five days of the appearance of COVID-19 symptoms.

Image: Pixabay/Representative
The Chief of Norway's Intelligence Service, Nile Andreas Stensones, has alleged that Russia poses the 'greatest threat' in cyber attacks to the country. Speaking to NRK, intelligence chief Nile Andreas Stensones has claimed that Russia is interested in the Norwegian foreign policy. He also alleged that they have an interest in security policy and knowledge of security.

In 2020, the authorities had claimed that Moscow was responsible for a major data breach. In the latest development, the intelligence chief revealed that the authorities have identified the people behind the attacks, however, the cyber attacks have not stopped.

Furthermore, Stensones mentioned that they have not witnessed any change in the pattern or intensity of the attack. Stensones alleged that Beijing is also active in the digital world, however, Russia has more interest in Norway.

As per NRK, there have been two digital attacks on the Storting in a year and the last one was carried out in March 2021. Moreover, Stensones claimed that Norwegian companies in the maritime industry and underwater technology have been exposed to espionage. He added that digital attacks are being carried out against companies that have inaccessible technology. He mentioned that they are making efforts in order to stop the digital attacks against the country.

Russia rejects Norway's claims

Meanwhile, Timur Chekanov, the Embassy Secretary at the Russian Embassy in Norway, in an email to NRK, has rejected the claims of Norway's intelligence chief Nile Andreas Stensones. Chekanov claimed that the allegations made by Stensones lack concrete facts.

He further called upon the Norwegian agencies to stop making unfounded public statements. Chekanov added that the Norwegian authorities must use official channels to have information exchange with Russia.

Norway alleges Russia of cyber attack on Storting Parliament

Last year in August, hackers targeted the Storting Parliament and breached the emails of parliamentary representatives and employees. Then Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide at that time accused Russia of carrying out the cyber attack. Norways Foreign Minister claimed that Russia intruded into the Norwegian Parliament's email system in August.

The cyberattack was immediately stopped and the security service investigated the matter, according to AP. Reportedly, the parliament had later mentioned that the security number, bank information and contact data may have been lost.

Inputs from AP

Image: Pixabay/Representative
Israel government on Sunday approved $317 million for a major plan to boost the settler population in the Golan Heights in the coming years. Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting at Mevo Hama community in Kibbutz, Golan on Sunday, Israel PM Naftali Bennett said that this was the "moment" when Israel intends to double the numbers of Jewish Israelis living in the strategic area, The Times of Israel reported.

"This is our moment. This is the moment of Golan Heights. After long and static years in terms of scope of the settlement, our goal today is to double settlement in the Golan Heights," PM Bennett said at the cabinet meeting, as quoted by The Times of Israel.

Israel to build 7,300 new homes over 5 years

The current plan was formulated by PM Bennett's office's director-general Yair Pines. The complete proposition aims to expand its settler population along with the Golan Regional Council and Katzrin Local Council within 2022-2025. Some $183 million will be allotted for planning 3,300 new housing units in Katzrin and another 4,000 in Golan Regional Council. Another $51 million will be invested to improve quality of life, including the development of transportation and job-related infrastructure.

On Sunday, Bennett also announced two new Communities Asif and Matar in the region with 2,000 housing units to each. In addition, two new neighbourhoods will also be built in the town of Katzrin. This comes after Bennett, in October, vowed to reach 1,00,000 residents in the Golan Heights.

The developments are expected to attract roughly 23,000 new Jews and expand the demographic in the area that was seized in the Six-Day War in 1967. Currently, Golan Heights accommodates nearly 53,000 settlers, including 23,000 Druze, 25,000 Israelis and some 2,000 Alawites (a minority group to which Syria's ruling family belongs). These residents have remained in the land after Israel annexed it in 1981, a move largely lambasted by the international community.

PM Bennett recalls Trump's recognition of Israel's control on Golan Heights

Speaking at the cabinet meeting, PM Bennett also noted that ex-US President Donald Trump, who is a pro-Israel, during his presidency had signed a proclamation recognising Jerusalem's sovereignty over Golan Heights. And "the fact that the (US President Joe) Biden administration has made it clear that there is no change in policy," has promoted Israel to make the new investment. Nevertheless, the territory is still identified as Syrian land occupied by Israel as per international law, DW reported. The proposal has also complicated potential peace attempts with Syria.

(Image: AP)
Iraqs top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October.

The lawsuit had been submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, who heads a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the October 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraq's electoral commission confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as the biggest winner in the vote, securing 73 out of Parliament's 329 seats.

The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance that represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces secured 17 seats, down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Court has not ratified the election results, pending the lawsuit filed by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition.

Monday's verdict by the Federal Court rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited technical and legal violations.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the Court's decision.

Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city.

The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the October 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote.

The standoff with the militia supporters has also increased tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
In a rare confession, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan lauded India's tech exports boom admitting that his country had fallen behind in comparison. Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Lahore Technopolis on December 23, Imran Khan remarked that while Indian tech exports boomed to $150 billion within 15-20 years, Pakistan was lagging far behind and could only reach $2 billion.

Unfortunately, Pakistan lagged behind in the sector despite having ideal conditions, including a huge population of young people, he said, adding that within 15 to 20 years, Indian tech exports boomed to $150 billion while Pakistan's could reach only $2 billion, The Express Tribune quoted Imran Khan as saying.

He also specified how Pakistan failed to pick pace in the technology sector despite having ideal conditions including a huge young population. Discussing the growth of tech companies during the COVID-19 slump, he lamented over how Pakistan could not pick on the benefits at a time when tech giants were profiting. He further added that when the country started achieving economic growth, the current account got disturbed owing to the import of machinery.

"This ultimately devalued the local currency and compelled the government to approach the IMF for loans", The Express Tribune reported. The country can only come out of this cycle by boosting its exports and allowing wealth creation, he said.

Khan also cited the Chinese model of development and shared how the Communist country had achieved remarkable progress. "China steered 700 million people out of poverty by eliminating corruption and jailing over 450 ministerial-level people and enhancing exports, he underlined.

Pakistan debt crisis

Imran Khan's statements come at a time when Pakistan's economy has become crippled under its mounting debts and loans from international organizations and friendly nations. One of the nations that Pakistan has also been regularly borrowing from is the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which last month laid down stringent clauses for the Imran Khan-led nation in exchange for its $4.2 billion loan package.

According to Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, Saudi Arabia has agreed to give a $3 billion cash deposit to Pakistan for a year with a caveat that the country would be bound to return it anytime on a three-day notice. The last time it borrowed from the Arba nation, it was forced to repay the loan by taking a loan of the same amount from China.

In turn, Pakistan has had to pay over Rs 26 billion in interest cost to China to repay a maturing debt in the fiscal year 2020-21. Reportedly, the cash-strapped nation is also facing scores of "hidden debts" totaling $385 billion due to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project.
Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed on Sunday offered to fund ex-Pakistan premier Nawaz Sharif's airfare if he ever wanted to come back from London, where he is currently staying since 2019 for medical treatment. Ahmed's dig comes amidst rumours that Sharif would stage his comeback much earlier than expected. In his statement, Rashid also said that he would grant the 71-year-old a visa-on-arrival, which Sharif will not need as he is a Pakistani citizen.

"If Nawaz Sharif is returning, I offer his ticket out of my own pocket," Pakistan Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said, as quoted by PTI.

Rashid also lashed out at PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, who is Nawaz Sharif's younger brother and Pakistan Peoples Party leader and former president Asif Ali Zardari, saying that they are the "most corrupt people" in Pakistan. He also briefly noted that Prime Minister Imran Khan-led Tehreek-i-Pakistan will complete its tenure until 2023.

Nawaz Sharif to return to Pakistan

It is to be noted that Sharif's possible return from London was announced by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. In addition, Sharif's daughter, Maryam Nawaz, last week also said that her father would "come back" to Pakistan soon. However, she did not add further details about the timeline of his return.

Meanwhile, advisor to incumbent Pak PM Imran Khan on Political Communications, Dr. Shahbaz Gill told the media that PML-N has misconstrued Sharif's visa extension decline as a possible return.

"Unnecessary announcement: Nawaz Sharif visa extension in the UK has been rejected. He is currently on a peel but knows his visa will be rejected thus likely to be deported," Dr. Gill had tweeted.

"Expulsion of Sharif from London is being made up as a decision for him to return to Pakistan," he added.

For the unversed, former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif was sentenced to 10 years prison term in 2018 for corruption in a verdict likely to influence general elections in July that year. Lahore High Court in 2019 granted Sharif the permission to move to London for four weeks of medical treatment.

However, he never came back to Pakistan, years after the end of his deadline. Meanwhile, PML-N has maintained that Sharif will return to Pakistan when doctors deemed him fit.

(With PTI inputs)

(Image: @SheikhRashidAhmed/Facebook/AP)
Ever since the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan, the caretaker government has been announcing restrictions on women, the latest one being the travelling restrictions on women. In a key development, Pakistans Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Monday, December 27, criticised the Taliban government for banning women from travelling solo in public transport, PTI reported. He called the latest decision of travelling restrictions for women without male relatives by the Taliban regime retrogressive.

Fawad Chaudhry stated that women not being allowed to travel alone is retrogressive thinking. He further added that this kind of thinking is a danger for Pakistan. Chaudhry highlighted that Pakistan must make its own course of progress. The statement of Chaudhry comes after the Taliban on Sunday, December 26, announced that women who do not have close male relatives along with them must not be offered transport service for long-distance journeys. Furthermore, Fawad Chaudhry also paid tribute to Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Women can't travel alone or go to schools and colleges (alone)  this kind of retrogressive thinking is a danger for Pakistan, Fawad Chaudhry said as per PTI.

Taliban caretaker government announces travel restrictions on Afghan women

The Taliban caretaker government on Sunday, December 26, announced travel restrictions on Afghan women, reported VOA News. According to the new rule, women in Afghanistan will not be allowed to travel over 72 kilometres without a close male relative. Furthermore, the taxi drivers have been told that women seeking a ride must be allowed to travel in the vehicle only when they are wearing a headscarf or Islamic hijab.

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice spokesperson Sadiq Akif Mahajer told VOA that the new rules are according to Islamic law. According to the new rules, drivers need to grow a beard, take breaks for prayers in Afghanistan. The drivers have not been allowed to play music in their vehicles, as per the news report. Earlier, the Taliban regime had banned the Afghan Television channels from showing dramas and soap operas featuring actresses. Furthermore, the female news anchors have been directed to wear hijabs.

(Inputs from PTI)

(Image: AP)
In another instance of persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan, two Hindu girls including a minor were abducted, forcibly converted, and married off to their abductors in Sindh. One victim is only 13 years old, while the other is 19.

The minor girl, Roshni Meghwar of Mirpur Khas district of Sindh province was kidnapped, converted to Islam, and married to a man more than double her age.

Pakistans minority leader Lal Chand Malhi who is a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan shared details of the victim. He criticized the ruling PTI government for its failure in preventing atrocities against minorities and their forceful conversion.

Malhi, who is also a Parliament Secretary for human rights in Pakistan tweeted the photos along with details of the victim on December 24 from his official handle.

Reportedly yet another minor Hindu girl- Roshni- of Tharpakrkar,kidnapped converted & married off today. Man showing conversion certificate issued by a seminary giving an impression that this certificate is superior to any law of the land. PPP badly failing Minorities in Sindh pic.twitter.com/DIdoKLuzKH  LAL MALHI (@LALMALHI) December 24, 2021

Roshni Meghwar has now been named Razia after being married to her abductor Mohammad Moosa, a native of Tharparkar. The girl was reportedly abducted months back and kept in illegal confinement.

Besides Roshni, 19-year-old Hariyan Meghwar who was allegedly abducted and forcibly converted to Islam after being married to her abductor, Bhai Khan who is 31 years old and already married.

The sufferings of religious minorities in Pakistan continue to persist as there have been repeated incidents of violence against the minorities, abduction of girls from the minority community, forceful conversions, and the vandalism of religious institutions. These are just a few of the many forced conversions reported on religious minorities in Pakistan. The country has been repeatedly slammed by the international community for not safeguarding the interest of its minorities.
Amid the financial crisis in Afghanistan, businesspeople have asked the Taliban government in Kabul to sign a contract with a company from the United Arab Emirates instead of Qatar and Turkey, who seeks to start operations at Kabul airport. The traders have placed this demand in favor of Afghan nationals, who are present in large numbers and have invested millions of dollars in the UAE. More than 200,000 Afghans are settled in UAE. According to a TOLO News report, a week ago, officials from Qatar and Turkey visited Kabul to discuss the management of Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport with the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

"This contract is important for the Afghans who are living here. This contract should be given to the UAE. If the flights between Kabul and the UAE are halted, the traders will face serious problems," said the head of the Afghanistan traders council in the UAE, Obaidullah Sadar Khail, reported TOLO News. Ever since the Taliban took control of Kabul, international and domestic flight services, along with other public sectors including banks and schools, have mostly remained shut. Traders highlighted the fact that under the previous government, around 10 flights a day were conducted between Afghanistan and the UAE, but now with the new government, the flight services have dramatically gone down.

"We call on the Islamic Emirate to give the management of the airports to the UAE so that they can help develop the country," said Farid Ruhani, a trader. However, some former members of the Afghanistan Aviation Authority expressed a different opinion on the issue. The former deputy minister of transport, Imam Mohammad Wrimach, said Afghanistan is capable of providing good air aviation services and facilities, but the current government needs to take care of and improve the international norms and other measures for smooth operation.

It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Transportation had earlier stated that the government had not signed any agreement with any company to run the Kabul airport. Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Ministry of Transportation, Imamuddin Ahmadi, said the technical team had a brief discussion with Qatari and Turkish delegates and the meeting will continue until the government reaches a good agreement.

Image: AP, Representative
Haji Arif Noori, the owner of Afghanistan-based satellite television Noorin TV, was arrested by the Taliban on Sunday from his house in Kabul. The latest arrest comes at a time when attacks on media have increased after the Taliban's capture of Afghanistan in mid-August. Afghanistan's media outlets are also on the brink of a meltdown as they face a shortage of funding following the takeover by the terrorist group.

"Haji Arif Noori, owner of Noorin TV, was arrested by Islamic Emirate forces this afternoon from his house in Kabul's PD4, Hujatullah Mujadedi, head of the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association said. It is not clear why he was arrested, Mujadedi said," Tolo News tweeted on Sunday.

Taliban's crackdown on media houses, journalists

After the Taliban violently took over the war-ravaged nation, the environment for journalists and media houses in the capital and the rest of the country has become difficult.

According to ANI, a Kabul-based reporter, Javid Yousufi, was stabbed earlier this month by multiple people. In various incidents, at least five cases of violence against journalists were recorded in several provinces, including Kabul, Balk, Takhar and Kunduz.

The Afghanistan National Journalists Association has said that the situation is damaging for Afghan media and the lack of access to information has made it even more serious for Afghan journalists. Separately, a survey released by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Afghan Independent Journalists Association (AJIS) revealed that around 43% of Afghan media outlets have shut down their operations, leaving around 60% of journalists unemployed.

As per the report, of the 543 media houses operating in the war-torn country at the start of the summer, only 312 were still operating at the end of November. A total of 231 media outlets had to be shut and over 6,400 journalists have lost their jobs since the terrorist group took over Afghanistan in August.

Moreover, women in the media industry have also been badly hit, with more than 84% of them jobless since the Taliban takeover, as per the survey.

(Image: AP/Twitter)
Former vice-president of Afghanistan, Amrullah Saleh, on Monday, lambasted Pakistan for exacerbating Afghanistans incumbent crisis, including its depleting foreign exchanges. As the financial condition of the war-torn country continues to plummet, Saleh pointed out Islamabads role, asserting that the Talibs were nothing but a puppet show controlled by Rawalpindi". Notably, hundreds of thousands of Afghan natives have been pushed to the brink of hunger and homelessness following the Taliban takeover on August 15 this year.

Taking to Twitter, the Afghan politician said that mismanagement by the countrys de factor rulers have increased forex crisis & monetary issues. The incompetent leadership of the Taliban reduced the Shahzadeh Palace, the largest currency and currency market in the country, to a sub-branch of the Peshawar Memorial Square, he wrote. He buttressed his stance by saying under the Talib rule, the venue for bulk exchange has been shifted to Chawk Yadgar of Peshawar.

'Full proxy rule in motion'

For the Taliban, foreign policy is defined by the Quraysh, security by Bajwa, anti-historical by Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Haqqani, and Afghan studies by Imran Khan, he said. There are currently no major monetary transactions in Kabul, and Pakistan is granting Afghan businessmen a five-year visa and permanent residency. The process of completing proxy and protected governance is underway, he further added.

Talib junta's management of forex & monetary issues has shifted the venue for bulk exchange to Chawk Yadgar of Peshawar. Full proxy rule in motion. Senator Afrasiab Khattak has eqlouently said that "Talib is nothing but a puppet show controlled by Rawelpindi".  Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) December 26, 2021

This comes amidst a financial crisis in the country that has ensued as a result of a sudden power overhaul by the Taliban. Repeated sanctions and embargoes by the US have prompted the banks to collapse and foreign exchange to plummet. Meanwhile, droughts have worsened the situation, prompting the mass migration of natives. According to a UN report, more than 22 million people in the Asian country face acute food shortages as winter takes hold in the country. Notably, since the Kabul takeover, the US has frozen over US$9 billion of Afghanistans hard currency assets, while both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank halted its access to their humanitarian aid. Several reports of material aid is restricted to the outskirts of the country by Talibs also surfaced.

(With inputs from AP)

Image: AP/Amrullah Saleh/Facebook
Amid rising tensions with the United States, China's ambassador to the former has avered that his country is not the former Soviet Union and will not lose if there is a new cold war. Speaking to American media outlets, Qin Gang in a recent interview stated that in case any country wanted to launch a war against China, then it will not be the loser. He asserted that the Chinese Communist Party is not like its former Soviet Union counterpart but instead 100 years old.

"If people really want to launch a Cold War against China, I can say that China won't be the loser," said Qin Gang. "Those people cannot win the Cold War. First, China is not the former Soviet Union. The Chinese Communist Party is not like Soviet Union Communist Party. The CPC is old, 100 years old, just celebrating the centenary, eating the big birthday cake," he added.

When Gang was asked about the possibility of a Cold War between the US and China, he ruled out and instead questioned why people feel that a Cold War between US and China is possible. In addition, he also hit out at the United States for having a "Cold War mentality". He also remarked that the United States is not the same as it was 30 years ago and said that China's "interests are closely intertwined with Washington".

"Where could a New Cold War come from? Why do people feel that the Cold War is coming back? Because some people in the US have a Cold War mentality and take China as the former Soviet Union. But China is not the Soviet Union," said Gang. "The US is the biggest trading partner of China, and China is the third biggest trading partner of the US, only next to Canada and Mexico, your two neighbors. This year's trade volume will certainly exceed 700 billion US dollars, a 20 per cent increase year-on-year," he added.

US-China tensions

The United States and China have locked horns ever since cracks emerged in the relations during the Trump administration. After Joe Biden was sworn in as the President earlier this year, the tensions have further increased over several issues like trade, security, and human rights.

With ANI inputs

Image: AP/Twitter - @ChineseEmbinUS
As the immune-evasive new COVID-19 strain Omicron has sparked fears worldwide, researchers in Thailand have engaged in developing a breakthrough plant-based vaccine to fight the 'variant of concern'.

As per Sky News, scientists have used tobacco leaves as a primary source to make the jabs, the testing for which began in late 2020. The plant-based vaccine is expected to be cleared by the end of 2022, as the next round of human trials is due in spring.

As per researchers involved in the study, the tobacco leaves used in the process have low nicotine content and are different from the kind used for cigarettes. The said that the variety of tobacco leaves are mostly Australian, and harvested in large quantities. However, it is pertinent to mention that the tobacco variety can be turned from "seed to vaccine within a month", with highly-adaptable technology, Sky News reported.

Speaking on the breakthrough development, Dr. Suthira Taychakhoonavudh, chief executive of Baiya Phytopharm told Sky News that "it takes only 10 days for us to produce a prototype and .. no more than three weeks to test whether that prototype works or not."

Talking about the latest updates in the progress of making a plant-based vaccine for the new COVID strain, Dr. Suthira said, "Right now, we are already working on the Omicron strings. We have the prototype and we're testing it right now."

For developing a prototype, tobacco leaves are used as a host to produce proteins that "mimic" the COVID-19 virus. The leaves are then blended and the protein is extracted, which is then inoculated into human bodies. The administered proteins stimulate antibodies, which the host body uses to fight the real virus.

Plant-based vaccines to benefit low-income countries

Although there are several vaccines available in the market to battle COVID-19, plant-based vaccines will be most beneficial for low-income countries, where they can grow their own harvest at a significantly controlled cost.

"Covid-19 is not going to be the last one. Are going to have so many emerging diseases and if we can develop the vaccine ourselves, then we don't have to rely on vaccines from other countries," Dr. Waranyoo Phoolcharoen, co-founder and chief technology officer of Baiya Phytopharm, told Sky News.

If successful, Baiya Phytopharm will be the first to develop a solo plant-based vaccine in South Asia. Meanwhile, Canadian biotech company Medicago in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline have already produced a vaccine candidate, promising 71% efficacy in protecting against COVID-19 in its Phase 3 trial, if approved the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine would become the first plant-based vaccine to be authorised for use in humans, Medicago said in a statement released on December 7.

Image: Pixabay/Unsplash (representative)
Amidst the escalating crisis in the middle east, NATO has reiterated its support to Iraq. On Sunday, Iraqs National Security Advisor (NSA) Qasim al-Araji held a discussion with a senior official from the military alliance, Sputnik News reported. During the meet, both the parties mulled ways to enhance security and stability in the region. Additionally, head of NATO's Mission in Iraq Michael Anker Lollesgaard also reiterated the alliances support to Iraqi troops in training and combat exercises.

A statement from the Iraqi NSAs office stated that (both parties) discussed ways to enhance security and stability in the region, as well as NATOs support to Iraq in the field of advice and training for Iraqi forces.

The US is currently pulling out the majority of its troops from Iraq, leaving only 2,500 American troops in advisory and assistance roles. However, the military withdrawal left the Islamic state exposed to terror groups, particularly ISIS. Speaking about the same during the meeting, al-Araji asserted that it was the Iraqi administrations duty to protect the territory. He also said that Baghdad was determined to de-escalate regional tensions and conflicts. He reiterated, Iraqs refusal to use its lands, airspace and waters as a launching pad for any aggression against any country, according to Xinhua.

Increased attacks on Iraq

This comes days after two rockets were fired towards the Green Zone in Iraqs capital Baghdad, Jerusalem Post reported early on December 19. One of the projectiles, which was reportedly aimed at the US embassy, was intercepted in the air and fell outside the embassy. The other one, meanwhile, landed near the Grand Festivities Square, roughly located three kilometres from the American diplomatic office. A total of two civilian vehicles suffered damage in the attack.

In the aftermath, a discreet report by Haaretz stated that Iraqi security immediately activated the US-installed C-RAM defence system to intercept the rocket launched. C-RAM or Counter- Rocket, artillery and mortar is a land-to ground defence system, that destroys rockets, artillery or mortar rounds in the air before they hit their ground targets. It functions similar to Israels Iron Dome, which grabbed eyeballs during this year's 11-day war.

(Image: Iraq News Agency)
The education boards of five prefectures of Japan have decided to remove the gender field in the application forms in public high schools in the fiscal year 2022. The latest five prefectures which removed the gender field for admissions for the year 2022 are Yamagata, Togichi, Gunma, Chiba, and Shizuoka, reported Kyodo News citing local education boards. With the new addition, the country now has 47 prefectures where the students are not required to reveal their gender while applying for admission in the public schools from next spring.

The decision will be effective in 47 prefectures of Japan except for its capital city Tokyo. The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education has not removed the gender field due to the establishment of a gender-based quota system for full time and general courses. The education board has taken the decision as the awareness about transgender and nonbinary individuals have witnessed an increase in the country, as per the Kyodo News report. Reportedly, the decision has been taken in order to avoid the psychological stress which might be faced by many transgender individuals while revealing their identification.

Students no longer need to mention gender in application forms

The local boards of education informed that the gender field was included in application forms of all public high schools for 2018 admissions. In 2019, Osaka and Fukuoka had removed the gender field and other regions of the country followed their footsteps and removed the gender field in the application form of public high schools. The five new prefectures, Yamagata, Togichi, Gunma, Chiba and Shizuoka have now decided to remove the gender field for applying in public high schools in 2022 and onwards.

The Tochigi Prefectural Board of Education mentioned that they have taken the decision as they respected sexual diversity. The Chiba Education Board informed that they removed the gender field as they did not find any issue that they may face with the decision in the future. Mameta Endo, a transgender man and a representative of the sexual minority support group "Nijiizu" told Kyodo News that removing the gender field in the application means that students need to not identify their gender while applying in the school and this would result in "eliminating gender discrimination."
On November 30, a middle school student in Hyesan City, North Korea was imprisoned for watching a banned South Korean film. The 14-year-old was arrested just for watching five minutes of the film and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. As per the reports of Allkpop, the kid was watching the 2010 South Korean film The Man from Nowhere.

The Reactionary Ideology and Culture Rejection Law was passed last year in North Korea, which criminalises simply watching and disseminating South Korean movies and content. The punishment for this is the death penalty or up to 15 years of imprisonment. Despite the fact that the legislation does not specify penalties for minors, the North Korean authorities are seeking to "send a message" that they are not gentle with punishment simply because the criminal is young, according to Allkpop. As a result, the child will face the same level of punishment as an adult.

14-year-old also fined for watching 5 minutes of movie

The student was also fined for watching only 5 minutes of the movie. As South Korean films and dramas have grown highly popular among North Korean youth, the authorities are attempting to strictly enforce the regulations, according to Allkpop. As the parents are responsible for their child, it is extremely likely that his parents will be punished as well.

North Korean law suggests that if a crime against the Reactionary Ideological and Cultural Rejection Law takes place because of the parents' carelessness in educating their children, the parents will be imposed a fine of 100,000 KRW, which is around 85 USD to 200,000 KRW, around 170 USD. According to Allkpop, locals are concerned, that instead of receiving a simple punishment, the child's parents would be banished or sent to a political prison camp.

More about The Man from Nowhere

The Man from Nowhere is a 2010 South Korean action thriller film that stars Won Bin and Kim Sae-ron in the lead role. The film is directed by Lee Jeong-beom. It was one of the highest-grossing films in 2010 and tells a story of a troubled man who goes on redemption after his friend gets kidnapped.

Image: Twittre/@CinemaFan007, Pixabay
Humanitarian aid staff associated with the United Nations (UN) have been coerced into bringing cash to Afghanistan, where banking systems have collapsed under the Taliban regime. Speaking Sputnik News Agency, a top Russian diplomat laid bare the hammered condition of the countrys banking system due to US sanctions. Notably, the UN Security Council, earlier this month, approved the passage of aid to Afghanistan on the condition that it should not reach the Taliban.

Petr Ilichev, Director of Department of International Organisations at the Russian Foreign Ministry said, By the end of the year, donors have pledged to transfer USD 1.2 billion to humanitarian organizations, nearly double the USD 606 million originally requested by the United Nations, he said. However, he added that the Banking systems in Afghanistan are not functioning, so it is impossible to transfer the promised money. This has forced the UN staff to bring cash with them.

White House slapped hard-hitting sanctions and embargoes on Afghanistan as the insurgents seized power earlier on August 15. It has also frozen the countrys assets lying in foreign banks. However, recently, the Biden administration said that it has given permissions for certain transactions of the Haqqani network or Taliban related to humanitarian aid organizations to take place.

Meanwhile, a group of US lawmakers recently urged the Biden administration to unfreeze Afghanistan's central bank assets and liquidity in their banking system. As per a Sputnik report, Democratic US House members wrote a letter to US President Joe Biden and the Treasury Department saying that they stand with American allies and humanitarian experts in urging the United States to send the frozen funds to Afghanistan as the Biden administration's move is directly harming Afghan families and children.

More than half of Afghan population starving

According to a UN report, more than 22 million people in the country face acute food shortages as winter takes hold in the country. Notably, since the Kabul takeover, the US has frozen over US$9 billion of Afghanistans hard currency assets, while both International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank halted its access to their humanitarian aid. Several reports of material aid being restricted to the outskirts of the country by Talibs also surfaced.

(Image: AP)
In the latest development, South Koreas Unification Ministry on Monday, December 27, urged North Korea to begin the new year by 'opening doors' for dialogue. The statement from Seouls Unification ministry comes ahead of a key party meeting which is planned by North Korea this week. In a press briefing, South Koreas Unification Ministry spokesperson Lee Jong-joo mentioned that the plenary meeting which usually takes place for one to four days with Kim Jong-uns presence, reported Yonhap News agency.

Lee Jong-joo mentioned that South Korea is keeping an eye on the meeting for messages that they might receive on the relations between the two countries. She expressed that South Korea hoped that Pyongyang would "open the doors" for talks with the international community and initiate steps for engagement and cooperation", as per the Yonhap News Agency report. Furthermore, they are waiting for a possible message on nuclear negotiations. Reportedly, in the meeting which will be held by North Korea, issues related to domestic and foreign policies will be discussed.

North Korea ruling Workers Party plenary meeting

Earlier, North Korean authorities had announced that the ruling party is intending to organise a plenary meeting of its central committee. The ruling Workers Party announced that they were planning to hold a plenary meeting to discuss and make a decision on work plans for the new year. The statement from Lee Jong-joo comes as the nuclear talks between North Korea and the United States have stopped after the Hanoi summit which was organised in 2019.

US-South Korea discuss ways on how to resume talks with North Korea

In November, the Senior South Korean and the US diplomats held talks on how to resume talks with North Korea. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and South Korea Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink held discussions with his South Korean counterpart Yeo Seung-bae on issues related to security, according to AP. Both sides discussed ways in order to restart talks with North Korea, AP cited the South Korean Foreign Ministry statement. During the meeting, Yeo Seung-bae and Daniel Kritenbrink held talks on economic cooperation, North Korea and other issues. Both sides underscored the need to have stability on the Korean Peninsula. Taking to Twitter, the US Embassy in South Korea informed that both sides discussed how our Alliance can continue to promote the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific & beyond.

Inputs from AP

Image: AP
Afghanistan government on Monday asked all the neighbouring and the world countries to recognise them, reported Khaama Press. The local media outlet also said that the Afghan government sought a positive response from the international communities. Citing the ongoing economic as well as humanitarian crisis, the government said the international communities need to come together to address the difficulties faced by lakhs of Afghans. Further, the Taliban maintained that their government has no intention to interfere in other's internal affairs and added they also expect others to follow the same rule.

Notably, the statement from the Taliban came on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the USSR assault on Afghanistan.

"Since the Muslim and peace wisher nation of Afghanistan has always stood against the occupation, they waged Jihad against USSR and ultimately defeated and ousted them in ten years," Khaama Press quoted the statement released by the Afghan government. Further, the statement denounced the USSR assault on Afghanistan and appreciated the Jihad of the Afghan people.

"Afghans are peace-wisher people and want to have positive relations with the international community based on Islamic and international principles that do not harm others and protects the independence of countries, read the statement.

It is worth mentioning that the all-men government, on several occasions, tried its best to convince the world that they were changed and asked to accept their regime. However, their claims never matched the basic requirements as stated by the UN agencies. Instead of empowering the women, the Taliban barred women from educational institutions and working. Since their dramatic takeover in August this year, women across the country protested against the closure of schools and colleges. Despite that, the Taliban government has not taken any concrete steps to restore their fundamental rights.

Recently, the Taliban government passed a controversial order wherein the women will be barred from the brand advertisements. They ordered to remove all the banners and posters that have a picture of the woman, TOLO News reported on Wednesday. While announcing the decree, spokesman of Kabul municipality, Nematullah Barakzai, said that the interim Afghan government, consisting of all men, ordered to immediately remove all the signboards, billboards, posters from local shops as well as giant shopping malls.

Image: ANI
In a major misogynistic statement, Taliban Education Minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani on Sunday stated that the reason behind the shutting down of universities in Afghanistan is co-education.

His statement comes as the war-torn nation is yet to reopen educational institutions, despite promises of ensuring a "moderate" rule than its erstwhile rule during 1996-2001. Speaking at an event in Islamabad, he also said that for those Afghan students seeking higher education, Pakistan is "an ideal country" with cheaper amenities and "similarities with Afghan people".

The assertions come after the Taliban in September issued a fresh set of education laws, which greatly highlighted gender bias. Pictures of male and female students in a classroom separated by curtains went viral on the internet. Additionally, there were also instances when male and female students in universities were made to sit in separate classrooms with only female faculty having access to teaching female students, Tolo News had reported.

Some institutions had also decided to use separate buildings altogether. However, with the manifold economic crisis in the country, infrastructure and adequate faculty have hindered a functional education system, let alone interactive and participatory methods.

"To make separate classes for girls and hire extra lecturers need more time and extra budget," Haqqani said, as quoted by Khaama Press.

Pakistan increases scholarships for Afghan students

As the Taliban minister discussed the issues with Pakistani counterparts, Islamabad officials reportedly assured that Pakistan will allow 500 extra scholarships to Afghan students from the next academic session. As yet, Afghanistan will be provided with 1,500 scholarships every year, Haqqani said. He also added that Taliban officials have discussed the matter with Afghan students as well, although he did not reveal what their reactions were.

In addition to the aforementioned announcements, Haqqani also highlighted that no country will be allowed to grant scholarships directly to Afghan students.

"All scholarship will be managed through Afghanistan Ministry of Higher Education," Haqqani said, as per Khaama Press. This comes after the Taliban Higher Education Minister, speaking at an assemblage of professors in October, refused to acknowledge the credibility of Ph.D. and Masters holders in modern universities.

He had also dubbed modern or westernised ideas of education "less valuable" than the religious subjects taught in madrasas and added, "they are of no use in the country".

(Image: AP)
Britain Minister of State for Security and Borders Damian Hinds has accused Russia, China, and Iran of launching disinformation campaigns. He claimed that China, Russia and Iran are among the hostile nations and cited the cyber security concerns they pose to the United Kingdom, according to ANI. According to Damian Hinds, the fourth hostile state is North Korea.

Damian Hinds alleged that China, Russia and Iran have human capability and cyber presence and added that they are capable of deploying them. He further claimed that the three countries have involvement in multiple ways that are related to cyber attacks, spying on the ground, soldiers on standby and disinformation campaigns.

"The three countries that I mentioned to you have the physical human capability, they have a big cyber presence, they're able to deploy at scale," Damian Hinds told UK's The Telegraph, as quoted by Sputnik as per ANI.

MI6 chief says Russia, China, Iran pose threat to country

Earlier in November, the UKs Secret Intelligence Service chief had also made a similar remark. Richard Moore, the head of Britains Secret Intelligence Service(MI6) had alleged that China, Russia, Iran and terrorism are the big four security issues faced by the country, according to AP. Moore revealed that Beijing is the single greatest priority for the UK's intelligence agency as Chinese authorities for their interest support bold and decisive action. MI6 Chief alleged that China carries out espionage operations against the UK and its allies and attempts to distort public discourse. He alleged that Iran also poses a threat to the United Kingdom.

MI6 mentioned that the country continues to face threats from Russia. Richard Moore highlighted the need for the UK and its allies to come together in order to "deter Russian activity", as per the AP report. He alleged Russia of interfering in other countries democratic processes and initiating cyber attacks. The claims of the UK's Secret Intelligence Service Chief were denied by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service asserted that the statements made by the head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service regarding threats posed by Russia have affected the possibilities of bilateral talks between the two nations.

(Inputs from AP, ANI)
Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong have spent two years in detention amid reports that they have been tortured .

Two years after a Chinese human rights lawyer was detained on suspicion of "subversion" for taking part in a gathering in the southwestern Chinese city of Xiamen, his wife says she has growing concerns for his safety, with no trial date yet made public.

Ding Jiaxi is currently being held under incommunicado criminal detention in the Linshi Detention Center in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong following his initial detention in the wake of a December 2019 gathering of dissidents and rights activists in Xiamen.

He has been denied permission to meet with either family members or a lawyer, with detainees accused of subversion and held under "residential surveillance at a designated location" (RSDL) and criminal detention.

Dings wife Luo Shengchun told RFA that her husband is in poor health after two years in poor conditions.

"The food is still a steamed bun and a bowl of soup ... there is still no hot water or infection control, and hygiene is very poor," Luo said. "Ding has arthritis, diarrhea and swollen legs."

"You can file a complaint and make freedom of information requests, but they just ignore all of it," she said.

Ding's detention came after he attended a dinner with prominent activists in Xiamen, including the founder of the New Citizens' Movement, Xu Zhiyong, in early December 2019.

He and several others who had attended that dinner were arrested on Dec. 26, including Zhang Zhongshun, Dai Zhenya and Li Shuai.

"They have designated the New Citizens' Movement ... an 'illegal organization', and linked the charges against Xu Zhiyong and Ding to a rights website run by an overseas-based NGO," Luo said.

She said the evidence being used against the detainees includes participating in a Telegram group chat, articles and online posts, and organizing classes in non-violent resistance.

"They regard non-violent resistance as evidence of subversion of state power," Luo said. "Even friends discussing current affairs together has become evidence of subversion."

Chinese authorities may use the lull around the Christmas and New Years holidays to subject prominent human rights defenders to unfair trials while much of the international community is distracted, PEN America and the overseas-based China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) network warned last week.

"Human rights lawyers Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi are facing charges that carry a potential life sentenceyet their only true crime has been to peacefully advocate for reform," PEN America research director James Tager said in a Dec. 20 joint statement by the two groups.

"We want these officials to know that we are paying attention, and we urge the international community to do the same," Tager said. "The government must drop these charges against Xu and Ding and recognize that peacefully calling for reform is not  and should never be treated as  a crime."

Peaceful expression of political views

CHRD research coordinator William Nee said the entire case against Ding and Xu was built on their peaceful expression of political views on participatory citizenship.

He added: "Key government witnesses have withdrawn their testimony and the evidence left is based on what police extracted by torturing Ding and Xu."

Expert commentators have long warned that Chinese authorities tend to pursue criminal trials against prominent dissidents in late December, when many members of the international community  such as diplomats, journalists, NGO workers, and human rights activists  are out-of-office or otherwise distracted during the holiday season, PEN America and CHRD said.

Luo said she fears the authorities could also try the two men in secret.

"One possibility is a secret trial in which they are handed an arbitrary jail term without any witnesses ever appearing in court," she said. "It's illegal, as is not allowing defense attorneys to read the case files, not allowing them to defend their clients in court."

"The other possibility is that they wanted to take it through a legal process, but they don't have any evidence, and that's why they're delaying."

Shaanxi-based rights lawyer Chang Weiping was formally arrested in April this year on suspicion of "subverting state power" and is currently detained in a detention center far away from Baoji city, after also attending the Xiamen meeting.

Chang's wife Chen Zijuan said said she has had several visits from police in Baoji putting pressure on her not to speak out about his case.

"I work in Shenzhen," Chen said. "The Chang Weiping task force of the Baoji municipal police department in Shaanxi and the Shaanxi provincial police department have come here nine times, both to my home and to my workplace to talk to my boss, just to put pressure on me."

"They told my employer to set up a working group to deal with me, to prevent me from speaking out publicly."

Xu's partner, the rights activist Li Qiaochu, has been formally arrested by Shandong police, who are holding her in a psychiatric hospital in Linyi city.

Li, who was recently given the Cao Shunli Memorial Award for her rights activism, was initially detained on Feb. 6, 2021 on suspicion of "subversion of state power," and held at the Linyi Detention Center.

Her detention came after she posted details of torture allegations by her partner, the detained rights activist Xu Zhiyong, and rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi, to social media.



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
China claims most of the South China Sea, but the claims are disputed by its neighbors.

Filipino fishermen unload fish from a boat in Maniloc, Zambales, in the Philippines in a file photo.

The Chinese government has issued a new regulation threatening hefty fines on activities of foreign fishermen in Chinas claimed jurisdictional waters.

The new policy was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the China Coast Guard and became effective on Nov. 26 but was only publicized on the governments website in Chinese on Dec. 23.

The purpose was to standardize the fishery administrative penalties and to ensure fair, just and reasonable implementation of the penalties as well as to protect the states and citizens legitimate rights and interests, the government agencies said in an official notice.

One of the punitive measures stipulates that foreign fishermen caught operating without the consent of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in the Chinese-claimed exclusive economic zone or continental shelf could be fined up to 400,000 renminbi ($62,700) and expelled by the Coast Guard, and their catch and fishing equipment confiscated.

If foreigners are caught fishing in Chinas territorial waters, or very close to the Chinese coast, they could be fined up to 500,000 renminbi ($78,500) and their boats seized.

The new regulation also says if the illegal activities are committed at a location where the local government has set a more severe punishment, then the local penalty shall be applied first.

Unilateral actions

The Chinese government website said the rules are being implemented on a trial basis before becoming permanent. Other countries in the region have yet to respond to this new regulation.

PRCs self-claimed jurisdictional waters extend to most of the South China Sea but the claims are disputed by its neighbors and have been rejected by an international tribunal.

This is not the first time China has made a unilateral rule to apply in disputed waters.

Since 1999, it has imposed an annual fishing ban from May to August in the South China Sea and state media have reported seizing a large number of vessels each year during that period. Fishermen from Vietnam and the Philippines have repeatedly accused Chinese law enforcement of harassing and preventing them from operating in their traditional fishing grounds.

In February, Beijing also passed a controversial Coast Guard Law that authorizes its maritime law-enforcement fleets to use force on foreign vessels operating in the waters under the jurisdiction of China.

The law was opposed by most of the countries in the region. The U.S. State Department also denounced it, saying the law could be used to intimidate the PRCs maritime neighbors.
Li Tiantian is discharged from a psychiatric hospital but remains out of contact with the wider world.

Authorities in the central Chinese province of Hunan have released primary school teacher Li Tiantian from a psychiatric hospital following a public outcry over her detention, but restrictions on her freedom remain.

Li, who is currently pregnant, was incommunicado after issuing a cry for help on the social media platform Weibo Moments on Dec. 19 as officials from her hometown of Shaba in Hunan's Yongshun county committed her for psychiatric care.

A post to her WeChat account late on Sunday said she had been discharged from the Yongshun Country Psychiatric Hospital, and thanked people for their concern.

"I will continue to live in this world like a fairy," the post said, in a reference to her nickname "the fairy teacher," because of her retelling of local myths and legends.

"As I am still recovering, my mental health is quite poor, so I won't be replying much or giving media interviews for the time being," the post said.

People familiar with the situation told RFA that Li remains under close surveillance by the authorities, and hasn't been back in contact with friends.

"Several people have been to Li Tiantian's home to try to visit her, and according to a message from 9.00 p.m. last night, they are also now incommunicado," one person said. "We confirmed this morning that Li Tiantian was released on Dec. 24, and is currently under surveillance somewhere in Yongshun county."

"She is relatively free, but neither she nor her family is allowed to say anything publicly."

A second person who asked to remain anonymous said the authorities are treating Li as someone who has been "manipulated by overseas, anti-China forces," and were planning to revoke her teacher's license.

"There has been a huge international outcry and a lot of media reporting of this case," the person said. "Based on the way they deal with similar incidents, they were never going to allow Li Tiantian to speak publicly following her discharge from the hospital."

Li's mother and fiance are also believed to be incommunicado.

Activists beaten, blocked from visit

Rights activists Ouyang Jinghua, Cheng Xiaofeng, Xiangjun Wubai and lawyer Xie Yang were beaten by village officials when they tried to visit Li at her home on Sunday, in the hope of giving her more than 3,000 yuan in donated funds, a rights activist who declined to be named told RFA.

"There were five of them including Ouyang Jinghua and Cheng Xiaofeng; Cheng, Xie Yang and Xiangjun Wubai went into the village, and were beaten up and their cell phones broken," the activist said. "They left to report the incident to police, but we've heard nothing from them since."

On Dec. 25, Xie was photographed outside the Yongshun county police department with a placard calling for Li's release.

Ouyang, 80, went with other activists to try to visit Li at the psychiatric hospital, but was prevented from entering, with security guards citing the pandemic.

"You can't go in because of the pandemic; only if you're here to get medical treatment," a security guard is seen telling Ouyang in a video clip of the exchange sent to RFA.

Li's disappearance came after she commented on Weibo two days earlier, when Shanghai Aurora College said it had fired lecturer Song Gengyi for questioning the Chinese governments official death toll of 300,000 for the 1937 Nanjing massacre.

An edited clip of Song's lecture was posted online by Dong Xun, one of her students, who informed on her. In the clip, Song calls the 300,000 deaths tally used by the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) a "rough estimate that lacks statistical support" adding that there is a very wide range of estimates of casualties.

Li chimed in on Friday, saying she didn't see any problem with Song's lecture, but rather with the student who informed on her and the school that fired her, and the Chinese intellectuals who have kept quiet on the matter.

But commentators said she could have been targeted by officials in the local education bureau in Hunan's Xiangxi prefecture, who used her support for Song Gengyi as a pretext for retaliation over a critical article she wrote about rural education in 2019.

In the 2019 article, Li Tiantian wrote: "What makes me feel most helpless and upset is that, while, as teachers, we teach students to be honest and trustworthy, we can't actually tell the truth ourselves. We have become captive intellectuals who are forced to live carefully."



Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.
Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka has published draft constitutional amendments that would allow him to further strengthen his authoritarian rule and remain in office until 2035.



Lukashenka, 67, has said the changes, outlined by the state-run BelTA news agency and published on the presidential website on December 27, will be put to a referendum sometime in February 2022.

Lukashenka proposed amending the constitution following a domestic and international backlash over the violent crackdown following the disputed August 2020 presidential election that he claims gave him a sixth consecutive term, but which the opposition and the West say was rigged.

Crisis In Belarus Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka ramps up pressure on NGOs and independent media as part of a brutal crackdown against protesters and the opposition following an August 2020 election widely considered fraudulent.

The proposed changes would give Lukashenka immunity from prosecution and put in place a limit of two terms in office, each for five years. However, the restrictions would only apply going forward, meaning Lukashenka could rule until he is 81 years old.

The amendments would also weaken the current rubber-stamp parliament and strengthen the role of the All-Belarus People's Assembly, a periodic gathering of loyalists that currently has no governing status under the laws.



The assembly would act as a parallel structure next to parliament, holding wide-ranging powers to approve foreign, security, and economic policy. It would also be able to propose changes to the constitution, draft laws, and select members of the country's Central Election Commission and judges of the top courts.



According to the proposed amendments, a sitting president automatically becomes a delegate of the 1,200-seat assembly and may chair it, if elected by other delegates.



Tadeusz Giczan, a nonresident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, said Lukashenka would "most likely" become chairman of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly at some point.

For Lukashenka, the amendments present "a hybrid -- both the opportunity to get reelected as president until 2035, and the opportunity to remain in power as a possible leader of the All-Belarus Assembly," Belarusian political analyst Valer Karbalevich told the Associated Press.

The amendments would also prohibit anyone who temporarily left the country in the last 20 years from becoming president, a change that appears to be aimed directly at opposition members, many of whom were forced into exile to avoid political persecution.



Lukashenka's opponents have called the attempt to rewrite the constitution a sham exercise to help him cling to power amid Western sanctions and international isolation for Minsk's crackdown on dissent following last year's presidential election.

"The regime's draft constitution doesn't give Belarusians a real choice. It will let the dictator secure power, control the situation through the artificial All-Belarusian People's Assembly, and avoid prosecution. A new presidential election is the only solution to the crisis," opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has said she is the rightful winner of last year's election, said on Twitter.

The U.S. State Department called on Lukashenka to hold a "national dialogue" with the opposition and civil society to reach a political solution, call new elections, and arrange the release of hundreds of political prisoners.

Nearly Three-Decade Rule

Lukashenka, a former state farm director, has run Belarus with an iron hand since winning independent Belarus's first presidential election in 1994, three years after the Soviet Unions collapse.



The country has never held free and fair elections under his rule, according to international observers.

Belarusians have grown frustrated with Lukashenka's rule over the decades. The economy remains largely unreformed and heavily dependent on cheap energy from Russia, while salaries and living conditions remain low compared with countries in Central and Eastern Europe.



Tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets for months following the 2020 presidential election to peacefully protest Lukashenka's claim of victory. They were the largest anti-government demonstrations in Belarus since the early 1990s.



The authoritarian ruler responded with a brutal suppression of his own people as police used force to detain thousands. There also have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces and several people have died during the crackdown.



There are more than 900 political prisoners in the country, according to the Vyasna human rights group.



The European Union, the United States, and several countries have since refused to recognize Lukashenka as the country's legitimate leader and imposed several rounds of sanctions on the country in response to the violent crackdown.
MINSK -- The Minsk City Court has sentenced a Russian citizen to 11 years in prison for his alleged actions against the rule of Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The court handed down the verdict and sentence on December 27 against 21-year-old Yegor Dudnikov, who says police severely beat him after his arrest, for allegedly inciting hatred and calling for actions to hurt Belarus.

Crisis In Belarus Read our ongoing coverage as Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka ramps up pressure on NGOs and independent media as part of a brutal crackdown against protesters and the opposition following an August 2020 election widely considered fraudulent.

The charges stem from Dudnikov allegedly taking part in preparing online materials in connection with unprecedented mass rallies in Belarus protesting official results of the August 2020 presidential election that handed Lukashenka a sixth consecutive term in office.

Investigators say that from January until May, Dudnikov placed at least 55 posts about the protests on the Telegram channel administered by the so-called Groups of Civic Self-Defense of Belarus (OGSB), an organization labeled as extremist and banned in Belarus in the aftermath of the protests.

Dudnikov is one of dozens in Belarus who have faced trial in recent months after authorities brutally suppressed dissent in any form following last year's presidential election.

Rights activists and opposition politicians say the poll was rigged to extend Lukashenka's 26-year rule. Thousands have been detained during countrywide protests and there have been credible reports of torture and ill-treatment by security forces. Several people have died during the crackdown.

Many of Belarus's opposition leaders have been arrested or forced to leave the country, while Lukashenka has refused to negotiate with the opposition.

The United States, the European Union, and several other countries have refused to acknowledge Lukashenka as the winner of the vote and imposed several rounds of sanctions on him and his regime, citing election fraud and the police crackdown.
French tourist Benjamin Briere, who has been in an Iranian prison since spring last year on spying charges, has begun a hunger strike, his lawyer and sister have said.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said December 27 that French authorities maintain close contact with Briere, visiting him on December 21 and contacting him again on December 27.

The ministry has called the charges against the 36-year-old Frenchman, who is being held in the Valikabad prison in the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, "incomprehensible."

Briere was charged with spying and propaganda against Iran after being arrested in May 2020 when he flew a remote-controlled mini-helicopter in the desert near the Turkmenistan-Iran border. A spying conviction is punishable by death in Iran.

His family says he is an innocent tourist who set out in 2018 on a road trip in his camper van that began in Scandinavia before heading overland towards Iran.

"The feeling of abandonment -- and distress -- has led Benjamin Briere to embark on a hunger strike in order to alert Iranian and French authorities to the absurdity of his detention," his sister Blandine Briere and lawyer Philippe Valent said in an e-mailed statement.

Separately, Iranian human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan called for his release on Twitter.

"What is the Mashhad Revolutionary Court waiting for to hear the case against him, who has now been in custody for 570 days ?" Dehghan wrote.

Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP
Talks aimed at reviving a landmark nuclear deal between Iran and world powers have restarted in Vienna, with Tehran saying that negotiations should focus on lifting sanctions on the Islamic republic and "guarantees" that Washington will return to the fold.

"The 8th round of the Vienna Talks just started," Alain Matton, spokesman for the European Union, which is chairing the discussions, wrote on Twitter.

The seventh round of talks, the first under new hard-line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, ended on December 17 after Tehran added some new demands to a working text.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said ahead of the resumption that on the agenda should be "the issue of guarantees and verification" on the lifting of U.S. sanctions if Washington returns to the accord.

"The most important issue for us is to reach a point where, firstly, Iranian oil can be sold easily and without hindrance," Iranian media quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying in Tehran on December 27 ahead of the resumption of negotiations in Vienna. "The money from the oil [sales] is to be deposited as foreign currency in Iranian banks, so we can enjoy all the economic benefits stipulated in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action."



The JCPOA limited Iran's nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but sanctions were reimposed after then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord in 2018. Tehran, which claims the country's nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, reacted by gradually ramping up the program and enriching uranium well beyond the thresholds allowed in the agreement.

Diplomats from the parties still in the deal -- China, Britain, France, Germany, and Russia -- are taking part in direct talks with Iran. The United States has participated indirectly.

Iran refuses to meet directly with U.S. officials, with the other participants shuttling between the two sides. Washington has repeatedly voiced frustration at this format, saying it slows down the process, and Western officials still suspect Iran is simply playing for time.

Diplomats from the three European countries involved said after the talks adjourned 10 days ago that negotiators were "rapidly reaching the end of the road." They have expressed frustration with Tehran's new demands in recent weeks but pointed to "some technical progress" so far.

An EU statement said participants would "continue the discussions on the prospect of a possible return of the United States to the [deal] and how to ensure the full and effective implementation of the agreement by all sides."



U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week that current diplomatic efforts aimed at reviving the deal may be exhausted within "weeks," while the U.S. special envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, warned of a "period of escalating crisis" if diplomacy failed to restore the agreement.

With reporting by Reuters and AFP
An investigative reporter for the BBC's Russian-language service in Moscow says he has left Russia for London after noticing that he had been placed under "rather unprecedented surveillance" by the authorities.

Andrei Zakharov made the announcement in a video released on December 27.

Zakharov had been designated a "foreign agent" by Russian authorities in October, a decision the BBC at the time strongly rejected and said it would take measures to overturn.

"It is not yet clear what the surveillance was connected with: my being designated as a 'foreign agent' or maybe my reporting on hackers from the Evil Corp group, which I did together with my British colleagues," Zakharov said.

In December 2019, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 17 individuals and seven legal entities associated with Evil Corp, which it described as "a Russia-based cybercriminal organization" that it said worked for Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) and conducted cybercrime "on an almost unimaginable scale."

Russia's "foreign agent" legislation was adopted in 2012 and has been repeatedly criticized within Russia and abroad as being an unjustified assault on independent media and civil society.

It requires nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign assistance and are deemed by the government to engage in political activity to be registered, to identify themselves as foreign agents, and to submit to audits.

At the end of last year, the legislation was modified to allow the Russian government to place on its foreign agents media list and impose restrictions on them. The legislation provides for those put on the list e registered, to identify themselves as foreign agents, and to submit to audits.

A number of journalists, including several RFE/RL reporters, have since been added to the list.

In August, another BBC journalist, Sarah Rainsford, left Russia after Moscow refused to extend her permission to work.

Zakharov has investigated topics ranging from President Vladimir Putin's personal history to Russian disinformation factories.

With reporting by Reuters
A Russian court has increased the sentence of historian Yury Dmitriyev, the local head of the human rights group Memorial in the northwestern region of Karelia, to 15 years in prison for allegedly taking pornographic images of his foster daughter, a charge he has staunchly denied.

The city court in Petrozavodsk on December 27 handed down the verdict after a review of the case against Dmitriyev, who in September 2020 was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Prosecutors had been seeking an increase in the sentence to 15 years.

Dmitriyevs lawyers have said that all of his appeals have been exhausted.

The trial comes as the Russian government is seeking to shut down International Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow, both of which have long been designated foreign agent NGOs. Their fate could be sealed by the Supreme Court and Moscows top court in the coming weeks.

Dmitriyev is best known for his research into the victims of political repression in Karelia under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. He was instrumental in the investigation and memorialization of the Sandarmokh mass graves, where the bodies of at least 6,000 victims were buried.

As his case has gone back and forth between courts, Dmitriyev, who turns 66 next month, has spent almost all of the last five years in pretrial detention at a jail in Petrozavodsk, the regional capital.

With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says talks between Washington and Moscow to discuss security issues will take place after Russia's holiday season is over and that Russia wants military officials involved in its negotiations with NATO.

Speaking on the high-profile, pro-Kremlin talk show Solovyov Live on December 27, Lavrov said, "We will be holding a major round of [security] talks with the United States that will take place immediately after the end of the New Year holidays."

Russia celebrates Orthodox Christmas on January 7, meaning the first subsequent working day would fall on January 10.

Lavrov's comments come amid heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington over a massive Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border and demands by the Kremlin that there be no further NATO expansion, among other "guarantees" of Russian security.

During his annual news conference last week, President Vladimir Putin urged the West to meet the demands "immediately," listing a litany of grievances about Ukraine and NATO.

Putin said in an interview broadcast on Russian state TV on December 26 that he would ponder various options if the West failed to meet Moscow's demands. Russia's response "could be diverse," he said. "It will depend on what proposals our military experts submit to me."

In his December 27 comments, Lavrov said that Russia wanted to include military officials in any talks with NATO and criticized the Western security alliance, repeating Moscow's position that it could not remain indifferent to perceived NATO aggression on Russia's "doorstep."

"NATO is now a purely geopolitical project to develop territory that became ownerless after the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact and after the collapse of the Soviet Union," he said. "This is what they are doing."

The Warsaw Pact disintegrated after the Soviet-led Eastern bloc shed decades of dominance by Moscow in 1989 and most Soviet republics secured independence when the U.S.S.R. collapsed in 1991. All former Warsaw Pact countries, with the exception of the defunct Soviet Union, have since joined NATO of their own free will, as have the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which declared independence from the U.S.S.R. already in early 1990, when the Soviet state still existed.

Lavrov's comments came a day after the Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had proposed holding a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on January 12. The Kremlin has not yet said whether it will take part.

"We are considering it," a spokesman for the Kremlin was quoted on December 26 as saying, according to TASS.

Apparently timed for release at the same time with Lavrov's comments, a statement by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Aleksandr Fomin warned Western diplomats and military attaches in Moscow of the dangers posed by an armed conflict between Russia and NATO.

The Defense Ministry distributed footage showing Fomin criticizing NATO to assembled international military representatives including those from some 14 NATO member states.

"Recently the alliance has resorted to direct provocations that pose a high risk of escalating into an armed confrontation," Fomin told them on December 27.

"The alliance has been ignoring Russias interests and avoiding an equal discussion of the existing problems," he said.

The NATO-Russia Council was set up in 2002 but is currently inactive because of the conflict in Ukraine's east between Kremlin-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces.



If the meeting takes place on January 12, as Stoltenberg proposed, it would be the first meeting of the council in 2 1/2 years and would take place on the first day of a two-day meeting of the military chiefs of NATO's 30 member states in Brussels.



The January 12 meeting is the first proposed by Stoltenberg since Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding an end to NATO's eastward expansion and military cooperation with countries such as Ukraine and Georgia, among other things.



U.S. officials have said that some of the demands are either unworkable, impossible, or fundamentally contrary to Western values, but the United States also has said it is ready to engage in talks regarding the demands. This includes bilaterally, through NATO, and through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).



The talks have been proposed against the backdrop of a buildup of Russian military troops near Ukraine's borders in a possible prelude to an invasion. The United States and European Union have threatened Moscow with harsh consequences in the event of a military escalation.



Russia has denied any intention of launching an invasion.



Russia's Defense Ministry announced on December 25 that more than 10,000 troops had finished monthlong drills near Ukraine and that the soldiers involved were returning to their permanent bases.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, TASS, and Current Time
Stocks push ceiling

After the unexpected yet successful auction of four public land plots in Thu Thiem New Urban Area of Thu Duc City, real estate stocks pushed to the ceiling in the session on 13 December. Even businesses that do not have a land fund in this area rushed to increase their price following the excitement of investors on the stock market. The heat from the group of real estate stocks spread to related industries as well such as construction, steel, and building material. According to statistics, in the trading session on 13 December, there were hundreds of stocks that hit the ceiling price, mainly stocks belonging to the above sectors such as NLG, NTL, DIG, HBC, HTN, HAR, CII, SCR, NKG, HSG, SMC, and TLH.

In fact, for real estate stocks, this is just an extension of the dizzy price increase reaction, ever since the Southern provinces and cities eased social distancing to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic. According to statistics, in the last one month, the group of real estate stocks recorded an average increase of 50% to 200%. Compared to the beginning of the year, many stocks also recorded an increase which was dozens of times over. Even on the stock market today, any securities related to real estate, even if it is a business going at a loss, or becomes a hot stock that is bought by investors at all costs, many real estate codes are trading at towering prices, from VND 100,000 to VND 200,000 per share. It is because of this attraction that up until now, only a few real estate stocks are trading below par value of VND 10,000 per share.

At the session on 13 December, many real estate stocks suddenly dropped sharply in the following sessions. The sudden correction of real estate stocks caused many investors to race orders in the morning and suffer heavy losses in the other trading sessions. Mr. Hau from Ho Chi Minh City, collapsed in the afternoon when the stock suddenly dropped to the floor. In just one transaction, Mr. Hau's account lost by nearly 20%. The reason why Mr. Hau was worried after this reversal was because many stocks had gone downhill after a series of strong price increases before, but they couldn't cut their losses. For example, in the LIC, SDA, SJF, TNI, or SDA codes.

Rush for hot money

Mr. Hau's sadness did not last long when the stocks swung to the top suddenly and recovered after two correction sessions. In the trading session on 16 December, the group of real estate stocks simultaneously increased to the limit when the cash flow continued to pour into this industry group. This unexpected development created more motivation for investors to pour more money into real estate stocks, especially businesses that are still facing many difficulties, from profit to business cash flow, such as HQC, DLG, QCG, ITA, ROS, and PTL.

By observing market movement, it is easy to see that the cash flow into weak businesses is actually speculative cash flow of individual investors. The need to seek profit will direct investors to small and medium sized stocks such as real estate or construction. Individual investors, especially F0 investors, often have a psychological expectation of achieving high profit in the short term, attracted by the large profits from previous participants in the stock market. Small initial capital plus the appetite to accept risk is the reason why speculative capital flow tends to look for stocks with quick profitability like real estate.

Return to true value

Even if businesses do not do well, their stock price increases many times, causing an imbalance for the stock market. Investors themselves are also at risk, once the market may have a strong correction to restructure cash flow. At this time, speculative stocks, which are only attractive because of their high profitability, will be the first to be sold off. Then the cash flow can return to good stocks to find the balance.

A securities expert with the same opinion said that the risk here is that many stocks are unbelievably high compared to the internal situation of enterprises. The development of the market is currently dependent on cash flow. Once the money is still strong, investors will sell stock to buy another or rotate it from one group to another. Therefore, the story of a market crash will never happen when the cash flow, although declining, still stands at a high level compared to before. Even, if viewed from a positive perspective, the cash flow often tends to seize the opportunity. After withdrawing from the group of real estate stocks, they will switch to another industry group with better fundamentals. Then the risk of the market will decrease gradually.

The issue that many people are most concerned about right now is when will cash flow out of weak real estate businesses and switch to a group of stocks with basic foundation. According to experienced investors, the corrections in the past week are a sign that the cash flow is gradually withdrawing from hot real estate stocks but is not based on the internal situation. Subsequent recovery sessions are likely to be the cash flow of the stock driving teams. They manually switch stocks at high prices to create liquidity and stimulate the greed of individual investors. Once the stock price reaches the target, they will sell out and then the last buyers will be the losers. In other words, the market is ultimately at a standstill.

Kim Giang


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Good morning, Bay Area. Its Monday, Dec. 27, and one remote North Bay coastal town saw the biggest increase in home prices this year. Heres what you need to know to start your day.

The omicron surge has begun in the Bay Area, but this fifth wave of COVID is nothing like the surges of months past.

Even though experts expect a breathtaking rise in illness in the coming weeks, the less severe symptoms of the omicron variant, coupled with a largely vaccinated and boosted population, should keep local health care systems from feeling overloaded.

There will be a bump in hospitalizations given that there are still unvaccinated people out there, said UCSF expert Dr. Bob Wachter. But so long as the Bay Area keeps its guard up, its possible this winter wave wont be as bad as before.

Heres what to expect in the near future, reporter Erin Allday writes.

 The pandemic devastated workers in the U.S.-Mexico medical device supply chain. Take a look at how maquiladora workers make the choice between staying safe and staying employed.

 They tested positive for the coronavirus just before Christmas. Now, theyre spending the holidays in isolation.

 Need a reminder on when and how to use an at-home coronavirus test? Here are answers to your frequently asked questions.

Unveiling the treasure

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The slogan: San Francisco as it was meant to be lived.

As part of Treasure Islands dramatic makeover, crews have been building a multistory condominium development on neighboring Yerba Buena Island, grooming a hilltop park and setting up a ferry terminal where people living in the city can visit for just $5.

The idea, developers said, was to create a more intimate community where people can buy luxury flats and townhomes overlooking Oakland and Emeryville  and in one particular spot on the island, three of the bridges crossing San Francisco Bay.

Read more from John King.

What to eat

Constanza Hevia H./Special to The Chronicle

The future of delivery is now. On the days where you dont feel like cooking or venturing out to pick up food, several Bay Area startups have your back.

There are tried-and-true apps, but new ones such as Bentocart and Pastel are bringing a different kind of experience to eaters. Some package cold meals with instructions to reheat, while others bring several restaurants into one central pickup location. Reporter Janelle Bitker has the details on how these pandemic companies are in it for the long haul.

Looking for a meal to make the blah week between Christmas and New Years Eve special? How about revisiting our Top Seafood Restaurants list to find a bowl of steamers or satisfactory seafood boils? Plenty of these are takeout-friendly for those avoiding indoor dining now.

Around the Bay

Carol Scott / Engel & Volkers Kentfield

 The Bid: A Marin County tree house went for $200,000 less than its asking price. Can you guess how much it cost? Plus: North and East Bay ZIP codes saw rapid home value growth in 2021. These are the cities where prices skyrocketed.

 Wayne Thiebaud dies: The dean of West Coast Figurative painters, who continued working after he turned 101 this year, was credited with originating Pop art.

 Solitary to school: He was UC Berkeleys first student to be accepted while incarcerated. Now, hes helping other prisoners attain higher education.

 From Justin Phillips: Mayor London Breeds B.S. remark was perfectly on brand.

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.

 Diverse reads: A tiny San Francisco bookstore has a big goal: representing Latino kids and authors.

 National mythology: How free state California wrote slavery and white supremacy into its law books.

 News crew attack: A man was arrested after allegedly knocking a KPIX camera to the ground in San Francisco.

 Juvenile justice: Despite plans to close San Franciscos juvenile hall, the jail will remain open in 2022.

 From Carl Nolte: San Francisco of 2021 brought promise and disappointment. Lets cross our fingers for the new year.

 Season of Sharing: Novato woman, after overcoming homelessness and addiction, struggles to stay afloat when she loses her job.

Let it snow

Chris Kaufman/Special to The Chronicle

Highways heading into Tahoe saw near-whiteout conditions over the weekend, as another storm dumped snow onto the mountain region. Both Interstate 80 and Highway 50, the main arteries into the Sierra Nevada, closed amid poor visibility.

The regions ski resorts reported closing lifts Sunday as more than 6 feet of snow fell. One Sierra Nevada spot is on track to experience its snowiest winter ever, with as much as 10 more feet of snow en route this week.

At home, one of this weeks storms may dust the Bay Areas tallest peaks. Snow could fall as low as 2,500 feet, meaning residents may wake up to white caps on Mount Diablo and Mount St. Helena. Mount Hamilton already received snow.

Bay Briefing is written by Gwendolyn Wu and sent to readers email inboxes on weekday mornings. Sign up for the newsletter here, and contact the writer at gwendolyn.wu@sfchronicle.com.
California joined the Union as a free state in 1850, with a state Constitution that expressly outlawed slavery. But two years later, the Legislature enacted its own version of the Fugitive Slave Act, which required law enforcement officers and ordinary white citizens to help slaveholders recapture escaped slaves and return them to the South.

Six months later, in October 1852, the California Supreme Court wrote white supremacy into the casebooks.

The Fugitive Slave Act was passed for the protection of the State from this obnoxious class of population, Chief Justice Hugh Murray wrote in a ruling ordering the state to return three freed Black men to their former owner in Mississippi. Quoting an unnamed distinguished jurist, Murray said Black people were festering sores upon the body politic.

In a separate opinion, Justice Alexander Outlaw Anderson, a former senator from Tennessee, said, Slaves are not parties to the Constitution, and although persons, they are property.

The Legislature promptly renewed the Fugitive Slave Act, while the states all-white, all-male voters, who were the only ones allowed to cast ballots at that time, elected Murray to a new term in 1853. And in 1854 the court overturned a white mans conviction and death sentence for robbing and fatally shooting a miner from China. Murray, in the 2-1 ruling, said a California law prohibiting negroes, mulattoes and Indians from testifying against whites also barred testimony by Mongolians, including three Chinese men who had testified for the prosecution.

The rulings and the racial climate from which they arose are the subject of a state task force, the first of its kind in the nation, established to examine the history of slavery in California and consider reparations for African Americans, particularly those whose ancestors were slaves.

The racism of slavery birthed an unjust system, an inequality that continues today, Secretary of State Shirley Weber, who as an Assembly member sponsored legislation creating the task force last year, said at its first meeting.

And Black people were not the only victims. As attorney and historian John Briscoe recently described in The Chronicle, in April 1850, five months before statehood, the Legislature passed a law known as the Indian Slavery Act. It allowed white citizens to arrest any Native American who was found loitering or leading an immoral or profligate course of life, and, with a judges approval, rent that person as a slave to the highest bidder. The law was not formally repealed until 1937.

Nor did the states purported ban on slavery prevent thousands of slaveholders from flocking to California, with their slaves in tow, after the discovery of gold. One was Charles Perkins, a Mississippi plantation owner, who brought an enslaved man named Carter Perkins with him to mine gold in El Dorado County in 1849. Two older slaves, Robert Perkins and Sandy Jones, were separated from their families and sent to join the slaveholder shortly afterward.

Charles Perkins returned to Mississippi in 1851 and left the three men with a friend, who freed them after six months. The three remained at the mines and started a profitable mining-supply business. But after California passed its Fugitive Slave Act in April 1852, Charles Perkins filed suit, and soon afterward an armed posse broke into the three mens cabin and seized them.

Black abolitionists and their white allies found lawyers for the men and took their case to the state Supreme Court. The lawyers argued that their captivity violated the California Constitution and the states founding laws that could be traced back to 1829, when Mexico abolished slavery.

But Murray said the U.S. Constitution entitled California to enforce its Fugitive Slave Act and return former slaves to their owners.

The Constitution of the United States recognizes a property in this class of persons, the chief justice said. He said California was carrying out its moral obligation to citizens who brought this species of property to a territory of the United States.

The three men were put on a boat for Mississippi, by way of Panama. One newspaper reported that they escaped after reaching Panama. But the ruling remained on the books, and although Californias Fugitive Slave Act expired in 1855, the court, with different justices, upheld a similar claim by another Mississippi slaveholder in 1858.

In 1859, another pro-slavery chief justice, David Terry, who had just been voted out of office, killed U.S. Sen. David Broderick of California in a duel after a furious argument about slavery. Terry was acquitted of murder.

It was not until 1863 that the Abraham Lincoln-affiliated Republican Party, after winning control of the California Legislature, repealed a law that had prohibited African Americans from testifying in any case involving whites. That allowed a free Black man to testify that a Tennessee-born farmer in Sacramento County was holding a young Black girl against her will, persuading a judge to order her freed in 1864  signaling the end of the states official recognition of slavery, a year before it was abolished nationally by the 13th Amendment.

This history has been erased from the schoolbooks, Candice Francis, spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, said in an ACLU podcast on Californias Hidden History of Slavery.

California was one of the only free states that (was) so friendly to the interests of pro-slavery Southerners, said another participant, Stacey Smith, an Oregon State University history professor and author of Freedoms Frontier, a book about the struggles over slave labor in California.

Five of the state Supreme Courts first seven justices came from slave states, including Murray, a native of Missouri. He settled in San Francisco, where he practiced law and became a judge in 1850, a year before Gov. John McDougal appointed him, at age 27, to the states high court.

Known for his temper, Murray hunted down a man who had called him the meanest chief justice ever and beat him severely with his cane, drawing a $50 fine from a court in Sacramento. He remained in office until 1857, when, at age 32, he died of consumption.

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.

Murray and his rulings were a reflection of his times, said another former California chief justice, Ronald George, who served from 1996 to 2011 and wrote the 2008 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

He observed that there were no dissents from Murrays 2-0 decision in the Perkins fugitive-slave case. Murrays 1854 ruling that overturned the conviction and death sentence for the Chinese miners fatal shooting  a ruling that described Asians as an inferior race incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point  was not unanimous, but, as George noted, the dissenter, Justice Alexander Wells, wrote only, I respectfully dissent, without stating any reasons.

Its unfortunate to see much of that (attitude) emerge these days, xenophobia, especially when theres an economic downturn, George said in an interview. He said Weber has invited him to consult with her on the issues of slavery and reparations that the state task force is considering.

The task force, whose nine members include legislators, civil rights advocates and scholars, is holding monthly hearings and is due to issue recommendations to lawmakers by next June.

It is studying the history of both slavery and its lingering effects in California  segregation in schools and housing for much of the 20th century, policies in policing and sentencing, polluted air in Black neighborhoods  and what the state should offer as compensation.

Reparations could include cash payments or financial aid for such needs as health care and higher education. Webers bill, AB3121, said reparations should be considered for all African Americans in California, with special consideration for direct descendants of slaves.

The idea has made some local headway. San Francisco supervisors voted in May to establish an advisory committee on reparations. In June, mayors of 11 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Sacramento, agreed to pay reparations to some of their Black residents.

The federal government, under President Ronald Reagan, approved $20,000 payments in 1988 to Japanese-American survivors of U.S. incarceration during World War II. But reparations for African Americans are hotly contested nationally; a recent University of Massachusetts-Amherst poll found nearly two-thirds of respondents opposed, with many saying it would be too hard to calculate and others contending such payments are undeserved. Reparations legislation has been stalled in Congress since 1989.

Smith, the Oregon State professor and a historical consultant to the California task force, said reparations might become more palatable to those objectors if funding was used for measures to combat poverty, support job training and reduce mass incarceration, programs that aid descendants of slavery while crossing racial lines. She said it was also a suitable occasion for Californians, and their neighbors, to take a new look at their history.

The vision of California and the West as the landscape of freedom, Smith said, is part of the national mythology.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Google can pay $13 million to privacy-rights groups to settle a suit over its former use of Street View vehicles to collect private computer information, including emails and passwords, from homes around the world, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.

The technology company began a program in 2007 to send specially equipped cars around neighborhoods to photograph and transmit panoramic views to subscribers. The vehicles also used Wi-Fi devices that were supposed to gather information about locations for program users, but also collected data that internet users transmitted over their own Wi-Fi, including user names, passwords, emails and other documents.

Google said it stopped collecting the data and halted the program  which opponents dubbed WiSpy  in 2010. The company paid $7 million in 2013 to settle a lawsuit by 38 states, including California, and said it would erase all the private information its vehicles had collected. The vehicles still take and transmit panorama photos, but Google says they no longer collect private Wi-Fi data.

Mondays ruling involved a separate suit in San Francisco on behalf of as many as 60 million people who said Street View had invaded their privacy and violated federal wiretapping laws.

The settlement, reached in 2018, prohibits Google from resuming the private data collection or retaining the information and requires the company to educate consumers on how to protect their wireless networks. The $13 million is to be divided among nine organizations promoting privacy rights, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the World Privacy Forum and the American Civil Liberties Union, and their attorneys, who receive a 25% share.

None of those groups was a plaintiff in the lawsuit. But such settlements are common in class-action suits on behalf of large numbers of individuals  such as the 60 million in this case  when it would be difficult, or impossible, to distribute the funds among those individuals, and courts approve payments instead to groups that support the same cause.

But conservative groups have often opposed these arrangements, and the deal was challenged in this case by nine Republican-controlled states, led by Arizona. They said the money should be divided among the people whose privacy was invaded, or a group of those individuals chosen by lottery.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the settlement Monday, although one member of the three-judge panel expressed reservations.

It is time we reconsider the practice of cy pres awards, Judge Bridget Bade said in a separate opinion, using the legal term for payments to third parties that are intended to serve the original purpose of the case. In language that may have been a signal to the Supreme Court to consider the issue, Bade, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said she was bound by Ninth Circuit precedent to uphold the settlement but believed such arrangements posed potential conflicts of interest between advocacy groups and the original parties to the case.

But Bade, joined by Judges Marsha Berzon and Morgan Christen, ruled that the settlement was legal, upholding a previous decision by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer.

The states, and other objectors to the settlement, failed to suggest a reasonable alternative, because they could not describe how any individuals or group could show that Street View vehicles had passed by their homes and collected their data, Bade said in the 3-0 ruling.

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For those individuals, the settlement means only relinquishment of legal claims that might have been quite difficult to prove and probably would have provided little in damages, Bade said.

Daniel Small, a lawyer for parties to the settlement, said, We are grateful that the court once again upheld a proper role for cy pres settlements.

Representatives of the states and Google were not immediately available for comment.

Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BobEgelko
Lunas Press Books is so tiny that its easy to overlook while traveling south on San Franciscos Mission Street. The 184-square-foot bilingual childrens bookstore is sandwiched between a corner store and a preschool near Richland Avenue, where many Central American restaurants and bakeries line the street.

But on a recent Sunday afternoon, the bookshop was hard to miss.

A mix of cumbia, salsa and Latin jazz blared as people dropped by to flip through books and colorful art prints while children made bookmarks and colored drawings of a quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, on tables outside. The bookstore was hosting a launch party for the coloring book Guatemala, from A to Z by Susana Sanchez-Young of Lafayette.

Its nice to see that Guatemala is being represented, said Susie Orozco Franco, who is Salvadoran American and attended the event with her 6-year-old daughter, Sofia. Especially here in San Francisco where there are a lot of Central Americans.

Now Playing: Lunas Press Books, a tiny bilingual childrens bookstore and publisher in San Franciscos College Hill neighborhood, aims to be a space for Latino kids and authors, in particular highlighting stories about Salvadoran culture by Salvadoran writers. Video: Caron Creighton

The event was not a first for Holly Ayala and Jorge Argueta, the wife-and-husband owners of Lunas. Since opening the store in 2013, they have hosted and sold childrens books focused on Central American culture, specifically Salvadoran, that are written by Central American authors.

In 2015 the pair published their first childrens book, Olita y Manyula: El gran cumpleanos, which was written by Argueta, a poet, and illustrated by El Aleph Sanchez, both of whom were born in El Salvador.

Olita y Manyula is about a Salvadoran American girl, Olita, who visits family in El Salvador and is invited to a birthday party for Manyula, a beloved elephant who lived in El Salvadors national zoo for 55 years until her death in 2010.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

In August 2021, Ayala wrote and published her first bilingual book, ABC El Salvador, illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez. The alphabet book uses Salvadoran terms for each letter, such as cipotes, or kids, and loroco, an edible flower used as an ingredient for pupusas.

Argueta and Ayala seek to make Latino kids feel represented in books and proud about their culture, and to serve as a space for Latino authors to promote their books to children, parents and educators in the Bay Area.

While Latino, Black, Indigenous and Asian American children have been underrepresented in childrens books for decades, racial representation has slowly improved in the past six years, according to the University of Wisconsin-Madisons Cooperative Childrens Book Center, which has been tracking diversity statistics in books for children and teens since 1985. They track books they receive from large trade publishers and midsize to smaller publishers.

Prior to that in the last 10 or 20 years, it was also increasing but at a much slower rate, said Madeline Tyner, a librarian with the universitys book center. That said, there are still vastly fewer books by and about Black, Indigenous and people of color than there are by and about white people and white characters.

Tyner said the improvement is largely because of the rise of nonprofits that advocate for diversity in childrens literature, such as We Need Diverse Books, in addition to individual editors at some publishing houses, self-published authors and small, independent publishers.

According to the centers latest data analysis, 42.7% of the 3,682 books it received from U.S. publishers in 2018 were about communities of color  meaning at least one primary character or significant secondary character was Black/African, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, Pacific Islander or Arab. Meanwhile, 21.4% of the 3,682 books were written or illustrated by at least one person of color.

Although 42.7% may not seem so bad, when you break (it) down into racial identity, the numbers get much smaller. For example, in 2018, 11.6% of the books we received were about Black/African people, Tyner added.

Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

In 2002, just 13% of the 3,150 books received were about communities of color. During that time, the center was tracking only books by and about Black/African, Indigenous, Asian Pacific and Latinx people.

To see yourself in a book matters so much because it means theres somebody out there who sees you, who recognizes your importance, who validates your experiences, and to see authors who are writing books about someone like you is so empowering for kids, Tyner said.

One reason there arent as many books about children of color written by authors of color is that the publishing industry is not racially diverse and is made up of predominantly white editors, said Maria de la Luz Reyes, professor emeritus of education at the University of Colorado-Boulder and former elementary school teacher.

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.

Until we can get Latino editors in book publishing companies, not a lot will change, she said.

The big difficulty (independent publishers and self-publishers) have is marketing because we dont have money for that, added de la Luz Reyes, who now writes award-winning bilingual childrens books.

Social media has played a big role in the increase of representation as more independent publishers are using it to promote their work and to connect with educators, writers and parents. Still, researchers said, theres a long way to go before childrens books fully reflect the racial, ethnic and cultural diversity in the United States and around the globe.

In San Francisco, Argueta, of Lunas, said he and Ayala were inspired to start publishing childrens books after traveling with a group of Latino poets and writers to El Salvador for the annual Manyula International Childrens Poetry Festival, which they created and have hosted for 13 years. In 2016, Argueta also opened La Biblioteca de los Suenos, or the library of dreams, in San Jacinto, El Salvador, after seeing the lack of high-quality books in his homeland.

We want our children to really get to love books and their own culture and to understand that their country can provide them with dreams (of becoming) doctors, engineers and architects, he said.

Through Lunas and the poetry festivals, Ayala said she and Argueta hope to promote Salvadoran culture and history and support other Latino authors.

Sanchez-Young, who is also a visual journalist for the Los Angeles Times, said the coloring books and art designs she creates are inspired by her Guatemalan and Nicaraguan background.

I want people ... to pass it on to their kids because we didnt have that when we were growing up, she said.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores
UPDATE: Sierra snowfall just smashed a 51-year-old record and buried multiple ski resorts, forcing closures.

Whiteout conditions darkened the Sierra skies over the holiday weekend as a relentless blizzard blasted the mountains, closing the major routes into Lake Tahoe, knocking out Truckee-area power lines, burying cars and stranding motorists who packed into hotels and roadside establishments to wait for driveable conditions.

Snowfall was on track to top a half-century record for December.

Cars spun out, resulting in two pileups involving 25 to 35 vehicles on 10 miles of Highway 395 between Reno and Carson City, Nev., on Sunday, said spokesperson Adam Mayberry of Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue. At least six people were taken to a hospital with injuries.

Too much of an otherwise good thing even closed the lifts at major ski resorts in the Tahoe area, and the Bay Area caught a bit of Christmas weekend snow at its highest elevations.

In 20 years in Truckee, this is definitely top five in terms of awesome and consistent snowfall, Truckee Council Member Dave Polivy said Sunday. And it should make the top three by the time it all ends who knows when. Snow downtown was piled up 4 feet in places the plows couldnt reach, he reported.

The snow is blowing around like a shook-up snow globe, Bryan Allegretto said of the scene he woke up to Sunday. Winds that howled all night continued Sunday as the deep, drifty show piled up, said Allegretto, forecaster for the OpenSnow mountain conditions website.

The flurries stopped for a bit Sunday afternoon, but there was no real breather in the offing as a storm heading into the Sierra on Sunday night was expected to dump an additional 1 to 2 feet through Monday evening at the highest elevations, said Scott McGuire, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno. McGuire said conditions would remain treacherous with wind gusts across the entire region blowing snow everywhere and making visibility impossible and near zero.

Snowfall has reached 218% of average for this time of year, he said.

I have a feeling Im not going to be able to make it home tonight either, the second night in a row, River Ranch bartender-manager Mackenzie Oskolkoff-Campbell said Sunday. On Christmas she finished work at midnight, only to find her car buried outside in the whiteout. She had to walk to a fellow employees home to spend Christmas night  and hiked through knee-deep drifts to work Sunday. By afternoon, efforts to clear the parking lot built snow piles that nearly reached the roofline of the old-timey lodge on Highway 89 at the entrance to Alpine Meadows ski area. Oskolkoff-Campbell doubted shed be able to dig out after her shift.

The powerful storm knocked out transmission lines and hindered efforts to restore power Sunday, with blackouts affecting all customers in the Donner Lake, Tahoe Donner, Glenshire area and downtown Truckee and Donner Pass Road corridor, according to the Truckee Donner Public Utility District.

Liberty Utilities reported that it had more than 2,280 customers still in the dark Sunday evening, primarily along Highway 89 north of Lake Tahoe and just south of Truckee.

The internet connection went out intermittently over the weekend at Polivys shop, Tahoe Mountain Sports, with staff wearing headlamps and using frozen fingers to operate phones and write up sales and equipment rental transactions, he said. Polivy closed hours early Sunday to make sure staff could make it home. The blackout also forced Drink Coffee Do Stuff to close, barista Ally Dinges said, adding that residents definitely havent seen a storm like this in the past couple of years.

Even the Bay Area got a dose of snow up high, with possibly more to come, forecasters said. On Mount Hamilton in Santa Clara County, Lick Observatory reported it got a white Christmas and warned on Facebook that nearby roads were dangerously slick due to snow and ice. Some other peaks in the North Bay and Central Coast also got some snow over the holiday weekend, National Weather Service said.

The coming days could usher in more snow on Bay Area peaks  even 4 or more inches at the highest elevations  to accompany the forecast of more rain to follow the cold, wet Christmas weekend, said meteorologist Jeff Lorber with the weather service. From early Saturday morning to late Sunday afternoon, San Francisco and Oakland received around three-quarters of an inch of rain, with more on the way before an anticipated end to the steady rains by Monday afternoon  ahead of another, weaker rain system arriving Tuesday night, the weather service said.

The Tahoe Basin region recorded 2 to 3 feet of snow in 24 hours through Sunday morning. McGuire said five-day totals included more than 66 inches at Diamond Peak Ski Resort to 82 inches at Northstar California Resort. A winter storm warning was in place for the Lake Tahoe Basin until 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Researchers were bracing Sunday for a half-century record for December snowfall to be broken at UC Berkeleys Central Sierra Snow Lab near Donner Summit off Interstate 80. As of late Sunday morning, 29 inches of snowfall had fallen over 24 hours, making Decembers total so far an inch short of 13 feet, and just 2 feet shy of the 1970 record, the lab tweeted. With weather models showing the lab would get 1 to 3 feet by the end of Monday We will have a solid shot at breaking the record in the next 48 hours, the labs station manager, Andrew Schwartz, said Sunday afternoon.

Major roads remained closed Sunday, including I-80 from Colfax (Placer County) to the Nevada state border, and Highway 50 from east of Placerville to Meyers in (El Dorado County).

Caltrans warned of whiteout conditions and dangerous winds, greeting Twitter followers Sunday with an ominous message: Heading to the Sierra? Please rethink your plans. ... Mountain travel today (Sun.) will be difficult to impossible & HIGHLY DISCOURAGED. There was no information on projected reopening of the highways.

Ski resorts were widely closed Sunday because of strong winds, staff unable to get to the resorts and power failures. Dennis Baggett, a spokesperson for Vail Resorts, which owns Heavenly, Kirkwood and Northstar resorts, said the resorts now were above average for December snowfall. Heavenly resort ran lifts Sunday on its California side. The resorts anticipated more than a foot of snow through Monday night, Baggett said.

All lifts were closed Sunday at Palisades Tahoe.

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.

Power was out at Boreal Mountain, which also was closed Sunday and hopes to reopen Monday, its website said.

Baggett described several days of extreme winter storm conditions with high winds and deep snow. There have been ridge top gusts above 100 mph and occasional whiteout conditions. Our crews across resorts are working around the clock to ensure maintenance of the mountain, and we will not open if it is not fully safe for guests and employees, he said in an email.

Lodging in the area was hard to come by as desperate travelers called around seeking shelter.

The River Ranch was fully booked through New Years, but calls for a room in the storm kept coming on the third straight day of snowfall, Oskolkoff-Campbell said.

In Truckee, a Hampton Inn manager said Sunday: Its insane right now. We are sold out. I think every hotel in Truckee is sold out. In addition to the steady phone calls, travelers were walking in trying to book rooms.

Its a disaster, he said.

At Tamarack Lodge Motel in Tahoe City  also booked full Saturday and Sunday nights  manager Gerard Fenech worried that the high demand would leave many stranded tourists to sleep in their cars.

The phone has rung so many times, I havent been able to answer so many calls, he said.

Calls to many restaurants, coffee shops and other businesses in the Truckee area went unanswered or did not go through Sunday. An employee who picked up at Morgans Lobster Shack & Fish Market said that it was pretty crazy now with only two people working. He then hung up.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer J.D. Morris contributed to this report.

Kellie Hwang and Sam Whiting are San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com, swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang, @SamWhitingSF
People heading west on the Bay Bridge in recent months have seen an unprecedented sight: a multistory condominium building wrapped in scaffolding, just yards away from where the bridges eastern span touches down on Yerba Buena Island.

Now the scaffolding is coming down  but that only marks the beginning of a paradigm-shifting remake of a rocky outcrop that until 1931 was named Goat Island. Within a year, a hilltop park could be the Bay Areas newest scenic destination, above craggy slopes that will begin to be inhabited by people willing and able to spend upward of $4 million on spacious modern homes with drop-dead views.

Youre going to see the unveiling of an area that people hadnt explored before, said Tim Slattery, a partner at the architecture firm Hart Howerton. Its a complex jigsaw puzzle, but things are starting to come together.

Slattery and his firm have been working since 2016 on the architecture and layout of buildings on the slopes of a small island that could only be reached by boats before the completion of the Bay Bridge in 1936. Not long after that it was joined by Treasure Island, a 403-acre plateau summoned from the bay to serve as the home of the Golden Gate International Exposition that opened in 1939.

The idea back then was to turn Treasure Island into San Franciscos municipal airport. Instead, the U.S. Navy took control of both islands during World War II for defense purposes, not closing them until the 1990s.

The current transition was approved in 2011 by the Board of Supervisors and has been in the works since 2003, when tentative development rights were awarded to a team that now includes Lennar Corp., Stockbridge Capital Group and Wilson Meany. The goal is a neighborhood like none in the region  with a 300-foot-wide shoreline park facing the Embarcadero and more than 8,000 housing units. Many of these will be clustered near a ferry terminal that is scheduled to open on Jan. 15, featuring a 49-seat vessel and $5 one-way fares.

Treasure Islands makeover is by far the most dramatic. It has also stirred controversies, raising questions such as the adequacy of the cleanup of the former base and the wisdom of pursuing such an ambitious development as sea level rise looms. But in the year to come, Yerba Buena Island is where the grand plans will come into focus first.

Thats particularly obvious with the project nearing completion alongside the Bay Bridge  the Bristol, a six-story building that will hold 124 of the islands 266 condominiums.

Right now, the site is an incongruous mash-up of future and past; large bags holding pink fiberglass insulation are stacked in the tall entrance lobby alongside a fireplace clad in pale Tennessee marble. Thick glass floor-to-ceiling windows  the better to muffle Bay Bridge noise  have their views obscured by scaffolding. The spacious central courtyard isnt yet landscaped, except for a single statuesque magnolia tree lowered into place before the structure around it went up.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The final pieces should be in place by this spring, when residents begin to move into a building where the least expensive market-rate unit, a studio, will be priced above $800,000.

Were selling units. I feel very good about where we are, said Chris Meany of Wilson Meany when asked how buyers are responding to a setting with views that offer, not the San Francisco skyline, but Emeryvilles mud flats and the Oakland hills. Though like every aspect of life, wed be doing better without the pandemic.

The scourge of COVID-19 is hinted at in the islands marketing book, with its listing of features that includes premium air quality in every home via high-grade filters. Elsewhere, the pitch is an emphasis of exquisitely appointed flats and townhouses amid 72 acres of open space and five miles of trails.

The slogan: San Francisco as it was meant to be lived.

For early residents, that life wont include the more urban scale and retail features envisioned on Treasure Island, where most of the construction still involves putting infrastructure in place. But for Meany, starting on the former Goat Island and working north makes perfect sense.

One thing Yerba Buena Island does is allow us to create, quickly, a whole environment, he explained. The notion of an intimate community.

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Many of the basics already are in place, such as the three new water tanks that will serve both islands and have a 5.3 million cubic gallon capacity. The main roadways are complete. The causeway between the two islands has been rebuilt.

Just west of the Bristol, though not visible from the Bay Bridge, foundations are in for the first 31 ultra-lux townhouses and flats. Above them, the terrain is being shaped for the first half of a 6-acre hilltop park designed by noted Oakland landscape architect Walter Hood. Slightly downhill will be a boulder-studded dog park that Meany boasts will have a three-bridge view.

Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

If current schedules hold, all this should be finished within 12 months. By then, the first new housing on Treasure Island also will have opened  a six-story complex for formerly homeless veterans  and the waterfront park should be under construction.

That project, which includes 775 housing units in the first phase alone, easily could stretch out for a decade or more. The remake of Yerba Buena Island is likely to be completed long before that, discreet though most of it might be.

Were trying to create an experience out there, Slattery said. It will be the one place in the bay where you can take in the entire region.

John King is The San Francisco Chronicles urban design critic. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
Bay Area winemakers will remember 2021 as the year without wildfires.

In sharp contrast to the past several years, no Wine Country estates were destroyed, no Cabernet grapes tainted by smoke, no fermentations abandoned in the wake of an emergency evacuation order. Many vintners held their breath through the last few months, knowing that the states deadliest fire, the 2018 Camp Fire, wasnt extinguished until Nov. 25. Instead, the regions autumn was smooth and easy  a brief and welcome reprieve from the serial disasters that had led this industry to fear it would never see normal again.

It really was a redemption harvest, said Montse Reece, winemaker at Pedroncelli Winery in Geyserville. We expected the worst, we were ready, and it was fine.

Thats not to say that the 2021 vintage didnt bear the troubling marks of climate change. Californias extreme drought drove grape yields down  so much so that in at least one vineyard, the grapes couldnt be harvested at all. With no signs that the drought will abate anytime soon, grape growers are preparing themselves for another year of light crops that are more likely to mature in the frazzled summer heat than in the calmer, milder fall.

That larger existential crisis still looms. But for now, industry players are taking solace where they can, and many say theyre feeling grateful for the relatively breezy year.

Some winemakers had forgotten what it was like to spend the months of August, September and October focused on making wine, rather than on dodging fires and remedying smoky grape juice. In 2019, a significant portion of Healdsburgs Grist Vineyard grapes went unpicked due to concerns about wildfire smoke; in 2020, none of its grapes was usable.

In 2021, finally, it made wine: The feeling of being able to pick everything in our vineyard was so foreign, said Woody Hambrecht, Grists owner.

The 2021 harvest season offered an inspiring reversal of the doomsday scenario that had begun to take hold. It turns out its still possible, even as climate change transforms the realities of viticulture in California, to make great wine here. Or, at least, it was still possible for one more year.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

The blows to Wine Country during the past four years just kept coming.

In 2017, a series of nearby fires ignited in early October in Napa and Sonoma counties, burning 7,000 homes and killing 45 people. The Kincade Fire in 2019 enveloped the prestigious growing area of Alexander Valley in eastern Sonoma County; the smoke emanating from that blaze spread to other parts of Wine Country too, compromising the grapes. Aside from wildfires, heat spikes during peak harvest time  in 2017, Reece saw temperatures surge to 115 degrees  created chaotic conditions, pushing grapes into overripe sugar levels suddenly and threatening wine quality.

Then came 2020, with its nearly unfathomable levels of calamity. A lightning siege in August resulted in major fires in wine regions from Sonoma County to Monterey County, and the early timing meant that virtually all of the states wine grapes were still hanging on the vine, vulnerable to smoke taint. Then in late September came the Glass Fire, which damaged more than 30 Napa Valley wineries, a leveling that the region had never seen before.

We were all on high alert. We had this weird PTSD, feeling like somethings going to happen, said Priyanka French, winemaker at Napas Signorello Estate, which burned in 2017. But it didnt.

As the 2021 harvest season approached, anxieties were high. Its on your mind now every time you smell a fire in someones chimney, said winemaker Steve Rogstad of Napas Brandlin Vineyard. Six years ago, you wouldnt have even noticed it. Now, its ever present.

Rachel Bujalski/Special to The Chronicle 2020

Weary vintners frantically tried to prepare. Groups spoke out about what they viewed as a broken fire-insurance system for agricultural property owners. Napa locals petitioned their county for the right to hire their own firefighting aircraft. And in vineyards throughout California, people cleared brush, trimmed tree branches, moved fuel sources like propane tanks away from buildings  anything to prevent flames from finding an easy path.

Some vintners took additional steps to mitigate fire risk. Hambrecht, of the Grist Vineyard, led an effort to perform controlled burns in rural areas of the Dry Creek Valley growing region. Over the course of the year, with the approval and supervision of Cal Fire and local firefighters, the group executed five different controlled burns, adding up to a total of about 200 acres.

The idea behind these burns, which were practiced regularly by Indigenous people in California, is to allow fire to consume all of the flammable material in an area in a controlled manner, making it less likely that a wildfire would be able to spread there later.

We feel pretty strongly that these controlled burns work, Hambrecht said. It was incredibly empowering. Just sitting back and watching everything around us burn  which happened in 2021, he added  is not a position I want to be in again.

Controlled burns are not yet commonplace in Wine Country, but the idea is gaining more traction with farmers and other property owners. Hambrecht said he hopes more communities will explore the idea by talking to their local firefighting authority.

Not all California wine regions were as fortunate as the Bay Areas last year. The Caldor Fire threatened the winemaking community of El Dorado County and other parts of the Sierra foothills; though no wineries were destroyed, vintners there fear that their grapes may have been unpleasantly impacted by wildfire smoke.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Napa and Sonoma counties feared their time had come, too, when a Sept. 23 blaze ignited in an open field in Carneros, near the border of the two counties. Dubbed the Fremont Fire, it was burning near areas that had been engulfed in flames four years earlier. But the worst-case scenario did not materialize. By the next morning, the fire was fully contained. It had burned just 116 acres.

And last year, happily, temperatures remained moderate, allowing producers to pick their grapes leisurely. It was like a Swiss watch, said Mark Mazzoni, owner of Zialena Winery in Sonoma County.

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Yet winemakers did have to contend with another meteorological problem during the 2021 growing season: drought.

The main effect of this historic drought on California vineyards could be seen in the crop yields. Less water means less energy for grapevines, which leads them to set fewer berries. Many winemakers reported that their 2021 grape hauls were about 20% lighter than normal, though it varied significantly by site.

On Napas Mount Veeder, certain sections of the Brandlin Vineyard threw only about half of the crop they normally do, said winemaker Steve Rogstad. Lower grape yields dont necessarily mean that the wine will suffer; on the contrary, it can sometimes improve quality.

The severity of the drought has strengthened the case for dry-farmed vineyards, said Pedroncellis Reece. (There are no official statistics on how many California vineyards follow this method, but one expert has estimated that about 20% of Napa Valley vineyards are dry-farmed.) Dry farming means there is no irrigation providing water to the plants, which receive only the water that falls from the sky or is naturally stored in the ground. Grapevines that have already adapted to this sort of regimen, relying on less water to begin with, fared better in 2021 than irrigated vines, Reece said.

Were going to have droughts, she continued. In California its not going to be raining all the time  I assume we all understand that. Dry farming looks better and better.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Still, the parched soils did not detract from the sense of joyful gratitude that permeated the wine industry as its busy season came to a close.

The concentration of flavors is so intense, like I havent seen in years, Reece said of the nascent 2021 wines. Her Zinfandels are exploding with ripe, luscious deliciousness, a reminder of how great wines from the Pedroncelli vineyards can truly be, she said.

Many winemakers got creative in 2020, repurposing smoke-tainted reds into piquette, grappa, vodka or rose  making the best of a bad situation, essentially. In 2021, winemakers got to return to making normal wine, the old-fashioned way.

After all, the thrill of harvest season  picking the grapes and making them into wine  is why these professionals got into their business in the first place. Before we got a hard dose of reality in 2017, my idea of harvest in Napa used to be this euphoric, amazing thing, said Signorellos French.

In 2021, finally, she felt some of that euphoria again. You can see it just in talking to other winemakers here, French said. People are excited. Were actually asking each other, What are your wines tasting like?

Esther Mobley is The San Francisco Chronicles senior wine critic. Email: emobley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Esther_mobley
The omicron surge is well underway in the Bay Area. Even though its everywhere, there are good reasons to continue to avoid it where possible. California has shortened its isolation and quarantine times, following a similar move by the federal government.

Latest updates:

Parts of Bay Area see vertical wall jump in COVID cases as omicron spreads: COVID is ubiquitous, and those places that arent yet seeing surges should expect to soon, said Dr. Robert Wachter, chief of medicine at UCSF. Read the story here.

California follows new CDC quarantine guidance: Public health officials said Monday that the state would follow recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shortening isolation and quarantine times for people who test positive for COVID-19. The new guidance shortens the isolation time from 10 days to five days for people infected with COVID-19 who are asymptomatic. After the five days, those individuals can leave isolation if they continue to mask for an additional five days.

Cruise ship outbreaks probed: The CDC said Monday it is investigating potential COVID-19 outbreaks of the virus on 68 cruise ships, Reuters reports. A handful of U.S. cruise ships have been denied entry into foreign ports due to reported outbreaks, according to ABC News. Last Thursday, Holland Americas Line ship the MS Koningsdam was turned away from Puerto Vallarta after 21 crew members tested positive for the virus.

CDC new guidance treats unboosted the same as unvaccinated: The new federal guidelines for coronavirus isolation and quarantine say that people who are unvaccinated, or who have not received a booster shot on top of their vaccination, should stay home for five days if they are exposed to an infected person. After that they should wear a mask around others for an additional five days. If you cant quarantine you must wear a mask for 10 days, the guidance says. Its less restrictive for those who are boosted on top of their vaccination shots: If they get exposed, they dont have to isolate, but should wear a mask around others for 10 days.

Basketball players also now will have shorter isolation: NBA players who test positive for COVID-19 now can return to play faster, under updated league health and safety protocols. The main change: Isolation periods for players who test positive may now be shortened to six days, from the 10 that was customary previously  as long as they are asymptomatic and meet other testing standards, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press. The change That memo was sent on the same day that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut isolation restrictions for Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days. The new rules came as CDC officials shortened the isolation period for the broader public, to five days for asymptomatic people who test positive.

New isolation advice tied to wide omicron spread: CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday the country is about to see a lot of omicron cases, but shortening the recommended isolation time should not be a problem. Not all of those cases are going to be severe. In fact many are going to be asymptomatic, she told the Associated Press. We want to make sure there is a mechanism by which we can safely continue to keep society functioning while following the science. The shortened isolation period guidance  that people without symptoms isolate for five days instead of the previously recommended 10  is less stringent than loosened rules for health care workers that CDC announced last week. Earlier rules had health workers staying out of work for 10 days if they tested positive. Now they can go back after seven days if they test negative and dont have symptoms. And the agency said isolation time could be cut to five days, or even fewer, if there are severe staffing shortages.

COVID-19 isolation period cut in half under new CDC guidance: Americans infected with COVID-19 and showing no symptoms should isolate for five days, down from the 10 that was previously recommended, followed by five days of wearing a mask around others, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Monday. The agency similarly shortened the time that an infected persons close contacts need to quarantine. CDC officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that the most infectious period is the two days before and three days after a person develops COVID symptoms. The decision also was driven by a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, propelled by the omicron variant. Early research suggests omicron may cause milder illnesses than earlier versions of the coronavirus.

Fauci says vaccination for domestic flights should be on the table: Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nations top infectious disease expert, says the nation should seriously consider a COVID vaccination requirement for domestic air travel, as is already required for foreign nationals flying into the U.S. President Biden said last week that his advisers had told him such a step for domestic flights was not necessary. But Fauci told MSNBC Monday, When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated, He added. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think thats something that seriously should be considered. Asked about the issue on Monday, Biden told reporters only that the subject was discussed on a call with the nations governors Monday morning. Recent days have seen thousands of flights canceled as air crews have been hit with COVID.

More than 77% have at least one shot in U.S.: Across the nation, 77.3% of vaccine-eligible Americans, those 5 and older, now have received at least one shot, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. But the number fully vaccinated is just 65.6% of those eligible  just shy of 205 million people. And of the fully vaccinated adults, just over a third have received booster shots, which have become crucial over time as the effectiveness of a persons initial vaccination wanes, the national data shows. Those under 18 are not yet eligible for boosters.

Not the kind of No. 1 story we want: The pandemic in its second year headed the list of top Bay Area news stories in 2021. Roughly 4,500 people died here of the virus, compared to nearly 2,500 in 2020. Overall, the virus now has taken more than 75,000 Californians. The Bay Area fared better than most regions in terms of the pandemics severity, in part due to high vaccination rates, mask-wearing edicts and other prevention efforts in San Francisco and nearby counties. But the disease took new forms that prevented a true turning of the corner: first with the Delta variants spike during the summer, and now the Omicron variant raging with increased transmissibility.

New York sees sharp climb in child hospitalizations: New York state health officials say new hospital admissions for children with COVID-19 increased fourfold in New York City from the week of Dec. 5 to the week of Dec. 19. About half of the cases were in children under 5, who are not yet eligible for vaccinations, the state Department of Health said in an advisory. During the week of Dec. 19, none of the admitted youths age 5 to 11 was vaccinated, and only a quarter of those 12-17 were fully vaccinated, the department said.

Delta blames Shanghai cleaning rules for flight return: Delta Air Lines said Monday that new pandemic-related cleaning requirements at a Shanghai airport were behind the turning back of a recent flight from Seattle in midair, a move that had prompted a protest from the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. An emailed statement said the new mandates at the airport require significantly extended ground time and are not operationally viable for Delta. It wasnt clear what the rules are, the Associated Press reported, but it comes as China tightens COVID-19 travel restrictions amid an outbreak in Xian and ahead of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in six weeks.

Contra Costa County mandates boosters for high-risk workers: Firefighters, police and other first responders who interact with people in high-risk facilities such as hospitals, jails and nursing homes must get booster shots in Contra Costa County, under a new health order that takes effect Jan. 10. The order also applies to staff at homeless shelters. Workers must get the boosters within one month of becoming eligible. High-risk workers who are not vaccinated in the county must continue to get tested weekly for COVID.

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.

Savings proposal for kids who lost parents to COVID-19: State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, announced Monday that she will introduce legislation to create savings accounts of up to $3,000 to $5,000 for lower-income children and teens in California whose parent or primary caregiver died of COVID-19. The bill also would ensure that kids not eligible for federal survivor benefits would still receive survivor support from a new CalHope Program. An estimated 20,000 children lost a parent or primary caregiver to the virus, Skinner said in a release. The Hope for Children Act will offer a more secure future to children who lost their parents to this deadly pandemic, said Skinner, chair of the Senate Budget Committee. The bill also envisions the prospect of trust fund-type accounts for foster children.

Why should we even try to avoid getting COVID?: The omicron variant now sweeping the Bay Area and the nation, while wildly contagious, appears, for most people, to be milder than past variants. So why bother trying to avoid it? There are a host of good reasons. Read here about why its important to still protect yourself and others.

Happy New Year up against some odds: As New Year celebrations approach, the omicron variant is casting more gloom. Dire warnings abound, caseloads are rising alarmingly fast, air traffic is snarled and several countries are considering more restrictions on top of lockdowns and other measures already in place around Europe. New York Citys sweeping mandate requiring nearly all businesses, from multinational corporations to corner grocery stores, to ban unvaccinated employees from the workplace took effect Monday amid a spike in infections.

San Francisco reported highest case number ever on Thursday: On Thursday, the most recent day that data is available, the city reported 709 coronavirus cases  its highest total ever, topping the previous high of 646 on Dec. 31, 2020, according to state figures analyzed by The Chronicle. Cases are expected to continue skyrocketing as new data is reported later today, though perhaps with a lag for the holidays.

Fauci says more tests will be available next month: During a television appearance on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he expected the U.S. to expand its access to COVID-19 testing by January. Demand for tests has risen sharply along with the rapid spread of the omicron variant. The Biden administration has been rebuked for inadequate planning for the rise of the variant, which created a scarcity of COVID tests. Fauci said on This Week that conditions should improve next month, but that doesnt help us today and tomorrow.

Thousands more flights canceled as omicron hits airline crews: More than 2,400 flights were canceled across the globe Monday as the omicron variant hit flight crews, thinning out available pilots and other staff. Of that total, nearly 900 U.S. flights were canceled, according to the aviation data website FlightAware.

UCSFs Bob Wachter: Heres the good news for San Francisco amid omicron: With the omicron variant of COVID-19 circulating even more quickly than health experts predicted, scientists are scrambling to make sense of what it means and what its impact will be. But new data has some feeling more optimistic than they were when omicron first began its rapid spread. Dr. Bob Wachter, chair of medicine at UCSF, wrote on Twitter that the latest data makes him optimistic about a highly vaccinated city like San Francisco. Read the full story here.

COVID factories  The workers behind the U.S.-Mexico medical device supply chain: Essential workers along the U.S.-Mexico border produce life-saving medical devices destined for U.S. hospitals. But amid the pandemic, the most vulnerable of these workers have faced discrimination and harassment. Read the full story here.

How coronavirus case rates in each Bay Area county compare to the delta surge: The immensely infectious omicron COVID-19 variant has already taken over delta as the dominant strain in the U.S., with cases rising sharply across the country. But how do the most recent case rates across the Bay Area compare with the highs of the delta surge? See the data here.

Erin Allday, Rita Beamish and Dominic Fracassa are Chronicle staff writers.
NEWBURGH, Ind. (AP)  A former town marshal charged in the September shooting of a southwest Indiana sheriffs deputy has died after being hospitalized with COVID-19.

Posey County Coroner Sarah Seaton said Paul Wiltshire, 70, died Monday morning of natural causes stemming from a case of COVID-19. He was taken to Deaconess Gateway Hospital in Newburgh on Dec. 17 for treatment of the respiratory illness, the Evansville Courier & Press reported.
NORMAL, Ill. (AP)  The Illinois Art Station is ready to welcome Bloomington-Normal children home where they can be messy and explore new means of expression through art.

Im so excited to have people come and participate with us,  said Joey Hatch, education coordinator for the group. Our goal is to make as much art with as many kids as possible, so its very exciting to be able to have the opportunity to do that in our new building.

The station, now in its first brick and mortar location in Normal, had a slow opening this fall, with some programs beginning after the official grand opening in September. But this spring, the educators are ready to go full-on with expanded programs hosted in the new facility, The Pantagraph reports.

The nonprofit organization, which provides art experiences for children and their families with mobile programs offered since 2018, had to ease into in-house programming in part because the heavy summer rains pushing back the timeline for opening, said Laura Jaster, executive director of the Illinois Art Station.

We had a lot of ideas about what would happen, but the reality is always different and more interesting than your ideas, she said. It just gave us time to really settle in into the space, kind of inhabit it a little bit before we get too too far into anything.

Now the nonprofit is transitioning from having no facility and focusing solely on outreach into the community to bringing children into the studios and creative spaces.

Before they were limited by the materials they could transport, but now were able to get messy and really get into the art and behind what the children want to make their art about, Hatch said.

Four core programs will be offered in spring 2022 as three-week sessions based on age groups.

Itsy is for children ages 3-5 as early exploration. Their classes are held in IASs largest of the two studios, designed to let kids make a mess and even draw on the tables, thanks to the white board surfaces.

Art After 3 p.m. classes are for ages 6 to 12, which is about exposure to new ideas, new artists, new materials and new techniques, Jaster said.

The middle school program, smARTs Lab, is at the intersection of different disciplines and this spring kids will be focused on arts and engineering.

High school students can participate in Arts in Action classes wherein they address issues that matter to them through art. Hanging above the stairs in the station is one example of the high schoolers work: a globe created from plastic trash collected from a Bloomington park in partnership with the Ecology Action Center.

Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts.

In all of our classes really its about them creating something that they care about and that doesnt look like everything else, Jaster said. Typically when they leave, nothing looks the same. Even though theyre all using the same base materials or base inspiration, theyre all doing something kind of radically different.

The Art Station is also growing to include programming for homeschool children in the Bloomington-Normal community, offering a six-week program focused on creative expression and skill development.

Every Saturday drop-in hours are available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when kids can come to create without specific direction or boundaries  to explore and play through making, Jaster said.

At the end of the day we want people to just feel comfortable coming here and having fun and doing things, no matter where theyre from or what their background is, she said. Even if theyre not interested in art, I like to think that theyll find something here thats really cool and enjoyable.

Because IASs mission is to reach as many children as possible and engage them in creation, the station also offers scholarships for classes and programs, and Jaster said they will continue to try to meet kids where they are through community partnerships.
WASHINGTON  As President Biden approaches a year in office, immigration advocates fear he may have learned some lessons from his predecessor, Donald Trump  and not the ones they would have wanted.

Most immigration advocates abhor virtually every policy in the sphere that Trump pursued, but they do give him credit for two things: showing how much change an administration can make quickly, and driving home the power of fully committing to a salient political message. But they fear that instead of using those lessons to enact Bidens stated objective  a fair, orderly and humane immigration system  the president has borrowed too many of his predecessors policies and not enough of the fervor.

Biden has extended Trumps policy turning away the vast majority of immigrants at the border ostensibly because of COVID. The administration has also, under court order, reinstated and expanded a policy forcing migrants to wait in Mexico for court hearings, despite Biden running against the policy in his campaign. And his Justice Department is defending some of Trumps policies in court against challenges from immigrant advocates.

Several immigration groups worked together on what became known as the Big Book, a collection of more than 500 policy recommendations for the incoming Biden administration. The pro-immigration group Immigration Hub has tracked about 150 that have been implemented so far. Many of those were reversing Trump policies.

What we dont have is a White House thats committed to moving forward on the stated Biden administration agenda in the way that the Trump White House was committed to moving forward on theirs, and as a result, were living in a world where a whole lot of those Trump policies are still around, said Omar Jadwat, director of the Immigrants Rights Project with the American Civil Liberties Union.

Dario Lopez-Mills/Getty Images

A White House spokesperson objected to the notion that Biden has not delivered progress on immigration, citing actions in the early days of the administration to roll back some of Trumps policies, extend protections to young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children and new protections for migrants whose home countries are in turmoil.

This administration is committed to working day in and day out to provide relief to immigrants and bring our immigration system into the 21st century, spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

During the presidential campaign, Biden ran on turning the page from Trumps hardline immigration policies and talked up a plan to get a pathway to citizenship for the undocumented into law. He also emphasized the importance of letting asylum-seekers make their case to stay in the U.S., and said the Obama administration in which he served made a mistake in waiting too long to enact immigration reforms.

In his early days in office, Biden did introduce policies cheered by immigration advocates, including rescinding Trumps travel bans and embracing an aggressive legislative strategy to legalize millions of undocumented immigrants through procedural maneuvers that would require only Democratic votes.

Jim Watson/AFP / Getty Images

But he also kept in place a controversial policy known as Title 42 that essentially closed the southern border to virtually all immigrants. Then in the spring, when border crossings soared to historic levels, the Biden administration doubled down on deterring migration, vexing many advocates who saw that strategy as essentially an embrace of the rights talking points. Others have pinned their hopes on Vice President Kamala Harris, who forged a strong progressive streak on immigration while serving as Californias senator. She has led administration efforts to improve conditions in Central America, but also adopted deterrence talking points, including urging would-be migrants directly while in Guatemala: Do not come.

For some, the biggest disappointment was in September, when thousands of Haitians fleeing desperate conditions in their home country amassed at a border crossing in Del Rio, Texas. Border Patrol officers on horseback were photographed using aggressive tactics against the migrants, prompting outcry from Harris and even Biden himself. The horseback patrols ended, but the Haitians were deported in huge numbers to a country the administration just months prior had recognized was experiencing serious security concerns, social unrest, an increase in human rights abuses, crippling poverty and lack of basic resources, in the words of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Paul Ratje/AFP / Getty Images

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been slow to reverse Trump changes at the immigration courts, including taking nearly a year to drop Trumps crusade to not recognize the immigration judges union, to roll back quotas on case completions for judges that were criticized as jeopardizing fair proceedings and to hire key staff to direct the agency. Advocates also question the departments efforts to defend numerous Trump policies in court at the expense of settlements or positions that could quickly benefit large numbers of immigrants, including defending letting green cards go to waste, defending a controversial mass arrest of undocumented workers and defending policies to turn away asylum-seekers at the border.

Advocates do give the administration credit for changes they sought, including improving conditions in Central America and refocusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests on criminals and people who pose security threats. They also heralded recent moves by the administration to expand no-enforcement zones to include sites like schools, religious ceremonies and playgrounds as well as policies to end mass worksite arrests and instead focus labor enforcement on employers, not immigrant workers. Many who spoke to The Chronicle acknowledge that no one on the outside fully comprehended how much of the system the Trump administration gutted in its efforts to drastically reduce immigration, and how long it would take to rebuild capacity to enact many of the lefts goals.

They also heralded his push to legalize millions of undocumented young adults and workers through Democrats social infrastructure bills. If Biden could enact such a law, they believe, he would suddenly be the most pro-immigrant president in generations.

But that bill, which would require all 50 Democratic senators to support it, is on ice amid opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and the arbiter of Senate procedure has continuously ruled against Democrats attempts to include immigration in the procedural tactic to bypass the filibuster. Advocates have increasingly leaned on the administration to use their power to overrule the Senate parliamentarian, warning the alternative would be a shameful record on immigration.

Everything has been leading up to this, said Sergio Gonzalez, executive director of the Immigration Hub. This is really what we view as a cornerstone commitment by the president, and so were in a moment where, yes, things are very challenging and hard, and the question is: Is the president going to use all the political capital, leave no stone unturned, and show the leadership and courage to get this over the finish line  or is he not? And I think at that point, the assessment of this year and his legacy on immigration looks much different.

One especially telling example of the administrations political calculus on immigration and its inability to untether itself from Trump policies was its decision to walk away from settlement talks with families ripped apart by family separations, a practice excoriated by Biden and fellow Democrats. Families had sued for restitution, but when news of the consideration of payments of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the families leaked, Biden balked. Immigration attorney Bridget Cambria called the move to walk away atrocious on Twitter and said it put the administration in the position of defending the separations.

Instead of doubling down on the pro-immigration messaging Biden ran on, advocates say, the administration is playing into the rights hands by focusing on border crossing numbers and promoting a deterrence strategy. With critical midterm elections less than a year away, advocates argue the administration is actually making the political dynamic more difficult by not resetting the narrative away from the unachievable goal of preventing migration to the border.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Unless theyre truly working on root causes and taking a hemispheric approach  people are going to continue leaving and seeking safety in our country, said Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, which works particularly on the rights of low-income immigrants. I do believe that very much the strategy continues to be led by politically misguided folks looking at the midterms and not understanding the consequences of this.

Any progress toward Bidens stated goals of fairness and humanity, she said, is moving very, very slowly.

A lot of great intentions, but even the places where they are making progress, it then gets undermined by what theyre doing, particularly at the border, Hincapie said. Our hope had been that we wouldnt only be undoing the harms of the Trump administration but we would also be building a 21st century immigration system  and there have been I think a lot of missed opportunities by this administration to do that.

Tal Kopan is The San Francisco Chronicles Washington correspondent. Email: tal.kopan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @talkopan
One year ago, with COVID-19 vaccination shots starting and a presidential election behind us, there was widespread hope that 2021 might provide a fresh start for America and the world after a harrowing 2020.

As we know, all too well, that proved not to be the case. This has been a year when the crises of the recent past continued to bear down, often in grim new ways. Even people who havent experienced personal loss are weary, wondering when (or if) normal will return.

So when The Chronicles staff was asked to vote on 2021s top news stories in Northern California  as opposed to fun diversions like Steph Curry leading the re-energized Golden State Warriors  perhaps thats why the list was heavy with topics that have appeared in past years as well, such as wildfires and the repercussions of the pandemic. Others were one-time events. All have shaped and still shadow our lives.

1. Pandemic, Year 2

The infectious and often deadly COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage in 2021, and the Bay Area could not escape it. Roughly 4,500 people died here of the virus, compared to nearly 2,500 in 2020, while more than 75,000 Californians have lost their lives.

Nationally, the number of virus-related deaths since the pandemic began has crossed the 800,000 mark. By comparison, fewer than 10,000 people have died of the common flu in the past two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The Bay Area has fared better than most regions in terms of the pandemics severity. This is due in part to high vaccination rates and in part to mask-wearing edicts and other prevention efforts in San Francisco and nearby counties. But every time it seemed as though a corner had been turned, the disease took new forms: first with the delta variant that caused a vicious spike in cases during the summer, and now the omicron variant about which we know little  except that it is the most infectious variant yet.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

2. Fires, fires everywhere

The only way to feel good about 2021s ever-longer fire season is by taking stock of what didnt happen. No city the size of Paradise went up in flames as occurred in 2018, killing 85 people. Napa Valley wineries werent leveled, as in last years Glass Fire. The sky did not turn orange.

Instead, 2021 showed that the dangerous conditions exacerbated by climate change are becoming an annual scourge. More than 2.5 million acres were burned, a figure that trails only 2020. The Dixie Fire consumed nearly 1 million acres while destroying the small Plumas County town of Greenville. The Caldor Fire not only scorched 222,000 acres and the town of Grizzly Flats, it went up and over the crest of the Sierra to threaten communities around Lake Tahoe  a first.

In the southern Sierra, meanwhile, dozens of giant Sequoia trees had their trunks wrapped in aluminum insulation to withstand flames. The iconic trees were long thought immune to wildfire  but, Were looking at new threats to these incredible trees that we havent seen for thousands of years, said one park ranger. And its a threat that isnt going away.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

3. A mass killing in San Jose

The deadliest mass killing in Northern California in memory occurred on May 26, a devastating attack that left nine innocent people dead  murdered by a fellow employee who killed himself as police closed in.

The rampage began at 6:34 a.m. at the operations control center of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and ended 90 minutes later. The killer was Samuel J. Cassidy, 57, who apparently started a fire at his own home in San Jose before setting off.

Once it was safe to enter, members of the county Sheriffs Office found 22,000 rounds of ammunition and a dozen firearms on the scene, along with Molotov cocktails. Cassidy left no suicide note, but people later told of his growing work-related anger. He also was accused of sexual assault in a 2009 court deposition by an ex-girlfriend.

The mass shooting in Northern California reminded of other tragedies, such as when eight people were killed and six critically injured at the 101 California St. office tower in 1993 by a man who then committed suicide. That incident led to a decade-long ban on assault weapons in the United States. This latest devastation, despite the pain inflicted on hundreds of friends and family members, shows no sign of having altered the conservative resistance in Washington to gun control of any sort.

Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

4. Little call for recall

For a brief time this summer, the political fate of California Gov. Gavin Newsom was the subject of fevered speculation. Not only had enough people signed petitions to force a recall election  the first since 2003  but polls showed as many as 47% of likely voters in support of ousting Newsom.

The runaway favorite of disgruntled voters was Larry Elder  a talk-show host who praised ex-President Donald Trump and wanted to do away with the minimum wage for workers. Was Trumpism poised to upend the politics of the nations most populous state?

In a word, no. And Elder was no Arnold Schwarzenegger, the actor-turned politician who ousted Gov. Gray Davis without breaking a sweat. Newsom brushed aside the recall bid by a 62-38 margin; the biggest repercussion in state politics could be legislative changes to make it tougher for recall drives to reach the ballot.

5. Homelessness persists

Homelessness has plagued the Bay Area for decades, but it often seemed to lurk out of sight except in parts of San Francisco, Oakland and a few other cities. In 2021, that no longer was the case.

Tents sheltering unhoused people can be seen along freeways, in empty storefronts and everywhere in between. Recreational vehicles used as makeshift living quarters cluster in less-trafficked parts of many cities.

Government isnt shrugging off the crisis; the state budget, for instance, will direct $12 billion over the next two years to battling homelessness. The includes additional funding for Homekey, an effort to convert existing units such as old motels into safe housing for people who now live on the streets.

6. Crime and controversy

San Francisco usually likes national attention, but the images that went viral in late November werent the sort favored by local boosters  gangs of thieves pulling up outside Union Square boutiques on a Friday night, then smashing windows and making off with pricey goods.

Such videos followed others this year that seemed to depict a city where crime was out of control, and retail chains such as Walgreens cited shoplifting as reasons for closing stores. Across the bay, the number of homicides in Oakland as of early December was 120  up from 99 the previous year.

The political reaction? Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland seeks to add 60 officers to that citys police force. San Francisco Mayor London Breed is using overtime pay to put more uniformed police on downtown streets. Chesa Boudin, who was elected San Franciscos District Attorney in 2019 on a platform emphasizing criminal justice reform, is the target of a recall campaign that will go to the ballot next June.

Theres plenty of statistical evidence that notions of a crime wave are overblown, and supporters of post-George Floyd police reform were fighting what they saw as a fear-driven backlash to their efforts. But statistics are no match for emotions, and the bid to recall Boudin could be the citys most intense election battle in 2022.

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.

7. Water woes

When the Marin Municipal Water District in April imposed mandatory water restrictions on 190,000 customers, the larger reality was undeniable: California is under siege from drought once again.

Gov. Newsom has made the predicament official, proclaiming a succession of states of emergency due to severe drought conditions that now cover all 58 counties. This came came just four years after the end of a prolonged dry spell that killed millions of trees that now serve as kindling to fuel our increasingly destructive wildfires.

Precipitation so far this season is promising, especially with Decembers procession of storms. But Californians so far have shrugged off Newsoms call to voluntarily reduce water usage by 15%. The State Water Project has warned that it might not deliver any water to cities or farmers next year, and several large reservoirs are ominously low. Unless the wet weather continues, 2022 could be grim.

8. Hate crimes target Asian Americans

Ever since then-President Trump in March of 2020 dubbed COVID-19 the Chinese virus, hate crimes against Chinese-Americans have soared  and the disturbing trend continued throughout the past 12 months.

Nationally, the advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate reported last month that 20% of the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders it surveyed said they had been been targeted by hate incidents in the prior year, a description ranging from verbal slurs to physical assaults. Local news stories bear this out  from the wave of attacks on shoppers in Oaklands Chinatown early this year to the man charged last month with hate crimes in Santa Clara County for spitting at a 93-year Chinese man who spoke little English and telling him, Go back to your (expletive) country.

As one Bay Area resident of Asian descent told The Chronicle, Our lives have been upended by the coronavirus, and now theres the added element of having to worry about our personal safety. I just felt like we were more enlightened here but, of course, thats not the case.

9. Home is where the laptop is

The trend of office-workers doing their jobs from home accelerated when the pandemic descended in March of 2020. In 2021 it became the way things are, with a profound affect on Bay Area life.

Our area ranks at the bottom of metropolitan regions in terms of employees finding their way back to office buildings. BART ridership to downtown San Francisco remains stuck at barely one-quarter of pre-pandemic levels. Many storefronts that held shops and restaurants catering to office workers remain vacant.

In an October Gallup Poll, only 9% of white-collar employees said they want to return to the office on a daily basis  and more than a third would be happy to continue working from home full-time. Omicron is likely to slow things down even more, with such local powerhouses as Google and Uber putting plans for a transition back to office life on hold.

10. Fentanyls grip

The scourge of fentanyl  a street drug thats relatively cheap, horribly addictive and all too deadly  cast a dark pall over parts of San Francisco and the Bay Area in 2021.

Anyone who walks through the Tenderloin district or many blocks south of Market Street are likely to see people inhaling the opiate. And while the overall death toll for drug overdoses in San Francisco in 2021 might not reach the 711 recorded in 2020, the number as of November was 592.

Late in the year, Mayor London Breed called for police crackdowns, a state of emergency in the Tenderloin and the opening of at least one facility where addicts would inject drugs under the care of medical professionals. The impact of such measures  some opposed by Boudin and other progressives, who want more housing and services  is likely to be a top story next year, no matter the result.

John King is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jking@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @johnkingsfchron
Christmas storms have pounded California, leaving all routes in and out of Tahoe closed, causing major flooding in the Bay Area that resulted in the deaths of two people found in a submerged car and prompting a winter storm warning until Monday night.

Elsewhere in the state, an unusual "tornado-like event" briefly battered eastern Goleta Valley in Santa Barbara County.

A torrential downpour and strong winds brought down power lines, ripped metal carport awnings from an apartment complex and toppled trees on Saturday night. Santa Barbara Fire Department reported the damage via Twitter on Christmas night at around 10.30 p.m.

"SBC on scene of several downed trees, damaged carports and damaged cars," the department wrote. "Neighbors reported 'tornado like' event causing damage. Power out in area. Damage reported in Goleta Valley."

Santa Barbara Fire Department

Tom Fisher, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, told Noozhawk that there was a report of a "water spout" in the ocean on Saturday night that may have moved onto land. After some residents described the violent winds as a tornado, Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Daniel Bertucelli told the outlet that the unusual incident was a weather anomaly.

The ferocious storm disappeared as quickly as it came, but not before damaging a condo building on the 400 block of Camino del Remedio in Goleta.

"MULTIPLE EMERGENCY CREWS responding to Oak Grove Condos on Camino Del Remedio near Goleta," wrote reporter John Palminteri on Twitter. "Witness saw tornado activity. Metal car port awnings ripped off. Tossed 3-stories high. Trees down."

Twitter user PupscanLA shared an image of the mangled aluminum carport strewn across the sidewalk.

"Steel beams bent and thrown 20+ feet. Whole thing lasted under 60 seconds," a resident on the street wrote.

Santa Barbara Fire Department

Despite the extensive damage, no injuries were reported.
Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Monday:

United Airlines Holdings, down 29 cents to $44.58

Airline stocks were lower following more flight cancellations as an increase in coronavirus infections left airlines short-staffed.

GoDaddy, up $6.35 to $82.35

The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Starboard Value has taken a 6.5% stake in the web hosting company.

EOG Resources, up $3.60 to $90.78

Energy companies were higher after prices for crude oil and natural gas rose.

Ross Stores, rose $2.21 to $112.37

Retailers were higher following a report from Mastercard SpendingPulse that holiday sales rose 8.5% from last year.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, down 58 cents to $22.14

Cruise companies fell following reports of outbreaks of COVID at sea on cruise ships.

Advanced Micro Devices, up $8.22 to $154.36

Chipmakers were posting some of the biggest gains.

Las Vegas Sands, down 72 cents to $37.87

Casino operators were lagging the rest of the market.

BridgeBio Pharma, down $29.24 to $11.38

The biopharmaceutical company announced disappointing results in an ongoing study.
MIAMI (AP)  Florida reported 39,000 new COVID-19 cases on Monday from the Christmas weekend, as thousands of people waited in lines for tests following holiday gatherings and flights on crowded airplanes.

Florida reported 17,955 new cases from Sunday and another 21,040 cases from Christmas Day, according to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Florida has seen a sharp increase in new COVID-19 cases in the past week. Last Friday, it added more than 32,000 cases, a day after reporting 31,000 in one day as well.

Following the Christmas weekend, thousands of Floridians around the state lined up sometimes for hours Monday to get COVID-19 tests. At a testing site on the east side of Orlando, some people waited three hours for their turn.

I feel terrible. I feel like I wanna be at home in bed, take a cold shower. Its getting tough out here, Irma Bernabe told Orlando television station WESH.

At Miami-Dade County libraries, workers handed out 90,000 free take-home COVID tests, according to the Miami Herald. The county also distributed more than 12,000 tests at its libraries on Christmas Eve.

The number of new COVID-19 cases even forced the cancellation of the latest performance of George Balanchines The Nutcracker by the Miami City Ballet.

The dance company said it had to make the difficult decision, and only announced it publicly about an hour before the Sunday afternoon show at the Adrienne Arsht Center in downtown Miami.

These are challenging times for all and we truly appreciate your support and understanding as we navigate the necessary changes, said the statement posted on the company's Instagram page.

The Miami City Ballet has not yet announced whether the final performances slated for Wednesday and Thursday in West Palm Beach will go on as planned.

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Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.
WILTON MANORS, Fla. (AP)  Two children were killed and another four children were hospitalized with injuries when a car plowed into them and fled the scene in South Florida on Monday, authorities said.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office said in a news release that it was investigating what happened outside an apartment building in Wilton Manors, Florida, along with the Wilton Manors Police and Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue.

The sheriff's office didn't immediately provide ages for any of the children. Steven Gollan, a battalion chief with the Fort Lauderdale Fire Department, said at a news conference Monday night that the hospitalized children were severely injured."

This event is a horrific event any time of the year, let alone right after the holidays," Gollan said.

The Wilton Manor Police Department tweeted that a family reunification center was set up at the City Hall Emergency Operation Center. Wilton Manors is located just outside of Fort Lauderdale.

The car drove up on a sidewalk to get around a bus before hitting the children, said Shaunta Adams, who had just driven away from her apartment.

By the time I looked up, I saw him going around the bus and I see him hit the damn kids, Adams told the South Florida Sun Sentinel. I jumped out my car, my car was still running, I ran up and saw the first girl on the ground. I knew she was dead. I go to the second kid and I see him dead.

Wallene Johnson, who lives across the street, came outside when she heard screaming and saw two bodies in the parking lot and another child lying on the ground down the road.

How can you sleep? she told the Sun Sentinel. And theyre babies. They wont be going back to school.
UTICA, N.Y. (AP)  Two children died and other people were injured Monday in an early morning house fire in upstate New York, police said.

Firefighters were called to Thorn Street in Utica at about 5 a.m.
NEW ORLEANS (AP)  A 7-year-old girl was fatally shot while riding in a car on Sunday in New Orleans.

Local news outlets report the girl was riding with her mother and a sibling in the Algiers section when the shooting took place before 9 p.m. Sunday.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP)  The new year brings new laws for New Hampshire, including an abortion ban that was passed as part of the state budget.

The budget Gov. Chris Sununu signed in June contained a provision prohibiting abortion after 24 weeks of gestation, with exceptions for the mothers life or physical health. It takes effect Jan. 1, and Democrats already have drafted legislation seeking to repeal the new restrictions and to establish state-level protection for abortion access. Some also want to include the right to make reproductive medical decisions a constitutional right.

Make no mistake, effective January first, the state of New Hampshire will be denying a woman the dignity to make personal, private decisions and instead inserting government into medical choices, Rep. Marjorie Smith, D-Durham, said at a news conference earlier this month.

Other new laws taking effect Jan. 1 include:

TYLER SHAWS LAW

Judges will be allowed to give longer prison sentences to repeat drunken drivers who kill or cause harm to others under a new law named for a Concord man who died in 2018.

Tyler Shaw was 20 when a repeat drunken driver sped off an exit on I-89 South, went through a stop sign and hit Shaws truck, killing him.

Under the new law, someone with one previous drunken driving conviction that causes a crash that kills or seriously injures another person can be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Those with two or more previous convictions can be sentenced to 15 to 30 years.

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ANIMAL PROTECTION

Serving their cat, canine and wild critter constituents, lawmakers passed three animal-related bills that take effect Jan. 1.

One makes it a misdemeanor to maliciously remove a tracking collar or microchip from someone elses dog. The bill, which also makes stealing a dog a felony for a second offense, was prompted by what supporters described as a growing problem of dog flipping in which people steal dogs to sell for profit.

Another will expand the states animal cruelty laws and make it illegal to beat, whip, torture or mutilate any wild animal, fish or bird. The third requires drivers who injure or kill cats to notify police or the pets owners or else face a $1,000 fine, a mandate that has long existed for run-over dogs.

Even though its not a big budget item, these things are really, really important, Gov. Chris Sununu said when he signed the bills at an animal shelter in Salem. Were not gonna just let this stuff pass by, we can really do something about it. Animals are a bipartisan issue.

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SEXUAL ASSAULT LAWS

Sex workers who report sexual assault will not be prosecuted for prostitution under a new law aimed at encouraging victims to come forward.

The law establishes a state policy of protecting sex workers from arrest, prosecution and conviction for prostitution if they report that they or someone else has been sexually assaulted.

Another new law taking effect Jan. 1 will increase the penalty for someone who pays to engage in sexual contact with someone under age 16.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP)  Alabama is seeing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases as the extremely contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to sweep the nation.

Fifty-two of the states 67 counties are now showing high levels of community transmission, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. During the last week, 18.2% of COVID-19 tests in the state have come back as positive.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Alabama has nearly tripled over the past two weeks, rising from 540 new cases per day on Dec. 11 to 1,586 new cases per day on Dec. 25, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

There were 528 COVID-19 patients in state hospitals on Monday. That is up by nearly 200 over the last two weeks, but lower than during the previous two pandemic peaks, when there were as many as 3,000 COVID-19 patients in state hospitals, and the state was seeing more than 4,000 new cases reported each day.

Dr. Wes Stubblefield, a district medical officer with the Alabama Department of Public Health, said there is currently "high community spread across the state. He said the presumption is the omicron variant is beginning to make its way through the state. State health officials on Dec. 16 said Alabama had confirmed its first case of the swift-moving omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Almost all the counties in the state are in the high range, Stubblefield said.

Stubblefield urged people to take precautionary measures such as wearing masks in public places and getting vaccinated.

If you are eligible for a booster get a booster. If you havent had a shot yet, get a shot, he said.

Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, last week said places with low vaccination rates will be faced with crushing demand on the health care system as omicron spreads, even if it isnt as deadly as earlier versions of the virus.
HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP)  An Amtrak train with about 80 passengers on board struck a vehicle that was on the tracks in Haverhill, Massachusetts on Monday afternoon, officials said.

The Downeaster train was headed to Brunswick, Maine when it crashed into a vehicle obstructing the tracks" at about 12:45 p.m., Amtrak said in a statement.
MILWAUKEE (AP)  Scores of people are wondering when they can return to their Milwaukee apartment building after a fire authorities say was deliberately set forced them to flee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported the fire broke out Sunday morning. The blaze was contained to one unit, fire officials said, but other apartments suffered extensive water and smoke damage and nearly 140 people were forced to flee. No injuries were reported.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  A Black youth's death following a physical struggle with staff at a Kansas juvenile center was a homicide, according to an autopsy report released Monday that contradicts an earlier, preliminary finding that the teenager hadn't suffered life-threatening injuries.

The report said that 17-year-old Cedric Lofton's heart and breathing stopped after he was handcuffed while lying on his stomach. Lofton had briefly been in the custody of the Sedgwick County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center in Wichita when his altercation with staff members occurred Sept. 24. He was taken to a local hospital and died two days later.

The family lost their son and their brother, so its just a tragic and unjustified death, Andrew Stroth, one of the lawyers representing Lofton's family and a Chicago civil rights attorney. The family is is going to continue to seek answers and pursue all legal remedies available.

The staff members involved in the struggle have not been identified, but they county said they are on paid administrative leave. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett issued a statement saying his office is reviewing the autopsy report, along with a lengthy investigation by the local sheriff's office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

In my opinion, Cedric Lofton died as a result of complications from cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position, Chief Medical Examiner Timothy Gorrill wrote in the report. The manner of death is homicide.

Stroth and Steven Hart, another Chicago attorney representing Lofton's family, called on Bennett to pursue criminal charges. Stroth's firm focuses on representing families of people injured or killed by police.

Between the video evidence that we reviewed and the autopsy, its clear that this young man was unjustifiably killed, Stroth said.

The autopsy report said that juvenile center employees were unable to locate a pulse four minutes after they handcuffed Lofton.

Gorrill wrote that Lofton's subsequent treatment at a local hospital was complicated by brain injuries caused by a lack of oxygen, as well as respiratory failure and acute kidney injury. Lofton also tested positive for COVID-19.

The report also said that a screening of Lofton's urine resulted in a presumptive positive for chemicals found in marijuana. The report was dated Dec. 21.

The county issued a statement saying that its officials could not comment because of the active investigation. Sheriff Jeff Easter said during a Sept. 30 news conference  four days after Lofton's death  that preliminary autopsy results showed only scratches and a bruise on Lofton and not life-threatening injuries.

The autopsy cited reports from authorities that Lofton ran away from a foster home on Sept. 21, then was erratic and aggressive toward his foster parents when he returned early Sept. 24. The KBI has said that Wichita police, responding to a call of a disturbance, encountered Lofton outside a house and tried to get him to seek mental health treatment.

The 5-foot-10, 135-pound Lofton resisted police, assaulting one or more of the officers, according the autopsy report, and he was taken to the juvenile center and put in a cell at 2:45 a.m. The autopsy report said that staff at the center let him out of his cell at 4:20 a.m.  to use the restroom, according to the KBI. Lofton was uncooperative and agitated" and punched a staff member in the head, according to the autopsy report, leading to the struggle with multiple staff members.

Progeny, a partnership pushing Kansas to stop incarcerating young offenders and expand community programs instead, called Lofton a young person in crisis.

We cannot continue to fail our youth in Kansas by leaving them with nobody to call during a mental health crisis, and we cannot allow another young person to lose their life when they just needed help, it said in a statement.

The autopsy report said after the altercation with juvenile center employees started, Lofton's ankles were shackled, he was moved to the floor and rolled onto his stomach, and he continued to struggle before being handcuffed. The autopsy report said Lofton then calmed down, making occasional snoring sounds. A minute after being unable to find a pulse, staff began chest compressions and called emergency personnel, just before 5:15 a.m., the report said.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act into law, authorizing $768.2 billion in military spending, including a 2.7% pay raise for service members, for 2022.

The NDAA authorizes a 5% increase in military spending, and is the product of intense negotiations between Democrats and Republicans over issues ranging from reforms of the military justice system to COVID-19 vaccine requirements for soldiers.

The Act provides vital benefits and enhances access to justice for military personnel and their families, and includes critical authorities to support our countrys national defense, Biden said Monday in a statement.

The $768.2 billion price tag marks $25 billion more than Biden initially requested from Congress, a prior proposal that was rejected by members of both parties out of concerns it would undermine U.S. efforts to keep pace militarily with China and Russia.

The new bill passed earlier this month with bipartisan support, with Democrats and Republicans touting wins in the final package.

Democrats applauded provisions in the bill overhauling how the military justice system handles sexual assault and other related crimes, effectively taking prosecutorial jurisdiction over such crimes out of the hands of military commanders.

Republicans, meanwhile, touted success in blocking an effort to add women to the draft, as well as the inclusion of a provision that bars dishonorable discharges for service members who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine.

The bill includes $7.1 billion for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative and a statement of congressional support for the defense of Taiwan, measures intended to counteract Chinas influence in the region.

It also includes $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a show of support in the face of Russian aggression, as well as $4 billion for the European Defense Initiative.

In his statement, the president also outlined a number of provisions his administration opposes over what he characterized as constitutional concerns or questions of construction.

Those planks include provisions that restrict the use of funds to transfer or release individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which the Biden administration is moving to close. Bidens statement saidthe provisions "unduly impair the executive branchs ability to decide when and where to prosecute detainees and where to send them when theyre released, and could constrain U.S. negotiations with foreign countries over the transfer of detainees in a way that could undermine national security.

The law also has provisions barring goods produced by forced Uyghur labor in China from entering the U.S., and it begins to lay out plans for the new Global War on Terror Memorial, which would be the latest addition to the National Mall.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  Refugees arriving in Iowa from Afghanistan are getting a little help from others who know what they're going through  people who came to Iowa from Bosnia.

KCCI-TV reports that on Sunday, the Bosniak American Association of Iowa and Des Moines Refugee Support teamed up for a donation drive at a mosque in Des Moines. Hundreds of items ranging from pillows to pots and pans to toiletries were donated for Afghan refugees.
BUCKEYE, Ariz. (AP)  Buckeye police say a man who shot his father multiple times was killed by one of their officers.

The Buckeye Police Department said in a statement that they received calls about shots being fired at a home shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday.

The first officer on the scene found the father on the ground bleeding and the son holding a knife while knelt over him.

Police say the officer ordered the suspect to let go of the knife but he refused. That's when he shot the son.

He was pronounced dead.

The father had several gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital. He was listed in stable condition.

Investigators recovered the knife as well as a handgun.

Police have not released the name of the suspect or the officer, who has been with the department for about two years. The officer is now on administrative leave.

Glendale police will investigate the shooting. But Buckeye police will do their own internal review.

Buckeye is about 35 miles west of Phoenix.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP)  The city of Charlottesville is searching for people to lead the city, going so far as to turn to a consulting firm to run it because two city managers have resigned this year and a candidate for the interim role backed out.

John Blair left in February, and Chip Boyles resigned in October, The Daily Progress of Charlottesville reported. Boyles cited public criticism that erupted after he fired the citys police chief, a Black woman, saying he was concerned other city leaders would leave if he did not fire her.

RaShall Brackney, the police chief who was fired, filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against the city, Boyles and others, asking for $3 million. Brackney alleges she was discriminated against on the basis of race and sex. At a news conference in November she said she was still experiencing "humiliating acts of discrimination, continued disparate treatment, harassment and retaliation.

Assistant Police Chief James Mooney, who was to replace Brackney temporarily, backed out.

Outgoing Mayor Nikuyah Walker, who often has said that city leaders were contributing to white supremacy, announced in September she would not run for City Council again because of Brackneys firing as well as her relationship with the other councilors. Walker has posted comments on social media comparing the city to a rapist, drawing criticism of her own.

When we have this level of turnover  we cant respond adequately to the needs of the community, we cant adequately respond to constituent requests and we cant adequately create and implement public policy, councilor Michael Payne said.

Walker and Boyles did not respond to requests from The Daily Progress for interviews.

Marc Woolley, recently appointed interim city manager, has backed out a day before his start date, the city announced Tuesday.

The city has lost over a dozen of its upper and midlevel leaders and has gone through five city managers in the last two years alone. The aftermath of the deadly Unite the Right rally in 2017 saw the departure of several city leaders. However, the recent departures have put the city in a precarious spot.

Whats happened in Charlottesville over the last few years is an outlier, said Charles Hartgrove, the director of the Virginia Institute of Government at the University of Virginia. That (type of turnover) is not typical of what we see in most Virginia localities, cities, counties or towns.

Hartgrove said vacancies in key city positions can affect both day-to-day and future operations of the government and have lasting ramifications.

If theres a leadership vacuum, continuity of operations and the long term planning is where things might suffer when you talk about implementing strategic plans, he said.

Councilors said they think the national media spotlight that Charlottesville is often under in the aftermath of the 2017 rally and social media pressure from the public have taken its toll on city staff and elected officials.

Finding the right person to sit in Charlottesville is not easy. The public has a very high demand for the city manager to also be in the spotlight, and most city managers are not used to that. Theyre used to the council taking that role, Vice-Mayor Sena Magill said. Were under a national spotlight on a constant basis.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP)  A former Chadron State College student has been awarded $300,000 after she argued in a lawsuit that college officials didn't do enough to protect her after she reported being raped.

The Scottsbluff Star-Herald reports that a federal jury sided with the woman earlier this month. The woman said the college should have banned the man who attacked her in 2016 from campus instead of just ordering him not to have contact with her.
The state of Connecticut plans to distribute 3 million at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and 6 million N95 facemasks, a rollout that's expected to begin Thursday to help blunt the rising number of infections, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday.

It's projected to take about two weeks to distribute the first allocation of 500,000 iHealth test kits, which include two tests per kit for a total of 1 million tests.

Many of the kits are expected to be sent to municipalities and their local health departments, allowing local officials to decide how best to give them out. The final details of the distribution process, including for the face masks, are still being finalized, but Lamont said he expects there will be a focus on providing many of the test kits to some of the hardest hit populations, including people living in congregate settings and in homeless shelters.

Meanwhile, the rest of the test kits will be sent to schools.

Connecticut is currently experiencing another surge in COVID-19 cases that is being driven mostly by the highly transmissible omicron variant. As a result, the demand for tests has outpaced the supply of testing available through our statewide network of about 400 sites," Lamont said in a statement. We have to get 2022 off to a good start by helping residents identify COVID-19 quickly and take those steps to isolate appropriately to curb any further spread.

These kits, Lamont said, will immediately expand the number of tests available during a short period, augmenting existing testing options across Connecticut, a state of more than 3.5 million residents.

New state data released Monday show there have been more than 14,600 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 since Thursday. Over the past two weeks, the rolling average number of daily new cases has increased by 691.9, an increase of 34.2%, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins.

Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations has grown by 88 patients, to a total of 925, since Thursday. The vast majority of people who are hospitalized are unvaccinated.

Josh Geballe, the governor's chief operating officer, said while there have been about 30% more cases being reported each day compared to this time last year, when the state was at its peak, there have been 30% to 40% fewer hospital admissions per day.

So that tells you a pretty compelling story of how important vaccines are in particular to keeping people from getting severely ill and staying out of the hospital, he said.

Lamont said he expects there will be high transmission during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day when there's a lot of travel and people gathering. That's why Connecticut has joined other states, including Colorado and Massachusetts, who've made at-home tests available. While Massachusetts supplied towns with high percentages of people living below the federal poverty level with tests, Colorado created a system that allows residents to request a test kit to be mailed to their home.

Lamont said Connecticut decided against mailing out kits.

Tests are real scarce resource and a little like what vaccinations were a year ago, you want to make sure that none of them, none of them go to waste, he said. So rather than just sending a test to everybodys home, we thought it made sense to be discreet about how its being distributed.

Connecticut's plan to spend $18.5 million in federal COVD relief funds on the tests is in addition to the federal government's plans to ship out 500 million free at-home tests. Lamont officials were able to secure the hard-to-find tests on Christmas Eve, the governor said. The N95 masks are coming from the state's stockpile of PPE.

Hopefully thats a bridge to when the feds get their 500 million on a nationwide basis, but I just cant wait for them, Lamont said during a briefing with reporters. This puts us at the head of the curve.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health, Connecticut Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, and Connecticut National Guard will oversee the distribution of the kits, with help from regional and local emergency management personnel. The initiative also will include the distribution of the N95 masks.

Of the 3 million tests, about 2 million will be distributed to K-12 schools across Connecticut in January. Those kits, which will also include a supply of N95 masks, will continue through the school year, as supplies last. Connecticut requires mask-wearing in schools.

The state public health department, meanwhile, is in the process of adding seven more community testing sites to the list of 23 state-sponsored sites. Information on the roughly 400 testing sites across Connecticut, both public and private, is available calling 2-1-1 or visiting 211CT.org.
WEYMOUTH, Mass. (AP)  The state Appeals Court has dismissed a lawsuit filed by opponents of a natural gas compressor station in Weymouth that had challenged one of the approvals for the facility.

A three-judge panel affirmed a Superior Court judges decision that the Fore River Residents Against the Compressor Stationgroup could not seek judicial review of the approval issued by the state Office of Coastal Zone Management, The Patriot Ledger reported.
CHICAGO (AP)  Chicago's surging cases of the highly transmissible COVID-19 omicron variant has prompted City Colleges of Chicago to cancel a Kwanzaa celebration planned for this week at Malcom X College.

Wednesday's start of the celebration toasting African-American heritage was canceled due to the new COVID variant and out of an abundance of caution," City Colleges spokeswoman Veronica Resa said Monday in a statement.
Democratic members of the bipartisan redistricting commission submitted a legal brief on Monday opposing Republican efforts to have the Connecticut state Supreme Court reconsider its choice for a special master charged with redrawing the state's congressional district boundaries.

The court-appointed expert became necessary after the redistricting panel could not reach agreement on how to redraw the congressional districts and ultimately missed its deadline.

The top four Democrats in the General Assembly said Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford University law professor, is eminently qualified" to serve in the role. They called him one of the nation's preeminent scholars on election law, election administration, voting rights, and redistricting and that the court's confidence he'll be impartial is well-founded, despite concerns raised by the GOP.

Hours after the court last week announced Persily as the special master, the four Republican commission members issued a brief calling for him to be replaced with two special masters  one recommended by the Republicans and one by the Democrats  in order to preserve the publics confidence in the fairness of the redistricting process.

The court has not yet responded to the GOP's motion for reconsideration.

The Republicans noted that Persilys name was not on the list of three possible special masters they had submitted for the court to consider. However, he was mentioned publicly by Democratic Senate President Martin Looney as someone the Democrats would recommend to the court. Ultimately, the Democrats did not submit any names. The Democrats, however, said the mention of Persily in a news article is not the same as formally submitting his name for consideration.

Democrats also pushed back on GOP claims that Persily would be partial to abiding by his prior work as Connecticut's special master back in 2011, the last time lawmakers couldn't reach agreement on a new congressional district boundaries. They noted that both parties proposed Persily that year to serve as a neutral special master.

That's exactly what he did. He neutrally and meticulously followed this Courts directives in producing the redistricting plan the Court adopted, the Democrats wrote. There is no reason to believe he will do anything other than neutrally and meticulously follow the Courts directives now.

The Democrats also disagreed with the GOP's proposal to have two special masters, arguing it would risk making the process more difficult and protracted. The deadline for completing the redistricting process is Feb. 15. Lawmakers have already agreed on new district boundaries for state House and Senate seats.
DETROIT (AP)  Detroit police are searching for a man after his 57-year-old wife and her 13-year-old daughter were found shot to death Saturday by relatives arriving for Christmas dinner.

Detroit Police Chief James White said Sunday the victims' bodies were found about 4 p.m. Saturday at their home when the womans adult daughter and her family showed up for dinner.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)  Ethiopia says it is unhappy with the U.S. decision to revoke duty-free access for the East African country's exports.

The statement by Ethiopia's trade ministry on Monday came after the Biden administration on Dec. 23 terminated Ethiopias eligibility for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The U.S cited its disapproval of the war in the Tigray region for the action.

The Ethiopian government is saddened over the decision by the U.S. to remove it," from the preferential trade benefits, the ministry said. It asked the U.S. to reconsider its decision.

Ethiopia is carrying out various initiatives aimed at bringing peace and stability, political consensus and economic development in addition to conducting reforms in line with the longstanding relationship between the two countries, the statement said.

The U.S. stopped Ethiopias eligibility for the trade benefits despite pleas by a few U.S. legislators and Ethiopian lobby groups who asked the Biden administration to give the country more time to comply with U.S. demands.

The decision against the African nation was made over its failure to end a nearly yearlong war in the Tigray region that has led to gross violations of human rights, said the Biden statement. The action also stops Guinea and Mali from receiving the trade benefits as of January 1.

The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act provides sub-Saharan African nations duty-free access to the United States on the condition they meet certain requirements, including eliminating barriers to U.S. trade and investment and making progress toward political pluralism.

The U.S. and the United Nations say Ethiopian authorities have prevented trucks from delivering desperately needed food and other aid into Tigray. Scores of people have starved to death, The Associated Press has reported.

In September Biden warned that his administration would levy sanctions if Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not take steps to wind down the war in Tigray and other regions.

On November 3, Ethiopias foreign ministry labeled the move as misguided and unjustified intimidation and said the decision could affect the livelihoods of more than 200,000 low-income Ethiopians who work for companies that benefit from the preferential trade access.

Some Ethiopian companies are already showing signs of a downturn in their export business.

Several companies have already started leaving and we dont know what is next, a textile worker at the Hawassa Industrial Park, some 270 kilometers (168 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa, told the AP by phone on condition of anonymity fearing for his workplace safety.

Ethiopia in recent years had one of Africas fastest-growing economies, but the war in Tigray has dampened that momentum.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Gov. Tony Evers said he might support efforts to overhaul Wisconsin's bail system, which came under scrutiny following the Waukesha Christmas parade deaths.

The Democratic governor told WISC-TV in a year-end interview published Monday that he might support changing the bail system to raise the amounts that violent offenders have to pay to stay free pending trial. But he said everyone needs to take a breath after the Waukesha incident and that all stakeholders would have to be involved in any discussions.

Prosecutors say Darrell Brooks drove his SUV into the parade last month, killing six people and injuring dozens of others. Court records show that he had been arrested for allegedly running over the mother of his child several weeks prior. Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's office requested $1,000 cash bail for him in that case. He paid it and was released two days before the parade.

Chisholm, a Democrat, has said the bail request was an oversight, but he's taken intense criticism from Republicans who say he enabled the parade attack.

A group of Milwaukee taxpayers filed a complaint against Chisholm with Evers earlier this month, triggering a process that could end with Evers removing Chisholm from office. The governor said his office was reviewing the complaint's authenticity.

In another year-end interview the Wisconsin State Journal published Monday, Evers said the state needs more federal manpower to staff hospitals that are struggling to deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients. He said opening an emergency field hospital remains an option, but that he wants to focus on bolstering staffing levels at existing hospitals first.

The governor also told WISC-TV that he wants to use his political clout to remove Wisconsin's abortion ban from the books. The law would take effect if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established a national right to abortion.

Evers could essentially only advocate for removing the ban from statute, since Republicans control the Legislature.
MINDEN, Neb. (AP)  A former school board member who was removed from office after she refused to wear a mask to meetings in central Nebraska has filed a lawsuit seeking to be reinstated.

The Kearney Hub reports that Katie Sinsel filed her lawsuit last month against the Minden school district's superintendent and the board members who voted to remove her from the board. She argues that she shouldn't have been prevented from participating in board meetings and the board lacked the authority to remove her.
HONOLULU (AP)  Billionaire Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has purchased more property in Hawaii, including most of a reservoir that unleashed a deadly flood 15 years ago.

Property records show Zuckerbergs Kaloko LLC bought a 110-acre (44.5-hectare) site on Kauai last month for $17 million from a company owned by the Pflueger family, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)  The family of a retired school superintendent who died from an infection unrelated to COVID-19 believes he would have had a better chance of surviving had his transfer to a larger hospital not been delayed for 15 days because of the pandemic.

Dale Weeks' twin daughters told the Des Moines Register that their father stayed at the relatively small hospital in Newton, west of Des Moines, because larger hospitals couldn't spare a bed for him. Weeks died Nov. 28 at age 78.

Weeks lived in the southern Iowa town of Seymour, where he was the school superintendent before he retired in 2007. He went to the hospital in nearby Centerville on Nov. 1 thinking he might be experiencing the side effects of a flu shot or COVID-19 booster shot, but doctors diagnosed sepsis, a dangerous, blood-borne infection.

His family said the Centerville hospital did not have a bed for him, and it took that hospital until the next day to find one in Newton, 80 miles north.

He received intravenous antibiotics, but his infection didn't disappear. Family members repeatedly asked whether he could be transferred to a more advanced hospital.

We kept being told he was on a list of degrees of severity, and his number had not come up, said Jenifer Owenson, of Des Moines, who is one of Weeks twin daughters and one of his four children.

He was aware of the situation, Owenson said.

He was like, Why cant something be done? she said.

Representatives of the hospitals declined to comment on Weeks case but acknowledged the frustration caused by hospital crowding.

Marcy Peterson, spokesperson for the MercyOne system that operates the Newton hospital, said hospitals across the U.S. are dealing with the spread of the delta and omicron COVID-19 variants but also other cases of trauma and illness.

Weeks was transported to the University of Iowa hospital system on Nov. 17, where doctors concluded on Nov. 25 that he needed surgery to deal with a severe infection in an artery near his stomach, his daughters said. The next day's surgery lasted 17 hours, but Weeks continued to struggle, and a second, shorter surgery didn't halt his decline.

Although Weeks might have died had he been admitted immediately to a larger medical center sooner, his other twin daughter, Julia Simanski of Ankeny, said: "I think it would have given us a fairer chance.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday the nation should consider a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel, signaling a potential embrace of an idea the Biden administration has previously eschewed, as COVID-19 cases spike.

Fauci, President Joe Bidens chief science adviser on the pandemic response, said such a mandate might drive up the nation's lagging vaccination rate as well as confer stronger protection on flights, for which federal regulations require all those age 2 and older to wear a mask.

When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated," Fauci told MSNBC. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think thats something that seriously should be considered.

The Biden administration has thus far balked at imposing a vaccination requirement for domestic air travel. Two officials said Bidens science advisers have yet to make a formal recommendation for such a requirement to the president.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said a vaccine mandate on planes could trigger a host of logistical and legal concerns.

The U.S. currently mandates that most foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, though citizens and permanent residents only need to show proof of a negative test taken within a day of boarding.

Federal rules dont require people travelling by air within the U.S. to show a negative test. Hawaii requires travelers to test or show proof of vaccination to avoid a mandatory quarantine.

Biden did not respond to questions on whether he was considering implementing a domestic air travel vaccination requirement, but he told reporters the subject was discussed on a call with the nation's governors Monday morning.

They asked Dr. Fauci some more questions about everything from whether or not he thought he was going to move to test at home  I mean, on air flights and that kind of thing, Biden said of the call before departing the White House for his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

During the virtual meeting with governors, Biden pledged the full support of the federal government to states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the more-transmissible omicron variant and a run on at-home tests that dominated headlines over the holiday season.

My message is: If you need something, say something, and were going to have your back any way we can," Biden said. He acknowledged long lines and chaotic scenes as Americans sought out testing amid the case surge and as they looked to safely gather with family and friends over the holiday.

Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do, he said. He referenced his administrations plan to make 500 million rapid tests available to Americans beginning next month through an as-yet-to-be-developed website.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the National Governors Association chairman, raised concerns Biden's plan could get in the way of state efforts to boost supply of tests.

That dries up the supply chain for what we might offer as governors, he said, saying the lack of supply has become a real challenge.

Biden assured Hutchinson that the federal effort wont interfere with state actions. This gets solved at the state level, he said.

A White House official said the new tests would come from new manufacturing capacity and wouldnt interfere with existing supply chains.

Earlier this year the White House explored a domestic vaccination requirement for flights, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. But officials have not been eager to mandate vaccination for domestic air travel because they expected it to face immediate legal challenges, mitigating its potential effectiveness as a tool to drive up vaccinations.

Pressed last week on why Biden had not mandated vaccinations for domestic air travel, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told MSNBC that we know that masking can be, is, very effective on airplanes."

We also know that putting in place that additional restriction might delay flights, might have additional implications, she added. "We would do it, though, if the health impact was overwhelming. So we rely always on the advice of our health and medical experts. That isnt a step at this point that they had determined we need to take.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show more than 241 million Americans, about 77% of the eligible population age 5 and over, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. Officials believe, though, that there is some overcount in the figures due to record-keeping errors in the administration of booster shots.

Since the summer, the Biden administration has embraced various vaccination requirements as a way to get unvaccinated Americans to roll up their sleeves. It has instituted requirements that federal workers, federal contractors and those who work in health care get their shots, and that employers with 100 or more employees institute vaccination-or-testing requirements for their workers.

Those vaccination requirements have been mired in legal wrangling, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments Jan. 7 in cases seeking to overturn them.

___

Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, contributed.
NEWBERRY, S.C. (AP)  An argument over a dog led to a deadly South Carolina shooting on Sunday, officials said.

Errick E. Walker was shot in the chest in a mobile home park near Newberry, officials told The State of Columbia.

Deputies arrested 38-year-old Jerod Johnathan Blake, who was a neighbor of the 36-year-old Walker. The men had argued over a dog and Blake then fatally shot Walker around 2 a.m. Sunday, deputies said.

Deputies found Blake and arrested him, charging with murder and possessing a weapon during a violent crime. Bail was denied and Blake remained jailed on Monday, jail records show.

An autopsy on Walker's body is scheduled for this week.
CADIZ, Ky. (AP)  A former Kentucky sheriff has pleaded guilty to charges connected with providing alcohol to someone underage and tampering with the testimony of a potential witness, the state attorney general said.

Former Trigg County Sheriff Jason Barnes pleaded guilty Monday to tampering with a witness and to unlawful transaction with a minor, Attorney General Daniel Cameron said in a statement.
LE PECQ, France (AP)  French investigators said Monday they have detained a man suspected of supplying authorities in Syria with materials that can be used in the production of chemical weapons.

The dual French-Syrian national was arrested in the south of France while vacationing with his family and is being held on preliminary charges of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, a French judicial official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the probe covered by legal confidentiality rules.
PARIS (AP)  A French tourist jailed in Iran since last year has begun a hunger strike to protest against mistreatment in prison, according to his sister and his lawyer.

Benjamin Briere, 36, was arrested in May 2020 after taking pictures in a desert area where photography is prohibited and asking questions on social media about Irans obligatory Islamic headscarf for women.

Briere was charged in March this year with spying and spreading propaganda against the system."

He began a hunger strike on Saturday after one more mistreatment after he was denied access to a phone call with his family on Christmas Day, his sister, Blandine Briere, told The Associated Press on Monday. He wants to protest ... and therefore put his health at risk to move things forward, she said.

At the moment, we dont see any move, we have no hope of change, of freedom, she deplored.

Blandine Briere described the difficult situation of her brother, who doesn't speak the local language, in the prison of the northeastern city of Mashahd, including psychological torture when guards promise him a phone call and later say no.

Physically he was doing OK (until now), but morally he has really started to sink, she said. It's getting critical. It is really a desperate call for help.

A statement from Benjamin Briere's Paris-based lawyer, Philippe Valent, said the feeling of abandonment and distress" has led him "to embark on a hunger strike in order to alert Iranian authorities and French authorities about the absurdity of his detention.

Briere has never been brought before a judge and no date for a trial has been set, the statement said. He is not a spy nor a criminal, but a tourist whose travel is continuing in an aberrant and unfair way in Iranian prisons, it added.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that French officials in Paris and Tehran have been very closely monitoring the situation and that Briere has been contacted by the French Embassy on Monday.

There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials.

Rights groups accuse hard-liners in Irans security agencies of using foreign detainees as bargaining chips for money or influence in negotiations with the West. Tehran denies it, but there have been such prisoner exchanges in the past.

In March 2020, Iran and France swapped French researcher Roland Marchal for Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad.

Marchal was arrested in June 2019 alongside fellow researcher Fariba Adelkhah, an anthropologist with dual French-Iranian citizenship. Adelkhah, who was given a five-year sentence for gathering and collusion against Irans security, was granted a furlough with no deadline in October 2020 and is required to stay at her sister's house in Tehran and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

___

Isabel DeBre contributed to this report from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Three people have been charged with murder in Greece following the death of 16 migrants who were killed when a boat transporting them from Turkey to Italy capsized, authorities said Monday.

The suspects were among 63 people rescued following the tragedy Friday when the vessel carrying migrants from Turkey to Italy overturned near the Greek island of Paros. They were charged with causing an accident at sea, intentional manslaughter and membership in a criminal organization, the coast guard said.
CHICAGO (AP)  Illinois will help local health departments with additional staffing at mass vaccination sites, a move officials announced Monday as the state experienced its highest surge in COVID-19 cases during the entire coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Illinois will add at least 100 people at local health department mass vaccination sites to meet growing demand. Staff will help prepare and administer vaccines, among other things. Starting next week, Illinois will also open its community-based testing sites six days a week.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP)  An Iowa woman and a Nebraska teenager have been charged in connection with a hatchet attack on a man in a Sioux City apartment building earlier this month.

Sioux City police said the attack was carried out on Dec. 18 to retaliate against the apartment's occupant because that man had previously kicked the 52-year-old woman out of the apartment. The Sioux City Journal reports that Mary Blair was arrested Saturday on several charges, including burglary and assault. The teen was arrested on similar charges Monday.
BEIRUT (AP)  Lebanons president called Monday for an end to an 11-week deadlock that has prevented the government from convening, further undermining state institutions in the country amid an economic meltdown.

President Michel Aoun implicitly blamed his powerful ally Hezbollah for preventing the government from convening but didnt name the Shiite group.

During an evening televised speech, Aoun also listed a litany of other obstructions that have derailed necessary legislation and reforms, criticizing his longtime rival Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri but also without naming him.

The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati has not been able to meet since Oct. 12 after Hezbollah and allies demanded the removal of the lead judge investigating the massive explosion at the Beirut port last year. Hezbollah accuses the judge of bias and its allies in government refused to attend Cabinet meetings until the government finds a way to remove him.

Aoun said he has been unfairly criticized and his authority undermined while he cant even force the Cabinet to convene.

Paralyzing state institutions has become a standard and the result is the destruction of the state, Aoun said. In what law, logic or constitution is the Cabinet obstructed and asked to make a decision that is not part of its authority?

Aoun said the government must meet as soon as possible to address outstanding problems.

Mikati took office in September following another deadlock over the balance of power in government that was to govern amid the crisis. The political class has also been divided over reform plans, negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and regional relations.

Aoun, Hezbollahs favorite candidate, was elected president in 2016 filling a post that had been vacant for more than two years. The Aoun-Hezbollah alliance was sealed in 2006 after his return from exile following the end of Lebanons civil war. Since taking office, the alliance has been tested as Aoun had to tackle an unprecedented economic crisis, wading through Lebanons often divisive sectarian-based politics.

His speech Monday expressed frustration at the powerful ally, also questioning the purpose of creating tension with Gulf nations. Saudi Arabia, followed by other Gulf nations, boycotted Lebanon in October following critical comments by a minister allied with Hezbollah. The minister refused to resign for weeks.

But Aoun, a former army general, stopped short of calling out Hezbollah publicly, indicating the alliance was holding. Aoun is in the last year of his six-year term.

Lebanon is in the throes of an economic crisis described as one of the worst in the world in the last 150 years. International financial institutions call it a deliberate depression blaming the political elite, in power for decades, of mismanaging the countrys resources.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles police fatally shot a man with a knife Sunday, authorities said.

The man's death marks the 18th person shot and killed by Los Angeles police officers in 2021. Sunday's shooting comes just days after an LAPD officer fatally shot a 14-year-old girl Thursday when officers fired on an assault suspect and a bullet went through the wall and struck the girl as she was in a clothing store dressing room.

LAPD Chief Michel Moore promised to release video from the clothing store shooting Monday.

The shooting of the man on Sunday is the 38th time LAPD officers have shot people  18 of them fatally, including the man with the knife  in 2021, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Those figures mark a dramatic rise in cases where officers shot or killed people in either of the last two years  27 people were shot and 7 of them killed by LA police in all of 2020. In 2019, officers shot 26 people, killing 12.

On Sunday, officers arrived in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles at about 6 p.m. following a request for backup from the Los Angeles Fire Department for the man with the knife.

The man, whose name has not been released, got out of a parked car when the officers got there. He was allegedly still holding the knife, according to Twitter posts from the LAPD's Media Relations Division.

The man allegedly did not follow commands to drop the knife and approached an officer, police said. At least one officer opened fire, striking the man. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP)  Officials in Virginia have closed a road in one neighborhood after a mother bear and three cubs were spotted napping in a tree there.

Chesapeake Animal Services asked residents near the tree  on Bruin Drive  to stay inside Monday and the general public to stay away from the area. Officials hope that giving the bears space, quiet, and time will allow them to leave.
PONTIAC, Mich. (AP)  A 23-year-old Detroit-area man has been arrested in the fatal beating of his girlfriend's 3-year-old daughter.

Shean Amerson of Pontiac was arraigned Saturday on felony murder and child abuse charges, according to the Oakland County sheriff's office.
ATLANTA (AP)  A landscaper says an Atlanta-area sheriff's order to put the man in a restraint chair was punishment for just telling him how I felt.

Glenn Howell tells The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that now-suspended Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill targeted him when Howell pursued a Clayton deputy in April 2020 for $2,800 for work done at the deputy's Butts County home.

A federal grand jury indicted Hill in April, finding he had violated the civil rights of four people at the county jail by strapping them into a restraint chair. A subsequent indictment was filed in July about another alleged instance.

A lawyer for Hill argued in November that use of the chair was not excessive force under any clearly established law and federal charges against him should be dismissed. A federal prosecutor countered that Hill very clearly used excessive force against people in his agencys custody when he ordered them to be held in a restraint chair without justification and as punishment.

Howell said his encounter with Hill began after he took pictures of his work at a deputy's home in case he needed to take legal action to get paid. Howell said Hill called him and told Howell to stop bothering the deputy.

He said, This is Victor Hill, the sheriff of Clayton County, and I kind of giggled, and he said, Whats so funny? and I said, Are you serious, who is this again? Howell said.

Howell said Hill told him that, Im going to give you one opportunity to leave my deputy alone.

The conversation soon became heated, Howell said, with both men allegedly cursing each other.

Howell said he texted Hill after the call and the sheriff warned him not to text again or a warrant for his arrest would be issued.

Howell told the newspaper that said Hill sent a Clayton County fugitive squad to search for him for two days, with Howell turning himself in after they didn't find him.

Howell said he was then handcuffed and strapped in a restraint chair for several hours, with Hill berating him.

Its totally life changing, Howell said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week. In the beginning I didnt understand what was going on. Now I understand whats going on and what (Hill) did as punishment of me for just telling him how I felt.

Defense attorneys say use of restraint chairs in jails is common, and there is no clear case law that indicates when restraint becomes the use of force. Prosecutors say the law is clear that using force against someone who is not resisting is unconstitutional.

The indictment alleges that the men were improperly held in a restraint chair for hours even though they had complied with deputies and posed no threat. They suffered pain and bodily injury as a result, prosecutors have said.

Howell said deputies told him to urinate on himself when he requested time to use the restroom.

Two or three minutes into it I started asking for a nurse, and asking Hey, whats going on? and I need some help, he said.

Howell said he suffered two disc dislocations in his shoulder and nerve damage in his hands from being in the chair. He also said the mistreatment affected him emotionally.

Its made me scared, he said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Christopher Bly has not ruled on the defense motion to dismiss.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in June suspended Hill until the charges against him are resolved or until his term of office is over, whichever comes first.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP)  With authorities logging more than a dozen DWI arrests in the Albuquerque area since Christmas Eve, there are more calls for New Mexico to crack down on repeat offenders.

Albuquerque television station KOB-TV reports that many of the cases over the past year involve first time offenses, but officers have seen familiar faces. One woman marked her fifth DWI offense in May after she was stopped for driving 103 mph (166 kph) on Interstate 40. A man marked his seventh DWI arrest in March when he hit a concrete pillar.

In yet another case, a 42-year-old woman was arrested for the seventh time  four of which have come within the last two years. One of the charges against her ended up being dismissed because the officer failed to appear in court.

Lindsey Valdez, regional director at Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said cases where there seem to be no consequences are the ones that send a message.

I think it overall shows that some people really dont find any fear in consequences if there are no consequences to driving under the influence, she said.

How often does it happen?

They are isolated, but they are not isolated enough, said Ahmad Assed, a criminal defense attorney. And the issue of people falling through the cracks is not new, he said.

Weve been talking about this topic for decades, and quite frankly we still find ourselves almost in the same position, said Assed.

As for the punishment when convicted, a first DWI could result in a minimum of two days behind bars. An eighth offense would be 10 years. However, Assed said that doesnt mean people are spending all of that time in jail since mandatory sentences can be completed through an ankle bracelet program or home arrest.

That has led to calls for change from those who have lost loved ones.

It has an effect on anybody. Growing up without a dad is hard, said Jackie Copeline, whose father was killed by a repeat drunk driver when she was seven.

Copeline recently started a petition asking for stricter DWI enforcement and treatment.

New Mexico has among the highest death rates in the U.S. due to excessive alcohol use. State data shows that through November, nearly one-quarter of traffic fatalities in the state have involved alcohol.

New Mexico State Police announced Monday that the agency's officers will be conducting sobriety checkpoints and patrols throughout January. Officer Ray Wilson said authorities hope to bring more awareness to the checkpoints to help change societys attitude about drinking and driving and to reduce alcohol-related fatalities.
New Mexico State Sen. Pete Campos is in the hospital and will have to undergo emergency surgery.

Chris Nordstrum, a spokesman for Senate Democrats, told the Santa Fe New Mexican that Campos could have the surgery as soon as Monday.
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP)  South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem is pushing new rules for medicine-induced abortions that would be among the most restrictive in the country, but a legislative committee on Monday withheld its approval until it can get more information on the proposal.

The state Department of Health's proposed rule would add further requirements for women to get abortion pills, including requiring them to visit a doctor a third time and be within their first nine weeks of pregnancy. Only Texas has an earlier ban on abortion medication, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. South Dakota's rules proposal has been decried by abortion-rights advocates as unconstitutional and an overreach of the governor's executive power.

The Republican governor initiated the rules change through an executive order, arguing that restrictions on abortion pills are necessary for the safety of women. As the Supreme Court has reexamined Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a nationwide right to an abortion, it has spurred a flurry of state-by-state skirmishes over abortion access. Noem has made it clear she wants abortion eventually outlawed.

Her executive order came amid the Food and Drug Administration permanently eliminating a long-standing requirement that women pick up abortion medication in person. In South Dakota, roughly one-third of abortions have been performed with drugs in recent years.

Medication abortion is incredibly safe and effective, Dr. Sarah Traxler, the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood North Central States, wrote in a letter to the Department of Health.

She added that the FDA has acknowledged complications are extremely rare, but that the proposed rule makes it more likely that patients wouldn't be able to return to Planned Parenthood's clinic  the state's lone abortion clinic  to take the second drug.

That would hurt the Department of Healths goal of protecting the health and safety of South Dakotans," Traxler argued, as well as create an unconstitutional violation of the right to an abortion.

However, Lynne Valenti, a deputy secretary for the Department of Health, called medication-induced abortions a potentially dangerous procedure that is ending the life of an unborn child.

State law already requires women seeking abortion pills to meet with a doctor twice, go through at least a three-day waiting period before receiving any of the drugs, and receive a written statement that it might be possible to stop the abortion before taking the second drug  an assertion that medical experts say is dubious. The Department of Health's proposed rule would require a third doctor's visit where a woman would be monitored as she takes the second drug.

Until we can make abortion completely illegal in this state, we better do what we can do to make sure that pregnant mothers are at least protected, said Republican Rep. Jon Hansen as the Legislature's Rules Review Committee debated approving the proposal.

But the proposal failed to clear the committee Monday after lawmakers became deadlocked on a three-to-three vote. Two Democrats voted against the proposed rule changes, arguing that passing them through executive rules, rather than legislative debate, set a bad precedent. They were joined by Republican Sen. Timothy Johns, who said he opposed approval because it was not clear whether requiring a third visit was really necessary for an abortion-seeker's safety.

With the committee deadlocked and unwilling to send the Department of Health's proposal back to the agency for revisions, the proposed rule was stuck in committee. That brought up the possibility of the Department of Health skipping to the next step in codifying rules  filing them with the Secretary of State  without the legislative committee's approval.

But lawmakers both opposed and in favor of the rule said they wished to avoid seeing rules taking effect without the Legislature's approval. Instead, they decided to take another look at the proposed rule next month and have requested the Department of Health to show whether it is necessary for a woman to take the second round of abortion medication at a clinic.
WASHINGTON (AP)  About two dozen sailors on a U.S. Navy warship  or roughly 25% of the crew  have now tested positive for COVID-19, keeping the ship sidelined in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba Monday, according to U.S. defense officials.

The USS Milwaukee has a crew of a bit more than 100, and it was forced to pause its deployment late last week because of the coronavirus outbreak. The defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the outbreak, said the number of infected sailors is staying relatively constant at this point.

The USS Milwaukee, a smaller, stealthier combat ship, is the first Navy ship this year to have to interrupt its deployment at sea.

It began its deployment from Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, on Dec. 14, and had stopped for a scheduled port visit. The ship was heading into the U.S. Southern Command region.

Another warship, meanwhile, had to postpone its movement out to sea earlier this month due to a separate outbreak. Navy Cmdr. Sean Robertson, spokesman for 3rd Fleet, said the USS Halsey, a destroyer, delayed its homeport move from Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii, to San Diego because a significant number of the crew became infected with COVID-19. The ship was finally able to leave Hawaii on Sunday. The move is not a deployment, but a transfer to a new home station for the crew.

A Navy official said roughly one-third of the Halsey crew tested positive for the virus, and most had only mild symptoms or none at all. A destroyer has about 300 crew members. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details on the crew impact.

Robertson said the crew was nearly 100% vaccinated and no one was taken to the hospital. Vaccine booster shots were made available for the crew. Robertson also said some of the samples have been tested and all were the omicron variant.

The Navy said in a statement Friday that the USS Milwaukee's crew was 100% immunized and that all of those who tested positive for COVID-19 were being isolated on the ship away from other crew members.

The U.S. officials said Monday that the Navy believes the total vaccination of the crew is the key factor in controlling the outbreak.

According to the Navy's statement, a portion of those infected are having mild symptoms, and the specific variant is not yet known. COVID-19 cases have surged across the country as a result of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Other Navy ships were sidelined during the early months of the virus outbreak last year.

The first major military outbreak of the virus happened early last year on a Navy warship, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an aircraft carrier that was operating in the Pacific. The Roosevelt was sidelined in Guam for nearly two months, and more than 1,000 of the 4,800 crew members tested positive. One sailor died, and the entire crew went through weeks of quarantine in a rotation that kept enough sailors on the ship to keep it safe and running.

According to the latest data released by the Navy, more than 98% of all active-duty sailors have been fully vaccinated.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  An investigation has been launched into the death of a 40-year-old inmate who was discovered trying to kill himself in his cell, Oklahoma County Detention Center officials said Monday.

Jail staff and medical personnel tried to resuscitate Gabriel Yalartai after he was discovered early Sunday morning but were unsuccessful, said jail spokesman Mark Opgrande.
LEWISTON, Maine (AP)  The Maine Board of Environmental Protection recommended that part of the once-heavily polluted Androscoggin River get a stricter environmental classification in an acknowledgment of cleanup efforts.

The recommendation calls for the rivers status to upgraded from Class C to Class B on a small portion, from Lisbon Falls to Merrymeeting Bay.

Several local groups pushed for an even larger section of the river  beginning farther upriver near Turner  to be upgraded.

Any change would need to be approved by the Legislature. State Sen. Ned Claxton, D-Auburn, proposed a bill in the last legislative session to reclassify the larger section of the river.

The river's pollution was one of the motivators for the late U.S. Sen. Ed Muskie, of Maine, to draft the Clean Water Act in 1972.

It used to be a septic system, an open sewer, and has come a long way since then, Claxton told the Sun Journal.

Upgrading the standard for the lower stretch of the Androscoggin would provide a boost to fishing and recreation, he said.

But not everyone supports it. There are mills and businesses upstream that fear stricter environmental standards could make it difficult for them to operate under certain conditions.

Rivers in Maine are regulated differently depending on classification. The highest rating is AA and the lowest is C.

The state regulates the Androscoggin River from the New Hampshire border to the Ellis River as a Class B waterway, then considers it a Class C one downstream to Merrymeeting Bay.
WINCHESTER, Va. (AP)  Four people were shot Sunday during a domestic dispute at a Virginia rest stop, police said.

Virginia State Police said several people tried to intervene when a dispute between a man and a woman turned physical at a rest area off Interstate 81 on Sunday morning, The Washington Post reported. The man, identified as Cesar Juarez Avila, 34, fired at the woman and people who tried to help, then fled in a Chevrolet Malibu, police said.

The woman and two men who tried to intervene were taken to Winchester Medical Center with injuries that werent considered life-threatening, police said. A third male victim was flown to a hospital with injuries that were serious, but not life-threatening.

The Chevrolet Malibu was spotted a few hours later, but when law enforcement forced the car to stop, they saw that shots were fired inside, police said. Avila was found in the drivers seat with a gunshot wound and was flown to a hospital, where he died, police said.
FREDERICK, Md. (AP)  A man was fatally shot when he tried to intervene in an altercation in a Burger King in western Maryland on Sunday night, police said.

Frederick police said officers were called to the fast food restaurant for a report of a shooting around 7:15 p.m. Sunday, The Frederick News-Post reported. Officers found the victim, identified as Jaion Penamon, shot multiple times and he was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP)  A suspect in a domestic violence case took an officer's stun gun and attempted to use it on him, prompting the officer to fatally shoot him, Kentucky State Police said Monday.

Police released findings of their preliminary investigation into the Dec. 7 shooting in which Elizabethtown Police Department Sgt. Chris Lewis shot and killed Gary McCormick, 34.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP)  Environmentalists are raising some concerns about a proposed launch and landing site in Florida for Space X.

The proposed 175-acre site would be at the north end of Kennedy Space Center, wedged between the historic pads built for moon rockets and Canaveral National Seashore.

Land next to the proposed site, including the habitat of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, is one of the most important birding sites in Eastern North America, Charles Lee, Audubon Floridas director of advocacy, told the Orlando Sentinel.

The development of the site and future launches could also cause prolonged closures for roads leading to the beach.

Lee would not comment further, pending Audubons review of SpaceX's plans. A formal and detailed study overseen by NASA of potential environmental impacts from the rocket pad is poised to start in early 2022. The environmental assessment by NASA will include public comment.

The addition of the launch and landing site for Space X's Starship rockets would be the most significant change to the Kennedy Space Center since the mid-1960s, according to Tom Engler, director of center planning and development for KSC.

The idea of developing the area was given conceptual approval nearly a decade as part of an update of the space centers master plan for growth.

At the time, the public response to the master plan was generally supportive since the center was in a lull with the retirement of the space shuttle program. Final approval for development of the site will hinge on the details of SpaceXs proposal and the companys ability to meet environmental and permitting obligations, Engler said.

Its a pretty exciting time that speaks well of the thought process that went into developing the master plan and weve been able to do this in a way that honors the past and catapults us into the future, Engler said.
RIDGELAND, S.C. (AP)  While many elementary-age boys play with action figures and dream of being superheroes, 9-year-old Layton Busby of Ridgeland became a real-life hero for his family when he saved his sister.

In July, Laytons older sister, Alexus Lexi Busby, was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a rare condition that occurs when the body stops producing enough new blood cells because the bone marrow is damaged.

Instead of enjoying her teenage years by hanging out with friends, celebrating having a drivers license, and being carefree, Lexi, 16, began a long period of doctors appointments, blood draws, and surgery.

Layton and Lexis mom, Anna Busby, was the first to notice something was wrong with her.

She was sleeping more than usual, and she had bruises all over her body.

Anna Busby drew Lexis blood on July 13 and had it tested at St. Josephs/Candler in Bluffton, where she works as a medical oncology office assistant. The results showed Lexis white blood cells, hemoglobin and platelets were critically low. She was rushed to the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Between July and October, Lexi underwent multiple blood and platelet transfusions, hoping doctors would be able to find a bone marrow match.

Donor matches can be difficult to find for bone marrow transplants, and siblings have the highest probability of being a match.

Both Layton and their 17-year-old brother, LJ, were tested.

LJ wasnt a match. Layton was.

When I picked Layton up from school, I remember telling him, Youre a real life superhero, and youre going to save your sisters life, Anna Busby said. He just smiled and said, I am? I think he felt very good about it.

Although the news was a relief, Anna Busby and her husband, Lamar, realized they had two children undergoing surgery and suffering. But their family is strong, she said, and theyve been through trials before.

Im a breast cancer survivor, she said. And thats nothing compared to this, probably because this is my daughter, and theres nothing I can do to take the pain away.

Lexi was admitted to MUSC on Oct. 18 to start a high dose of chemotherapy, which caused her to lose her hair. She received the transplant from Layton on Oct. 25.

Before Laytons operation, he visited his sisters bedside and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

He was nervous but brave, their mother said.

It was very overwhelming, Anna Busby said. I had to put it in Gods hands and know this is what needs to happen in order for my daughter to live and move on from this nightmare.

After Laytons surgery  between two and three hours in which doctors took 1,850 milliliters of bone marrow  hospital staff wrote sister saver and bone marrow hero with hearts on his bandages. A reminder of the great sacrifice he made at a young age.

Its worked out, and my baby boy is a real life superhero, Anna Busby said.

Now, with both children recovered, the next milestone is when Lexi can come home to Ridgeland. Theyre hoping for February. She was required to stay within a half-hour of MUSC for the first 100 days following the transplant.

Shes been staying at a hotel, with only 60% of the costs covered by insurance, and her family takes turns staying with her. Her mother was there every day initially. Her father came on weekends. Now Lexis grandmother stays sometimes so Anna Busby can work part time again to help pay the hospital bills.

The journey has been tough emotionally, physically and financially, but Anna Busby said her perspective on life and whats important has changed.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)  A politically appointed board will hear an appeal from property owners who want to bury sandbags along a South Carolina beach to fight erosion, despite concerns that sandbag walls are likely to make the beach wash away faster.

A three-member committee of the Department of Health and Environmental Control board voted unanimously last week to hold a hearing before the full board early next year, The State of Columbia reported. The board will consider overturning a staff decision denying permission to keep sandbags in place on Debordieu Island, south of Myrtle Beach.

Seven landowners had a contractor install sandbag walls after a 2020 hurricane and want to keep them, even though coastal regulators say the bags were put in illegally and have ordered them removed.

Photographs show water washing close to houses on Debordieus southern end.

My property is in imminent danger of catastrophic loss, Rodney Cain, the registered agent for landowner Northwest Properties, said in a December 2020 enforcement notice.

Landowners say burying the sandbag walls under sand as part of an upcoming beach renourishment project would be a scientific experiment.

The coastal division says the bags were not only installed without state permission, but that South Carolina law does not allow sandbags to be buried permanently under the beach.

Sandbags could threaten nesting sea turtles and worsen already serious beach erosion, leaving less room for the public to walk on, environmentalists say. Seawalls were banned in South Carolina in the late 1980s because they worsen beach erosion when hit by waves.

DHEC board members Sonny Kinney and Rick Lee said during the meeting that they are concerned about the oceans threat to seaside homes at Debordieus southern tip.

Coastal Carolina University professor Paul Gayes has proposed leaving the bags and burying them with sand to see how well they protect land, The State reported. He declined comment when reached by the newspaper, citing the upcoming hearing.

Supporters say the pillow-case shaped sandbags are part of a unique technology that is more effective at building sand dunes and protecting land.

State law allows erosion-control experiments. But DHEC staff members question the effort.

Thats probably my biggest concern is the fact that were just saying no to investigating another option that could be beneficial to the coast, Kinney said. If you look at the pictures, they are scary and ... youre talking about millions of dollars.

DHECs board is appointed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster. DHEC staff members and others are skeptical that the bags offer anything new.

Its not new technology; these are being used all over the country, said Rob Young, a Western Carolina University geologist who studies beachfront development and erosion.

The South Carolina coast faces increasing threats from swelling sea levels and more intense storms, which are linked to rising earth temperatures. Sea-level rise is accelerating and some people say the best solution is to scale back development to protect lives and prevent government bailouts.

The southern end of Debordieu has been the subject of disputes over efforts to repair a seawall that has protected homes since 1981 but is beginning to fail. Debordieu homeowners also are fighting in court for the right to place rock walls, called groins, into the ocean from the beach to trap sand.

Allowing the Debordieu owners to keep the sandbag walls could spur landowners along the coast to seek the same thing, said Emily Cedzo of the Coastal Conservation League.

The concern is that absolutely you are legalizing materials that are incredibly similar to seawalls and the detrimental effects they have on the beach, Cedzo said. A seawall is in place to protect what is behind it to the detriment of what is in front of it  the dry sandy beach that you and I walk on.

The Coastal Conservation League is asking to participate in the hearing. Property owners would be rewarded for ignoring state law if the DHEC board overrules agency staff and approves the bags, the legal request said.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  A bipartisan group of senators from Maine, Mississippi and New York wants to strengthen prevention of sexual assault and harassment in the United States Merchant Marine.

The proposal would look to improve prevention, response, investigation and accountability of sexual misconduct in the maritime industry, the senators said. It would also provide new safeguards for midshipmen at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, they said.
Fresno County Sheriff's Office/AP

REEDLEY, Calif. (AP)  A 23-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting his grandmother and his father's girlfriend and firing shots at his father on Christmas as the family gathered to exchange gifts in California's San Joaquin Valley.

Austin Alvarez was arrested Saturday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. He remains in the Fresno County jail on $2.5 million bail. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf.
EDNEYVILLE, N.C. (AP)  A 3-year-old was flown to a North Carolina hospital on Christmas Day after what authorities said was an accidental self-inflicted shooting.

The Henderson County Sheriffs office said a 911 caller reported Saturday that a child had been shot in Edneyville, news outlets reported. The caller said the child had gained access to a firearm and had accidentally been shot.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  South Africa is planning a week of services and events to honor Desmond Tutu's life of activism for racial equality and LGBT rights. Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, died Sunday at the age of 90.

___

Monday, Dec. 27:

 Bells ring at noon for 10 minutes at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town and other churches across South Africa. The bells will ring for 10 minutes each day this week and people are asked to pause and reflect on Tutu's life.

 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa visits Tutu's home in the Milnerton area of Cape Town to pay his respects to Tutu's widow, Leah, and the family.

 Cape Town's landmark Table Mountain, the Cape Town Civic Center and the arch at St. George's Cathedral is being lit up in purple in remembrance of Tutu's bishop's robes. The lights will be on the landmarks each night this week until Tutu is laid to rest.

___

Wednesday, Dec. 29:

 Ecumenical service to be held in Johannesburg, where Tutu had served as the first Black Bishop of Johannesburg in 1985.

 The City of Cape Town to hold an interfaith service for Tutu.

___

Thursday, Dec. 30:

 Interfaith service to be held in the capital, Pretoria, at St. Alban's Cathedral.

 The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust will host a gathering in Cape Town.

___

Friday, Dec. 31:

 Tutu's body to lie in state at St. George's Cathedral as members of the public file past his coffin, which will reflect the simplicity with which he asked to be buried, Archbishop of Cape Town Thabo Makgoba said in a statement.

 Tutu's body will stay alone overnight in the cathedral, a place which he loved, according to Makgoba.

___

Saturday, Jan. 1:

 Requiem Mass at St. George's Cathedral after which Tutu's body will be cremated and his ashes interred at the cathedral's mausoleum, according to his wishes.
The number of new COVID-19 cases is rising sharply in Missouri's largest county, and officials warn that case counts will almost certainly rise over the next couple of weeks as the omicron variant takes hold.

St. Louis County officials said Monday that the county of about 1 million residents averaged 619 new cases per day over the past seven days, which was 58% more than it averaged over the previous seven days.

St. Louis County has experienced its biggest surge in COVID-19 cases in more than a year, with more than 1,000 new cases reported on Thursday, Democratic County Executive Sam Page said at a news conference. Not since November of 2020 have we seen such numbers.

He also expressed concern about the high positivity rate, which means that many people are likely infected and dont know it.

Chances are high theyre in a public setting infecting others, Page said.

As of Friday, which was the last day for which data was posted, Missouri averaged about 3,000 new COVID-19 cases per day over the previous seven days, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services COVID-19 dashboard. There were 15,478 new confirmed cases and another 5,064 probable cases from antigen testing over that period, when the state registered its highest count since August.

New data shows the highly contagious omicron variant is spreading quickly in Missouri.

Expanded testing done Dec. 20 found mutations associated with the variant in 32 of 57 wastewater samples collected statewide, said Jeff Wenzel, who oversees the wastewater surveillance program for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

By comparison, testing conducted the week before found the mutation in 15 of the 63 test locations.

The most recent tests identified the mutation at wastewater facilities in the St. Louis area, Kansas City area, St. Joseph, Columbia, Branson, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Nixa and others.

The state's hospitals are struggling to keep up. In Springfield, CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards wrote on Twitter that the number of COVID-19 patients has recently risen by about one-third, to 92. He urged everyone to get vaccinated and get booster shots.

The best data we have indicates waning vaccine is about 30% effective, with booster over 70% effective, Edwards wrote. Please boost to protect our community and weary staff.

Page said St. Louis County on Monday joined Jackson County in appealing a Cole County judge's ruling in November that invalidated virus-fighting regulations imposed by state and local health departments. That decision, which sided with Republican Attorney General Eric Schmitt, has led to school districts dropping mask mandates and counties lifting health restrictions.
ESCONDIDO, Calif. (AP)  A homicide suspect was killed and a Southern California police officer wounded during a shootout early Monday morning after an hourslong pursuit, authorities said.

Roberto Salgado, 39, was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at a hospital, Escondido police said in a news release. The officer was shot in the left side of his chest and has been released from the hospital.

Salgado was a suspect in the slaying of Florencio Rodriguez, 42, in Vista  about 13 miles (20.92 kilometers) northwest of Escondido  on Sunday. Rodriguez was found shot in the driveway of his home around 5 p.m., where he was pronounced dead, according to the San Diego Sheriff's Department.

Rodriguez was married to the sister of Salgado's ex-girlfriend, NBC San Diego reported. A motive has not been immediately released.

Authorities told law enforcement agencies to look for Salgado's vehicle, a 2018 Chevy Silverado.

An Escondido police officer spotted the SUV around 11:15 p.m. but Salgado was driving and would not yield. A female passenger was with him.

A police pursuit, that went onto a nearby freeway, lasted for several hours. A spike strip deflated three of the SUV's tires but Salgado was able to continue driving until officials remotely disabled the truck with OnStar, police said.

Salgado got out of the SUV, police said, and he and two Escondido police officers got into a shootout. Salgado was fatally struck and an officer was injured. The female passenger was not injured.

Escondido is about 30 miles (48.28 kilometers) north of San Diego.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  Syria said Monday that Israels plans to double the number of settlers living in Israeli-annexed Golan Heights are dangerous and unprecedented and only perpetuate its occupation of the territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced on Sunday a multimillion-dollar plan meant to double the number of settlers living in the region that Israel captured from Syria more than five decades ago.

The U.S. recognized Israels sovereignty over the Golan in 2019. The rest of the international community regards the territory as Israeli occupied.

Syria strongly condemns the dangerous and unprecedented escalation from the Israeli occupation forces in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights and its persistence in settlement policies and grave and methodological violations that rise to the level of war crimes, a Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said.

The statement said the Syrian government remains committed to the Syrians living in the Golan who are steadfast in their resistance to the Israeli occupation and their rejection of the decision to annex the Golan.

Entrenching Israeli control over the territory would complicate any future attempt to forge peace with Syria.

Bennett made his announcement during a special Cabinet meeting in the Golan Heights. His office said the government would i nvest some 1 billion shekels (over $300 million) into developing the Golan, including the establishment of two new settlements.

Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed the territory. Bennett said Syrias decade-long war made the idea of Israeli control of the territory more acceptable to its international allies, adding that the alternative would be much worse.

Some 50,000 people live in the Golan Heights  roughly half of them Jewish Israelis and half in Druze Arab villages that formerly were part of Syria. Some of the Druze population opposes Israeli control.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP)  An on-duty Virginia sheriff's deputy was arrested on Christmas Eve and charged with intoxicated driving, according to officials.

Pulaski County Sheriff's Deputy Lemmie Sanders III, 35, was charged with driving under the influence after the sheriff's office received a 911 call Friday night about the deputy's erratic driving, according to Virginia state police spokesperson Corinne Geller.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Artist Wayne Thiebaud, whose luscious, colorful paintings of cakes and San Francisco cityscapes combined sensuousness, nostalgia and a hint of melancholy, has died. He was 101.

His death was confirmed in a statement Sunday by his gallery, Acquavella.

Thiebaud died at his home in Sacramento on Christmas, Eleanor Acquavella, one of the gallery's co-owners, told The Associated Press on Monday. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Even at 101 years old, he still spent most days in the studio, driven by, as he described with his characteristic humility, this almost neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint, the gallery's statement said.

The dean of California painters, Thiebaud (pronounced tee-bow) drew upon his earlier career as a Disney animator, sign painter and commercial artist.

While some took his hot dogs, bakery counters, gum ball machines and candy apples to be examples of pop art, Thiebaud never considered himself to be in the mold of Andy Warhol, and he did not treat his subjects with the irony the pop movement championed.

Of course, youre thankful when anyone ever calls you anything, he once said. But I never felt much a part of it. I must say I never really liked pop art very much.

The real subject, many critics said, was paint and the act of painting itself: the shimmering color and sensuous texture of the thickly applied paint.

He laid on the paint so heavily that he often carved his signature into the painting instead of putting it on with the brush.

The oil paint is made to look like meringue, said Marla Prather, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York who helped organize a 2001 retrospective of the artists work. And with the cakes, you get this great sense of texture with the frosting. You just want to step close and lick it.

Many of his painted images were outlined in neon pinks and blues that made the objects appear to glow. Shadows were often a rich blue.

Its joyful, while a lot of modern art is angst-ridden, Prather said in a 2001 Associated Press interview.

Thiebaud told PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 2000 that the subject of food was fun and humorous, and thats dangerous in the art world, I think. Its a world that takes itself very seriously, and of course, it is a serious enterprise, but I think also theres room for wit and humor because humor gives us, I think, a sense of perspective.

Gum ball machines were a favorite theme, he said, because a big round globe is so beautiful, and its really a kind of orchestration of circles of all kinds. But its also very sensuous, I think, and it offers wonderful opportunities for painting something like, almost like a bouquet of flowers.

In 2004, a New York Times writer praised his wry vision of modern consumerism and said, No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half century than did Mr. Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products.

Thiebaud told the NewsHour he preferred calling himself a painter, rather than an artist, because its like a priest referring to himself as a saint. Maybe its a little too early or hes not the one to decide that ... Being an artist I think is a very rare thing.

Along with the sensuousness, there was sometimes an emptiness and melancholy reminiscent of Edward Hopper. He likened the feeling to the bright pathos of a circus clown.

In landscape, his most famous subject was the city of San Francisco, whose steep hills he portrayed in a fantasy-like way, with spectacular angles and stark shadows.

Originally, I painted right on the streets, trying to get some of the kind of drama I felt about the city and its vertiginous (dizzying) character, he told the NewsHour.

But that didnt seem to work ... The reality was one thing but the fantasy or the exploration of it was another.

Thiebaud was born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1920 and grew up in Sacramento, California. He started out as an animator for Walt Disney and later worked as a poster designer and commercial artist in California and New York before becoming a painter.

He also was a longtime professor at the University of California, Davis. He officially retired in 1991 but continued teaching one class a year.

___

Former AP writer Polly Anderson contributed biographical information to this report.
When lawyers were preparing to defend against a lawsuit over a death in police custody in Fresno, California, they knew whom to call.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Gary Vilke has established himself as a leading expert witness by repeatedly asserting that police techniques such as facedown restraints, stun gun shocks and some neck holds did not kill people.

Officers in Fresno had handcuffed 41-year-old Joseph Perez and, holding him facedown on the ground, put a spinal board from an ambulance on his back as he cried out for help. One officer sat on the board as they strapped him to it. The county medical examiner ruled his death, in May 2017, a homicide by asphyxiation.

Vilke, who was hired by the ambulance provider, charged $500 an hour and provided a different determination. He wrote in a report filed with the court last July that Perez had died from methamphetamine use, heart disease and the exertion of his struggle against the restraints.

Vilke, an emergency medicine doctor in San Diego, is an integral part of a small but influential cadre of scientists, lawyers, physicians and other police experts whose research and testimony is almost always used to absolve officers of blame for deaths, according to a review of hundreds of research papers and more than 25,000 pages of court documents, as well as interviews with nearly three dozen people with knowledge of the deaths or the research.

Their views infuriate many prosecutors, plaintiff lawyers, medical experts and relatives of the dead, who accuse them of slanting science, ignoring inconvenient facts and dangerously emboldening police officers to act aggressively.

FRESNO POLICE DEPARTMENT/NYT

The experts also intersect with law-enforcement-friendly companies that train police officers, write police policies and lend authority to studies rebutting concerns about police use of force.

Together they form what often amounts to a cottage industry of exoneration. The dozen or so individuals and companies have collected millions of dollars over the past decade, much of it in fees that are largely underwritten by taxpayers.

Many of the experts also have ties to Axon, maker of the Taser: A lawyer for the company, for example, was an early sponsor of the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths, a commercial undertaking that is among the police-friendly entities.

The New York Times identified over 100 instances of in-custody deaths or life-threatening injuries from the past 15 years in which experts in the network were hired to defend the police. The cases were nearly all lawsuits. About two-thirds of the cases were settled out of court; of the 28 decided by judges or juries, 16 had outcomes favoring the police. (Some cases are pending.)

Beyond the courtroom, the individuals and businesses have offered instruction to thousands of police officers and medical examiners, whose cause-of-death rulings often help determine legal culpability. Lexipol, a Texas-based business whose webinars and publications have included experts from the network, boasts that it helped write policy manuals for 6,300 police departments, sometimes suggesting standards for officers conduct that reduce legal liability. A company spokesperson said it did not rely on the researchers in making its policies.

Some researchers and doctors in this ecosystem who responded to questions from the Times said they did not assist law enforcement but provided unbiased results of scientific research and opinions based on the facts of each case. Several pointed to research demonstrating that police struggles overall have an exceedingly low risk of death. They also highlighted health issues that could cause deaths in such circumstances, including drug use, obesity, psychological disturbances and genetic mutations that may predispose people to heart problems.

Sensationalism, without offering scientifically demonstrated better control techniques, adds no benefit, and merely exacerbates the existing tensions between law enforcement and the society at large, said Mark Kroll, a biomedical engineer who has backed the idea of an arrest-related death syndrome as an explanation of the deaths.

Others in the network, including Vilke, said it was wrong to characterize their work as favoring the police, and suggested the Times analysis misrepresented it. I would disagree, Vilke said when the Times shared its findings with him. Another of the experts, Dr. Steven Karch, sent papers suggesting Black males and people exerting themselves were generally more likely to have sudden cardiac death.

Lawyers for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was ultimately convicted in last years murder of George Floyd, also drew upon the same network of researchers and experts. In particular, they turned to the defense of prone restraint, a technique in which officers subdue subjects facedown, as happened to Floyd. The work of Kroll, who has a doctorate in electrical engineering but no medical degree, was cited by the Chauvin defense as proof that putting body weight on someone facedown does not cause asphyxia.

JOE BUGLEWICZ/NYT

According to court documents, Perez had recently taken methamphetamines when police saw him behaving erratically. They handcuffed and tried to calm him, at one point putting a towel under him to keep him from injuring his face.

After an ambulance arrived, they placed a backboard on top of him and an officer sat on it. In a deposition, the officer said he had been trained that doing so posed no danger of asphyxia. A captain from the department said in the case that the training had relied on an article by Kroll.

The problem is that when officers get sued in these cases, said Neil Gehlawat, the lawyer for Perezs family, the cadre of researchers insist that no one can die this way, and then officers start to believe it.

Shaping the Science

The physicians, scientists and researchers who come to the defense of law enforcement officers often cite experiments conducted on volunteers. They shock them with Tasers, douse them with pepper-spray or restrain them facedown on the ground.

Their published findings are usually the same: that there is no evidence that the actions have enough of an effect to cause death.

A Times analysis of more than 230 scientific papers in the National Library of Medicine database published since the 1980s showed those conclusions to be significantly different from those published by others, including studies about restraints, body position and excited delirium.

Nearly three-quarters of the studies that included at least one author in the network supported the idea that restraint techniques were safe or that the deaths of people who had been restrained were caused by health problems. Only about a quarter of the studies that did not involve anyone from the network backed that conclusion. More commonly, the other studies said some restraint techniques increased the risk of death, if only by a small amount.

Vilkes first report on police restraint was funded by a $33,900 grant from San Diego County during a lawsuit over the 1994 death of Daniel Price. A woman reported seeing odd behavior from Price, 37, who had taken methamphetamines; officers restrained him facedown, his hands and feet tied together.

As part of their research, Vilke and others hogtied healthy volunteers. They observed that measurements of their lung functions decreased by up to 23%, which they concluded was not clinically significant because similar levels of diminished lung capacity could still be considered normal. The judge in the Price case cited the research when he dismissed the lawsuit.

The study and others have been challenged by some scholars and physicians because they are based on controlled conditions that are unlike real life, said Justin Feldman, a social epidemiologist at Harvard University who studies patterns of deaths in law enforcement custody.

Theres a fundamental problem in terms of study design, he said. Theyre not using people with more severe mental and physical disabilities. Theyre not doing it with people who have taken drugs. When theyre testing Tasers, they arent using them as many times as you might see in some deaths.

When their studies appeared in peer-reviewed publications, the network of experts acknowledged that their work had limitations. But when discussing the research in court, or during trainings and elsewhere, some of them used more expansive language, did not mention conflicting work, or said they had fully refuted scholars who disagreed.

A Network Forms

Dr. Charles Wetli, a former Miami medical examiner who died last year, was among the first to publish research that launched what has become an industry of sorts defending police officers. He wrote in the 1980s about men who had taken cocaine and died, many while being subdued by the police. He attributed the deaths to a condition he called excited delirium, when someone becomes aggressive from a mental illness or psychoactive drugs.

Later, in 1994, two former law enforcement officers, Michael A. Brave and John G. Peters Jr., described in a paper what they called custody death syndrome. The condition, they wrote, had no apparent detectable anatomical cause but could be associated with excited delirium or other vague diagnoses.

In describing the death of a hypothetical suspect, they focused on potential liability: You immediately cringe at the thought of the critical scrutiny you will soon be facing by the media, by council officials and by special interest groups, they wrote.

The two men later became affiliated with both the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths and Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, another group that provides legal resources for officers. Brave also became a lawyer for Taser.

In an interview, Peters said he founded the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths in 2005 because so many deaths were being blamed on Tasers, which he characterized as one of many misguided criticisms of police conduct. The institute conducts research and training that often rebuts the criticism and is one of several commercial forums that draw like-minded researchers about law enforcement behavior.

Taser provided some early funding to the institute in exchange for training programs, Peters said, and one of its initial sponsors was Brave, who joined Tasers legal department around the same time.

The business of supporting law enforcement can be lucrative. Not all of the researchers testify frequently in court, but when they do, experts associated with the network typically earn $500 to $1,000 an hour for testimony and depositions.

The Times found that, with rare exceptions, when members of this network weigh in on a case in court, they side with the police.

And assessing the effectiveness of the opinions exonerating the police is difficult because most cases settle or are decided without explanation.

But several cases reviewed by the Times suggest that the research has had far-reaching effects  influencing investigator decisions in death inquests and giving officers assurance that their methods are safe. Some of the experts legal statements and educational materials they have prepared for police called safety warnings by Taser and other law enforcement groups outdated or needlessly conservative.

In a deposition in April, the sheriff in Riverside County, California, cited studies backed by the law-enforcement-leaning experts to explain why his deputies held people facedown after handcuffing them. The sheriff, Chad Bianco, described the position as the absolute safest place for any subject.

Two years ago, deputies working for Bianco found Kevin Niedzialek, 34, bleeding from a head wound and behaving strangely after taking methamphetamines. They shocked him twice with a Taser, and held him facedown.

When they rolled him onto his back, Niedzialek was unresponsive. He died the next day.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  A woman who lost her arm after a Christmas Eve crash on an utility terrain vehicle in Northern Las Vegas does not want her brother, who was driving, prosecuted.

In an interview from her hospital bed, Isabella Anes Hernandez told Las Vegas' KLAS-TV that her brother shouldn't be blamed for what was essentially an accident.
HURON, S.D. (AP)  For the past 50 years, Shirley Apley has been the keeper of what she calls the Carr familys heritage plant  an amaryllis she received in 1971 from Jessie Carr Whittington, an aunt of Dr. E.W. Carr who founded the Carr Chiropractic Clinics in eastern South Dakota.

I grew up in Miller and Jessie just fascinated me, Apley said. She was about 80 then, and she kept journals all her life. She would tell stories of when she first got married and she and her husband homesteaded in Canada. She taught for two years in a school where all the children spoke French and she onlly spoke English. When they came back, they ended up in Miller because of the Carr family being around there.

She had amaryllis all over the place and she gave me one, she said. I kept that bugger alive and carried it all over the U.S. with me wherever I moved.

Apley returned to South Dakota in 2012, when she became director of the Huron Public Library. She plans to retire after a lifelong career as a librarian at the end of this year, the Huron Daily Plainsman reported.

I have the original plant here at the library, Apley said. Its been propagating, creating all these babies.

When Bridget Carr, whose husband is Dr. Josh Carr at Carr Chiropractic Clinic in Huron, joined the library board, Apley offered to give her some of the offspring from that original plant.

I said I bet you don know I have been caretaker for your familys heritage plant for over 50 years, she said. We were at a point where we needed to repot the plants, they were so overcrowded. I ended up with five new pots of plants.

Apley gave Bridget Carr two potted plants and many bulbs to pass out to family members.

Were hoping to keep them alive, Bridget Carr said. I thought it was amazing that she had kept them for so long and handed them back over. Im hoping we will keep the life going in them.

One of the potted plants will be heading back to the original Carr homestead north of Vayland, where the youngest daughter of Dr. E.W. Carr still lives.

I would say that plant has produced hundreds and hundreds of little bulbs, Apley said. Ive given them to family, friends, strangers. The main mother bulb no longer produces bulbs, and thats okay. We let her babies propagate. The main bulb is still here at the library.

Although she has been able to keep her amaryllis bulb alive for 50 years, that is the extent of her green thumb, Apley said.

This is the only plant Ive ever been able to keep alive, she said. I had a cactus I killed. For some reason, this one lived. Jessie taught me how to take care of it. I followed her instructions and that little bugger just kept producing babies.

I dont have any plants in my house right now because of my animals, I have two dogs, she added. One dog thinks thats lunch.

After retiring, Apley said her original plan was to pack up and move to Texas, where she could continue her research on two nonfiction books she is writing  one on the history of African American doctors in Fort Worth, and the other about a woman, Bessie, from the 1900s known for her pick-pocket skills and countless jail breaks.

But that plan changed when she received notification to report for jury duty in Sioux Falls for the month of January. Probably more toward the spring Ill put my house on the market, she said. All my research I need to do is down in Texas.

Apley has been a librarian since 1974, when she began working at the Vermillion Public Library while still in college. Her work has taken her across the country from Minnesota to Oklahoma to Texas. She had been in Texas 17 years before moving back to South Dakota and settling in Huron to be closer to her mother in her later years.

Its been a fun job, Ive enjoyed trying out new things to see how the community liked them, Apley said. Some things worked, some didnt.

A lot of people think public libraries are just for reading and its not, she added. The status of public libraries has changed  were community centers. We have crafts, games, puzzles, you can listen to live performances. We have a variety of stuff for everybody.

Apley said she will miss the library patrons that she has come to know over the years. Theres a camaraderie if youre talking about books. The other day a little girl came in shouting at the top of her lungs, Its time to collect books day. I said, Youre our kind of people.

They have been so much fun, she said. Huron has a love of reading I have not found in other communities. I hope they continue to support it with Angela (Bailey) taking over as the new director.

When she does move to Texas next spring, Apley said she plans to leave all of the amaryllis plants right where they are in the library office area, adding: Im ready to retire and start on my next adventures.
By Jesse Bedayn

CalMatters

California is a state of contrasts. On the one hand, it is flush with a $31 billion budget surplus from the gains of the rich, enabling it to spend record amounts on schools and health care. On the other hand, a new study reveals that despite a progressive tax system, severe racial inequalities remain.

The study, Portrait of California by Measure of America, found that Native Americans' average lifespan is 67 years, a decrease of more than 7 years since 2012. Black youth are more than twice as likely than white youth to be out of both school and work in the years following high school. And, in the city of San Jose, Latinos earn $0.46 for every dollar white workers earn.

"These inequities didn't come out of nowhere, they are the result of policy choices," said Laura Laderman, chief statistician at Measure of America, a project of the Social Science Research Council.

She referred, in part, to segregation and redlining that kept minority communities from taking out bank loans and accessing quality education. "That means that we can make different policy choices that lead to different outcomes."

Democrats' budget visions in California call for greater spending on social programs, education, and healthcare, but advocates say that, based on the study's findings, that the state should be specifically targeting marginalized populations.

Policy experts are hopeful about Gov. Gavin Newsom's commitment to adding $300 million for public health in the budget he will propose to the Legislature in early January. That funding will allow counties to identify and address specific racial inequities in their regions and potentially create an Office of Health Equity to offer further funding through state grants. Some counties, including Orange and Alameda, already have health equity programs targeting racial inequities.

The study's authors broke from standard measures of economic success such as gross domestic product or the unemployment rate. Instead, they used the American Human Development Index, which assesses the level of education, life expectancy, and income of different populations and assigns a score from one to 10 that signifies a group's access to a "freely chosen life of value."

While the typical Californian ranks higher than the average American on the index, the disparities within the state are wide. The top 1% of Californians score a 9 or higher, while more than 30% of the population scores below 5, lower than the average American.

Researchers further broke down life expectancy, education, and income by race. White and Asian Californians can expect to live to 78 years old, while Latino and Native American life expectancies lag at least three years behind. Both Native American and Black life-expectancy have decreased since 2012, with Black life-expectancy dropping by 1.5 years to 74 years old.

Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly are proposing to strengthen existing safety net programs that indirectly target inequality, such as CalWORKs, the state's welfare-to-work program, and Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for the poor.

Democrats aim to increase spending on universities and community colleges, with the chairperson of the Assembly Budget Committee proposing $10 billion for improving school facilities. Senate leaders want to close academic learning gaps in schools through more education spending.

"California is in good fiscal health," Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins of San Diego said in a statement. "It's time to build on the progress we've made: more access to education and health care."

Next step: Targeted spending?

But progressive policy experts want to go one step further. They want targeted spending for specific groups, because as Measure of America points out, support isn't getting where it needs to go. Whites and Asians, for example, were three times more likely to have a bachelor's degree as Latinos, the index noted. Similarly, Black women's college enrollment rate is almost 4 percentage points lower than white women's.

Progress has already been made, the report points out, with public schools in disadvantaged communities receiving more state and federal funding. But the scales could be weighted more, said Chris Hoene, executive director of the California Budget & Policy Center. Some advocates are pushing for an idea called targeted universalism, in which government support would target specific groups such as Native Americans or Latinas, not just low-income individuals.

"The paths are pretty clear: We need to provide more cash assistance, healthcare and childcare services," said Hoene, "and it has to be better targeted because the current systems aren't reaching the communities of color."

White and Asian workers earn a median income above $51,000 annually, while Black, Native American, and Latino workers earn less than $37,000. In every rural and urban area in California, White workers make above the median income and Latino workers earn below the median, according to the report.

Democrats acknowledge that more work needs to be done. "California's progressive revenues are funding the state at record levels, but inequity remains," said state Sen. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, who supports increased investment in affordable housing and infrastructure.

In recent years, California has authorized additional cash aid for the poor through programs such as the Golden State Stimulus (the statewide cash assistance program to support low-income households during the pandemic) and guaranteed income. Advocates want to see more because there are no strings attached to that financial help -- and it gets into the hands of the groups most in need of support.

While Laderman said she is concerned that "all of these gaps that we have seen will have widened" during the pandemic, she is optimistic that "there are certain opportunities in these moments in the pandemic to invest in the interventions that are necessary."

This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

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By Tony Hicks

Bay City News Foundation

Rockslides closed Highway 1 in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties Sunday afternoon as storms continue to batter California

Debris closed Highway 1 on the Big Sur coast, from north of Gorda in Monterey County, to south of Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County.

Caltrans said there's currently no estimated time to reopen the highway, as maintenance and engineering teams assess the closure area during daylight hours.

Barricades, cones, and message and directional signs will be in place at both ends of the closure to alert motorists traveling in the area.

For traffic updates on other state highways in Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties, travelers may contact Caltrans district 5 public affairs at 805-549-3318 or go to https://dot.ca.gov/caltrans-near-me/district-5.

Copyright  2021 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Copyright  2021 by Bay City News, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.
As the world changed over the past two years, so too did late night talk shows. After a year of Zoom interviews, celebrities started returning to the comfy-looking couches with the live band in the background, and audiences returned to their probably less-comfy seats ready to obey every command for "applause."

The hosts of late night were ready, too, with quick-witted jokes and hilarious takes on Bay Area people, news and topics. Trevor Noah, John Oliver, Jimmy Kimmel and others did their best in 2021  with some mistakes  to make fun of our beloved, though certainly not perfect, home. Here are our favorite late night moments, including from "Saturday Night Live," over the past year.

'The Daily Show with Trevor Noah'

South African comedian and late night host Trevor Noah had some critiques of San Francisco Mayor London Breed and her mask mandate, particularly her apparent double standard on the matter. His show didn't know the difference between the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, unfortunately.

'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'

HBO's version of a late-night talk show stars John Oliver basically debunking awful news clips in hilarious fashion. He didn't hold back on his segments, which included a takedown of PG&E, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and a round of "Lost Graphics."

'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'

It's "Matrix" mania in San Francisco right now  mostly evidenced by two late-night fireworks performances that took place close to 11 p.m. on a recent Saturday and Sunday. Since SF isn't much of a late-night town, especially during a pandemic, the booming sound display might have dampened some of the excitement for the new "Matrix: Resurrections" movie, purely out of spite. But that buildup toward the movie had this city buzzing as it filmed key scenes in SF. There were also reports of people spotting Keanu Reeves around town. In mid-December, Reeves went on "The Late Show" and shared some of the scariest stunts he performed for the film.

'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

Did you know that San Francisco is home to a few Olympic fencers? Now you do. And so does Jimmy Kimmel. Back in June, in the lead-up to the 2020 Olympics (the committee insisted on still calling it the 2020 Olympics even though they took place in 2021 because of the pandemic), Alexander Massialas and Nick Itkin showed Kimmel and his comedic partner Guillermo Rodriguez how to prepare like an Olympian fencer. Comedy ensued.

'Saturday Night Live'

With some new cast members, people on social media were calling the latest season of "Saturday Night Live" one of its best (the bar might not have been set very high). Some standout skits included a parody of "Squid Game," the revival of a classic sketch starring Kenan Thompson, epic hosts such as Simu Liu from Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and Kieran Culkin from HBO's "Succession," and an all-star musical performance from Taylor Swift. While some of this season's episodes were funny, Michael Che and Colin Jost, hosts of the segment "Weekend Update," continue to be the highlight of the 47th season.
DoorDash, the food delivery app based out of San Francisco, is requiring all its nondelivery employees, including CEO Tony Xu, to do a dash once a month  and some employees are seemingly furious.

MarketWatch first reported that the WeDash program, which was launched when the service was founded, is making its return in January after being paused during the pandemic. A spokesperson for DoorDash confirmed its return to SFGATE.

But a 1,500-comment thread on Blind, the anonymous social media platform for techies and other white-collar types, was started last week by one disgruntled DoorDash worker.

An engineer with a reported total compensation, or TC, of $400,000 a year griped about the responsibility of having to do a once-a-month delivery. What the actual fk? the engineer wrote on the platform. I didnt sign up for this, there was nothing in the offer letter/job description about this.

(Blind requires all users to register using an email for the company theyre employed with, meaning the likelihood of this post being falsified are slim.)

While some people replied to the original post to say it would be a helpful opportunity to develop empathy and learn about the myriad frustrations of delivery workers, others sided with the original poster.

Not acceptable in anyway! said one.

For employees unable to do deliveries, there are other programs in place to work with service employees and businesses. The program was launched, a spokesperson said, to "learn first-hand how the technology products we build empower local economies, which in turn helps us build a better product." Employees then gain "credits" through these services, which are reportedly built into an annual review.

The money employees make during deliveries will be donated to a nonprofit, the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for DoorDash told MarketWatch that this employee's post did not represent the views of the company.
Speaking at a traditional year-end press conference, he specified that "all of the 51 targets" needed for the country to qualify for the next installment of European funds have been met, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rome: Italy has achieved the targets required to receive the funds provided by the European Union (EU) post-Covid recovery programme, and the government is still ready to support the national economy in case of a new slowdown, Prime Minister Mario Draghi has said.

Italy is meant to receive 191.5 billion euros ($216.7 billion) in low-interest loans and grants over the next six years. This is its portion of an 806-billion-euro European Recovery Fund provided through the Next Generation EU scheme, which was approved in 2020 to help member states recover from the pandemic.

In return, Brussels requires all countries to implement a package of reforms to address specific economic or systemic weaknesses and to push digitalisation.

Italy has received a first tranche of such funds -- about 24.9 billion euros -- in August, and would now be able to proceed towards a second tranche.

"Currently, the (European) Commission is discussing the signing of what is called 'the operative agreement', which is the step that follows the achievements of the 51 targets required," Draghi explained.

"The major challenge for us is to increase our long-term growth rate and solve the structural weaknesses of our economy, beginning with geographical, gender, and generational inequalities," he specified.

The prime minister recalled the good performance the Italian economy has overall shown this year, which would end with an expected 6 percent annual growth after a 9 percent decline in 2020.

"This recovery has allowed us to improve public accounts as well ... and the government remains ready to support the economy in case of slowdown," Draghi stressed.

On the pandemic situation, he reiterated the need to trust in the ongoing vaccination campaign. Participation so far has been high. As of Wednesday, some 85.4 per cent of people aged over 12 in Italy have been fully vaccinated, according to official data.

Vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 started in Mid-December, and over 108,000 kids have received a first dose so far.

On Thursday, Draghi would preside over a special Covid-19 cabinet meeting, which is expected to decide whether to add new restrictions across the country over the period between Christmas and the New Year.



(1 euro = $1.13)




Coworking major WeWork India's revenue rose by 33 per cent to over Rs 800 crore this year and is likely to grow further in 2022 on enhanced demand for its flexible workspaces, a company official said.

In an interview, WeWork India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Karan Virwani outlined his vision to make the company a "one-stop shop" to meet all requirements related to workspace.

Looking at the growing demand for flexibility, he said the company would expand its portfolio by one million square feet area with capacity of about 20,000 desks.

At present, it operates 5 million square feet area at 36 locations comprising 64,000 seating capacity. It currently has a presence in six major cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Virwani highlighted that the recovery in the flexible workspace segment after the second wave of the COVID pandemic has been very strong.

The occupancy level at its various coworking centres has reached more than 75 per cent, enabling its entire portfolio to become profitable in November month.

"We were able to grow our business to over Rs 800 crore topline for this calendar year and as of last month we became profitable," he stated.

Virwani said the firm had clocked close to Rs 600 crore revenue in the last calendar year.

He highlighted that the demand has rebounded strongly to breach even the pre-COVID level.

"Today companies of all sizes, be it 100-year-old company or a startup, are looking at flexible space as the way to move forward."



Viwarni said the hiring activities in IT/ITeS sector and startups remained buoyant during the last 18 months.

"Corporates want to adopt a hybrid model in their real estate strategy as they come out of the pandemic. They (corporates) want multiple products and multiple solutions for how they want to operate."



WeWork India has launched many products to cater to this evolving demand such as day pass.

"WeWork is trying to build a platform that is a one-stop shop for all sort of needs related to workspace," he said.

Virwani said that WeWork as a company and as a platform could provide different products to corporates as per their requirements.

He said the company has been able to cater to the entire range of demand for workspaces and not focus only on enterprises.

For the new year, Virwani said the target is to expand the portfolio by one million square feet, increase occupancy level, grow revenue and remain profitable.

Asked about fundraising, he said the requirement of capital has been reduced with many landlords ready to invest in CAPEX. However, he said the company could raise funds if required.

Earlier this year, WeWork India had raised Rs 200 crore from investors as equity and debt to grow its business. In June last year, WeWork Global had invested USD 100 million (about Rs 750 crore) in WeWork India.

Lately, property consultant Colliers and Qdesq said that flexible workspace stock would cross 60 million square feet in metro and non-metro cities by 2023, as occupiers embrace agility and flexibility in their work models.

In 2017, WeWork Global had teamed up with Bengaluru-based Embassy Group to enter the Indian market.

Embassy Group, which is one of the leading real estate firms in the country, has also launched the country's first real estate investment trust (REIT).
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The authors later issued a correction to that article, stating that there was an inadvertent overlap of images but the results and conclusion were unaffected. A separate paper co-authored by Professor Guillemin where Dr Bik identified duplicate images was subsequently retracted by the journal. Screenshot showing an image from a 2016 paper that was co-authored by Gilles Guillemin and retracted from PLoS ONE last year. Mice were divided into six groups and each of the above panels represented a different treatment group. Elisabeth Bik identified unexpected similarities between the panels that suggested they belonged to the same mice. Credit:PubPeer Then in September this year, science blogger Leonid Schneider exposed more claims against Professor Guillemin after Dr Bik and other anonymous PubPeer reviewers identified unexpected similarities among images contained in a further 17 articles co-authored by him. Seven of the articles were published in the journal Neurotoxicity Research, where Professor Guillemin is an associate editor. The journal has not responded to a request for comment. Mr Schneider, a German-Ukrainian science journalist and former molecular biologist, is controversial in the scientific community for exposing scientists in defence of research integrity. He has been sued for libel and banned from Twitter. His blog has also provided a platform for others to expose serious research fraud.

PubPeer is also controversial because it allows reviewers to post anonymous reviews, a feature that has also made it one of the most popular journal clubs. After a libel threat in 2014, the website only allowed users to post comments that could be publicly verified. Macquarie University said in a statement that it was committed to the highest standards of research integrity: An assessment is underway concerning the alleged issues raised about data in these publications. If required upon the completion of the process, appropriate action will be taken under the Macquarie University Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. Professor Guillemin acknowledged to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that some of the papers flagged on PubPeer to which his name was attached appeared to contain doctored images, but said he did not and has never doctored images. In each of the papers where genuine issues were identified, his role was confined to providing advice on the experiment design or scientific terms of the paper and not the experiments themselves, he said. Professor Guillemin said he had published 295 scientific papers in his 30-year career and received many requests to collaborate. I agreed to collaborate with some young scientists I met at a conference in Oman who had an interesting idea in relation to preventing Parkinsons disease and also with a young Australian scientist who was a student in 2011, Professor Guillemin said.

I had no reason to suspect at the time that they were likely to doctor images. It is very difficult to pick up doctored images with the naked eye. The best way to pick it up is to use specialised software, which I do not have access to. Ten of the articles identified on PubPeer were co-authored with scientist Nady Braidy, who is already the subject of an investigation into research produced by UNSWs Brain and Ageing Lab, where he is the team leader. George Smythe, a retired UNSW scientist who was also listed as a co-author on two of those papers, said he had been included without his knowledge, though he had been able to download a copy of one of the papers and said he could not find any evidence of image duplication. I would be very surprised if main author Nady Braidy has deliberately provided dodgy data as he always struck me as a brilliant and forthright scientist, Dr Smythe said. There is no question of the integrity of the whole team involved with the work. My only complaint is that I was listed as an author when I really had no recent input to the work. Professor Guillemins wife Robyn Tolhurst directs the corporate communications company Red Fern Communications, which until recently offered a service in editing research papers. Professor Guillemin was one of her best customers, appearing as a co-author on 14 of the 17 papers on her website.

Ms Tolhurst said Professor Guillemin had been the victim of an inexplicable campaign by Mr Schneider. Gilles is a very, very senior professor, in fact hes in the top three in the world for his field of expertise in science, Ms Tolhurst said. I know that theres been a lot of trolling going on, but I can honestly tell you that hes the most ethical, the most honest person Ive ever met. This guy goes over and beyond to help people, and maybe thats been his downfall. Hes not some kind of crook. Other members of the Centre for MND Research at Macquarie University have also been the subject of scrutiny on PubPeer. Neuroscientist Julie Atkin was the lead author on two published papers that have been retracted in the past five years and another two papers she co-authored have issued errata. In each case, the problem related to images of western blots that looked as though they had been duplicated. In one example, the same images were used to represent mice and rat proteins.

Questions were also raised about papers co-authored by Bingyang Shi, whose research is partly funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. Five papers co-authored by Associate Professor Shi have been the subject of an erratum. Loading He was also the first author on a 2013 paper that had an image of human embryonic kidney cells which reviewers claimed looked identical to an image that had appeared in his 2014 PhD thesis, where it represented cancer cells. Another paper published in 2012 was flagged by Dr Bik in July for containing suspicious patterns of numbers. He replied in response: More than appreciated for pointing out these issues. We terribly apologise for such errors and will seriously check all of the raw data related to this article and respond as soon as possible. Associate Professor Shi referred questions to Macquarie University, which said it would be inappropriate to comment while the preliminary assessment was underway, but that errata were often issued for good and proper reasons and no adverse inferences should be drawn from the fact of their publication.

Loading Professor Atkin declined to comment. A neuroscientist at a different university, who did not wish to be named to preserve his working relationships in the field, said the results of some of those papers had been reproduced by others in the field so he did not think the results had been falsified  only that corners had been cut. To be honest, I am very disappointed in this whole saga, he said. I guess there is a certain amount of trust that you place in colleagues with the idea that you are working towards a common goal  to find a treatment for MND. It doesnt help the cause to cut corners and it gives science more generally a bad name.
Shops and businesses would be allowed to trade around the clock in Parramatta under a plan to encourage more late-night venues throughout Sydneys fast-growing second central business district.

The City of Parramatta, which is overseeing an unprecedented wave of public and private investment, is proposing changes to planning controls to encourage night-time hotspots and 24-hour trading precincts.

The local council wants to encourage more late-night activity in Parramattas CBD, which is being transformed by a wave of investment on buildings and infrastructure. Credit:James Alcock

The changes would be similar to provisions the City of Sydney introduced for venues and businesses as the NSW government pushes to restart the states ailing night-time economy after years of lockout laws and lockdowns.

A City of Parramatta spokeswoman said a more diverse night-time economy was crucial to the councils plan to encourage a mix of uses and activities and create a 24-hour city with a vibrant, diverse and thriving nightlife.
The main focus for the vaccination program needs to pivot back to preventing serious illness and death. Any additional protection that vaccines can provide against infection is an added bonus. Having a breakthrough infection does not mean the vaccine has failed. If you test positive after being vaccinated or having a booster and have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, then the vaccine has worked as it prevented you from getting severe disease. The vaccines are flame retardants, not impenetrable firewalls. Is Omicron less severe? Omicron causes cold-type symptoms but that does not mean it will be mild for everyone and some will get seriously ill. Data from South Africa, Denmark, USA and UK suggest if you catch Omicron then you are 30-80 per cent less likely to become seriously ill compared with Delta. A child greets Santa through a plastic shield in a shopping centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. Credit:AP

In South Africa, there was a 70-90 per cent reduction in risk of hospitalisation compared with Delta. The majority of the people who are hospitalised are unvaccinated and the elderly. The percentage of cases that were hospitalised was far lower for Omicron than previous waves for all age groups, including children. For the first time, there has been an uncoupling between cases and hospitalisations, meaning that although there was such a steep rise in cases, there were fewer hospitalisations compared with Delta which means a less severe variant. The reason for this is unknown. It may partly be due to high percentage of people having previously being infected (natural immunity provides some protection) as vaccination coverage is only about 40 per cent, and additionally a less virulent variant. Data from other countries also indicates that although Omicron is highly transmissible, it causes milder disease overall. In Denmark, whose excellent surveillance aims to capture and sequence every case, Omicron cases skyrocketed to the point where they are no longer able to capture every case and are monitoring hospitalisations instead. Early indications (in a country with high coverage of Pfizer) suggests 60 per cent fewer Omicron hospitalisations than Delta. However, this is early days and transmission so far predominates in the 20-30 year olds. In the UK, many people have also had prior infection and have had AstraZeneca vaccine like here. There is a 45-80 per cent reduced risk of hospitalisations, but similar to Denmark, infections are mainly in young adults so far. A technician inspects samples during COVID-19 antibody neutralisation testing at the African Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa. Credit:Bloomberg

What will happen here? Changes to the virus seem to have made it less severe in an individual, but reduced severity is also due to immunity as a result of vaccination and previous bouts of COVID. Old age is still the biggest risk factor for severe disease. Boosters will help protect the elderly even further. The majority of Australians over 60 years and/or clinically vulnerable should be due boosters about now and in January and need to be prioritised for vaccination. What about everyone else? More than 90 per cent of the age eligible population are double dosed with Pfizer and because they are younger, are at lower risk of severe disease from Omicron, and this includes unvaccinated children.

Being an unvaccinated, older adult is the biggest risk for hospitalisation. With about 10 per cent of the eligible population unvaccinated and breakthrough infections common  that still remains a large number of people who are susceptible. Over the next 6-8 weeks there will be lots of infections, an increase in hospitalisations and furloughed staff. This will add further stress to healthcare services and needs to be avoided. Queues at a pop-up vaccination clinic at Roma Street station in Brisbane on Tuesday. Credit:Cameron Atfield How do we prevent infections? So, in the absence of any additional interventions, most of us will get infected at some stage whether we are unvaccinated, fully vaccinated or boostered. Some public health measures will be important as this pandemic is a long way from being over. Melburnians set a lockdown world record which will be remembered as one of the most extraordinary periods in our history  a time when people completely withdrew from social life to slow the spread of a dangerous pathogen and denied people access to family, and denied children their social development. What was doable in 2020 and 2021 is no longer palatable for most.

To reduce infections now, some public health and safety measures are needed. The appetite for harsh measures, such as lockdowns, is no longer present. The critical issue is how to engage most people to adopt safe behaviours so they feel part of the solution, not strangulated, angered or made mentally unwell in the process. Peoples desire to socialise, live life and see their relatives is not abnormal in the face of potential danger to themselves and others, and this desire is unlikely to change. The fact that this was made illegal for so long is something that is very raw and painful for many people. Loading Recalibrating the response to the pandemic is critical and engaging the community essential. No individual measure is perfect. Something so simple as improving ventilation in workplaces, schools and other public places is not a personal imposition, wont cause civil unrest but will help protect us from COVID and other common respiratory infections for years to come. Vaccination mandates are no longer scientifically sound. We should not have the unrealistic expectation that our current vaccines will prevent every infection, nor that it will be possible to chase every infection.

Will this pandemic ever end? COVID has been catastrophic with about 5.5 million already dead and countless others having ongoing symptoms. We live on a planet with so much global inequity that much of Africa is unvaccinated. In our region, health systems are so weak that basic medical care, such as oxygen, is not even available. Elimination is such a long way off when only about 40 per cent of schools have a tap and one billion people live in a slum. So whats going to happen next? In South Africa, it ripped through the community over a few weeks and now they are at the beginning of the tail end of Omicron. This is in a population with high prior exposure and low vaccination coverage, and a predominantly younger population. Viruses are most dangerous when they are introduced into a population that has never had contact with them before. The more immunologically naive people are, the more of them are likely to suffer from bad outcomes. In a population, like ours with high vaccination coverage, infection may achieve something close to herd immunity. This suggests that the next few months could provide us with significant protection against future strains of the virus.

Loading But COVID is unlikely to ever go away entirely. The next mutation that displaces Delta and turns COVID into an illness that rarely requires hospitalisation is perhaps the best we can hope for. A combination of vaccination and prior infection, attenuation of the virus into a less severe version, improved ventilation, availability of rapid testing that is freely available and improvements in treatment could turn this virus into what sceptics wrongly called it at the beginning of the pandemic: a bad cold or flu. Perhaps Omicron is a key turning point in the pandemic. Variants will continue to arise and ongoing surveillance for severe disease is needed. But one thing is certain, unless we do more to improve global inequity, this will continue to go on and on for longer. Lets hope 2022 brings a new dawn.
Queensland children aged five to 11 will be able to have a COVID-19 vaccine before the new school year.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland Health would accept bookings for children aged five to 11 to receive a COVID-19 vaccine from January 10.

Children aged five to 11 will now be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine from next month.

Its important that we get as many children vaccinated as we can before school goes back, she said.

We know this pandemic can actually have impacts on the unvaccinated, mild symptoms in children, but we do want to make sure that our children are protected.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has reassured Queenslanders that the hospital system can cope with the influx of COVID-19 cases as the state recorded 784 new cases on Monday.

The figure comes after the state saw a drop of more than 50 cases on Boxing Day compared with Christmas Day.

Chief Health Officer John Gerrard had on Sunday predicted cases would climb once again in coming days.

By Monday, 90.48 per cent of Queenslands population had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccination, while 86.11 per cent were fully vaccinated.
Gayle Osborne is still surrounded by the damage caused by the ferocious storm that tore across Victoria in June.

From her home nestled in the Wombat State Forest near Glenlyon, she need not look far to see the many scars the landscape still bears.

Im looking out at trees scattered everywhere, she said.

Gayle Osborne in the Wombat State Forest. Credit:Jason South

The wild weather trashed forests, slammed massive trees onto houses in the Dandenongs and flooded homes in Traralgon.
COLIN KEITH ATKINS, OAM August 25, 1933-November 18, 2021

The people of Geelong can be thankful to Colin Atkins for many things. The bypass road, Deakin University, the Animal Health Laboratory, the Marine Sciences Complex at Queenscliff  even the car ferry to Sorrento.

These community assets came about through the dogged determination and rat cunning of Col Atkins. He loved Geelong and believed there were ways to strengthen its economy  ways that had probably not been thought of before.

One of his first tasks at the original regional planning authority was to cement-in-stone the Outer Freeway Reservation which had been on planning scheme maps since the Town & Country Planning Board days of the 1940s.

While councils recognised the reservation was there (in theory) they sometimes let down their guards and allowed adjoining landowners to graze stock on it, on short-term leases. Atkins argued that it would become almost impossible to protect the reservation if it continued to be used in this way, especially if buildings or other structures started to appear on it
An emergency warning remains in place for Perths hills residents near a bushfire burning in the Shire of Mundaring and City of Swan.

The warning was current at 11.12 am on Monday for people in Wooroloo, Chidlow and Gidgegannup.

A community meeting is being held at the Wooroloo Hall on Government Road, Wooroloo at 1pm today.

The bushfire is contained and under control but fire authorities said homes in Warringal Estate, Forge Drive and Anvil Way remain under threat from ember attack and should leave if safe to do so.

Stay up to date, the latest information from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services can be found here.
With the passing of Desmond Mpilo Tutu at the age of 90, the world has lost a great leader, a man who used his position within the Anglican Church  and his towering moral authority  to help end South Africas racial segregation. Archbishop Tutu led with clarity of purpose, never swaying from the pursuit of justice and equality for all. And, as South Africa sought to heal in the aftermath of apartheid, he urged forgiveness, truth-telling, compassion and reconciliation.

Using his influence as a regional bishop, archbishop of the nations Anglican Church, the head of the South African Council of Churches for six years and an international professor of theological studies, Desmond Tutu denounced segregation and the Draconian security laws imposed by the then-ruling National Party. His techniques of persuasion were simple logic and moral precision, topped by a dose of infectious laughter and gentle humour.

Archbishop Tutu rose to prominence in the 1970s, when South Africa was riven with violent protest against the apartheid system. The state imposed increasingly harsh security laws, while police and security forces were brutal and occasionally murderous. Frustrated by the lack of international concern about apartheid, he took to the international stage, urging foreign governments to help eradicate the regime by isolating South Africa through economic sanctions. In his view, supporting the economy of a nation that deliberately tramples its citizens most basic human rights has the effect of bolstering the states unjust policies.

When awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, he spoke of a land bereft of much justice, and therefore without peace and security. He described a nation at war with itself and with the world, a country where unrest would continue until apartheid, the root cause of it all, is finally dismantled.

Yet even this honourable, religious statesman and peaceful warrior was drawn to wonder about the efficacy of non-violent protest under South Africas intractable white minority regime. At the time, he acknowledged that revolutionary elements of the African National Congress (led variously by Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo for more than 40 years) and the Pan-Africanist Congress might consider violence a last resort for them.
That moment has remained with me because, considering everything that had happened and would happen to his tortured land, the point behind his rhetorical question merited more than passing consideration. Maybe the cross itself was not a weapon, but the faith and belief it stood for provided the battle against white minority rule an overwhelming moral imperative that offered challenges as much to the archbishop as to his adversaries. The episode at the airport-security desk unfolded several years before the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the beginning of South Africas progression towards democracy. It was a time of choices, dictated variously by the mounting and increasingly harsh protest of the segregated black townships, the crucibles of revolt; by the obduracy of the white minority regime then led by president P.W. Botha; by growing international pressure for economic sanctions; and by what seemed an inexorable recourse to violence. In all this, the archbishops promotion of his Christian striving for peace might have seemed doomed, a lonesome voice in a bloodstained wilderness.

I am surprised that radical blacks are still willing to say that we are their leaders, he said at a news conference in January 1985. What have we got to show for all our talk of peaceful change? Nothing. Loading Yet, he was not silenced, either in his opposition to apartheid or his rejection of the most extreme forms of violence. In those years, execution by fire had become an emblem of the struggle, meted out by black activists to accused traitors. Iconic images of the accused being burnt alive were deployed in the propaganda wars that cast the black struggle, depending on the teller, as either barbarous or suffused with its own fearsome justice. Typically, a person identified or accused of being an informer for white authorities would be run down and immobilised by an automobile tire around their upper bodies. Then the tire would be doused in petrol and ignited. The ritual was called necklacing.

In one episode in the township of Duduza in July 1985, I watched as then-Bishop Tutu and a fellow cleric, Simeon Nkoane, struggled and fought to rescue a man who had been singled out for such punishment, accused, despite his denials, of being a police undercover operative. South African army troops patrol the streets of Duduza, a black township near Johannesburg in 1985. Credit:AP The passions of the moment were intense. It seemed at some point as if the man was destined for death. He had been beaten bloody and his car set on fire to provide what one activist called his funeral pyre. This undermines the struggle, Tutu shouted as he sought to shelter the man. No, it encourages the struggle! a member of the crowd shouted back at the bishop, who was clad in purple robes after officiating at a politically charged funeral, another totemic feature of times when scores died and their burials became the arenas of yet more and ever-intensifying protest.

Eventually, that day in Duduza, the bishops prevailed, and the alleged informer was driven away. It had been an act of potentially reckless courage by the clerics when their only shield against the wrath of the would-be executioners were the crosses of their faith. But it was by no means an unusual example of valour that we witnessed. Archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu in 1993. Credit:AP On another occasion, Tutu interposed himself between protesters and police, producing an image of one diminutive priest standing firm against the armed might of the apartheid security machine.

In the era after Mandela assumed the presidency in 1994, Archbishop Tutu drew on other wellsprings of valour to preside over the Truth and Reconciliation Commission inquiries into rights abuses that defied even the worst expectations of human behaviour and challenged the possibility of redemption. Loading Throughout the years of struggle, clerics were at the forefront, raising their banners  Methodist, Catholic or Anglican  against white authorities who sought biblical justification for apartheid in the teachings of the segregated Dutch Reformed Church. But there was always another weapon in the archbishops armoury in addition to his pectoral cross: humour. At a fundraiser in the early 2000s attended by Tutu, one participant offered to tell a joke to lighten the proceedings but warned the audience that he frequently mangled the punchline and that it was then met with silence.
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: This could never have happened two years ago, was the constant refrain at the Red Sea Film Festival, held this month in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

That was certainly true. A 35-year ban on cinema was lifted only in 2018. Earlier this year, the kingdom had its first music festival. Parties at the festival involved DJs, enthusiastic dancing and respectable but unembarrassed mingling of the sexes. The festivals slogan was Waves of change, a theme taken up in conversations with young Saudis. We have so much catching up to do, is another line that brings instant consensus.

British actress Amy Jackson attends the red carpet of 83 at the Red Sea film festival in Jeddah. Credit:Getty Images

The festival was a big deal. It took over the centre of the city, with two new multiplexes in temporary buildings and a spectacular auditorium for gala screenings on the edge of the old town, 138 features and 1500 guests, including international press flown in from around the world. This was in the face of opposition from human rights organisations and opponents of the regime, who described the festival  and the Formula One grand prix that took place in Jeddah only a day earlier  as attempts to whitewash the kingdoms record on human rights.
Convicted of manslaughter 25 years ago, Andre Pierce is now up for parole. But that parole hearing has been delayed, his attorney said, because of a Connecticut law requiring a full trial transcript.

State statute stipulates that no parole hearing can proceed until the parole release panel is in possession of the complete file for such applicant, including any documentation from the Department of Correction, the trial transcript, the sentencing record and any file of any previous parole hearing.

In response to a request for comment, the parole board said by email that per the parole officer, both the officer and the executive director have advised Mr. Pierce and his attorney we are still awaiting required documents.

Pierces attorney, Alex Taubes, said usually parole hearings are scheduled years in advance, allowing time for required documentation to be unearthed and shared.

But Pierces sentence was reduced in October, making him eligible for parole faster than the system could accommodate, Taubes said.

At first I thought it was the parole board being dastardly, he said. They are, for what its worth, following the law as its written.

Pierce became eligible for parole all of a sudden because a judge in Bridgeport said he should be eligible for parole, Taubes said.

On Nov 27, 1996, Bridgeport police responded to a report of gunshots and approached what they said was a suspicious vehicle where they found a 38-year-old male victim, dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest.

An investigation led to the arrest of then 18-year-old Pierce. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

After more than 25 years, Pierce requested a sentence modification. According to an Oct. 4 ruling by Superior Court Judge Earl Richards, 11 people came forward to testify on Pierces behalf.

Among them were Wesleyan professor Laurie Gruen, who helped Pierce attain a bachelors degree in philosophy while in prison. Richards wrote that Gruen indicated that in her opinion, the petitioner was one of the most intellectually gifted students that she has ever taught.

But Richards also noted that Pierce was convicted of manslaughter and, in this act not only took the life of the victim, but also deprived the victim's wife and daughters of a husband and father.

Richards ruled in favor of a sentence modification, reducing Pierces time behind bars by 18 months, making him eligible for parole.

A month later, on Nov. 17, Pierces parole officer said the hearing was delayed due to the lack of a complete trial transcript. On Nov. 23, the officer told Pierce, we are still waiting for the trial transcript.

Taubes asked the parole board to make an exception, but a letter from Richard Sparaco, executive director of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, informed the defense attorney that no parole hearing could proceed.

There is no ambiguity in the text with regard to trial transcripts and there is no evidence that the legislature intended trial transcript to mean anything other than a complete trial transcript, Sparaco wrote. Therefore, a hearing for Mr. Pierce cannot be scheduled until the board is in receipt of the complete trial transcript.

When asked how long such requests usually take, the parole board said by email, I cannot give you an exact time frame. The documents have been requested.

Taubes said its the parole boards responsibility to provide that transcript, though they are under no obligation to do so quickly.

You dont have a right to parole in the first place, Taubes said. Parole is a matter of grace that the system bestows upon you.

Taubes and Pierce could request the documentation themselves, after which the state would have 30 days to produce the transcript.

But Taubes said he expects that transcript to be close to 2,000 pages in length, and to cost at least $3 per page.

We could order it from the court system ourselves, Taubes said. They would have to produce it in 30 days if we paid, how much?

As for where the transcript is, Taubes said he would love to have an answer to that question.

Maybe theyre in a storage facility somewhere, he said.
In the hours leading up to a fatal shooting along a Vermont road in 2019, Dr. Jozsef Piri was troubled by maintenance work on his 6-acre property, he later told police, according to his arrest warrant affidavit.

He went on to tell investigators how the work at his Vermont home was running up extra costs and causing him to be late for a show that evening at Foxwoods.

On his way back home to Connecticut, Piris problems mounted: He got stuck in traffic, re-routed and then lost before finally finding his way south on Route 103, Vermont State Police stated in the affidavit. When Piri tried to stop to get his truck washed, the machine would not read his credit card, the affidavit stated.

Piri later described it as a st day that he was having, according to a police account of their conversation.

At some point shortly after leaving the car wash, police said Piri fired at least two shots at a delivery truck being driven by Roberto Fonseca-Rivera, killing him in what authorities depicted as an act of road rage, according to the affidavit.

Piri, 49, was arrested this month and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the killing. In the affidavit, police allege Piri rolled down the back window of his pickup and fired into Fonseca-Riveras truck as both vehicles were moving.

Piri was extradited Thursday to Vermont after being arrested this month by the Collier County Sheriffs Department in Naples, Fla., where Piri had been living since moving from Connecticut in March.

At his arraignment Monday in Vermonts Windham County Superior Court, Piri appeared by video conference from jail and pleaded not guilty to the single charge of murder.

Piris attorney, Adam Hescock, announced an agreement with prosecutors to set Piris bail at $250,000 on the condition that he turn over any passports and firearms to authorities in Vermont and Florida. If released on bail, Piri will also have to reside at his Florida home under a curfew and remain out of trouble with police.

Hescock did not address the allegations against his client during Mondays arraignment. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment left at his office in White River Junction, Vt.

A lengthy arrest warrant affidavit detailed how Vermont State Police used surveillance footage from a nearly 10-mile stretch of highway  as well as license plate data collected as part of a federal drug investigation along Interstate-91  to hone in on Piris Toyota Tundra as a vehicle of interest within 24 hours of the Nov. 1, 2019 shooting.

Over the next two years, police conducted multiple interviews with Piri and searched his homes in Vermont and Connecticut, where he worked as a licensed physician before moving to Florida, records show. Police also searched his truck in February.

Those searches turned up a 9mm handgun of the same caliber used in the shooting, but it was missing the barrel and slide needed to conduct a full ballistic analysis, police said in the affidavit. Police also made note of a target range at Piris home in Vermont as well as several alleged hiding spots for weapons that led authorities to describe the doctor in the affidavit as an above average firearm enthusiast.

Besides Piris frustrations earlier on the day of the shooting, however, police did not offer a suspected motivation for the shooting. Piri and Fonseca-Rivera did not appear to know each other, police said.

In his initial interview with investigators the day after the shooting, Piri said he did not recall anything noteworthy after he left the car wash and that his luck had actually started to improve, according to the affidavit.

I didnt see anybody behind me. I didnt see anyone on the side of the road, cars passed infrequently because it was a pretty quiet drive, Piri said, according to the affidavit. There wasnt anyone in front of me for the first time in a long time  it was very uneventful.

Deputy States Attorney Steven Brown declined to say last week what prompted police to arrest Piri this month.

Im not able to discuss the details of investigation or the timing of the arrest other than to say that the case was investigated in a diligent manner by State Police, Brown said.

Piri was licensed to practice medicine in Connecticut and Florida, however, his license here expired in May, according to state licensing records.

In Connecticut, Piri received his license in 2006 after completing his post-graduate training at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, according to the Department of Public Health. The former West Simsbury resident had previously gone to medical school in Hungary.

His most recent affiliated practice was at Starling Physicians in Bloomfield, according to his records, which note that he was not actively involved in patient care. A call to the practices chief of staff was not returned last week.

Piri received his license to practice medicine in Florida last November, according to that states records. Neither state reported any disciplinary actions, major malpractice claims or any other actions taken against Piris licenses.

The victim, Fonseca-Rivera, was a 44-year-old driver working for Katsiroubas Bros., a produce wholesaler based in Boston. He had recently been released from prison after serving time for drug charges, though police did not cite any connection between those charges and his death.

Following Piris arrest, the owner of the company, Ted Katsiroubas, said he offered Fonseca-Rivera a second chance when he was released from prison.

We are pleased that a suspect has been identified two years after the horrific killing of Roberto, a good man just doing his job driving down the highway in Rockingham, Katsiroubas said in a statement. We hope that justice may be done for Roberto and that it may bring his family some peace.

According to the affidavit, a close friend of Fonseca-Rivera was on the phone with him around the time he was shot. The friend told police Fonseca-Rivera complained about a car that had been speeding up and slowing down in front of him, the affidavit said. The friend later told police that he told Fonseca-River to honk at the car, according to the affidavit. The friend said he then heard a deep inhale and what appeared to be the sound of Fonseca-Rivera dropping his phone.

The friend called Katsiroubas Bros. after Fonseca-Rivera did not return home, and the company used the trucks GPS to determine that it was stopped along the side of Route 103, the affidavit said. The friends son then called police, who found the truck and Fonseca-Riveras body.

The medical examiner later determined that at least one bullet pierced the windshield of the truck, hitting Fonseca-Rivera in the chin and neck. His death was not instantaneous and he had enough time to pull over and park the truck on the shoulder before dying, police said.

After identifying his Toyota driving ahead of the delivery truck on security footage, police said Piri told them he was not aware of their investigation into the shooting and he did not typically carry guns between homes in his truck because he did not have a concealed carry license in Massachusetts.

However, when police later inspected his truck, they found a magnetic gun holster near the center console, according to the affidavit. Police said they also examined Piris phone and discovered multiple searches for crime-related news in Vermont the day of the shooting, including some before Fonseca-Riveras body was discovered.

When police interviewed Piri again in February 2020, they wrote in the affidavit that his hands were shaking drastically.

When asked to recall the morning of the shooting at the second interview, police said Piri changed his account. He denied having a st day and stated he was fine, police wrote in the affidavit.

Hearst Connecticut Media reporter Liz Hardaway contributed to this story.
Chris DeNardis said he started dreaming again about three months ago, for the first time since he was 11 years old.

I wake up with more energy. I cant believe people live the way I used to live, said DeNardis, who lives in Wallingford and turned 36 on Sunday, just over a year after he had the Inspire device implanted to cure his obstructive sleep apnea. Now I wake up ready to go. I wake up before the alarm usually, he said.

Continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, is considered the gold standard for treating sleep apnea, according to sleep medicine doctors. But for those who cant tolerate wearing the mask, or who just dont want to have to deal with it, Inspires device may be the best alternative.

It works by sensing when the patient is breathing and stimulating one of the hypoglossal nerves, which forces the tongue forward and opening the airway.

CPAP didnt work for DeNardis. Id wake up and it wouldnt be on my face anymore, he said of the mask, which is worn over the nose and mouth (some models just cover the nose). I just dont think that it worked for me at all. It didnt change anything for me.

Not only did DeNardis snore, but, I used to choke myself up constantly.  I fell asleep when I was on a trip to Florida with my mom and she was scared out of her mind by the sounds I was making.

CPAP works by forcing air into the respiratory tract, keeping the tongue, throat or palate from closing. When they do, and a person cant breathe, he or she wakes up, over and over again.

Dr. Andrey Zinchuk, a pulmonologist and director of the Advanced Apnea Management Program at the Yale School of Medicine, said sleep apnea can cause poor sleep duration or poor sleep quality.

Both of those things are associated with impaired neurocognitive function, sleepiness during the day, fatigue, loss of productivity, irritability  higher rates of car accidents, Zinchuk said.

Not only that, but as the person keeps trying to breathe, oxygen levels drop in the lungs, and they drop in the heart, kidneys and brain, he said. Theres a release of stress hormones, blood pressure goes up, heart rate goes up.

Blood pressure also will increase during the day, and hypertension can lead to stroke, he said.

Waking up more than five times an hour is considered abnormal, Zinchuk said. More than 30 times is considered severe sleep apnea, and Zinchuk has seen patients who wake up 120 times an hour.

Pound for pound, CPAP is the most effective treatment to open up the airway, he said. Its brute force. Its also non-invasive.

While CPAP works best, its been pretty well studied that about 40 to 50 percent of patients  dont tolerate it very well and stop using the machine, said Dr. Bruno Cardoso, a specialist in ear, nose and throat surgery at the Yale School of Medicine.

While considered low risk, implanting the Inspire device requires two incisions, one in the neck, right under the jaw line, typically on the right side, and one incision on the right chest wall under the clavicle between two ribs, Cardoso said.

One electrode is attached to the section of the hypoglossal nerve that controls the forward movement of the tongue, he said, and we put an electrode in the rib space in between the rib muscles and the we connect the electrodes to the generator.

The sensing lead will sense the respirations and it will send the signal to stimulate the hypoglossal nerve, Cardoso said.

The recovery is minimal, compared to surgeries that remove part of the tongue or palate. Those surgeries also are not as effective, he said.

Dr. Mark DAgostino, who has worked with Inspire since 2007  the device was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2014  said of Inspire, short of CPAP, its the highest success rate of anything.

DAgostino is section chief of otolaryngology at Middlesex Health and has offices in Middletown, Milford and several in the New Haven area.

Not for everyone

There are limitations. The patients body mass index must be lower than 32, according to most insurance companies. As we gain weight, our tongue gets bigger and the side walls of our throat get bigger and it cuts down the airway, DAgostino said. That makes it harder to move the tongue forward.

Also, the apnea must be caused by the tongue falling back, not by the airway collapsing like a wet straw would when sucked. To be sure the patient will succeed with nerve stimulation, we do whats called drug-induced endoscopy, DAgostino said.

After the surgery, most patients are back to normal in a day or two, he said, although the device is not turned on for a month to allow for healing.

The patient turns on the device with a remote control. The device does not start working until they fall asleep, DAgostino said. We can set the start time whenever we want.

While insurance requires a patient to fail CPAP in order to get the Inspire device, DAgostino said, Failing CPAP is loosely defined. You can say, I dont want to wear it anymore.

edward.stannard@hearstmediact.com; 203-680-9382
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)  Pennsylvania had been installing historical markers for more than a century when the racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 brought a fresh round of questions from the public about just whose stories were being told on the state's roadsides  and the language used to tell them.

The increased scrutiny helped prompt a review of all 2,500 markers by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, a process that has focused on factual errors, inadequate historical context, and racist or otherwise inappropriate references.

So far, the state has removed two markers, revised two and ordered new text for two others.

Across the country, historical markers have in some places become another front in the national reckoning over slavery, segregation and racial violence that has also brought downCivil War statues and changed or reconsidered the names of institutions, roads and geographical features.

The idea that who is honored, what is remembered, what is memorialized tells a story about a society that cant be reflected in other ways is behind an effort by the Montgomery, Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative that has installed dozens of markers, mostly in the South, to remember racial terror lynchings.

Historical markers educate the public and therefore can help fight systemic racism, said Diane Turner, curator of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University in Philadelphia, one of the countrys largest repositories of Black history literature and related material.

By being able to tell everybodys story, its good for the society as a whole. It's not to take away from anybody else, Turner said. Lets have these stories, because the more truth we have, the better it is.

At the request of Bryn Mawr College's president, Kimberly Wright Cassidy, the Pennsylvania history agency removed a marker from the edge of campus that noted President Woodrow Wilson had briefly taught there. Cassidy's letter to the commission cited Wilson's dismissive comments about the intellectual capabilities of women and his racist policy of federal workforce segregation.

The commission has ordered changes to a marker at the suburban Philadelphia birthplace of Continental Army Maj. Gen. Mad Anthony Wayne because it referred to him as an Indian fighter. It also is developing a replacement to a marker that has been removed from the grounds of the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, on the site of a 19th-century prison, that noted Confederate cavalry were held there after their capture in Ohio during the Civil War.

State government took down a marker in Pittsburgh's Point State Park that noted the location where British Gen. John Forbes had a 1758 military victory that the marker claimed established Anglo-Saxon supremacy in the United States.

The commission also revised markers in central Pennsylvania's Fulton County related to the movement of Confederate Army troops after the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 and related to an 1864 Confederate cavalry raid on Chambersburg that left much of the town a smoldering ruin.

One marker had previously described the last Confederates to camp on Pennsylvania soil  the state has since added language about their defeat by Union troops. The other marker, about two Confederates killed in a skirmish, was revised with detail about their raid and how Union soldiers from New York killed them and took 32 prisoners.

The changes have generated some political pushback, including from a Republican state representative, an appointee on the Historical and Museum Commission, who wrote in October about his objections to the initiative.

My fear is that the commission is becoming less of a true historical arbiter and more of a miniaturized version of George Orwells Ministry of Truth that has government officers alter history to fit the convenient narrative of those in charge, state Rep. Parke Wentling wrote.

In a report to the commission, a contractor recounted that an elected Fulton County commissioner harassed his team when they removed the old markers last year.

And this month, a senior state House Republican press aide, Steve Miskin, responded to a news account about the Fulton County markers with a tweet asking, "Is Pennsylvania planning to remove The Confederacy from textbooks? Censor TV shows and movies mentioning The Confederacy?

Disputes about how historical markers should be worded  or whether they should exist at all  have divided communities in other states in recent years, including in Memphis, Tennessee; Sherman, Texas; and Colfax, Louisiana.

In Pennsylvania, the commission examined all of the 2,500 markers it controls with a focus on how African American and Native American lives and stories are portrayed and adopted a new policy on how markers are established. About a year ago it identified 131 existing markers that may require changes, including a subgroup of 18 that required immediate attention.

The language could be sexist, it could be racist, it could be all those different things, said Jacqueline Wiggins, a retired educator from Philadelphia on the state historical commissions Marker Review Panel. Theres work to be done.

New markers getting approved are increasingly telling the stories of previously underrepresented people and groups.

The commission is offering financial support for the markers if their subjects concern women, Hispanics, Latinos and Asian Americans, or if they are about Black and LGBTQ history outside Philadelphia. Financial support is also being provided to underrepresented regions. Last year, the agency subsidized markers on petroglyphs in Clarion County, a camp where Muhammed Ali trained in Schuylkill County and the site of a boycott that stopped a school segregation effort in Chester County.

New markers approved in March include the first substantial workforce of Chinese immigrants in the state at a cutlery factory, the cofounder of one of the countrys first Black fraternities, and three Ephrata women who are among the nations first documented female composers.

Native American-related markers generally frame the Indigenous people in terms of the Europeans who displaced them, such as a Juniata County marker about a stockade built about 1755 to protect settlers from Indian marauder.

There is a lot of tap-dancing over who initiated which battle or skirmish, said historian Ira Beckerman, who recently produced a study focused on Pennsylvania markers that relate to Black and Native American history. If the settlers started it, it was a battle and therefore worthy. If the Native Americans responded in kind, it was a massacre, savagery, etc.

Beckerman concluded that as a whole, the state's 348 Native American historical markers tell a pretty accurate and compelling story of racism and white nationalism.

___

Associated Press News Researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.

___ This story has been corrected to say the Equal Justice Initiative is based in Montgomery, not Birmingham. This story has also been updated to correct the spelling of one of the counties. It is Juniata County, not Juniana County.
The chairman of the National Committee for the Coordination of Activities on COVID Vaccination (CNCAV), Valeriu Gheorghita, sent a message on Monday, one year after the start of the immunization campaign, in which he stressed that only through empathy, honesty and dialogue can one combat misinformation and mistrust.

"I continue to hope that only through empathy, honesty, dialogue and communication, by finding that common goal that represents us, can we fight misinformation, hesitation, skepticism and mistrust," Gheorghita said in a message posted on Facebook.

"Today marks one year since the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 started in Romania, in tandem with the rest of the European Union! December 27, 2020 was a first step towards the long-awaited return to normalcy. For many of us it was the hope that together, through vaccination, we can overcome this pandemic. The hard part was just beginning! (...) There were also moments of professional satisfaction when the vaccination process became operational and, step by step, all those who wanted to get vaccinated were able to do so. Each person who chose to get vaccinated motivated us and represented for us a step forward, a step towards normalcy", said Valeriu Gheorghita.

He mentioned that in one year, in Romania, more than 15,749,000 doses of vaccine were administered for over 7,918,800 people with at least one dose, over 7,781,560 people with a complete schedule and over 1,960,330 of people with booster dose.

"It is a good opportunity to thank my team, which was on duty during this period, as well as the medical staff, all colleagues who inquired about the vaccination, passed on the information, chose to be vaccinated and gave a message of confidence. Thanks also to all those I have been honored to work with this year, but also to those at home who have trusted and supported us. Equally, I want to thank the media representatives for the attention paid to the topic and the professionalism proven in reporting the events. (...) Let us have a better year and to remain responsible and show solidarity for health!", the head of CNCAV also transmitted.
The balance of non-government loan granted by credit institutions increased in November 2021 by 1.6% compared to October 2021 (similar evolution in real terms), to the level of 321.980 billion lei, according to the data of the National Bank of Romania (BNR) transmitted on Monday to AGERPRES.

The loan in lei, with a share of 72% in the total volume of non-government credit, increased by 1.9%, and the loan in foreign currency expressed in lei, with a share of 28% in total non-government credit, increased by 0.7% (similar evolution when the indicator is expressed in euro).

Compared to the same period of 2020, non-government loan increased by 14.6 (6.3% in real terms), due to the 19% increase in the lei component (10.4% in real terms) and the increase by 4.7% of the component in foreign currency expressed in lei (3.1% if the indicator is expressed in euro).

Government credit increased in November 2021 by 0.2% compared to October 2021, to 158.439 billion lei. Compared to November 2020, it increased by 11.6% (3.6% in real terms).

The broad money supply (M3) registered at the end of November 2021 a balance of 547.557 billion lei. It increased by 0.9% (similar evolution in real terms) compared to October 2021, and compared to November 2020 it increased by 14.7% (6.4% in real terms).
Over 500,000 Romanians celebrate their name day on Monday, the Holy Stephen, known as the Holy Apostle, the First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, the first martyr of Christianity, stoned to death in Jerusalem for blasphemy.

According to the Directorate for People's Records and Database Administration, in Romania live 356,480 men and 145,109 women bearing the names of Stefan, Stefania or their derivatives.AGERPRES
The recent decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) according to which judges may not apply a decision of the Constitutional Court contrary to European law must be respected "without delay" and if legislative corrections are not made quickly, the launch of the infringement procedure will become a reality in a short time, the former Minister of Justice Stelian Ion wrote on Monday on Facebook.

"The President of the Constitutional Court thus defends his controversial decisions, which he endorsed, with a political charge, and which can now be ignored by Romanian judges with respect for the law and the Constitution. The path the former PSD politician placed the Constitutional Court on is dangerous for the position of Romania within the European Union. The decision of the CJEU must be respected, without delay. If the legislative corrections are not made quickly, the initiation of the infringement procedure will become a reality in a short time", explained Ion.

According to him, the effects of the Constitutional Court (CCR)'s declaration on the CJEU's decision on the supremacy of European law "will appear shortly". In his view, the CCR statement is "not just a defiance of the European court, but a total disregard for the country's fate."

"Even at present, Romania's Constitution stipulates that 'the provisions of the constitutive treaties of the European Union, as well as other binding community regulations take precedence over the contrary provisions of domestic law.' CCR, by interpreting that it would be necessary to amend the Constitution in order to apply the decision of the CJEU according to which judges may not apply a decision of the Constitutional Court contrary to European law, remains a retrograde institution, and President Valer Dorneanu shows us that he still wears communist clothes and behaviour", added Stelian Ion.
CLAYTON  An activist investor spurring a leadership overhaul at Clayton-based Centene has a track record of quietly buying into companies, gaining board seats and replacing management.

Before starting his own hedge fund earlier this year, Politan Capital Management founder Quentin Koffey bargained with other large public companies in the energy, agriculture and retail sectors.

Negotiations spurred by Koffey, 44, have rarely escalated into the public eye. Unlike activist investors who speak out in letters and television appearances, his deals are more often characterized by behind-the-scenes discussions with companies. But public accounts of Koffeys intervention in the management of three big companies now shed light on his work here with Centene.

Politan declined comment for this story.

Koffey started in 2010 at Elliott Management Corp., a Florida-based firm known for activist investment. In 2017 he moved to New York-based D.E. Shaw & Co.

That same year, Pittsburgh-based natural gas company EQT Corp.  already under pressure from a different activist investor  was preparing to buy Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Rice Energy Inc.
Federal rules dont require people travelling by air within the U.S. to show a negative test. Hawaii requires travelers to test or show proof of vaccination to avoid a mandatory quarantine.

Biden did not respond to questions on whether he was considering implementing a domestic air travel vaccination requirement, but he told reporters the subject was discussed on a call with the nation's governors Monday morning.

They asked Dr. Fauci some more questions about everything from whether or not he thought he was going to move to test at home  I mean, on air flights and that kind of thing, Biden said of the call before departing the White House for his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

During the virtual meeting with governors, Biden pledged the full support of the federal government to states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the more-transmissible omicron variant and a run on at-home tests that dominated headlines over the holiday season.

My message is: If you need something, say something, and were going to have your back any way we can," Biden said. He acknowledged long lines and chaotic scenes as Americans sought out testing amid the case surge and as they looked to safely gather with family and friends over the holiday.
And given that many cancer patients are struggling with a weakened immune system, "it remains very important for all [of their] close contacts to be vaccinated and boosted," he added.

Lastly, frequent testing is an important part of the defense for patients, as well as their friends and family  especially when they're planning to spend time together, Warner said.

Researchers stressed that while their findings are concerning, the small number of patients studied make it impossible to draw firm conclusions as to why so many of the vaccinated patients became seriously ill with COVID.

That thought was echoed by Dr. Julie Gralow, chief medical officer with the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Alexandria, Va., who characterized the findings as "worrisome."

"We must  continue to focus on doing everything we can to prevent patients with cancer from exposure to COVID and the particularly contagious Omicron variant," she said.
MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Add heat waves to the many health threats facing homeless people.

Last year, the United States had 580,000 homeless people  28% of them in California, where seven in 10 live outdoors. That's nearly nine times more than in any other state.

"The same weather that makes living unsheltered possible in California also exposes people experiencing homelessness to a higher risk of a wide range of heat-induced health conditions that can result in end-organ damage and even death," said Tarik Benmarhnia. He is an associate professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and senior author of a new study of homelessness and emergency department visits.
Nor is ketamine simple to take. It has to be given under medical supervision, Morgan noted, so doctors can watch for "dissociative" effects -- or what lay people might call a "trip."

The drug is not a psychedelic, but typically triggers altered perceptions of reality, such as hallucinations, soon after it's given. It can also cause a short-term spike in blood pressure, Morgan said.

So before anyone tries ketamine for depression, she said, they have get a full medical and psychiatric evaluation to make sure it is appropriate for them.

Ketamine was first approved in the United States decades ago as an anesthesia drug. Because of its mind-altering effects, it also came to be abused as a party drug, known by such nicknames as "special K."

But researchers have long been aware of the drug's potential, at low doses under well-controlled conditions, to treat psychiatric symptoms. Ketamine is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating depression. But doctors can and do prescribe it "off label" for that reason.
MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- COVID-19 is again surging throughout the United States, with the Omicron variant already outpacing this summers Delta variant in the rate of daily cases.

However, numbers of hospitalizations have not yet reached those surging numbers this holiday season, according to CNN. That may not last, experts warn, because tens of millions of Americans continue to be at higher risk of complications and death because theyre not vaccinated.

"Although hospitalizations may be less, that doesn't mean zero. There are many places in the country where hospitalizations now are increasing," Dr. William Schaffner, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., told CNN.

So far, 12 states have had at least a 10% increase in COVID hospitalizations this past week, according to U.S. Health and Human Services data. Overall, the country has seen a 2% increase in hospitalizations.

More than 69,000 Americans were hospitalized on Christmas Eve, the data shows. That is half last of last Januarys record high and lower than during the Delta surge, according to CNN.
BRUSSELS (AP)  As omicron spreads ever more gloom around the globe ahead of New Year's Eve, governments are moving at different speeds to contain the scourge, with some reimposing restrictions immediately and others hesitating to spoil the party again.

In Britain, where the highly contagious variant of the coronavirus has sent caseloads soaring to record highs, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday no further restrictions will be introduced in England before the new year. New daily infections in England are hovering around 100,000, and hospital admissions were up more than 70% on Christmas from a week earlier.

When we get into the new year, of course, we will see then if we do need to take any further measures, but nothing more until then, at least," Javid said.

Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, though, nightclubs have been ordered closed and limits on gatherings imposed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, leaving the country divided in its approach to the crisis.
Five years ago: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh AH-bay), accompanied by President Barack Obama, visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, where he offered his sincere and everlasting condolences to the souls of those who lost their lives in Japans 1941 attack; Abe did not apologize, but conceded his country must never repeat the horrors of war again. Actor Carrie Fisher died in a hospital four days after suffering a medical emergency aboard a flight to Los Angeles; she was 60.

One year ago: Nearly 1.3 million people went through U.S. airports, the highest level of air travel in more than nine months, despite fears that trips would lead to more cases of COVID-19. President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package, ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that would deliver cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown. Federal authorities identified the man they said was responsible for a Christmas Day bombing that tore through downtown Nashville; they said Anthony Quinn Warner had died in the blast.

Todays Birthdays: Actor John Amos is 82. Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 77. Singer Tracy Nelson is 77. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 73. Jazz singer-musician T.S. Monk is 72. Singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff is 70. Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 69. Actor Tovah Feldshuh is 68. Journalist-turned-politician Arthur Kent is 68. Actor Maryam DAbo is 61. Actor Ian Gomez is 57. Actor Theresa Randle is 57. Actor Eva LaRue is 55. Wrestler and actor Bill Goldberg is 55. Bluegrass singer-musician Darrin Vincent (Dailey & Vincent) is 52. Rock musician Guthrie Govan is 50. Musician Matt Slocum is 49. Actor Wilson Cruz is 48. Actor Masi Oka is 47. Actor Aaron Stanford is 45. Actor Emilie de Ravin is 40. Actor Jay Ellis is 40. Christian rock musician James Mead (Kutless) is 39. Rock singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 33. Country singer Shay Mooney (Dan & Shay) is 30. Actor Timothee Chalamet is 26.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
MONDAY, Dec. 27, 2021 (HealthDay News)  Starting Dec. 31, the United States will lift travel restrictions from eight countries in southern Africa.

The restrictions were first announced in late November in response to concerns about Omicron, the new highly contagious variant of COVID-19. Omicron was spotted first in southern Africa.

The restrictions had been directed at travel from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi. American citizens or lawful permanent residents were not limited by the restrictions, but still needed to have a negative test prior to traveling.

"On Dec. 31, @POTUS will lift the temporary travel restrictions on Southern Africa countries. This decision was recommended by @CDCgov," White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said on Twitter. "The restrictions gave us time to understand Omicron and we know our existing vaccines work against Omicron, [especially] boosted."
As Utz packed medicine for the invaders, Union Gen. Thomas Ewing gathered troops at Fort Davidson, a vulnerable earthwork near Pilot Knob, terminus of the Iron Mountain Railroad 90 miles south of St. Louis. On Sept. 27, Ewing's force of 1,400 held off repeated Confederate attacks. That night, his army slipped away and exploded the fort's magazine.

Price kept moving north but decided against attacking St. Louis. Some of his cavalrymen burned railroad property in De Soto, Pacific and Union. In Pacific, they also took boots from Theodore Belfer's store and "a heavy stock of liquors" from William Manthy's tavern. The main army turned toward Jefferson City.

Its closest encounter to St. Louis was at the Cheltenham post office, on Manchester Road just west of today's Hampton Avenue. Postmaster Augustus Muegge said four Confederate horsemen asked him which side he was on and threatened to kill him. Shielded by his wife, Muegge fled out the back door.

CONVICTED OF SPYING

In St. Louis, members of the Order of American Knights, a secret pro-Southern organization, heard about Price heading west and decided not to rise up. Price was defeated near Kansas City. A military court found Utz guilty of spying and condemned him to hang.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY  For the Arazem girls of Afghanistan, it was more than just the first day of school in a new country. It was the first day of their parents dream for their lives in America.

Going to school is a necessity of life for their future. Their mother and I studied in Afghanistan, and I want my children to learn the best lessons, said refugee Ajmal Arazem.

One month after arriving in St. Louis, five of Arazems daughters are enrolled in the Affton School District, spread out among four schools.

There were lots of other, smaller firsts for the girls  riding a school bus, taking classes with boys, ordering cheese pizza for lunch.

The Arazem family  father Ajmal, mother Palwashah and their seven children ages 1 to 15, fled Afghanistan in August as the Taliban took control.

Education was the familys first priority for the five school-aged kids, Ajmal Arazem told a reporter at St. Louis Lambert International Airport after arriving in November. The older girls might not have been allowed to attend school had they stayed behind.

Ajmal Arazem worked as a security officer for a U.S. base in Afghanistan, which helped them join the first wave of refugees resettling in St. Louis in the next year. Palwashah, his wife, was a teacher in their homeland. The primary goal for their children in America  find good schools, study hard and go to college.

Like many new refugees, a large number of children coming from Afghanistan are expected to enroll in the Nahed Chapman New American Academy in St. Louis Public Schools. Others will enroll in neighboring districts such as Affton or Bayless, close to the International Institute of St. Louis, which contracts with the U.S. State Department to help refugees get settled.

As many as 25 countries are represented in the Affton School District. Over the past decade, the district has nearly doubled its percentage of students who are English learners to more than 10% in 2021.

I dont have to go out to the world, the world has come to Affton, said Amy Dahlia, an English Language Learners teacher at Mesnier Primary School. They bring so much joy. Everyone is learning how to read, everyone is learning how to get along. Were all learning how to be friends.

Just days after moving to a home in the Affton area of St. Louis County, after several weeks of living in hotels, the Arazem family spent hours filling out paperwork in the school districts central office. Registrar Megan Kopriva asked through a translator if any of the children have learning difficulties, beyond speaking and writing little English.

No, its easy, their father answered.

Starting school, like other aspects of their four-month journey from Afghanistan to St. Louis, was not without challenges for the Arazems. Oldest daughter Nooria, 15, missed the 7 a.m. bus to Affton High on her first day because she was standing on the wrong corner. The next day, she made the bus, but a substitute teacher shortage meant she spent two periods in the library.

Dahlia, the teacher at Mesnier, came to the Arazem home around 8 a.m. to make sure Sumaya, 7, got on the bus on her first day. They walked to the bus stop together and met several young neighbors who promised Dahlia they would sit by Sumaya on the bus and escort her into the school.

When families have had such a rough start, you just want to make their lives a little easier. Getting on the bus is something we take for granted, Dahlia said.

At Mesnier, second grade teacher Lindsay Flieg learned just the day before that Sumaya would be joining her class. Flieg came in early to make sure the girls nametags were ready  above her cubby where she would hang her coat, on the class birthday board and on her desk. She laid out a purple Affton T-shirt that read Start Strong Class of 2032 for the girl. Flieg grabbed jump ropes from the gym for recess because she had seen a photo of Sumaya and her sisters jumping rope in the hotel hallway.

Another teacher who works with English learners spoke to Fliegs class the day before Sumayas arrival. Amelia Ruble, 8, pointed out an empty desk next to her where the new classmate could sit. She drew a picture for Sumaya of an ocean that no longer separated them.

The teachers made Sumaya a book called Welcome to Mesnier with translations in Dari, her language. There were pictures and words for hallway, bathroom and Ms. Flieg is Sumayas teacher.

Soon after the morning bell, Flieg showed Sumaya how to touch and drag her name on the smartboard and put it under her lunch choice of cheese pizza. Amelia gave her a high-five when she returned to her desk.

Its because shes a new student and she comes from a different country, Amelia said. I understand kids who need help because I used to myself.

Flieg had to remind the class one helper at a time because so many were eager to jump in as interpreters. She purposefully put Sumaya in different small groups, to share interactions with different classmates. Flieg did not plan to evaluate Sumayas reading or math skills on the first day.

Building friendships is the priority, she said.

The first lesson of the day, social-emotional learning, was appropriate for a newcomer to the English language. Flieg showed the class photos of various facial expressions on the smartboard. Then the students identified the emotions and talked about times when they felt angry, frustrated or excited.

Avery Frank, 7, raised her hand to give her most recent example of feeling excited: When I realized Sumaya was coming to school.

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The FCCs staff recommended the number 988 over other options, and in December, the federal agencys commissioners unanimously approved the three-digit number for the hotline, kicking off the rulemaking process.

Once the new number goes live, Missouri is projected to receive more than 172,000 calls for a total cost of $11 million. That volume is over four times the current call volume.

Missouri has some partial funding for the new number through federal block grants; however, the funding required to fully implement 988 in Missouri is continuously evolving, Walker said.

Christine Patterson, executive director of NAMI St. Louis, an organization that helps people with mental illness, said adequate funding will be key to the rollout.

We just need to make sure there are enough resources to make sure we have enough people to answer the phones, Patterson said. If people are reaching out, we need to make sure we can connect them with the services.

In addition, Patterson said there must be a clear way to connect people in need of assistance with experts.
Airlines cancel flights due to COVID staffing shortages

NEW YORK (AP)  Airlines canceled hundreds of flights as the omicron variant jumbled schedules and drew down staffing levels at some carriers during the busy holiday travel season.

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines together canceled more than 600 flights on Friday and Saturday. As of early evening Friday, Delta canceled had 149 flights on Friday and 188 for Christmas Day, according to FlightAware. (Other factors, such as weather, are also causing cancellations.) United called off 189 flights on Friday, about 10% of its schedule, and 140 on Saturday. Planned cancellations continued into Sunday.

Not all airlines said COVID was disrupting their travel schedules. American Airlines said it had nothing to report, while Southwest Airlines said things are running smoothly. JetBlue, which FlightAware said had canceled nearly 150 flights over Friday and Saturday, did not respond to a request for comment.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been a regular problem for the U.S. airline industry this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and were caught short-staffed this year as travel recovered.
Born in Surrey, England, Spence grew up in a family of book lovers: his father was an editor, his mother a reader of French literature. He was an undergraduate at Clare College, Cambridge, where he edited the student newspaper and co-edited the student magazine Granta, now one of the worlds most prestigious literary journals.

After graduation, he received a fellowship at Yale and befriended the China scholar Mary Wright, who became a mentor. Through Wright, he met the biographer Fang Chao-ying and was granted special access to papers in Taiwan from the Qing dynasty, material used in his dissertation and his first book, Tsao Yin and the Kang-hsi Emperor: Bondservant and Master, which came out in 1966, the same year he joined the Yale faculty.

I was able to hold in my hand the original writings of the emperor of China, he said in a 2010 interview with Humanities magazine, the in-house publication of the National Endowment of the Humanities. It was something that is still very emotional for me, and it was a major moment for my thinking about the past.
By Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose more than 2% on Monday to the highest level since late November on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant will have a limited impact on global demand in 2022, even as surging cases caused flight cancellations.

Global benchmark Brent crude rose $2.46, or 3.2%, to settle at $78.60 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $1.78, or 2.4%, to settle at $75.57 a barrel. The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday.

Both benchmarks rose on Monday to the highest since Nov. 26. On that day, oil plunged by more than 10% when reports of a new variant first appeared. The benchmarks gained last week after early data suggested that Omicron could cause a milder level of illness.

"Though Omicron is spreading faster than any COVID-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, at least so far," said Leona Liu, analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.

Britain's government will not introduce new COVID-19 restrictions for England before the end of 2021, its health minister, Sajid Javid, said on Monday.

More than 1,300 flights were cancelled by U.S. airlines on Sunday as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crews while several cruise ships had to cancel stops.

"The disruption to goods and services from isolating workers, notably air travel, seems to be the main fallout so far," Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA, said of rising Omicron cases. "That is only likely to cause short-term nerves, with the global recovery story for 2022 still on track."

Oil prices have risen over 50% this year, supported by recovering demand and supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+.

Talks resume on Monday between world powers and Iran on reviving Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal. Iran said oil exports were the focus of the talks, which so far appear to have made little progress on boosting Iran's shipments.

Also on investors' radar is the next OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4, at which the producer alliance will decide whether to go ahead with a planned 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) production increase in February.

OPEC+ stuck to its plans at its last meeting to boost output for January despite Omicron.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; Additional reporting by Alex Lawler in London and Florence Tan and Koustav Samanta in Singapore.; Editing by Louise Heavens and Matthew Lewis)
Guelph, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - December 23, 2021) - Zentek Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) (OTC: ZENYF) ("ZEN" or the "Company"), a Canadian IP development and commercialization company focused on next-gen healthcare solutions, announces, in connection with a review by Staff of the Ontario Securities Commission (the "OSC"), the filing of amended and restated unaudited condensed consolidated interim financial statements (the "Q2 2021 FS") and management's discussion and analysis thereof ("Q2 2021 MDA", together with the Q2 2021 FS, the "Amended Statements"), and provides updates on its business developments over the past year, including the development of its patent-pending anti-microbial ZENGuard" compound, its licensing status with Health Canada, its commercial revenue-generating agreement with Trebor Rx Corp. ("Trebor"), the development of the Company's planned industrial scale production plant, and certain of its other previously disclosed initiatives.

2021 Highlights

In September 2021, Health Canada authorization for the sale of ZENGuard" coated masks was received under the Interim Order No. 2- 329587 (the " Interim Order "), which is eighteen months in duration.

"), which is eighteen months in duration. In September 2021, the Company entered into a binding definitive license and supply agreement with Trebor Rx Corp. for the supply of ZENGuard" to coat face masks and potentially other health care products.

In November 2021, the Company received a medical device establishment license (" MDEL ") from Health Canada, which permits it to manufacture, and distribute all class one medical devices in general (whether or not coated with the ZENGuard" antimicrobial coating), even after the expiration of the authorization under the Interim Order.

") from Health Canada, which permits it to manufacture, and distribute all class one medical devices in general (whether or not coated with the ZENGuard" antimicrobial coating), even after the expiration of the authorization under the Interim Order. Development is underway of the Company's industrial scale facility to produce ZENGuard" and to coat materials.

Financing Status

Further to its press releases dated November 16, 2021, and November 24, 2021, the Company is continuing to work towards its previously disclosed proposed C$30 million financing (the "Offerings"). In connection with a review by Staff of the OSC the Company was asked to provide updates on its various previously disclosed initiatives, which are set out below.

Additionally, given the novel business of the Company and the Company's change of classification on the TSX Venture Exchange in October 2021 from a "mining issuer" to an "industrial, technology, or life sciences issuer", the Company performed an impairment analysis to determine the suitability of carrying the Albany Graphite Project on its balance sheet. Based on such analysis, the Company has determined that the Company's previously filed Q2 2021 FS and Q2 2021 MD&A, as filed on November 29, 2021, need to be restated (as more fully described below).

The Company contemplates that the Offerings will be repriced at C$5.20 per common share, and structured as (i) a bought deal prospectus offering of 3,847,000 common shares at C$5.20 per common share for gross proceeds of approximately C$20.0 million, through Eight Capital as lead underwriter and sole bookrunner on behalf of a syndicate of underwriters including Leede Jones Gable Inc. and Research Capital Corporation (collectively, the "Underwriters"). The Company has granted the Underwriters an option (the "Over-Allotment Option") to purchase up to an additional 577,050 common shares on the same terms exercisable at any time up to 30 days following the closing of the prospectus offering, for market stabilization purposes and to cover over-allotments, if any; and (ii) a concurrent non-brokered private placement of up to 1,924,812 common shares at C$5.20 to certain shareholders for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $10 million. The Underwriters have agreed to pay for their own legal counsel expenses in connection with the Offerings. The Company anticipates that the Offerings will be completed on or about December 31, 2021.

Amended and Restated Financial Statements

Management had intended to address the Albany Graphite Project on its balance sheet for its financial statements for the period ended December 31, 2021, the first period end following the Company's change of business on the TSX Venture Exchange (see the Company's press release dated October 14, 2021). However, based on the impairment analysis noted above, the Company's Audit Committee, in consultation with management of the Company, has determined that the Company's previously filed Q2 2021 FS and Q2 2021 MD&A, as filed on November 29, 2021, need to be restated in order to improve the Company's disclosure and to clarify and provide additional disclosure regarding:

the recoverable amount and carrying value of the Company's exploration and evaluation assets, which was determined to be negligible, now that the Company has completed its change of business; and

an immaterial dollar figure capitalized to the Company's exploration and evaluation assets in the current fiscal year, which should have been recorded as a research and development expense in support of the Company's intellectual property efforts.

The Amended Statements replace and supersede the previously filed Q2 2021 FS and Q2 2021 MD&A and are available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The Company continues to own 100% of the unique Albany Graphite Deposit, and it remains an important asset as the Company works to develop a market for the raw materials produced from the Albany Graphite Project. As the potential for a robust graphene market grows, and the Company's demand for graphene and raw materials grows, the Company intends to re-evaluate when it may be appropriate to consider working towards putting the Albany Graphite Project into production. The Company intends to continue to consult closely with the community of Constance Lake First Nation with respect to the Albany Graphite Project.

ZENGuard" Antimicrobial Compound

Further to its press releases dated April 30, 2020, and June 8, 2020, the Company announced that it had begun work on the development of a virucidal graphene-oxide-based compound (the "Graphene Compound") to be applied as a coating onto fabrics, which included personal protective equipment ("PPE") such as face masks in an effort to increase protection afforded by such products. Efficacy testing against SARS-CoV-2 virus was performed at the University of Western Ontario's ImPaKT Facility Biosafety Level 3 lab (the "ImPaKT Facility").

On September 22, 2020, the Company reported that after five months of optimization, it had developed a novel virucidal Graphene Compound with a 99% effectiveness against the COVID-19 virus, and had filed its first provisional patent relating to certain medical uses for this graphene-based virucidal product. Testing at the ImPaKT Facility indicated the Graphene Compound retained this 99% effectiveness for a minimum of thirty-five days after application to N95 mask material.

On December 22, 2020, the Company announced that testing results from the University Health Network/Mount Sinai Hospital Department of Microbiology in Toronto indicated that the Company's virucidal Graphene Compound may also be beneficial in the treatment of numerous human contracted pathogens, including upper and lower respiratory tract infections, where COVID-19 is a major contributor, as well as drug resistant organisms. The report delivered to the Company dated December 18, 2020 entitled "Evaluation of Graphene Oxide with Silver Cations (GO-Ag+) as an Antibacterial Agent against Respiratory Pathogens", stated that if the Graphene Compound could be shown to be safe and effective, it could provide a breakthrough alternative therapy for the practices of family medicine, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology and intensive care units. The Company disclosed that "Based on this breakthrough and an urgent need for such treatments, we will seek immediate collaborations with potential pharmaceutical partners to optimize the delivery mechanisms to target infections in general and especially those common in the respiratory tract." The Company engaged in initial discussions with a major pharmaceutical company and considered the requirements to bring a respiratory tract medication to market. Based on the timing and costs required to satisfy such requirements, while testing on the Graphene Compound for use in respiratory tract infections remains ongoing, the Company determined to focus instead on commercializing the ZENGuard" coating in masks, including the development of an industrial scale production plant for deliveries under its agreement with Trebor (as discussed hereunder).

On December 29, 2020, the Company announced an update on cytotoxicity testing of the virucidal Graphene Compound and the effectiveness as a coating following testing completed at McMaster University's Centre for Microbial Chemical Biology and Mount Sinai Hospital. The preliminary testing confirmed the Graphene Compound's efficacy with fungi and bacteria in vitro at very low concentrations.

On February 4, 2021, and March 2, 2021 the Company announced results of the Phase 2 cytotoxicity testing, by Nucro Technics testing laboratory, and included cytotoxicity testing that noted no adverse effects after seven days of repeated dosing. Testing continues with Nucro Technics, and the Company anticipates that the next step in this process will be animal testing for various skin conditions. The Company is currently in the process of receiving quotes for animal studies of psoriasis and MRSA-related skin infections. Successful animal studies would support further work including Phase 1 human trials, which the Company estimates would likely occur later in 2022. The Company is currently receiving proposals for this testing and expects to make a decision by the end of January 2022 with respect to the Clinical Research Organization that it expects to work with for this next round of testing.

In a news release on April 13, 2021, the Company confirmed that safety testing results received from Nucro Technics indicated that the Graphene Compound did not lead to skin irritation or sensitivity as required in ISO 10993-10 for its level 1 medical device ie surgical masks. These results would be shared with Health Canada as part of their review process for obtaining the Interim Order authorizing the sale of ZENGuard" coated masks in Canada.

On March 17, 2021, the Company announced that testing of the Company's Graphene Compound against four gram-positive and nine-gram negative bacteria with antimicrobial-resistance, including multidrug-resistant variants like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, had been completed. Testing demonstrated that the compound was 99.9% effective against bacteria, and fungi at very low concentrations. Testing was conducted by Dr. Tony Mazzulli, the Microbiologist-in-chief at Mount Sinai Hospital. To date the Company has not identified any fast-tracking routes or partners to collaborate with at this time, however testing in this respect remains ongoing with Dr. Mazzulli. On April 5, 2021 the Company reported that the Graphene Compound's Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations against bacteria, including multi-drug resistant versions, combined with its safety profile had resulted in the Company engaging in discussions with interested parties from the pharmaceutical industry. Further to this, the Company engaged in discussions with two pharmaceutical companies, however these discussions did not lead to any agreements and no further discussions are planned in this respect. The next step in this process is testing to prove efficacy in animal models.

In March 2021, the Company began the process of transitioning from bench-scale production to pilot scale production of the Graphene Compound. The Company provided production capacity estimates in its press release dated March 24, 2021, which were based on management's reasonable business judgment at such time. Those production capacity estimates were not met. The Company delayed its production schedule based on the directive issued by Health Canada, which restricted any graphene coated mask from entering the market until a full review had been conducted by Health Canada. Multiple pilot scale production capacity of the ZENGuard" compound sufficient for up to thirty-two million masks per month was ready in July 2021, however the Company did not initiate production at such a capacity until October, 2021 after Health Canada authorization was obtained (as discussed below), and the Company has not yet achieved industrial scale capacity (as discussed below). Management has determined not to continue to provide production capacity estimates at this time, as it has identified significant variables including, without limitation, the timing of completion of its industrial scale plant (discussed below), and evolving production methods.

On April 13, 2021, the Company announced the Graphene Compound's new trade name, "ZENGuard"".

On May 3, 2021, the Company announced that it would begin ingestion good laboratory practice compliant safety studies of the ZENGuard" compound following successful testing against Clostridium Difficile at the University of Manitoba under the supervision of Dr. George Zhanel, Professor, Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease and Director of the Canadian Antimicrobial Resistance Alliance. The ingestion good laboratory practice studies were not performed because the Company was advised by two separate clinical research organisations that due to the broad spectrum of the Graphene Compound, it would have a negative impact on the natural gut biome.

On October 6, 2021, the Company announced the filing of an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty ("PCT") for ZENGuard", and the transfer from the University of Guelph of the rights, under its PCT application, for the electrochemical exfoliation process to produce graphene-oxide. Pursuant to a License Agreement dated September 22, 2020 between the Company and the University of Guelph, the Company holds the exclusive global rights to this technology, and it is being transferred from Guelph University to the Company's facility for scale-up. During Q1 2022, the Company intends to investigate the potential to scale up the prototype from bench scale to pilot scale.

The Company continued to conduct testing on the ZENGuard" compound, which includes the increased challenge viral filtration efficiency and bacterial filtration efficiency test results announced by the Company on September 27, 2021. The results of third-party testing at GAP EnviroMicrobial Services Ltd. ("GAP Labs") demonstrated that ZENGuard" coated masks removed 98.9% more bacteria and 97.8% more virus particles than a typical ASTM level 3, 3-ply uncoated mask and resulted in a bacterial and viral filtration efficiency of over 99.99%. There is no further testing to be conducted with GAP Labs in this respect at this time.

Health Canada Licensing Status

In collaboration with Trebor, a Canadian PPE manufacturer, an application was made to Health Canada for authorization for Trebor to market and sell surgical face masks coated with the Company's patent-pending ZENGuard" antimicrobial compound, under the Interim Order. On March 3, 2021, the Company announced that Trebor had reported that the ZENGuard"-coated masks had passed the Health Canada testing requirements as a level 1 medical device. The coated masks were tested at a Canadian ISO certified facility in line with American Society for Testing and Materials standards.

In April 2021, Health Canada issued an advisory related to masks containing graphene and recalled certain masks containing graphene. On April 5, 2021, the Company reported that it supported the Health Canada advisory and worked with Trebor to ensure that the ZENGuard"-coated products met the Health Canada standards and requirements.

On June 4, 2021, the Company and Trebor announced the results of certain inhalation safety testing for the ZENGuardTM enhanced surgical masks and the submission of these results to Health Canada. Testing was completed by a United States based company, where they confirmed that no ZENGuardTM graphene material was released from the surgical masks with air flow rates simulating resting and light activity inhalation rates. Health Canada did not approve the protocols used by the US company and Zentek started a new inhalation study with a Canadian company. On July 13, 2021, Health Canada announced that the sale of masks, which were recalled for containing graphene, could resume after conducting an assessment of the masks and finding no health risks.

On September 22, 2021, the Company announced that Health Canada authorization for the sale of ZENGuard" coated masks had been received under the Interim Order, which is eighteen months in duration.

On November 29, 2021, the Company announced that it had received a medical device establishment license ("MDEL") from Health Canada, which permits it to manufacture, and distribute all class one medical devices in general (whether or not coated with the ZENGuard" antimicrobial coating). The MDEL will allow the Company to work with other manufacturers and distributors around the world in addition to Trebor to bring surgical masks and, potentially, other PPE to the Canadian market, even after the Interim Order expires.

Trebor Partnership

In November 2020, the Company first announced the execution of a letter of intent with Trebor, a Canadian manufacturer of PPE with a production facility located in Collingwood, Ontario. The letter of intent set out the framework for an agreement between the parties pursuant to which Trebor would purchase quantities of the Company's ZENGuard" coating, which would be applied to fabric used by Trebor to manufacture surgical masks, subject to the authorization by Health Canada. In January 2021, the Company also announced an agreement in principle for Trebor to use the ZENGuard" coating on nitrile gloves, which is subject to authorization from Health Canada.

On March 3, 2021, the Company reported that Trebor intended to begin marketing the ZENGuard" coated masks immediately with products to be available in April in anticipation of strong demand. Based on the Health Canada advisory from early April 2021 (discussed above) this timeline changed as masks with graphene had to undergo additional tests before being authorized for sale in the Canadian market.

On September 22, 2021, the Company announced that Health Canada authorization for the ZENGuard"-coated masks had been obtained, following which, the Company announced that it had entered into a binding definitive license and supply agreement (the "License and Supply Agreement") with Trebor. Pursuant to the terms of the License and Supply Agreement, the Company granted a non-exclusive and non-transferable license to Trebor to use the ZENguard" coating in certain specified Trebor products displaying the Company's branding, including surgical masks, mask filters, nitrile gloves, surgical gowns and scrubs and other healthcare products, and an exclusive license to sell and distribute ZENGuard" coated elastomeric respirator mask filters, whether fixed or replaceable. This exclusive license is to remain in force only so long as Trebor sells a minimum of sixty million (60,000,000) filters per year with annual growth of at least 10%. Trebor agreed to use the ZENGuard" coating on all of its products sold unless a Trebor purchaser specifically refuses to acquire the ZENGuard"-coated products. Trebor agreed to purchase the ZENGuard" coating from the Company by way of cash payments for a supply based on demand for Trebor products. There is no minimum amount of ZENGuard" coating required to be purchased by Trebor.

In September 2021, the Company announced that it had received revenue from its first shipment of the ZENGuard" coating to Trebor. To date, Trebor has purchased, and the Company has delivered, quantities of ZENGuard" coating sufficient for 10,000,000 masks.

ZENGuard" Industrial Scale Production Plant

On November 12, 2020, the Company announced that it had signed a three-year lease, with an option for an additional three years, on 25,680 square feet of newly built B.1 industrial zoning space in Guelph, Ontario, to produce its ZENGuard" antimicrobial compound. The Company conducted permitting requirement research in consultation with ERM Consultants Canada Ltd., which completed and delivered its permitting review report. On November 30, 2020, the Company announced the purchase of graphene oxide needed to produce the ZENGuard" compound, which was delivered to the Company in December of 2020 and February 2021 for a total of just over 300 kg. Furthermore, the Company reported that it had negotiated terms to purchase additional GO commencing in January 2021. On November 11, 2021, the Company announced an agreement with the same supplier to secure the necessary supply of graphene oxide to produce enough ZENGuard" to meet the Company's estimate of the anticipated demand for the ZENGuard" Graphene Compound in the short term, based in part on discussions with Trebor. Shipments began arriving on December 20, 2021 and are to continue through the first six months of 2022, with the supplier currently preparing the remainder of a shipment of 880 kg for delivery prior to the end of Q4 2021. The Company also expects that approximately 5,000 kg of graphene-oxide is scheduled to be delivered to the Company over the course of the first half of 2022, which is the next significant step in this process. This material was purchased to secure a plentiful supply of raw material for the ZENGuard" coating and to prevent supply line disruptions.

On January 18, 2021, the Company announced the engagement of Bantrel Co. to design and source production equipment for the Company's ZENGuard" production plant. The Company currently plans to construct industrial scale production equipment to produce the ZENGuard" coating formulation at its York Rd. location, as such location is permitted for industrial use. The Company has also purchased coating equipment so the process of applying the ZENGuard" coating formulation to spunbond polypropylene for use in surgical masks, other PPE equipment, and potentially other uses can be completed by the Company on-site. Detailed engineering of the proposed ZENGuard" compound manufacturing equipment began in July 2021. The Company estimates that engineering (including design, procurement and construction assistance) of the production facility is approximately 80% complete and management of the Company expects that such engineering will be 100% complete by the end of the first calendar quarter of 2022. Procurement was initiated in September 2021 and the Company anticipates that all equipment will be on site by February 2022. Installation packages will be awarded by the Company in January 2022 and the Company anticipates assembly and installation of the industrial scale production equipment to be completed during Q1 2022, at which point production is expected to commence while commissioning, optimization and production ramp-up occurs over the following two to three months. At this point the Company would continue to use third parties to coat the ZENGuard" Graphene Compound onto materials.

Industrial scale spray coating line equipment was researched, selected and ordered in October 2021 with an anticipated delivery in or around May 2022. Upon delivery of the industrial scale coating equipment, installation and commissioning of such equipment can commence, which the Company estimates will take between three and six months, at which point the Company expects to be able to coat materials with ZENGuard" that the Company has produced on-site. The Company notes that there are potentially many variables involved with the final completion of the planned industrial scale production/coating plant, including the timing of the delivery of equipment from the United States, availability of installation service providers from the United States, potential restrictions on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, among others, and the Company is therefore currently unable to provide timing estimates with certainty.

Once this industrial process is in operation, the Company expects the production capacity of ZENGuard" to increase significantly. The Company is currently assessing how it will increase market opportunities for the increased manufacturing capacity. Supply chain risks include the availability of nonwoven fabric for coating, the availability of shipping containers and port congestion. The Company is aware of the challenges of supply lines globally and is taking steps to minimize any such risk to its business by seeking out North American suppliers where possible.

Rapid Detection Technology

On June 17, 2021, the Company announced that it had signed an exclusive agreement with McMaster University to be the global commercializing partner for newly developed aptamer-based, SARS-CoV-2 rapid detection technology, developed by a team of researchers under the guidance of Drs. Yingfu Li, John Brennan and Leyla Soleymani, who are recognized as global leaders in biosensing technologies, and their applications as point of care diagnostics. The Company continues to work with the McMaster University team to commercialize the COVID-19 test by improving the performance of aptamers, optimizing chip synthesis and by identifying and initiating other tests that can be incorporated into the pathogen detection platform.

In connection with the rapid detection technology, on November 4, 2021, the Company announced that it was selected as one of three technologies for Phase 1 of the Innovative Solutions Canada ("ISC") Challenge to develop a portable detection device for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. The Company continues to make progress within the ISC challenge. It is expected that Phase 1 will conclude in February 2022. The Company has contracted with NeoVentures Biotechnology Inc. ("NeoVentures"), a well-known entity in the aptamer development and applications field. NeoVentures has been engaged to validate the McMaster University results against spike proteins and develop a mathematical model to better understand the technology and results. NeoVentures is also being asked to develop a standard operating procedure for the system, perform a pre-trial evaluation using saliva samples, and optimize buffers for sample preparation. The Company continues to work with NeoVentures, axiVEND, McMaster University and has recently engaged StarFish Product Engineering Inc. ("StarFish Medical"). StarFish Medical is to conduct a product strategy alignment, usability analysis, device and architecture development, proof of concept and prototyping, and program development.

The Company currently intends to continue to develop this technology, including the development of software and hardware, using outsourced third-party developers. In order to bring the product to market, the Company must also prepare a working prototype to conduct baseline studies and submit an application to Health Canada.

To bring the product to market, the Company will be required to obtain authorization from Health Canada under an interim order, or to obtain a Class IV Medical Device Active License ("MDAL"). The process for obtaining an MDAL involves completing certain testing requirements and demonstrating that the product is (i) safe, (ii) effective, and (iii) fit for purpose. Assuming that process is completed, the Company intends then to start putting together a product technical file, obtaining an ISO 13485 Certificate, which the Company currently expects by the end of Q2 2022, and then completing a Health Canada Class IV application.

Other Initiatives

On April 11, 2019, the Company and its research partners the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft-und Raumfahrt, The German Aerospace Center ("DLR") and Kal Tire Ltd. ("Kal Tire") reported preliminary battery development testing results at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, which was performed by Dr. Lukas Bichler. The initial results showed that the addition of the Company's 5% reduced Graphene Oxide ("rGO") into carbon black, which was derived from recycled Kal Tire tires, resulted in a 324% increase in the anode discharge capacity when compared to the current industry standard anode material. Subsequently, the Company and Kal Tire were unable to agree to the terms for an agreement and the collaboration was discontinued.

On September 16, 2019, the Company signed an agreement with Chemisar Laboratories Inc. ("Chemisar") to provide various consulting services which included the use of 2,300 square feet of office and laboratory space in Guelph, Ontario commencing on October 1, 2019. This office is the Company's graphene research and development centre located at 24 Corporate Court in Guelph, ON. Subsequently on October 9, 2020, the Company signed a 2-year extension with Chemisar for consulting services and the use of 4,300 square feet of office commencing on January 1, 2021. The additional 2000 square feet is currently used by the Company for the pilot-scale production of ZENGuard" antimicrobial formulation. The Company is currently in negotiations with the current owner of the property, and reasonably expects that an agreement of purchase and sale will be executed, with a target to close by early in 2022.

In November 2019, the Company reported on encouraging preliminary results from graphene-carbon aerogel battery development testing, which indicated that relatively low loadings of graphene-based material, combined with DLR's proprietary carbon aerogel structure, can result in an anode with a significant specific discharge capacity. These unoptimized results were believed to be better than those currently reported in the literature for graphene aerogel batteries. Graphene-enhanced aerogels could have the potential to be a low-cost, low-weight, high-performance composite materials for near future energy storage applications. Subsequently, on October 15, 2020, the Company and DLR signed a new research collaboration agreement to investigate the use of graphene-based nanomaterials in the fabrication of novel carbon aerogel composites for the development of hydrogel batteries. The Company was to contribute graphene and rGO for their part of the collaboration. However, with the outbreak of COVID-19, The Company's research and development initiatives focused on other priorities and, although this collaboration may continue in the future, there are no projected next steps at this time.

On July 9, 2020, the Issuer announced that Evercloak Inc. ("Evercloak") and the Company had been awarded $125,000 each as part of a Next Generation Manufacturing Canada ("NGen") Project, for an aggregate amount of $250,000. The project entitled "Advancing Large-Scale Graphene and Thin-Film Membrane Manufacturing" was to support the production of graphene oxide by the Company to supply to Evercloak for scale up and optimizing activities. Through this grant, and in collaboration with Evercloak, the Company was to optimize and scale-up the electrochemical exfoliation process that was developed by Prof. Aicheng Chen and his team at the University of Guelph to produce graphene oxide. On September 30, 2020, the Naval Material Technology Management section of the Royal Canadian Navy ("RCN") partnered with the Company and Evercloak as a testing organization and agreed to provide in-kind donations of test services. The testing was completed and compared the efficiency of an HVAC unit produced with the Evercloak dehumidification membrane technology to the incumbent HVAC system that is currently in use on certain of the RCN's frigates. Any additional testing with the RCN is currently on hold and no next steps are being considered, although Evercloak may test the suitability of the Company's GO products (chemical and electrochemical) in its dehumidification membrane technology.

On September 30, 2020, the Company first announced testing on graphene use for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ("HVAC") systems. On January 13, 2021, the Company announced that testing by a major Canadian certification company had confirmed that there was very little effect on air flow and pressure drop with a ZENGuard" treated filter compared to an untreated filter. The Company also reported that it would immediately move to commercialize its coating in the HVAC industry, and it continues to work towards this goal. The Company determined to wait for government support in order to proceed with testing, which was awarded on November 30, 2021. Further to the press release dated November 30, 2021, the Company announced that it has been awarded a research and development test contract through the ISC Testing Stream Call for Proposals to test ZENGuard"-coated HVAC filters with interest from three different units within the National Research Council of Canada ("NRC"). The goal of the testing will be to demonstrate: (i) a net reduction in the airborne viral load with ZENGuard" coating applied to standard filters; (ii) no modifications required to existing HVAC systems to achieve (i) above; (iii) no reduction in air flow rates, which means air exchange rates in the space will be unchanged; and (iv) no reduction in the air quality as the ZENGuard" coating will be tested to ensure it does not contribute particles into the air stream. Phase 1 testing commenced in December 2021 after an extensive design process, calibration and assessment of the testing rig. The Company expects testing to be complete by the end of Q1 2022. Phase 2 testing will be dependent on positive results from Phase 1.

On December 7, 2020, the Company announced that in partnership with Prof. Mohammad Arjmand and his team at the University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, the Company was awarded a $780,000 alliance grant ($480,000 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada ("NSERC") and $300,000 from a combination of cash and in-kind contributions from the Company), awarded through a competitive peer review process. This proposal, titled "Synthesis of Graphene Nanomaterials and Development of Their Multifunctional Polymer Nanocomposites", included work on conductive and magnetic 3D printable filaments, which have now been optimized and are being assessed for commercialization. Prof. Arjmand's team has also been conducting research on graphene quantum dot synthesis for quality and reproducibility purposes. The research in this respect is ongoing and, with respect to next steps, Prof. Arjmand is to begin work in a new research and development facility, which the Company expects may accelerate progress on this initiative.

On June 1, 2021, the Company announced that it had developed a stable diesel fuel additive based on testing carried out on a Gunt single-cylinder test engine. The Company's research and development team improved the synthesis of the functionalized graphene oxide additive to reduce the size of the particles and increase the functional groups, which could lead to improved combustion. An NSERC alliance proposal has been submitted for $110,500 cash contribution and a total budget of $311,500 over two years to continue doped fuel research. The project will focus on measuring the combustion of doped fuel in both droplet and spray combustion.

On November 2, 2021, the Company announced the development of a new carbon-based nanotechnology-enhanced icephobic coating to prevent or reduce ice accretion for aviation (including drone) and wind energy applications. The Company also announced that an accompanying provisional patent for this technology had been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Preliminary testing demonstrated that this coating showed an adhesion strength consistently around 20 kPa. The project has involved using dispersion technology to homogeneously mix graphene materials in the elastomer. The Company has conducted testing in a third-party icing wind tunnel and prepared graphene-enhanced elastomer material and coated coupons for testing. Future testing includes accelerated weathering, durability (sand erosion), flight testing on a specially equipped research aircraft under real world ice-forming weather conditions, elastomer/graphene loading optimization, adhesion optimization, and coating application optimization. The Company continues its search efforts to find collaborators to commercialize this technology, including UAV companies and companies specializing in elastomer production. More recently, the Company has submitted samples to Micom Laboratories Inc. for UV accelerated aging per ASTM G-154 testing, which will take six weeks to complete. These samples will then be retested in the icing wind tunnel to determine if the aging has had any impact on the coating's icephobic properties. The third-party that will be performing the in-flight ice accretion testing has confirmed to the Company that they anticipate performing a shakedown test flight with a probe coated with the Company's icephobic elastomer before the end of the year or early in 2022.

The Company has also been awarded multiple Mitacs grants, including the following previously disclosed grants: (i) as disclosed by the Company in its press release dated November 11, 2021, Dr. Antony Thiruppathi, PhD, was awarded a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral fellowship to conduct work on the chemical exfoliation of graphite into graphene oxide; (ii) as disclosed by the Company in its press release dated January 20, 2021, Dr. Deepak Sridhar, PhD, was awarded a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral fellowship to conduct work on the chemical exfoliation of graphite into graphene oxide; (iii) as disclosed by the Company in its press release dated September 3, 2020, Dr. Seyyedarash Haddadi was awarded a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral fellowship to conduct work on the chemical exfoliation of graphite into graphene oxide. The Company continues its work with such individuals (including Dr. Sridhar who has joined the Company on a full-time basis) and assists with applications for grants as appropriate.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will they be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and such securities may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration under U.S. federal and state securities laws or an applicable exemption from such U.S. registration requirements.

About Zentek Ltd.

Zentek is an IP development and commercialization company focused on next-gen healthcare solutions in the areas of prevention, detection and treatment. Zentek is commercializing ZENGuard", a patent-pending coating with 99% antimicrobial activity, including against COVID-19, and the potential to use similar compounds as pharmaceutical products against infectious diseases. The Company also has an exclusive agreement to be the global exclusive commercializing partner for a newly developed, highly scalable, aptamer-based rapid pathogen detection technology.

For further information:

Matt Blazei

Tel: (212) 655-0924

Email: mattb@coreir.com

To find out more about Zentek Ltd., please visit our website at www.Zentek.com. A copy of this news release and all material documents in respect of the Company may be obtained on ZEN's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or the Company's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends", "anticipates", "targets" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of, such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, including statements relating to the proposed Offerings including the completion and timing thereof, potential research, development or commercialization of new or existing products, the acquisition or completion of new facilities, obtaining permits, licenses or authorizations from regulatory bodies, collaborations or partnerships with third parties, production capacities, potential revenue generation, and the general future development of the Company's business. All forward-looking statements, including those herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. These include without limitation, related to the following: no operating revenues and history of losses, no guarantee of success, intellectual property, lack of revenue from graphene sales, product development and technological change, market development and growth, unpredictable sales cycles, government regulation and import/export controls, industry competition, lack of trading market for graphene, shortages, need for additional funding, going concern, commodity markets, market fluctuation and commercial viability, operating hazards and risks, health, safety and community relations, environmental protection, pre-existing environmental liabilities, reliance on key personnel, liquidity risk, share price fluctuations, public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflicts of interest, uninsurable risks, cybersecurity threats, and general economic, market or business conditions, as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's annual information form for the year ended March 31, 2021, and in the continuous disclosure documents filed by the Company on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date or dates specified in such statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions relating to: the availability of financing for the Company's operations; operating and capital costs; results of operations; production schedule and related costs; timing of the receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals for products; capital and operating costs; and general business and economic conditions.

Readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, investors are encouraged to review the Company's public filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/108476
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Dec. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Reveling in happy moments, soaking them in and storing them away to cope with anticipated future sadness is a phenomenon named and explored as "banking happiness" in new research from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

The study confirms such behavior, but "at this stage, we don't have enough research to say whether it's good to do this -- we're explaining that banking happiness can happen, so consumers can be aware of their own behavior and what's driving it," says Maryland Smith Assistant Professor of Marketing Ali Faraji-Rad, co-author of the work with Leonard Lee of the National University of Singapore.

The findings are published in "Banking Happiness" in the Journal of Consumer Research.

"It's well documented in marketing and consumer behavior research that when people are sad, they try to do things to make themselves happier  whether it's shopping, eating, watching comedies," Faraji-Rad says. "Do people have this belief that they can do things to offset the sadness or be able to withstand the sadness when it comes?"

Faraji-Rad says his sister helped to spark the research. As a fan of the television phenomena Game of Thrones, he says before watching the show she would do things like binge on chocolate to withstand the sad scenes she knew were inevitable in the show, which was notorious for killing off main characters without warning.

"That was kind of the backdrop that started it for me  thinking that banking happiness could be a thing," Faraji-Rad says.

He and Lee ran a series of experiments to test whether knowing something sad was coming up would increase the likelihood that, when given a choice, participants would go for a happy option  in the studies, songs and movie clips. In some studies, they also tested whether people would draw on positive memories when faced with upcoming sadness. They also tested whether consumers would draw on banked happiness or just try to manage their mood in reaction to a sad event when it actually occurred.

"We show that many people do have this lay belief that you can actually bank happiness," Faraji-Rad says.

They also looked at people's tendency to be future-oriented or live more in the present, finding that those future-looking consumers are more likely to bank happiness. "We already know that happy memories are helpful when you have sadness," Faraji-Rad says. "People want to create this resource of happy memories that they can tap into. Whenever they are feeling sad, drawing on those memories and that nostalgia can make people feel better."

Positive moods also can be a buffer, he says  but just in the short-term. So, if you are feeling good now, it helps while you are feeling sad. But usually that mood quickly dissipates and that's when memories kick in.

"People who believed in banking happiness were generally more likely to choose happy stuff, whether or not they were told that sadness was coming or not," says Faraji-Rad. "And if they are told that a sad thing is coming up and then they are given a happy thing to consume now, they actually will consume it with more engagement. It's because of the motivation to become happy  they really want to get the most out of the happy thing."

Go to Maryland Smith Research for related content at https://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/research/maryland-smith-research and follow on Twitter @SmithBrainTrust.

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of BusinessThe Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, specialty masters, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

Contact: Greg Muraski at gmuraski@umd.edu.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/banking-happiness-research-finds-people-try-to-store-happy-moments-to-cope-with-bad-ones-301450988.html

SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

FORM 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16

UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

As at December 27, 2021

Commission File Number 001-37909

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

5th Floor, Southern Park, D-II,

Saket Place, Saket, New Delhi 110017, India

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F. Form 20-F x Form 40 F 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1). 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7). 

Exhibit Index

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED Date: December 27, 2021 By: /s/ Ranjit Gupta Name: Ranjit Gupta Title: Principal Executive Officer

Exhibit 99.1

Operational and financial Update

Ebene, December 27, 2021: Azure Power Global Limited (NYSE: AZRE) (the Company), a leading independent renewable power producer in India, today announced certain operational and financial updates in connection with the Rights Offering that was also announced today.

This is not an offer to sell or purchase nor the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

In November 2021, the Company signed PPAs with Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) for 600 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.54 per kWh and, in December 2021, signed PPAs with SECI for a further 2,333 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.42 per kWh for supply power for 25 years, as a part of the 4,000 MW manufacturing linked projects.

The Company has also received letter of awards (LOA), for its first 120 MWs wind project and first 150 MWs solar  wind hybrid project, from SECI. The Company further received LOA for 200 MWs solar  wind hybrid project from Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Limited (MSEDCL).

The Company is evaluating, and is in preliminary discussions, with sellers of renewable energy assets in India that would complement its current portfolio. Some of these assets may be sizeable and may result in significant acquisitions. The Companys strategy is to continue to build shareholder value and to evaluate acquisition opportunities that satisfy criteria of value accretive returns.

During the second fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company issued Solar Green bonds (the "Bonds") of US$414 Million through its wholly owned subsidiary, Azure Power Energy Ltd at coupon of 3.575% maturing in 2026. The proceeds from the Bonds were used to repay the 5.50% US$ 500 Million solar green bond issued in 2017 with a maturity in 2022. The Bonds have a tenor of 5 years with amortisation and waterfall structures and their issuance is a leverage-positive transaction for the Company.

During the quarter ended September 30, 2021, the Company received a favorable order from the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) relating to ongoing litigation in relation to the 40 MW Karnataka project having a power purchase agreement with Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited (GESCOM). APTEL set aside the order of Karnataka Regulatory Commission (KERC), wherein the KERC had reduced the extension of time, reduced the PPA tariff and imposed liquidated damages. Subsequent to the period ended September 30, 2021, the GESCOM has further filed an appeal with Supreme Court against the order.

The Company also received a favourable order from Karnataka High Court (Order dated December 02, 2021 in WP 5368 of 2020) for its 50 MW Solar Power Project in Karnataka, against Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (HESCOM), i.e. procurer DISCOM under its PPA, whereby HESCOM has been, inter alia, directed to pay and clear all the outstanding dues payable by it in relation to all the bills and invoices raised as on the date of order and make prompt, regular and timely payments without any delay in relation to future invoices. HESCOM has also been directed to forthwith open or renew monthly irrevocable letters of credit in terms of the PPA between the Company and HESCOM. Additionally, general directions to all the DISCOMs in the State of Karnataka, have been, inter alia, to issue, honour, discharge and fulfil their duties, obligations and liabilities under the respective PPAs including opening of letters of credit as per PPA and to make prompt, regular and timely payments without any delay in relation to future invoices raised by power generators in the State of Karnataka.

During the current year, the Company received complaints and anonymous whistle-blower reports which made various claims against certain of the Companys Key Managerial Personnel, related to their and the Companys actions in relation to the acquisition of and use of land in Rajasthan, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, as well as certain other corporate actions. The Company, through its Audit Committee, and with the assistance of external counsel and forensic auditors, has completed its investigation to determine whether the allegations made in the complaints or contained in the whistle-blower reports are substantive. The issues raised, including those raised against Key Management Personnel, have been closed and allegations were not substantiated; however, the Company determined that its ethics policies regarding external consultants should be enhanced. The Company, through its Audit Committee and with the assistance of external counsel, will be taking remedial steps (including training and policy review).

During the third quarter ending December 31, 2021, the Company received an unfavorable order from appellate authority from the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA), relating to arbitration proceedings initiated by the Companys former chief executive officer in relation to his transition agreement. The Company is in process of evaluating the order received and will take necessary action in due course.

The Enforcement Directorate of India filed a Prosecution Complaint with a special court in New Delhi on October 1, 2021, in respect of an earlier Enforcement Case Information Report wherein Mr. Pawan Kumar Agrawal, the current Chief Financial Officer of the Company, is one of those named and charged with the commission of offences under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 of India in relation to Mr. Agrawals prior employment. The relevant transactions that are the subject of the complaint predated Mr. Agrawals tenure as an employee and as Chief Financial Officer of the Company, and the criminal charges are not directed at, and do not concern, the Company or its subsidiaries. The Company will continue to monitor the proceedings as Mr. Agrawal defends the charges made against him.

Certain PPAs, particularly the PPAs executed with SECI require the project developer to maintain its controlling shareholding (more than 50% of the voting rights and paid-up share capital) prevalent at the time of the signing of the PPA up to one year after the commercial operation date; however, transfer of controlling shareholding within the same group companies is permitted with the permission of SECI after the commercial operation date, subject to the condition that the management control remains with same group companies.

In April 2021, the Supreme Court of India while passing an order for a petition filed under public interest litigation (PIL) aimed at the conservation of two species of birds, the Great Indian Bustard and the Lesser Florican, directed the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat including developers having overhead transmission lines in identified priority and potential area to take necessary steps for conversion of overhead power lines to underground lines and in the interim install bird diverters on the overhead lines. However, in the non-feasibility of converting high voltage lines to underground lines, the matter can be referred for technical evaluation by a committee set up by Supreme Court. The conversion of overhead cables into underground power lines, wherever considered feasible by such committee, is to take place within a period of one year. The order of the Supreme Court mentioned the pass through of such expenses incurred by the power developers to the ultimate consumer, subject to approval of the Competent Regulatory Authority. The Company and other players in the industry through Solar Power Developer Association. as well as, Union of India (Ministry of New and Renewable (MNRE) have submitted a modification application to Supreme Court of India, seeking allowance for laying of over-head transmission lines outside priority areas as well as inside priority areas if the lines are of high/extra high voltage of 33 kV or above and to examine on case-to-case basis study for requirement of undergrounding even for 33kV and lower in priority area. The Management has preliminarily assessed that any costs incurred to comply with the said order are likely to be substantially or wholly recoverable by the Company under provisions of change in law and/or force majeure of their respective PPAs in due course following the prescribed procedure under the respective PPAs and law.

MANAGEMENT DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS ON OPERATING AND FINANCIAL REVIEW

Unaudited Condensed Financial Information

The following is a summary of our unaudited condensed consolidated statement of operations data for the six months ended September 30, 2020 and 2021, a summary of our audited condensed consolidated balance sheet data as of March 31, 2021 and unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet data as of September 30, 2021 and a summary of our unaudited condensed consolidated cash flow data for the six months ended September 30, 2020 and 2021. We have prepared this unaudited condensed consolidated financial information on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements and in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles. Results for the first six months of our fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 may not be indicative of our full-year results for our full fiscal year or for future six month periods.

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS

Six Months ended September 30, 2020 2021 2021 INR INR US$ (1) (Unaudited) (in millions, except per share data) Operating revenues: Revenue from customers 7,444 8,826 119.0 Operating costs and expenses: Cost of operations (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below) 572 700 9.4 General and administrative 1,256 773 10.4 Depreciation and amortization 1,528 1,679 22.6 Impairment loss (Refer note A) - 40 0.5 Total operating costs and expenses 3,356 3,192 42.9 Operating income 4,088 5,634 76.1 Other expenses, net: Interest expense, net 4,186 4,666 62.8 Other expenses net - 2 0.0 Loss (gain) on foreign currency exchange, net 4 (108 ) (1.4 ) Total other expenses, net 4,190 4,560 61.4 Profit (loss) before income tax (102 ) 1,074 14.7 Income tax expense (220 ) (677 ) (9.1 ) Net (loss) profit (322 ) 397 5.6 Less: Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest (5 ) (19 ) (0.3 ) Net (loss) / profit attributable to APGL equity Shareholders (327 ) 378 5.3 Net (loss) / profit per share attributable to APGL equity Shareholders: Basic (6.84 ) 7.84 0.11 Diluted (6.84 ) 7.76 0.10 Shares used in computing basic and diluted per share amounts Equity shares: Basic 47,817,323 48,203,336 Equity shares: Diluted 47,817,323 48,708,973 Supplement information: Adjusted EBITDA (2) 5,616 7,353 99.2

(1) Translation of balances from INR to US$ in the condensed consolidated statement of operations is for the convenience of the reader and was calculated using a rate of US$1.00 = INR 74.16, which is the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfer in non-U.S. currencies as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021. (2) Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure. We present Adjusted EBITDA as a supplemental measure of our performance. This measurement is not recognized in accordance with U.S. GAAP and should not be viewed as an alternative to U.S. GAAP measures of performance. The presentation of Adjusted EBITDA should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by unusual or non-recurring items.

Adjusted EBITDA

We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss (profit) plus (a) income tax expense, (b) interest expense, net, (c) depreciation and amortization and (d) loss (gain) on foreign currency exchange, net, (e) Other expenses/ (income) and (f) Impairment loss. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors in assessing our ongoing financial performance and provides improved comparability between periods through the exclusion of certain items that management believes are not indicative of our operational profitability and that may obscure underlying business results and trends. However, this measure should not be considered in isolation or viewed as a substitute for net income or other measures of performance determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Moreover, Adjusted EBITDA as used herein is not necessarily comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies due to potential inconsistencies in the methods of calculation.

Our management believes this measure is useful to compare general operating performance from period to period and to make certain related management decisions. Adjusted EBITDA is also used by securities analysts, lenders and others in their evaluation of different companies because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be highly dependent on a companys capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings. Therefore, the impact of interest expense on earnings can vary significantly among companies. In addition, the tax positions of companies can vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the various jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and tax expense can vary considerably among companies.

Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of our results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations include:

 it does not reflect cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments or foreign exchange gain/loss;  it does not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, working capital;  it does not reflect significant interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments on outstanding debt;  it does not reflect payments made or future requirements for income taxes; and  although depreciation, amortization and impairment are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced or paid in the future and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect cash requirements for such replacements or payments.

Investors are encouraged to evaluate each adjustment and the reasons we consider it appropriate for supplemental analysis.

The table below sets forth a reconciliation of our Net (Loss)/Profit to Adjusted EBITDA for the periods indicated:

Unaudited Six Months ended September 30, 2020 2021 2021 INR INR US$ (a) (in millions) Net (Loss) /Profit (322 ) 397 5.6 Income tax expense 220 677 9.1 Interest expense, net 4,186 4,666 62.9 Depreciation and amortization 1,528 1,679 22.6 Loss/(gain) on foreign currency exchange, net 4 (108 ) (1.5 ) Other expenses/ (income) - 2 0.0 Impairment loss - 40 0.5 Adjusted EBITDA 5,616 7,353 99.2

(a) Refer to note (1) above.

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(INR and US$ amounts in millions, except share and par value data)

As of March 31, As of September 30, 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) (1) Audited Unaudited Unaudited Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 11,107 9,513 128.3 Restricted cash 4,881 9,780 131.9 Accounts receivable, net 4,887 5,680 76.6 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 2,190 2,317 31.1 Assets classified as held for sale (Refer Note A) 3,301 3,683 49.7 Total current assets 26,366 30,973 417.6 Restricted cash 170 95 1.3 Property, plant and equipment, net 108,847 120,808 1,628.7 Software, net 29 21 0.3 Deferred income taxes 1,748 1,999 27.0 Right-of-use assets 4,214 4,023 54.2 Other assets 7,084 2,431 32.8 Investments in held to maturity securities 7 6 0.1 Total assets 148,465 160,356 2,162.0 Liabilities and shareholders equity Current liabilities: Short-term debt 8,943 21,273 286.9 Accounts payable 4,294 5,578 75.2 Current portion of long-term debt 4,658 7,107 95.8 Income taxes payable 46 47 0.6 Interest payable 1,530 854 11.5 Deferred revenue 110 110 1.5 Lease liabilities 283 274 3.7 Other liabilities 1,927 1,920 26.0 Liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale (Refer Note A) 2,272 2,279 30.7 Total current liabilities 24,063 39,442 531.9 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 89,922 86,929 1,172.2 Deferred revenue 2,353 2,334 31.5 Deferred income taxes 2,046 1,644 22.2 Asset retirement obligations 811 927 12.5 Lease liabilities 3,359 3,212 43.3 Other liabilities 1,459 1,547 20.4 Total liabilities 124,013 136,035 1,834.0 Shareholders equity Equity shares, US$ 0.000625 par value; 48,195,962 and 48,206,937 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021, and September 30, 2021, respectively 2 2 0.0 Additional paid-in capital 38,004 38,063 513.3 Accumulated deficit (12,786 ) (12,408 ) (167.3 ) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (972 ) (1,559 ) (21.0 ) Total APGL shareholders equity 24,248 24,098 325.0 Non-controlling interest 204 223 3.0 Total shareholders equity 24,452 24,321 328.0 Total liabilities and shareholders equity 148,465 160,356 2,162.0

(1) Translation of balances from INR to US$ in the condensed consolidated balance sheets is for the convenience of the reader and was calculated using a rate of US$1.00 = INR 74.16, which is the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfer in non-U.S. currencies as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021.

UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

Six Months ended September 30, 2020 2021 2021 INR INR US$ (1) (Unaudited) (in millions) Net cash provided by operating activities 2,431 1853 25.1 Net cash used in investing activities (7,174 ) (11,961 ) (161.6 ) Net cash provided by financing activities 3,356 13,336 179.8

(1) Translation of balances from INR to US$ in the condensed consolidated statement of cash flow is for the convenience of the reader and was calculated using a rate of US$1.00 = INR 74.16, which is the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfer in non-U.S. currencies as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021.

Note A : Impairment of assets and Asset held for Sale

In April 2021, the Company has entered into an agreement with Radiance Renewables Pvt. Ltd. (Radiance) to sell certain subsidiaries (the Rooftop Subsidiaries) with an operating capacity of 153 MWs (the Rooftop Portfolio) for INR 5,350 million, subject to certain purchase price adjustments (the Rooftop Sale Agreement). Pursuant to the Rooftop Sale Agreement, Radiance will acquire 100% of the equity ownership of the Rooftop Subsidiaries owned by the Group. The Company had recognized an impairment loss in relation to the Rooftop Subsidiaries aggregating to INR 3,255 million during the year ended March 31, 2021, pursuant thereto these assets (net) are carried at its fair values in the financial statements.

As per the terms of the Rooftop Sale Agreement in respect to 43.2 MWs operating capacity that are part of the Restricted Groups (as defined in the respective Green Bond Indentures) 48.6% of the equity ownership will be transferred to Radiance on the closing date, and pursuant to the terms of the Green Bond Indentures, the remaining 51.4% may only be transferred post refinancing of the Green Bonds. During the six months ended September 30, 2021, post refinancing of 5.5% Senior Notes and repayment of loan relating to one of a rooftop project of 10 MWs, the restriction on transfer of shareholding was released and related assets and liabilities of the SPV have been reclassified and reported as assets held for sale as of September 30, 2021. The loan repaid by the Company relating to this 10 MW project will be recovered from Radiance.

The transfer of ownership for the remaining operating capacity of 33.2 MWs for the Solar Green Bonds is not anticipated to occur within 12 months, hence, the assets and liabilities of these subsidiaries are not presented as Assets classified as held for sale and instead continue to be classified within the respective balance sheet captions in the condensed consolidated financial statements at September 30, 2021.

There is also a restriction on transfer of equity ownership relating to the 16 MW project with Delhi Jal Board (DJB), wherein 49% of the equity ownership will be transferred to Radiance on closing date, and the remaining 51% will be transferred on or after March 31, 2024. Accordingly, the related assets and liabilities of the DJB 16 MW project are not presented as Assets classified as held for sale and instead continue to be classified within the respective balance sheet captions at September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2021 respectively.

The sale of Rooftop Subsidiaries having remaining 103.8 MWs (including 10 MWs mentioned above) operating capacity is expected to be consummated within the next 12 months and accordingly the assets and related liabilities of these subsidiaries are shown as Assets classified as held for sale in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as at September 30,2021. The Company has recognized impairment loss of INR 40 million (US$ 0.5 million) in this respect under condensed consolidated Statement of Operations for the six months ended 30 September 2021.

The Company is in process of obtaining requisite approvals/ condition precedents, as defined in the contract, for transfer of its shareholding in the Rooftop subsidiaries and proceeds are expected to be received by end of current financial year.

In the event the sale of the Rooftop Subsidiaries does not occur, the Company must reimburse Radiance the equity value of the assets not transferred along with an 10.5% per annum equity return.

In May 2021, the Company has disposed its investment in a subsidiary on a going concern basis for consideration of INR 123 million (US$ 1.7 million). The same was reported as asset held for sale under financials for the year ended March 31, 2021.

The assets and liabilities of the Rooftop Subsidiaries classified as held for sale, together with the calculation of the related impairment loss is shown below.

As of September 30, 2021 2021 (INR) (US$) (In million) (Unaudited) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 164 2.2 Restricted cash 267 3.6 Accounts receivable, net 313 4.2 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 9 0.1 Total current assets 753 10.1 Property, plant and equipment, net 2,946 39.7 Other assets 25 0.3 Total assets (A) 3,724 50.1 Liabilities Current liabilities: Accounts payable 6 0.1 Current portion of long-term debt 12 0.2 Interest payable 91 1.2 Other liabilities 172 2.3 Total current liabilities 281 3.8 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 1,948 26.3 Other liabilities 51 0.7 Total liabilities (B) 2,280 30.8 Net Assets (C=A-B) 1,444 19.3 Fair value (D) 1,404 18.8 Impairment loss (E=C-D) 40 (1) 0.5

During the six months ended September 30, 2021 the Company has recorded an Impairment loss of INR 40 million (US$ 0.5 million) on account of changes in fair value of carrying value of net assets.

The fair value of consideration related to the rooftop sale includes expected recovery of VGF for INR 463 million (US$ 6.3 million). The Company has undertaken to refund to the purchaser an amount equivalent to 85% of any shortfall in recovery of VGF. Based on the current circumstances, management has assessed that they have complied with the conditions associated with the grant of VGF and hence have determined that the recovery of the VGF is likely.

During the six months ended September 30, 2021, in respect of the 33.2 MWs operating capacity that are part of the Restricted Groups, and 16 MW project with Delhi Jal Board, the Company has consolidated the entities in the consolidated financial statements and net carrying value of assets are reinstated.

Results of Operations for the Six Months ended September 30, 2021

Compared to the Six Months ended September 30, 2020

Operating Revenues

Operating revenues during the six months ended September 30, 2021, increased by INR 1,382 million, or 19%, to INR 8,826 million (US$119.0 million), compared to the same six months period in 2020. This increase was mainly driven by revenue generated from projects which were commissioned after the period ended September 30, 2020, and additional revenue of INR 408 million (US$ 5.5 million) from sale of carbon credits. Further the operating revenue for six months ended September 30, 2021, includes INR 343 million (US$ 4.6 million) relating to Rooftop Portfolio of 153 MWs (AC), which the Company has entered into an agreement to sell during April 2021.

Cost of Operations (Exclusive of Depreciation and Amortization)

Cost of operations during the six months ended September 30, 2021, increased by INR 128 million, or 22%, to INR 700 million (US$9.4 million), compared to the six months ended September 30, 2020. The increase in the cost of operations was primarily due to increase in operational expenses from project commissioned after the period ended September 30, 2020, and lower cost of operations by INR 50 million during six months ended September 30, 2020, primarily due to country wide lockdowns imposed after outbreak of first wave of COVID-19 which resulted in slowdown of maintenance activity in that six months.

The cost of operations per megawatt during the six months ended September 30, 2021, increased marginally to INR 0.31 million (~US$ 4,200), from INR 0.27 million (~US$ 3,700) in the six months ended September 30, 2020.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses for the six months ended September 30, 2021, were INR 773 million (US$ 10.4 million), a decline of INR 483 million (US$ 6.5 million) compared to the six months ended September 30, 2020. The decrease in general and administrative expense during six months ended September 30, 2021 was primarily due to reversal of stock appreciation rights (SARs) expense by INR 143 million (US$ 1.9 million) as compared to expense of INR 561 million in the six months ended September 30, 2020, partly offset by increase in legal and professional expenses by INR 183 million (US$ 2.5 million). As of September 30, 2021, 1,875,000 SARs were outstanding of which 1,682,500 SARs are not exercisable until 2024 on which we will not incur any cash payments until that time.

Depreciation and Amortization

Depreciation and amortization during the six months ended September 30, 2021, increased by INR 151 million (US$ 2.0 million), or 10%, to INR 1,679 million (US$ 22.6 million) compared to the six months ended September 30, 2020. The increase primarily relates to the projects commissioned since period ended September 30, 2020.

Impairment loss

The Company entered into an agreement with Radiance Renewables Pvt. Ltd. to sell certain subsidiaries with an operating capacity of 153 MWs. The Company is in the process of obtaining requisite approvals from off takers and lenders for the completion of the transaction. Pending transfer of shareholding, these Rooftop entities are currently being consolidated in the Company. The Company has further recognized an impairment loss of INR 40 million (US$ 0.5 million) during the six months ended September 30, 2021 in relation to change in fair valuations. The impairment loss offsets the amount which has been recognized in other line items of the profit and loss account and will not impact the overall profitability of the Company.

Interest Expense, Net

Net interest expense during the six months ended September 30, 2021, increased by INR 480 million (US$ 6.5 million), or 11% compared to the six months ended September 30, 2020, to INR 4,666 million (US$ 62.8 million). The increase is primarily due to an increase in interest expense of INR 683 million (US$ 9.2 million) on borrowings related to projects commissioned after September 30, 2020 after considering refinancing, interest reset, non-recurring charges relating to refinancing of the 5.5% Solar Green bonds, INR 109 million (US$ 1.5 million) and INR 115 million (US$ 1.6 million) relating to one time charge related to refinancing of existing loans, partially offset by INR 264 million (US$ 3.6 million) for charges related to refinancing of a loan incurred during the six months ended September 30, 2020 and INR 162 million (US$ 2.2 million) for higher interest income on account of higher cash available during the six months ended September 30, 2021.

Loss/(Gain) on Foreign Currency Exchange (net)

Foreign exchange gain during the six months ended September 30, 2021, amounted to INR 108 million (US$1.4 million) compared to a foreign exchange loss of INR 4 million during six months ended September 30, 2020. Foreign exchange gain during the six months ended September 30, 2021 was primarily related to net gain on exchange difference on settlement of Solar Green Bonds.

Income Tax Expense

Income tax expense during the six months ended September 30, 2021, was INR 677 million (US$ 9.1 million), compared to an income tax expense of INR 220 million during six months ended September 30, 2020. During the current period the Company has recognized a deferred tax expense (net) on account of movement in the carrying amount of certain assets and liabilities and their tax base and commissioning of new projects and sale of carbon credit emission.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company does not generate cash from operations in order to fund our expenses. Restrictions on the ability of our subsidiaries to pay us cash dividends as a result of certain regulatory and contractual restrictions may make it impracticable to use such dividends as a means of funding the expenses of Azure Power Global Limited.

Our principal liquidity requirements are to finance current operations, service our debt and support our growth in India. Including by means of asset acquisitions. We will continue to use capital in the future to finance the construction of renewable power plants and potentially to purchase renewable assets. Our operations largely rely on project-level long-term borrowings, proceeds from issuance of Green Bonds, proceeds from issuance of common stock, compulsorily convertible preferred shares and compulsorily convertible debentures, non-convertible debentures, non-convertible debentures, and internally generated cash flows to meet capital expenditure requirements. As a normal part of our business and depending on market conditions, we will from time to time consider opportunities to repay, redeem, repurchase, or refinance our indebtedness. Changes in our operating plans, lower than anticipated electricity sales, increased expenses or other events may cause us to seek additional debt or financing in future periods. There can be no guarantee that financing will be available on acceptable terms or at all. Debt financing, if available, could impose additional cash payment obligations, additional covenants and operating restrictions. Future financings could result in the dilution of our existing shareholding.

Liquidity Position

As of September 30, 2021, our liquid assets totaled INR 9,513 million (US$ 128.3 million), which was comprised of cash and cash equivalents. In addition, we had INR 9,780 million (US$ 131.9 million) of short-term restricted cash as at September 30, 2021 that we expect to be utilized primarily for capital expenditures over the next twelve months. We also have commitments from financial institutions that we can draw upon in the future once specific funding criteria have been achieved. We had undrawn project debt commitments excluding Rooftop portfolio of INR 17,803 million (US$ 240.1 million) as of September 30, 2021.

We are subject to business and operational risks that could adversely affect our cash flows. A material decrease in our cash flows would likely produce a corresponding adverse effect on our borrowing capacity.

Our financing arrangements as of September 30, 2021, consisted of project-level financing arrangements and other borrowings.

The table below summarizes certain terms of our project-level financing arrangements as of September 30, 2021:

Name of project Outstanding Principal

Amount Type of Interest Currency Maturity

date (2) Commissioned/

Under-construction INR US$ (1) (in millions) Rajasthan 6 16,486 222.3 Floating INR/USD 2021-2040 Partially Commissioned Andhra Pradesh 1 2,508 33.8 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Bihar 1 439 5.9 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Gujarat 1 928 12.5 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Karnataka 1 748 10.1 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Karnataka 3.1 2,180 29.4 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Karnataka 3.2 1,774 23.9 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Karnataka 3.3 2,810 37.9 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Punjab 1 324 4.4 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Punjab 2 1,939 26.1 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Punjab 4 5,540 74.7 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Rajasthan 3.1 1,187 16.0 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Rajasthan 3.2 1,350 18.2 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Rajasthan 3.3 2,325 31.4 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Rajasthan 4 236 3.2 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Telangana 1 5,030 67.8 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Uttar Pradesh 1 353 4.8 Fixed INR 2022 Commissioned Gujarat 2 9,188 123.9 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Maharashtra 3 5,238 70.6 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Karnataka 4 3,934 53.0 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Maharashtra 1.1 & 1.2 325 4.4 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Uttar Pradesh 3 1,778 24.0 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Andhra Pradesh 3 2,179 29.4 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Punjab 3.1 and 3.2 1,219 16.4 Fixed INR 2024 Commissioned Rajasthan 8 4,931 66.5 Floating US$ 2026 Under Construction Rajasthan 1 425 5.7 Fixed INR 2031 Commissioned Rajasthan 2 2,505 33.8 Fixed INR 2033 Commissioned Karnataka 2 382 5.2 Floating INR 2034 Commissioned Chhattisgarh 1.1,1.2 & 1.3 1,321 17.8 Floating INR 2036 Commissioned Andhra Pradesh 2 5,017 67.7 Floating INR 2036 Commissioned Uttar Pradesh 2 2,070 27.9 Floating INR 2037 Commissioned Rajasthan 5 5,618 75.8 Mixed INR 2038 Commissioned Assam 1 1,999 27.0 Floating INR 2039 Partially Commissioned Rooftop Projects (5), (6) 3,004 40.5 Mixed INR/US$ 2022-32 Multiple Projects Total 97,290 (3),(4) 1,312.0

(1) Translation of INR to US$ is for the convenience of the reader and was calculated using a rate of US$ 1.00 = INR 74.16, which is the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfer in non-U.S. currencies as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021.

(2) This represents the last repayment period. These loans are repayable on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. For repayment by period of the above-mentioned loans, refer to contractual obligation and commercial commitments

(3) This amount is presented in the financials as net of ancillary cost of borrowing of INR 1,377 million (US$ 18.6 million).

(4) Non-project level debt of INR 18,466 million (US$ 249.0 million) is excluded from the above table. Further foreign exchange fluctuation of INR 2,893 million (US$ 39.0 million) is in respect of project debt against which the company has taken hedge.

(5) Project level debt of INR 1,960 million (US$ 26.4 million) pertaining to rooftop entities under sale have been classified under Liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale.

(6) Rooftop Projects primarily includes, Delhi Rooftop 4, Gujarat rooftop, Punjab Rooftop 2, Railway 1, DJB, DMRC and SECI.

Our outstanding project-level borrowings have been secured by certain movable and immovable properties, including property, plant and equipment, as well as a pledge of the shares of the project-level SPVs.

The financing agreements governing our project-level borrowings contain financial and other restrictive covenants that limit our project subsidiaries ability to make distributions to us unless certain specific conditions are met, including the satisfaction of certain financial ratios. As of September 30, 2021, certain subsidiaries of the Company were not in compliance with the financial covenants related to this borrowing and had obtained waivers for the non-compliance prior to the issuance of these financial statements.

Sources of Liquidity

Our ability to meet our debt service obligations and other capital requirements will depend on our future operating performance which, in turn, will be subject to general economic, financial, business, competitive, legislative, regulatory and other conditions, many of which are beyond our control.

Uses of Liquidity

Our principal requirements for liquidity and capital resources can be categorized into investment for developing solar power plants and debt service obligations. Generally, once operational, our solar power generation assets do not require significant capital expenditures to maintain their operating performance and the working capital is sufficient to meet the operations.

Capital Expenditures

As of September 30, 2021, we operated 45 utility-scale projects with a combined rated capacity of 2,210 MWs (excluding the rooftop portfolio, for which we have entered into an agreement to sell during current period). As of such date, we were also constructing several projects with a combined rated capacity of 745 MWs.

All our capital expenditures are considered growth capital expenditures. In broad terms, we expense all expenditures in the current period that would primarily maintain our businesses at current levels of operations, capability, profitability or cash flow in operations and maintenance and therefore there are no Maintenance Capital Expenditures. Growth capital expenditures primarily provide new or enhanced levels of operations, capability, profitability or cash flows.

Our capital expenditure requirements consist of:

(i) Expansion capital expenditures for new projects; and

(ii) Working capital expenditures for building the pipeline of projects for coming year(s).

Expansion capital expenditures also include interest expense associated with borrowings used to fund expansion during the construction phase of our projects. We intend to build or acquire new projects after the completion of this offering.

Our capital expenditures amounted to INR 12,094 million (US$163.4 million) during the six months ended September 30, 2021, primarily for construction of Rajasthan 6, Assam 1, SECI 3 and SECI 4.

Cash Flow Discussion

We also use traditional measures of cash flow, including net cash provided by operating activities, net cash used in investing activities and net cash provided by financing activities, as well as cash available for distribution to evaluate our periodic cash flow results.

Cash and cash equivalents include cash on hand, demand deposits with banks, term deposits and all other highly liquid investments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less at the date of acquisition and that are readily convertible to cash. It does not include restricted cash, which consists of cash balances restricted as to withdrawal or usage and cash used to collateralize bank letters of credit supporting the purchase of equipment for solar power plants, bank guarantees issued in relation to the construction of the solar power plants within the timelines stipulated in PPAs and for certain debt service reserves required under our loan agreements.

Operating Activities

Cash flow from operating activities for the six months ended September 30, 2021 was INR 1,853 million (US$ 25.1 million), compared to cash flow used in operating activities of INR 2,431 million for the six months ended September 30, 2020. The cash flow from operating activities for six month was higher on account of increase in net operating profits and collections. During the six months ended September 30, 2021, the working capital outflow was INR 1,489 million (US$ 20.1 million), compared to an outflow of INR 866 million, for the six months ended September 30, 2020, primarily on account of an increase in accounts receivables and additional interest payment on refinance of 5.5% Solar Green bonds. Subsequent to the period end of September 30, 2021, the Company has received proceeds of INR 467 million (US$ 6.3 million) from sale of carbon credits.

Our days receivables (excluding Rooftop portfolio), including receivable from sale of carbon credit were 125 days as of September 30, 2021, as compared to 116 days as of March 31, 2021. Subsequent to the period end of September 30, 2021, the Company has received proceeds of INR 467 million (US$ 6.3 million) from sale of carbon credits. Excluding income and related receivables from sale of carbon credit, our days receivables would be 116 days.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities for the six months ended September 30, 2021 was INR 11,961 million (US$ 161.6 million), compared to outflow of INR 7,174 million for the six months ended September 30, 2020, primarily due to higher capital expenditures for new solar projects by INR 4,927 million (US$ 66.4 million).

Financing Activities

Cash flow from financing activities for the six months ended September 30, 2021 was INR 13,336 million (US$ 179.8 million), compared to INR 3,356 million for the six months ended September 30, 2020, primarily due to higher net proceeds of debt, net of refinancing of Solar Green Bonds taken during current period.

Power Purchase Agreements

The material terms of the PPAs we have entered into and bids we have won as of September 30, 2021 for our utility scale projects are summarized in the following table.

Project Names Commercial

Operation

Date (1) PPA

Capacity

(MW) DC

Capacity

(MW) Tariff

(INR /

kWh) (6) Offtaker Duration

of

PPA in

Years Utility

Operational Gujarat 1.1 Q2 2011 5 5 15.00 (2) Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited 25 Gujarat 1.2 Q4 2011 5 5 15.00 (2) Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited 25 Punjab 1 Q4 2009 2 2 17.91 NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited 25 Rajasthan 1 Q4 2011 5 5 11.94 NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited 25 Rajasthan 2.1 Q1 2013 20 23 8.21 NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited 25 Rajasthan 2.2 Q1 2013 15 18 8.21 NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited 25 Punjab 2.1 Q3 2014 15 15 7.67 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Punjab 2.2 Q4 2014 15 15 7.97 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Punjab 2.3 Q4 2014 4 4 8.28 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Karnataka 1 Q1 2015 10 10 7.47 Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Uttar Pradesh 1 Q1 2015 10 12 8.99 Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited 12 Rajasthan 3.1 Q2 2015 20 22 5.45 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Rajasthan 3.2 Q2 2015 40 43 5.45 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Rajasthan 3.3 Q2 2015 40 41 5.45 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Chhattisgarh 1.1 Q2 2015 10 10 6.44 Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited 25 Chhattisgarh 1.2 Q2 2015 10 10 6.45 Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited 25 Chhattisgarh 1.3 Q3 2015 10 10 6.46 Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited 25 Rajasthan 4 Q4 2015 5 6 5.45 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Delhi 1.1 Q4 2015 2 2 5.43 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Karnataka 2 Q1 2016 10 12 6.66 Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Andhra Pradesh 1 (4) Q1 2016 50 54 6.63 (2) Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Limited 25 Punjab 3.1 Q1 2016 24 25 7.19 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Punjab 3.2 Q1 2016 4 4 7.33 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Bihar 1 Q3 2016 10 11 8.39 North & South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited 25 Punjab 4.1 Q4 2016 50 52 5.62 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Punjab 4.2 Q4 2016 50 52 5.63 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Punjab 4.3 Q4 2016 50 52 5.64 Punjab State Power Corporation Limited 25 Karnataka 3.1 Q1 2017 50 54 6.51 Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Karnataka 3.2 Q1 2017 40 42 6.51 Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Karnataka 3.3 Q1 2017 40 42 6.51 Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Maharashtra 1.1 Q1 2017 2 2 5.50 (3) Ordinance Factory, Bhandara 25 Maharashtra 1.2 Q1 2017 5 6 5.31 Ordinance Factory, Ambajhari 25 Andhra Pradesh 2 (5) Q2 2017 100 130 5.12 NTPC Limited 25 Uttar Pradesh 2 Q2-Q3 2017 50 59 4.78 NTPC Limited 25 Telangana 1 Q1 2018 100 128 4.67 NTPC Limited 25 Uttar Pradesh 3 Q2 2018 40 51 4.43 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Andhra Pradesh 3 Q2 2018 50 59 4.43 (3) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Gujarat 2 Q4 2018  Q1 2019 260 363 2.67 Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited 25 Karnataka 4.1 Q1 2019 50 75 2.93 Bangalore Electricity Supply Company 25 Karnataka 4.2 Q1 2019 50 75 2.93 Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited 25 Rajasthan 5 Q2-Q3 2019 200 262 2.48 Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Maharashtra 3 Q3 2019 130 195 2.72 Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited 25 Assam 1 Q3 2020-Q2 2021 45 57 3.34 Assam Power Distribution Company 25 Rajasthan 6 Q4 2020- Q2 2021 500 680 2.53 Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Others (8) Q1 2018-Q4 2019 7 10 3.36 (4) Various 25 Total Operational Capacity 2,210 2,810 Under Construction Assam 1# Q1 2022 45 3.34 Assam Power Distribution Company 25 Rajasthan 6# Q4 2021 100 2.53 Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Rajasthan 8# Q4 2021 300 2.58 Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Rajasthan 9# Q1 2022 300 2.54 Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Total Under Construction- Utility 745 2 GW Project 1 2,000 (7) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 2 GW Project 2 2,000 (7) Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited 25 Total Contracted & Awarded Capacity  Utility 4,000 Total Portfolio* 6,955

Notes:

(1) Refers to the applicable quarter of the calendar year in which commercial operations commenced or are scheduled to commence based on AC capacity. There can be no assurance that our projects under construction and our Contracted projects will be completed on time or at all.

(2) Current tariff, subject to escalation. Please also see Tariff structure

(3) Projects are supported by VGF, in addition to the tariff. Please also see VGF for projects

(4) Levelized tariff; includes capital incentive.

(5) Projects under accelerated depreciation per the Indian Income tax regulation.

(6) In the case of projects with more than one PPA, tariff is calculated as the weighted average of the PPAs for such project.

(7) LOA received. PPA yet to be signed.

(8) Others include projects with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Decathlon and other offtakers.

# Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is uncertainty around the timing of construction of projects and this is our best estimate of completion. Out of total capacity of 600 MWs under Rajasthan 6 project, Company have commissioned 500 MWs and remaining 100 MWs were under construction as of September 30, 2021. Further out of total capacity of 90 MWs under Assam 1 project, Company have commissioned 45 MWs and remaining 45 MWs are under construction as of September 30, 2021.

* In Fiscal 2021, we identified certain subsidiaries to sell off on a going concern basis, which currently form part of our Rooftop business. Out of this identified portfolio, during the current period, we entered a sales contract with Radiance to sell certain subsidiaries having an operating capacity of 153 MW for INR 5,350 million (US$ 73.1 million), subject to certain purchase price adjustments. Hence, the Company has not considered these rooftop portfolios for reporting under its total portfolio as at period end.

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Key Metrics

We regularly review a number of specific metrics, including the following key operating and financial metrics, to evaluate our business performance, identify trends affecting our business and make strategic decisions.

Key metrics Unit of Measurement Six months ended

September 30, 2020 Six months ended

September 30, 2021 Revenue (1) INR in millions 7,444 8,826 Revenue (2) US$ in millions 100.4 119.0 Electricity generation (3) kWh in millions 1,653 2,113 Cost per MW operating (4) INR in millions 34.7 34.7 Plant load factor % 20.8 21.9 MW Operating MW 1,834 2,210 (5) MW Contracted & Awarded * MW 5,281 4,745 MW Operating, Contracted & Awarded MW 7,115 6,955 (5)

(1) Revenue consists of revenue from the sale of power, including other revenue items related to generation from renewable power. (2) Translation of balances in the key operating and financial matrices from INR into US$, as of and for the six months ended September 30, 2021 are solely for the convenience of the readers and were calculated at the rate of US$1.00 = INR 74.16, the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers in non U.S. currencies, as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021. No representation is made that the INR amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on September 30, 2021, or at any other rate. (3) (4) (5) * Electricity generation represents the actual amount of power generated by our solar power plants over the reporting period and is the product of plant load factor during the reporting period and the average megawatts operating. Installation per MW of DC capacity and includes INR 2.9 million (US$0.04 million) per MW operating of safe-guard duties which we expect to recover. In Fiscal 2021, we identified certain subsidiaries to sell off on a going concern basis, which currently form part of our Rooftop business. Out of this identified portfolio, during current year, we entered a sales contract with Radiance to sell certain subsidiaries having an operating capacity of 153 MW for INR 5,350 million, subject to certain purchase price adjustments. Hence, we have not considered these rooftop portfolios for reporting under its total portfolio as at period end. Contracted & Awarded megawatts included 4,000 MWs for which we had received LOAs but the PPAs had not been signed as of September 30, 2021. Subsequent to the period end, we have signed PPAs with SECI for 600 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.54 per kWh and 2,333 MWs at a fixed tariff of INR 2.42 per kWh for supply power for 25 years, as a part of 4,000 MW manufacturing linked projects.

Operating Metrics

Megawatts Operating and Megawatts Contracted & Awarded

We measure the rated capacity of our plants in megawatts. Rated capacity is the expected maximum output that a solar power plant can produce without exceeding its design limits. We believe that tracking the growth in aggregate megawatt rated capacity is a measure of the growth rate of our business.

Megawatts Operating represents the aggregate cumulative megawatt rated capacity of solar power plants that are commissioned and operational as of the reporting date.

Megawatts Contracted & Awarded represents the aggregate megawatt rated capacity of solar power plants pursuant to customer PPAs signed, allotted or won in an auction but not commissioned and operational as of the reporting date.

The following table represents the megawatts operating and megawatts Contracted & Awarded as of the end of the respective periods presented:

As of September 30, 2020 2021 Megawatts Operating * 1,834 2,210 Megawatts Contracted & Awarded * 5,281 4,745 Megawatts Operating, Contracted & Awarded * 7,115 6,955

* The decrease in Megawatts Operating, Contracted & Awarded from September 30, 2020 to September 30, 2021 reflects the agreement to sell our non-core rooftop portfolio of assets.

We target having 2,750 MWs to 2,955 MWs (excluding the rooftop portfolio, for which we have entered into an agreement to sell during the current period) operating by March 31, 2022, but this is subject to risks related to the current COVID-19 situation. Our ability to commission plants and make them operational will depend on, among other things, our ability to acquire the required land for the new capacity (on lease or direct purchase), procurement of permits and clearances, raising adequate project financing and working capital, the growth of the Indian power market in line with current government targets, our ability to maintain our market share of Indias installed capacity as competition increases, the need to further strengthen our operations team to execute the increased capacity, and the need to further strengthen our systems and processes to manage the ensuing growth opportunities, as well as the other risks and challenges discussed under the caption Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2021.

Plant Load Factor

The plant load factor is the ratio of the actual output of all our solar power plants over the reporting period to their potential output if it were possible for them to operate at full rated capacity. The plant load factor is not the same as the availability factor. Our solar power plants have high availability, that is, when the sun is shining our plants are almost always able to produce electricity. The variability in our plant load factor is a result of seasonality, cloud covers, air pollution, the daily rotation of the earth, equipment efficiency losses, breakdown of our transmission system and grid availability. We compute PLF on the basis of PPA capacity (or AC), which may be lower than the actual installed (DC) capacity.

We track plant load factor as a measure of the performance of our power plants. It indicates effective utilization of resources and also validates our value engineering and operation research. Higher plant load factor at a plant indicates increased electricity generation. Monitoring plant load factor on real time allows us to respond rapidly to potential generation anomalies. Plant load factor (AC) was 21.9% for the six months ended September 30, 2021, compared with 20.8% for the six months ended September 30, 2020, primarily due to greater optimization of new facilities by adding additional DC capacity to our existing facilities.

Six months ended September 30 2020 2021 Plant Load Factor (AC) (%) 20.8 21.9

Electricity Generation

Electricity generation represents the actual amount of power generated by our solar power plants over the reporting period and is the product of reporting period plant load factor and the average megawatts operating. This is a measure of the periodic performance of our solar power plants.

Six months ended

September 30, 2020 2021 Electricity Generation (kilowatt hours in millions) 1,653 2,113

Financial Metrics

Project Cost per Megawatt Operating

Project cost per megawatt operating consists of solar photovoltaic panels, inverters, balance of plant equipment, freehold land or leasehold land, capitalizable financing costs, and installation costs incurred for operating one megawatt of new solar power plant capacity during the reporting period. It is an indicator of our strong engineering, procurement and construction capabilities, market cost of material and our ability to procure such material at competitive prices. A reduction in project cost per megawatt helps reduce the cost of power and thereby improves our ability to win new projects. Project cost per megawatt operating (megawatt capacity per the PPA or AC) consists of costs incurred for one megawatt of newly commissioned solar power plant capacity during the reporting period. The project cost per megawatt (DC) operating for the six months ended September 30, 2021 remains the same as that for the six months ended September 30, 2020 at INR 34.7 million (US$ 0.47 million). The project cost per megawatt (AC) operating for the six months ended September 30, 2021 was INR 39.6 million (US$ 0.53 million), compared to INR 40.4 million, for the six months ended September 30, 2020. Excluding the impact of safeguard duties, the DC and the AC costs per megawatt for the six months ended September 30, 2021 would have been lower by approximately INR 2.9 million (US$ 0.04 million) and INR 3.3 million (US$ 0.04 million), respectively, and for the six months ended September 30, 2020, the DC and the AC costs per megawatt would have been lower by approximately INR 1.3 million and INR 1.3 million, respectively.

Nominal Contracted Payments

Our PPAs create long-term recurring customer payments. Nominal contracted payments equal the sum of the estimated payments that the customer is likely to make, subject to discounts or rebates, over the remaining term of the PPAs. When calculating nominal contracted payments, we include those PPAs for projects that are operating or contracted or awarded. To calculate the nominal contracted payments, we multiply the contract price per kilowatt hour as per the respective PPA by the estimated annual energy output for the remaining life of the PPA period. In estimating the nominal contracted payments, we multiply the PPA contract price per kilowatt hour by the estimated annual energy output for all solar projects Operating, Contracted & Awarded and operating as of the reporting date. The estimated annual energy output of our solar projects is calculated using power generation simulation software and validated by independent engineering firms. The main assumption used in the calculation is the project location, which enables the software to derive the estimated annual energy output from certain metrological data, including the temperature, solar radiation based on the project location. Our power generation simulation software calculates the estimated annual energy output by using the following formula:

Table of Contents

E = A * r * H * PR

E = Energy (kWh)

A = Total solar panel Area (m)

r = Solar panel efficiency (%)

H = Annual global radiation at collector plane

PR = Performance ratio, coefficient for losses (range between 0.5 and 0.95)

Performance ratio is a quantity which represents the ratio of the effectively produced (used) energy to the energy which would be produced by a perfect system continuously operating at standard test condition under the same radiation, taking into account losses such as array losses (shadings, incident angle modifier, photovoltaic conversion, module quality, mismatch and wiring) and system losses (inverter efficiency, transformer efficiency and transmission losses).

The calculation of the estimated annual energy output also takes into account the total rated capacity of all the solar panels to be installed for the remaining life of the PPA, net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on technology installed. The decrease in rated capacity includes various losses caused by soiling, temperature changes, inverter and transformer inefficiency, incidence angle, wire, shading and mismatch losses. The technology used for each project is assessed based on geographical conditions of the project, cost economics and the availability of such technology for construction. We assume an annual decrease in rated capacity ranging from 0.5% to 0.7% depending on the technology used, which is based on the specifications given by the manufacturer of the solar panels.

To calculate nominal contracted payments for operating, contracted & awarded projects, we assume a 50% probability of achieving the generation numbers projected by the power generation software, which is net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on the technology installed. For operating projects, instead of the formula described above, we use the actual full-year energy generated net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on the technology installed. We have used this method of calculation since the inception of all projects, including scheduled price changes where applicable.

If we were to receive government grants under any PPA, such grants would be included as nominal contracted payments in the period when received. We account for Viability Gap Funding, or VGF, as an income-type government grant. The proceeds received from VGF grants upon fulfilment of certain conditions are initially recorded as deferred revenue. This deferred VGF revenue is recognized as sale of power in proportion to (x) the actual sale of solar energy kilowatts during the period to (y) the total estimated sale of solar energy kilowatts during the tenure of the applicable PPA pursuant to our revenue recognition policy.

Nominal contracted payments are a forward-looking number, and we use judgment in developing the assumptions used to calculate it. Those assumptions may not prove to be accurate over time. Underperformance of the solar power plants, payment defaults by our customers or other factors described under Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2021, could cause our actual results to differ materially from our calculation of nominal contracted payments.

Table of Contents

The following table sets forth, with respect to our PPAs, the aggregate nominal contracted payments and total estimated energy output as of the reporting dates. These nominal contracted payments have not been discounted to arrive at the present value.

As of September 30, 2020 2021 INR INR US$ Nominal contracted payments for projects with PPAs (in millions) * 515,751 575,993 7,766.9 Total estimated energy output (kilowatt hours in millions) * 151,127 179,749

* Nominal contracted payments include projects for 600 MWs which amounts to INR 98,937 million (US$1.3 billion), for which PPAs are signed subsequent to quarter end in relation to 4,000 MWs project with SECI.

Post announced of consolidated results for the fiscal second quarter 2022, on December 10, 2021, the Company has further signed PPAs for 2,333 MW with SECI at a fixed tariff of INR 2.42 per kWh for supply power for 25 years, as a part of the 4,000 MW manufacturing linked projects. Due to the same, nominal contracted payments will increase by INR 366,525 million (US$ 4.9 billion).

The increase in Nominal Contracted Payments and total estimated energy output as of September 30, 2021, as compared to September 30, 2020, is due to inclusion of 600 MWs for which PPAs are signed subsequent to period end, partially offset by exclusion of our rooftop portfolio, which we have agreed to sell during the current period and the impact of current period revenue realised. Over time, we have seen a trend towards a decline in the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission benchmark tariff for solar power procurement. For fiscal year 2011, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission benchmark tariff for solar power procurement was INR 17.91 per kilowatt hour. It was reduced to INR 10.39 per kilowatt hour for fiscal year 2013, which was further reduced to INR 7.72 per kilowatt hour for fiscal year 2015 and to INR 3.53 per kilowatt hour for fiscal year 2019. The overall trend of solar power tariffs is that the tariffs are declining in line with solar module prices.

Our nominal contracted payments are not impacted for the delays in construction due to COVID-19, as revenues from our PPAs start on the date of commissioning of the project.

Portfolio Revenue Run-Rate

Portfolio revenue run-rate equals our annualized payments from customers extrapolated based on the operating, contracted & awarded capacity as of the reporting date. In estimating the portfolio revenue run-rate, we multiply the PPA contract price per kilowatt hour by the estimated annual energy output for all operating, contracted & awarded solar projects as of the reporting date. The estimated annual energy output of our solar projects is calculated using power generation simulation software and validated by independent engineering firms. The main assumption used in the calculation is the project location, which enables the software to derive the estimated annual energy output from certain metrological data, including the temperature, wind speed and solar radiation based on the project location. Our power generation simulation software calculates the estimated annual energy output by using the formula described above.

The calculation of the estimated annual energy output also takes into account the total rated capacity of all the solar panels to be installed for the remaining life of the PPA, net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on technology installed. The decrease in rated capacity includes various losses caused by soiling, temperature changes, inverter and transformer inefficiency, incidence angle, wire, shading and mismatch losses.

To calculate portfolio revenue run-rate for operating, contracted & awarded projects, we assume a 50% probability of achieving the generation numbers projected by the power generation software, which is net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on the technology installed. For operating projects, instead of the formula described above, we use the actual full year energy generated net of the annual estimated decrease in rated capacity based on the technology installed. We have used this method of calculation since the inception of all projects, including scheduled price changes where applicable.

Portfolio revenue run-rate is a forward-looking number, and we use judgment in developing the assumptions used to calculate it. Those assumptions may not prove to be accurate over time. Underperformance of the solar power plants or other factors described under the heading Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2021 could cause our actual results to differ materially from our calculation of portfolio revenue run-rate.

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The following table sets forth, with respect to our PPAs, the aggregate portfolio revenue run-rate and estimated annual energy output as of the reporting dates. The portfolio revenue run-rate has not been discounted to arrive at the present value.

As of September 30, 2020 2021 INR INR US$ Portfolio revenue run-rate for projects with PPAs (in millions) * 23,817 26,854 362.1 Estimated annual energy output (kilowatt hours in millions) * 6,772 8,181

* Portfolio revenue run-rate include projects for 600 MWs which amounts to INR 4,198 million (US$56.6 million), for which PPAs are signed subsequent to period end in relation to 4,000 MWs project with SECI.

Post announced of consolidated results for the fiscal second quarter 2022, on December 10, 2021, the Company has further signed PPAs for 2,333 MW with SECI at a fixed tariff of INR 2.42 per kWh for supply power for 25 years, as a part of the 4,000 MW manufacturing linked projects. Due to the same, Portfolio revenue run-rate will increase by INR 15,550 million (US$ 209.7 million).

The increase in portfolio revenue run-rate as of September 30, 2021, as compared to September 30, 2020, is primarily due to inclusion of 600 MWs for which PPAs are signed subsequent to period end, partially offset by the exclusion of our rooftop portfolio, which we have agreed to sell during the current period.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(INR and US$ amounts in millions, except share and par value data)

As of March 31, As of September 30, 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited Unaudited (Note

2c) Assets Current assets: Cash and cash equivalents 11,107 9,513 128.3 Restricted cash 4,881 9,780 131.9 Accounts receivable, net 4,887 5,680 76.6 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 2,190 2,317 31.1 Assets classified as held for sale(1) 3,301 3,683 49.7 Total current assets 26,366 30,973 417.6 Restricted cash 170 95 1.3 Property, plant and equipment, net 108,847 120,808 1,628.7 Software, net 29 21 0.3 Deferred income taxes 1,748 1,999 27.0 Right-of-use assets 4,214 4,023 54.2 Other assets 7,084 2,431 32.8 Investments in held to maturity securities 7 6 0.1 Total assets 148,465 160,356 2,162.0 Liabilities and shareholders equity Current liabilities: Short-term debt 8,943 21,273 286.9 Accounts payable 4,294 5,578 75.2 Current portion of long-term debt 4,658 7,107 95.8 Income taxes payable 46 47 0.6 Interest payable 1,530 854 11.5 Deferred revenue 110 110 1.5 Lease liabilities 283 274 3.7 Other liabilities 1,927 1,920 26.0 Liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale(1) 2,272 2,279 30.7 Total current liabilities 24,063 39,442 531.9 Non-current liabilities: Long-term debt 89,922 86,929 1,172.2 Deferred revenue 2,353 2,334 31.5 Deferred income taxes 2,046 1,644 22.2 Asset retirement obligations 811 927 12.5 Lease liabilities 3,359 3,212 43.3 Other liabilities 1,459 1,547 20.4 Total liabilities 124,013 136,035 1,834.0 Shareholders equity Equity shares, US$ 0.000625 par value; 48,195,962 and 48,206,937 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021, and September 30, 2021, respectively 2 2 0.0 Additional paid-in capital 38,004 38,063 513.3 Accumulated deficit (12,786 ) (12,408 ) (167.3 ) Accumulated other comprehensive loss (972 ) (1,559 ) (21.0 ) Total APGL shareholders equity 24,248 24,098 325.0 Non-controlling interest 204 223 3.0 Total shareholders equity 24,452 24,321 328.0 Total liabilities and shareholders equity 148,465 160,356 2,162.0

(1) Refer to note 2(d) and note 24 relating to assets and liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale.

See accompanying notes.

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations

(INR and US$ amounts in millions, except share and per share data)

Six months ended September 30, Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited 2020 2021 2021 INR INR US$ (Note 2c) Operating revenues: Revenue from customers 7,444 8,826 119.0 Operating costs and expenses: Cost of operations (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below) 572 700 9.4 General and administrative 1,256 773 10.4 Depreciation and amortization 1,528 1,679 22.6 Impairment loss(1) - 40 0.5 Total operating costs and expenses: 3,356 3,192 42.9 Operating income 4,088 5,634 76.1 Other expense, net: Interest expense, net 4,186 4,666 62.8 Other expenses, net - 2 0.0 Loss (gain) on foreign currency exchange, net 4 (108 ) (1.4 ) Total other expenses, net 4,190 4,560 61.4 Profit (loss) before income tax (102 ) 1,074 14.7 Income tax expense (220 ) (677 ) (9.1 ) Net profit (loss) (322 ) 397 5.6 Less: Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest (5 ) (19 ) (0.3 ) Net (loss) / profit attributable to APGL equity Shareholders (327 ) 378 5.3 Net (loss) / profit per share attributable to APGL equity Shareholders: Basic (6.84 ) 7.84 0.11 Diluted (6.84 ) 7.76 0.10 Shares used in computing basic and diluted per share amounts Equity shares: Basic 47,817,323 48,203,336 48,203,336 Equity shares: Diluted 47,817,323 48,708,973 48,708,973

(1) Refer to note 24 relating to assets and liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale.

See accompanying notes.

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income/(Loss)

(INR and US$ amounts in millions)

Six months ended September 30, Unaudited 2020 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$)

(Note 2c) Net (loss)/profit attributable to APGL equity shareholders (327 ) 378 5.3 Add: Non-controlling interest 5 19 0.3 Other comprehensive income/ (loss), net of tax Foreign currency translation- OCI 1,332 4,088 55.1 Effective portion of cashflow hedge (892 ) (5,518 ) (74.4 ) Income tax effect on effective portion of cash flow hedge 156 843 11.4 Total other comprehensive income/(loss) 596 (587 ) (7.9 ) Total comprehensive income/(loss) 274 (190 ) (2.3 )

See accompanying notes.

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Shareholders Equity

(INR and US$ amounts in millions)

Equity Shares Additional paid-in capital Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1) Accumulated Deficit Total APGL shareholders' equity Non- controlling interests Total shareholders' equity Balance as of March 31, 2020 2 37,533 (1,937 ) (8,580 ) 27,018 199 27,217 Proceeds from issuance of equity shares (2),(3) 0 424   424  424 Net loss    (4,206 ) (4,206 ) 5 (4,201 ) Other comprehensive income   965  965  965 Share based compensation  47   47  47 Balance as of March 31, 2021 2 38,004 (972 ) (12,786 ) 24,248 204 24,452

Equity Shares Additional paid-in capital Accumulated other comprehensive loss (1) Accumulated Deficit Total APGL shareholders' equity Non- controlling interests Total shareholders' equity Balance as of March 31, 2021 2 38,004 (972 ) (12,786 ) 24,248 204 24,452 Proceeds from issuance of equity shares (2) - 23   23  23 Net Profit    378 378 19 397 Other comprehensive loss   (587 )  (587 )  (587 ) Share based compensation  36   36  36 Balance as of September 30, 2021 2 38,063 (1,559 ) (12,408 ) 24,098 223 24,321 Balance as of September 30, 2021 ((US$) (Note 2c) 0.0 513.3 (21.0 ) (167.3 ) 325.0 3.0 328.0

(1) Refer note 18 for components of accumulated other comprehensive loss.

(2) Refer note 18 for reconciliation of number of equity shares.

(3) Includes the related immaterial impact of restricted stock units (RSU) which have been converted into restricted stock (RS)/ share-based settlement in previous year.

See accompanying notes.

AZURE POWER GLOBAL LIMITED

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

(INR and US$ amounts in millions)

Six months ended September 30, Unaudited Unaudited Unaudited 2020 2021 2021 INR INR US$ (Note 2c) Cash flow from operating activities: Net profit/(loss) (322 ) 397 5.6 Adjustments to reconcile profit/(loss) to net cash from operating activities: Deferred income taxes 102 176 2.4 Depreciation and amortization 1,528 1,679 22.6 Impairment loss(1) - 40 0.5 Adjustments to derivative instruments 973 768 10.4 Loss on disposal of property plant and equipment 8 10 0.1 Share based compensation 594 (119 ) (1.6 ) Amortization of debt financing costs 186 428 5.8 Employee benefits 33 (12 ) (0.2 ) ARO accretion 20 26 0.4 Non- cash rent expense 26 52 0.7 Allowance for doubtful accounts 37 24 0.3 Loan Prepayment charges 234 - - Foreign exchange gain/(loss), net 4 (108 ) (1.5 ) Change in operating lease right-of-use assets 72 (44 ) (0.6 ) Change in operating lease liabilities (198 ) 25 0.3 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Accounts receivable, net (10 ) (883 ) (11.9 ) Prepaid expenses and other current assets (214 ) 265 3.6 Other assets (138 ) 140 1.9 Accounts payable (121 ) (828 ) (11.2 ) Interest payable (286 ) (663 ) (8.9 ) Deferred revenue (13 ) (19 ) (0.3 ) Other liabilities (84 ) 499 6.7 Net cash flows from operating activities 2,431 1,853 25.1 Cash flow from investing activities: Purchase of property plant and equipment (7,167 ) (12,094 ) (163.4 ) Purchase of software (7 ) 8 0.1 Sale of available for sale investments - 1 0.0 Disposal of subsidiary(1) - 124 1.7 Net cash flows used in investing activities (7,174 ) (11,961 ) (161.6 ) Cash flows from financing activities: Proceeds from issuance of Solar Green bonds - 30,514 411.5 Repayment of Solar Green bonds - (37,069 ) (499.9 ) Proceeds from equity shares 271 23 0.3 Proceeds from term and other debt 9,023 24,717 333.3 Repayments of term and other debt (5,704 ) (4,849 ) (65.4 ) Loan prepayment charges (234 ) - - Net cash provided by financing activities 3,356 13,336 179.8 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash (83 ) 7 0.4 Net increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash (1,387 ) 3,229 43.3 Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at the beginning of the period 15,517 16,149 217.8 Add: Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, held for sale at the beginning of the year - 9 0.1 Less: Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, held for sale at the end of the period - (6 ) (0.1 ) Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of the period (refer note 3) 14,047 19,388 261.5 Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information Cash paid during the period for interest 4,906 5,280 71.2 Cash paid during the period for income taxes 274 552 7.4

(1) Refer to note 24 relating to assets and liabilities directly associated with assets classified as held for sale.

Notes to condensed consolidated financial statements

1. Organization

Azure Power Global Limited (APGL or Azure) organized under the laws of Mauritius was incorporated on January 30, 2015. APGLs subsidiaries are organized under the laws of India (except for one U.S. subsidiary and two subsidiaries in Mauritius) and are engaged in the development, construction, ownership, operation, maintenance and management of renewable energy assets based on long-term contracts (Power Purchase Agreements or PPA) with Indian Government energy distribution companies as well as other Indian non-governmental energy distribution companies and Indian commercial customers. APGL and its subsidiaries are hereinafter referred to as the Company. During the current period the Company has entered into a sale agreement for the disposal of its rooftop business. See Note 24.

2. Summary of significant accounting policies

(a) Basis of presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared for proposed equity raise by the company and are in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (U.S. GAAP) and are presented in Indian rupees (INR), unless otherwise stated. The condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of APGL and companies which are directly or indirectly controlled by APGL. All intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated upon consolidation.

Certain information and disclosures normally included in consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP have been condensed or omitted. Accordingly, these condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Companys historical consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Companys latest Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended March 31, 2021. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, consisting of a normal recurring nature, considered for a fair presentation have been included in the condensed consolidated financial statements. The operating results for the six months ended September 30, 2021 are not necessarily indicative of the results expected for the full year ending March 31, 2022.

(b) Use of estimates

The preparation of condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs, expenses and comprehensive gain/loss that are reported and disclosed in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on managements best knowledge of current events, historical experience, actions the Company may undertake in the future and on various other assumptions that are believed to be prudent and reasonable under the circumstances. Significant estimates and assumptions are used for, but not limited to impairment of and useful lives of property, plant and equipment, determination of asset retirement obligations, valuation of derivative instruments, hedge accounting, lease liabilities, right to use asset, allowances for doubtful accounts based on payment history, credit rating, valuation of share-based compensation, income taxes, energy kilowatts expected to be generated over the useful life of the solar power plant, estimated transaction price, including variable consideration, of the Companys revenue contracts, impairment of other assets and other contingencies and commitments. Although these estimates are based upon managements best knowledge of current events and actions, actual results could differ from these estimates, and such differences may be material to the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Estimation uncertainty relating to COVID-19 pandemic

In evaluating the recoverability of accounts receivable including unbilled revenue, contract assets, long-lived assets and investments, the Company has considered, at the date of approval of these condensed consolidated financial statements, internal and external information in the preparation of the condensed consolidated financial statements including the economic outlook. The Company has performed sensitivity analysis on the assumptions used to assess the recoverability of these assets and based on current estimates, expects the carrying amount of these assets will be recovered. The impact of COVID-19 may be different from that estimated on preparation of these condensed consolidated financial statements and the Company will continue to closely monitor any material changes to future economic conditions. See Note 2(h) - Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic.

Principles of Consolidation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of APGL, its subsidiaries, and variable interest entities (VIE) where the Company has determined it is the primary beneficiary and are prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. The Company uses the equity method to account for its investments in entities where it exercises significant influence over operating and financial policies but does not retain control under either the voting interest model (generally 20% to 50% ownership interest) or the variable interest model. The Company has eliminated all significant intercompany accounts and transactions.

(c) Convenience translation

Translation of balances in the condensed consolidated balance sheets, the condensed consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, shareholders equity, cash flows and related notes from INR into US$, as of and for the six months period ended September 30, 2021 are solely for the convenience of the readers and were calculated at the rate of US$ 1.00 = INR 74.16, the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers in non U.S. currencies, as certified for customs purposes by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on September 30, 2021. No representation is made that the INR amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on September 30, 2021, or at any other rate.

(d) Assets held-for-sale

Assets and asset disposal group are classified as held-for-sale if their carrying amount will be recovered principally through a sale transaction rather than through continuing use. This condition is regarded as met only when management commits to a plan to sell the asset; the asset is available for immediate sale in its present condition; an active program to locate a buyer and other actions required to complete the plan have been initiated; the sale of the asset is probable within one year; the asset is being actively marketed for sale at a reasonable price in relation to its current fair value; and it is unlikely that significant changes to the plan will be made or that the plan will be withdrawn. Assets and liabilities classified as held-for-sale are measured at lower of their carrying amount and fair value less costs to sell and depreciation/ amortization ceases once the asset is classified as held for sale. See Note 24.

(e) Non-controlling interest

The non-controlling interest recorded in the condensed consolidated financial statements relates to (i) a 0.83% ownership interest in a subsidiary, a 10MW Gujarat power plant, not held by the Company, (ii) a 49.00% ownership interest in a subsidiary, a 50MW Uttar Pradesh power plant, not held by the Company, (iii) a 0.60% ownership interest in a subsidiary, a 100 MW Telangana power plant, not held by the Company and (iv) 0.01% ownership interest in Azure Power India Private Limited* not held by the Company. As of September 30, 2021, the Company recorded a non-controlling interest amounting to INR 223 million (US$ 3.0 million) including INR 19 million (US$ 0.3 million) of net profit for the six months ended September 30, 2021. As of March 31, 2021, the Company recorded a non-controlling interest amounting to INR 204 million including INR 5 million of net profit for the year.

* This remaining ownership by the founders is subject to an arbitration proceeding, see Note 22.

(f) Revenue recognition

Sale of power consists of solar energy sold to customers under long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), which generally have a term of 25 years. The Companys customers are generally the Government of India, power distribution companies and, to a lesser extent, commercial and industrial enterprises.

The Company recognizes revenue on PPAs when the solar power plant generates power and is supplied to the customer in accordance with the respective PPA. The Company recognizes revenue each period based on the volume of solar energy supplied to the customer at the price stated in the PPA once the solar energy kilowatts are supplied and collectability is reasonably assured. The solar energy kilowatts supplied by the Company are validated by the customer prior to billing and recognition of revenue. Revenue from the recovery of Safe-guard duties and Goods and Service Tax under the change in law provision are recognized over the PPA period based on terms agreed with customers or unless agreed otherwise. Revenue from the sale of carbon credit emission is recognized at the time of transfer of credits to customers.

In accordance with ASC 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, total consideration for PPAs with scheduled price changes (price escalation in a solar power plant with 50 MWs of operating capacity and price decrease in a solar power plant with 10 MWs of operating capacity) and for significant financing components is estimated and recognized over the term of the agreement. Price escalations create an unbilled receivable, and the price decreases create deferred revenue. The time value of the significant financing component is recorded as interest expense. The Company uses the discount rate that would be reflected in a separate financing transaction between the entity and its customer at contract inception and recognizes the revenue amount on a straight-line basis over the term of the PPAs, and interest expense using the effective interest rate method. The Company also recognizes incremental costs incurred to obtain a contract in Other Assets in the consolidated balance sheet. These amounts are amortized on a straight-line basis over the term of the PPAs and are included as a reduction to revenue in the consolidated statements of operations.

The Company also records the proceeds received from Viability Gap Funding (VGF) on fulfilment of the underlying conditions as deferred revenue. Such deferred VGF revenue is recognized as sale of power in proportion to the actual sale of solar energy kilowatts during the period to the total estimated sale of solar energy kilowatts during the tenure of the applicable power purchase agreement pursuant to the revenue recognition policy.

Revenue from customers

Revenue from customers, net consists of the following:

Six months period ended September 30, 2020 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Unaudited (In million) Revenue from Customers: Sale of Power (1) 7,444 8,418 113.5 Others (2)  408 5.5 Total 7,444 8,826 119.0

(1) Sale of power includes revenue for the recovery of Safe-Guard Duties and Goods and Service Tax. The Company recognised income for the same amounting to INR 235 million and INR 125 million (US$ 1.7 million) for the six months ended September 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

(2) Others includes revenue from the sale of carbon credits recognized at the time of transfer of credits to customers.

(g) Recent accounting pronouncements

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes (ASU 2019-12). This ASU eliminates certain exceptions to the general principles in ASC 740, Income Taxes and adds guidance to reduce complexity in accounting for income taxes. The ASU eliminates, inter alia, the general methodology for calculating income taxes in an interim period when a year-to-date loss exceeds the anticipated loss for the year. The ASU requires that an entity reflect the effect of an enacted change in tax laws or rates in the annual effective tax rate computation in the interim period that includes the enactment date. ASU 2019-12 is effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2020, including interim periods within those fiscal years. During current period, the Company applied ASU 2019-12 and noted that the impact of adoption of this guidance did not have a material effect on the Company's condensed consolidated financial statements.

In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848) - Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting" which provides companies with optional financial reporting alternatives to reduce the cost and complexity associated with the accounting for contracts and hedging relationships affected by reference rate reform. The guidance applies to contracts that:

 reference LIBOR or another rate that is expected to be discontinued as a result of rate reform; and

 have modified terms that affect, or have the potential to affect, the amount and timing of contractual cash flows resulting from the discontinuance of the reference rate.

The amendments in this ASU are effective for all entities as of March 12, 2020 through December 31, 2022.

In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform  Scope, which clarified the scope of Topic 848 relating to contract modifications.

The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the guidance on the Companys future financial statements. The change in underlying rate is not expected to have a material financial impact on the Company.

Other recent accounting pronouncements issued by the FASB (including its Emerging Issues Task Force) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission did not or are not believed by management to have a material impact on the Companys present or future financial statements.

(h) Update on COVID-19 Pandemic

The Company is continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation and taking the requisite steps to address the situation. Certain of the Companys construction activities related to projects construction were negatively impacted by the second wave of COVID-19. As a result, the Company has received extensions in scheduled commissioning date for certain projects, in reference to relaxation granted by Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the current period. The Company continues to engage with the Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) for further extensions relating to scheduled commissioning on certain other projects. The uncertainties associated with its nature and duration and the Company continues to monitor any material changes to future economic conditions.

3. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of the following:

As of March 31, As of September 30, 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited (In million) Bank deposits 1,171 2,486 33.5 Term deposits 9,936 7,027 94.8 Total 11,107 9,513 128.3

4. Restricted cash

Restricted cash consists of the following:

As of March 31, As of September 30, 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited (In million) Bank deposits 4,881 9,780 131.9 Term deposits 170 95 1.3 5,051 9,875 133.2 Restricted cash  current 4,881 9,780 131.9 Restricted cash  non-current 170 95 1.3

5. Accounts receivable

The Companys accounts receivables are generated by selling energy to customers and are reported net of any allowance for uncollectible accounts. The Company uses ageing analysis, probability of default methods, past facts, significant one-time events, guidelines issued by government authorities, credit rating of customers, current economic conditions and reasonable forecasts that are most relevant in evaluating and estimating the expected credit losses. In addition, the Company has taken into consideration the impact on credit risk, if any, due to COVID-19.

The Company writes-off an account receivable in the period that it is deemed uncollectible and records a reduction in the ECL and the balance of the account receivables in the balance sheet.

The Company evaluates the concentration of risk with respect to its accounts receivables as high, due to the limited number of counterparts for its services, being mainly state utilities and government entities. However, the Company does not foresee any significant credit risk attached to receivables from such state utilities/government entities (See Note 27).

The Company analyzed its historical loss information for its accounts receivables and adjusted for forward looking information and determined the following credit loss percentages:

March 31, 2021 September 30, 2021 Ageing of accounts receivables Expected Credit Losses % Not Due (including unbilled receivables) 0.73 % 0.65 % 0-90 days 2.80 % 2.49 % 90-180 days 3.82 % 3.56 % 180-365 days 3.99 % 3.67 % Above 365 days 11.79 % 11.79 %

March 31, 2021* September 30, 2021* (INR) (INR) Audited Unaudited Ageing of accounts receivables (In million) (In million) Not Due (including unbilled receivables) 2,857 2,930 0-90 days 491 527 90-180 days 369 509 180-365 days 390 661 Above 365 days 1,255 1,499 Total accounts receivables 5,362 6,126

*Does not include INR 162 million and INR 379 million (US$ 5.1 million) relating to receivables of the Companys rooftop business classified as Assets held for sale as of March 31, 2021, and September 30, 2021, respectively.

Accounts receivable, net consists of the following:

March 31 September 30 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited (In million) Accounts receivable (1) 5,362 6,126 82.6 Less: Allowance for doubtful accounts/ credit losses (475 ) (446 ) (6.0 ) Total 4,887 5,680 76.6

(1) Includes INR 1,558 million and INR 1,267 million (US$ 17.1 million) of unbilled receivables as of March 31, 2021 and September 30, 2021, respectively.

Activity for the allowance for doubtful accounts/ credit losses is as follows:

March 31, September 30, 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited (In million) Balance at the beginning of the period 246 475 6.4 Provision for doubtful debts/ expected credit losses, net 286 24 0.3 Less: Reclassified to Assets held for sale (See Note 24) (13 ) (54 ) (0.7 ) Write offs charged against the allowance (44 ) 1 0.0 Balance at the end of the period 475 446 6.0

In relation to the Companys 50 MWs project in Andhra Pradesh, the Andhra Pradesh DISCOM, Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Ltd (APSPDCL), had issued a letter to the Company requesting the reduction of quoted tariff to INR 2.44 per unit as against the PPA rate of INR 5.89 per unit for solar projects from the date of commissioning and threatened termination of the PPA in case of refusal to accede to such reduction (Letter). The Company had challenged the Letter before the High Court at Vijayawada, as well as the decision of the Government of Andhra Pradesh (GoAP) to constitute a High-Level Negotiation Committee to review, negotiate, and bring down the solar energy purchase prices vide order dated July 1, 2019 (HLNC Order). The High Court vide its judgment dated September 24, 2019 (Judgment), whilst quashing the aforesaid Letter and HLNC Order, granted its implied blessing to Andhra Pradesh DISCOM to approach the Andhra Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission (APERC) for reduction of tariff by directing APSPDCL to make payment of outstanding and future invoices at the interim rate of Rs. 2.44/- per unit, till the dispute is resolved by APERC. Accordingly, the Company has filed a writ appeal challenging the Judgment, whereby the Company has inter alia sought: (i) setting aside of the Judgment to the limited extent of the direction to DISCOMs to make payment at the interim rate of Rs. 2.44 per unit and the implied blessing granted by the High Court to approach the APERC for reduction of tariff; and (ii) quashing of all actions undertaken by the respondents and/or restrain the respondents from taking any action seeking reduction of tariff under the concluded PPA and/or unilateral alteration of the terms of such PPA, pursuant to the directions in the Judgment, including quashing of the proceedings. Further, the appellate authority during several hearings has directed the DISCOM to remit the overdue receivables at interim rate. Based on a legal opinion obtained by management, the Company is invoicing and recognizing revenue as per the PPA rate since management has assessed that matter is likely to be decided in favor of the Company. Further, the Company has recognized allowance for doubtful debts on this receivable as per the expected credit loss model.

6. Prepaid expenses and other current assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consist of the following:

March 31 September 30 2021 2021 2021 (INR) (INR) (US$) Audited Unaudited (In million) Derivative asset (See Note 26) 914 913 12.3 Interest receivable on term deposits 305 65 0.9 Prepaid debt financing costs 367 352 4.7 Balance with statutory authorities 396 483 6.5 Prepaid bank guarantee charges 68 92 1.2 Prepaid insurance and other expenses 82 277 3.7 Advance to suppliers 44 122 1.6 Other 14 13 0.2 Total 2,190 2,317 31.1

7. Property, plant and equipment, net

Property, plant and equipment, net, consists of the following:

March 31, September 30, Estimated 2021 2021 2021 Useful Life (INR) (INR) (US$) (in years) Audited Unaudited (In million) Plant and machinery (primarily solar power plants) 25-35 101,331 109,361 1,474.8 Leasehold improvements related to solar power plants 25-35 5,970 6,208 83.7 Furniture and fixtures 5 13 16 0.2 Vehicles 5 72 73 1.0 Office equipment 1-5 38 45 0.6 Computers 3 96 94 1.3 Leasehold improvements  office 1-3 147 152 2.0 107,667 115,949 1,563.6 Less: Accumulated depreciation 11,966 13,516 182.3 Less: Accumulated impairment (See Note 24) 657 618 8.3 95,044 101,815 1,373.0 Freehold land 3,193 3,284 44.3 Construction in progress 10,610 15,709 211.4 Total 108,847 120,808 1,628.7

Depreciation expense on property, plant and equipment was INR 1,509 million and INR 1,665 million (US$ 22.5 million) for the six months ended September 30, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

During the current period, 10 MW of our rooftop project has been reclassified as asset held for sale, See Note 24.

8. Software, net

March 31, September 30, Estimated 2021 2021 2021 Useful Life (INR) (INR) (US$) (in years) Audited Unaudited (In million) Software licenses and related implementation costs 3 Years 164 170 2.3 Les
The Holloman Air Force Base High Speed Test Track. Included in the NDAA was $2 million in federal funds to expedite construction of a testing facility at Holloman to evaluate new radar detection technology. (Nicole Maxwell, Alamogordo Daily News/TNS )

(Tribune News Service)  Air Force bases in New Mexico including Alamogordos Holloman Air Force Base and Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis received millions of dollars in federal funding through an annual spending bill approved by Congress and sent to the desk of President Joe Biden to become law.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) also included funding for Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque and White Sands Missile Range near Las Cruces, supporting the U.S. defense operations for Fiscal Year 2022.

The bill also provided a 2.7% pay raise service members and the militarys civilian workforce.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) who serves as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies said the bill marked strong support for military facilities and the people who work at the in New Mexico.

This bill makes major investments to provide our Armed Forces with the state-of-the-art equipment they need to stay ahead of our adversaries and to advance our leadership in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, directed energy and hypersonics, Heinrich said.

Holloman Air Force Base

Included in the NDAA was $2 million in federal funds to expedite construction of a testing facility at Holloman to evaluate new radar detection technology.

Such a facility already exists at the base but needed updates and repairs.

Technologies tested at the facility measure an aircrafts radar characteristics to study its vulnerability to enemy detection and detect enemy aircraft from long distances.

The funding was intended to allow the Air Force to begin designing and constructing the facility ahead of schedule.

About $175 million was dedicated to the Air Forces work addressing groundwater contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at both Holloman and Cannon Air Force bases.

Cannon Air Force Base

About $5 million was sent to Cannon Air Force Base to build a new, 192-bed dormitory at the base to house enlisted Airmen, intended to help alleviate housing shortages in Clovis and Portales.

The bill also included $6 million to pay for building a Deployment Processing Center which was meant to reduce wait times for deployments around the world that begin at Cannon. The facility will consolidate parachute rigging and airdrop operations at a single facility.

Kirtland Air Force Base

At Kirtland, about $5.6 million in the NDAA was earmarked to finish construction on the Wyoming Gate Project which will improve the bases perimeter security.

Another $5.3 million was sent to the base via the NDAA to develop a Space Rapid Capabilities Office which will develop satellite technologies for use in outer space.

The bases pararescue training facility was also funded with $810,000 in NDAA funds. Airmen trained at this facility conduct worldwide rescue missions of servicemen.

White Sands Missile Range

White Sands Missile Range got about $29 million to build its Missile Assembly Support Facility at White Sands that develops and tests new, more accurate long-range munitions and weapons.

Another $5 million sent to White Sands through the NDAA will help construct a hypersonic test and evaluation installations, through a joint project with New Mexico State University.

The project will focus on testing interceptors to defeat hypersonic missiles.

2021 Alamogordo (N.M.) Daily News.

Visit at alamogordonews.com .
Text messages that were shared on a popular Facebook page show an order for soldiers in a platoon at Fort Bragg, N.C., to attend a punitive formation Christmas Eve after a member of the unit received a DUI citation. (Facebook)

The Army had a Grinch in its ranks this year, a platoon leader who recalled a whole unit for a morning formation Christmas Eve after one soldier got busted on a DUI charge, officials said.

The soldiers in the platoon at Fort Bragg, N.C., were ordered to show up in uniform for a formation at 9 a.m., even if they were on leave. But the commander showed up in civilian attire and did paperwork while they were made to wait, said a post on the popular Facebook page U.S. Army WTF Moments, which appears to have first revealed the incident.

The original post included a screenshot of text messages apparently sent after 1 a.m. on Friday, which was a federal holiday, and said the incident involved a platoon in the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Because nothing says #soldiersfirst like calling people in from leave who had nothing to do with a situation, the post said, referring to Army initiatives aimed at focusing more on taking care of people and curbing toxic behaviors.

In a comment on the 82nd Airborne Divisions official Facebook page in response to the post, an official said that the recall was unwarranted and an error in judgment.

The regiments 2nd Battalion commander counseled both the 1st Platoon leader and the Alpha Company commander to stress the importance of protecting their soldiers valuable time off with family and to ensure the mistake didnt happen again, division spokesman Lt. Col. Brett Lea told Stars and Stripes.

The XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg Facebook page posted a 2013 image of a parachutist dressed as Santa Claus with the caption Have you been Naughty? hours before one of its platoons was ordered to report for a mandatory formation on Friday, which was a federal holiday and also Christmas Eve. (XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg/Facebook) Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division stand in formation in Sainte Mere Eglise, France, in 2019. (Daniel Wallace/U.S. Army)

Three of the 34 paratroopers recalled from the local area were on leave, Lea said Monday in an emailed response to a query.

After an initial formation, they remained in the company area for about 45 minutes before being released, he said. He did not confirm whether the platoon leader was in uniform.

When the three soldiers who were on leave return to duty, theyll get to pick an extra day off, he said. The others will get Wednesday off.

The platoon involved is part of the divisions Immediate Response Battalion 1, or IRB1, the division said. Its one of three battalions in its immediate response force, which is supposed to be capable of deploying in a crisis anywhere in the world within 18 hours.

The text message shared on the site warned soldiers that they would face penalties under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for failing to show up without a valid excuse. It also suggested that soldiers be alerted quickly of the order so if any more need to stop drinking now, they can.

The division, whose Facebook page was tagged in the post, said the platoons soldiers were released after the recall was discovered. They will be compensated for their time, it said without elaborating.

Fort Braggs XVIII Airborne Corps said in comments on the original post that the platoon leader has been retrained.

Just three hours earlier, the corps had posted a photo on its own Facebook page showing what looked like Santa Claus parachuting in military gear.

He's dropping in tonight! said the post. Have you been Naughty?
A Taiwanese flag flies over Taipei in this undated photo. (Adam Jones/Wikicommons)

TOKYO  The United States and Japan have drafted a contingency plan for a joint military operation should a conflict arise between China and Taiwan, according to a leading Japanese news agency.

Under the plan, the U.S. Marine Corps would establish a temporary base somewhere in the Nansei island chain, which stretches toward Taiwan from Japans main islands, during the initial stages of a Taiwan emergency, Kyodo News reported Thursday citing unnamed Japanese government sources.

A Friday report in The Guardian newspaper said the Marines would set up multiple bases there.

However, such a scenario would require Japan to determine theres a threat to the countrys peace and security if left unchecked, according to the Kyodo report.

If temporary bases are established, the Marine Corps would deploy High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and the Japan Self-Defense Forces would offer logistical support, including supplies of ammunition and fuel, Kyodo reported.

About 40 possible base locations have been identified in the Nansei chain, which consists of about 200 inhabited and uninhabited islands, according to the report. The chain extends southwest from Kyushu, Japans third largest island, through Okinawa and on to Yonaguni, which sits just 69 miles off Taiwans eastern coast.

Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi would not confirm or deny the plans existence to reporters on Friday; however, he said if a contingency plan were drafted, it would operate under agreement made in the Japan-U.S. joint committee.

Under the guideline established in 2015, Japan and the United States governments can draw up and update a joint plan, so that the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. forces can cooperate closely and take appropriate measures during contingency, which involves peace and security of our country, he said.

When asked whether the Marines would establish bases in the Nansei islands, Kishi said Japan and the United States have been exchanging various views on an ongoing basis, but declined to discuss additional details.

Kishi said Japan is working to hold the next two-plus-two talks with the U.S. as soon as possible, although no date has been set. Formalization of the plan may begin during the meeting, which involves both countries leading defense and foreign affairs officials, according to Kyodo.

U.S. Forces Japan did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on Monday.

Beijing regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland, possibly by force. In March, then-U.S Indo-Pacific Command leader Adm. Philip Davidson told the Senate Armed Services Committee he believed China could overtake Taiwan and force reunification in the next six years.

He also suggested the U.S. review its policy regarding relations with Taiwan. The policy is intended to deter both Beijing and Taiwan from escalating their feud by leaving doubt as to when or if the U.S. might intervene in conflict. However, Chinas military buildup and aggression toward its neighbors have led to calls for a reassessment of the stance.

I would submit that weve got more than 40 years of the strategic ambiguity that has helped keep Taiwan in its current status, he said. But, you know, these things should be reconsidered routinely. Id look forward to the conversation.

In response to news of the Taiwan contingency plan, China Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters Friday hes heard similar reports and said China would monitor the situation closely.

I want to stress that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the Chinese territory, he said. China never allows any country to meddle in the Taiwan question and interfere in Chinas internal affairs under any pretext or in any form. No one should underestimate the strong resolution, determination and capability of the Chinese people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with top level military officials in Minsk, Belarus, on Nov. 22, 2021. (Andrei Stasevich/BelTA pool photo via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Belarus' authorities on Monday released a draft document proposing amendments to the country's constitution that may allow authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko to further cement his grip on power after months of mass protests and remain in office until 2035.

The proposed amendments are published on the president's official website and the website of the state news agency Belta, and Belarusians are encouraged to submit their comments, suggestions and opinions about the changes.

The amendments bring back limits on presidential terms that had been abolished during Lukashenko's tenure, allowing a president only two five-year terms in office. The restriction, however, will only take effect once a "newly elected president" assumes office, which gives Lukashenko an opportunity to run for two more terms after his current term expires in 2025.

"Lukashenko opened a path to the presidency for himself until at least 2035, when he will be 81 years old," independent political analyst Valery Karbalevich told The Associated Press.

Other changes to the constitution include extending the parliament's term from four years to five, introducing the All-Belarus People's Assembly as a new body to operate in parallel with the parliament and granting former presidents immunity from prosecution over actions they took while in office.

The amendments will be up for a referendum, scheduled for February 2022. They will be considered approved if more than 50% vote for them, with a turnout threshold at 50%.

During his 27 years leading the former Soviet republic with an iron fist, Lukashenko has held three referendums, abolishing limits on presidential terms, amending the constitution and bringing back Soviet-looking state symbols.

Belarus was rocked by months of unprecedented mass protests after Lukashenko was awarded a sixth consecutive term in office in the August 2020 presidential vote, which the opposition and the West denounced as a sham. He responded to the demonstrations with a brutal crackdown that saw more than 35,000 people arrested, thousands beaten by police and many forced to seek refuge abroad.

The proposed constitutional changes were being drafted during the turmoil, when Lukashenko realized "that he lost the support of the majority of the country's urban population," Karbalevich pointed out. The new governing body  the All-Belarus People's Assembly  was designed as a backup plan for the authoritarian leader if he is forced to step down as president, the analyst said.

According to the proposed amendments, a sitting president automatically becomes a delegate of the 1,200-seat Assembly and may chair it, if elected by other delegates. The new proposed body is expected to meet at least once a year and will be empowered to set policy directives, draft laws, suggest constitutional changes, elect members of the country's Central Election Commission and judges of the country's highest courts.

The Assembly can also green-light deploying Belarusian troops abroad if proposed by the president, and oust the president if the leader is found to be in violation of the constitution or to have committed high treason or another major crime.

"Lukashenko designed the All-Belarus Assembly for himself as a backup airfield in case of stepping down as president," Karbalevich said. But the need for that dissipated as the protests were suppressed and Russia, Belarus' powerful ally, cast its support behind Lukashenko.

"So in the proposed amendments we see a hybrid  both the opportunity to get reelected as president until 2035, and the opportunity to remain in power as a possible leader of the All-Belarus Assembly," the analyst said.

The amendments also scrap clauses about Belarus' "neutrality" and "non-nuclear status." Last month, Lukashenko offered to host Russia's nuclear weapons if NATO moves U.S. atomic bombs from Germany to Eastern Europe, the latest in a series of steps aimed at cementing ties with Moscow.

Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who ran against Lukashenko in the August 2020 election and was pressured to leave the country shortly after, criticized the proposed amendments on Monday.

In a statement on the messaging app Telegram, Tsikhanouskaya said that Belarusians are offered to choose "between Lukashenko and Lukashenko." "It's a lie no one will believe in. Choosing between Lukashenko and Lukashenko is impossible. And we won't choose him, like we didn't choose him last year," she said.

Tsikhnaouskaya added that "Lukashenko is trying to prescribe himself immunity from criminal prosecution, powers to strip Belarusians of their citizenship and appoint a new Politburo embodied in the All-Belarus People's Assembly that no one has elected." She urged Belarusians to "cross all the proposed options off the ballot."
Buy Photo (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

BERLIN  A Berlin court said Monday that none of the parties has appealed against the verdict in the diplomatically sensitive trial of a Russian man who was convicted earlier this month of what judges concluded was the state-ordered killing of a Chechen man.

The verdict on Dec. 15 prompted Germany's foreign minister to expel two Russian diplomats. A few days later, Russia in turn ordered two German diplomats to leave.

The brazen daylight killing in Berlin of Zelimkhan "Tornike" Khangoshvili, a 40-year-old Georgian citizen of Chechen ethnicity, sparked outrage in Germany and prompted the German government to expel two other Russian diplomats at the time  a move Russia swiftly reciprocated.

Judges at Berlin's regional court convicted 56-year-old Vadim Krasikov of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Defense lawyers had asked the court to acquit their client, who claimed a case of mistaken identity. The judges said Krasikov bore "particularly grave responsibility" for the slaying, meaning he won't be entitled to the automatic parole after 15 years that is customary in Germany.

Witnesses saw the suspect throw a bike, a gun and a long, dark wig into the Spree River near the scene and alerted police, who quickly arrested him before he could make off on an electric scooter.

The judges, however, said Krasikov had acted on the orders of Russian federal authorities, who provided him with a false identity, a fake passport and the resources to carry out the hit near Berlin's Kleiner Tiergarten park on Aug. 23, 2019.

Presiding judge Olaf Arnoldi said in delivering the verdict that "the central government of the Russian Federation was the author of this crime." He labeled the killing "state terrorism."

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the killing a "grave breach of German law and the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Germany."

German law allows for all sides in a trial to appeal within a week of the verdict, but the court said that no one did so.
In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov pauses during his and Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Francas joint news conference following their talks in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 30, 2021. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)

MOSCOW  Talks between Russia and the United States on Moscow's demand for Western guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine will start immediately after the new year holiday period, Russia's top diplomat announced Monday.

"It is with the U.S. that we will carry out the main work of negotiations, which will take place immediately after the new year holidays end," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview Monday. The holidays in Russia will last for 10 days, through Jan. 9.

Earlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies have refused to provide such pledges, but said they are ready for the talks.

The demands, contained in a proposed Russia-U.S. security treaty and a security agreement between Moscow and NATO, were drafted amid soaring tensions over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine that has stoked fears of a possible invasion. Russia has denied it has plans to attack its neighbor but pressed for legal guarantees that would rule out NATO expansion and weapons deployment there.

Lavrov said last week that, in addition to talks with the U.S., Moscow will start separate talks with NATO on the issue, as well as separate negotiations under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It is important that "our proposals aren't wound up in endless discussions, which the West is famous for and which it knows how to do, that there is a result of all these diplomatic efforts," Lavrov said Monday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12, a NATO official said Saturday, adding that the bloc was in touch with Russia about the meeting.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday confirmed the meeting will take place, calling talks with NATO "important," but said the details of the meeting are "in the works" and the date is still to be confirmed.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin on Monday told a briefing of military attaches and representatives of foreign embassies that NATO's "continued confrontational stance towards Russia" forced Moscow to demand the security guarantees.

"The alliance has consistently ignored Russian interests and shied away from an equitable discussion of existing problems," Fomin said.

Lorne Cook contributed to this report from Brussels.

previous coverage Ukraine leader discusses Russia tensions with US lawmakers
Police officers stand guard at the site where a Sri Lankan citizen was lynched by Muslim mob outside a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan, Friday, Dec. 3, 2021. The body of a Pakistani-American woman, who investigators believe was killed by her former husband over a property dispute, was brought to the city of Rawalpindi for further investigation, police said Sunday. (Shahid Akram/AP)

ISLAMABAD  The body of a Pakistani-American woman, who investigators believe was killed by her former husband over a property dispute, was brought to the city of Rawalpindi for further investigation, police said Sunday.

Wajiha Swati, a U.S. citizen of Pakistani origin, had been missing since she arrived in Pakistan in mid-October to settle issues with her ex-husband, Rizwan Habib.

Habib was arrested on suspicion of murder last week, said Sajid Kiyani, Rawalpindi's police chief. He said Habib confessed Saturday to killing Swati after four days of interrogation, and that he killed her the day she arrived in the city.

Swati's body was found in the district of Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

"Police have exhumed the body from a house in Lakki Marwat's Peezo area, where the suspect led the police after confessing (to) the murder," Kiyani said.

Habib's initial court appearance was set for Monday. He was unable to be reached in custody and it was not immediately clear if he had legal representation.

Police said a complaint was initially filed about Swati's disappearance and during the subsequent investigation U.S. Embassy officials contacted police to assist in finding her. It was not immediately clear where Swati resided.

Kiyani said Habib managed to convince Swati to return to Pakistan. Police believe he picked her at the airport, abducted her and killed her with the help of his father and another man, both of whom were also arrested.

Investigators believe Swati was killed by her former husband in a dispute over property. Kiyani said police retrieved the body from a house owned by an employee of Habib.

According to Human Rights Watch, violence against women and girls  including rape, so-called honor killings, acid attacks, domestic violence and forced marriage  remains a serious problem in Pakistan.
Nasir Sultani and his sister Masooma Sultani pose for a portrait in Berlin, Germany, on Dec. 3, 2021. (Marzena Skubatz/for The Washington Post)

Her departure from Kabul reminded her of some zombie movie, the young woman said. It was an experience she could describe only as dehumanizing, terrifying and very traumatizing.

When she woke up in a lakeside resort in Uganda, she found it impossible to square her new surroundings with the chaos of leaving. Nearly four months later, she is still reeling, stuck in the East African country, uncertain when she will be able to leave.

It feels like we are prisoners, she said. I am just angry.

The woman spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for her safety. She is among some 124,000 civilians who were evacuated from Kabul in a U.S.-led airlift after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August. Most fled on U.S. military aircraft. Others escaped on commercial flights, or private or allied planes. They were uprooted and scattered across the globe. Her account is similar to those of many other Afghans who remain stranded, unsure how to reach a new country where they can find permanent residence.

As of Dec. 24, more than 75,000 Afghan nationals had arrived in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security, with about 25,000 of them still living at military installations. About 2,500 Afghans are at U.S. bases overseas, waiting to be processed.

For thousands of other Afghan evacuees, the future is even less certain.

No international organization appears to be keeping track of the people in this abrupt and vast diaspora  or coordinating their care. Officials with the U.S. military, the State Department and DHS did not provide The Washington Post with any assessment of how many of the Afghans evacuated by commercial, private or allied flights are outside the U.S. pipeline, or where they are located. The United Nations refugee agency, whose staff supports refugees in some 130 countries, says it cannot provide numbers on how many Afghans have left since the Taliban came to power because it was not involved in the evacuations.

The Post contacted 194 governments around the world (hearing back from 41 of them), conducted dozens of interviews and collected government statements to find out where Afghans have fled. The analysis found that they have ended up in more than 40 countries.

In addition to the Afghans who were airlifted, thousands are reportedly crossing into Iran every day.

The Post interviewed Afghans in Albania, Australia, Germany, Mexico and Uganda who left their homeland after the Taliban takeover. Host governments and nongovernmental organizations are helping them get by. They are in various phases of the migration process, with some in more stable situations than others, but they remain united in their heartbreak over leaving Afghanistan so suddenly, their guilt about those left behind, and their feeling of disorientation in new surroundings.

Noor Mohammad Ramazan, 33, with wife Masuma Panahi, 28, and their children Daniel, 5, and Diana, 7 months, at Ramazan's cousin's home in Melbourne, Australia. (Alana Holmberg/for The Washington Post)

Australia: Life in Australia is quite up in the air for us right now. We dont know what we want to do.

Noor Mohammad Ramazan built a career showing off the wonders of Afghanistan. As a tour guide, he had spent the past six years taking foreigners around the ancient citadel in Herat, the breathtaking architecture of Mazar-e Sharifs Blue Mosque and the deep turquoise waters of the Band-e Amir lakes in Afghanistans first national park. His adventures were documented by YouTubers exploring the country.

I just wanted to show Afghanistans beauties, he said. It was a shame nobody was talking about that and they were only talking of its explosions.

Now the 33-year-old is far from those treasures, living in a small community outside Melbourne, Australia, with his wife, Masuma, and two children. Fearful that the Taliban would punish him and his family for catering to Western travelers, he obtained an Australian humanitarian visa with the help of a former client who knew an Australian senator. The family left Kabul on Aug. 23. After more than a week in a military camp in Dubai, they landed in Melbourne, where Ramazan felt safer but disoriented.

In Afghanistan, he said, you live with your cousins and family members and classmates. But in Australia, he said, you dont know your neighbors.

While the government gives them money, it is not enough, Ramazan said. He applied for work as a translator and also hopes to publish a collection of his own short stories  tales based on Ramazans experiences growing up under Taliban rule.

His family is building a new life, and he is grateful for the freedoms and the feeling of peace. But he is worried for the brothers, sisters, parents, uncle and cousins he could not take with him.

They are fine, but they are terrified, he said. We are terrified as well.

Miraqa Popal and his children Rana, 2, and Ozair, 7 months, have been in Albania since August. They do not know when they will find a permanent home. (Family photo)

Albania: This is life, you should cope with it.

Miraqa Popal, 34, wakes up in Albania each day and sees the ocean.

I am lucky, he said from an Adriatic seaside resort in Lezhe where he and hundreds of other Afghans have been staying after escaping Kabul. At least I was able to leave. And to hopefully start a new life.

Albania is temporarily hosting 2,400 Afghans who fled Taliban rule as they wait for permanent homes. Popal applied for a Canadian visa but is still waiting to hear back. He does not know any Afghans who have left Albania.

He is thrilled with the care he and his family are receiving, but he misses his seven-room house in Kabul, with a big courtyard where they used to throw parties for relatives who now remain in Afghanistan. In Albania, they have two rooms: one for him, his wife and three kids to sleep in; the other a small kitchen, where they cook simple dinners of tomatoes, onions and eggplant.

Popal once traveled the world directing coverage for TOLONEWS, Afghanistans largest news channel. After nearly four months, he resumed working for the organization as a transcript editor. It feels great to be back, he said, but he misses being in the field.

Its hard to work online, he said.

Germany: We lost everything. Our education, our jobs, our goals, our emotions. Everything is destroyed.

Nasir Sultani and his sister Masooma arrived in Krakow, Poland, in August and were mesmerized by the medieval architecture, the kindness of the people. They loved it there, but they felt they could not stay.

The job and education prospects in Poland were not promising, friends told Nasir, a human rights activist. So they crossed into Germany in hopes of finding American officials who could help process his sisters U.S. resettlement application; she applied after working for a U.S. company in Kabul for two years, but has not received a case number.

Now living in a Berlin refugee camp with migrants from Syria, Iraq and Russia, they feel lost in the shuffle. They do not know if they will be permanently resettled in Germany, let alone the United States.

I want to find some way back to Poland, Nasir said in November, adding that he regretted their decision to move on to Berlin. But he still yearns for Kabul. No matter where I go, it doesnt look like my homeland.

Uganda: I had so many dreams. I still dream of Kabul. I have to catch myself.

In Uganda, an Afghan woman feels trapped.

It is not uncomfortable in the apartment where she is staying, but there is nothing to do. The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of concern for her safety, spends her days writing and watching Downton Abbey on Netflix, waiting for responses from the U.S. Embassy. They have not come.

Its a beautiful country, she said of Uganda, but its wasted on us.

Ugandas foreign minister, Gen. Jeje Odongo, said in a phone interview this summer that his government had accepted 51 evacuees on a transit basis in late August after receiving a request for assistance from the U.S. government.

There have been small glimmers of happiness: The woman tends to stray kittens she found in the area. Their fluffy pink ears provide comfort.

She hopes to start a new life in the United States but has bittersweet feelings about leaving her beloved Kabul and worries about her family and friends still there.

It had everything but safety, she said of Kabul. Its like if an amazing human had cancer and you couldnt save them.

Nilofar Quraishi, 26 and seven months pregnant, stands with her husband. Zabihullah Quraishi, 27, in the Mexico City hotel room where they have been living with support from a nongovernmental organization. (Luis Antonio Rojas/for The Washington Post)

Mexico: My pregnancy has been difficult because of all the trauma we have experienced fleeing our homes, leaving our families and lives in Afghanistan, and traveling across the world.

Nilofar Quraishi and her husband, Zabihullah, were so close to escaping. They had made it into the airport in August and were waiting on a flight to get out. But days passed and Nilofar, then five months pregnant, was starting to feel ill.

They decided to go back home, leaving the airport through the same gates where a terrorist attack would kill more than 180 people just hours later.

Unable to escape through the chaos of the airlift, they looked for another way out. One month later, Zabihullah, who taught civil engineering at Kardan University in Kabul, decided to try again after friends said they could help him if he made it to Mexico.

They crossed into Iran, saying Nilofar needed special medical care for her pregnancy. There, they received a tourist visa to Mexico.

To pay the airfare, they sold Nilofars jewelry. But when the flight from Istanbul to Mexico City landed, they were turned away.

I told them, as a human being you know my country is destroyed and we are under threat of the Taliban, Zabihullah said. They told us, No, sorry. 

The couple was sent back to Istanbul, only to find out once they landed that the Mexican Foreign Ministry had changed its mind and would let them in.

Now in Mexico, their journey has only begun. Nilofar, who worked for an Afghan media outlet, gave birth to their first child, Oswah, a girl with dark hair and big brown eyes, on Dec. 15. But parenthood feels bittersweet.

We feel so happy for our baby, Zabihullah said. But I wish I could have our parents see and care for her.

Their hope is to raise Oswah in Canada, where Nilofars aunt lives, and they have appealed to the government for a visa.

In another month, Zabihullah said, funds from a nongovernmental organization supporting their stay in Mexico will run out. They cannot support themselves.

Every day and night, my Nilofar is crying because of the current situation, he said.
Protesters denouncing election results gather outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. (Khalid Mohammed/AP)

BAGHDAD  Iraq's top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October. The development marked another boost for an influential Shiite cleric who had been confirmed as the winner of the vote.

The appeal was submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, head of a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the Oct. 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraq's electoral commission had confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr secured 73 out of Parliament's 329 seats. The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance, which represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, secured 17 seats  down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Supreme Court had not ratified the election results, pending the appeal filed earlier this month by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition. Monday's verdict read out by Judge Jassim Mohammed rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited alleged technical and legal violations.

Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the court's decision. Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city. The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs through Iran-backed militias.
Israels government minister for public security Omer Barlev speaks to the media at the scene of a Palestinian shooting attack in Jerusalems Old City, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021. Barlev says he is now under round-the-clock protection after coming under threats from Jewish extremists. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

JERUSALEM  Israel's government minister for public security on Monday said he is now under round-the-clock protection after coming under threats from Jewish extremists.

Omer Barlev also accused members of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's pro-settler Yemina party of contributing to the fraught atmosphere.

Barlev sparked an uproar earlier this month when he criticized a wave of violence by West Bank settlers against Palestinian civilians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Barlev, who oversees the national police force, said U.S. officials had raised concerns about the settler violence with him and that he pledged to address the issue.

"I will continue to fight Palestinian terrorism as if there is no extremist settler violence  and extremist settler violence as if there is no Palestinian terrorism," he said at the time.

Right-wing politicians, including members of the coalition government, lashed out at Barlev, and Bennett played down the violence as the acts of a "marginal" few. Opposition politicians have gone further, saying his comments have invited Palestinian violence.

In a Twitter post on Monday, Barlev said he was now under 24-hour protection. "I'm threatened by Israeli Jews," he wrote.

At a weekly meeting of his Labor Party, Barlev blamed fellow coalition members from Bennett's Yamina party for "turning me into the enemy of all settlers, and one who doesn't understand security and terrorism by Palestinians against Israeli citizens."
This story has been corrected

An airliner takes an approach through storm clouds to Hollywood Burbank Airport, in Burbank, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 25, 2021. (Richard Vogel/AP)

COLFAX, Calif.  A major Christmas weekend storm caused whiteout conditions and closed key highways amid blowing snow in mountains of Northern California and Nevada, with forecasters warning that travel in the Sierra Nevada could be difficult for several days.

Authorities near Reno said three people were injured in a 20-car pileup on U.S. Route 395, where drivers described limited visibility on Sunday. Further west, a 70-mile stretch of Interstate 80 was shut until at least Monday from Colfax, California, through the Lake Tahoe region to the Nevada state line.

The California Department of Transportation also closed many other roads while warning of slippery conditions for motorists.

"Expect major travel delays on all roads," the National Weather Service office in Reno, Nevada, said Sunday on Twitter. "Today is the type of day to just stay home if you can. More snow is on the way too!"

The weather service issued a winter storm warning for greater Lake Tahoe until 1 a.m. Tuesday because of possible "widespread whiteout conditions" and wind gusts that could top 45 mph.

Turbulent weather stretched from San Diego to Seattle. More than a foot of snow was reported near Port Angeles on Washington state's Puget Sound. Portland, Oregon received a dusting, but the city was expected to get another 2.5 inches by Monday morning, according to the weather service.

In California, rockslides caused by heavy rain closed more than 40 miles (64 kilometers) of coastal Highway 1 in the Big Sur region south of the San Francisco Bay Area. There was no estimate for the reopening of the scenic stretch that is frequently shut after wet weather.

The latest in a series of blustery storms hit Southern California with heavy rain and wind that flooded streets and knocked down power lines late Saturday. Powerful gusts toppled trees, damaged carports and blew a track-and-field shed from a Goleta high school into a front yard two blocks away, according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. No injuries were reported.

More than 1.8 inches of rain fell over 24 hours in Santa Barbara County's San Marcos pass, while Rocky Butte in San Luis Obispo County recorded 1.61 inches, the weather service said.

Los Angeles International Airport said a "storm-related electrical issue" forced a partial closure of Terminal 5, causing post-Christmas passengers to divert to other terminals for certain services.

"Cancellations and delays are possible, so it will be important to check your flight status today if flying through Terminal 5," LAX tweeted.

In the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, crews were repairing a section of State Route 18 that washed down a hillside after heavy rain late Thursday. The closure of the major route into the Big Bear ski resort area could last for weeks, officials said.

The continuing storms were welcomed in parched California, where the Sierra snowpack had been at dangerously low levels after weeks for dry weather. But the state Department of Water Resources reported on Christmas Eve that the snowpack was between 114% and 137% of normal across the range with more snow expected.

Up to 8 feet of snow was predicted at the highest elevations of the Sierra.

Before Sunday, 20 inches of snow already had fallen at Homewood on Lake Tahoe's west shore. About a foot was reported at Northstar near Truckee, California, and 10 inches (25 centimeters) at the Mount Rose ski resort on the southwest edge of Reno.

Correction In a story published December 26, 2021, about weather across the West, The Associated Press erroneously reported that there was a 20-car pileup on Interstate 395 in Reno, Nevada. The pileup occurred on U.S. Route 395.
The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and priorities for the Defense Department and includes some funding for the Department of Energy, passed through Congress earlier this month with bipartisan support from 363 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 88 senators. (AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

President Joe Biden signed into law Monday the $768 billion defense policy bill that includes a pay raise for troops, reforms of the military justice system and billions to spend on research and development deemed critical for the U.S. military to remain competitive with Russia and China.

The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and priorities for the Defense Department and includes some funding for the Department of Energy, passed through Congress earlier this month with bipartisan support from 363 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 88 senators.

It addresses a broad range of pressing issues, from strategic competition with China and Russia, to disruptive technologies like hypersonics, AI and quantum computing, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. It provides our forces with the resources and support they need to defend our nation, makes historic reforms to help improve the lives of our service members, and takes important steps to care for their families.

After signing the bill, known as the NDAA, Biden released a statement thanking the committees leadership, as well as the House Armed Services Committee leadership, for their work on the annual legislation.

Next, Congress will need to pass an appropriations bill, which will pave the way for the spending authorized in the NDAA. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, has warned that operating under a continuing resolution, which keeps spending at the previous years levels, would compromise $35 billion from the NDAA.

We can all stand up here on the Senate floor and back at home, declaring our unwavering support for our troops and their families, and claiming to support a strong national defense, but until we put our money where our mouth is and provide the funding we say we support, those words ring hollow, Leahy said in a statement.

The NDAA includes $740 billion for the Pentagon budget  about $24 billion more than Bidens administration requested. Of that, an unprecedented $117.8 billion goes toward Pentagon research, development, testing and evaluation in new technologies, which officials have deemed critical in a high-end fight against power competitors such as China and Russia.

Among many reforms and new policies, the NDAA gives troops and civilian employees a 2.7% pay raise that begins in January, as well as a basic needs allowance for service members with an income thats not enough to support their family. Service members also gain parental leave for up to 12 weeks for the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child and two-week bereavement leave, a benefit that is also available to civilian employees.

The NDAA reforms the military justice system, in particular the way it handles sexual assault and harassment cases. It creates a standalone crime for sexual harassment and overhauls how the military investigates and prosecutes 11 crimes, including sexual assault, murder, manslaughter and kidnapping. It also moves the decision to prosecute those crimes from the chain of command to an independent prosecutor. Commanders do retain oversight of courts-martial under the new law.

Empowering independent military prosecutors is key to tackling the militarys sexual assault crisis and its also key to boosting military readiness and retention, retired Col. Don Christensen, the former chief prosecutor of the Air Force and president of Protect Our Defenders, a military justice advocacy group, said in a statement. If you care about the health and well-being of those who serve our nation and the military as a whole, then todays reforms  which also include significant sentencing reform, enhanced victims rights, and the criminalization of sexual harassment  are a big win.
Travelers queue up at the Southwest Airlines curbside check-in area at Denver International Airport, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Denver. Airlines canceled hundreds of flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19 to extend the nations travel problems beyond Christmas. (David Zalubowski/AP)

NEW YORK  Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel, stretched into Monday as airlines called off more than 1,000 U.S. flights because crews were sick with COVID-19 during one of the year's busiest travel periods, and storm fronts added to the havoc.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been common this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and carriers have struggled to make up ground this year, when air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected. The arrival of the omicron variant only exacerbated the problem.

"During the pandemic, we have seen experienced airline personnel leave the industry and not return across the globe," said John Grant, senior analyst at travel industry research firm OAG. "Filling those skill gaps was already a challenge in the recovery before the latest variant."

But airlines' staffing levels are "irrelevant" when omicron is thrown into the mix, said Atmosphere Research Group travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. "We can't blame the issues we're seeing now on airlines not having enough employees to work. What we're seeing happen is the employees who were available to work have come down with COVID."

Since Friday, airlines have canceled more than 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S., according to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have blamed the coronavirus for staffing problems in the past several days. European and Australian airlines also canceled holiday-season flights because of infected staff, but weather and other factors played a role as well.

Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday, according to Alaska Airlines, which expected more than 100 flight cancellations Monday. But the airline said sick crews were no longer a factor.

United said it canceled 115 flights Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews with COVID-19. Delta expected to cancel more than 200 flights out of its schedule of over 4,100, after scrapping more than 370 on Sunday, citing the effect of COVID-19 on crews and winter weather in Minneapolis, Seattle and Salt Lake City.

SkyWest, a regional airline based in Utah, said it had more cancellations than normal during the weekend and on Monday after bad weather affected several of its hubs and many crew members were out with COVID-19.

Industry analysts said new guidance from U.S. health officials could help airlines better navigate the impact of omicron on staffing levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut in half the recommended length of time a person should isolate after getting COVID-19 to five days.

Airlines had called on the Biden administration to shorten the quarantine period to alleviate staffing issues caused by omicron, although the union for flight attendants pushed back, saying the isolation period should remain 10 days.

"I definitely think that should help," Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said of the CDC's new guidance  especially if bad weather subsides.

Representatives for the flight attendants union, the airlines and the industry's trade group did not immediately respond or declined to comment on the CDC change.

Cancellations have snarled holidays that were already complicated this year with the rise of the omicron variant and escalating COVID-19 cases, which caused some to change their plans at the last minute.

But many other people kept their plans.

Transportation Security Administration data shows that the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints so far during the holiday season went up significantly from last year  on some days double the number of fliers or even more. But the number is generally still short of 2019 levels.

The TSA has predicted that the Monday after New Year's will be one of the busiest days of the holiday season. The CDC's new guidelines could help airlines better navigate the New Year's weekend rush as staffers who got infected are able to come back to work, Harteveldt said.

The U.S. government has issued new rules relating to COVID-19 and travel in recent months, requiring foreigners coming to the U.S. to be vaccinated. It also now requires a negative COVID-19 test for both U.S. citizens and foreigners within a day of flying into the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the nation should also seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel as another way to push people to get vaccinated.

The administration has at times considered a domestic vaccination requirement, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. Such a requirement could face legal challenges.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
(Tribune News Service)  A Port Orchard, Wash., towing company will reimburse a Navy sailor for selling his car at auction while he was deployed aboard a submarine in the Pacific, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said.

Bethel Garage, 6750 Bethel Rd. SE, will pay the sailor the net auction price for the car, plus $2,000 in compensation for the year he was without a car, Fergusons office said.

Federal and state laws require tow operators to obtain a court order before selling an active-duty service members vehicle at auction, with additional protections if the service member is deployed.

Submariner Vincent Rowell was on active duty on the USS Connecticut somewhere in the Pacific in December 2018 when a friend who had borrowed his car was involved in an accident, and the car was towed, according to court records.

The 2016 Hyundai Elantra was later sold at auction to a scrapyard in Lacey for $5,200.

Should have checked

Ferguson said Bethel Garage failed to follow the law. It should have checked to see if the car was owned by an active-duty service member, he said, and applied for a court order before selling it. There is a free public Department of Defense database that tow operators can use to check whether a vehicle is owned by a service member.

The law is clear  towing companies have an obligation to determine whether a car belongs to a member of the military, said Ferguson in a news release. When our service men and women are deployed away from home and family, they should not need to worry whether their possessions are safe.

Bethel Garage did not return a call requesting comment. But Ferguson said the towing company, also known as Bethel Towing, changed its procedures immediately after being contacted by his office, and now complies voluntarily with state and federal guidelines.

State law allows the towing company to keep the towing fee and storage charges, but it will return the balance  $3,983  plus $2,000 compensation, to Rowell, according to Fergusons spokesperson, Brionna Aho.

Second local case

The case is similar to one that involved a Tacoma towing company and another Navy sailor.

While deployed on an aircraft carrier, Petty Officer 2nd Class Alex Vaughn left his car at an apartment complex in Pierce County. It was towed and later sold by Burns Towing of Tacoma, the Attorney Generals Office said.

In May 2020, a Pierce County judge ruled that Burns Towing illegally auctioned off that vehicle and others owned by active-duty military service members. Burns Towing sold as many as 35 service members vehicles while they were on active duty, the Attorney Generals Office asserted in a lawsuit.

(c)2021 The Peninsula Gateway (Gig Harbor, Wash.)

Visit The Peninsula Gateway at www.thenewstribune.com/gigharbor

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC .
Newly released letters mayors wrote to Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta show cracks in relations over the Three Waters reform appeared months before it was mandated.

The letters obtained through an OIA include calls to pull a government advertising campaign and complaints from councils about the speed and the way the process had been handled.

Papers released last month revealed Cabinet had agreed in June to pursue an "all-in legislated" reform strategy, knowing that achieving the benefit of reforms would, in practice, require eliminating the possibility of opting out.

Mahuta had consistently refused to rule out making the reforms mandatory, but did not confirm the move until late October.

Twenty-four councils are now nationally fighting the government's Three Waters mandating through the Communities 4 Local Democracy campaign.

The Three Waters ad campaign

On June 28, the chairs representing South Island councils, Selwyn Mayor Sam Broughton and Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan, wrote to the minister requesting an "immediate cessation" of its public information campaign of the reform.

The ad campaign depicts unhappy cartoon people and animals with poor quality water.

The two mayors say the tone and theme of the adverts totally trivialised and wrongly portrayed the situation.

"We now find a concerted effort is underway to present an untruthful paradigm where local government is undermined with inflammatory statements that are detached from reality," they say.

In a response, Mahuta defended the adverts.

"The animated approach was chosen to achieve maximum cut through in a space crowded with issues calling for New Zealanders' compassion and care and it translates easily across different demographics, from age groups to ethnicities. It takes a quirky approach to a dry and difficult subject matter," she wrote.

She says their letter had taken her by surprise.

"The campaign is not intended in any way to denigrate local government in its stewardship of our three waters services. To date officials have not had any indications from the general public, at whom it is aimed, that the campaign has been interpreted in this way," she says.

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon.

However, on July 2 Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel described the adverts as "patronising, inaccurate, scare-mongering and borders on prejudicial stereotyping".

"I am aware that several of my colleagues have since raised this with you. I have seen your reply to Mayors Broughton and Cadogan, which unfortunately misses the mark when it comes to the television advertisement potentially breaching the trusted relationship we have built up with you," she said.

Dalziel said she had reflected on whether to lodge a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority.

A total of 48 complaints were made about the adverts, but the ASA ruled in the context of advocacy advertising that it was not misleading or offensive.

Warnings to slow down or pause the Three Waters process

On August 24, West Coast mayors wrote to the minister urging her to give them more time.

"There is major concern on the West Coast around the reform and how it will affect our communities and this important decision needs to be fully informed," they said.

"While many questions remain unanswered, we would like more time to understand the implications for our communities and engage with them meaningfully."

Grey District Mayor Tanai Gibson, Westland District Mayor Bruce Smith and West Coast Regional Council chair Allan Birchfield expressed their concern about the uncertainty around Taumata Arowai's role and the powers of the new Economic Regulator.

"Therefore, we would like to see an immediate pause in the reform process to allow councils to consider the points raised and to be able to engage effectively with our communities," they said.

In September, Mahuta was warned by Waipa Mayor Jim Mylchreest of the "growing disquiet" within the local government sector.

"I would have to include myself in the group of mayors who have concerns over the speed and direction of the proposed reforms and the negative impact they are likely to have on our communities," he said.

He said feedback from the community was almost universally opposed to the reforms as proposed and he feared that if they proceeded in the current format there would be a significant political consequence.

"The demands I am receiving are for full public consultation and preferably a referendum on the matter. The results of this consultation will inevitably result in a large number of councils resolving to opt out of the reforms," he said.

-RNZ/Katie Doyle/Charlie Dreaver.
Local residents and visitors to the Bay of Plenty are being urged to plan ahead to help stay well and avoid overwhelming healthcare services this summer.

With Covid-19 circulating in the community, primary healthcare leaders are doubling down on the message to prepare for any eventuality, including the situation where people test positive for Covid-19 over the holidays or away from home.

Preparation is key this festive season, and it is essential that every local household or group visiting the Bay of Plenty has talked about scenarios that could play out relating to Covid-19, says Phil Back, General Manager for Practice Services at Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation.

Our population increases over the holidays, as does the demand on local health services. While we are pleased to see vaccination rates continue to climb, people must remain vigilant to prevent the spread of Covid-19 by masking, scanning, using Vaccine Passes where they apply, and getting swabbed when unwell.

People should also make sure they have enough of their repeat medicines to avoid making unnecessary trips to the Emergency Department if they run out of them, says Phil.

We need to keep ED for emergencies.

If you are heading out of town on holiday, packing some of the first aid basics such as plasters, antiseptic cream and some paracetamol gives you something to use to either avoid medical assistance, or help while you seek medical support.

Other health professionals, such as physiotherapists and pharmacists, can also provide valuable medical assistance.

If youre injured with a sprained ankle, for example, a physiotherapist is often a better first option rather than a GP.

For minor illnesses, a pharmacist is another great option. And many pharmacies have longer opening hours over the holiday period.

Phone your GP day or night

Bay of Plenty residents needing healthcare advice are reminded they can phone their GP day or night.

A nurse triage service answering after-hours calls is in place for all the Bays GPs, says PHO Clinical Director Dr Claire Isham.

Claire Isham.

By calling your doctor you will get transferred to a nurse who can help assess your problem and advise on the next best steps, she says.

This can help avoid unnecessary visits to medical centres or the Emergency Department.

Anyone with cold, flu or Covid-19 type symptoms, and especially before travelling, should get tested. Testing centres are available across the region and we advise people with symptoms to contact their Practice before attending.

Information about testing centres can be found at https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/bay-of-plenty/tauranga/.

Those people visiting the Western Bay of Plenty who are not registered with a local GP can access medical advice by calling 0800 367 432584.

Covid care in the community

With an expectation that people will continue to test positive for Covid in the Bay of Plenty, and require care and monitoring at home as they recover, the PHO is providing support to the local Covid Primary Response Team.

The team will remain active through the Christmas/New Year period.

If you become unwell or have been exposed to a Covid-19 case while away from home, contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453 and arrange to get tested.

Following the guidance of health professionals is essential, adds Dr Isham.

We understand people are looking forward to their summer break, seeing whanau and travelling, but we ask that people follow any advice they are given regarding getting tested and isolating whilst waiting for results, or in the event they test positive.

Find out more at https://covid19.govt.nz/.../keep.../stay-safe-this-summer/.
Now is usually the time when most people will be cleaning out the cupboards and looking to get rid of unwanted gifts, regretted purchases or just items that haven't been used.

New Zealand Police prevention national manager Superintendent Eric Tibbott is sharing his tips on how to sell things in a safe way.

"If you plan to sell your unwanted items, make sure you take care when doing so."

Police recommend the following safety tips when choosing a place to meet:

 Meet in a public, well-lit area or consider only trading in daylight hours.

 Trade near, or in front of, a known/working CCTV camera, in busy foot-traffic or perhaps by a Police station.

 Dont go to the transaction alone.

 Make sure a friend or family member is aware of the transaction details.

 Don't go into someone elses house, and do not allow them into yours.

 Be extra cautious when buying or selling valuable items such as vehicles and jewellery.

 Only use cash to complete your transactions and never deposit money into a persons account without receiving the item first.

 Trust your instincts, if it sounds like a scam, it probably is.

 If somebody is not willing to come to a Safe Trade Zone, it is probably not a legitimate transaction.

"Call 111 in an emergency. We would rather attend to prevent a crime happening, than attend after an offence has occurred," says Eric.

"So remember, if something illegal is happening now, call 111. If its already happened you can provide information via the Police non-emergency number 105."
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avi_swift BHPian



Join Date: May 2015 Location: New Delhi Posts: 83 Thanked: 418 Times

Re: Pics: Accidents in India







Before we inched under the metro pillar, there was an auto to my right. As I was inching forward, I was trying to take the service road as indicated in the arrow so that I can enter the mall. Now the auto was going right, so he inched a little ahead, while I was planning to go straight to the service road, so I was waiting and inching forward when I got the chance. And suddenly, a BMW X1 decides that the gap is wide enough, so he crept up to my right. I hear some scraping noise and to my horror, I see this car to my right. I honked but the driver could not hear through his windows, so I rolled down mine and banged on his bonnet. This worked and he applied his brakes after this. You can see in the below pictures the part where I banged is free from dust.















Since I could not open my doors, I moved a little ahead once the traffic allowed me to and blocked his way. The guy was not ready to admit his mistake and kept insisting it was my fault which almost drove me mad. Seeing that there was no use arguing with this moron, I walked ahead and got a cop from a kiosk in front of the mall. He looked at both of our cars and told us to drive out of this traffic and call 100 (literally everyone was yelling at me by then since I was adding to the already severe traffic). The cop assured me that now, the guy wont try to escape, so I took an U Turn(i.e. completed the roundabout) and called 100. A police Innova came within 10 minutes. In front of the cops the guy kept repeating that it was not his fault and that I would have to pay for his damages to boot, so the 2 policemen who came told us to drive to sector 17 police station (less than 500m from the place).



At the police station, the officer looked at both the cars, then spoke to each of us separately. I told him if I can file a complaint, to which he said that its possible, but then both of us have to leave the cars at the station for almost 5 days so that they can arrange a technical team who will come and assess the damages to both the cars. I have read in Team BHP about cars getting vandalized at police stations, so I was not ready for this at any cost. I asked them if they can look at the CCTV from the area and he said they can watch CCTV footage only after a formal complaint has been filed, which again meant leaving my car at the station.



The officer advised me to settle it amongst ourselves. By then, I had a good look at the damage to my car. Thankfully, due to less than 5KM/H speed, there was no dent. But sadly the paint was chipped in lots of places. I told him that if the other guy owned up to his mistake and reimburse my insurance NCB, I would be satisfied. This time, he agreed and gave me 1000.







Very little damage to the X1, only the bumper has some paint chipped.







In contrast, my poor car has lost paint on both doors as well as the area around the rear right wheel. I have to get this repaired when I go for the annual servicing in January. The only silver lining is no dent.



Needless to say, Christmas was ruined for us and I have to watch Matrix once it releases on Netflix/Prime.



Few takeaways from my unfortunate incident: If you are a victim in a situation like this, do not waste your energy arguing with morons, instead call for the cops. Note the number or take a picture of the offending car (if possible). Many times we are hesitant to call the cops thinking what may happen. But my experience with Delhi police has been very good. The cops were at the scene within 10 minutes from the call and all of them behaved very professionally with both of us. The other guy was playing victim but after a discussion with the officer at the station, he agreed to his fault. I always assumed that in India, the more expensive cars tend to drive more safely. Not anymore. This X1 was probably less than a month old and I thought it was really weird that someone can drive a brand new BMW like that. Don't cars like these come with front sensors? And lastly, I have decided to get a dashcam. I was dilly dallying whether to get one since I consider myself a safe driver and never test my limit or the car's. But as this incident rudely pointed out, I can get into trouble even after driving safe. I don't think the outcome would have been any different in this case even if there was a dashcam, but if the situation is more serious than this, a dashcam would have been vital. It was a bad Christmas for me as my car got hit by another yesterday. So sadly, now its my turn to post about my experiences in this thread, which I never thought I would have to. We were going to Vegas Mall, Dwarka to watch the Matrix. The mall entrance is next to a roundabout and due to Christmas, the area was jam packed with cars. The arrow indicates the direction I would have taken to go to the parking and the black square shows the area where the accident occurred.Before we inched under the metro pillar, there was an auto to my right. As I was inching forward, I was trying to take the service road as indicated in the arrow so that I can enter the mall. Now the auto was going right, so he inched a little ahead, while I was planning to go straight to the service road, so I was waiting and inching forward when I got the chance. And suddenly, a BMW X1 decides that the gap is wide enough, so he crept up to my right. I hear some scraping noise and to my horror, I see this car to my right. I honked but the driver could not hear through his windows, so I rolled down mine and banged on his bonnet. This worked and he applied his brakes after this. You can see in the below pictures the part where I banged is free from dust.Since I could not open my doors, I moved a little ahead once the traffic allowed me to and blocked his way. The guy was not ready to admit his mistake and kept insisting it was my fault which almost drove me mad. Seeing that there was no use arguing with this moron, I walked ahead and got a cop from a kiosk in front of the mall. He looked at both of our cars and told us to drive out of this traffic and call 100 (literally everyone was yelling at me by then since I was adding to the already severe traffic). The cop assured me that now, the guy wont try to escape, so I took an U Turn(i.e. completed the roundabout) and called 100. A police Innova came within 10 minutes. In front of the cops the guy kept repeating that it was not his fault and that I would have to pay for his damages to boot, so the 2 policemen who came told us to drive to sector 17 police station (less than 500m from the place).At the police station, the officer looked at both the cars, then spoke to each of us separately. I told him if I can file a complaint, to which he said that its possible, but then both of us have to leave the cars at the station for almost 5 days so that they can arrange a technical team who will come and assess the damages to both the cars. I have read in Team BHP about cars getting vandalized at police stations, so I was not ready for this at any cost. I asked them if they can look at the CCTV from the area and he said they can watch CCTV footage only after a formal complaint has been filed, which again meant leaving my car at the station.The officer advised me to settle it amongst ourselves. By then, I had a good look at the damage to my car. Thankfully, due to less than 5KM/H speed, there was no dent. But sadly the paint was chipped in lots of places. I told him that if the other guy owned up to his mistake and reimburse my insurance NCB, I would be satisfied. This time, he agreed and gave me 1000.Very little damage to the X1, only the bumper has some paint chipped.In contrast, my poor car has lost paint on both doors as well as the area around the rear right wheel. I have to get this repaired when I go for the annual servicing in January. The only silver lining is no dent.Needless to say, Christmas was ruined for us and I have to watch Matrix once it releases on Netflix/Prime.Few takeaways from my unfortunate incident:
Umash Newbie

Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: Chennai Posts: 16 Thanked: 56 Times

Re: Travel Treasure  Gold Or Silver



Ours was a leisurely travel, not bound by time to visit numerous places. We had decided to go where we liked. So got up leisurely and after a heavy breakfast checked out from Thar Oasis and proceeded to Ramdevra temple. To nullify the tiredness of waiting in the Osian Sachchiyay Mata Temple, we had Dharshan of Ramdevra Baba in about 15 - 20 minutes.







Almost empty queue complex in Ramdevra Temple.



Since we had to reach Sam Desert dunes only in the evening, we enquired our cab driver, whether there is any other place to visit, on the way to Sam. As if, waiting for our query, he said "Yes. We will go to Bhadariya Mata Temple"

Bhadariya Mataji Temple is located about 8 kms inside from the Jodhpur- Jaisalmer Road and unless otherwise we plan to visit, we may just miss the entrance archway, traveling at a decent speed, in the highway. The road sidelined with tall trees is a beautiful drive!



It is said that this temple was built to celebrate the victory of war between Jaisalmer and Bikaner kingdoms, by King Maharawal Gaj Singh of Jaisalmer in early 19th century. Mythologically, Bhadariya Mataji is the sister of the famous Tanot Mataji whose temple is situated about 20 km from Indo- Pakistan Border at Tanot.







Apart from the temple, the main attraction is the world's biggest underground desert library. The library is 'T' shaped with rooms along the walls. The alley way is 250 feet long and 350 feet across. It is said to contain more than nine lakh books in various subjects, Vedas, Upanishads, Ithihasa, Mythology, Indian Constitution, Science, History etc. etc. I saw few books in Geology also. They conduct guided tour to the library, in Groups having not more than 10-15 people in a trip.







Staircase to Underground Library.







The librarian Mr. Ghan Shyam became our instant friend, when we said that we belong to Chennai. He said that he spent 4 years in Chennai and preferred to talk in Tamil with us. He became more ecstatic, when we wrote in the Visitors' book, in Tamil, English and as well in Hindi He personally took us to the kitchen and offered Lassi Prasad.

We were happy to get Darshan of Saraswati Mata in the form of books, on the Saraswati Pooja day. ( Ninth day of Dussera)







After Lassi Prasadam, we proceeded to Jaisalmer.



When we were nearing Jaisalmer, the driver suggested that before entering the City, we can go to Kuldhara, a village in ruins which was allegedly abandoned by the residents overnight. There are several theories for villagers to abandon the village, from, reluctance to marry off their village girl to a Minister of the Jaisalmer Kingdom with the curse that no one will be able to live in the village, to, earthquake and dwindling water resources. Being a Geologist, I was naturally attracted to see the site of alleged seismic activity.

We reached Kuldhara at about 2.30 PM. On entering the gateway, we were asked to pay Rs.20/- as entry ticket per person. But I couldn't see any typical ASI ticket counter and we didn't get any ticket. The Guard, simply collected money and allowed us to go in. No charge was collected for the car also.

The ruins extend to a length of about a km and width may be around 300 mtrs intersected by the modern road.



In my opinion, the village might have been deserted due to earthquake. The tremor and shock waves, even if it is mild in Richter scale, in a sandy area will be much more intense than the areas of normal rock / soil. The tremor would have caused the sand to mix with water and the pressure of the shockwaves would have compacted the slurry in to a hard rock which is not permeable. The existing water is lost and there is no chance of getting ground water any more. Since there is no water to support life system, the residents might have abandoned the village. Story of the villagers abandoning the village, overnight to escape from the Minister it appears has been concocted to make the site romantic and attract tourists.











We left the place around 3.30 and proceeded to Sam Sand Dunes.



Since, we wanted a peaceful holiday, we selected Mirage Camps, which is outside the village behind ESSAR Petrol Pump and little bit inside, not abutting the road. The Camp is totally deserted. Other than us there was only one more family in the camp of some thirty tents. The employees were quite polite and were enthusiastic to carry out the chores. We were provided with unlimited evening snacks (Moong Dhal Pakoda) and tea. By the time we finished tea, the jeep to take us to the Sand Dunes Safari was ready. The roller coaster drive at really high speed and going up and down the dunes left us laughing and screaming! In the dunes, we saw some crowd and mentioned it to the jeep driver. He said that the crowd was nothing. In the Season time, the place will look like Kumbh Mela / Marina Beach in Chennai on the third day of Pongal. There won't be any space, even for the jeeps to move around freely. After customary Camel Safari, we returned to the Camp by 6.30. We were once again offered snacks and tea, which we refused.







Since, there were not many visitors, the Camps in the vicinity joined together and held an Evening Cultural Program in one of the camps and the residents of other camps were requested to join them. When we went to the nearby camp for the program, there were about some 30 people including children. By around 9.00 PM, it was getting very cold and we returned to our camp where we were served with oven hot parathas, gatte ki subzi , choley and gajar ki halwa.. After a hot day we slept like logs in the cold tent



(I have to mention here that our Cab driver was also given a tent to sleep and food with no extra charges to us )



Day - 7.



Our target time to leave the Camp was 9.00 AM. But as usual, got up by 5.00 AM and enjoyed the chilly weather of the desert. By 8.30, we finished breakfast of Poha, Aloo Paratta, Puri and tea. We checked out by 9.15.

Today's program was to go to Longewala Battle Field / War Memorial and the famous Tanot Mata Mandir.



I thought that we will be going to Longewala via Ramgarh and mentally prepared for a bumpy ride. When I was wondering, why the driver is taking us to Sam instead of the opposite direction, he enquired about some road direction and took a right turn. After some 20-30 minutes of u eventful driving in a smooth village road, he touched a road junction and took another right turn. This is the first time; I have seen this sort of buttery smooth, wide road. We can actually test, whether the needle in the Speedometer touches the other end. The driver told that for him also this is the first time to drive in that road. Later we came to know that these roads are built as Emergency Landing Strip for defence air craft, like the Express Ways in UP.







Our border with the neighboring Country is just 10 km away. After about half an hour glide in the road, reached Longewala Battle Field / War Memorial.

















So many travelers have already written about Longewala in this Forum. So , don't want to repeat the same. After watching the audio visual show about the famous Longewala Battle and other displays, enquired with the Jawans there, whether we can go up to the Border. They said only Defence Personnel are allowed to go there. Actually through village roads we can go up to the Border but did not want to create un-necessary problems. After, soaking ourselves in the Battle Field Scene for about an hour proceeded to Tanot Mata Mandir.







Today being Dasami Day, there was a big crowd in the temple. The museum, where the un exploded bombs dropped by Pakistan in the 1971 war were kept, was closed. We spent an hour, sitting in a corner of the temple. We bought a pair of camouflage T-shirt for myself and spouse from the BSF Stall in the temple. This is our small indirect contribution to the welfare of brave hearts protecting us.



It is almost lunch time now. There was so much crowd in the eateries nearby. Bought some biscuit packets, cold coffee bottles and proceeded to Jaisalmer via Ramgarh. The road was good but we missed the buttery smooth road.

We reached Jaisalmer around 3.00 PM. The Driver took us straight to Hotel Shree Jee Excellency for lunch. As in the name, the place was excellent. Tasty food, fast and polite service. After lunch, we checked into Jain Bhavan Dharamsala. This place is recently renovated and has AC Rooms.







After freshening up, went to Gadisar Lake. It is a man- made lake built in 12th century and later rebuilt in 14th century. The lake gets its water supply from Sutlej and Beas Rivers through Rajasthan Canal which was later renamed as Indira Gandhi Canal. There are several Shrines in and around the lake. We went to the lake around 6.30 to avoid the heat. It was crowded so much and no COVID Protocol was maintained. Boats were filled with people, who wear the same life jackets from the previous riders. People were taking photographs in local costume, which were in turn, straight away worn by others. We spent about an hour, sitting in the farthest corner.











For dinner, went to D'Desi Aroma. It is a pure vegetarian restaurant, located just outside the city. It is a nice place with sectoral dining halls. Big garden for outdoor dining, traditional floor level dining, regular dining hall and huts for private dining. Cost is quite competitive for people used to restaurants in cities. Had a leisurely dinner and retired to bed by 11.00. Day - 6.Ours was a leisurely travel, not bound by time to visit numerous places. We had decided to go where we liked. So got up leisurely and after a heavy breakfast checked out from Thar Oasis and proceeded to Ramdevra temple. To nullify the tiredness of waiting in the Osian Sachchiyay Mata Temple, we had Dharshan of Ramdevra Baba in about 15 - 20 minutes.Almost empty queue complex in Ramdevra Temple.Since we had to reach Sam Desert dunes only in the evening, we enquired our cab driver, whether there is any other place to visit, on the way to Sam. As if, waiting for our query, he said "Yes. We will go to Bhadariya Mata Temple"Bhadariya Mataji Temple is located about 8 kms inside from the Jodhpur- Jaisalmer Road and unless otherwise we plan to visit, we may just miss the entrance archway, traveling at a decent speed, in the highway. The road sidelined with tall trees is a beautiful drive!It is said that this temple was built to celebrate the victory of war between Jaisalmer and Bikaner kingdoms, by King Maharawal Gaj Singh of Jaisalmer in early 19th century. Mythologically, Bhadariya Mataji is the sister of the famous Tanot Mataji whose temple is situated about 20 km from Indo- Pakistan Border at Tanot.Apart from the temple, the main attraction is the world's biggest underground desert library. The library is 'T' shaped with rooms along the walls. The alley way is 250 feet long and 350 feet across. It is said to contain more than nine lakh books in various subjects, Vedas, Upanishads, Ithihasa, Mythology, Indian Constitution, Science, History etc. etc. I saw few books in Geology also. They conduct guided tour to the library, in Groups having not more than 10-15 people in a trip.Staircase to Underground Library.The librarian Mr. Ghan Shyam became our instant friend, when we said that we belong to Chennai. He said that he spent 4 years in Chennai and preferred to talk in Tamil with us. He became more ecstatic, when we wrote in the Visitors' book, in Tamil, English and as well in Hindi He personally took us to the kitchen and offered Lassi Prasad.We were happy to get Darshan of Saraswati Mata in the form of books, on the Saraswati Pooja day. ( Ninth day of Dussera)After Lassi Prasadam, we proceeded to Jaisalmer.When we were nearing Jaisalmer, the driver suggested that before entering the City, we can go to Kuldhara, a village in ruins which was allegedly abandoned by the residents overnight. There are several theories for villagers to abandon the village, from, reluctance to marry off their village girl to a Minister of the Jaisalmer Kingdom with the curse that no one will be able to live in the village, to, earthquake and dwindling water resources. Being a Geologist, I was naturally attracted to see the site of alleged seismic activity.We reached Kuldhara at about 2.30 PM. On entering the gateway, we were asked to pay Rs.20/- as entry ticket per person. But I couldn't see any typical ASI ticket counter and we didn't get any ticket. The Guard, simply collected money and allowed us to go in. No charge was collected for the car also.The ruins extend to a length of about a km and width may be around 300 mtrs intersected by the modern road.In my opinion, the village might have been deserted due to earthquake. The tremor and shock waves, even if it is mild in Richter scale, in a sandy area will be much more intense than the areas of normal rock / soil. The tremor would have caused the sand to mix with water and the pressure of the shockwaves would have compacted the slurry in to a hard rock which is not permeable. The existing water is lost and there is no chance of getting ground water any more. Since there is no water to support life system, the residents might have abandoned the village. Story of the villagers abandoning the village, overnight to escape from the Minister it appears has been concocted to make the site romantic and attract tourists.We left the place around 3.30 and proceeded to Sam Sand Dunes.Since, we wanted a peaceful holiday, we selected Mirage Camps, which is outside the village behind ESSAR Petrol Pump and little bit inside, not abutting the road. The Camp is totally deserted. Other than us there was only one more family in the camp of some thirty tents. The employees were quite polite and were enthusiastic to carry out the chores. We were provided with unlimited evening snacks (Moong Dhal Pakoda) and tea. By the time we finished tea, the jeep to take us to the Sand Dunes Safari was ready. The roller coaster drive at really high speed and going up and down the dunes left us laughing and screaming! In the dunes, we saw some crowd and mentioned it to the jeep driver. He said that the crowd was nothing. In the Season time, the place will look like Kumbh Mela / Marina Beach in Chennai on the third day of Pongal. There won't be any space, even for the jeeps to move around freely. After customary Camel Safari, we returned to the Camp by 6.30. We were once again offered snacks and tea, which we refused.Since, there were not many visitors, the Camps in the vicinity joined together and held an Evening Cultural Program in one of the camps and the residents of other camps were requested to join them. When we went to the nearby camp for the program, there were about some 30 people including children. By around 9.00 PM, it was getting very cold and we returned to our camp where we were served with oven hot parathas, gatte ki subzi , choley and gajar ki halwa.. After a hot day we slept like logs in the cold tent(I have to mention here that our Cab driver was also given a tent to sleep and food with no extra charges to us )Day - 7.Our target time to leave the Camp was 9.00 AM. But as usual, got up by 5.00 AM and enjoyed the chilly weather of the desert. By 8.30, we finished breakfast of Poha, Aloo Paratta, Puri and tea. We checked out by 9.15.Today's program was to go to Longewala Battle Field / War Memorial and the famous Tanot Mata Mandir.I thought that we will be going to Longewala via Ramgarh and mentally prepared for a bumpy ride. When I was wondering, why the driver is taking us to Sam instead of the opposite direction, he enquired about some road direction and took a right turn. After some 20-30 minutes of u eventful driving in a smooth village road, he touched a road junction and took another right turn. This is the first time; I have seen this sort of buttery smooth, wide road. We can actually test, whether the needle in the Speedometer touches the other end. The driver told that for him also this is the first time to drive in that road. Later we came to know that these roads are built as Emergency Landing Strip for defence air craft, like the Express Ways in UP.Our border with the neighboring Country is just 10 km away. After about half an hour glide in the road, reached Longewala Battle Field / War Memorial.So many travelers have already written about Longewala in this Forum. So , don't want to repeat the same. After watching the audio visual show about the famous Longewala Battle and other displays, enquired with the Jawans there, whether we can go up to the Border. They said only Defence Personnel are allowed to go there. Actually through village roads we can go up to the Border but did not want to create un-necessary problems. After, soaking ourselves in the Battle Field Scene for about an hour proceeded to Tanot Mata Mandir.Today being Dasami Day, there was a big crowd in the temple. The museum, where the un exploded bombs dropped by Pakistan in the 1971 war were kept, was closed. We spent an hour, sitting in a corner of the temple. We bought a pair of camouflage T-shirt for myself and spouse from the BSF Stall in the temple. This is our small indirect contribution to the welfare of brave hearts protecting us.It is almost lunch time now. There was so much crowd in the eateries nearby. Bought some biscuit packets, cold coffee bottles and proceeded to Jaisalmer via Ramgarh. The road was good but we missed the buttery smooth road.We reached Jaisalmer around 3.00 PM. The Driver took us straight to Hotel Shree Jee Excellency for lunch. As in the name, the place was excellent. Tasty food, fast and polite service. After lunch, we checked into Jain Bhavan Dharamsala. This place is recently renovated and has AC Rooms.After freshening up, went to Gadisar Lake. It is a man- made lake built in 12th century and later rebuilt in 14th century. The lake gets its water supply from Sutlej and Beas Rivers through Rajasthan Canal which was later renamed as Indira Gandhi Canal. There are several Shrines in and around the lake. We went to the lake around 6.30 to avoid the heat. It was crowded so much and no COVID Protocol was maintained. Boats were filled with people, who wear the same life jackets from the previous riders. People were taking photographs in local costume, which were in turn, straight away worn by others. We spent about an hour, sitting in the farthest corner.For dinner, went to D'Desi Aroma. It is a pure vegetarian restaurant, located just outside the city. It is a nice place with sectoral dining halls. Big garden for outdoor dining, traditional floor level dining, regular dining hall and huts for private dining. Cost is quite competitive for people used to restaurants in cities. Had a leisurely dinner and retired to bed by 11.00.
Cohesity Helios data platform's new Security Advisor feature promises fewer ransomware risks. Thanks to this new security enhancement, the platform's consumers can now have a safer virtual environment.

Related Article: Alibaba Cloud to Improve Compliance After Failing to Report Log4j Vulnerability to the Chinese Government

The software development firm explained that the new security enhancement function further helps other organizations and companies trying to mitigate the rising online attacks conducted by ransomware groups.

Security Advisor was developed as a security supplement for Cohesity's Threat Defense architecture. This new feature is expected to reduce human errors further so that companies could have a higher level of security resilience.

Cohesity's Security Advisor Feature

According to National Cybersecurity News' latest report, Cohesity's new Security Advisor feature specifically checks the environment of Cohesity Helios data platform.

Also Read: Zoom Wants to Make the Digital World Safer, Joins Meta and Others to Fight Global Online Terrorism

It can cover an array of security configurations and consider a host of factors. These include audit logs, encryption framework, and access control.

Security Advisor would also inform consumers if they are performing well in Cohesity's best security practice recommendations.

If they somehow fail to pass these cybersecurity practice suggestions, the new feature would provide all they need to do to further lessen the ransomware risks.

Thanks to the new Security Advisor function, they can now keep their products safe against hackers and other online attackers. You can view this link to see more details.

Why Cohesity's Security Advisor is Important

The new Cohesity Security Advisor is a great effort from the software creator since ransomware attacks are becoming more severe.

As of the moment, giant companies and organizations, especially online platforms, are being targeted by new international threat actors that are using ransomware attacks to victimize consumers.

CRN reported that the recent ransomware attacks demanded a combined $320 million from all their victims. These groups include LockBit, Phoenix, REvil, Darkside, and other big names.

In other news, banks and telecom giants are now suggesting the use of voiceprint authentication as security risks grow. Meanwhile, AvosLocker ransomware was recently discovered, which is believed to complete its attack in just five seconds.

For more news updates about security threats and other related topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

This article is owned by TechTimes

Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
DuckDuckGo search engine, which features boosted privacy protection, is currently growing in demand. According to the firm, the average search queries that it generates daily now hit more than 100 million searches. In 2021 alone, it has exponentially expanded to nearly 47%.

DuckDuckGo Search Engine Growth

According to Bleeping Computer's report over the weekend, the rising platform has shown a great improvement in terms of year-over-year growth. Despite Google's dominance on the search results, many people are experimenting with the privacy-centered platform.

Last year exactly this month, DuckDuckGo recorded 79 million search queries as a daily average. To add, the total search queries for the platform accounted for 23.6 billion at that time.

This 2021, the Pennsylvania-headquartered company garnered an average of 100 million search queries daily. So far, the total search queries reached 34.6 billion and it's still four days before 2022 begins. Overall, the team saw a 46.4% growth this year.

Related Article: DuckDuckGo Mac Version Coming Soon | Privacy Protecting Search Engine

DuckDuckGo MarketShare Lags Behind

In the same report from Bleeping Computer, there's still a lot to see for the progress of the DuckDuckGo search engine. Despite posting impressive growth this year, its market share still lags behind its competitors.

With that, it only has 2.53% in the total market share which is slightly smaller than Yahoo and Bing's shares at 3.3% and 6.43% respectively. On top of that, Google remains the leading internet search engine in the US which has a whopping share of 87.33% of search traffic.





Last week, Tech Times reported that the DuckDuckGo desktop web browser is currently in the development phase. The company CEO Gabriel Weinberg confirmed this news in his recent blog post.

DuckDuckGo vs Google

In another report from Spread Privacy, Google will reportedly track the user when using the search engine while DuckDuckGo will not allow this feature.

When using this new platform, the company assures that the information of its users will be kept safe and private. The common notion about these platforms is that your data is usually mined and tracked for ads. This explains why there are ads that are closely related to your interests.

The privacy-focused search engine will also boast "Email Protection" which will protect users from email tracking. With this, there's nothing to worry about anymore for those scammers who want to track your actual email address for malicious purposes.

In the Android ecosystem, DuckDuckGo features "App Tracking" protection which bars third-party trackers from detecting them. These trackers are what we commonly encounter when opening Facebook and Google Chrome.

"No complicated settings, no misleading warnings, no "levels" of privacy protection - just robust privacy protection that works by default, across search, browsing, email, and more," the company said in its blog.

Read Also: [App Battle] Google Chrome vs Microsoft Edge vs Safari: Which is the Best Browser so Far?



This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The legal fight over whether St. George gets to become an actual city will likely play out in the spring  more than two years after voters in southeastern East Baton Rouge Parish said "yes" to incorporating the controversial municipality.

Tentative trial dates have been set in April and May, depending on various circumstances, including travel plans for one of the attorneys representing the defense in the case and whether a judge appointed in the wake of William Morvant's retirement feels confident enough by then to hear arguments in what is sure to be a contentious court battle.

One on side, there's Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Council Pro Tem LaMont Cole trying to block the creation of what could become the fifth city in the parish. They assert the proposed majority-White city of more than 80,000 people would have negative financial impacts on the city-parish.

Hospital, properties in proposed St. George boundary annex instead into city of Baton Rouge The latest round of annexations within the proposed boundaries of the city of St. George moved forward Wednesday, with a hospital and several 

On the other side, proponents are pushing for a new municipality as means to setting up a new school district and gaining more control over how some of their tax dollars are spent. The proposed city's budget would be built on sales tax revenue generated within its boundaries.

The judge assigned to the case won't be around.

"His retirement is not a factor in the delays with this case," attorney Mary Olive Pierson, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs.

Morvant in November announced his retirement from the seat he's held in the 19th Judicial District Court since 1997. His retirement means the Louisiana Supreme Court in January will appoint an ad hoc judge to preside over the cases on Morvant's docket until a special election can take place, likely in March, to fill the remaining time on his term.

In lawsuit filed to block St. George incorporation, defendants accused of ducking depositions Attorneys in the lawsuit seeking to block the St. George incorporation effort have accused organizers of not cooperating with recent depositio

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According to the timeline proponents posted on the St. George movement's Facebook page, Morvant has set trial dates for either April 4 or May 2 of next year.

Pierson said Morvant did give both sides the option to have him appoint a commissioner to hear the arguments in the case and then make a recommendation to the judge regarding a ruling.

"We said both sides can pay equally to do that," she said. "The St. George people were fine with a commissioner but said 'we're not paying any money.' They didn't want to pay their fair share, which is typical of them."

Drew Murrell, spokesperson for the St. George movement, said it had more to do with not wanting to add an extra layer to the already prolonged case since any commissioner who heard the initial arguments would still have to get a judge to agree to whatever recommendation he or she made, and there's no guarantee Morvant's replacement would agree with it.

"For us, the scenario is kind of in limbo," Murrell said. "We're waiting for the ad hoc, then the election, with the idea the new judge can get up to speed and hear the matter in the spring."

The trial won't likely be the end. Both sides have indicated they intend to appeal all the way up to the state's highest court before giving up. That means it could be another three or more years before St. George officially becomes a city, or not.

"When the facts come out, folks are gonna look around and wonder why we dragged this out so long," Murrell said.
Purple balloons signifying domestic violence awareness, and some of the 19 white ballons signifying each year of the life of slain Southern University student Shayla James rise skyward next to the SU Student Union, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, during a balloon release in memory of James and other victims of domestic violence. James was shot and killed by her boyfriend last week, in one of an increasing number of recent domestic violence-related deaths.
Toddler missing from Slaughter found safe and will be reunited with mom, police say
When Steve Kenny first received a check from his insurer for Hurricane Ida damages, he thought finally hed have the money to repair his St. Charles Parish home.

But one step remained: His mortgage company needed to endorse the check.

So, he mailed it off to his lender, thinking theyd sign it and send it back, giving him the cash he needed to hire a contractor.

Instead, Kenny learned, an unfamiliar website, InsuranceClaimCheck.com, would hold and manage the funds. If he wanted to access the money, hed have to jump through several more hoops.

It took nearly a month for his lender, loanDepot, to send him a portion of his latest insurance check. Meanwhile, the contractor he lined up to fix his home has taken on other jobs.

Theyre acting like this is their money, Kenny said earlier this month, standing on concrete floors in his Destrehan home, beneath ceilings patched with blue tarp. This is my insurance money and theyre holding it hostage.

A spokesperson for loanDepot declined to comment.

Four months after Hurricane Ida tore through southeast Louisiana, thousands of residents  already worn out by a time-consuming insurance claims process  are facing a new set of bureaucratic hurdles with their mortgage companies.

+6 Louisianans face endless insurance adjusters in Ida's aftermath: 'I feel like I have PTSD' Peggy Honore paid her insurance premiums on-time, every month for more than a decade, but in the months after Hurricane Ida tore the roof off 

Lenders will often monitor how insurance proceeds are spent to make certain that the property they financed is rebuilt back to market value. But each company handles the process differently, and there are few regulations governing how they must distribute the money.

Theres no rhyme or reason or continuity on how much theyll hold and how long theyll hold it for, said Douglas Quinn, president of the American Policyholder Association, a consumer advocacy group. They are oftentimes abusive with the practice.

The frustrations are no surprise to residents of southwest Louisiana, who are sixteen months into their own recovery from hurricanes Laura and Delta. State Rep. Phillip Tarver, a Lake Charles Republican, introduced a bill during the last legislative session that would have entitled homeowners to a lump sum of their insurance proceeds up front. The proposal didnt even get a committee hearing.

I tried to get something done on it and I couldnt get no interest, no traction, Tarver said.

Thats likely to change. The second-ranking leader in Louisianas House, state Rep. Tanner Magee, a Houma Republican, said hes faced his own frustrations with getting lenders to release his insurance funds. He said lawmakers will revisit how to put guardrails on mortgage companies in the legislative session beginning in March.

Its like its own cottage industry: How much can we frustrate you? Magee said.

Part of the problem is that theres no consistency among lenders on what it takes to access the cash, Quinn said. Sometimes they work on a reimbursement scheme, requiring homeowners to front the cash for repairs out of their own savings before theyll release the insurance funds allotted.

The scoop on state politics in your inbox Get the Louisiana politics insider details once a week from us. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

You think youre about to cross the finish line and then theres your lending institution there to give you that last little kick in the pants, Quinn said.

Boil 'em alive? Insurers face angry Louisiana politicians as policyholder frustrations mount The anger against insurers across storm-ravaged south Louisiana is so intense, one political hopeful suggested a biblical punishment for compa

For Kenny to access his insurance proceeds, first he had to request an inspection, to determine how much work had already been done. When his inspector finally showed up in the beginning of December, she initially said she couldnt get up his front steps, asking Kenny to instead take photos. Once she filed her report, it took two weeks before his lender agreed to release the funds. It took another week for the check to arrive in the mail.

I feel like a turd thats been flushed in the toilet and it doesnt go down, Kenny, 63, said. Im just spinning around and around and around and around.

Galen Hair, with Metairie-based Hair Shunnarah Trial Attorneys, said the process is so convoluted, his firm has two full-time employees dedicated to haggling with mortgage companies.

Theres not a uniform set of rules for mortgage companies to follow, he said, adding that lenders often switch up their procedures midway without notice.

For those without a law firm backing them up, the process can be downright infuriating. Kenny spends his Fridays off work calling InsuranceClaimCheck.com, trying to get them to release his funds.

Making matters worse, the website doesnt even tell him how much of his money theyre holding. A request for comment through the website was not answered.

The states Office of Financial Institutions, charged with regulating lenders, can open an investigation if a consumer files a written complaint, said chief examiner Michelle Jeansonne. Generally, if insurance proceeds are less than $40,000 and a consumer is up to date on paying their loan, they shouldnt have too much trouble accessing their funds, she said.

What makes a home 'uninhabitable' after Hurricane Ida? Louisiana's insurance companies won't say After Hurricane Laura tore through Lake Charles, John Ieyoub knew his home wasnt livable. Rain had poured in through holes in the roof, satur

Consumers should have the right to a clear and consistent policy regarding how the claim funds are allocated and released for repair, Quinn said. Lenders should also distribute the funds in advance, rather than through reimbursement, he said.

Additionally, consumers should earn interest on money held by mortgage companies, Quinn added. He said for six years, one bank held $244,000 in insurance proceeds for a victim of Hurricane Sandy and didnt pay her a penny of interest. They act like its their money, Quinn said. Its corporate arrogance.

Kenny counts himself among the luckier survivors of Hurricane Ida. A contractor agreed to repair his roof several weeks after the storm, even though his insurer hadnt yet paid him. But since then, his recovery has been at a standstill. The contractor he found to put up new sheetrock and flooring is now booked through March. If he wouldve had his insurance proceeds when it was first distributed, hes convinced the work wouldve been done by now.

Were going on four months now and Im no closer to getting this done than I was three weeks after the storm, Kenny said. Nobody said this was going to be the process. Im at my wit's end.

Are you facing issues with your insurer or lender in the aftermath of hurricanes Ida or Laura? Send your story to bpaterson@theadvocate.com and a reporter may reach out.
The year in dance was rather like a classic ballet fish dive. It began with an exciting lift. Then came a headfirst downward plunge. And, finally, in the last month, there was a surprise recovery.

La Bayadere, Summertime at the Ballet Credit:Jeff Busby / The Australian Ballet

In February, the Australian Ballets Summertime Gala at Margaret Court Arena provided a moment of exhilaration. It was a festive evening  despite the masks and social distancing  and it felt like a new beginning for everyone.

Artistic director David Hallbergs first public program offered an attractive vision for the company: less cheesy panto and more dance-for-the-sake-of-dance. And it was, overall, a performance of considerable freedom and vivacity.

Another early highlight was the Sangam Festival. The new works program at Dancehouse was a tantalising glimpse of what contemporary dance might look like in Melbourne if it were more open to modern and classical South Asian influences.
For our free coronavirus pandemic coverage, learn more here.

Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The sound of crashing waves. The smell of fish and chips. The taste of seawater. The sight of a classic catch. The touch of raw sunburn. The Australian summer break is a collection of sensations, as much as it is a period of time, each one with the power to transport us to a particular moment. The foundation of this nostalgia is routine. Year after year, many of us do the same thing in the same place at the same time. This familiarity allows us space to forget what is going on elsewhere  and just relax. Yet while a holiday break is a given for many Australians, it has not always been the case (and some workers may not get one at all). Where did the idea of taking time off come from? How have summer holidays evolved in Australia? And how are we holidaying now, in a "COVID-19" world? Holiday time at Sydney's Coogee, circa 1900. Credit:Swain & Co, Getty Images Where did the concept of holidays come from? The word holiday comes from the Old English "halig daeg", which translates to holy day. That's a singular: the sole weekly day of rest was for religion. Christians didnt work Sundays, while Jews observed the sabbath on Saturdays. The holy day of Islamic prayer was on Fridays, a day that still marks the start of the weekend in Muslim-majority countries. Most cultures also held additional religious events throughout the year, offering more chances for piety (and leisure).

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In ancient Rome, there were no weekly breaks but life would grind to a halt for regular festivals such as Saturnalia in mid-December when gods such as Saturn were celebrated with food and wine as well as the sacrifice of a pig, sheep and bull. Loading For most of history, travel was basically restricted to religious pilgrimages as well as trade, exploration and war. That changed when the "grand tours" of Europe became a rite of passage for young British aristocrats keen on cultural self-improvement (and partying) in the 18th century. The lower classes needed more time off before they could join in the fun. The weekend was first introduced during the Industrial Revolution after various campaigns highlighted the impacts of increased labour on workers. Larger numbers of people could take advantage of what was becoming the archetypal working-class holiday. In the mill towns of northern England, near cities such as Manchester and Leeds, a forerunner to summer holidays was "wakes week". Originally church feasts, these weeks became mandated shutdowns. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement: factory owners did maintenance while workers took an unpaid break. At the same time, steam was making travel easier. "What that meant was that larger and larger numbers of people could take advantage of what was becoming the archetypal working-class holiday, which was to go to the seaside," says Eric Zuelow, a professor of European history at the University of New England and author of A History of Modern Tourism.

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The English seaside town of Blackpool was a favourite destination, with dozens of trains each day ferrying workers to the coast, many lured by the Victorian-era belief that seawater was a cure-all for maladies. Day trips evolved into week-long holidays  whole towns decamped en masse to the gender-segregated beaches  with workers starting savings clubs to help fund their getaways. Wakes week continued until the middle of the 20th century, when the factory chimneys stopped smoking with the decline of manufacturing. By then, the summer holiday was an established part of working life. A picnic at Freshwater Beach in Sydney, c. 1890s. Credit:Tyrell Collection: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences How did the idea of leisure become popular? In the 19th century, "environmental determinism"  a now-debunked school of thought  argued that climate, among other things, affected racial characteristics. It was posited that colder places produced more complex and highly evolved civilisations than tropical and hot areas. The concept played into white supremacy and the colonisation of Indigenous people. After the white settlement of Australia, this attitude was also applied to the first generations born here outside Britain. Up for debate was the idea that the colonials were affected by the heat, which made them less keen to work. Scottish travel writer Robert Foster Fraser noted in 1910 that the people lacked "vim" and showed signs of having been drained by their climate. The "doggedness" of the first settlers was disappearing. "Of people of British origin, the Australians are the most pleasure-loving I have come across," he also observed. "But what effect is this having on the development of the nation?"

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It was a desire to develop as citizens, as well as fathers and husbands, that was one reason given by 19th-century workers for campaigning for more time off; in a world first, the eight-hour day was achieved in Melbourne in 1856 by striking stonemasons, who wanted eight hours' labour, eight hours' rest and eight hours' recreation. This so-called "workers' paradise", with its "Mediterranean" climate (relative to Britain) and endless beaches, offered the perfect conditions and some time for leisure. In 1859, The Sydney Morning Herald proclaimed: "We are the children of the sunny south, and we borrow from the clear skies above us, and from the general clime, much of that lightness of heart and of that vivacity, which so eminently distinguish us as holiday-making people." Businesses complained that Australians didnt work hard enough, they were thinking about their holidays all the time. As University of Sydney associate professor Richard White, a tourism historian, puts it, there was an attitude among Australians of "working to live, rather than living to work". But there were concerns from those worried about their profits. "A lot of people complained," he says. "Businesses complained that Australians didnt work hard enough, they were thinking about their holidays all the time. Its probably a better way to live." By the end of the 19th century, White notes, many Australians were taking recognisably modern holidays. Wealthy people had substantial holiday homes in places such as Mount Macedon (for Victorians), while others could enjoy the guest-houses or hotels that sprang up in new coastal resorts such as Manly (for Sydneysiders).

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In the 1930s, Australians were enjoying annual leave for the first time after the printers union paved the way for other workers to take paid holidays. That led to a boom in leisure over the next few decades, with entitlements rising steadily to four weeks by the 1970s. Northern beaches glamour circa 1935, at Palm Beach, Sydney. Credit:Getty Images How did holiday styles change over time in Australia? Surf culture took off in the 1920s, as the "bronzed Aussie" lifesaver became a national stereotype. The nation's reputation for egalitarianism was reflected in the observation of journalist John Douglas Pringle (another Scotsman) that "you cannot tell a mans income in a pair of swimming trunks". Around the same time, the car was helping people get to new hard-to-reach spots away from the heaving crowds, who were limited to travelling by rail to places such as Frankston, or by tram to beaches like Coogee. Initially, these car holidays were seen as a form of individual expression  of going anywhere you wanted. It was the beginning of the weekender bolthole, with rudimentary beach shacks offering an escape from city life. A family camping trip to Tambo River, Victoria, in December 1938. Credit:Museum Victoria As the road trip caught on, automobile clubs began to publish maps of noted destinations. Roads and parking were improved, along with other travel infrastructure such as camp grounds. Soon after, the caravan was born.

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The owner of a wholesale liquor business has accused Victoria Police and the Office of Public Prosecutions of conspiring to financially cripple him, after freezing his assets and withholding almost $70,000 seized during a money-laundering investigation of the Comanchero bikie gang.

Mike Jones, who also managed several brothels in Melbournes eastern suburbs, is embroiled in a legal dispute with Victoria Police, including an allegation in court documents that an officer stole two boxes of Johnnie Walker Blue Scotch Whisky during a raid of his Boronia warehouse in 2018.

Mr Jones was accused by the Echo Taskforce at the time of being a key figure in a syndicate that helped Comanchero president Mick Murray evade more than $10 million in taxes.

He was charged in March 2018 with two counts of recklessly dealing in the proceeds of crime, three counts of false accounting and four counts of possessing the proceeds of crime.
One of the Melbourne Demons fans who side-stepped border restrictions to get to the AFL Grand Final in Perth says he is deeply sorry for his actions after he was released from prison following three months behind bars.

The Victorian duo of restaurant owner Hayden Burbank, 49, and financial planner Mark Babbage, 39, were sentenced on October 13 after admitting they had entered Western Australia using fraudulent documents.

Hayden Burbank and Mark Babbage at the AFL grand final.

The pair had flown from Melbourne to Darwin on September 14 and then onwards to Perth only eight days later at a time when Victorian residents needed to spend at least two weeks in a very low risk jurisdiction like the NT before travelling to WA.

After landing back in Melbourne on Monday night following his release from prison, Mr Burbank told Nine News that he and Mr Babbage were deeply sorry for the selfish and stupid decisions made.
After a year-and-a-half of virtual offerings, live theater reopened with a bang this year. Broadway, especially, stepped on the gas and accelerated from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye, with all of the shows that were scheduled to open in March and April 2020 finally getting their due. There were some really great productions we finally got to see, especially two fabulous revivals, Caroline, or Change and Company, debuting alongside surprise but well-deserved transfers of Pass Over, Is This A Room and Dana H. We'll be glad to remember those shows in the years to come, alongside the following five, which really made us sit up straight in our seats.

A scene from In the Southern Breeze

( David Rauch)

In the Southern Breeze by Mansa Ra

Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre

In Mansa Ra's new play, what starts out as a monologue in which a Black man, tormented by all the violence and pain around him, contemplates suicide, becomes, in its second half, a surreal encounter among four Black men from different historical periods in a state of purgatory. The process by which they discover the tragic circumstances that connect them is alternately funny and heartbreaking, and the way in which they inspire the protagonist to ultimately choose life is genuinely uplifting. In the Southern Breeze got much less attention than Keenan Scott II's Broadway play Thoughts of a Colored Man, but Ra's play is a worthy, and in some ways even more daring, companion piece. With this and Arturo Luis Soria's equally terrific solo show Ni Mi Madre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater re-established itself as one of the most enterprising off-Broadway theater companies around.  Kenji Fujishima

Victoria Clark in Kimberly Akimbo

( Ahron R. Foster)

Kimberly Akimbo by David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori

Atlantic Theater Company

The best new musical of 2021 is based on a 2001 David Lindsay-Abaire play by the same name that I admittedly never much cared for. It's about a New Jersey teenager suffering from a rare genetic disorder that causes her to age at 4-5 times the normal rate. With new music by Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home), and book/lyrics by Lindsay-Abaire, the story soars out of the realm of the quirky to become something truly magical. It helps that the cast is led by Victoria Clark, who is giving a very convincing performance as a teenager: Her slightly muted diction tells the story of someone who feels the need to apologize for her existence, but her innocent smile will melt your heart. A hilarious performance by Bonnie Milligan and an absolutely charming off-Broadway debut by Justin Cooley seal the deal. This is the best musical at Atlantic Theater Company since The Band's Visit, and I hope it will live on elsewhere following that run  perhaps on Broadway.  Zachary Stewart

The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown

Virtual

Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years was sort of the ideal musical to stage during the pandemic, with a pair of actors telling two sides of the same story but never really interacting. For Out Of The Box Theatrics's streaming production, director Jason Michael Webb set the show in a New York City apartment and let the memories of Jamie and Cathy's failed relationship swirl around very fine actors Nicholas Edwards and Nasia Thomas as they moved from room to room. The result was an extremely intense reimagining of the boundaries of immersive theater and a film that was way more convincing than the actual movie version.  David Gordon

Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale, and Adrian Lester star in Stefano Massini and Ben Power's The Lehman Trilogy, directed by Sam Mendes, at Broadway's Nederlander Theatre.

( Julieta Cervantes)

The Lehman Trilogy by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power

Nederlander Theatre



An epic play about the rise of the Lehman brothers' dynasty and its eventual collapse might seem like a tough sell, especially with a running time of more than three hours. But Broadway rarely sees a play this good, and it's unlikely that it will get one better this season. Featuring three incomparable actors  Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester  portraying multitudes, The Lehman Trilogy looks at the behind-the-scenes family drama of the Lehman Brothers behemoth from its modest beginnings in the pre-Civil War American South to its devastating 2008 implosion, which unleashed calamity upon the world economy. Sam Mendes directs Stefano Massini's masterpiece of pride, power, money, and tragic downfall with unflagging energy in one of the most dazzling stage productions I've seen. It's can't-miss Broadway. Now in its final week of performances.  Pete Hempstead

Edie Falco, Marin Ireland, and Blair Brown in Morning Sun at New York City Center  Stage I.

( Matthew Murphy)

Morning Sun by Simon Stephens

Manhattan Theatre Club

After a pandemic filled with quiet contemplation, Simon Stephens's Morning Sun was a perfectly gentle way to return to the theater. A Manhattan Theatre Club three-hander with a dream cast (Edie Falco, Marin Ireland, and Blair Brown), Morning Sun served up a modest family play about life, legacy, and generational inheritance in New York City. In the deft hands of director Lila Neugebauer, there was nothing in it to overstimulate, but it did keep audiences on their toes as characters transformed, time jumped between eras, and memories were constantly reconfigured. It was everything New York theatergoers love about new plays and offered an ideal homecoming for those of us who enjoy quiet evenings in the dark but have had enough solitude for a lifetime.  Hayley Levitt

Jasai Chase-Owens and Sharlene Cruz in Sanctuary City

( Joan Marcus)

Sanctuary City by Martyna Majok

New York Theatre Workshop

Martyna Majok's three-person drama tells the story of two best friends, both immigrants brought here at a young age, who inch their way toward legal status one grueling step at a time. The first part of the play shows that multi-year process in a rapid succession of thrillingly cinematic scenes precisely staged by director Rebecca Frecknall: Homework sessions, afterschool jobs, scavenged dinners, and school dances materialize like snapshots of a codependent relationship that inevitably breaks down when one of the two goes away to college. A later scene slows down to let us nosy drivers get a good look at the wreckage. It's brutal and breathtaking. This play felt personal to me: My husband is an immigrant who came to this country without a permanent status, and until 2013 (when same-sex marriage became federally recognized) I couldn't do anything to fix that. So the events of Sanctuary City (which transpire between 2001 and 2006) felt uncomfortably familiar. But even if that weren't true, this formally daring dramatization of a story not told often enough would still be the best play of the year.  Zachary Stewart
Airlines Across US Continue to Cancel, Delay Hundreds of Christmas Holiday Flights Amid Omicron Surge

Airlines across the United States continued to cancel hundreds of Christmas holiday flights on Dec. 26 amid the nationwide surge in Omicron coronavirus variant cases, which has also affected employees and flight crew.

Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and Alaska Airlines all reported hundreds of canceled or delayed flights at a time when more than 109 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more via plane and other forms of transportation to visit friends and family between Dec. 23 and Jan. 2.

As of Dec. 26, 189 Delta Air Lines flights were canceled and 881 were delayed, according to flight-tracking website Flight Aware. United Airlines has had 118 flight cancelations and 613 delays. JetBlue canceled 132 flights on Dec. 26, while 527 were delayed. Alaska Airlines canceled 196 flights and delayed 249.

On Dec. 25, airlines canceled a total of 957 flights, including domestic and international travel, while nearly 2,000 flights were delayed, according to the tracking website. On Dec. 24, 690 flights were scrapped.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), the figure of more than 109 million Americans expected to travel this holiday season represents an almost 34 percent increase from 2020. It was anticipated that a total of 27.7 million more people were set to travel in 2021 compared to 2020, bringing those numbers to pre-pandemic levels.

However, the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections, which airlines have said has directly affected employees and flight crew.

As a result, weve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport, a spokesperson from United Airlines told ABC News last week. Were sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.

Delta Air Lines said in a statement that the flight cancellations are due to a combination of issues, including but not limited to, potential inclement weather in some areas and the impact of the Omicron variant.

On top of increasing infections among airline staff, some major carriers have seen employees terminated in recent weeks due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Last week, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said the Omicron variant accounted for more than 90 percent of COVID-19 cases in the South, Midwest, eastern Atlantic, and northern Pacific regions of the United States.

However, preliminary data thus far suggest that the Omicron variant is less severe than previous variants and causes far fewer hospitalizations.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABCs This Week on Dec. 26 that the last weekly average was about 150,000 cases.

We dont want to get complacent, Fauci said. When you have such a high volume of new infections, it might override a real diminution in severity.
Applying scissors to paper, wildlife artist Niharika Rajput makes meticulous cuts to produce handfuls of tiny paper feathers for one of her intricate paper bird sculptures. Completing one of these avian creations can take weeks or even months, but the finished products are so lifelike theyve been mistaken for taxidermy birds.

The 30-year-old artist from New Delhi has always loved nature; as her father was in the military, their family always moved from place to place and often she found herself in the bosom of nature. I loved collecting fireflies in a jar, watching spiders weave their webs at night, and playing with ladybugs, the vibrant red color always attracted me, she told The Epoch Times.

But Niharika landed on birds as her main subject matter upon encountering a white-throated kingfisher, whose vibrant colors and unique features captivated her artistic imagination. A subsequent trip to the Himalayas solidified that vocation when she spotted red-billed blue magpies and became enthralled.

As for the artists working process, that also went through a process of elimination. In the beginning, she used epoxy and fiber to build the sculpture, but then settled on paper as her medium of choice for its organic look, which she said replicated the texture of feathers perfectly.

In order to make her birds as realistic as possible, Niharika spends time researching and uses multiple photographs to get a 360-degree view of the bird, which she then sketches out, identifying the various feather groups and facial features.

She then moves on to building an armature of woven wire and epoxy, which she stuffs with paper while weaving. This base structure is then covered with strips of paper to produce an even surface upon which to paste each individually cut feather. I start by gluing all the feathers starting with the tail feathers and moving upwards, she explained.

One of the challenges she had to overcome was giving volume in the wings, but through experimentation, this, too, was achieved. Once all the feathers are glued onto the body, I paint them using acrylic paints, she said. Facial features and details such as talons and beaks are rendered in epoxy and affixed.

Each bird can take from two weeks to three months to finish, she said. But the effort pays off. There have been times people have mistook them for real taxidermy birds, she said. I take that as a compliment because that is ultimately my goal.

Niharika said she has several favorite works among her avian collection. One is titled The Mating Proposal, she said. It shows a male common kingfisher feeding fish to the female common kingfisher as a gesture to impress the female during the mating ritual. The male is perched on a piece of faux driftwood, which is also crafted out of paper and wire.

Another one is called Parenting, she added. It showcases a female tufted coquette hummingbird feeding its fledglings and the male.

A third favorite work includes a male ruby-throated hummingbird sucking nectar from a cone flower. The bird is portrayed suspended in midair, the challenge for the artist being that only his beak attaches to the flower.

Niharikas love of nature inspired her artistic endeavorbut said her artwork aims to give back by reminding others of the beauty of nature and that it needs our protection. She works alongside wildlife conservation efforts in India and beyond, conducting art workshops with children and local communities. She also hosts bird festivals to engage as many people as possible and raise awareness about endangered wildlife.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
An empty restaurant is shown in Montreal on Dec. 26, 2021, as new COVID-19 measures imposed by the Quebec government come into effect. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

As We Enter Another Year of COVID, Regaining Eroded Freedoms Must Be Our Focus

Commentary

Anyone who still insists the COVID pandemic isnt serious is being deliberately mischievous, obtuse, or needs to check in on their issues.

As of Dec. 23, the World Health Organization put global deaths from COVID-19 at 5.3 million people dating back to Dec. 30, 2019. To put that in a fathomable context, its equivalent to 12,780 crashes of fully loaded 747s in which all 416 passengers are killed.

Over the course of the pandemics two years, that works out to 17 such catastrophes a day. Even if we accept that, say, half the deaths said to be from COVID are really with COVIDi.e., the person died from other causes and just happened to be COVID-positivethat still equals a horrifying number of bodies coming down from the sky.

So not serious? Seriously, its serious. It has been from the get-go. And some of the severest damage from disputing COVIDs seriousness comes from the debates distracting effects. It takes our attention off the shuddering incompetence of vast swathes of our political leadership, and diverts focus from their appalling panic-drivenand panic-drivingpolicy choices theyve imposed, from devastating lockdowns to the trivialization of health care as pointless public theatre.

Worse, it masks the authoritarian creep of State intrusion into every aspect of our lives. As much as they are a focal point of opposition for many, case counts and death statistics, conspiracies, and malfeasance, even vaccine status and vaccine passports, are sideshows. The main event is imposition, and infinitely more importantly the naturalization, of social control.

The expansion of control that lies behind us, virtually unchecked for the past two years, has been frightful. What lies ahead makes sclerotic, scholastic-era argument about the severity of the virus a form of unwitting enabling from which worse will comeand come to be seen as just the way things have always been.

A woman walks through a plaza as strings of lights are hung overhead in Vancouver on Dec. 23, 2021. (The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck)

We now live in a stateand a Statewhere jumped-up public health panjandrums, their political ventriloquist dummies, and particular media hysterics overrun our lives and our fundamental freedoms on the authorization of transient pandemic emergency. But wait. Propaganda around the so-called Omicron variant is already being deployed to ready us for transition to endemic from pandemic status. The coming phase presumes permanent acceptance of COVID conditions. Well just have to get used to it, were told.

The question, of course, is: What is the it in question? If it is a return to the sane understanding that disease is an environmental given for every form of organic life, and that overwrought efforts to defeat a given malady violate evolutionary as well as ecological principles, then all to the good. But if iti.e., reflexive acquiescence before all things COVIDis a pretext for stop-and-go extension of the great surveillance State ever-deeper into our lives, then we are in for dark times indeed. If the end game is projecting upon us gnostic fantasies of whats good for us, then we are in clear and present danger as free people.

By free, I dont mean lawyerly quibbling over the meaning of clauses in Canadas Charter of Rights or the American Constitution. I mean our fundamental existence as citizens of liberal democracies. I mean our birthright as human beings.

Without wishing to further hype the apocalyptic atmospherics, the signs already point far more toward the negative than the positive as far as the recovery of inherent freedom is concerned. One such sign is the revelation that the Public Health Agency of Canada has not only been monitoring our cellphones to track our whereabouts during the COVID pandemic, it intends to continue doing so as COVID wanes to control against potential future health hazards.

Before even getting to the issue of who in the name of Ra Ra Rasputin authorized epidemiological snoops to monitor the free association and movement of Canadians, theres the underlying question of why it took the two-person news crew at Ottawa-based Blacklocks Reporter to ferret out this information. In a healthy, freedom-first media climate, such a grotesque affront to citizen privacy would have been splashed across front pages of major newspaper and subject to hounding investigative inquiry by the CBC.

But no. The Toronto Star was instead too busy writing last weeks editorial arguing for mandatory vaccination of Canadians. Imagine. Mandatory vaccination! The criminalization of the human body! Further ostracization of the unvaccinated from pariah status to felons for their conscientious refusal to have a specific State-sanctioned substance in their veins. This from the countrys erstwhile media oracle of liberal and Liberal ideals.

Meanwhile, the Globe and Mail was editorializing that hope Omicron might prove a less virulent variant was not a strategy for dealing with it. Instead, it urged heeding Steini Brown, head of the Ontario science table, on his insistence that waiting for more information would only eliminate the opportunity for action. Just so, the Globe agreed: We cant just stand around until we see how much more of the house catches on fire.

Browns demand and the Globes metaphor are neither science nor strategy. They are panic. And as Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman, quoted in a National Post commentary by former Canadian ambassador Vivian Bercovici, recently put it: The most dangerous virus in the world is not corona, its hysteria.

Entering this third year of hair-on-fire running around in ever diminishing circles, we no more need further alarmism than we need angels-on-pinhead divination about COVIDs serious reality. We must, rather, put our full focus on regaining suspended freedoms even as the virus settles in to stay.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A boat carrying illegal immigrants under the water off the Greek island of Paros, in the Aegean Sea, on Dec. 25, 2021. (Hellenic Coast Guard via Reuters/Screenshot via The Epoch Times)

At Least 16 Illegal Immigrants Dead in Greek Shipwreck

ATHENS, GreeceAt least 16 people died when their boat overturned off the Greek island of Paros in the central Aegean Sea on Friday, in the third maritime disaster involving illegal immigrants this week, the countrys coastguard said.

Authorities scrambled a search and rescue operation overnight northwest of Paros. Air and sea assets were deployed to the area, the coastguard said.

Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for migrants from Africa, the Middle East, and beyond, though the flow has tapered off since 20152016, when more than a million people traversed the country to other EU states.

The countrys semi-official Athens News Agency said the bodies of 12 men, three women, and an infant were recovered from the area.

Eighty people were believed to have been on the vessel, which according to the coastguard was believed to have been headed for Italy from Turkey.

The circumstances under which the vessel capsized were unclear.

Giannis Plakiotakis, Greeces shipping minister, said trafficking gangs were responsible for the disasters.

The gangs are indifferent to human life, stacking dozens of people, without lifejackets, in vessels which do not conform to the most basic of safety standards, he said in a written statement.

Earlier Friday, Greek authorities said they had recovered 11 bodies from the scene of another shipwreck, when a sailboat carrying illegal immigrants sank off an uninhabited islet in southern Greece on Thursday.

Another 90 people were rescued in that operation. The coastguard said initial information suggested those illegal aliens had also been heading for Italy.

Overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday a boat thought to have been carrying up to 50 people sank off the island of Folegandros, with dozens feared missing.
A supplied photograph of an Australian Army M1A1 Abrams tank firing at targets during Exercise Chong Ju at Puckapunyal training area, Victoria, Australia on May 17, 2018. (AAP Image/Supplied by Australian Department of Defence)

Australia Accelerates Armament Acquisition Amid China Threat

Australia is rapidly accelerating the rate at which it can procure new defence equipment and technology amid a globally deteriorating strategic environment.

Defence Industry, Science and Technology Minister Melissa Price has spearheaded the changes, which will involve slashing swathes of red tape that previously extended project negotiations by several years.

For a project that would have previously taken four years, or possibly even longer to get the point of a contract signature, these changes will reduce that period by up to 12 months, Price said.

The improved delivery of capability for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) comes following a September 2020 review into the previous process, with the new measures promising to cut on both time and financial cost for projects evaluated above $20 million.

Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Technology Melissa Price during a keel-laying ceremony for the first Offshore Patrol Vessel Pilbara on Sep. 11, 2020 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

One of Australias most recent and most significant contracts includes a $1 billion weapons deal with South Korean firm Hanwha, a move that will bolster Australias defensive might with 30 new self-propelled howitzers and 15 armoured ammunition supply vehicles.

The implementation of the reviews recommendations will significantly improve the way defence does business, Price said.

Price highlighted the importance of streamlining the acquisition of new weapons and equipment in light of tensions simmering on a global scale.

Our strategic environment is deteriorating and creating new challenges for us to overcome, so we must have a more agile procurement system that delivers the capability for our ADF more quickly and treats industry as a fundamental partner in the delivery of this capability.

This change, and other initiatives, introduced following the review will help the industry be better prepared and ready to respond to the needs of defence and government, she said.

The announcement comes as frictions steadily grow between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and democracies worldwide.

Beijing had previously attempted to punish Australia by slapping trade sanctions on the nations coal, wine, barley, beef, lobster, timber, and cottona politically motivated decision triggered after Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the CCP virus.

But Australia has continued to push back against the CCPs coercion, with Defence Minister Peter Dutton earlier calling out the communist regime for touting shallow words of peace.

By now, we are all familiar with the frequent claims of the Chinese government that it is committed to peace, cooperation, and development, Dutton said. And yet we bear witness to a significant disconnect between words and actions, between rhetoric and reality.

Australias Minister for Defence Peter Dutton speaks during a ceremony to mark the official commencement of Exercise Talisman Sabre, RAAF Base Amberley, in Brisbane on July 14, 2021. (AAP Image/Albert Perez)

Dutton has also remarked on aggressive events that had been unfolding worldwide.

Were facing challenges including rapid military modernization, tension over territorial claims, heightened economic coercion, undermining of international law,  enhanced disinformation, foreign interference, and cyber threats, Dutton said.

In particular, Dutton pointed to Beijing violating international agreements after it constructed 20 man-made island outposts in the South China Sea, sent military jets in Taiwans air defence space, used militia-crewed fishing vessels in the waters of the Philippines, and escalated border tensions between both India and Japan.

He has also called out Beijing for its decision to deprive Hong Kong of its democratic institutions, its cyber activities against foreign governments and commercial institutions, and for its anti-Australian propaganda revolving around Australian troops peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

However, the defence minister is also aware that Australia must avoid engaging in conflict with the CCP.

Every major city in Australia, including Hobart, is within range of Chinas missiles, Dutton said. Australias position is clear: conflict must be avoided.
Representation of cryptocurrency bitcoin in this illustration taken on Nov. 29, 2021. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Australias Future Crypto Landscape Hangs in Limbo

The outcome of Australias upcoming federal election could be a determining factor in how quickly more Australians adopt and use Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.

Fred Pucci at digital asset management firm Trovio Capital Management (TCM) said that some Australians had gone all-in on the crypto market for investments despite a lack of safeguards from the government.

Some millennials are taking it to the extreme and putting all bets on, Pucci said.

Market insights by the Independent Reserve, a global cryptocurrency exchange platform founded in Australia, revealed that 28.8 percent of Australians own or have owned cryptoup from 18.4 percent in 2020.

But Pucci noted that current measures, or lack thereof, dissuade more from joining the crypto wagon. In particular, the collapse of two Australian cryptocurrency exchangesmyCryptoWallet and Blockchain Globals ACXled to the disappearance of millions of dollars in investment funds.

Screenshot from the Australia-based myCryptoWallet website following its collapse in December 2021.

Pucci, and others, believe that improving regulation would reassure consumers by ensuring better background checks on cryptocurrency exchanges and limit the possibility of future incidents.

There might have been capital requirements and basic safeguards  Thats why the best exchanges are around the table, literally, in supporting and encouraging regulationbecause they see it as differentiating their legitimate business.

While Australias presiding treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has garnered praise after setting forth plans to regulate the digital currency industry, uncertainty remains on how other political parties, such as the Labor party, will do the same.

Pucci noted that this forced the industry into a weird limbo, with future investment depending heavily on the election outcome.

For the Liberals to have a policy that is going to help that market develop and be sustained with more of an Australian presence and more Australian protections for investors is going to be an attractive thing, Pucci said.

[But] if you look at the fine print of Treasurer Frydenbergs document, the timetable for the key planks of this are not going to come through, assuming they win the election and parliament passes the legislation, until mid to late-2022, Pucci says.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 02, 2021. (Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

Chloe White, managing director at Genesis Block and former federal insider who worked on blockchain and crypto policy, agreed with Puccis sentiment.

Like the rest of the digital asset sector, were very pleased to see the government taking the industry seriously, White said.

The major source of uncertainty is not the policy thats been announced; its actually the upcoming election.

The current federal governments crypto regulation plan follows a Senate inquiry into Australia as a technology and financial centre that focused heavily on digital currency. However, the opposition Labor party has yet to announce plans for regulation.

Read More Cryptocurrency Now in the Sights of Australian Regulators

The Senate inquiry was a bipartisan activity, and it would be great to see the opposition engage with the recommendations of the report to provide the certainty that the industry needs to make decisions about investment and hiring over the next year, White said.

However, while regulation would tackle certain uncertainties in the industry, price volatility remains a concern for many others, with the Independent Reserve revealing that 36.5 percent of Australians said this was the reason for not investing in crypto.

In particular, Bitcoin started at US$30,000 in 2021, spiked to more than US$63,000 in April, tumbling back down to around US$30,000 in July, before rising to an all-time high of almost US$69,000 in November, and then falling to around US$46,000 in December.

Others have also debated the illicit market share occupied by cryptocurrency transactions, a nearly impossible task to accomplish due to the unidentifiable nature of public but anonymous transactions.

Chainalysisan organisation whose goal is to promote the safe adoption of cryptocurrencies by building trust among financial institutions [and] governmentsestimated in a report (pdf) that of all transactions in the first half of 2021, US$21.4 billion, or 2.1 percent, were associated with illicit activities.

But contrasting peer-reviewed research from 2018 titled Sex, Drugs, and Bitcoin: How Much Illegal Activity Is Financed Through Cryptocurrencies? estimating that 46 percent, or $76 billion, of bitcoin transactions per year alone, were linked to illegitimate transactions.

AAP contributed to this report.
People pray next to bodies of Iraqi Kurdish migrants, who drowned while trying to cross the channel between France and Britain, in the town of Rania, Sulaimaniyah province, Iraq, on Dec. 26, 2021. (Ako Rasheed/Reuters)

Bodies of Migrants Drowned in English Channel Returned to Iraq

At least 16 bodies of Iraqi Kurdish migrants who died trying to cross the English Channel last month have arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday.

The Nov. 24 disaster, during which 27 people died, has been described as the worst on record involving illegal immigrants trying to cross the perilous passage to Britain from France. The boat capsized off the coast of northern France, sparking a political crisis. Britain and France accused each other of not doing enough to deter people from crossing the English Channel.

The plane carrying the bodies landed on early Sunday in the airport of Erbil, the capital of Iraqs autonomous Kurdish region. Ambulances then took the coffins to the hometowns of the deceased for burial.

The last time I heard my sons voice was when he got on board the boat. He said Dont worry Mum, I will reach England shortly. Now hes back to me in a coffin, said Shukriya Bakir, whose son was one of those who drowned.

The repatriations came amid new tragedies involving migrants from the Middle East trying to reach Europe. Libyas Red Crescent said Sunday that at least 27 bodies of Europe-bound migrants, including a baby and two women, have washed ashore in the countrys west.

Greek authorities have also recovered at least 16 bodies off the island of Paros on Friday and 11 bodies off the uninhabited islet of Prasonisi on Thursday.

Overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday, another boat thought to have been carrying up to 50 migrants sank off the island of Folegandros, with dozens feared missing.

In the past decade, hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants have slipped into the wealthy economies of Western Europe with the help of smugglers, from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Sudan, and elsewhere.

Lately, a disproportionate number of Europe-bound migrants from the Middle East have been people from Iraqs Kurdish region. Although northern Iraq is more prosperous than the rest of the conflict-scarred country, growing unemployment and frustration over corruption have prompted many to consider the risky journey.

Tom Pursglove, a minister for both the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice, told Parliaments Home Affairs committee last month that the Iraqis made up 18 percent of the illegal immigrants that arrived in the UK in small boats in 2019, second only to the Iranians, who made up 29 percent of 2019s small boat arrivals.

The committee also heard that channel crossing had become very lucrative for smugglers, partly because of travel restrictions during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
Chinas Shrinking Population Is a Big Economic Issue

An increasingly acute shortage of workers will constrain growth prospects

News Analysis

Chinas 2020 census is finally available. It has brought Beijing some good news but only relative to fearful expectations. The statistics still issue a warning for the future.

The census announces that the countrys population as of 2020 totaled 1.41 billion, up 5.4 percent from 2010. Since there was some considerable fear that the population had shrunk, this was good news for the authorities. But any rejoicing must have been muted.

The growth is the smallest since China began its census in the 1950s. And if this slow population growth relieves Beijings worst expectations, the overall picture still points to a smaller population in coming years. Most significant from an economic standpoint is the disproportionate drop in those of working age, for this prospect threatens to severely limit the overall pace of development.

The root of these problems lies in the one-child policy that prevailed in China from the 1970s until recently. When former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping initiated the rule that families could have only one child, he was singularly focused on economic growth and made clear that fewer children would help economic development by freeing more young adults for work. Fewer school children might also free former teachers for the growth effort. But over time, as the birth rate fell below replacement, the nations youth population dwindled, so that today China faces a shortage of working-aged people to replace the huge working population that is now retiring from active employment.

As this mismatch between retirees and new young workers has intensified, a slow-motion problem of immense proportions has developed. The shortage of workers has, for instance, exaggerated the rise in Chinese wages, which, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, have increased over 9.0 percent a year during the last five years. While this development has come as a boon to workers, it has begun to close the wage gap between China on the one hand, and the West and Japan on the other. In so doing, it has stolen some of the allure China has long had as a place to source inexpensive production.

Still more fundamentally, the slow flow of young workers has left China a paucity of the ultimate resource for economic growth: working hands and minds. And since most innovation occurs among young adults, the demographic situation is poised to weigh most heavily on the technological innovation that Beijing increasingly emphasizes. The United Nations forecasts that before this decade gets much older, the shortage of new workers will cause the countrys workforce to shrink absolutely.

A few years ago, as this demographic problem became apparent, Beijing, after almost 50 years, relaxed the one-child policy. But the Chinese public seems not to have responded. At last measure, the nations fertility rate stood at an average of 1.3 children in each womans lifetime, far below replacement. It seems that the high cost of living and the high cost of child rearing have made young couples reluctant to build a family, especially after decades during which the one-child policy changed preferences. Even in the unlikely event that the fertility rate were to rise, it would take 15 to 20 years before the change could have any effect on the relative size of Chinas working-age population.

Demographics alone, however severe, will not stop Chinas growth and development. But it will contribute to a marked slowdown in the pace of growth, especially compared to the breakneck pace to which Beijing and the world have grown accustomed. In other words, the legacy of the one-child policy will now interfere with Beijings grand ambitions. It should also serve as an object lesson.

China would not face this problem were it not for the power of its centralized and top-down approach to economics. Were the authorities in Beijing to take this fact to heart, they might avoid other pitfalls in their centralized and planned approach. There is, however, little sign that either Chinese leader Xi Jinping or his colleagues in the Forbidden City have any sensitivity to this warning. That fact should very much hearten Chinas rivals and enemies.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Protesters from the business and culture sectors demand an end to lockdown measures in this file photo taken in Munich, Germany, on March 7, 2021. (Andreas Gebert/Getty Images)

Clashes Erupt During Undisclosed Protest Against COVID-19 Restrictions in Germany

A large group of demonstrators took to the streets in the German city of Schweinfurt on Sunday to protest against government-imposed CCP virus measures.

The protest, which German authorities said was not authorized, ended in clashes between police and numerous rioters who mingled themselves with a mass of peaceful protesters to stir up the crowd, the Lower Franconia Police Headquarters (LFPH) said in a statement.

Police said they encountered a heated, sometimes hostile atmosphere. A total of eight emergency service officers got injuredincluding some moderately severe after several people in the crowd started punching and kicking police.

The clashes resulted in at least eight arrests, of which already four people were brought to the main hearing early on Monday as part of an accelerated trial for resisting and assaulting law enforcement officers.

Judgments against the three men and one woman are expected later on Monday, police said, adding that officials also initiated administrative offense proceedings against 44 people.

According to the LFPH, several hundred people gathered around 6 p.m. local time to voice their concern against CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus measures. Several German media outlets, citing police in Schweinfurt, said about 2,500 people took to the streets on Sunday during the unannounced demonstration.

Batons and pepper spray were used against some among the group of protesters after they didnt comply with orders.

At the start of the demonstration, police informed the participants via loudspeaker about restrictions in the form of mask requirements [and] a social-distancing requirement, the LFPH said in the press release, noting that several aggressors didnt comply with the order and instead attempted to break through barriers placed by police.

During these clashes, a 4-year-old child was caught in a cloud of pepper spray after his mother tried to break through the cordon and a 50-year-old man required hospital treatment after suffering a head laceration.

The child was briefly treated by medical services at the scene, police said. After personnel washed the eyes of the child, the toddler was completely symptom-free again. A complaint was made against the mother and the youth welfare office has been informed.

Sundays demonstration comes days before the German government is set to implement stricter rules on its citizens. Starting on Tuesday, people who chose not to get vaccinated against the CCP virus can only meet in groups of two, while those vaccinated or recently recovered from COVID-19 can meet each other in groups of 10.

According to government data, roughly 70 percent of the country has been fully vaccinated, while another 3 percent is partly vaccinated.

In recent weeks, Schweinfurt has seen large demonstrations that involved thousands of people echoing concerns over the regulations. On Dec. 19, about 3,000 people took to the streets and several days before that, up to 1,200 protesters gathered in the city without giving any notice to officials.

Other places in Germany has seen similar large-scale events, including in Munich, where about 5,000 people took part in a demonstration last week. In the course of the evening, Munich officials arrested 11 people, according to German media.

From NTD News
Learn to love Puy lentils, a beloved French pantry staple, in a warming winter soup

Packed with hearty vegetables, ham, and pantry staples, classic French lentil soup is on heavy rotation across French households during the winter. The key ingredient to this staple dish is a French culinary treasure: nutty, firm, and nutrient-rich Le Puy lentils, which make it both healthy and filling.

Whether youre looking to lighten up your meals in January or simply warm up with a comforting bowl of soup, its a great recipe to add to your repertoire.

Le Puy lentils. (Moving Moment/Shutterstock)

Getting to Know French Lentils

Known in France as poor mans caviar, Puy lentilsoften referred to as French lentils in North Americaare a prized French pulse, beloved amongst French home cooks for making soups and salads and to accompany meat or fish in lieu of potatoes.

Not to be confused with your typical green lentils, Puy lentils are a particular strain of French green lentils, darker in hue, smaller in size, and rich in protein and fiber. Theyre praised for their unique nutty and peppery flavor and for their ability to hold their texture better than other lentils during cooking.

Theyre the perfect illustration of the importance of terroirmeaning their taste, texture, and color are a product of the environment in which theyre produced.

A Taste of French Terroir

Puy lentils are named after the Le Puy-en-Velay area where they are produced, in the volcanic Auvergne region of central France. The first harvests are said to date back to more than 2,000 years ago, during the Roman age.

The Auvergne regions mineral-rich volcanic soil gives Puy lentils their fine, nutty, and peppery taste, while the dry and sunny climate encourages the lentils to start to dry on the plant on their own, resulting in a less starchy texture and better-preserved shape after cooking. Their green hue, with metallic blue shadows, is caused by the presence of the anthocyanin pigment, stimulated by a high light intensity (this pigment can be also found in blueberries, grapes, and most blue flowers).

Over the centuries, the reputation of these green lentils grewso much so that Russian botanist Helena Barulinda officially named them Lens culinaris puyensis, or Puy lentils, in 1930, in honor of their city of origin.

The lentils fame soon attracted flocks of merchants to the area and turned Le Puy-en-Velay into a trading hub for pulses and dried vegetables. But with no rules in place, fraudulent merchants soon started to import German and Russian green lentils to then resell labeled as Le Puy for larger profits. In 1935, Le Puy lentil farmers acted to defend the authenticity of their product and had the local civil court grant the lentil its first protected origin certification.

In 1996, Puy lentils received the official French AOC label (Appellation dorigine controlee/Controlled Designation of Origin) and an EU AOP (Appellation dorigine protegee/Protected Designation of Origin) label in 2008. Both labels guarantee that the lentils are grown without fertilizers in Auvergne and are harvested and conditioned under strict specifications.

Today, Puy lentils are exported to more than 70 countries worldwide and remain the pride of Auvergne. As with other French ingredients or specialties, the protection and promotion of Le Puy lentils are also guaranteed by a brotherhood, La Verte Confrerie de la Lentille du Puy, founded in 1995.

Shopping for Le Puy Lentils

In North America, you should be able to find Puy lentils at your grocery store next to other lentil varieties. Theyre slightly pricier, but theyre worth the splurge. If you cant find them in store, there are also several options online for purchasing them.

However you purchase them, make sure the package says Puy lentils and bears a red and yellow AOP seal on the package. If the bag is marked as simply French lentils, chances are they were grown in North America or Italy rather than in France.

Classic French Lentil Soup

Puy lentils are the stars of this recipe, but they can be substituted with common green or brown lentils as a more affordable option. Cooking times can remain the same, but the soup will be a bit thicker and creamier in texture, as other lentil varieties are starchier.

Puy lentils are the stars of this recipe, but they can be substituted with common green or brown lentils as a more affordable option. (Audrey Le Goff)

For the ham, choose an original or traditional black forest ham (not flavored options, such as brown sugar or honey maple). To make this soup vegetarian, you can simply omit the ham.

This soup will keep well in an airtight container for 3 to 4 days in the fridge and for up to 3 months in the freezer. The day before youre ready to serve, thaw in the fridge overnight and reheat it on the stovetop over medium heat.

Serves 6 as a starter, or 4 as a main

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 1/2 ounces ham, cubed

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

3 medium carrots, peeled and diced

3 celery stalks, diced (reserve leaves for garnish)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 28-ounce can no salt added diced tomatoes

1 1/2 cup Puy lentils

4 cups vegetable broth

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the cubed ham and cook for about 5 minutes, until the ham is lightly seared and fragrant. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the carrots, celery, salt, smoked paprika, cumin, thyme, and pepper and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sear the ham until fragrant. (Audrey Le Goff)

Cook the ham, onion, and garlic. (Audrey Le Goff)

Add the vegetables, herbs, and spices. (Audrey Le Goff)

Add the diced tomatoes, lentils, and broth. Stir to combine and lower the heat to medium-low. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid, and cook for 40 minutes or until the lentils are al dente.

Add the diced tomatoes and lentils. (Audrey Le Goff)

Transfer about 2 cups of the soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Stir the puree back into the pot with the rest of the soup. The soup should be creamy with some chunks. If its too thick, you can thin it out by adding 1/4 cup of water at a time. Turn off the heat and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Add the broth and simmer until the lentils are al dente. (Audrey Le Goff)

Blend 2 cups of the soup into a smooth puree. (Audrey Le Goff)

Finish the soup, adding water as needed to reach your desired consistency. (Audrey Le Goff)

Serve in individual bowls with a few chopped celery leaves for garnish.
Colorado Prosecutors Asking Court to Reduce 110-Year Sentence for Truck Driver

A Colorado district attorney asked a judge to reduce the sentence for Rogel Aguilera-Mederos, a trucker convicted in a crash that killed four, from 110 years to 20 to 30 years.

First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King said that based on the facts of this case and input from the victims and their families, my office will be asking the court to consider a sentencing range of 2030 years when the Court is prepared to address resentencing.

A status hearing is scheduled for Monday. Defense lawyer James Colgan told CNN Monday that he expects the hearing to be procedural in nature.

The judge, he added, will likely set the sentencing hearing for a later date.

As the jury found, Mr. Aguilera-Mederos knowingly made multiple active choices that resulted in the death of four people, serious injuries to others, and mass destruction, according to Kings statement. This sentencing range reflects an appropriate outcome for that conduct, which was not an accident.

Rogel Lazaro Aguilera-Mederos appears on video from Jefferson County jail in Golden, Colo., on May 3, 2019. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via AP)

Aguilera-Mederos was going 85 mph in a semi tractor-trailer in April 2019 when his brakes went out, he told investigators at the time. The incident caused a 28-car pileup on Interstate 70 that left four dead and injured many others, said the Lakewood Police Department at the time.

The 26-year-old was found guilty on four counts of vehicular homicide as well as 23 other charges, including six counts of assault in the first degree, in the case. Aguilera-Mederos was sentenced earlier this month.

Colorado District Court Judge A. Bruce Jones said on Dec. 13 that he was bound to the mandatory minimum sentencing laws in Colorado when he handed down the 110-year prison term.

But King requested a hearing, according to a motion that was recently filed by her office.

As Colorado law required the imposition of the sentence in this case, the law also permits the Court to reconsider its sentence in an exceptional case involving unusual and extenuating circumstances, her motion read (pdf).

Colgan, the defense lawyer, told ABC News that he believes Kings request for a commuted sentence came after a Change.org petition obtained more than 5 million signatures and advocated for a reduced sentence. Public pressure is now playing a role in the prosecutions recent actions, he suggested.

I find it interesting that two weeks ago they were fine with 110 years and only now that public outcry has blown in their face do they not want 110 years, Colgan said. Its just politics.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, also said he is considering an application of clemency for Mederos that is asking for a commutation.
A child receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination at the Fairfax County Government Center in Annandale, Virginia, on Nov. 4, 2021. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

COVID-19 Vaccination Bookings Open for Australian Kids Aged 5 to 11

Parents across Australia are now able to book COVID-19 vaccinations for their children aged 5 to 11.

Bookings opened from Dec. 15, with inoculations for this age group set to commence on Jan.10 through state and territory-run clinics, pharmacies, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and Commonwealth Vaccination Centres.

Children aged 5 to 11 will receive two doses of the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine, eight weeks apart, and the dose will be one third that of kids aged 12 and over.

This comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) provisionally approved the Pfizer vaccine for this age group on Dec.5.

According to the TGA, this provisional approval was granted based on careful consideration of data from clinical trials carried out in the United States, Finland, Poland, and Spain, which included participants aged between 5 and 11.

These trials demonstrated that the vaccines effectiveness in this age group is similar to that in the older age groups. At the same time, the observed side effects were mild and included injection site pain, fatigue, headache, injection site redness and swelling, muscle pain, and chills.

As well as requiring TGA approval, the rollout of the vaccine to 5 to 11-year-olds was subject to considerations and recommendations from the vaccination experts on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

After reviewing clinical data from Canada, ATAGI recommended the eight-week interval between shots, which may be shortened to three weeks in extreme circumstances such as a major outbreak.

In a media release on Dec. 10, Health Minister Greg Hunt welcomed ATAGIs recommendations, saying they would reassure parents, carers, and guardians.

Australians can be reassured that by vaccinating their children against COVID-19, they have done everything possible to keep their child safe from this virus, he said.

Vaccinating children can also help reduce community transmission and help prevent children passing the virus on to younger siblings, grandparents and the wider community.

Hunt encouraged all parents to get their kids vaccinated against COVID-19.

However, Former Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth has reservations when it comes to vaccinating children under 12.

He told News.com in November that the risk to young children of serious illness from COVID-19 is minimal, highlighting that this low risk of disease has to be weighed against the risk of adverse events from the vaccine.

Whilst I encourage parents to vaccinate their 12-15-year-old children, the risk of myocarditis especially in young boys is sufficient that parents have every right to wait for more data or to decline vaccination, he said.

Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart, and according to the TGA, it may rarely occur after vaccination, with the mRNA vaccines Comirnaty (Pfizer) and Spikevax (Moderna). Cases typically occur within ten days of vaccination and usually resolve after a few weeks of treatment and rest.

The TGA states that in Australia, the condition is reported in around 1 in every 100,000 people after receiving the Comirnaty vaccine and most commonly occurs in young men and teenage boys after the second dose.

According to the TGAs Database of Adverse Event Notifications, as of Dec. 13, 988 cases of myocarditis associated with COVID-19 vaccines had been reported in Australia, with three deaths.
Chinese Navy ship Type 054A frigate 548 Yiyang moors at the port of Havana on Nov. 10, 2015. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)

Cuba Signs Belt and Road Agreement With China

Cuba and China have signed a cooperation plan to push forward construction projects under Beijings controversial overseas infrastructure program, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has saddled many participating countries with heavy debt loads.

The Chinese Embassy in Cuba announced the agreement on its website on Dec. 26, saying that the deal was inked two days earlier by He Lifeng, head of Chinas top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, and Cuban Vice Prime Minister Ricardo Cabrisas.

The agreement implemented a memorandum of understanding the two nations signed in 2018, when Cuba agreed to become a BRI participating nation.

Under the agreement, the two nations aimed to work together on projects in several key sectors, including communications, education, health and biotechnology, science and technology, and tourism, according to the Agencia Cubana de Noticias news agency.

The Chinese Embassy also stated that a timetable and a roadmap had been proposed to implement the projects, without giving details.

China launched the BRI in 2013 in an effort to build Beijing-centered land and maritime trade networks by financing infrastructure projects throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. In recent years, critics have denounced Beijing for using debt-trap diplomacy to lure countries into its initiative.

Many countries have surrendered pieces of their sovereignty after failing to pay off Chinese debts. For example, China Merchants Port Holdings is now running Sri Lankas Hambantota Port on a 99-year lease, after the South Asian country converted its owed loans of $1.4 billion into equity in 2017. Seizing the port has allowed Beijing to gain a key foothold in the Indian Ocean.

The Chinese regime has also sought to partner with countries rich in natural resourcessuch as African BRI participants Ghana and Zambiain order to gain access to these raw materials to drive the Chinese economy.

It appears that China has its eyes set on Cubas natural resources, as a Chinese researcher told Chinas state-run media outlet Global Times on Dec. 26 that the BRI agreement was good because China and Cuba have strong economic complementarity.

The researcher was quoted as saying that Cuba is rich in mineral and oil resources, and is a major source of nickel ore for China. Cuba has one of the worlds largest nickel deposits in the world.

China has been Cubas important energy partner. Chinese companies have supplied wind turbines to Cubas wind farms and overseen the construction of Cubas first biomass-fired power plant at Ciro Redondo.

The U.S.-based organization American Security Project, in an article published in March, warned about Cubas energy dependency on China and Venezuela as having serious implications for hemispheric security.

In addition, the Chinese paramilitary has also provided counter-terrorism training to the Cuban military and police forces responsible for suppressing anti-government protesters.

In fact, China has an ambition that goes beyond just Cuba. During a Senate hearing in March, Craig Faller, a retired admiral and a former commander of the U.S. Southern Command, warned (pdf) that Beijing seeks to establish global logistics and basing infrastructure in our hemisphere in order to project and sustain military power at greater distances.

Faller told (pdf) lawmakers at the hearing that China was on a full-court press in order to achieve its ambition.

I look at this hemisphere as the front line of competition, Faller said. Our influence [in this hemisphere] is eroding.  It is important that we remain engaged in this hemisphere.

During a press briefing following the hearing, Faller described the Chinese regimes influence as insidious, corrosive, and corrupt.

Some examples include their pursuit of multiple port deals, loans for political leverage, vaccine diplomacy that undermines sovereignty, state surveillance I.T., and the exploitation of resources such as illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing, Faller said.

A month after Fallers warning, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) introduced a bill requiring several U.S. federal agencies, including the State Department, to put together a report for Congress. The report would assess Chinas influence in Latin America and the Caribbean.

One of the issues the report would examine is Chinas relationship with Cuba and Venezuela. Another is Chinas efforts to exploit natural resources in the region.

It is critical for U.S. policymakers to understand what China is doing in the region and to have an effective strategy in place to counter Chinas aggressive conduct and to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for its actions, Murphy said, according to a statement from her office.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a summit for the Belt and Road Initiative, at the International Conference Center in Yanqi Lake, north of Beijing, on May 15, 2017. (Lintao Zhang/AFP/Getty Images)

Dont Expect a Sino-Russian Alliance Anytime Soon

News Analysis

There is a growing belief among some Western analysts that increasingly closer relations between Beijing and Moscowdriven by economics or great-power politicscould eventually blossom into a military alliance.

Most, however, are more doubtful that the countries will be able to build, in Joseph Nyes words, a serious partnership to challenge the West.

Alliances are based on mutual utility: each partner must be demonstrably useful to the other. And, frankly, Russia offers little advantage to China.

In the first place, Russia is barely a great power, let alone a superpower. The most generous economic data give the country a GDP of around US$4.3 trillion, putting it behind India and Germany, and barely ahead of Indonesia and Brazil. Its biggest industries are extractive, mainly oil, natural gas, and mining. Aside from such commodities and armaments, Russia exports very little.

More importantly (to the West, at least), Russias military is a shadow of its former Soviet self. Since 2016, the countrys defense budget has fallen by more than 20 percent. The United States spends more than ten times as much on its military, and all of NATO Europe at least three times more.

The Russian armed forces have shrunk considerably in the past decades. It is filled out with short-term conscriptsmany of whom avoid the draftand are equipped with military systems that date back to the Soviet era. The Army cannot afford to buy the new Armata tank, while the Air Force has purchased only a dozen fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jets.

Russias military weaknesses are perhaps the most pronounced in the Asia-Pacific region. Russian military power in the Far East is best exemplified by its naval presence and, therefore, by its Pacific Fleet, based in Vladivostok. Over the past 30 years, the Pacific Fleet has shrunk to a shadow of its Cold War self. Out of seven major surface combatants (cruisers and destroyers), all were built before the fall of the Soviet Union. Most newer ships are small corvettes intended for coastal operations.

A group of naval vessels from Russia and China conduct a joint maritime military patrol in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in this still image taken from video released on Oct. 23, 2021. (Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via Reuters)

The Pacific Fleets submarine force is a little better. Just a handful of its diesel-electric or cruise-missile submarines were built in the 21st century; the rest are approaching obsolescence.

In fact, the pride of the Russian Pacific Fleet consists of just three modern nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarines (SSBNs) of the Borey-class, equipped with the new Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile. Meanwhile, plans to upgrade the rest of the Pacific Fleet are increasingly in doubt, given budget cuts. In particular, the fleet lost its anticipated French-built Mistral-class amphibious assault ship, cancelled by Paris in the wake of the Crimea crisis.

Russias ability to project power into the Pacific Ocean is increasingly limited, therefore. Consequently, it offers little to China as a naval partner.

Beyond the military realm, Russia is losing its appeal as a supplier of high-tech weaponry. During the 1950s, China depended on the Soviet Union for nearly all of its most important weaponry. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) was entirely outfitted with Soviet equipment, including T-54 and T-55 tanks; MiG-15, MiG-17, and MiG-19 fighter aircraft; the SS-N-2 Styx anti-ship missile (called the HY-2 Silkworm by the PLA); the AA-2 air-to-air missile; and the Romeo-class diesel-electric submarine.

Moreover, the Soviets provided Beijing with licenses and technology to manufacture these arms in China. In many cases, Moscow supplied the PLA with production know-how for some of its most advanced designs, such as the MiG-21 fighter.

A Russian MiG-21 fighter prepares to take off at the Dubai air show on Nov. 17, 1999. Russia, which used to equip the armed forces of several Arab states during the 1960s, has been swept aside in the region by Western manufacturers. (Rabih Moghrabi/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian military-technical assistance resumed following the collapse of the USSR. In the early 1990s, Beijing placed an order with Moscow for 24 Su-27 fighter jets, its first purchase of Russian military equipment in more than 30 years. This was followed up by an agreement to allow China to license-produce 200 Su-27s at the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation in Liaoning Province.

In addition, Beijing acquired Sovremenny-class destroyers, Kilo-class diesel-electric submarines, Il-76 transport aircraft, and military helicopters, along with modern surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles. Between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s, China received more than US$21.5 billion worth of arms from Russia, and for much of this period Russian weapons systems were arguably the most potent armaments in the PLAs inventory.

Over the past 20 years, however, Chinas defense industry has so subsequently improved that it no longer needs to import much in the way of Russian weaponry or military technology. At the same time, the next great arms race has moved on to sophisticated dual-use technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), 5G networking, and robotics.

These technologies are particularly critical to building next-generation military capabilities, and Russia and China have agreed to cooperate on a number of high-technology initiatives. These include the establishment of an annual RussianChinese High-Tech Forum and a Sino-Russian Innovation Dialogue, as well as the creation of joint science and technology parks as a basis for science and technology cooperation and innovation.

Mutual strategic intereststhat is, their respective strategic competitions with the United Statesdrives much of this Sino-Russian collaboration, and this high-tech partnership is viewed as a potential force multiplier. Each sees a prospective benefit in leveraging the others advantages in order to drive high-technology developments and innovations.

But for how long? Russia lacks the resources (money and manpower, plus the already low level of innovation in the national economy) to function as an equal to China, at least in the long term. Beijing could soon emerge as the dominant player in this bilateral cooperation. It already greatly outspends Moscow in such new era technologies as AI and 5G.

Should Moscow find itself playing the junior partner in such collaboration, it would constitute a reversal of the historical Sino-Russian technology-sharing relationship. China might also eventually believe that it has gained all it can from such a partnership and decide to jettison Russia. In any event, Sino-Russian collaboration when it comes to next-generation technologies may have a built-in governor limiting the extent and depth of this cooperation.

In short, China may soon discover that Russia is of diminishing use. Vladimir Putin could have less and less to offer Xi Jinping, except perhaps casting a supportive vote in the U.N. Security Council or by sending Russian diplomats to the Beijing Winter Olympics. But as a military ally or technology partner, Moscow may be of declining utility to Beijing.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
A person wearing a parka sits on the harbour in Vancouver, on Dec. 23, 2021. Environment Canada issued warnings of extreme cold and arctic outflow across British Columbia after Boxing Day. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Extreme Cold Hits Alberta, Regions in BC, Saskatchewan, and Yukon

Albertans across the entire province should brace themselves for extreme cold, while residents in some regions of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Yukon should prepare for similarly cold weather, Environment Canada warns.

The federal agencys latest public weather alerts on Monday morning warned of extreme cold early in the day, with the coldest values between -40 C and -55 C.

Some areas in northern Alberta will likely experience a prolonged period of extreme cold conditions, which could last into next weekend.

Environment Canada issues extreme cold warnings when very cold temperatures or wind chill factors create an elevated risk to health, such as frostbite and hypothermia.

Cover up. Frostbite can develop within minutes on exposed skin, especially with wind chill, the federal agency said, adding that if its too cold for you to stay outside, its too cold for your pet to stay outside.

Extreme cold is expected in many parts of B.C., including 100 Mile House, Peace River, Bulkley Valley and Lakes District, Cariboo, Chilcotin, Elk Valley, Fort Nelson, Kinbasket, McGregor, Muncho Lake Park-Stone Mountain Park, North Columbia, North Thompson, Prince George, South Thompson, Stuart-Nechako, Watson Lake, Williston, Yellowhead, and Yoho Park-Kootenay Park.

In northern B.C., extreme wind chill values of -50 C are expected, while in central B.C. the wind chill will be at least -40 in the morning, while a slightly warmer air mass will arrive later in the day.

Arctic outflow winds and low temperatures will combine to form wind chill values around -20 C or lower in some parts of B.C., including coastal and inland sections of Central Coast, East Vancouver Island, Fraser Valley, Greater Victoria, Howe Sound, Metro Vancouver, coastal and inland sections of North Coast, Southern Gulf Islands, Sunshine Coast, and Whistler.

An Arctic ridge of high pressure over the B.C. Interior is bringing strong and bitterly cold outflow winds to the coastal communities, Environment Canada said.

Mainland inlets and areas that are exposed to Arctic outflow winds are more likely to experience these low wind chill values.

The outflow and temperatures will somewhat moderate on Monday afternoon, but wind chill values are still expected to be between -10 and -20 C.

Stronger outflow and lower overnight temperatures are forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, bringing wind chill values to near -20 C again.

Be prepared for unusually cold temperatures and strong winds, the federal agency warns.

Public Safety Canada encourages everyone to make an emergency plan and get an emergency kit with drinking water, food, medicine, a first-aid kit, and a flashlight.

Extreme cold will also hit all areas of Saskatchewan, with wind chill values between -40 and -45 C.

Extreme wind chills will persist or return tonight throughout southern Saskatchewan. Temperatures will dip into the minus forties and there will be widespread wind chills in the minus forties or even minus fifties overnight and Tuesday morning, the weather alert said.

Extreme cold is also expected in Watson Lake, Yukon, with the coldest wind chill values expected to be near -45.

Environment Canada also warned of blizzard conditions hitting Sachs Harbour and Tuktoyaktuk-East Channel Region in the Northern Territories, with strong winds gusting up to 90 km/hr.
Fauci: Vaccine Mandate for Domestic Air Travel Would Be Welcome

White House COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci says the U.S. government should consider vaccine requirements for domestic air travel.

Currently, the United States mandates that noncitizens coming into the country present proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of departure. Travelers who took the Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson vaccines, as well as shots approved by the World Health Organization, are authorized to enter the United States under federal health guidelines.

But Fauci said those requirements should be expanded.

If youre making a requirement for vaccination for people to get on planes who are coming into the country, thats understandable, he told MSNBC on Dec. 27. You dont want to bring more cases into the country. But if youre talking about requiring vaccination to get on a plane domestically, that is just another one of the requirements that I think is reasonable to consider.

Fauci didnt explain why he believes the requirement would be a reasonable one.

Critics of mandates and vaccine passport systems say that such measures create a two-tiered society of vaccinated and unvaccinated people that denies rights and privileges to unvaccinated individuals, even though data have shown that fully vaccinated people can contract and transmit COVID-19.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers screen passengers at OHare International Airport in Chicago on Nov. 8, 2021. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Recent studies have shown that the Omicron coronavirus variantwhich the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said is now the dominant strain in the United Statespresents milder symptoms and fewer hospitalizations than the Delta strain. Some officials, including Fauci, have said that because of Omicrons high degree of transmissibility, it may lead to more and more hospitalizations in the coming days.

You know, theres requirements that you might want to get if you want to get into college, where you want to go to a university or you want to work in certain places, Fauci also told the network about a potential airline mandate.

He didnt say whether he recommended the implementation of a vaccine requirement for domestic air travel to other White House officials. The White House didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated. If you want to do that with domestic flights, I think thats something that seriously should be considered, Fauci said.

During a recent interview with ABC, President Joe Biden said that vaccine requirements for domestic air travel have been considered. But Biden said the recommendation Ive gotten is [that its] not necessary.

COVID-19 is the illness caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.
A general view of the skyline is seen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 03, 2019. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Georgia Tries to Be Less Taxing

Georgia, with its strong economic recovery from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic, may become the 10th state without a state income tax.

The time has come to abolish the Georgia state income tax, wrote Newt Gingrich, a former U.S. speaker of the house and a Georgia resident.

What is the allure of a state without an income tax? And why is it under debate in several states?

A tax analyst says generally states without an income tax perform better than those with one.

Overall, states that go without an individual income tax have done better than states that have one in terms of GDP growth and in terms of immigration, Katherine Loughead, a senior policy analyst with the Tax Foundation, told The Epoch Times.

The benefits of living in a no-income-tax state are kind of obvious, according to financial education firm Ramsey Solutions in Franklin, Tennessee.

First of all, you get to keep more of your paycheck, and thats always a win! Not to mention that youll save a little money when you file your taxes because you wont have to file a state income tax return on top of your federal return, the firm writes in its commentary States Without Income Tax. It also says that many states without an income tax usually have a climate that creates jobs and attracts new residents from all over the country.

Gingrich wrote that state income tax abolition is justified because Georgias coffers are jammed. He pointed to a recently published report documenting Georgias economic health.

Despite the pandemic, Georgia ends the fiscal year with a record $3.2 billion jump in revenue, Gingrich noted a March 10 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. He noted that the state saw revenue grew 13.5% over 2020.

The Peach States economy, an observer said, is making a strong recovery.

Georgias unemployment rate has the sixth biggest recovery, Jill Gonzalez, a WalletHub analyst, told the Epoch Times.

The number of unemployed people in November this year has dropped by almost 49 percent compared to November 2020, she added. That is the strongest recovery in the country.

Compared to pre-pandemic times, Gonzalez adds, there was a drop of about 15 percent in the number unemployed. The current Georgia jobless rate is 2.8 percent, the eighth-lowest nationwide, and significantly below the average of 4.2 percent.

Stephen Moore, an economist with the Heritage Foundation, said Georgia should consider what states without income taxes have accomplished.

For the last 30 years, these states have on average had much higher income gains, more jobs created, and more population gains than states with income taxes, Moore said. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that some 3.2 million Americans moved to one of the income-tax-free states between 2010 and 2019, he added.

Georgia, Moore contends, should also consider its nearest competitors. Neighbors Tennessee and Florida have no state income tax, he said. Nothing would help grow the Georgia economy more than abolishing the income tax.

Several states have recently debated the examples set by Texas and Florida, which have had no state income tax for decades. Six other states have no income tax or are phasing them out. These are Alaska, Wyoming, Washington, Tennessee, Nevada, and South Dakota. New Hampshire is a no-state-income-tax state that taxes interest and dividends, but thats slated to end by 2027.

Other states are also considering ending state income tax. In 2020, Mississippi and West Virginia considered it but decided against it. Still, Loughead says there is a general movement in many states to end the state income tax or at least cut taxes.

In 2020, she said, 13 states had some form of income or corporate tax reduction. Only two raised taxes. One was New York. Its now generally considered the highest taxed state in the nation. Still, Loughead says the trend is the opposite.

Owing to the growth of Florida and other no-state income tax states, there is definitely a competitive issue forcing states to consider finding ways to lower, or possibly eliminate, some taxes, she said.
Growing Number of Highly Vaccinated Cruise Ships Facing Disruption Over COVID-19

At least four cruise ships have reported COVID-19 cases in recent days, coming as Colombia officials prevented the Seven Seas Mariner ship from allowing anyone to disembark in Cartagena after seven positive cases were reported onboard.

Authorities in Mexico also prevented the Holland America Line Koningsdam vessel from allowing passengers to disembark in the tourist area of Puerto Vallarta late last week after 21 crew members tested positive for the virus.

Health authorities in Jalisco state, Mexico, were going to allow individuals who tested negative to leave the ship. But on Thursday, they changed their decision due to an exponential growth of confirmed cases in the crew, according to the department.

The Holland America ship has a fully vaccinated crew and requires all passengers to show proof of vaccination before boarding, according to its website. Crew and passengers also have to present proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

Seven Seas Mariner, which has a capacity of 445 crew and 769 passengers, was refused entry in Cartagena, Colombia, last week after Mayor William Dau issued a directive against it. Operators of the cruise ship, which started its trip on Dec. 18, requires all passengers and crew members have to be fully vaccinated at least two weeks before departing.

Over the long weekend, Carnival Cruise Lines Carnival Freedom confirmed it has been forced to alter its stops in the south Caribbean after several individuals onboard tested positive for the virus.

This is a vaccinated cruise, and all guests were also tested before embarkation, Carnival Cruise Lines said in its statement to news outlets on Dec. 24. Unfortunately, Bonaire and Aruba authorities did not permit the ship to call in those ports, but we have confirmed a visit to Amber Cove, [Dominican Republic] today.

Before that, Royal Caribbean said that its Odyssey of the Seas, which had a 95 percent vaccination rate for crew and customers, saw a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted the ship to make a detour.

Royal Caribbean Internationals Odyssey of the Seas will not visit Curacao or Aruba as planned, a spokesperson for Royal Caribbean line told The Epoch Times last week.

The decision was made together with the islands out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of COVID-19 cases in the destinations communities as well as crew and guests testing positive on board55 crew members and guests, representing 1.1 percent of the onboard community.

Its not yet clear if the Omicron variant triggered outbreaks on any of the cruise ships. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in an estimate last week, Omicron makes up 73 percent of all COVID-19 cases in the United States.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (4nd-L) meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (3nd-R) at the Great Hall of the People on in Beijing, China, on March 20, 2017. (Lintao Zhang/Pool/Getty Images)

How Israel, a Close Ally of the US, Became a Close Ally of China

Commentary

The United States and Israel appear to be close allies. However, things arent always as they seem. As Israel cozies up to China, that once unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel looks increasingly fragile.

In 1948, the United States became the first country to officially recognize the new State of Israel; seven decades on, the Trump administration made history by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. According to the U.S. Department of State, Israel has no greater friend than the United States. The two countries unbreakable bond has never been stronger, or so were told.

Can Beijing sever the bond once and for all?

In a speech, delivered in 2017, Benjamin Netanyahu, then the most important man in Israel, waxed lyrical about a marriage made in heaven. The politician was not speaking about his wife, nor was he speaking about the United States. He was speaking about Israels marriage to China. A marriage of convenience rather than love, no doubt. A marriage nonetheless.

Xi Jinping also has as a soft spot for Israel and Isaac Herzog, the countrys president. Xi recently invited Herzog to visit Beijing next year, to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of normal diplomatic ties between the two countries. The marriage, it appears, is growing stronger by the day.

According to research published by the RAND corporation, an American think tank, since 2000, China and Israel have started to form stronger relations. From diplomacy to trade, infrastructure to research, China continues to invest heavily in Israel. Chinese tourists now flock to Israel in record numbers, according to the BBC.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), however, is not really interested in seeing the sights; its far more interested in seeing the science. More specifically, its interested in seeing Israels advanced technology, as the RAND paper revealed.

Chinese Vice Chair Wang Qishan during his tour with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the Israeli Innovation Summit in Jerusalem on Oct. 24, 2018. (Ariel Schalit/AFP/Getty Images)

Why is Israel interested in China? Again, according to RAND, this interest stems from the Israeli governments desire to expand its diplomatic and economic ties with the worlds fastest growing major economy. Israels leaders wish to diversify the countrys export markets and investments, even though China firmly supports Iran, a country that would love nothing more than to see Israel wiped off the face of the planet.

Earlier this year, Beijing signed a 25-year strategic agreement with Tehran. How can a friend of Iran also be a friend of Israel? Then again, how can a friend of the United States (Israel) be a friend of China?

The second question can be answered with one word: money. Today, the bilateral trade relationship between Beijing and Jerusalem is worth $10 billion. Twenty-eight years ago, it was worth just $50 million.

All Eyes on Technology

The quickly developing field of quantum computing, according to tech experts, will have far-reaching and potentially disruptive influences. In the United States, there are genuine fears that the CCP will use quantum technology to steal sensitive data from its citizens as well as various branches of government.

It will come as little surprise, then, to find out that Israel, Chinas new best friend, is one of the leaders in quantum tech.

According to a recent Bloomberg Innovation Index, Israel, a country with the same population as New York City, is now the seventh most innovative nation in the world. The United States, its important to note, is no longer in the top 10. In Silicon Wadi, Israels version of Silicon Valley, more than 5,000 different companies can be found, many of them dedicated to all things tech. Of the 18 countries in the Middle East, Israel boasts the largest number of start-ups per capita. A number of these start-ups carry out research in the areas of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and quantum computinga fact that is not lost on the CCP.

Since 2019, according to a recent Physics Today report, the number of Israeli firms working in quantum tech has surged from 5 to 30, with the Israeli army, air force, and intelligence community forming the backbone of the burgeoning industry.

As the Rand report warned, the CCPs investment in Israeli technology could lead to leaks of sensitive technology and cyberespionage.

Dont be surprised if the CCP uses Israels quantum knowledge to attack its American foes. After all, Israeli spyware has already been used to target U.S. officials, and Beijing appears to have Jerusalem in its proverbial back pocket.

As Neville Teller, an expert on Middle Eastern politics, recently wrote, the question for the Israeli government is how far it should go in embracing China as a business partner, given American suspicions about Chinas true motives. Are all such Chinese investments pieces in a vast jigsaw designed to secure Chinas unassailable political and economic global supremacy?

The answer to that question, Mr. Teller, is a resounding yes.

Israel, a country that acts as a bridge between three different continentsAsia, Africa, and Europeappears to be a key component in Beijings plans for world domination. One imagines that the CCP wont stop until it destroys that unbreakable bond between Israel and the United States. Will it succeed? Only time will tell.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Informing Consumers Wont Stop LootersEspecially The Biggest Looter: Communist China

Commentary

Big brick-and-mortar retailers such as Best Buy, Home Depot, and Target are backing a curious strategy against the organized smash-and-grab looting going on during the Christmas shopping season in cities like San Francisco and Chicago run by Democratic mayors and district attorneys who wont prosecute robbers. Theyre calling for passage of a bipartisan bill that promises to expose criminals who are selling consumers stolen, fake and dangerous products.

Congressional staffers were certainly exposed, as frustrated wannabe ad copywriters, with the title they concocted: The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers (INFORM Consumers) Act, sponsored by the Democratic chairwoman and her ranking Republican colleague on the consumer protection and commerce subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The idea is that if you know goods are stolen or counterfeit, you wont buy them. But ask yourself: if your home were burglarized, would your mind be put at ease if you could be sure that the burglars potential customers knew your widescreen TV and your jewelry was stolen? Or would you prefer that the police track the burglars down and the DA prosecute them?

Can federal regulations really dry up the demand for stolen goods when people see the massive discounts, and are inclined not to ask questions? Last year, the editor-in-chief of tech news website Lifewire.com, Lance Ulanoff, pointed out that stolen goods being sold online are already not that difficult to identifyprices that are too good to be true, inaccuracies and misspellings in descriptions, amateurish graphics, and sellers anonymity being obvious clues. Moreover, the resale sites themselves profit, and therefore have an interest in turning a blind eye to the goods origins.

Can eBays more than a billion annual individual listings really be policed effectively? It and other sites, like Fashionphile and RealReal, already use a program called LeadsOnline to help law enforcement detect stolen items. Plus, looters in large cities can and do still make money the old-fashioned way with their haulsselling on the street and even utilizing the homeless to help.

So it is peculiar to hear Brian Dodge, president of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, earlier this month tell Fox News that the INFORM Consumers Act is the solution that exists. When asked by Foxs Neil Cavuto if the federal solution he is committed to includes more police and funding for more guards, Dodge claimed that the solution here is not necessarily focused on the police side, although he conceded that theres obviously work to be done there. But for big retailers, Dodge says the solution is to take away the easy access that criminals have to unsuspecting buyers.

Dodge added, there used to be a time where criminals or thieves would steal products and the only way they could sell them was in a dark alley, whereas today they do it online. Not surprisingly, he made a point of naming the personification of online, the arch rival of his organizations members, Amazon. Pushed again about beefing up law enforcement, Dodge claimed, the solution that we have at hand here is focused on taking away the easy access to customers.

Theres some similarity here to the lefts perennial excuses for not getting tough on drug traffickers, arguing that the problem is demand, not the supply provided by organized criminal operations.

Retailers like Home Depot and Wal-Mart, a significant proportion of whose customers are non-white and poor, are obviously afraid of being labeled as insufficiently woke by the left. Still, lets not let Amazon off the hook. The online giant may now back the INFORM act (with future changes to further strengthen the bill), but in June, Amazon used its clout to kill INFORM as part of a bipartisan bill aiming to rein in China economically and militarily.

Which brings us to the worlds biggest looter, and most notorious criminal reseller of products belonging to others. Beijing encourages and facilitates the theft of American intellectual property, that propertys replication, and the displacement of the legitimate American sellers in the Chinese domestic market, then finally their displacement in the global market. Chinas Peoples Liberation Army and its Ministry of State Security are both heavily involved.

The widespread propagation of the evidence that this is happening simply will not stop Western consumer demand for cheap Chinese products. Americans and Europeans are already inundated with the horror stories of slave labor, human rights violations like the bloody persecution of the Uyghurs, and the Chinese regimes objectives in overtaking the United States as the worlds preeminent superpower.

Technology, of course, is the most serious economic sector in mainland Chinese theft, but consider a more mundane example. Amazon offers the impressive Sonnet model fountain pen in Red Lacquer with Gold Trim by the long-standing pen manufacturer Parker for a price well over $100. Go to eBay, however, and the same product is apparently available for under $9. Then, a near-to-identical version from mainland China with another brand name can be purchased on Amazon for under $6. In this case, the product description celebrates the pen being inspired from the long history and splendid traditional culture of China, which contributes to the fine artistic elements and design concept. No hiding the products origins necessary.

There are YouTube videos by fountain pen aficionados comparing the real Parker, the counterfeit, and the copycat with a different brand name, coming to the conclusion that the quality is not all that far apart on the three offerings. So when a consumer has the opportunity to save over $100 for a status symbol that has a good chance of fooling those he seeks to impress, how often will ethical qualms get in the way?

It is clear that only holding thieves in U.S. cities responsible for their thievery by applying the law will deter them. In the same vein, stopping Beijings economic warfare against the free world requires passing laws that go beyond tariffs, keeping their products out and ending Americans dependency on them. Instead of blaming consumers for being seduced by low prices, retailers must support real measures against Beijings criminalitybefore it is too late, as we watch communist Chinas global rise.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Iran-Aligned Houthis Have Fired 430 Missiles, 851 Drones Into Saudi Arabia Since 2015: Saudi General

RIYADHThe Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi group in Yemen said on Sunday that the Houthis have fired 430 ballistic missiles and 851 armed drones into Saudi Arabia since the war started in 2015, killing 59 Saudi civilians.

The spokesman of the Saudi alliance, General Turki al-Malki, said the Iran-aligned movement had been using Sanaa airport as a base to launch attacks on the kingdom, an allegation the Houthis deny.

The conflict is largely seen as another proxy war between Middle East rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. Malki shared videos with reporters which he said showed military advisers from the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, helping the Houthis in Yemen. Hezbollah and the Houthis deny that the Islamist terrorist group has a role in the war.

Yemen has been mired in violence since 2014 when the Houthis took over the capital Sanaa and ousted Yemens internationally recognised government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates intervened against the Houthi movement in 2015 but the war has stalemated for years, and killed tens of thousands of Yemenis, mostly civilians.

Read More US Sanctions Houthi Military Leaders as Peace Efforts Stall

The Houthis have demanded Saudi Arabia lift a blockade on Yemen ports and Sanaa airport as a condition to start ceasefire talks. Malki denied there was a blockade on Yemen, adding that Sanaa airport remains open for U.N. and humanitarian organisations flights to address the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country.
An ultra-Orthodox Jewish traveler waits in queue with other travellers with luggage at the check-in counter ahead of their departing flights at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv, on Dec. 21, 2021. (Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel Orders Thousands of Pfizers Oral COVID Treatment After Granting Emergency Use Approval

Israels Health Ministry on Sunday granted emergency approval to an anti-viral oral COVID-19 medication developed by pharmaceutical company Pfizer.

Officials ordered roughly 100,000 doses of the pills in an effort to help combat a new coronavirus wave brought about by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

The doses are expected to arrive in the country by Wednesday at the earliest, Hebrew-language Channel 12 reported Saturday.

Israels Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla over the weekend to finalize the deal, as per Channel 12. The new drug will be available for free in Israel to those in high-risk groups, officials said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted emergency use authorization to Pfizers COVID-19 treatment pill on Dec. 22.

The oral drug, called Paxlovid, is taken twice per day for five days in combination with a second medicine called ritonavir, which is classified as a generic antiviral drug. Paxlovid is supposed to be for patients who are suffering from mild-to-moderate COVID-19 symptoms to prevent them from becoming so sick that they need to be hospitalized, officials and Pfizer have said.

Paxlovid can be taken as soon as possible following a positive diagnosis of COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus. The drug is available by prescription only.

However, the pill is not to be used on patients for pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of the virus or for individuals who have been hospitalized due to severe or critical COVID-19, the FDA said in the statement.

According to Pfizer, clinical trials showed that the oral drug was able to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by up to 89 percent when taken shortly after symptoms appear.

Back in November, Albert Bourla, Pfizers chief executive, called the results a real game-changer, that has the potential to save patients lives, reduce the severity of COVID-19 infections, and eliminate up to nine out of ten hospitalizations.

With more than 5 million deaths and countless lives impacted by this devastating disease globally, there is an urgent need for life-saving treatment options, Bourla said in a press release.

The overwhelming efficacy achieved in our recent clinical study of PAXLOVID, and its potential to help save lives and keep people out of the hospital if authorized, underscores the critical role that oral antiviral therapies could play in the battle against COVID-19, he said.

The Biden administration has already purchased some 10 million courses of Paxlovid in a more than $5 billion agreement. In November, the White House announced that the federal government would work to ensure treatments are free and accessible for the general public.

Mercks antiviral pill for COVID-19 also received emergency use authorization last Thursday evening in Israel, and the country is expected to receive the first doses of the drug within the next two weeks, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.

Mercks drug, named molnupiravir, was developed with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and can reduce hospitalizations and deaths from the virus from 9.7 percent to 6.8 percent, clinical trials of high-risk individuals showed, according to the FDA.

The oral drug can also be used in the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases in adults and for whom alternative COVID-19 treatments are not accessible or arent clinically appropriate.

Prior to the FDA decision, the only COVID-19 antiviral treatment that had been granted emergency authorization by the FDA is remdesivir, a drug thats being sold under the brand name Veklury.
Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC on April 23, 2021. (Erin Schaff-Pool/Getty Images)

Judge Says College Cant Merely Pay $1 in Damages for Violating Students Right to Share Faith

Georgia Gwinnett College cant simply pay $1 each in damages for violating two students constitutional rights to express their religious faith on campus without prior permission from administrators, according to a federal judge.

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Judge Eleanor Ross rejected the colleges request that it be allowed to pay the $2 to former students Joseph Bradford and Chike Uzuegbunam. Approval of the payment would have ended the case after more than five years of litigation that included a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the students favor.

Ross also ruled that the students can seek an arbitrated settlement of their damages claim if they choose to do so, thus clearing the way for the college being forced to make a more substantial payment in compensation for violating constitutional rights.

For almost five years, Georgia Gwinnett College officials have been trying to dodge accountability for their illegal actions in violating Chikes First Amendment rights, even after the U.S. Supreme Court rebuked them. The district court rightly put a stop to that, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) senior counsel Travis Barham said in a statement on the Ross decision that was made public Dec. 23.

The ADF, which represents Uzuegbunam, is an Arizona-based public interest law firm that specializes in First Amendment/Religious Freedom cases.

Government officials shouldnt get a free pass when they engage in misconduct; it leaves victims without recourse, undermines the nations commitment to protecting constitutional rights, and emboldens the government to engage in future violations. We are pleased that the court is allowing this lawsuit to proceed. It is long past time for Georgia Gwinnett College officials to face up to their unlawful actions, Barham said.

The communications office of the college didnt respond to a request for comment by press time.

The case began in 2016 when the students were told they could only express their Christian faith in one of two officially recognized free speech zones on campus and only during approved times after receiving prior permission from college administrators.

The free speech zones constituted only 1 percent of the Lawrenceville, Georgia, colleges campus, and the zones were only open about 10 percent of the time, according to ADF, but Uzuegbunam went through the process of applying for and receiving permission.

He was stopped a second time after a complaint was made that his comments were offensive, and Bradford, who was with Uzuegbunam and intended to share his faith as well, decided not to do so. Uzuegbunam, represented by ADF, and Bradford challenged the universitys anti-free speech policies in federal court.

Two lower federal courts held that Georgia Gwinnett need not pay any damages, but the Supreme Court in a March 8 decision ruled otherwise, saying, for purposes of this appeal, it is undisputed that Uzuegbunam experienced a completed violation of his constitutional rights when respondents enforced their speech policies against him.

Because every violation [of a right] imports damage,  nominal damages can redress Uzuegbunams injury even if he cannot or chooses not to quantify that harm in economic terms. Eight of the justices joined in the opinion, with only Chief Justice John Roberts dissenting.

The high court didnt rule on whether Bradford could claim damages on the basis of his rights being violated since he chose not to speak when accompanying Uzuegbunam on campus.

We need to ensure that the wrong done to our clients is righted, ADF senior counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom, said in the statement.

The Supreme Court saw the importance of addressing these legal violations on the merits, and now so has the district court. Hopefully, this will send a signal to college and university officials nationwide that students do not lose their constitutional rights at the campus gates and that anyone who ignores these priceless freedoms can be held to account.
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta speaks at the opening ceremony of the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Nov. 5, 2018. (Aly Song/AFP/Getty Images)

Kenyan President Commends Chinese-Built Expressway, Defends Ties With China

Kenyas President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday commended the Chinese-built 27.1 kilometer Nairobi Expressway, which is slated to be ready by March next year, saying that Kenyas partnership with China is one that is mutually beneficial.

During his inspection tour of the Nairobi Expressway, Kenyatta said the expressway had created over 6,000 direct jobs and benefitted 200 sub-contractors as well as hundreds of local suppliers of building materials.

I am confident with the kind of speed that they are moving at, the indicated date of March for completion of this road is bound to be met. I will be very proud to be able to drive all the way from Machakos turn-off to Rironi, Kenyatta said, while expressing his appreciation to the Chinese government.

The $550 million worth of Nairobi Expressway was constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation under a public-private partnership. The eight-lane dual expressway is expected to decongest Mombasa Road and reduce travel time between Mlolongo and Westlands to 20 minutes.

Describing China as Kenyas key development partner, Kenyatta reaffirmed his governments commitment to continue working with the Chinese regime.

Our partnership with China is one that is mutually beneficial, that is based on win-win, and we are very grateful to the Chinese government and people for the support that they continue to render not only our country but to the rest of Africa, he remarked.

China is one of Kenyas biggest external creditors, having lent it billions of dollars for the construction of rail lines and other infrastructure projects in the past decade.

In January, Kenya secured a debt repayment moratorium from China which will save it 27 billion shillings ($245.23 million) in the period to June. The Chinese Embassy in Nairobi said that China stood ready to help Kenya with debt, without offering more details.

China attaches great importance to debt suspension and alleviation in African countries including Kenya, the Chinese embassy in Nairobi said.

China has signed debt service suspension agreements with 12 African countries and provided waivers of matured interest-free loans for 15 African countries under the G-20 debt service suspension initiative, according to the embassy in Nairobi.

Kenya reportedly paid Sh29.86 billion ($264.4 million) to China in the quarter to September 2021 to ease the debt repayment standoff, after Chinese lenders opposed Kenyas application for a debt repayment holiday, reported Business Daily Africa, citing treasury documents.

Kenyas total debt jumped to 65.6 percent of the gross domestic product in June 2020 from 62.4 percent a year earlier, the World Bank said in November.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Lawyer Who Argued for Abortion in Roe v. Wade Dies at Age 76

Feminist lawyer Sarah Weddington was the youngest person ever to argue a case before the Supreme Court at age 26.

Her efforts saw the pro-abortion Jane Roe argument win the landmark Roe v. Wade case in 1973.

Early Sunday morning, as the Supreme Court is reconsidering the details of U.S. abortion law, the lawyer passed away in her sleep after a series of health issues, a former student announced. She was 76.

With her former classmate Linda Coffee, Weddington had been looking for a client to challenge state laws restricting legal abortions to mothers whose lives were endangered by carrying their baby to full term.

Weddington, in her book about Roe v. Wade, said that in 1967 during her third year of law school, she had traveled to Mexico herself to access an abortion, which was illegal in the United States at the time.

She and Coffee took on the case for Jane Roe (aka Norma McCorvey) in 1971 on referral and eventually filed a class-action lawsuit against the state, represented by Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade.

In 1973, the court ruled 72 in favor of legalizing abortion in the United States during the first trimester, or first 12 weeks. This was extended in the 1992 companion case Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey to the time of fetal viability for life outside the womb, somewhere around the 24-week gestation mark.

Her death comes as the Supreme Court is considering an appeal of Mississippis ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which could rewrite part of Roe v. Wade.

Specifically, the court is considering whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.
NATO Chief Seeks NATO-Russia Council Meeting Next Month to Address Developments in Ukraine

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg is seeking a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) next month to address the developments in Ukraine.

Stoltenberg said on Dec. 26 that he has contacted officials in Moscow to ensure they will be in attendance for the proposed Jan. 12, 2022, meeting. NATO announced earlier this month that the alliances Military Council would meet in Brussels on Jan. 1213.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has decided to convene a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on 12 January 2022 in his capacity as the Chair of the NATO-Russia Council. We are in contact with Russia as regards the meeting, the alliances press service told Russian News Agency TASS on Dec. 26.

As the North Atlantic Council made clear in its December 16 statement on the situation in and around Ukraine, any dialogue with Russia would have to proceed on the basis of reciprocity, address NATOs concerns about Russias actions, be based on the core principles and foundational documents of European security, and take place in consultation with NATOs European Partners, it stated.

A spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry told TASS that Moscow had received NATOs proposal to call a council meeting and is considering it.

We have already received this proposal. We are considering it, the spokesman said.

The NATO-Russia Council was established in 2002 as a mechanism for consultation, consensus-building, cooperation, joint decision, and joint action but is currently inactive due to the conflict in Ukraines east between Russia-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military.

NATO has denounced Russias 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, an integral part of the countrys territory, as a gross violation of international law. The organization has urged Moscow to respect its neighbors territorial sovereignty. Ukraine declared national sovereignty on July 16, 1990.

However, tensions have continued to mount in recent weeks over Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly amassed more than 100,000 soldiers near the border shared by the two nations, sparking concerns of a possible invasion. Russia has repeatedly denied the accusation.

Last week, Russias Foreign Ministry published a document that includes demands that it has made to the United States and NATO, including effectively denying membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and scaling back military deployments in central and eastern Europe.

According to TASS, Putins proposal calls on the United States to take measures to prevent the further eastward expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and deny accession to the Alliance to the former USSR republics.

The proposals also ask that the United States refrain from building military bases in former Soviet states that arent NATO members and from using their infrastructure for military activity. If the proposals are met, Moscow says it will refrain from deploying its armed forces and weapons into regions where such deployment could be viewed as a threat to Washingtons security, except deployment on ones national territory, according to TASS.

The Parties shall refrain from flying heavy bombers equipped for nuclear or non-nuclear armaments or deploying surface warships of any type, including in the framework of international organizations, military alliances or coalitions, in the areas outside national airspace and national territorial waters respectively, from where they can attack targets in the territory of the other Party, the document reads.

NATO and Washington have expressed strong opposition to the proposals. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies stated on Dec. 22 that Putin is attempting to revive the Cold War by redrawing the lines of Europe.

However, U.S. officials have said they are open to bilateral talks.

But Putin said last week that Moscow is ready to take adequate military and technical measures if Western countries continue to pursue an aggressive policy and decline Russias pledge to stop the eastward expansion of NATO and the alliance.

We are not demanding any special exclusive conditions.  And in case Western colleagues continue their clearly aggressive line, we will take adequate military and technical measures in response, Putin said on Dec. 21 while meeting with Russias top military brass.

We will react firmly to unfriendly steps, and Id like to underline that we have the complete right to do this.

Lorenz Duchamps and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This photo taken on Sept. 20, 2015 shows Chinese farmers picking cotton in the fields during the harvest season in Hami, in northwest China's Xinjiang region. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

New Anti-Slavery Law Will Impose Cost on China for Its Genocide in Xinjiang: Expert

News Analysis

New U.S. legislation aimed to stop the use of slave labor in Chinas Xinjiang region has the potential to severely disrupt Americas $150 billion fashion industry. At risk is the industrys access to the 20 percent of the worlds cotton thats produced in the region, and the fate of 1 million Uyghurs held in Chinas prison camps there.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which was signed into law last week, is the latest and strongest effort by the United States to address the issue of forced labor in Xinjiang.

According to industry experts, the UFLPA may significantly raise the prices of cotton, stop the importation of many cotton garments, and further stress supply lines from Asian manufacturers to U.S. consumers.

The new law creates a legal presumption that all goods made in Xinjiang or with Xinjiang raw materials are made with forced laborand thus are barred from entry into the United States. It will be the responsibility of U.S. importers to provide clear and convincing evidence that their supplier in Xinjiang didnt use forced labor.

Providing this proof may be difficult, or impossible, resulting in a de facto ban on Xinjiangs products, and on all Chinese products linked to Xinjiang.

Since 2014, human rights groups have documented the systematic persecution of the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang, including the use of imprisoned Uyghurs as forced labor in factories and agriculture. In 2020, a congressional commission (pdf) found that Nike, Coca-Cola, Costco, Calvin Klein, Patagonia, and many other U.S. corporations were suspected of directly employing forced labor or sourcing from suppliers that are suspected of using forced labor.

After years of lobbying by human rights groups, in 2020, the United States began to restrict the imports of products made by four Xinjiang companies suspected of using forced Uyghur labor. In January 2021, the Trump administration ordered a stop to imports of cotton and tomatoes from Xinjiang. Later that month, the UFLPA legislation was introduced in Congress to attempt to block all imports from the region.

These attempts to pressure the Chinese regime encountered a strong pushback from big companies that manufacture products in China. According to a November 2020 report by The New York Times, Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola were among the major companies lobbying to weaken or stop the new law.

The fashion industry was especially outspoken. One-fifth of the worlds cotton crop is grown in Xinjiang, and then sent to mills and apparel makers all over China and to manufacturers around the world.

In testimony before Congress, Stephen Lamar, president of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, said his industry is working to remove any products produced by forced labor from its supply chains, but as a country, we simply do not have the capability or capacity to implement, or comply with, or enforce  the proposed legislation.

Such legislation would no doubt make headlines, he said, but would wreak havoc on human rights, economic development, and legitimate supply chains, themselves already battered by COVID-19 all over the world.

Milestone

The new law is a big victory for Uyghurs and for the rule of law in global supply chains, according to Peter Irwin of the Uyghur Human Rights Project.

This new law is an important milestone, he said in an interview with The Epoch Times. Its the end of companies being able to pretend they dont know whats going on in Xinjiang.

The most significant thing about the law is that it requires importers to present clear and convincing evidence that their products are not made with forced labor.

Like the apparel manufacturers, Irwin also expects the new law to disrupt supply chains of cotton and other products from Xinjiang and other parts of China. But, he points out, its meant to do just that.

This law imposes an economic cost on China for what its doing in Xinjiang, Irwin said. Of course, there should be a cost for committing what the U.S. government has called a genocide against the Uyghurs.

The United States and other Western parliaments have designated Beijings campaign of repression against ethnic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang a genocide. Experts, however, have said that the Chinese regime is committing at least two other genocides: against Tibetans, and Falun Gong practitioners.

Xinjiang cotton is valuable: an estimated 5 million tons per year, worth about $10 billion at current market prices. Most of it is the high-quality, extra-long-staple cotton used in garments.

Xinjiang cotton travels around the world. More than half of Xinjiangs cotton is exported to make clothing in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Mexico, the Philippines, and many other countries, according to a November study by professor Laura Murphy of Sheffield Hallam University.

In her research report, titled Laundering Cotton: How Xinjiang Cotton is Obscured in International Supply Chains, Murphy documents the export strategy that Chinas cotton industry uses to hide the cottons origin and its connection with forced Uyghur labor.

Using publicly accessible customs data, Murphys research team was able to trace the cotton from the fields to the finished garments of companies that include H&M, Nike, Levis, Uniqlo, Patagonia, and 103 well-known international brands  at high risk of having Xinjiang cotton in their supply chains.

Pressure

The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a London-based nonprofit whose members include Nike, H&M, and Uniqlo, has drawn the ire of the Chinese regime over its stance on cotton from Xinjiang, forcing it to soften its tone.

In March 2020, the sustainability-focused organization suspended its licensing and assurance activities in Xinjiang because of what it called persistent allegations of forced labor. A few months later, BCI announced that it had stopped all field activities in the region because of sustained allegations of forced labour and other human rights abuses.

In response, the regime in Beijing directed a firestorm of criticism at Western fashion brands, igniting calls for boycotts. Landlords closed some H&M stores over a statement on the companys website expressing concern about forced labor in Xinjiang. In addition, dozens of Chinese celebrities dropped their contracts with BCI member firms.

Amid the pressure, BCI began to change its tone. In late March, BCIs China office told Reuters that it has never found a single case related to incidents of forced labor. BCI later deleted its previous statements from its website.

A recent statement explains that BCI is now focusing on helping manufacturers trace the source of their cotton.

Retailers and brands need to integrate both sustainability and traceability into their standard business practices. BCI already offers companies a powerful way to support sustainable agricultural practices and farmers livelihoods, and now we are focusing our attention on making cotton supply chains more traceable as well.

BCI told The Epoch Times, in response to an inquiry, that it had no comment other than the statement on its website.

Irwin of the Uyghur Human Rights Project said the new law represents only a beginning.

China isnt going to back down very easily, he told The Epoch Times. Cotton exports are a massive contributor to Xinjiangs economy, and the clothing industry is very important to China.

Its not just cotton, he said. Xinjiang has a tremendous amount of oil and mineral resources, manufacturing, and agriculture. But remember, the issue isnt just economic, and not just forced laborit is genocide and crimes against humanity.
NIAID-Funded Experiments on Foster Children Recounted in RFK Jr. Bestseller

An unknown number of foster children were abused while participating in an HIV experimental drug treatment program overseen by Dr. Anthony Fauci in the 1990s, according to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in his new bestselling book.

Kennedys book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, takes a critical look at the U.S. health response to the coronavirus pandemic, revisiting some decades-old scandals in the process.

As a longtime gadfly to the pharmaceutical industry, Kennedy is no stranger to these controversies. But when doing research for his book, he found information on Faucis connections to child experimentation that he said shocked him.

The chapter on Tony Faucis experiments on children and animals  it was stunning, Kennedy told The Epoch Times.

A copy of The Real Anthony Fauci from Skyhorse Publishing, on Dec. 17, 2021. (Enrico Trigoso/The Epoch Times)

The chapter referenced, Dr. Fauci, Mr. Hyde: NIAIDs Barbaric and Illegal Experiments on Children, recounts how the NIAID funded experimental treatments for HIV-infected foster care children throughout the 1990s. The chapter relies in part on a May 2005 expose from The Associated Press, which reported that many foster children were experimented on without having guardians advocating for them.

During an experiment on the drug dapsone, Researchers reported some children had to be taken off the drug because of serious toxicity, others developed rashes, and the rates of death and blood toxicity were significantly higher in children who took the medicine daily, rather than weekly, AP reported at the time.

At least 10 children died from a variety of causes, including four from blood poisoning, and researchers said they were unable to determine a safe, useful dosage. They said the deaths didnt appear to be directly attributable to dapsone but nonetheless were disturbing.

The AP article doesnt mention NIAID or Fauci, but evidence to that effect was revealed during a congressional hearing later that month. The evidence included a letter entered into the congressional record from Jonathan Fishbein, who at the time was the director of the Division of AIDS (DAIDS)a bureaucracy within Faucis NIAID.

The failure of numerous DAIDS/NIAID-sponsored researchers and their institutions to assure that foster children enrolled in their research were appointed individual advocates, even where a foster parent exists, constitutes a violation of the terms of their grant awards, Fishbein said in a May 2005 letter to Daniel Levinson, the then-inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services.

I ask that your office immediately conduct an investigation to determine which foster children were denied their rights under the law and to seek a full recovery of grant funds from the researchers responsible for this lapse.

NIAID-funded experiments on foster children were also detailed in the BBCs 2004 documentary, Guinea Pig Kids. A separate investigation from the AP expose, Guinea Pig Kids focuses specifically on experiments conducted on HIV-positive children at the Incarnation Childrens Center (ICC) in New York City.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attends Keep It Clean show to benefit Waterkeeper Alliance in Los Angeles, on March 1, 2018. (John Sciulli/Getty Images for Waterkeeper Alliance)

The number of children who died as a result of the NIAID-linked experiments on ICC foster children is in dispute.

Kennedys book cites an investigation into the matter by the nonprofit Vera Institute of Justice in January 2009. That investigation found that 80 of the 532 children who participated in clinical trials or observational studies died while in foster care, and 25 of them died while enrolled in a medication trialbut Vera medical staff didnt find that any childs death was caused directly by clinical trial medication.

However, investigators said in the report they were denied access to certain medical records, making it impossible for them to determine how some aspects of the child experiments were handled.

Citing confidentiality laws, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) refused multiple requests from Childrens Services that it use its supervisory authority to allow staff from Vera or Childrens Services to review clinical trial research or medical records, the report said.

This limited Veras review in several ways, including the ability to fully document the frequency and severity of toxicity (side effects), the individual outcomes of trial participation for the children in the review, and the existence of valid, signed informed consent documents.

Kennedys book also quotes Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Vera Sharavthe name unrelated to the Vera Insitituteas saying at least 80 foster children were killed.

NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci listens during a Senate Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, on May 26, 2021. (Sarah Silbiger/Pool/Getty Images)

Fauci pooh-poohed all those deaths, Sharav said. The very best thing you could say about Dr. Fauci is that he failed to get involved when problems emerged on his management watch.

Sharavthe founder of the Alliance for Human Research Protection and who played a key role in exposing the child experimentssaid political pressure contributed to the investigation concluding that the experiments didnt directly cause any of the 80 deaths.

You cant imagine how much twisting went on, Sharav told The Epoch Times. Thats how it gets buried.

The NIAID didnt respond to a request for comment from Fauci or the organization by press time.

Kennedy, who also spoke to Fishbein for his book, said hes confident that Fauci personally knew and sanctioned experiments on children.

Multiple people who watched Fauci operate at NIAIDeveryone who sees his operation consistentlytestify that he knows every single grant. And these grants were at the center of his interests at the time, because he was trying to figure out ways to expand the market for these HIV drugs, Kennedy said.

He already introduced drugs to people who were HIV-infected but not sick. And the next step would be to get the drugs to children, and then as a step after that was to try to get them approved for pregnant women for maternal transmission.
Traces of oil line the surface of the water in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Oct. 5, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Officials Say Pipeline the Source of Oil Sheen Off Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.A pipeline operated by a California-based firm has been identified as the source of an oil sheen spotted off Bolsa Chica State Beach. It appeared to be heading north toward the Long Beach area.

A responsible party has been identified as DCOR LLC, the California Department of Fish and Wildlifes Spill Prevention and Response wrote on Twitter on Dec. 25. The sheen was observed in vicinity of their pipeline, [Pipeline 0919], which runs from Platform Eva.

DCOR is an oil and gas producer based in Oxnard.

All platform and pipeline operations in the vicinity of the DCOR pipeline have ceased, and officials are watching for any indications of additional discharge of oil, state officials said.

It remained a priority to identify and isolate the source of the sheen, the agency said.

Divers will go down [on Dec. 28] to inspect the line once inclement weather improves. In the meantime, crews continue to monitor for addl sheen & the line has been shut down. No oiled wildlife observed; @oiledwildlife remains on standby, the agency wrote on Twitter, referring to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network.

The sheenthe second one spotted in the Huntington Beach area in about a weekwas detected on Dec. 22 roughly a mile offshore from Bolsa Chica State Beach, according to the Office of Spill Prevention and Response.

According to state wildlife officials, protective strategies were implemented at sensitive environmental sites as a precaution, including Talbert Marsh, Bolsa Chica wetlands, Newport Slough, and the Santa Ana River.

Samples were collected on Dec. 22 as part of the investigation. The agency reported that despite the deployment of protective booms, some tarballs came ashore in Huntington Beach on Dec. 23.

Officials were monitoring the shoreline from Anaheim Bay to the Santa Ana River.

Meanwhile, officials in Long Beach said on Dec. 23 that they were monitoring the spill, which appeared to be traveling north.

The size of the sheen is currently undetermined, however, on its current trajectory northbound, the San Gabriel River, Long Beach shoreline and Port of Long Beach could be impacted as early as  Dec. 24, the statement said. The city of Long Beach is actively looking at contingency plans for various scenarios and is prepared to clear the beaches immediately, start our own local mitigation efforts and provide further updates as needed.

Last week, authorities responded to an oil sheen in roughly the same area, but about two miles off the coast. Investigators said that sheen didnt appear to be the result of a pipeline leak.

A major pipeline leak was deemed responsible for a large release of oil that occurred off the Orange County coast in early October, prompting a lengthy closure of beaches and businesses along the shoreline.

Clean-up efforts are underway in Huntington Beach, Calif., to clean a massive oil spill that struck the coastline on Oct. 5, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Petroleum pump jacks are pictured in the Kern River oil field in Bakersfield, Calif., on Nov. 9, 2014. (Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters)

Oil Slips in US as COVID-19 Surge Halts Flights

LONDONU.S. oil fell on Monday after airlines called off thousands of flights over the Christmas holidays amid surging COVID-19 cases, though Brent crude gained support from hopes that the Omicron variant will have a limited impact on global demand.

More than 1,300 flights were canceled by U.S. airlines on Sunday as COVID-19 reduced the number of available crews while several cruise ships had to cancel stops.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down 89 cents, or 1.2 percent, at $72.90 a barrel by 0948 GMT. The U.S. market was closed on Friday for a holiday. Global benchmark Brent crude rose 12 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $76.26.

Lower travel equalling lower economic activity in the U.S. equals lower WTI, said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA, who added that the divergence between Brent and WTI could reflect that recovery remains on course.

The disruption to goods and services from isolating workers, notably air travel, seems to be the main fallout so far, he said of rising Omicron cases. That is only likely to cause short-term nerves, with the global recovery story for 2022 still on track.

Brent has risen by more than 45 percent this year, supported by recovering demand and supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+. Oil gained last week after early data suggested that Omicron could cause a milder level of illness.

Though Omicron is spreading faster than any COVID-19 variant yet, a relatively relieving news is that most people infected with Omicron are showing mild symptoms, at least so far, said Leona Liu, analyst at Singapore-based DailyFX.

Talks resume today between world powers and Iran on reviving Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal, a development that could eventually lead to higher Iranian oil exports. Still, the talks appear to have made little progress towards that end.

Also on investors radar is the next OPEC+ meeting on Jan. 4, in which the producer alliance will decide whether to go ahead with a planned 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) production increase in February.

Last month OPEC+ stuck to its plans to boost output for January despite Omicron, which OPEC has said would be likely to have a short-lived impact.

By Alex Lawler
Polish President Andrzej Duda holds a joint news briefing with his Ukrainian counterpart as part of their meeting, in Kiev, Ukraine, on Oct. 12, 2020. (Valentyn Ogirenko /Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Polands President Vetoes Media Bill That Threatened US-Owned Broadcaster

WARSAW, PolandPoland President Andrzej Duda has vetoed a controversial media measure that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling stake in Polish television network TVN, with the president acknowledging the free speech concerns of the legislations opponents and suggesting that it would have strained relations with the United States, a key Warsaw ally.

Duda said at a Dec. 27 press conference in Warsaw that while he backs future legislation that would curb the ability of foreign capital to control Polish media outlets, the current measures retroactive effect would be unfair to investors and would violate a U.S.Poland trade treaty signed in the 1990s.

If we signed an agreement, we have to abide by it, Duda said. Then we can say were an honorable nation. And thats how I want Poland to be seen by its allies.

The legislation, recently approved by the lower chamber of the Polish Parliament, would have blocked any non-European entity from owning more than a 49 percent stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland. Dubbed lex TVN, the measure would have forced Discovery to relinquish its majority stake in TVN, the largest private television network in Poland.

Private television TVN logo is seen on satellite antennas at their headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, on Feb. 10, 2021. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

Some critics of the legislation have alleged that it was motivated by a desire on the part of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) Party to punish TVN for critical coverage. Former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who leads the main opposition party and made remarks to that effect at recent anti-lex TVN demonstrations, wrote on Twitter on Dec. 27 that a combination of street protests and U.S. opposition to the measure forced Dudas hand.

In a nod to the concerns raised about the measure, Duda said one of the arguments weighing on his decision was the matter of media plurality and freedom of speech.

However, Duda made clear that his veto doesnt put the issue of foreign ownership of media outlets in Poland to rest, urging lawmakers to reconsider the legislation and come up with a version that doesnt have a retroactive effect on investors.

For those who want to invest in our country, in the future, after such regulations take effect, theyll have clarity on the conditions under which they can manage their investment, Duda said.

The Law and Justice Party, of which Duda is a member, has long said foreign media groups wield too much power and distort public debate in Poland.

I believe that generally limiting the possibility of holding shares or stocks in media companies is sensible when it comes to foreign capital, Duda said at the presser, citing examples of the United States, France, and Germany, which have such laws in place. I share the opinion that it should be introduced in Poland, but for the future.

Calling the veto a victory for the Polish people, Discovery said in a statement that it [commends] the president for doing the right thing and standing up for core democratic values of a free press and the rule of law. TVN praised the decision in a statement, saying that Duda stood up for press freedom and good relations with the United States.

The Charge dAffaires at the U.S. Embassy in Poland, Bix Aliu, took to Twitter to thank Duda for the decision, saying that it was good for democracy and that it protected the investment climate in Poland.
Protesters attempt to pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square near the White House in Washington on June 22, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Provincials in Time, the Woke Are Due a Reversal

Commentary

Will 2022 be the year that woke ideology crests and begins its melancholy withdrawing roar?

I wouldnt count on it, but there are some scattered signs of impatience and spine-stiffening.

Campus Reform even found some examples among the wokest of woke menageries, reporting 10 times universities said no to the woke mob in 2021 (hat tip to Instapundit, where I first saw the story).

None of the super-rich redoubts were on that list, of courseno Yales or Harvards, and certainly no Williamses, Smiths, or Swarthmores.

Still, the report might be interpreted as a sort of harbingera sparrow of dissent indicating the advent of a spring of sanity.

Or maybe it was just a somnolent groundhog wrested from its place of hibernation, only to glimpse its shadow and thereby foretell another long spate of winter.

My own sense is that the soldiers of wokeness, neglecting Gertrude Steins admonition to be sure to know how far to go when going too far, have condemned themselves first to ridicule and then to irrelevance, not neglecting criminal prosecution in certain cases.

Almost every comestible one buys these days comes with a label listing not only its ingredients but the percentage of each.

The addiction to polysaturated racism among the wokethe fact that they are human koalas, battening almost exclusively upon the fragrant leaves of charges of racismmakes them eminently predictable.

Like koalas, the woke are asocial animals, but, unlike those cute critters, they arent largely sedentary, preferring instead to rampage throughout urban cityscapes setting fire to or smashing up all manner of private and government property in the name of justice.

For one brief moment, there was a certain macabre novelty in watching pathetic news reporters for the regime media stand in front of burning police stations while telling their audiences that the protests they were witnessing were mostly peaceful.

Ha, ha, ha.

As I say, it did take some people aback, momentarily, but then it wasnt long before the ridicule did its job, and cynicism fought with outrage to disparage and discard the wardens of wokeness.

It wasnt only the combination of breathtaking ignorance with overweening arrogance that made the witches brew of wokeness so repellent.

There was also the rebarbative scent of thuggishness that suffused any situation sufficiently woke.

The tactic only works when the intended audience plays along.

Practically, that means that they have to conspire in their supposed, but in fact, wholly manufactured, racism, making concessions, redistributing resources, in short paying off the woke marauders.

Psychologically, they must add to that subservience a confession of ineradicable, but wholly fictitious, guilt, as if being white, or male, or educated, heterosexual, or well-to-do were a badge of moral turpitude.

I might, of course, be mistaken, but I do sense a rising impatience with this unattractive debility.

Grow up, I seem to hear people mutter when they read The New York Times, watch CNN, or encounter the latest insanity from the lives of others on campus.

At the end of the day, I suspect that it will be the unstoppable arrogance of the woke, combined (as I noted) with their bottomless ignorance, that will put paid to their swaggering claims of moral superiority and efforts at social blackmail.

Anyone who has looked into the mephitic swamp that is the 1619 Project will know what I mean.

Yes, I know, aspects of that supremely tendentious and ill-informed rant are being adopted by schools across the country.

I had occasion to enter a large Barnes & Noble bookshop recently and noticed a huge display given over to the 1619 Project.

Nevertheless, that exercise in malignant, racially fired fantasy has been so widely debunked that its rapidly being consigned to the cabinet of acknowledged fraudulent curiosities, like those tracks claiming that the Apollo moon landing never happened or that Elvis is alive and living in a CIA safe house.

Doubtless, the chief defect of woke ideology is racially tainted political animus.

But, in second place, I would put its lack of curiosity and extraordinary historical blindness.

This is a point that the British writer David Cecil touched on in his book Library Looking Glass.

There is a provinciality in time as well as in space, Cecil wrote.

To feel ill-at-ease and out of place except in ones own period is to be a provincial in time.

But he who has learned to look at life through the eyes of Chaucer, of Donne, of Pope, and of Thomas Hardy is freed from this limitation.

He has become a cosmopolitan of the ages, and can regard his own period with the detachment which is a necessary foundation of wisdom.

The woke crusaders are provincials in time in Cecils sense.

There are stuck in the here and now.

Consequently, they to a man (if it is still permissible to use the term man) also exhibit another disagreeable trait in addition to temporal provinciality.

They also presume that their own moment, right now, occupies an eyrie of hitherto unsurpassed moral perfection.

Its this presumption that underlies their intolerant criticism of anything and anyone that departs from their own understanding of rightness.

It is a breathtaking, and ultimately ridiculous, sort of arrogance, and it will, I predict, be rewarded with a stern reverse peristalsis of moral repudiation in society at large.

That cathartic moment, alas, is unlikely to occur before the woke Comanches claim some additional scalpsyet another figure that is no doubt destined for a place on the Index Sententiarum Prohibitarum.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Russian fighter jets drop bombs over the Ashuluk military base in Southern Russia in this file photo taken on Sept. 22, 2020. (Mitar Dilkoffl/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia Holds Military Drill Near Western Border, Practices Repelling Enemy Airstrikes

Russia carried out a large-scale military operation with forces practicing repelling an airstrike by an adversary, according to reports that cite the countrys Western Military District on Dec. 27.

Valentina Matviyenko, a Russian senator who also serves as the chairwoman of the countrys federation council, assured citizens during a press briefing that the Russian border is effectively protected and Moscow has every right to deploy its troops.

I can firmly assure you that Russia has a plan of appropriate measures for any scenario. We effectively protect our border; our fellow citizens should have no doubt about that, Matviyenko said, according to news agency TASS.

We have the right to deploy our troops and conduct military drills wherever we choose on our soil in order to appropriately respond to the emerging challenges.

Chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) attend a meeting with members of the Legislator Council under the Russian Federal Assembly in Saint Petersburg on April 27, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

The operation involved about 1,000 troops, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Some troops have started returning to their permanent bases after drills near Ukraine.

Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops at staging posts close to Ukraine and demanded that its southern neighbor not be admitted to NATO and that no offensive weapons be deployed there or in other neighboring countries.

The military exercise was conducted amid a standoff between Moscow and the West, with the Kremlin urging to stop the eastward expansion of NATO and the alliance placing military infrastructure near Russia.

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said bilateral talks between U.S. and Russian negotiators to discuss security guarantees proposed by Moscow are expected to begin at the start of next year.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart following their talks in Moscow on Nov. 22, 2021. (Evgenia Novozhenina/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliances military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington and its allies have previously refused to provide such pledges, but said they are open for bilateral talks.

Russia, in turn, is offering to refrain from deploying its armed forces and weapons into regions where such deployment could be viewed as a threat to the other sides securityexcept deployment on ones national territory, TASS reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.

From NTD News
Shen Yun Performing Arts will grace the stage in San Diego with eight shows from Dec. 28, 2021, to Jan. 17, 2022. Many public officials from the greater San Diego area sent proclamations, certificates of recognition, and congratulatory letters to the company. The letters resonate with Shen Yuns mission to revive traditions, and they commend its performers for their courage and artistry.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors issue a proclamation for Shen Yun Performing Arts 20212022 World Tour. (The Epoch Times)

Initiated by Supervisor Joel Anderson, the proclamation by all members of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors recognizes and honors Shen Yun Performing Arts for its dedication to the best ideals of public service.

The proclamation states that 5,000 years of rich Chinese history deeply rooted in the teachings of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism provides Shen Yun with vast source material, and that Shen Yun was established by artists who practice and draw inspiration from Falun Dafa, also referred to as Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that combines ancient Chinese teachings with meditation exercises.

Since the Communist Party took power in China in 1949, through years of political movements, the Chinese Communist Party destroyed thousands of years old cultural artifacts and violently suppressed traditional Chinese arts and culture.

The Board of Supervisors acknowledged Shen Yuns mission to revive the authentic and original manifestation of traditional Chinese culture and arts, and commended its programs for embodying traditional Chinese values that are cherished by the diverse communities across San Diego.

Shen Yuns proclamations from San Diego Reps. Juan Vargas and Scott Peters. (The Epoch Times)

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-Calif.) commended Shen Yun for taking the audience on a journey of 5,000 years from ancient to modern-day China, depicting the resilience of a divinely bestowed culture.

Shen Yun artists continue the tradition of creating true art by practicing Falun Dafa, which involves rigorous training where artists meditate and require of themselves self-discipline and selflessness.

Vargas points out that in Shen Yun performances, themes like spiritual devotion, good and evil retribution, and the search for the meaning of life have appeared in Falun Gong-related dance stories and lyrics  a culture that has been targeted for persecution since 1999.

Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) praised Shen Yun as the worlds premier classical Chinese performing arts company and honored Shen Yun for its dedication to the revival of traditional values, the pursuit of perfection and the enrichment and betterment of San Diego and the world through the performing arts.

Shen Yuns proclamation from California Assemblymembers representing the greater San Diego area. (The Epoch Times)

Each talented member of your company is truly a master of their respective craft, on stage and off, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said in welcoming Shen Yun.

Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R-Santee) recognized Shen Yun for advancing the mission to revive and share the lost essence of traditional Chinese culture, and inspires people around the world.

Shen Yun has brought joy, wonder and inspiration to families in the greater San Diego area for the past many years, Assemblywoman Marie Waldron (R-Escondido) said, congratulating Shen Yun on 15 years of dedication to the revival of traditions.

Assemblyman Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) said it is always a pleasure to have your company perform in the San Diego region and I am certain that many will take the opportunity to experience such a remarkable show this year.

San Diego area mayors of the cities of San Marcos, Encinitas, La Mesa, and Vista welcome Shen Yuns 202122 tour. (The Epoch Times)

Vista Mayor Judy Ritter said in a congratulatory letter, the human spirit triumphs over adversity in powerful, thought-provoking dances, providing an uplifting and inspiring experience.

Chinas history is filled with tales of courage and sacrifice, integrity and loyalty, compassion and virtue, said La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis. Shen Yun artists bring these stories to life on stage, displaying the intangible spirits and essence of a culture for the people around the world.

Nothing like Shen Yun can be seen in China today. In fact, Shen Yun is still not allowed to perform there. But outside of China, through dance, music, costumes and legends, Shen Yun has sparked a cultural renaissance, San Marcos Mayor Rebecca Jones said to commend and recognize Shen Yun for its outstanding performances and wish them the best during their tour.

Encinitas Mayor Catherine S. Blakespear wished Shen Yun many years of future success, and thanked the company for sharing the essence of traditional Chinese culture with the world through dance and music.

Shen Yun will perform two shows at the San Diego Civic Theater on Dec. 28 and 29, then six more shows at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, California, from Jan. 13 to 17. For ticketing information, please visit shenyun.com/SD.
Save the Children Claims 38 Killed in Military Massacre in Burma, 2 Staff Missing

Save the Children, a United Kingdom-based humanitarian organization, claimed that at least 38 villagers were killed by military troops in the Kayah state of Burma, also known as Myanmar, while two of its staff members went missing.

The organization said in a statement that two of its employees who were traveling home for the holidays after conducting humanitarian response work in a nearby community had been caught up in the incident and remain missing.

We have confirmation that their private vehicle was attacked and burned out. The military reportedly forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed others, and burned their bodies, it stated.

More than 30 villagers were reportedly killed in a massacre in Mo So village, situated in the western part of Hpruso township in Kayah stateformerly known as Karenni state. The killing is believed to have been carried out by the military regime that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February coup.

The Karenni State Consultative Council alleged the military troops had splashed [the captured villagers] with gasoline and burned them alive on trucks near Mo So village. It stated that the troops had also burned the civilians vehicles.

Four men from the Border Guard Force of Karenni Nationalities Peoples Liberation Front, who jumped in to negotiate for releasing the civilians, were tied with their hands behind their backs and shot in their heads by the [militarys] gunmen, the council said on Sunday.

It remains unclear how many people have died in the massacre, but Save the Children claimed that at least 38 people, including women and children, were killed in Kayah State.

Inger Ashing, a chief executive at Save the Children, said the investigation of the incident is still ongoing but added that the attack against humanitarian staff cannot be tolerated, denouncing the attack as a breach of International Humanitarian Law.

We are horrified at the violence carried out against innocent civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar, Ashing said in a statement.

Nearly half of the 150,000 Karenni population have been displaced since May due to brutal human rights violations by the military junta in Kayah state, including artillery shelling and burning, according to the Karenni Human Rights Group.

It claimed that more than 652 houses and buildings in Kayah state had been destroyed so far, and hundreds of innocent civilians had been killed by the troops.

We, the civil society organizations, strongly condemn the actions that amount to international crimes perpetrated by the military junta in Karenni State, and we will stand with Karenni people to get justice, the group said in a Facebook post.
Save the Children Says Staff Missing After Burma Massacre

BANGKOKInternational aid group Save the Children said two of its staffers were missing in a massacre in eastern Burma that left more than 30 people, including women and children, dead and burned in their vehicles after they were reportedly shot by government troops as they were fleeing combat.

Photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve killings in Mo So village, just outside Hpruso township in Kayah state, spread on social media in the country, fueling outrage against the military that took power in February after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The accounts could not be independently verified. The photos showed the charred bodies of over 30 people in three burned-out vehicles.

On Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Burma said it was appalled by the barbaric attack in Kayah state that killed at least 35 civilians, including women and children.

We will continue to press for accountability for the perpetrators of the ongoing campaign of violence against the people of Burma, it said in a statement.

Save the Children said it was suspending operations in the region.

A villager who said he went to the scene told The Associated Press that the victims had fled the fighting between armed resistance groups and Burmas army near Koi Ngan village, which is just beside Mo So, on Friday. He said they were killed after they were arrested by troops while heading to refugee camps in the western part of the township.

Save the Children said that two of its staff who were traveling home for the holidays after conducting humanitarian response work in a nearby community were caught up in the incident and remain missing.

We have confirmation that their private vehicle was attacked and burned out, the group added in a statement. The military reportedly forced people from their cars, arrested some, killed others and burned their bodies.

The government has not commented on the allegations, but a report in the state-run Myanma Alinn daily newspaper on Saturday said that the fighting near Mo So broke out on Friday when members of ethnic guerrilla forces, known as the Karenni National Progressive Party, and those opposed to the military drove in suspicious vehicles and attacked security forces after refusing to stop.

The newspaper report said they included new members who were going to attend training to fight the army, and that the seven vehicles they were traveling in were destroyed in a fire. It gave no further details about the killings.

The witness told the AP the remains were burned beyond recognition, and childrens and womens clothes were found together with medical supplies and food.

The bodies were tied with ropes before being set on fire, said the witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety.

He did not see the moment they were killed, but said he believed some of them were Mo So villagers who reportedly got arrested by troops on Friday. He denied that those captured were members of locally organized militia groups.

Burmas independent media reported on Friday that 10 Mo So villagers including children were arrested by the army. The media said that four members of the local paramilitary Border Guard Forces who went to negotiate for their release were reportedly tied up and shot in the head by the military.

The witness said the villagers and anti-government militia groups left the bodies as military troops arrived near Mo So while the bodies were being prepared for cremation.

Its a heinous crime and the worst incident during Christmas. We strongly condemn that massacre as a crime against humanity, said Banyar Khun Aung, director of the Karenni Human Rights Group.

Earlier this month, government troops were also accused of rounding up villagers, some believed to be children, tying them up and slaughtering them. An opposition leader, Dr. Sasa, who uses only one name, said the civilians were burned alive.

A video of the aftermath of the Dec. 7 assaultapparently retaliation for an attack on a military convoyshowed the charred bodies of 11 people lying in a circle amid what appeared to be the remains of a hut.

Fighting resumed over the weekend on the border with Thailand, where thousands of people have fled to seek shelter. Local officials said Myanmars military had unleashed airstrikes and heavy artillery on Lay Kay Kaw, a small town controlled by ethnic Karen guerrillas in neighboring Kayin state, since Friday.

The governor of Thailands Tak province, Somchai Charoenkitroongroj, told reporters that around 4,700 evacuees from Burma were in three shelters across the border. Sounds of gunfire and explosions could be heard across the river dividing the countries.

He ordered five border districts to prepare supplies and secure places to receive more refugees from Burma.

Burmas militarys action prompted multiple Western governments including the United States to issue a joint statement condemning serious human rights violations committed by the military regime across the country.

We call on the regime to immediately cease its indiscriminate attacks in Karen state and throughout the country, and to ensure the safety of all civilians in line with international law, the joint statement said.

By Tassanee Vejpongsa
A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) chemist checks confiscated pills containing fentanyl at the DEA Northeast Regional Laboratory in New York on Oct. 8, 2019. (Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images)

Seizures of Synthetic Drugs Meth, Fentanyl Rise in Mexico as Cartels Boost Production, Import From China

Federal confiscations of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and fentanyl are rising in Mexico, according to data published on Dec. 27 by the Mexican Defense Department.

Fentanyl is a highly addictive and deadly drug of which just a two-milligram dose can prove fatal, while methamphetamine is a highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. The majority of meth in the United States is currently produced by cartels in Mexico.

As per figures issued by Mexicos Defense Department, seizures of the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl soared by 525 percent in the first three years of the current administration, which took office on Dec. 1, 2018, when compared to the previous three years.

Law enforcement confiscated 1,232 pounds (559 kilograms) of fentanylwhich is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphinefrom 2016 to 2018 and 7,710 pounds (3,497 kilograms) from 2019 to 2021.

Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Luis Cresencio Sandoval acknowledged that Mexican cartels have moved away from naturally grown drugs such as opium and marijuana, where seizures and crop eradication have fallen, and moved toward synthetic drugs.

Mexican cartels reportedly import fentanyl, a synthetic opioid first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat acute pain, typically in advanced cancer patients, from China before pressing it into pills or mixing it into other narcotics to increase potency.

Seizures of methamphetamines have more than doubled. Meth seizures rose from 120,100 pounds (54,521 kilograms) from 2016 to 2018 to almost 275,000 pounds (124,735 kilograms) in the past three years, an increase of 128 percent.

There was a change in consumption. There was a change in drug markets due to the ease of producing synthetic drugs, Sandoval said.

The change was reflected in a drop of more than 50 percent in the amount of opium poppy fields destroyed in the past three years. The eradication of marijuana fields in Mexico also has dropped by about 50 percent, which could also be partially attributed to the legalization of marijuana in many U.S. states.

More and more Mexican cartels are turning to large, industrial-scale labs to produce synthetic drugs, and Sandoval noted that the number of drug labs raided fell to 203 over the past three years from 287 from 2016 to 2018. However, he said the labs that were raided were noticeably larger.

The laboratories that have been discovered or seized in this administration have had larger capacities, which has allowed us to seize a larger quantity of methamphetamine products, Sandoval said.

According to an analysis of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data by nonprofit group Families Against Fentanyl, overdoses from the drug were the top killer in adults aged 18 to 45 in 2020overtaking suicide, vehicle accidents, and gun violence.

A record number of Americans, more than 100,000, died of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending in April, according to CDC data. Fentanyl was involved in almost two-thirds of those deaths. Overdose fatalities accelerated during COVID-19 pandemic-related lockdowns throughout 2020.

This represents a worsening of the drug overdose epidemic in the United States, the CDC stated in an emergency health advisory issued on Dec. 17, 2020.

Methamphetamine-related overdose deaths nearly tripled from 2015 to 2019 among adults aged 18 to 64 in the United States, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

We are in the midst of an overdose crisis in the United States, and this tragic trajectory goes far beyond an opioid epidemic. In addition to heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are becoming more dangerous due to contamination with highly potent fentanyl and increases in higher-risk use patterns such as multiple substance use and regular use, NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, one of the authors of the study, said in September.

Public health approaches must be tailored to address methamphetamine use across the diverse communities at risk and particularly for American Indian and Alaska Native communities, who have the highest risk for methamphetamine misuse and are too often underserved.

In November, authorities announced federal drug charges against Mexican trucker Carlos Martin Quintana-Arias after they confiscated 17,584 pounds of methamphetamine and 388.93 pounds of fentanyl from a commercial trailer attempting to enter the United States from Mexico, the largest seizure for both 2020 and 2021.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare (R) and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang inspect honour guards during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 9, 2019. (Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)

Solomon Islands Govt Turns to Beijing Amid Ongoing Domestic Tensions

Beijing has confirmed it will send a police advisory team to the Solomon Islands, along with emergency riot equipment for police after the Solomon Islands government requested aid from the Chinese regime.

Spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Zhao Lijian said on Dec. 23 that the personnel and the supplies would arrive in the Solomon Islands soon, adding that China firmly backs the government of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavares right to defend the countrys stability while condemning any illegal and violent actions.

Zhao also said Beijing supported the right of the Sogarvare government to safeguard the relations between China and the Solomon Islands and the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens.

The announcement that Sogarvare requested aid from Beijing comes after he survived a vote of no confidence on Dec. 6, after it was alleged that he had taken money from a national development fund provided by the CCP to bribe parliamentarians around the pacific nation.

Solomon Islands opposition leader Matthew Wale, who introduced the no-confidence motion, spoke out against the prime ministers record and raised allegations of corruption.

In a speech that spanned three different languages, Wale said there was a toxic culture in the government and accused Sogavare of engaging in state capture and selling this countryits resources, its birthright.

State capture refers to the practice of introducing systemic corruption into a political system until it can no longer function for the public good.

The prime minister is dependent on the National Development Fund money to maintain his political strength, Wale said, referring to the government slush fund supported by Beijing.

How is he then supposed to make decisions that are wholly only in the interests of Solomon Islands, untainted or undiluted by considerations of the [CCP] funds?

Sogavare has rejected all allegations of corruption.

The accusation of corruption came just two weeks after rioting broke out in the capital of the Solomon Islands, Honiara, on Nov. 25, after anger over the Sogavare leadership erupted.

Tensions have been brewing in the Island nation since 2019 after the Sogavare government dropped the Solomon Islands diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in favor of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

An anti-government message near a burnt-out building in Honiara, Solomon Islands, on Nov. 27, 2021. (Charley Piringi/AFP via Getty Images)

Daniel Suidani, the premier of Malaitathe most populous province in the pacific island nationhas repeatedly refused to follow the national governments move in rejecting Taiwan and has maintained ties with Taiwanese leadersembarrassing Sogavare. The divisions between Malaita and the capital are also said to have been a motivating factor for many of the protestors in November who are alleged to have hailed from the Malaita province.

The riots forced the Solomon Islands government to call on Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, and the Papuan New Guinean governments to send troops over to help maintain peace within the nation.

But experts have criticized the decision to prop up the Sogavare government.

Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow of the Asia-Pacific Programme at Chatham House, said last Novembers intervention from a coalition of Australian, New Zealand, Fijian, and Papua New Guinean forces to the Solomons provided breathing space to the pro-Beijing leader, who she said, was being pushed to stand down.

Sogavare was losing his grip on power. His MPs were defecting; the police had gone to him to defuse the [protest] situation and recommended that he should consider stepping asidenot due to threats from the demonstratorsbut just because he is incredibly unpopular across the country, she told The Epoch Times.

The announcement that Australia was sending troops saved him. He could then turn to MPs that were looking at defecting and say, Look, both China and Australia back me. So, are you really going to go up against me? she added.
The S&P Global logo is displayed on its offices in the financial district in New York City, on Dece. 13, 2018. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

S&P, IHS to Offload Units Ahead of Merger to Meet Antitrust Conditions

S&P Global and IHS Markit said on Monday they would sell a couple of businesses to satisfy antitrust requirements attached to the $44 billion merger of the financial information providers.

S&P Global will sell securities data solutions provider CUSIP Global Services (CGS) to financial data services firm FactSet for $1.93 billion in cash, while IHS will offload its Base Chemicals business to News Corp. for $295 million.

The divestments come a month after the pair won U.S. antitrust approval for their planned merger, provided they sell certain businesses and scrap a non-compete agreement with a retail gasoline deals data provider.

While Base Chemicals provides price data and analysis on key industrial chemicals, CGS provides identifiers for financial instruments across exchanges around the world.

IHS and S&P Global said on Monday they expect their combined company to receive net sale proceeds of about $1.3 billion from these deals, which remain subject to further review and approval by antitrust regulators.

S&P Global also said it has pledged to sell its Leveraged Commentary and Data business, along with a related family of leveraged loan indices as a condition for regulatory approval.
A logo of TSMC at its headquarters in Hsinchu city, Taiwan on Aug. 31, 2018. (Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

Taiwan, Japan Agree to Boost Cooperation on Economic Security

The ruling parties of Taiwan and Japan agreed to boost economic security cooperation, with a focus on supply chain resilience for semiconductors and other crucial items.

Although self-ruled Taiwan and Japan do not have formal diplomatic connections, they maintain close unofficial ties and share concerns about China, particularly its increased military activities near the two.

During the online meeting of Dec. 24, Japanese officials stated that the two countries, as well as the United States, needed to work together to build resilient supply chains such as semiconductors in response to Chinas high-tech investments.

At the moment, we must exert maximum effort to address the semiconductor shortage, but areas of collaboration should be expanded as we move forward, said Akimasa Ishikawa, head of the Economy, Trade, and Industry Division of Japans Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who participated in the meeting.

The meeting, following initial discussions in late August, was attended by two senior lawmakers each from the LDP and Taiwans Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Lo Chih-cheng, head of the DPPs international department, joined the talk and told reporters that the two parties agreed to have more regular dialogues in the future.

The Japanese side also reaffirmed its support for Taiwan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a free-trade pact between 11 countries around the Pacific Rim, Lo said, which China is also seeking to join.

DPPs lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei told reporters that chips were not merely an issue for Japanese industry, it was also a matter of national security when confronted by China.

Both parties agreed to have in the future more collaboration in the chip supply chain, and a more comprehensive framework of cooperation on semiconductors and other industries, Chiu said.

The Japanese government has expressed a desire for more such initiatives to grow local semiconductor companies annual revenue to more than $114 billion by 2030, approximately three times that of 2020.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the worlds largest contract chipmaker, received official approval from Taiwan on Dec. 20 to build a chip plant in Japan. With the support of the Japanese government, TSMCs planned $7 billion plant with Sony Group is critical to Japans two key industries: autos and semiconductors.

On the other side, Taiwans government welcomed Japanese investment on the island. Japan supplies the majority of the chipmaking equipment and materials used in Taiwan.

We place a premium on our connection with Japan, said Taiwans Deputy Economic Minister Chen Chern-chyi on Nov. 25 during a seminar in Taipei with Japans Mizuho Bank.

Taiwans semiconductor production is expected to jump by more than 25 percent in 2021 to $147 billion, and will continue to expand next year to $168 billion, according to Nikkei, citing a report of the Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center (ISTI).

IC Insights reported on Oct. 13 that Taiwan accounted for approximately 21.4 percent of worldwide chip capacity as of December 2020. Meanwhile, led by TSMC, Taiwan controls 63 percent of the worlds most advanced chipsthose smaller than 10 nanometers.

TSMC, whose clients include Apple, Qualcomm, and Nvidia, also announced last month that it would establish a new chip facility in Taiwans southern city of Kaohsiung. The company declined to disclose the cost of the new factory building.

Both TSMCs new plants located in Taiwan and Japan will begin construction in 2022 with production scheduled to begin in 2024.

TSMC has committed to investing $100 billion in semiconductor capacity expansion over the next three years. It is constructing a $12 billion chip fabrication plant in Arizona.

Reuters contributed to this report.
At first, Angelle Mosley of New Orleans didnt think she had COVID-19. But she texted her mom that she wasnt feeling well on a Thursday and went to the hospital to get tested, just in case, according to WDSU News.

Though initially Mosley was treated and sent home, she spiked a high fever, was having difficulty breathing, and ended up back in the hospital over the weekend. She tragically died on July 25, just three days after her COVID-19 test came back positive. Mosley was just 33 years old and fully vaccinated.

What happened? Why did such a young woman succumb to such a severe case of COVID-19? The owner of a clothing store catering to plus-size women, Brave Beautique, Mosley also was obese. Her untimely death may be explained by new research on the relationship between COVID and obesity.

Obesity Rising Worldwide

According to the World Health Organization, obesity is on the rise worldwide, in both adults and in children. From 1975 to 2016, the global prevalence of obese and overweight young people jumped to 18 percent from 4 percent. The WHO estimates that 1.9 billion adults were overweight in 2016, 650 million of whom would be classified as obese. Nearly 40 percent of American adults are obese.

People who are overweight or obese have an excessive amount of fat accumulation. Some argue that BMI is a simplistic rubric that doesnt take into account individual muscle mass or body size but a person who has a body mass index over 25 is considered overweight, and obese if that index is 30 or higher. (The National Institutes of Health has an online BMI calculator, as does the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if youre curious about yours.)

According to Harvard School of Public Health, obesity can take a toll on nearly every aspect of your health, from fertility to back pain to proper lung functioning and respiratory health. Being obese increases your risk of arthritis, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, diabetes, and even mood disorders. Several studies have shown an association between obesity and depression, especially for women. But of the many negative health conditions associated with obesity, an increased risk of succumbing to deadly or debilitating disease is perhaps the most worrisome.

Obesity Makes COVID More Severe

We now know that there are several risk factors that make COVID-19 infections more severe for some people. According to the Mayo Clinic, people at risk for severe COVID include older adults (more than 81 percent of deaths from COVID-19 happen in people over 65), patients with heart and lung conditions, people with weakened immune systems, diabetics, and those who are battling obesity.

Given the negative health outcomes associated with obesity, its perhaps not surprising that being overweight or obese appears to put people at higher risk of having a severe infection or even dying from COVID-19.

In March 2021, a CDC study discovered that approximately 78 percent of people hospitalized for COVID were overweight or obese. A team of nine scientists examined the health records of 148,494 adults and found that people right at the threshold of a healthy weight had the lowest risk of severe COVID-19, while people with higher BMIs were at increased risk. Of especial concern was the risk of obese people under 65 years of age being hospitalized, put on a ventilator, and dying from COVID.

These results highlight the need to promote and support a healthy BMI, the CDC scientists wrote, which might be especially important for populations disproportionately affected by obesity, particularly Hispanic or Latino and non-Hispanic Black adults, and persons from low-income households, which are populations who have a higher prevalence of obesity and are more likely to have worse outcomes from COVID-19 compared with other populations.

According to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2021, based on the CDC and other data, compared to people at a healthy weight, those with the highest body mass indexes had a 61 percent increased risk of death and a 33 percent increased risk of hospitalization. The more severe the obesity, the worse the COVID outcomes.

Why Does Obesity Make COVID More Severe?

New research from an international team of scientists may provide insight into why obesity is associated with more severe COVID-19 infections. These scientists used fat tissue from bariatric surgeries and tried to infect it with COVID-19. They also examined fat tissue from people who had died of COVID-19. They discovered that SARS-CoV-2 infected fat cells, known as adipocytes, and triggered a heavy-duty immune response in the tissue that sent inflammation skyrocketing.

In addition to infecting adipose tissue, macrophageswhich are immune cells housed within the fat tissuealso became infected and provoked an intense inflammatory response.

As Dr. David Kass, a professor of cardiology at Johns Hopkins, explained to a reporter from The New York Times, it appears that the additional fat provides a place for the virus to hang out, replicate, and wreak havoc on the immune system.

Fat tissue is full of immune cells. In someone who is lean, this tissue secretes anti-inflammatory and protective factors. However, in someone who is obese, fat tissue can become unhealthy and dysfunctional, secreting chemicals signals that promote inflammation. That seems to be what is happening when obese people come down with COVID-19.

While not yet peer-reviewed, these findings, released in October 2021, suggest that the bodys fat reserves may become a reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 and actually provoke immune cells into a hyper-inflammatory state.

Reducing Obesity to Prevent Death From COVID-19

If this new research proves to be correct, reducing obesity in the United States and worldwide would be a major step forward in lessening the likelihood of death or severe illness, from SARS-CoV-2 or other infectious agents.

Ironically, however, some of the measures to combat the spread of COVID-19including closing schools and imposing lockdownsmay actually be contributing to the problem of obesity. In November 2021, the National Child Measurement Programme released data showing that obesity in England has soared among children during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. The American Psychological Association and others have noted increased weight gain in the United States due to disordered eating that spiked during the pandemic. This widely acknowledged weight gain has even received its own moniker based on the freshman 15the COVID 19.

In order to combat obesity effectively, we need to understand and address the underlying causes. Unhealthy eating, genetics, a past history of sexual abuse, and mental health issues are all associated with obesity. The rise of processed foods, which include highly refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and seed oils also have had a profound impact on our waistlines and overall health.

But some scientists believe a less acknowledged factor is also having a significant effectenvironmental toxins. One of these culprits, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology senior research scientist, may be the herbicide glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup. Stephanie Seneff believes that glyphosate is directly contributing to poor outcomes from COVID-19.

The relationship between obesity and increased risk to COVID-19 is complex and tied to many metabolic, vascular, and immune impairments associated with obesity, Seneff, the author of Toxic Legacy: How the Weedkiller Glyphosate is Destroying Our Health and The Planet, explained via email. But we know that glyphosate causes obesity, so obesity is a strong indicator of glyphosate poisoning.

Independent research scientist, James Lyons-Weiler also believes that exposure to environmental toxins plays a role in severe COVID.

All of the factors that push humans into autoimmunity, including repeated exposure to aluminum, an established immunotoxin, likely cause both autoimmunity and metabolic syndrome leading to obesity and severe COVID-19, he said.

Hormone-disrupting chemicals, such as glyphosate and aluminum, are well known to compromise healthy immunity. Both Seneff and Lyons-Weiler suggest that reducing our exposure to environmental toxicantsin our water, food, personal hygiene products, medicines, and vaccinesmay be a key strategy to successfully fighting COVID-19 and other infections.

Nicole Johnson contributed reporting to this article. Jennifer Margulis, Ph.D., is an investigative health journalist and book author. She has worked on a child survival campaign in Niger, West Africa; championed the rights of Christian children sold into child slavery in Southeast Asia on prime-time TV in Paris; and taught post-colonial literature to non-traditional students in Atlanta. Sign up for her free weekly emails and learn more at JenniferMargulis.net.
Aerial view of floods caused by heavy rains in the city of Itapetinga, southern region of the state of Bahia, Brazil, on Dec. 26, 2021. (Manuella Luana/AP Photo)

2 Northeastern Brazil Dams Burst Following Weeks of Heavy Rains; Thousands Displaced

Two dams in the northeastern state of Bahia in Brazil collapsed over the weekend following weeks of heavy rains, affecting thousands of families who were forced to flee their homes.

The Igua dam, which is situated on the Verruga River near the city of Vitoria da Conquista in southern Bahia, gave way on Dec. 25, forcing the evacuation of residents, mainly from the town of Itambe.

A second dam broke due to rising water levels in Jussiape, 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) to the north, a day later, prompting officials to alert local residents to seek safety.

The city governments of both Jussiape and Itambe urged residents to move to safer grounds.

A dam with a high volume of water has broken and a strong flash flood is expected to affect the municipality of Itambe in a few moments. All residents should evacuate from the banks of the river Verruga urgently, said the city message on Instagram.

The Bahia state governments press office said the Military Fire Department of Bahia has confirmed 18 deaths as a result of the heavy rains, while at least 50 cities have been affected since early November. It said more than 16,000 people are homeless, 19,580 displaced, and two people missing as a result of the flooding.

At this first moment were acting to save people, to get people off the top of their houses, out of isolation, with boats, Bahia Gov. Rui Costa said during a visit to an affected area on Dec. 26. Costa said officials are expanding care services and support to the cities, including food, mattresses, and warm clothing.

Infrastructure in the surrounding areas has been affected by the dam failures, with bridges and roads damaged and closed and a number of landslides reported.

The flooding has affected about 30 cities throughout the state of Bahia, officials said, with the municipalities of Ibicarai, Itajuipe, Itapitanga, Coaraci, Camamu, Canavieiras, Igrapiuna, Itacare, Marau, Una, Urucuca, Itambe, Itororo, Itapetinga, and Acatiba being the most heavily damaged.

It is a gigantic tragedy. I dont remember if, in the recent history of Bahia, there is something of that proportion due to the number of cities and houses involved. Its something really scary, the number of houses, streets, locations completely under water, Costa said.

Brazils National Institute of Meteorology (Inmet) and the National Center for Monitoring and Alerts on Natural Disasters (Cemaden) have warned about the risk of new floods and landslides in Bahia, due to accumulated rainfall in the past few years, according to Agencia Brasil.

December rainfall in Bahias capital, Salvador, has been six times more than average, Reuters reports.

The heavy rainfall coincides with the La Nina weather phenomenon, which began in 2020.
At a Kroger in Lemon Township, Ohio, dad Deshawn Pressley, 27, with his 1-year-old daughter, was having a pleasant conversation with elderly neighbor Pat Goins, 87, just moments before the mugging occurred.

While Goins was in the checkout, a male assailant swiped her purse and took offnot just to her own dismay but also to that of concerned bystanders, who ran after the thief.

Pressley, from the adjacent aisle, saw the suspect, 58-year-old Derek Vaughn, fleeing toward the exit and heard Goinss cry for help, He stole my purse! and was soon hot on the mans heels.

(Illustration  Jonathan Weiss/Shutterstock)

A much faster runner than Vaughn and the other shoppers, Pressley caught up with him in the parking lot and quickly took him to the ground, pinning him.

I chased him down, got himhe got to his car and everything, but I grabbed him, held him to the floor, got him down, did what I had to do until the police arrived, Pressley told Fox19. I told him, Why would you steal from an elderly lady?

An outraged rabble of some 10 or 15 shoppers, Goins said, alongside Pressley, surrounded Vaughn and ensured he wasnt going anywhere, and even went so far as to make him apologize to Goins.

The Butler County sheriff later said in a statement that the intervention amounted to a citizens arrest, and the justice-seeking bystanders put the fright in the suspectand rightfully so.

[Vaughn] made a terrible mistake, people in that store started running after him, I call it the equivalent of having the pitchforks out, said Sheriff Jones. Listen, you come to this county and you do these kind of atrocities, and you do these lowlife things  [Vaughn] was anxious for the police to get there.

This isnt New York City, this isnt California, this isnt Chicago. The citizens here are going to take care of it themselves.

He added that Vaughn was probably looking for cash to fuel a drug habit.

Goins after the incident told Fox News, I feel that he picked me because I was a senior citizen, he could outrun me.

Then on Dec. 15, The Butler County Sheriffs Office recognized Pressleys valiant act in stopping the suspect; he and Goins partook in a ceremony and Pressley accepted honors from the sheriff.

The young man stated that his grandmother, who raised him after his mother passed away, instilled in him that its important to help elderly women.

I just turned around and did what I had to do as a citizen, and Im glad I helped [Goins], because shes a wonderful, lovely lady, said Pressley. My grandma took me in, and she did very good by me. She had house rules and stuff like that.

It was good that she taught me what she taught me, and Im thankful.

Pressley and Goins are not only keeping in touch but also planned a dinner date in the not-too-distant future.

Share your stories with us at emg.inspired@epochtimes.com, and continue to get your daily dose of inspiration by signing up for the Epoch Inspired newsletter at TheEpochTimes.com/newsletter
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden insists that he strongly believes in the rights spelled out in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that are now under the most dire threat in decades.

But he barely even uses the word "abortion" and when his administration has been asked about what it can do to protect reproductive rights, the response has mostly been that Congress must write the landmark court decision into law, a strategy that is highly likely to fail.

To women who rallied to Bidens presidential campaign in no small part to protect the landmark 1973 court ruling, that's not nearly enough.

The administration's measured response to a series of major setbacks for the right to have an abortion lacks in urgency for many advocates, who feel Biden should be doing more after the conservative-majority Supreme Court signaled a willingness to strike down all or part of the rights enshrined in the case that legalized abortion.

What we want is to see is ideally the president use the bully pulpit to talk about abortion in a strong and effective way, said Gretchen Borchelt, vice president for reproductive rights and health at the National Women's Law Center. It matters. It matters for the stigma that surrounds abortion, and it matters to show that it's a priority for him and his administration.

The frustration is part of a broader concern among Democrats that the president's focus on the massive issues of the economy and pandemic response have pushed other urgent matters out of the limelight, including voting rights, immigration and gun control.

Its an approach that threatens to undermine Biden and Democrats heading into next years midterms when they need to rally the partys most loyal voters, including women and Black people, to maintain control of Congress. Its also part of a broader problem that womens rights groups have with the Democrats' general reluctance to fully embrace the abortion issue in the way that Republicans have.

This could be seen as an opportunity to talk about an issue that will be important to us in 2022, said Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. It doesn't have to be at the expense of his priorities." Cardona said "the White House and the bully pulpit and bull horn are big enough to fit all these messages.

Energy on gun control, immigration and voting rights has been building on the left for years  at least since when President Barack Obama's legislative agenda stalled out after Democrats lost control of Congress in 2010. But many of the expected benefits of unified control of Washington under Biden have yet to materialize.

There have been studies, commissions, and a range of executive actions, but Biden has been focused on the issues he views as most pressing for the country, most passable in Congress, and posing the greatest return with voters.

Biden has wagered that the moderate voters who secured his White House victory over Donald Trump in 2020 were most attracted to his promises to end the pandemic and its associated economic disruption, and simply to prove Washington can work once again. For the most animated Democratic voters whose issues have not received the same attention, Biden is betting they'll still show up to vote in fear of what Republicans would do if they take charge once again.

Women's rights groups have long harbored some skepticism about Biden on the issue. He's a devoted Catholic whose views on the issue have changed over time. He reversed himself during his campaign on the so-called Hyde amendment  only belatedly opposing a legislative provision barring the use of federal funds to pay for abortion. He did revoke the Mexico City policy that required non-governmental organizations as a condition of funding not to promote abortion as a family planning method in other countries.

Biden didnt mention abortion rights once during a recent speech looking back over the year at a holiday fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee. Womens right activists are keeping track: Hes barely said the word in office, though there is no acknowledged strategy behind it.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has used the word multiple times, saying recently of Biden: Hes committed to working with Congress to codify the constitutional right to safe and legal abortion, as protected by Roe and subsequent Supreme Court precedent.

Vice President Kamala Harris has of late been more vocal on the topic, a possible indication that she will be the one who is more likely to speak out in the future.

To some, Biden's aim is right on, and it's born of his long experience in government and the understanding that doing too much too fast is a recipe for getting nothing at all done. He's already pushed through more of his agenda than any other president in recent memory, especially with the passage of his $1.3 trillion infrastructure plan.

And despite a progressive generation of Democrats who want him to raise hell over culture war issues, he's got a bigger picture he must focus on, said William Galston, a Brookings Institution fellow and author of Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy.

The most important objective of the Biden administration is to make sure that Donald Trump does not re-enter the Oval Office in January 2025," he said. Everything else pales in consideration to that.

But there are at least some things the president could do, liberals say, beyond urging Congress to pass legislation affirming abortion rights guaranteed in the court's historic rulings. Such a bill would probably never get through the Senate.

For some, adding more seats to the court would help solve the problem. For others, the recent decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ease up on restrictions for the abortion pill is a great start.

And some have suggested it doesnt have to be Biden himself at the bullhorn  he could direct Harris and others in his administration to take up the topic more extensively.

There is support for protecting Roe. In 2020, AP VoteCast found 69% of voters in the presidential election said the Supreme Court should leave the Roe v. Wade decision as is; just 29% said the court should overturn the decision.

The Supreme Courts historic 1973 decision legalized abortion throughout the United States and its 1992 ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed Roe.

But just a few weeks ago, the justices indicated they would uphold a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks, and would allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy. The court may even overturn the nationwide right that has existed for nearly 50 years.

At the very least, the court could undermine the Roe and Casey rulings, which allow states to regulate but not ban abortion up until the point of fetal viability, at roughly 24 weeks. The outcome probably wont be known until June.
TRUMBULL  Several young people were arrested Sunday night after a fight at the Westfield Trumbull mall, according to officials. One was charged with carrying a dangerous instrument. Several arrests were made before police were able to restore order, officials said.

In a notice to town officials from Lt. Brian Weir of the Trumbull Police Department said numerous teens were involved in the altercation at the mall.

Shortly after 5 p.m., several Trumbull police officers were patrolling the mall on foot when they noticed a group of about 20 to 30 teens running outside of the mall near a door, and officers saw two girls fighting, Weir wrote.

As officers were breaking up the fight, other young people jumped in and continued to cause a scene. A male juvenile swung, attempting to hit one of the officers, but was unsuccessful, Weir wrote. Once the fight broke up, police arrested the five juveniles, who are all Bridgeport residents ages 11 to 15, Weir wrote.

Due to the large crowd and the disorderly conditions, Trumbull police requested mutual aid and were assisted by officers from the Bridgeport Police Department. K-9 officers were also used to disperse the crowd and regain order at the mall, Weir wrote.

The Westfield Trumbull mall had just closed for business prior to the fights erupting, and the atmosphere returned to normal shortly before 6 p.m. No injuries were reported.

As a result of the incident, three young women and two young men, both age 15, were arrested and charged with breach of peace and interfering with police. The ages of the the three young women were not immediately available.

One of the young men was additionally charged with carrying a dangerous instrument and possession of marijuana. He was also found to be wearing a monitoring ankle bracelet for being on probation for a previous armed robbery.

All juveniles were eventually released to the custody of their guardians on a promise to appear in Bridgeport Juvenile Court, Weir wrote.
Courtesy of Barbara Lindauer

COLLINSVILLE - I feel like I have the world at my fingertips now, said Barbara Lindauer, a Collinsville High School geography teacher. She was recently accepted as one of 26 educators inducted into the Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship Program for 2021-2022.



These educators were selected from 110 applicants across the U.S. to explore how engagement with underreported global news stories and media literacy skills can support their curricula and communities. This years Fellows are part of two cohorts: one for educators nationwide and one for Chicago educators. The Fellows in the national track represent 12 states and the District of Columbia. They teach grades four-12 in public schools, charter schools and carceral facilities, and their courses include global politics, African American history, art, world geography, math and more.



She found out about the fellowship program through Civitas STL, which once made arrangements to have a Pulitzer Fellow, among others, to come to her class years ago.



Its been very, very enjoyable, she said by phone last Wednesday. Its an opportunity to expose students to whats going on in the world about things that are not highly publicized. Im very happy and pleased to be part of it, she said.



Fellows will first connect with a community of educators and journalists to explore reporting and journalism skills related to the fellowships theme: "Journalism and Justice: Elevating Underreported Stories in the Classroom.



These guests will then come into her class virtually, starting with Simon Ostrovsky in February. Ostrovsky is a Russian-born American documentary filmmaker and journalist. He is part of the unit curriculum she designed, which will be on the Pulitzer Fellows website along with student samples in Spring 2022.



Students meet with journalists from around the world and listen to their stories, she said. Those stories, in turn, become the lessons.

Students will then create, implement and evaluate standards-aligned units that introduce them to global issues in a local context, support students in developing media literacy skills and guide a practice of empathy.



Lindauer stressed that this is all supplementary to her standard district curriculum, not instead of it.



Another person the students will meet virtually with is Jane Ferguson, a Princeton University professor and Irish-British journalist. She is a correspondent for PBS NewsHour, among other media.



She was one of the last people to leave Afghanistan earlier this year, Lindauer noted. She noted when another Pulitzer fellow referred to Ferguson as brave; the journalist dismissed it, saying, It wasnt bravery; it was privilege.



She said she always knew she could leave anytime she wanted. It was her driver and her translator who were brave, Lindauer said.

She described Fergusons empathy and Lindauer hopes some of it rubs off on her students.



Students will learn the definition of under- and over-reported stories, what is an autocracy and what is a democracy plus the pros and cons of each government format.



Each of them will be assigned a former Eastern Bloc nation as their assignments. Students will have to identify the leader of each nation and explain the type of government he or she employs in that country. They will also create a Venn Diagram (think of the MasterCard logo) of overlapping circles to show where each government falls, i.e., how democratic or autocratic is it? They will also create accompanying posters, either digitally or by hand.



Lindauer said she has tried to walk the line between being overly broad and overly narrow with the project.



She is a World Geography and U.S. History Teacher at Collinsville High School where she serves as the Social Studies Department Chairperson. She is a two-time Teacher of the Year recipient for the Collinsville Chamber of Commerce, a Fulbright Hays Scholar and the State of IL Smart/Maher VFW Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year for 2015-2016.

She earned a BS in Geography with a concentration in Cartography, an MA in Geography and an MA in Educational Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Ms. Lindauer is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, the chairman of the Collinsville High School Democracy School Network Team and a Building Representative for the CEA Chapter of the IEA/NEA. She received National Board Certification in 2008. She is a 2019-2020 Teach Plus Alumni.
After few years of being away from public view, the famous Catholic priest, traditional doctor, and herbalist, Rev. Fr. Dr. Raymond Arazu has answered the divine call.

The passage of the Holy Ghost Father was disclosed in a statement signed by the Provincial Secretary, Congregation of the Holy Spirit (C.S.Sp.), Fr. Vitalis Anusionwu, who also disclosed that he died of age-related ailments, including diabetes and prostrate cancer.

According to the statement, Fr. Arazu died in the morning of Sunday, December 26, 2021, at the Parklane Hospital, Enugu State.

The statement reads in full: It is with a deep sense of loss but also in total submission to the will of God that we announce the transition of our confrere, Rev. Fr. Dr. Raymond ARAZU, C.S.Sp. whose sad event occurred in the morning of Sunday, December 26, 2021.

Fr. Arazu, as you know, had been weak in health and had been effectively managed by health experts. He struggled with prostate cancer for a long time and then diabetes. As he became weaker a few days ago, he was taken to Parklane Hospital, Enugu, where he departed this world, around 7 a.m today being the 26th of December, 2021.

Please do remember him in your prayers and also say Masses for his repose following our tradition.

When his funeral date and arrangements have been finalized, it will be communicated accordingly.

May he rest in perfect peace, Amen!

Fraternally yours in the Holy Spirit,

Fr. Vitalis Anusionwu, C.S.Sp.

Provincial Secretary.

Until his death, Very Reverend Father Dr. Raymond Chukwunyereugwu, Arazu CSSP, born on May 27, 1939, was the eight child of his parents, Mr. Charles Ikeghalibe and Mrs. Mary Ogomma Arazu, of Ihembosi in Ekewusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, who were the first to be administered with Holy Matrimony in the community in 1918.

Father Arazu started his primary education at Saint Anthonys Primary School, Ihembosi, and later, Saint Michaels, Amakwa Ozubulu. He finished at the age of fourteen in 1953. On completion of his primary education, he began to nurse the idea of becoming a Roman Catholic priest because the priests then normally asked him to seat at the front row whenever a mass was being conducted.

Father Godfrey Okoye, who later became Bishop Okoye and who worked as a parish priest of Ihiala, influenced the decision of Father Raymond Arazu to enroll in the Holy Ghost Juniorate Ihiala. Father Okoye used to visit his school, Saint Michaels Primary School, Amakwa Ozubulu as manager of schools then.

However, the death of Arazu's father became a major obstacle to him. His mother objected his continuing the vocation. She did not even attend his ordination. His mother later confessed that her decision was as a result of the advice from some people that if he becomes a Holy Ghost father, she would never see him again.

Reverend Father Arazu was among the best students that cleared and credited all the seven papers at the London General Certificate of Education in 1958. In 1959, he enrolled into the Holy Ghost Novitiate, Awo Mmama, Imo state to study the practice of spirituality. Between 1960 and 1961, he went to study philosophy at the Holy Ghost Scholarsticate, while in 1962, he went back to Ihiala to teach Geography and Mathematics at the Holy Ghost Juniorate.

That year, Father Raymond Arazu sat for the General Certificate in Education (London) Advanced Level and got Latin and English Literature. From 1963 to 1966, he went to Holy Ghost Scholarsticate, Isienu, Nsukka, to complete the theological course he started at Awo Mmama.

On April 11, 1966, Reverend Father Arazu was ordained a priest at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Onitsha by His Grace, the late Archbishop Charles Heerey CSSP, together with six others.

Father Arazu studied and travelled round the globe. For instance, he studied at the Gregorian University, Rome between 1966 and 1968 where most lectures in the University, founded in the sixteenth century, are still delivered in Latin.

He did his Masters Degree project for the Spanish Professor, Zalba S.J., in Latin who gave him ninety percent for the project. In 1969, he did his Doctorate Degree at the Lateran University also in Rome.

On returning to Nigeria, Bishop Okoye deployed him to Ukpor town to minister to the candidates he had assembled for the sisterhood, the daughters of the Divine Love. He conducted secondary school classes and instructions in spirituality, liturgy, among others for them until the war ended in 1970.

Father Arazu served in many capacities as a priest. He served as a parish priest at Saint Michaels Construction Enugu and at Emene Parish before his religious superiors in Nigeria asked him to go back to Rome in 1970 to complete his PhD course in Moral Theology.

While in Rome, Father Arazu was involved in the translation of bible psalms into Igbo poetry and music, a work he started in 1961.

He successfully defended his PhD in 1972. He also did his post graduate certificate in Education at the Southampton University where he was awarded the Best Student of the Year, among over three hundred students. He also bagged the Gabib Award, the Southampton Teachers Association Prize, awarded annually to the best student in the Certificate in Education Course in the University. Father Arazu spoke and was fluent in French, Italian and German languages.

On return in 1973, he was posted to Saint Martins Church, Ihiala, as a parish priest. He served as English teacher at the Holy Ghost Juniorate Ihiala and also as a part-time lecturer at Federal School of Social Work, Emene-Enugu for two years.

He was the Special Director for the Institute of Ecumenical Education, Thinkers Corner Enugu; President-General, Ihembosi Progress Assembly for twelve years; member, Anambra State Traditional Medicine Board for four years; part-time lecturer at the Spiritan International School of Theology, Atakwu near Enugu for four years; Chairman of Enugu Based Association for Scientific Conservation and Utilization of Medicinal Plants of Nigeria, among others.

Untill his demise, Fr. Arazu was also the custodian of the ofo of his clan, the Eze Dibia clan in Otuke village.

He died on Sunday, 26th December, 2021.

May his gentle and highly resourceful soul rest in perfect peace, Amen.
The controversial arrest of Uche Nwosu, the son-in-law to ex-Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha, inside a church is yet to settle down as photos have emerged of before his arrest inside the Church and after his arrest and handcuffed.

Nwosu was arrested at St Peters Anglican church at Eziama Obieri in the Nkwerre Local Government Area of the state while he and his family members were on an outing service after the burial of their mother, Jemimah Nwosu.

According to Okorocha, Nwosu was arrested without a warrant and was treated like a criminal.

Uche Nwosu and wife inside the Church before his arrest inside the Church

He said Uche Nwosu, my wife and daughter were at the church for a service when a group of men in police uniform while the sermon was ongoing, started shooting. In the course of their activities, they pushed my wife and they tore my daughters clothes. No warrant of arrest, no invitation.

We suspected kidnapping at first. Many people were injured while running. Uche Nwosu was dragged into a bus carrying the Imo state government number.

Uche Nwosu and wife inside the Church before his arrest inside the Church

They were identified as policemen from Imo State Government House by their colleagues attached to Uche for the burial. I got the CP who said that IGP approved his arrest.

The shock of such an arrest without a warrant and humiliating members of my family is unfortunate. Most security operatives in Imo know nothing about the arrest. The IGP could only do this on high-level misinformation from Hope Uzodinma. Over 100 gunshots to arrest Uche Nwosu.

Okorocha said Uzodinma had shown tremendous hatred for his family, adding that lawmakers who attended Nwosus mothers burial a few days ago were suspended.

They were identified as policemen from Imo State Government House by their colleagues attached to Uche for the burial (of his mother). I got the CP who said that the IGP approved his arrest.

The shock of such an arrest without warrant and humiliating members of my family is unfortunate. Most security operatives in Imo know nothing about the arrest. I don't know what they framed up. The IGP could only do this on high-level misinformation from Hope Uzodinma. Over 100 gunshots to arrest Uche Nwosu. What kind of ruthless behaviour on an innocent citizen of Nigeria?

Uzodinma wants to frame me up by all means. Uzodinma has to answer for most of the activities going on. Uzodinma must mention the names of those who are responsible for insecurity in Imo State or he should be held responsible for all the killings in the state. Uzodinma has framed up something against Uche Nwosu. Buhari should be informed about what is happening in Imo State. Hundreds of citizens are being killed in this state.
Health officials outline likely scenarios as Omicron spreads

BANGKOK: New COVID-19 infections could surge to 10,000 or even 30,000 cases a day early next year, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant, a senior Public Health Ministry official said on Monday (Dec 27).

COVID-19Coronavirushealth

By Bangkok Post

Monday 27 December 2021, 05:24PM

Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit (left) and Opas Karnkawinpong, head of the Department of Disease Control, during the media briefing at the Public Health Ministry, with the graph on the wall showing the projected upward trend in the number of Omicron variant cases. Photo: Pornprom Satrabhaya / Bangkok Post

The warning was issued as the number of new Omicron cases soared five-fold, from 104 on Tuesday to 514 on Sunday, reports the Bangkok Post.

The ministry has drawn up three possible scenarios, Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary Kiattiphum Wongrajit said.

In the best-case scenario, the country could be looking at 10,000 new patients and 70 fatalities a day as early as late January, and 15,000 new cases in the second-best projection.

In the worst-case scenario, the figures could jump to 30,000 new cases and 180 deaths a day if Omicron infections quickly spike.

The briefing did not mention estimated deaths in the second-best scenario.

Graphs presented at the briefing showed the daily tally of new Omicron infections peaking in late January or early February in the best and second-best scenarios.

Dr Kiattiphum said the situation in these two scenarios would be brought under control in one or two months.

In the worst outlook, new infections would reach their peak in early March before the numbers gradually declined.

Dr Kiattiphum said that in the worst outlook it would take three to four months for health authorities to control the situation.

The ministry did not expect the fatality rate from the new variant to be as high as from the Delta variant, but it would likely spread faster.

Daily new infections and deaths currently continue to decline with more people having been vaccinated, but Omicron threatens to reverse that trend, with Thailand recording its first case of Omicron on Dec 6 and the first community infection on Dec 20.

Dr Kiattiphum said strict health measures, the vaccination campaign and cooperation from the public, including strict observation of social distancing rules, would determine the success or failure of the fight against Omicron.

We are at a crossroads again, Dr Kiattiphum said.

CASES JUMP

Omicron cases jumped five-fold, from 104 last Tuesday to 514 on Sunday, the Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) reported on Monday.

Two-thirds of the Omicron cases were arrivals and the other third were people in close contact with infected people, CCSA spokeswoman Apisamai Srirangson said.

The biggest cluster originated with a couple who returned to Kalasin from a visit to relatives in Belgium on Dec 10. They had infected 21 other people as of last Friday.

The Delta variant still accounted for 56% of new cases in the country, but Omicron was expected to take over very soon, according to the ministry.

HOLIDAY SURGE

Opas Karnkawinpong, Director-General of the Department of Disease Control, said the ministry was concerned about a likely rise in new cases after the holiday season as a result of the movement of people and their close contacts with others.

Infections would rise from people returning to home provinces to mark the New Year with their families, and revellers at New Year countdown events.

A wider spread of the virus is expected after the New Year celebrations, Dr Opas said. He advised offices that have adopted the work-from-home format to continue with it to help limit the spread of the disease.

Although the country is under threat from the new variant, Dr Kiattiphum said, hospitals nationwide had sufficient beds to handle the situation because of the low 10% occupancy rate at present.

We have more than enough hospital beds, he said. We have been through Delta, which was deadlier.
More threatening behaviour at Nui Beach

PHUKET: Local residents have reached out to the media asking for help in highlighting rude and dangerous behaviour by fishermen dropping anchor off Nui beach, on Phukets west coast.

marineenvironmentnatural-resourcestourismSafety

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 27 December 2021, 04:55PM

The protected reef off Nui Beach is home to a variety of corals and other marine life. Photo: Supplied

The protected reef off Nui Beach is home to a variety of corals and other marine life. Photo: Supplied

The protected reef off Nui Beach is home to a variety of corals and other marine life. Photo: Supplied

The men drive their boat dangerously close to where divers surface, the local residents noted. Photo: Supplied

Boats illegally in the area are damaging the coral reef off Nui Beach. photo: Supplied

The men who regularly return to fish at the reef often swear at and threaten tourists, the local residents said. Photo: Supplied

The local residents, who asked to remain anonymous, said that at about midday on Saturday (Dec 25) a group of men arrived on a small fishing boat, passing dangerously close to buoys marking where divers were underwater to see the coral reef there.

The men then donned masks and went spearfishing. Their prey included several clownfish.

Everyone knows that its illegal to drop an anchor on a coral reef, but this group of men ignored that and broke the law. They drove the boat closer to the tourists who were snorkeling, which made foreign tourists alarmed. They also shouted rude words at the tourists, one of the local residents said.

This was not the first time the local residents had witnessed the behaviour by the rmen.

We often see this bad behaviour by this group of men, and they always show that they are not afraid of anyone. They name several politicians they will claim will threaten people who challenge them, the local resident added.

The local residents said they wanted officials to investigate the behaviour of the men.

Foreigners also have been fed up with the behaviour of these for a long time. When tourists have criticised them, they immediately shout back, causing the tourists to feel frightened about this group of men.

Every time these men come to fish, they bring longtail boats to anchor on this reef, which has destroyed the beautiful coral, the local resident said.

Nui Beach has become notorious over the years for price gouging and threatening behaviour by people claiming the beach is theirs.

The illegal beach club, where tourists for years were extorted entry fees and even threatened with violence, was torn down by officials for illegally occupying state forest land last year.

To ensure workers were not threatened while carrying out the demolition, more than 100 officers descended on the site, bolstered by security personnel from the Royal Thai Navy Third Area Command and led by the Phuket branch of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc).
Thailand vows to assist Myanmar refugees

BANGKOK: The Thai government has promised to look after all Myanmar refugees who flee to Mae Sot district of Tak province amid ongoing fighting between Myanmars armed forces and ethnic Karen rebels.

Myanmarviolence

By National News Bureau of Thailand

Monday 27 December 2021, 10:39AM

Thailand has already seen an influx of 90,000 refugees from the neighbouring country. Photo: NNT

Describing the move as a humanitarian gesture, Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha said he has instructed officials to prepare to provide the refugees with medical aid and food supplies, reports state news agency NNT.

He noted, however, that no new refugee centres will be set up as all refugees will have to return to Myanmar once the situation improves. Thailand has already seen an influx of 90,000 refugees from the neighbouring country.

Reports also indicate that villages along the Thai-Myanmar border in Mae Sot have been caught in the range of mortar fire during intense clashes between Myanmar security forces and rebel groups.

There are no plans to evacuate Thais from affected areas at this time, as the government works to ensure the conflict does not spill into Thailand.

The Friends Without Borders Foundation meanwhile released a statement urging the Thai government to provide shelter for Myanmar refugees and work with local activists and humanitarian groups to render assistance.

The fighting escalated last Thursday when Myanmar forces conducted aerial bombardments against villages in Myanmars Myawaddy province, located across from Ban Don Chai Rim Moei village in Mae Sot district.

Officials in Mae Sot district have since stepped up security measures along the border, as well as dispatched field doctors to help injured refugees under strict disease prevention protocols.
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CARROLLTON  The city is applying for a grant that it hopes will help it revitalize its downtown square.

The project would enhance the appearance of the courthouse square, provide access to a historic statue and a new veterans' memorial and improve the suitability of the space for events.
JOHANNESBURG (AP)  1931 - Oct. 7 - Desmond Mpilo Tutu is born in Klerksdorp, near Johannesburg.

1947  Contracts tuberculosis, as he recuperates he is visited by Trevor Huddleston, a British Anglican pastor working in South Africa.

1955  Marries Nomalizo Leah Shenxane and begins teaching at a secondary school in Johannesburg.

1961 - Is ordained as a minister in the Anglican church, after quitting teaching in disgust at South Africa's apartheid government's inferior education for Blacks.

1962  Studies theology at Kings College London.

1966  Returns to South Africa to teach at a seminary in the Eastern Cape.

1975  Becomes the Anglican church's first Black dean of Johannesburg.

1976 - Serves as Bishop of Lesotho and voices criticism of apartheid in South Africa.

1978 - Becomes general-secretary of the South African Council of Churches and achieves global prominence as a leading opponent of apartheid, supports economic sanctions to achieve majority rule in South Africa.

1984 - Wins Nobel Peace Prize - There is no peace in southern Africa. There is no peace because there is no justice. There can be no real peace and security until there be first justice enjoyed by all the inhabitants of that beautiful land, Tutu says in his acceptance speech.

1985  Becomes the first Black bishop of Johannesburg.

1986 - Is ordained the first Black Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town.

1989 - Leads anti-apartheid march of 30,000 people through Cape Town.

1990 - Hosts Nelson Mandela for his first night of freedom after Mandela is released from prison after being held for 27 years for his opposition to apartheid. Mandela calls Tutu the peoples' archbishop.

1994 - Votes in South Africa's first democratic election in which all races can cast ballots.

1995 - President Nelson Mandela appoints Tutu to be chairman of the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

1996 - Tutu retires as prelate, the Anglican church gives him the title of Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town.

1997 - Is diagnosed with prostate cancer and announces it to help with public awareness of the disease.

1998 - Truth and Reconciliation Commission publishes its report, putting most of the blame for abuses on the forces of apartheid, but also finds the African National Congress guilty of human rights violations. The ANC sues to block the documents release, earning a rebuke from Tutu.

2009 - Aug. 12 - Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from U.S. President Barack Obama.

2010 - July 22 - Retires from public life, tells press: Don't call me, I'll call you.

2013 - Launches international campaign for LGBTQ rights in Cape Town. I would not worship a God who is homophobic."

2014 - July 12 - Urges the British parliament to allow assisted dying, saying the manner of Nelson Mandelas prolonged death was an affront.

2021 - Oct. 7 - Frail, in a wheelchair, Tutu attends his 90th birthday celebration at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town.

2021 - Dec. 26 - Tutu dies in Cape Town.
MAKANDA  The family of a Brooklyn police officer killed in the line of duty this year lost their home in a fire the day before Christmas Eve.

Early Thursday morning, six family members of Brian Pierce's family escaped injury when fire destroyed their Makanda home about 100 miles from Madison County. Pierce, 24, was driving daily between the two communities when he was killed Aug. 4 while trying to stop a fleeing vehicle.

His mother, Tammy Pierce, told KMOV-TV that she and Pierce's father, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew all got out of the house when an electrical issue started a fire and destroyed the home.

"Already, we were going to face our first Christmas without him was hard enough," she said. "All his belongings are also gone now."

Pierce's family is currently staying at a motel. Donations are being accepted online at Cash App ($AlexisCastro0305) and Venmo (@Waykaymommy).

Pierce, 24, was struck and killed by a vehicle fleeing police on the McKinley Bridge early Aug. 4, according to the Illinois State Police. On Sept. 23, Caleb L. Campbell, 22, of Florissant, Missouri, was indicted by a Madison County Grand Jury for first degree murder, a Class M felony, and failure to report an accident involving personal injury or death, reckless homicide, failure to stop after having an accident involving personal injury or death, and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, all Class 4 felonies.

According to court documents, Campbell allegedly drove a vehicle on the McKinley Bridge "at excessive speeds, disregarded traffic laws and evaded attempts by peace officers to stop his vehicle, which resulted in Pierce being struck.

According to Illinois State Police, Pierce was struck by a vehicle involved in a car chase from a Brooklyn nightclub as he was deploying stop sticks.

Pierce had worked about two years with the police agency in Spillertown, Illinois, and was also a lieutenant with the Makanda Fire Department. Daily he made a 100-mile trip from Makanda to Brooklyn.

On Aug. 6 area police officers lined up to salute as Pierces flag-draped casket was loaded into a hearse behind the Madison County Morgue, located in the old Wood River Township Hospital Building on Edwardsville Road, in Wood River. A procession led by Illinois State Police motorcycle troopers stretched down Edwardsville Road, with more than 50 vehicles from regional law enforcement agencies participating in the two-hour trip to the Meredith-Waddell Funeral Home in Herrin, with funeral services held at John A. Logan College in Carterville.
ALTON  OSF Health Care on Monday announced it is pausing asymptomatic COVID-19 testing at Saint Anthony's Health Center in Alton and its other locations because of patient volume.

The current rise of COVID-19 infections are primarily among the unvaccinated, according to hospital officials.

Right now all across the nation, were seeing a huge surge in COVID-19 cases, said chief operating officer Dr. Michael Cruz, FACEP. We are equipped to handle COVID testing for patients who are sick, injured or who are preparing for a procedure. But our patient volume is currently so great that we need the publics cooperation to ensure proper usage of our health care resources.

Cruz noted there is a variety of options for people who seek to travel, return to work or otherwise need to be tested, including community testing sites, at-home kits and retail pharmacy locations. He stressed that hospital emergency departments should be reserved for true medical emergencies and not used as a means to achieve a COVID-19 test result by asymptomatic persons.

He said OSF Care Station, OSF PromptCare and OSF OnCall Urgent Care locations will continue to serve the needs of persons experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19.

The most recent figures from the Madison County Health Department, reported Thursday, listed 24 COVID-19 related deaths for December and a total to date of 642. The Illinois Department of Public Health on Monday was reporting 648 COVID-19 related deaths to date in Madison County.

No Madison County figures from over the Christmas weekend were available at presstime Monday.

On Monday the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force reported 630 confirmed inpatient hospitalizations, up from 574 on Friday, for the four major health systems: BJC HealthCare, Mercy, SSM Health and St. Lukes Hospital. Of the 630 hospitalized COVID patients, 166  or 26 percent  were fully vaccinated.

Monday's staffed bed hospital capacity was at 85% across task force hospitals, with intensive care units at 78% of their total staffed bed capacity.

Also on Monday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker directed the IDPH and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) to "enhance its partnerships with local health department mass vaccination operations."

The state is more than doubling personnel, Pritzker said, and adding at least 100 people to regional sites to help administer vaccinations, prepare vaccine doses for clinic personnel and data entry.



Starting Jan. 3, the states free Community Based Testing Sites will begin operating six days a week to increase COVID-19 testing availability across the state.

Pritzer said the "surge staffing" will support local health departments "to vaccinate and boost tens of thousands more Illinoisans.

"We are also increasing testing and continuing to distribute monoclonal antibodies, anti-viral pills and any treatments or personal protective equipment communities need," he said. "I will continue to do everything possible to protect all the people of this state, whatever your vaccine status. But what kind of year 2022 turns out to be depends on all of us doing what is best for all of us.



IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said the state is seeing a demand for booster doses, but it was critically important for those who have yet to receive even one dose of vaccine to get vaccinated.

"The vast majority of cases, hospitalization, and deaths are among those who are not vaccinated," she said. "COVID-19 can be prevented through vaccination so get vaccinated and get boosted.

One of the 10 community testing sites is in St. Clair Square Mall in Fairview Heights. The site is now open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Anyone 12 and older in need of a first or second dose may also use the free clinics. While adults have the ability to mix-and-match their booster vaccine, 16- and 17-year-olds are only authorized to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech booster.

Madison County is offering COVID-19 vaccinations for people 5 and older at its office, 101 E. Edwardsville Road in Wood River. Vaccinations are by appointment only; people can visit www.madisonchd.org and click the green Appointments for Vaccines are Open button, or call 618-692-8954 x 2.

The CDC also has a vaccine finder that lets people select which vaccine they are looking for and provides the locations that currently have it. For details visit www.vaccines.gov, call 800-232-0233 or text your ZIP code to 438829.




NEW YORK (AP)  Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel, stretched into Monday as airlines called off more than 1,000 U.S. flights because crews were sick with COVID-19 during one of the year's busiest travel periods, and storm fronts added to the havoc.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been common this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and carriers have struggled to make up ground this year, when air travel rebounded faster than almost anyone had expected. The arrival of the omicron variant only exacerbated the problem.

During the pandemic, we have seen experienced airline personnel leave the industry and not return across the globe, said John Grant, senior analyst at travel industry research firm OAG. Filling those skill gaps was already a challenge in the recovery before the latest variant.

But airlines' staffing levels are irrelevant when omicron is thrown into the mix, said Atmosphere Research Group travel industry analyst Henry Harteveldt. We cant blame the issues were seeing now on airlines not having enough employees to work. What were seeing happen is the employees who were available to work have come down with COVID.

Since Friday, airlines have canceled more than 4,000 flights to, from or inside the U.S., according to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have blamed the coronavirus for staffing problems in the past several days. European and Australian airlines also canceled holiday-season flights because of infected staff, but weather and other factors played a role as well.

Winter weather in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 flight cancellations to or from Seattle on Sunday, according to Alaska Airlines, which expected more than 100 flight cancellations Monday. But the airline said sick crews were no longer a factor.

United said it canceled 115 flights Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews with COVID-19. Delta expected to cancel more than 200 flights out of its schedule of over 4,100, after scrapping more than 370 on Sunday, citing the effect of COVID-19 on crews and winter weather in Minneapolis, Seattle and Salt Lake City.

SkyWest, a regional airline based in Utah, said it had more cancellations than normal during the weekend and on Monday after bad weather affected several of its hubs and many crew members were out with COVID-19.

Industry analysts said new guidance from U.S. health officials could help airlines better navigate the impact of omicron on staffing levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut in half the recommended length of time a person should isolate after getting COVID-19 to five days.

Airlines had called on the Biden administration to shorten the quarantine period to alleviate staffing issues caused by omicron, although the union for flight attendants pushed back, saying the isolation period should remain 10 days.

I definitely think that should help, Raymond James analyst Savanthi Syth said of the CDCs new guidance  especially if bad weather subsides.

Delta said it was working to implement the new guidance, which would allow the airline more flexibility to schedule employees.

Representatives for the flight attendants union, other airlines and the industrys trade group did not immediately respond or declined to comment on the CDC change.

Cancellations have snarled holidays that were already complicated this year with the rise of the omicron variant and escalating COVID-19 cases, which caused some to change their plans at the last minute.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

But many other people kept their plans.

Transportation Security Administration data shows that the number of passengers screened at TSA checkpoints so far during the holiday season went up significantly from last year  on some days double the number of fliers or even more. But the number is generally still short of 2019 levels.

The TSA has predicted that the Monday after New Year's will be one of the busiest days of the holiday season. The CDC's new guidelines could help airlines better navigate the New Year's weekend rush as staffers who got infected are able to come back to work, Harteveldt said.

The U.S. government has issued new rules relating to COVID-19 and travel in recent months, requiring foreigners coming to the U.S. to be vaccinated. It also now requires a negative COVID-19 test for both U.S. citizens and foreigners within a day of flying into the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the nation should also seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel as another way to push people to get vaccinated.

The administration has at times considered a domestic vaccination requirement, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test. Such a requirement could face legal challenges.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Stobbe in New York and Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
A couple of years ago, I started to talk to strangers.

Thats not to say I hadnt talked to strangers before that, because I had. Im the son and brother of highly social small-business owners, and Im a journalist, so talking to strangers has been both a way of life and a livelihood for me. And yet, a few years ago I noticed I wasnt doing it much anymore  if at all. Between balancing a demanding job and a really demanding small child, I was often tired, distracted, and overscheduled. The prospect of striking up conversations with random strangers in coffee shops, or bars, or on the bus started to feel daunting. Eventually, I just stopped doing it.

This was a coping strategy, of course. I was overwhelmed, so something had to go. And talking to strangers can, as it turns out, be taxing. Psychologists have found that just making small talk with a stranger can be cognitively demanding, tiring, and even stressful. That makes sense. You dont know the person, you dont know where the conversation is going, so you must pay closer attention than you would if you were talking to someone you know well. But psychologists have found that talking to a stranger actually boosts your mental performance  for that same reason: Its a workout. I was saving myself a bit of effort, but I also noticed that my life was becoming less interesting, less surprising, maybe even a little lonely.

Related: 3 Ways to Make Memorable Small Talk That Gets People Interested In Working With You

After my epiphany, I got to wondering: Why dont we talk to strangers more, what happens when we do, and how can we get better at it? It turns out, many researchers are asking the same questions. I started flying around the world to meet them: psychologists, evolutionary scientists, historians, urban planners, entrepreneurs, sociologists, and  you guessed it  a ton of fascinating strangers I met along the way. They all taught me that talking to strangers can not only be fun but also enhance our sense of well-being, make us smarter, expand our social and professional networks, and even help us overcome some of our most intractable social problems. (I detail this all in my new book, The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World.)

And as I researched the book, I kept coming back to the implications talking to strangers could have for entrepreneurs. Because I come from a family of small-business owners  and for a while served as executive editor at this magazine  I have seen firsthand how beneficial it is for businesspeople to hone those social skills. I have also spoken to a lot of college professors who lament that their students struggle to make the sorts of serendipitous social connections that will serve them so well once they start their careers. And, like all of us, Im coming out of a year spent in relative quarantine. Im rusty on these skills and need to get used to the sorts of fun, fruitful, and, yes, sometimes difficult freewheeling social interactions we were deprived of for more than a year.

All of which is to say, I decided that I needed to become an expert at talking to strangers. How? I signed up for a class unlike anything Id ever taken before and bought a plane ticket to London.

Image Credit: Nicolas Ortega

Our journey begins on a bright day in a small classroom at Regents University. Im sitting on a chair, limp with jet lag, clutching my third cup of coffee. There are four other people there, too. They appear to be functioning at a higher level than I am, thankfully. We have come to this classroom to learn how to talk to strangers.

Our teacher is an energetic 20-something named Georgie Nightingall. Shes the founder of Trigger Conversations, an acclaimed London-based human connection organization that hosts social events and immersive workshops aimed at helping people have meaningful interactions with strangers. Since she founded it in 2016, Nightingall has done more than 100 events and many training sessions  with strangers, companies, communities, universities, and conferences, both in London and around the world.

Related: How to Start a Conversation With Strangers at a Networking Event

Nightingall has learned that, for a lot of people, the hardest thing about talking to strangers is initiating the conversation: approaching someone, making them feel safe, and quickly conveying the idea that you dont have an agenda, that youre just being friendly or curious. She found that older people are much more likely to initiate a conversation, for instance, whereas younger people require a little more assurance. But she also found that in all her own attempts to speak to strangers, the vast majority of those interactions were substantial, and many went great.

She came to believe, too  and this is important  that making a practice of talking to strangers could offer more than a jolt of good feeling for an individual. There was joy in it, profundity, real communion. If practiced widely enough, she believed it could help repair a fracturing society. Were not just talking about a few individualized things, she says. Were talking about a different way to live.

Nightingall stands before our class, bright, engaging, and articulate, and walks us through what to expect over the coming days. She wants to take us from unconscious incompetence to conscious incompetence, and from conscious competence to unconscious competence, she says. In other words, we are currently bad at this and were unaware of why or how. We will learn what we are lacking. We will improve on it. And we will, hopefully, become so proficient that it will become second nature to us.

Our first lesson is small talk. A lot of people hate small talk, which is understandable, because a lot of small talk is deadly boring. Nightingall concedes the point. Yes, she says, small talk can be dull. But thats because most people dont understand what its for. Its not the conversation. Its the opener for a better conversation. Its a way to get comfortable with one another and cast around for something you want to talk about. That, she says, is why its important to be aware of your response when someone asks something like What do you do? You are failing to understand what that question is really asking, which is this: What should you and I talk about?

Nightingall came to this insight via a couple of sources. She had done improv comedy in the past, and in improv, you start a sketch with something familiar to everyone in the audience  something relevant, timely, or present in the room  to bind the room together. Only then can you really take the audience on a ride. Thats small talk. But Nightingall has also followed the work of social anthropologist Kate Fox, who has studied, for instance, the seemingly inexhaustible English desire to discuss weather. While some critics have pointed to this affinity as evidence of a listless and unimaginative people, Fox argued that weather wasnt the point. Instead, it is a means of social bonding, a greeting ritual. English weather-speak is a form of code, evolved to help us overcome our natural reserve and actually talk to each other, Fox writes. The content is not the point  familiarity, connection, and reassurance are. Once those are in place, a real conversation can happen.

When you recognize that small talk is just a door to a better conversation, Nightingall says, then it can be useful, because its structured in a way that naturally leads you toward common ground. We have all experienced how these conversations, if given the time, can move in ever-tightening circles until you both zero in on something you have in common and want to talk about. With that in place, you can wander, get a little personal, go deeper. But its probably on you to take it there, Nightingall says. Everyone is interesting, but its not up to them to show you  its up to you to discover it.

The best way to discover that interesting stuff, Nightingall says, is by breaking the script. That means using the techniques of small talk, but resisting the temptation to go on autopilot. For example, you go into a store and say, How are you doing? and the clerk says, Fine; how are you? and the conversation contains no information and goes nowhere. Thats a script. We use scripts to make interactions more efficient, particularly in busy, dense, fast-moving places like big cities. But in doing so, we deny ourselves the chance at a better experience and maybe a new contact, and we wall ourselves off from all the benefits that can come from talking to strangers.

Related: 10 Ways to Connect With Absolutely Anyone You Meet

So how do you break those scripts? With specificity and surprise, Nightingall says. For example, when someone says, How are you? she doesnt say, Fine. Instead, she says, Id say Im a 7.5 out of 10. She briefly explains why shes a 7.5, asks them how theyre doing, and then just waits. This is when mirroring kicks in; its a phenomenon where people naturally follow the lead of their conversational partners. If you say something generic, they will say something generic. If you say something specific, they are likely to as well. Thus, because Nightingall gave a number, her partner is likely to give a number themselves. If they say theyre a 6, Nightingall will ask, Whatll it take to get you to an 8? This specificity creates a light atmosphere and makes it harder for the other person to maintain the belief that youre of a lesser mind, because it instantly demonstrates complexity, feeling, and humor: humanity, in other words. Straightaway, theyre like, Oh, youre a human,  Nightingall says. You have that bond, and then, naturally, things open up.

Here are other ways Nightingall suggests breaking a script. When a shop clerk asks, Can I help you? you can reply, Can I help you? Or instead of asking people at a party what they do, ask them what theyd like to do more of, or what they dont do. Or instead of asking someone how their day went, ask, Has your day lived up to your expectations? All these things require a certain measure of confidence to pull off, Nightingall says. But they work. And when they do, they will reveal a little nugget of what its like to be that person. That is meaningful, because that nugget is indicative of what is beneath the surface. How you do anything is how you do everything, Nightingall says. That nugget tells you where to go next in the conversation.

Image Credit: Nicolas Ortega

Once youve established a little connection, what do you do? I normally start asking questions. Which makes sense: Im showing an interest in the other person, and I demonstrate my interest by indulging my curiosity. But one paradox about talking to a stranger, Nightingall explains, is that while curiosity is indispensable, a barrage of questions out of the gate can feel like prying, or an interview. They dont quite know where youre coming from yet, and they dont know if you have some kind of agenda. Even one personal question asked too early can create an uncomfortable dynamic because youre asking something of someone. Youre making a demand.

Nightingall suggests that statements, not questions, can be a better way to open a conversation. A question compels an answer, whereas a statement leaves it up to the other person to decide whether they want to talk. Its not a demand; its an offer. You notice something about your shared surroundings, offer an observation, and leave it to the other party to respond. If they do, you respond with another statement that builds on what they said.

These observations should ideally not be moronic  I noticed that the sun came up today!  but they can be simple. Like weather talk in England, the point is to indicate a shared experience. Nightingall has found that proximity helps, too. If you are at a museum, walking right up to someone looking at a painting and blurting out What do you think? is very different from making an observation about a painting after standing next to them for 30 seconds looking at it. Thats because you have been in their proximity. They have adjusted to your being there, and you have demonstrated a measure of self-control. Then you can speak. It feels less like an invasion.

Related: How to Become a Master Communicator by Following This One Rule

One day in class, my fellow students and I pair off to practice our technique. Im partnered with Paula, who tells me that one of her favorite things is making a cup of good coffee for herself on the weekends and just sitting alone. I try to remember Nightingalls advice about opening with statements, not questions, but now were in a groove  so I dig in. After four questions, Paula is talking about how resentful she is at having to work for other people. Im obviously quite pleased with myself as I trot back to Nightingall with this pheasant in my mouth. But she is less impressed. She delicately explains that while its clear youre a person who asks questions for a living, everything about my body language suggested I was looking for something to pounce on. I asked questions too quickly, she said. I was leaning forward. This wasnt a conversation; it was an interview. Possibly an interrogation.

Nightingall suggested asking simpler and more open-ended questions. Instead of saying, Do you think this was because you were a control freak? just echo, or say, Why do you think that is? That is the opposite of what I usually do, but its what I must learn to do. In a good conversation, you must relinquish control. Your job is to help your partner arrive at their own conclusion and surprise you, not to ferret out whatever it is, slap a bow on it, and go, Next! Theres a powerful lesson there: If youre interested only in things you know youre interested in, you will never be surprised. Youll never learn anything new, or gain a fresh perspective, or make a new friend or contact. The key to talking to strangers, it turns out, is letting go, letting them lead. Then the world opens itself to you.

Why dont we talk to strangers? The answer I heard, over and over again from experts, is simply that we dont talk to strangers. In many places, for many reasons, it has become a social norm, and social norms are really powerful. That is why Nightingall uses what she calls a foolproof method to not just violate the norm  but to openly acknowledge that you are violating the norm.

She asks us to imagine riding mass transit  which, as we know, is the last place anyone ever talks to a stranger. There is someone who strikes us as interesting. We cant turn to that person and say, Why do I find you so interesting? because if you said something like that to a stranger on the subway, theyre going to assume this is the initiation of a chain of events that will ultimately conclude with their becoming crude homemade taxidermy. So Nightingall suggests something called a pre-frame. Its an idea based in the field of neurolinguistic programming, which coaches people to reframe the possible negative thoughts of others  in essence redefining their expectations for the interaction to come. Ordinarily, we might be wary if a stranger just starts talking to us. We dont know who they are, or what they want, or whether theyre right in the head. What a pre-frame does is reassure them that you know all this.

To do it, you acknowledge out of the gate that this is a violation of a social norm. You say something like Look, I know were not supposed to talk to people on the subway, but This demonstrates that youre in full possession of your faculties. Youre not erratic, disturbed, or otherwise off in some way. It helps alleviate wariness and opens the possibility of a connection. Once that is established, Nightingall says, you follow the pre-frame with your statement  I really like your sunglasses, for instance. Then you follow that with a justification: I just lost mine and Ive been looking for a new pair. The justification eases the persons suspicion that you have some kind of agenda and allows you to talk a little more openly.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Related: What to Do When You Don't Know Anyone in the Room

Thats when questions become more important, Nightingall says. Questions serve a multitude of functions, which is why, as I learned in my exercise with Paula, they can be so complicated. Yes, questions help you obtain information. And yes, on a deeper level, they help your conversational partner clarify the point they are trying to make. But they also help us emotionally bond with other people. In a series of studies in 2017, psychologist Karen Huang and her colleagues discovered that people who ask more questions, particularly follow-up questions, are better liked by their conversation partners. Those who ask more questions, the authors found, are perceived as higher in responsiveness  which is defined as listening, understanding, validation, and care. In other words, people like us because we are interested in them.

And yet, the researchers noted, people tend not to ask a lot of questions. Why? Several reasons. First, Huang writes, people may not think to ask questions at allbecause people are egocentric  focused on expressing their own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs with little or no interest in hearing what another person has to say. Or they may be so distracted by other aspects of the conversation that they do not realize that asking a question is an option. Even if a question does pop into someones head, they may not ask it, because they worry itll land badly and be perceived as rude, inappropriate, intrusive, or incompetent. In these cases, people will probably just talk about themselves, which studies show they do twice as often as they talk about other matters  which, ironically, makes people like them less. (Good work, everybody.)

But whats a good question to ask? Nightingall has us complete an exercise in which we are given banal statements  the sort commonly offered in small talkand tasked with coming up with good questions. For instance, one student says she ran along the Thames yesterday. There is almost nothing in the world less interesting to me than running, and usually Id take this as my cue to begin plotting my escape. But, working from the idea that small talk is the means, not the end, the class brainstorms good questions to ask that might lead to something more personal or interesting: Do you run every day? Is that a passion for you? What would you do if you couldnt run every day? I suggest, What are you running from? which is meant as a joke, but the class seems to go for it.

Then we move on to the flip side of question-asking: It is listening. When people do start talking, you must listen, make eye contact, and generally show youre engaged. We know this, of course. But we are not always good at showing it. Two effective techniques to signal engagement are paraphrasing what people have just said  It seems like youre saying  and echoing  which is simply occasionally repeating things your partner just saidboth of which are commonly used by therapists and hostage negotiators to foster connection and build trust. For instance, if they say, I guess at that point I was frustrated, you say, You were frustrated. This seems deeply weird and unnatural, and feels awkward to do, and if you overdo it, your partner is going to think somethings wrong with you. But I am here to attest that, done well, it is extremely effective. Its like a magic trick. Researchers have concluded as much. According to the French psychologists Nicolas Gueguen and Angelique Martin, Research has shown that mimicryleads to greater liking of the mimicker and helps create rapport during a social interaction.

Nightingall breaks down listening into three levels. There is listening for things you know about. Thats the most superficial level. Thats when someone says something about baseball and you jump on it and start talking about baseball. Then there is listening for information  you show curiosity about someone but your questions are about collecting factual data. Thats also more about you and your interests. And then theres the deepest level of listening: listening for experiences, feelings, motivations, and values. That kind of listening is more than simply hearing, or self-affirmation. Its paying attention and endeavoring to understand. It is demonstrated with eye contact, echoing, and paraphrasing, and it can be deepened by asking clarifying questions  Why? How? Who?  that help the person get to the heart of the matter.

In other words, at this level of listening, you are not simply listening for something you want to talk about, or offering advice, or trying to think of something smart to say in response. Its not about your agenda. It is a level of engagement that is about helping your partner get to what they really want to talk about, and you going along for the ride. You still want to talk about yourself a bit, Nightingall says  to give a little, and not leave the person feeling like youve just rummaged around in the bureau of their personal life and made off with a watch. But you want most of the focus to be on them. It is, again, a form of hospitality. You are hosting someone. You are surrendering a measure of control. You are giving them space. You are taking a risk. That risk opens you to the potential rewards of talking to a stranger.

During lunch and after class, I try out some of these techniques around London. I ask a 20-something bartender at a pub if the day has met her expectations, and she confesses with very little prompting that yes, it has. Shes about to quit her day job. She feels shes been sold a bill of goods about the merits of a straight corporate career, and shes going to empty her savings and travel the world. She hasnt told anyone this yet, she says. But she will soon.

At lunch at a Lebanese takeout restaurant, I ask the owner what menu items hes most proud of  because thats what I want. He starts taking bits of this and that and dropping them into my bag. I tell him I grew up in a white neighborhood, and when I was a kid, a Lebanese family moved in behind us and used to hand us plates over the fence of what was at that time very exotic food. Since then, Lebanese food has always been among my favorites. Curiously, when I eat it, I think about home. This, as Nightingall instructed, was me opening up the conversation with a statement, not a question. The owner tells me that in Lebanon, that kind of hospitality is a big deal; people always make a lot of food for visitors. While he talks, he keeps dropping more food into my bag. When hes done, the bag weighs about five pounds and he charges me for maybe a third of it.

Related: Here's How to Strike Up a Conversation With Almost Anyone

At the end of the final day of class, Nightingall tells us that practice will be everything. Some encounters will go poorly, she says, and some will be great, but in time, we will get more comfortable with doing this as we internalize the techniques we have learned. We will be able to get a little bolder or more playful. Our confidence, tone, and body language will alleviate peoples wariness at the flagrant violation of a social norm of long standing.

Indeed, Nightingall is something of a wizard at this. She once started a conversation with a man on the tube just by pointing at his hat, smiling, and saying, simply, Hat. She will randomly high-five people in the street, she says. She smiles at people going the opposite direction down an escalator just to see if theyll smile back. She doesnt order an Americano; she orders the best Americano in the world. And people respond. During a break one day, I walked into the campus Starbucks to get more coffee. Nightingall was already in there, talking animatedly with a barista shed never met before. When she and I walked out, she told me he gave her the coffee on the house.

Nightingalls free coffee, my Lebanese meal  these were not coincidences. As I learned repeatedly while testing techniques of talking to strangers, Id often be rewarded with free food. There are, of course, far more fruitful, meaningful, and valuable reasons to talk to strangers. But the food stuck with me. Then I realized why: When you start a good conversation with a stranger, its like youre giving them an uncommon gift. And more often than not, they want to give you something in return.

 Adapted from The Power of Strangers: The Benefits of Connecting in a Suspicious World, out July 13, 2021, from Random House Books.

Copyright 2021 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
The future of food is through the eyes of a chef.

Those words from Roshara Sanders  Chef Ro  sum up her ethos and philosophy. As the first female Black chef instructor at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, Sanders has realized her dream to be a teacher to a new generation of chefs.

Raised by a single mother who overcame drug addiction and homelessness through the assistance of the owner of a soul food restaurant, Sanders says food saved my mothers life. She notes that the restaurant industry has always been a haven for people from all walks of life.

A real conversation about food goes beyond talking about Michelin stars. Its about the open arms that people receive in the industry.

Sanders says she knew at the age of 14, when she attended the Bullard-Havens Technical High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, that she wanted to attend the CIA. Her mentor, chef Craig Voytek, an alumnus, put the school on her radar and encouraged her to attend.

She was accepted by the CIA in 2007 but couldnt afford the tuition, so she joined the military. Just to get back to the CIA on the GI Bill, she said. Two deployments later, one in Iran and one in Afghanistan, the veteran returned to the school in 2011 and graduated in 2014.

Prior to the pandemic, Sanders was working as chef de partie in the kitchen at New York City seafood restaurant Oceana. That was the best place I had ever worked  they have an amazing team, food and reputation, Sanders says.

She recalls walking to work on Fifth Avenue from Grand Central Station, thinking how fortunate she was to be a New York City chef. If I could teach and work at the restaurant that would be amazing.

Sanders found her way onto the staff at the CIA in October 2020 while serving on an alumni diversity council.

The school, like many leaders in the industry, is really about change, about having more people of color and women on staff, about being culturally respectful, Sanders says. She notes that some food magazines, such as Food & Wine, and the James Beard Foundation have been having conversations on how the industry needs to better reflect society and cultures from all over the world.

Sanders points to a growing number of Black hires in both the front of the house and in the kitchen at the CIA and notes the CIAs nine-week extracurricular course: The Cuisines of Africa and its Diaspora in the Americas, developed in collaboration with Dr. Jessica B. Harris, author of High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America.

The school is really doing what it needs to do in regards to diversity, says Sanders.

CIA spokesperson Amanda Secor agrees that the cooking school has expanded its efforts to increase Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) representation among full-time and adjunct faculty, while also acknowledging that there is still work to be done.

Brandon Walker, who is the executive chef and owner of Essies in Poughkeepsie and a CIA graduate, says diversity is important on two levels.

Not only does a diverse staff attract students from different cultures, but those students are able to see themselves in the instructors. America itself, he says, offers a palate of flavors to learn about and to pull from and hes pleased to see the CIA addressing the issue of representation.

He encourages the CIA to hire women from a variety of cultures. Speaking of Chef Ro, Walker says, Its a huge mantle to be the first at something and its a great journey to be on. I wish her well.

Downtime is the best time Make the most of your Hudson Valley weekend, every week with our newsletter.

Beyond honoring that mantle as the first, Sanders says she brings aspects of her personality and background to the Culinary Fundamentals class she teaches, an introductory course on the application and development of fundamental cooking theories and techniques.

We do have a little freedom in our teachings, and theres a PowerPoint thats used in other classes on the history of chefs, Sanders says. She omits the part of the lesson that focuses solely on white male chefs, and gives extra credit for her students to research chefs such as Mashama Bailey, the first Black woman nominated for a regional best chef James Beard Award.

Sanders own lived experience trickles down to her teaching. As a military veteran and spiritual person, I teach techniques on how to handle the anxiety, fear and stress that is too often prevalent in the kitchen, she says, adding that she practices mindful cooking in her classes, with lofi jazz music playing in the background, to impress upon her students the importance of staying calm even while multi-tasking.

Shes also mindful of how menu choices impact the planet.

We talk about overfishing and genetic modifications in my class, says Sanders, who points to Chef Daniel Humms decision to turn Eleven Madison Park into a vegan restaurant as a step in a more sustainable direction. We cant keep killing cows all day, and it is possible to make a delicious butter from plants.

Reflecting on her first year of teaching, Sanders says she aims to continue to both teach and personally practice more patience in the classroom.

We have to constantly be honing our skills and techniques  both the students and the instructors.

Looking forward, Sanders, who recently celebrated her 32nd birthday, says, I want to be the Black, female version of chef Jose Andres. God sent me here to make real changes.
This year is mirroring 2020 in more ways than just the everlasting pandemic. Real estate continued to be the topic du jour in the Hudson Valley, driving local conversation, legislation, and sport (SNLs hilarious sketch on Zillow porn in February perhaps hit a little too close to home).

In 2021, the pandemic-fueled home-buying frenzy that started in 2020 only accelerated. Rising home prices and record-low inventory created an even tighter market, squeezing many wannabe-buyers out of contention and sparking affordable housing concerns across the region. The average sale price of a single-family home in Kingston jumped by almost $100,000 in a single year, from $216,000 in 2020 to $312,000 in 2021, for example.

There is a desperation to find a home, because its not an easy task for someone to purchase a home right now, said agent Angela Briante of Briante Realty Group, which covers Putnam County. Theyre usually up against multiple offers and a lot of cash offers.

Real estate was a major part of our coverage in 2021, and response to those stories indicated it was top of mind among readers as well. Heres a look back at the real estate scene and top stories in the Hudson Valley this year.

Millennials frozen out of a red-hot market

Courtesy Jessica Mann

The process of buying a home is daunting enough. But for millennials, who are both the largest generation and the largest percentage of first-time homebuyers right now, the path to homeownership felt maddeningly out of reach, particularly in the Hudson Valley, where last year, Hudson and Kingston emerged as the metro locations experiencing the biggest influx of relocations in the country.

I dont know the number anymore, said Elizabeth Carey of the amount of times she and her partner Zac, 33, put in offers over asking price for homes in the $175,000 to $200,000 range but were nowhere near being competitive. It must have been eight or nine offers and each was turned down.

Affordable housing is hard to come by

Lisa Phillips

Buying a home here is hard. Finding an affordable place to rent isnt easier. Three locals at different stages of life shared their individual struggles to find affordable rental housing in Kingston and Woodstock (above) during a tight real estate market.

Meanwhile, record-low vacancy rates in Dutchess County squeezed the rental market there, and various towns  from Hudson to New Paltz to Newburgh  explored so-called Good Cause eviction laws to protect tenants from being unfairly uprooted.

And elderly condo tenants in Pine Plains were told they must buy their rentals for $300,000 or move out this winter so the complex can expand. The daughter of one of the tenants ... was just beside herself because her father, who was 85, had just gotten this letter saying he had 90 days to either purchase his unit at what is really a ridiculous price, or he had to leave, said Darrah Cloud, the Pine Plains Town Supervisor.

Towns try to limit Airbnbs, short-term rentals

Airbnb

Red Hook joined other Hudson Valley towns this year in exploring legal options to restrict and regulate short-term rentals like Airbnbs, primarily in an effort to keep housing stock affordable and occupied by year-round residents. Woodstock this year voted yes to a moratorium on new Airbnbs; the town already required permits and limits the number of permits available. The Village of Rhinebeck, the Town of Milan and others in the region are exploring, or have implemented, similar permitting requirements and regulations.

I dont believe short-term rentals are the total problem, said Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna. But I do believe its exacerbating a problem that weve had in Woodstock for a longtime  its taking affordable rental units off the market.

The new developments

Tecton Architects

Real estate wasn't just about single-family residential homes. Many large-scale developments were announced this year  for housing, hospitality and industry  and, in some places, were fought by locals. A group of residents in the Catskills community of Durham are suing the town over a planned housing development there, while some Town of Dover locals are fighting a proposed hospitality development on a 250-acre farm there that they say could harm the environment.

Millbrook residents, meanwhile, successfully squelched an effort by a New York City restaurateur to develop Migdale Castle into a high-end resort.

The December announcement of the new iPark 87 near Kingston is the latest effort by developer National Resources to reimagine millions of square feet of old business parks in the Hudson Valley into hubs of the future, from movie studios in Fishkill to creating a commuter village in Brewster (above).

Hot home trends

Magda Biernat

White farmhouses once widely speckled the rural landscape in the Hudson Valley, but in 2021, dark-painted homes and businesses became the new norm. It needed something striking as it sits in open landscape, and I knew a dark color would look beautiful in an open setting, said Amanda Pays, interior designer and spouse of actor Corbin Bernsen, who opted to paint their Germantown home in Benjamin Moores Deep River to strike a moody feel.

The L.A. crowd and other West Coasters increasingly flocked to the Hudson Valley this year in escape of wildfires and in pursuit of rural living, area realtors reported. The 415, 310, 213 [telephone] exchanges  just above half my buyers now are from the West Coast, said real estate Dale Stewart.

And to appeal to a changing style of home buyer in the Hudson Valley, some new developers sought to modernize country homes here to cater to New York City-based house hunters. Bye bye clapboard, hello walls of windows.

Real estate escapism

Courtesy Douglas Elliman Real Estate

High-end listings drove widespread reader interest, whether it was an 80s pop stars motel for sale, a famous actors Catskills estate, or a private island boasting two homes inspired by iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (above).

Here are some additional splashy listings that provided a transporting escape hatch for readers in a pandemic year:
BETHLEHEM  Authorities were tipped off to a house fire early Monday by an unexpected source: A passing driver.

The driver flagged down a Bethlehem police officer at 6:43 a.m. on Monday for a report of an active structure fire at 485 Dawson Road.

The house is down a private driveway off Dawson, but can be seen through the trees on Delaware Avenue.

The officer located the fire and interviewed the occupants who had already exited the residence, according to the Bethlehem Police Department.

Multiple departments arrived to extinguish the blaze, which left the occupants uninjured. The cause of the fire remains under investigation but it does not appear suspicious, authorities said.

The house was heavily damaged, and part of the roof had collapsed.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Responding fire departments included Elsmere, Delmar, Selkirk, Slingerlands, North Bethlehem and Onesquethaw. Also assisting at the scene were Albany County Sheriffs Office paramedics and Delmar-Bethlehem EMS.

The Red Cross was contacted to assist the family.
New York Army National Guard Lt. Col. Shawn Tabankin of Clifton Park, an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran, has taken command of the New York City's famous "Fighting 69th" battalion.

Tabankin assumed command of the 800-soldier 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry from Lt. Col. Joseph Whaley, who has led the unit since 2019. The battalion is headquartered in Manhattan's historic Lexington Avenue Armory and has elements in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island. Whaley has been reassigned as the deputy operations officer of the Troy-based 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters.

Tabankin enlisted in the Army in 1997 and served in the 82nd Airborne Division before receiving his commission as an infantry officer in 2002 through the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps. He then joined the New York Army National Guard as he attended law school.

In 2003, Tabankin took a voluntary leave of absence from law school to deploy to Iraq as a platoon leader with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry. Tabankin conducted combat operations for 11 months, including participation in the October 2004 Battle of Samarra, a four-day house-to-house fight to clear the city of insurgent forces.

After that deployment, he returned to New York to earn his law degree and begin practice as an attorney. He continued his service as a National Guard officer with assignments as the executive officer for Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry, and commander of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment. Afterward, he assumed command of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, which deployed to Western Afghanistan in 2012.

Tabankin became a full time active duty member of the New York Army National Guard upon return in 2012 when he began serving force integration officer and then, in 2015, the battalion operations officer for the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry. In 2017, Tabankin transferred to the 42nd Infantry Division where he deployed to Kuwait as the chief of plans for Task Force Spartan. Upon return, Tabankin was assigned to the state headquarters as the deputy operations officer for Domestic Operations.

He has earned two Bronze Star Medals, a Purple Heart, a Valorous Unit Award, two Meritorious Unit Awards, a Combat Infantryman's Badge, a Parachutist Badge, and an Air Assault Badge.

His battalion has a distinguished history that includes service in the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Reportedly, the regiment was given the name "that Fighting 69th Regiment" by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Fredericksburg in 1863.

During World War I the battalion was part of the famous Rainbow Division and its commander, William "Wild Bill" Donovan earned the Middle of Honor. In World War II the soldiers of the 69th invaded Makin Atoll in 1943 and fought on the Islands of Saipan and Okinawa in the campaign in the Pacific against Japan.

In 2004 the battalion was mobilized and then deployed to Baghdad, Iraq where it was given the mission of security Route Irish, the road from the Baghdad Airport to the center of the city. At one time this was considered the most dangerous road in Iraq. Members of the 69th also deployed to Afghanistan in 2008. Closer to home, members of the battalion were part of the response to Superstorm Sandy and have participated in numerous state weather emergencies as well as the state's COVID-19 response since March of 2020.

Mission completed

Hundreds of volunteers placed wreaths on 14,100 graves at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville before Christmas.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

For the fifth year in a row Saratoga National Cemetery was once again able to place a memorial wreath on every gravesite - thanks to your (the public, organizations and businesses) generosity and participation, said Bill Schaff, state captain of Patriot Guard Riders, who led many volunteers on Dec. 18 at the cemetery. Our goal increases every year due to the increases in interments and yet we've been able to keep up with that increase.

The wreaths were delivered to the cemetery on Dec. 16 by the Wreaths Across American organization. The volunteers helped unload the trucks and place the wreath boxes at the 14 sections within the cemetery. During four time slots, volunteers set out to the respective sections. After final instructions were given at each section the wreath laying began, Schaff said. It took volunteers only 20 to 25 minutes to completely cover every gravesite within the section.

It's a beautiful sight to behold, he said. If you have some free time over the holidays, visit the cemetery  it's such a special place. Wreaths will remain on the graves until March 5.

Your kind consideration for ordering wreaths this year using our Patriot Guard Rider sponsorship code was responsible for 33 percent of all the wreaths placed at the cemetery, Schaff said. Saratoga National Cemetery was the only government-owned cemetery in New York state to have been completely filled with wreaths.

Schaff urges people to help the Patriot Guard Riders get a jump on next year. From now until Jan. 14 Wreaths Across America will match any wreath purchased using the code NY0057. For those who wish to order a wreath online start at wreathsacrossamerica.org go to Local Sponsorship Group link.

News of your troops and units can be sent to Duty Calls, Terry Brown, Times Union, Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 or brownt@timesunion.com.
Guilderland police have arrested a Duanesburg man in connection with a Dec. 23 incident that caused the death of a town resident.

Jason Seminary, 43, has been charged with manslaughter in the death of Kentish Bennett, 41, according to Guilderland police.
ALBANY  Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday said that schools will remain open as students are scheduled to return to classes beginning next week with ramped up testing in response to a highly contagious but less-lethal variant of COVID-19 that is spreading.

The governor and acting state health Commissioner Mary Bassett said that more than 30 million testing kits are being delivered to New York and many of those will be distributed to school districts to help them screen for cases of the coronavirus.

"Most cases are not being transmitted in schools," Hochul said. "Children are wearing their masks. We want more vaccinated. We want them boosted at some point as soon as possible, but we understand that it's not a good option to say children are going to be returning home again."

Hochul said her administration will meet with school superintendents on Tuesday to manage the distribution of the testing kits and the plans for children to return to school. The opening of schools remains subject to change, Hochul added. Bassett noted that hospitalizations of children infected with COVID-19 continue to climb, although the omicron variant is considered less dangerous.

"Children become infected and some will be hospitalized, the immunization coverage in this group, the vaccination coverage, remains too low," Bassett said.

The governor reiterated New York's need to also boost numbers of vaccinations in nursing home residents and with children, specifically those aged 5 to 11 years old. The biggest hurdle for nursing home residents, Hochul said, continued to be family members declining vaccinations for relatives that couldn't consent to them.

Bassett said that within the 5-to-11 age group, about 27 percent have received one vaccination dose, while 75 percent of the general population has received the same amount of protection against COVID-19.

Both Hochul and Bassett encouraged parents to have their children vaccinated during the holiday season. In the first three weeks of December, the state saw 358 pediatric hospital admissions attributed to the virus. Bassett said none of those children had been vaccinated.

"Many people continue to think children don't become infected with COVID-19," Bassett said. "This is not true." Vaccinations were first made available to children aged 5 to 11 on Nov. 3.

Over the weekend, the amount of cases climbed and then dropped again. On Christmas Eve, around 50,000 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 statewide. That number plummeted to 36,000 on Saturday, but that figure was based on data readily available.

Hochul said that more accurate data is expected to be released later this week.

Two SUNY schools so far are delaying a return to campus following winter break as a result of the COVID-19 surge. Binghamton University and SUNY College of Environmental Sciences and Forestry will push back classes by roughly seven days.

As of last week, the University at Albany had not made a decision regarding a delay, but pressed students to obtain booster shots before returning to campus.

Public schools in Albany ended face-to-face learning earlier than intended before the holidays due to the uptick in cases, with in-person instruction scheduled to continue on Jan. 3.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Data released Monday indicated that 132 New Yorkers died from the virus over the weekend. On Sunday, approximately 69 people tested positive for COVID-19 in the Capital Region.

Hochul also announced Monday that the digital Excelsior Pass and Excelsior Pass Plus  which can be used as proof of vaccination  are now available to all military veterans who received their shots at a U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs hospital or health care facility in New York. That will enable nearly 117,000 eligible military veterans to have access to the electronic pass.


Eighteen months after the fuse to social justice in 2020 was lit, the coals of racial activism continue to burn hot.

Activists built an encampment across from Albany police's South Station this spring, where they refused to leave unless an officer was penalized for smacking a megaphone out of a demonstrator's hand.

The forceable clearing, which resulted in multiple activists arrested, dominated discussion and inflamed tensions between activists and police across the region.

Meanwhile in other Capital Region cities, the state Attorney General's Civil Rights Bureau opened an investigation into Saratoga Springs police's treatment of protesters that included detaining and shackling protesters on violations. Troy activists also called for the release of a secret report of the police shooting of Edson Thevenin. And in Schenectady, the year was dominated by an ugly political season that leaned heavily into racist tropes.

What does 2022 hold for the fight for racial justice?

Saratoga Springs

The strained relationship between activists and city officials was on full display at the last City Council meeting Dec. 21, which devolved into an ugly back and forth of name-calling between activists and outgoing Mayor Meg Kelly and Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan.

Thus, it comes to many as a welcome relief that the incoming administration has struck a tone of being more responsive, as well as respectful, of protesters.

The new city era begins on Jan. 1, 2022, when incoming Commissioner of Public Safety James Montagnino will release a report on the 2014 death of Darryl Mount, Jr., the 21-year-old biracial man who was severely injured during a 2013 police foot pursuit. Mount later died.

Activists have called for an internal police investigation, a move city officials were mum about until Montagnino promised to probe the incident.

The new council has also promised to ask county District Attorney Karen Heggen to investigate Mounts death, and vowed to establish a strong civilian review board of the police department to promote accountability and transparency.

Incoming Mayor Ron Kim said hes committed to those steps.

I think its a change not just for the BLM, but for the community and the city itself, Kim said. I sensed a real concern from people that the city is viewed as a racist city. We need some common ground here for BLM and everyone in our community.

The city's Black Lives Matter leader Lexis Figuereo said he hopes these milestones in racial justice can be achieved.

"We need answers about Darryl Mount," Figuereo said. "We need answers for the community and we need answers for his family. We need to implement the Civilian Review Board and all 50 points as asked for by the Police Reform Task Force. There are a lot of different changes that need to be done."

He also said the city must put together a community outreach board, which his organization wants to be a part of, to help those in need in the city, such as the homeless and those struggling with opioid addiction. He's also looking for charges against him and other protesters to be dropped.

"We will be campaigning for that," Figeureo said.

Albany

While demonstrators notched a clear victory this fall  nonetheless a rocky one  when voters approved a measure broadening civilian oversight over police, broader changes have been sluggish, activists say, and fallout has continued following the South Station clash.

The Albany Police Department was criticized for using tear gas last year to clear demonstrators, a display city officials later conceded was against internal protocol.

Activists will renew the push to ban usage of the chemical in 2022, moving a long-debated goal over the finish line.

Demonstrators are also calling for the release of an internal police department investigation into why officers covered up their badges when they cleared Arch Street outside of South Station.

Like all local governments statewide, the city was required by a state executive order to tweak operations based on community feedback.

A task force inked dozens of suggestions pledging to reform everything from the use of armored vehicles, to tightening up language for the use of deadly force, to opening internal channels between city agencies that would consistently look for disciplinary patterns involving the same officer.

Altogether, the citys Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative identifed 24 short-term action items designed to be implemented in between 12 to 18 months (others have a longer time frame for completion).

It's unclear how many have been implemented. City Hall did not respond to several requests for comment.

Activist Vacari Fox said transparency and accountability are her two key priorities heading into 2022.

On the citys police reform plan: I feel like its at a standstill, Fox said. I havent heard much about it since earlier this year.

Troy

After organizing a demonstration that drew 11,000 to downtown last year, Collar City activists have been working more quietly with the "forgotten" people of Troy, said Tasheca Medina of Equality for Troy, including providing coats for the homeless and Christmas presents.

People of color are supporting each other and not getting support from Mayor (Patrick) Madden at all, Medina said. We are doing what we can for people on the ground.

Equality for Troy has also been trying to obtain and release police disciplinary records, as well as push for a civilian police review board and the release of the secret report on a city police patrol sergeant's actions during a 2016 traffic stop that led to Edson Thevenin's death.

More rallies are planned for 2022.

They dont want transparency and dont want accountability, Medina said. We are over-policed and the police are very hostile residents, especially the underprivileged. Its really terrible. The only thing we can do is organize.

Schenectady

The landscape was similarly muted in the Electric City this year, with only a few major exchanges between police and activists, including a rally this spring that resulted in two demonstrators facing minor charges for chalking up the city police station.

[Schenectady] is less active but not any less problematic, said All of Us co-founder Shawn Young.

City Council briefly became the epicenter of debate when lawmakers attempted to censure a prominent racial justice advocate and school board member for her viewpoints on police funding.

While the race for City Council was marked by undercurrents of racism, it concluded with City Councils most diverse governing body ever, with four people of color.

Activists hope the more diverse makeup will lead to more equitable policies, and flagged several goals heading into 2022: including that community voices must be represented in planned workshops with the police, an action item of the citys police reform process.

Young hopes some of the pool of $53 million in federal relief funds allocated to Schenectady will be used to combat homelessness and to put a dent in the employment rate.

All of Us said it will continue to push for policy changes, including requiring anti-racism training for police. The nonprofit is also monitoring the citys new civilian panel that looks into rookie candidates to ensure the community is represented during those discussions.

City Police Chief Eric Clifford said his officers have completed a 10-week anti-racist challenge and more training is on deck.

The year has been one of conversation, he said, from officers fanning out across neighborhoods to speak with residents, to planting a pair of community engagement officers at Schenectady High School as part of a pilot program.

The panel vetting rookie cups is ongoing.

Every time we go through this process, we learn more about the candidates, Clifford said.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Artist Wayne Thiebaud, whose luscious, colorful paintings of cakes and San Francisco cityscapes combined sensuousness, nostalgia and a hint of melancholy, has died. He was 101.

His death was confirmed in a statement Sunday by his gallery, Acquavella, which didn't say where or when Thiebaud died.

Even at 101 years old, he still spent most days in the studio, driven by, as he described with his characteristic humility, this almost neurotic fixation of trying to learn to paint, the gallery's statement said.

The dean of California painters, Thiebaud drew upon his earlier career as a Disney animator, sign painter and commercial artist.

While some took his hot dogs, bakery counters, gum ball machines and candy apples to be examples of pop art, Thiebaud never considered himself to be in the mold of Andy Warhol, and he did not treat his subjects with the irony the pop movement championed.

Of course, youre thankful when anyone ever calls you anything, he once said. But I never felt much a part of it. I must say I never really liked pop art very much.

The real subject, many critics said, was paint and the act of painting itself: the shimmering color and sensuous texture of the thickly applied paint.

He laid on the paint so heavily that he often carved his signature into the painting instead of putting it on with the brush.

The oil paint is made to look like meringue, said Marla Prather, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art New York who helped organize a 2001 retrospective of the artists work. And with the cakes, you get this great sense of texture with the frosting. You just want to step close and lick it.

Many of his painted images were outlined in neon pinks and blues that made the objects appear to glow. Shadows were often a rich blue.

Its joyful, while a lot of modern art is angst-ridden, Prather said in a 2001 Associated Press interview.

Thiebaud told PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in 2000 that the subject of food was fun and humorous, and thats dangerous in the art world, I think. Its a world that takes itself very seriously, and of course, it is a serious enterprise, but I think also theres room for wit and humor because humor gives us, I think, a sense of perspective.

Gum ball machines were a favorite theme, he said, because a big round globe is so beautiful, and its really a kind of orchestration of circles of all kinds. But its also very sensuous, I think, and it offers wonderful opportunities for painting something like, almost like a bouquet of flowers.

In 2004, a New York Times writer praised his wry vision of modern consumerism and said, No one did more to reanimate the tired old genre of still life painting in the last half century than did Mr. Thiebaud with his paintings of industrially regimented food products.

Thiebaud told the NewsHour he preferred calling himself a painter, rather than an artist, because its like a priest referring to himself as a saint. Maybe its a little too early or hes not the one to decide that ... Being an artist I think is a very rare thing.

Special Investigation 147 NY dams are 'unsound,' potentially dangerous Thousands of dams have not been inspected in over 20 years.

Along with the sensuousness, there was sometimes an emptiness and melancholy reminiscent of Edward Hopper. He likened the feeling to the bright pathos of a circus clown.

In landscape, his most famous subject was the city of San Francisco, whose steep hills he portrayed in a fantasy-like way, with spectacular angles and stark shadows.

Originally, I painted right on the streets, trying to get some of the kind of drama I felt about the city and its vertiginous (dizzying) character, he told the NewsHour.

But that didnt seem to work ... The reality was one thing but the fantasy or the exploration of it was another.

Thiebaud was born in Mesa, Arizona, in 1920 and grew up in Sacramento, California. He started out as an animator for Walt Disney and later worked as a poster designer and commercial artist in California and New York before becoming a painter.

He also was a longtime professor at the University of California, Davis. He officially retired in 1991 but continued teaching one class a year.

___

Former AP writer Polly Anderson contributed biographical information to this report.
HOOSICK FALLS  More than seven years ago, a village resident launched a personal crusade to learn why there seemed to be a high rate of unusual cancers afflicting people in this small community.

Michael Hickey, 42, an insurance underwriter who grew up in Hoosick Falls, started his research after Isabel M. McGuire, a 48-year-old math teacher at Hoosick Falls High School, died from complications associated with melanoma.

McGuire died 14 months after the cancer death of Hickey's father, John, a village board member and former longtime factory worker at the Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics plant on McCaffrey Street, which sits on a hill not far from the underground wells that feed the village water plant.

That effort by Hickey, who discovered a toxic manufacturing chemical used by local factories had contaminated the community's water supplies, culminated this year with pending class-action settlements worth $89 million between multiple manufacturing companies, including Saint-Gobain, and thousands of residents across multiple Rensselaer County communities. The residents will also have access to long-term medical monitoring and the companies are paying for a new water supply that will supplant the contaminated wells near the Saint-Gobain plant, which had been a focus of the pollution.

For many current and former residents, the pending settlements will also compensate them with cash payments for the potential health consequences of their exposure to the chemicals, as well as the potential loss of property value.

"Its been, obviously, a really long road for me personally and the community as a whole," Hickey said last week. "But I think the outcome is better than we ever expected at this point. We got everything we were looking for from the beginning."

Hickey, who testified before Congress in 2019, said a focus of the attorneys and community leaders is to continue educating the public about the class-action settlements and to make sure that no one entitled to compensation or medical monitoring misses out.

The $65.25 million settlement reached by three of the companies blamed for polluting public and private water supplies in and around the village of Hoosick Falls was reached shortly before a federal judge approved the terms of a second settlement, for $23.5 million, with Tonoga Inc., which owns Taconic Plastics, in nearby Petersburgh.

The companies all for decades had manufactured products coated with perfluorinated chemicals, including those that contained perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA.

PFOA exposure has been linked to health problems, including testicular and kidney cancer and thyroid disease.

The discovery of the widespread pollution galvanized residents in the eastern Rensselaer County communities, and southern Vermont, who became organized and successfully pushed legislation to strengthen laws governing clean water, including monitoring smaller water systems  for under 10,000 people  and notifying those individuals of contaminants.

Previously, regulations did not require the operators of public water supplies to test for PFOA. In New York, PFOA had been classified by the state Health Department as an "unspecified organic contaminant" and the enforceable drinking water level of 50,000 parts per trillion had far exceeded the 400-ppt level advised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Both of those thresholds have since been lowered, in part, due to the outcry that followed the Hoosick Falls' contamination  a fallout that included hearings by New York's Legislature and in Congress.

Hickey emerged as a folk hero in the tight-knit community when his role in detecting and alerting village leaders about the dangerous chemical was revealed in a Times Union story in December 2016. For more than a year before that story was published, Hickey said, he had met resistance from municipal leaders when he urged them to take more urgent action to warn the public that laboratory sampling showed elevated levels of PFOA in the public drinking-water supply.

"There's still some clerical stuff that's being done, but I think that overall the community is in such a better place than I ever imagined that we would be," he said.
The father and son who died in a suspected murder-suicide in Letterkenny, Co Donegal, were inseparable, mourners at their funeral Mass heard.

Daniel Duffy (88) and his son Damien (50) were found dead at the home they shared at Windyhall, Letterkenny.

They were buried together in St Marys Cemetery, Ramelton on Monday afternoon.

They were always together, from Damiens childhood right up to their untimely and unimagined end, Mgr Kevin Gillespie told Mondays Funeral Mass at St Eunans Cathedral.

Daniel and Damien did everything together. They were, lifelong, a great team and it makes what has happened all the harder to understand or to accept.

The bodies of the father and son were found at around 2pm on Thursday. The body of Daniel Duffy was found inside the house while the body of Damien Duffy was located in a car parked at the property.

Officers believe that Damien smothered his father with a pillow before being poisoned with carbon monoxide in his car.

Daniel Duffy had worked from the age of 15 until his retirement at 65 with the ESB and had been one of those who helped install electricity on Arranmore Island.

His tremendous wit and neighbourliness drew people to him, Mgr Gillespie said.

Dan Duffy was so much loved as a father, as a friend and as a neighbour. He loved people and he loved company. Time and again, it was said if you called to Duffys for a brief visit, you always stayed longer than intended. Even if you refused the tea, it was placed before you anyway. You would enjoy his storytelling with that great wit.

His heart was open, full of joy, with tremendous generosity.

His great intelligence and his great practical and electrical know-how meant that he was the first port of call for repairs and conundrums of any kind, It was a quality shared by Damien and Dan took great pride in Damiens ability.

Mgr Gillespie quoted from the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem No worst, there is none. Pitched past pitch of grief: Comforter, where, where is your comforting? Mary, mother of us, where is your relief?

He said: It is hard to be sure if our anchor is firm enough for these heavy seas. We may feel that we shall be carried away by an unknown currant of despair or grief.

The family, Mgr Gillespie said, had approached the last days days with profound love.

He said: Caught as we are between waves of conflicting emotions. Love, caught in turns by disbelief, no doubt at times by anger and by bewilderment.

If the waves of grief can talk to us about bewilderment, we can but stand back and wonder at the cliffs of fall, frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed that took hold of Damien.

"In the midst of many emotions, we will have resiling from the questions of responsibility or from truth. We need a great deal of humility before forces that can take hold of even a loving son, a friend and neighbour.

Mgr Gillespie spoke how the familys deep Christian faith had allowed them to approach the tragedy with equanimity, in a measured fashion, with deep respect and with courage and strength.

It has transformed the moment into on which, away from unwanted attention, has been lived with the light of love winning out over the instinct for justice, Mgr Gillespie said.

Among the floral tributes at Mondays funeral was one spelling out Papa from Daniel Duffys grandchildren.

Gardai are not seeking anyone in connection with the deaths.

Daniel Duffy had not been seen in the area in close-on a week and investigating officers are attempting to piece together a timeline of events.

The bodies were removed to Letterkenny University Hospital, where SallyAnne Collis, a State Pathologist carried out post-mortem examinations.

They were predeceased by wife and mother, Christine, daughter and sister Caroline (Callaghan) and brother Alan Graham. They are survived by daughters and sisters Ann-Marie Giles, Jacqueline McCready and their families.

The Mayor of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District, Councillor Jimmy Kavanagh, said the people of Letterkenny were very, very shocked by the tragedy.

It is an awful tragedy and the sadness is heightened by the fact that were in the Christmas season, Councillor Kavanagh said.

Everyone is in shock at this news. Its very hard to take in and come to terms with.
Right now we remember hottie Tati, retire her old school goodness for the purposes of this blog and take a peek at pop culture, community news and pop culture.



Check-it . . .

Local Needful Things Postscript

'Half of my stuff came in last week': Supply chain crisis impacts small business holiday sales MISSION, Kan. - The first two months of the new year are the slowest months of the year for small businesses, which is why they rely on the holiday rush to help them stay afloat. But the impact of the global pandemic continues to trickle down, and for some Kansas small businesses, the supply chain crisis got in the way of making money.

Meet New Boss

EDCKC Welcomes Kyana Bowers to the Business Development Team Kyana Bowers is the newly appointed Business Development Officer at EDCKC. Kyana will directly manage the Clay County area, helping local businesses and organizations connect to our incentives, workforce development, and ecosystem connections. Kyana's professional experience includes 17 years in education administration, workforce, and economic development.

State-Run TV Decides Truth

Trailer: The Filter Ep. 3 Teaser on Time and Projects In episode four, Ieshia Downton and Vicky Diaz-Camacho look at how belief systems are shaped and how misinformation sprouts in politics and the most recent public health crisis. Heres a taste of what youll hear when the episode drops on Dec. 29.

Tati Well Remembered

Tati Neves Claims Bieber Is "Good in Bed" and "Well Endowed" Tati Neves' press tour continues. The Brazilian model and bodybuilder who filmed Justin Bieber sleeping in bed last week is quoted extensively in a new interview with British tabloid The Sun - in which the 27-year-old claims that, yes, she and Bieber, 20, slept together, and provides intimate details of their alleged tryst.

Build Back Busted?!?!

Jayapal urges Biden to take executive action to deliver Build Back Better for Americans Rep. Pramila Jayapal, the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, penned an op-ed published on Sunday urging President Biden to use "executive action" to "make clear to those who hinder Build Back Better that the White House and Democrats will deliver for Americans."

MAGA SUSPECTED?!?!

Christmas Day Bombing Raised Fears of Donald Trump Conspiracists as Terrorists In this daily series, Newsweek explores the steps that led to the January 6 Capitol Riot. At 5:30 a.m. on December 25, Christmas Day, a large mobile home detonated on a deserted stretch of 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, nearly collapsing one building and damaging 41 others, shattering windows and sending shrapnel into the early morning street.

Vlad Decides Fate Of Earth

Putin to ponder options if West fails to meet demands regarding Ukraine Russia President Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Putin to ponder options if West fails to meet demands regarding Ukraine Ukraine president, US lawmakers huddle amid tensions with Russia Thousands of Russian troops withdrawing from Ukraine border: report MORE said he will ponder a slew of options if Western powers fail to meet his demands for security guarantees as NATO expands to Ukraine, The Associated Press reported .

MSM Shares Talking Points

Want to sound more intelligent? Avoid these 15 words and phrases that are 'embarrassingly outdated,' say grammar experts As 2021 comes to an end, it's the perfect time for reflection. And let's be frank: Many of us wish the people in our lives would reflect on their communication skills. These days, there are some embarrassingly outdated buzzwords and cliches that make everyone want to scream.

Digging Deep For Drama

Are the Oscars Finally Ready to Embrace Porn? It is no secret that the Oscars are decided upon by a coastal cabal of predominantly old white men who dictate their emails. That's why male vets, attractive young women, and sentimentalist fare like keep taking home the gold. The Academy that votes on the Oscars is also comprised of people in Hollywood who are total suckers for self-worship.

Good Stuff Debuts In Grandview

Housewife offers scratch-made breakfast and lunch from a historic building in old downtown Grandview The result of those whirlwind efforts is a cafe that is bright and comfortable with white walls, large street-facing windows and a number of large houseplants that add life to the space. Sorge refers to it as "comfortable, L.A. chic." The restaurant seats about 35 diners at custom-made natural wood tables.

Ballers Offer Best

6 winners and 5 losers from the Chiefs' win over the Steelers it was another week - and another big win for the Kansas City Chiefs. The 36-10 domination of the Piitsburgh Steelers - a team thought to be a contender - was even more impressive, considering that it was played without many of the team's starters due to COVID-19.

Another Peek At This Week

Your Storm Track 5 Daily Forecast Cloudy, breezy and warmer today. Temperatures will soar into the low 60s this afternoon despite the clouds and slight chance of rain. Any rain that develops will be very light, almost a drizzle in some spots by midday into the early evening hours. Little to no accumulation expected.

Alok & Steve Aoki - Typical is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
And there is news of another collaboration...this time the Air Guard working with the Prison
On December 26, Ukraine reported five ceasefire violations by the Russian occupation forces.

Thats according to the press center of the Joint Forces Operation, Ukrinform reports.

"In the direction of Pivdenne, Pisky, Novoluhanske, and Shumy, the invaders fired grenade launchers of various systems. Near Talakivka, the enemy flew an unmanned aerial vehicle, which dropped VOG-17 shots, the statement reads.

A soldier with the Joint Forces was wounded in combat. The serviceman, who is reported to be in grave condition, was evacuated to a medical facility.

As of 7:00 Kyiv time on Monday, December 27, Ukraine command reported another ceasefire violation by the Russian occupation forces. The enemy opened fire employing large-caliber machine guns and other firearms toward the village of New York.

A serviceman was wounded in the said enemy attack. He was hospitalized in a serious condition.

It is noted that Ukrainian defenders returned fire without using weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements, forcing the enemy to cease shelling.

"The servicemen with the Joint Forces are monitoring the situation and continue to fulfill their tasks to repel and deter Russias armed aggression," the JFO Headquarters said.

im
In the event of further Russian aggression against Ukraine, Moscow will face new sanctions with far-reaching consequences.

Thats according to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke in an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Ukrinform reports.

In particular, the top official said "any further aggression by Russia against Ukraine will be subject to sanctions with far-reaching consequences."

According to von der Leyen, Moscow must cease its provocations.

"They (new sanctions - ed.) are ready. European countries are united and coordinate with the United States and NATO. We seek good relations with Russia, but it depends on its actions. Its provocations must stop," she said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russia has recently amassed more than 100,000 troops near the border with Ukraine. These maneuvers are causing great concern among Western governments over the fears of Moscow's new incursion. NATO has warned Russia that such a move would have far-reaching "strategic and economic" consequences.

On December 25, the Command of Russias Southern Military District announced the return to their permanent bases of more than 10,000 servicemen who had been on a training mission near the Ukrainian border.

Photo: Twitter.com/vonderleyen

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Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba says Russia dictates the situation in the Sea of Azov and uses the area as a war theater.

The minister addressed the issue in a comment to The Washington Post, as reported by Ukrinform.

In terms of security, the Sea of Azov is dominated by Russia, Kuleba told The Washington Post. And in case of war, it will be heavily used by them to put pressure on our southern cities on the Azov shore.

Under the current circumstances, said the foreign minister, of course Russia dictates the situation in the Azov and basically uses it as a war theater.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, Ukraines Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa said from next year, Ukraine would start receiving from the U.S. Mark VI high-speed combat boats. A number of those are set to be delivered to the countrys port of Berdyansk in the Sea of Azov. Therefore, Ukraine does not rule out that the boats would be heading to their future base from the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait.
In 2022, Polish President Andrzej Duda will be more proactive in relations with Ukraine and Lithuania leaders.

This was stated in a comment to the PAP news agency by Jakub Kumoch, Secretary of State in the Polish Presidents Chancellery, Head of the International Policy Bureau, Ukrinoform reports with reference to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

"We plan to be even more pro-active in relations with Ukraine and Lithuania (the countries that are part of the Lublin Triangle along with Poland - ed.), support reforms in Moldova and Georgia, and fight for territorial integrity," Kumoch said.

He also noted that Duda would pay considerable attention to the Three Seas Initiative, which he launched, and support the Belarusian opposition, led by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.

The official said that next year, Duda will also be proactive beyond Europe. Noting that Poland is one of Europes largest countries, it can afford more global policies. According to Kumoch, the Polish leader plans to be more proactive in sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, next year Duda will visit a number of countries West Africa and South America.

Read also: Lublin Triangle leaders call on international community to step up sanctions against Russia

The state secretary also said that the president of Poland would like to receive U.S. President Joe Biden in Warsaw next year. He stressed that the United States remains Poland's most important ally, although certain differences exist between Warsaw and Washington.

The president called the attitude to German-Russian cooperation in the context of the Nord Stream 2 project one of the biggest such differences.

im
Today (27th December 2021), Gold Rates in Pakistan is 103,400 per 10 grams, and the rate of Gold is 120,600 per tola. See prices of 22k, 24k, 21k and 18 karat Gold Prices of all cities here.

Gold Rate in Pakistan today on 27th December 2021 - Per Tola Gold Rate in Pakistan today is 120,600 for 24-Karat, 110,545 for 22-Karat.

Per 10 gram Gold Rate in Pakistan today is 103,400 for 24-Karat, 94,783 for 22-Karat.

UrduPoint brings you the latest prices for gold rates, silver rates on a daily basis and updates the rates every hour.

Gold Rate in Pakistan Today

Karachi is the center of the gold market in Pakistan because Gold prices are set by the Karachi Sarafa Market. All other cities set the gold price according to the Karachi Sarafa Bazar Association for Gold Price. According to the below table, the gold rates in different cities such as Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, Multan and Peshawar are the same.

Location 24k 10g 24k per tola 22k 10g Pakistan Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Karachi Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Lahore Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Islamabad Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Rawalpindi Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Peshawar Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Quetta Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783 Sialkot Rs 103,400 Rs 120,600 Rs 94,783
Cape Town, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Dec, 2021 ) :South Africans of all races stopped by Cape Town's St George's Cathedral on Sunday to pay their respects to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the anti-apartheid icon who has died aged 90.

"His significance supersedes the boundaries of being an Anglican," said mourner Brent Goliath, who broke down in tears outside the old stone building.

He told AFP he had been an altar boy and had met Tutu several times.

"I was very emotional this morning when I heard that he'd passed away. I thank God that he has been there for us," he said, wiping his eyes as he placed a bouquet of pink flowers under Tutu's photo.

In the cathedral yard, Father Michael Weeder, dean of the cathedral, paced up and down answering phone calls and speaking with workers shortly after Sunday morning mass.

"He died a holy death," he told AFP near a makeshift shrine being prepared for the public to leave flowers.

Despite the loss, he said "it comes with some relief to the family because Father Desmond has been in a lot of pain over these past weeks".

Members of Tutu's family could be seen gathering and embracing each other in his former Cape Town residence behind a police security cordon.

- 'He fought for us' - Dozens of South Africans stopped at the cathedral, even though many people would not yet have heard of his death -- it is customary to switch off and spend the day after Christmas on the beach, rather than pacing the city.

Among those paying respects was Miriam Mokwadi, a 67-year-old retired nurse, who said the Nobel laureate "was a hero to us, he fought for us".

"We are liberated due to him. If it was not for him, probably we would have been lost as a country. He was just good," said Mokwadi, clutching the hand of her granddaughter.

Daphney Ramakgopa, 58, a local government worker, spoke of the loss the entire country was feeling.

"We looked up to him as the adviser to everyone in the country, especially our politicians," she said.

Many passersby remembered Tutu not just for his role in the fight against apartheid, but for how he has continued to hold the democratic government to account, constantly calling out corruption in the ruling African National Congress party.

"I can't think of anybody with that kind of moral compass" left in South Africa, said Aki Khan, a 64-year-old sound engineer and veteran of the apartheid struggle.

"But I really do think his message has filtered through to young people." Cape Town's famous Table Mountain is due to be lit up in purple from 2000 GMT until the date of the funeral, which has yet to be confirmed.

- 'Won't forget this man' - In the township of Soweto near Johannesburg, which became synonymous with apartheid-era repression, youngsters took selfies outside Tutu's former home, just a few metres from Nelson Mandela's house.

Local resident Lerato remembered Tutu jogging around the surrounding streets in the morning and called his death "a big blow".

"This street is the only one in the world in which two Nobel Peace prize winners have lived. You can then imagine us, the neighbours around, we are really touched by his passing," she said.

Another resident, Samba, recalled seeing Tutu when he came to have a drink. "He was a down-to-earth person. It was great. I won't forget this man," he said.

"His legacy will be his love for all people. He always said that God is not the God of Christians, but God is God of all people," added Stephen Moreo, the Anglican bishop of Johannesburg.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Monday that National Security Council meeting has approved the country's first national security policy

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Dec, 2021 ) :Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Monday that National Security Council meeting has approved the country's first national security policy.

In a tweet, he said that the policy would be presented at the cabinet meeting tomorrow ( Tuesday).
(@FahadShabbir)

The top court has directed that departmental and criminal proceeding be initiated against all the officials involved in its approval, wondering that the building structure is still standing there.

KARACHI: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Dec 27th, 2021) The top court on Monday ordered authorities to register a case against officials who were behind getting the 15-storey Nasla Tower approved in Karachi.

The apex court directed that departmental and criminal proceedings be initiated against all the officials involved in its approval.

A SC two-member bench comprising Chief justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin passed he orders while hearing multiple matters including unauthorised and illegal construction, encroachments of amenity plots, conversion of residential properties into commercial ones and the issue of two private hospitals allegedly running their health facilities on amenity plots at the apex court's Karachi registry.

Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan, Advocate General of Sindh Salman Talib Ud Din, Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon, Karachi Administrator Murtaza Wahab and senior Director of the anti-encroachment department Bashir Siddiqui were present there in the court.

A matter regarding demolition of Nasla Tower, a petition filed in 2014 seeking possession of Hindu Gymkhana, applications about rehabilitation of affectees dislocated due to the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi and the cases regarding the Karachi Circular Railway were fixed for hearing at the Supreme Court Karachi registry on Monday.

The Advocate General informed the court that steps had not been taken up so far to provide compensation to the affectees of Nasla Tower.

As a result, the SC ordered the seizure of 780 square yards of the land Nasla Tower was constructed upon and directed the Sindh High Court's (SHC) official assignee to stop its sale.

During the hearing, Karachi Commissioner Iqbal Memon said that five of the building's floors had been demolished and 400 labourers were working on the task. "Four hundred people can not manage to demolish a single building?" questioned the chief justice.

On it, the commissioner said that the building's internal structure had been demolished and only the external could be seen.

At this the CJP remarked, "Such a building is torn down in one hour in the world, ".

The CJP asked, "What are you people doing?".

The CJP also asked the commissioner about mentioning that the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) obstructed the demolition work in a report that he submitted to the apex court. On it, the commissioner said that they had stopped people in a civilized manner, ABAD (Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan) also protested and they dealt peacefully with the them.

Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin asked the commissioner as to why he had written that a Samma tv report was interfering.

The commissioner said that they dealt the affairs in a peaceful manner and Section 144 was imposed to stop the people from approaching the building.

Justice Amin remarked that the issue is that non-state actors are activated owing to the weakness of the state. However, he remarked: "The bottom line is that the building is still standing,".
WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2021) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has appointed Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat to serve as special adviser on Holocaust issues, a similar position the diplomat held during the Trump administration, the State Department said on Monday.

"Secretary Blinken has appointed Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat as his Special Adviser on Holocaust Issues," the State Department said in a press release. "He served as an Expert Advisor on Holocaust Issues during the Trump Administration."

Before becoming an expert advisor on Holocaust in October 2020 under former US President Donald Trump, Eizenstat served as a deputy secretary of the treasury, under secretary of state for economic affairs, ambassador to the European Union, and is currently a senior law counsel at the Covington & Burling law firm, the release said.

During the Clinton administration, Eizenstat was responsible for negotiating agreements with the Swiss, Germans, Austrians, and French on the restitution of property, compensation payments to slave and forced laborers, and other issues, the release said.

Eizenstat's main task in the new position will be to offer policy advice on Holocaust-related matters, according to the release.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2021) UK Minister of State for Security and Borders Damian Hinds has listed Russia, China and Iran among "hostile nations," citing cyber activity concerns and alleged disinformation campaigns.

"The three countries that I mentioned to you have physical human capability, they have a big cyber presence, they're able to deploy at scale," Hinds told The Telegraph on Sunday, claiming that China, Russia and Iran "are involved in multiple ways" in terms of spies on the ground, cyber attacks, soldiers on standby, and disinformation campaigns.

The minister added that North Korea is a fourth hostile state.

At the start of December, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service said that the provocative and groundless statements by the head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service, Richard Moore, about the alleged threats emanating from Russia, have hampered the chances of a possible Russian-UK dialogue.

Moore said at the end of November that London was seeing serious threats emanating from Russia and was going to make every effort to contain and repel the threats.

Moscow has repeatedly stressed that Russia does not threaten any country and does not plan any attacks, calling such allegations groundless.
(@FahadShabbir)

Global travel chaos that convulsed the Christmas weekend spilled into Monday with major flight cancellations impacting millions returning from holiday break, as Covid-19 cases surge to record levels in Europe and half a dozen US states

New York, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Dec, 2021 ) :Global travel chaos that convulsed the Christmas weekend spilled into Monday with major flight cancellations impacting millions returning from holiday break, as Covid-19 cases surge to record levels in Europe and half a dozen US states.

Some 11,000 flights have been scrapped worldwide since Friday, and tens of thousands more delayed, during one of the year's busiest travel periods -- with multiple airlines saying spikes in cases of the Omicron variant have caused staffing shortages.

Effects rippled worldwide, with about 2,500 flights already cancelled Monday and 800 more on Tuesday, according to flight tracker FlightAware.

The highly transmissible Omicron strain has sent cases skyrocketing, once again disrupting lives and a global economy battered by almost two years of the pandemic -- with England's Premier League the latest to announce that a record 103 players and staff had tested positive in the past week.

As several countries revive unpopular lockdowns, France's President Emmanuel Macron was set to announce new measures to combat the surge after nationwide infections hit record-high figures -- in line with Denmark and Iceland which also reported record daily cases.

Governments worldwide are scrambling to boost vaccination -- stressing that the overwhelming majority of hospitalizations and deaths are occurring among the unvaccinated.

But in the United States, cases are already on track to reach record highs in January, fueled by large pockets of unvaccinated residents as well as lack of access to quick and easy testing.

President Joe Biden said Monday some US hospitals could be "overrun," but that the country is generally well prepared to meet the latest surge and Americans needn't "panic." In a virtual meeting hosted by the White House with a couple dozen state governors and top health advisors, Biden stressed that the rapid spread of the Omicron variant would not have the same impact as the initial outbreak of Covid-19 a year ago or the Delta surge this year.

"Omicron is a source of concern, but it should not be a source of panic," he said.

Biden's administration has vowed to ramp up the availability of tests in coming weeks -- and the president repeated that pledge Monday.

US states including Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, as well as the island territory of Puerto Rico, have reported more coronavirus cases in the past seven days that at any other point in the pandemic, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

"Clearly we're on a vertical climb right up," top White House pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci told National Public Radio on Monday, addressing the Times data.
The situation on the border with Afghanistan is alarming and worrying, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon

ST. PETERSBURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2021) The situation on the border with Afghanistan is alarming and worrying, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon.

"Tajikistan is one of our loyal, reliable close allies. We are developing relations very actively in all areas. This also applies to security issues. Now the situation on the border with Afghanistan causes a certain alarm and concern," Putin said.

He noted that he shared these concerns, and Russia, among other things, helped in strengthening the defense capability of Tajikistan.

Putin announced deliveries of Russian military equipment to Tajikistan to strengthen the country's borders and ensure security against the backdrop of the situation in Afghanistan.

"We are actively working to strengthen the defense capability of Tajikistan. Recently, in accordance with our agreements, the necessary supplies of weapons and equipment have been carried out in order to strengthen the armed forces of Tajikistan, so that Tajikistan could effectively counter any threats that come from outside in relation to your countries," Putin said.

Rahmon expressed his readiness to discuss a variety of issues.

"We are actively developing cultural and humanitarian ties, closely cooperating in the field of security. I am ready to discuss with you the state and prospects of our relations, international and regional issues with an emphasis on Afghan issues," he said.
White House pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci on Monday advised the US public not to hold New Year's Eve parties in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th December, 2021) White House pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci on Monday advised the US public not to hold New Year's Eve parties in order to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus Omicron variant.

"I would stay away from that," Fauci said told CNN when asked about whether residents should hold New Year's Eve parties. "(W)hen you're talking about a New Year's Eve party, we have 30, 40, 50 people celebrating.

You do not know the status of their vaccination, I would recommend strongly stay away from that this year."

However, Fauci approved of small family gatherings with individuals who are fully vaccinated.

Last week, the United States reported an average of 150,000 new daily coronavirus cases and no deaths.

Health officials in South Africa, where the Omicron variant was first detected, have said infections occurred in vaccinated individuals and the cases are mild.
ERDC, The University of Southern Mississippi work to re-establish Gulf reefs

Tue, 12/21/2021 - 14:59pm | By: Jason Scott

Dr. Amy Yarnall, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education postdoctoral fellow, and Austin Draper, graduate student at The University of Southern Mississippi, pull in a gill net for Gulf Sturgeon. (Photo credit: Kati Wright, The University of Southern Mississippi) Kasea Price, research technician at The University of Southern Mississippi, deploys an acoustic telemetry receiver to monitor for fish movements around open bottom habitats near Bay of St. Louis. (Photo credit: Alfonso Cohuo, The University of Southern Mississippi) Benthic infaunal sample. (Photo credit: Michael Andres, The University of Southern Mississippi) Kasea Price, research technician at The University of Southern Mississippi, monitoring a tagged juvenile Gulf Sturgeon prior to release. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Greenheck, The University of Southern Mississippi) The University of Southern Mississippi graduate students and research technicians hold an adult Gulf Sturgeon captured in the Pascagoula River. Pictured from left: Elizabeth Greenheck, Alfonso Cohuo, Austin Draper, Kasea Price, and Kati Wright. (Photo credit: Michael Andres, The University of Southern Mississippi)

VICKSBURG, Miss.  The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), the University of Kentucky and the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) continue work on a three-year collaboration to create oyster reef habitat in the northern Gulf of Mexico for experimental purposes.

The projects primary objective is to investigate methods for optimizing oyster habitat restoration in the area which would ultimately lead to oyster population recovery and enhancement of ecosystem services in coastal waters. A secondary objective is to evaluate whether the creation of oyster reefs as part of coastal restoration activities has any impacts on the use of critical habitat by Gulf sturgeon, a federally protected species.

A robust oyster population is vital to the ecology and the economy of the region.

In early 2021, the research team began evaluating potential reef sites off the coast of Mississippi. Specifically, they were looking for areas that offer favorable environmental conditions for oysters within the footprint of Gulf sturgeon habitat.

The plan is to create oyster structures at two sites. Each site will have two 50-acre leases, with each lease having eight one-acre reef plots, said Dr. Safra Altman, a research ecologist with ERDCs Environmental Laboratory and ERDCs technical lead for the project. We believe we have now identified two sites that will allow us to best fulfill both project objectives.

Currently, all of Mississippis waters within the Mississippi Sound are federally designated critical habitat for Gulf sturgeon. However, exactly how the fish use and interact with the various habitat subtypeslike open bottom or oyster reefwithin the Mississippi Sound is unknown.

The project aims to determine what positive and negative impacts, if any, occur to Gulf sturgeon critical habitat by quantifying changes in use by acoustic telemetry tagging studies, sediment characteristics and Gulf sturgeon prey density in response to oyster reef creation. This data will allow resource managers to make informed decisions on how to best achieve restoration while simultaneously conserving Gulf sturgeon.

The research team submitted permit applications for the proposed reef sites earlier this year. The MDMR held a public comment period in early November and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be accepting public comments soon to give citizens the opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed reef site locations before construction begins.

Getting the permits reviewed and approved is the next major step of this project, said Dr. Read Hendon, director of the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory and USM project lead. However, our researchers have already started data collection in and around the proposed reef sites so that we have baseline information on ecological conditions before the reefs are created.

Dr. Mike Andres, assistant research professor at USM, and graduate students from his lab are taking the lead on the Gulf sturgeon component of the project. The USM and ERDC researchers are currently tagging juvenile and subadult Gulf sturgeon in the Pearl and Pascagoula rivers in expectation of using these various habitats.

Dr. Andres lab, along with ERDC researchers and collaborators from the University of Kentucky sampled sediments and potential Gulf sturgeon prey species in Mississippi Sound during August to gather preliminary data for these regions, Altman said. An acoustic telemetry array over open-bottom habitats where oyster lease sites are expected to be created and over oyster reef habitats was deployed to quantify habitat characteristicssediment composition and prey itemsand Gulf sturgeon use prior to creation of the oyster reef treatments.

Gulf sturgeon are not the only species to be influenced by reef creation. The USM team will also be tagging finfish species known to feed on oyster reefs, such as black drum and sheepshead. The acoustic receiver arrays established over different habitats are expected to yield additional data from other USM and MDMR collaborators tagging other recreational fish species within the Mississippi Sound, including red drum, southern flounder and Atlantic tripletail.
This Christmas Aid to the Church in Need has decided to focus on Christian refugees and internally displaced people in Africa and the Middle East.

By Lisa Zengarini

In the runup to Christmas, the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has launched a new campaign to support Christian refugees and internally displaced people in Africa and the Middle East.

Burkina Faso

One of the countries where the international Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians operates is Burkina Faso, where the number of internally displaced people has increased to 1.4 million due to escalating attacks by jihadi insurgents.

ACN and its local partners are trying to assure pastoral care, meals and religious education for children. Growing insecurity has made it extremely difficult for priests, nuns and catechists to reach many parishes to celebrate Mass and teach catechism. In fact, most pastoral activities have been suspended. In this context the radio has become the main means of communication especially in rural areas.

Father Victor Ouedraogo, director of the Communication center of Notre Dame du Sahel in the Diocese of Ouahigouya, has highlighted to ACN the crucial role played by radio programmes in promoting social cohesion and in reconcilling communities amid growing tensions. This is why the production of local radio programmes is one of the projects ACN has decided to support with its Christmas campaign. These programmes will allow Christians and the local population to hear appeals for tolerance and peaceful coexistence by our religious leaders. Catholics will also be able hear the Gospel and the teachings of the Church despite this difficult context, Fr Ouedraogo said.

Mozambique

Mozambique is another African country facing islamist insurgence, notably in the northern Province of Cabo Delgado from which over 800.000 people have been displaced. Violence broke out in late 2017, when a local jihadi group who has declared its allegiance to the so-called Islamic State, launched an insurgence, and has escalated over the past two years.

The province is one of the poorest in Mozambique, but is very rich in gas and rubies which have attracted many foreign corporations, but also the jihadi militias, who want to introduce the Islamic law and create a caliphate. The militias have attacked villages, churches, killed civilians and soldiers to take over strategic infrastructures and extractive mines. The attacks have become more and more violent and target both Christians and Muslims.

Many displaced people from Cabo Delgado have taken refuge in parishes in Pemba. The collections of the ACN Christmas campaign will be used to further support these people.

Syria

The campaign will also help support ACNs ongoing relief work for Syrian Christians. Since the outbreak of the war in 2011 millions of people have fled Syria and there are about 7 million displaced people living in the country. After suffering the war and atrocities by the ISIS, Syrians are now bearing the brunt of the economic crisis and of international sanctions and 13,5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance. Many Syrians have fled to Lebanon, where local parishes are providing pastoral care, shelter and healthcare with the support of ACN.

According to Father Hugo Fabian Alaniz, an Argentinian priest working with displaced people in Aleppo, it is a moral duty for the Church to support Christians in the Middle East ,since it was them who first spread the Gospel in the world.
Hungarian churches and charities are distributing support to thousands of impoverished children, including those who lost parents amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.

By Stefan J. Bos

With authorities reporting a high coronavirus death toll, churches have begun reaching out to impoverished children in Hungary.

The Hungarian Baptist Charity said it collected nearly 51,000 individual donations packed in shoeboxes as Christmas presents to children in poor families.

It noted that some 10,000 donations had poured in the last two days of the popular Shoe Box Campaign, held for the 18th time this year.

Some donated boxes were also sent to ethnic Hungarian children in neighboring Romania and Ukraine.

It was a bit of cheer for children, including those who lost parents, attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.

Orphans foundation

Authorities say the coronavirus-related death toll is approaching 40,000 on a population of nearly 10 million people. Most are elderly with underlying health conditions.

However, the figures prompted Hungarys president and the First Lady to establish ahead of Christmas the Regoczi Foundation, named after Catholic priest Istvan Regoczi.

Throughout his life, he cared for orphans, including when he saved Jewish children from the Nazis in World War Two.

Inspired by the late priest, Hungarian President Janos Ader and First Lady Anita Herczegh said their foundation provides long-term and personalized support to some 1,000 children orphaned by the coronavirus. They even raised nearly 1 million euro in recent days in donations through national television.

Store goods

With faith-based initiatives mounting, a large chain store joined the effort by providing the Hungarian Red Cross some 34 tonnes of goods for some 10,000 people and families in need.

The Red Cross said the goods include durable food, sanitary and hygienic supplies, sweets, and toys donated by customers in 24 department stores.

Though Hungary is a European Union country, it still suffers from the legacy of decades of Communist rule and its transition towards a market economy.

Critics say that despite proclaimed pro-family policies by the government, social structures are still lacking in Hungary and other former Communist nations, with millions still living in poverty.

But organizers suggested that many were encouraged during this weekends Christmas charity to remain hopeful regardless of lifes challenges.
Vietnams Ministry of Finance (MoF) issued Circular 100/2021/TT-BTC (Circular 100) which amended certain articles under Circular 40 on value-added tax (VAT), personal income tax (PIT), and tax administration for business households and individuals. Circular 100 comes into effect on January 1, 2022.

A significant element of Circulars 40 and 100 surrounds the issue of whether e-commerce platforms should declare and submit taxes from online transactions on behalf of businesses and individuals. Further, Circular 40 has set the threshold for the annual taxable revenue for households and individuals.

What are the amendments under Circular 100?

Under Circular 100, e-commerce organizations are not required to declare and pay taxes on behalf of individual sellers without authorization from January 1, 2022. This means that e-commerce platforms are only required to pay tax on behalf of businesses if they are authorized. E-commerce platforms can pay tax on behalf of businesses monthly or quarterly and will only need to do it once.

If the e-commerce organization does not pay taxes on behalf of the individual seller, the tax department will work with the e-commerce service in sharing information of the business individuals on the platform. Information that is provided includes name, owner, tax code, address, email, phone, sales revenue, and so on.

In addition, individuals who engage in property leasing with annual rental revenue of VND 100 million (US$4,364) or less, and the rental period is less than a year, are also not subject to PIT or VAT. Individuals with a monthly average of more than VND 8.33 million (US$365) are still subject to tax even if the lease period is less than a year as per Circular 40.

What are the provisions under Circular 40?

In June 2021, Vietnams Ministry of Finance issued Circular No. 40/2021/TT-BTC (Circular 40) which provides guidelines on PIT, VAT, and tax administration for businesses and individuals and replaced Circular 92.

Annual taxable revenue

Business households and business individuals with annual revenue of VND 100 million (US$4,364) or less are not subject to PIT or VAT.

E-commerce players subject to taxation

Individuals earning an income from e-commerce activities or those that provide digital products or services, and individuals having an income from the transfer of Vietnamese domains of .vn, are subject to taxation.

Taxation calculation method

Under Circular 40, there are three methods of conducting the calculation and declaration of taxes for individuals; the periodic declaration method; the separate (ad-hoc) method; and the presumptive method.

The periodic declaration method is now applicable to:

Large-scale businesses; and

Businesses that are not considered large-scale but choose to pay tax under the declaration method.

The criteria for large-scale businesses are those that have 10 or more employees and revenue of VND 3 billion (US$131,160) or more if they are in the agriculture sector, and VND 10 billion (US$437,000) or more if they operate in commerce or services.

Organizations responsible for declaring and paying taxes on behalf of individuals

Circular 40 provides that certain income paying organizations must declare and pay tax on behalf of businesses and households and individuals in the following cases:
The Solomon Islands, a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean home to roughly 680,000 people, has faced civil unrest in recent months. Violent protests broke out in late November after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was accused of taking money from a national development fund with ties to the Chinese regime. Sogavare has rejected allegations of corruption and blamed the riots on a few evil people who want him removed from office.

1. China-Solomon relations

China and the Solomon Islands established official bilateral relations in 2019 when the Solomons switched its allegiance from Taiwan in favor of Beijing. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has requested that under its One-China principle, all countries wishing to form diplomatic relations with it must first terminate official ties with Taiwan.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Dec. 23 during a daily press briefing that equipment and personnel were offered at Solomons request and would soon arrive to enhance the ability of its police.

China firmly supports the government of Solomon Islands in defending the countrys stability and resolutely safeguards the relations between China and Solomon Islands, Zhao added.

While China said it was asked by the Solomons to send help, a statement by the Solomon Island government said it was accepting Chinas offer to help strengthen its police force.

The government of Solomon said it had accepted Chinas offer of riot equipment and six police liaison officers to equip and train its police force with the skill sets complimenting ongoing training received under existing bilateral assistance.

According to the statement, the Chinese government will also be sending shields, helmets, batons and other non-lethal gear that will further enhance Solomon Islands police ability in confronting future threats.

2. Locals angry about unfair deals

The riots in the Solomons have highlighted how Pacific nations are reacting to Beijings efforts in poaching the few remaining diplomatic allies of Taiwan, a self-ruled island the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sees as a breakaway province.

READ MORE:

Nicaragua Ends Diplomatic Relations With Taiwan, Recognizes Beijing Under One-China Policy

In the protests that broke out on Nov. 24, dozens of buildings and shops were burned and looted in the Chinatown neighborhood of Honiara, the Solomons capital.

The opposition forces in the island have accused Sogavare of embezzling money from the countrys National Development Fund which has been backed by Beijing since the diplomatic switch took place under Sogavare in 2019.

Sogavare has blamed foreign powers that opposed his 2019 decision to switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing for influencing anti-government protesters, including Taipei agents from the Malaita province.

Observers attribute the violent protests to a combination of factors, including lingering resentment over Beijings influence in local politics and the economy  particularly in the Malaita province  discontent over corruption, rising poverty, unemployment and informal settlements.

3. Australia and other countries are sending police to control the unrest

Following Novembers riots, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his country would take no part in internal issues of the Solomon Islands. However, it still deployed a special forces team to assist the island in restoring order.

Australias police-led deployment to the Solomons has been gradually reduced, but 40 Australian Federal Police members, 15 Australian Defense Force personnel and three Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) staff continue to remain there.

To counter Chinas expanding activity in the Asia-Pacific, Australia has also ramped up its presence in the Pacific via its membership in the Quad group. Also joining this initiative are the United States, India and Japan.

Australia, together with our Pacific family partners Fiji, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, responded swiftly and effectively to the 25 November request from Solomon Islands government to help Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) restore calm in Honiara following civil unrest, a spokesperson for the DFAT said.

The DFAT also said it was aware of the Chinese governments expected engagement to assist the Solomons and added that since that time, Australia and the Pacific family partners have successfully supported Solomon Island police in maintaining a stable and calm situation.

The Australian government has yet to directly comment on the Solomon Islands decision to accept assistance from Chinese forces.
Latest satellite images have revealed vast clusters of antennas appearing across the South China Sea, reinforcing the fear that Beijing is doing everything in its power to assert dominance over the strategic international waterway.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Chinese military has been making giant strides in ramping up its resources for intelligence-gathering, electronic warfare, and communications at a facility near Mumian on Hainan Island. This newly set up facility provides China with an enhanced capability to track, defend, or launch offensive campaigns against foreign military forces that operate in the region.

The CSIS report notes that the Yulin Naval Base is situated around 135 kilometers from the new facility. The Yulin base is known to be a prime facility used to house Chinas fleet of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines apart from a number of major Chinese surface vessels such as the Shandong. There are also reports of the PLA Navys Type 075 amphibious assault ships being docked here.

The Mumian base is believed to be aimed at establishing a clear advantage over foreign military forces by gaining control over the electronic spectrum over the South China Sea and adjoining areas.

The report points out that the Mumian facility fits the narrative of being part of a strategic network of military installations that would allow the PLA to have a dominating position over the South China Sea. Apart from housing satellite tracking and communication (SATCOM) platforms, the facility seems to be focused on collecting intelligence through intercepting and analyzing communication from foreign satellites, weapons, and electronic systems.

As per information gathered from satellite images, the Mumian facility has been used for intercepting signals and associated activities since at least 2018. The latest images from Nov. 21, 2021, revealed that a number of new assets have been constructed on the site. This includes an array of four large dish antennas for SATCOM and tracking. There are also at least four tall tower antennas designed for electronic warfare or communications.

Per satellite images from Aug. 30, 2020 roads and buildings have been constructed in the region. There are also indications of the site being used as a training ground for PLA forces specialized in the collection and analysis of SIGNIT as well as electronic warfare.

Last year, a Chinese news portal reported that a U.S. combat aircraft had lost control during its flight over the South China Sea. Another similar incident occurred in 2018 when the crew of a US Navy EA-18G Growler aircraft reported their equipment being jammed.

According to a report from the Brookings Institution, The war of the future will not only be about explosions, but will also be about disabling the systems that make armies run We could see effects as stodgy as making a tank impossible to start up, or sophisticated as retargeting a missile midair.

The Asian Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), a Washington-based think tank, warns that China has become increasingly bold following the setting up of its fortresses in the Spratly Islands. The location serves as a launching pad for China to deploy its coast guard, fishing militia, and navy to the Southern South China Sea.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam have accused Beijing of using its militia muscle to assert its claim over the South China Sea on several occasions. The newly ramped up facility in Mumian is yet another step in reinforcing Chinas campaign for control over these waterways.
The Pillar of Shame, a memorial statue commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, was removed from the Hong Kong University (HKU) compounds on Dec. 23.

The take-down happened at the behest of the universitys board of directors citing safety concerns over its deed, contending it was done for the best interest of the university.

The creator of the monument, Danish sculptor Jens Galschit responded in despair on Twitter over the removal.

The Pillar of Shame is getting demolished right now in Hongkong. The sculpture has been covered and is heavyly guarded so that no students can document what is going on. This is happening in the middle of the night in Hongkong. Im shoked. #Thepillarofshame pic.twitter.com/eSDjTWql7y  Jens Galschit (@Galschiot) December 22, 2021

The Pillar of Shame is getting demolished right now in Hongkong, Galschit wrote. The sculpture has been covered and is heavyly guarded so that no students can document what is going on. This is happening in the middle of the night in Hongkong. Im shoked.

The Hong Kong June 4 movement

Until two years ago, a massive outdoor candlelight vigil was held every year on June 4 to mourn the casualties of the Tiananmen massacre that transpired in 1989 when federal troops gunned down hundreds, maybe thousands of peaceful demonstrators rallying for more civil rights and democracy.

However, Hong Kong authorities have outlawed the last two annual vigils, citing COVID-19 risks.

The 8-meter (26-foot) tall Pillar of Shame symbolizes the numerous lives lost during the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijings Tiananmen Square.

It consists of 50 warped and garbled bodies stacked on top of each other. Its purpose is to remind us of a shameful event which must never recur, Galschit told the BBC.

Deterioration of fundamental human rights

The dismantling is considered by many as another example of the deterioration of fundamental human rights in Hong Kong, critics say.

This is a sculpture about dead people and [to] remember the dead people in Beijing in 89. So when you destroy that in this way, then its like going to a graveyard and destroying all the gravestones, the artist told the outlet.

According to Galschit, the bodies symbolize the devaluation of the individual, while the statue conveys the ache and grief about what transpired.

The pillar was erected in Hong Kong at the 1997 edition of the annual candlelight vigil in commemoration of the victims of the 1989 massacre. It was displayed at several academies in the metropolis before being placed permanently at the HKU.

However, No party has ever obtained any approval from the university to display the statue on campus, and the university has the right to take appropriate actions to handle it at any time, a university statement released on Thursday read, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Latest legal advice given to the university cautioned that the continued display of the statue would pose legal risks to the university based on the Crimes Ordinance enacted under the Hong Kong colonial government, it said in an apparent attempt to shift the blame to the regime.

The demolition of the artwork followed shortly after patriot candidates loyal to the central regime gained a landslide win in the Hong Kong legislative elections after authorities modified election regulations to only allow only pro-Beijing nominees to compete.

READ MORE: Pro-CCP Candidates Sweep Hong Kong Election

Legal aftermath

The HKU didnt reveal what it plans to do with the copper statue, which they cut into pieces and trucked off reportedly to put in storage. The university said it was still considering appropriate further legal steps.

Galschit offered to take it back to Denmark or elsewhere provided he would be granted legal immunity. He said there are opportunities to exhibit it at various places, including the Chinese embassies in Washington and Norway, or places in Canada, or Taiwan.

Galschiot also indicated that he might sue authorities if needed to retrieve it or receive compensation.
In recent years, Tibetan children have been taken away by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to special camps to undergo military indoctrination and to be converted into soldiers. This move is very likely motivated by a need of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to reinforce its military capabilities across and within its borders.

Students into soldiers

A report by the Hindustan Times, based on intelligence from Indian security agencies, indicated that the Chinese authorities have been sending hundreds of Tibetan children to camps to be re-educated and trained for military purposes.

Other reports indicate that Tibetan children as young as eight or nine years old are being separated from their parents.

According to the Tibet Action Institute, an U.S.-based non-government organization (NGO) campaigning against the CCPs control over Tibet, the children are sent to live in state-owned boarding schools, deprived of their own language and culture.

The Tibet Action Institute also reported that around 900,000 Tibetan children, between ages six to 18, along with four- and five-year-olds, are now in these schools, comprising almost 80 percent of Tibetan children in China.

The Institute believes that the schools are used to convert children into loyal subjects of the CCP, forcing them to learn primarily in Chinese, discouraging the practice of their religion, and forcing them to submit to political indoctrination.

Indian intelligence also seems to indicate that the children are being taught a Sinicised worldview to denounce Tibetan Buddhist beliefs and be forged into soldiers.

Mountainous operations

In the midst of Chinas standoff with India on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy reported that the PLA requires soldiers that can operate at high altitudes with low oxygen levels, where ethnic Han soldiers are said to be disadvantaged, as they are more prone to suffer psychological and other health issues.

In turn, that means not only recruiting Tibetans willing and able to confront the Tibetans of the Indo-Tibetan Border Force, but also ensuring the loyalty of their Tibetan families and communities, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said.

According to Indian intelligence, at least two camps have been identified that provide basic military training for children aged nine to 14 years.

The Nyingchi training camp, located opposite Indias Arunachal Pradesh state, was also reported to have 400 Tibetan children undergoing military training, including handling weapons, the people behind the intelligence said.

A training camp in Shiquanhe was also said to have seen around 200 children migrated to Gar Gunsa in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in November, the people added.

In an earlier report by the Hindustan Times, several new militias consisting of Tibetan youths were deployed at the Chumbi Valley in the TAR to drive the recruitment of more Tibetans to the CCPs cause. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) itself has also been making their move to bring in more Tibetans, in an effort to form a Special Tibetan Army Unit.

The indoctrination of children into the PLA violates international conventions that oppose the recruitment of children in military affairs. These conventions all state that no one below the age of 18 can be recruited into any form of military organisation.

Tibetan turmoil

After occupying Tibet and crushing its autonomy in 1951, the CCP promised that the religious beliefs, customs and habits of the Tibetan people would be respected. However, after the Tibetan Uprising in 1959, Tibets spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, was forced to flee to India.

There were times when the CCP allowed Tibetan languages and culture to be practiced, especially in the 1982 constitution, which reads that the people of all nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages and to preserve or reform their own ways and customs.

According to news outlet Free Tibet, three Tibetan teens were arrested, one of them brutally beaten by police and was subsequently sent to hospital, for failing to register a WeChat group.

Several activists of multiple backgrounds, including Tibetans, Hong Kongers, Uyghurs and pro-democracy Chinese activists, have rallied together to join the #NoBeijing2020 campaign, which hopes to expose the repression conducted by the CCP.

We postponed the Olympics for a pandemic, I dont see why we cant postpone for genocide, Tibetan activist and student Tsela Zoksang told Teen Vogue.

Genocide has to be a red line, she added. When you have Uyghurs being put into modern-day concentration camps, I think theres little room to say, These are games that happen every year, we cant just change everything.
For the mainland Chinese regime, Taiwan is a renegade province that rightfully belongs to the communist Peoples Republic. Though Beijing has indicated its preference for a peaceful unification, it does not rule out military force, as the near-constant sorties by mainland fighter jets make clear.

Balancing this out is support for Taiwan  formally known as the Republic of China (ROC)  from the U.S. and Japan. According to the latest reports, Japan is cooperating with Washington to plan for the islands protection in the event of an armed invasion.

Sources from Tokyo revealed to Kyodo News that the proposed joint operation plan between the two nations will allow for establishing an attack base along Japans Nansei island chain in the southwest.

The island chain, which comprises roughly 200 islands, stretches from Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures to Taiwan. Both parties have identified 40 potential island sites to implement the plan. Okinawa is also the home of a U.S. military base.

In case of any emergency in Taiwan, Japans Self Defense Forces (SDF) will provide support to U.S. troops. The plan is expected to be formalized when the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries meet next month.

According to Kyodo News, The condition under which the U.S. military will set up a temporary base is when the Japanese government judges that conflict between the communist Chinese and ROC militaries will undermine the peace and security of Japan, if left as is In such a scenario, the U.S. military will deploy its high mobility artillery rocket system to a temporary base location while the SDF will be tasked with logistical support by providing ammunition and fuel.

The joint plan comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have been worsening over multiple issues like trade, human rights, IP protection, COVID-19, and so on. Ties between Tokyo and Beijing are also cold due to conflict over the Senkaku islands, which are under the control of Japan but also claimed by mainland China. At an event earlier this month, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had warned that any emergency in Taiwan will be an emergency for both Washington and Tokyo as well.

A spokesperson from the Pentagon pointed out that the U.S. and Japan share a strong commitment to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We are committed to enhancing resiliency and interoperability between U.S. and Japanese forces and deepening operational cooperation during peacetime and various regional contingencies, the Pentagon told Reuters.

Amid concerns regarding Taiwan, Japan has approved a record military budget for 2022. At 5.4 trillion yen (US$47 billion), the budget is a 1.1 percent increase from the current budget and is the tenth consecutive rise in military spending for the nation. Japan allocated 291 billion yen (US$2.55 billion) for defense-related research and development, up by 38 percent when compared to this year. 128 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) is set aside for buying F-35 stealth fighters.

Meanwhile, lawmakers from both Japan and Taiwan have agreed on an all round cooperation with regard to semiconductors. They also decided to hold regular talks.

We need to do our utmost in tackling the shortage of semiconductors at the moment, but realms of cooperation should expand as we go forward One of the major challenges will be how the three countries (including the U.S.) join hands in response to Chinas high-tech investments, Akimasa Ishikawa, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who participated in the meeting, told reporters.

TSMC, a major semiconductor manufacturer from Taiwan, announced last month that it will develop a $7 billion chip plant in Japan in cooperation with the Sony Group.
Aid group Save the Children said it was suspending operations in Myanmar's strife-torn Kayah state after two staff members went missing in an attack that left at least 30 people dead, including women and children, with many bodies burnt.

The two staff were travelling to their home villages for the year-end holidays when they were caught up in the violence in the eastern state, Save the Children said in a statement late on Saturday.

"We have confirmation that their private vehicle was attacked and burned out," the statement said.

Opposition groups on Saturday blamed the military, which seized power from a civilian government in February, for the carnage on Friday near Mo So village of Hpruso town.

Junta spokesman General Zaw Mun Tun did not answer his telephone on Sunday. Reuters could not independently verify Saturday's accounts of the attack from a local resident, media reports and a local human rights group.

State media reported army troops had fired on and killed an unspecified number of "terrorists with weapons" from armed opposition forces fighting the military government.

Photos shared by Karenni Human Rights Group and local media showed the charred remains of bodies on burnt-out truckbeds.

A villager told Reuters on Saturday that he had seen 32 bodies, while Save the Children said at least 38 people were killed.

The London-based charity said it had suspended operations in Kayah and parts of neighbouring Karen state and in the Magway region.

We are horrified at the violence carried out against innocent civilians and our staff, who are dedicated humanitarians, supporting millions of children in need across Myanmar," said Save the Children's chief executive, Inger Ashing.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military on Feb. 1 overthrew the elected government of Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been sentenced to four years' detention and faces multiple other criminal charges.

At least 1,375 people have been killed and more than 8,000 jailed in crackdowns on protests and armed opposition since the coup, according to a tally of the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners.

The military government disputes those numbers and says soldiers have also been killed in clashes.
A glacial pace grows alarmingly fast. India beset with numerous challenges. A mission to gaze deep into the past. The business of driving in Asia. Afghan pomegranates. A novel in a minute. Jim Stevenson hosts VOA Asia.
As a presidential candidate last year, Joe Biden slammed the Trump administrations restrictive immigration policies and pledged to enact comprehensive reform that would reassert Americas commitment to asylum-seekers and refugees. As Bidens first year in the White House ends, his record on immigration demonstrates as much continuity as change.

In perhaps his most visible departure from the previous administration, President Biden ordered a halt to wall construction along the U.S.-Mexico border shortly after taking office.

But much of the immigration policy architecture of the Trump years endures. The Biden administration has retained Title 42, a pandemic-related policy mandating the rapid expulsion of migrants as a public health precaution, even as America opened its land borders to Mexico and Canada. And a federal court order forced reinstatement of the former administrations policy that kept asylum seekers on the Mexican side of the border while awaiting U.S. immigration court dates, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP).

Immigrant advocates say Biden has added some humanity to Americas immigration system but credit him with little else.

"We asked this administration to [end] MPP, Title 42, to release children and families in detention and to start changing not only the narrative but to have a more proactive strategy to rebuild the asylum process at the border, Fernando Garcia, director of the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas, told VOA. But in practice, we can still see some of the kind of legacy of Trump at the border. That has not changed and we're disappointed that that is still happening.

US-Mexico border and asylum seekers

In addition to ending border wall constructionformer President Donald Trumps signature projectBiden did, in fact, order MPP halted soon after his January inauguration.

Texas, a Republican-led U.S. state bordering Mexico, sued the Biden administration to keep the policy in place. In August, a federal judge ruled that the Biden administration had improperly ended the policy and ordered it reinstated.

I fought to protect our southern border and won, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement at the time. I will not allow the safety of Texas residents to be left to the mercy of a reckless president.

While appealing the ruling, the Biden administration reimplemented the policy on December 6, after Mexico agreed to receive returned migrants.

While the White House has sought to end MPP, the same cannot be said of Title 42, which the Biden administration opted to retain from the start.

Since March 20, 2020, hundreds of thousands of migrants seeking to apply for asylum in the United States have been expelled to their home countries. Implemented and enforced as a blanket policy by the Trump administration, Title 42 has been modified under Biden to allow for humanitarian exemptions such as unaccompanied minors and families with young children.

Migration Policy Institute analyst Jessica Bolter said retaining the policy has had the largest effect on people arriving at the border. She added, Of course, we now also have MPP added to that mix.

Refugees

During Trumps four years in office, the annual ceiling for U.S. refugee admissions was slashed from 85,000 to 15,000.

Biden initially kept the refugee cap at 15,000, the lowest in modern U.S. history, prompting outcries from Democratic allies on Capitol Hill. In May, the administration reversed course and raised the ceiling to 62,500. (U.S. refugee admissions totaled just 11,411 for the 2021 fiscal year, which ended September 30.)

The administration has since raised the 2022 refugee cap to 125,000. Yet actual admissions continue to lag and the White House has admitted that the goal [of 125,000 admissions] will be hard to hit despite Bidens determination to rebuild the program and renew Americas commitment to protect the most vulnerable, and to stand as a beacon of liberty and refuge to the world.



Enforcement priorities

While record-setting migration to the U.S.-Mexico border has gotten the most attention during Bidens first year in office, researchers say little has changed in the way of federal border enforcement.

According to Bolter, the really dramatic changes are seen in interior enforcement and how the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) has reprioritized arrests to focus on undocumented immigrants who pose a threat to national security or public safety. During the Trump administration, any immigrant living in the U.S. without authorization could be subject to arrest and removal.

These are changes that are affecting how the immigrant population in the U.S. lives their day-to-day life, Bolter said. The Biden administration has put into place new ICE enforcement priorities that narrow the population who are targeted for arrest or removal. This makes the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants who are living in the U.S. deprioritized for enforcement.

The Biden administration has also acted to prevent ICE from making arrests at courthouses and limited the detention of pregnant women.

And probably one of the most significant steps that they've taken in the enforcement arena is ending mass worksite enforcement operations, Bolter added.

Legal immigration

After more than a year of closures, U.S. embassies and consulates around the world have reopened for immigrant and nonimmigrant visa appointments. Yet, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, such services remain limited.

In November, the State Department announced that more than 460,000 people are awaiting interviews, adding to an extensive backlog of those seeking to apply for U.S. legal residency and other categories.



The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency responsible for Americas naturalization system, has made changes under Biden.

The agency replaced the word alienseen by some as pejorativewith noncitizen or undocumented noncitizen in its publications and pledged to make immigration forms more accurate, timely, and easier to understand.

Immigration legislation stalled

On his first day in office, President Biden unveiled sweeping immigration reform legislation, the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, which included an 8-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.

The bill has yet to be voted on by either the House or Senate and is viewed as all but dead on Capitol Hill.

Separately, Senate Democrats have repeatedly sought to add immigration reform elements to a massive social safety net spending bill. In each instance, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that immigration measures do not belong in spending bills that can pass the chamber with a simple majority vote.

As a result, immigration reform legislation will need three-fifth majority backing to advance in the 100-member Senate where Democratic caucus has only 50 members and Republicans are united in opposition to Democrats reform proposals.

Given that Democrats control both elected branches of the U.S. government, Washingtons inability to reform Americas oft-criticized immigration system is a bitter pill for advocates.

Our hope, our demand and our expectation were that this new administration was bringing a new air in regard to immigrants and immigration policy with a more humane approach to immigration, and we did believe that, Garcia, from Border Network for Human Rights, told VOA.

While immigration advocates are disappointed the Biden administration has not done more to turn from Trump policies, Republicans blame the president for a protracted migrant surge at the border, saying his messaging led people in Central America and elsewhere to believe U.S. borders were open to newcomers.
Computers have become amazingly precise at translating spoken words to text messages and scouring huge troves of information for answers to complex questions. At least, that is, so long as you speak English or another of the world's dominant languages.

But try talking to your phone in Yoruba, Igbo or any number of widely spoken African languages and you'll find glitches that can hinder access to information, trade, personal communications, customer service and other benefits of the global tech economy.

"We are getting to the point where if a machine doesn't understand your language it will be like it never existed," said Vukosi Marivate, chief of data science at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, in a call to action before a December virtual gathering of the world's artificial intelligence researchers.

American tech giants don't have a great track record of making their language technology work well outside the wealthiest markets, a problem that's also made it harder for them to detect dangerous misinformation on their platforms.

Marivate is part of a coalition of African researchers who have been trying to change that. Among their projects is one that found machine translation tools failed to properly translate online COVID-19 surveys from English into several African languages.

"Most people want to be able to interact with the rest of the information highway in their local language," Marivate said in an interview. He's a founding member of Masakhane, a pan-African research project to improve how dozens of languages are represented in the branch of AI known as natural language processing. It's the biggest of a number of grassroots language technology projects that have popped up from the Andes to Sri Lanka.

Tech giants offer their products in numerous languages, but they don't always pay attention to the nuances necessary for those apps work in the real world. Part of the problem is that there's just not enough online data in those languages  including scientific and medical terms  for the AI systems to effectively learn how to get better at understanding them.

Google, for instance, offended members of the Yoruba community several years ago when its language app mistranslated Esu, a benevolent trickster god, as the devil. Facebook's language misunderstandings have been tied to political strife around the world and its inability to tamp down harmful misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. More mundane translation glitches have been turned into joking online memes.

Omolewa Adedipe has grown frustrated trying to share her thoughts on Twitter in the Yoruba language because her automatically translated tweets usually end up with different meanings.

One time, the 25-year-old content designer tweeted, "T'Ilu o ba dun, T'Ilu o ba t'oro. Eyin l'emo bi e se se,"which means, "If the land (or country, in this context) is not peaceful, or merry, you're responsible for it." Twitter, however, managed to end up with the translation: "If you are not happy, if you are not happy."

For complex Nigerian languages like Yoruba, those accent marks -- often associated with tones -- make all the difference in communication. 'Ogun', for instance, is a Yoruba word that means war, but it can also mean a state in Nigeria (Ogun), god of iron (Ogun), stab (Ogun), twenty or property (Ogun).

"Some of the bias is deliberate given our history," said Marivate, who has devoted some of his AI research to the southern African languages of Xitsonga and Setswana spoken by his family members, as well as to the common conversational practice of "code-switching" between languages.

"The history of the African continent and in general in colonized countries, is that when language had to be translated, it was translated in a very narrow way," he said. "You were not allowed to write a general text in any language because the colonizing country might be worried that people communicate and write books about insurrections or revolutions. But they would allow religious texts."

Google and Microsoft are among the companies that say they are trying to improve technology for so-called "low-resource" languages that AI systems don't have enough data for. Computer scientists at Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, announced in November a breakthrough on the path to a "universal translator" that could translate multiple languages at once and work better with lower-resourced languages such as Icelandic or Hausa.

That's an important step, but at the moment, only large tech companies and big AI labs in developed countries can build these models, said David Ifeoluwa Adelani. He's a researcher at Saarland University in Germany and another member of Masakhane, which has a mission to strengthen and spur African-led research to address technology "that does not understand our names, our cultures, our places, our history."

Improving the systems requires not just more data but careful human review from native speakers who are underrepresented in the global tech workforce. It also requires a level of computing power that can be hard for independent researchers to access.

Writer and linguist Kola Tubosun created a multimedia dictionary for the Yoruba language and also created a text-to-speech machine for the language. He is now working on similar speech recognition technologies for Nigeria's two other major languages, Hausa and Igbo, to help people who want to write short sentences and passages.

"We are funding ourselves," he said. "The aim is to show these things can be profitable."

Tubosun led the team that created Google's "Nigerian English" voice and accent used in tools like maps. But he said it remains difficult to raise the money needed to build technology that might allow a farmer to use a voice-based tool to follow market or weather trends.

In Rwanda, software engineer Remy Muhire is helping to build a new open-source speech dataset for the Kinyawaranda language that involves a lot of volunteers recording themselves reading Kinyawaranda newspaper articles and other texts.

"They are native speakers. They understand the language," said Muhire, a fellow at Mozilla, maker of the Firefox internet browser. Part of the project involves a collaboration with a government-supported smartphone app that answers questions about COVID-19. To improve the AI systems in various African languages, Masakhane researchers are also tapping into news sources across the continent, including Voice of America's Hausa service and the BBC broadcast in Igbo.

Increasingly, people are banding together to develop their own language approaches instead of waiting for elite institutions to solve problems, said Damian Blasi, who researches linguistic diversity at the Harvard Data Science Initiative.

Blasi co-authored a recent study that analyzed the uneven development of language technology across the world's more than 6,000 languages. For instance, it found that while Dutch and Swahili both have tens of millions of speakers, there are hundreds of scientific reports on natural language processing in the Western European language and only about 20 in the East African one.
The head of Iran's judiciary on Sunday granted Christian prisoners 10 days' liberty to spend the holidays with families, in a rare move toward the minority community.

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei instructed authorities across the country to issue the dispensation, according to the judiciary's Mizan Online website.

"The decision is to mark the New Year 2022 and the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ," the website said.

Mizan Online did not say how many Christian prisoners will benefit from the furlough, or when the 10-day period starts.

It said, however, that inmates convicted for undermining security, organized crime, abductions, armed robberies and those sentenced to death would be exempted.

According to local media, Christians represent just 1% of Iran's total population of 83 million, the majority of whom are Shiite Muslims.

Most Christians in Iran are Armenians, who celebrate Christmas on January 6, the day of the Epiphany.

Around that time of year, some shops in Tehran and major cities put up decorations, including Christmas trees, while people dressed up as Santa Claus stand outside stores.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, often grants amnesty to prisoners or reduces their sentences to mark Muslim holidays.

But it is rare for Iranian authorities to announce such measures concerning members of the Islamic republic's Christian minority.

This year Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited the Tehran home of the family of a Christian Armenian "martyr" who died in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war on Christmas Eve, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iraq's top court on Monday rejected an appeal filed by Iran-backed factions contesting the results of country's parliamentary elections held in October. The development marked another boost for an influential Shiite cleric who had been confirmed as the winner of the vote.

The appeal was submitted by Hadi al-Ameri, head of a pro-Iran coalition that lost seats in the Oct. 10 vote.

Final results announced by Iraq's electoral commission had confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr secured 73 out of Parliament's 329 seats. The results also confirmed that the faction known as the Fatah Alliance, which represents the Shiite paramilitary group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, secured 17 seats  down from 48 in the last elections.

The Federal Supreme Court had not ratified the election results, pending the appeal filed earlier this month by al-Ameri, who heads the Fatah Coalition. Monday's verdict read out by Judge Jassim Mohammed rejecting the lawsuit is final and cannot be appealed. The lawsuit had cited alleged technical and legal violations.



Earlier Monday, hundreds of protesters closed entrances to Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, in anticipation of the court's decision. Military forces fanned out across the area and set up checkpoints in the city. The Green Zone hosts most foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S. Embassy.

There were no immediate reports of violence or clashes.

Following the vote, supporters of Iran-aligned militias had pitched tents near the Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, rejecting election results and threatening violence.

The United States, the U.N. Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

But unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.



The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs through Iran-backed militias.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has sought a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council next month and contacted Moscow to secure its attendance, an alliance spokesman said Sunday.

Stoltenberg has on several occasions in recent months offered to resume dialogue with Moscow through this body, set up in 2002 but currently inactive because of the conflict in Ukraine.

But the Russian authorities have not responded favorably.

"We are in touch with Russia" about the January 12 meeting, said the NATO spokesman, who asked not to be identified.

NATO has consistently denounced Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and has called on Moscow to respect its neighbor's territorial sovereignty.

The West has long accused the Kremlin of providing direct military support to pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, who seized two regions shortly after Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014.

Russia denies the claims and Putin has suggested that the conflict, which has claimed over 13,000 lives, is genocidal.

The Kremlin has grown increasingly insistent that the West and NATO are encroaching dangerously close to Russia's borders.

Earlier this month, Moscow presented the West with sweeping security demands, saying NATO must not admit new members and seeking to bar the United States from establishing new bases in former Soviet republics.

The January 12 meeting is the first proposed by Stoltenberg since Moscow made its demands.

A two-day meeting of the military chiefs of NATO's 30 member states is scheduled to start the same day in Brussels.

On Thursday, Stoltenberg reaffirmed his support for Ukraine against the military build-up across the border in Russia and the Kremlin's increasingly aggressive rhetoric.
A Pakistani government minister Monday criticized neighboring Afghanistans ruling Islamist Taliban for placing curbs on women, denouncing the curbs as "retrogressive thinking and as posing threat to his country.



Information Minister Fawad Hussain, while speaking to an Islamabad gathering, described the new Taliban government in Kabul as an extremist regime.



We want to fully help the people of Afghanistan. But saying that women cant travel alone or go to schools and colleges  this kind of a retrogressive thinking is a threat to Pakistan, Hussain said.



It is extremely rare for Pakistani officials to publicly criticize the Taliban who have returned to power in Afghanistan, allegedly with the covert support of Pakistans military  charges Islamabad denies.



Hussain spoke a day after the Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice issued a new directive for women, limiting their ability to travel farther than 72 kilometers unless accompanied by a close male relative. It also advised taxi drivers in Afghanistan to offer rides only to women wearing an Islamic hijab or a headscarf.



Ministry spokesman Sadiq Akif Mahajer defended the restrictions, telling VOA they were in line with Sharia, or Islamic law.



The latest restrictions come weeks after the Taliban asked Afghan television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring actresses and to require female news anchors to wear hijabs while on the air.





The Taliban militarily regained control of Afghanistan in August as the Western-backed Afghan government and its security forces collapsed in the final stages of the withdrawal by the U.S.-led international forces from the country.



The Islamist movement has since prevented most Afghan women from returning to work and schoolgirls from resuming classes across many provinces, despite pledging a more moderate rule compared with their harsh regime from 1996 to 2001.



No country has recognized the Taliban government, and the global community is refusing to directly engage with Kabul over human rights and terrorism concerns, even as Afghan humanitarian needs have risen to record levels.



The United Nations estimates nearly 23 million Afghans face hunger because of years of war, drought and extreme poverty.



Last week, Pakistan hosted an emergency conference of Islamic countries, with U.S, Russian, Chinese, and European envoys in attendance, to mobilize increased humanitarian assistance for Afghans. Islamabad has also dispatched scores of trucks carrying food and medicines to the conflict-hit country since the Taliban takeover in mid-August.



Islamabad is worried the worsening Afghan humanitarian and economic crisis could send more refugees to Pakistan and others neighboring countries.



Pakistani leaders have repeatedly urged the Taliban to listen to and address international concerns about rights of Afghan women, fighting terrorism and governing the country inclusively.





The Taliban, however, dismiss criticism of their government and polices as interference in internal Afghan affairs, saying they are ruling the country within the framework of Sharia.



Taliban chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in a recent media interview, defended his groups interpretation of Islamic laws and condemned governance systems in Muslim countries, including Pakistan, as un-Islamic.
Poland's president on Monday said he has decided to veto a media bill that would have forced U.S. company Discovery to give up its controlling share in TVN, a Polish TV network.

President Andrzej Duda noted that the bill was unpopular with many Poles and would have dealt a blow to Poland's reputation as a place to do business.

The bill, recently passed by the lower house of parliament, would have prevented any non-European entity from owning more than a 49% stake in television or radio broadcasters in Poland.



Its practical effect would have targeted only one existing company, Discovery Inc., forcing the U.S. owner of Poland's largest private television network, TVN, to sell the majority or even all of its Polish holdings.

Many Poles saw the bill, pushed by the ruling Law and Justice party that Duda is aligned with, as an attempt to silence a broadcaster that broadcasts independent and often critical reporting of the authorities.

Mass nationwide protests were recently held in support of the station and of freedom of speech more broadly.

Discovery had threatened to sue Poland in an international arbitration court.

Duda said he agreed in principle that countries should limit foreign ownership in media companies, saying many other democratic countries  including the United States, France and Germany  have such legislation.

But he also said that in this case, the law would have hurt a business already operating legally in Poland.

He noted that signing the bill into law would have cost the nation billions of dollars, and said he shared the view of many of his countrypeople that this bill was not necessary right now.
The announcement by Russia's Defense Ministry Saturday that 10,000 troops deployed along the border with Ukraine are to return to their permanent bases isnt easing the alarm of Western officials, who see the risks mounting of Russian military action.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last week indicated his countrys willingness to sit down for talks with the United States and NATO amid soaring tensions, prompted by the Kremlin deploying more than 100,000 troops near its borders with Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a televised interview Monday that Moscow was still waiting for NATOs response to various conditions for talks to take place over security guarantees being sought from the West. They include Russian defense officials and generals participating in the negotiations.

"We have said the conversation will make sense only with the direct participation of the military, Lavrov said.

He said talks with U.S. officials would likely occur right after the New Years Eve but that Moscow is still waiting for an agreement over parameters for the negotiations with NATO.

The security guarantees the Russian leader is demanding would preclude any further NATO expansion and would roll back any NATO military presence in the Baltic or central European states which joined the Western alliance in waves since 1999. The Kremlin is adamant that former Soviet republics of Ukraine or Georgia should not join the Atlantic alliance.

While the United States and its NATO allies have said theyre willing to enter talks with Russia, Western diplomats have warned Russian security proposals are not acceptable in their current form. In a conference call last week with reporters, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried said talks would have better prospects if Russia de-escalates its military buildup along the border with Ukraine.

Any dialogue with Russia must address NATO's and others concerns about Russia's continued threatening behavior and be based on the core principles and foundational documents of European security. We will not compromise the key principles on which European security is built, including that all countries have the right to decide their own foreign and security policy course free from outside interference, she added.

U.S. and NATO officials have been adamant that it is unreasonable for Moscow to seek a veto over the foreign policy direction chosen by Kyiv or any other sovereign country.

Western officials say they remain fearful Moscow is still considering launching a full-scale invasion of its neighbor, unless NATO accedes to Kremlin demands that would upend the Western alliance as it has evolved since the end of the Cold War.

U.S. and Western officials have expressed rising concerns that Russia is contemplating a repeat of 2014, when Moscow annexed Crimea and used armed proxies to seize a large part of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.

The troop withdrawal announced Saturday amounts to just 10% of the 122,000 Russian soldiers Western and Ukraine intelligence agencies calculate have been gathered along the border since October.

Russian military officials said they are withdrawing about 10,000 troops from near Ukraine because they have completed their mission in snap drills, simulating a response to a massive airstrike on Russia.

Western defense analysts say the troops are being pulled back from the less militarily important south, while there are no signs of troops and equipment being withdrawn from Ukraines northern and northeastern borders, across which Russia would most likely strike.

Back and forth troop movements and increasingly direct rhetoric from Kremlin officials and President Vladimir Putin himself have been keeping Western powers in a state of nervous tension as they try to gauge the intentions of the Russian leader and maintain unity as they mull to what degree they should spurn or engage with the Kremlin.

Midweek, President Putin said Russia would take appropriate retaliatory military steps in response to what he called the West's aggressive stance, although on Thursday Putin appeared to lower the rhetorical volume by praising the United States for its positive" reaction to Russia's security proposals and said talks would take place in January.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Sunday maintained the drumbeat of stern Russian warnings, saying Putin will ponder a slew of retaliatory options if the West fails to meet his demands for security guarantees.

NATOs expansion to Ukraine or other ex-Soviet nations is a matter of life or death for us, Peskov said in an interview on Russian television. He added that a test firing Friday of Russias new Zircon hypersonic missiles was meant to make Russias security demands more convincing.

Fridays test firings marked the first time Zircon missiles have been launched in a salvo.

Peskov said the Kremlin would set no artificial deadline for the talks, but meetings likely to go ahead in January would be enough to see if the U.S. is ready to accept Russian terms or would try to drag out the negotiation indefinitely, which he said would be unacceptable.

His remarks about there being no artificial deadline contrasted with comments by Putin last week who said in a press conference that he wanted his security demands met immediately. Right now.

Not sure this indicates much hope for talks to succeed, tweeted Russian political analyst Vladimir Frolov.

Andrew Marshall of the Atlantic Council, a U.S.-based research group, says the geopolitical stakes are rising rapidly.

The outcome of this dispute could decisively rewrite the terms of security on the European continent for an entire generation  just as the decisions of the 1990s did after the end of the Cold War, he said in an Atlantic Council commentary.

He added, It could also produce one of two sharply contrasting narratives for the United States in Europe and globally: Negotiating successfully could underline the power of the United States working with its friends and be a model for confronting authoritarianism at gunpoint; but failure will be seen as another marker of American weakness and the unraveling of the transatlantic partnership.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has been lobbying for Ukrainian officials to be able to participate in any security talks among the U.S., NATO and Russia.

We support the idea of the U.S., the EU, NATO talking to Russia as long as the primary topic is ending the international armed conflict, Russias war on Ukraine, he wrote on Twitter Friday. Decisions on Ukraines security can only be made with Ukraine at the table, and with the EU at the table on matters of wider European security, he said.

Editor's note: An earlier versions of this story misidentified Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The president of Somalia has suspended the countrys prime minister over alleged corruption in the latest fight over who will lead the country and the nations delayed elections. Critics of President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, also known as Farmaajo, say he is looking to stay in power by any means necessary. As Mohammed Kahiye reports from Mogadishu, Somalia, the two men recently disagreed on the electoral process.

In a press briefing, embattled Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said he will carry on his constitutional mandate to conduct the electoral process for a peaceful transfer of power.

The prime minister termed the move by the head of state to relieve him of his duties as an attempted coup.

He said, The decision by the former President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed Farmajo are a clear attempted coup, violation of the constitution and laws of the country.

He added, Apart from violation of the countrys law Farmajo using security agencies to attack the office of the prime minister and that of the cabinet to try and halt their national duties.

Residents of the capital like Abdiwahid Hussein say they are concerned political upheaval could spark violence similar to clashes in April between forces allied to opposition and government troops that rocked the capital, Mogadishu.

He said, The difference between the president and prime minister is very unfortunate because it could lead to violence and create insecurity that will displace people and destroy investment.

Omar Yusuf is a political analyst and lecturer on international relations at SIMAD University in Mogadishu. He says the countrys leaders need to show restraint, amid reports security forces have been deployed around Robles offices.

When the disagreements translate to violence and the use of the armed forces, it will be a difficult environment to conduct elections and thus the process could stall again, and once the elections are over, it will pose a significant threat to the state-building process in Somalia, which has been recovering for the past two decades. In order to avoid that destruction, both sides must refrain from using security agencies and instead start dialogue in holding transparent elections, he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu strongly urged Somali leaders to take immediate steps to de-escalate tensions and refrain from provocative actions.

Somalias parliamentary elections were supposed to conclude before the end of the year but are nowhere near complete with just over 50 members of parliament out of 275 selected so far by tribal delegates.
South Africa is observing a week of mourning leading up to the Saturday funeral of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday at the age of 90.

Each day at noon, the bells at St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town will toll for 10 minutes. A guestbook has been set up at the cathedral for mourners to sign.



Cape Towns city hall and Table Mountain will also be lit up in purple each night until the funeral.

Tutu, a Nobel peace laureate was known worldwide for anti-apartheid activism and as a champion of human rights, is due to lie in state at the cathedral Friday.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Tutus death Sunday.

"The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nations farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa, he said.

Tutu was far more than a spiritual leader.

He spent his life advocating for civil rights and speaking out against injustice, corruption and oppression.

Thabo Makgoba is the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town.

He wanted every human being on Earth to experience the freedom, the peace, and the joy that all of us could enjoy if we truly respected one another. And because he worshiped to God, he feared no one. He named wrong wherever he saw it and by whoever it was committed, Makgoba said.

Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his activism against South Africas racist apartheid regime.

When Nelson Mandela was released from prison, Tutu housed him on his first night of freedom.

The archbishop then presented Mandela to the public as the countrys first Black president in 1994.



Tutu was at the helm in the countrys healing process after apartheid, chairing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, where many horrific accounts of injustice were heard.

Despite the hardships he confronted, Tutu is remembered for his peaceful activism and ability to forgive.

Parliamentarian Patricia De Lille spoke to reporters about her memories of the Arch, as he was known.

Humor and a great sense of timing were amongst the Archs greatest assets. He had an extraordinary ability to defuse tension, contain anger, and remind people of their human essence. He used humor to convey important messages. And had that particular, that we all know, contagious love, she said.



Tributes to Tutu have been pouring in.

U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said they were heartbroken to learn of Tutus passing.

His courage and moral clarity helped inspire our commitment to change American policy toward the repressive Apartheid regime in South Africa, the Bidens said in a statement.



"Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a mentor, a friend and a moral compass for me and so many others. A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere, said former U.S. President Barack Obama.

I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He was a critical figure in the fight against apartheid and in the struggle to create a new South Africa and will be remembered for his spiritual leadership and irrepressible good humor, said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, Archbishop Tutu was a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world. During the darkest days of apartheid, he was a shining beacon for social justice, freedom and non-violent resistance.



Tibets exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said Archbishop Desmond Tutu was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good. He was a true humanitarian and a committed advocate of human rights.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation said Tutus contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd.

After his retirement at the age of 79, Tutu continued speaking out on ethical and moral issues from xenophobia to LGBTQ+ rights to climate change.

Ramaphosa has called him a patriot without equal and a man of extraordinary intellect, integrity and invincibility.

Tutu is survived by his wife, children, siblings and their families.

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
South Africa has started a week of mourning for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who died Sunday at the age of 90. Cape Town's St George's Cathedral will toll its bells every day at noon through Friday in honor of the anti-apartheid hero before a Saturday funeral service.

The bells at St. Georges Cathedral rang out for 10-minutes on Monday. It was here that Archbishop Tutu gave refuge to many during the dark days of apartheid.



His non-violent campaign won him international recognition including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. He was also greatly loved by his countrymen and women. Veteran journalist Ayesha Ismail explains.

You know as a South African and as a journalist when I think about Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I think about love, I think about justice, I think about peace and I think about compassion. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was the one who opened the doors of this cathedral when we were fighting the apartheid regime during the height of apartheid and during the state of emergency, we were teargassed, we were sjambokked and it was the archbishop who opened these doors for us to come and seek refuge. He will be deeply missed and I think I can safely say that South Africa has lost its moral compass, said the journalist.

Once democracy was established in South Africa in 1994, Tutu continued to campaign for human rights, championing all kinds of causes around the world.

In recent years, he also spoke out against the African National Congress which is in power in South Africa. He was outraged by the unchecked corruption within the party.

Children and young people were close to his heart. He was a patron of many trusts. The CEO of one of them, Jason Falken, said even when Tutu was ill, the archbishop was in email contact with him so they could work out a plan to ensure funding came in after he passed on.

Not only for the trust but for our beneficiaries the Tygerberg Childrens Hospital its been immense. You know the arch and Ma Leah their many visits to the hospital were always filled with joy and laughter and the kids really look out for that. But over and above that, the arch was also very instrumental, especially in the early years of the trust in raising significant funds specifically for the purpose of much-needed medical equipment which ran into the hundreds of thousands of rand, he said.

The assistant priest at St. Georges Cathedral, Marcus Slingers, said it was a great privilege to have visited Tutu at his home in Milnerton, a Cape Town suburb, for about 40 minutes each day.

We are all saddened by this great loss. The dean and I and others, you know in these last few months, had the opportunity of celebrating the eucharist with him every day and that was part of his life and Ive just been privileged to have been part of it. And what a man of God and humble, he said.

The archbishops 66-year marriage to Leah Tutu was admired by many. They had four children: Trevor, Thandeka, Naomi and Mpho. Father Marcus said on his visits to Tutu, Mrs. Tutu would tell him stories over cups of tea about how they supported each other.

And how the two of them had just done things together. Everything that theyve done, theyve done together and our hearts and our prayers, our thoughts are with her and the rest of the family, he said.

A number of events are planned for this week, including a memorial service which the South African Council of Churches will host on Wednesday.

Archbishop Tutus body will lie in state at St. Georges Cathedral on Friday. His funeral will take place there on Saturday.
The whereabouts of a prominent Afghan TV station owner remains unknown a day after he was arrested by the Taliban on Sunday, according to the executive's son.

Mohammad Arif Noori, the founder and owner of Noorin TV, one of Afghanistan's leading private TV networks, was taken from his home in Kabul on Sunday afternoon, according to his son Roman Noori.

The younger Noori accused Taliban forces of "raiding" and searching his family's house without a warrant before taking his father to an unknown location.

"We've heard nothing from him in almost 24 hours and the authorities have shared no information with us," Roman Noori said in a video posted Monday on social media.

The motive for the elder Noori's arrest remains uncertain. But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) that the arrest was not related to Noori's media activities, AIJA said in a statement sent to VOA.

The Committee to Protect Journalists called for Mohammad Arif Noori's immediate and unconditional release.

In a statement, CPJ said dozens of armed men who identified themselves as members of a militia affiliated with Taliban-controlled police district in Kabul stormed Noori's house and detained him.

"The detention of media owner Aref Noori by a Taliban-affiliated militia marks a serious attack on the independent media in Afghanistan," CPJ Asia Coordinator Steven Butler said in a statement, referring to Mohammad Arif Noori.

Citing Kashif Noori, another son of the TV executive, CPJ said Noorin TV had operated for the past decade but paused programming this week due to technical issues.

Mohammad Arif Noori is a known supporter of an anti-Taliban group headed by Ahmad Massoud, who fought off Taliban forces in his native Panjshir valley north of Kabul before being overrun in early September.

At least 31 journalists have been detained or arrested by the Taliban since they took over in mid-August, according to the journalists association.

Photojournalist Mortaza Samad was arrested in September while covering a women's protest in the western city of Heart and spent several weeks in Taliban detention.

Last week, Jawed Yusufi, a reporter for the independent outlet Ufuq News, was stabbed and badly wounded by three unidentified men in western Kabul, according to his employer and local media advocates.

The Taliban takeover has decimated Afghanistan's media. A joint survey by AIJA and Reporters Without Borders released last week found that at least 40% of the country's media outlets have disappeared and more than 80% of Afghan women journalists have lost their jobs over the last four months.


Afghanistans ruling Taliban issued on Sunday new travel restrictions for the countrys women, an action criticized by the U.S. as further mistreatment of Afghan women by the terror group.

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice directive limits a womans ability to travel farther than 72 kilometers unless accompanied by a close male relative. It also advised taxi drivers to offer rides only to women wearing an Islamic hijab or a headscarf.

Ministry spokesman Sadiq Akif Mahajer defended the restrictions, telling VOA they were in line with Sharia, or Islamic law.

The decree also requires drivers of the male-only transport sector in Afghanistan to grow beards, break for prayers and refrain from playing music in their vehicles.

The latest restrictions come weeks after the Taliban asked Afghan television channels to stop showing dramas and soap operas featuring actresses, to require female news anchors to wear hijabs while on the air.

The Taliban militarily regained power in August as the Western-backed government in Kabul and Afghan security forces collapsed in the final stages of the military withdrawal by the U.S.-led international forces from the country.

The global community, however, has not recognized the Taliban government and refused to directly engage with the hardline group over human rights, especially those of women, and terrorism concerns.

One of our big issues in terms of any conversations with the Taliban is exactly this point, which is the condition, the status and the treatment of women and girls, including for girls, access to education, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told CBS News in an interview the broadcaster aired on Sunday.

I worry that the Taliban has not complied with what we know to be the appropriate treatment and the right treatment of girls and women. That is one of our greatest considerations and concerns, Harris said.

The Taliban have prevented most Afghan women from returning to work and schoolgirls from resuming classes across many provinces, despite pledging a more moderate rule compared with their harsh regime from 1996 to 2001.

At the time, women had been barred from leaving home without a male chaperone, forced to wear a veil covering them from head to toe and banned from work as well as education. The then-Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had been accused of serious human rights abuses, leading to Afghanistans isolation from the world.

The United States and other Western countries, as well as financial institutions, have suspended billions of dollars in financial aid to Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in mid-August.

The suspension of aid and sanctions have plunged the economy into a crisis, increasing humanitarian needs in Afghanistan where the United Nations estimates 23 million people face hunger due to years of war, drought and poverty.

The Taliban have been urging Washington to unfreeze roughly $9.4 billion in Afghanistans central bank assets and remove financial restrictions, maintaining that their new government is representative of all Afghans and working to respect human rights of all the citizens in line with Islamic laws.
A U.N. official said Sunday he was "horrified" by credible reports that at least 30 civilians were killed and their bodies burned in Myanmar, and demanded the government launch an investigation.

Two workers for the nonprofit group Save the Children remain missing after their vehicle was among several that were attacked and burned in the incident in eastern Kayah state.

A monitoring group and local media have blamed the attack on junta troops.

"I condemn this grievous incident and all attacks against civilians throughout the country," Martin Griffiths, the United Nations under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in a statement.

He called for "a thorough and transparent investigation.

Myanmar has been in chaos since a February coup, with more than 1,300 people killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.

"People's Defense Forces" (PDF) have sprung up across the country to fight the junta and have drawn the military into a bloody stalemate of clashes and reprisals.

On Saturday, photos appeared on social media purporting to show two burned-out trucks and a car on a highway in Hpruso township in Kayah state, with the charred remains of bodies inside.

A member of a local PDF group said its fighters had found the vehicles Saturday morning after hearing the military had stopped several vehicles in Hpruso after clashes with its fighters nearby on Friday.

"When we went to check in the area this morning, we found dead bodies burnt in two trucks. We found 27 dead bodies," he told AFP on condition of anonymity Saturday.

"We found 27 skulls," said another witness who did not want to be named, and who said there were other dead bodies that could not be counted.

Save the Children said later Saturday that two of its Myanmar staff had been "caught up" in the incident and were missing.

The two had been traveling home after carrying out humanitarian work in the region, the charity said in a statement, adding it had since suspended its work in several regions.

Myanmar's junta previously said its troops had been attacked in Hpruso on Friday after attempting to stop seven cars driving in a "suspicious way.

Troops had killed a number of people in the following clash, spokesman Zaw Min Tun told AFP, without giving details.

The Myanmar Witness monitor said it had confirmed local media reports and witness accounts from local fighters "that 35 people including children and women were burnt and killed by the military on 24th December Hpruso township.

Satellite data also showed a fire had occurred around 1:00 p.m. (0630 GMT) on Friday in Hpruso, it added.

AFP was unable to confirm the reports surrounding the clash, but AFP digital verification reporters said the images purporting to show the incident had not appeared online before Friday evening.

PDF groups have surprised the army with their effectiveness, analysts have said, as the military struggles to break resistance to its rule.


U.S. authorities on Sunday were monitoring dozens of cruise ships hit by COVID-19 cases while sailing in the country's waters, with several of them reportedly denied port in the Caribbean.

Over 60 vessels were under observation after "reported cases of COVID-19 have met the threshold for CDC investigation," the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The Washington Post reported that several cruise liners were denied port at their scheduled destinations.

One of them, the Carnival Freedom, was turned away from the Caribbean island of Bonaire, the Post reported.

"We're sailing on a petri dish," said Ashley Peterson, a 34-year-old passenger on board, cited by the Post. "I feel like I just spent my past week at a superspreader event."

In a statement to AFP, Carnival confirmed that "a small number on board were isolated due to a positive COVID test."

"The rapid spread of the omicron variant may shape how some destination authorities with limited medical resources may view even a small number of cases, even when they are being managed with our vigorous protocols," the company said, without providing further details.

The Carnival Freedom arrived in Miami Sunday morning, debarked all guests and "will depart on its next voyage as planned," the company said, adding if it was denied entry to a certain port it would work "to find an alternative destination."

It added the CDC was "fully informed and supportive of our protocols and operational plans."

Earlier this week, 55 people tested positive for COVID-19 aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise, the company said.

The infections spread among passengers and crew members on the "Odyssey of the Seas" despite 95% of the people on board being vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to Royal Caribbean.

The ship did not dock at the Caribbean islands of Curacao and Aruba, the last scheduled stops on its eight-day voyage out of precaution.

It returned to port at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Sunday.
The bodies of 28 migrants have washed up on Libya's western coast after their boat sunk, a security official said Sunday, the latest tragedy on the world's deadliest migration route.

"Libyan Red Crescent teams recovered 28 bodies of dead migrants and found three survivors at two different sites on the beaches of Al-Alous," some 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Tripoli, the source said.

"The bodies' advanced state of decomposition indicates that the shipwreck happened several days ago," he said, adding the toll could rise in the coming hours.

Images published by Libyan media outlets showed corpses lined up along the shore then placed in body bags.

Libya, wracked by a decade of conflict and lawlessness, has become a key departure point for African and Asian migrants making desperate attempts to reach Europe.

Migrants often endure horrific conditions in Libya before embarking northwards on overcrowded, often unseaworthy vessels that frequently sink or get into trouble.

The latest tragedy comes just days after 160 migrants died within a week in similar incidents, bringing the total number of lives lost this year to 1,500, according to the International Organization for Migration.

The IOM says more than 30,000 migrants have been intercepted in the same period and returned to Libya.

The European Union has cooperated closely with the Libyan Coast Guard to cut numbers of migrants arriving on European shores.

On their return, many face further horrific abuses in detention centers.
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Surging coronavirus cases across the world are threatening health care systems in countries seeing a significant spread. The newest variant, omicron, led to thousands of flight cancelations ahead of the Christmas holiday. President Joe Biden will send 1,000 service members to support U.S. hospitals
Meghan Markle Photo: John Lamparski/Getty Images,

Meghan Markle is taking the crown in her enduring feud with Associated Newspaper, the British publisher of the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, and MailOnline. An appeals court has rejected a bid from Mail on Sunday to force a trial over Markles claim that its publishing of a letter to her father was a violation of privacy. In 2018, the Duchess of Sussex sent her estranged father Thomas Markle, 77, a handwritten letter, writing that he broke her heart into a million pieces by talking to press.

After three years, Meghan Markle has now won the legal battle against the British tabloid, according to the New York Times. The three judges of the appeals court agreed with the judgment of a High Court judge in February, deciding that the case did not require a trial. The court declared that the publication of the private letter was manifestly excessive and hence unlawful and Markle had a reasonable expectation that the contents of the letter would remain private. The ruling from the appeals court will spare Markle from potentially testifying against her father in a sensational trial. The duchess had a falling out with her father, a retired Hollywood lighting designer, years before her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018.

Mail on Sunday acquired the letter and published excerpts in February 2019. In October of the same year, the Duchess filed a lawsuit against Mail on Sunday and its parent company over the publication of the private letter. Her husband, Prince Harry, announced the lawsuit in a statement at the time, writing, I have been a silent witness to her private suffering for too long.

Meghan Markle made a statement shortly after the courts decision was made, expressing her relief. In the nearly three years since this began, I have been patient in the face of deception, intimidation, and calculated attacks, she wrote. The courts have held the defendant to account, and my hope is that we all begin to do the same. Because as far removed as it may seem from your personal life, its not. Tomorrow it could be you.

Update December 26: Meghan Markle has received her court-mandated apology on the pages of Mail on Sunday and Mail Online. The apology, with wording agreed upon legally, was printed on page 3 of the paper and will run on the front page of the Mail Onlines website for the next week, per Buzzfeed News. You do have to scroll a bit to find it, as noted by The Guardians Jim Waterhouse.

The high court ordered notice of Meghan Markles legal defeat to appear on the front page of MailOnline for a week. Its quite well hidden. (Also for fans of UK court reporting, this is probably the only time BAILII will feature on the front of MailOnline.) pic.twitter.com/OESxhF381p  Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson) December 26, 2021
Succession Which Side Are You On? Season 1 Episode 6 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * *  Previous Next  Photo: HBO

With season three of Succession now in the books, Vulture is returning to where it all began with weekly recaps of season one. Rewatch along with us and check back every Sunday night for the next pair of episodes.

There are many opportunities to talk about the failings of the Roy children because thats part of what Succession is about  a company (and a country) bequeathed to the dipshit scions of the superelite. Connor, Kendall, Shiv, and Roman have neither the qualifications nor the wisdom nor the temperament nor the basic competency to run a popsicle stand, yet they stand to inherit the world because meritocracy is an idea that may be promoted on ATN opinion shows, but not in the actual halls of power at Waystar. Even still, the siblings inevitably fumble the ball.

But with all that throat-clearing out of the way, let us admit this: Logan Roy is lucky to still have a job.

In the riveting Which Side Are You On? Kendall and Romans efforts to drum up support for a vote of no confidence against their father result in the expected comedy of errors, but the fundamentals of the move are strong. Logan is certainly feared at his own company, but hes also hated, and the combination of his weakening health, falling stock, and uncertainty about his leadership decisions creates the best possible opportunity to knock him off the perch. A board vote against him is a clean and well-timed way to do it, too, and Kendall and Roman have the benefit of old hands like Frank and (more quietly) Gerri helping him strategize a coup. When the four of them meet in a diner  one that does not have a cortado with almond, alas  they have sound reason to believe that theyll be successful.

If there isnt some unidentified threat that shuts down the airspace over Manhattan, the vote likely succeeds. If Logan recuses himself from the board meeting as hes supposed to do, the vote likely succeeds. If Roman can summon the courage to support his own cause, the vote definitely succeeds. Instead, it ends in a tie, and all those who voted against Logan are ejected from the board  and, if present, from the building.

It feels like Logan got final approval on the cut of Which Side Are You On? because Kendalls biggest triumph as a vote-wrangler is reduced to a wordless montage sequence. On the morning of the vote, with one maybe hanging in the balance, Kendall gambles on missing the meeting altogether by driving out to a Long Island hospital to persuade a crucial board member to join the cause. Its possible that this voter, Ilona, who weve never seen before, hasnt spent enough time around Kendall to have the proper lack of faith in him, but his personal visit turns out to be the right call. Its the terrorists who beat him on this day when he cannot catch a quick copter back to headquarters. The narrative gods do not want him to win.

He does his usual best to lose, too. Kendall opens his campaign inauspiciously by mentioning the no confidence vote to Stewy, who makes no effort to mask his displeasure about the move because he knows that Wall Street will view such upheaval kindly. (Youre fucking with my money, Ken.) But Stewy is in the position that many other board members  a lot of them future abstainers, like him  occupy, which is that he isnt well-served by voting in either direction. With typical frankness, Stewy tells Ken, I can promise you that I am spiritually and emotionally and ethically and morally behind whoever wins. And with typical cluelessness, Ken counts this as a vote in his favor. (Though again, if the winds of change were blowing more favorably the morning of the vote, and Kendall isnt making his case through traffic tunnels and honking horns and dropped reception, then Stewy is probably a yes. Others, too.)

Its hard to believe that Lawrence, who delighted in torturing Kendall into an exorbitant fee for Vaulter, could be listed among the persuadable, but his digital outlet is in a lose-lose situation at the company. Vaulter represents the cool, new-media vision Logans sons are trying to push forward over his ancient, legacy-media instincts, so Lawrence is caught between a CEO hostile to his outlet and Kendall, who he doesnt respect in the least. Roman sees this as his time to shine, however, so he persuades Kendall to allow him to meet with Lawrence to secure his vote. To the very reasonable question, Whats your vision? Roman launches on what he believes to be the hip, cool answer that will impress the hip, cool Vaulter guy. He talks about laughing in the middle of a bookstore, with all its hilariously antiquated writing on bound pieces of paper. He believes the future is about tasty morsels from groovy hubs like Vaulter.

Roman reads the situation hilariously wrong. He believes that hes telling Lawrence what he wants to hear. He believes that the publisher of a groovy hub like Vaulter surely has contempt for books and for the exhausting ordeal of reading or writing the paragraphs and pages necessary to bring ideas across. (Roman doesnt pick up on Lawrences wry joke about him going post-literate.) He also thinks they are both disrupter types who share a hunger for newness for its own sake, anything to bust up the stodgy old models for profitability in the past. Though Roman and Kendall dont agree on much, they understand Waystar as a vehicle for their own relevancy and status. Theyre embarrassed to be associated with the old mans business.

Of course, theyre not cool at all. Thats why Which Side Are You On? opens where it does, with Kendall backstage with Stewy at a hip-hop show, no doubt mentally calculating the amount of time it might take for him to say that he hung out with the talent. When a brief greeting proves insufficient, Kendall wants his assistant to remind the man who pays his checks in the chillest way possible. Being rich affords you that level of status, which is a lesson Tom tries to impart on Greg by taking him for an evening of illegal birdsong consumption and $2,000-a-bottle service at the most exclusive corners of the most exclusive nightclubs. With enough money, you can shield yourself from the opinions people might have about you.

The true power is not caring, and it belongs entirely to Logan. He doesnt care that his sons think buying up local news stations isnt cool. He doesnt care about honoring the protocol of recusing himself from a board vote, especially if its a fatal threat to his leadership. He even openly roots for cancer as an emphatic display about how much he doesnt care. The one thing he does care about is winning. And in Which Side Are You On? he hangs another W on the board.

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 The other major subplot in this episode is Shiv possibly reviving her working/other stuff relationship with Nate, an ex-boyfriend in the political consulting world. The two share some fun, half-nasty/half-flirtatious banter about the business and their love lives, but it isnt folded into the rest of the hour that elegantly.

 Tom looks happy and liberated all episode, having escaped (for now) the cruises scandal that had been nipping at his feet. Its like this 900-pound gorilla has finally stopped fucking me, he says, a line made funnier by the fact that Shiv cant even give it a third of her attention.

 The exchange between Greg and Tom over California Pizza Kitchen is an instant classic, demonstrating the money gulf between them. Its pretty delicious, says Greg. No, replies Tom. No, it isnt. The young man living in a youth hostel and tucking office pastries in doggy bags not long ago will have to learn how to be rich.

 Ewan coming all the way down from Canada again to vote in favor of the brother he hates is almost impressively principled because Ewan can see Kendalls move as a move rather than an act of concern. Its a wanton act of egregious selfishness, he says, in keeping with everything else Ive come to loathe about this rats nest of a family.

 Poor Greg. The same night his grandfather makes him eat every bit of a noodle dinner he doesnt want, he sits down at a prix fixe restaurant with Tom, who immediately tells him, When I had their monkfish, I thought I was gonna shit, puke, and cum all at once.

 The title of the episode is a protest song written around a mining strike in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the 30s. That same area would appear in Barbara Kopples landmark 1976 documentary Harlan County, USA, about a months-long strike that turned violent, with Kopple herself in the middle of the action. Bit of an odd touch to include it here, frankly, but it does offer a jarring perspective.
Italian government bans public New Year events amid covid surge.

New Year's Eve in Italy will be a muted affair, for the second year in a row, due to restrictions aimed at stemming a rapid rise in new covid-19 infections driven by the Omicron variant.

Italy has banned public New Year events and ordered the closure of night clubs from 30 December until 31 January 2022, under new restrictions announced by the government two days before Christmas.

However the latest anti-covid rules - which include the compulsory wearing of masks outdoors - are far less restrictive than New Year's Eve last year when all of Italy was in a 'red zone' lockdown.

This year, by contrast, there are no new travel restrictions and people are not prohibited from hosting New Year parties in their homes, with no limitations on the number of guests.

The government has however urged "maximum caution".

This year it is also possible to dine in restaurants on New Year's Eve, armed with the Super Green Pass which can only be obtained by those who have been vaccinated or recovered from covid.

However the recent spike of covid infections has led to a flurry of cancellations in restaurants and hotels, as people move the party from the piazza or club to private homes, according to Italian media reports.

In addition to the closure of discos, all public New Year's Eve celebrations are banned in Italy, from concerts to count-downs.

Italy's night club owners are seeking urgent economic compensation for a sector already crippled by covid-19, reports news agency ANSA, while the president of the northern Emilia Romagna region, Stefano Bonaccini, has expressed doubts about shutting clubs amid fears over "the proliferation of uncontrollable private parties."

For official information about the covid-19 situation in Italy see the health ministry website.
What 16th-Century Venice Teaches Us About Crypto: Gambling and the financial state are intimately bound up together. Its little accident that the first modern lotteries originated in Venice, the city that issued the first sovereign bonds. The modern state can be remarkably tolerant of people winning and losing fortunes, so long as it gets some benefit. Where those are absent, however, governments grow impatient with the turmoil of unrestricted speculation, and crack down hard. If Bitcoin and its ilk are to survive an era when their downsides are becoming ever more apparent, theyll need to find a way to betray their libertarian roots and cut deals with the state. Covid Vaccines May Become a Viable Business. Thats a Problem: Despite being distributed, in many cases, to almost every person on the planet, vaccines have traditionally been an unprofitable backwater for the pharmaceutical industry. For decades, there have been concerns that the R&D pipeline for new ones is drying up. The rush of orders for Covid booster shots represents a break with that model. In the future, treating vaccines as just another branch of the pharmaceutical industry will leave their miraculous scientific potential hobbled by a broken business model. Vaccines arent consumer products. Theyre infrastructure. Evergrande and Chinas Energy Crisis Are Two Sides of One Coin: Premier Li Keqiang once came up with an index of electricity consumption, rail cargo and loan growth to provide a more reliable guide to Chinas economy than easily fudged official GDP figures. With property developer Evergrande teetering and power cuts spreading, two of those signals flashed red this year. Growth has been fueled for decades by credit and carbon, and Beijing finally seems to be getting serious about changing that. Whether the economy can sustain such a drastic intervention remains to be seen. Pandora Papers Show the Rich Will Always Find a Way: So much money now moves through the worlds offshore financial centers that such paper transactions now account for a greater flow of capital than any country receives from genuine foreign investments. Far from taking a larger share, most developed nations have coped with the leakage of taxable profits over the past decade by cutting their own corporate tax rates  a tacit admission that enforcement has failed. Ultimately, the problem lies with the unrestrained global capital flows since the decline of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s. Dont Blame Climate Activists for the Global Energy Crisis: From the way some analysts have been talking, youd think that energy markets obeyed some version of the butterfly effect, where Larry Fink needs only to whisper ESG and natural gas and coal markets will explode 21 months into the future. What were really seeing, though, are the more mundane dislocations of an economy roaring back to life. The world is facing an energy deficit, to be sure  but the technology that will benefit is the one that can fill it most cheaply. In most cases, that is now renewable power. Dont blame rhetoric for the current travails of the fossil fuel industry. Blame economics.
Companies including Frances TotalEnergies SE, Eni SpA of Italy and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are considering investing billions of dollars to exploit Libyas vast oil and natural gas reserves, as well as its potential for solar power. The countrys proximity to Europe makes it all the more attractive to them. Egypt, as well as the United Arab Emirates, backed Haftar in the hope that he could end the chaos and defeat Islamist groups including the Libyan branch of the Muslim Brotherhood -- a sworn enemy of Egypts government. Turkey found common cause with the GNA as both had close ties to the Brotherhood. Russia, which has been deepening its role in the Arab world, initially kept contacts with both sides while promoting Qaddafis son, Saif al-Islam, as a future president. In 2019, however, Moscow threw its weight behind Haftar. More than 1,000 mercenaries with the Wagner group, which is headed by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, entered Libya to support the general. Russias actions prompted the U.S. to push more forcefully for a peace deal.
To end the pandemic, we need to build up our collective immunity. Its unclear how long protection against reinfection lasts for people whove recovered from a SARS-CoV-2 infection or how long the immunity provided by Covid vaccines will last, especially in the face of new viral variants. While the earliest SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests indicated whether someone had any protection against the virus, more recent versions actually quantify the level of antibodies -- and, used repeatedly, can show if levels are dropping. That could help determine who needs to receive a booster shot of a vaccine at some point. For scientists and policy makers, antibody tests are also a powerful tool to understand how widely the virus has spread in a region, which can shine light on which public health measures have worked and which havent. And for individuals who never tested positive for the virus but think they may have had it, these tests provide a way to look back to see if they may have some protection -- even if they havent been vaccinated.
For asset managers, next year is shaping up to be challenging, to say the least. Faster inflation will prompt central banks to slow, stop and possibly reverse their monetary support of economies, making financial markets trickier to negotiate. The pandemic is far from over. The industry will face even more pressure to allocate assets in environmentally friendly ways without drifting into greenwashing. And the urge to merge, with size bringing benefits of scale to alleviate the relentless downward pressure on fees, remains omnipresent.
First, he is a towering example of a specialist, a world authority; nobody in the world has ever known as much as Ed Wilson about ants, Attenborough said. But in addition to that intense knowledge and understanding, he has the widest of pictures. He sees the planet and the natural world that it contains in amazing detail but extraordinary coherence. And he has the ability as a writer to convey to all of us, specialists and nonspecialists alike, why this is not only beautiful and moving and irreplaceable, but essential for our sanity.
We can see how often the Chinese people, operating in difficult or even desperate circumstances, seized their own fate and threw themselves against the power of the state, he wrote. We can see how in 1644, again in 1911, and then again in 1949, disillusion with the present and a certain nostalgia for the past could combine with a passionate hope for the future to bring the old order crashing down, opening the way for an uncertain passage to the new.
A tent at a small homeless encampment in Georgetown caught fire early Monday while two people were still inside. The D.C. fire department responded to the scene and quickly doused the blaze, officials said. No injuries were reported, but the couple who had been living inside the tent, just steps away from the Four Seasons Hotel, said many of their belongings  including shoes, clothes and a sleeping bag  were destroyed in the fire.
Centuries-old church holds final service: A Pennsylvania church with a 221-year history held its final service and is scheduled to close at the end of the year because of declining membership and attendance. The First Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, which is nearly as old as the borough itself, held its final scheduled service on Christmas Eve, after having welcomed generations of families. The church, established in 1800, met at the courthouse for almost two decades, then in a stone edifice; the current structure was built shortly after the Civil War.

Church elder Candace Dannaker estimated that, before the coronavirus pandemic, the church had about 40 members  a number that is down to about 25, and had no in-person worship from March 2020 until Easter Sunday. When Dannaker joined 34 years ago, she said, there were about 200 people in attendance. The

15,000-square-foot church is scheduled to close for the last time on Dec. 31. Dannaker said the future of the building hasn't been determined.
Complete coverage: Pro-Trump mob storms Capitol building

The Attack: Before, During and After

A sprawling investigation: What we know so far about the Capitol riot suspects

Six hours of paralysis: Inside Trumps failure to act after a mob stormed the Capitol

Profiles of three involved in the attack: A horn-wearing shaman. A cowboy evangelist. For some, the Capitol attack was a kind of Christian revolt.

Video timeline: 41 minutes of fear from inside the Capitol siege

The Jan. 6 committee: What it has done and where it is headed
Msgr. Carlos Aviles, vicar of the archdiocese of Managua, told the La Prensa newspaper that a Taiwanese diplomat had offered the church the property, saying, I told him there was no problem, but the transfer was still in the legal process.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size When it rains in the Gayini wetlands, the dirt track is treacherous; driving is like skating on ice. But the land managers of the almost 88,000-hectare property in NSWs south-west are used to this, and skilfully navigate their four-wheel-drives off-road over the sweeping floodplains as they check water channels, conduct pest control and ensure general upkeep of the property. Storms are a regular occurrence in the region, as are floods and droughts. The harsh conditions are not for everyone, but for Nari Nari man Jamie Woods and Ngiyampaa man Mark Schneider, managing the property is the best job there is. Water flows into sections of Gayini that have been largely dry since 2016. Credit:Brook Mitchell Its been just three years since the area was handed back to its traditional custodians, the Nari Nari Tribal Council, for management. But already it is teeming with birds, kangaroos, emus and snakes as its custodians work hard to protect the regions past, present and future. As he stands in his favourite spot on the property  a bridge under which yabbies and fish thrive, overlooking a marshy ibis breeding ground  council land manager Mr Woods says hes blessed to have the job of looking after his country. The water flowing under the bridge will filter down to the rest of the property, bringing wildlife back to areas damaged by stock grazing over many years. I couldnt see myself doing anything else, Mr Woods says. Land management is about doing the right thing and creating the right environment and everything takes care of itself.

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Eight years ago, the state and federal governments bought 19 properties and their water extraction rights in the Lower Murrumbidgee Valley. In 2017, the government put the amalgamated property to tender, seeking caretakers to ensure its ongoing management. A consortium involving The Nature Conservancy, the Nari Nari Tribal Council and others won the deal in 2018, and a year later, traditional owners were handed the legal ownership of Gayini, which is the Nari Nari word for water. Since then, the private land conservation areas new caretakers have been busy returning the land to its original condition. Gayini offers a unique management approach in that it is a private land conservation area with a signed conservation covenants, which is a signed agreement between the Nari Nari Tribal Council and the NSW government. The agreement outlines how the property will be used and informs the land and water management plans. State and federal governments still provide support for the property, including advice on managing hydrological issues. There are many approaches to conservation, but environmentalists say it depends on the areas history and landscape as to which is the most appropriate. Credit:Brook Mitchell This approach means Gayini does not fall to the care of a public agency, such as NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, as is the case with national parks or nature reserves.

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Director of conservation for The Nature Conservancy Australia, James Fitzsimons, said there were many approaches to conservation used across Australia, and the best approach was dependent on the lands needs, such as its Indigenous heritage or type of landscape. Nari Nari Tribal Council members and land managers Mark Schneider and Jamie Woods stand with Rene Woods as they watch a severe storm roll in over Gayini. Credit:Brook Mitchell Gayini was one of the largest wetland restoration projects in Australia. Dr Fitzsimons said that while there were significant number of Indigenous protected areas in central and northern Australia, there were few in the eastern and southern parts of the country. Land buyback for First Nation people is the only way that land comes back into the system, he said. Its very important to protect natural assets and cultural assets, he said. Gayini is unique in many ways... [This type of agreement] could be replicated in other parts of the Murray Darling. Weve never restored wetland types of this scale. National Parks Association executive office Gary Dunnett said while the public agency approach offered more secure long-term conservation efforts with scientific expertise, those made by other environmental groups also played a vital role.

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We are quite open to any mechanism that sees land being protected, he said. He added that the key to good land management, whatever governance approach was used, was ensuring that threatened species were monitored and that basic infrastructure, including appropriate fire mitigation, was in place. Mr Dunnett said that most national parks were on land that had not been fertile enough for agricultural purposes, so conserved land in fertile areas was unique. Loading There is absolutely a place for state agencies or private organisations to look for places that are within the heart of those high fertility soils and high rainfall areas because they actually punch above their weight, he said. Their value in the landscape is very high and they are not well represented in the reserve system. There is a fantastic opportunity to regenerate those places because they will potentially support higher biodiversity, including breeding sites for more diverse species.

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Gayini also relies on the efforts of scientists who monitor the various ecosystems in and around the property, including monitoring the fluctuating bird populations and recently rediscovered grey snake species. Mr Schneider, who is also on the Nari Nari tribal council and one of the propertys land managers, has grown up in and around the Gayini. He said one of the projects key successes has been the close working relationship with scientists, combining local knowledge with Western science. Some of the water that flows through the 88,000 hectare property is destined for the state-owned Yanga National Park, while part of it will flow into the regenerating wetlands. Credit:Brook Mitchell All the data they get, we get too. There are definitely opportunities to learn from people  theres a lot of knowledge out there, he said. We were always determined to make it work, and we will make it work. Loading After working for National Parks for more than a decade, Mr Schneider said its rewarding to return to his country and protect it. While he said its easy to get lost in the beauty of Gayini, theres much more to it than just the wetlands. Weve still got culture and heritage to protect out there, he said.

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The factional hit was the political equivalent of a drive-by shooting. The Premier, Dan Andrews, proposed the ALPs national executive take control of the partys Victorian branch after media revelations of industrial scale branch stacking. This involves breaching ALP rules by signing up illegitimate members to influence ballots including candidates for elections.

The national executives intervention was never meant to target a sitting MP like me, who had nothing to do with branch stacking, or the Red Shirts controversy.

Broadmeadows MP Frank McGuire. Credit:Joe Armao

The preselection process for next years state elections in Victoria was manipulated. So were the media. The technique used was to falsely link me to the factional group Victorias IBAC is investigating. This was wrong, misled the public and damaged my reputation.

The national executive refused to meet me before casting their votes. The factional deals were done.
A study by South Africas National Institute For Communicable Diseases, finds suspected Omicron cases were 80 per cent less likely to go to hospital, but the analysis does not account for vaccination status. While this is fairly reassuring, Monash University epidemiologist James Trauer said there were no guarantees Australias outbreak would look the same. Australia is unique in its relatively high vaccination rates and lower natural infections, meaning our background immunity levels are different to South Africa and the UK. Its not yet clear how key natural infections will be to the outcomes in these countries, Dr Trauer said.

In the UK, over half the English population had already possibly been infected with COVID-19 when the new variant hit. In South Africa, only about a quarter were vaccinated and the country had high natural immunity. But with South African data now broken down by age in findings backed up by studies in the UK, it was now much clearer that severity for every age group was less for Omicron when compared with other variants, Dr Trauer said. I think were beginning to see that direct comparison able to be made between Delta and Omicron, particularly in places that have really good data like the UK, Dr Trauer said. But why would illness caused by Omicron be less severe?

Researchers at Cambridge and Hong Kong universities have found in non-peer-reviewed studies that the variant replicates much faster in the bronchus 24 hours after infection  which is why it transmits so fast  but is far slower when spreading in the actual human lung tissue, possibly indicating lower disease severity. There is mounting evidence that Omicron causes milder disease, but experts caution against overstating this, with the sheer number of infections set to overwhelm already overstretched healthcare systems. By spreading faster than any other variant, Omicron may ultimately cause more severe disease and death. It will be weeks before these impacts come to bear in Australia. Do masks help? The effectiveness of masks in protection against Omicron is not yet known. Early suggestions are that the virus can pose a higher risk than Delta and it might therefore be safer to wear higher filtration masks.

Lidia Morawska, researcher and director of the WHO-collaborating International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health said: The better fitting the mask, the more protection. There havent been enough studies on this, but if Omicron settles in the deeper part of the respiratory tract, this is where the particles are the smallest. Smaller particles follow the airflow, which means if there are gaps between the mask and the face, of course the mask will provide less protection. How much more protection will a booster shot give me? Antibodies in vaccinated people are far less effective at neutralising Omicron than with Delta, work from Columbia University and overseas data shows.

However, many studies also show that vaccines still fend off severe disease, and booster shots serve as a crucial defence. Hours after the federal government announced it would fast-track the booster shot program, co-chair of the Australian Technical Advisory Group, Allen Cheng, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald that having two doses and a booster gets you to the same place with Omicron as two doses did with previous variants. But will three doses be enough? Israel wants to administer a fourth dose to people over 60, amid signs that immunity from a booster shot starts to wane more rapidly than with Delta. The UKs Health Security Agency finds protection against the strain is 15-25 per cent lower from 10 weeks after the third dose.

The issue of boosters remains vexed. The World Health Organisations Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has continued to warn that countries cannot boost their way out of the pandemic, with poorer countries not yet meeting minimum vaccination targets. The vast majority of hospitalisations and deaths are in unvaccinated people, not unboosted people, he said. Omicron: A shorter wave? South Africa has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases in recent days, from more than 26,000 on December 15 to 19,000 on December 24. Some experts suggest this could be a sign that the country has already reached its peak. University of Melbourne infectious diseases epidemiologist and vaccinologist, Fiona Russell, who has been tracking Omicron hospitalisations globally said: I think, based on the data that were seeing from other countries, certainly from South Africa, this thing explodes over six to eight weeks, and then that seems to decline again.
The restrictions will see festivals and nightclubs remain closed over the New Years period, causing havoc for Perths events industry. The Perth Cup horse racing event at Ascot on New Years Day, which usually attracts thousands of punters, escaped the restrictions. Mr McGowan said this was because it could be managed with restrictions on the day. It will have mask wearing throughout it at all times, itll have seated consumption of alcohol only, and itll have a proof of vaccination requirement to get into the event, he said.

So its not a dance party, its a very different sort of thing and well have those rules in place which are similar to or actually stricter than other hospitality [venues]. Large public and private music events with more than 500 people involving dancing are not allowed under current restrictions except the Wizard of Oz musical at Crown Theatre which has an exemption. The organisers of Origin Fields, a two-day dance festival on New Years Eve and New Years Day, were quick to express their disappointment through a post on Facebook about the restriction extension which would mean their event did not go ahead. It seems that the opportunity to hold our event has once again slipped through our fingers, it said. In the 15 years of holding the event, weve never endured anything like this.

Our approvals were in place, our site is already half built and no expenses has been spared but we understand that public safety has to come first. It [sic] just frustrating to see that horse racing and gambling takes precedence over the arts in this state and theres no real nice way to frame that. Some of the other events which have been cancelled in the next week include Snacks New Years Eve party at the Claremont Showgrounds, Factory New Years Eve at Optus Stadium, Seasons New Years Eve at Wellington Square, Ice Cream Factory, EveOlution in Boddington and Jazz on the Beach in Fremantle. Mr McGowan said the government was developing a financial assistance package for impacted businesses from the current restrictions period.

This will be developed and will be targeted and more information will be released when its ready, he said. Acting Chief Health Officer Paul Armstrong said in a letter of advice to the Premier that masks should be strongly encouraged for large outdoor gatherings that were not music festivals, such as New Years fireworks, but not be mandated. An exception is the Perth Cup race meeting at Ascot Racecourse on 1 January 2022, where masks

should be worn both indoors and outdoors, given the large number of people anticipated to attend and the comparatively higher transmission risk amongst racegoers at such events, he said. I also recommend that the Perth Cup event should have seated service. Current outbreak could be quashed

Dr Armstrong has concerns COVID-19 could be circulating in the community given the number of close contacts still out in the community who had not been tested but said there was a possibility the current Delta outbreak had been quashed. If this occurs, this will allow additional time to further protect the community from COVID-19 by increasing the vaccination coverage rate for second doses in those aged 12 years and over and booster doses in those 18 years and older, he said. Nine people have now tested positive for the virus since a backpacker, who arrived in WA shortly before its border rules with Queensland got tougher, was symptomatic with COVID-19 in the Perth community. All new cases were linked to the Mess Hall event where 400 people attended. Public health rules extended to January 4 Masks are mandatory for indoor public venues, including in the workplace and on public transport. Exemptions apply including when undertaking vigorous exercise, for medical reasons and primary school aged children or younger.

People should use common sense and take a mask with them whenever they leave home;

Mask wearing is recommended for large outdoor public events when you can not physically distance;

Anyone who has been in Perth and Peel since December 16 and enters another regional area is required to wear a mask as per requirements in Perth-Peel;

Seated food and beverage consumption only for all licensed venues and events;

Music festivals and large high-risk events remain cancelled, dancing (except for weddings) is banned and nightclubs remained closed and;

Travel to remote Aboriginal communities remain restricted. Source: WA Government

All of the patrons and staff who were at the event have been required to go into 14 days of quarantine, including about 100 people who had been staying at the Old Fire Station backpackers in Fremantle but were moved by the government to more suitable accommodation to complete the isolation period. About 608 close contacts of case 1133 have been identified and 86 per cent have been tested. About 1089 casual contacts have been identified with 70 per cent tested so far with 322 yet to be tested. There have been 27,492 tests since December 23. Mr McGowan said authorities were trying to track down the close contacts who had not come forward for testing.

Some of them arent answering their phone and some of them have their phones turned off, he said. Were doing our best to try and track these people down. Six new exposure sites were added to the states list on Monday including three separate train trips from Burswood to McIver train station on December 20, 21 and 22. The positive test result for case 1133 sent WA into a spin just before Christmas as mandatory mask wearing was reintroduced and large music events were cancelled. Hospitality venues also had to go back to providing seated service only for customers.
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has opened the door to deepening security ties with Australia and the Five Eyes spying network to counter Irans cyber attacks and combat terrorism.

Mr Lapid said Australian law enforcement agencies now had the opportunity to hunt Hezbollahs global terror network after the Morrison government last month declared the Lebanese group a terrorist organisation.

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid says Israel wants a closer security relationship with Australia. Credit:AP

In an exclusive interview with The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Mr Lapid said Israel was very interested in deepening our ties with Australia and with all countries in the Indo-Pacific.

Mr Lapid said striking a free trade agreement with Australia was also a priority which would expand trade and help create jobs in both our countries, and floated the prospect of direct flights between the two countries.
Dear Mr. Editor,

I regret to say I have watched Officer Crestanea Johnson, of the Bahamas Police Force, give her little speech on speeding once too often.

Officer Johnson, speed in and of itself can neither cause accidents nor kill people. Speed merely gets you from point A to point B quicker.

Maam what does cause accidents and, from time to time, kill, are, in the main, mechanical malfunction, inexperience and stupidity,

Further I would like to say that posting officers on the John F Kennedy Drive to book people travelling at 55 mph on a road specifically built for SAFE speed smacks to me of deliberately and artificially boosting monthly bookings.

May I be allowed to suggest that if the intention is to create a safer driving experience, then it might be a better idea to actually book people for dangerous driving?

I can make three suggestions:

I again refer to JFK Drive or any other multi-lane highway, where an horrendously high percentage of drivers pull onto the right hand lane and cruise along at 35mph forcing following traffic to illegally and dangerously weave from lane to lane in order to continue at their planned 45mph; Im sure I read in the Highway Code that the right hand lane is a passing or turning lane the cruising lane is the left hand one! Another offence mentioned in the Highway Code concerns night time driving and the use of bright lights, or main beam. The majority of New Providence streets are reasonably well lit and therefore there is very little need for brights and even on an unlit street in traffic the only vehicle allowed to drive on bright lights is the first one and even then that driver is required to dip lights when another vehicle approaches. And lastly, most Bahamians, and here I must include police drivers, refuse to use their indicators, you know that little switch located just behind the steering wheel, again the use of which is something our Highway Code tells us is a legal requirement.

Thank you for your considerations,

H. Armbrister
TORRINGTON  For more than 30 years, Marty Connor has guided local communities through the process of improving their homes and businesses, developing new regulations and helping larger organizations create new housing, find uses for old industrial spaces and encourage responsible growth.

A good portion of that 30 years  22.5, to be exact, has been spent in Torrington as the city planner, as well as town planner in Goshen. Before that, he worked in Litchfields Land Use Department for six years.

Before that, I worked in Kent, Warren, Barkhamsted, New Hartford and Washington. Ive done consulting for New Hartford and Burlington over the years, Connor said.

But with three grandsons in Greenwich, Connors sights are turned toward some well-deserved time off.

Hes retiring from Torrington, and will remain in Goshen on a part-time basis, he said. The time off will be spent doing the things he loves  primarily, being a grandfather.

I have three grandsons, Rami, who is 13, Danyal, whos 4, and Layth, whos 2, Connor said. I just taught Danyal to ski, and he really loves it. The best job Ive ever had is being a grandpa. Its just wonderful.

Connors role will be filled by his assistant land use officer, Jeremy Leifert, who has been with the city for more than two years. Jeremys my hand-picked successor, he said. He was hired when (former land use officer Rista Malanca, now economic development director) moved up. We knew Jeremy from his work in Thomaston, and we wanted him here. Hell do a fantastic job. Our enforcement officer, Ashley Clement, has also done a fabulous job.

Ill miss that the most, he said. The people here are just a really good team. My administrator, Lona Kirk, has been with me the entire time, and shes just no-nonsense, straightforward and works hard. Ive also had the best commissions over the years to work with, very strong and professional. They read the applications, and they come to the meetings prepared. They do their homework. That has made the job so pleasant.

During his years working for the city, Connor believes the land use team, along with the mayors office, City Council and other entities, have made some very positive changes.

We want to make it easier for people who are bringing in what we want into Torrington, to make sure they understand whats required, he said. Weve worked well with applicants and other departments, and have always been good team members. Engineer Paul Kundzins, Public Works Director Ray Drew and our new building official, Kevin Gillette, have all been great to work with, too.

The city has made a concerted effort to build up the downtown area in the last decade, and in recent years some of those efforts have been accomplished, such as Franklin Plaza and new businesses filling long-vacant spaces. Connor credits much of that work to the mayors leadership.

Ive always worked with good mayors, in different ways, he said. From Mary Jane Grenuik to Owen Quinn, to Ryan Bingham, Jerry Zordan and Elinor Carbone. Elinor was very involved in the plan of conservation and development, and very interested in developing downtown, long before she was mayor.

Weve made downtown business friendly, and weve encouraged restaurants, small niche retail and other businesses, he said. Hartford just announced that they were removing downtown parking requirements (during the holidays), but weve been doing that for years. The whole idea of affordable housing was already started here in Torrington, before other cities and towns started looking at it, without a lot of screaming and yelling.

Connor has served as an emergency management coordinator for more than 40 Connecticut towns, and said he will continue in that role for now. Thats kept me very busy for the last two years, he said. When I joined, I was thinking of the tornado that hit in Cornwall, and I thought as a planner, I could help out somehow. But I didnt realize whats involved; its more about coordinating efforts. Ill continue to help with that.

Connor, who also is a photographer, is looking forward to using his camera more, and said his interest in the arts stems from that hobby. The citys efforts to create an environment for artists downtown, joined by efforts by organizations such as the Five Points Center for the Arts and its galleries, the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council and many local groups and artists, is another great accomplishment for Torrington.

I got tutoring from Ed Jaffe, who taught me a lot about what artists need to work and live in a city, Connor said. We had to learn what they need to succeed.

When Leifert takes over as city planner, Connor encourages him to take advantage of the many courses and seminars available to him. Ive learned a lot from other planners, not just in Connecticut, but all around the country, by attending those educational types of things, he said. Ive stayed connected with a lot of them. Im also a member of the Connecticut Association of Zoning Officers, and the state planning association.

He sees some challenges on the horizon for the city, but noted that work already is underway on a marijuana ordinance, regarding public use in public spaces such as parks and streets. The Planning & Zoning Commission is looking at the retail sales end of it, too, Connor said. They are looking at it very seriously.

He feels hes leaving Torrington in a good position. I feel the citys in a good spot, Connor said. Seeing industrial and retail buildings, like the Libby building, for example  thats whats exciting to see what can be done to have people live downtown. COVID-19 has delayed us, with some of our plans, but were moving ahead.

Friends and staff from City Hall will gather at Bad Dog Brewery on Migeon Avenue from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Jan. 5 for a final farewell to Connor. People are welcome to stop by.
Allentown, PA (18103)

Today

Cloudy with snow developing between 9pm and midnight, then steadier snow from midnight to sunrise. A few inches of snow for everyone, with a widespread 1-3" with most getting closer to 3". Higher 3-6" amounts closer to the I-95 corridor..

Tonight

Cloudy with snow developing between 9pm and midnight, then steadier snow from midnight to sunrise. A few inches of snow for everyone, with a widespread 1-3" with most getting closer to 3". Higher 3-6" amounts closer to the I-95 corridor.
Although there are dark times at the moment, let us take the opportunity to look optimistically ahead to a plethora of new musicals set to hit our stages in 2022. After all, we work in a resilient industry that refuses to yield and, as far as we're concerned, there will always be another op'nin', another show...





Broken Wings



The Charing Cross Theatre has certainly championed the staging of new musicals or revivals of rare gems in recent years and 2022 looks to continue that trend. Next month, the first full-length run of Broken Wings will be held at the venue under the direction of Bronagh Lagan. Based on Kahlil Gibran's poetic novel of the same name and adapted for the stage by Dana Al Fardan and Nadim Naaman (who also stars in the production), the story is set in New York in 1923, where an ageing Gibran reflects on his earlier years in Beirut and a fated love affair there.

Charing Cross Theatre, from 21 January to 5 March 2022





The cast of The Osmonds - A New Musical

 Oliver Rosser, Feast Creative

We're sure there'll be plenty of reasons to love this jukebox show! The Osmonds  A New Musical boasts a story by Jay Osmond himself (adapted by Julian Bigg and Shaun Kerrison, who also directs) charting the career of Utah's favourite sons. This world premiere UK tour, featuring choreography by Bill Deamer and an embarrassment of hits from "Puppy Love" and "Long Haired Lover from Liverpool" to "Crazy Horses" and "Love Me for a Reason", is set to launch next year.

UK and Ireland tour opens at Curve, Leicester on 3 Februry 2022





But I'm a Cheerleader: The Musical



Jamie Babbit's 1999 movie became something of a cult classic, especially for the LGBTQ community, and musical stagings of But I'm a Cheerleader have already been experimentd at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (2005) and MT Fest UK (2019), but the world premiere is now set for February. With a book and lyrics by Bill Augustin and music by Andrew Abrams, the story follows a teenage girl (and proud cheer squad member) whose malicious parents send her to conversion therapy camp after suspecting she is actually a lesbian.

Turbine Theatre, from 18 February to 16 April 2022





Floella Benjamin and Omar Okai

 Geraint Lewis

Those of us who experienced childhood in the 1980s will no doubt remember Floella Benjamin with great fondness from her celebrated tenure on children's television. Published in 1997 in the form of a children's book, her memoir entitled Coming to England charts her journey from Trinidad to 1960s London at a tender age, where she would overcome racism, intolerance and adversity to become a TV icon, successful business woman and finally Baroness Benjamin of Beckenham. Adapted by David Wood, the new musical will debut next year under the direction of Omar Okai.

Birmingham Rep, from 19 February to 6 March 2022





Orphans

 Peter Dibdin

North of the border, the National Theatre of Scotland is also brewing up something intriguing for 2022. Peter Mullan's 1998 film Orphans, a dark comedy following a group of siblings in Glasgow who gather together to arrange their mother's funeral, quickly became a cult classic. Now, a musical adaptation penned by Douglas Maxwell and featuring a score by Roddy Hart and Tommy Reilly, will hit the Scottish road under the direction of Cora Bissett, visiting Greenock, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness.

Scotland tour begins at Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock on 1 April 2022





Our Man in Havana



The Watermill Theatre in Newbury will also be the home of a brand-new musical in 2022 with the world premiere of Our Man in Havana, based on Graham Greene's seminal novel. Adapted for the stage by Ben Morales Frost and Richard Hough and directed by Amy Draper, the piece promises "uplifting Cuban inspired songs" and, of course, Greene's satirical take on intelligence services like MI6. We spy a promising future for this one!

Watermill Theatre, from 7 April to 21 May 2022





Choreographer Oti Mabuse, director Arlene Phillips and costume designer Gabriella Slade

 Oliver Rosser

The Cher Show wowed audiences on Broadway from 2018 to 2019 with its stunning display of iconic Cher outfits and saw fan favourite Stephanie J Block finally taking home her first Tony Award. Next year, UK audiences will get to marvel at a brand new production of the bio-musical, directed by Arlene Phillips and choreographed by Strictly standout Oti Mabuse, with Gabriella Slade taking over the fabulous costume designing duties. Do you Believe in life after Broadway? We certainly do!

UK and Ireland tour opens at Curve, Leicester on 15 April 2022





101 Dalmatians



Will it be a case of third time lucky for everyone's favourite spotted pooches? Originally scheduled to run during the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's 2020 season and cancelled again in 2021, we have everything crossed that this new musical adaptation of 101 Dalmatians will finally hit the stage next summer. Based on the beloved Dodie Smith novel, the piece features a book by Zinnie Harris and an original score by Douglas Hodge, with artistic director Timothy Sheader at the helm. We're already imagining an iconic entrance for a certain iconic villainess...

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, from 12 July to 28 August 2022





Identical



Another new musical which has endured a couple of false starts is Identical, based on Erich Kastner's novel The Parent Trap (which also spawned the much loved Disney film series). The tale centers on twin girls separated at birth, who coincidentally meet at a summer camp ten years later and hatch a plot to swap places and live each other's lives in an attempt to reunite their parents. Directed by Trevor Nunn and featuring a book by Stuart Paterson and a score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, this show has all the makings of a bona fide hit.

Nottingham Playhouse, from 26 July to 14 August 2022





Rob McClure in the Broadway premiere of Mrs Doubtfire

 Joan Marcus

Hello, poppets! Another Broadway tuner swiftly making its way to our shores is the musical adaptation of Mrs Doubtfire. Adapted by Wayne Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell (who all previously collaborated on Something Rotten!) and based on the beloved 1993 film starring Robin Williams, the musical follows down-and-out actor Daniel Hillard, who, following a divorce, creates an alter ego in the form of British nanny Euphegenia Doubtfire to spend more time with his children. Who will follow in Williams' famous (low-heeled) footsteps at the UK premiere in Manchester next year?

Manchester Opera House, from 2 September to 1 October 2022





Claus The Musical

Claus The Musical

 Steph Pyne

Is it too early to start talking about next Christmas? You bet your festive baubles it's not! The Lowry in Salford has big plans for 2022 with a world premiere up its sleeves. Claus the Musical is adapted by Simon Warne from the 1902 book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L Frank Baum (also responsible for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, of course). The show features music and lyrics by Andy Collyer, direction by Kate Golledge and lashings of ho-ho-holiday spirit.

The Lowry, from 14 December 2022




Protocol Officer, Rome, Italy

Organization: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Country: Italy

City: Rome

Office: FAO Rome

Closing date: Wednesday, 12 January 2022

2103419

Protocol Officer

Job Posting: 22/Dec/2021

Closure Date: 12/Jan/2022, 10:59:00 PM

Organizational Unit : CSG

Job Type: Staff position

Type of Requisition : Professional

Grade Level : P-2

Primary Location: Italy-Rome

Duration : Fixed-term:1 year with possibility of extension

Post Number : 2008513

CCOG Code : 1A10

FAO is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality, background and culture

Qualified female applicants, qualified nationals of non-and under-represented Members and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply

Everyone who works for FAO is required to adhere to the highest standards of integrity and professional conduct, and to uphold FAOs values

FAO, as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations, has a zero-tolerance policy for conduct that is incompatible with its status, objectives and mandate, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination

All selected candidates will undergo rigorous reference and background checks

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidentiality

FAO staff are subject to the authority of the Director-General, who may assign them to any of the activities or offices of the Organization.

Organizational Setting The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) contributes to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda through its Strategic Framework by supporting the transformation to more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems, for Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life, leaving no one behind. The Governing Bodies Servicing Division (CSG) provides support to the Secretariat of the Conference and the Council, and supports all Governing and Statutory Bodies of FAO. It houses the multilingualism expertise of the Organization, delivering corporate language goods and services. CSG also provides protocol and meetings services to the Organization. The post is located in the Protocol Branch (CSGP) of the Governing Bodies Servicing Division at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. The Protocol Branch acts as liaison between the Organization, the Permanent Representations and the Host Government, and provides administrative services regarding visas, privileges and immunities for staff and accredited Member representations. It ensures that applicable Protocol is observed in the relations with Members and the activities of the Organization.

Reporting Lines The Protocol Officer reports to the Chief of Protocol.

Technical Focus

Provision of protocol-related services to member countries, observers, management, staff and all stakeholders.

Support liaison with Members and the Host Government to ensure that applicable Protocol is observed in the relations with Members and the activities of the Organization.

Observation of applicable Protocol between the Organization, Members and the Host Country

Key Results The provision of protocol-related services to management and staff.

Key Functions

Processes, coordinates arrangements and delivers protocol-related services;

Researches and analyses protocol-related policy and service delivery issues, maintains operational statistics and prepares related reports;

Develops and maintains systems, processes and practices;

Contributes to the development of information and training materials and coordinates and assists in the presentation of information/training sessions to management and staff;

Provides protocol-related information and advice to management and staff;

Participates on project teams and work groups.

Specific Functions

Liaises with Members and Observers on administrative aspects and procedures leading to the presentation of Credentials for newly appointed Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to the Director-General;

Liaises with Embassies, Permanent Representations and Observers Offices on Protocol matters related to the visit of Heads of States, Heads of Government, Ministers and other VIPs at headquarters;

Liaises with external and internal stakeholders for logistical aspects regarding dignitaries arrivals and departures to and from FAO headquarters and Director-General official luncheons and receptions;

Reviews, evaluates and processes requests for the accreditation of Member countries Permanent Representatives and Observers, ensuring conformity to the policy of the Organization and host country;

Provides support to the Chief of Protocol in the organization of ceremonies and official visits of Heads of States, Heads of Government, Ministers and other VIPs;

Manages the corporate Ministerial List and List of Permanent Representatives to the Organization (Blue Book), including updates and systematic disclosure of relevant information;

Provides Protocol coverage, on a daily basis, for bi-lateral meetings of foreign dignitaries with the Director-General and the core leadership;

Prepares seating arrangements and scenarios for official ceremonies and luncheons, and advises meeting Secretariats on Protocol matters and policy procedures;

Contributes to the preparation of and finalization of the Credentials for new FAO Representatives, in cooperation with the Human Resources Division;

Contributes to the overall supervision, training and coordination of volunteers and staff members serving as Protocol aides during major events and Governing bodies at headquarters;

Provides Protocol coverage to Governing body meetings and others meetings involving the participation of high-level dignitaries;

Prepares, follows-up and ensures timely dispatch of letters of submissions of candidacies and Credentials letters for newly appointed FAO Representatives, congratulatory messages and other routine correspondence related to holidays, national days or important changes in Governments;

Performs other duties as required.

CANDIDATES WILL BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE FOLLOWING

Minimum Requirements

Advanced University degree in business administration, political science, international relations, international law, communication or a related field.

Three years of relevant experience in Protocol, external relations or related areas.

Working knowledge (proficient - level C) of English and limited knowledge (intermediate - level B) of another FAO official language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian or Spanish).

Competencies

c2VhweO Dh7qKS

Results Focus

Teamwork

Communication

Building Effective Relationships

Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills

Work experience in more than one location or area of work, particularly in field positions, is desirable;

Working knowledge (proficient - level C) of Italian is desirable;

Extent and relevance of experience in the area of protocol and external relations in a multilateral setting;

Experience in organizing events/meetings, in an International setting, is desirable;

Ability to manage and maintain up-to-date information on composition of Governments and Diplomatic staff is considered a strong asset;

Extent of knowledge of Protocol office duties, in an intergovernmental context;

Knowledge and understanding of Protocol rules and experience in the application of administrative procedures and practices related to the accreditation of diplomatic staff, in the United Nations context, is an asset.

FAO staff are expected to adhere to FAO Values of Commitment to FAO, Respect for All and Integrity and Transparency.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Extension of fixed term appointments is based on certification of performance and availability of funds

FAO reserves the right not to make an appointment.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE

A competitive compensation and benefits package is offered. For information on UN salaries, allowances and benefits, click on the following link: http://www.un.org/Depts/OHRM/salaries allowances/salary.htm Other benefits, subject to eligibility, include:

Dependency allowances

Rental subsidy

Education grant for children

Home leave travel

30 working days of annual leave per year

Pension fund entitlements under the UN Joint Staff Pension Fund

International health insurance; optional life insurance

Disability protection

FAO encourages a positive workplace culture to increase inclusivity and diversity within its workforce. FAO applies measures in which all staff members contribute equally and in full to the work and development of the Organization. This includes:

elements of family-friendly policies

flexible working arrangements

standards of conduct.

HOW TO APPLY

To apply, visit the recruitment website at Jobs at FAO and complete your online profile. We strongly recommend that your profile is accurate, complete and includes your employment records, academic qualifications and language skills.

Candidates are requested to attach a letter of motivation to the online profile;

Once your profile is completed, please apply and submit your application;

Your application will be screened based on the information provided on your online profile;

Please note that FAO only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

Candidates may be requested to provide performance assessments and authorization to conduct verification checks of past and present work, character, education, military and police records to ascertain any and all information which may be pertinent to the employment qualifications;

Incomplete applications will not be considered;

Only applications received through the FAO recruitment portal will be considered;

We encourage applicants to submit the application well before the deadline date.

If you need help, or have queries, please contact: Careers@fao.org

Link to the organizations job offer: https://unjobs.org/vacancies/1640196123546
The Free Press Book Club was started in May 2020 as a way to keep folks connected during a time of intense isolation, and to support both a local business  our partners at McNally Robinson Booksellers  and local authors.

The Free Press Book Club was started in May 2020 as a way to keep folks connected during a time of intense isolation, and to support both a local business  our partners at McNally Robinson Booksellers  and local authors.

Since then, the club has read 17 books together  full-length novels, short stories, flash fiction, memoirs and essay collections  all written by Manitoba authors or by writers with ties to our province in some way.

One common thread that has run through each of the book club picks is the calibre of Manitobas local literary scene. Chris Hall, co-owner of McNally Robinson and regular book club co-host, says it best: "What Ive been struck with is the overall quality of local writing. Its easy to get swept away by the excitement that surrounds international book releases, but Ive been very happy with the reading Ive done for the book club. Local authors hold their own with those international stars."

The book club is currently reading Waubgeshig Rices Moon of the Crusted Snow, a novel that combines the action and suspense of a great thriller with rich Indigenous storytelling traditions. Rice will take part in the book clubs next virtual meeting on Monday, Jan. 31.

To join the Free Press Book Club (free) and for more information, visit wfp.to/bookclub. Then pick up a copy of the book, and youll be ready to access the virtual meetings on YouTube.

Heres a recap of all the literary works the Free Press Book Club tackled in 2021, and a few thoughts about each virtual meeting.

Dec 2020 /January 2021

Five Wives

By Joan Thomas

Thomass latest novel, about the families of a group of ill-fated evangelical Christian missionaries in the 1950s who set out to convert the Waorani people of Ecuador, is a richly textured piece of fiction, one that won her the 2019 Governor Generals Literary Award for fiction. She was as eloquent as ever in talking about the process of writing Five Wives ("Its a heck of a lot easier to write a book from research than make everything up. I find it a very rich experience," she said), the reaction it received and the history of the real-life characters of her book.

February

Songs for the End of the World

By Saleema Nawaz

Ottawa-born Saleema Nawazs appearance was one of just two times the book club welcomed a non-local author (although she did complete grad school here), and she was the first writer to tackle a pandemic, albeit a fictional one written pre-COVID. The uncertainty about featuring a pandemic novel during a pandemic abated, however, as Nawaz thoughtfully related how she has coped during the real-life global health crisis and how her large cast of characters navigated their own new realities.

March

We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing

By Jillian Horton, M.D.

Hortons poignant, heartfelt memoir chronicles her journey into medicine, her work as an internist and her near-breakdown before a five-day retreat in upstate New York. Her book club visit couldnt have been more timely, as the anxiety of the pandemic has pushed so many to the emotional brink; Horton was thoughtful, engaged and impassioned about her own well-being as well as those of others. It was one of those conversations that felt like it flew by, and is one of our most-watched meetings to date.

April

Treed

By Ariel Gordon

Ariel Gordon is a vivid storyteller both in print and in person. Her essay collection Treed is a remarkable series of stories that takes readers through the urban forests of Winnipeg, before travelling to rural Manitoba and British Columbia to ultimately help readers consider their broader relationship with and expectations of nature. Ariels passion and emotional connection to the content shone through in her discussion with columnist Jen Zoratti  who joined in on this meeting, as she has done extensive reporting on Winnipegs tree canopies  and Chris, so much so that many of our audience members peppered Ariel with questions about her favourite local trails. There were even a few requests from readers to join in on Ariels next forest walk.

May

Once Removed

By Andrew Unger

The brains behind The Daily Bonnet, a satirical Mennonite website, dropped by the book club with his first novel, about a ghostwriter in a small Mennonite community whos struggling to make ends meet. Preservation faces off with progress in Once Removed, to hilarious effect; Unger was wryly engaged throughout the chat, which tackled Mennonite artists and culture, history versus shiny and new, everything Daily Bonnet (his new book, Best of the Bonnet, is out now) and more.

June

Paul Is Dead

By C.C. Benison

As summer kicked off, a thriller for book club members to enjoy at the beach, the cabin or in the backyard felt fitting. Paul Is Dead, written by Douglas Whiteway under the pen name C.C. Benison, takes readers to the Interlake, skipping back and forth between past and present day as a horrific event begins to take shape. Benison talked about writing mysteries, skipping between decades and even ruminated a bit on the Beatles.

July/August

The Paris Apartment

By Kelly Bowen

Historical romance novelist Kelly Bowen jumped from Englands Regency era to the Second World War, turning down the sultry sizzle for a book inspired by real-life women in wartime, art theft and more. Her enthusiasm for her subject matter was infectious in talking about The Paris Apartment; in her detailing of the research she did, Bowen hinted that another Second World War era novel is in the works.

September

Fight Night

By Miriam Toews

Presented in conjunction with the Winnipeg International Writers Festival as part of Thin Air 2021, Miriam Toews was as charming and hilarious as ever in talking about her latest (and Giller-shortlisted) novel, told from the perspective of a nine-year-old who navigates life while living with her mom and her spirited grandmother. Between book club members and Thin Air enthusiasts, Miriam drew quite a crowd for the virtual meeting, with more than 160 people tuning in live to take in the discussion that covered a lot of ground  from character and story development, to what puts the "fight" in Fight Night, to navigating a book release during a pandemic. Toews may not live in Manitoba anymore, but shes still one of our own.

October

Hour of the Crab

By Patricia Robertson

The three suites of stories in Hour of the Crab grapple with the migrant experience, climate change, ghosts, mystical symbolism, family and more  told from different points of view but all in Patricia Robertsons evocative, eloquent prose. Her book club chat was equally thoughtful and illuminating, with Robertson hopeful we can emerge from our current chaotic state with a closer relationship with the natural world.

November

Status Update

By George Toles and Cliff Eyland

The final book club meeting of 2021 took the short story even shorter, with a book full of heartfelt, often-hilarious microfictions written by Toles between 2009 and 2013 and initially posted on Facebook, and which the late Cliff Eyland would then illustrate. Toles way with words came through in his impassioned discussion about the book, his late friend and collaborator, romanticism, ultra-short fiction, comedic writing and more.

If you value coverage of Manitobas arts scene, help us do more.

Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.

Erin Lebar

Manager of audience engagement for news Erin Lebar is a multimedia producer who spends most of her time writing music- and culture-related stories for the Arts & Life section. She also co-hosts the Winnipeg Free Press's weekly pop-culture podcast, Bury the Lede. Read full biography
ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Two tremors with a magnitude of 5.2 and 5.4, respectively, have jolted Greece's southern islands, but no damage or casualties have been reported so far.

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ATHENS, Greece (AP)  Two tremors with a magnitude of 5.2 and 5.4, respectively, have jolted Greece's southern islands, but no damage or casualties have been reported so far.

The first tremor, a 5.2-magnitude, struck at 5:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) east of the island of Crete and at a depth of 9 kilometers (5.6 miles), the Institute of Geodynamics reported in Athens. The earthquake was felt in Crete and the islands of Karpathos, Kassos, Rhodes and Santorini, according to local media.

An even larger tremor of 5.4 magnitude struck at 8:59 p.m. (1859 GMT) about 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) northwest of the first, at a depth of 6.3 kilometers (3.9 miles), the Institute of Geodynamics reported.

The mayor of the small island of Kassos, closest to the epicenter, told state news agency ANA that no buildings were damaged in either earthquake.

An unrelated 4.0-magnitude tremor also hit at 6:14 p.m. (1614 GMT) west of Athens, the Institute of Geodynamics reported. The epicenter was at a depth of 16.7 kilometers (10.4 miles), it said.

Tremors of that magnitude are not uncommon in Greece, which lies close to a meeting point between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. A second earthquake being stronger than the first is a rare occurrence, but it has happened on several occasions.
BEIJING  The Chinese city of Xian recorded 175 local coronavirus infections on Monday, as it grapples with a coronavirus outbreak that has pushed Chinas daily cases to record highs since early last year.

Professor Jacov Lavee receives a fourth dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. Israel began trials of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine on Monday with 150 medical personnel who received a booster dose in August in what is believed to be the first study of its kind. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)

BEIJING  The Chinese city of Xian recorded 175 local coronavirus infections on Monday, as it grapples with a coronavirus outbreak that has pushed Chinas daily cases to record highs since early last year.

The 175 infections reported in Xia, in the northwestern Shaanxi province, were up from 162 on Sunday, and 158 the day before, according to a government notice issued Tuesday. Authorities blame the outbreak on the Delta variant.

Authorities have locked down 13 million residents in Xian amid the rise in infections as they attempt to curb the spread. China is one of the few remaining countries with a zero Covid policy, with authorities implementing mass-testing when infections are found in the community.

Xian has so far conducted four mandatory rounds of testing as authorities sought to detect new infections. The city has also launched a disinfection campaign, spraying down roads and buildings.

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HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

 Omicron spreads global gloom over New Years celebrations

A medial worker in a booth takes a nasal sample from a man at a makeshift testing site in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

 Delta flight to Shanghai turned back because of COVID rules.

 Variant disrupts holiday travel but not shopping

 France sees over 100,000 daily infections for the first time

___

Follow APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

___

HERES WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING TODAY:

JERUSALEM  Israels Health Ministry says it will allow people with two doses of the coronavirus vaccine to get a booster shot after three months, rather than the five-month waiting period it previously allowed.

A woman under an umbrella is tested at a COVID-19 mobile test center in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. (Photo/Michael Probst)

The government said in a statement Monday that it shortened the timeframe to boost immunity as the swiftly-moving omicron variant spreads around the globe.

The new rule would apply to vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

There was still no decision on whether to roll out a second tranche of booster shots to its population as the country grappled with rising infections.

Israel began trials of a fourth dose of coronavirus vaccine on Monday in what is believed to be the first study of its kind.

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PHILADELPHIA  Philadelphia Public Health officials are urging people who suspect they might have mild cases of COVID-19 to stay out of the emergency room.

Department officials in a news release Monday said theyve been hearing from emergency room doctors that theyre being overwhelmed by people seeking COVID-19 tests, many because of mild symptoms or known exposures.

The number of people testing positive for COVID is now far higher than at any point in the last two years, and emergency departments are packed with people with COVID symptoms, Health Commissioner Cheryl Bettigole said in a news release Monday.

A woman wearing a face mask to guard against COVID-19 carries bags of shopping along Oxford Street in London, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021. In Britain, where the omicron variant has been dominant for days, government requirements have been largely voluntary and milder than those on the continent, but the Conservative government said it could impose new restrictions after Christmas. (AP Photo/David Cliff)

She urged people who are experiencing symptoms and having trouble finding COVID testing, to act like they are positive and quarantine.

The health department has recorded a two-week average of almost 1,500 new cases per day and a two-week positivity rate of 15.9%. The department gave out 24,000 free rapid testing kits before the holiday  close to 50,000 rapid tests and was seeing record-breaking numbers of tests being submitted to the department in the days before Christmas.

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CHICAGO  Illinois is helping local health departments with staffing at local health department mass vaccination sites. The move comes as the state is seeing its highest surge in COVID-19 cases during the entire pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday that Illinois is adding at least 100 people to help at local health department mass vaccination sites to meet growing demand.

Starting next week, the state will also open its community-based testing sites six days a week.

The state is averaging 500 new hospital admissions daily for COVID-19, which is double from about a month ago.

Illinois Public Health Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the majority of those hospitalized are unvaccinated.

People wearing protective face masks pose for a photo outside a Christmas decorated coffee shop in Psiri district of Athens, on Monday, Dec 27, 2021. Part of new restrictions includes a mask mandate for outdoors and all public areas as the Greek government is expected to announce new measures to contain the spread of the Omicron variant. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

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JACKSON, Miss. The Mississippi State Department of Health is reporting more than 7,000 new COVID-19 cases over a five-day period.

The department posted new numbers Monday, covering cases confirmed from Wednesday through Sunday.

The state is seeing a significant increase in cases compared to just a few weeks ago. During the two weeks from Nov. 23 to Dec. 6, Mississippi confirmed 5,185 new cases of COVID-19.

In the Jackson area on Monday, parking lots were full at medical clinics that offer COVID-19 testing. A long line of cars waited at a north Jackson church with a mobile test site in the parking lot.

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ATLANTA  COVID-19s omicron wave is rapidly pushing up the number of patients infected with the virus in Georgia hospitals.

The biggest impacts in terms of infections and hospitalizations are being seen in the Atlanta area.

President Joe Biden participates in the White House COVID-19 Response Team's regular call with the National Governors Association in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Campus, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The number of patients hospitalized statewide with the virus has climbed by more than 50% in a week, nearing 1,900 on Monday. The state Department of Public Health says the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in Georgia rose to nearly 8,700 a day on Monday. Thats nearing the peaks that Georgia saw in infection numbers in early January and in late August and early September.

The crush is being seen in Atlanta-area emergency rooms. At midafternoon Monday, of Atlanta-area hospitals that care for all adults, 18 emergency rooms were turning away ambulances, while only 10 were accepting ambulances, according to state data.

Katherine Watson, spokesperson for the five-hospital Northside system, said that COVID-19 patients accounted for 25% of the systems total adult inpatient population as of Monday.

___

PARIS  Frances Prime Minister Jean Castex announced new COVID-19 measures in efforts to curb the spread of the virus, yet stopped short of imposing strict restrictions ahead of New Years Eve.

Starting from next week, big events will be limited to 2,000 people indoors and 5,000 people outdoors. People will be requested to sit down during concerts and customers wont be allowed to stand up in bars, Castex detailed.

Eating and drinking will be banned in cinemas, theatres, sport facilities and public transports, including on long-distance lines. Working from home will be mandatory at least three days per week for employees whose job makes it possible, he added.

Castex said that schools will open as scheduled on Jan. 3 and political rallies wont be concerned by the new rules for democratic reasons ahead of Aprils presidential election.

People queue for rapid COVID-19 test in the center of Aalborg, Denmark, to the test site at Budolfi Church, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021. (Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

The measures come after France recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic.

Castex stressed that hospitals intensive care units are not saturated due to over 90% of Frances adults being fully vaccinated  in sharp contrast with the situation last year.

___

LONDON  British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said Monday no further coronavirus restrictions will be introduced in England before the new year, but urged people to stay cautious and celebrate outside if possible.

COVID-19 data has been patchy over the Christmas holiday, but the latest official figures showed 98,515 new infections were recorded in England on Monday and 143 people died with the virus. The National Health Service in England reported that there were 1,281 coronavirus hospital admissions on Christmas Day, up more than 70% compared to the previous week.

The four parts of the U.K. have taken different approaches to coronavirus restrictions as the omicron variant spread rapidly in the country. While nightclubs were ordered closed and limits on gatherings were imposed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, officials have resisted tightening restrictions in England.

Javid said about 90% of cases across England were the omicron variant.

___

People wearing face masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19, sit on a carousel in Paris, Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden on Monday pledged the full support of the federal government to states facing surges in COVID-19 cases from the more-transmissible omicron variant and a run on at-home tests.

Joining a regular meeting between his coronavirus response team and the National Governors Association, Biden said, My message is: if you need something, say something, and we are going to have your back any way we can.

Biden acknowledged long lines and chaotic scenes as Americans sought out testing amid the case surge and as they looked to safely gather with family and friends over the holiday.

He referenced his administrations plan to make 500 million rapid tests available to Americans beginning next month through an as-yet-to-be-developed website.

A White House official said the new tests would come from new manufacturing capacity and wouldnt interfere with existing supply chains.

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WASHINGTON  Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said Monday that the U.S. should seriously consider a vaccination mandate for domestic travel.

Speaking to MSNBC, Fauci, who serves as President Joe Bidens chief science adviser on the COVID-19 response, said When you make vaccination a requirement, thats another incentive to get more people vaccinated.

The U.S. currently mandates that most foreign nationals traveling to the U.S. be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, but has not instituted one for domestic travel.

The administration has at times considered a domestic vaccination requirement, or one requiring either vaccination or proof of negative test, but two officials said Bidens science advisers have yet to formally make the recommendation to the president. The officials noted they have not been eager to mandate vaccination for domestic air travel because they expected it to immediately face legal challenges, mitigating its potential effectiveness as a tool to drive up vaccinations.

Bidens employer vaccination requirements have been mired in legal wrangling, with the Supreme Court set to hear arguments in early January in cases seeking to overturn them.

Ready, Pet, Go! Leesa Dahl looks at everything to do with our furry, fuzzy, feathered, fishy (and more!) pet friends. Arrives in your inbox each Monday. Sign Up I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

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ATHENS  In Greece, authorities announced additional restrictions after the highest number of daily confirmed infections, at 9,284, was announced since the start of the pandemic.

Health Minister Thanos Plevris announced that starting Jan. 3: the mandatory use of high-protection or double masks will be imposed at supermarkets and on public transport, entertainment venues will close at midnight, capacity will be cut to 10% at soccer stadiums, remote work and schedule changes will be expanded at the public sector and nursing home visits will only be permitted for people carrying a negative PCR test result.

The omicron variant is now apparent across the country, especially in greater Athens where there has been a considerable rise in cases, Plevris said.

He added that the new restrictions would take effect after the New Year due to concerns that if were imposed earlier, they would lead to an increase in private gatherings.

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This was the year that Canada could no longer look away.

This was the year that Canada could no longer look away.

It was the year that it came face-to-face with a history it had long tried to forget, because the forgetting was convenient, because the forgetting meant that it was possible to plead innocence, or to insist that it had no more responsibility for the wreckage or that there were no more amends to make.

Now, as we look back on the years biggest stories, we cannot forget the discoveries of unmarked residential school graves.

It took a lot, in 2021, for news of significance to cut through the deluge of headlines thrown off by COVID-19. As with the year before, the pandemic sucked up most of Canadas news gathering resources and also most of its reserves of attention, leaving little space for other stories to receive due consideration; there will be much that we missed, in these years.

The discovery of the graves was different. It was a headline that shocked the nation, and that shock told a story of its own, and that story kept rolling through the summer, gathering steam until it had convened a difficult but long-awaited public discussion about what exactly must be reconciled with, in this country, and what the road forward must mean.

Is it all about timing? Reconciliation in Canada has long moved in fits and starts, as if the truth of what happened on these lands is too hot for non-Indigenous Canadians to touch all at once. The way it seems to work is that stories that force us to reckon with these truths pile up, building pressure until something finally bursts and the truth is poured out to see.

That is what happened in late May, when the Tkemlups te Secwepemc First Nation near Kamloops, B.C., announced that ground-penetrating radar had located 215 unmarked graves near the site of the former residential school on its territory, where the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has documented the names of at least 51 children who died.

Over the months that followed, other communities finished ground searches, turning up their own fields of grief. In June, the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewans QuAppelle Valley announced it had found 751 unmarked graves on the site of the Marieval Indian Residential School; so far, about 300 have been identified. (Not all belong to children.) In B.C., the Lower Kootenay Band found 182; the Penelakut Tribe, 160.

The statue of Queen Victoria was toppled on the lawn of the Manitoba Legislative Building during a demonstration on Canada Day in the wake of the discovery of unmarked childrens graves at a residential school site. (Ruth Bonneville / Winnipeg Free Press)

There will be more of these discoveries in the years to come. Other communities are now planning ground radar searches, including here in Manitoba. For them, finding and potentially identifying the graves is part of a long and painful journey to healing, at knitting together a world rent asunder when the Catholic Church and the RCMP took their children.

What was, perhaps, most remarkable about how much traction the story got, is how little of it was actually new. If you were watching only the headlines, you might think that this was the first time Canada had become aware of the scope of deaths in residential schools, but that information had been sitting right out in the open for generations.

Survivors knew it. First Nations communities knew it. The government of Canada knew it a century ago, when even a federal official tried to raise the alarm about the schools appalling conditions. Contemporaneous newspaper accounts proved it, as did witness accounts and records collected during the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions seven-year mission.

All of that evidence was there all along, and it hadnt really been hidden. It had been gathered and studied and reported in media. It wasnt news that thousands of children perished in dismal conditions, or that their deaths had been treated with casual disdain by the Catholic Church that ran the schools, and the federal government that supported them.

But the graves forced Canada to look, after it had, for so long, allowed itself to look away.

Now, the nation was watching, and it was mourning. For a while, orange bloomed all over the country, on T-shirts worn to rallies and signs displayed in house windows. Canada Day festivities were muted everywhere, due both to the pandemic but also the cresting awareness of what all we celebrate, when we cheer the creation of the Canadian state.

In Winnipeg, activists at a July 1 protest pulled down a statue of Queen Victoria, under whose reign the residential school system was created. On Sept. 30, the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, thousands of people  different people  flowed through downtown, marching from The Forks to St. Johns Park, where they stood together in hope.

These events made ripples that went further than anyone might have expected. In Manitoba it was, at least in part, former premier Brian Pallisters ham-fisted response to these events that led the Tory caucus to show him the door; the time for Canadian politicians to ignore  or worse, inflame  if still far from over, is evidently coming to an end.

What remains to be seen is what this national reckoning with the truth of residential schools will change. In the summer, Canadians wore orange shirts in a show of solidarity with Indigenous grief; theres still far less interest in connecting that with the concrete ways the schoolss legacy still impact Indigenous peoples and what the future of reconciliation must mean.

When unhoused Indigenous people are forced by police from the bus shacks where they take shelter in winter, that is the legacy residential schools wrought. When Indigenous children are seized from their families, that is the legacy residential schools wrought. The legacy of the schools is one of generations of disconnection, poverty, trauma and pain.

Its easier for Canada to mourn children who died, than to care for the adults the children who survived became.

Yet in truth, there is hope. Because, in the wake of this national conversation about residential schools and reconciliation, there were so many moments of beauty, often at the most grassroots levels of our communities. Conversations made new relationships, and relationships became collaborations, and each new step brings us closer to what sharing can mean.

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There are a lot of things we dont know about the graves. We dont know how many of them hold the remains of children taken to residential schools; the same graveyards were often used as community cemeteries. We dont know if they were always unmarked, or if some once had wooden crosses that time has eaten away.

But the importance of this story has never been the graves. Its how the graves tell the story weve known since the start: that children in residential schools perished at devastating rates, even compared to the shorter, harsher lives of the era. We know they died mostly from disease, to which they had been rendered especially vulnerable due to overcrowding and malnutrition.

A childs dress on a cross blows in the wind near the former Kamloops residential school. The discovery of 215 unmarked graves in late May shocked Canada. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press files)

We know that their families werent always notified. We know that when the schools recorded these deaths, they sometimes did not even note the childrens names. We know that children were often taken away under threat of RCMP force and put on trains and planes that whisked them hundreds of kilometres away from their families, their people, their homes.

There is a word for all of this. There is a word for a system into which people from specific ethnic groups are taken without consent and thrown into machine that aims to wrest away their names, language, stories, families and traditions, all with a goal to ensure that, within a few generations, they would no longer exist as a people who can define who they are.

We know the word. We ought to say it. This was the year Canada could no longer ignore its genocide.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca
The University of Manitoba is reviewing how it collects self-identification data for jobs and scholarships created specifically for people who are First Nations, Metis or Inuit, owing to concerns about false Indigeneity claims.

The University of Manitoba is reviewing how it collects self-identification data for jobs and scholarships created specifically for people who are First Nations, Metis or Inuit, owing to concerns about false Indigeneity claims.

Manitobas largest post-secondary institute is among a group of Canadian schools that have recently announced plans to review their respective practices, following a series of controversies that have made headlines this year.

Most recently, the University of Saskatchewan placed a high-profile health researcher on unpaid leave after CBC published an investigation showing there was no evidence to back up her identity claims.

"If were not asking people to show proof of Indigenous identity, are we then allowing loopholes that minimize opportunities for equity? I think we have a responsibility to look very seriously at that question," said Catherine Cook, vice-president (Indigenous) at the U of M.

Cook, who is Metis, indicated no particular local incident prompted the work. A review will address longtime worries about an honour-based system being insufficient and recent events at other institutions, she said.

Students typically have to simply check a box self-declaring their status when they apply to school for a particular program and to be considered for a university scholarship.

Prospective instructors and current academics seeking new titles, such as Indigenous scholar, are encouraged to outline their identity in their cover letter. Community letters of support and requests for status cards, be it an Indian status card, Manitoba Metis Federation card or Inuit identifier, may also be presented.

Native studies professor Emma LaRocque said she has long been troubled by U of M using self-declaration as the main and sometimes, only  criterion for identity claims.

In an email, LaRocque, who identifies as a Cree-speaking Metis educator originally from northeastern Alberta, said voluntary disclosure as Metis is "particularly disturbing" to people of Red River historical ancestry.

"Just because one may be able to claim some distant (First Nation) or Metis individual many generations back as a relative (biologically speaking) does not make one a Metis. Being half white and half First Nation also does not make one a Metis. Mixed race by itself is not a sufficient criteria for Metisness. Metis is about being able to trace a long Metis lineage that goes back to the early fur trading times," wrote LaRocque.

"Today, Metis people know who they are within a family, community and cultural context. It is about land and language. And lifestyle. It is much more than just self-declaration."

U of M is creating a working group that will be led by knowledge-keepers. In the new year, the school will begin seeking input on applicant verification processes around hiring for Indigenous-specific teaching and research positions, student admittance to faculties based on reserved seats and specific award and funding applications.

Cook said the goal is to standardize and strengthen protocols by working with Indigenous partners and communities of all kinds to create a system that relies more on vocal community support of an applicants identity.

U of M has one of the largest Indigenous student populations in the country, with upwards of 2,600 learners who self-declare their status annually  or, approximately eight per cent of students.

"Theres quite a few people in my personal life who claim to be Metis or First Nation to reap the benefits (of specific scholarships and reserved faculty seats) without joining the community, so to speak," said Taylor Catcheway, a member of the U of M Indigenous Students Association, who is Ojibwe from Pine Creek First Nation in northwestern Manitoba.

Catcheway said such identity theft is particularly frustrating because many people who are Indigenous face barriers to connecting with their culture and proving their identity due to displacement from their communities as a result of the child-welfare system and 60s Scoop.

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Identity fraud creates distrust both in Indigenous communities and among the non-Indigenous population, she added.

Raven Morrisseau, co-president of the association, echoed those sentiments.

"Its hard to come up with a system thats going to equally help all people because there are so many barriers placed on Indigenous people that could limit acquiring documentation," said Morrisseau, who is Cree and Metis, from Misipawistik Cree Nation in northwestern Manitoba.

Both students are in agreement that the U of M may have to consider assessing identification on a case-by-case basis if it wants to improve its system and ensure there is no fraud.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Gundersen Winona Campus staff recently took time to bring Sauer Health Care residents a bit more joy this holiday season.

Employees worked together to fulfill Christmas dreams for residents by choosing tags off of a Christmas tree inside the campus that included the gender and wish of a resident. The employees then purchased presents for the resident they chose.

There were two different color tags on the tree  marking if the individual has a family or not. For those who chose residents who did not have families, their recommended amount to spend on the present was a little bit higher.

Some items given included calendars, body wash, lotion, blankets, card games and more.

We were just thinking of ways that we could really be involved this holiday season and give back to the Winona community, said Lindsay Styx, regional manager at the Gundersen Winona Campus. Upon exploring different ideas, you know, we thought of Sauer (Health Care), because, one, their our neighbors here in town and, two, we really wanted to make an impact on those who have had a tough year. So we thought who better than one of our neighbors thats local here in the community.

Its been really well received by staff and it was just really nice to get everyone engaged, Styx added. I think it made everyone happy and brought a smile to everyones face when they walked by the tree and just saw the gifts piling up.

Styx shared that once all 42 tags were taken off the tree, staff reached out to Sauer to find more ways to support them, which resulted in additional giving such as donating items to Sauers recreation room.

About Sauer Health Care staffs response to Gundersen employees wanting to give gifts to their residents, Styx shared, They were grateful, thankful. I think happy in times like these that that we thought of them and that we recognize them and wanted to give back.

Styx believes that Gundersen employees will continue to give back to the community like this in future years.

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The Annual Kiwanis Sunrisers Club of Winona Christmas Tree Pickup will be held on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022, from 9 a.m. to noon.

The club had to cancel this annual event last January due to COVID-19 concerns. The club is happy to once again provide this service to households in the cities of Winona, Goodview and Sunny Acres in Minnesota City.

Those wishing to have their tree picked up on Jan. 8 are asked to have it on the southeast corner of their block before 9 a.m. Trees brought to the curbs after 9 cannot be guaranteed to be picked up as the crews move rapidly through the neighborhoods. Please have all ornaments off the trees and trees should not be in bags. Trees will be taken to local tree disposal sites.

Organizations helping Kiwanis members will include the Boy Scouts and Winona Senior High National Honor Society members. Several community members will donate the use of their trucks and trailers.

Volunteers will gather beforehand around 8:45 a.m. at the Winona Lake Park Lodge for coffee, donuts and instructions, and will be served pizza after the routes are completed.

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Baraboo homeless shelter leaders reflect on first year, hope to buy building in 2022

Susan Endres / SUSAN ENDRES, News Republic Pathway Home, the homeless shelter in Baraboo, has been open nearly a year. SUSAN ENDRES/News Republic Director Nicole Tidwell adjusts a present under the Christmas tree Thursday morning at Pathway Home, the Baraboo homeless shelter.

Nearly a year since it opened, the Baraboo homeless shelter is keeping busy, housing more than a dozen clients at the tail end of a COVID-19 outbreak, seeing an increase in applications due to the cold weather and fundraising to purchase the building its currently renting.

The nonprofit Baraboo Area Homeless Shelter opened Pathway Home in January 2021 on Baraboos south side after its bid to open in a West Baraboo church was rejected by the village board. Residents who lived near the church campaigned against it, citing worries about how it would impact nearby Haskins Park and neighboring residents.

Its really been a serious labor of love, and so coming up on our one-year anniversary is kind of a really big deal, said Nicole Tidwell, shelter director since April.

Homeless shelter set to open in Baraboo After more than two years of disappointment and new opportunity, the Baraboo Area Homeless Shelter is set to tentatively open in fewer than 10 days.

Serving roughly 60 people this year, every room is currently occupied, Tidwell said. The shelter has 32 beds but just 14 clients at the moment, which has been helping with social distancing after the recent outbreak in which seven people tested positive for COVID-19, she said.

SUSAN ENDRES/News Republic Director Nicole Tidwell decorates tables Thursday morning for Christmas at Pathway Home, the Baraboo homeless shelter.

Once the quarantine period ends Jan. 3, weve got a lot of people who well be bringing in, Tidwell said, adding that the cold weather has increased the number of people applying for shelter. In the meantime, she said Pathway Home has been giving out motel vouchers to make sure no one is left without a safe, warm and dry place to stay.

During the outbreak, she said the community showed a lot of support for the shelter, donating meals for the clients in isolation. When people started to show symptoms, the shelter got everyone tested. Leaders arranged for them to stay in motels, which was difficult because some motels in the area wouldnt accept vouchers, said they were full, wouldnt work with the homeless or refused to book rooms for the ill, according to Tidwell.

A few residents found housing or moved on to better things while the shelter was in quarantine, so thats really been a blessing over the last few weeks, Tidwell said.

It was the first set of positive cases at the shelter, leading its board and partner organization Central Wisconsin Community Action Council to develop a COVID protocol, and it coincided with the county-wide increase in cases, she said.

Need for housing

Drug and alcohol abuse also contributes to the increased need for shelter around the holidays, Tidwell said.

SUSAN ENDRES/News Republic Presents lie under the Christmas tree Thursday morning at Pathway Home, the Baraboo homeless shelter.

Its harder for folks who are homeless, without resources or estranged from friends and family because of their hardships, who struggle with that, she said. While Pathway Home is not a rehab program, it does work with people who are in recovery.

Theres not as many resources as there should be for them, but we help them a lot and weve seen a lot of really good successes of people who do turn their life around, she said.

Tidwell said the program is working, citing the observations of a police officer who serves on the shelter board. In his work, he has been seeing fewer people without homes or resources, she said.

Fundraising

Board member Angela Witczak said Pathway Home is incredibly special.

It was raised by the community, she said. Theres so much community support, so much volunteer support and, for me, I just love how weve all as a community come together to take care of the homeless. You know, weve come a long way, and where were at now is just unbelievable.

How to donate Donations can be made online at baraboo-shelter.org or by sending a check to the Baraboo Area Homeless Shelter, 1200 Silver Circle, Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913.

Where they are is in a position to purchase the building, if they can raise $40,000 for the down payment, Witczak said. Current owner Tim Moy, Baraboo, offered to sell it to BAHS for $200,000, she said.

So far, fundraising has been going well, she said. The shelter is applying for a few grants, heard from a private donor and had a really good, successful Giving Tuesday campaign, she said.

But the organization needs $35,000 more to meet its $145,000 budget for 2022, including the down payment, according to Witczak. Donations can be made via the website, baraboo-shelter.org, or by sending a check to the Baraboo Area Homeless Shelter, 1200 Silver Circle, Baraboo, Wisconsin 53913.

SUSAN ENDRES/News Republic Bicycles for adults and children lie outside Pathway Home, the Baraboo homeless shelter, on Thursday.

The Rev. Dave Mowers, president of the board, said in a statement to the News Republic that the potential building purchase has come two years earlier than shelter leaders expected, largely due to the people, organizations, businesses and churches that have donated more than $300,000 to the shelter to date.

We continue to be inspired and motivated by the support of the Baraboo community for the shelter, he said.  Were grateful to be trusted to be the steward of this new institution for the whole community, and we look forward to what the new year will bring.

Holidays

For Thanksgiving, Tidwell said she and her family came to the shelter and prepared a Thanksgiving meal for everyone. While they decided not to do the same for Christmas, she and case manager Haley Weisert have been setting aside donations of gift-worthy items like new clothes, slippers, hats and gloves to wrap and put under the Christmas tree for clients and their families, Tidwell said. Several community members also offered to cook and bring meals.

Were so excited that they get to share this tradition that might  that does seem normal for the vast majority of people, that, you know, these folks really havent had, most of them, in a very long time or since childhood, even if that, Tidwell said, so were really excited for them to be able to have that on Christmas morning. Itll be a really special day.
Gas prices in New York are down slightly this week, but prices in the Utica area have remained the same.

The average gas price in Utica is $3.52, the same as last week, but 5 cents cheaper than a month ago.

Gasoline prices fluctuated over the past few days as fears of an omicron-driven economic slowdown were countered by news of a severe fire at a major oil refinery in Texas, said Patti Artessa, regional director of public/government affairs. As a result, the recent steady decline in pump prices has slowed, with the national average for a gallon of gas falling two cents on the week to $3.28.

The national average is 11 cents lower than one month ago when prices were around $3.39.
DOLGEVILLE, N.Y.  New York State Police have released the name of the trooper who fatally shot a stabbing suspect in Dolgeville on Christmas Eve.

Troopers Andrew Gorinshek and Jennifer Greenwood responded to the scene after police say 24-year-old Carson Dobson broke into a home and stabbed a victim several times.

With the help of Dolgeville police, Dobson was located nearby, armed with a knife and a sword.

According to state police, Dobson was repeatedly asked to drop the weapons but failed to comply and was Tased by three officers. Dobson continued to threaten the officers and advance toward them, so Gorinshek fired his gun.

Dobson died at the scene.

The stabbing victim was sent to the hospital and is expected to survive.

The New York Attorney Generals Office is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

Gorinshek has been a member of the New York State Police since 2017.
New York State Police are still investigating a fatal hit-and-run that happened in the town of Schuyler on Christmas Day.

According to police, 68-year-old Terry Rolfe, of Utica, was hit by a vehicle on Route 5 while walking with a walker in front of the Town of Schuyler municipal offices.

Police say the driver, 36-year-old Christopher A. Melucci, of Utica, thought he hit a guard rail, and continued driving.

Rolfe was rushed to St. Elizabeth's where he later died.

Melucci has been cooperating with police and tested negative for any alcohol impairment.

During the investigation, state police also learned that Rolfe had dementia and was a resident of an assisted living facility.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.
Weather Alert

...VERY COLD TONIGHT... As we clear out tonight, temperatures will drop to lows in the single digits most areas to just above 10 degrees toward the Missouri Bootheel. Combined with north, northwest winds 5 to 10 mph, minimum wind chill temperatures should bottom out from the single digits to a few degrees below zero, making for a very cold start to the day Friday.
Clwyd South MS welcomes plans for Community Bank in Wales

The Member of the Senedd for Clwyd South has welcomed the announcement that the Welsh Government is working with Monmouthshire Building Society to accelerate the establishment and roll-out of a community bank across Wales.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething has confirmed that Monmouthshire Building Society, working with the Welsh Government and Cambria Cydfuddiannol Ltd (CCL), will deliver Banc Cambria  which will aim to provide everyday full retail banking services in communities by 2023.

The UK has one of the least diverse Retail Banking systems in Europe, dominated by a small number of very large banks, which operate according to a shareholder-value business model, seeking to maximise profits for their owners.

Since Welsh Ministers initially set out plans to explore the creation of a Community Bank for Wales, traditional High Street banks have further accelerated their retreat from Wales high streets.

Mr Skates, whose constituency is the worst-affected in North Wales, launched the plans for the Community Bank during his time as economy minister.

He said: Over the last few years, weve all seen the big banks leave our local communities and high streets, leaving many people without access to accessible banking services.

Clwyd South has seen 80% of its high street banks close since 2015  more than any other area of North Wales  and now has just one surviving branch.

I raised this issue in the Senedd earlier this year and was pleased to welcome Banc Cambrias project lead Mark Hooper to Clwyd South last month. Im delighted that the plans are progressing at pace.

Unlike other banks, this will be owned and controlled by members  not outside shareholders.

Communities across North Wales have been abandoned by their banks and the UK Governments scrapping of its agreement with the sector that that last branch in each community should remain open. We desperately need this.

Banc Cambria cannot replace the increasing number of branches closed, but will focus on communities that have lost provision. I will continue to make the case for Clwyd South.

I hope this will provide a positive impact on our communities and high streets and improve access to financial help and support in locations that are convenient for the people of Clwyd South.

Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething said: Our vision for the Community Bank for Wales is one that is based on the mutual model, owned by, and run for, the benefit of its members, rather than the maximisation of profit for shareholders.

It will be a modern, full service community bank, headquartered in Wales, providing access to bilingual products and services, through a range of channels including digital, online and in-branch.

The Bank will facilitate local investment and enhance community wealth-building, recirculating savings into loans and preventing capital drain.

We very much hope it will provide a positive impact on communities and high streets across Wales, improving access to everyday banking services for all citizens regardless of income or wealth, as well as for small businesses across the whole of Wales.

Banc Cambria aims to establish around 30 new outlets over the next decade  with a focus on communities that have lost provision. It hopes to have a customer launch during 2023.
Image from an antisemitic flyer found in Springfield on Dec. 25 2021.

This Christmas Day, some Springfieldians woke up not to presents but to an antisemitic flyer.

The flyers were left at the front steps of houses in central Springfield sometime during the night of Christmas Eve. At least two dozen flyers were found for several blocks in a neighborhood near Bass Pro Shops.

The antisemitic flyers attempt to tie the Jewish faith to false conspiracies about the COVID-19 vaccine  declaring "every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish."

The flyers are part of a nationwide antisemitic campaign of a hate group formed in 2020.

In a Dec. 18 video, that group's founder issued a challenge to his followers  telling them to spread these flyers across the Christmas holidays.

"Its going to feel good when you do this ... know that you are helping out your race and youre helping out mankind," the founder said in the video.

Previously: New book covers history of Jewish community in Springfield, antisemitism they faced

Since then, hundreds of the flyers have been spotted in at least ten states, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, North Carolina, Texas and Vermont. The flyers found in Springfield were the first reported in Missouri.

The hate group was formed after being banned from various social media outlets. The founder has since started his own video sharing platform, which he uses to share the group's message and spread antisemitic hate.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the group denies the existence of the Holocaust and falsely claims Jews were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York. Members of the group also routinely give the Nazi salute at their public demonstrations.

In an email to the News-Leader, ADL Heartland Regional Director Etzion Neuer condemned the flyers found in Springfield.

"We strongly condemn this antisemitic propaganda attempting to link the Jewish people to COVID-19. These false conspiracy theories perpetuate harmful antisemitic stereotypes about Jews and have no place in our community. As hate and extremism rise across the country, we must stand united in opposing bias and bigotry in all forms," Neuer wrote.

Story continues

Previously: White nationalist group stickers are popping up around Springfield. Here's what we know.

In a statement to the News-Leader, the City of Springfield "strongly condemned" the flyers.

"The distribution of such language is intolerable and the thoughts expressed do not reflect our inclusive community. Further, we believe that false conspiracy theories like this spread harmful stereotypes," said city spokeswoman Cora Scott.

Speaking to the News-Leader, Temple Israel Rabbi Barbara Block said she was grateful to those in Springfield who spoke up against the flyers.

"I know that far more people in Springfield do not profess the hate that is expressed in the flyer. And I'm grateful to the many Springfield citizens who voiced their outrage at the flyers and who support the Jewish community. And I also appreciate the ongoing support of the mayor, the city council and the Springfield Police," Block said.

Block added that these flyers first appeared in Springfield several weeks ago  targeting at least one member of the Temple Israel congregation.

"We've been aware that these flyers were distributed in Springfield several weeks ago. The ADL was notified immediately, and has been helpful in responding and working with the Springfield Police."

Lt. Jennifer Charleston with the Springfield Police Department said they are aware of the situation and are looking into the incident, but do not have any more information to release at this time.

Mara Cohen Ioannides, a Missouri State professor and expert on midwestern Jewish history, said the flyers promote hate of Judaism.

"The conspiracy theorists who promote this are clearly just that  conspiracy theorists. This kind of hate against the Jewish people  because supposedly Jews have all the power in the government  is not new, nor is it true. However, the language is hurtful because it encourages antisemitism," Ioannides said.

Former Springfield councilperson and Missouri Faith Voices of Southwest Missouri leader Justin Burnett said in a statement the flyers are indicative of a "pattern of hate speech" recently seen in the city.

"The faith community is heartbroken over the antisemitic fliers that were distributed in Springfield on Christmas. We've seen a disturbing pattern of hate speech in southwest Missouri, including at city council and school board meetings. This must not be who we are as a community. Our collective faith traditions teach us that love is the only way, yet this incident reminds us of the ever-present danger of radicalization via the internet, which is a source of amplification for radical opinion hosts and politicians."

Current Springfield Councilman Andy Lear wrote on Facebook the fliers were "abhorrent, bigoted, and irresponsible."

"Sadly, these types of actions are becoming more brazen and prevalent, and I fear more accepted. We all have a duty to ensure that reason and humanity prevails over ignorance and hate," Lear wrote.

The Springfield flyers were first reported on social media by Jim Lee, who found the flyers at his door and in the yards of his neighbors. The morning of Dec. 25, Lee and another neighbor went across his neighborhood to collect the flyers on his neighbor's lawns before they were found.

Lee said the flyers were at every house on his street and continued past where he stopped.

"I just don't understand this. I just  it's just unbelievable to me," Lee told the News-Leader of the flyers. "I've never seen anything like this in my life. I'm 72 years old and this is just horrible, horrible."

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Antisemitic flyers found Christmas morning, spread COVID conspiracy
Rows of identical headstones stand in parallel lines at the Georgia Veteran Cemetery in Milledgeville.

Bob Young is a former mayor of the City of Augusta, Don Clark is a former executive with Forces United and Dennis Williams represents District 2 on the Augusta Commission. All three men are veterans of the U. S. military.

A little more than two years into Augustas campaign to secure a state veterans cemetery, we have much progress to report. The most important dynamic has been to change the question from will we have a final resting place for our nations heroes to when.

Our plans are currently in the hands of the Veterans Administration and its State Cemetery Grant Program. Georgias application for a construction grant ranks well, with both land and seed money on hand. But, ranking is only half the issue. How much money Congress puts into the program determines how far down the list the VA is able to go for project funding.

More: Wreaths Across America to be held this weekend. Here are the details.

For the current federal fiscal year, the VA chose to use its limited resources to fund expansions of a dozen existing state cemeteries. We knew that the chance of Georgias application being funded this year would be slim, however, the cemetery for Augusta is now well-positioned for serious consideration in the upcoming federal fiscal year.

The VA expects to award grants totaling $45 million for the next fiscal year. The Departments notice of funding expects 20 projects to receive the green light. Will the Augusta cemetery be one of them? Hard to say at this time. We have to seriously consider whether the VA would commit nearly one quarter of its total funding to one project.

Soldiers never plan without contingency whether it be operations or strategy. So, we are already working on a contingency plan to help Georgia secure the $10 million grant needed for the Augusta project. That plan involves a Congressional earmark in the Veterans Administration budget. In other words, the 2022-23 VA budget would include a line item specifically for the cemetery.

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Last fall we were honored to host staff from Senator Raphael Warnocks state office on a tour of the proposed site at Gracewood. They heard our story, understood our need and offered their help. We are working now with the senators Washington, DC office to accomplish the earmark. Senator Jon Ossoff and Representative Rick Allen will also be asked to support the effort.

The state veterans cemetery has been a truly unifying project for our entire region. When we undertook this initiative, at the request of the Augusta Commission in September 2019, we did so without a roadmap and, certainly, without the anticipation of dealing with a pandemic.

Former Augusta Mayor Bob Young waves from an old military Jeep as he leads the parade to support healthcare workers near the Children's Hospital of Georgia in Augusta, Ga., Monday morning July 6, 2020.

Our region rallied the support needed for our local legislators to obtain the $1 million in planning funds that the VA grant program requires. The Georgia Department of Veterans Services Board quickly endorsed the Augusta project and worked with the State Properties Commission to secure more than 200 acres at Gracewood. The Augusta Commission agreed to provide an access road to the cemetery and assist the state with demolitions on the Gracewood property. The CSRA Community Foundation has agreed to host a non-profit to be a conduit for the community to participate in providing cemetery amenities.

We stand on the precipice of success. We are confident that with continued community support, and the engagement of our Congressional leadership that our state veterans cemetery will become a reality in the not too distant future. The more than 66,000 military veterans and their families who reside in the greater Augusta area deserve no less.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: A status report on work toward a veterans cemetery for Augusta
We have made it through the year. One of continued challenges, successes, new solutions and yet, the issues that we have come to know related to COVID-19. But, despite all this, the New Year will arrive and in some fashion or another all of us will celebrate our blessings. And so we should recognize any and all we have as we close out the year.

Family, friends, co-workers, those who have worked tirelessly again this year to serve all of us. We thank you all!

One of the staples of the celebration of the New Years arrival is that of the ball dropping in New York.

For those of us who are able to keep our eyes open (young revelers aside), will see the arrival of the new year with that countdown to Welcome 2022!"

Confetti rained down on an empty Times Square in Manhattan after the ball dropped, marking the start of the New Year January 1, 2021. Times Square, usually packed with thousands, was closed to all but a select few due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Last week's Something to Think About: Do's and don'ts of hunting, hiking in Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area

Since 1904, the celebration in New York has become an event that welcomes in the new year. A bit of the history of this ball to help appreciate its appearance each and every year.

New York in 1904 was a city on the verge of tremendous changes - and, not surprisingly, many of those changes had their genesis in the bustling energy and thronged streets of Times Square. Two innovations that would completely transform the Crossroads of the World debuted in 1904: the opening of the city's first subway line, and the first-ever celebration of New Year's Eve in Times Square.

This inaugural bash commemorated the official opening of the new headquarters of The New York Times. The newspaper's owner, German Jewish immigrant Adolph Ochs, had successfully lobbied the city to rename Longacre Square, the district surrounding his paper's new home, in honor of the famous publication.

The impressive Times Tower, marooned on a tiny triangle of land at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street.

The building was the focus of an unprecedented New Year's Eve celebration. Ochs spared no expense to ensure a party for the ages. An all-day street festival culminated in a fireworks display set off from the base of the tower, and at midnight the joyful sound of cheering, rattles and noisemakers from the over 200,000 attendees could be heard, it was said, from as far away as Croton-on-Hudson, thirty miles north along the Hudson River.

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The night was such a rousing success that Times Square instantly replaced Lower Manhattan's Trinity Church as "the" place in New York City to ring in the New Year.

Before long, this party of parties would capture the imagination of the nation, and the world.

Two years later, the city banned the fireworks display, but Ochs was undaunted. He arranged to have a large, illuminated seven-hundred-pound iron and wood ball lowered from the tower flagpole precisely at midnight to signal the end of 1907 and the beginning of 1908.

Times Square illuminated at night in 1921, subway station visible in foreground.

In 1914, The New York Times outgrew Times Tower and relocated to 229 West 43rd Street. By then, New Year's Eve in Times Square was already a permanent part of our cultural fabric.

In 1942 and 1943, the glowing Ball was temporarily retired due to the wartime "dimout" of lights in New York City. The crowds who still gathered in Times Square in those years greeted the New Year with a minute of silence followed by chimes ringing out from sound trucks parked at the base of the Times Tower.

The New York Times retained ownership of the Tower until 1961, when it was sold to developer Douglas Leigh. Today, New Year's Eve in Times Square is a bona fide international phenomenon.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people still gather around the Tower, now known as One Times Square, and wait for hours in the cold of a New York winter for the famous Ball-lowering ceremony.

Thanks to satellite technology, a worldwide audience estimated at over one billion people watch the ceremony each year. The lowering of the Ball has become the world's symbolic welcome to the New Year.

Ill be happy to watch from the warmth of my living room, but will appreciate the historic nature of this event.

Wishing all a very Happy, Healthy, Prosperous and Blessed New Year!

Debbie Kulick writes a weekly column for the Pocono Record and serves on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as an EMT.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Debbie Kulick: NYE in Times Square a sight to behold
This New Year's Eve, as you take a cup of kindness to your lips and hum a stanza of "Auld Lang Syne"  because who really knows the words, right?  it may be propitious to take stock not just of the year gone by, but the one before and the one to come.

We all know 2020 was, in the words of an eminent psychologist, a garbage fire of a year.

We hoped, maybe even expected, 2021 would be better. And, now that it wasnt, we have to wonder about 2022.

This isnt just about COVID-19 shutting down a nation and fomenting political havoc over masks and vaccines while taking more than 816,000 American lives so far. In 2020, cop killings and racial injustice triggered mass protests and riots. Online conspiracy theories and claims of election fraud tore apart families as well as a nation.

Not to mention the arrival of murder hornets, dissension in the royal family and domination of "The Bachelor" by a guy named Pete the Pilot.

Yet, when experts evaluate the most terrible annals of all time, they say, 2020 was only a humble contender.

People celebrate New Year's Eve along the Las Vegas Strip on Dec. 31, 2020, in Las Vegas.

Late last year, the folks at the Bloom self-therapy app surveyed 28 historians about the world's "most stressful year ever." No. 1 on the list was 1348 A.D., when bubonic plague (the Black Death) ravaged our planet, eventually killing up to 200 million people.

The peak of the Holocaust in 1944, according to the Bloom survey, came in second. 2020 came in sixth, just behind the sacking of Rome by barbarians.

Still, 2020 year was so inglorious that, as it ended, Time magazine spurned historians with a cover headline declaring: The Worst Year Ever.

The 'Year of the Ox' got gored

As last Dec. 31 clocked out, many hoped the new year would be brighter.

On a Chinese calendar, 2021 was the Year of the Ox, known for strength and dependability.

Vaccines and maybe a cure would wind down the pandemic. Masking would end.

Schools, restaurants, gyms, churches and workplaces would reopen.

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With no presidential election, partisan politics would ease. Congress could be less crazy, if not more effective.

Some wishes were accompanied by forecasts, including a list published by Vox on Jan. 5. The first prediction, with a 70% probability: Trump will uneventfully leave office." A day later, Trump supporters laid siege to the halls of democracy.

President Donald Trump urges supporters to march to the Capitol at a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

In the ensuing months, COVID-19 variants morphed, escalating the pandemic culture war. Congress went into a sort of rigor mortis. Record wildfires and killer tornadoes swept the land. The justice system produced mixed results in race-related slayings.

Daniel Horowitz, a professor emeritus of American studies and history at Smith College in Massachusetts, said he recently browsed through forecasts for 2021, finding what he expected: "They didn't come true. It shows how difficult predictions are."

By January of this year, satisfaction with the direction of the United States was at its second-lowest point in four decades, according to a Gallup poll.

Entrepreneurs revived a marketing gimmick for Christmas ornaments, simply changing one numeral: 2021 sucked!

Jeremy Young, a spokesman for the American Historical Association and a specialist in emotional experience, political culture and social movements, said wishful thinking may be natural, but anticipating a good year on the heels of catastrophe is a setup for disappointment.

Wars, plagues, famines, political calamities, economic crashes  nearly all catastrophes have long-term residual effects, Young said. So, youre not going to be able to turn that page quickly or cleanly. Nothings going to live up to lofty expectations.

Balancing hope with 'the horrors to come'

It is one thing to talk about tough times, another to live them.

Two years ago, Amanda Finley couldnt find work as an archaeologist. The Kansas City, Missouri, woman, who had joint custody of her 7-year-old son, Sam, was getting by as a food deliverer until COVID-19 got her in February 2020.

Finley, who has asthma, was home-bound for months. Her cough got so bad, she recalled, It felt like something was going to rip.  At night Id think, Please let me wake up in the morning.

COVID-19 left Amanda Finley unemployed and homeless beginning in 2020, living in a tent at a state park. Finley's high hopes for 2021 got dashed, so she's ambivalent about 2022  cautiously optimistic, but "bracing myself for horrors to come."

She became whats known as a long-hauler  someone who gets sick with COVID-19 and develops chronic symptoms. Over time, she ran out of money, lost her lease, could no longer care for Sam and became homeless.

As she bounced from friends' basements to campgrounds, Finley said, she created a "COVID-19 Long-Haulers" page on Facebook, expecting to share experiences and ideas with a few kindred souls.

The page became a meeting place for thousands of followers, and as 2020 ended Finley was filled with hope. Folks were helping one another. Vaccines were coming out, promising a downturn in deaths and infections.

She told a friend that 2021 would be great, adding, "I'm going to be a force."

Then the delta variant broke out. In May, Finley's sickness worsened, with dizziness and fatigue. Her hometown was wracked by the coronavirus. A long-hauler buddy in Texas died, she said, "because he couldn't scrape together $60 for a few doses of medication."

"I went into a very dark area of grief and rage," Finley said. "I've lost so many friends."

Over time, long-haulers pulled her out of it. Fighting for them renewed her spirit. Today, thanks to their generosity, she's on the brink of getting a home for the new year.

"If I can do all this out of a tent in the woods, on my phone, what can I do when I'm housed?" Finley asked. "In some ways I'm more optimistic. But, in other ways I'm bracing myself for horrors to come."

The end of the world as we know it?

Nostradamus, a French dude, tried to predict the future in verse some 450 years ago. For 2022 he prophesied that "a great fire will fall from the sky"  interpreted by some soothsayers to mean an asteroid shower will destroy Earth.

Which brings us back to the dilemma: How should we plan for tomorrow?

Kate Sweeny, the psychologist who compared 2020 to a garbage fire, said optimism and pessimism are tricky elements of the human condition.

A bright outlook reduces stress and motivates individuals to bounce back when things go bad, though blind optimism  think gambling addicts  can lead to disaster. Pessimism softens disappointment, Sweeny said, but it could translate into debilitating stress.

Sweeny, who oversees the Life Events Lab at the University of California, Riverside, said the healthiest approach may be a realistic balance of positive and negative outlooks.

Her research on law students found that most are optimistic immediately after taking the bar exam. Shortly before test results come out, they turn negative and fearful, she said.

Those who fail have girded for misery; those who pass experience greater joy. "It's kind of a can't-lose situation if you time it right," Sweeny said.

How to cope by imagining 'future fictions'

Humans have always thought ahead. High school kids plot out colleges and careers. Elderly workers plan for retirement.

What's often missing, says Cynthia Selin, an associate professor at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovation in Society, is a systematic and scientific approach.

Cynthia Selin, an associate professor at Arizona State University's School for the Future of Innovations in Society, teaches students to plan for tomorrow by devising scenarios based on "future fictions."

In her Futures Thinking and Strategy class, students conduct research while imagining a range of scenarios and optimal moves. They may study coffee production in Brazil or food banks in Phoenix, devising fictions and brainstorming how to deal with complications.

Such exercises have a dual advantage, reducing anxiety as they increase the odds of good outcomes.

No one knew COVID-19 was coming, Selin said, so it disrupted all the models. But as unknowns occur, new scenarios are built to analyze the interplay of events, economics, politics, culture, technology and other facets of life.

We are all natural planners, but we dont always take time to do it, Selin said. What we do in the present is shaped by stories we tell about the future.

2022: A year of infinite possibilities

Arthur Shostak, a professor emeritus of sociology at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said homo sapiens thrive because of an evolutionary talent: adaptation.

"We are dynamic, thinking animals, and we are endlessly reasoning," he said. "And that's our salvation."

Planning ahead feeds off of uncertainty, rather than eliminating it, he said. One moment, Shostak suggested COVID-19 will soon dissipate. The next, he mentioned viral mutations and said, "I lose sleep over that more than I do war."

Lorenzo Dominguez Jr., 54, prays for his mother, Etelvina Dominguez, during a visit to Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. Dominguez and his father, Lorenzo Dominguez Sr., right, were the only family members allowed into the hospital. "The strength, Lord, give me the strength to get through this," Dominguez Jr. said as he got down on his knees. "Give my father the strength. That you send my mom on a peaceful journey. That you wait for her with open arms." Etelvina passed away the next day.

Climate change also keeps the professor up at night because it could trigger long-term upheaval like famines, migrations and military conflicts. "My 2-year-old will have grandchildren living under global warming," he said.

Shostak said extreme events  or extreme years  may be overstated by history: "Life is not about exclamation points. It's about sentences that end in question marks and, in some cases, periods."

Herbert Gans, an author and former president of the American Sociological Association who escaped Nazi Germany, has long advocated studies of  not predictions for  the future.

"Nobody knows what'll happen next," the 94-year-old stressed in an interview. "And I'm not sure it's worth speculating."

Gans promotes empirical forecasting. He cited a highway along the Hudson River near his New York home to make his point. If climate change continues unchecked, evidence suggests the pavement will be flooded in a matter of years. That type of analysis is scientific, with dramatic societal consequences.

Horowitz, who was born in 1938, taught U.S. history for 30 years but does not recall a single lesson about the Spanish flu. By contrast, he sees profound implications for 2022 and beyond in Americas widening chasm over issues such as racism, immigration, LGBTQ rights and climate.

Kayakers paddle down a portion of Interstate 676 after flooding from heavy rains from hurricane Ida in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 2, 2021. Flash flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida killed at least 44 people in four northeastern US states one night, including several who perished in basements during the historic weather event officials blamed on climate change.

"I cant imagine the end of polarization in the near future," he said. "I dont think its just a blip.

Using scenario exercises, one can imagine infinite 2022s with varying degrees of likelihood.

Venus is on course to reach a point just 24.8 million miles from Earth next year, the closest in its trajectory. The Winter Olympics are scheduled in China (without U.S. diplomats). Unless an asteroid fulfills Nostradamus' prediction, the world population is expected to hit 8 billion.

And what will become of so many people?

Horowitz spoke of a great continuum, with perpetual changes for good and ill linking yesterday, today and tomorrow. The coronavirus breaks out, subsides amid vaccines and resurges with new variants. Perhaps it will vanish with a cure. Or not.

The glass seems half-full in one moment and the next it seems empty, Horowitz said. Weve all been pulled and tugged.  Im not sure what the old normal was, or what the future will be.

Looking back at 2021: See a photo from every day of a lifechanging year

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Predictions of a brighter 2021 didn't come true. Will 2022 be better?
AceLynn and RaeLynn

GoFundMe

Tragedy struck a family days before Christmas after a fire killed two young girls at their grandmother's home in Minnesota.

According to the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office, two bodies were recovered on the afternoon of Dec. 23 following a residential fire in Liberty Township, located about 230 miles northwest of Minneapolis.

The victims, identified by family as sisters RaeLynn, 5, and AceLynn, 6, were staying with their grandmother as their mother prepared for the holiday, their aunt, Kayla Stellick, told CBS affiliate WCCO.

"They were spending the night with their grandma so their mother could wrap presents and get Christmas ready for them when they got home," Stellick wrote on a GoFundMe campaign. "As you can imagine, the family of these girls are heartbroken."

"They were both really sweet girls," Stellick told WCCO. "They were very, very loved by everyone."

Megan Mckenna, another one of the girls' aunts, told the outlet that the family doesn't know what started the fire.

RELATED: Penn. Father and Young Sons, 8 and 11, Die in Christmas Morning House Fire: 'Horrific Tragedy'

In their statement, the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. "No further details will be released at this time," they wrote, adding that, "the victims were transported to the medical examiner's office for autopsy and identification."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families during this difficult time," Sheriff Ernie Beitel said.

RELATED: Christmas Tree Fire Forces by 9-Year-Old Boy and His Sister, 5, to Jump Out of Third Floor Window

The family's GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $30,000 from more than 500 donors as of Monday afternoon.

"These girls meant everything to Amber (their mother). She loved them so much," Stellick wrote on the page. "After having 3 boys, she wanted a little girl so bad, then she was blessed with two of them. Losing her babies are extremely devastating to her and every who knew and loved these girls."

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RELATED VIDEO: Teens Forced to Use Drainpipe to Escape Fatal Apartment Blaze

"We are setting up this gofundme page to raise money to help with funeral cost, and other costs as the mother is not able to return to work right away, as she just lost her 2 kids," Stellick explained. "She has 3 other kids that she needs to be there for and take care of them."

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She added: "Donations and prayers will be greatly appreciated as we try to wrap our head around losing these special, beautiful little girls."

A separate GoFundMe has been started for the girls' grandmother, who lost her home and belongings in the fire.
Galilea Guillermina Gonzalez and Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scout Central California South Dr. Russel Statham pose for a photo.

It started as a normal trip for Carmina Cortes-Gonzalez and her 12-year-old daughter, Galilea Guillermina Gonzalez.

The two currently live in the Los Angeles area, but while they were Visalia residents the mother-daughter duo took a trip to visit Galilea's uncle in Murrieta.

While her uncle was out running errands, Galilea's mother fainted and suffered a seizure. She needed to think quickly  and Galilea had no idea what her uncle's address was.

"I was scared to get a panic attack because I suffer from anxiety," Galilea said. "I calmed myself down and remembered my Girl Scout training."

Galilea quickly began searching for a piece of mail as she called 911 so she could give the dispatcher her exact location, a technique she learned during Girl Scout Week. Once EMTs arrived, Galilea calmly led them to Carmina where they were able to perform life-saving techniques.

Galilea's actions earned her the Girl Scout's rare, national lifesaving award, the Medal of Honor. Visalia City Council recognized her for her actions during a regular board meeting, too.

Galilea joined the Girl Scouts as a kindergartner while living in Illinois in 2015, and is currently a member of Troop 2359 of the Girl Scouts of Central California South.

Since joining the Girl Scouts, Galilea has been creative in her community projects and involvement. At 6 years old, she started the "The Magic of Unicorns" project which donates plush unicorns to kids with cancer and other illness.

To date, Galilea has donated over 600 plush unicorns. This year, they sent out stuffed animals to children from all over, including those spending the holidays in the hospital.

For her Girl Scout Bronze Award project, Galilea created the 'Craft 2 Go' bags with art supplies in them. Galilea made over 80 bags and dropped them off at libraries all around her old neighborhood in Illinois, Carmina said.

"She has been painting since she was 9 months old and held a brush at 12 months old," Carmina said. "She wanted to spread creativity during a pandemic. She said, kids need to be creative more than ever. It helps with anxiety.'"

Lauren Jennings covers education and news for the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register. Follow her on Twitter @lolojennings. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Girl Scout earns rare Medal of Honor after saving mother
Greenville County deputies shot a man they said was armed in Simpsonville at Twin Falls Road and Black Oak Court, Dec. 26, 2021.

Greenville County deputies shot and killed a man they said was armed in Simpsonville after responding to a domestic call Sunday night, the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Deputies first arrived to the domestic disturbance around 8:30 p.m. Sunday and called in a SWAT team to assist after learning the man was armed, the Sheriff's Office said.

Matthew David Snyder, 38, fled from McCall Road but was found armed in Standing Springs Estates at the intersection of Twin Falls Road and Black Oak Court, the Sheriff's Office said.

The Sheriff's Office said negotiations lasted for an extended period of time and at least one deputy shot Snyder around 11 p.m. Sunday.

Snyder was transported to the hospital after the shooting and died Sunday night from multiple gunshot wounds, according to a statement from the Greenville County Coroner's Office.

A criminal background check through SLED showed that Snyder had no prior arrests or convictions in South Carolina.

Lt. Ryan Flood, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office, said he did not immediately know how many deputies fired their weapons or what event specifically led to the moment of the shooting.

No deputies were injured and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has been asked to investigate, which is routine for law enforcement shootings.

Neighbors describe tense moments during shooting incident

Wesley and Sheree Wright live with their three children in one of the houses at the intersection where the shooting took place.

The couple spoke to The Greenville News from their home hours after the incident.

Greenville County deputies and members of the SWAT team at the intersection where they shot a man they said was armed in Simpsonville, Dec. 26, 2021.

Their 11-year-old daughter woke up to a SWAT team officer outside her window when deputies were first searching for Snyder, the couple said.

Wesley Wright saw guns propped up against his car with deputies heavily concentrated near his driveway.

He could hear deputies and SWAT team members talking to Snyder on a loud speaker asking him to come out, Wesley Wright said. At one point, he heard deputies say they wouldn't let the suspect speak to his wife until he put the gun down, Wright said.

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The family heard at least six or seven shots fired around 11 p.m. and then the suspect was told to crawl out from under a car, the Wrights said.

Flood said he did not know how many shots were fired.

"Given that there were so many SWAT team members, I wasn't super concerned," Sheree Wright said. She was anxious for her daughter whose window faced the street, but the family sat together to comfort her, she said.

The neighborhood has an active Facebook group and neighbors kept each other updated throughout the night on what they were witnessing, the Wrights said.

The neighborhood was closed off from before 11 p.m. Sunday until 5:30 a.m. Monday morning, the family said.

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Sarah Sheridan is the community reporter in Anderson. She'd appreciate your help telling important stories; reach her at ssheridan@gannett.com or on twitter @saralinasher.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Greenville County deputies fatally shoot armed man in Simpsonville SC
TAMPA  Biko Joseph fled danger and found discrimination.

Now, the 30-year-old husband and father is hoping his familys journey from their native Haiti to Chile then across the Texas border will end with U.S. approval of their request for legal residency here.

Fearing his work as a journalist made him a target for assassins in Haiti, Joseph left for Chile, found work and brought his family over. Soon, he ran into the poverty and discrimination experienced by many of the 182,000 Haitians who have moved to the South American country to work largely menial jobs.

The family fled again, surviving jungles, smugglers and other obstacles on a 4,700-mile trek to the U.S. border. They arrived just before would-be immigrants from Haiti began showing up by the thousands and triggering a widely reported roundup in August by officers on horseback that drew criticism from as far as the White House.

Now, with help from a local doctor, Joseph, his wife Claudia, 25, and their young son, Jim, 4, are living in Tampa while they are planning to apply for Temporary Protected Status through the Department of Homeland Security.

The worst is over, and we lived through it, Joseph said, in broken Spanish. The important thing is that we are all here, together, in America.

The number of Haitians seeking to enter the United States has risen dramatically this year, many of them from South American nations such as Brazil and Chile. Driving the increase are high unemployment in Brazil due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new immigration policies in Chile that make it harder to get a permanent resident card there, and the U.S. decision to expand Temporary Protected Status for Haitians.

Smugglers and human trafficking gangs have exaggerated the U.S. move in order to drum up business.

An estimated 15,000 Haitians reached the southern U.S. border in September, many of them steered toward crowded camps along the Rio Grande. Three months later, the Biden administration said most Haitians had been deported  many through a provision in immigration law that denies them the chance to seek asylum here.

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The crisis at home is just the latest chapter in the chronic misery of life in Haiti, a nation beset by corruption and natural disasters. People risk their lives and safety to flee by air and sea.

Joseph left Haiti in October 2016, calling it a life or death decision because of his reporting on local news and government corruption for radio station La Gonave FM.

A lot of people didnt like what I said about the government, and in Haiti everyone knows that you dont have freedom of speech, Joseph said. I told the truth and they threatened me.

He bought a ticket from Port-au-Prince to Santiago, Chile, with help from Dr. Mark Morris, a 78-year-old Tampa pediatrician who has known Josephs family for more than a decade. Morris had been making medical mission trips to Haiti until the start of the pandemic in March 2020, through the aid group Partners with Haiti.

Joseph, who spoke Haitian Creole, started a new life in Spanish-speaking Chile and brought Claudia from Haiti three months later. She was pregnant with their child. They lived for five years in Buin, a small town south of the capital of Santiago. There, Joseph worked seven days a week, as a machinist on a farm and on weekends as a meatpacker. He made about $500 a month.

It was very difficult for everyone, he said. You dont speak the language, you dont have anyone, you are alone against the world.

Son Jim was bullied and physically abused at the school he attended, Joseph said. They alerted police but there was no investigation. One night, Joseph was beaten by a group of men waiting for him as he left work, he said.

The color of your body is a problem, and if you dont speak Spanish well, it is also another problem, Joseph said.

Some people believe that we came to make trouble, to take other peoples jobs or to live off the government. But we, Haitians, are good workers.

Joseph and his wife decided they had to leave again, this time for the United States.

He sold the familys 2011 Chevrolet for $2,500 and came up with another $1,500 to pay a smuggler for the journey.

The first leg was from Santiago to Iquique, a city on the northern border with Bolivia. They waited until dark to walk across the border with the smuggler, joining a group of a dozen other Haitians. In Bolivia, they paid for a bus to La Paz then crossed into Peru illegally and rode north on another bus to Ecuador.

The next bus took them to Colombia, at $100 per person. It cost $280 per person for the drive to the Darien Gap, a sprawling, mountainous jungle straddling Colombia and Panama. They walked the jungle for seven days, enduring rain, mosquitoes and extortion by gangs of smugglers.

It is a very difficult journey but we did it, Claudia Joseph said. And our son Jim was very brave. That gave us more strength to continue.

They bought and carried bottles of water, cookies, canned food, even snake oil  to scare animals.

At a jungle river crossing, Joseph lost his backpack and his familys birth certificates. Somehow, he hung onto their passports.

The crossing through Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and the Mexican city of Tapachulas went smoothly. From Tapachulas, they moved quickly by train and car and reached the northern Mexico border July 20. Nine days later, on July 29, a month before the horseback roundup, they were seeking refuge in Texas.

We are blessed, we were very lucky, said Joseph.

The Temporary Protected Status that Joseph seeks is a federal designation for immigrants seeking to escape the ravages of war or natural disaster in a dozen countries across Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean. The status lasts 18 months and is often renewed automatically.

The government extended eligibility to Haitian citizens for 18 months, until February 2023. The measure also benefits those who have lived continuously in the United States since July 29.

John Dubrule, an immigration attorney who is representing the Joseph family for free, said they are trying to acquire a document bearing their official date of U.S. entry.

We are trying to help them all, but we need that evidence, Dubrule said. It is important documentation to present a strong case.

Fadia Richardson, a member of the Haitian Association Foundation of Tampa Bay, said the Josephs deserve a chance to live in the U.S.

I have done a lot of volunteer work with the Haitian communities, Richardson said. The people I have met are hard-working people who are wanting a better life for them and their families.

She added, The situation in Haiti is awful right now  lots of insecurity, kidnapping, civil unrest and poverty.

Haiti was still recovering from a 2010 earthquake that killed 220,000 people when another quake hit in July, killing 2,000 and injuring 10,000. Whats more, the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July threw control of the country into turmoil.

Joseph said hes eager to be a contributing member of society. He studies English three hours a week on Facebook and is ready to work as soon as his legal status allows it. Claudia is also taking English virtual classes, hoping some day to work in a hotel and save money to open a Haitian restaurant in Tampa.

The family lives in a two-bedroom apartment they share with another Haitian immigrant, a single mother of a 12-year-old child. Morris, the pediatrician, covers half the $900 monthly rent. The Josephs walk Jim the 2 miles to elementary school each day.

They deserve an opportunity, Morris said. They have been a working family in Haiti and Chile. They know what they are looking for  a better life. I would help them again.
A former law enforcement officer accused of shooting Posey County Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Hicks has died at Deaconess Gateway Hospital.

Paul Wiltshire, 70, had been in custody in Warrick County Jail for allegedly shooting Hicks in the head during a police standoff at Wiltshire's residence in New Harmony, Indiana, on Sept. 18. Wiltshire, a former town marshal and reserve deputy, received multiple gunshot wounds in the incident.

Hicks returned home to Evansville on Dec. 21 after going through rehabilitation in Chicago. He received a police escort from the Evansville Police Department.

Previously: Man accused of shooting Posey County deputy charged with attempted murder

More: Shooting suspect threatened to kill others, affidavit alleges

Hicks was the first officer shot in the county since 1994, according to Posey County Sheriff Tom Latham.

"This situation has sent shock waves through this community and this office," Latham said at the time.

According to Warrick County Coroner Sarah Seaton, Wiltshire died Monday morning of natural causes stemming from a bout of COVID-19. He'd been at Deaconess with the illness since Dec. 17.

Per a press release from the Indiana State Police, Latham requested that the ISP investigate Wiltshire's death, which is common when an inmate dies in custody.

An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

The county where Sarah Seaton serves as coroner was misidentified in earlier versions of this story.

Contact Ray Couture at rcouture@courierpress.com or via Twitter @raybc94

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Man charged with shooting Posey County deputy dies in hospital
This letter to the editor was mailed to the Sun-News over the holidays. It will be printed in an upcoming edition.

We are writing to express our appreciation to all of the wonderful people who assisted us when we had a mechanical failure of our automobile on Nov. 20, 2021 near Las Cruces.

We were marooned on Highway 70 in the night with it getting colder all the time and we were concerned for our safety. Sergeant Eddie Rodriguez arrived and we were greatly relieved. Sgt. Rodriguez also let us warm up in his cruiser and charged our cell phone. When our insurance company failed to dispatch a tow truck, Sgt. Rodriguez arranged for a tow truck from Kleine Motor Company LLC. His concern was greatly appreciated.

Mr. Joshua Massey was the tow truck driver and assured us he would find us a motel and deliver our Honda to the dealer on Monday morning. Mr. Massey called many motels and none had a vacancy. Finally, through his persistence he located a motel with one room available. When we checked in and explained our circumstances, we received a discount for our motel room. A restaurant was within walking distance so we were set until Monday morning.

When we inquired at the restaurant whether they knew anyone to take us from the motel to the Honda dealer, our waitress volunteered and refused to accept payment. Right on schedule Monday morning, she picked us up and took us to Borman Honda dealer. Mr. Massey delivered our Honda as promised. After hearing of our situation, the service manager and Joel Galvan, a service advisor, explained they had appointments up to Dec. 2, but would see if our automobile repair could be worked in. They did a fantastic job and our repairs were completed on Monday and we resumed our trip to our daughters home in Arizona.

When our automobile quit running and we were marooned on the highway we envisioned a terrible experience. Instead, we received friendly and helpful attention from everyone we met. Their concern turned an aggravating circumstance into an acceptable situation and everyone should be proud of the citizens of Las Cruces.

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We are extremely grateful for all the help we received.

John K. and Betty J. Carpenter are residents of Columbia, Missouri.

More letters to the editor:

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Missouri couple stranded in Las Cruces thanks community for help
In the midst of a winter surge, the COVID-19 delta variant continues to dominate in Delaware, as the state is seeing its highest average of new daily cases and percent of positive cases in all of 2021.

The state is seeing concerning trends among many of its key COVID-19 metrics: The weekly average of new positive cases increased by 28%, according to state data as of Dec. 24. The weekly average of the percent of positive cases is hovering at 10.9%, which is the highest it has been in at least a year.

A WINTER SURGE: What you need to know about the COVID-19 surge as Delaware hospitals run over capacity

Hospitalizations jumped by 10% last week and the state broke its record twice for daily COVID-19 cases reported that week. There were 1,591 cases reported on Christmas Eve, the highest ever, which surpassed the Dec. 23 record of 1,379.

The fast-spreading omicron variant is creating a nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases. Here in Delaware, the delta variant is still the predominant strain. The state has confirmed 37 cases of the omicron variant, as of late last week.

Signs point to separate COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 vaccination events Thursday, April 1, 2021, at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover.

ZIP codes in Kent and Sussex counties are seeing the highest rate of new positive cases, according to state data.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the vaccine  and its booster  is the best way to protect yourself against the virus. Health officials are urging people to not travel unless they are fully vaccinated.

If gathering during the holiday season, the state recommends getting tested one to two days before celebrating with people from multiple households. Those who are unvaccinated should wear a mask when indoors, same with people who have weakened immune systems.

If you are feeling sick, regardless of the kinds of symptoms, experts are urging people to not attend or host holiday functions.

Hospitals are more stressed now than at any point during this pandemic, resulting in hospital CEOs sounding the alarm. Patients are being treated in hallways, due to health systems being so full due to non-COVID-19 conditions requiring hospitalization. And staffing shortages continue as health care workers, particularly nurses, are burnt out and exhausted.

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HOSPITALS SOUND THE ALARM: This winter's COVID surge could be worse as Delaware hospitals deal with staffing issues

A vast majority of the COVID-19 patients who have needed to be hospitalized, as well as died, are people who are unvaccinated.

Gov. John Carney made a public plea last week for Delawareans to wear masks in public and crowded settings. But he stopped short of mandating it. He said he will consider "restrictive measures" short of closing businesses.

"At the end of the day, Carney said, it comes down to how do you get people to do things that, in many cases, they don't want to do?"

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 256-2466 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MereNewman.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delta variant still dominates Delaware as COVID-19 cases hit new highs
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA

2022 looks like it could be Prince Andrews worst year yet, but the prince is optimistic that he will emerge the winner in the Virginia Roberts Giuffre legal case, sources have told The Daily Beast, and his lawyers will continue to pursue their attacks on Giuffres character, saying that her credibilitynot his, as many people thinkis front and center in the case.

It is stressful for anyone to be facing litigation, says a source who knows the prince. But Andrew has been in the public eye for a long time and you need a thick skin for that. He is handling the pressure well. He has smart lawyers. He is optimistic.

Prince Andrew Claims Virginia Roberts Giuffre Tried to Procure Slutty Girls for Epstein

How Andrews year pans out will hinge on a Jan. 4 court date in which his legal team, led by Andrew Brettler, will seek to get Giuffres case against him dismissed in its entirety in a New York court.

Assuming he fails in that endeavor, then, says David Boies, attorney for Giuffre, the case will enter full discovery mode, the most high-profile and anxiety-inducing part of which will be the taking of a videotaped deposition from Andrew.

If his motion to dismiss is denied, Andrew will be forced to give evidence under oath, he has no way of escaping that, Boies told The Daily Beast, The only question is where does that deposition take place? Does it take place in the United States or someplace in Europe? It could take place at our office in London, it could take place in the United States embassy.

As The Daily Beast previously exclusively reported, Boies is also considering taking depositions from Andrews ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who still lives with him at Royal Lodge and is his most prominent public defender. Another target for a deposition may be Meghan Markle, who Boies believes may have picked up knowledge about Andrews activities and can be counted on to tell the truth.

After the taking of depositions, the discovery process would move on to seeing Andrew forced to produce documents and answer written questions.

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Only after that was complete would the process move on to a full trial, which, Boies cautiously predicted, will likely take place this year, saying: The judge that we have, Judge Kaplan, is known for moving his cases relatively quickly. He typically takes a case to trial, even a complicated case, within a year of its filing, so that means we would finish discovery in the summer and, in ordinary circumstances, plan to have a trial in the fall.

With COVID, the exact timing of that trial becomes more uncertain, but my judgement is that it would still be in 2022. Therefore it is likely that from 1 Jan to 31 December next year, Prince Andrew will go through the entire gamut of US legislation from a motion to dismiss, to discovery, to trial, to verdict.

Asked if Andrew was likely to give evidence in any trial, Boies said: He is clearly going to be required to give evidence at the time of deposition. But whether he is required to come to the United States to participate in the trial is something that is up to the judge. Ordinarily a defendant would want to be there because if a defendant is not present it makes the jury believe that he doesnt have respect for the process, and he doesnt get to tell his story in person.

Unlike a criminal trial, where you cant comment on a defendant not appearing, in a civil trial you can make a big deal of the defendant not appearing.

A spokesperson for Prince Andrew declined to comment on whether or not Andrew would or would not attend the court. However, friends of the prince told The Daily Beast that it was highly unlikely he would voluntarily attend any court hearing.

This may be in part in an attempt to distance himself from the aggressive legal strategy which Andrew is pursuing under the guiding hand of Brettler, which in a significant part consists of undermining Giuffre.

For instance, Brettlers legal briefs have aggressively gone after Giuffres previous behavior, accusing her of recruiting other young women to work for Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell.

In one legal document entitled Giuffres role in Epsteins criminal enterprise, Prince Andrews lawyers said: 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 willful recruitment and trafficking of young girls for sexual abuse is Giuffre herself, including while she was an adult.

Andrews legal team have been criticized for their attempts to undermine Giuffres characterindeed on Dec. 16 the judge threw out an attempt by them to include for judicial notice a 2015 New York Daily News article featuring the headline: Jeffrey Epstein accuser was not a sex slave, but a money-hungry sex kitten, her former friends say.

But there is no sign that they will abandon the tactic. Virginia Roberts Giuffres credibility is front and center in this case, a source said.

It all adds up to a grim 2022 for Andrew, although there is one, very distant possibility of success for Andrew: Januarys motion to dismiss.

If he wins that, a friend says, he will have a pretty amazing year, but it is an unlikely outcome, as even his close supporters admit.

Hence the most realistic resolution for Andrews new year might be: Buckle up.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

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Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
Photo credit: Channel 4

Travel Man has returned for a new season, kicked off by a festive special with new host Joe Lycett.



Taking over from Richard Ayoade  who hosted all seasons of the travel docuseries between 2015 and 2019  Lycett spent 96 hours in Iceland with "comedy legend and Viking impersonator" Bill Bailey.

In tonight's (December 27) special, Channel 4 viewers got to follow this dynamic duo as they explored Reykjavik, Europe's most northernly capital, and its environs.

Photo credit: Channel 4

Related: Joe Lycett explains why he stormed off Steph's Packed Lunch

Despite Lycett being announced as Ayoade's replacement back in 2019, some Travel Man fans had to take a moment upon realising the series now has a different host. 2019 feels like a lifetime ago, after all.

Did not know Richard Ayoade wasnt #TravelMan anymore and I am BEREFT  lauren. (@lozwinter) December 27, 2021

"Did not know Richard Ayoade wasn't #TravelMan anymore and I am BEREFT," one viewer wrote on Twitter.

"Jo [sic] as travel man aye, a Christmas plot twist," another commented.

"As much as I like Jo [sic] lycett generally, travel man just ain't the same without Richard Ayoade!!!" one person added.

Jo as travel man aye, a Christmas plot twist.  CaptainSpandickulars (@CSpandickulars) December 27, 2021

As much as I like Jo lycett generally, travel man just ain't the same without Richard Ayoade!!!  #legend #travelman  Suhail Patel #PLM  (@suhailpat) December 27, 2021

Others, however, were happy with Lycett's stint on Travel Man, leaving the show's deadpan *almost* untouched.

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Joe Lycett is the only person who could take over #travelman from Richard Ayoade and it feel like absolutely nothing has changed. Great choice of replacement.  Mike Oglesby (@_MikeOglesby_) December 27, 2021

"Joe Lycett is the only person who could take over #travelman from Richard Ayoade and it feel like absolutely nothing has changed. Great choice of replacement," one fan wrote.

In the episode, Lycett and Bailey bonded in between an entirely tomato-based three-course meal in a greenhouse and a night in a bubble hotel to catch a glimpse of the northern lights.

Their four-day Icelandic getaway continued with eggs boiled in a hot spring, paired with buttered brown bread thats been cooking underground for 18 hours.

Photo credit: Channel 4

Related: Joe Lycett adds new dates to comeback comedy tour  how to buy tickets

"The bleakest breakfast outside of Wetherspoons," Joe said, before his bread got swept away by Iceland's unforgiving wind.



Later on, the pair visited the Icelandic Punk Museum, located in repurposed bathroom stalls, where they gifted viewers a wannabe riotous performance, and immediately promised to repay any damages.

Lycett and Bailey also tried their hand at a felt troll-making workshop and an adorable husky sledding session, before chilling in a hot tub with a Christmas beer promptly dubbed "liquid tinsel". It doesn't get any more festive (and chilly) than this.

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SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: Starting after the new year, if you want utensils and other disposable items with your next to-go order, youll have to ask. Full details from reporter Kate Smith available for YHR subscribers.
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The Hungarian Baptist Charity has collected 50,930 individual donations packed in shoe boxes to be given as Christmas presents to children in poor families, the charity told MTI.

The charity said that some 10,000 donations had poured in in the last two days of the popular Shoe Box Campaign, held for the 18th time this year.



Some of the boxes will go to ethnic Hungarian children in Romania and Ukraine.
In their highly partisan reflections on the state of Hungary, a pro-government and a left-wing columnist look back on the past year.

In Magyar Nemzet, Jozsef Horvath sees Hungary as an island of peace and security. The pro-government security expert commends the government for securing borders from illegal immigration, providing cheap energy and rapidly rolling out the Covid vaccines.



Horvath also sees Hungary as a land of normality where traditional Christian ways of life are alive and unharmed by woke political correctness. In order to maintain peace and stability, Hungarians need to stay vigilant and protect themselves from left-wing efforts to create a federal, pro-LGBTQ and pro-immigration super state in Europe. In this endeavour, Horvath writes, maintaining Christian culture, including the traditional Christmas, is also crucial.



Nepszavas Peter Nemeth describes the governments battle against a mean Europe and LGBTQ propaganda as a nauseating stunt. The left-wing commentator sharply disagrees with Prime Minister Orban, who characterised Hungary in his samizdat blog series as an island of solidarity and peace, as well as of the rule of law.



On the contrary, Nemeth contends, Hungary has become a land of inequality, unfreedom and poverty. He also accuses the government of having added to the tragic impact of the pandemic by failing to introduce reasonable measures to contain the spread of the virus.



Under the current government, Nemeth fulminates, Hungarians can at best be second class citizens in their own country.



This opinion does not necessarily represent the views of XpatLoop.com or the publisher.

Your opinions are welcome too - for editorial review before possible publication online.

Click here to Share Your Story
Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.

More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday.

Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for staffing shortages that forced cancellations.

Meanwhile, snow and cold continue to blanket the western and northern United States, setting up hazardous post-Christmas travel conditions Sunday and into the final week of 2021.

Across the West, "travel will remain dangerous and is discouraged, especially along mountain passes where long duration closures are likely. Dangerous avalanches are also likely in the Sierra Nevada, Washington Cascades, Northern Rockies, and Wasatch," the Weather Prediction Center said.
The Christmas Spirit took hold of one lucky boy earlier this month, and he was eager to spread his cheer.

Jacob Boller, a sixth-grader from Clear Lake, was getting home from school on a chilly December day, when he spotted money from the corner of his eye.

Melinda, Jacob's mother, heard her daughter yelling "it's not fair!" from inside their home. Jacob had found a $100 bill on the ground.

At first, Melinda was surprised, she didn't believe it was real. Father Josh Boller joked about the cash, "first thing I did was look in my wallet to make sure I hadn't lost any of mine."

Naturally, they took it to the bank. Not to deposit, but to make sure they weren't being tricked. But Halloween tricks are over, and the Christmas bill was real.

"We went to the police to see if it was anyone's (money,)" Jacob recounted their next step. The police told him nobody had called about a missing bill, and after asking around, Jacob pinned it on the fridge and waited for somebody to call.

For eight days, that bill was stuck on the fridge. Nobody ever claimed it. After waiting the appropriate time, Jacob's parents told him it was his money, and he could spend it however he wanted.
Zac Holoch stated, My mother has shown me what it takes to be a great leader not only at Cornerstone Bank but also in the banking industry. I will miss working with her, but Im looking forward to this new challenge and continuing to work alongside my grandfather every day. Both of them have been and will continue to be great mentors to me. Our success is a compliment to the employees of the bank who are very talented and hardworking.

Kris Holoch started her career at Cornerstone in 2000 in the newly formed Electronic Banking Department. Through the years, she also worked in Retail Banking, was named CEO in August of 2015 and added the responsibility of President in 2018. Kris served as the Nebraska Bankers Association Chairman in 2017 and was on the Board of Directors for the American Bankers Association from 2019-2020. Kris and her late husband, Greg, have three grown children, Kylee, Cody and Zac. She also has nine grandchildren. Kris resides in York and serves as Treasurer on the York General Board of Directors and is a member at Faith Lutheran Church.

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New Delhi: In a big win for Dish TV in the Yes Bank matter, proxy advisory firm InGovern has advised investors to support Dish TV AGM proposals.

"We note that these proposals are coming up for shareholder vote in the background of an ongoing dispute between the company and two sets of shareholders  the promoters and Yes Bank, as the largest shareholder. The legal battle is being fought in various forums: at the NCLT, the High Courts and the Supreme Court," In the note titled 'VOTE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 2021 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING InGovern said.

The note adds, "On December 23, 2021, the company put out a statement that the Bombay High Court rejected the ad-interim prayers of the Plaintiff. However, the Court directed that the result of the proposed Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on December 30, 2021, shall be subject to the outcome of the final hearing of the Interim Application filed by the Plaintiff in the Suit. The matter has been adjourned to February 3, 2022."

"Our view is that unless the court battles play out, the management and operations of the company should be viewed by shareholders as ongoing," the InGovern note added.

Proposals  Management & InGovern Recommendations

1 -Adoption of Standalone Accounts and Consolidated Accounts: FOR

"We note that shareholders have approved the qualifications made in FY2019-20, and that there are NO significant changes in ownership in the past year. We note in many instances that content valuations can be very subjective. Considering no new adverse audit qualifications, we recommend shareholders vote FOR the proposal," InGovern said.

2-Re-appointment of Mr. Ashok Mathai Kurien liable to retire by rotation: FOR

"We recommend shareholders vote FOR this proposal," InGovern said.

3 -Ratification of Remuneration of Cost Auditors for FY2021-22: FOR

"There are no concerns regarding this proposal. We recommend shareholders vote FOR the resolution," InGovern said.

Recently, promoter Group Company of Dish TV had filed an application before the Bombay High Court in the share transfer matter. The company urged the HC to not allow the transfer of shares till the completion of the hearing.

Yes Bank is attempting to take control of Dish TV's board of directors, according to Dish TV, by proposing a shareholder EGM to make changes to the board. However, till recently, it has not made any open offer in this area.

The Ministry of Finance, Yes Bank, and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have been included as parties to the dispute in an application filed with the Bombay High Court. Exchanges, Catalyst Trusteeship, and Dish TV have also been added to the list of parties.

Catalyst Trusteeship and Yes Bank have been the subject of an investigation. Aside from that, IDBI Trusteeship has been the subject of an investigation.

The promoter firm claims in its application that Yes Bank is attempting to seize control of Dish TV and that this must be halted.

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#mute
Mumbai: Several well known investors have lined up to buy a stake in RBL Bank and sought Reserve Bank's permission, according to a media report.

The report said that the investors approached RBI with proposals to buy 10 per cent stake in the bank.

On Saturday, the Reserve Bank of India appointed Yogesh Dayal as an Additional Director on the Board of the RBL Bank.

Besides, the Board accepted the request of Vishwavir Ahuja, CEO of the bank to proceed on medical leave and appointed Rajeev Ahuja, the existing Executive Director of the bank as the Interim Managing Director and CEO subject to regulatory and other approvals.

In a statement on Sunday, the bank said: "We would like to reiterate that these developments are not in any manner a reflection on the fundamentals of the Bank."

"As we have been communicating to all of you the business momentum and financial performance trajectory have been improving since the second quarter of this financial year as we recovered from the effects of the pandemic."

It said that current management team led by Rajeev Ahuja has full support from RBI.

"We have absorbed the challenges on our asset quality which were largely due to the pandemic."

"Capital adequacy was 16.3 per cent and will be in a similar range this quarter. Liquidity Coverage ratios have been well above regulatory requirements - it was 155 per cent for the September quarter."

The statement further said slippages had peaked in Q2 and will be improving this quarter and next as guided previously.

"The NPA position of the bank will also be on an improving trend. We want to point out here that we have been upfront and transparent on any challenges that we have faced in our various business segments in the past."

The statement added that the Board has elevated an existing member of the management team to the interim MD and CEO role which should allay concerns on the strategy and smooth functioning of the bank as well as the strength of the overall franchise.

"These developments are not on account of any concern on advances, asset quality and deposits level of the bank. The bank has the full support of the RBI."

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#mute
New Delhi: The Coronavirus outbreak has been extraordinarily difficult for folks across the globe. India is also struggling to handle the repercussions of the pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 is a path of destruction for Indias unfortunate kids, particularly within the context of their education.

In step with the United Nations agency, over 247 million children listed in elementary and secondary schools and twenty-eight million children who were attending pre-school in Anganwadi centres, are impacted so far due to the closure of schools.

Underprivileged children aren't simply experiencing an associated surprising gap in their schooling, they're conjointly scuffling with a vast learning deficit. 24 million youngsters, between 6-18 years old, were already out of college in 2016 (DISE 2016-17 and RGI Census Population Projection 2016).

Given the loss of livelihoods throughout the imprisonment, the closure of colleges and also the severe lack of access to digital aids, this variety goes to extend space. While not stable net access and also the deficiency of digital learning devices, youngsters across urban slums and villages shall still suffer from an absence of learning.

Many families face extreme poorness that puts a lot of unfortunate youngsters in danger of discontinuing their education for good within the aftermath of the on-going crisis.

Talking to Zee Media, Amandeep Singh, Founder of National NGO said, this year, there's an associate pressing to champion the cause of education in India to ensure that children from vulnerable families are protected against the positive feedback of illiteracy and its long term consequences.
Lucknow: An advocate has accused Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, his brother Prateek and other close aides of launching bogus companies, and carrying out transactions worth crores of rupees.

The Samajwadi Party has refuted the charges, saying these were "sponsored" by the BJP.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, advocate Vishvanath Chaturvedi alleged that Akhilesh Yadav, his brother Prateek and people close to him were in touch with mafia Chhota Shakeel.

Chaturvedi said in the Samajwadi Party government, there are proofs that "benami" properties were bought using 16 bogus companies and there were transactions worth crores of rupees.

Details regarding this were given to the Income Tax Department a year ago but no action has been taken so far, he said.

Chaturvedi said 16 companies were registered on one address and a mobile number, and there are details about their transactions in crores.

He urged the prime minister to initiate stringent action in this regard.

He alleged that Piscesia Power Transmission Pvt Ltd and Monal Infra project prospered when Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister and they also transacted business with Chhota Shakeel in Dubai.

Meanwhile, SP's chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the allegations levelled by Chaturvedi are "sponsored" by the BJP.

He added that the ruling party is completely aware that it is going to face defeat in the upcoming UP Assembly elections, hence it is defaming the SP chief and people who are close to him.

Chaudhary said Chaturvedi's sudden appearance in the media and giving statements when elections are near raising doubts.

Chaturvedi, who had filed a disproportionate assets case against Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav, on Wednesday put the central government also in the dock for not sending the duo to jail.

"If the government really wants to take action against the corrupt, then it should be taken against the entire Mulayam Singh Yadav family instead of raiding places of their close ones," Chaturvedi had said at a press conference here.

He was alluding to income tax raids recently on a senior SP leader and three others, allegedly close associates of Akhilesh Yadav.

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NEW DELHI: Amid growing concerns over rising COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently announced in a televised address to the nation that vaccination against COVID-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, while "precaution dose" for healthcare, frontline workers and those above 60 would be administered from January 10.

The announcement was made by the PM amid rising Covid cases linked to the new Omicron variant of the virus. In his address, PM Modi said the precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year as well.

As per the announcement, people aged 60 years and above will be given a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from January 10 next year if they suffer from certain co-morbid conditions.

Who will get the COVID precaution dose?

Those above the age of 60 years, who are eligible for Covid-19 precautionary doses, would require a comorbidities certificate to take the booster shot, according to Dr RS Sharma, chief executive officer (CEO) at National Health Authority (NHA).

People above 60 years of age will need a 'comorbidities certificate' to take the COVID-19 precautionary dose: National Health Authority (NHA) CEO, Dr. R S Sharma (file photo) pic.twitter.com/DF4KvUJvf2  ANI (@ANI) December 26, 2021

Dr Sharma said the process will be the same that was followed when the Covid-19 vaccination was opened for people of 45-plus category, who suffered from specified co-morbidities.

What is a precaution dose?

The precaution dose mentioned by the PM refers to a third dose of the vaccine for fully vaccinated people. According to media reports, the government is likely to allow precautionary doses on the basis of 20 specific comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, stem cell transplant, kidney disease or on dialysis, cirrhosis, cancer, sickle cell disease, and current prolonged use of steroids or immunosuppressant drugs.

Those eligible for booster dose can upload the certificate of comorbidity, signed by any registered medical practitioner, on Co-WIN 2.0 while self-registering. They can also carry a hard copy of it to the vaccination centres.

What should be the gap between 2nd Covid vaccine shot and the precaution dose?

Though the governments technical panel is likely to decide on the gap between the 2nd Covid vaccine shot and precaution dose, sources said that the gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the third is likely to be nine to 12 months.

The nitty-gritty of the gaps for the vaccines currently being used in India's inoculation programme - Covishield and Covaxin - is being worked out, and a final decision over this will be taken soon, they said.

"The gap between the second and the precautionary dose of Covid vaccine is likely to be nine to 12 months with the immunisation division and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) discussing on these lines," a source said.

More than 61 per cent of India's adult population has received both doses of the vaccine. Similarly, about 90 per cent of the adult population has received the first dose.

With the administration of 32,90,766 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 141.37 crore, as per provisional reports till 7 AM.

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New Delhi: Hoping for a big win in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has constituted a committee to increase its outreach among the dominant Brahmin community of the state.

According to sources, BJP had on Sunday constituted the committee that will look after the party`s campaign on wooing Brahmin voters in the UP elections.

BJP national president JP Nadda is on Monday holding a meeting with members of the newly constituted committee formed for Brahmin outreach in Uttar Pradesh. Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh also called on party president JP Nadda in Delhi today to review preparations for the assembly polls in the state.

Todays meeting will finalize the blueprint on the working of that committee.

Union Minister and BJP UP polls in charge of Uttar Pradesh Dharmendra Pradhan, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Mahesh Sharma, Brijesh Pathak, Shrikant Sharma, Anand Swarup organization minister Sunil Bansal, among other leaders are present in the meeting.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttar Pradesh called on party president JP Nadda today at Delhi, ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. pic.twitter.com/AAcVPdIB2e  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

The BJP has already announced that the state assembly elections in UP will be held under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi with the party projecting incumbent Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as its chief ministerial candidate again.
New Delhi: Dr Sanjay K Rai, a senior epidemiologist at Delhi AIIMS, has termed the Centre's decision to vaccinate children against Covid "unscientific" and said it will not yield any additional benefit.

Dr Rai, who is the president of the Indian Public Health Association, is also the principal investigator of Covaxin trials for adults and children at the Delhi AIIMS.

He said that said before implementing the decision, the Centre should have analysed the data from countries that have already started vaccinating children.

In an address to the nation on Saturday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccination against COVID-19 for children in the 15 to 18 age group will start from January 3.

This will reduce the worries of children going to schools and colleges and their parents, and boost the fight against the pandemic, he said, adding that the move is also likely to aid in normalisation of teaching in schools.

"I am a great fan of PM Modi for his selfless service to the nation and taking the right decisions at right time. But I am completely disappointed with his unscientific decision on children's vaccination," Rai said in a tweet tagging the Prime Minister's Office.

Elaborating his viewpoint, Rai said there should be a clear-cut objective of any intervention. The objective is to either prevent coronavirus infection or severity or death.

"But according to whatever knowledge we have about vaccines, they are unable to make a significant dent in the infection. In some countries, people are getting infected even after taking booster shots. Also, 50,000 breakthrough infections are being reported per day in the UK. So this proves that vaccination is not preventing coronavirus infection but vaccines are effective in preventing severity and death," Rai was quoted as saying by PTI.

He said mortality due to COVID-19 in susceptible populations is around 1.5 per cent, which means 15,000 deaths per million population. "Through vaccination, we can prevent 80-90 per cent of these deaths, which means that 13,000 to 14,000 deaths per million (population) can be prevented," he added.

Serious adverse events following immunisation are between 10 to 15 per million population, Rai said. "So, if you do the risk and benefit analysis in adults, it is a huge benefit," he said.

In the case of children, he said, the severity of infection is very low and according to data available in the public domain, only two deaths per million population have been reported.

"In this section (children), 15,000 (people) are not dying and keeping in mind the adverse effects also, if you do the risk and benefit analysis, then the risk is more than the benefits based on the available data," Rai explained. "Both the objectives are not being fulfilled by initiating vaccination among children," he said.

Few countries, including the US, started vaccinating children four-five months ago. The data of these countries should be analysed before initiating Covid vaccination for children, he said.

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Chandigarh MC election result: In a stunning electoral debut, Aam Aadmi Party won as many as 14 seats, followed by BJP's 12 and Congress' 8 - in a tightly fought Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Election. The election was a closely watched affair as it comes months before the crucial assembly polls in the state. AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal termed the party's victory as an "indication of change" in the state. "AAP's victory in Chandigarh is an indication of change in Punjab. People have chosen AAP's honest government over corrupt politics," Kejriwal tweeted.

Current Chandigarh Mayor and BJP candidate Ravi Kant Sharma was defeated by AAP's Damanpreet Singh, who won by a margin of 828 votes in Ward No.17. AAP leader and Delhi MLA Raghav Chadha called his party's performance a "trailer" before next year's Punjab Assembly polls. Chandigarh is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

This time, the number of wards in the city was increased from 26 to 35. In the last MC elections, the BJP had won 20 seats and its erstwhile ally SAD one. The Congress had managed to win only four seats. Traditionally, the municipal elections, held every five years, see a locking of horns between the BJP and the Congress, but the AAP's entry made the contest this time triangular.

In the results declared on Monday, AAP leader Chander Mukhi Sharma lost to Congress' Sachin Galav by a margin of 285 votes from Ward Np. 13. Chander Mukhi had joined AAP after quitting the Congress last year. Former mayor and BJP candidate Davesh Moudgil lost to AAP's Jasbir by 939 votes from Ward No. 21.

                           AAP       AAP         -           Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) December 27, 2021

In Ward No. 25, BJP Yuva Morcha leader Vijay Kaushal Rana was defeated by Yogesh Dhingra of AAP by a margin of 315 votes.

The ward was earlier represented by Chandigarh BJP president Arun Sood.

From Ward No.2, Congress leader Harmohinder Singh Lucky lost by a narrow margin of 11 votes to BJP's Maheshinder Singh Sidhu.

BJP's senior leader Heera Negi lost from Ward No.22 to AAP's Anju Katyal by a narrow margin of 76 votes.

Among the prominent winners, Harpreet Kaur Babla of the Congress, wife of party senior leader Devinder Singh Babla, won with a margin of 3,103 votes, defeating Rashi Bhasin of the BJP in Ward No.10.

BJP's Saurabh Joshi won from Ward No. 12 with a handsome margin of 1,887 votes, defeating Deipa Asdhir Dubey of the Congress. Congress leader Gurbax Rawat defeated BJP's senior leader Ravinder Singh Rawat from Ward No.27 by a margin of 2,862 votes.

Kuljeet Singh Sandhu of the BJP registered a win from Ward Number 14, defeating AAP's Kuldeep Singh by a margin of 255 votes. From this ward, Chandigarh Congress chief Subhash Chawla's son Sumit Chawla had also entered the fray.

From Ward number 30, SAD's Hardeep Singh defeated Congress' Atinderjit Singh by 2,145 votes.

Reacting to his win against the sitting mayor, AAP's Damanpreet Singh said he gives credit for this victory to city party leader Pradeep Chhabra, whom he called "his guru", party national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

"Work is always appreciated and it has paid dividends today," he said.

Hitting out at the BJP and the Congress, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said people were fed up with them as they failed to deliver despite being given chance repeatedly.

People were looking for an "honest, viable alternative", he said.

"These two traditional parties failed to undertake development and bring about a change in the system, which people wanted. People saw how an ordinary councillor, who used to roam on bicycle and scooter, has big farmhouses and accumulated properties," said Chadha.

Asked if the results will have any impact on the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, Chadha quipped, "This is just a trailer."

"The mood of people here will be seen in the Punjab polls too," he said.

"People of Chandigarh have given a chance to Kejriwal, people of Punjab too will give us one chance," he added.
New Delhi: Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of common people, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi said while slamming Uttar Pradesh government on Monday.

"Imposing curfew in the night and calling lakhs of people in rallies during the day - this is beyond the understanding of the common man. Given Uttar Pradesh`s limited healthcare systems, we have to honestly decide whether our priority is to stop the spread of the dreaded Omicron or show electoral power," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) set to take out `Jan Vishwas Yatra` from six places in the state. The six Yatras were inaugurated by the BJP`s top leaders including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other union ministers from Bijnor, Mathura, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Ambedkar Nagar, and Ballia.

Further, India has logged 6,531 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday. As per the Health Ministry, the country`s active caseload stands at 75,841.

"Active cases constitute 0.22 per cent of the country`s total positive cases, which is lowest since March 2020," said the Ministry. Meanwhile, the tally of cases of the new Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country has risen to 578.

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New Delhi: Indias vaccination against COVID-19, the largest inoculation drive in the world, began on January 16 this year and in just 345 days, the country has successfully vaccinated 61% of its eligible population and, moreover, the nation is gearing up to inoculate children in the second phase. The rollout of vaccination for the population aged 15-18 will start from January 3, 2022.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Monday (December 27) addressed a pertinent and common concern among parents- Should we get our kids vaccinated?

This question arises because children have been the least affected groups since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine hesitation has been a cause of concern in India.

However, Zee Media believes that one must only believe health experts, scientists and agencies. The medical bodies of the country say that both these vaccines are safe for your children.

Proper testing and trials have been conducted on the vaccine and its effect on the kids. The results of the final trial of Covaxin came in August this year and came out to be safe for use in children.

Readers must also note that India is not the only country where the vaccine is being given to children below 18 years of age. In fact, nations like the US, Canada and Italy are already vaccinating children 5 and above. In Indonesia, South Korea andAustralia, 6 years old are being inoculated while the UK, Philippines, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Greece, Ireland os vaccinating 12 years.

About the process of vaccination for kids in India, Zee Media found that the vaccine will be available free of cost and since only Covaxin will be administered to this age group, the gap between the doses is likely to be 28 days.

Meanwhile, it has also been discussed as to how long will India take to vaccinate the 15-18 age group. So, at present, Indian adults are getting vaccinated at the rate of 3 million doses per day and if we go by this logic, the country will be able to vaccinate kids aged 15-18 in 33 days.

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New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) will convene a meeting with senior officials of the Union Health Ministry including Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday (December 27, 2021) to discuss about the current COVID-19 situation as five states are going into polls next year, informed ECI sources.

Assembly elections are due in five states including Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Punjab for next year.

"The Election Commission of India will convene a meeting on December 27 at 11 am with senior officials of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare including Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. The meeting will discuss the prevailing COVID19 situation for upcoming Assembly elections in five states," highly placed sources said.

Earlier, amid the COVID-19 variant Omicron sacre, the Allahabad High court on Thursday requested the election commission of India to immediately postpone the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh for 1-2 months.

The court also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ECI to immediately ban rallies and public meetings of political parties in the state. Meanwhile, India reported 6,987 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

As per the Union Health Ministry report, with 162 more fatalities reported, the total death toll mounted to 4,79,682. The Omicron tally across the nation has surpassed 400-mark. So far, a total of 17 States have reported the new Covid variant, which was first detected in South Africa, said the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

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New Delhi: The TMC and AAP are "fracturing" the non-BJP vote in Goa, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Sunday and asserted that only his party has the capacity to defeat the BJP.

Chidambaram, who is the Congress' senior election observer for the Goa Assembly polls, also said that loyalty to the party and the electorate is the first criterion for selecting candidates for the elections and expressed confidence that when elected, they will remain loyal to both the party as well as the electorate.

His remarks come days after the party's state working president, Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, resigned as a Member of the Legislative Assembly, reducing the party's strength to two in the 40-member House. Lourenco has joined the TMC.

Earlier this month, former Goa chief minister Ravi Naik resigned as Congress MLA. A few months back, ex-CM Luizinho Faleiro had also quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC).

In an interview with PTI, Chidambaram said the only party that has deep roots in all the 40 constituencies of Goa is the Congress and the people know that it is only the Congress that has the capacity to defeat the BJP despite the latter's "money power and misuse of state power".

Asked about the recent resignations from the Congress with some quitting to join the TMC, including Lourenco, and the Mamata Banerjee-led outfit adopting an aggressive pitch in the state, Chidambaram said it is not for him to comment on the motive or strategy of any party, and stressed that only two Congress MLAs have joined the TMC.

"Ninety-nine per cent of Congress workers remain with the Congress. I am not unhappy that Mr Reginaldo Lourenco defected to the TMC. The TMC has taken a losing candidate from our hands and, if it fields him in the election, he will remain a losing candidate," the former Union minister said.

The Congress workers and the voters of Curtorim constituency are determined to defeat Lourenco, Chidambaram said.

Asked whether he believes that the TMC is helping the BJP and the Mamata Banerjee-led party along with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were acting as the BJP's B-teams, Chidambaram said, "I do not comment on the motives of any party. In a straight fight between the BJP and the Congress in 2022, the Congress will emerge as a clear winner."

"The TMC and AAP are fracturing the non-BJP vote. Whether that will benefit the BJP, I cannot say," he said.

On whether the Congress would announce a chief ministerial face ahead of polls, Chidambaram pointed out that he has said that after all the Congress candidates are announced, in consultation with them, "we will take a call whether it is desirable to announce a CM candidate before the election".

That option is open, he added.

Talking about the poll preparations and the Congress' standing in Goa, he said the Congress' slide took place in 2017 and 2019 when its elected MLAs defected to the BJP.

The BJP government in Goa is a government "of defectors, by defectors and for defectors", Chidambaram alleged.

The BJP has ruled for 10 years and ruined Goa, especially its economy, environment and ethos, he said.

"There is an overwhelming desire for change. The only party that has deep roots in all the 40 constituencies of Goa is Congress. The people know that it is only Congress that has the capacity to defeat the BJP despite the latter's money power and misuse of state power. We hope to do well in the 2022 elections," Chidambaram said.

Asked about the possibility of an exodus of party's elected leaders following the elections, he said, "Nothing of that sort will happen. We have placed the responsibility of suggesting names of potential candidates on the Block Congress Committees and the Block workers. We have asked them to recommend names based on loyalty, integrity, acceptability to the Congress workers and winnability among the electorate."

Loyalty to the party and the electorate is the first criterion, Chidambaram asserted.

"We will pick a candidate from among the names suggested by the Block Congress Committee of the constituency. We are confident that our candidates, when elected, will remain loyal to the party and the electorate," he said.

On the possibility of alliances, Chidambaram said, "I have found that, in Goa, it is a practice among political parties to talk to each other right up to the elections and even after the elections!"

"Our Goa PCC leaders have responded to suggestions for talks from other parties including the Goa Forward Party. There are opportunities, risks and bumps. The AICC leadership will take the final decisions," he said.

The Congress had released its first list of eight candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Goa last week, fielding former chief minister Digamber Kamat from the Margao constituency.

The Congress this week also named Pratapsingh Rane, 82, as the party's candidate from Goa's Poriem assembly seat.

In the 2017 Goa Assembly elections, Congress had won 17 seats in the House and emerged as the single largest party. But, the BJP, which had bagged 13 seats, quickly tied up with some regional parties and independents to form the government.

Lourenco's resignation as Member of the Legislative Assembly on Monday reduced the party's strength to two in the 40-member House after a series of resignations over the last few years by the party's legislators.

The AAP had contested the last assembly polls but failed to win a seat. The TMC has entered the fray in Goa and has tied up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party.

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New Delhi: Goa on Monday (December 27) reported its first case of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in an eight-year-old boy, reported PTI. The child arrived in Goa from the United Kingdom, where a wave of new infections has been reported.

State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told PTI on Monday that the boy, who travelled from the UK on December 17, 2021, was confirmed to be infected with Omicron, as per his test report received from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

Rane further added that the Goa state government will take necessary steps to spread the curb as per the Central governments Omicron protocol and will implement stringent restrictions based on the need.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has already asked the tourism stakeholders to stay alert and ensure there is no spread of COVID-19 during festivities, in the wake of the upcoming New Year celebrations.

On Sunday, Goa reported 25 new cases of coronavirus, taking the state's infection count to 1,80,050, while the death toll remained constant at 3,519, as per official data.

Meanwhile, Indias total Omicron tally on Monday stood at 578 with 156 new cases reported on Sunday.
New Delhi: The Kerala government announced the dates of examinations of the annual Secondary School Leaving Certificate, plus two and vocational higher secondary for the ongoing academic year on Monday (December 27, 2021).

According to the announcement, the SSLC exams would be held from March 31 to April 29, 2022. The plus two and vocational higher secondary examinations are scheduled to be held between March 30-April 22. The announcement was made by state General Education Minister V Sivankutty at a press meet.

The IT practical exams of the SSLC would be held between March 10-19 while plus two practical examinations would be held from February 21 to March 15.

The vocational higher secondary practical exams would be held between February 15-March 15, the minister said.

Meanwhile, ahead of the exams, model tests would be conducted in each stream and it would be held between March 21 and 25 and March 16 and 21 for the SSLC and plus two/VHSC respectively, he added.

Sivankutty also said the government has no plans to change the current school timings.
Mandi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth Rs 11,000 crores, including Dhaulasidh hydropower & Renukaji dam projects, in Himachal Pradeshs Mandi on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, the PM said these hydropower and dam projects are part of a 'climate-friendly New India'.

Speaking on the occasion after inaugurating and laying the foundation of various hydropower projects here, the PM said, ''India has achieved the target which was set for 2030, of making 40 per cent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy, this year itself.''

The PM added, ''India had set a target in 2016 to meet 40 per cent of its installed electricity capacity from non-fossil energy sources by 2030. Today every Indian will be proud that India has achieved this goal in November this year itself."

The PM also hailed the Himachal government for taking several measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the Himachal Pradesh govt has completed four years. During its tenure, the government fought against COVID-19 and also made sure that development works in the state do not stop. PM Modi said while addressing a public meeting in Mandi.

Our government is alert about the damage caused to the mountains due to plastic. Along with the nationwide campaign against single-use plastic, our government is also working on plastic waste management, the PM added.
Authorities flabbergasted, neighbours in disbelief and people hooked to TV sets - such has been the story so far for Piyush Jain - a trader from Uttar Pradesh's city of Kanpur - who had stashed a whopping amount of unaccounted wealth in the basement of his factory.

The perfume businessman from UP's Kanpur was raided by tax authority DGGI on December 23, on suspicion of tax thievery.

The officials, however, found themselves landed in a pond of unaccounted wealth - to find a staggering amount Rs 177 cash - the largest such seizure ever. However, the buck didn't stop here - the authorities later recovered another Rs 17 cash from Jain's Kannauj residence.

In addition to the cash, the authorities also seized approximately 23 kgs of gold and more than 600 kgs (value: Rs 6 crore approx) of sandalwood oil hidden in underground storage. Further searches are underway at Jain's residential/factory premises in Kannauj.

Piyush Jain's simple lifestyle

For one who has thrown up the biggest cash haul in the history of the country, Piyush Jain can easily be mistaken as just another common man. For one who stacked up crores in cash at his house and its walls, Jain`s lifestyle has been astonishingly simple.

In his hometown Kanpur, Jain still rides an old scooter and his house was extremely modest, though he recently renovated it. An IANS report says that Jain owns a Qualis and a Maruti, and when cash spilled out of his house, his neighbours were shocked.

"He was just another businessman in the perfume business and we never imagined that he would have so much cash stacked in his house. He never flaunted his wealth and even his lifestyle was very middle class," said RK Sharma, who lives in the Chippatti locality where Jain also lives.

Political slugfest

The unearthing of cash has come up amid the high stake election campaign in the state. The two top parties - BJP and SP - are linking each other with Jain.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, said that now he knows why `some people` were opposing demonetisation. "The black money is now coming out of walls," he said.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav clarified that "this raid should not be linked with SP at all. Piyush Jain has no relation with SP MLC Pampi Jain".

SP leaders, in fact, claim that Piyush Jain`s family is inclined towards the BJP and always supported the ruling party.

Judicial custody

On Monday, Jain was remanded to 14-day judicial custody by a local court after he was arrested under Section 132 of CGST Act.

"Jain has accepted that the cash recovered from the residential premises is related to sale of goods without payment of GST," said a GST official.

'Acceptance'

A statement by the DGGI said that Jain has accepted that the cash belongs to him. He, however, claims that he got the money after selling ancestral gold, for which he didn't want to pay taxes.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on campaigning spurge these days, reached the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Monday and launched a scathing attack on the opposition parties.

In an apparent dig at Congress dynastic setup, PM Modi said, There are two development models in the State. One is 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and Sabka Vishwas'. The other model is 'Khud ka swarth, parivaar ka swarth.

Our government is working on the first model and has implemented many development programs in the state, Modi added.

The BJP leader made the statements while addressing a rally at Himachal Pradesh where he inaugurated several development projects.

Talking about the states contribution to the pharmacy sector and during the COVID-19 crisis, PM Modi said, Himachal Pradesh is one of the most important pharma hubs in the country. During COVID19, the State has not only helped other States but also many countries.

The Prime Minister also addressed the adverse effect of pollution and climate change crisis on the project and said that the BJP government is quite vigilant about the situation in HP due to plastic overuse.

Our government is alert about the damage caused to the mountains due to plastic. Along with the nationwide campaign against single-use plastic, our government is also working on plastic waste management, said PM Modi in Mandi.

Himachal Pradesh, one of the key BJP states, will go into the poll with four other states in 2022.

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NEW DELHI: Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party MP Tejasvi Surya has said that temples and mutts should set yearly targets to bring converted Hindus back into fold. In a video, which has now gone viral on social media, the young BJP MP can be seen giving a clarion a call to bring back the converted Hindus back into the fold.

There are people who belonged to Hinduism but were converted to Islam or Christianity. It is our duty to bring these people back into the fold of Hinduism. Also, Hindus in Pakistan who were converted to Islam should be brought back into the fold, the BJP MP said.

#WATCH Only option left for Hindus is to reconvert all those people who've gone out of the Hindu fold...those who've left their mother religion must be brought back.. My request is that every temple,mutt should've yearly targets for this:BJP MP Tejasvi Surya at an event on 25 Dec pic.twitter.com/8drw0lfKAh  ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2021

Surya added that all mutts and temples should have annual targets for the completion of such religious re-conversions.

All the mutts and temples should have annual targets to bring back people to Hindu religion. For instance, there were people who had to undergo religious conversion because of Tipu Sultan. That is why it is important to bring these people back to the fold of Hinduism. That is the only way a renaissance can happen, Surya said.

Tejasvi Surya, who is also the Yuva Morcha national president, made these remarks while speaking at a valedictory event at Sri Krishna Mutt.

Suryas statements come at a time when the state has witnessed massive protests over The Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021, commonly referred to as the anti-conversion Bill, which has been passed in the Assembly.

The bill prohibits conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement or marriage.

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New Delhi: The Directorate General Border Security Force (BSF) has invited applications from individuals to fill several vacancies in Group-C combatised (Non Gazetted-Non Ministerial) posts in the organisation.

As per the advertisement, this recruitment drive is being conducted for positions in the Border Security Force, Engineering Set up. The interested and eligible Indian citizens can apply for the posts at the BSF's official website- rectt.bsf.gov.in.

Candidates must note that the last day to apply for this recruitment drive is December 29, 2021, at 11:59 PM.

BSF Recruitment 2021: Vacancy details

ASI - 01 Post

HC (Carpenter, Sewerman) - 06 Posts

Constable (Generator Operator, Generator Mechanic, Linemen) - 65 Posts

BSF Recruitment 2021: Age limit

The candidates must be between 18 to 25 years of age (as on December 29, 2021).

BSF Recruitment 2021: Official notification

Check BSF Recruitment Official Advertisement

BSF Recruitment 2021: How to apply

The application by the candidates must be submitted through ONLINE mode only. No other mode for submission of application is accepted. Candidates can apply through BSF's website at https://rectt.bsf.gov.in.

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Delhi government recently issued a notice stating all diesel vehicles older than 10 years and all petrol vehicles older than 15 years will not be allowed to ply on the capital's road from Jan 1. However, the transport department of Delhi government also mentioned that they are giving a couple of options to keep their vehicles running despite a ban. The first method includes getting an NOC from the department and registering the vehicles in some other states.

Also read: Here's how to keep your old Petrol/ Diesel vehicles running in Delhi?

The second method includes retrofitting diesel/ petrol vehicles with an electric kit sourced through empanelled manufactures. The notice didn't hand out any names of such manufacturers initially. Now, the DoT has unveiled the names of the six manufacturers from where you can retrofit your old petrol and diesel vehicles that cannot ply on the city roads into electric vehicles.

The department is also in talks with other manufacturers and more will be empanelled in the coming days, they said. The six retrofitters empanelled by the Transport department are approved by International Centre for Automotive Technology (ICAT), a leading testing certification, research and development agency. The empanelled electric kit manufacturer Etrio Automobile electric kits can be used for both petrol and diesel-driven old four wheelers. It comprises a 17.3 kW battery with a range of over 106 Km.

The other empanelled manufacturers are 3EV Industries, Booma Innovative Transport Solutions Renewable, Zero 21 Renewable Energy Solutions, and VELEV Motors India Pvt Ltd. All these manufacturers have electric kits with different battery capacity and fuel type for two, three, and four-wheelers, officials said.

Delhi govt in a bid to provide relief to the Delhiites affected by the NGT order mandating de-registration of Petrol & Diesel Vehicles above 15 & 10 yrs resp., has allowed

Provision of NOC for registering in other states

Retrofitment to Electric & continue plying in Delhi pic.twitter.com/ZaqnoS0f0M  Transport for Delhi (@TransportDelhi) December 17, 2021

The kit for petrol two-wheelers manufactured by Booma comes with a battery capacity of 2.016 kW and range of up to 65.86 Km. "We are going to have a hackathon in coming days to bring in more electric kit manufacturers on board to expand this retrofitting market for conversion of petrol and diesel vehicles into electric ones," a government officer said.

Also read: Updated Tata Nexon Electric to get bigger battery pack

According to government estimates, there are around 1.5 lakh diesel vehicles in the city that have completed 10 years. The number of petrol vehicles older than 15 years is much more at over 28 lakh. In compliance with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) direction, Delhi government will deregister all diesel vehicles that would complete 10 years on January 1, 2022, and issue no objection certificates (NOC) to them to be re-registered in other states.

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Following a District Judge's decision against Air India, a bench of the English Court of Appeal, headed by Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Voss has found in favour with Air India in a contested dispute with a passenger. With its victory, Air India has eliminated a serious threat to the international airline industry, which is already struggling due to Covid-19. The English Courts are also asked to determine EU law for the first time after Brexit.

EU compensation regulations were disputed in this case as only one leg of the booking - the only one governed by EU/UK laws - had been delayed. As a result, the passenger's flight from Heathrow departed late, leading to delay in her final arrival at her destination.

The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of Air India after a full hearing, stating that prior European Court of Justice case law held that a multiple-leg journey can be considered a single unit when made under the same booking.

In this case, Air India argued that there was no reason why this principle could not be applied, since the Claimant's trip originated outside of the UK/EU. Passengers are entitled to protection under the law, however, that doesn't automatically mean they should be compensated under all circumstances.

Also read: Air India plane flies over the world's highest route in Hindu Kush mountains

There is no reason to undermine the principle of passenger protection by undermining Article 3(1) (a) of the EU Regulation since it is a territorial gateway for compensation. Air India's solicitor, Daniel Powell of Zaiwalla & Co, commented: "This is one of the first cases where the Court of Appeal was asked to determine EU law post-Brexit."

"The intention of ECJ judges when making their decisions was discussed at the hearing and the Court of Appeal chose to not interpret these principles differently in the post-Brexit era. This is despite an Attorney General commentary being released in October, which stated in its discussion that just because a passenger's journey originated from a non-EU/UK destination, this does not necessarily mean that they are not entitled to compensation."

"Had the Claimant succeeded in their appeal, airlines could have expected myriad further claims against them, with a potentially substantial economic impact being felt across an industry already reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic."

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New Delhi: Actor Arushi Nishank's music video 'Jo Tumko Jhoot Lage' is finally out on YouTube and fans are ecstatic to watch the magical song come alive in beautiful frames. Arushi and 'Saath Nibhaana Saathiya' actor Vishal Singh's chemistry in the video is palpable and will transport you to another world.

The 3-minute masterpiece released on Monday (December 27) on YouTube at 4 pm and already has thousands of views in less than an hour.

The song sung by Shaurya Mehta and composed by Oye Kunaal features a love story of a man deeply in love with a woman. However, it appears the two are in a rift as she's unable to trust his words and feels that he won't stick to his promises. But the man (Vishal) tries to convince her that his feelings are genuine.

Arushi Nishank has done a stellar job in painting a picture of the strained relationship between the couple and looks absolutely breathtaking in every frame. On the other hand, Vishal Singh has aced the character of the pained lover and done justice to Shaurya Mehta's melodious voice.

Take a look at the music video:

Arushi, daughter of Union Minister of Education Ramesh Pokhriyal, was earlier seen in the music video 'Wafa Raas Na Aayi'.

On Sunday (December 26), Vishal and Arushi had shared pictures of the launch of the second poster of the music video. The honourable Governor of Maharashtra had launched the exciting poster and given his blessings to the two actors on Christmas (December 25).

The song 'Jo Tumko Jhoot Lage' has been composed by Oye Kunaal and is produced under Zee Music Company.

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New Delhi: The news of Bollywood's beloved Salman Khan getting bitten by a snake a day before his birthday left all his fans worried. Hindi cinema legend Dharmendra said that he was also extremely worried about Salman after he heard about his snake incident and called him up immediately.

The veteran actor expressed that Salman is like a son to him and he wanted to wish him well on his birthday. Dharmendra tweeted this in response to a fan who requested the megastar to wish the Dabbang actor.

The fan said, "sir Salman Bhai ka Birthday wish kardo aap."

Dharmendra replied saying, "Malik, Salman is like a son to me. He too have great love and respect for me . I always pray on his Birthday and wish him the Best . I got worried and called him after the news of a snake bite . He is fit and fine."

Take a look at Dharmednra's tweet to which the fan replied:

pic.twitter.com/n6fK6X8OSR Ajaz, in the very beginning of my career.. I could share just some frames with my Darling hero , My Dalip Kumar.  Dharmendra Deol (@aapkadharam) December 27, 2021

For the unversed, Salman Khan celebrated his birthday at his Panvel farmhouse with friends and family. Many celebrities were present such as producer-director Sajid Nadiadwala, TV anchor Rajat Sharma, producer-actor Nikhil Dwivedi and actor Maniesh Paul among others.

A video of Salman cutting his birthday cake in the presence of his family has also surfaced online. He can be seen holding Arpita Khans daughter Ayat in his arms while cutting the multi-tier cake. Aayush Sharma is also present in the frame.

For the unversed, Salman Khan was bitten by a snake in his farmhouse one day before his birthday. He was admitted to a hospital in Navi Mumbai but returned back to his farmhouse after receiving treatment.

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New Delhi: From January 1, ATM withdrawal beyond a certain limit is going to pinch the customer's pocket as banks will levy higher ATM withdrawal charges from next month.

The Reserve Bank of India had in June permitted banks to increase charges for cash and non-cash ATM transactions beyond free monthly permissible limit from next year.

"To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to Rs 21 per transaction. This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022," the RBI had said in a circular.

New ATM withdrawal charges from January 1, 2022

Bank customers will have to pay Rs 21 per transaction, instead of Rs 20, with effect from January 1, 2022, if they exceed the monthly limit of free transactions.

However, customers will continue to be eligible for five free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) every month from their own bank ATMs. They would also be able to do three free transactions from other bank ATMs in metro centres and five in non-metro centres.

ATMs are deployed by banks for serving their own customers and also provide services to other banks' customers as acquirers where they earn interchange income.

Why has RBI allowed the charges to be increased?

The RBI said the charges have been allowed to be increased given the increasing cost of ATM deployment and expenses towards ATM maintenance incurred by banks/white label ATM operators, as also considering the need to balance expectations of stakeholder entities and customer convenience.

It is to be noted here that the central bank had set up a committee in June 2019 under the chairmanship of the chief executive of Indian Banks' Association to review the entire gamut of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) charges and fees with particular focus on interchange structure for ATM transactions.

The RBI had said that the suggestions of the panel were comprehensively examined.

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New Delhi: In January 2022, Indian banks would be closed for up to 16 days, including the second and fourth Saturdays, as well as Sundays. Aside from the seven weekly offs, banks will be closed in various states due to other holidays. Most states' banks will be closed on January 26, 2022, in honour of Republic Day.

Banks in Agartala, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Kochi, and Srinagar will not be closed on Republic Day, according to a list of bank holidays published on the Reserve Bank of India's website. Holidays are divided into three categories by the Reserve Bank of India: Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act, Holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act and Real-Time Gross Settlement Holiday, and Banks' Closing of Accounts. The RBI has issued the following list of holidays.

Bank Holidays in January 2022

01 January 2022: New Years Day

03 January 2022: New Years Celebration/Losoong

04 January 2022: Losoong

11 January 2022: Missionary Day

12 January 2022: Birthday of Swami Vivekananda

14 January 2022: Makar Sankranti/Pongal

15 January 2022: Uttarayaana Punyakaala Makar Sankranti Festival/Maghe Sankranti/Sankranti/Pongal/Thiruvalluvar Day

18 January 2022: Thai Poosam

26 January 2022: Republic Day

Only Aizawl, Chennai, Gangtok, and Shillong banks would be closed on January 1, 2022. On the occasion of the New Year's festival or Losoong, banks in Aizawl and Gangtok will be closed on Monday, January 3rd, 2022. To commemorate Losoong, only banks in Gangtok will be closed on January 4, 2022. On January 11, 2022, only banks in Aizawl will be closed. On the occasion of Swami Vivekananda's birth anniversary, banks in Kolkata will be closed on January 12th.

On the occasions of Makar Sankranti and Pongal, banks in Ahmedabad and Chennai will be closed. On the occasion of Uttarayaana Punyakaala Makar Sankranti Festival/Maghe Sankranti/Sankranti/Pongal/Thiruvalluvar Day, banks in Bengaluru, Chennai, Gangtok, and Hyderabad will be closed on January 15th. On the 18th of January, only banks in Chennai will be closed because to Thai Poosam.

Weekend holidays in January 2022

02 January 2022: Weekly off (Sunday)

08 January 2022: Second Saturday

09 January 2022: Weekly off (Sunday)

16 January 2022: Weekly off (Sunday)

22 January 2022: Fourth Saturday

23 January 2022: Weekly off (Sunday)

30 January 2022: Weekly off (Sunday)
New Delhi: The date for disbursal of 10th installment of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) is just around the corner. Earlier there were a lot of speculations regarding the date of disbursal, which has now been confirmed as January 1.

Even as lakhs of eligible farmers are eagerly waiting for the 10th Installment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, the official website of the PM Kisan scheme has put out a very important message for the farmers.

The official PM KISAN website says, "eKYC is MANDATORY for PMKISAN Registered Farmers. Pls. click eKYC option in Farmer Corner for Aadhar based OTP authentication and for Biometric authentication contact nearest CSC centres."

If you are looking to complete the PM-KISAN e-KYC process, you can check out the step by step process below.

- Visit the official PM Kisan website https://pmkisan.gov.in/

- In the right hand side, below the home page, you will see Farmers Corner

- There is a box just below Farmers Corner that mentions e-kyc

- Click the e-kyc

- A page will open that facilitates Aadhar Ekyc

- Now, you will have to enter your Aadhar number and then the Captcha code shown and click on the search button

- After that, you will have to enter your mobile number linked to your Aadhar card and click on Get OTP button

- The OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number

- Punch in the OTP and click on the Submit For Authentication button

- As soon as you click Submit For Auth button, your PM KISAN e-KYC will be successful

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New Delhi: WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, is rumoured to be working on a new feature that will allow users to look for companies in their area.

According to WABetaInfo, WhatsApp is working on a feature that will allow users to simply look for businesses in their area by filtering them using a new interface. Users will benefit from the functionality when looking for hotels, groceries, clothes, and clothing, among other things.

The feature has been made available to a select group of people in Sao Paulo and will be available on both iOS and Android devices.

"There will be a new area called 'Businesses Nearby' when you search for something on WhatsApp: when you select the category, the results of company accounts will be filtered based on your choice," WABetaInfo explained.

Following the introduction of WhatsApp beta for iOS 2.21.170.12, the page for Business Info has already been modified.

Meanwhile, the firm recently implemented a new privacy feature that prevents unknown contacts from viewing a user's last seen and online status.

WhatsApp users will be able to select their "last seen" status to be visible to everyone, including their contacts, with the exception of a blacklist of certain people.

This new feature is rumoured to be available on both Android and iOS devices.

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Kanpur: Kanpur-based businessman Piyush Jain, who was arrested over tax evasion charges following raids by central agencies on his residence and offices, will be produced in court on Monday.

Jain was arrested by the officials of the GST Intelligence on charges of tax evasion and will be produced before the court today, a senior official said. The perfume industrialist is likely to be taken to Ahmedabad from Kanpur for further action, he said.

Surenrda Kumar, Joint Commissioner (Kanpur), Goods and Services Tax, had said on Sunday night that Jain has been arrested on charges of tax evasion.

Piyush Jain, promotor of Odochem Industries, has been arrested by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) and will be presented in Kanpur court on Monday 27, he said.

His remand will be sought for interrogation from the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) court. Another official, pleading anonymity, said during a series of raids on the premises owned by Jain, cash worth over Rs 257 crore as well as gold and silver was recovered.

The cash recovered during the searches has been seized under the provisions of Section 67 of the CGST Act.

The money was allegedly linked to the dispatch of goods via fake invoices and without e-way bills by a goods transporter, he added.

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The world in the year 2021 saw a number of discoveries, achievements and inventions. Every month, there was something unprecedented happening on the globe. Be it a US president's impeachment - a historic development in world polity, or private citizens travel to space - the year saw things that were nearly unthinkable a few years ago.

Here's a list of firsts that took place during this year:

1) NASA enters Solar Atmosphere

For the first time in history, a spacecraft has touched the Sun. NASAs Parker Solar Probe has now flown through the Suns upper atmosphere  the corona  and sampled particles and magnetic fields there. The new milestone marks one major step for Parker Solar Probe and one giant leap for solar science.



2) An African woman becomes chief of World Trade Organization

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala made history in March by becoming the first African and the first woman to serve as director-general of the World Trade Organization. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala was also the first woman to serve as finance minister in her native Nigeria, a position she held twice.



3) First woman gets presidential power in US

(19 November 2021) US Vice President Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power in the US, when President Joe Biden temporarily transferred power to her. The US' first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president Harris broke another barrier as she became the first woman to hold presidential powers in the country.



4) A human brain wirelessly connects to a computer

In a possible breakthrough for those with spinal cord injuries, scientists at Brown University fully connected a human brain to a computer via a transmitter device. Trial participants with paralysis were able to move robotic limbs by simply imagining their movements.



5) NASAs Perseverance rover makes oxygen on Mars

An instrument called MOXIE  or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment  aboard the Perseverance rover successfully converted some of the Martian atmosphere, which is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, into oxygen. While the technology is still in its early stages, it could help make future human missions to the Red Planet a reality.



6) National Geographic cartographers recognize the worlds fifth ocean

On World Oceans Day, the National Geographic Society officially recognized the swift current encircling Antarctica as the Southern Ocean. The organization, which has been publishing maps and atlases since 1915, has drawn up a new map that acknowledges the body of water, which scientists and researchers for years have distinguished as separate from the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans.



6) Richard Branson becomes first private citizen to enter space in his own spaceship

In a huge step toward making astrotourism a reality, the Virgin Galactic founder won the billionaire space race, rocketing into the July sky aboard the supersonic SpaceShipTwo, a winged spacecraft developed by his company. Nine days later, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, joined the billionaire space club in his own rocket, New Shepard.



7) Astronomers see light coming from behind a black hole

Light may not be able to escape a black hole, but for the first time, astronomers observed light bending behind one  800 million light years away from Earth. This finding, detailed in the journal Nature, once again confirmed Albert Einsteins theory of relativity.



8) El Salvador becomes first country to make Bitcoin a national currency

El Salvador passed a law in September adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar. The move was met with doubt among many Salvadorans who are skeptical of Bitcoins inherent volatility. Financial experts have voiced concerns that the cryptocurrency could bring further economic instability to El Salvador and encourage money laundering.

9) Dapper Dan becomes the first Black designer to receive the CFDAs lifetime achievement award

The Council of Fashion Designers of America announced in September that Daniel Day, known as Dapper Dan, would receive its 2021 lifetime achievement award. Dapper Dan is widely known for introducing luxury fashion to the hip-hop world in the 1980s through his shop in Harlem. He is the first Black designer, as well as the first designer who has not had a solo runway show, to win the award.



10) SpaceX launches the first all-civilian crew into space

Jared Isaacman, the billionaire chief executive of Shift4 Payments, led the Inspiration4 mission to raise money for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. The SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and its four-person crew orbited Earth for three days with no professional astronauts onboard.



11) A Filipino is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in a first for her country

The journalist Maria Ressa was co-awarded the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for her enterprising reporting in the Philippines on President Rodrigo Dutertes controversial strongman tactics in the war on drugs. She is the first Filipino Nobel laureate and won the award alongside Russias Dmitry Muratov, the editor of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, which is known for its critical reporting on the Kremlin.



12) Jan 13: Trump impeached for 2nd time

Former President Donald Trump became the first US president to be impeached twice after the House charged him with inciting the Capitol insurrection.



13) 5 May: SpaceX successfully recovers Starship prototype for the first time

SN15, a Starship prototype of Elon Musks SpaceX, took off from the companys Boca Chica, Texas, facility to an altitude of about 9.6 km as part of a high-altitude launch. As planned, its three Raptor engines shut down, and it then started its descent to Earth. Two of the engines restarted just before landing and SN15 made a successful touch down near its launchpad. It was the first time that SpaceX attained success in recovering a Starship prototype.

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Before COVID-19, that one-in-a-hundred-years-event shook the world, Australia was a premium destination for those seeking to escape highly populated countries and seek life-changing opportunities overseas. India was one of those countries, and the obvious pathway for younger aspirants to get to Australia was through a Student Visa. It allowed the student to study, experience the country, and, if so moved, to apply for permanent residency and citizenship.

Come the pandemic, and of course, international travel ceased abruptly. During the two years of lockdowns, rounds of vaccine sourcing and inoculation programs, we have had time to reflect on how we live our lives, what is of value to our families and us. In times of crisis, we tend to concentrate more fully. It is not surprising to note that the two fundamental building blocks of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs  physiological and safety needs  have become the predominant focus of our attention. When things are going well, we tend to forget the fundamentals and concentrate more on the frivolous or less important. We may have much to thank COVID-19 for in some ways as it has opened our eyes up to real values, and it is thus that, with borders opening up again, that Australia, a country of abundance, that can satisfy physiological and safety needs, once more becomes a high priority for migrants; especially those utilising the Student Visa for Australia pathway.

Although migration agencies have had a rough two years, things look far brighter for the future. In addition to the desire of students to get here, the Australian government is well aware of the revenues the country earns from the overseas student education industry. Australia has an extensive and well-established vocational education system that feeds into the success of all aspects of the industry. Additionally, it has world-class universities situated in modern and appealing campuses; a big drawcard for those on a Student Visa in Australia.

So, we have willing students and willing hosts, the only requirement to match the two is a Student Visa. However, the visa application process in Australia is not without complications. A Student Visa application for Australia requires extensive pages of detailed information to be completed, and it is easy to get it wrong, which will result in delays and frustrations. Those wishing to avoid that will seek the services of migration professionals like Brisbane-based, Visapundit. Founder and CEO of Visapundit, Girish Rawat, lays emphasis on offering value and smooth pathways. He adds that a successful migration professional needs to have experience, exemplary service and to bear in mind that most clients, especially those seeking a Student Visa, are performance and value-driven. Our core business model lies in providing career guidance and counselling services, and this is an attractive value-add to the smooth Student Visa pathway that we offer.

With bright light showing at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, Australia might be even better placed as one of the worlds premier student and migration destinations than two years ago, offering as it does excellent educational resources and an enviable lifestyle. If it is, then it will mean a win-win for opportunists and the host country. Students who successfully navigate the Student Visa application process will enjoy wider horizons, and Australias economy will benefit. Girish Rawat and Visapundit are here to smooth the pathway for those wishing to move, live, study or work in Australia. Your Student Visa for Australia may just be one click away.

(Brand Desk Content)