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ROME — At a 15th-century palace that is steps from the Vatican and set to become a luxury hotel, archaeologists did what they always do in Rome, an ancient city thick with buried treasures.
They started to dig.
Rome is the gift that keeps on giving to archaeologists, though no one knew what would come from this preliminary exploration, a familiar routine at Italian building sites and development projects.
To the archaeologists’ surprise — and immense delight — the dig brought to light traces of a first-century theater that the team believes was built by Nero, the emperor with a now disputed reputation for tyranny, debauchery and a desire to indulge his inner artist. Although chronicled by Roman-era historians, the theater had never emerged from Rome’s archaeologically rich underbelly.
“It’s been stupendous, wonderful, amazing,” said Marzia Di Mento, the archaeologist who oversaw the dig at the palace, the Palazzo della Rovere. “It’s what every archaeologist would like to do.”
The archaeologists began uncovering walls — some with traces of stucco with gold-leaf decoration — that they hypothesize belonged to Nero’s private theater. The excavation has also turned up hundreds of artifacts that, though still being studied, have already shed new insight on life near the Vatican across centuries of Roman history.
Among the finds are small bronze amulets that pilgrims would have worn when trekking to Rome to see where St. Peter — one of the first leaders of the early Christian church — was buried, along with animal bones bored to make beads for rosaries. Both signal the presence of pilgrims, who grew in greater number as Christianity spread.
These artifacts can be added to others found in recent months through other excavations — both archaeological and preliminary work on construction projects. They include sundry statues, burial grounds, ancient thruways and traces of an ancient Roman road that may or may not be part of the legendary Appian Way.
The excavation of the palazzo garden, on the wide avenue that leads to St. Peter’s Basilica, began in 2020 before a large-scale renovation. One wing of the palazzo, which is owned by the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, is scheduled to open as a Four Seasons Hotel in time for the Vatican’s 2025 Jubilee, when millions of pilgrims are expected to visit Rome.
Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, the governor general of the order, told reporters Wednesday that the rental fee from the hotel would help cover costs for many of its charitable activities in the Middle East, including schools and hospitals.
By law, building projects in Italy must be preceded by preliminary excavations to ensure that no damage is done to what is underground — a rule that some critics say creates a costly, time-consuming obstacle for construction projects, if it doesn’t halt them altogether.
Alessio De Cristofaro, one of the archaeologists who oversaw the excavation on behalf of the city of Rome, described the dig at the palazzo as “a virtuous example where archaeology acts as a driving force to an important building renovation project.”
Once the artifacts from the site have been studied and restored, some of the best-preserved will be showcased inside the hotel. They include rare fragments dating from around the 10th century, a period that left few remains to document because Rome was “in economic and demographic decline,” said Di Mento.
But it is the evidence of the first century that has caught many people’s attention. Nero built his theater in a pleasure garden that, according to historical texts, once belonged to his grandmother Agrippina and his uncle Caligula. Roman chronicler Pliny the Elder, no fan of the emperor, described the theater as “large enough to satisfy even Nero’s desire to sing before a full house.”
Although uncertain about the building’s identification at first, De Cristofaro said that the high quality of some materials uncovered at the theater, including columns of rare African marble and gold leaf decoration, pointed to an imperial commission. Stamps on some bricks date the structure to the middle of the first century.
“Archaeology works by hypothesis,” said Alessandro Viscogliosi, a professor of ancient architecture at La Sapienza University in Rome. Attributing the remains as belonging to Nero’s theater was “a reasonable” theory, he said, although it was “too soon” to know for sure, because not much had emerged.
“If they continue digging and we find the seats, then we’ll be certain,” he said.
Some recent scholarship has challenged Nero’s reputation for profligacy, suggesting that he was portrayed by ancient historians as a villain, accused of playing a lyre while Rome burned in 64 A.D.
“He was actually well loved by his people,” said Ernesto Migliacci, a co-author (with his father, Franco Migliacci, a writer of the Italian classic “Volare”) of a short-lived but highly entertaining rock opera about Nero that cast the emperor as a more nuanced antihero, thwarted from pursuing what his heart really desired: a life declaiming poetry and song.
Pelted with criticism because the stage had been built on the Palatine Hill overlooking the Colosseum, the show shut down after 11 days after nuns in a nearby convent complained about the music, Ernesto Migliacci said. He accused historians who criticized Nero, like Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, of creating politically motivated fake news.
After archaeologists finish their study, including mapping the site, the ancient structures will be reburied.
Covering it back up is the “best way to protect the site,” said Di Mento. Its story can be told through “other means,” including 3D reconstructions, detailed maps created by drones and online material that will make the structure “more understandable even to those who aren’t experts,” she said.
Then the artifacts that have been unearthed will need to be cataloged.
“It will take years to study everything,” Di Mento said. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/excavations-uncover-hints-of-neros-theater-in-rome-and-much-more/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-31T01:40:33 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/excavations-uncover-hints-of-neros-theater-in-rome-and-much-more/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
In the early 2000s, Carlos De Oliveira was a valet and handyman at Mar-a-Lago, parking cars and doing odd jobs at Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Florida for not much more than $10,000 a year, court records show.
Then, within two months in 2012, De Oliveira divorced and filed for bankruptcy. He owned a 6-year-old BMW that needed brake work, paint and its belts replaced. His checking account, records said, held $700.
But over a decade, De Oliveira, a Portuguese immigrant, started slowly climbing a ladder of promotions at Mar-a-Lago. First, Trump brought him on to the maintenance staff full-time, according to a person familiar with the matter. Early last year, he was given the loftier post of Mar-a-Lago’s property manager.
That was the job he held when he was named with Trump in a new indictment last week, one that accused him of conspiring with the former president and one of his personal aides to obstruct the government’s efforts to retrieve dozens of highly sensitive national security documents from Trump after he left office.
De Oliveira, a minor player in the case, was ensnared in it largely because prosecutors contend he delivered a message to another Trump employee that the former president wanted to delete a trove of potentially incriminating surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago. He was also charged with lying to investigators.
The path he followed is a familiar one in the world of Trump, who often views relationships in terms of leverage and obsesses constantly about loyalty. In his business career, as a candidate and as president, Trump has frequently plucked subordinates from trouble or obscurity and given them a lifeline — and, by extension, a sense of obligation to him.
Those opportunities and obligations have sometimes come with a cost — including, as in the case of De Oliveira, serious legal jeopardy.
The release of new details Thursday in an updated indictment by the special counsel, Jack Smith, underscored the extent to which low-level workers like De Oliveira — lacking Trump’s reserves of power, fame and money — have become embroiled in the government’s attempts to hold the former president accountable for threatening national security.
The situation is even more extraordinary because De Oliveira and Trump’s other co-defendant in the case, Walt Nauta, his personal aide, are relying on the former president not only for their paychecks but also their legal bills. Those are being handled by Save America PAC, one of Trump’s fundraising entities.
In a statement sent after this article was published online, Steven Cheung, a spokesperson for Trump, criticized the Justice Department.
“For the weaponized Department of Justice and the deranged Jack Smith to target innocent individuals and everyday Americans by leaking false and misleading information, which is illegal and unethical, shows just how desperate and flailing they are in order to salvage their collapsing case,” he said. Cheung appeared to be referring to the details of the indictment.
“President Trump’s employees are honorable, hard workers, and are the best of the best,” he added. “They don’t violate the law because they are law-abiding citizens.”
The payment of the legal bills has been the responsibility of Susie Wiles, one of Trump’s top political advisers.
She started by signing off on checks from the political action committee to lawyers for some of the former White House and campaign officials who received subpoenas in the past two years from the House select committee investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. As the criminal investigations have unfolded, the number of lawyers whose payments Wiles is responsible for has grown.
Wiles also made an appearance in another portion of the indictment, where prosecutors described Trump showing a classified document to a representative of a political action committee — identified by people familiar with the matter as Wiles.
With so much of Trump’s past fundraising spent on voluminous legal expenses, two people familiar with the matter said his advisers were creating a legal-defense fund to take on some of the costs, although the fund is not expected to cover the former president’s legal fees. It is unclear how many other people the fund is intended to support. Trump’s advisers have insisted there has been no effort to influence witness testimony through Save America’s payment of legal fees.
While Trump plays the leading role in the indictment in the documents case, the narrative as laid out by Smith’s team relies heavily on supporting characters like De Oliveira, Nauta and others.
Much of the story involves what prosecutors have said was a plot to move boxes of documents in and out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago to avoid returning them to the government. Prosecutors say there was also a subsequent attempt to disguise those movements by seeking to delete footage from security cameras positioned outside the storage room.
According to the indictment, Nauta was central to the first part of the scheme, moving boxes from the room at least five times at Trump’s direction. All of that took place during a critical moment in the government’s investigation: the weeks between the issuance of a subpoena last year demanding the return of all classified documents in Trump’s possession and a visit to Mar-a-Lago shortly after by prosecutors seeking to collect the materials.
Nauta’s path to Trump and Mar-a-Lago was also characterized by a degree of turbulence.
A member of the Navy, Nauta had worked as a valet for Trump in the White House. But toward the end of his military career, Navy officials removed him from what is known as the Presidential Support Detail after learning he had fraternized with colleagues and subordinates in the White House mess, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
As naval officials were deciding what to do — including the possibility of sending Nauta back out to sea on a ship — an aide to Trump, who was already out of office, reached out to Nauta, offering him a job at Mar-a-Lago as the former president’s personal aide, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Nauta leaped at the opportunity, the person said, taking the job in July 2021 after receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy. It remains unclear whether Trump knew of Nauta’s troubles in the Navy at the end of his career.
Prosecutors say they have been in touch with more than 80 witnesses while investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents, many of them low- to midlevel employees of Mar-a-Lago or the Trump Organization, the former president’s family real estate business. Most of these people — aides, assistants, housekeepers, security officials — have been interviewed by Smith’s team or appeared before grand juries.
Among them was Yuscil Taveras, who works for the Trump Organization in information technology and oversaw the surveillance cameras at Mar-a-Lago, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The indictment describes how in June 2022, on the same day that prosecutors issued a subpoena for footage from the cameras, Nauta and De Oliveira sent text messages to Taveras implying that they needed to speak with him.
A few days later, De Oliveira approached Taveras in Mar-a-Lago’s IT department and brought him to a private room for a conversation meant to “remain between the two of them.”
There, the indictment said, De Oliveira told Taveras that the “‘boss’ wanted the server deleted” — a reference to the computer server housing the footage. When Taveras responded that he did not know how to delete the server and did not think he had the right to do so, De Oliveira repeated the orders from “the boss,” according to the indictment. “What are we going to do?” De Oliveira asked.
Taveras, identified in the indictment as Trump Employee 4, provided the outlines of that encounter to the grand jury in May, the people with knowledge of the matter said. During Taveras’ grand jury testimony, prosecutors questioned him about his dealings with Nauta and De Oliveira, the people said, seemingly laying the groundwork for the indictment that was unsealed last week.
The Trump Organization ultimately turned over the surveillance tapes, and the indictment does not accuse any Mar-a-Lago employees of destroying the footage. (Taveras has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Although at one point Smith’s team was scrutinizing other aspects of his grand jury testimony, there is no indication he is facing legal jeopardy.)
At a trial, Taveras’ testimony could be crucial for Smith’s prosecutors in establishing a conspiracy to try to erase the tapes — and thus obstruct the investigation. And yet Taveras remains a Mar-a-Lago employee, one person with knowledge of the matter said. He has a new lawyer, and it is unclear who is paying his legal bills.
In a remarkable scene in the indictment, people in Trump’s orbit are described as beginning to worry about De Oliveira’s loyalties after the FBI descended on Mar-a-Lago with a search warrant last summer and hauled away about 100 classified documents.
“Someone just wants to make sure Carlos is good,” the indictment quoted Nauta as saying to another Trump employee.
In response, that employee wrote in a Signal message with Nauta and Wiles that De Oliveira was “loyal,” according to prosecutors. It was unclear what, if anything, was said by others in the group message.
That same day, the indictment said, Trump called De Oliveira and said he would get him a lawyer. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/minor-characters-emerge-to-play-key-roles-in-trump-documents-case/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-31T01:40:40 | 1 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/minor-characters-emerge-to-play-key-roles-in-trump-documents-case/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong government on Friday called on the United States to invite its city leader to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, after reports that Washington would bar the top official from the major economic summit — a move likely to intensify China-U.S. tensions.
On Thursday, the Washington Post quoted anonymous U.S. officials to report the White House’s decision to bar Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee from attending the economic leaders’ meeting in November. The reported move could undermine ongoing efforts to restore dialogue between Washington and Beijing after their relations have sunk to a historic low.
Lee is one of the Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 after the enactment of a Beijing-imposed national security law. The tough law has prosecuted and silenced many of leading pro-democracy activists in the city following the massive 2019 pro-democracy protests. Growing numbers of young professionals have responded to the erosion of Hong Kong’s Western-style civil liberties by leaving the city.
In response to inquires about the report, the Chief Executive’s Office in Hong Kong said the U.S. is “obliged to fulfil its basic responsibilities as a host” of the meeting in San Francisco and should follow the usual practice of APEC meetings to extend the invitation.
"APEC meetings do not belong to any country or economy, and APEC has its rules and conventions,” the office wrote in a statement.
Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997 under the promise that it could retain its Western-style civil liberties for 50 years after the handover. But critics said a crackdown — overseen by Lee — on Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement has caused the city to become increasingly like mainland China, where many freedoms are restricted.
Lee was a hard-line security chief before taking over the city’s top job last year. He was the sole candidate in Hong Kong’s chief executive election in 2022 and won over 99% of the vote from a committee stacked with mostly pro-Beijing members. Before he was promoted as a security official in the administration in 2012, he spent decades in the police force.
The Washington Post reported that the city could send another senior representative to attend the APEC meeting instead. But the Chinese Embassy in Washington already expressed its strong opposition over the decision by the U.S. administration, it added.
Washington has launched a flurry of diplomatic missions to restore dialogue suspended by Beijing, mainly over U.S. support for the self-governing island democracy of Taiwan that China claims as its own territory.
In recent weeks, multiple U.S. officials have traveled to China for meetings, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and President Joe Biden’s top climate envoy, John Kerry.
During a July 20 meeting with former top U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said relations between the two countries are at a crossroads and both sides need to make new decisions that could result in stable ties and joint success and prosperity.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions | 2023-07-31T01:40:42 | 1 | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/hong-kongs-leader-may-be-barred-from-a-key-economic-summit-the-city-says-that-breaks-conventions |
Former President Donald Trump’s team is creating a legal-defense fund to handle some of the crush of legal bills stemming from the investigations and criminal indictments involving him and a number of employees and associates, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The fund, which is expected to be called the Patriot Legal Defense Fund Inc., will be led by Michael Glassner, a longtime Trump political adviser, according to the people familiar with the planning, who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Another Trump aide who worked at the Trump Organization and then in Trump’s administration, Lynne Patton, will also be involved, the people said.
It is unclear how broad a group of people the legal-defense fund will cover, but one person said it was not expected to cover Trump’s own legal bills. In recent months Trump’s political action committee has paid legal bills for him and several witnesses, spending more than $40 million on lawyers in the first half of 2023.
But a wide swath of people have become entangled in the various Trump-related criminal investigations, both as witnesses — of whom there are many who work for Trump personally or did in the White House — as well as defendants.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said the Justice Department had “targeted innocent Americans associated with President Trump,” and that “to combat these heinous actions” and “protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, a new legal defense fund will help pay for their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment.”
The creation of the legal-defense fund could ease some financial pressure on his PAC, Save America, which was severe enough that it requested a refund of the $60 million it had transferred to a pro-Trump super PAC late last year.
Trump now has two co-defendants, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, in the federal investigation into his retention of reams of presidential material and classified documents after he left office. Both men work for Trump; Nauta works for the Trump campaign, and De Oliveira is the property manager at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club.
Last month, Trump appeared at a fundraiser at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for a group that assists those arrested in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot and their families. “I’m going to make a contribution,” Trump told them, according to a video of his remarks. That group’s name, the Patriot Freedom Project, echoes the new name of Trump’s legal fund.
Trump had long resisted such an entity. For years, he told people that only guilty people have legal-defense funds.
Trump, a wealthy entrepreneur, has been using money parked in Save America to pay legal bills for himself and a number of witnesses in the four criminal investigations into his actions in and out of office. Save America was created to house the more than $100 million that Trump raised shortly after the November 2020 election, as he claimed he needed his supporters’ help to combat widespread voter fraud.
No such widespread fraud was ever proved, but Trump had tens of millions of dollars at his disposal. He cannot spend the money directly on his 2024 presidential candidacy, but has been using it for legal bills. Last year, he made the $60 million transfer to the super PAC that is backing him, well before the refund request was made.
In 2021 and 2022, Save America paid for Trump’s political operation while he was out of office and not an official candidate, paying for staff members and rallies. It also picked up $16 million in legal fees.
Trump’s rivals have been using the Save America legal payments as an attack on him. And he appears to have recognized it as a potential weak point: On Saturday evening, at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, he said he would put whatever money he needs to put into his campaign, if it comes to that. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-team-creates-legal-defense-fund-to-cover-his-allies-bills/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-31T01:40:46 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/trump-team-creates-legal-defense-fund-to-cover-his-allies-bills/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Two days after mutinous soldiers ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, it was still unclear Friday morning who was running the country and what mediation efforts were underway, as analysts warned that political chaos could set back the fight on extremist groups and increase Russia's influence in the region.
On Thursday, several hundred people gathered in the capital, Niamey, and chanted support for the Russian private military group Wagner while waving Russian flags. Later, they burned cars and ransacked the headquarters of the president's political party. “We’re fed up,” said Omar Issaka, one of the protestors.
“We are tired of being targeted by the men in the bush ... Down with the French people. We’re going to collaborate with Russia now,” he said.
The soldiers have not announced a leader and President Mohamed Bazoum, who was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960, has not resigned.
Some of the last public communications from the government included a defiant tweet by the president Thursday declaring that democracy would prevail and a call by the Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou, on media outlet France 24, for Nigeriens to stand against the mutiny.
Someone close to the president who is not authorized to speak about the situation, told The Associated Press that Bazoum has no intention of resigning and talks were ongoing.
However, it's unclear who's involved in these dialogues, the nature of the discussions or how they're proceeding.
Analysts say the coup could destabilize the country and threatens to starkly reshape the international community’s engagement with the Sahel region.
Bazoum is a key ally in the West’s efforts to battle the jihadists, and the West African nation has been seen as the last major Western partner standing against extremism in a region where anti-French sentiment has paved the way for the Russian private military group Wagner.
Neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso have both ousted the French military, which previously provided aid in their fight against jihadists. Mali has contracted Wagner, and it’s believed the mercenaries will soon be in Burkina Faso.
Earlier this week, The Economic Community of West African States said it was sending Benin President Patrice Talon to lead mediation efforts, but as of Friday Talon was not in the country. During their first address to the nation Wednesday night, the mutineers urged “external partners” not to interfere.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told French media Friday that President Emmanuel Macron has spoken several times to Bazoum. Colonna said France believes there are still possible exits from the crisis, and that Paris regards the attempted coup as lacking any legitimacy.
On Thursday, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, said the country's “substantial cooperation with the Government of Niger is contingent on Niger’s continued commitment to democratic standards".
Niger could lose millions of dollars in military aid and assistance, which the United States and European countries have recently poured in an attempt to help in the fight against Islamic extremism.
The United States in early 2021 said it had provided Niger with more than $500 million in military assistance and training programs since 2012, one of the largest such support programs in sub-Saharan Africa. The European Union earlier this year launched a 27 million-euro ($30 million) military training mission in Niger. The United States has more than 1,000 service personnel in the country. France has 1,500 soldiers, which conduct joint operations with the Nigeriens.
The coup has dashed hopes of collaboration between Sahelian countries and Western powers, which offered a more robust response to the jihadist insurrection when compared with the strategies to arm civilians in Burkina Faso or the responsibility given to Wagner in Mali, said Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, senior Sahel analyst for the International Crisis Group.
As uncertainty lingers about who's in charge, insecurity could worsen. “The army officers will be busy positioning themselves in power struggles and abandon the fight against jihadists,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Rights groups also warn that civilians always bear the brunt of these mutinies.
“During a coup, the first victims are always the same: the most vulnerable, women and children,” said Drissa Traore, secretary-general of the International Federation for Human Rights.
On Thursday the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it has paused operations in Niger, where more than 370,000 people are internally displaced and more than 4 million rely on aid.
___
AP writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/no-clarity-about-whos-in-charge-in-niger-2-days-after-mutinous-soldiers-ousted-the-president | 2023-07-31T01:40:48 | 1 | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/no-clarity-about-whos-in-charge-in-niger-2-days-after-mutinous-soldiers-ousted-the-president |
HELSINKI (AP) — Denmark’s foreign minister said Sunday the government will seek to make it illegal to desecrate the Quran or other religious holy books in front of foreign embassies in the Nordic country.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in an interview with the Danish public broadcaster DR that the burning of holy scriptures “only serves the purpose of creating division in a world that actually needs unity.”
“That is why we have decided in the government that we will look at how, in very special situations, we can put an end to mockery of other countries, which is in direct conflict with Danish interests and the safety of the Danes,” he said.
A recent string of public Quran desecrations by a handful of anti-Islam activists in Denmark and neighboring Sweden have sparked angry demonstrations in Muslim countries.
Løkke Rasmussen said the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen is determined to find “a legal tool” to prohibit such acts without compromising freedom of expression, but he acknowledged that would not be easy.
“There must be room for religious criticism, and we have no thoughts of reintroducing a blasphemy clause,” he told DR. “But when you stand up in front of a foreign embassy and burn a Quran or burn the Torah scroll in front of the Israeli embassy, it serves no other purpose than to mock.”
His comments followed a statement issued late Sunday by the Danish government saying freedom of expression is one of the most important values in Danish society.
But, it added, the descreation of the Muslim holy book in Denmark has resulted in the nation being viewed in many places around the world “as a country that facilitates insult and denigration of the cultures, religions, and traditions of other countries.”
The government repeated its condemnation of such descecrations, say they are “deeply offensive and reckless acts committed by few individuals” and “do not represent the values the Danish society is built on.”
In Sweden, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sunday on Instagram that his government is analyzing the legal situation regarding desecration of the Quran and other holy books, given the animosity such acts are stirring up against Sweden.
“We are in the most serious security policy situation since the Second World War,” Kristersson said.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called an emergency remote meeting Monday to discuss the Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark. | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/denmark-seeks-to-legally-prevent-burnings-of-quran-or-other-religious-scriptures/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world | 2023-07-31T01:40:52 | 0 | https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/world/denmark-seeks-to-legally-prevent-burnings-of-quran-or-other-religious-scriptures/?utm_source=RSS&utm_medium=Referral&utm_campaign=RSS_nation-world |
A Ukrainian drone was shot down early Friday outside Moscow, Russia’s defense ministry said. It was the third drone strike or attempt on the capital region this month.
The ministry said there were no injuries or damage in the early morning incident. It did not give details about where the drone was shot down, but said it took place in the Moscow Oblast, a region that surrounds but does not include the city itself.
The shootdown adds to concern about Moscow's vulnerability to attack as the war drags into its 18th month.
Two drones struck the Russian capital on Monday, one of them falling in the center of the city near the Defense Ministry's headquarters along the Moscow River about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the Kremlin. The other drone hit an office building in southern Moscow, gutting several upper floors.
In another attack on July 4, the Russian military said four drones were downed by air defenses on the outskirts of Moscow and the fifth was jammed by electronic warfare means and forced down.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/russia-says-a-ukrainian-drone-was-shot-down-outside-moscow | 2023-07-31T01:40:54 | 1 | https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/ap-top-news/2023/07/28/russia-says-a-ukrainian-drone-was-shot-down-outside-moscow |
Prince William surprises food truck customers by handing out burgers
The Prince of Wales was promoting his climate change initiative, The Earthshot Prize, with the Sorted Food YouTube channel
Prince William totally surprised some hungry customers while helping out in a food truck.
The Prince of Wales appeared in a video with the Sorted Food YouTube Channel, promoting his climate change initiative, The Earthshot Prize, which awards a one-million-pound prize to those working to "to find and grow the solutions that will repair our planet this decade," per the official website.
The 41-year-old is quite playful in the video, joking that he's worked on the initiative for four years, and quipped, "I had hair when it started."
Prince William then presented the chefs at the channel with items from three of last year's Earthshot winners, vegetables from a greenhouse by Kheyti’s Greenhouse-in-a-box, a stove from Mukuru Clean Stoves, and biodegradable take out boxes from Notpla, from the Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, and Build A Waste-Free World categories, respectively.
PRINCE WILLIAM CRITICIZES SPACE TOURISM AT THE EXPENSE OF SOLVING CLIMATE CHANGE
After the team worked up some plant-based burgers made from the veggies, cooked in the stove, and served in the take-out boxes, they got to work with Prince William in the food truck, who handed them out to shocked customers.
"Coming right up," he said as he turned to reveal himself and handed the surprised customers their orders.
"I was shell shocked. Like, I froze," said one woman in the video upon seeing the royal.
"Of all the things I was expecting, it was not that," said another.
"Am I dreaming? Have I had enough sleep?" said a third.
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As he continued serving, Prince William explained the origin of the burgers and their connection to the Earthshot prize.
Last year, Prince William and Kate Middleton traveled to Boston, their first trip to America in eight years, to attend the Earthshot Prize ceremony.
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The couple also attended a Boston Celtics game while in town. | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/prince-william-surprises-food-truck-customers-handing-out-burgers | 2023-07-31T01:41:30 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/prince-william-surprises-food-truck-customers-handing-out-burgers |
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis targets former President Donald Trump for 'not following through' on promises
DeSantis charges Trump's name-calling attacks on rivals are 'juvenile'
RYE, N.H. - A more aggressive Gov. Ron DeSantis appears to be stepping up his criticism of 2024 rival Donald Trump for what he charges was the former president's failure to deliver on campaign promises during his four years in the White House.
But DeSantis, who's seen Trump's double-digit lead over him expand in the two months since the conservative governor from Florida launched his GOP presidential nomination campaign, says he won't match Trump insult for insult by taking part in "name-calling" on the campaign trail.
"I don’t like the name-calling. I don’t do it. I don’t think it’s effective, and I think it turns off a lot of voters," DeSantis said in a one-on-one interview with Fox News Digital on Sunday in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest in the Republican presidential nominating calendar.
DeSantis is halfway through a jam-packed four-day swing through New Hampshire, which directly followed three busy days on the campaign trail in Iowa, whose caucuses lead of the GOP schedule.
FIRST ON FOX: DESANTIS TO UNVIEL ‘DECLARATION OF ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE’
DeSantis is aiming to rebound and change the narrative in the wake of staffing layoffs by his campaign last week in a move by top officials to "streamline" the governor's 2024 White House bid.
In his Fox News interview, in a gaggle with reporters, and taking questions from the crowd as he headlined the latest edition of former Republican Sen. Scott Brown's No BS Backyard BBQ series with the GOP presidential contenders, DeSantis charged that Trump didn't get "the job done."
DESANTIS CAMPAIGN CUTS STAFF AS PART OF EFFORT TO ‘STREAMLINE’ WHITE HOUSE BID
"We will make sure of course that the differences between the two of us are aired out in terms of being willing to follow through on the promises and actually get the job done, which I’ve done in Florida across the board," DeSantis emphasized.
And he argued that Trump "has made promises – draining the swamp. Having Mexico build the border wall. Locking Hillary [Clinton] up and eliminating the debt. He did not follow through on those promises. That’s just the reality."
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung, responding, charged in a statement to Fox News that "Ron DeSantis is nothing more than an off-brand, bootleg version of America First. No mater how much time he spends cosplaying as President Trump, he will never be him or achieve a hundredth of what was achieved during the Trump Administration. Ron DeSantis should pack his knapsack and hitchhike his way back home to focus on the serious issues facing the great state of Florida."
The DeSantis campaign on Sunday morning spotlighted a new report that indicated that a Trump political committee had spent more than $40 million on legal fees, as the former president faces multiple indictments.
DeSantis' communications director Andrew Romeo argued that Trump's spent tens of millions of dollars "falsely attacking Ron DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Joe Biden."
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Asked for his reaction to the report on Trump's legal fees, DeSantis told Fox News "I think people can make their own judgments about that."
But he quickly spotlighted that "we also pointed out that his other big expenditure since going back to last year was spending almost $25 million to attack me. And he was attacking me even before I was a candidate for president. I was down in Tallahassee doing all this great stuff for the people of Florida."
DeSantis emphasized "I just think we should be focusing our resources on beating the Democrats and on beating Joe Biden and that goes with all of this stuff."
The governor reiterated that he thinks Trump's "name-calling and stuff – I think is juvenile. It’s not something I’m going to be involved in. I’m a guy about substance."
"I’m a guy about getting the job done. So we’ve been very clear when people have asked about substantive attacks that he’s launched on policy, where we may disagree," DeSantis said.
And pointing to Trump's growing legal controversies, DeSantis highlighted that "you’re not going to be able to bring the administrative state to heal, to slay the deep state, to do all this, if you have distractions. If you’re not focused. You’ve got to go in there, guns blazing, spitting nails. But man, you’ve going to be focused on the task at hand and I will do that we will get the job done."
DeSantis argued that the attacks he's facing from Trump and his other rivals in the large field of GOP presidential candidates shows that he's a threat.
"If you were up by so much, you would not be worried about anybody else," DeSantis said. "So I think the fact that I’m taking the incoming from all of these people, not just him, but a lot of the other candidates, a lot of the media, that shows people know that I’m a threat. They know what was going on in the ground in Iowa the last couple of weeks when we’ve had these functions. Everybody’s seen that."
Trump's the commanding front-runner in the latest GOP presidential nomination polls nationally and in the key early voting states, but DeSantis disagrees with talk the former president has a lock on the Republican primary electorate.
"I don’t think he has a strong hold on the majority. I think he’s got a stronghold on some," the governor said as he answered a question from a GOP voter. "But I think the vast majority of Republican primary voters are either definitely going to vote for someone else or are willing to if you make the case. And with me, I think I’m the candidate that’s more likely to beat Biden. I’m more reliable on policy. "
Trump has not committed to taking the stage at next month's first presidential debate, a Fox News hosted showdown on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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DeSantis told Fox News that "You’ve got to earn this nomination. People should show up. They should make the case. They should answer the questions, and then they should show Republican votes why they should be the nominee. And that’s what I’ll be doing."
Asked if Trump's participation or lack of participation in the debate will affect his gameplan, DeSantis said "we will be prepared for all eventualities. I mean clearly if here’s there it will add a different dynamic than if he’s not. But we’ll be ready either way. We’re looking forward to doing it. I think it’s a good part of the process." | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-gov-ron-desantis-targets-former-president-donald-trump-not-following-through-promises | 2023-07-31T01:41:36 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-gov-ron-desantis-targets-former-president-donald-trump-not-following-through-promises |
Chris Buescher secures NASCAR playoff spot with Richmond win
Buescher led 88 laps
Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go to win at Richmond Raceway on Sunday and snag one of the final spots in NASCAR's playoff field.
Buescher led 88 laps and was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his lead over Virginia native Denny Hamlin, who was booed by his hometown crowd in pre-race.
But Hamlin got a poor final restart and Buescher easily pulled away for his first Cup Series win of the season, third of his career.
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"I knew that last restart was going to be tough, but I knew we had the speed in this thing," Buescher said.
He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps in their Fords. Keselowski, now a part owner of the team, led 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
Buescher started 26th and had to drive the field for the win that locked him into the 16-driver playoff field with four races remaining in the regular season. Buescher became the 13th race winner this year and there are three playoff spots up for grabs over the next month.
It was the 139th Cup win for primary team owner Jack Roush, second since Keselowski joined the ownership group.
Ford now has 723rd wins in NASCAR's top Cup Series.
"Everybody at RFK Racing who has worked so hard to get us to this point," said Buescher.
Hamlin, winner last week at Pocono, finished second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch was third in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, followed by the Fords of Joey Logano from Team Penske and Ryan Preece of Stewart-Haas Racing.
"One win is good, but you get three or four or five and then you feel a lot better," said Keselowski. "It sure beats not having any at all, but we want to keep going. It’s nice to have one car locked in the playoffs. We need to get both cars locked in the playoffs. We have a good points gap, but we want wins and this is where we need to be."
Keselowski, despite being winless this season, is still mathematically in contention for the playoffs.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, with the final yellow sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
CARSON HOCEVAR STARTS FIRE AT RICHMOND DURING VICTORY CELEBRATION
Hamlin's bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549-seconds behind Buescher.
"I got a bad restart," Hamlin said. "I had to recover too much ground from what I lost on the frontstretch. Almost got to the outside, and then in turn four, almost got to the outside again, and then in turn one, I was like ‘I’m just going to ship it in there and try to get to the outside one more time’ and I just carried way too much speed and locked up the left front tires."
LARSON-HAMLIN
Kyle Larson, angered last week when Hamlin caused him to hit the wall while leading while Hamlin went on to win, was running a few laps down when he nudged Hamlin out of the way with 70 laps to go during Sunday's race.
Larson, who won at Richmond in April, finished 19th.
"I think he was having a frustrating day," Hamlin said. "It's all good."
SCORCHER
With temperatures in the mid-80s, it was about 15 degrees cooler than Saturday, when the temperature approached 100 and the heat index was at least 105.
Nevertheless, points leader Martin Truex Jr. still struggled.
"It was definitely really, really hot," he said. "It felt longer than 400 laps. I’ll be honest, when we got to the end of stage two —– I thought there was no way. I thought that was the checkered flag. It just felt really, really long."
Truex finished seventh.
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CLEAN RACE
All 36 cars that started the race were still running at the end.
UP NEXT
The series moves to Michigan where Kevin Harvick, winless so far in this his final season, is the defending champion. | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chris-buescher-secures-nascar-playoff-spot-richmond-win | 2023-07-31T01:41:42 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/chris-buescher-secures-nascar-playoff-spot-richmond-win |
Dangerous fungus becoming more prevalent. Scientists say climate change could be to blame
Seattle — In 2016, hospitals in New York state identified a rare and dangerous fungal infection never before found in the United States. Research laboratories quickly mobilized to review historical specimens and found the fungus had been present in the country since at least 2013.
In the years since, New York City has emerged as ground zero for Candida auris infections. And until 2021, the state recorded the most confirmed cases in the country year after year, even as the illness has spread to other places, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data analyzed by The Associated Press.
Candida auris is a globally emerging public health threat that can cause severe illness, including bloodstream, wound and respiratory infections. Its mortality rate has been estimated at 30% to 60%, and it's a particular risk in healthcare settings for people already with serious medical problems.
Last year, the most cases were found in Nevada and California, but the fungus was identified clinically in patients in 29 states. New York state remains a major hotspot.
A prominent theory for the sudden explosion of Candida auris, which was not found in humans anywhere until 2009, is climate change.
- EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is part of a collaboration between The Associated Press and Grist exploring the intersection of climate change and infectious diseases.
Humans and other mammals have warmer body temperatures than most fungal pathogens can tolerate, so have historically been protected from most infections. However, rising temperatures can allow fungi to develop tolerance to warmer environments, and over time humans may lose resistance. Some researchers think this is what is already happening with Candida auris.
The pathogen emerged spontaneously 14 years ago on three continents, in Venezuela, India, and South Africa. Fungal disease expert Arturo Casadevall, a microbiologist, immunologist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, said this was puzzling, because the climates in these places are quite different.
"We have tremendous protection against environmental fungi because of our temperature. However, if the world is getting warmer and the fungi begin to adapt to higher temperatures as well, some ... are going to reach what I call the temperature barrier," Casadevall said, referring to the way mammals' warm body temperatures historically protected them.
When Candida auris was first spreading, said Meghan Marie Lyman, a CDC medical epidemiologist for the mycotic diseases branch, the cases were linked to people who had traveled to the U.S. from other places. Now, most cases are acquired locally — generally spreading among patients in healthcare settings.
In the U.S., there were 2,377 confirmed clinical cases diagnosed last year — an increase of over 1,200% since 2017. But Candida auris is becoming a global problem. In Europe, a survey last year found case numbers nearly doubled from 2020 to 2021.
"The number of cases has increased, but also the geographic distribution has increased," Lyman said. She noted that while screenings and surveillance have improved, the skyrocketing case numbers do reflect a true increase.
In March, a CDC press release noted the seriousness of the problem, citing the pathogen's resistance to traditional antifungal treatments and the alarming rate of its spread. Public health agencies are focused primarily on strategies to urgently mitigate transmission in healthcare settings.
"It's kind of an active fire they're trying to put out," Lyman said.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, a professor of infectious diseases at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, thinks Candida auris is "kind of our nightmare scenario."
"It's a potentially multi-drug resistant pathogen with the ability to spread very efficiently in healthcare settings," he said. "We've never had a pathogen like this in the fungal infection area."
It is nearly always resistant to the most common class of antifungal medication, and is sometimes also resistant to another medication primarily used for severe catheter fungal infections in hospitals.
"I've encountered cases where I'm sitting down with the family and telling them we have nothing that works for this infection your loved one has," Ostrosky said.
Ostrotsky has treated about 10 patients with the fungal infection but has consulted on many more. He said he has seen it spread through an entire ICU in two weeks.
Researchers, academics, and public health groups are discussing and investigating theories that explain the emergence of Candida auris. Ostrosky said that climate change is the most widely accepted one.
The CDC's Lyman said it's possible the fungus was always among the microorganisms that live in the human body, but because it wasn't causing infection, no one investigated until it recently started causing health problems. She also said there are reports of the fungus in the natural environment — including soil and wetlands — but environmental sampling has been limited, and it's unclear whether those discoveries are downstream effects from humans.
"There are also a lot of questions about there being increased contact with humans and intrusion of humans into nature, and there have been a lot of changes in the environment, and the use of fungi in agriculture," she said. "These things may have allowed Candida auris to escape into a new environment or broaden its niche."
Wherever and however it originated, the fungus poses a significant threat to human health, researchers say. Immunocompromised patients in hospitals are most at risk, but so are people in long-term care centers and nursing homes, which generally have less access to diagnostics and infection control experts.
Candida auris is not only challenging to treat, but also difficult to diagnose. It is quite rare and many clinicians are not aware it exists.
Common symptoms of infection include sepsis, fever, and low blood pressure, which all can have many causes. The fungus is diagnosed with a blood test. Blood is placed in a nutrient-rich medium to allow any infectious organism to grow and become more detectable.
But Ostrosky notes this misses about half the cases. "Our gold standard is a little bit better than flipping a coin," he said, adding there is a newer technology that improves bloodstream detection but it's expensive and not widely available in hospitals.
Beyond the increase in cases, popular culture has helped increase awareness of fungal infections. A popular HBO series, "The Last of Us," is a drama about the survivors of a fungal outbreak. A fungal infection that can transform humans into zombies is a work of fiction, but addressing climate change, which is altering the kinds of diseases seriously threatening human health, is a real world challenge.
"I think the way to think about how global warming is putting selection pressure on microbes is to think about how many more really hot days we are experiencing," said Casadevall of Johns Hopkins. "Each day at (100 degrees Fahrenheit, or 37.7 degrees Celsius) provides a selection event for all microbes affected — and the more days when high temperatures are experienced, the greater probability that some will adapt and survive."
"We've been flying under the radar for decades in mycology because fungal infections didn't used to be frequently seen," said Ostrosky of UTHealth Houston.
____
Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP's climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/wellness/2023/07/30/dangerous-fungus-candida-auris-linked-climate-change-becoming-more-prevalent/70495896007/ | 2023-07-31T01:41:43 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/wellness/2023/07/30/dangerous-fungus-candida-auris-linked-climate-change-becoming-more-prevalent/70495896007/ |
Max Verstappen takes home victory at rainy Belgian Grand Prix
Verstappen has nine straight wins and has a comfortable lead in the points standings
Defending Formula One champion Max Verstappen enters the mid-season break in unstoppable form, after emphatically winning the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday for an eighth straight win and 10th overall of a crushingly dominant season.
Despite starting from sixth place he finished 22.3 seconds ahead of teammate Sergio Perez to give Red Bull an easy 1-2. It moved Verstappen ominously closer to a third straight world title and his own F1 record of 15 wins from last year.
Verstappen is 125 points ahead of Perez after just 12 races, and his next target is matching Sebastian Vettel’s F1 record of nine straight wins with a victory at the Dutch GP when the lopsided season resumes on Aug. 27.
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"I just want to have a nice time now, have a bit of time with family and friends," Verstappen said.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished in third spot for a third podium of the season, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth for Mercedes ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso.
George Russell was sixth for Mercedes, with Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) completing the top 10.
Leclerc started on pole ahead of Perez, with Hamilton and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. behind them. McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri was on the next row alongside Verstappen — who was fastest in Friday's qualifying but took a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and had to avoid early traffic.
"It was just about surviving turn one. I could see it was all getting really tight," Verstappen said. "I’ve been in that position before myself so I am just going to stay out of that and it worked out. From there onwards I made the right overtakes."
Last year Verstappen won from 14th, and once he overtook Perez on Lap 17 of 44 his 45th career win was seemingly inevitable.
"Really enjoyable to drive once I got in the lead," Verstappen said. "It was again a great race."
Red Bull extended its record to 13 straight wins, including the final race of last season.
Hamilton came in on the penultimate lap for a tire change and the move paid off as he took the bonus point for fastest lap from Verstappen — a very minor blip for the dominant Dutchman.
It was yet another stellar weekend for Verstappen, who also won Saturday’s sprint race. The only issue was some more bickering with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase over radio, as they continued their spat from Friday’s qualifying.
"Don’t forget Max, use your head, please," Lambiase told Verstappen when he questioned why Perez was making his first tire change on Lap 14.
Verstappen defused any talk of tension with Lambiase.
"It’s fine. We know each other very well and we have a very good relationship," he said. "I think it’s really important."
With some rain forecast, Verstappen boxed on the next lap and came out about 2 seconds behind Perez. Just minutes later he cruised past Perez and, as so often this season, the rest was just about control.
Perez, meanwhile, pledged to stay on the podium for the rest of the season.
"It’s been a bit of a rough patch," the 33-year-old Mexican said. "I really need this summer break, it’s been really intense. I’ll come back really strong for Zandvoort."
Conditions were dry for the race start, in stark contrast to the two previous days, which were impacted by heavy rain at the 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Leclerc, who won his first F1 race here in 2019, made a solid start but Perez’s extra pace soon put him in front.
"I knew it was quite crucial for my race to get Charles on Lap 1," Perez said.
Verstappen rose two places to fourth after Sainz bumped into Piastri on the first corner.
Piastri had to retire, while Verstappen overtook Hamilton on Lap 6, Leclerc three laps later and made short work of Perez just before some rain fell briefly.
Some good overtaking from Ocon moved the Frenchman up from 10th to eighth in the closing stages.
It was an early end for Piastri, who had impressed with a second place in Saturday’s sprint race.
A bad day for Sainz saw him retiring on Lap 25 and Leclerc moving above him in the standings.
"Of course the race was good on my side, a shame for Carlos as we had good pace," Leclerc said. "When you look at the Red Bulls we still have a lot of work to do ... This was the best we could achieve today, no doubt."
After the F1 break there will be 10 races left, but most of the competition for places will be behind Verstappen.
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Alonso is one point ahead of Hamilton in third overall, with Leclerc and Russell level and Sainz seven points behind them. | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/max-verstappen-takes-home-victory-rainy-belgian-grand-prix | 2023-07-31T01:41:48 | 0 | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/max-verstappen-takes-home-victory-rainy-belgian-grand-prix |
Michigan Science Center revamps hands-on learning space for youngest visitors
The Michigan Science Center has revamped its offerings for children under 5.
A refreshed Early Child Learning Space and enhanced programming, including new weekly STEM story times, were unveiled at the center July 17.
Andy Zulkiewski, director of guest experience, said the science center is always looking to expand and improve the younger audience's experience.
"In the last couple of years, we wanted to add more to it to really engage with the younger audiences to make sure that they were learning a lot and the space is a comfortable learning environment for them," said Zulkiewski.
Zulkiewski said the expansion and new activities are geared toward motor skills and science education.
"We have a big Lite Brite, which is really cool for the kids; we have new building materials; and we are also hosting regular programs throughout the week and month that they will be able to do," said Zulkiewski.
The Early Child Learning Space also offers STEM Story Time and hosts Mi-Sci's Young Explorer program.
STEM Story Time features a weekly rotating book about science geared toward young children that takes place at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
The Young Explorers program is a weekly series of themed classes designed for children ages 2-5 hosted on alternating Wednesdays and Sundays.
Improvements to the Early Child Learning Space were funded in part by a gift from an anonymous donor to expand the space and improve its layout.
"We want to inspire exploration, discovery and a love of science for guests of all ages, including our youngest learners," said Mi-Sci President and CEO Christian Greer in a statement. "Our new early learning space puts preschool-aged children at the center of science using engaging activities that stimulate young minds and introduce basic STEM concepts at age-appropriate levels."
Access to the Early Child Learning Space is included with general admission to Mi-Sci. Mi-Sci is located at 5020 John R. Street in Midtown, Detroit and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday and until 8 p.m. the first Friday of every month. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/07/30/michigan-science-center-expands-space-programs-toddlers-prek-stem-story-hour/70420844007/ | 2023-07-31T01:41:49 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/detroit-city/2023/07/30/michigan-science-center-expands-space-programs-toddlers-prek-stem-story-hour/70420844007/ |
Pat McAfee's Larry Nassar joke about Michigan State football leads to backlash
McAfee joined ESPN in May
Pat McAfee, ESPN’s newest broadcaster, came under fire Sunday after he referenced disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar in a joke about Michigan State football’s uniforms.
McAfee was responding to one of his producers commenting on the Spartans’ very green uniforms with "STATE" emblazoned across the chest. The former Indianapolis Colts punter, who has built a major brand hosting his own radio show, reacted with an apparent joke in reference to Nassar.
"I think Nassar was in on the design team actually," McAfee tweeted.
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When one person responded with a GIF that contained a screencap that read, "I think you’d better delete that one," McAfee responded with a GIF of his own.
"For what? For what?" McAfee’s GIF read.
Still, McAfee came under fire on social media.
ESPN declined to comment. The company announced in May that McAfee was moving his show to the company.
ESPN gave the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to the survivors of Nassar's assaults.
Nassar is serving decades in prison for sexually assaulting gymnasts, including Olympic medalists. He admitted sexually assaulting athletes when he worked at Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics.
He also pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography.
During victim impact statements in 2019, several athletes testified that over the course of Nassar’s more than two decades of sexual abuse, they had told coaches and trainers and other adults what was occurring, but it went unreported.
AARON RODGERS TORCHES SEAN PAYTON OVER NATHANIEL HACKETT REMARKS, GIVES STERN WARNING
Nassar is likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.
More than 150 victims spoke or submitted statements during the seven-day hearing, including Simone Biles. The women sought more than $1 billion from the federal government over the FBI’s failure to stop Nassar when agents became aware of the allegations against him in 2015.
A final appeal from Nassar was rejected by the Michigan Supreme Court last month. Attorneys for Nassar said he was treated unfairly in 2018 and deserved a new hearing based on the judge calling him a "monster," among other remarks.
"I just signed your death warrant," Ingham County Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said of Nassar’s 40-year sentence.
While the Michigan Supreme Court said it had concerns over the judge’s conduct, officials noted Aquilina stuck to the sentencing agreement worked out by the lawyers on the case.
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"We decline to expend additional judicial resources and further subject the victims in this case to additional trauma where the questions at hand present nothing more than an academic exercise," the court said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pat-mcafees-larry-nassar-joke-michigan-state-football-leads-backlash | 2023-07-31T01:41:54 | 1 | https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pat-mcafees-larry-nassar-joke-michigan-state-football-leads-backlash |
Michigan lottery numbers for Sunday, July 30
The Detroit News
These numbers were drawn Sunday:
Midday: 831, 9178
Evening: 353, 1171
Fantasy 5: 2, 6, 11, 12, 21
Double Play: 3, 20, 29, 35, 39
Monday jackpot: $308K
Poker Lotto: 2♦, 7♣, 7♥, K♦, 10♠
Keno: 1, 6, 7, 8, 12, 25, 30, 33, 40, 43, 48, 50, 62, 66, 68, 70, 71, 73, 74, 76, 78, 80 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/lottery/2023/07/30/michigan-lottery-numbers-for-sunday-july-30/70495721007/ | 2023-07-31T01:41:55 | 1 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/lottery/2023/07/30/michigan-lottery-numbers-for-sunday-july-30/70495721007/ |
LAS VEGAS -- Audience members at concerts in recent months have continued a pattern of throwing objects at artists who are on stage performing, and rapper Cardi B has had enough.
On Saturday, the rapper was on stage at Drai's Beach Club in Las Vegas when an audience member appeared to throw a drink at her, as seen in video footage posted to social media.
In the clip, Cardi B is seen getting splashed with liquid from the cup while performing her 2018 hit "Bodak Yellow." Clearly upset, she reacted immediately by throwing her microphone into the crowd as security guards rushed to the stage.
More security guards are then seen flocking to the person in the crowd as she watched from the stage before continuing on with her set.
In another video posted to TikTok on Saturday, Cardi B is seen throwing her microphone at a DJ who appeared to cut off her song early during a performance at Drai's Nightclub on Friday.
CNN has reached out to a representative for Cardi B for comment.
The incident in Las Vegas on Saturday is just the latest in a slew of similar scenes at concerts where artists - including Drake, Kelsea Ballerini, Harry Styles and Bebe Rexha - have become the target of objects thrown at them while on stage, with some artists suffering injuries as a result.
Harry Styles hit on stage in face
Only recently have performers, including R&B singer Monica and country star Miranda Lambert, gotten involved when they see behavior they do not approve of.
Last week, Monica jumped off the stage after witnessing someone allegedly assault a female audience member in the crowd at her Detroit show.
She was praised for her interference when footage of the altercation went viral on social media, and she later told CNN's Abby Phillip she feels concerts have become "a dangerous space and place."
"I just really want that to change," she added. | https://6abc.com/cardi-b-throws-mic-las-vegas-fan-drink-on-stage/13574980/ | 2023-07-31T01:42:16 | 1 | https://6abc.com/cardi-b-throws-mic-las-vegas-fan-drink-on-stage/13574980/ |
Sunday's golf: Céline Boutier wins first LPGA major, Lee Hodges wins first PGA Tour title
Evian-Les-Bains, France — Céline Boutier became the third woman from France to win a major championship when she closed with a 3-under 68 for a six-shot victory in the Evian Championship.
The outcome was never really in doubt as Boutier began the final round with a three-shot lead and opened with two birdies. Brooke Henderson of Canada had a 70 to finish second.
Boutier is the first Frenchwoman to win the Amundi Evian Championship, which was designated an LPGA major in 2013. She finished at 14-under 270.
The other two French women to win LPGA majors were Patricia Meunier-Lebouc in the 2004 Kraft Nabisco Championship and Catherine Lacoste, who won the 1967 U.S. Women's Open as an amateur.
Nasa Hataoka of Japan, who started the final round in second place, could only manage a 70 and tied for third with former U.S. Women's Open champion Yuka Saso (70), Celine Borge (68) Gaby Lopez (68) and A Lim Kim (69).
Rose Zhang closed with a 68 and tied for ninth, her third top 10 in a major since she turned pro in June.
PGA Tour
Lee Hodges shot 4-under 67 in the final round for a wire-to-wire victory Sunday in the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota, and his first PGA Tour victory, setting tournament records with a 260 and a seven-shot win.
The victory gets Hodges into the Masters next year and moved him to No. 33 in the FedEx Cup with one tournament left before the postseason.
Hodges, who led by five at the start of the round, led by three over J.T. Poston going to the par-5 18th. Poston took a risky shot trying to make eagle and went into the water, leading to triple bogey and a 69. He went from second place alone to a three-way for second, costing him $260,000 and 92 points in the FedEx Cup.
Martin Laird and Kevin Streelman also tied for second.
Tony Finau, the defending champion and highest-ranked player at 10th in the FedEx Cup standings participating in this field, shot a 70 to land in a three-way tie for seventh.
PGA Tour Champions
Alex Cejka defeated Padraig Harrington with a birdie on the second playoff hole Sunday to win the Senior British Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
Cejka, who closed with 5-over 76, birdied the second extra hole to claim his third senior major title after he and Harrington (75) tied at 5-over 289 in miserable wet and windy conditions.
Harrington, who also finished runner-up to Darren Clarke last year, narrowly missed an eagle putt on the first extra hole at No. 18. Returning to the 18th, the Irishman duffed a chip from the back of the green and had to settle for a par.
Cejka began the final round with a double bogey on the first and dropped another shot on the fourth, but battled back to hold a two-shot lead with two holes to play. But he bogeyed the 17th hole, and Harrington caught him with a birdie on the par-5 18th.
Vijay Singh shot 77 and finished two shots out of the playoff. Conditions were so difficult that Y.E. Yang and Rob Labritz were the only players to match par. | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/golf/2023/07/30/sundays-golf-cline-boutier-wins-first-lpga-major/70495496007/ | 2023-07-31T01:42:19 | 0 | https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/golf/2023/07/30/sundays-golf-cline-boutier-wins-first-lpga-major/70495496007/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:42:48 | 1 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:42:54 | 0 | https://www.wlbt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
PITTSBURGH — Endy Rodriguez hit a go-ahead, bases-loaded triple and drove in four runs, fellow rookie Liover Peguero had a home run among his three hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Phillies 7-6 on Saturday night.
Rodriguez’s triple sparked a four-run fifth inning against Aaron Nola (9-7) that put the Pirates in front 7-4. Phillies center fielder Brandon Marsh was unable to make a play on the sinking liner and Rodriguez then scored on Alika Williams’ single, which was his first career hit.
Peguero hit a leadoff home run in the third, his second, to open the scoring.
Yet another rookie, Quinn Priester (2-1), won his second straight start despite allowing five runs and six walks in five innings.
Closer David Bednar entered the game in the eighth inning with the Pirates leading 7-5 and gave up a run-scoring single to rookie Johan Rojas. However, he got J.T. Realmuto to hit into a game-ending double play with runners on first and third for his 21st save.
Bryson Stott had three hits as the Phillies lost for just the second time in six games. They entered the night leading the NL wild-card standings by percentage points over Cincinnati.
Nola was tagged for seven runs — five earned — and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He had won four of his previous five decisions.
The Phillies scored four runs in the fourth inning to move in front 4-1. Marsh ripped a three-run double to the gap in right-center and scored on Jake Cave’s double.
The Pirates got within a run in the bottom of the fourth as Rodriguez hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Peguero. Pittsburgh went ahead an inning later.
Kyle Schwarber drew a bases-loaded walk from Ryan Borucki in the sixth to draw the Phillies to 7-5.
Jack Suwinski, on his 25th birthday, had two hits along with Rodriguez and Ji-Man Choi for the Pirates, who have alternated wins and losses in their last nine games.
The Pirates had their first sellout since opening day with a crowd of 38,434.
PHILLIES WAIVE NAVY VET
The Phillies designated Navy veteran Noah Song for assignment before the game.
The 26-year-old right-handed pitcher was taken by the Phillies from Boston in the Rule 5 draft during the league’s winter meetings in December with hopes he would play after completing his military service.
If Song clears waivers, Boston will have the option of taking him back to its organization.
Song reported to major league spring training on Feb. 23 after the Navy granted his transfer from active duty to the reserves. Song hadn’t pitched in a professional game since Aug. 29, 2019, for Class A Lowell.
Song went 1-0 with a 7.36 ERA in eight games in stints with three of Philadelphia’s minor league teams while on the major league injured list with a lower-back strain. Song’s 30-day rehab assignment ended this week, forcing the Phillies to decide whether to add him to the active roster or expose him to waivers and offer him back to the Red Sox if he is not claimed.
TURNER DROPPED IN ORDER
Slumping Phillies shortstop Trea Turner was dropped to seventh in the batting order from his customary No. 2 spot. Turner entered the game in a 0-for-12 slump and is hitting .242 in his first season since signing an 11-year, $300-million contract as a free agent.
“I think he’s disappointed but not because he’s batting seventh but because he expects to produce more than he’s producing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “He’s trying to do too much.”
Turner went 1 for 3 with a walk.
Thomson said he hopes Turner hitting near the bottom of the lineup will be only temporary.
“When he gets his stroke back and looks comfortable, I’ll put him back up there,” Thomson said. “I’ve said all along that I think our best lineup is with Trea hitting second.”
UP NEXT
Phillies LHP Cristopher Sanchez (0-3, 2.98 ERA) starts in Sunday’s series finale against LHP Rich Hill (7-10, 4.82), who could be making his last start for the Pirates with baseball’s trade deadline approaching Tuesday. | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/29/brandon-marsh-misplay-helps-pirates-beat-aaron-nola-and-phillies/ | 2023-07-31T01:44:55 | 0 | https://www.mcall.com/2023/07/29/brandon-marsh-misplay-helps-pirates-beat-aaron-nola-and-phillies/ |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T01:46:27 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T01:46:33 | 0 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:46:39 | 1 | https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T01:46:57 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:47:03 | 1 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers added size and depth to its offensive line Sunday night as former Northwestern offensive lineman Dylan Senda announced his commitment to the Tigers.
Senda, who stretches 6-foot-4 and weighs 305 pounds, announced his intentions to transfer away from Northwestern on Twitter Thursday.
“Coming out of high school, I was fortunate to have a lot of scholarship opportunities at amazing universities,” Senda wrote on Twitter. “The #1 reason why I came to Northwestern over the other colleges was because of the relationship I had with Coach (Pat) Fitzgerald. He is a great man, leader, mentor, and football coach.”
Fitzgerald was fired from Northwestern on July 10 after a hazing investigation.
Before enrolling at Northwestern, Senda was rated a 3-star offensive lineman and the No. 12-ranked prospect out of Michigan in 247Sports’ class of 2023 rankings. Senda garnered offers from the likes of Michigan, Miami, Kentucky, Missouri and Cincinnati before committing to the Wildcats.
Senda comes to The Plains as a true freshman, giving Freeze and the Tigers an interior offensive lineman with plenty of eligibility.
With Senda’s commitment, Auburn will have 10 new offensive linemen on its roster, of which five came from out of the transfer portal. | https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2023/07/former-northwestern-offensive-lineman-announces-commitment-to-auburn.html | 2023-07-31T01:47:09 | 1 | https://www.al.com/auburnfootball/2023/07/former-northwestern-offensive-lineman-announces-commitment-to-auburn.html |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:47:10 | 0 | https://www.kait8.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
If you don’t agree that Americans are deeply divided on pretty much everything, I offer you Exhibit A: the wildly popular movie “Barbie.” Kids love it, grownup girls love it, the movie industry loves it and, if they saw it, I think most grownup guys would enjoy it, too.
But not everyone loves it, even though it’s witty, clever, comedic, satirical and full of jokes aimed at all levels of the audience. And when, at the end, “Barbie” makes its point -- that men and women alike need to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world, while respecting one another and taking no one and nothing for granted -- then, as the screen goes dark and the lights come on, some viewers realize they’ve seen more than just a silly movie-in-pink. Much more.
Unless, of course, they’re knotheads who went to see “Barbie” to confirm what they’ve heard from their fellow knotheads: that it is a subversive propaganda piece that aims to turn girls into man-haters.
If you’re thinking of going to see “Barbie,” here’s a quick point-counterpoint:
Everything in Barbie Land is happy, pink and fake.
Well, duh. All Barbie fans know Barbie’s favorite color is pink and that she’s always happy, and that everything from the dolls to the clothes to the houses to the furniture is fake. No surprises there.
The plot twist comes when Barbie visits The Real World, where there is a lot of pink and plastic but also a lot of unhappiness. Ken tags along, and they both experience awakenings that little kids won’t get and grownups will totally understand.
It’s a feminist manifesto.
Yes and no. A female character who helps Barbie transition from Barbie Land to The Real World does have a powerful soliloquy toward the end of the movie, in which she describes women’s struggles to achieve parity in a complicated and patriarchal society. But the scene is very much in context with where Barbie finds herself.
Ken has no personality.
True. He has no personality as a doll, and only a little personality in the movie. Barbie is the star of “Barbie” and the focus of little girls everywhere when they crowd into a friend’s bedroom to “play Barbies.” Other than changing Ken’s outfit occasionally, little girls have zero interest in him.
It’s anti-male.
No. It’s satirical and sarcastic as it pokes fun at male and female stereotypes. And it does point out that while women may rule Barbie Land, the fact is that in The Real World they lag behind men in terms of power, money and influence. But that’s not anti-male; it’s the truth.
It’s ridiculous.
No. It’s make-believe.
Barbie, her movie and her movie’s message are woke.
(Insert heavy sigh.) You tell me. What does woke really mean, anyway? I like Merriam-Webster’s explanation that it denotes people who are informed, educated and conscious of social injustices. You may prefer others’ definitions, including that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who says “wokeness” is “a form of cultural Marxism.”
Whatever. Burn your daughters’ dolls and boycott Mattel and Hollywood if you want to, but I’m telling you, neither Barbie nor “Barbie” is woke.
The humor is juvenile, and so is the plot.
Guilty as charged. “Barbie” -- the movie, the doll, the everything -- is juvenile. (Not to mention -- again -- make-believe.) Repeat after me: Barbie is a toy. An 11.5-inch doll. Her life is a fantasy aimed at little girls and preteens, whose sense of humor and view of the world are also juvenile.
The ending is ambiguous.
You’ve got me on this one. Some reviewers see deep meanings in the final scene, in which Barbie shows up for an appointment with her gynecologist. A writer for Elle magazine said, “What matters is that she now carries the hallmarks of human womanhood, and she must learn how to live with them.”
That’s deep. I didn’t say anything when the scene popped up, because I was laughing at my realization that, “Oh, that’s right -- Barbie has genitals now instead of that weird flat space between her legs.”
“Barbie” is rated PG-13. Who would take a little girl to see a PG-13 movie?
Me. I took our 5-year-old granddaughter to see it, because as owner of a bazillion Barbies, she wanted to see it. And because I read several descriptions and decided (and pitched to her parents) that it didn’t deserve its PG-13 rating and that children in the audience wouldn’t get the double entendres sprinkled here and there.
Besides, I really, really wanted to see it.
But maybe what you’re actually asking is: How could a caring and responsible grandmother take a little girl to see a wicked movie like “Barbie”?
And my answer to that is: Because I’m not a knothead, and neither is my granddaughter.
Frances Coleman is a former editorial page editor of the Mobile Press-Register. Email her at fcoleman1953@gmail.com and “like” her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prfrances. | https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/07/see-the-movie-but-keep-in-mind-that-barbie-is-imaginary.html | 2023-07-31T01:47:15 | 0 | https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/07/see-the-movie-but-keep-in-mind-that-barbie-is-imaginary.html |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://www.koin.com/news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:15 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.koin.com/news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:21 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://www.wane.com/news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:24 | 0 | https://www.wane.com/news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.koin.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:27 | 0 | https://www.koin.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.wane.com/news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:30 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The Babich family have done it once again. After an impressive showing at the state fair last year, Keenai and Ayla took home first and second for their flowers.
11-year-old Ayla bagged the State Title with her 20 feet, 10 inch flower and her brother, Keenai coming in second place with his flower measuring at 20 feet.
Last year, 7-year-old Keenai’s flower was officially measured at 19 feet, six inches, and took First Place and Best in Show. His sister, 11-year-old Ayla, finished second with a sunflower that stood 17 feet, six inches tall. The third-place sunflower was a distant 12 feet, nine inches. | https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fw-family-beat-their-own-record-at-state-fair-for-tallest-sunflower/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:36 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/local-news/fw-family-beat-their-own-record-at-state-fair-for-tallest-sunflower/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.wane.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:42 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
A tornado was confirmed from the thunderstorms that moved through early Saturday morning. According to the National Weather Service of Northern Indiana, a tornado touched down north of Hicksville in Defiance County.
The tornado was rated an EF-1 with peak winds of 90 mph. This tornado was on the ground for only a minute, but traveled 0.72 miles. The tornado was as wide as 100 yards at one point.
This tornado touched down north of Buckskin Road and west of Casebeer Road. It made its way north and east, causing damage to multiple barns, and a home. Luckily, no injuries or deaths were reported. | https://www.wane.com/news/tornado-confirmed-in-defiance-county-after-saturday-morning-storms/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:48 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/news/tornado-confirmed-in-defiance-county-after-saturday-morning-storms/ |
OSSIAN, Ind. (WANE) – EJ Tackett likes to joke that he had a bowling ball in his hands since the moment he could walk.
More than a decade into his pro bowling career, Tackett is enjoying his best year on the PBA Tour. Back in February, Tackett took home his first U.S. Open title by defeating Kyle Troup in the championship match. Tackett joined rare company by becoming the ninth person to clinch a career triple crown on the PBA Tour.
“To come down to the 10th frame, and to be able to get it done, it was just incredible,” Tackett recalled.
While Tackett is in exclusive company among triple crown winners, he isn’t the first Hoosier to earn the honor. That distinction belongs to Indianapolis native Mike Aulby, who is one of three “Grand Slam” champions.
“To be mentioned in the same conversation as (Aulby) is very humbling,” said Tackett.
Tackett’s U.S. Open performance set the tone for a dominating season. The Huntington native has won five events on the PBA Tour, a career-high.
- February – U.S. Open
- February – Shawnee Classic
- March – Jackson Classic
- April – Cheetah Championship
- April – PBA World Championship
Tackett capped off his hot streak in April at the PBA World Championship. Against “Grand Slam” champion Jason Belmonte, Tackett won his fourth major by rolling a double in his final two swings.
“It’s fun to look back on it and think about those moments, and what they mean to me and my career,” Tackett said. “I don’t even know if there’s words to accurately describe them.”
The spotlight continues to shine brighter on Tackett, but he never forgets his roots in northeast Indiana. Tackett currently lives in Ossian, close to his parents who own a bowling alley in Bluffton.
“I don’t want to change,” Tackett said. “I hope I can continue to be the same person and grow and be better always. I always come back to those small town roots.”
With the 2023 PBA Tour winding down, Tackett looks forward to spending some time back home this winter. Tackett and his wife are expecting their first child, who’s due in early December.
In the meantime, Tackett will keep knocking down pin after pin as he competes for more titles. The triple crown champion is tied for 13th all-time in PBA Tour wins with 21, with hopes of more hardware coming his way in the years to come. | https://www.wane.com/sports/local-sports/king-of-the-lanes-ej-tackett-enjoying-best-year-on-the-pba-tour/ | 2023-07-31T01:49:54 | 1 | https://www.wane.com/sports/local-sports/king-of-the-lanes-ej-tackett-enjoying-best-year-on-the-pba-tour/ |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live Glow Party came to Wichita for the first time ever on Saturday and Sunday.
Fans were able to experience their favorite Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, including Mega Wrex, Tiger Shark, Boneshaker, Bigfoot and more, in the dark.
One local mom took her son for a new monster truck experience.
“He’s a big monster truck fan, so he’s been wanting to,” said Johana Esparza. “We’ve never been to a Hot Wheels show, so it was a different experience for him.”
Fans were also able to join in on a dazzling dance party, see a laser light show and participate in Hot Wheels toy giveaways. | https://www.ksn.com/news/hot-wheels-monster-trucks-live-glow-party-comes-to-wichita/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:13 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/hot-wheels-monster-trucks-live-glow-party-comes-to-wichita/ |
Tim Parlatore, who was a part of the legal team hired by former President Donald Trump, warns that special counsel Jack Smith's decision to submit new charges in a superseding indictment will push the trial closer to or past the 2024 election.
Taveras also met with investigators following the initial indictment in the classified documents case overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, sources said.
While it is unclear whether Taveras is cooperating with prosecutors, some of the new allegations against Trump that were included in a superseding indictment filed last week were based, at least in part, on information he provided during that interview, CNN has learned.
A lawyer for Taveras previously declined to comment to CNN.
The updated indictment, which adds major accusations against Trump and a new co-defendant to the case, refers to Taveras as “Trump Employee 4,” CNN previously reported.
Unlike Trump’s longtime valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager and new co-defendant Carlos De Oliveira, Taveras is not currently facing charges in the classified documents case despite having been informed he is a target in the probe.
But he is at the center of the new accusations added to the indictment, including an exchange he had with De Oliveira on June 27, 2022. In that conversation, De Oliveira asked to have a private discussion in an “audio closet” with Taveras, including questioning how long the footage from the security tapes lasted and whether it could be deleted.
When Taveras said “he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that,” De Oliveira said “the boss” wanted it deleted, according to the indictment.
Smith’s team had previously heard testimony about odd conversations between Taveras, Nauta and De Oliveira regarding surveillance footage. The grand jury in Washington, before the case was fully relocated to southern Florida, had also heard testimony specifically regarding De Oliveira’s unusual behavior toward the footage, three people told CNN.
Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.
After receiving the target letter, Taveras changed lawyers because his attorney, Stan Woodward, also represented Nauta, which presented a conflict, sources said.
This story has been updated with additional information. | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/mar-a-lago-employee-overseeing-surveillance-cameras-previously-received-target-letter-in-trump-classified-documents/article_17ba1907-033b-5bb0-b669-e72bf6791b8e.html | 2023-07-31T01:50:13 | 1 | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/mar-a-lago-employee-overseeing-surveillance-cameras-previously-received-target-letter-in-trump-classified-documents/article_17ba1907-033b-5bb0-b669-e72bf6791b8e.html |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Brides to be attended the Wichita Bridal Expo Saturday and Sunday.
The event drew in people from all over the state.
There were over 100 wedding professionals there, from photographers to DJs and more.
While people got a chance to shop for everything for a wedding, some say they have been looking for bargains to try and save on their big day.
“Yeah, I feel like everyone is kind of worried about a budget. It kind of depends where you are at in your life, things like that, but definitely right now things are a little more pricier than they were, you kind of got to take that into account,” said Wyatt Redburn.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of DIYs for sure,” said Chloe Schumacher.
Another couple told KSN that they are saving at least $200-300 per paycheck to pay as they go.
The next Wichita Bridal Expo will be on January 13 and 14, 2024 at Century II Convention Center. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/brides-to-be-attend-wichita-bridal-expo/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:19 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/brides-to-be-attend-wichita-bridal-expo/ |
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie reacts to additional charges brought on by the special counsel against former President Donald Trump in the case alleging mishandling of classified documents.
Taveras also met with investigators following the initial indictment in the classified documents case overseen by special counsel Jack Smith, sources said.
While it is unclear whether Taveras is cooperating with prosecutors, some of the new allegations against Trump that were included in a superseding indictment filed last week were based, at least in part, on information he provided during that interview, CNN has learned.
A lawyer for Taveras previously declined to comment to CNN.
The updated indictment, which adds major accusations against Trump and a new co-defendant to the case, refers to Taveras as “Trump Employee 4,” CNN previously reported.
Unlike Trump’s longtime valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager and new co-defendant Carlos De Oliveira, Taveras is not currently facing charges in the classified documents case despite having been informed he is a target in the probe.
But he is at the center of the new accusations added to the indictment, including an exchange he had with De Oliveira on June 27, 2022. In that conversation, De Oliveira asked to have a private discussion in an “audio closet” with Taveras, including questioning how long the footage from the security tapes lasted and whether it could be deleted.
When Taveras said “he would not know how to do that, and that he did not believe that he would have the rights to do that,” De Oliveira said “the boss” wanted it deleted, according to the indictment.
Smith’s team had previously heard testimony about odd conversations between Taveras, Nauta and De Oliveira regarding surveillance footage. The grand jury in Washington, before the case was fully relocated to southern Florida, had also heard testimony specifically regarding De Oliveira’s unusual behavior toward the footage, three people told CNN.
Trump and Nauta have pleaded not guilty.
After receiving the target letter, Taveras changed lawyers because his attorney, Stan Woodward, also represented Nauta, which presented a conflict, sources said.
This story has been updated with additional information. | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/mar-a-lago-employee-overseeing-surveillance-cameras-previously-received-target-letter-in-trump-classified-documents/article_38920f46-d347-51b1-a0d5-081616b03f86.html | 2023-07-31T01:50:19 | 1 | https://www.channel3000.com/news/national-and-world-news/mar-a-lago-employee-overseeing-surveillance-cameras-previously-received-target-letter-in-trump-classified-documents/article_38920f46-d347-51b1-a0d5-081616b03f86.html |
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Wichita Animal Action League hosted a pet CPR and first aid class. It was their second one.
Those who signed up were able to learn about common emergencies with pets, what to do with lacerations and checking their general health.
Attendees were also able to put what they learned to test on animal mannequins.
“You want to be able to react and help them out. You’re their number one resource in the event of an emergency or their first line of defense until you can get them to your veteran, so educating people on the best way to handle those situations can only benefit them and their pets,” said Hodes Veterinary Health Center Lead Nurse Morgan Darter.
A volunteer with the Wichita Animal Shelter recommends pet owners have a first aid kit ready if an emergency were to occur. | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/wichita-animal-action-league-hosts-pet-cpr-and-first-aid-class/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:25 | 1 | https://www.ksn.com/news/local/wichita-animal-action-league-hosts-pet-cpr-and-first-aid-class/ |
Paying it Forward: Ready Fire Aim
Three points this week: Stretch Goals, OODA or Ready Fire Aim, and unknowns. Let’s start with my apology if you missed last week’s column; it’s a teaching moment.
Stretch goals are just that, you push to do more than the goal. Why, because you can. Give a person a goal and most have been conditioned to exceed the goal; be it hours served, events, donations, fundraising. But you don’t always make stretch goals; last week I missed my article submission deadline. First in 26 weeks or so; statistically I’ll beat the deadline for a few weeks.
Ready Fire Aim, we’ve all fallen victim. OODA loop or Observe–Orient–Decide–Act loop was developed by USAF Col. John Boyd to provide a decision-making framework. My challenge this past week, Observe. Lost my coffee cup; didn’t look on the next higher shelf. Also had to relearn listening to 4- & 6-year-olds (grandsons). Insufficient observation leads to Ready Fire Aim.
Imagine understanding donor motivations, by reviewing logged observations based on responses to varying campaigns. If donors consistently sign up for contributions at your highest requested level, consider a higher tier. Swap themes if interest (or fundraising) drops; work on the “next great idea” to stay fresh and relevant with your community.
And our last consideration, unknowns, there are two kinds. The ones you can anticipate, eg. tornado, you plan for. Unknowns you don’t know you don’t know, like the COVID pandemic or an unanticipated asbestos issue with remodeling.
Let’s apply these three thoughts to our strategic planning process. First, I push the limits of my thinking through reflections and creative brainstorming. Exploring things you didn’t know you didn’t know can be illuminating when confronted with tough challenges. Have plans for both the known unknowns, as well as unknown unknowns -- at least save some resources. To understand volunteers' motivations, think 4Ts: Time, Talent, Treasure, Testimony. What can you offer that causes them to reengage and bring others. Finally, include Stretch Goals in your Long-Range Strategic Plan and you’ll be on the road to success in serving your mission.
Wichita Falls Area Food Bank needs all kinds of volunteers. One in six adults and one in four children are food insecure. In WFAFB’s service area, 37,530 food insecure people received 9.8 million meals last year.
Free Ukraine
Service Above Self,
Mr B MrB@NewCollarCoach.com | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/life/2023/07/30/paying-it-forward-ready-fire-aim/70470523007/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:27 | 0 | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/life/2023/07/30/paying-it-forward-ready-fire-aim/70470523007/ |
Fallen aviators memorialized on EAA grounds
OSHKOSH, Wis. (WBAY) - A Memorial Wall Ceremony on EAA grounds held a little more weight than usual as AirVenture organizers and attendees remembered the four aviators who lost their lives over the weekend.
“We remember their dreams and passions and are eager to pass on their legacy,” EAA CEO Jack Pelton told family and friends of 53 people having their names added to the wall Sunday.
Among those commemorated included a fighter pilot, professional wing walker, aviation photographer and EAA volunteers.
More than two-dozen of Robert Cox’s family members attended the dedication to honor his impact.
“He was an avid pilot. That was his passion and his love and when he passed away this is how he wanted to be remembered and honored,” Cox’s daughter, Julie Weir said.
His son, Bob Cox, is now chief dispatcher for Sun Country Airlines in Minneapolis and previously served as an air traffic controller in the Navy.
“My whole legacy of aviation, love for aviation is because of my dad being that ten year old little boy sitting in the back of the airplane when my dad was learning to fly,” Bob expressed. “I owe my career and my life to my dad for introducing me to aviation and introducing the love of aviation that I have.”
Mark Pfundheller’s family traced over his name on the wall to bring home.
“My dad didn’t want to fly until the age of 21 and then he woke up one day and said I think I’ll learn for fly now,” Mark’s son, Nick, said. “We bring our kids here and all the cousins get together. It’s just carrying on that legacy and having a spot to come and memorialize those who brought us here is wonderful.”
Action 2 News first alerted you two people passed away when a helicopter and gyrocopter crashed in the air near the Ultralight Runway at EAA AirVenture just before 12:30 Saturday.
The collision sent both aircraft to the ground and one landed on a parked plane. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office tells EAA two more people are hurt, but stable, right now.
CEO Pelton told Action 2 News this year’s ceremony is extra emotional:
“It’s always sad and our hearts go out to anybody that’s been affected. It’s beyond the individuals in the accident but their families and friends also... you can probably hear my voice cracking many times.”
The program included a ‘missing man’ formation flyover where one aircraft pulls away, symbolizing how they are missed by those remaining.
Pelton said the dedication is a chance for the aviation community to lean on one another after tragedy.
“It’s like a giant family so there’s great support for each other and people even on the periphery suffering from the whys and how did this happen? We all care about safety and that’s the important thing.”
If you’ve lost a loved one with a passion for flight, you can fill out an application to have their name added to the memorial wall. Submissions made after April 15, 2023 will be installed for AirVenture 2024.
EAA’s website said, “The Memorial Wall next to Fergus Chapel gives families a quiet place to remember those who have gone before us. Created by Paul Poberezny to serve as a place where family and friends could honor their loved ones in dignity, the first ceremony was held at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 1989.”
Copyright 2023 WBAY. All rights reserved. | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/31/fallen-aviators-memorialized-eaa-grounds/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:27 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/2023/07/31/fallen-aviators-memorialized-eaa-grounds/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.ksn.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:31 | 0 | https://www.ksn.com/news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
WFISD considers auctioning sports memorabilia
Rider High School, Wichita Falls High School and Hirschi High School each have storied athletic programs in their own right. Now, with those schools’ time and athletic departments coming to an end, WFISD has a unique task at hand: figuring out what to do with that history.
The school board discussed what to do with the memorabilia in its July 17 meeting, and is planning to catalog the various trophies, pictures, awards and mementos over the next couple months.
WFISD communication officer Ashley Thomas said taking inventory needs to be completed before a decision is made.
“Our next step is to walk through all three high schools and inventory the memorabilia that is currently there. We will then determine which items the district will keep and which items could potentially be auctioned,” Thomas said.
Discussions so far have centered on the possibility of auctioning off the historic items to the community.
Thomas said the district doesn’t want to see the history of the schools’ athletic programs forgotten.
“The last thing we want to do is throw away the history that exists in those buildings or box things up and store them away. If there are items that hold value to members of our community, we would like to give them an opportunity to own a piece of WFISD history,” Thomas said.
Some items may stay on site at the current high schools when, or in Old High’s case if, they are transitioned to middle schools.
“Additionally, we are waiting for a final decision on what will happen to the WFHS building. If the building remains a middle school, some of the memorabilia may stay there. The same is true for Hirschi and Rider,” Thomas said.
Thomas said any funds raised by a potential auction would go to an activity fund for Memorial and Legacy High Schools.
Other points raised included the inclusion of historic displays in the new high schools, Legacy and Memorial. Additionally, the school board discussed the possibility of donating some of the memorabilia to local museums. | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/wfisd-weighs-options-for-high-schools-memorabilia/70486606007/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:33 | 0 | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/wfisd-weighs-options-for-high-schools-memorabilia/70486606007/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:33 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
Clouds Ahead: AI Wonders and Troubles
Every professional will relate to stories of clients who come in and wonder why or why not they are doing something based on what they read on the Internet or heard around the lunchroom table. The problem isn’t that they bring up a concern (that’s smart), but that so often their source of “facts” is misleading, outdated, or just plain wrong.
While no doubt artificial intelligence (AI) is plotting, Terminator-style, to eliminate we humans, currently it can be quite useful…and quite problematic. To test this, I asked ChatGPT to write a biography of Gary Silverman, a financial advisor working in Wichita Falls, Texas.
In just a few seconds out I popped. Or at least an article that purports to be me. Enough of it is true that someone who knows me only casually might assume that all of it was correct.
It was not.
I was told that Gary “is a prominent figure in the field of finance.” Well, I won’t dispute that, true or not. “With years of experience and a strong commitment to helping individuals achieve financial success, he has established himself as a trusted advisor in the community.” Maybe I should put this on the back of my business cards. “Gary’s dedication to his studies led him to pursue a degree in finance at Texas State University.”
Wait—what?!
I’m a graduate from Miami Christian and earned an MBA from the University of Dallas. I’ve taught finance, but while I admire their beautiful campus, I’ve never attended Texas State, let alone earned a finance degree there. Well, one mistake isn’t too bad, I guess.
“At Silverman Financial, Gary and his team…” Hold it. Did we change our name? [Making a call…be patient…] No, I checked with our current CEO, Michelle, and she assures me that I still work at Personal Money Planning, LLC. So, I looked up Silverman Financial. It seems to be an insurance-centric financial firm out in Florida. The owner, who I share a last name with, seems like a nice guy, but looking at his picture is not at all like looking in a mirror.
In this 8th installment of my whacking-you-with-a-fish series, what I’m trying to point out is that you need to be careful when reading an article or watching a video on the internet, whether it comes from a human or AI. That even includes reading what I write because I have been known to make a boo-boo from time to time.
And let’s not ignore that some people say, post, and create content (including authentic-looking pictures and videos) that are designed to deceive. I gave you an example of that earlier in this series.
Be careful out there. Check your sources. Get multiple ones while you are at it. (Watch out because sometime different sources source the same wrong material themselves.) And, when in doubt, hire an expert.
See you next week.
May God protect the innocents in Ukraine.
Gary Silverman, CFP® is the founder of Personal Money Planning, LLC, a Wichita Falls retirement planning and investment management firm and author of Real World Investing. | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/clouds-ahead-ai-wonders-and-troubles/70478925007/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:39 | 1 | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/clouds-ahead-ai-wonders-and-troubles/70478925007/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:40 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
Oil prices drop 20%, expenditures rise 26%
EDITOR’S NOTE: As publicly traded oil and gas companies begin reporting their second quarter financials, the Energy Information Administration released this week its financial analysis of first quarter 2023 of 40 exploration and production companies, which produced 31% (4 million barrels per day) of the oil in the U.S. It does not include the smaller, privately held companies. Below is EIA’s analysis.
Crude oil prices have weakened since 2022 but remain relatively strong, which enhances cash flow as production in the U.S. sets records.
The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil price averaged $75.96 per barrel in first quarter of 2023, a 20% ($19.21) decrease compared with first quarter 2022 and an 8% ($6.72) decrease compared with fourth quarter 2022.
Higher production resulted in cash from operations increasing 13% ($3.0 billion) compared with first quarter of 2022. Oil production nationwide has increased 1 million barrels per day in April (12.6 million barrels per day) compared to April 2022 (11.6 million barrels per day).
Capital expenditure in first quarter 2023 increased 26% ($3.5 billion) compared with first quarter 2022 to $16.7 billion and increased 12% ($1.8 billion) compared with fourth quarter 2022. Higher capital expenditure supported production increasing 9% (338,000 b/d) in first quarter 2023 from first quarter 2022 and 1% (59,000 b/d) from fourth quarter 2022.
Also, capital expenditures as a share of cash from operations increased to 64%, the highest percentage since the beginning of the pandemic. This share remains below the quarterly average of 104% in the period before the pandemic (2018–19). Historically, the ratio of capital expenditure to cash from operations has been greater than 100%, reflecting the capital-intensive nature of E&P as well as the need for outside sources of capital to fund drilling projects.
Production expenses, reflecting the cost of goods sold, operating expenses, and production taxes, declined 14% from fourth quarter 2022 to $27.19 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) in first quarter 2023. Compared with 2Q22, production expenses have decreased 28%.
Debt reduction, which the E&P companies allocated $39.7 billion toward between fourth quarter 2020 and third quarter 2022, has reduced long-term debt 30% below the 2018–19 average.
Shareholder returns, in the form of share repurchases and dividends, accounted for the remainder of the uses of cash in the quarter. Shareholder distributions decreased 32% from fourth quarter to $11.8 billion in first quarter 2023 but remain elevated as a share of cash from operations. Net share repurchases decreased 45% from fourth quarter 2022 to $5.5 billion, and dividends decreased 16% to $6.3 billion.
Cost of goods sold, which includes the cost of materials and labor directly used in production, has been the main driver of production cost increases because of supply chain constraints in 2022. Although the cost of goods sold has declined by 39% from 2Q22 to $13.80/BOE in 1Q23, it remains 62% ($5.26/BOE) above the 2018–19 average of $8.54/BOE.
Alex Mills is the former President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/oil-prices-drop-20-expenditures-rise-26/70477577007/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:45 | 1 | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/oil-prices-drop-20-expenditures-rise-26/70477577007/ |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:46 | 1 | https://www.wbay.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
How are Wichita Falls area high school football teams dealing with the Texas heat?
This summer has been particularly hot with temperatures consistently pushing past 105 or even 110 degrees.
And it won’t be any different when athletes take the field Monday for the start of two-a-day football practices.
The temperature for Monday is slated to be 108 degrees, according to weather.com, which is forecasted for the rest of the week.
The excessive heat has coaches and athletic trainers on high alert for dehydration and heat stroke.
“We’ve been preaching it all summer,” Electra coach Josh McKiddy said. “Be aware of the excessive heat and pay attention to your kids. You occasionally see stories about kids getting sick because coaches don’t consider the effect the heat can have on kids. If you’re so stubborn, you’re gonna ignore that, well, that’s a pretty big personal issue.”
The first step most local coaches are taking is conducting practices in the morning before the heat is overwhelming.
Hirschi and Wichita Falls High are each starting practice around 8 a.m. this week, but even then, are taking extra precautions.
“Water is unlimited. Players have access to as much water as they need,” Hirschi coach Lawrence Johnson said. “We’re going to have tents out there, so that our guys can find some shade. We’re going to have coolers with a bunch of ice towels they can drape around their necks.
“And we’re not asking our kids to drink water. We’re telling them to drink water.”
One luxury the area’s bigger schools have over the smaller programs is the presence of an athletic trainer along with an informed training staff.
More:Texoma Sports Hall of Fame banquet finds proper home at DL Ligon Coliseum
“I’m fortunate because I’ve got a lot of eyes out there who know to watch for when a player is acting strange or might be overheated,” Rider head trainer Robert Doley said.
But schools like Electra aren’t so fortunate. There is not an athletic trainer on staff, putting a higher emphasis on coaches being aware of the symptoms of heat stroke.
“UIL has required safety training that covers what to look for regarding heat stroke, but we take measures beyond that,” McKiddy said. “We have an action plan in place for different coaches to know where the nearest ice machine is and things like that. Each coach has a different responsibility on who they’re supposed to contact or what they’re supposed to do in case of an emergency.”
Doley helped create WFISD’s heat safety protocol which dictates different measures depending on what the temperature reaches. The district does not allow outdoor practices if the temperature reaches 106 degrees or the heat index hits 111 degrees.
And while the first practices leading into the season are still often called “two-a-days,” the term is a bit outdated. Most programs only have one two-hour practice session on the field. The second is typically spent watching film or lifting weights.
“It’s about quality over quantity,” Johnson said. “We, as coaches, say all the time that we do this job for the kids. We have to put that into practice.”
More:HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Picking the top games to cover each week of the 2023 season | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2023/07/30/how-wichita-falls-area-football-teams-are-dealing-with-the-heat/70448128007/ | 2023-07-31T01:50:51 | 0 | https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/sports/high-school/football/2023/07/30/how-wichita-falls-area-football-teams-are-dealing-with-the-heat/70448128007/ |
Far-Thro Axe tournament wraps up with recognition of those affected on July 14th
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) - The 2nd Annual Far-Thro Axe Tournament officially wrapped up Sunday afternoon with a televised finale and recognition for those who were affected by the shooting on July 14th.
The event had vendors set up as well as t-shirts for sale, and the proceeds of the event will be going to the families of those affected.
For a moment of recognition, there was a 21 Gun Salute and ‘Taps’ was played to allow the guests a chance to remember fallen officer Jake Wallin.
The Tournament took place at the Fargo Billiards & Gastropub.
The tragedy on July 14th not only claimed the life of Officer Wallin, but it also injured officers Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes, as well as bystander Karlee Koswick.
Koswick works for United States Axe as a coach, and her fellow coworkers say the event was a great way to show their support to her and the others involved.
Jacob Weisser was a volunteer at the tournament and is an employee of United States Axe, and he said that he’s so happy to see the way the the community has come together.
“I talked to her father and they’re blown away with how nice everybody is here,” Weisser said. “It’s just been amazing and I’m just really proud of the place where I grew up, showing so much support for something so traggic and and so horrific.”
Copyright 2023 KVLY. All rights reserved. | https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/07/30/far-thro-axe-tournament-wraps-up-with-recognition-those-affected-july-14th/ | 2023-07-31T01:51:29 | 0 | https://www.kfyrtv.com/2023/07/30/far-thro-axe-tournament-wraps-up-with-recognition-those-affected-july-14th/ |
Jason Lindsey’s Forecast
Tracking a Fantastic Start to the Week
Published: Jul. 30, 2023 at 8:46 PM EDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Thanks to a high pressure, we’ll enjoy a nice start to the week. Expect cooler temperatures, lower humidity, and a mix of sun and clouds through midweek.
Tracking a weather maker, which will increase our chances for showers and storms, late next week. Highs warm back to the 90s by Friday. - Meteorologist Jason Lindsey
Copyright 2023 WKYT. All rights reserved. | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/31/jason-lindseys-forecast/ | 2023-07-31T01:51:29 | 0 | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/31/jason-lindseys-forecast/ |
Kentucky Newsmakers 7/30: Attorney General nominee Ret. Col. Pamela Stevenson
Published: Jul. 30, 2023 at 9:47 PM EDT|Updated: moments ago
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - On the latest edition of Kentucky Newsmakers, WKYT’s Bill Bryant talks with Democratic Attorney General candidate Pamela Stevenson.
We continue our coverage of Campaign 2023 as we start covering the general election campaign.
One key race in the fall will be for the Kentucky attorney general. That did ‘not’ appear on the primary ballot because the two candidates were unopposed for their party’s nomination.
The Democratic nominee is Representative Pamela Stevenson. Colonel Stevenson joined the Kentucky house in 2021, representing Louisville.
Copyright 2023 WKYT. All rights reserved. | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/31/kentucky-newsmakers-730-attorney-general-nominee-ret-col-pamela-stevenson/ | 2023-07-31T01:51:35 | 1 | https://www.wkyt.com/2023/07/31/kentucky-newsmakers-730-attorney-general-nominee-ret-col-pamela-stevenson/ |
A week later, the “Barbenheimer” boom has not abated.
Seven days after Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” conspired to set box office records, the two films held unusually strongly in theaters. “Barbie” took in a massive $93 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Oppenheimer” stayed in second with a robust $46.2 million. Sales for the two movies dipped 43% and 44%, respectably — well shy of the usual week-two drops.
“Barbenheimer” has proven to be not a one-weekend phenomenon but an ongoing box-office bonanza. The two movies combined have already surpassed $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, call it “a touchstone moment for movies, moviegoers and movie theaters.”
“Having two movies from rival studios linked in this way and both boosting each other's fortunes — both box-office wise and it terms of their profile — I don't know if there's a comp for this in the annals of box-office history," said Dergarabedian. “There's really no comparison for this.”
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Following its year-best $162 million opening, the pink-infused pop sensation of “Barbie” saw remarkably sustained business through the week and into the weekend. The film outpaced Nolan's “The Dark Knight" to have the best first 11 days in theaters of any Warner Bros. release ever.
“Barbie” has rapidly accumulated $351.4 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters, a rate that will soon make it the biggest box-office hit of the summer. Every day it’s played, “Barbie" has made at least $20 million.
And the “Barbie” effect isn't just in North America. The film made $122.2 million internationally over the weekend. Its global tally has reached $775 million. It's the kind of business that astounds even veteran studio executives.
“That's a crazy number,” said Jeff Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “There's just a built-in audience that wants to be part of the zeitgeist of the moment. Wherever you go, people are wearing pink. Pink is taking over the world."
Amid the frenzy, “Barbie” is already attracting a lot of repeat moviegoers. Goldstein estimates that 12% of sales are people going back with friends or family to see it again.
For a movie industry that has been trying to regain its pre-pandemic footing — and that now finds itself largely shuttered due to actors and screenwriters strikes — the sensations of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” have showed what's possible when everything lines up just right.
“Post-pandemic, there's no ceiling and there's no floor," Goldstein said. "The movies that miss really miss big time, and the movies that work really work big time."
Universal Pictures' “Oppenheimer,” meanwhile, is performing more like a superhero movie than a three-hour film about scientists talking.
Nolan’s drama starring Cillian Murphy as atomic bomb physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer has accrued $174.1 million domestically thus far. With an additional $72.4 million in international cinemas, “Oppenheimer” has already surpassed $400 million globally.
Showings in IMAX have typically been sold out. “Oppenheimer” has made $80 million worldwide on IMAX. The large-format exhibitor said Sunday that it will extend the film's run through Aug. 13.
The week’s top new release, Walt Disney Co.’s “Haunted Mansion,” an adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction, was easily overshadowed by the “Barbenheimer” blitz. The film, which cost about $150 million, debuted with $24 million domestically and $9 million in overseas sales. “Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (“Dear White People,” “Bad Hair”) and starring an ensemble of LaKeith Stanfield, Tiffany Haddish, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito and Rosario Dawson, struggled to overcome mediocre reviews.
“Talk to Me,” the A24 supernatural horror film, fared better. It debuted with $10 million. The film, directed by Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou and starring Sophie Wilde, was a midnight premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and received terrific reviews from critics (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It was made for a modest $4.5 million.
While theaters being flush with moviegoers has been a huge boon to the film industry, it’s been tougher sledding for Tom Cruise, the so-called savior of the movies last summer with “Top Gun: Maverick.” “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I,” which debuted the week before the arrival of “Barbenheimer,” grossed $10.7 million in its third weekend. The film starring Cruise and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, has grossed $139.2 million domestically and $309.3 million overseas.
Instead, the sleeper hit “Sound of Freedom” has been the best performing non-“Barbenheimer” release in theaters. The Angel Studios’ release, which is counting crowdfunding pay-it-forward sales in its box office totals, made $12.4 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its haul thus far to nearly $150 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Barbie,” $93 million.
2. “Oppenheimer,” $46.2 million.
3. “Haunted Mansion,” $24.2 million.
4. “Sound of Freedom,” $12.4 million.
5. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One,” $10.7 million.
6. “Talk to Me,” $10 million.
7. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” $4 million.
8. “Elemental,” $3.4 million.
9. “Insidious: The Red Door,” $3.2 million.
10. “Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani,” $1.6 million. | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot/4549498/ | 2023-07-31T01:51:49 | 0 | https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/the-barbie-bonanza-continues-at-the-box-office-oppenheimer-holds-the-no-2-spot/4549498/ |
Kobe Steakhouse Chef Becomes Only Woman Hibachi Chef in Wichita
Evelynn Harader has been promoted from kitchen assistant to chef.
WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Evelynn Harader is celebrating a promotion at Kobe Steakhouse. The restaurant owners say she is now the only woman hibachi chef in all of Wichita.
“I’m really proud of it,” said Harader. “I hope that when other women look, and they want to do something that’s typically male dominated they can have a little bit of inspiration.”
While she started as a busser, Harader made her way to the kitchen to start training for work as a chef. For weeks, she would come to work early to meet with Kobe’s head chef and train.
“My trainer would write me down a ticket just what a typical table would be,” said Harader, “after all my training, after my trainer thought I was good, all the managers ordered food and I cooked for the managers and that’s how I passed.”
Kobe Steakhouse Co-Owner, Lisa Davis was posting about her employees online and her post about Evelynn got quite a bit of attention.
“You know I was doing internet posts of all our employees and when I was thinking about doing her,” said Davis, “I was like oh wait she’s the only girl in Wichita lets post that about her and it just took off from there.”
Davis is Harader’s aunt and says the family is proud of everything she’s done.
“We’re so proud of her and how she is handling the recognition, she’s still being humble, but I am really proud of her,” said Davis.
Evelynn is still continuing to train in the kitchen even though she got promoted to chef.
“At first when I started, I had no idea what I was doing so I just kept doing it every day so really just practice,” said Harader.
Copyright 2023 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com | https://www.kwch.com/2023/07/31/kobe-steakhouse-chef-becomes-only-woman-hibachi-chef-wichita/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:09 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/2023/07/31/kobe-steakhouse-chef-becomes-only-woman-hibachi-chef-wichita/ |
The wisdom of Solomon in today's world
We live in a world where the wisdom of Solomon is greatly needed. In the simple story recalled in 1 Kings 3:5-12, God appears to they young, newly anointed king and asks what Solomon would desire of God. In humility, Solomon simply asks God for an understanding mind and the ability to discern between good and evil. He asks for nothing more. With joy, God not only grants Solomon’s request, but adds a note of appreciation for Solomon’s not asking for long life, wealth, or power. In today’s world, so often we ask for the wrong things.
The Fourth Chapter of James touches on a similar theme as the Apostle recognizes that disputes, animosity, and conflict among believers erupt simply because the people of God fail to ask for the right thing. The prayerful requests lifted before God serve only to appeal to selfish desires and therefore create disastrous rifts withing the community of Christ. James ends the warning with a stern condemnation that such selfish thinking places one in opposition to the Divine.
Both passages remind us that prayer to God and spiritual gifts from God are not to be applied as cosmic tools of self-gratification or a means to achieve power, control, authority, or pleasure. (That does not mean God will not grant such things in accordance with the Divine wisdom as God sees fit, but it is God that makes that discernment; not the believer.)
For Solomon the fundamental truth is to seek wisdom. In today’s world such wisdom is sorely lacking. Due largely to populist news media, the ubiquitous nature of the internet and social media, dishonest and manipulative politics, and malicious attempts to spread flagrant lies under the guise of satisfying belief systems, today we live in a world without wisdom. We believe lies that tell us what we want to hear rather than the hard truths that conflict with our personal preferences. We back politicians that fabricate false realities that cannot stand up to intelligent scrutiny and believe them because they describe a world view we wish to believe is true. We discount relevant academic theories and scientific evidence because they conflict with the versions history, theology, and religious assumptions that please our own sensitivities. Such practices are not wise, do not show true Divine discernment, and do not serve humanity. Rather, as James so bluntly put it, the practice serves only to fuel disputes and conflicts.
In America today, wisdom and discernment has been replaced by opinion and belief. Consequently, rather than being a great nation of wise, discerning adults, we have eroded into a more primitive, tribal conglomerate or disparate, angry, opinionated, arrogant, and selfish fools. This is not the community for which Christ died! This is not the community that is called by God and surrenders to the Divine name. This is a community of unrepentant sin.
As a church—and a nation which continues to have a significant percentage of people who profess a belief in the Christian understanding of God—it is time that we collectively bow to God and embrace the prayer of Solomon and seek to truly embrace the nature of the prayer. We need to pray for true divine wisdom and discernment.
This does not mean we all believe the same thing or accept the same worldview, theological perspective, or Biblical interpretation. It does mean, however, that we need to stop taking social media posts at face value. It does mean that we need to stop accepting news reports at face value. It does mean that we need to stop accepting uninformed opinions as objective fact. It does mean that we need to spend the extra to research the fact from the fiction, discern the real news from the fake news, and take responsibility to learn and understand others. | https://www.currentargus.com/story/life/faith/2023/07/30/the-wisdom-of-solomon-in-todays-world/70477705007/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:17 | 0 | https://www.currentargus.com/story/life/faith/2023/07/30/the-wisdom-of-solomon-in-todays-world/70477705007/ |
Rare Pecos River fish included in federal settlement. Protections could come next year
A rare fish species dwelling in the Pecos River around southeast New Mexico and West Texas could see protections in the coming years after a settlement between the federal government and a Washington, D.C.-based conservation group.
The Pecos pupfish was included in a slate of 31 species nationwide the settlement demanded the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issue final decisions in the next two years for potential listings as endangered of threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Twenty-four of the candidates will see protections by the end of 2023, and the Pecos pupfish was included in the other nine species that will see decisions by 2024 or 2025, per the settlement.
More:Dunes sagebrush lizard proposed as endangered species amid threats from oil and gas
The settlement listed a Dec. 1, 2024 deadline for the Pecos pupfish.
The pupfish is listed as threatened by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and by the State of Texas.
Threats to the species’ survival were listed in the Federal Register as damming and pumping water from the Pecos River.
It grows to about five centimeters long, dwelling in Pecos River drainage in Eddy and Chaves counties in New Mexico.
More:What we know about federal plan to restrict oil and gas drilling from New Mexico caves
Efforts to see the pupfish listed date back decades, as it was withdrawn from consideration for a listing in 2000 by the federal agency, citing efforts to remove threats to the species from its habitat but it was listed as a candidate species in 2001.
A multi-species petition was filed in 2007, including the pupfish and several others in New Mexico, by Forest Guardians.
In 2020 the Center for Biological Diversity sued the federal government for its alleged inaction on 241 species, including the pupfish.
More:Lesser prairie chicken could see protections via renewable energy projects in New Mexico
Most recently, the pupfish’s status was listed as “under review” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Tierra Curry, senior scientist with the Center said delays of federal action for species’ like the pupfish exacerbated an “extinction crisis” she said led by human actions and resulting climate change.
The Center reported the Fish and Wildlife Service averages nine to 12 years to make a listing decision, well beyond the two-year requirement from a petition.
More:Feds sued over 'inaction' to protect Peñasco least chipmunk from extinction in New Mexico
“As the U.S. wildlife extinction crisis accelerates, the Endangered Species Act is the most effective tool we have to save irreplaceable plants and animals,” Curry said. “It’s inexcusable how long it’s taken for these rare species to move toward protection.
“We could lose two out of every five wild species if we don’t act now, so we need urgency from the Fish and Wildlife Service, not delays.”
Curry said saving species like the pupfish and conserving its habitat could help restore the environment in the region and benefit human health.
More:Swale paintbrush flower in New Mexico to get protections as state aims to save rare plants
“The wellbeing of humans is directly dependent on the wellbeing of wildlife, large and small, so we need to prioritize enough funding to list and recover all imperiled species for their sake and for our own,” Curry said.
GOP challenges proposed protection for dunes sagebrush lizard
Texas Republicans in Congress sought to reverse a June 29 decision to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species. The lizard also dwells in southeast New Mexico and West Texas, amid sand dunes threatened by oil and gas and mining.
U.S. Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) introduced the Limiting Incredulous Zealots Against Restricting Drilling (LIZARD) Act on July 13, which would strike the lizard’s endangered species status.
More:Deadly bat fungus found in New Mexico caves. Here's what we know about white nose syndrome
He said the listing decision would threaten oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, a region known as the U.S.’ busiest oilfield shared by New Mexico and Texas and was part of broader agenda by the administration of President Joe Biden to disrupt fossil fuel production.
“On the campaign trail, President Biden promised to kill the fossil fuel industry, and that’s about the only promise we can count on him keeping,” Pfluger said in a statement.
“His latest tactic—listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species so he can shut down drilling in the Permian—is just the latest in a string of assaults on the Permian Basin and our way of life.”
He reported more than 3 million acres in New Mexico were enrolled in candidate conservation agreements by the oil and gas and ranching community for the lizard, federally approved voluntary agreements that see landowners engage in conservation tactics to prevent further restrictions upon a listing.
These were essential, Pfluger argued, to allow wildlife conservation and energy development to occur without undue impediments.
Adrian Heddencan be reached at 575-628-5516,achedden@currentargus.com or@AdrianHedden on Twitter. | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/2023/07/30/rare-pecos-river-pupfish-included-in-federal-settlement-for-protections-endangered-species-act/70462811007/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:23 | 1 | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/2023/07/30/rare-pecos-river-pupfish-included-in-federal-settlement-for-protections-endangered-species-act/70462811007/ |
City of Carlsbad welcomes $3M in extra cash for final $84M 2024 spending plan
Labor, operating costs and unfinished business from 2023 were the biggest expenditures in the $84 million final budget for the 2024 fiscal year approved July 25 by the Carlsbad City Council.
An interim budget of $81 million interim budget for the 2024 fiscal year was approved by the council in May, and was due to the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration (NMDFA) on June 1.
"The interim budget process begins early in the year and final budget doesn’t get submitted to NMDFA for approval until June. The primary reason for the variation is the projected revenue for May and June came in higher than expected," said Ward 4 Councilor Wesley Carter.
Carter was part of a city council budget committee along with Ward 2 Councilors Jeff Forrest and J.J. Chavez and Ward 1 Councilor and May Pro Tem Edward T. Rodriguez.
“It’s a really good solid budget,” said Forrest.
“We’ve got some stuff in there within reason. It’s a good safe budget that won’t put the city in a bind,” he added.
More:City of Carlsbad passes 2024 $81M spending plan
Carter said the budget committee worked with city administrators and the finance department to develop the 2024 spending plan.
"These meetings along with public meetings with outside agencies are discussed at length before an interim budget is sent to council for approval by the end of May. Once approved by council, the budget is sent to NMDFA for approval," he said.
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway said the finance department, city administration and city council worked together to prepare “a very responsible” budget.
More:Bill fixing lost tax revenue in Carlsbad passes NM House waits for governor's signature
“For several years now, our annual audit has turned up no findings or minor findings, and that’s because we have such a great group of dedicated and hard-working individuals working in our finance department,” he said.
Fiscal year 2023 ends on positive note
City of Carlsbad Finance Director Melissa Salcido said the City of Carlsbad started the previous fiscal year with $104 million of money available to spend on government operations.
She said the city ended the 2023 fiscal year with an increased cash balance of $119 million.
City of Carlsbad finance documents indicated the previous fiscal year ended with $44.9 million left in the general fund.
Forrest the 2024 budget was similar to the 2023 spending plan.
“We’ve known for a couple of years we were going to lose money from destination sourcing,” he said.
Passed by the New Mexico Legislature and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, House Bill 6 (HB 6) changed the state’s tax code for taxes where a service takes place and not where the business that provides the service is located.
HB 6 went into effect two years ago. Janway said the law impacted oil and gas communities like Carlsbad and Hobbs, where services operate outside the city limits of both communities.
More:State lawmakers seek long-term fix for lost tax revenue for City of Carlsbad
State Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R-55) and outgoing State Sen. Gay Kernan (R-42) had success passing Senate Bill (SB) 292 through the 2023 New Mexico Legislature. The governor vetoed SB 292 in April and the City of Carlsbad did not get the funds they were asking for. The measure would have provided $25 million in lost gross receipts tax (GRTs) revenue.
Carter said the City of Carlsbad is conservative when it comes to crafting spending plans, which are based on GRTs.
He said GRTs are the main funding source for the City of Carlsbad's general spending fund.
"With the assistance of the finance department and administration, we’ve put together another great budget that allows for reinvesting in capital and infrastructure projects around the city," Carter said.
Despite the setback in the Legislature, Forrest said the city is in good shape financially thanks to oil and gas activity.
“We’ve got a lot be excited about with the amount of money coming into our city,” he said.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter. | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/extra-3m-gives-city-of-carlsbad-84m-spending-plan-for-2024-tax-revenue-government-spending/70458818007/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:29 | 1 | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/extra-3m-gives-city-of-carlsbad-84m-spending-plan-for-2024-tax-revenue-government-spending/70458818007/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:34 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
Southeast New Mexico communities move forward on safe haven boxes for baby surrenders
Some southeast New Mexico communities continue installation of baby surrender boxes after one newborn was placed in an outdoor dumpster in Hobbs and another was allegedly killed by its mother and dumped in a hospital garbage can in Artesia.
The City of Carlsbad contracted with Safe Haven Baby Boxes, an Indiana company to manufacture and install a box at the main fire station at 401 South Halagueño Street.
More:Carlsbad takes final step to install baby safe surrender box at fire station
Former City of Carlsbad Fire Department Chief Richard Lopez said the baby found in a dumpster on a frigid night in Hobbs in early 2022 was the catalyst for the project.
The baby survived and its mother Alexis Avila was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder and abuse of a child resulting in great bodily harm. A Lovington jury found her guilty during a trial in April and she was sentenced to 16 years prison in state prison in May.
The City of Carlsbad received a $10,000 grant from the State of New Mexico in 2022 to establish an infant surrender program.
The Carlsbad City Council approved a plan on March 28 establishing policies and procedures for a safe surrender box.
City of Carlsbad City Attorney Denise Madrid Boyea said the city was waiting for price quotes from contractors as no installation date was set.
The New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) defines a safe haven as a hospital, law enforcement agency or fire station.
More:Artesia mother Alexee Trevizo accused of killing newborn released by court ahead of trial
In New Mexico a baby that is three months old or younger maybe surrendered without threat of criminal charges for child abandonment, per a CYFD website.
The City of Artesia Police Department and the City of Artesia Fire Department had discussions in June regarding installation of a safe haven box.
City of Artesia Police Spokesperson Cmdr. Pete Quinones said there have been no further developments or discussions from the early talks.
Artesia police arrested 19-year-old Alexee Trevizo May 10 and charged her with first-degree murder after she allegedly placed her newborn baby in a trashcan at Artesia General Hospital.
Police investigated the alleged crime in January and said Trevizo gave birth to the baby in restroom at the hospital. The newborn was later found dead in a garbage can, according to Artesia police.
New Mexico has two baby surrender boxes already in place at fire departments in Espanola and Hobbs, noted the Safe Haven Baby Box website.
More:Carlsbad plans to install baby surrender box with $10K state grant
Hobbs' safe surrender box was installed May 9 at Fire Station No. 1 said City of Hobbs Spokesperson Meghan Mooney.
"The baby box is an environmentally controlled incubator device designed to keep an infant in a secure and safe environment with sufficient oxygen, a comfortable temperature and equipped with a transparent door and safety alarm to immediately notify the operators that an infant has been placed in the device," she said.
Mooney said once the child is surrendered appropriate authorities are contacted in order for the child to receive medical treatment.
"Fire Station No. 1 was chosen as the location for a baby box as it is considered a medical services provider with Staff available seven days a week, 24 hours a day and with regular monitoring," she said.
In a press release, Hobbs City Manager Manny Gomez said the safe surrender box was more than a year in the making as city officials and the general public showed interest, support and encouragement.
The City of Roswell has a safe surrender box in its possession, according to Mayor Pro Tem Cristina Arnold.
She said the City of Roswell was asked in May of 2022 to look into the option of the safe surrender box. Arnold said city councilors and city administration worked on grants to cover installation and annual fees for the box.
Arnold and fellow Roswell City Councilor Juliana Halvorson reached out to eight Roswell businesses and the Roswell Chamber of Commerce to raise $10,000 to purchase the safe surrender box.
She said the safe surrender would be located at Roswell Fire Station No. 1 in near downtown. Installation of the box should be complete “in the near future.”
“The purchase and installation of the Safe Haven Baby is only the first phase of this project. The final phase is an education campaign through community engagement,” Arnold said.
She said social media, marketing and speaking to Roswell schools and community organizations is part of the community outreach.
Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter. | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/southeast-new-mexico-moves-forward-on-baby-safe-surrender-boxes-abandoned-infants-dead-babies/70447569007/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:35 | 1 | https://www.currentargus.com/story/news/local/2023/07/30/southeast-new-mexico-moves-forward-on-baby-safe-surrender-boxes-abandoned-infants-dead-babies/70447569007/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:40 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
Wooten sculpture by Wren Prather-Stroud to be dedicated in Carlsbad
Carlsbad will soon have a beautiful new sculpture on display, and it will be of one of our most accomplished citizens. John Wooten was a football standout who spent much of his career with the Cleveland Browns, where he blocked for the legendary Jim Brown. However, many of Wooten’s most incredible accomplishments either were outside of his football career, or came after his initial career playing with the NFL concluded. He has devoted his life toward the civil rights effort, and he has achieved remarkable success.
Wooten was invited by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to attend President Johnson’s signing of the 1965 Civil Rights Bill. He was directly involved in the formation of the “Rooney Rule” with the NFL and the creation of the Fritz Pollard Alliance. He has always said that he feels blessed to have grown up in Carlsbad, where individuals such as Coach Ralph Bowyer, Tom Hanson and Guy Waid advocated for the early integration of Carlsbad High School.
Over the past few months, Wren Prather-Stroud has been working on a beautiful sculpture of Wooten. This sculpture was made possible through the generosity of Bob Jornayvaz III, Bob Forrest and Dick Forrest. In late September, Wooten and his wife, Juanita, plan to join us at the dedication of this sculpture. Please stay tuned for details, as we hope you’ll be joining us.
We’ve had a great summer at the Carlsbad Water Park, thanks to our great lifeguard staff and water park manager Luke Garza. Our lifeguards often work long hours to ensure everyone’s safety, but everything has been positive. There’s also a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes running a water park, such as making sure the levels of chlorine are right. Everyone at the water park has done an outstanding job this summer.
As a reminder, due to school being in session, the Carlsbad Water Park will soon be moving into its “Late Summer Schedule.” The last weekday that the water park is open in 2023 will be Friday, Aug. 4. After that the water park will only be open on Saturdays and Sundays. For example, the park will be closed Aug. 7-11, but open again on Aug. 12 and 13. The good news is that the park will remain open through much of the fall. Our last weekend day this year will be Sunday, Oct. 1. Water park hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission to the park is $5. We know that the Boys & Girls Club is preparing a big visit to the water park this weekend, and we wish them the best. | https://www.currentargus.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/wooten-sculpture-by-wren-prather-stroud-to-be-dedicated-in-carlsbad/70477708007/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:41 | 1 | https://www.currentargus.com/story/opinion/2023/07/30/wooten-sculpture-by-wren-prather-stroud-to-be-dedicated-in-carlsbad/70477708007/ |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:52:47 | 0 | https://www.kwch.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T01:53:36 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:53:42 | 1 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
STATEN ISLAND (WABC) -- Police are searching for a pair of thieves who stole $6,000 worth of beauty products on Staten Island.
Authorities say the individuals went into an Ulta Beauty store on Bricktown Way last month and took 30 to 40 items without paying.
No injuries were reported.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
ALSO READ | City investigating 'unique' crane fire, collapse in Manhattan
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Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply. | https://abc7ny.com/nyc-beauty-products-stolen-theft-staten-island/13575016/ | 2023-07-31T01:53:45 | 0 | https://abc7ny.com/nyc-beauty-products-stolen-theft-staten-island/13575016/ |
RICHMOND, Va. — Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go and won at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, earning himself a spot in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.
Buescher led 88 laps. He was ahead by nearly six seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his sizeable lead over local favorite Denny Hamlin, but when the race went back to green, Buescher pulled away easily.
He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps, with Keselowski’s Ford pacing the field for 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.
Hamlin, coming off a victory last weekend at Pocono, finished second, followed by Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece.
The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, the last sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.
Hamlin’s bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549 seconds behind Buescher, with Busch winding up 0.817 off the winning pace. | https://www.wthr.com/article/sports/motor/nascar/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/291-39ebd8a8-4ded-431e-af39-9980c941e97b | 2023-07-31T01:53:45 | 0 | https://www.wthr.com/article/sports/motor/nascar/chris-buescher-wins-at-richmond-and-secures-spot-in-nascar-playoffs/291-39ebd8a8-4ded-431e-af39-9980c941e97b |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:53:49 | 0 | https://www.wafb.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
For Mike Obioma, attending Homestead High School during its $169 million, multi-year transformation into an essentially new – and bigger – building has been an experience of constant change.
Obioma, who begins his senior year Aug. 9, said he welcomes new elements as they arise because the differences never seem arbitrary.
“They feel worthwhile,” Obioma said Sunday during an hourlong hard-hat tour Southwest Allen County Schools offered to reporters.
Students are familiar with some new areas – including the competition gym known as Spartan Arena – because they opened last academic year.
They can only imagine what other spaces will look like, however, such as the new academic wing along Homestead Road. Temporary walls and locked doors are among the measures that keep students out of active construction zones.
“By the nature of the way the construction is – with the academic wing being so separate from most of the building that we’re currently using – it’s still really a mystery to the majority of our students,” Principal Susan Summers said. “They don’t really have a sense of what is happening other than the drone videos that we show them occasionally. So, it’s a surprise yet to be seen for most of them.”
This year’s seniors were freshmen when SACS celebrated the project’s groundbreaking in August 2020. At that time, Homestead served about 2,500 students in 620,000 square feet.
The undertaking involves 392,646 square feet of new construction and 325,002 square feet of renovated space. Once finished, Homestead will be 14% bigger – 708,404 square feet in all – and it will be able to accommodate more than 3,000 students.
Parts of the building, including numerous classrooms and the Ninth Grade Academy, will be demolished. Summers said that will make way for student parking, and it will give Homestead room to expand, if needed.
The project’s budget was $169 million, but SACS bonded for $180 million, officials said.
District leaders have credited their ability to conduct the project without changing the tax rate or raising local taxes to good financial management, a good maintenance program and retiring debt.
SACS hopes to complete the project by the end of 2024, said Mark Snyder, business manager.
Setbacks have delayed certain aspects of the project, Snyder acknowledged, including the auditorium. Officials expected that would be ready in June, but a problem with a sprinkler head pushed the anticipated completion date to late October.
Tour participants stepped over potential hazards including extension cords and nails in construction areas Sunday to get glimpses of the new academic wing.
Natural light streamed through classrooms’ exterior windows. The sunlight even brightened interior classrooms because the corridor’s design incorporates several interior windows.
Emily Newton of CSO Architects pointed out the collaboration spaces, which she described as a “front porch” for classrooms. The ceiling and flooring materials will distinguish those areas from others.
Teachers are getting ready for their eventual move, Summers said.
“We already have classrooms where the teachers have packed up almost all of their things because there is every hope they will be in their new locations by the end of the semester,” the principal said.
Addie May Fleming is another student who joined the tour. The soon-to-be senior said she wishes she could experience the new Homestead, post-construction.
“Now that I’m seeing everything, I want to be a part of it,” she said. “I’m just excited for the future students that get to experience the full school.” | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/hard-hat-tour-provides-glimpse-of-homestead-high-schools-transformation/article_56bc17b8-2cc4-11ee-87a1-6bef9de8b792.html | 2023-07-31T01:55:11 | 1 | https://www.journalgazette.net/local/schools/hard-hat-tour-provides-glimpse-of-homestead-high-schools-transformation/article_56bc17b8-2cc4-11ee-87a1-6bef9de8b792.html |
*Editor’s note: this story has been modified from its original version
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — This back to school giveaway is not your average one. This one gave away more than just school supplies, the duo hosting the event gave kids free haircuts, food, clothes, and backpacks.
“We’re just giving out school supplies, backpacks and stuff like that for the kids, we know it is hard right now, so we want to give back,” said Randy Cummings.
Randy Cummings and Shakeara Jones wanted their giveaway to be an experience, not a grab and go stop.
Both brought in Salvation Army, several food vendors, and a bounce house to keep the kids entertained while the parents were able to grab the supplies.
Jones was motivated to start this event because they know the feeling of not being able to fully provide.
“The motivation was because actually I was a single mother myself, and it was always hard for me to get school supplies,” said Shakeara Jones. “Now, God blessed me with all of this stuff, and I am so happy to give back to people”
Shakeara Jones owns Stylez by Kay, a new hair salon in the area. She wanted to give not only supplies, but also give her talents.
“You know, some people don’t have $15-$20 to get a haircut,” said Jones. “I thought, why not give it back to those less fortunate. So gonna go to school and get a free backpack, why not look good while doin’ it.”
The duo collected donations throughout the year to accomplish this massive giveaway. They plan to continue the tradition yearly. If you missed the donation this year, and would like to give, message Randy on Facebook by clicking here. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/back-to-school-bash-proves-success-in-first-year/ | 2023-07-31T01:56:11 | 1 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/local-news/back-to-school-bash-proves-success-in-first-year/ |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T01:56:17 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T01:56:23 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:56:29 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL)—A copy and paste kind of forecast as we progress into and through this coming week and next weekend.
High temperatures will remain above the century mark, while lows will hover close to 80 degrees. It won’t be surprising if some areas in Texoma actually set new record highs during this coming week, especially Tuesday and Wednesday.
Because of the soaring high temperatures, heat advisories and warnings are in effect tomorrow (Monday) until 8pm.
Though the high temperatures will be close to record highs during the week, we do have something to look forward to as the current ridge of high pressure slowly drifts eastward before another one moves in from the west/southwest, this should allow for a weak disturbance and frontal boundary to push southward providing a little temperature relief by early next week as well as a slight chance for showers and thunderstorms as early as this coming weekend. | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/will-we-set-any-new-records/ | 2023-07-31T01:56:35 | 0 | https://www.texomashomepage.com/news/will-we-set-any-new-records/ |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T01:58:56 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T01:59:02 | 0 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T01:59:08 | 1 | https://www.fox16.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T01:59:10 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T01:59:16 | 1 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T01:59:23 | 0 | https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
Silvermine Prairie State Natural Area holds open house
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - The Silvermine Prairie State Natural Area; Filled with bluestems and butterflies lies deep into Silvermine Drive and today hikers were able to discover the depths of it. With the Lower Chippewa River Alliance hosting this event, Chairman Sean Hartnett say these tours give people exposure to the natural beauty of the area.
“The main reason to do this open house was to let people know about these properties. You know, I had a group from the sierra club, most of them in town, most of them pretty astute, and only a couple of them had been down here. So it’s a nice property close at hand. So it’s part of the the educational process and then people know about these.” says Prof. Hartnett.
Ranging from 70 to 7 years old hikers on the tour were able to see the full lay of the land. Hiker Joe Knight recalls his time on the trail.
“We hiked through the prairie, saw some butterflies. One little girl saw a snake we couldn’t identify. Then we were down by the river, hiking along the river’s edge through a woodland trail. We saw the floodplain forest. This is a very nice spot.”, says Knight.
The other reason for this open house is to recognize their award for 2022 Local Conservation Organization of the Year given to the LCRA from The Wisconsin Conservation Congress. With this newfound recognition they plan to use it to prepare for the future.
“This award was kind of a surprise, but it’s a little bit of recognition. If there’s anything we could do with the recognition that this brings is one of our initiatives is working on the next generation of conservationists. And so we’ve been involving with some say some younger folks out here involved in it. And that’s that’s one of our initiatives to use the recognition as a way to open the door to future conservation issues.”
Conservationists with the LCRA have been working to maintain and preserve the land of the Silvermine Prairie since 1993.
Copyright 2023 WEAU. All rights reserved. | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/31/silvermine-prairie-state-natural-area-holds-open-house/ | 2023-07-31T02:00:12 | 1 | https://www.weau.com/2023/07/31/silvermine-prairie-state-natural-area-holds-open-house/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T02:00:13 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T02:00:20 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T02:00:26 | 0 | https://www.weau.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
SKANEATELES, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Crouse Health held its 6th annual “Polo for Preemies” fundraiser at the Skaneateles Polo Grounds today, July 30, where all proceeds went to helping sick newborns at Crouse Health’s Baker Regional NICU.
The activities kicked off at 1 p.m. with a silent auction, music and other family-friendly activities. Food and beverages were also available for purchase to help the fundraiser.
At 3 p.m. the main event got underway as the Skaneateles Polo Team played a match in front of the attendees.
General admission tickets that went to helping the NICU were $10, and all kids 12 and under were let in for free if they were with a paid adult. | https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/fundraiser-hosted-in-skaneateles-for-ill-premature-newborns/ | 2023-07-31T02:01:20 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/local-news/fundraiser-hosted-in-skaneateles-for-ill-premature-newborns/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://www.localsyr.com/news/national/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T02:01:26 | 1 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/national/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://www.localsyr.com/news/national/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T02:01:32 | 0 | https://www.localsyr.com/news/national/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
BEIJING, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- President Xi Jinping visited the site of a section of an ancient road system known as "Shudao" in Guangyuan on July 25, which winds its way through rugged mountains and ancient trees. There, Xi learned about efforts surrounding ecological conservation.
This visit marks Xi's attention to China's ecological development, which has achieved remarkable progress over the past 10 years, said experts.
Witnessing the government's recent remarks on ecology, they believed that the country's road of building a Beautiful China has demonstrated the nation's wisdom in balancing the needs of economic development and improving the environment.
Before heading to Sichuan, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivered a speech at a national conference on ecological and environmental protection held from July 17 to 18.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone a historic, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
Noting that China's economy and society have entered a stage of high-quality development marked by accelerated progress in promoting green and low-carbon growth, Xi called for higher standards, a broader perspective and stronger efforts in planning and advancing ecological and environmental protection on the new journey, as well as writing a new chapter of ecological conservation in the new era.
Xi stressed the need to properly handle the relationships between high-quality development and high-level protection, between tackling major challenges and coordinating governance, between natural recovery and human-assisted restoration, between external constraints and internal driving forces, as well as between "dual carbon" commitments and self-determined actions.
Xi said that the country's ecological conservation has undergone historical, transformative and comprehensive changes both in theory and practice, with significant strides made in building a Beautiful China.
This conference again showed us how importance the central government attaches to ecological protection, an official from environment protection bureau in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times on Friday. He said during the past 10 years, ecological protection has become an increasingly important indictor in evaluating government's performance in his city, which was famous for coal production.
"Although planting trees costs more in Inner Mongolia than in other parts of China due to lack of water and dry weather, we learned in the past 10 years that making our city greener brings more benefits than leaving the mountains bare. The city becomes more beautiful, residents are happy, and more tourists visit; also we saw less sandstorms," the official said.
During a press conference on Thursday, Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment, highlighted China's achievement on ecological protection over recent years.
From 2013 to 2022, China's average PM2.5 concentration decreased by 57 percent and the number of heavily polluted days decreased by 93 percent, while the nation's GDP doubled during the same period, Huang said. This made China the country with the fastest improvement in air quality worldwide. Specifically, in Beijing, the average PM2.5 concentration decreased from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022, and the number of heavily polluted days decreased from 58 to only 3, said Huang. The United Nations Environment Agency praised this achievement as the "Beijing Miracle."
Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times that "China has engaged in a sustained top-down efforts for many years to enhance ecological protection. The central and local governments march together toward the same goal, with continuous environmental policies. Moreover, the country has demonstrated its wisdom in how to balance ecological development and maintain fast economic growth at the same time."
Perfect balance
We should protect nature and preserve the environment like we protect our eyes, and endeavor to foster a new relationship where man and nature can both prosper and live in harmony, President Xi once said.
Xi has given important instructions on the rational utilization and friendly protection of the ecological environment during his numerous visits to the frontlines of ecological protection, such as to the Maanshan forest farm in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Qilian Mountains, the Shandan Horse Ranch in Gansu, an ecological wetland of the Dianchi Lake in Kunming, and many other places.
In June 2022, Xi visited Yibin, Sichuan Province, where the Jinsha and Minjiang rivers converge into the Yangtze River. He noted that sound ecological conservation along the Yangtze River basin is the precondition for advancing high-quality development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
The Yellow River and the Yangtze River are the mother rivers of the Chinese nation. The protection of the mother rivers is a crucial project concerning the great rejuvenation and sustainable development of the Chinese nation, Xi said at the time.
From June 5 to 6 this year, accompanied by officials from Inner Mongolia, Xi was on a fact-finding mission at a nature reserve, a modern agricultural demonstration park, a forest farm and a water resources department in the city of Bayannur.
On June 6, Xi presided over a symposium in Bayannur on strengthening the comprehensive prevention and control of desertification and promoting the construction of crucial ecological projects, including the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program.
Xi, who was then the Party Chief of Zhejiang, put forward the famous "two mountains" concept - clear waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets comparable to the gold and silver of legend - in August 2005 during his visit to Anji county.
Nowadays, residents in the county has sought out ways to make a living that they enjoy, with many becoming businessmen, running their own hostels, shops and tourism companies, thanks to the improved natural environment.
Pan Chunlin, a former miner, who now runs a hostel after local mines were shut down, explained the transformation to the Global Times "My annual income is now hundreds of times higher than before. Today, I can earn in a day what I used to make in one year".
Following the development approach referred to as the "two mountains" concept, in the past decade, Anji has modeled itself into a place known for its beautiful ecology and prosperous green industries, which have completely changed the villagers' lives, Jin Peihua, head of the "Two Mountains" Concept Research Institute affiliated with Huzhou University, said.
Global bellwether
Apart from domestic efforts, China is also making efforts in unifying a global effort on ecological preservation.
The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, known as COP15, was convened in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.
As the first global conference convened by the United Nations on the topic of ecological civilization, a philosophy proposed by China, it offered a platform for countries to find common ground on "Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth."
During an official trip to Zimbabwe in 2015, Xi visited a local wildlife sanctuary, where he fed an orphaned elephant. He reiterated China's commitment to wildlife protection and pledged to help Zimbabwe do so by donating equipment and exchanging experience with China.
Recalling Xi's explanation of China's initiatives to breed giant pandas and expand protected areas, Roxy Danckwerts, the founder of the sanctuary, said, "I thought that was very significant that he is making such big strides in his own country."
Bradley Blankenship, a Prague-based American journalist, columnist and political commentator, recently spent a week in Beijing. Speaking with the Global Times, he said that "I must admit that based on the antiquated view of China that many Americans have and discuss publicly, I expected the city to be smoggy and congested. To the contrary, it has beautiful blue skies.
"China has been successful in beautifying Beijing, as well as other cities and towns, by transitioning from coal power to gas, establishing emission standards for coal-fired stations, implementing tougher standards for other industries such as steel and cement and seeking high-quality development with a high-quality ecological environment. These achievements have been so successful that Beijing now stands as an example for mega-cities around the globe, particularly those in the Global South," Blankenship said.
During a visit to Guizhou in June, Manasa R. Tagicakibau, Fiji's Ambassador to China, said China is "so advanced" when it comes to ecological civilization. "You look at the development that's been achieved by Guizhou authorities together with the local people, ethnic minorities and the population at large, in terms of developing the area to make this mountainous area a very safe and harmonious and happy place to live in. I'm impressed."
The ambassador said Guizhou shares a lot of similarities to some of the mountainous regions in Fiji, but there is a lot to be done in Fiji in terms of accessibility and this is an area that Fiji can learn from China.
However, some Western countries, so-called pioneering initiatives on environment protection, take a laissez-afire attitude in face of environment disasters. Recently, Chinese scientists used scientific methods to assess it and concluded that, as of Wednesday, the carbon dioxide emissions from Canadian wildfires have reached approximately 1 billion tons, which has already developed into a global environmental event.
It is worth mentioning that the forest area in China is approximately 2.31 million square kilometers, which is roughly two-thirds of that in Canada. However, the average annual emission of carbon dioxide caused by forest fires in China from 2000-21 was approximately 15 million tons, only 0.2 percent of the global forest fire emissions, demonstrating China's responsible role as a major country, experts noted.
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SOURCE Global Times | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ | 2023-07-31T02:02:18 | 0 | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/global-times-xis-footsteps-sichuan-demonstrate-chinas-wisdom-balancing-economic-devt-ecological-protection/ |
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union was served legal notice today that Yellow Corp. is ceasing operations and filing for bankruptcy.
"Today's news is unfortunate but not surprising. Yellow has historically proven that it could not manage itself despite billions of dollars in worker concessions and hundreds of millions in bailout funding from the federal government. This is a sad day for workers and the American freight industry," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien.
The Teamsters are committed to ensuring members are protected and notified with all the latest information. The International is putting infrastructure in place to help affected members get the assistance they need to find good union jobs throughout freight and other industries.
The situation is developing. Additional details are forthcoming.
Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
dmoskowitz@teamster.org
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ | 2023-07-31T02:02:25 | 1 | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/teamsters-notified-that-yellow-corp-operating-companies-have-closed/ |
Amid a wave of incidents involving fans at concerts throwing objects at artists, it happened again this weekend.
This time to rapper Cardi B, who returned the favor.
A video from her performance in Las Vegas on Saturday shows someone in the crowd, close to the stage, throwing a drink at Cardi. The rapper then throws her microphone back at the person.
Security got involved, and the rapper reportedly continued with her set.
So far, no charges have been filed against the person who threw the drink at Cardi or against Cardi for throwing her microphone.
Cardi later posted on socialmedia a video where she says, “not the girl who threw the water yelling she’s sorry after.”
This comes after an alarming string of incidents where people keep throwing things on stage, sometimes even hurting performers.
In June, Pop star Bebe Rexha was hit by a cellphone in the face during a show in New York, forcing her to stop the music. The strike left the singer with a black eyeand in need of stitches.
Also in June, country artist Kelsea Ballerini was hit in the face by an object. She too stopped her set before returning with a message to fans.
This month, Harry Styles was also hit in the eye with an object while performing in Vienna, and rapper Drake was hit in the arm by a phone thrown during his concert in Chicago.
SEE MORE: Why do fans keep throwing things at artists during concerts?
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.ksby.com/cardi-b-throws-microphone-at-concertgoer-after-they-throw-drink-at-her | 2023-07-31T02:02:27 | 0 | https://www.ksby.com/cardi-b-throws-microphone-at-concertgoer-after-they-throw-drink-at-her |
SUZHOU, China, July 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Transcenta Holding Limited ("Transcenta") (HKEX: 06628), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully-integrated capabilities in discovery, research, development and manufacturing of antibody-based therapeutics, announces that it has received approval from China Center for Drug Evaluation (CDE) to initiate Phase II clinical trial of TST002(Blosozumab). This study aims to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of TST002(Blosozumab) after single and multiple intravenous administrations in patients with reduced bone mineral density.
Osteoporosis is a significant health concern for the middle-aged and elderly population in China. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of osteoporosis patients will reach 120 million. Compared with RANKL mAbs, sclerostin mAbs successfully achieve the dual goal of preventing bone loss and rebuilding the bone. Evenity (Romosozumab) of Amgen is the only anti-sclerostin antibody drug that has been approved by the FDA in the United States. Up to the present, there was no anti-sclerostin antibody drug approved in China.
In May 2023, Transcenta presented Phase I unblinded data, which showed that the overall safety and tolerability of TST002 (Blosozumab) in all dose cohorts is favorable. On the efficacy side, all dose cohorts from 200-1,200 mg have shown a clinically meaningful increase in lumbar spine BMD on Day 85 (D85) after a single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab) and comparable to those of Blosozumab single dose study at the similar dose levels. The average increase of lumbar spine BMD at Day 85 (D85) from baseline ranged from 3.52% to 6.20% across dose cohorts, all exceeding the least significant difference (2.77%). The increase of lumbar spine BMD in the placebo group was only 0.30% even with optimal calcium and vitamin D supplemental treatment. In addition, encouraging BMD increase in total hip from 1.30% to 2.24% across dose cohorts were observed after single dose of TST002 (Blosozumab). In comparison, the mean percent change in lumbar spine BMD from baseline to month 12 was 5.4% after one year of Denosumab treatment.1
"We are excited to have received the clearance to move forward from CDE. Our Phase II will assess several regimens of TST002 (Blosozumab) with reduced dosing frequency, bringing us closer to our Phase III. We look forward to fully exploring the differentiated profile of TST002 to address the unmet medical need of the large patient population who suffers from osteoporosis," said Dr. Caroline Germa, Transcenta's Executive Vice President, Global Medicine Development and Chief Medical Officer.
Reference:
1 https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/105/3/e255/5607536
About TST002 (Blosozumab)
TST002 (Blosozumab) is a humanized anti-sclerostin monoclonal antibody as a drug candidate for osteoporosis and other bone loss diseases. It has a dual effect possessing both anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, which stimulates bone formation and inhibits bone absorption, resulting in fast increase in bone mineral density and bone strength. Blocking sclerostin activity in human treated with anti-sclerostin antibody or with naturally occurring genetic deletion has been shown to be an effective approach in increasing bone mineral density (BMD) and reducing bone fracture. Currently there is no approved anti-sclerostin antibody therapy in China yet although Romosozumab from Amgen has been approved in the United States, Europe and Japan.
About Transcenta Holding Limited
Transcenta (HKEX: 06628) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with fully integrated capabilities in antibody-based biotherapeutics discovery, research, development and manufacturing.
Transcenta has established global footprint, with Headquarters and Discovery, Clinical and Translational Research Center in Suzhou, Process and Product Development Center and Manufacturing Facility in Hangzhou, and Clinical Development Centers in Princeton, US and in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou of China, and External Partnering Center in Boston and Los Angeles, US. Transcenta has also initiated the construction of the Group Headquarters and the second high-end biopharmaceutical facility with ICB as its core technology in Suzhou Industrial Park. Transcenta is developing 13 therapeutic antibody molecules for oncology and selected non-oncology indications including bone and kidney disorders.
For more information, please visit www.transcenta.com and https://www.linkedin.com/company/transcenta.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties. The words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and similar expressions, as they relate to Transcenta, are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements. Transcenta does not intend to update these forward-looking statements regularly.
These forward-looking statements are based on the existing beliefs, assumptions, expectations, estimates, projections and understandings of the management of Transcenta with respect to future events at the time these statements are made. These statements are not a guarantee of future developments and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond Transcenta's control and are difficult to predict. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of future changes or developments in our business, Transcenta's competitive environment and political, economic, legal and social conditions.
Transcenta, the Directors and the employees of Transcenta assume (a) no obligation to correct or update the forward-looking statements contained in this site; and (b) no liability in the event that any of the forward-looking statements does not materialize or turn out to be incorrect.
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SOURCE Transcenta Holding Limited | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ | 2023-07-31T02:02:32 | 0 | https://www.kmvt.com/prnewswire/2023/07/31/transcenta-anti-sclerostin-monoclonal-antibody-tst002-blosozumab-received-approval-china-cde-initiate-phase-ii-clinical-trial-patients-with-reduced-bone-mineral-density/ |
Music streaming is through the roof this year.
With acts from all over the world taking over the charts and doing so in record fashion.
American music acts are on the list of chart-topping hits from Miley Cyrus, whose single "Flowers" reached one billion streams faster than any song in Spotifyhistory in 2023. To SZA's smash hit "Kill Bill," which has also amassed more than a billion streams this year.
Luminate, one of the leaders in global entertainment data and research, says global streams have already topped one trillion this year.
The fastest climb to a trillion streams since the inception of music streaming reached just three months into the year, a full month faster than last year. And with that growth comes an increasing interest in non-English-language music.
Luminate’s report found nearly 40% of music listeners in the U.S. enjoy music in languages other than English.
Spanish and K-pop are leading the surge in global pop music.
"They both have incredibly loyal and passionate fan bases, and that really creates an environment where fans are always on the lookout for new music," said Jaime Marconette.
Marconette is Luminate’s senior director of music insights and industry relations.
When asked if English-speaking artists are losing their global appeal, Marconette said what we're seeing is most likely due to the increase of people speaking other languages other than English in the country.
"I think that's a fair question, but I think that's a really complicated answer because I don't know if they're losing their appeal," said Marconette. "But I think that what we're seeing is probably a bit of a rise of native languages, or languages that are specific to certain regions, or even diasporas as they move to other countries, starting to grow."
SEE MORE: Why are Mexican Corridos gaining popularity on the music charts?
Latin megastar Bad Bunny’s "Un Verano Sin Ti," which dropped in the Spring of 2022, continues to dominate Luminate’s mid-year top album chart in 2023.
When it comes to both physical and digital sales, K-pop is as pop as it gets.
"The number one source of discovery for K-pop fans here in the U.S. is video and then also audio streaming services; you know, these K-pop fans are also 76% more likely to stream music than the average listener," said Marconette.
Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Italian, German, and Arabic have all emerged as popular languages for non-anglophonic music.
The cultural melting pot that is the U.S. is also helping the rise of non-English music.
"But one of the things that we're seeing is that changing population demographics is definitely making the import of music from other countries easier," said Marconette.
Content platforms like YouTube and social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram also bring the world’s music to U.S. listeners and make it easier for people to share new songs.
"There are really no borders; there are really no geographical barriers," said Marconette. "We're finding that fans in other countries are very easily able to access all sorts of music; you know, really, the world's music library is essentially available."
While it's safe to say English-speaking music will always be around, American music executives are certainly paying attention to the shift. That means they're scoping out international talent more than ever.
"Understanding population changes, you know, those sorts of things together can really guide the way for, you know, music to cross borders, whether, you know, internationally or coming into the U.S. as well," said Marconette.
Trending stories at Scrippsnews.com | https://www.ksby.com/music-streams-for-2023-hit-1-trillion-in-record-time | 2023-07-31T02:02:33 | 1 | https://www.ksby.com/music-streams-for-2023-hit-1-trillion-in-record-time |
Updated July 29, 2023 at 11:35 AM ET
Two Supreme Court decisions are changing the way students, educators and even the Biden administration are approaching higher education.
The first ruling ended affirmative action for public and private colleges. It declared that race conscious admissions programs at both Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The second put a halt to President Biden's student loan cancellation plan. Now the Biden administration is trying to find new ways to make college more accessible. The administration recently unveiled a new student loan repayment plan that will save borrowers thousands of dollars by keeping monthly payments low and preventing interest from accumulating.
This week, the administration's focus is on affirmative action: The U.S. Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into the practice of legacy admissions at Harvard University, and on Friday, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Wesleyan University, which recently got rid of legacy admissions.
Legacy admissions are on the chopping block
The federal inquiry comes after to three Boston-based groups — the Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England and the Greater Boston Latino Network — filed a complaint with the Education Department against Harvard. It accuses the university of discriminating against Black, Hispanic, Asian and other non-white undergraduate applicants by showing preference for those who have family relationships with donors or alumni.
In a statement to NPR, Harvard spokesperson Nicole Rura said the university is reviewing its admissions policy to ensure it is "complying with the law and to carry forward Harvard's longstanding commitment to welcoming students from a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences."
Ivory Toldson, the national director of Education Innovation and Research at the NAACP, said that legacy admissions compromise a university's ability to create a diverse student body. He said if colleges are committed to diversity, they should not be favoring applicants from wealthier backgrounds.
"Now that race conscious admissions has been outlawed by the Supreme Court, you have to look at other ways to achieve diversity," Toldson said during an interview for Morning Edition.
Toldson said legacy admissions should be abolished.
The impact of legacy admissions policies on a student body
A study released this week by the Harvard School of Economics showed that richer applicants are getting a leg up in the college admissions process. Students from affluent backgrounds are twice as likely to get into top colleges than students from more middle class backgrounds, even if the students have similar GPAs and SAT scores.
Admissions data cited in documents that were part of the affirmative action case revealed that nearly 70% of the university's legacy applicants were white — including applicants who have relationships with donors, those who are children of faculty or staff, and athletes applicants. And while legacy applicants make up less than 5% of applicants to Harvard, the data showed they constitute around 30% of the applicants admitted each year, the ruling cited.
Some schools have gotten rid of legacy admissions altogether.
Wesleyan University, a private liberal arts college in Connecticut that has a 16% acceptance rate, recently eliminated its legacy admissions policy. Wesleyan President Michael Roth told NPR's Leila Fadel, during an interview for Morning Edition, the decision to end the policy was a direct response to the Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended affirmative action as part of college admissions.
"It became clear to me that any advantage you give to incumbents, to people who already have advantages, is a glaring sign of unfairness," Roth said.
Other schools have done the same. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities also ended legacy admissions this month, and Colorado passed a state law banning the practice at all public colleges and universities.
"Not getting in" is just one concern for students
Whitney Gouche is vice president of a nonprofit called EMERGE that serves high-achieving students from low-income areas in Texas. She said her students feel discouraged by the recent Supreme Court decision.
"We've explained to our students, that regardless of the decision, you still belong here, she said. "You have the merits to be a successful student at this campus."
Convincing students to apply isn't the easiest task — concerns about high cost are also on students' minds. Even if they get in, it could cost about $70,000 in tuition for an elite college like Wesleyan.
Roth said that while admitted students who qualify for financial aid will receive it at Wesleyan, the university has to do more to convince students to apply in the first place.
"We have to be very aggressive in recruiting students from places that haven't typically looked at schools like Wesleyan," Roth said.
Roth said that ending legacy admissions won't solve the more widespread problem of education disparities in the United States.
"Legacy admissions is attractive to talk about, but the real issues are elsewhere," Roth said.
This story was edited by Erika Aguilar.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.wlrn.org/npr-breaking-news/npr-breaking-news/2023-07-26/colleges-are-ending-legacy-admissions-to-diversify-campuses-post-affirmative-action | 2023-07-31T02:03:00 | 0 | https://www.wlrn.org/npr-breaking-news/npr-breaking-news/2023-07-26/colleges-are-ending-legacy-admissions-to-diversify-campuses-post-affirmative-action |
MUNCIE, Ind. (WXIN) — A street party in Muncie, Indiana, turned into the scene of a deadly shooting early Sunday morning.
One man died and nearly two dozen others were injured. Of those wounded, 19 were treated at Ball Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, and four were taken to other hospitals. Thirteen victims remained hospitalized in stable condition Sunday afternoon.
After the mass shooting, police announced that there was no further danger to the general public.
”Stranger comes up and decides to take it personal on somebody he knows in the crowd,” said one anonymous man who claimed his nephew was the block party’s disc jockey. “And you can’t fight against an AR. He let loose in the crowd. Everywhere in the crowd.”
The Delaware County coroner identified the deceased victim as 30-year-old Joseph Bonner. There’s no indication if Bonner played an active role in the shooting, whether any other victims are suspected of firing guns, or if any firearms were recovered.
A witness at IU/Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie described a scene of emergency department chaos with more than 100 people descending on the facility — many of whom were victims that were taken to the hospital by private vehicles.
Officers from several agencies — including a Muncie-based FBI agent — secured the crime scene and collected evidence while doctors and nurses treated the wounded from the mass casualty event.
By midday, detectives were still walking the debris-strewn street and parking lot with brown bags filled with collected evidence. A tow truck was also seen hauling away a bullet-riddled red Buick that appeared to have crashed during an attempt to leave the scene.
The Muncie Homecoming Festival committee said the street party where the shooting happened was not part of the official MHF celebration going on this week.
Muncie Parks Superintendent Carl Malone told Nexstar’s WXIN he chaired a neighborhood crime watch meeting last Thursday, and residents expressed fear that this weekend could turn volatile.
”We was a little concerned about violence that we thought might happen,” said Malone, who described Muncie Homecoming as a city-wide welcome home celebration held once every four years for former residents and family members to reconnect with their hometown. ”You had a lot of people congregating in one area, just hanging out and wanting to be part of the neighborhood activities. And then, at that point at time, it got into late night, and when you get into late nights, you usually have some sort of curfew violations, alcohol, guns and drugs seem to be a problem.”
Malone said Muncie has not had a community-wide gun violence initiative since 2015.
”We’ve always had concerns about this area and teenagers involved with handguns,” said Malone, whose niece attended the party. ”She just got out of surgery. She’s doing well. She’s whole. And then my godson was being treated out at Ball Hospital.”
Malone said he will meet with the city’s police leadership Monday morning to review the shooting and plans for keeping Muncie streets safe the rest of the summer.
”The mayor knows my push for gun violence, the lack of gun violence education, the lack of gun violence awareness, the lack of how to report gun violence in and out of our homes,” Malone said. “There’s a way to report crime, there’s a way to report guns, and we just have to report guns in and out of our backpacks and homes.”
Muncie is about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis. The city is home to about 65,000 people. | https://who13.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ | 2023-07-31T02:03:30 | 1 | https://who13.com/news/national-news/1-dead-23-wounded-after-street-party-shooting-in-indiana/ |
At 24, Alberto Rodriguez has grandparents younger than Joe Biden. But he’s more interested in the 80-year-old president’s accomplishments than his age.
“People as young as me, we’re all focusing on our day-to-day lives and he has done things to help us through that,” Rodriguez, a cook at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, said of Biden’s support among young voters. Rodriguez pointed specifically to federal COVID-19 relief payments and government spending increases on infrastructure and other social programs.
Voters like him were a key piece of Biden’s winning 2020 coalition, which included majorities of young people as well as college graduates, women, urban and suburban voters and Black Americans. Maintaining their support will be critical in closely contested states such as Nevada, where even small declines could prove consequential to Biden’s reelection bid.
His 2024 campaign plans to emphasize messages that could especially resonate with young people in the coming weeks as the anniversary of the sweeping Inflation Reduction Act approaches in mid-August. That legislation includes provisions that the White House will embrace to argue that Biden has done more than any other president to combat climate change.
Such efforts, however, could collide with Biden’s personal reality — like when he recalled that, while attending a St. Patrick’s Day parade at age 14, he appeared in a photo with President Harry S. Truman.
“Purely by accident — I assume it was an accident — the photographer from the newspaper got a picture of me making eye contact with Harry Truman,” Biden said to chuckles last week at the Truman Civil Rights Symposium in Washington.
In 2020, 61% of voters under age 30 — and 55% of those between 30 and 44 — supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a nationwide survey of the electorate.
It’s an age group with which Republicans hope to make inroads. Former President Donald Trump, who is the early front-runner in the GOP presidential primary and is only 3 1/2 years younger than Biden, said Friday, “We are hitting the young person’s market like nobody’s ever seen before.”
Kevin Munoz, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, referred to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement in arguing that “young people are acutely impacted by the issues front and center in this election, driven by the extreme MAGA agenda.” He said that included inaction on climate change, gun violence and student debt.
“We will meet younger Americans where they are and turn their energy into action,” Munoz said in a statement.
That might not defuse questions about age, though, when it comes to Biden or Trump.
“There’s a frustration and exhaustion that they feel with the rematch,” Terrance Woodbury, co-founder & CEO of the Democratic polling firm HIT Strategies, said of young voters.
“That’s more of a problem than either of those two candidates individually, is that a system can just keep reproducing,” Woodbury added. “And I think a lot of people just find that untenable.”
An April poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that just 25% of Democrats under 45 said they would definitely support Biden in a general election, compared with 56% of older Democrats. A majority of Democrats across age groups said they would probably support him as the party’s nominee, however.
Biden’s campaign is relying heavily on the Democratic National Committee, which during last year’s midterms, hired campus organizers in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona and other battleground states and offered weekly youth coordinating meetings to encourage in-class contacts and “dormstorms.” The DNC sees young people as some of the most critical voters it will need to reach in 2024 and promises “significant investments” to mobilize them. Plans are underway to expand on its work last cycle, including trainings it held on how best to turn out voters.
The Republican National Committee is trying to use Biden’s age against him, posting online videos of Biden seeming frail or making verbal gaffes, such as when he declared in June “God save the queen,” nearly nine months after the death of England’s Queen Elizabeth II.
Rodriguez shrugged off online attacks, “People can make all the hit pieces and memes and TikToks all they want.”
A starker contrast might be between the president and rising Democrats such as 46-year-old California Rep. Ro Khanna and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 41, one of Biden’s primary rivals in 2020. Neither seriously entertained running for the White House in 2024 and have backed Biden’s reelection.
“The only thing that really matters is your ability to do the job,” Buttigieg, who was 37 when he launched his 2020 presidential bid, said recently on CNN. Khanna told Fox News Channel that age will “obviously” be a 2024 factor, but suggested that Biden’s staff “overprotects” him and “the more he’s out there, the better.”
Other top young Democrats have lined up to back Biden. Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, who was elected to Congress last year at 26, is on the Biden campaign’s advisory board, as is Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, 44. New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 33, recently endorsed Biden.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a progressive who says strong turnout among young voters helped him win a runoff election this spring, said Biden’s policies transcend his age. Johnson noted that the president’s work “around climate justice speaks not just to this generation, but generations to come.”
“The excitement that I believe that we’re going to have is going to speak to the incredible work and organizing that we are committed to doing as a party,” said Johnson, 47. “And we’re looking forward to working with the president over the course of his next four years.”
Still, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, acknowledged that even the president’s supporters understand how demanding the White House can be.
“People worry about Joe Biden. They worry like you would worry about a beloved father or grandfather,” said Weingarten, 65. “What you normally hear from Democrats is this sense of, ‘OK, I just want him to be OK.’ And you’re hearing just the consternation of, ’This is a hard job.’”
Biden said he “took a hard look” at his age while deciding to seek a second term. But he’s also tried to suggest his age and experience are assets rather than liabilities by joking repeatedly about them. That’s a departure from 2020, when Biden called himself a “transition candidate” and pledged to be a “bridge” to younger Democrats.
Santiago Mayer, the founder of Voters of Tomorrow, which has 20-plus chapters nationwide and works to increase political engagement among young voters, argues that Biden is not defying his past promise by running for reelection, but keeping it.
“He just needs more time,” said Mayer, who graduated from California State University at Long Beach in May. “I think the second term is a very important part of that pledge. He’s building a progressive future for young people and he can’t actually pass the baton until that’s done.”
One key policy piece of Biden’s efforts to appeal to young voters, providing student debt relief, was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The White House has launched a new effort, but it will take longer.
“Of course it’s going to dampen some of that because people are disappointed,” Weingarten said of the ruling’s effect on enthusiasm for Biden. But she said the decision could also motivate young Biden supporters anxious show their support for the president’s alternative plan.
“It is also about the fight,” Weingarten said “not just about the results.” | https://who13.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ | 2023-07-31T02:03:36 | 1 | https://who13.com/news/national-news/joe-biden-the-oldest-sitting-president-needs-young-voters-will-his-age-matter/ |
(NewsNation) — While questions remain about a mystery company buying 52,000 acres of land near an Air Force base, a congressman says farmers in the area are being targeted in a lawsuit.
Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., has been speaking out over the past five years about the $800 million in land acquisitions by Flannery Associates near Travis Air Force Base in Northern California.
In an interview with NewsNation, Garamendi said he’s been in contact with the families of farmers who handed over their land to Flannery. He said they didn’t want to sell in the first place.
Since no California laws require them to sell, the land was bargained for by both parties at a much higher price. But now, Flannery is suing those families for $510 million, accusing them of conspiring together to inflate the value of the land.
“It’s a suit designed to force the farmers to lawyer up, spend tens of thousands of dollars on lawyering and maybe at the end of the day, bankrupt themselves,” Garamendi said. “In fact, that has happened to at least one family that I know of and I’ve heard rumors that another family simply said we can’t afford the lawyers.”
NewsNation reviewed a copy of the lawsuit. Attorneys for Flannery said they believe “this is a simple case about a group of wealthy landowners who saw an opportunity to conspire, collude, price fix and illegally overcharge Flannery.”
But Garamendi said there was no viable economic reason to justify spending several times more than what the land is worth in the first place.
The suit comes as companies with ties to China have been ramping up efforts to buy American farmland in recent years.
Public records show “Flannery Associates” has invested more than $800 million on more than 50,000 acres of land surrounding the Travis Air Force Base since 2018.
Legal representation for Flannery said the group is controlled by U.S. citizens, with 97% of its capital coming from U.S.-based investors. But after eight months of investigation, federal officials can’t confirm or deny this to be true and have not been able to determine exactly who is backing the company.
The Air Force’s Foreign Investment Risk Review office is currently investigating Flannery Associates. Garamendi said there are valid concerns that Flannery’s land acquisitions could be tied to foreign enemies.
“The fact they chose to buy all three sides of the Travis Air Force Base even raises immediate questions about national security,” Garamendi said. “So, is this Chinese money? We don’t know, but we do know that the Chinese money was being used in North Dakota and we have a very deep suspicion, given the amount of money, given the lack of attention to values, that they simply want to acquire all of this land.”
NewsNation investigated the now thwarted deal with a Chinese-owned company in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Last year, 300 acres of farmland were purchased near the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota by Chinese-owned Fufeng – a deal that raised red flags about potential spying.
After pushback from the community, the city council ultimately voted to end the project, citing national security risks.
Garamendi said local residents near Travis Air Force Base are riled up, just like the residents in Grand Forks, due to how critical the area is for the U.S. military.
“Travis Air Force Base is absolutely essential. It is the gateway to the Pacific,” Garamendi said, later adding, “A good deal of the munitions that are going to Ukraine also passed through Travis Air Force Base.”
China has been buying up American farmland for years. Nearly 384,000 acres of agricultural land in the U.S. is controlled by China, and the rate at which they are purchasing land is growing, the USDA reports.
Chinese ownership of American farmland has increased 55% in the past five years, with almost 75% of it located in the South and about 16% on the West Coast. | https://who13.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ | 2023-07-31T02:03:42 | 0 | https://who13.com/news/national-news/mystery-group-buying-land-near-air-force-base-is-suing-farmers-congressman-says/ |
Megan Farmer of North Bend has been named to the Spring 2023 dean's list at Pacific University in Oregon. The dean's list recognizes undergraduate students in Pacific's colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business and Education who earn a grade-point average of at least 3.70 and complete 12 or more graded credit hours.
Pacific University serves more than 3,600 students in undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in the arts and sciences, business, education, optometry and health professions. Committed to inspiring students to think, care, create, and pursue justice in the world, Pacific offers a transformational liberal arts foundation paired with meaningful professional preparation. | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/megan-farmer-named-to-pacific-university-spring-deans-list/article_0cd11a5a-2e2b-11ee-b23c-cb1ef2ed62a3.html | 2023-07-31T02:03:54 | 0 | https://theworldlink.com/news/local/megan-farmer-named-to-pacific-university-spring-deans-list/article_0cd11a5a-2e2b-11ee-b23c-cb1ef2ed62a3.html |
RICHMOND, Va. -- Two women were injured, one of them critically, in a shooting on Richmond's Southside early Sunday morning, Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett.
Officers were called to the 2400 block of Halifax Avenue near Richmond Highway for a report of a shooting, according to those sources.
When police arrived, they found two victims. One of the women suffered injuries that were described as life-threatening, sources told Burkett.
No details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting have been released.
If you have information that could help detectives, call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000 or submit a tip online at www.7801000.com. The P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app for smartphones may also be used. All three Crime Stoppers methods of contact are anonymous.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip. | https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/halifax-avenue-double-shooting-richmond-july-30-2023 | 2023-07-31T02:04:00 | 0 | https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/halifax-avenue-double-shooting-richmond-july-30-2023 |