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FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Central Bank made its largest-ever interest rate increase Thursday, following the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks in a global stampede of rapid rate hikes meant to snuff out record inflation that is squeezing consumers and pushing Europe toward recession.
The bank’s 25-member governing council raised its key benchmarks by an unprecedented three-quarters of a percentage point for the 19 countries that use the euro currency. The ECB usually moves rates by a quarter-point and had not raised its key bank lending rate by three-quarters of a point since the euro’s launch in 1999.
Bank President Christine Lagarde said the ECB will keep hiking rates “over the next several meetings” because “inflation remains far too high and is likely to stay above our target for an extended period.” She said energy prices will stay “extraordinarily high.”
While Lagarde stopped short of predicting a recession later this year, which many economists expect, she told reporters that “recent data point to a substantial slowdown in euro-area economic growth, with the economy expected to stagnate later in the year and in the first quarter of 2023.”
The bank’s jumbo increase is aimed at raising the cost of borrowing for consumers, governments and businesses, which in theory slows spending and investment and cools off soaring consumer prices by reducing the demand for goods.
Analysts say it’s also aimed at bolstering the bank’s credibility after it underestimated how long and how severe this outbreak of inflation would be. After reaching a record 9.1% in August, inflation may rise into double digits in coming months, economists say.
The war in Ukraine has fueled inflation in Europe, with Russia sharply reducing supplies of cheap natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and run factories. That has driven up gas prices by 10 times or more.
European officials decry the cutbacks as blackmail aimed at pressuring and dividing the European Union over its support for Ukraine. Russia has blamed technical problems and threatened this week to cut off energy supplies completely if the West institutes planned price caps on Moscow’s natural gas and oil.
Some economists say the ECB’s interest rate hikes, including a half-point hike at its last meeting in July, could deepen a European recession predicted for the end of this year and the beginning of 2023, caused by higher inflation that has made everything from groceries to utility bills more expensive.
Lagarde said the bank, however, did not foresee a fall in economic output under its current assumptions. A 2022-23 recession could occur only under a “really dark” worst-case scenario where all Russian natural gas is cut off, alternative supplies are not available and governments have to resort to energy rationing, she said.
Energy prices are beyond the ECB’s control, but the bank has reasoned that rate hikes will prevent higher prices from being baked into expectations for wage and price deals and that decisive action now will forestall the need for even bigger hikes if inflation gets ingrained.
Europe’s central bank “wants to fight inflation — and wants to be seen as fighting inflation,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg bank.
Though energy prices and government support programs to shield consumers from some of the pain will “have a much bigger impact on inflation and the depth of the looming recession than monetary policy,” he said.
Carsten Brzeski, chief eurozone economist at ING bank, also said the coming recession “will be driven by energy prices and not by interest rates.”
Higher rates could help the fight against inflation by raising the euro’s exchange rate against the dollar and other currencies. That’s because the euro’s recent slide to under $1 — driven by soaring energy costs and dampening economic prospects — makes imported goods, including energy, more expensive.
The ECB has lagged other global central banks in raising rates. Central banks worldwide scrambled after being wrong-footed by inflation fed by Russia’s war in Ukraine and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have sent energy prices higher and restricted supplies of parts and raw materials.
The sudden campaign to raise interest rates follows years in which borrowing costs and inflation stayed low because of broad trends such as globalization, aging populations and digitalization.
The ECB’s benchmark is now 1.25% for lending to banks. The Fed’s main benchmark is 2.25% to 2.5% after several large rate hikes, including two of three-quarters of a point. The Bank of England’s key benchmark is 1.75%, and the Bank of Canada on Wednesday raised its benchmark by three-quarters of a point, to 3.25%. | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/ap-european-central-bank-to-join-us-fed-in-outsized-rate-hikes/ | 2022-09-08T14:42:35Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/breaking-news/ap-top-news/ap-european-central-bank-to-join-us-fed-in-outsized-rate-hikes/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
– FanDuel Becomes an Official Sportsbook Partner of the WNBA –
– FanDuel TV to Have Rights to Air WNBA Highlights –
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and FanDuel announced a multiyear partnership extension today, making FanDuel an Official Sportsbook Partner and Official Daily Fantasy Partner of the WNBA. The extension arrives five years after FanDuel initially partnered with the WNBA, which marked the company's first partnership with a women's professional sports league and the first major fantasy operator to launch a WNBA game.
As part of the multiyear agreement, FanDuel becomes an Official Sportsbook Partner and continues to be an Official Daily Fantasy Partner of the WNBA, operating the Official Daily Fantasy Game of the WNBA. FanDuel will have the ability to leverage WNBA marks across its gaming platforms, as well as activate around retail and online sports betting. The company will also engage with fans through WNBA themed free-to-play games. In future seasons, FanDuel betting odds will also be featured on WNBA digital channels on select pages. In addition, FanDuel and the WNBA will collaborate on responsible gaming and best-in-class practices to protect the integrity of WNBA games.
"FanDuel has made a concerted effort to support sports equity," said Amy Howe, CEO of FanDuel Group. "We are tangibly acting to elevate female athletes and one important way to do that is growing strategic partnerships with an organization that is the true pioneer in the space – the WNBA. This new deal allows FanDuel to build and promote a true sports ecosystem around women's professional basketball including highlights now on FanDuel TV."
FanDuel will have a series of content integrations including highlights accessible within its sportsbook and fantasy sports platforms next season. The company will also have access to footage rights on FanDuel's owned and produced content across its various platforms including the company's recently announced television network, FanDuel TV and its new OTT network FanDuel+.
"We continue to see increased interest from a broadening fanbase in the WNBA. Fans are seeking more ways to engage with our game, and FanDuel has been a great partner in growing their offering to meet that demand, as shown by our partnership renewal," said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. "In the seasons ahead, we look forward to building on this strong partnership and working with FanDuel to introduce increased offerings as part of our focus on new and innovative ways to drive fan engagement and enhance the fan experience."
The WNBA has become a summer staple for FanDuel sports betting and has drawn significant interest over the summer months this year at the company's retail locations across the country. FanDuel has seen increases of 270% in bet count and 101% in handle year over year for WNBA betting across all FanDuel Sportsbook retail locations.
The FanDuel Sportsbook operates a retail or online sportsbook in the following states: Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
FanDuel Group is an innovative sports-tech entertainment company that is changing the way consumers engage with their favorite sports, teams, and leagues. The premier gaming destination in the United States, FanDuel Group consists of a portfolio of leading brands across gaming, sports betting, daily fantasy sports, advance-deposit wagering, and TV/media. FanDuel Group has a presence across all 50 states with approximately 17 million customers. The company is based in New York with offices in California, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, Georgia and Scotland. FanDuel Group is a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment plc, the world's largest sports betting and gaming operator with a portfolio of globally recognized brands and a constituent of the FTSE 100 index of the London Stock Exchange.
As the #1 mobile gaming operator, FanDuel believes it is critical to lead from the front on responsible gaming (RG). Every employee maintains a commitment to protecting our customers as we build an iconic sports brand that people trust. We have built an industry leading RG approach, including a more than 100-person team of full-time Compliance and RG professionals focused on strengthening our product across technology, marketing, product development and data/analytics. Finally, all FanDuel mobile products have in-app tools that allow customers to set time, deposit, and wager limits. Our Play Well website offers customers a central location to find support services, information on our RG tools and more details on our beliefs and approach to RG.
The WNBA, which tipped off the 2022 postseason on August 17, is a bold, progressive basketball league that stands for the power of women. Featuring 12 teams, the W is a unique sports property that combines competition and entertainment with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and social responsibility. Through its world-class athletes, the in-game fan experience, TV and digital broadcasts, digital and social content and community outreach programs, the league celebrates and elevates the game of basketball and the culture around it.
In 2020, the WNBA and the Women's National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) signed a groundbreaking eight-year CBA that charts a new course for women's basketball – and women's sports overall – with a focus on increased player compensation, improvements to the player experience, expanded career development opportunities and resources specifically tailored to the female professional athlete. Key elements of the agreement are supported through the league's partnership platform, WNBA Changemakers, with AT&T, the WNBA's Marquee Partner and inaugural Changemaker, as well as fellow inaugural Changemakers Deloitte and NIKE, Inc, and subsequent additions Google and U.S. Bank. During the 2020 season, the WNBA and WNBPA launched the WNBA Justice Movement forming the Social Justice Council with the mission of being a driving force of necessary change and continuing conversations about race and voting rights, among other important societal issues.
For more information, visit WNBA.com.
Media Contacts
Kevin Hennessy, FanDuel Group, kevin.hennessy@fanduel.com
Mike Wade, WNBA, mwade@nba.com
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SOURCE FanDuel Group | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/fanduel-group-wnba-announce-multiyear-partnership-renewal/ | 2022-09-08T14:43:35Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/fanduel-group-wnba-announce-multiyear-partnership-renewal/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina senators are moving toward a showdown on an abortion ban that does not include exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
Debate is expected to restart Thursday with a final vote looming after two attempts to get the exceptions back in the bill failed the day before — one up to six weeks into a pregnancy and another up to 20 weeks after conception.
There will probably be at least one last push before a final vote on the abortion ban. Thirteen states have so-called trigger laws designed to outlaw most abortions when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the constitutional right to end a pregnancy in June.
“I can count,” said Republican Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who wrote the six-week proposal. “I know this bill will not pass without exceptions”
There are 30 Republicans in the 46-member Senate, but a number of them are conservatives who have digested developments elsewhere since Roe v. Wade was overturned and say they don’t want 14-year-old rape victims to have to give birth. On the other side are Republicans that view any abortion as ending a life.
Democrats are mostly letting them argue among themselves, refusing to help more moderate Republicans and keeping the bill as strict as possible to try to defeat it.
If the legislation is approved and signed into law, South Carolina would join Indiana as states that have passed near-total abortion bans since the monumental Supreme Court ruling.
The debate started Wednesday with the three Republican women in the Senate speaking back-to-back, saying they can’t support the bill unless the rape or incest exceptions are restored.
Sen. Katrina Shealy said he 41 men in the Senate would be better off listening to their wives, daughters, mothers, granddaughters and looking at the faces of the girls in Sunday School classes at their churches.
“You want to believe that God is wanting you to push a bill through with no exceptions that kill mothers and ruins the lives of children — lets mothers bring home babies to bury them — then I think you’re miscommunicating with God. Or maybe you aren’t communicating with Him at all,” Shealy said before senators did add a proposal allowing abortions if a fetus cannot survive outside the womb.
Senators who support the ban said the state needs to show it values all life by taking advantage of the opening created by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I never thought I’d live to see Roe v. Wade overturned. We’ve got to rise to that moment,” Kimbrell said.
The same bill without the exceptions appeared to fail in the more conservative state House last week before some Republicans maneuvered through a series of votes to allow abortions for rape or incest victims up to the 12th week of pregnancy.
Senators did agree to change the bill to allow abortions when a doctor determines a fetus has a serious medical problem and will not survive outside the womb, and to allow dependents to get birth control if their parents get insurance through the health plan for state employees.
The bill would ban all abortions in South Carolina except when the mother’s life is at risk. Before they were removed, the bill also included exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest, allowing abortions up to 12 weeks after conception. In those cases, the doctor would have had to tell the patient that the crime and the abortion will be reported, with her name given to the county sheriff within 24 hours of the procedure.
Even if the exceptions for rape or incest are restored, survivors would be forced to unnecessarily relive their trauma, said Taylor Simon, the education and outreach manager for The Hive Community Circle, which works with women and girls in South Carolina who have been affected by sexual assault.
“It’s forcing them to go through invasive processes, such as going through interviews and court cases, all to receive health care after a traumatic experience,” Simon said.
South Carolina currently has a ban on abortions once cardiac activity in a fetus is detectable, which is usually about six weeks. But that law has been suspended as the South Carolina Supreme Court reviews whether it violates the state’s constitutional right to privacy. That leaves South Carolina’s older 20-week abortion ban as the current benchmark.
___
Associated Press writer James Pollard contributed to this report.
___
Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP. | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/ap-exceptions-split-republicans-in-south-carolina-abortion-ban/ | 2022-09-08T14:44:41Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/ap-exceptions-split-republicans-in-south-carolina-abortion-ban/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Attorney Advertising -- Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Kohl's Corporation ("Kohl's" or the "Company") (NYSE: KSS) and certain of its officers, on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased, or otherwise acquired Kohl's securities between October 20, 2020 and May 19, 2022, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/kss.
This class action seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws.
The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) Kohl's Strategic Plan was not well tailored to achieving the Company's stated goals; (2) the Defendants had likewise overstated the Company's success in executing its Strategic Plan; (3) Kohl's had deficient disclosure controls and procedures, internal control over financial reporting, and corporate governance mechanisms; (4) as a result, the Company's Board was able to and did withhold material information from shareholders about the state of Kohl's in the lead-up to the Company's annual meeting; (5) all the foregoing, once revealed, was likely to have a material negative impact on Kohl's financial condition and reputation; and (6) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint you can visit the firm's site: www.bgandg.com/kss or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Law Clerk and Client Relations Manager, Yael Nathanson of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 212-697-6484. If you suffered a loss in Kohl's you have until November 1, 2022 to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as a lead plaintiff.
Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Contact:
Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC
Peretz Bronstein or Yael Nathanson
212-697-6484 | info@bgandg.com
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SOURCE Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/investor-alert-kohls-corporation-kss-class-action-bronstein-gewirtz-amp-grossman-llc-prominent-firm-encourages-shareholders-actively-participate/ | 2022-09-08T14:44:46Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/investor-alert-kohls-corporation-kss-class-action-bronstein-gewirtz-amp-grossman-llc-prominent-firm-encourages-shareholders-actively-participate/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Las Vegas official arrested in connection with journalist's death
Police said Wednesday evening they arrested a suspect in the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German.
Driving the news: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a short statement that a suspect had been taken into custody. Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the Review-Journal the arrested suspect was Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, a Democrat.
- Review-Journal reporter Brett Clarkson shared video online of Telles, 45, being taken into an ambulance on a stretcher surrounded by police.
- Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson told the New York Times Telles was taken into custody on suspicion of murder.
The big picture: German, 69, who was found dead outside his home on Saturday, "spent months reporting" on Telles' oversight of the public administrator's office following allegations of bullying, favoritism and a relationship with a staffer, per the Review-Journal. Telles denied the claims.
- Telles was elected in 2018, but lost a June primary after German's reporting.
- Police issued a search warrant at Telles' home earlier Wednesday.
What's next: Telles was due to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, per CNN.
What they're saying: Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement that Telles' arrest was both "an enormous relief and an outrage" for the outlet's newsroom.
- "We are relieved Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official," Cook said. "Journalists can't do the important work our communities require if they are afraid a presentation of facts could lead to violent retribution."
- Cook thanked police for their response, adding: "Now, hopefully, the Review-Journal, the German family and Jeff’s many friends can begin the process of mourning and honoring a great man and a brave reporter."
- Representatives for Telles could not immediately be reached for comment.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout. | https://www.axios.com/2022/09/08/las-vegas-official-arrest-journalist-stabbing-death | 2022-09-08T14:45:06Z | axios.com | control | https://www.axios.com/2022/09/08/las-vegas-official-arrest-journalist-stabbing-death | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian special forces police forced the door of the Iranian Embassy in Tirana on Thursday and officers surrounded the compound in which it stands, shortly after the last staff members left the building following the government’s order to expel them.
The officers, in full fighting gear, entered the building first and were followed by other officers carrying equipment and accompanied by a dog.
The Albanian government on Wednesday had given the embassy’s staff 24 hours to leave the country over a major cyberattack that the Albanian government blames on Iran. It is the first known case of a country cutting diplomatic relations over a cyberattack.
The final two embassy cars with about 10 passengers left the compound Thursday near noon after much movement inside the building overnight.
Government sources declined to say where the Iranian embassy personnel had gone, but local media said some left from the Tirana International Airport and others were likely heading for neighboring North Macedonia.
The compound area, located downtown the capital only a couple of hundred yards from the main government offices, was cordoned off by police, and passers-by were not allowed to approach.
Movement inside the Iranian embassy in Tirana had been nonstop overnight. At one point, an empty barrel was taken into the compound and a fire was started in it, apparently burning documents.
A cyberattack on July 15 temporarily shut down numerous Albanian government digital services and websites. Prime Minister Edi Rama said Wednesday that there was “undeniable evidence” that the Iranian government was behind the attack.
The United States supported the move by Albania, a NATO member, and vowed unspecified retaliation against Iran for what it called “a troubling precedent for cyberspace.”
NATO also expressed its full support to Albania. A statement said it “strongly condemns such malicious cyber activities designed to destabilize and harm the security of an ally, and disrupt the daily lives of citizens.”
The alliance also pledged to raise “our guard against such malicious cyber activities in the future, and support each other to deter, defend against and counter the full spectrum of cyber threats, including by considering possible collective responses.”
Iran condemned the diplomats’ expulsion, calling the action ill-considered and short-sighted, according to Iranian state TV.
In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied Tehran was behind any cyberattack on Albanian government websites, adding that it’s Iran which is a target of such attacks on its critical infrastructure.
Ties between Iran and Albania have been tense since 2014 when Albania sheltered some 3,000 members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, who had left Iraq.
In July, MEK had planned to hold the Free Iran World Summit in Manez, west of Tirana, with U.S. lawmakers among the invitees. The meeting was canceled “for security reasons and due to terrorist threats and conspiracies.”
In two separate instances in 2020 and 2018, Tirana expelled four Iranian diplomats for “threatening national security.”
___
Raf Casert in Brussels contributed to this report.
——-
Follow Llazar Semini at https://twitter.com/lsemini | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/ap-iranian-diplomats-set-to-leave-albania-after-expulsion-order/ | 2022-09-08T14:45:11Z | wpri.com | control | https://www.wpri.com/news/us-and-world/ap-iranian-diplomats-set-to-leave-albania-after-expulsion-order/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunyard, a global leading payment solution provider, has established the partnership with Emerico, a world-leading digital transformation company, to offer POS terminals i80 and payment solutions for worldwide market. Through this cooperation, Emerico enables its customers even more options for quick and easy payment. The fully certified i80 is compatible with all payment transactions.
The i80 is designed with a customized Android operating system. Full certification including PCI PTS 6.x, EMV L1 & L2 prevents your information from leakage in the best possible way. Comprehensive communications make your transactions always frictionless. The smart internet management platform also allows any number of payment terminals and makes the system easy to expand.
Emerico prides themselves as being pioneers and associate themselves with the most seasoned technological partners in their respective industries. From seamless integration to borderless customer support, together with the world's finest strategic partners including Cisco, IBM, IDEMIA, Fujitsu, Emerico creates and develops responsive and reliable solutions for customers.
With the addition of Sunyard Android mobile terminals, the Emerico portfolio expands to include another important segment. "It will offer numerous advantages for merchants and end customers from a technological perspective," explains Emerico team. "We look forward to bringing more smart payment solutions to the region as we grow. The cooperation will help thrive the guest experience in the modern age of omni-channel payments and untangle the complex world of payments."
"We are pleased to partner with Emerico to provide our payment terminals to our Asian customers," says Jier Chen, Sales Director, Sunyard Technology. "We look forward to more partnership with Emerico and its strong business network to provide merchant with reliable, rugged solutions with our innovative payment terminals."
At Sunyard, we're constantly expanding and evolving our portfolio of products to help you grow your business. Everything we do is backed by the expertise, support, and commitment that you already trust us for.
Our culture of care means we invest time, energy, and resources to develop products you can count on. We care about quality as much as you do. Whether you need advice, more information or to make an order, we're here to help.
Get in touch:
www.sydtech.com.cn/www.sunyard.com
About Sunyard
Sunyard Technology Co., Ltd, the leading global payment solution provider, is offering cost-effective, superior quality payment terminals and financial software products including payment password system, same-city liquidation system, corporate e-bank system, risk alarm system, etc. As the earliest listed financial IT company in China (SSE Code: 600571), Sunyard has achieved the leading position in the field of financial industry with more than two decades of professional experience. Based on the solid foundation in the domestic market, Sunyard is committed to expanding the international market according to its development strategy.
About Emerico
Emerico is a world-leading digital transformation company, offering an end-to-end solution for customer experience with the aim to effectively enable your customers to make more key interactions that deliver greater levels of business. Emerico delivers an extensive portfolio of smart digital solutions and innovative technology for you to enhance customer experience, which is supported by comprehensive success services and consultancy that can ensure maximum project efficiency and cost savings. Emerico has won many awards, including the "Winner of BID World Quality Commitment Award in Paris 2015".
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SOURCE Sunyard Technology | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/sunyard-emerico-enter-into-partnership-payment-solutions/ | 2022-09-08T14:49:17Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/sunyard-emerico-enter-into-partnership-payment-solutions/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Heavily armed security operatives, on Thursday morning, raided the office and residence of Tukur Mamu, negotiator of the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers where they carted away sensitive documents and computers.
Speaking in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna on Thursday, a family member of Mamu disclosed that, “about 50 heavily armed DSS personnel raided his residence and house around 12:30 am, Thursday morning.”
During the raid, it was gathered that the security operatives turned the office and residence upside down apparently searching for sensitive documents.
“We were awakened by the pandemonium that announced the arrival of the officers who came in a large motorcade and were armed to the teeth. They conducted a random search in the house and his office but nothing incriminating or suspicious was found.
“But they seized all our handheld gadgets and computers. We are still in trauma and shock over this intimidation. We call on conscientious Nigerians not to allow this injustice to prevail.
“This is a man who puts his life at stake for the sake of others, yet all he could get was harassment, intimidation and threats to life.”
According to the family member, “This can only happen in a country that has suppressed the rule of law and rights of its citizens.”
It would be recalled that the negotiator of the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers, (Mamu) was intercepted in Cairo, on his way to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj.
According to a statement by the DSS, Mamu is in their custody to answer critical questions on related security matters.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Awolowo Dosumu: ‘I Did Not Speak With Any Journalist On Tinubu/Shettima Ticket’
Executive Director of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation and Chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, Ambassador Dr Olatokunbo Awolowo Dusumu has asked members of the public to ignore a fake news being circulated in her name on the Bola Tinubu/ Kashim Shettima presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC)…
DSS raids train negotiator’s residence, office in Kaduna
Kaduna Train Hostage Negotiator Now In Our Safe Custody ― DSS
The Department of State Services (DSS), on Wednesday, confirmed that the self-acclaimed Kaduna train hostage negotiator, Tukur Mamu, is in its safe custody…
DSS raids train negotiator’s residence, office in Kaduna | https://tribuneonlineng.com/dss-raids-train-negotiators-residence-office-in-kaduna/ | 2022-09-08T14:51:10Z | tribuneonlineng.com | control | https://tribuneonlineng.com/dss-raids-train-negotiators-residence-office-in-kaduna/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
FMQs: Rent freeze emergency legislation introduced in next three months, says Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon has announced emergency legislation around a rent freeze in Scotland will be implemented “very soon” as she addressed concerns around the cost of living crisis at Holyrood.
The First Minister said emergency legislation on a rent freeze until March next year across Scotland will be introduced “within three months” as she said Scottish Parliament will have to “act at pace”.
The update on the halting of social and private rent prices comes after Nicola Sturgeon announced the measure in her programme for government at the start of this week.
An exact date for the implementation of the measure has not been decided upon, however, details will be announced “very soon”, according to the First Minister.
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An Official spokesperson for the First Minister said the way the government will enforce the halting of rent prices on landlords will be laid out within the emergency legislation.
Tuesday, when the rent freeze was announced, will be the official “stop day” of rent prices increasing, according to the spokesperson.
"There is an imperative to help people in the cost of living crisis and the detail will be within the legislation”, said the spokesperson, “My understanding is to to legislate as quickly as practically possible.”
In the Holyrood Chamber, the First Minister said: "The emergency legislation will be introduced very soon. We haven’t yet determined the date for that but we need to introduce it soon as parliament needs to act at pace.
"We want that legislation to be passed within three months so that the freeze I announced will be active at the date it was announced.”
Ms Sturgeon also attacked the energy crisis plans announced by Prime Minister Liz Truss, saying oil and gas companies should be paying for some of the massive costs rather than just consumers and taxpayers.
The Prime Minister set out an emergency package costing tens of billions of pounds on Thursday to help shield households and businesses from soaring energy prices.
It includes an “energy price guarantee” preventing the average annual family bill in Britain soaring past £2,500 for two years from this autumn.
Ms Truss ruled out a fresh windfall tax – a move favoured by both Labour and the SNP – under her energy plans announced in the House of Commons on Thursday.
Responding to the details outlined by Ms Truss, Ms Sturgeon said at First Minister’s Questions blamed soaring energy costs on Ms Truss’s Government.
“People are seeing soaring energy costs because of a broken energy market and the utter incompetence of this UK Government,” she said.
"Lastly, on that issue as things stand all of the costs of what has been announced today are going to fall on consumers and taxpayers, when oil and gas companies making windfall profits should be making a contribution.
"So I think you can see who’s side the UK Government is on today.”
She said she had not yet seen all the detail of the plan but is aware of the headlines.
The First Minister continued: “It does not represent a halt to the rise in energy bills.
“Average energy bills right now are just under £2,000, a cap of £2,500 will still see people pay more for their energy."
Ms Sturgeon also committed to an ongoing review of the emergency legislation on rents her programme for government will introduce with the hope of extending temporary measures beyond March.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he will “push” the First Minister on implementing a rent regulator to make sure there is not “excessive increases” when the freeze is lifted.
Asked by Sarwar if she will commit to a plan from Labour for halving costs to rail fares, the First Minister said any plans on this must be taken with consideration of the Scottish budget review.
Her comments come after deputy First Minister John Swinney announced £500 million in cuts will have to be made to the Scottish Government’s budget.
Ms Sturgeon said: “We have confirmed, as I did on Tuesday, a freeze on ScotRail fares until the end of March.
“The Deputy First Minister said yesterday that we will be considering, in the context of our emergency budget review, extending that further.
"If we want to spend more on anything, we have to find other places in our budget to take that from and that process started yesterday.
“We will consider any suggestion that is made in good faith but any suggestion which involves spending has to come with a saving from elsewhere.”
Mr Sarwar said he welcomes an emergency budget review, however, he urged the First Minister to be “bolder and more ambitious” in her emergency measures as he called for cross-party input for the budget review. The Scottish Labour leader said the Scottish Government has to be transparent and take on a “Team Scotland” approach.
The First Minister said she was sure the deputy First Minister would be open to having “open discussions”.
Scottish Tories leader Douglas Ross had started his line of questioning by welcoming the "decisive action announced by our new Prime Minister to halt rising energy bills".
Mr Ross also quizzed the First Minister about the ferries scandal involving Ferguson Marine, less than an hour after former finance secretary Derek Mackay had been questioned by a Scottish Parliament committee.
The shipyard was nationalised to save it from administration and the Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed hull 802 are projected to cost two-and-a-half times more than planned and be delivered five years late.
Critics have claimed the original contract to commission the two ferries was rushed to allow for an announcement to be made at the SNP conference in 2015, but Mr Mackay rejected the assertion while giving evidence.
Ms Sturgeon said on the Ferguson decision: “No, I don’t regret the actions this Government took to save Fergusons shipyard and to ensure that those working there still have a job. That is important and of course we will continue to take action to ensure that the two ferries are completed and that the work continues.”
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article. | https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/fmqs-rent-freeze-emergency-legislation-introduced-in-next-three-months-says-nicola-sturgeon-3836064 | 2022-09-08T14:52:59Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/fmqs-rent-freeze-emergency-legislation-introduced-in-next-three-months-says-nicola-sturgeon-3836064 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Celtic and Rangers Champions League comparison - the brutal truth amid contrasting emotions
A betting company conducted research in advance of this season’s Champions League group stages designed to predict win rates for Celtic and Rangers.
The conclusion was that while Celtic would claim two wins from their Group F assignments against Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk and RB Leipzig, Rangers would be good for only one victory in a Group A wherein they must keep company with Liverpool, Ajax and Napoli. These returns might sound hopelessly meagre. Ultimately, though, they could prove to be generous.
How football’s most prestigious club competition is increasingly reducing the Glasgow clubs to absolute also-rans doesn’t always seem to be fully grasped in these parts, for some reason. Of course, there was no disgrace in Ange Postecoglou’s men being overwhelmed by the competition’s holders and fierest continental foe as they lost out 3-0 at home to Carlo Ancelotti’s men. Especially when, for 50 minutes, Celtic actually made good on the Australian’s lofty aim of seeking to out-play and out-chance even the most intimidating opponents.
In contrast, it was certainly mortifying how supine Rangers proved throughout the 90 minutes in Amsterdam as Ajax tormented them to administer a 4-0 bleaching - to follow on from an indentikit slaughter at Celtic Park four days earlier. Yet, statistically, the two defeats slot neatly together in betraying the scraps the bitter rivals tend to be left chewing over when dining at the top table.
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After this week’s losses, Celtic have two wins in 19 Champions League outings, and Rangers have one in 17. Delve deeper and, though Celtic have manufactured three last 16 finishes from 10 group stage campaigns, and Rangers won through to the knock-out stages once from the same number of such appearances, there are ample grim morsels within their tournament histories. For instance, Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne never played together in a winning Rangers side in the unforgiving environment. Meanwhile, Henrik Larsson may be Celtic’s all-time leading European goalscorer but netted only four times in the group stage for the club.
I was jokingly scolded by my peers for my negativity in putting it to Postecoglou on the eve of Madrid’s visit that the Champions League has become a killing field for Scotland’s big two - a terrain in which Celtic now have failed even simply to score in seven of their past 10 home outings. He initially played along on that front - “is there any point in me turning up?” - before offering an acknowledgement. “I understand that, and the reality is, those are the facts,” said the Australian. “My job tomorrow night is to create optimism. If I do that, I’ll have achieved something.”
That objective was achieved - as illustrated by Postecoglou and his players being serenaded by the Celtic support at the conclusion of the Real reverse. The appreciation then garnered was borne of their courage and accomplishment in causing genuine problems for last season’s best side in Europe. This kernel is why their latest Champions League failure has been cast in a completely different light to what would appear a superficially similar outcome for Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side in the Netherlands. The Dutchman, unlike his Celtic counterpart, isn’t the most naturally charismatic figure. His shoulder-shrugging, post-match assessment essentially amounted to an admission Rangers aren’t good enough to compete at this highest level. Brutally honest, certainly, but the conclusion was akin to chucking more depressive, and flammable, materials on to a bonfire of the Ibrox club’s vanities. Vanities burnished by the club’s run to Europa League final.
The Rangers support puffed themselves up about this superb run proving irrefutably that they were real players in the continental arena. The reality is that nothing that happens in UEFA’s secondary competition does that. You need only look at the fact the team that vanquished them in Seville, Eintracht Frankfurt, were cuffed 3-0 at home by Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League this week. Rangers aren’t now so far removed from the team that carved a path to the Europa League decider. Only a fortnight ago they dug out a play-off win away to an, admittedly, wasteful PSV Eindhoven. However, in Europe last year, they won only seven of the 19 games they contested - all but their 4-2 miracle success away to Borussia Dortmund coming on their own patch. Celtic, in generally being considered to have gone nowhere fast in continental competition, posted six wins from 14 outings. Indeed, in coming up short in the Europa League group stages, Postecoglou’s side claimed nine points from a tougher section than the one that their Ibrox adversaries’ eight points allowed them to move beyond.
How all but the true elites fare in Europe can so often come down to whether a fair wind blows them along. Such climatic conditions are forever changeable. Celtic lost five of their six Champions League group games the season that followed them beating Barcelona en route to becoming the last Scottish club to breath in the rarified air of the last 16 stage, in 2012-13. Rangers were eliminated by FBK Kaunus in a Champions League qualifier a mere 10 weeks after they contested the 2008 UEFA Cup final.
Neither club dare lose next week if they are to retain serious prospects of making any impression in this season’s Champions League. Precedent, and current form, suggests they will have few backers to do so. A Celtic faithful buying-in to Postecoglou’s positivity consider Shakhtar Donetsk beatable by their team; not least because the war being waged on them by Russia means they must stage Wednesday’s ‘home’ encounter in Warsaw. Yet, in being fresh from thumping RB Leipzig 4-1 in Germany, Donetsk are patently not diminished by travel. Unlike Celtic, who have won precisely two of 30 Champions League away games. As for Rangers…well, Napoli’s 4-1 filleting of Liverpool in their Italian environs last night will embolden them for Tuesday’s trip to Ibrox. A ground where the home team have beaten sides from Europe’s big five leagues in the Champions League on, eh, two occasions across the three decades of the competition.
It is blithely trotted out that it is great to have two Scottish teams at this level again, as hasn’t been the case since 2007-08. In truth, though, it is the followers of all the other teams in this country that are likely to derive the most lasting pleasure from the local bullies having to take the sort of slaps they consistently dish out in their regular playground.
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article. | https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-and-rangers-champions-league-comparison-the-brutal-truth-amid-contrasting-emotions-3836377 | 2022-09-08T14:53:27Z | scotsman.com | control | https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/celtic/celtic-and-rangers-champions-league-comparison-the-brutal-truth-amid-contrasting-emotions-3836377 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
-Socially responsible HR and Payments innovator designed to transform employee retention and payments to fight for the rights of hourly workers and low wage earners.
Names Industry Veteran Moris Chemtov as Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer
BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Dragon Capital℠ a private equity firm formed by a team of experienced entrepreneurs and operators with a track record of successful investing. We make controlled investments in technology companies with a strong focus on promoting diversity, and a history of delivering attractive returns launched VEEP, a socially responsible SaaS based HR and Payments technology platform, designed to allow hourly employees, under-privileged and under-represented wage earners to access earned wages faster and at a lower cost than other exploitive alternatives, without exposing critical personal information about the employee.
Hourly workers in the US, particularly underprivileged and underrepresented groups, face unique social and economic challenges leading to almost 80 million living paycheck to paycheck. All too often, hourly workers who need access to earned wages in advance of a scheduled payday to meet basic needs such as power, transportation, rent, food and medical needs, often don't qualify for other forms of lending options and are exploited for short term, low value lending options. These options are at much higher costs and interest rates than traditional methods, further jeopardizing the financial viability of targeted groups. At the same time, newer digital options not only charge hidden excessive fees, but often exploit the personal information of the person involved.
VEEP has created a proprietary HR retention and payment network that provides employers an advanced technology platform that creates a powerful employee retention tool. VEEP allows hourly employees to access earned wages as they are earned, at a dramatically lower cost, securely through the regulated community banking network, while avoiding any sale of personal information about the employee. This allows all wage earners, particularly underprivileged and underrepresented groups, to better manage their cash needs between traditional pay periods. VEEP's powerful tool provides incredible benefits to employees while allowing employers to increase retention and lower long term employee costs resulting in better service to their customers.
Black Dragon Capital has created a unique approach to launching and developing early-stage companies. Black Dragon was formed by a team of experienced entrepreneurs and operators, with a track record of successful investing. With an emphasis on diversity, they focus on high potential early-stage companies, and have an entire team dedicated to helping every aspect of the company's growth and development. Louis Hernandez Jr, will serve as the company's Founder and Chairman, and the company announced the appointment of Moris Chemtov as Founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO). Along with a team of dedicated professionals from Black Dragon Capital's Dragon Performance Group, the company will focus on launching initial partnerships and clients to its platform. Mr. Chemtov brings more than 30 years of operational experience and a proven track record in eCommerce and digital commerce solutions. He will work with the Board and Black Dragon's Dragon Performance Group to drive the launch phase of growth and development.
"I've seen firsthand the challenges faced by underprivileged and underrepresented groups. Hourly wage earners deserve access to wages earned when they need it most. We created VEEP to address the social and economic realities that many face, while partnering with employers who want to drive better employee satisfaction and retention resulting in better service to customers. I can't think of a more important social mission for a company to have, "said Louis Hernandez Jr., Founder and Chairman of VEEP.
Before heading up VEEP, Mr. Chemtov was the CEO of Naveo Commerce, a Black Dragon portfolio company, and has over 30 years of executive experience. Earlier in his career he had various executive positions at Deloitte Consulting, Oracle, and Richter Systems. His combination of digital commerce and digital payments experience makes him the perfect leader for the company.
"VEEP provides an unprecedented opportunity to address two core charters of my professional career – the ability to address the social-economic needs of an underrepresented voice and workforce, helping provide greater economic freedom and opportunity in their lives, and the operational challenge of growing and scaling a company that makes a difference in the world," said Moris Chemtov, Founder and Chief Strategic Officer (CSO) of VEEP. "Working closely with the Black Dragon Capital team, I love the challenge to create something new, ensure VEEP is designed to be of strategic value to employers as well as workers, and change the industry payment landscape with how workers are engaged and supported."
VEEP has created a proprietary HR retention and payment network that provides employers with an advanced technology platform that creates a powerful employee retention tool. VEEP allows hourly employees to access earned wages as they are earned, at a dramatically lower cost, securely through the regulated community banking network, while avoiding any sale of personal information about the employee. This allows all wage earners, particularly underprivileged and underrepresented groups, to better manage their cash needs between traditional pay periods. VEEP's powerful tool provides incredible benefits to employees while allowing employers to increase retention and lower long term employee costs resulting in better service to their customers.
Black Dragon Capital℠, has created a unique approach to launching and developing early-stage companies. Black Dragon was formed by a team of experienced entrepreneurs and operators, with a track record of successful investing. With an emphasis on diversity, they focus on high potential early-stage companies, and have an entire team dedicated to helping every aspect of the company's growth and development.
Aren Wong
Marketing Manager, Black Dragon Capital
Awong@blackdragoncap.com
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SOURCE Black Dragon Capital | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/black-dragon-capital-launches-veep-cloud-native-hr-retention-advanced-pay-solution/ | 2022-09-08T14:55:07Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/black-dragon-capital-launches-veep-cloud-native-hr-retention-advanced-pay-solution/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Orange County plumber teams with the OC Food Bank to provide countless meals to those in need
ORANGE, Calif., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Do It Right Plumbers, one of the most 5-star reviewed residential plumbing companies in the Orange County and Los Angeles area, understands the importance of supporting and giving back to your local community. To showcase their commitment, Do It Right Plumbers has partnered with the Orange County Food Bank to provide year-round food donations.
Sending a certified and trained plumbing technician to your home is an expensive business. With fuel at all-time highs, many companies are charging a trip fee to come to your home. Do It Right Plumbers will instead waive those fees for any customer that donates five cans of food.
"Our company prides itself in doing the right thing, and that includes giving back to our community on a regular basis," said Edan Bar-Lev, owner of Do It Right Plumbers. "In today's economy, food shelters can be limited on the amount of supplies they have year-round. The Orange County Food Bank is a model example of an organization doing it right. We love being able to partner with them to help supply an abundance of food for those in need."
The Orange, California-based company has donated over 6 tons of canned goods to date, helping countless families in their community. The plumbing company is set to add to their total this month with another delivery of 2,000 pounds on the horizon.
The Orange County Food Bank is a program of the Community Action Partnership of Orange County. Its mission is to unite communities to end hunger and malnutrition by partnering with more than 300 local charities, community organizations and soup kitchens.
"We are so thankful to Do it Right Plumbers. They help provide food donations to countless struggling families in Orange County," said Gregory C. Scott, president and CEO of the Orange County Food Bank. "To date, over 6 tons of food have been donated. The genuine kindness of everyone on the Do It Right team is heartwarming, and we are grateful for their partnership."
Do It Right Plumbers is in a position to provide excellent resources to the food bank because of its exponential growth. The company has grown 40% year-over-year since its launch in 2016. Operating with 23 trucks, the company provides a full line of plumbing solutions while specializing in sewer replacements, tankless water heaters and slab leaks.
For more information about Do It Right Plumbers, please visit https://www.doitrightplumbers.com/.
For more information about the Orange County Food Bank, please visit https://capoc.org/oc-food-bank/.
About Do It Right Plumbers
Started in 2016, Do It Right Plumbers is the leading plumbing companies in the Orange County and Los Angeles area. Do It Right technicians are professional, courteous, and knowledgeable and are an integral part of the existence as a business. Their employees carry out the mission of providing the best experience possible to all of our customers throughout all of Orange County, Santa Ana, and Tustin. Do It Right's goal is to provide you with a WOW experience every time so that you consider them your family plumber for years to come.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
(865) 977-1973
hripley@ripleypr.com
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SOURCE Do It Right Plumbers | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/do-it-right-plumbers-aims-end-hunger-their-community/ | 2022-09-08T14:56:43Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/do-it-right-plumbers-aims-end-hunger-their-community/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine360™, a leading provider of employer-sponsored health plan solutions that deliver deep cost savings and concierge member support, today announced that it has partnered with Quantum Health, the industry-leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company, to provide greater support for Imagine360's growing base of enterprise clients. The partnership will give large employers the power of deep, sustainable savings from Imagine360, and participants will be supported by expert and empathetic healthcare navigation from Quantum Health.
Imagine360 provides self-funded organizations with health plan solutions based on three pillars: deep savings through reference-based pricing—often 15-30% compared to a PPO plan—high quality healthcare and concierge member support. To deliver a superior member experience, Imagine360 has developed proprietary services and built a world-class customer care team that consistently delivers member satisfaction scores that exceed 98%. The partnership with Quantum Health will further enhance the experience and results for Imagine360's clients and their members.
Quantum Health's proprietary platform integrates data from across the healthcare system, including members, clients, providers, payers, third-party solutions and other stakeholders. This enables Quantum Health to proactively identify opportunities for early intervention, which results in better clinical outcomes and cost savings. It also enables a highly personalized experience for employees, resulting in industry-leading NPS scores. Pairing Quantum Health's platform with the provider access tools of Imagine360 will deliver an even more powerful member experience, with proactive navigation and clinical support through all phases of healthcare.
"Imagine360 has set itself apart with a non-stop focus on delivering exceptional member support," said Jeff Bak, President and CEO of Imagine360. "We are thrilled to partner with Quantum Health, an organization that shares the same mission. The combination of our proprietary solutions for large employers will ensure that the unique requirements of enterprise organizations are met across the country and that employees are fully supported throughout their healthcare journeys."
"We are excited to partner with Imagine360 to deliver a better healthcare experience and greater value for enterprise clients," said Zane Burke, CEO of Quantum Health. "Our data insights and early interventions will ensure their members are engaged with their benefits and receive the right support and care at the right time. By integrating Imagine360's provider access tools with our platform, we will improve outcomes and drive down costs—while simultaneously making the system easier to navigate."
For more information about Imagine360, please visit www.imagine360.com. For details on Quantum Health, visit www.quantum-health.com.
About Imagine360
Imagine360 is the leading provider of employer-sponsored health plan solutions that deliver deep cost savings and concierge member support. Leveraging 50+ years of expertise, Imagine360's solutions combine the financial benefits of reference-based pricing, best-in-class member support, and health plan administration. Guiding members through all phases of healthcare, a specialized team provides care navigation and clinical support and relentlessly advocates for members to receive quality care at an affordable price.
About Quantum Health
Quantum Health is the industry-leading consumer healthcare navigation and care coordination company that delivers an unparalleled consumer experience to its members, as well as validated claims savings and high satisfaction rates for its self-insured employer clients. Quantum Health's proprietary Real-Time Intercept® model identifies opportunities for early intervention in a member's healthcare journey, resulting in better engagement, outcomes and cost efficiencies.
The company was founded in 1999 and is based in Dublin, Ohio. Since its inception, Quantum Health has earned numerous awards and honors, including the Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc. 5000, the MedTech Breakthrough Award for technology innovation, the Gold Stevie for Front-Line Customer Service Team of the Year and a Great Place to Work by FORTUNE Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine. The Women Presidents' Organization has ranked Quantum Health as one of the 50 Fastest-Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies, and Columbus Business First has honored Quantum Health as a Best Place to Work.
To learn more about the company, visit quantum-health.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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SOURCE Imagine360 | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/imagine360-expands-support-enterprise-clients-with-quantum-health-partnership/ | 2022-09-08T14:57:57Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/imagine360-expands-support-enterprise-clients-with-quantum-health-partnership/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Israel Ministry of Tourism announced today new record-breaking tourist arrivals from the United States visiting Israel in the months of July and August. The country welcomed 78,000 total travelers from the United States in July 2022, a 4% increase from 2019, and 71,000 total travelers from the United States in August 2022, a 13% increase from 2019.
"It is so exciting to once again see an increase in tourism to Israel from the United States, already reaching and surpassing our record-breaking numbers of 2019," said Eyal Carlin, Tourism Commissioner for North America. "The United States is our top market for inbound tourism to Israel, and before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were celebrating record-breaking tourism entry numbers month after month; We're so happy to see such a positive shift and expect a continued upward trajectory for months and years to come."
Not far behind the United States, Canada is also on track to exceed its tourist arrivals in Israel, reaching 7,200 visitors in July 2022 and 6,000 in August.
"It is so exciting to see how Canada's tourism to Israel is rebounding," said Gal Hana, Consul and Director for Canada for the Israel Ministry of Tourism. "We are not far off our record 2019 numbers, and we are anticipating that this growth in travel to Israel will further increase as Canadians continue to feel more comfortable traveling abroad."
In 2019, Israel welcomed more than 4.6 million global tourists, 969,600 of them coming from the United States, and since its official reopening to all travelers regardless of vaccination status in May of this year, the country has already seen more than 600,400 US travelers.
About the Israel Ministry of Tourism:
The Israel Ministry of Tourism (IMOT) is Israel's national tourism agency responsible for planning and implementing marketing and promotional initiatives to position Israel as a preferred travel destination. IMOT aims to increase tourism traffic to contribute to Israel's economy, and to enhance and diversify the visiting experience. IMOT works to promote Israel's impressive assortment of historical, cultural, culinary, and religious attractions – each the perfect blend of tradition and modernity. IMOT offices in North America are located in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago, and Toronto.
For details on upcoming events and attractions in Israel, visit IMOT's website at israel.travel. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive the latest updates.
Media Contact:
MWWPR,
israel@mww.com
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SOURCE Israel Ministry of Tourism | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/israel-celebrates-record-breaking-tourism-entry-numbers-united-states/ | 2022-09-08T14:58:31Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/israel-celebrates-record-breaking-tourism-entry-numbers-united-states/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NOVI, Mich., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ITC Holdings Corp. ("ITC"), a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., today announced it has commenced a private offering of senior unsecured notes (the "notes").
ITC intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to redeem in full $500 million aggregate principal amount of its 2.700% Senior Notes due November 15, 2022, to pay the associated call premium, with the remainder to repay indebtedness outstanding under its revolving credit facility and its commercial paper program, and for general corporate purposes.
The notes will be offered in the United States only to persons reasonably believed to be qualified institutional buyers in accordance with Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and to certain non-U.S. persons in transactions outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act. The notes have not, and will not be registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and the notes may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and applicable securities laws of any other jurisdiction. This press release does not and will not constitute an offer to sell any of the notes or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the notes described herein or any other securities, nor shall there be any sale of the notes in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
About ITC Holdings Corp.
ITC Holdings Corp. is the largest independent electricity transmission company in the United States. ITC provides transmission grid solutions to improve reliability, expand access to markets, allow new generating resources to interconnect to its systems and lower the overall cost of delivered energy. Through its regulated operating subsidiaries ITCTransmission, Michigan Electric Transmission Company, ITC Midwest and ITC Great Plains, ITC owns and operates high-voltage transmission infrastructure in Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, and in development in Wisconsin. These systems serve a combined peak load exceeding 26,000 megawatts along 16,000 circuit miles of transmission line, supported by 700 employees and 1,000 contractors. ITC is based in Novi, Michigan. For further information visit www.itc-holdings.com. ITC is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For further information visit www.fortisinc.com. None of the information on ITC's or Fortis Inc.'s websites is incorporated into, or forms a part of, this press release.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains certain statements that describe our management's beliefs concerning future business conditions, plans and prospects, growth opportunities and the outlook for our business and the electric transmission industry based upon information currently available. Such statements are "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Wherever possible, we have identified these forward-looking statements by words such as "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "forecasts," "forecasted," "expects," "projects," "likely," "plans," and similar phrases. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions our management believes are reasonable. Such forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions and subject to significant risks and uncertainties which could cause our actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements, including, among others, the risks and uncertainties disclosed in our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other filings made with the SEC from time to time. There can be no assurance that the offering will be completed. ITC assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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Jeff Yelle named Chief Information Officer; Jeff Sweet to oversee Engineering
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- LP Building Solutions (LP), a leading manufacturer of high-performance building products, today announced that Jeff Yelle has been promoted to Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Jeff Sweet has been elevated to the role of Vice President, Engineering.
Yelle, who succeeds retiring LP Chief Information Officer Don Walker, assumes his new duties September 19. Sweet succeeds Tony Hamill, who was promoted to vice president, siding manufacturing earlier this year.
Yelle is a 26-year LP veteran, beginning as a siding regional quality manager in 1996. His previous roles at LP include plant manager at our former Silsbee, Texas mill, siding product and process development manager, corporate quality manager, master data lead, IT manager, IT center of excellence director, and most recently as oriented strand board technology and quality director. Prior to his tenure at LP, Yelle served as a quality supervisor at Trus Joist MacMillan. Yelle earned his bachelor's degree in forest products at the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Lipscomb University.
In his new role, Yelle will be responsible for all aspects of information technology and computer systems within the LP information technology department.
Sweet joined LP in June 2018 as a corporate engineering manager and was soon promoted to siding engineering manager, a role he has held since January 2019. Prior to joining LP, Sweet held roles at Stantec, an engineering services firm, and Ocean Steel & Construction in Saint John, New Brunswick. He holds a civil engineering degree from the University of New Brunswick and is a registered engineer in New Brunswick, Canada, and Maine.
In his new role, Sweet will oversee the company's Corporate Engineering and Maintenance groups. His responsibilities include managing LP's capital investments and reliability improvement efforts.
About LP Building Solutions
As a leader in high-performance building solutions, Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP Building Solutions, NYSE: LPX) manufactures engineered wood building products that meet the demands of builders, remodelers, and homeowners worldwide. LP's extensive offerings include innovative and dependable building products and accessories, such as Siding Solutions (LP® SmartSide® Trim & Siding, LP® SmartSide® ExpertFinish® Trim & Siding, LP BuilderSeries® Lap Siding, and LP® Outdoor Building Solutions®), LP Structural Solutions (LP® TechShield® Radiant Barrier, LP WeatherLogic® Air & Water Barrier, LP Legacy® Premium Sub-Flooring, LP® FlameBlock® Fire-Rated Sheathing, LP NovaCore™ Thermal Insulated Sheathing, and LP® TopNotch®350 Durable Sub-Flooring), and oriented strand board (OSB). In addition to product solutions, LP provides industry-leading customer service and warranties. Since its founding in 1972, LP has been Building a Better World™ by helping customers construct beautiful, durable homes while our shareholders build lasting value. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, LP operates 22 plants across the U.S., Canada, Chile, and Brazil. For more information, visit LPCorp.com.
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The former Chief Strategy Officer will now be responsible for overall business operations at the company, to support Medius' strategic vision
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Medius, a leading provider of AP Automation and wider spend management solutions, announces the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer, as the latest move to further accelerate the company's growth.
Branden Jenkins, based in Las Vegas, is an expert in driving rapid business growth, leading cross-functional teams and go-to-market strategies. Jenkins joined Medius in 2021 as Chief Strategy Officer, playing a key role in improving the operationalization of many new strategies, particularly in go-to-market, product strategy, corporate development, and alliances.
With 20 years of executive leadership experience, he holds first-hand experience in large-scale SaaS growth. Prior to joining Medius, Jenkins spent nine years at Oracle NetSuite, rising to VP of Strategy, where he helped to grow the company from $250m to billions in revenue. He also held the positions of VP of Target Markets, and General Manager of Global Retail.
Prior to Oracle NetSuite, Jenkins held the position of CEO and Chairman at Retail Anywhere, a SaaS company based in San Luis Obispo, California. Branden took over as CEO in 2002 and sold the company to NetSuite after ten years as the company's CEO.
The COO appointment rounds out and complements the executive team with significant go-to-market and product investments from the addition Advent International as a minority private equity shareholder, alongside existing majority shareholders Marlin Equity Partners.
Jim Lucier, Chief Executive Officer, Medius, comments: "As we look to scale Medius to a billion-dollar category king, we need a leader with extensive experience in sales, business development, and go-to-market strategies who can lead our daily operations and who will be instrumental in helping us continue to drive our business forward. Branden will play an incredibly important role in supporting and challenging the team, as we evolve our business to further accelerate our rapid growth."
Branden Jenkins, Chief Operating Officer, Medius, comments: "Medius is laser-focused on reducing risk and fraud for mid-sized and large enterprises with our patent-pending AI technology that takes AP processing from automated to autonomous. It's an exciting time to step into my expanded role at Medius. I plan to focus my energy on scaling our organization, and working with our incredible customers, partners, and team to take this company to new heights."
For more information, please contact:
Laurel Case, Fight or Flight for Medius
laurel@fightorflight.com | +1 315 663 6780
Medius@fightflight.co.uk | +44 330 133 0985
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
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NEEDHAM, Mass., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Needham Bank, the leading financial institution in Massachusetts for marijuana banking, is pleased to announce it has closed a cannabis business loan to Glorious Cannabis Company, one of the largest and most profitable cannabis operations in Michigan. Though headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Glorious Cannabis has recently joined the Massachusetts cannabis market to manufacture their specialty products. Glorious Cannabis will use the financing to complete the construction of their cannabis establishment in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.
"With this business loan, Needham Bank is helping Glorious Cannabis Company expand their brand into the Massachusetts market," said Michelle Haughton, VP Structured Finance. "It's been a pleasure working with Sam Lteif, CEO and David Prill, CFO to provide the financing, and I look forward to seeing Glorious thrive here."
Glorious Cannabis Company's establishment will include a cultivation facility and a processing facility. The 30,000-square-foot cultivation facility includes 12,000-square-feet of Canopy and the 9,000-square-foot processing facility will be for product manufacturing of their award-winning infused pre-rolls, cartridges, rosin and edibles.
"Working with Michelle and the Needham Bank team has been seamless and our growth wouldn't be possible without their help," stated Sam Lteif, Chief Executive Officer of Glorious. "Massachusetts is an exciting, up-and-coming market, and we can't wait to bring Michigan's best to a new state."
Haughton was hired at Needham Bank to assist with the growth of the Commercial & Industrial Structured Finance segment. This includes handling cannabis-related business loans greater than $10 million in commitment size and advising borrowers on financing and cash management services. She has over 20 years of commercial lending experience, and most recently, was Vice President, Relationship Manager at Eastern Bank, where she developed lending relationships with creditworthy commercial clients and prospects.
Through the new specialized banking division, Needham Bank offers full-service banking for cannabis businesses, including loans, deposit accounts and cash management services. Needham Bank is the only bank in Massachusetts to receive formal approval from the Federal Reserve Board to provide banking services to marijuana-related businesses.
Glorious focuses on the art and science of cultivating premium, old-school cannabis. Its line of pre-roll joints is hand-rolled and infused with premium ICEWATER bubble hash. Glorious' motto is "Cut Buds. Not Corners" and its cultivators listen to the plants, and use care and patience as opposed to rushing bud out the door. For additional information, please visit www.gloriouscanna.com.
Needham Bank offers an array of tech-forward products and services that businesses and consumers use to manage their financial needs. We have the financial expertise typically found at much larger institutions and the local knowledge and commitment you can only find at a community bank. Known as the "Builder's Bank," Needham Bank has been helping individuals, businesses and non-profits build for their futures since 1892. For more information, please visit https://NeedhamBank.com. Needham Bank is a member of FDIC and DIF.
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Donations to fund the Veterinary Hope Foundation's specially designed support groups for veterinarians
WILMINGTON, Del., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Week, the Veterinary Hope Foundation (VHF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is announcing its partnership with Greenline Pet, a veterinary software company, and Bader Rutter, a full-service advertising agency specializing in the veterinary channel, to bring the first-ever client donation payment system to veterinary clinics. Donations made through the Greenline system will go toward funding the Veterinary Hope Foundation's mission of improving veterinary team mental health by building small communities of support. Donations will help to fund the delivery of six-week professionally facilitated peer support groups that help veterinary professionals better handle the unique stressors of their profession.
"With too many veterinarians reducing their hours or leaving clinical practice altogether, we knew we had to do something to help this profession in dire need of support," said Nick Meurrier, Greenline Pet. "Aligning with the Veterinary Hope Foundation was a natural choice for us as they look to directly support mental wellness in the veterinary community through their peer support groups. All of us at Greenline look forward to seeing the impact this donation system can have in bringing much-needed help to a profession we care deeply about."
Each of Greenline's network of 10,000 veterinary clinics will have the chance to opt into this donation program. Once enrolled, veterinary clinics will offer their clients the opportunity to donate an amount of their choosing to the Veterinary Hope Foundation at checkout. All donations made to the Veterinary Hope Foundation are tax deductible and will be billed as a separate line item. For every dollar donated, 98 cents will directly fund the foundation.
"We're thrilled to have Greenline's support in delivering our mission to bring the veterinary community education and connection programs," said Dr. Blair McConnel, Veterinary Hope Foundation. "With donations made through this program, we will be able to provide many veterinary professionals with specialized training, resources and community to better handle the challenges unique to our profession, including convenience euthanasia, highly emotional client interactions, long hours, high student debt loads and more."
Upon enrollment in the donation program, participating clinics will receive materials to help educate their clients about these tough issues. As the agency of record for the Veterinary Hope Foundation, Bader Rutter was responsible for bringing this launch to life, while also developing a client-facing education campaign to support these veterinary clinics and the foundation as a whole.
"We've worked with veterinarians and their teams for over 20 years. At this point, veterinarians are more than our partners, allies and advisers. They're our friends," said David Jordan, president, Bader Rutter. "We are a founding sponsor of the Veterinary Hope Foundation because we believe we can help to raise awareness of these issues and promote healthy dialogue. Pet owners want to help. They want to participate. With this launch, they'll have an opportunity to do so."
To learn more about the Veterinary Hope Foundation's support groups, please visit: https://veterinaryhope.org/support-groups/. If you're a Greenline clinic looking to get involved, please watch the Greenline portal for next steps.
MEDIA: Click HERE for downloadable images.
Founded in May 2021, the Veterinary Hope Foundation (VHF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on early prevention, education and connection programs tailored for the animal care community. Built on the belief that there's hope for veterinarians in crisis, the VHF provides veterinarians with the preventive tools and support they need to navigate the common stressors unique to their profession. Governed by a board of directors and advisory panel composed of mental health experts, practicing veterinarians and animal lovers, the VHF is uniquely positioned to impact the future of the veterinarian profession. To learn more about the VHF, please visit VeterinaryHope.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Founded in April 2013, Greenline is the industry leader and preferred digital platform for easing clinic workload related to coupon and rebate redemption. Greenline not only digitally processes manufacturer coupons and rebates but also supports loyalty and wellness programs. Our software saves clinics time, improves the pet owner experience, drives compliance, increases doses and revenue, prevents lost reimbursements, and is an environmentally friendly alternative to paper-based submissions.
Greenline already supports over 10,000 veterinary clinics and provides best-in-class customer service to our clients and clinics with a dedicated Customer Experience team located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Bader Rutter is a full-service advertising and marketing agency with offices in Milwaukee and Chicago. It is the largest agricultural marketing agency and the leading B2B marcom agency in the country, as well as the leading B2B marcom agency in the world with global agency partner BBN International. With around 245 full-time employees in 13 states, Bader Rutter offers a full array of advertising, digital and social media, public relations, business consulting, and design capabilities. The employee-owned agency's expertise includes core work in agriculture, the food production system, pet care and animal health, manufacturing, insurance and financial services.
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NEW YORK and MIAMI, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Parkinson's Foundation Global Care Network seeks applications for medical centers providing outstanding clinical care and resources to people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The network consists of Centers of Excellence and Comprehensive Care Centers; both must demonstrate exemplary care and impactful community education and outreach, with Centers of Excellence playing a vital role in leading the PD field in advancing research.
"Today's announcement marks the next phase in our planned care expansion and underscores the need to designate centers across a wide range of geographic areas," said John L. Lehr, Parkinson's Foundation President and CEO. "We will continue to broaden our footprint in care settings to ensure that every person with Parkinson's disease has access to treatments and resources that will improve their quality of life."
The number of people living with PD in the U.S. is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030. Currently, care for people with PD is highly varied, and comprehensive care is not widely available. Nearly 40 percent of people with PD do not receive care from a clinician with advanced neurological disease and disorders training. A central priority of the Foundation is ensuring that all people with PD have equitable access to care, and the network aims to close the gap between newly diagnosed individuals and those receiving comprehensive care, information and support.
There are 51 Centers of Excellence, including 37 in the U.S., and six Comprehensive Care Centers. Collectively serving more than 260,000 individuals, these centers have earned a reputation for comprehensive care, robust clinical research, and developing and disseminating new and better therapeutic approaches. Applications are now open for both Centers of Excellence and Comprehensive Care Centers.
To better serve areas with the greatest need for high-quality care, application priority is given to medical centers that are: located in geographic areas that do not currently have a designated center; serve communities that have limited access to quality care resources; and provide services to bordering cities and states. This call for applications is open to centers located in the Pacific Northwest, Midwest, Great Plains and Texas.
Applications for are due Oct. 27, 2022, and new designees will be announced in summer 2023. Private or public healthcare facilities in the U.S. may apply for designation, including those based in academic institutions. Every center must re-certify after five years to ensure requisite standards of care. For a complete listing of centers or to apply electronically, visit Parkinson.org/Network.
The Parkinson's Foundation makes life better for people with Parkinson's disease by improving care and advancing research toward a cure. In everything we do, we build on the energy, experience and passion of our global Parkinson's community. Since 1957, the Parkinson's Foundation has invested more than $400 million in Parkinson's research and clinical care. Connect with us on Parkinson.org, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or call (800) 4PD-INFO (473-4636).
Affecting an estimated one million Americans and 10 million worldwide, Parkinson's disease is the second-most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer's and is the 14th-leading cause of death in the U.S. It is associated with a progressive loss of motor control (e.g., shaking or tremor at rest and lack of facial expression), as well as non-motor symptoms (e.g., depression and anxiety). There is no cure for Parkinson's and 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year in the U.S. alone.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Marissa Cruz
Parkinson's Foundation
mcruz@parkinson.org
305-537-9926
Parkinson.org
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A new clinically proven medical device shows a 480% improvement in GPPPD – an unprecedented amount
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pain is the most significant healthcare crisis in the US with nearly 50% of Americans seeking treatment for pain-related issues every year. The healthcare crisis is especially relevant for women who hold the majority of chronic pain diagnoses and suffer from their healthcare concerns being dismissed. The gender bias in the healthcare system compounds the issue for women as many of their significant pain points, like pelvic and penetration pain, do not garner the research or attention they deserve, leaving few treatment options available, and even fewer accessible to those who need them most.
However, a recent study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine provides a glimmer of hope for women by spotlighting a new accessible, affordable solution to pelvic and penetration pain that does not require an expensive doctor's visit or insurance. It's a body-adaptable, vibratory device from sexual health company, MysteryVibe, called Crescendo, which delivered a 5x improvement in pain scores in a clinical trial on Genito-pelvic pain & penetration disorder (GPPPD) - an unprecedented result in the arena of women's sexual health, and the first vibratory device to hold such an accomplishment.
Why is this development important?
- An estimated 15% of women suffer from GPPPD, however the true number is unknown due to most women not reporting pain
- 75% of women will experience pain during sex at some point, according to the ACOG
- 51% of postpartum women suffer from painful intercourse or persistent genital pain
- Pelvic pain can be so severe that it hinders the woman's ability to function at work, school, and home
- If left untreated, GPPPD can severely affect sexual function and other domains
GPPPD encompasses dyspareunia (painful intercourse) and vaginismus (involuntary muscles contractions in the vagina making penetration difficult or impossible). GPPPD can happen at any age, but is most prevalent among younger adults, menopausal, and postpartum women. The DSM-5 reclassifying female sexual issues reflects the existing science on GPPPD – very little. Researchers haven't nailed down the exact causes of GPPPD, and therefore prescribing treatment can be an arduous and expensive process for both healthcare providers and patients.
The study findings showed that using the Crescendo vibratory device resulted in an unprecedented improvement score in the domain of FSFI questionnaire Sexual Pain - a 480% (five times) improvement. The research concluded that Crescendo's Therapy System was a highly effective treatment option for women with GPPPD with no adverse effects related to the treatment.
The Crescendo is uniquely effective because it was designed to mimic human anatomy and leverages the principle of vibrations that, when accurately delivered, are proven to increase blood flow, resulting in pain relief. Crescendo's revolutionary adaptable design means the device can be bent to take different shapes and work with all body shapes and sizes. With superior flexibility, the device can deliver precision vibrations exactly where the pain is located or stimulation needed, which are key to increasing circulation and arousal.
MysteryVibe, invested over 7 years of research and development into creating the Crescendo device so that it could deliver an accessible solution to women suffering from GPPPD. The company holds an impressive track record of creating award-winning medical devices that are backed by extensive medical research and doctor-endorsed designs to elevate sexual health for everybody, despite age or circumstance. Crescendo is an FDA II medical device and recommended across the US, UK, and Europe by Urologists, OB-GYNs, menopause specialists, and pelvic health therapists. It can also be purchased with an FSA/HSA Healthcare card, making it an accessible option for many who desperately need one.
The Journal of Sexual Medicine publication marks a tremendous step for MysteryVibe's Crescendo vibrator as a solution for major sexual health conditions. The study publication also sets an important precedent for the sexual health industry that vibratory devices, when purposefully designed, can operate as assistive technology and significantly improve a person's overall quality of life.
About MysteryVibe
MysteryVibe creates award-winning medical and pleasure devices that help address significant issues in sexual health such as pain, erectile dysfunction, and arousal disorder. The devices are equally valuable in elevating pleasure for all genders and orientations. MysteryVibe is a world leader in sexual health technology. Their devices have won critical acclaim and improved people's lives in 65 countries.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1894706/MysteryVibe_New_Device.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1894705/MysteryVibe_Logo.jpg
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New integration gives LinkedIn customers even more options and flexibility to more accurately reach RollWorks-created, account-based audiences on LinkedIn
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Account-based marketing platform RollWorks, a division of NextRoll, today announced the launch of RollWorks Audience Syncing for LinkedIn, a new integration with LinkedIn Marketing Solutions that allows customers to push RollWorks-created Account Lists into LinkedIn ad accounts. With this new feature, organizations of any size can leverage RollWorks' proprietary segmentation capabilities to identify high ROI accounts and ensure their ads are delivered to extremely targeted and relevant audiences on LinkedIn.
With this news, RollWorks builds upon its current integration for LinkedIn that allows customers to run their single image Sponsored Content ads through the RollWorks platform via their RollWorks account. The new integration allows customers to connect their own LinkedIn Campaign Managers account, which provides the flexibility to push RollWorks-created Audience Lists to their LinkedIn Campaign Manager account and leverage all LinkedIn ad formats and targeting capabilities.
"RollWorks focuses on the most relevant, high-quality prospects, and gives organizations a simple way to engage those targets," said Mike Stocker, SVP of Partnerships at RollWorks. "Audience Syncing is a powerful new integration that strengthens our ongoing collaboration with LinkedIn and gives our customers more flexibility to use RollWorks and LinkedIn together in the way that works best for them."
- Get even more targeted with LinkedIn audiences using RollWorks' segmentation capabilities: a huge value-add to account-based marketers using both platforms RollWorks segmentation creates hyper-specific targeting using specific attributes like intent, engagement, and G2 searches. Customers can then layer on native LinkedIn facets like Job Title, Member Skills, and Company Growth Rate.
- Use all available LinkedIn ads: building off of the current RollWorks integration with LinkedIn Ads, which offers single image sponsored content ads, customers can now use all LinkedIn ads, such as Video, Event, Lead Gen Forms, Conversation Ads.
- Connect multiple LinkedIn Campaign Manager accounts to RollWorks
Learn more about how to easily sync your RollWorks Audiences to your LinkedIn ad accounts.
If you're at HubSpot INBOUND® 22 in Boston this week, stop by the ABM For Small Teams session with Randi Barshack, CMO of RollWorks, and Kaitlin Bellay, Head of Partner Marketing at LinkedIn, today, Thursday, September 8, at 2:20 pm ET in the LinkedIn Lounge. And check out the complete list of RollWorks events at HubSpot INBOUND activities here.
RollWorks, a division of NextRoll, offers ambitious B2B companies an account-based platform to align their marketing and sales teams and confidently grow revenue. Powered by proprietary data and machine learning, RollWorks' solutions address the needs of organizations large and small — from those with best-in-class ABM programs to those just beginning their exploration. By empowering teams to identify their target accounts and key buyers, reach those accounts across multiple channels, and measure program effectiveness in their system-of-record, RollWorks is an indispensable platform for marketers and sellers who believe that an account-based approach is just good business. To learn more visit www.rollworks.com.
Media Contact:
Melissa Rossiter
press@rollworks.com
480.749.4324
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The company also announced new executive hires as it continues to expand following the closure of its $5.4M seed round in May
BOSTON, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Salient Predictions, a Boston-based technology company that creates the world's most accurate subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather forecasts and analytics, today announced the launch of a new suite of weather metrics that will provide agribusiness and food producers with data to make faster, smarter decisions.
"Agriculture businesses are experiencing first-hand the effects of our changing climate," said Matt Stein, CEO of Salient. "Having more accurate, long-term weather metrics that go far beyond what's possible today gives them a critical advantage for resource planning and preparedness in the face of increasing climate disruptions."
The company's new agriculture metrics incorporate hyper-localized forecast data that's relevant to the agriculture sector. This data is based on Salient's industry-leading ocean and land-surface forecasting technologies developed from decades of research at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and MIT. Localized parameters, including soil moisture, surface runoff, and frost and drought risk indices, will enable agribusiness and food producers to better prepare for future weather conditions and potential supply chain disruptions.
"These new and enhanced metrics enable agribusinesses to better anticipate the impacts of weather on their operations," said Janet Lee, Chief Product Officer at Salient.
"By contextualizing the forecast in the local environment, Salient can answer the question, 'What does this forecast mean for me?'," noted Anthony Atlas, Salient's Head of Agriculture and Supply Chain. "This helps agribusinesses better anticipate the needs of their customers and proactively place the right products at the right time to maximize the benefits realized."
Salient's new agriculture solutions build on the company's success in the agriculture sector. In 2021, Salient and BASF announced an agreement that provided BASF customers with accurate long-range, seasonal weather forecasting data to enable precise agronomic decisions. Salient's recent research has focused on the intensification of the global water cycle and the role that ocean salinity has in predicting subseasonal-to-seasonal weather events for agriculture, energy, insurance, and supply chain and logistics businesses. A recent paper discovered remote salinity predictors for heavy rain in the Midwest, which should help farmers and businesses adapt to increasingly volatile weather conditions.
To further bolster its agronomic and technology expertise, Salient also announced the addition of three new employees to its team, Janet Lee, Anthony Atlas and Karl Critz.
Lee joins Salient as Chief Product Officer, with a 25-plus year track record of building award-winning technology products for companies that include FirstFuel, Oracle and Lattice Engines. Atlas is Salient's new Head of Agriculture and Supply Chain, offering substantial experience in climatetech and agtech startups, most recently at ClimateAI and Ceres Imaging. Finally, Critz joins Salient as Chief Technology Officer and brings extensive experience in renewable energy and cleantech as an engineer, consultant and executive leader who, most recently, served as the Chief Technology Officer for REsurety, Inc.
"The addition of Janet, Anthony and Karl reflects the significant momentum we're experiencing here at Salient, following the closure of our $5.4M seed round in May," said Stein. "I couldn't be more excited about Salient's future. Having these three talented individuals on our team will make a huge impact on the work we do for all of our clients."
Salient combines novel ocean and land-surface data with machine learning and climate expertise to deliver the world's most accurate subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts and industry insights—2 to 52 weeks in advance. Bringing together world-leading experts in physical oceanography, climatology and the global water cycle, machine learning, and industry, Salient helps enterprise clients improve resiliency, increase preparedness, and make better decisions in the face of a rapidly changing climate. Learn more at www.salientpredictions.com.
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SOURCE Salient | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/salient-launches-new-weather-metrics-agriculture-sector/ | 2022-09-08T15:02:05Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/salient-launches-new-weather-metrics-agriculture-sector/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
HANGZHOU, China, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunyard, a global leading payment solution provider, has established the partnership with Emerico, a world-leading digital transformation company, to offer POS terminals i80 and payment solutions for worldwide market. Through this cooperation, Emerico enables its customers even more options for quick and easy payment. The fully certified i80 is compatible with all payment transactions.
The i80 is designed with a customized Android operating system. Full certification including PCI PTS 6.x, EMV L1 & L2 prevents your information from leakage in the best possible way. Comprehensive communications make your transactions always frictionless. The smart internet management platform also allows any number of payment terminals and makes the system easy to expand.
Emerico prides themselves as being pioneers and associate themselves with the most seasoned technological partners in their respective industries. From seamless integration to borderless customer support, together with the world's finest strategic partners including Cisco, IBM, IDEMIA, Fujitsu, Emerico creates and develops responsive and reliable solutions for customers.
With the addition of Sunyard Android mobile terminals, the Emerico portfolio expands to include another important segment. "It will offer numerous advantages for merchants and end customers from a technological perspective," explains Emerico team. "We look forward to bringing more smart payment solutions to the region as we grow. The cooperation will help thrive the guest experience in the modern age of omni-channel payments and untangle the complex world of payments."
"We are pleased to partner with Emerico to provide our payment terminals to our Asian customers," says Jier Chen, Sales Director, Sunyard Technology. "We look forward to more partnership with Emerico and its strong business network to provide merchant with reliable, rugged solutions with our innovative payment terminals."
At Sunyard, we're constantly expanding and evolving our portfolio of products to help you grow your business. Everything we do is backed by the expertise, support, and commitment that you already trust us for.
Our culture of care means we invest time, energy, and resources to develop products you can count on. We care about quality as much as you do. Whether you need advice, more information or to make an order, we're here to help.
Get in touch:
www.sydtech.com.cn/www.sunyard.com
About Sunyard
Sunyard Technology Co., Ltd, the leading global payment solution provider, is offering cost-effective, superior quality payment terminals and financial software products including payment password system, same-city liquidation system, corporate e-bank system, risk alarm system, etc. As the earliest listed financial IT company in China (SSE Code: 600571), Sunyard has achieved the leading position in the field of financial industry with more than two decades of professional experience. Based on the solid foundation in the domestic market, Sunyard is committed to expanding the international market according to its development strategy.
About Emerico
Emerico is a world-leading digital transformation company, offering an end-to-end solution for customer experience with the aim to effectively enable your customers to make more key interactions that deliver greater levels of business. Emerico delivers an extensive portfolio of smart digital solutions and innovative technology for you to enhance customer experience, which is supported by comprehensive success services and consultancy that can ensure maximum project efficiency and cost savings. Emerico has won many awards, including the "Winner of BID World Quality Commitment Award in Paris 2015".
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Maryland medical device company with advanced surgical non-thrombin hemostat platform receives $1M SSBCI funding from TEDCO
COLUMBIA, Md. and RIVERDALE, Md., Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- TEDCO, Maryland's economic engine for technology companies, announced today it invested $1 million in Medcura, Inc. through the new State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI). Based in Riverdale, MD, Medcura is a life science and medical device company that has commercialized its first product derived from its advanced wound treatment platform for rapid bleeding management and is in the final stages of development of the next standard of care for the management of intraoperative surgical bleeding.
"TEDCO and our home state of Maryland has been an invaluable supporter of Medcura's pioneering work to support surgeons, patients and the military with our product to quickly stop patient bleeding. Whether it was financial support from TEDCO's Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) and Seed Funds, or connections with other institutional investors, the TEDCO team has been here for us," said Medcura's CEO Jim Buck. "This SSBCI funding helped to galvanize a larger round that will support the expansion of our commercial footprint and support further clinical evaluation of our product line—taking Medcura to the next level."
Medcura,Inc. developed an advanced wound treatment platform to provide rapid and reliable bleeding management while creating an antibacterial healing environment. This technology has been developed into a versatile hemostatic product line targeting surgical, military/trauma, and even consumer applications. Medcura combines the use of safe, inert, naturally abundant, low-cost ingredients with proprietary chemistry that can be delivered in easy-to-use formats that require no preparation or special handling. The Company's Life Foam™ product was designated as a "Breakthrough Device" by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), leading the expansion into internal military and surgical applications.
"So much of what TEDCO does is focused on social impact and social innovation, and Medcura is a great example for such social innovation with its focus on patients," said Jack Miner, chief investment officer, TEDCO. "It is especially fulfilling to have a portfolio company that has been part of the full TEDCO funding spectrum since the very beginning. We are thrilled to be able to offer Medcura the inaugural SSBCI funding as the company moves into its next phase of rapid growth focused around its surgical, high-value implantable products and global commercialization."
Created by Congress in 2010, SSBCI received a $10 billion allocation as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Maryland was the first state in the nation to submit its SSBCI deployment plan to the United States Treasury Department and was one of the first five states to be approved. The nine programs funded by SSBCI will support businesses with limited opportunities for growth whether due to the pandemic or historic disinvestment. Maryland's statewide SSBCI initiatives will target communities and areas with a high concentration of small, micro, and Socially and Economically Disadvantaged Individual (SEDI) businesses to support ongoing state investments in underserved communities.
"Earlier I announced that SSBCI funding was open and available to qualifying Maryland companies; today I'm pleased to celebrate an investment of $1 million in Riverdale-based Medcura, Inc.," said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. "I congratulate Medcura for their ground-breaking wound treatment platform, and TEDCO for their work to identify and elevate outstanding Maryland companies like this one. This is exactly the kind of investment we envisioned when we advocated for more SSBCI funding for the state."
TEDCO will deploy up to $50 million and will allocate the funds into four existing programs targeting technology-based Maryland businesses and entrepreneurs. The Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) will deploy up to $103 million and disburse the funds through three Neighborhood BusinessWorks program initiatives. The Maryland Department of Commerce will deploy up to $45 million through two Maryland Small Business Development Financing Authority (MSBDFA) programs.
"It's exciting to see a Maryland-born portfolio company with such high potential touch multiple TEDCO funds and programs; Medcura embodies our model of closely working with a company through its many stages of development," said TEDCO CEO, Troy LeMaile-Stovall. "With this latest infusion of SSBCI funds, TEDCO can continue to scale unique and socially-responsible Maryland companies like Medcura, bringing innovation to market and generating a more equitable future and potential for new job creation in the surrounding community."
To learn more about SSBCI, visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding/state-small-business-credit-initiative-ssbci.
TEDCO provides funding, resources and connections that early-stage technology and life sciences companies need to thrive in Maryland. For entrepreneurs interested in applying for TEDCO funding opportunities, visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding.
About TEDCO
TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com.
About Medcura, Inc.
Medcura is a commercial-stage life science and medical device company developing versatile hemostatic products for surgical, military, and consumer applications. The company combines the use of safe, inert ingredients with proprietary chemistry to address large and unmet market needs. Medcura's mission is to continue the development and commercialization of a broad range of game-changing hemostatic and wound treatment products, including its breakthrough military device, LifeFoam™ which is leading the expansion of Medcura's technology platform into internal use. For more information about Medcura, visit medcurainc.com.
Media Contacts
Tammi Thomas, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, TEDCO, tthomas@tedco.md
Nisha Patel, Inspire Agency on Behalf of Medcura, Inc., npatel@inspire-agency.com, 864-384-2403
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The Five-Year Partnership Will Provide Community Support In All Areas Of Campus Life Including Financial Education, Internships, Scholarships, & Athletics.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- University Credit Union (UCU) is excited to announce its newest partnership with UC San Diego. The partnership will seek further success within the California higher education sector by directly supporting students, employees, alumni and retirees of UC San Diego through community-oriented financial services and access to the full-range of benefits provided to all members of UCU.
"As an organization that prioritizes the success of all higher ed institutions in California, we are honored to have this opportunity to partner with another important institution," Dr. David Tuyo II, CEO & President of UCU, says. "The values between UCU and UC San Diego are perfectly aligned and I believe that we can make a real difference in meeting the financial needs of our Triton community."
The five-year partnership will help support the UC San Diego community by providing one-on-one consultations on campus, financial education and workshops, student internships, sponsorship of athletic and alumni events, and the establishment of the Staff Association Scholarship Fund to provide financial aid to employees pursuing professional development activities. The partnership will also include the opening of a UCU advisory center in the Price Center, six new ATMs across campus, as well as co-branded UC San Diego credit cards and UC San Diego Athletics debit cards.
"Finding a banking partner capable of providing state-of-the-art products and services, while meeting the needs of stakeholders from across an institution of our size, is no small feat," says Pierre Ouillet, Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer of UC San Diego. "Partnering with University Credit Union, a not-for-profit financial cooperative founded by members of the higher-ed community, allows us to develop a model for what a partnership between universities and financial institutions can look like."
About University Credit Union: University Credit Union, a federally-insured financial cooperative, was founded in 1951 on UCLA's campus by faculty and staff. Serving more than 50,000 members, UCU has become a leading credit union in the United States. UCU is guided by a board of directors, comprised only of faculty, staff, and alumni of the university community. UCU's core purpose is to give members a financial advantage in life, and with their promise to advocate, educate and innovate, UCU is an industry-leading financial partner to university communities.
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SOURCE University Credit Union | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/university-credit-union-uc-san-diego-announce-partnership-support-california-higher-education/ | 2022-09-08T15:03:39Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/university-credit-union-uc-san-diego-announce-partnership-support-california-higher-education/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Zero Emission Industries (ZEI), a leading hydrogen technology company for maritime, announced today the first close of its Series A funding round. The round is led by Chevron New Energies with additional investment from U.S.-based shipping and logistics company Crowley. The new funds are expected to enable ZEI to roll out their next generation fully integrated marine power system and scale quickly to meet the demand within the maritime industry for their zero emission propulsion solutions.
"We believe hydrogen is the best path to energy security and decarbonization of the maritime industry. Chevron and Crowley bring a wealth of global experience and an ability to scale deployment across the marine market. We're excited to leverage this partnership with our industry-leading technology to achieve exponential growth of the marine hydrogen market," said ZEI CEO Joseph Pratt.
ZEI is led by Pratt, who has built a team of hydrogen and marine experts with deep industry knowledge and expertise in the design, development and deployment of hydrogen fuel cell power systems and other critical hydrogen technology. ZEI produces marine-specific turn-key fuel cell power and hydrogen storage systems that deliver superior performance.
"Our intelligent, connected, reliable power systems are the only ones on the market built from the ground-up specifically to meet the rigorous demands of the marine community. Designed to be as easy to install and operate as a marine diesel engine, we are working to build solutions that truly enable the maritime industry to decarbonize without negatively impacting their operations," said ZEI Executive VP John Motlow.
The investments from Chevron and Crowley create an integrated value chain from hydrogen production to power systems to vessels. This collaboration will drive value for end users and partners alike through simplified and cost effective fueling and power solutions made specifically for maritime. ZEI's technical expertise and innovative approach, combined with strategic partners Chevron and Crowley, will help enable the accelerated deployment of hydrogen technologies across the maritime market to create lower carbon and potentially zero emission power for the industry.
"As the maritime industry focuses on lower carbon opportunities, hydrogen is well-suited to address these, and we are excited to collaborate with ZEI to advance this potential," said Austin Knight, vice president of hydrogen for Chevron New Energies. "Chevron believes in the value of partnering to develop hydrogen solutions that have the potential to scale and support a lower carbon world, and this is a step in that direction."
Chevron New Energies launched in 2021 to focus on establishing lower carbon businesses in CCUS, hydrogen, renewable fuels and products, offsets, and other emerging areas.
"Investing in and developing innovative, clean energy solutions such as hydrogen is critical to reaching the maritime industry's decarbonization goals. We cannot reach net-zero emissions without collaboration that produces new ideas by partners and stakeholders," said Tom Crowley, the company's chairman and CEO. "Working with Chevron and ZEI is an opportunity to help lead the shipping and logistics industry – and the communities we serve – to reach a more sustainable future."
Zero Emission Industries formerly Golden Gate Zero Emission Marine, launched 2017, is a cutting edge hydrogen technology company that develops and sells power systems for a range of marine applications. As a world leader in hydrogen solutions for maritime, ZEI takes pride in solving the difficult challenges to simplify the way we adopt fuel cells and zero emission power production. ZEI is best known for the Sea Change, the first commercial hydrogen fuel cell ferry in the world. For more information on ZEI, please visit: https://www.zeroei.com/
Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies. We believe affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy is essential to achieving a more prosperous and sustainable world. Chevron produces crude oil and natural gas; manufactures transportation fuels, lubricants, petrochemicals and additives; and develops technologies that enhance our business and the industry. We are focused on lowering the carbon intensity in our operations and seeking to grow lower carbon businesses along with our traditional business lines. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com
Crowley is a privately held, U.S.-owned and -operated maritime, energy and logistics solutions company serving commercial and government sectors with nearly $2.9 billion in annual revenues, over 170 vessels mostly in the Jones Act fleet and approximately 7,000 employees around the world – employing more U.S. mariners than any other company. The Crowley enterprise has invested more than $3 billion in maritime transport, which is the backbone of global trade and the global economy. As a global ship owner-operator and services provider with more than 130 years of innovation and a commitment to sustainability, the company serves customers in 36 nations and island territories through five business units: Crowley Logistics, Crowley Shipping, Crowley Solutions, Crowley Wind Services and Crowley Fuels. Additional information about Crowley, its business units and subsidiaries can be found at www.crowley.com
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SOURCE Crowley | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/zero-emission-industries-announces-first-close-series-funding-round-by-chevron-new-energies-crowley/ | 2022-09-08T15:04:13Z | wbko.com | control | https://www.wbko.com/prnewswire/2022/09/08/zero-emission-industries-announces-first-close-series-funding-round-by-chevron-new-energies-crowley/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. — A Clackamas County woman is praising a UPS driver who saved her after she took a serious fall last month.
On the afternoon of Aug. 4, Bailey Court was pulling weeds around her blackberry hedge on South Logan Road in Beaver Creek. She suddenly lost her footing and fell into a ditch, becoming entrapped by thorns.
“I just did a slow motion fall and landed on my back,” said Court. “Just like a turtle, I couldn't get up.”
After a half-hour, Court who has diabetes, could feel her blood sugar dropping. She was weak, light-headed and afraid of losing consciousness.
“I thought if I were down here if that happened, it may be weeks before somebody found my little carcass!” said Court. “Then I heard a truck coming down the hill.”
The truck she heard was that of UPS driver, Steve Atkinson.
“As I'm passing I realized she's way too far in there to just be picking berries!” said Atkinson. “I basically slammed on my brakes to hop out and see if she was OK.”
Court was relieved and thankful to see Atkinson, whom she recognized from past deliveries.
“He said, ‘Do you need some help?’” laughed Court. “Yeah!”
Atkinson, who has spent 17 years delivering packages for UPS, delivered Court from the blackberries.
“I was just glad that I was able to help her out,” he said.
In response to Atkinson's good turn, a UPS spokesperson shared this statement with KGW:
“UPSers like Steven are the Best! We’re really proud of our employees for their ability to deliver, especially when it matters most.”
“Steve did a wonderful thing,” said Court. “I just wanted him to be recognized for that.” | https://www.krem.com/article/life/ups-driver-saves-woman-after-fall/283-c1be6ace-41ae-4cdd-ae9d-3be40e134a06 | 2022-09-08T15:04:40Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/life/ups-driver-saves-woman-after-fall/283-c1be6ace-41ae-4cdd-ae9d-3be40e134a06 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
BOISE, Idaho — Gubernatorial candidate and far-right activist Ammon Bundy addressed why he is ignoring the lawsuit against him, filed by St. Luke's Health System -- and he said it's because attending court and spending money on legal fees is a distraction from his campaign.
Bundy and his associate Diego Rodriguez have continually been absent for their court hearings over the claims. On Tuesday, a judge sanctioned them, requiring the two to sit for a deposition. If they don't, they could be held criminally contempt.
The lawsuit, filed in May, accused the Bundy, Rodriguez and their political organizations of a "coordinated campaign of harassment and intimidation" that caused the hospital to go into lockdown after multiple protests, forcing ambulances to divert from the area and keeping doctors, nurses, and other employees from entering or leaving the building.
In a Facebook video on Wednesday, Bundy said the reason he is avoiding the lawsuit is because he doesn't want it to distract him from running his campaign. The correct thing to do, he said, is avoid the suit until a default judgement is entered.
"The judge will order a default judgement against me, and St. Luke's will try to collect," he said. "The best thing to do is not to let them distract me."
The protest stemmed from Rodriguez’s grandson, known as “Baby Cyrus,” being taken into child protective services and hospitalized due to malnutrition. Bundy and Rodriguez encouraged their followers to attend these protests, where many of them ended up doxxing judges, attorneys, healthcare workers and social workers associated with Cyrus’ case.
The two were served with the lawsuit earlier this year, which cites its aim is to make Bundy and Rodriguez remove false statements about the hospital online as well as stop ongoing harassment, which contributed to the doxxing of healthcare workers and judges. It also includes more than $50,000 in monetary damages.
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See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist: | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/ammon-bundy-not-participating-in-lawsuit-because-its-a-distraction-idaho/277-6ff71d40-dfcc-4283-ba64-be7b2a42e6db | 2022-09-08T15:04:46Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/ammon-bundy-not-participating-in-lawsuit-because-its-a-distraction-idaho/277-6ff71d40-dfcc-4283-ba64-be7b2a42e6db | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
VANCOUVER, Wash. — A Vancouver man who strangled a teenage girl to death in 2005 is escaping a life prison sentence for a second time because of a change in Washington state law.
Roy Russell was going to spend the rest of his life in prison for murder of 14-year-old Chelsea Harrison at his Vancouver apartment 17 years ago. Russell, then 45, was a vacuum cleaner salesman who was known to host underage drinking parties.
In November 2005, Chelsea was at Russell's apartment with a group of other teenagers. Later that night, he tried to rape her. She fought back and Russell killed her, officials said.
"She was raped, beaten and strangled to death and her naked body was dumped upside down in the shower," said Jim Senescu, the former prosecutor who charged Russell's case in Clark County.
Russell was convicted of second-degree murder — a charge that carries a sentencing range of 21 to 30 years in prison. Instead, a judge him to life under the state's three-strikes law, which generally mandates a life sentence after three violent felony convictions.
Then in 2019, lawmakers removed second-degree robbery as one of the felonies that constitutes a strike for future offenders. In the spring of 2021, lawmakers passed a new law that made the change retroactive, allowing as many as 114 inmates to be resentenced — including Russell, who was convicted of second-degree robbery prior to the murder.
Depending on his new sentence, he could be released from prison in just a few years.
And this isn't the first time that Russell has had a life sentence overturned.
Russell was been convicted of multiple felonies starting in the 1980s, including armed robbery, kidnapping, theft and arson.
In 1998, a judge sentenced Russell to his first life term, also under Washington's three-strikes law. He appealed the sentence, and a judge ruled in 2001 that his kidnapping conviction, which took place in Arizona, did not qualify as a strike under state law.
His life sentence was lifted and he was released from prison not long before he met Chelsea Harrison.
After her murder, the state passed a law called the Chelsea Harrison Act to close the loophole that allowed Russell to escape his first life sentence, expanding Washington law to include felony convictions in other states.
The goal was to prevent a similar situation from happening again. But after lawmakers passed Senate Bill 5164 in 2021, Russell will once again be given the opportunity to walk free.
"I want to know, did they just miss this or did they know they were going to set a serial criminal free like this?" said Senescu, now a partner at a Vancouver law firm.
RELATED: A timeline of Vancouver teen Nikki Kuhnhausen’s disappearance, suspect arrest | Should Be Alive
"I'm appalled to be honest with you," added Sylvia Johnson, Chelsea's grandmother.
Seventeen years after the murder, it's still hard for Johnson to talk about her granddaughter.
"Happy as a clam, loved everybody, loved horses," she said. "You can't help but cry. She was such a beautiful girl and had a heart of gold."
Senescu said he would have prosecuted the case differently had he known the law was going to change years after the trial.
"Now we're back to — he only has 2 strikes. It's a deplorable thing that the lawmakers did. I don't think they thought it through," he said.
After his conviction, Russell, now 61, spent years denying that he killed Chelsea — until he learned about his new chance at freedom.
In a recent court filing, he admitted to the murder, saying that Chelsea's death still "haunts him." He said he's a changed man — no longer a "scumbag criminal."
But Chelsea's grandmother firmly believes that he deserves to stay locked up.
"She's dead, and we have someone who shouldn't be out of jail because he is anything but a good citizen. And now he's found another little loophole," said Johnson.
Archive video of Russell's 2006 sentencing hearing:
As part of his resentencing, Russell will get credit for about 16.5 years served. That means he could be released anywhere from four to 14 years from now — or sooner, if he gets credit for good behavior in prison.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney's Office said it will pursue the maximum sentence, but it will ultimately be up to the judge. For Chelsea's family, the thought of her killer getting another chance at freedom is inconceivable.
"The strongest sentence is not enough for me," said Johnson.
Russell's resentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 14.
KGW reached out to seven of the Democratic state senators who sponsored SB 5164 in 2021: Jeannie Darneille, Mona Das, Patty Kuderer, Bob Hasegawa, Marko Liias, Rebecca Saldaña, Jesse Salomon and Claire Wilson.
Following multiple requests for comment, they either did not respond or stated they were too busy for an interview.
A spokesperson for one senator said they were "too busy campaigning ahead of the November election" and to "check back in in a few months." Some recommended that KGW speak to former Senator Jeannie Darneille, the bill's prime sponsor, who now works for the Washington Department of Corrections, but she also declined.
KGW also reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Washington's Freedom Project and the Washington Defender Association to try to get another perspective on prison reform and the push to eliminate or limit how many people are given life sentences. None of those groups would comment on this story.
Russell's attorney has also declined to comment. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/vancouver-murder-life-sentence-overturned/283-996a68f7-4082-4072-9acd-4b88079fc3e4 | 2022-09-08T15:04:50Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/local/vancouver-murder-life-sentence-overturned/283-996a68f7-4082-4072-9acd-4b88079fc3e4 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NEW YORK — Bernard Shaw, CNN’s chief anchor for two decades and a pioneering Black broadcaster best remembered for calmly reporting the beginning of the Gulf War in 1991 as missiles flew around him in Baghdad, has died. He was 82.
He died of pneumonia on Wednesday at a hospital in Washington, according to Tom Johnson, CNN's former chief executive.
Shaw was at CNN for 20 years and was known for remaining cool under pressure. That was a hallmark of his Baghdad coverage when the U.S. led its invasion of Iraq in 1991 to liberate Kuwait, with CNN airing stunning footage of airstrikes and anti-aircraft fire in the capital city.
“In all of the years of preparing to being anchor, one of the things I strove for was to be able to control my emotions in the midst of hell breaking out,” Shaw said in a 2014 interview with NPR. “And I personally feel that I passed my stringent test for that in Baghdad.”
Shaw was a former U.S. Marine who worked as a reporter at CBS and ABC News before taking on the chief anchor role at CNN when the network began in 1980.
He moderated a presidential debate in 1988 and covered protests in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989. But his striking on-the scene work in Baghdad, with correspondents Peter Arnett and John Holliman, was instrumental in putting CNN on the map.
At that time, it was the only cable news network and broadcast outlets at ABC, CBS and NBC dominated television news.
“Bernard Shaw exemplified excellence in his life,” Johnson said. “He will be remembered as a fierce advocate of responsible journalism.”
CNN's current chief executive, Chris Licht, paid tribute to Shaw as a CNN original who made appearances on the network as recently as last year to provide commentary.
Shaw left the business at age 61. He told NPR that despite everything he did in journalism, because of all of the things he missed with his family while working, “I don't think it was worth it.” | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/bernard-shaw-cnn-first-chief-anchor-dies/507-0f3003d2-31da-4f2a-9f70-cd9d8d6e7bed | 2022-09-08T15:04:52Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/nation-world/bernard-shaw-cnn-first-chief-anchor-dies/507-0f3003d2-31da-4f2a-9f70-cd9d8d6e7bed | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In recent months, many VERIFY readers have reached out to the team with questions about potential changes to Social Security benefits in 2023.
Social Security provides people with an income when they retire or can’t work due to disability. Those who are retired can typically start receiving their Social Security benefits as early as age 62.
VERIFY already fact-checked one claim, and confirmed that Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is expected to be higher than average in 2023 due to inflation.
But could another increase in benefits be on the way? Edward reached out to the team to ask if a bill would give Social Security recipients an extra $2,400 per year.
THE QUESTION
Would a bill give Social Security recipients an extra $2,400 per year in benefits?
THE SOURCES
- Social Security Expansion Act bills in the House and Senate
- Social Security Expansion Act fact sheet
- Mary Johnson, Social Security and Medicare policy analyst for The Senior Citizens League
THE ANSWER
Yes, a bill would give Social Security recipients an extra $2,400 per year in benefits. The bill has been introduced in both the House and Senate, but an expert told VERIFY it’s unlikely to pass in 2022.
WHAT WE FOUND
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the Social Security Expansion Act in both the House and Senate on June 9, 2022. The bill has been referred to various committees in the House and Senate for discussion, but Congress hasn’t taken further action yet.
Mary Johnson, the Senior Citizens League’s Social Security and Medicare policy analyst, told VERIFY that this type of legislation “would be difficult to pass before the end of the year, and in a Congress as divided as this one.”
Social Security legislation requires a supermajority of 60 senators to pass the Senate, Johnson added.
When the 117th Congress officially ends on Jan. 3, 2023, members of the next Congress would need to reintroduce any legislation that hasn’t been passed yet.
One of the provisions included in the Social Security Expansion Act is a $200 monthly increase in Social Security benefits for new and existing recipients, separate from the annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA), according to a fact sheet on the bill. That means recipients would see an extra $2,400 per year on average.
More from VERIFY: Yes, Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment for 2023 is expected to be higher than average
The legislation as currently written would apply this increase to people who receive retirement, disability and survivor Social Security benefits, but not those who receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Johnson said. SSI is a needs-based program for people with limited income and resources.
Johnson explained that Social Security would use a “more generous benefit formula” to provide the extra $200. The Social Security Administration (SSA) typically computes benefits by averaging up to 35 years of a worker’s earnings while taking inflation into account.
The bill would also make other changes to Social Security, including an increase to annual COLAs by adopting a new tool to measure inflation called the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E).
COLAs are currently calculated based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), an inflation gauge measured by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
If the CPI-E were adopted, it would more heavily weigh the “disproportionate amount” of money seniors spend on things such as health care and prescription drugs, lawmakers say.
“Currently the CPI-E is a research tool only, that was developed from assumptions about the buying patterns of older Americans from another consumer price index — the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U),” Johnson wrote in an email to VERIFY.
The CPI-E will “need more senior specific data than it has now” in order to more accurately calculate the COLA, Johnson added.
Johnson said that, even if this legislation doesn’t pass, proponents of the bill believe it could still influence debate on the campaign trail.
“This sort of legislation takes a lot of work to get passed, and a lot of contact with Members of Congress from those close to retirement, seniors and their families,” she said. | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/social-security-verify/bill-proposes-200-dollar-monthly-increase-social-security-benefits-but-has-not-passed/536-d07f5068-9674-431f-8e9e-180f1dad525b | 2022-09-08T15:04:57Z | krem.com | control | https://www.krem.com/article/news/verify/social-security-verify/bill-proposes-200-dollar-monthly-increase-social-security-benefits-but-has-not-passed/536-d07f5068-9674-431f-8e9e-180f1dad525b | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Updated September 8, 2022 at 10:53 AM ET
Queen Elizabeth II is under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after her doctors became worried about her health.
Members of the royal family are already by the queen's bedside in Balmoral — and others are on their way — after her doctors placed her under medical supervision Thursday, the British media, including the BBC and The Guardian, reported.
"Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision," Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
The BBC reported that the statement — and the fact that family members are traveling to her — marks a significant change in her situation. Elizabeth's health has been of concern in recent years, and more so over the summer.
Prince Charles, the queen's oldest son and heir to the throne, represented Elizabeth at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in late July.
When she arrived in Balmoral for her summer break, a welcome ceremony was moved indoors to accommodate her mobility issues, The Guardian reported. Elizabeth also missed the Braemar Gathering highland games earlier this month.
Before leaving office, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the queen in Balmoral this week, as did incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss.
A Privy Council meeting was postponed Wednesday after doctors advised the queen to get some rest, according to The Guardian.
At 96, Elizabeth has served longer than any other British ruler, and is the second longest-reigning monarch in history. The United Kingdom celebrated her 70 years on the throne with a Platinum Jubilee in June.
This is a developing story.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. | https://www.klcc.org/npr-world-news/npr-world-news/2022-09-08/royal-family-members-travel-to-queen-elizabeth-as-doctors-worry-about-her-health | 2022-09-08T15:05:42Z | klcc.org | control | https://www.klcc.org/npr-world-news/npr-world-news/2022-09-08/royal-family-members-travel-to-queen-elizabeth-as-doctors-worry-about-her-health | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. (September 8, 2022) – Partnerships come in many forms. In a broad sense, a partnership can be any endeavor undertaken jointly by multiple parties. The parties may be governments, nonprofits enterprises, businesses or private individuals. The goals of a partnership vary, depending on the objectives set by the group of individuals.
This year the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy and the New York City Fire Department renewed their partnership with the shared goal of sharing best practices in training their new personnel.
HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF THE PARTNERSHIP
The mission of the U.S. Army Center for Initial Military Training (USACIMT) is to provide initial military training and human performance enhancement capabilities to the U.S. Army. As an educational institution, USACIMT trains 160,000 new Soldiers, Officers and Warrant Officers every year.
Similar to the U.S. Army, the FDNY trains its own emergency response personnel. It is the largest fire department in the United States and is universally recognized as one of the world’s busiest, and most highly skilled emergency response agencies.
The USADSA-FDNY collaborative relationship was initiated in 2015 under the then USACIMT Commanding General, Maj. Gen. Anthony Funkhouser, and FDNY Fire Chief James Leonard. The relationship continued until 2019 due the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sharing lessons learned, along with associated tactics, techniques and procedures, is mutually beneficial for the FDNY and USACIMT, as both seek to improve the way in which they transform civilian volunteers into Soldiers or firefighters.
COLLABORATION WITH THE U.S. ARMY DRILL SERGEANT ACADEMY
On Aug. 21, 2022, six FDNY Drill Instructors arrived to Army Training Center, Fort Jackson, S.C. and spent a week embedded with the staff from the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy.
For the first week FDNY Drill Instructors exchanged information and ideas on training methods, planning considerations for risk mitigation, means for planning and creating a training environment conducive to fostering dignity and respect, establishing common standards, sharing educational course management plans, policies and procedures and collaboration on instructor certification and validation programs.
The following week, a second group from the FDNY arrived for another week-rotation. This group included five drill Instructors and the Fire Battalion’s Captain. The FDNY Drill Instructors were hand-selected by the Battalion Chief based on professionalism and their ability to provide quality instruction to newly assigned probationary firefighters.
“We’re definitely encouraging the public to learn more about the American Army,” said Maj. Gen. John D. Kline, the USACIMT Commanding General. “Partnering our efforts with the New York City Fire Department is a way of communicating capabilities of the U.S. Army.”
FDNY Drill Instructors were able to perform rifle marksmanship with the drill sergeant candidates. Fire Fighter Rafael Fortiz from Ladder Company 10 in Lower Manhattan, successfully qualified. Fortiz is a U.S. Army Reserve noncommissioned officer, assigned to the 1179th Transportation Brigade, Fort Hamilton, NY. Fortiz also served as a U.S. Army Drill Sergeant and Drill Sergeant Leader.
Fire Fighter First Grade Jamie Rodriguez from Ladder Company 56 in the Bronx, also qualified during rifle marksmanship. Rodriguez, who served in the Marine Corps, said “it’s like riding a bike, there are some things you can’t forget.”
Capt. Roy J. Cotignola, Executive Officer for Probationary Fire Fighters School of FDNY, has been with the NYPD since 1988. Cotignola along with the FDNY Drill Instructors saw value-added exchange in resuming collaboration with the Drill Sergeant Academy.
“In the short time of being here (U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy), I see a great amount of systems to implement,” Cotignola said. “Safety considerations especially for the summer months gives me new ideas.”
COLLABORATION EFFORTS
The restart of the partnership seeks to improve and enhance individual and collective training ranging from basic to complex. Thinking “outside of the box” allows for a broad perspective for enhancing educational course management plans and policies, updating instructor certification and validation programs, re-evaluating and updating common standards and modify and improve common equipment for military and civilian training, equipment, policies and procedures.
Above all else the collaboration effort focuses on people and how best to meet and exceed their needs. The Drill Sergeant Academy and the FDNY have people and the People’s First Initiative resonates with the FDNY Drill Instructors.
“Our culture has to change with the times, using vulgar language in this day and age you’re seen as a dinosaur,” Command Sgt. Maj. Rickey G. Jackson, Commandant of the U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy, said.
Jackson discussed with the FDNY Drill Instructors the importance of changing with the times and, most importantly, effectively communicating, something that Jackson holds his drill sergeant leaders to as well as the drill sergeant candidates attending the Drill Sergeant Academy.
Jackson shared his philosophy with the drill instructors, the philosophy of the Drill Sergeant Academy is T-E-A-M.
“The philosophy we exhibit and pass on to each drill sergeant candidate through the drill sergeant leader is the acronym T.E.A.M., T- Treat everyone with dignity and respect, E- Engaged leadership, A- Always learning and developing and M- Mindful communicate,” Jackson said.
Leadership of the Drill Sergeant Academy is tentatively scheduled to send drill sergeant leaders to New York City later this year for further collaboration.
This work, Newly restored partnership resumes, U.S. Army Drill Sergeant Academy and the New York City Fire Department collaborate, by Gary Loten-Beckford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428803/newly-restored-partnership-resumes-us-army-drill-sergeant-academy-and-new-york-city-fire-department-collaborate | 2022-09-08T15:08:24Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428803/newly-restored-partnership-resumes-us-army-drill-sergeant-academy-and-new-york-city-fire-department-collaborate | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
PITTSBURGH – The construction office for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District operates in a fast-paced environment, moving from one project to the next without a pause, while juggling several jobs simultaneously.
“I have a team of rockstars,” said David Conrad, a resident engineer for the Pittsburgh District’s construction branch.
Conrad oversees a team at the Neville Island Construction Resident Office, which handles 30 to 40 projects at any given time. His office leads some of the district’s smaller constructions, varying in scope from security fence installations and road repairs to massive miter gate fabrication or concrete work at 120-foot dams, and much more.
“We get to dabble in old structures that have a lot of history, but also have a lot of purpose today. It’s unique in that way,” said Wayne Carney, a project engineer who at any given point manages five to seven assignments, much like his teammates.
The team offers design, planning and contract oversight for projects that usually take a few months to construct but can occasionally last several years. The cost of each job ranges from a few hundred thousand to $10-15 million.
“Our projects aren’t always the flashiest or biggest, but at the end of the day, we are making our facilities better for our staff and better for the public,” Conrad said.
In comparison, the district’s construction branch has two other offices, one overseeing a billion-dollar mega project on the lower Monongahela River and another overseeing a $900-million construction on the upper Ohio River. Whereas those mega projects are massive and can take decades to plan and complete, the Neville Island office delivers the district’s quicker missions, often finishing them in a single construction season.
That’s a fast pace in the construction world, Conrad said. As a result, the Neville Island engineers must move rapidly from one assignment to the next or handle several at a time.
“Everybody does an outstanding job. Sometimes I even wonder how they keep it all together because they’re in high demand all over the place. Kudos to them for being on top of their game and providing the level of service they do,” Conrad said.
Some projects benefit recreational users who visit the district’s reservoirs to enjoy the outdoors, while others provide safety and protection by reducing flood damage in residential areas against heavy rains.
“I love this job. I initially went into engineering because I wanted to make a difference in the community in which I live. That may sound corny, but it’s the truth,” Conrad said.
The Pittsburgh District’s identity revolves around water infrastructure. However, on some occasions, they also support governmental partners such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the U.S. Forest Service for things like repaving roads and remediating soil.
“We’re highly experienced, and they look to us for engineering solutions,” Conrad said.
The Neville Island construction team has about a dozen engineers, including project engineers, an office engineer, and several construction representatives. Conrad said his teammates are adaptable, constantly on the move, able to partner with people from multiple organizations, and ready to travel across the district’s map.
“The main thing in being a public servant for the Corps of Engineers is we serve the people,” said Mike Curtis, a construction control representative who assures quality control for projects led by the Pittsburgh District.
“I take that to heart because every job we do benefits citizens. We make sure we deliver high quality projects as stewards of taxpayer dollars. That’s number one,” he said.
In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the district is making repairs to a flood protection concrete structure and removing sediment within the Mahoning Creek. At Crooked Creek Lake, they are repaving a road to control erosion leading to a boat launch. For a lock and dam on the Ohio River, the construction office designed and led the fabrication of new miter gates for much-needed replacements. The list goes on, and as soon as they complete three or four projects, a handful more come their way ready for construction.
“The staff here is dedicated and hardworking. We’re out there every day trying to make the district better in whatever opportunity we’re presented with,” Conrad said.
Conrad said that engineers who work in the construction section need to be well-rounded, good communicators, detail-oriented, and adaptable to change.
“You’d be surprised how quickly situations change out in the field. You could be thinking you’re going to accomplish one task in the morning, and by the afternoon, you might be on iteration number three of a whole new problem,” Conrad said.
New challenges always come up because of the complex nature of construction.
“You can plan all you want, but in the end, there can always be unforeseen things that come up,” said Matthew McKissick, a civil engineer with the Pittsburgh District.
Overcoming challenges is all about working through the problem together, Carney said.
“Problem solving brings you together as a team, both internally within the corps and externally with our contractors. It’s a collective effort,” he said.
The projects span a diverse landscape across the district’s 26,000 square-mile footprint.
“It keeps you engaged because you’re doing a different thing every day. It encourages all of us to work with a little bit more passion behind what we do,” Carney said.
With the fast pace and high demand, there is also a high sense of reward.
“For me, this job allows me to live up to that old adage you learn as a kid, that whatever you do, you want to leave a place better than how you found it,” Carney said.
This work, Pittsburgh District’s construction projects bring diversity of demand for Neville Island engineering team, by Michel Sauret, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright. | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428804/pittsburgh-districts-construction-projects-bring-diversity-demand-neville-island-engineering-team | 2022-09-08T15:08:24Z | dvidshub.net | control | https://www.dvidshub.net/news/428804/pittsburgh-districts-construction-projects-bring-diversity-demand-neville-island-engineering-team | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A Tunbridge Wells artist is set to run an exhibition chronicling her own battle with long COVID and the issues facing people living with chronic illnesses. Cat Vezmar's passion for art has blossomed over the last 18 months, in which time her world has been turned upside down.
The 31-year-old photographer was a keen rock climber and cyclist before her illness. Due to the effects of long COVID, she is having to change her job role and thanks her employers for making adaptations to make her life easier. Her exhibition will feature her sea-inspired paintings and a selection of her own and submitted poetry. It takes place both in-person at Tunbridge Wells' Trinity Theatre and digitally next month.
While she is now slowly beginning to recover, long COVID affects her every day. She still suffers from brain fog, tires easily and has developed neuropathy of the feet, making every day things like walking difficult.
"My life changed overnight in February 2021 - I was very unwell. Doctors initially thought it was a chest infection. This was when face-to-face appointments weren’t happening. I was put on antibiotics and then steroids, which didn’t work.
Read more:UK's COVID alert level downgraded - but for how long?
"I noticed things were getting worse on a Friday night - I couldn’t walk up the stairs and I was struggling to breathe. I had to call paramedics. After this I was bed bound for around a month. All my energy was gone and everything was hurting. I started to recover last summer but kept relapsing, as I started to get various infections and illnesses. Last November I started to become really unwell again. From then until March I was pretty much at home all the time."
"I’m in constant, chronic foot pain. I really struggle to walk long distances and get tired really easily. I’m unable to do exercise. The person I am now is very different to who I was before. I haven’t worn socks and shoes for about four months now - I live in flip flops!," she said.
She admits she feels disappointed with her experience of the NHS and describes herself as a 'forgotten guinea pig', with medical knowledge of the condition still patchy. However, since changing her GP she has noticed improvements. Months on from catching the virus, Cat was still struggling - worn out by sedentary activities such as housework or simply doing a food shop. She believes a lot of her recovery is down to her own research into illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome and M.E.
"I was referred to a Covid clinic, which was a terrible experience. It was a virtual clinic and I’ve had little to no support from them. I have now changed GPs, my current one is better but they just don’t know enough about the condition. It does feel like guesswork - for example, they don't know what's caused the neuropathy," she said.
Art provided a slight glimmer of hope in those tough days as lockdowns came and went. Despite never having written anything before, she used poetry as a means to clear her head as an impromptu insomnia cure.
'Dark times'
Reaching out to others suffering chronic illness via social media has also helped. She is keen that these people don't become forgotten as the country continues to move on from the terrible heights of the pandemic, and invited them to submit their own poems for the exhibition.
"I've definitely used my art as a coping strategy over this period. It’s become part of my feeling, processing and self-expression. There were times that I felt like I wasn’t being heard by the right people. Painting and writing poetry was a way for me to express myself.
"My artwork is based around the sea and there were periods when I couldn’t get there, and I’ve always loved it. Painting was a way of connecting myself to the outside world. There were times when I felt very isolated and couldn’t see anyone.
"The poems were written in dark times - for example when I couldn’t sleep. I surprised myself as I’d be lying in bed and suddenly these words would come to me. After I’d put them down on paper I could sleep! I guess it cleared my mind.
"Had I not been ill, I wouldn’t be doing this exhibition. There’s thousands of other people out there living with chronic illness who aren’t heard. Reading their poems has really helped me. I wanted to give people an opportunity to share their story in a creative way. Every time I get a poem I cry.
"I wanted something positive to come from something negative. We do take simple things like breathing for granted. When I was really unwell I couldn’t even grate a carrot - it was taking so much energy just to breathe.
"There's still a lot of the unknown with long COVID, and I am concerned that I will get sick again this winter," she said.
The 'Deep Into The Unknown' exhibition will be open at Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells between October 6-15 2022. The artist will donate 15 per cent of profits split between two charities: CovidAid and Action for M.E.
Read next:
COVID-19: Who is eligible for autumn booster as 7million people invited for jab
Ex-Tunbridge Wells Borough Council deputy leader's luxury £1m flat goes before planners
Kent weather: 'Tropical storms' on the way as heavy downpours set to continue across county
The hardest schools in Kent to get a place at including in Tonbridge, Dartford, Medway
Tickets on sale for new permanent interactive art installation | https://www.kentlive.news/news/health/tunbridge-wells-artist-describes-how-7559020 | 2022-09-08T15:11:09Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/health/tunbridge-wells-artist-describes-how-7559020 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It will mark the end of 50 years' trading in Sevenoaks when The Hardware Centre closes. No date has been set for shutting, but a 10 per cent closing down sale is seeing customers "flock" through the doors, said Julie Cornford, who owns the shop with brother Stephen Martin.
They took over The Hardware Centre in London Road 20 years ago from their parents, Clive and Margaret Martin, who opened it in the 1970s, after having a DIY and ironmongers' shop in Bromley for 10 years. Julie told KentLive what she would miss most was her customers and her staff, saying some had worked there for more than 25 years.
But when Julie does leave the shop, and there are conversations happening with potential buyers, she has exciting plans for the next stage of her life. There will be no pottering at home in Tonbridge in retirement as Julie and husband Paul are moving to Dorset, where she plans to surf and paddleboard.
Read more:Ightham: I had lunch at a pub in Kent's 'poshest village' but will never afford to live there
Talking about the end of an era in Sevenoaks with the shop which has served the community for half a century, she said: "We are retiring. We are in our 60s. My parents have done their retiring, so it is our turn now. I'm looking forward to retiring but obviously we feel sad. We have our regular customers who have been loyal over the years, through the pandemic."
They sell everything from fire grates and gardening products, to nuts and bolts, baking and cookware, to DIY and plasticware. Julie and brother Stephen, who lives in Weald, kept the shop open "right the way through" the pandemic, as allowed because of the nature of their business.
They sold not just useful things for people in lockdown - baking, DIY and gardening items were popular as people busied themselves at home - but also provided that welcome human contact, even though it was behind screens and masks.
"It was just us and Waitrose. It was quite difficult times because everyone was all masked up and we had screens and rubber gloves. We had to put arrows on the floor. We had an 'in' door and an 'out' door. It was all going on.
"We were selling masks and hand cleaner. I think it was good for the community and locally. We have very good staff, a lot have been with us for over 25 years now. They have all been very patient and everything has been very difficult for them. We employ seven and I expect we will keep in touch with them," she said.
'We've seen huge changes'
Sevenoaks has not stayed the same during the many years Julie has been at the shop. She said: "We have seen huge changes. It is very much hairdressers and nail bars now. Of course, everyone has gone online as well. We have gone online. We have an ebay shop but people in Sevenoaks do like to shop on the high street. We'll continue online but we don't know how long at the moment."
As for the business continuing, she said: "We have people interested it is just a case of how long they will take. We will continue with our sale of 10 per cent and people seem excited about that. They have been flocking in. Suddenly they are coming in their droves."
Talking about her retirement, Julie who has three grown-up children and grandchildren, said: "I plan to do lots of surfing. I have got myself a bodyboard and I want to do paddle boarding. We are planning to move to Dorset. We holiday there a lot.
"We're off to the seaside. I do like beaches. I am very keen on being by the sea. I expect the family will all be visiting!"
Leave your memories or comments about The Hardware Centre in Sevenoaks. Join the conversation with other Kent readers here.
Read more: | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/hardware-centre-legendary-fixture-sevenoaks-7560596 | 2022-09-08T15:11:12Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/hardware-centre-legendary-fixture-sevenoaks-7560596 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince William have travelled to Balmoral this afternoon (September 8) after it was announced The Queen was under medical supervision earlier today. Princess Anne has also arrived, while Prince Andrew and Prince Edward and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are all on their way.
Clarence House confirmed Prince Charles and Camilla's arrival in Scotland. The Queen is under medical supervision after doctors became concerned for her health, Buckingham Palace said.
A Palace spokesperson said: “Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
Read next: How The Queen's health has been under the spotlight during the past year
The announcement stopped proceedings at the House of Commons, where new Prime Minister Liz Truss was setting out her plans for tackling the cost of living crisis. The country's leading politicians have all reacted in the past couple of hours.
Prime Minister Liz Truss said: “The whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime.
“My thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time.”
Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, said: "Along with the rest of the country, I am deeply worried by the news from Buckingham Palace this afternoon.
"My thoughts are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time, and I join everyone across the United Kingdom in hoping for her recovery."
Doctors advised Her Majesty to rest on Wednesday, which led to the latest Privy Council meeting being postponed. This episode of ill health comes just two days after her audience with Liz Truss and appointing the fifteenth PM of her reign.
The 96-year-old monarch’s latest setback will raise fresh fears for her health. The nation's longest-reigning monarch has ongoing mobility issues.
A Palace spokesman said: “After a full day yesterday, Her Majesty has this afternoon accepted doctors’ advice to rest.
“This means that the Privy Council meeting that had been due to take place this evening will be rearranged.”
The Queen remains at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire and the latest advice does not involve a hospital stay. The most recent photograph of the monarch shows her smiling while shaking Ms Truss' hand and using a walking stick.
It was the first time in her 70-year reign that the Queen has appointed a PM at Balmoral. The ceremony traditionally takes part at Buckingham Palace.
PM Truss and former leader Boris Johnson made the 1,000 mile round trip from London. This break in tradition was to spare The Queen having to make the trip, who has been experiencing mobility problems since last October.
During the proceedings of the Privy Council meeting, Ms Truss would have taken her oath as First Lord of the Treasury and new cabinet ministers would have been sworn into their roles. Buckingham Palace confirmed that there is no constitutional issue with the delay to the proceedings.
The Queen is on her summer break at Balmoral, and not due to return until early October. The monarch, dressed in a blouse, cardigan and a Balmoral tartan skirt, stood as she met Ms Truss on Tuesday.
Mr Johnson arrived at around 11.16am and left around 39 minutes later at 11.55am after tendering his resignation, while Ms Truss arrived at 12.22pm and departed around 33 minutes later at 12.55pm.
The Queen also had another duty afterwards recorded in the Court Circular. She invested her Communications Secretary Donal McCabe with the Insignia of a Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order (LVO), an honour in the monarch’s personal gift for service to the royal family.
A number of guests was also seen leaving the castle before the first audiences began. The Queen often has family members and friends to stay during her annual holiday.
While Buckingham Palace has declined to give an ongoing commentary on the monarch’s health, The Sun reported recently that the Prince of Wales had been making regular morning visits to see his mother, with the unplanned visits considered highly unusual.
The Queen has scaled back her duties and public appearances in recent times. She missed the Braemar Gathering highland games last weekend, which she usually attends each year.
During her Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Queen only travelled to Buckingham Palace twice, first for her Trooping the Colour balcony appearance and then for a finale after the pageant.
She spends most of her time at Windsor Castle, 22 miles from central London, living there during the pandemic and while major renovations take place at the Palace, and for her comfort.
She secretly spent a night in hospital in October undergoing tests and was then under doctors’ orders to rest for the next three months, missing the Remembrance Sunday Cenotaph service and Cop26 climate change talks.
The Queen caught COVID in February, and suffered from mild cold-like symptoms but said the virus left her “very tired and exhausted”.
Read next: | https://www.kentlive.news/news/uk-world-news/prince-wales-duchess-cornwall-prince-7562806 | 2022-09-08T15:11:13Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/uk-world-news/prince-wales-duchess-cornwall-prince-7562806 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
March 2020 was the the most-volatile month in markets in a lifetime.
In the first half of the month, it became clear that a pandemic would shut down global economies and kill millions of people. That caused a panic.
In the second half of the month, global governments unveiled plan after plan to take on essentially all of the losses from covid shutdowns and disruptions while central banks took dramatic actions to finance it.
That turn was the best buying opportunity in risk assets in a generation.
Are we seeing something similar in European energy?
Like covid, leaders have been slow to realize the scope of the crisis and Russia has compounded that by turning off the taps. But now we're seeing governments take powerful steps. Within a week, reports say the UK will unveil a £130 billion (and open ended above that) plan to cap consumer energy prices and pay the difference for 18 months. If that happens, it basically eliminates the risk to households. There are also hints and reports that businesses will be subsidized as well.
Today, we heard an abrupt turn from Germany economy minister Robert Habeck, who previously said some companies would have to close this winter.
“We will open a wide rescue umbrella,” he said today in a speech. “We will open it widely so that small and medium enterprises can come under it.”
Not every country in Europe is lining up with the same plan. Eurozone countries are floating various ideas on price caps, rationing and subsidies. On Friday, finance ministers will meet and hopefully offer some clarity but you can bet that all the ideas will include a hefty chunk of government spending.
Overall, on the government side, you can start to feel like the covid playbook is in place. Like in covid, mass personal and business bankruptcies will be avoided.
I think that's a powerful short-term signal for European assets, particularly for stocks but also for currencies as the risk of a disorderly crisis dims.
What's different compared to the covid response
What's different is the monetary side. Instead of helping, central banks are actively trying to hurt aggregate demand via rate hikes in order to bring down inflation. The ECB hiked rates by 75 basis points today and said it "expects to raise interest rates further" over the next "several" meetings. The BOE has already embarked on a similar path.
Does the central bank stance change the calculus?
The bond market certainly isn't happy. UK 30-year gilt yields rose the most on Tuesday since March 2020. That could be a sign of things to come in Europe, at least once the ECB takes its thumb off the scale. Over time, that will raise borrowing costs for consumers and businesses, which is a problem for spending and investment.
Feeling isolated
What's also different this time is that this is largely a European crisis while covid was global. There was certainly volatility during covid in FX but in the energy crisis, it's EUR and GBP-specfic. That has created one-way flows and one-way moves that weren't there during covid. Growing expected trade deficits for both the UK and eurozone have weighed on the currencies and threaten a vicious cycle of imported inflation.
And all that debt
There's a limit to how much debt a country can tolerate. Covid punched a big hole in government balance sheets but it was easy to hide (and ignore) with central bank support. Now -- at the same time that central banks are lifting the veil on the debt problem -- governments are going to punch another covid-sized hole in the balance sheet.
What all this does is take a short-term crisis and transform it into a long-term problem. The risks are also growing that as debt spirals, it becomes a long-term crisis with no way for governments to spend their way out (just the opposite).
For now though, a potential crisis for business and consumer balance sheets has been moved to the government balance sheet -- just like covid. It was a powerful signal last time and I believe it's the same thing this time, especially for European equities. Beaten down banks look particularly attractive, since they will be shielded from bankruptcies. While the path is less-clear for the euro and pound, I think it will eventually be the case as well, though the market may need more time to see how energy supply holds up and whether we see thoughtful European coordination or beggar-thy-neighbour policies. | https://www.forexlive.com/news/the-covid-bottom-came-when-govts-took-the-financial-risk-were-seeing-a-repeat-in-europe-20220908/ | 2022-09-08T15:12:51Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/news/the-covid-bottom-came-when-govts-took-the-financial-risk-were-seeing-a-repeat-in-europe-20220908/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The AUDUSD moved to the lowest level since July 14 yesterday and in the process tested an old trendline. That trendline was broken in June as the price moved to the lowest level since June 1, 2020 (tested that swing area from 2020). The price has moved back toward the 50% of the range for the pair since the March 2020 pandemic low. That level comes in at 0.6756. The high price in the early Asian session did scooted up to 0.6773, but has since rotated back to the downside.
Looking at the hourly chart, the run higher off the low yesterday at 0.66984, saw the price extend right up to the 100 hour moving average (blue line in the chart below) and was also near swing lows from last Thursday and again on Monday near 0.6771 (see red numbered circles on the hourly chart below).
Sellers leaned against the dual levels, and pushed the price back down. Admittedly, the price action today has been up and down although it remains lower on the day. As a result buyers and sellers are battling it out with a more bearish bias.
Ultimately with the price stalled against the 100 hour moving average, getting above that level and staying above that level would be the prerequisite for the buyers to take more control. A move above that level would look toward the 200 hour moving average at 0.68088. You have to go back to August 30 for the last time the price traded above that 200 hour moving average.
PS. On August 31 the high price stalled against that level and that helped to lead to the rotation to the downside (and the more bearish bias since that test). So getting above that moving averages also needed to give the buyers more confidence and control. | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/audusd-stays-below-topside-resistance-in-the-short-term-keeps-the-sellers-in-control-20220908/ | 2022-09-08T15:13:04Z | forexlive.com | control | https://www.forexlive.com/technical-analysis/audusd-stays-below-topside-resistance-in-the-short-term-keeps-the-sellers-in-control-20220908/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Burkhart, Nessline win golf leagueSubmitted by Knights of Columbus Council 505View CommentsView CommentsView CommentsView Comments | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/burkhart-nessline-win-golf-league/65473737007/ | 2022-09-08T15:13:22Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/burkhart-nessline-win-golf-league/65473737007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Ricky Skaggs performing in McConnelsville
McCONNELSVILLE − Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder will perform for the Ohio Valley Opry for its 22nd anniversary show Sept. 17 at the Twin City Opera House, 15 W. Main St., McConnelsville. Show are 4 and 8 p.m. This is the band's third appearance for the OVO. Skaggs struck his first chords on a mandolin more than 50 years ago and this 15-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. With 12 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label, the tones made by Skaggs come from a life dedicated to playing music that is fed by the soul and felt by the heart.Skaggs was born on July 18, 1954, in Cordell, Kentucky, and received his first mandolin at the age of 5 after his father, Hobert, heard him harmonizing with his mother from across the house as he played with his toys. Two weeks after teaching him the G, C and D chords, Hobert returned from working out of town shocked to see his young son making chord changes and singing along. He soon earned a reputation among the locals in his community.
When the legendary Bill Monroe came to Martha, Kentucky for a performance, the crowd wouldn’t let up until “Little Ricky Skaggs” got up to play. The father of bluegrass called 6-year-old Skaggs up and placed his own mandolin around his neck, adjusting the strap to fit his small frame. No one could have imagined what a defining moment that would be in the life of the young prodigy. By age 7, Skaggs performed with bluegrass legends Flatt and Scruggs on their popular syndicated television show, for which he earned his first paycheck for a musical performance.In 1971, he entered the world of professional music with his friend, the late country singer, Keith Whitley, when the two young musicians were invited to join the band of bluegrass patriarch Ralph Stanley. Skaggs soon began to build a reputation for creativity and excitement through live appearances and recordings with acts such as J. D. Crowe and the New South. He performed on the band’s 1975 debut album for Rounder Records, which is widely regarded as one of the most influential bluegrass albums ever made. A stint as a bandleader with Boone Creek followed, bringing the challenges of leadership while giving him further recording and performing experience.In the late 1970s, Ricky turned his attention to country music. Though still in his 20s, the wealth of experience and talent he possessed served him well, first as a member of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band and later as an individual recording artist on his own. With the release of Waitin’ for the Sun to Shine in 1981, Skaggs reached the top of the country charts and remained there throughout most of the 1980s, resulting in a total of 12 number one hits.
In 1982, he became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, the youngest to ever be inducted at that time. As his popularity soared, he garnered eight awards from the Country Music Association (CMA), including Entertainer of the Year in 1985, four Grammy Awards and dozens of other honors. These achievements also placed him front and center in the neo-traditionalist movement, bringing renewed vitality and prominence to a sound that had been somewhat subdued by the commercialization of the Urban Cowboy fad. Renowned guitarist and producer, Chet Atkins, credited Skaggs with single-handedly saving country music.Also performing for the OVO will be Erica Dodge, The Clarks, Matt Coleman, Beth Bigham, and Mike Morrison with the staff band featuring Gary Sigler, Andrew Ruggles, Marv and Deana Clark, Bryant Sigler and Rick Troyer.Tickets are $40, $50 and $60 and can be purchased online at OhioValleyOpry.com or by calling the box office at 740-525-9218.
Submitted by the Ohio Valley Opry | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/ricky-skaggs-performing-in-mcconnelsville/65472601007/ | 2022-09-08T15:13:28Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/ricky-skaggs-performing-in-mcconnelsville/65472601007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(NewsNation) — A 16-year-old football player was set to start school Wednesday at Olympia High School in Washington State. Instead, he sits in a juvenile detention center, accused of murder.
It’s a case full of twists and turns that police say include the suspect faking his own disappearance and being threatened by a biker gang, as well as the alleged murder itself.
One week ago, Gabriel Davies was due at football practice. When he didn’t show, police started an all-out search.
Within the next 24 hours, they found his abandoned truck with blood inside and Davies’ shattered cellphone nearby, but no Davies.
He was later found about three miles away, walking, with no shirt or shoes. Davies said he couldn’t remember what happened to him. But he quickly went from a missing person to the center of a murder investigation.
Police say he faked his disappearance to evade being captured, and they were already piecing together what they say really happened.
Daniel McCaw, 51, didn’t show up to work for four days. Police did a well-being check and found him dead. The medical examiner says he was shot and stabbed to death.
Davies and one of his 16-year-old friends, Justin Yoon, were spotted on McCaw’s home camera, going inside the house through a doggie door.
They are being charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Both are being charged as adults and being held on $1 million bonds.
But this is where the case takes even more bizarre turns. It turns out Davies’ mother had a relationship with McCaw, and he and his mother lived with McCaw for a while. Davies’ father contacted police, saying his son was forced into the crime.
The father said that his son was approached by the victim’s “biker buddies” to steal something from the victim’s residence. He further stated that they threatened his son with harm if he didn’t do it.
Davies’ father says his son plotted to steal the object, but McCaw came home early. That’s when he said Yoon shot McCaw while Davies was trying to open the safe to get what they came for.
After the crime, the biker buddies allegedly came looking for what they wanted, roughing him up when they couldn’t find it. | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/football-player-goes-from-missing-to-murder-suspect/ | 2022-09-08T15:13:28Z | wwlp.com | control | https://www.wwlp.com/news/national/football-player-goes-from-missing-to-murder-suspect/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
'The best part is seeing the kids excited and happy'
Community supports family's quest to feed children in Frazeysburg
FRAZEYSBURG — Working in education has given Jason Watson and his wife, Anne, an insight into food insecurity for area youth.
The two started AIM Outreach in 2016. They offered different activities for children like archery, painting and cooking and even brought the fire department out from time to time so the children could play in the water. AIM also featured a food pantry, which was run through donations, at the Old Frazeysburg Elementary to help the community.
But, COVID shut down those efforts in 2020 so the Watsons had to chose a new route.
"We knew people, especially kids, were missing our pantry so we thought about an ice cream truck, and we found a driver to come over from Columbus," noted Jason, who has been the Dresden Elementary physical education teacher for nine years. "We paid him to drive us around one day as we gave kids ice cream, and he fell in love with what we were doing. He offered his old truck so we could use it, and we started making weekly trips into town.
"We wanted to do something positive for the kids so they can have a hot meal with a cold treat."
The idea has blossomed over the past two years. The entire Watson family, including their children, Lilly, 14, Pax, 12 and Skye 11, works in the truck during the summer. They cook the meals at home and put them in sack lunches before arriving in Frazeysburg to give those away, as well as free ice cream.
Churches and 4-H groups are among the donors, while Scrappy's provided free pizzas once for the children, noted Jason. He estimated about 70 lunches were given away each week.
"Our children love doing this and helping us run it. They know where everything is and have an amazing time doing it," Jason said. "We will grill hamburgers or hot dogs or make chicken sandwiches. We have drumsticks and other ice cream, but we will occasionally give them special treats like SpongeBob or Spiderman ice cream so the kids love that.
"When you see the kids and fill a need or you hear from a parent that this is the child's first meal of the day, that’s when you know what you're doing is appreciated," he added. "The best part is seeing the kids excited and happy."
That joy also is seen through the outpouring of support. Anne, who has been a librarian for the past four years at Licking Valley, is amazed to see how many people are willing to aid their efforts. The family knows they aren't the only ones making a difference.
"We know a lot of people lack food and resources, especially in the summer," Anne said. "The community has rallied around us and done so much. Everything we've done the past six years has been community funded. We receive plenty of donations and work with businesses to get food. It means so much to see everyone rally together."
Having that support became necessary this past May. Jason said the truck needed mechanical repairs, including a new engine and transmission. The family went to GoFundMe to help with those costs, and to date has raised more than $10,000.
AIM Outreach Ice Cream Truck, organized by Jason Watson
"There's a lot of time, energy, resources and money needed to do this. We gave GoFundMe a try, and we were amazed by the support," Jason said. "Our story was mentioned with GoFundMe Heroes, and we did an interview with People magazine. It surprised us how many people wanted to hear our story, and we've been blessed to receive so much support."
The family has taken a hiatus since school is underway. The Watsons plan on doing this again next summer, but they have at least one more appearance scheduled this year.
"We love to cook and enjoy giving back. It's fun for everyone," Anne said. "We come out on Halloween and give away full size candy bars. We want to spoil the kids one more time, and we look forward to seeing them again."
bhannahs@gannett.com; @brandonhannahs | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/the-best-part-is-seeing-the-kids-excited-and-happy/65470062007/ | 2022-09-08T15:13:34Z | zanesvilletimesrecorder.com | control | https://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/story/news/local/2022/09/08/the-best-part-is-seeing-the-kids-excited-and-happy/65470062007/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) arrives to Maryland Fleet Week 2022
Amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) arrives to Baltimore, Md. for Maryland Fleet Week 2022 (Video by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Eduardo Jorge)
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Fleet Week Maryland Teaser Video - Trivia Questions
Chief Mass Communication Specialist Patrick Gordon speaks with locals with a trivia questionnaire in promotion of Maryland Fleet Week 2022
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Kentucky National Guard Flood Relief 2022
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TRADOC Change of Command Ceremony
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Powell: Higher rates won’t likely cause deep US recession
WASHINGTON (AP) — The last time the Federal Reserve faced inflation as high as it is now, in the early 1980s, it jacked up interest rates to double-digit levels — and in the process caused a deep recession and sharply higher unemployment.
On Thursday, Chair Jerome Powell suggested that this time, the Fed won’t have to go nearly as far.
“We think we can avoid the very high social costs that Paul Volcker and the Fed had to bring into play to get inflation back down,” Powell said in an interview at the Cato Institute, referring to the Fed chair in the early 1980s who sent short-term borrowing rates to roughly 19% to throttle punishingly high inflation.
Powell also reiterated that the Fed is determined to lower inflation, now near a four-decade high of 8.5%, by raising its short-term rate, which is in a range of 2.25% to 2.75%, even if its efforts weaken the economy and the job market as a consequence.
He did not comment on what the Fed may do at its next meeting in two weeks. Economists and Wall Street traders increasingly expect the central bank to raise its key short-term rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a third straight time. That would extend the most rapid series of rate hikes since Volcker’s time.
The Fed’s benchmark rate affects many consumer and business loans, which means that borrowing costs throughout the economy will likely keep rising.
Powell warned two weeks ago at an economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that the Fed’s inflation-fighting efforts will inevitably “bring some pain to households and businesses.” But, he added, “a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”
Still, on Thursday, he reiterated that the Fed’s goal is to achieve a “soft landing,” in which it manages to slow the economy enough to defeat high inflation yet not so much as to tip it into recession.
“What we hope to achieve,” the Fed chair said, “is a period of growth below trend, which will cause the labor market to get back into better balance, and then that will bring wages back down to levels that are more consistent with 2% inflation over time.”
Other central bank officials have recently echoed Powell’s message.
“We’re not trying to engineer a recession,” Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Wednesday in an interview with the newswire MNI. “We’re trying to engineer a slowdown or moderation of activity.”
At the same time, Mester acknowledged that the Fed’s rate hikes will likely lead to job losses and will be “painful in the near term.”
And Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, also in remarks Wednesday, pointed out that there are signs that supply chain snarls are easing, which could boost factory output and moderate prices.
In addition, she noted that auto makers and retailers enjoyed hefty profit margins when goods were scarce and Americans were spending robustly. As consumers start to pull back in the face of high inflation, Brainard said, retailers and car companies may have to cut prices to boost sales. That would help slow inflation.
Yet many economists say they worry that as borrowing rates keep rising, employers will cut jobs, consumers will slash spending and a downturn will eventually result. And some have issued starker warnings about the consequences of the Fed’s aggressive pace of rate hikes.
Larry Summers, a Treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, has said he thinks the unemployment rate, now 3.5%, might have to reach 7.5% for two years to reduce inflation close to the Fed’s 2% target.
New research released Thursday concluded that the Fed will probably have to accept a much higher unemployment rate than it expects — possibly as high as Summers has suggested — to curb inflation. The research, by Laurence Ball, an economist at Johns Hopkins, and two colleagues, found that the pandemic has made the job market less efficient in matching unemployed workers with jobs — a trend that would accelerate unemployment as the economy weakens.
In addition, Americans expect higher inflation over the next few years, the research found. Typically, when that happens, employees demand higher pay, and their employers raise prices to make up for their increased labor costs, thereby fueling inflation. As prices accelerate, the Fed feels pressure to step up its rate hikes, putting the economy at further risk.
Still, not all economists accept that darker scenario. Jan Hatzius, an economist at Goldman Sachs, argued in a note earlier this week that there are “some encouraging signs” that a soft landing is still possible.
Hatzius cited slower economic growth, a decline in the number of open jobs, a downshift in hiring and a drop in the prices of oil and other commodities as factors that could lower inflation in the coming months without necessitating a recession.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | https://www.witn.com/2022/09/08/powell-higher-rates-wont-likely-cause-deep-us-recession/ | 2022-09-08T15:18:21Z | witn.com | control | https://www.witn.com/2022/09/08/powell-higher-rates-wont-likely-cause-deep-us-recession/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(NewsNation) — A 16-year-old football player was set to start school Wednesday at Olympia High School in Washington State. Instead, he sits in a juvenile detention center, accused of murder.
It’s a case full of twists and turns that police say include the suspect faking his own disappearance and being threatened by a biker gang, as well as the alleged murder itself.
One week ago, Gabriel Davies was due at football practice. When he didn’t show, police started an all-out search.
Within the next 24 hours, they found his abandoned truck with blood inside and Davies’ shattered cellphone nearby, but no Davies.
He was later found about three miles away, walking, with no shirt or shoes. Davies said he couldn’t remember what happened to him. But he quickly went from a missing person to the center of a murder investigation.
Police say he faked his disappearance to evade being captured, and they were already piecing together what they say really happened.
Daniel McCaw, 51, didn’t show up to work for four days. Police did a well-being check and found him dead. The medical examiner says he was shot and stabbed to death.
Davies and one of his 16-year-old friends, Justin Yoon, were spotted on McCaw’s home camera, going inside the house through a doggie door.
They are being charged with first- and second-degree murder, first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Both are being charged as adults and being held on $1 million bonds.
But this is where the case takes even more bizarre turns. It turns out Davies’ mother had a relationship with McCaw, and he and his mother lived with McCaw for a while. Davies’ father contacted police, saying his son was forced into the crime.
The father said that his son was approached by the victim’s “biker buddies” to steal something from the victim’s residence. He further stated that they threatened his son with harm if he didn’t do it.
Davies’ father says his son plotted to steal the object, but McCaw came home early. That’s when he said Yoon shot McCaw while Davies was trying to open the safe to get what they came for.
After the crime, the biker buddies allegedly came looking for what they wanted, roughing him up when they couldn’t find it. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/football-player-goes-from-missing-to-murder-suspect/ | 2022-09-08T15:18:39Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/football-player-goes-from-missing-to-murder-suspect/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(WXIN) – HBO will once again have to digitally tweak a scene from a George R.R. Martin series due to a goof that somehow got past editors and showrunners.
In Sunday night’s episode of “The House of the Dragon,” some eagle-eyed fans noticed King Viserys was sporting some extra green on his hand.
It wasn’t an opulent emerald ring. Instead, it was a green wrapping left on two of his fingers.
In the series, King Viserys, played by Paddy Considine, is missing those fingers after a wound he received from his iron throne (irony, anyone?) became infected.
Those digits were presumably meant to be digit-ally removed in post-production.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO will correct the scene and release the revised version on HBO Max this week.
“House of the Dragon” is a prequel to “Game of Thrones” centered on the Targaryen dynasty, about 200 years before Daenerys Targaryen claimed her stake for the iron throne.
In 2019, a scene from “Game of Thrones” featured another gaffe as a Starbucks cup was visible in a scene during the show’s final season.
A tweet from the show’s official Twitter page later addressed the mistake, jokingly saying, “The latte that appeared in the episode was a mistake. #Daenerys had ordered an herbal tea.”
The cup was edited out days after the episode’s debut. | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/hbo-to-fix-green-screen-goof-in-house-of-the-dragon/ | 2022-09-08T15:18:45Z | siouxlandproud.com | control | https://www.siouxlandproud.com/news/national-news/hbo-to-fix-green-screen-goof-in-house-of-the-dragon/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A 90 year-old man has been found guilty of stabbing his blind and ailing wife in their Orpington home after 60 years of marriage. Retired butcher Edward Turpin, 90, was accused of trying to kill his wife of 60 years Joan Turpin, also 90 year-old, while she slept.
Edward is believed to have lost his patience with caring for her in their home in Ringshall Road on September 22 last year. He was found to be unwell after giving evidence during his trial at the Old Bailey and was therefore not present when a jury returned verdicts on Tuesday after deliberating for 10 hours and 23 minutes.
Turpin was cleared of attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding Mrs Turpin with intent, The Mirror reports . However, the jury found him guilty of a further lesser alternative charge of wounding on the basis he was reckless as to the injuries she might sustain.
Read more: Prince of Wales and Prince William travel to Balmoral after Queen falls ill
Turpin had accepted he got a carving knife from the kitchen and injured his wife in bed, but said it was to "quieten her down" after she started screaming at night. Judge Alexia Durran noted it had been a "difficult case" as she adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed.
She told the jury: "Mr Turpin has been unwell since he concluded his evidence last week. We will arrange a time for him to come to this court and I will sentence Mr Turpin for wounding." The court was told Turpin had been admitted to hospital and was waiting to see a consultant. He had been on bail on condition of limited contact with his wife who is in a care home.
The court heard that while her injuries had healed, the psychological impact had been great. Jurors had heard that Mrs Turpin, who has lost her eyesight, has diabetes and needs a catheter, had become increasingly dependent on her husband's help. Turpin felt he could "no longer cope" and, at about 1.30am, attacked his wife in their bed before turning the knife on himself, the court heard.
He made a 999 call immediately after the attack and told the operator: "I don't want to stop the bleeding. We want to die." He was said to have added: "She's been ill, she's come home, all she's done is got on my nerves. I've just burst. I've just gone."
Giving evidence, Turpin, who spent years working in Smithfield meat market in central London, said the "last thing" he wanted was to harm his wife. He rejected the suggestion he had been implying the couple were taking part in a suicide pact, telling jurors: "We had 60 good years and all I want to do is, you know, carry on life."
The couple are still married and Turpin phones his wife at the care home where she now lives twice a day, he said. Mrs Turpin defended her husband's record as a "wonderful man" who never "laid one finger" on her prior to the incident. In a video interview after the attack, she said: "It's a long time to be married to someone to fall out of love with. "Adore him and he adores me."
Prosecutor Alistair Richardson had previously told jurors it was "no doubt an incredibly sad case" but urged them to put aside emotion and consider the evidence. "There is no doubt that this is an incredibly sad case - that Joan Turpin loves her husband and that she is loyal to him,"
Mr Richardson said. "But there is also no doubt that on September 22 last year, the defendant left their bedroom, gave in to his frustrations, went downstairs into the kitchen, selected a knife of considerable size and came back upstairs and stabbed Joan Turpin repeatedly, including to the area by her heart."
"A butcher for many, many years, he knows a thing or two about knives," the prosecutor said. But defence barrister Simon Gledhill asked jurors to clear his client of attempted murder because he was too "bewildered" to think clearly during the attack.
Mr Gledhill also said Turpin had been acting recklessly but "no more than recklessly", and subsequently was not guilty of an alternative charge of section 18 wounding with intent. "I suggest to you in those early hours at 1.30 in the morning, his mind and his thinking became so clearly muddled, so irrational and so bewildered, that he did what in every other minute of his life he would clearly consider to be unthinkable and hurt his wife," he said.
"His wife was the very centre of his world and his existence. "They have no children. "He has no siblings. "Without his wife, he has nothing. "And that, members of the jury, is an awful lot to lose.
"What is absolutely clear is Edward Turpin is not a vindictive man, he is not a malicious man, he is not a man with a history of a violent temper. In fact what has become clear is, he was a man who was the very opposite - a man who dedicated a significant portion of his time to caring for his wife, providing for her."
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- Council refuses to reverse 'catastrophic' decision to axe routes
- Business owner helps black women going through cancer treatment feel more confident | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/man-90-guilty-stabbing-blind-7562471 | 2022-09-08T15:19:51Z | kentlive.news | control | https://www.kentlive.news/news/kent-news/man-90-guilty-stabbing-blind-7562471 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
There’s a scene near the end of Olivia Wilde’s new film, Don’t Worry Darling, in which Olivia—a triple threat here, acting, directing, and producing—delivers a line that opened up a whole other dimension of the movie’s plot and also quietly tore at my heart. I was still thinking about it days later, when I read the first draft of Julie Miller’s excellent interview and recognized, in Olivia’s passion and candor, her ability to both see the big picture and to land on the exact words to convey a specific moment, a specific emotion or experience. Olivia appears in all her guises in Emma Summerton’s evocative photographs—playful, pensive, assured, seductive—inhabiting a range that, as a rising director, she is helping make possible for other actors too. We’re lucky to live in a time when more women in Hollywood are taking risks as visionaries behind the camera—even if it’s still rare enough to feel that by doing so they’re breaking the mold.
LeBron James has been breaking the mold for two decades in the NBA—and it might not be a coincidence that the year before he began his legendary basketball career, he met Savannah Brinson, who has been by his side ever since. It’s a joy to experience this couple holding court at their home in Gillian Laub’s exuberant photographs, surrounded by their three children, their parents, and a whole lot of love (and basketball). The group-portrait shoot is a first for the James family, and one that they embraced out of pride for what they represent (happiness, achievement, the quintessentially American ability to kick back in a swimming pool), as well as out of the desire any parent has to capture particularly poignant moments of transition. In this case, their oldest son, Bronny, a high school senior, is on the verge of starting his own career in the NBA. It would seem, given Bronny’s, Bryce’s, and Zhuri’s abundant talent and charisma, that the next-gen Jameses will light up the cultural firmament on their own terms, thanks in no small part to lessons learned from their parents.
As the war in Ukraine enters its eighth month, we are proud to publish Janine di Giovanni’s first-person account of her efforts, in conjunction with Ukrainian journalists, researchers, documentarians, and her fellow human rights activists, to document evidence of war crimes in real time. Janine has reported (often for V.F.) from other war zones, has borne witness to horrific genocides in Srebrenica, Rwanda, and Iraq, but she notes that in the past, to her dismay, her journalism didn’t always hold up as evidence in international court. “For a lifetime,” she writes, “I had been studying human nature during wartime, but I did not know how the legal system could be used to stop wars or bring justice.” She took it upon herself to learn, and the Reckoning Project now under way in Ukraine reflects her resolve to create a different outcome this time—groundwork not just for peace but also for criminal accountability and eventual reconciliation. | https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2022/09/radhika-jones-on-a-jam-packed-october-issue | 2022-09-08T15:19:51Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2022/09/radhika-jones-on-a-jam-packed-october-issue | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
When we meet for the first time, in London in late July, she tells me about the hug. It meant a lot to her—partly because it was so unexpected, partly because it was a show of support and fellowship from another woman, and partly because the woman was Helen Mirren. As Olivia Wilde herself might say, holy fuck. “She held me and said, ‘We’re all very proud of you,’ ” Wilde tells me. “I was like, ‘Does she think I’m someone else? She thinks I’m someone very impressive who’s done something important.’ ”
It was this past April in Las Vegas. Wilde was at CinemaCon to unveil the first trailer for her sophomore movie as director, the rich, unnerving psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling with Florence Pugh and Harry Styles. She was about to go onstage at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and make her pitch to the industry at large and movie theater owners in particular. She had never even met Mirren before, and here she was being embraced in solidarity by not just an Oscar winner but a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
I ask Wilde what she thinks Mirren meant. “I took it to mean, in this community, anyone who steps forward and says, ‘I’ll tell a story and I will get a film made that gives actresses opportunities to have great roles…’ ” She doesn’t finish the sentence, maybe out of modesty. “That’s what I hope she’s proud of.”
If Mirren had known what Wilde went through to make the movie—let alone the nasty surprise that awaited her when she walked on the stage moments later, or the wind tunnel of gossip in store at the Venice International Film Festival in September—she’d have hugged her even harder.
We talk at a pottery class in North London. I asked if we could start our interviews somewhere other than a restaurant, and Wilde gamely suggested this. She’s running very slightly late, so she texts: “Julie! Hi it’s Olivia! I’m on my way. Tube strike made getting a car a bit of a clusterfuck but I will be with you by 11:05. X.”
Wilde is a perfectionist—she ends up being on time—but pottery puts her at ease. “Everything else in my life, I want to be very good at: work, parenting, friendships, exercise,” she tells me. “I’ll go to a Pilates class or dance class and get really competitive. This is the one thing that I feel completely zen about. My entire Instagram feed is just, like, people throwing pots.” Soon we’re each seated at pottery wheels with mounds of clay. Our instructor is an artist named Freya, who serves us tea in proper cups and encourages us with phrases like “just squidge it up.” If Freya or Wilde is appalled by my interpretation of an ancient art form, they do not show it. (When we’ve parted for the day, Wilde texts me a photo she took of me looking bemused at the wheel, along with the winking caption, “Master of her craft.”) Wilde herself is warm, serene, and engaged at the wheel. As we talk about Don’t Worry Darling—and the demands on someone who’s acting in, directing, and producing a movie—there’s a nice irony to the fact that she’s blissed out and making a bowl.
Wilde remembers filming one scene in particular. In it, her and Pugh’s characters—glamorous 1950s housewives named Bunny and Alice—sun themselves by a pool, drink cocktails, and while away the hours until their mysterious husbands return home from their mysterious jobs. Wilde’s real work, however, began in earnest after she called “Cut” and dashed to the monitor to watch the take. “On my way, there’s a producer telling me updates on COVID shutdowns and casting decisions,” she says, working the pottery wheel’s pedal with an off-white Converse sneaker. “Then I get to the monitor, talk to my D.P., make decisions about the actual shot, and walk back. On the way back, someone else grabs my arm, tells me updates on costumes, production design, et cetera. Then I get back, sit down, call “Action,” act, get up, and do it again. I’ve never been more exhausted in my life than at the end of those days.” | https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/cover-story-olivia-wilde-dont-worry-darling | 2022-09-08T15:19:57Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/09/cover-story-olivia-wilde-dont-worry-darling | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Two post-pandemic-weary parents plus one child expecting Disney levels of perfection equals a holiday minefield. So many potential pitfalls, so little time. Thank goodness, then, for Domes of Elounda, the Cretan retreat that ticks all the boxes for those looking to combine family fun with five-star pampering. Here’s why it should be top of your list for your next holiday.
Just an hour’s scenic drive from Heraklion airport, you’ll be met with warm smiles, ice-cold drinks and views for days. If you’ve read Victoria Hislop’s million-selling novel The Island, you’ll already be familiar with the setting. Domes of Elounda has a front-row seat opposite Spinalonga, the fabled – and UNESCO-listed – isle that once housed a leper colony in its labyrinth of honey-hued buildings and now lies empty, visited only by curious day trippers. It’s a romantic, and enticingly mysterious, backdrop to a stay here; you’ll catch glimpses of it wherever you meander through the grounds, whether through a half-opened eye as you lie on a beach lounger in the shade of a gnarled olive tree or from a restaurant terrace, glass of chilled local wine in hand.
Think family with finesse. Tanned, linen-clad guests waft through the lobby on their way to the spa for excellent Elemis facials; excitable little ones are met with welcoming smiles rather than tuts. The beautiful oval-shaped adults-only pool is a sanctuary of sunlit peace, while the huge family pool is a riot of colourful floats and squeals of delight. Midday margaritas are de rigueur at both, naturally. You can be as dressed up or down as you like for dinner, but our tip is to bring your fanciest flats rather than anything with a hint of a heel, given the hillside setting. And a special mention must be made for the kids’ club, which has a brilliant programme of activities ranging from puppet shows and cooking lessons to treasure hunts and gardening. With all this on offer, no wonder parents leave Domes of Elounda feeling like they’ve actually had a holiday. | https://www.vanityfair.com/london/2022/09/review-domes-of-elounda | 2022-09-08T15:19:58Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/london/2022/09/review-domes-of-elounda | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Each summer my family and I decamp to the South of France. Happy, halcyon days are embellished by the warmth of the sun, the scent of pine trees on the evening breeze, fresh food and the sparkling mirage of the pool. My memories of this place always hinge on one particular image: the soft, magical light that dances upon the rippling water of the pool as we enjoy lunch together as a family. The light there is unlike anywhere else in the world. We tried to capture that playfulness of light upon the water’s surface in our recent La Piscine Table Linen Collection—we wanted something that embodied that insouciant way of life in summertime, and what better than a shimmering swimming pool scene.
Dinners at home were nothing short of an education. Whenever my parents had friends over, I was always encouraged to pull up a chair—regardless of the occasion or who the guests were. For my Mum and Dad, it was a case of the more the merrier. Various faces, some familiar and some not so, sharing food and conversation pepper memories of my childhood. It was so enriching, even if I didn’t realise it at the time. It was at my parents’ table that I learnt the art of conversation, how to tell a joke, how to debate and how to listen. Their friends came from all walks of life and I absorbed so much from the exchanges that took place. My parents would always be sure to involve me in the conversation; I wasn’t allowed to just sit and observe. My mum knew we’d all stay at the table for longer if it looked beautiful, she knew it was a landscape for us to learn and so she always made sure it was set, even if simply. I inherited this trait from her.
Later in life when I had important decisions to make or anxieties to share, I would often visit Mum at Summerill & Bishop, the shop she founded with her best friend, June, in Clarendon Cross in Notting Hill. The table, which sits proudly to this day in the heart of the shop, has been privy to many conversations between us. We would talk at length about anything and everything, the trivial things and the defining moments. When she passed away suddenly in 2014, everything changed. I was faced with what to do with the business. Ultimately, it was my memories of her that inspired me to keep the shop open and take the business in a new direction. Our mission now is to gather family and friends around the table, to get them talking by designing beautiful tablecloths. We estimate that in the past five years, close to a quarter of a million people have sat round a table adorned with a Summerill & Bishop tablecloth. It feels like an impressive figure, and I hope it’s one that honours Mum and June’s legacy.
I think a dedicated dining room is a coming-of-age thing. I moved to a new home recently and it was one of the first rooms that I focused on readying for my family. When I was younger, it perhaps wouldn’t have been an immediate priority. Mealtimes are important to my wife and I; we love to hear everything that our children got up to that day, much like my Mum did with me. I find that within a dining room, there are fewer distractions and so we all take the time to really listen to one another. When we come together for dinner, we eat from plates handmade by my wife, who is a talented ceramicist, and my children will have some hand in setting the table. We lay the table with a tablecloth that is hand-stamped with Mum’s Falling Flower—a motif she would draw to sign off all her correspondence. It’s as though she’s still at the table with us.
When I was very young, my family and I would visit Saint Jean de Luz on the west coast of France near Biarritz. It’s a little coastal city with cobbled streets and picturesque Basque architecture. Every summer, my entire extended family would cram into this top floor apartment that overlooked the beach, cousins, aunts, uncles, siblings, grandparents. All of us would pour in from a day at the beach, covered in sand, sunkissed and sometimes sunburnt, and all of us would begin to prepare whatever was going to be served for supper that evening. Perched on various mismatched chairs around the table, we’d enjoy a meal together. That table was such a magical place and conjured many happy memories for me. So much so, that we’ve designed a table linen collection to launch next year that’s inspired especially by these moments. | https://www.vanityfair.com/london/2022/09/seb-bishop-shares-his-inspirations | 2022-09-08T15:19:58Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/london/2022/09/seb-bishop-shares-his-inspirations | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
It was one of the stranger mysteries of the Trump era: What happened to Rudy Giuliani? How did the former two-term mayor of New York City go from righteous legal crusader—if pugnacious figure—and hero of September 11 to an unhinged peddler of election-fraud conspiracy theories? Had Giuliani always been unscrupulous, or had he lately lost his mind? Andrew Kirtzman’s answer is neither—and both. His new book, Giuliani, is Kirtzman’s second biography of “America’s mayor.” The first, published in 2000, sprung from Kirtzman’s years of covering Giuliani for NY1, the city’s 24-hour TV news station. Not long after the first book appeared, Kirtzman was with Giuliani as the World Trade Center collapsed, a shared experience that adds nuance to the new book’s narrative. Giuliani breaks news—about Giuliani, at a low point in 2008, skulking through a tunnel beneath Mar-a-Lago; and about Giuliani’s rumored girlfriend, in 2021, beseeching Donald Trump to pardon Giuliani in advance. The book is loaded with psychological and farcical detail, including Giuliani scrambling a 2020 presidential-debate prep session. It’s an unsparing portrait, but it isn’t an attack. Tying everything together is Kirtzman’s assessment of what has propelled both the successes and failures in his subject’s saga. “Giuliani’s moral certitude has driven him all his life and continues to: He’s right, everyone else is wrong,” he tells Vanity Fair. “This is a person who always saw himself as a man of destiny. And it led him to make a slew of decisions which helped destroy himself and harmed the country.”
Vanity Fair: You’re now the Robert Caro of Rudy Giuliani.
Andrew Kirtzman: In a thousand years, I would never make that comparison. Professional suicide. But Rudy is my muse. [Laughs] I’ve been hooked on him for 30 years.
My condolences. Your first biography of Giuliani grew out of the years you spent covering his mayoralty. Was there anything in particular that prompted you to dive in again in 2019?
When Trump brought him back to Washington for the [Robert] Mueller investigation, Giuliani told reporters, “Well, I’m only here for a short period of time to negotiate Trump’s testimony with Mueller, because I’ve known Mueller for years.” I immediately thought, He is not going anywhere. There is no way he’s going to be a short-termer there. He just finds a way to make himself a center of attention one way or another.
After 9/11 your first book was reissued with a new chapter focused on Giuliani becoming a star in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Very near the end of it, you wrote, “The downside of his moral certitude would inevitably resurface.” Are you proud or appalled at having been proven right?
Much of what he’s done in recent years has been appalling. From a writer’s point of view? It’s such an epic story. Watching his descent into complete immorality is a very alluring subject. David Holley, the book’s researcher, and I went through all the records of the impeachment committee and found these text messages between Giuliani and Lev Parnas, who was helping him fish for anti-Biden information in Ukraine. The texts never came out at the time because there was so much going on, but for us it was another eureka moment, where Giuliani basically admits he’s got nothing. It makes what he did publicly look even more craven, more cynical.
Judith Nathan, Giuliani’s third wife, is a benign, fairly minor presence in the first book. This time she’s a crucial character and source who, for the first time, describes a drunk and depressed Rudy hiding at Mar-a-Lago in the wake of his disastrous campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
My jaw dropped when she told me that story.
Had you picked up any clues about it in your previous reporting?
Nope. Nope. It was a completely eye-opening moment. He was devastated by the loss, and she paints a very, very stark picture of his falling into a major depression—drinking, self-pity, and, most importantly, panicked about his fall into irrelevancy. The only way to get the other side is from Giuliani himself, and he didn’t cooperate for the book. He also hasn’t denied that it happened.
The image you describe of Giuliani wearing a bathrobe as he sits and stares into a Florida parking lot is something I wish I could unsee. Nathan spent years refusing to speak with reporters, even after divorcing Giuliani in 2019. Why did she finally open up to you?
I think what persuaded her to break her silence after all these years was being just finally fed up with how much of a villain Giuliani’s loyalists had made her out to be. She just reached her limit on being portrayed that way and wanted to give her side of the story.
It took months of outreach, emails, and phone calls. I wrote handwritten letters and sent them to all of her many houses. I did not hear from her. And then one day my phone rang, and the caller ID said “Judith Giuliani.”
Your book also reveals the letter Giuliani’s rumored current partner, Maria Ryan, sent to then president Trump demanding that Rudy be paid for his legal services—and asking that he be awarded a Medal of Freedom and given a pardon. What can you tell me about how you uncovered this bizarre document?
Absolutely nothing. But it was clearly amazing chutzpah.
The book astutely describes how Giuliani, for a while, filled the post-mayoralty void in his life with money, and how he burned through millions of dollars. There’s also a fascinating reversal of the power dynamic between Giuliani and Trump—how the relationship flips from a real estate developer hero-worshipping a tough-guy mayor to the adrift Giuliani becoming dependent on the unlikely president.
Giuliani is the ultimate alpha male, and having to suddenly answer to Trump and be a glorified aide was a huge comedown. But by then he was in this desperate search for relevance. It was making him crazy, and Trump was his ticket back. The pivot point for Giuliani is 2008. After that, during the 2016 presidential primaries, no one is calling Giuliani to ask for his help–except for Trump.
You suggest that one reason Giuliani went so far in stoking attempts to invalidate the 2020 election results was to save himself as much as Trump.
By 2020, things had so fallen apart for Giuliani. He had become such a laughingstock—his appearance in the Borat movie, the dripping hair dye. Trump was his last lifeline to political and financial survival. I do not doubt that Giuliani believed every word he said about Trump, but it also dovetailed with his desperation for things that only Trump could give him. And that was only if they could overturn the results of the election.
One thing I wrestle with is your describing Giuliani’s rise and fall as a “tragedy.” Ed Koch and Wayne Barrett told us Giuliani was a bad guy—30 years ago. Your book documents all the reasons why, and uncovers new ones, throughout his life. So how is his story tragic?
I never saw him back then as evil. I saw him as someone who did some evil things. But I also saw him as someone who did some great things and was constantly fighting a war between his good side and his bad side. I’m not one of these people who believes he was, quote, unquote, “always this way.” I think that he was always ambitious and ruthless and, in some cases, sadistic. But those malevolent qualities mixed with his generosity to people, the fact that he was protective of New Yorkers when he felt that his city was being treated unfairly. I was with Giuliani on 9/11. I watched his compassion and his generosity of spirit by attending 200 funerals. This is not Donald Trump. This is not someone who is basically a bad guy from start to finish, in a very linear way. He’s a much more complex figure.
The Giuliani story kept unfolding spectacularly as you were trying to finish the book, with his turning up in everything from January 6 investigation testimony to an episode of The Masked Singer.
There’s only one other shoe to drop, and that’s whether something happens to him criminally.
There’s your next postscript.
Exactly.
All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission. | https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/rudy-giulianis-faustian-bargain-for-relevance | 2022-09-08T15:19:59Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/09/rudy-giulianis-faustian-bargain-for-relevance | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Chloë Sevigny has big plans for autumn. “I feel like whenever a new season comes, you’re so hopeful, and you’re like, I’m gonna be this totally new person! I always have that imagining all my fall looks, like, Am I really gonna wear these? But I’m gonna try it, I’m gonna give it a whirl this year. Late 40s, gotta switch it up a little bit,” she recently told Vanity Fair over the phone.
As the saying goes, “For everything there is a season,” and this one finds Sevigny excited about more than expanding her wardrobe. The actor is taking on a new role as part of Calvin Klein’s fall 2022 campaign. Helmed by director and photographer Alasdair McLellan, the campaign has Sevigny joining a group Calvin Klein has dubbed “culture shapers,” in which Dominic Fike, Jennie, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Susan Sarandon, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are included.
“I think it’s cool to use a range of ages,” she says of the eclectic casting. “When I saw Willem Dafoe up on Broadway-Lafayette with those two skater kids, I was like, That’s sick. Like how cool, you know what I mean? He is like the ultimate cool guy.” Dafoe appeared in ads for Calvin Klein’s collaboration with skateboard and clothing brand Palace—a partnership that produced a piece Sevigny can’t wait to slip into once cooler temperatures arrive.
“I do have one of the CK Palace jean jackets that I was wearing all spring, and I’m very excited to get back into that look. It’s like a new jean silhouette for me. Jeans are just hard, period, and then adopting a new silhouette can also be tricky,” she says. “This silhouette I love, so I’m very excited for cozy fall weather to pair that with some Margiela sweaters I got at [The] RealReal and heavy knit Miu Miu. I’m just excited to get cozy, and I’m obsessed with these Margiela Mary Janes that are like Uggs, they’re shearling inside, they kind of look like Strawberry Shortcake shoes.”
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With the designer denim brand’s most recent campaign spotlighting new underwear and jeans, the latest styles are showcased in quirky vignettes directed by McLellan, where talent encounter each other as they embark on everyday activities like working out, doing laundry, or dining alone. In Sevigny’s spot, she’s cast opposite Fike as they take two very different approaches to sorting their soiled clothes in a laundromat. So, how exactly does an Academy Award–nominated actor prepare for a role about something so mundane?
“I watched some of the other things that Alasdair had done before to kind of get an idea of his tone, and obviously I looked at the script,” she says. “It’s an awkward piece, but I was just kind of leaning into that. Just playing off Dominic who was really a sweetheart and was just fun to be around.… I guess I was just thinking about many of my laundromat experiences. Different apartments where I didn’t have a basement, or when I was living in LA, and I would also do my laundry at the studio when I was shooting Big Love.” | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/chloe-sevigny-on-her-new-calvin-klein-campaign-and-dressing-for-the-playground | 2022-09-08T15:20:11Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/chloe-sevigny-on-her-new-calvin-klein-campaign-and-dressing-for-the-playground | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Nicolas Cage and his wife Riko Shibata have welcomed a baby girl into their family.
Shibata gave birth to their daughter on Wednesday in Los Angeles, California, and named her August Francesca Coppola Cage after the actor's late father, August Coppola. A representative for the pair confirmed the happy news to People in a statement that read, “Nicolas and Riko are happy to announce the birth of their daughter. Mother and daughter are doing fine.” August is Shibata's first child and Cage's third. The actor is also father to 31-year-old Weston and 16-year-old Kal-El from his previous relationships with actress Christina Fulton and Alice Kim, respectively.
People was also first to break the news that the couple were expecting in January of this year before Cage ultimately confirmed it on The Kelly Clarkson Show in April. “I'm gonna announce some big news for everyone,” he said at the time. “I am gonna have a little girl...It’s going to be the biggest adventure of my life.” That same month, he also told Access Hollywood that he was “extremely excited” to become a father all over again. He explained, “My boys are all grown up, and I miss going to the toy store. I miss singing lullabies and rocking in the rocking chair. I'm looking forward to getting back to that.”
In yet another interview that month, this time for the cover of GQ, Cage also shared that he and Shibata already had names picked out for the baby and shared a two-month ultrasound with the writer, saying, “I think it's so sweet. It's like a little edamame. A little bean.” The Pig star explained that, if it was a boy, they intended on naming him Akira Francesco and, if it's a girl, Lennon Augie. “Augie was my father's nickname. And my uncle has decided to change his name to Francesco,” he said, referring to the director Francis Ford Coppola. Although, clearly those plans changed slightly in the following months.
Cage and Shibata wed at a very small, intimate ceremony held at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas on February 16 of last year, a date chosen to commemorate Cage's late father's birthday. The pair first met in Shiga, Japan through mutual friends over a year prior. Cage spoke about that first meeting during an appearance on Entertainment Tonight in July, sharing the exact moment he knew their relationship could make it for the long haul. “We met in Japan and I thought she was stunning when I met her. We had a lot in common,” he explained. The actor added that it doesn’t hurt that, “She likes animals, too. So, I asked her, ‘Do you have any pets?’ And she said, ‘Yes, I have flying squirrels.’ She had two sugar gliders...I thought, ‘That’s it. This, this could work out.’” And he was right as, last August, he announced during an appearance on his brother Marc “The Cope” Coppola’s radio show that he had proposed to Shibata over FaceTime and then sent her engagement ring to Japan via FedEx. | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/nicolas-cage-riko-shibata-first-baby-girl-lennon-augie | 2022-09-08T15:20:17Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/nicolas-cage-riko-shibata-first-baby-girl-lennon-augie | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Queen Elizabeth II is under medical supervision at her Balmoral estate, Buckingham Palace announced Thursday morning. There have been growing concerns for the queen’s health since she was photographed looking particularly frail while meeting Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, in Scotland earlier this week.
The monarch has suffered what the palace has described as “episodic mobility problems” for some time, but the 96-year-old’s health unexpectedly took a turn for the worst on Wednesday, with aides canceling a virtual Privy Council meeting that evening to swear in the new prime minister.
The situation is so serious that immediate members of her family have been informed and told to go to Balmoral. The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are already at Balmoral, a spokesman confirmed to Vanity Fair, while the Duke of Cambridge is en route. Princess Anne is said to be there as well, while Prince Edward is on his way.
It is understood that the Sussexes, who are in Windsor, were informed of the queen’s declining health along with immediate family members. It is not known if they will travel to Balmoral today.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: “Following further evaluation this morning, the queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
Palace aides refused to comment further on the queen’s health, but it is understood that the queen, who was showing prominent bruising on her hands when she met Truss this week, has not had a fall.
This is a developing story. | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-medical-supervision-balmoral | 2022-09-08T15:20:23Z | vanityfair.com | control | https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-medical-supervision-balmoral | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LONDON — Buckingham Palace said Thursday that Queen Elizabeth II is under medical supervision because doctors are “concerned for Her Majesty’s health," as members of her family traveled to be with the 96-year-old monarch in Scotland.
“Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision,” the palace said in a statement that sparked deep concern.
The announcement comes a day after the queen canceled a meeting of her Privy Council and was told to rest. On Tuesday, she presided over the ceremonial handover power to new Prime Minister Liz Truss at her summer residence in Scotland at Balmoral Castle.
The palace says the queen is “comfortable” and remains at Balmoral. Her son, Prince Charles, and grandson Prince William were traveling to be with her, officials said.
Truss — who was briefed on the news as she delivered a statement in the House of Commons — said “the whole country will be deeply concerned by the news from Buckingham Palace this lunchtime.”
“My thoughts — and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom — are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time,” she said on Twitter.
Elizabeth marked seven decades on the throne this year. She has increasingly handed over duties to her heir, Prince Charles, and other members of the royal family in recent months as she has struggled to get around. | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-under-medical-care-amid-health-fears/article_d4a3e9a8-2f72-11ed-8021-17f4e8caba26.html | 2022-09-08T15:21:29Z | lockportjournal.com | control | https://www.lockportjournal.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-under-medical-care-amid-health-fears/article_d4a3e9a8-2f72-11ed-8021-17f4e8caba26.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Eastbrook Homes is known for their gorgeous new construction builds across West Michigan, but for them, building a community also means being part of the community. They're teaming up with Kids' Food Basket to help the non-profit during Brown Bag Decoration Month by hosting events to decorate brown bags for Sack Suppers.
During September, join Eastbrook Homes at their Model Homes to decorate paper bags for Kids' Food Basket. They'll be helping contribute to the charity's overall goal of 200,000 decorated bags.
To look at times and dates for participating locations, click here.
Don't forget, Kids' Food Basket will also be attending high school football games throughout September as part of Battle of the Bags! Decorate bags and watch some football at the following games:
September 9 – Cedar Springs at GR Catholic Central
September 16 – Hudsonville at Caledonia
September 23 – Sparta at Belding | https://www.fox17online.com/morning-mix/eastbrook-homes-teams-up-with-kids-food-basket-for-brown-bag-decoration-month | 2022-09-08T15:26:00Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/morning-mix/eastbrook-homes-teams-up-with-kids-food-basket-for-brown-bag-decoration-month | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Many have experienced being on a runway, but usually, they're sitting in a plane. Gerald R. Ford International Airport is welcoming traffic of a different kind to the airstrip on September 24, runners and walkers, for their Runway 5K.
The unique one-mile race gives walkers and runners the rare opportunity to compete on an actual airport runway. The course will begin north of the economy parking lot, looping onto taxiway Juliet and runway 8L/26R, the Airport’s general aviation runway, before ending back at the parking lot.
Registration for the 5K begins at $44, and $30 for the one-mile fun run. Registration includes a T-shirt, finisher medals for those who complete the 5K or fun run, post-race snacks and beverages, awards for top finishers, and free finisher photos.
Early packet pickup and registration will take place 4-7 p.m. September 23 at The Runnery, located at 5361 Alpine Ave. NW in Comstock Park. Race-day registration and packet pickup begin at 7 a.m., with the 5K race starting at 9 a.m.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to Kids’ Food Basket.
To sign up to run, click here. | https://www.fox17online.com/morning-mix/sprint-down-the-airstrip-at-the-grr-runway-5k | 2022-09-08T15:26:12Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/morning-mix/sprint-down-the-airstrip-at-the-grr-runway-5k | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A special prosecutor in Michigan has been appointed to investigate whether the Republican candidate for attorney general and others should be criminally charged for their attempts to gain access to voting machines after the 2020 election.
The office of Democratic attorney general Dana Nessel last month asked the the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council, a state agency, to consider charges against nine people, including Republican Matthew DePerno, her opponent in the November election. Nessel's office cited a potential conflict of interest because of the upcoming election.
The executive director of the council on Thursday said D.J. Hilson, the prosecuting attorney in Muskegon County, would handle the case. Hilson, a Democrat, was first elected to office in 2012.
A phone call to DePerno's campaign manager seeking comment was not immediately returned. He has previously said the claims were “purely based on political prosecution.”
DePerno built his political reputation — and snagged an early endorsement from former President Donald Trump — by pushing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Trump lost the election in Michigan by some 154,000 votes, an outcome that has been upheld by multiple investigations, including one by the GOP-led state Senate.
DePerno won state party members’ nomination for attorney general over a former Michigan House speaker who narrowly lost to Nessel in 2018.
Allegations made public last month named DePerno as one of the “prime instigators” of a plan to get improper access to voting machines and use them to dispute the 2020 presidential outcome.
According to documents released by Nessel’s office, five vote tabulators were taken from Roscommon and Missaukee counties in northern Michigan, and Barry County in western Michigan. Investigators found others in the group broke into the tabulators and performed “tests” on the equipment.
“It was determined during the investigation that DePerno was present at a hotel room during such ‘testing,’” a petition to the prosecutors’ council said.
Obtaining undue possession of a voting machine used in an election is a felony punishable by five years in prison. | https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/special-prosecutor-to-investigate-matthew-deperno | 2022-09-08T15:26:30Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/special-prosecutor-to-investigate-matthew-deperno | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
A Michigan man is recovering after a grizzly bear attack in Alaska.
Authorities said Nicholas Kuperus, 33, was hunting with a group when they surprised a sow and her three cubs. The sow reportedly left Kuperus with serious puncture wounds to his arms.
He was able to stop the attack by using bear spray, authorities said.
Kuperus made contact with troopers who responded to the area in an aircraft, which took him to an ambulance for medical treatment.
More bear attacks reportedly occur in Alaska than in any other state. In May, a U.S. soldier was killed in an attack while taking part in a mission on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/grizzly-bear-attacks-man-in-alaska | 2022-09-08T15:26:36Z | fox17online.com | control | https://www.fox17online.com/news/national/grizzly-bear-attacks-man-in-alaska | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Employees of a controversial Apple data center that is run by Chinese officials have been barred from leaving work and cut off from their families for a week as parts of the city where it’s located endure a “dire” coronavirus lockdown, according to a report.
Apple’s data center, which is run by a Chinese government-backed partner called Guizhou Cloud Big Data, is on strict lockdown amid a coronavirus outbreak in the city of Guiyang, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.
Many employees of the facility haven’t seen their families in a week as the faculty operates on a “closed loop” system designed to avoid infections, according to a social media notice from Guizhou Cloud Big Data that was reported by the outlet.
“Faced with a dire situation, we need courageous people on the front lines,” the company said in a WeChat post.
Six of Guiyang’s 10 districts are currently on lockdown, meaning that the many of the city’s 6 million residents are barred from leaving their homes for any reason except to get coronavirus tests, according to Bloomberg.
Some residents have reportedly complained about a lack of food as government deliveries have stalled.
Apple first opened the Guiyang data center in 2017 and the facility handles iCloud storage of emails, photos and videos for hundreds of millions of Chinese customers, according to Bloomberg.
Under Chinese law, Apple was requred to give control of the massive datacenter to a government firm — a move that critics say enables government surveillance and repression.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This isn’t the first time China’s “zero covid” policy has snarled Apple’s operations in the country.
In May, workers at a factory in Shanghai that makes Apple products mutinied against lockdown restrictions, with dramatic video showing workers clashing with guards in hazmat suits and jumping across security barriers.
As the coronavirus has snarled Apple’s manufacturing system, many Wall Street analysts had expected the company to jack up prices during the company’s iPhone 14 reveal event on Wednesday.
But Apple did not raise US iPhone prices in what one analyst called a “shocker” move. The company did raise prices in some other markets, including Europe and Japan. | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/apple-china-datacenter-workers-stuck-in-dire-lockdown/ | 2022-09-08T15:34:35Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/apple-china-datacenter-workers-stuck-in-dire-lockdown/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The dog got tired of eating homework.
A 224-pound English mastiff named Tatanka gave an Iowa neighborhood quite the shock after it was seen running around the area with a bloodied severed arm — which turned out to be fake.
Tatanka’s owner Debra Ann Ridge was home last week when she saw her furry friend prancing around the garden and throwing the limb into the air.
“He runs around carrying it, and throwing it up in the air,” said Ridge.
According to Ridge, several neighbors also thought the arm was real before they were told it was fake.
The 57-year-old mom rushed outside after realizing the dog had somehow gotten into her Halloween decorations and swiped the bloody arm.
“I was preparing for Halloween. And every year I bring out the ‘infamous arm’, [and] my boy becomes so excited and grabs it and runs off with it,” said Ridge.
“I bought the arm off eBay. It was about $7, and we’ve had about seven or eight over the years.”
Ridge explained that Tatanka loves the arm so much that she just lets him keep it as his own.
Thankfully, the once-scared neighbors are now in on the joke.
“They always make comments like, ‘You certainly have a helping hand,’ ” laughed Ridge, adding, they “make jokes like, ‘I see he’s been digging in the backyard again,’ or ‘Is that the mailman?’ “
“‘Has Tatanka been digging in the yard again?’ and ‘don’t need security cameras with Tatanka.’ “
Ridge also explained that due to her pup’s size, people are initially afraid of him.
“People are unfortunately very afraid until they meet him,” said Ridge.
“Many cross the street when we are walking due to his size alone.”
Ridge said that despite his size and seemingly tough exterior, Tatanka loves to be cuddled, lay on the sofa and play jokes.
“He’s a joker. He jokes around the most [out of three dogs], and he’s very playful.” | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/dog-tricks-neighbors-into-thinking-it-killed-mailman-with-toy/ | 2022-09-08T15:34:48Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/dog-tricks-neighbors-into-thinking-it-killed-mailman-with-toy/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
(WKBN) – More than 17 million masks for BiPAP and CPAP machines have been recalled, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA said that Philips Respironics (Philips) has recalled certain masks used with bilevel positive airway pressure (also known as Bilevel PAP, BiPAP or BPAP) machines and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines due to a safety concern that involves magnets.
The machines help people with conditions that include obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory insufficiency or respiratory failure as well as health conditions that cause pauses in breathing during sleep.
Five mask types are affected by the recall: the DreamWisp, DreamWear, Amara View, Wisp and Wisp Youth masks, according to a press release from the FDA.
The magnets can affect the movement of certain implanted metallic medical devices, which could cause injury or death to the mask user or the person sleeping near the mask user.
The FDA said the magnets could also affect people or those near them who have metallic objects in their bodies, such as shrapnel or splinters in their eyes.
Philips reported 14 serious injuries, including pacemaker failure, arrhythmia, seizures and irregular blood pressure related to the use of the recalled masks.
The FDA has provided recommendations for users, caregivers and health care providers concerning the use of the recalled masks, including the submission of medical device reports by health professionals and manufacturers. | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/millions-of-bipap-cpap-machine-masks-recalled-pose-risk-of-death/ | 2022-09-08T15:35:27Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/national/nexstar-media-wire/millions-of-bipap-cpap-machine-masks-recalled-pose-risk-of-death/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The names of hundreds of U.S. law enforcement officers, elected officials and military members appear on the leaked membership rolls of a far-right extremist group that’s accused of playing a key role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, according to a report released Wednesday.
According to the report, a member of the Greenville Police Department in South Carolina wrote, “I am a certified firearms and patrol rifle instructor with the Greenville Police Department. I don’t have many talent [sic] but I do believe I have the skill of public speaking.”
The Anti-Defamation League Center on Extremism pored over more than 38,000 names on leaked Oath Keepers membership lists and identified more than 370 people it believes currently work in law enforcement agencies — including as police chiefs and sheriffs — and more than 100 people who are currently members of the military.
It also identified more than 80 people who were running for or served in public office as of early August. The membership information was compiled into a database published by the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets.
The data raises fresh concerns about the presence of extremists in law enforcement and the military who are tasked with enforcing laws and protecting the U.S. It’s especially problematic for public servants to be associated with extremists at a time when lies about the 2020 election are fueling threats of violence against lawmakers and institutions.
“Even for those who claimed to have left the organization when it began to employ more aggressive tactics in 2014, it is important to remember that the Oath Keepers have espoused extremism since their founding, and this fact was not enough to deter these individuals from signing up,” the report says.
Appearing in the Oath Keepers’ database doesn’t prove that a person was ever an active member of the group or shares its ideology. Some people on the list contacted by The Associated Press said they were briefly members years ago and are no longer affiliated with the group. Some said they were never dues-paying members.
“Their views are far too extreme for me,” said Shawn Mobley, sheriff of Otero County, Colorado. Mobley told the AP in an email that he distanced himself from the Oath Keepers years ago over concerns about its involvement in the standoff against the federal government at Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada, among other things.
The Oath Keepers, founded in 2009 by Stewart Rhodes, is a loosely organized conspiracy theory-fueled group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders. It asks its members to vow to defend the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” promotes the belief that the federal government is out to strip citizens of their civil liberties and paints its followers as defenders against tyranny.
More than two dozen people associated with the Oath Keepers — including Rhodes — have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes and four other Oath Keeper members or associates are heading to trial this month on seditious conspiracy charges for what prosecutors have described as a weekslong plot to keep then-President Donald Trump in power. Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers say that they are innocent and that there was no plan to attack the Capitol.
The Oath Keepers has grown quickly along with the wider anti-government movement and used the tools of the internet to spread their message during Barack Obama’s presidency, said Rachel Carroll Rivas, interim deputy director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. But since Jan. 6 and Rhodes’ arrest, the group has struggled to keep members, she said.
That’s partly because Oath Keepers had been associated so strongly with Rhodes that the removal of the central figure had an outsized impact, and partly because many associated with the group were often those who wanted to be considered respectable in their communities, she said.
“The image of being associated with Jan. 6 was too much for many of those folks,” she said.
Among the elected officials whose name appears on the membership lists is South Dakota state Rep. Phil Jensen, who won a June Republican primary in his bid for reelection. Jensen told the AP he paid for a one-year membership in 2014 but never received any Oath Keepers’ literature, attended any meetings or renewed his membership.
Jensen said he felt compelled to join because he “believed in the oath that we took to support the US Constitution and to defend it against enemies foreign and domestic.” He wouldn’t say whether he now disavows the Oath Keepers, saying he doesn’t have enough information about the group today.
“Back in 2014, they appeared to be a pretty solid conservative group, I can’t speak to them now,” he said.
ADL said it found the names of at least 10 people who now work as police chiefs and 11 sheriffs. All of the police chiefs and sheriffs who responded to the AP said they no longer have any ties to the group.
“I don’t even know what they’re posting. I never get any updates,” said Mike Hollinshead, sheriff of Idaho’s Elmore County. “I’m not paying dues or membership fees or anything.”
Hollinshead, a Republican, said he was campaigning for sheriff several years ago when voters asked him if he was familiar with the Oath Keepers. Hollinshead said he wanted to learn about the group and recalls paying for access to content on the Oath Keepers’ website, but that was the extent of his involvement.
Benjamin Boeke, police chief in Oskaloosa, Iowa, recalled getting emails from the group years ago and said he believes a friend may have signed him up. But he said he never paid to become a member and doesn’t know anything about the group.
Eric Williams, police chief in Idalou, Texas, also said in an email that he hasn’t been a member or had any interaction with the Oath Keepers in over 10 years. He called the storming of the Capitol “terrible in every way.”
“I pray this country finds its way back to civility and peace in discourse with one another,” he said.
___
Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report. | https://www.wspa.com/news/state-news/sc-law-enformcent-officals-appear-on-list-of-leaked-oath-keepers-members/ | 2022-09-08T15:35:47Z | wspa.com | control | https://www.wspa.com/news/state-news/sc-law-enformcent-officals-appear-on-list-of-leaked-oath-keepers-members/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Concerns are mounting over the health of Queen Elizabeth II — and her death will kick off a meticulous plan of action dubbed “Operation London Bridge.”
The all-hands protocol, set up in the 1960s, gives detailed instructions on how to handle the first 10 days after Her Majesty’s passing, ensuring a smooth transition of the throne to her eldest son, Prince Charles.
The operation’s nursery rhyme-sounding name represents a secret code used to communicate the sad news to the most senior Palace staff and members of government — before it is finally announced to the rest of the world.
To keep the news under wraps, those first alerted will be told “London Bridge is down.”
Upon the last death of a UK monarch — Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, in 1952 — the code word “Hyde Park Corner” was used to prevent switchboard operators from catching on.
Likewise, the death in April 2021 of the queen’s 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, had been shared under “Operation Forth Bridge,” while the Queen Mother’s death at 101 in 2002 was codenamed “Tay Bridge.”
But despite the planned secrecy, the queen’s codeword has long been known — as have the detailed, much-rehearsed plans for the next 10 days ahead of her funeral, as detailed at length by The Guardian in 2017.
Politico also revealed further details after getting high-level documents in 2021 — including UK officials’ plans for a possible crisis if London becomes “full” with the flood of expected mourners.
However, The Guardian noted that the plans have been repeatedly reevaluated and updated over the years, which means Operation London Bridge may have had last-minute changes.
If unchanged, the queen’s death will be referred to internally as “D-Day,” the military term for a major new operation — most famously the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy heralding the end of World War II.
The day following her death will be “D+1,” up until her funeral on “D+10,” which will be declared a “Day of National Mourning,” according to the plans.
The Queen’s private secretary will reportedly be the first person to hear of her death before a “call cascade” will share the news with the Prime Minister and Britain’s most senior ministers and officials.
An updated call script shared by Politico will then instruct departmental permanent secretaries to tell government ministers, “We have just been informed of the death of Her Majesty The Queen.”
They will be told that “discretion is required” ahead of the worldwide announcement.
At the same time, the Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre will also alert Commonwealth nations and the countries where the queen was head of state.
Once senior government officials are all alerted, flags across Whitehall, home to the UK government’s main offices, will be lowered to half-mast and parliament recalled.
Meanwhile, news media will also be alerted with broadcasters at the BBC — which previously first announced royal deaths — all known to have black ties at the ready for the news.
“Operation London Bridge” has long planned for the soon-to-be-King Charles, 73, to deliver a national broadcast on “D-Day.”
The prime minister and a small number of senior ministers will also be prepped to attend a remembrance service at St. Paul’s Cathedral, per the plan.
The operation then details events expected over the next 10 days.
At 10 a.m. on “D-Day+1,” the Accession Council will meet at St. James’ Palace to proclaim King Charles the new sovereign, according to the leaked plans.
The proclamation will then be read at St. James’ Palace and the Royal Exchange in the City of London, confirming Charles as king.
Parliament will meet to agree on a message of condolence, with other business suspended for 10 days, Politico stated. The new king will then meet with the prime minister and his senior cabinet officials, according to the plans.
The queen’s coffin will be returned to Buckingham Palace by “D-Day+2,” to the throne room with an altar, the pall, the royal standard, and four Grenadier Guards standing watch, The Guardian said.
On the fifth day, a procession through London will take her coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, with a service at Westminster Hall following its arrival.
The queen will lie in state there for three days, with her coffin on a raised box in the middle of Westminster Hall, open to the public for 23 hours a day, if the plan detailed by Politico still stands.
The following days will see an immense amount of preparation for the funeral, including a formal rehearsal and the arrival of world leaders.
If the plan is followed, the funeral will be on the tenth day at Westminster Abbey — the first funeral of a British monarch there since 1760.
Most of the country will grind to a halt, with a nationwide two minutes of silence at midday. The London Stock Exchange will cease business and UK banks will close.
There will be a committal service in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, and the queen will be buried in the castle’s King George VI Memorial Chapel, the plans detailed by Politico noted.
With around 60 years of planning, “Operation London Bridge” should ensure the queen’s send-off goes off without a hitch.
It should be a far cry from the shock car-crash death of Charles’ then-estranged wife Princess Diana in August 1997 — which came as such a shock the royal family had yet to plan her possible death.
That instead borrowed “Operation Tay Bridge,” the well-rehearsed plans to send off the Queen Mother, who would not die for another five years. | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/operation-london-bridge-what-happens-after-queen-elizabeths-death/ | 2022-09-08T15:36:19Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/operation-london-bridge-what-happens-after-queen-elizabeths-death/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Caroline Garcia is in the form of her life and now finds herself as the clear favorite in a US Open semifinal. It’s a remarkable run for the Frenchwoman, who needed to get through qualifying to get into the draw at the Cincinnati Masters last month. Garcia won that tournament and hasn’t looked back since.
She’s now riding a 13-match winning streak and heads into her showdown with Ons Jabeur without having dropped a single set in this tournament. Even more astonishing is the fact that no player has been able to get Garcia to a tie-breaker.
It could also be argued that Garcia is only getting better as the tournament goes on, too. Her performance against Coco Gauff on Tuesday night was textbook, as she never looked threatened by the American phenom.
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US Open prediction: Caroline Garcia vs. Ons Jabeur
Tactically, Garcia played a near-flawless match, putting a ton of pressure on Gauff’s second serve. The Frenchwoman won 73% of the points on Gauff’s second serve and her positioning on the court seemed to get in Gauff’s head, helping her to six double-faults.
If Garcia is having that much success against serve, she’s nearly impossible to defeat since she’s such a force when she has the ball. Garcia packs plenty of pace with her first serve and forehand.
The fact that Garcia is a -155 favorite over Jabeur, who was ranked No. 2 in the world 10 weeks ago, tells you how incredible her form is right now. If you told someone a month ago that Garcia would be the chalk, let alone -155, over Jabeur at the US Open, they’d tell you to give your head a bit of a shake.
Overlook Jabeur at your own peril, though, as the Wimbledon finalist is a dangerous opponent for Garcia, even if she’s not been at her absolute peak this tournament. The Tunisian, who won 11 consecutive matches on grass this summer before losing in the Wimbledon Final, is 43-13 this season and has a 15-8 record on hard courts.
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Jabeur has plenty of power behind her forehand and is capable with her backhand, but she’s also a crafty player who can construct and win points in a variety of ways.
Although Jabeur has had plenty of success throughout 2022, it’s hard to step in front of the truck that is Caroline Garcia right now. With Garcia’s ball-striking in tip-top form, she should be able to keep Jabeur on her heels and prevent her from dictating the tempo of this game.
Garcia showed against Gauff that she’s willing to play a front-foot style in order to take advantage of beatable second serves. Jabeur has struggled on her second serve throughout this event and is coming off a match where she won just 48% of the points on her second serve.
The Bet: Caroline Garcia to win in straight sets (+110, FanDuel) | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/us-open-prediction-caroline-garcia-vs-ons-jabeur-odds-and-pick/ | 2022-09-08T15:36:31Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/2022/09/08/us-open-prediction-caroline-garcia-vs-ons-jabeur-odds-and-pick/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
“Spitgate” is So Ridiculous, Now Even Harry Styles is Making Jokes About It
We all have our safe places, and apparently, Harry Styles’ is onstage on Madison Square Garden. At least, that’s where he finally felt comfortable enough to address the rumor that he hocked a loogie on Chris Pine during the Don’t Worry Darling premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
The singer celebrated his return to the arena for the tenth show in his residency on Wednesday night by admitting that it was nice to be back in New York following a weekend of travel. “It’s wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to be back in New York,” he said, his pink and yellow chevron pants sparkly under the stage lights. “I just popped very quickly to Venice to spit on Chris Pine. But fret not, we’re back!” Unsurprisingly, the crowd—many of whom likely spent the past few days analyzing every second of the viral video, attempting to debunk “Spitgate,” and fighting for Harry’s reputation in social media comment sections—erupted in applause.
Every day, the news around Don’t Worry Darling becomes less about the actual film and more about the off-screen antics of the stars. It started with the purported feud going on between Darling’s star, Miss Flo, and director, Olivia Wilde, but the filmed interaction between Styles and Pine at Venice has looped them into the mix. Pine’s rep already commented on the situation, telling Variety, “This is a ridiculous story—a complete fabrication and the result of an odd online illusion that is clearly deceiving and allows for foolish speculation.” Now, Styles’ comment proves just how silly the conversation around this viral moment has truly become.
But while the actors’ PR teams have pretty much successfully proven there’s no bad blood between Pine and Styles, they’re struggling to prove the same when it comes to Wilde and Florence Pugh. Wilde can do as many interviews as she wants where she calls the rumors “baseless” and yells into the Internet void, “I gather that some people expect for her to be engaging more on social media. I didn’t hire her to post. I hired her to act. She fulfilled every single expectation I had of her. That’s all that matters to me.” Unfortunately, when articles like her recent Vanity Fair interview are coupled with news that Pugh does not plan to promote the film with Wilde in any way again, and will not be present at Darling’s US premiere later this month, it’s hard to not believe there may just be a bit of truth to the rumors.
So, while we will now let one conspiracy go (say it with me, “Harry did not spit on Chris”), the other seems like it will take more than a cheeky joke between performances of “As It Was” and a solo rendition of “That’s What Makes You Beautiful” to debunk. | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/harry-styles-responds-rumor-spit-on-chris-pine-venice | 2022-09-08T15:36:44Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/harry-styles-responds-rumor-spit-on-chris-pine-venice | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
When it comes to rock royalty, all you have to do is think Pink.
As one of the most iconic musicians, artists and performers of the modern era, Pink (sometimes stylized as P!nk) is a Queen diva and rocks the crown, pushing the musical envelope and soaring to new heights.
Having hit the globe like a supernova, with her 2000 debut album “Can’t Take Me Home,” she has consistently been able to bring her pop rock edge to her work while also evolving in enchanting and fascinating ways before the world. Now with an arsenal of hits and awards across multiple albums and award shows, Pink, 43, has shown that she can continue to blaze a trail for artists to follow while remaining intrinsically authentic within her work.
Known as one of the greatest female artists of all time, the stylish and acrobatic powerhouse has gone on to receive her own Hollywood Walk of Fame star, grace the world’s biggest stages such as the Super Bowl and consistently raise awareness and donate to support the many causes that she believes in.
So what made her such a pop star? What lies ahead for her and her legacy? Join me as we dive into her stars I’m a pop culture astrologer and I can see it all.
Pink’s birth chart shows she’s a visionary muse
Pink was born on September 8, 1979. This makes her a hardworking Virgo Sun with a fiery Aries Moon. Her birth time has not been confirmed anywhere online nor with me directly (get at me!), so until that takes place, we’ll instead focus on what we do, in fact, know. When it comes to elemental energy, Pink is very significantly composed of Earth followed by Fire. This is what brings her so much strength, vitality and persistence to get what she wants.
She’s got the stamina to go the long haul—and the creativity and passion to fuel her from within. When it comes to astrological aspects that infuse her, there are a few different themes that pop up—further emphasizing her tenacity and perseverance. First, her Sun is exactly united with Saturn, the planet of longevity. While on one hand this has likely caused her to have to become very deep in her emotions and concentration, it has granted her tremendous focus to feed her ambitions and make a mark on the world.
She is immensely strong-willed and mighty. Her Sun and Saturn then stand in a sharp angle to Neptune, the planet of visionaries. This brings her incredible ability to tap into divine creativity, balancing clear thinking and practicality with inspiration. This also grants her the compassion and responsibility to help the world through her art—and through social causes. Oh, and I’m not even kidding, this is often a very significant link that foretells great success in a musical career. Crazy, right?
The next key theme for her is that she is independent, original and gifted in all aspects of art and communication. She has an incredible amount of planetary alignments that repeat this over and over—to be honest, I have done thousands of birth charts (including celebrity ones) and hers is one where this is especially potently found. Her Venus, the planet of art, dances with her Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus and Neptune. Like whoa. So not only does this empower her career and artistry, it also blends into her beauty, style, sex appeal, personality and relationships.
She breaks ground because she can’t be limited, but in a sense, she’s blending so many different cosmic energies in complete and total grace. Her Sun also kisses Uranus, too, which is why she thrives on freedom, breaks from convention, is entirely futuristic in approach and can reshape the practical world by blending it with her visionary impulses with ease. Not that this should come as any surprise, but Pink’s birth chart—just like her and her life—are a work of art.
What are predictions for Pink?
So what lies ahead for our pop queen royalty? Let’s take a peek. First off, she has an extremely intense—and potentially rewarding period ahead of her. But it is not going to be easy. Pink has a whole cluster of planets in the zodiac sign of Virgo. This is called a stellium. Her North Node, Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Venus are all up in that neck of the woods.
Saturn in our transiting sky will dance across from those placements very significantly in the second half of 2024 and 2025. To be fair, she’ll start feeling the Saturn Opposition more weakly in 2023 and it’ll still slightly linger a bit into 2026—but this is going to force her to make some extremely important life decisions, cut out anyone and anything that is not healthy for her and recommit to what makes her happiest and the goals she seeks to build toward in this next era of her life.
In other news, particularly around creativity, art and her career, I think beginning the summer of 2023, she’s going to be erupting with new ideas and work. For a full year, she could literally be channeling the muse, picking up profound vibrations and new messages that she wants to debut to change the world. She is such a masterpiece—I have been a fan for so very long. I truly do hope our paths cross someday, somewhere, at some point in time. Keep being an iridescent angel, you glorious human being. You heard it here first.
Astrology 101: Your guide to the stars
- The 12 zodiac signs
- What are the astrology houses?
- Here’s what each planet represents
- Sun, moon and rising signs: Get to know your Big 3
Kyle Thomas is a globally recognized pop culture astrologer who has been featured in “Access Hollywood,” E! Entertainment, NBC & ABC television, Cosmopolitan magazine, Hulu, Bustle, Elite Daily, Marie Claire and more. He is known for his cosmic guidance for celebrities, business executives and prominent influencers. His work harnesses the power of the stars in regards to entertainment lifestyle and trends affecting people worldwide. For more information, visit KyleThomasAstrology.com. | https://nypost.com/article/pink-birth-chart-zodiac-sign/ | 2022-09-08T15:36:45Z | nypost.com | control | https://nypost.com/article/pink-birth-chart-zodiac-sign/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The first song on Sampa the Great’s forthcoming sophomore album, As Above, So Below, opens with a pointed call to action. “Find out who you are,” the Zambian-born, Botswana-raised rapper whispers over a chilling melody. The track, “Shadows,” feels like existential free fall—or a dark void in which ghouls try to convince her she can’t outrun past hurt. Either way, Sampa the Great, born Sampa Tembo, is at odds with looming forces, and the way to victory is through self-discovery.
The opening sets the thematic tone for As Above, So Below, the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2019 debut LP, The Return. The new project, out Sept. 9, is all about self-acceptance and embracing authentic expression. Still, there were some concerns about starting the album with “Shadows.”
“Everyone was like, ‘That’s too intense to be the first song on the album,’” Tembo tells me on a Zoom call in August. But it’s one of the most honest tracks on the LP, she adds. “It’s this sentiment of: now that I’m finally at a place that I like, I’m looking back at the battle scars and saying, ‘Okay, these are the shadows that followed me from the last place, and this is what I learned from it,’ before going into the rest of the album.”
When we speak, the 29-year-old artist is relaxing in a hotel room, just hours before she’ll take the stage at the Day In Day Out music festival in Seattle—one of the stops on her tour of the Americas. Tembo has been on the road over the past few months, performing in Australia and at festivals in the European Union. Her travels will continue into the fall: She’s billed as a special guest on Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever” world tour in Australia and New Zealand this month, and she’ll be kicking off her solo EU tour in October.
Tembo’s calendar is undoubtedly stacked, though it’s hard to tell by how calm and collected she is when we chat. Her poised demeanor emits the confidence of someone who has done some effective soul-searching. Much of that has to do with her experiences over the past two and a half years: At the beginning of the pandemic, Tembo traveled from Australia, where she was based since 2013, back to Zambia to check on her father, who contracted COVID. Shortly after, Australia went on lockdown, barring Tembo from re-entering.
The singer and rapper saw the turn of events as an opportunity to reconnect with her home and be with family—making music hadn’t crossed her mind right away. “Usually, music is birthed from these times, but something felt really different and hectic about this particular situation,” Tembo says, thinking back on the global turmoil of 2020. “That made it tough for me to want to express myself.”
Soon after moving back to Zambia, Tembo found out her uncle was a founding member of the musical ensemble WITCH (though he left the group early on), a legendary Zambian band that helped usher in the genre of Zamrock in the 1970s. The melodic category fuses western styles of rock, blues, and funk with traditional Zambian beats and vocals.
“I re-examined and explored what Zambian music is for me and what I want to share with the world,” Tembo says. She started working with Zambian producers Mag44—“who I've wanted to work with since high school,” she adds—Sam Nyambe, Sammy Masta, and Solomon Plate on a body of work that was more of an artistic release than a concerted effort to make a new album. But as time went on, the project took shape.
There was a noticeable weight lifted off Tembo’s shoulders while creating As Above, So Below, which she calls her freest project to date. She was less concerned about speaking for the entire African diaspora and representing people who had lived experiences outside of her own—a certain pressure she felt as her career burgeoned in Australia. “So many struggles came with wanting to be heard as a Black artist, let alone a Zambian artist, in a country where the mainstream doesn’t look like you,” she says, thinking back on her time in Australia. While she’s grateful for that chapter of her life, returning to Zambia brought a sense of freedom for which she had yearned. “It just felt like, ‘We’re home,’” she says.
Themes of African liberation on As Above, So Below, bolstered by the inclusion of Bantu languages such as Bembo, Nyanja, and Setswana, are undeniable. On tracks like“Lane,” featuring Denzel Curry; “IDGAF,” with Kojey Radical; and “Let Me Be Great,” featuring Beninese Grammy winner Angeliqué Kidjo, Tembo asserts her greatness with unfettered panache. In the visuals for “Never Forget”—which features Chef 187, Tio Nason, and Tembo’s sister, Mwanjé—she reminds the world of Africa’s global impact while paying homage to WITCH through archival clips.
With the baton in hand, Tembo intends to advance the ethos of Zambian expressionism. The visuals in her music videos and live performances incorporate dazzling Afro-futuristic details—intricate outfits with structured silhouettes and set designs with elemental, utopian motifs—allowing her to create a world of limitless Black articulation. This was a central quality of her tour, “An Afro Future,” in Australia earlier this summer. “I love sci-fi, fantasy, and being able to tell African stories in a way that is different from what people think we can do visually,” Tembo says. She eventually hopes to expand on her storytelling through film, “which is my first love,” she adds.
The more Tembo opens up about her journey, the clearer it becomes that she’s proud of where she is. “I underestimated the courage it took to go to another country, start a career there, and fight the social norms that happen in that country, then come back home and try to do the same thing,” she says. Making As Above, So Below helped her realize just how resolute she is and how it has paid off. “I’m proud of the way this sounds and what it makes me feel, so I’m happy to release it to the world,” she says with a warm smile. She hopes that others will also feel inspired to be the most fearless, authentic versions of themselves after listening to the album—and that they’ll walk in the truth of their light, unbothered by any lurking shadows. | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/sampa-the-great-as-above-so-below-album-interview-2022 | 2022-09-08T15:36:50Z | wmagazine.com | control | https://www.wmagazine.com/culture/sampa-the-great-as-above-so-below-album-interview-2022 | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. – Dover Air Force Base will hold a 9/11 Memorial Ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 10 a.m., at the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, Del.
Chief Dennis L. Rubin, Washington, D.C. fire/police chief during 9/11, will be the guest speaker.
This year marks 21 years since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
“As Americans, as service members, and as Airmen, we have an obligation to honor the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” said Col. Matt Husemann, 436th Airlift Wing commander. “The heroic efforts of so many on Sept. 11th is an inspiration for the generations of today and tomorrow.” | https://www.wboc.com/news/dover-air-force-base-to-hold-9-11-memorial-ceremony/article_b5431e10-2f7e-11ed-a256-5bca7f0195d7.html | 2022-09-08T15:37:48Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/dover-air-force-base-to-hold-9-11-memorial-ceremony/article_b5431e10-2f7e-11ed-a256-5bca7f0195d7.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to motor along despite decades high inflation.
Applications for jobless aid for the week ending Sept. 3 fell to 222,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. First-time applications generally reflect layoffs.
The four-week average for claims, which smooths out some of the weekly ups and downs, declined by 7,500 to 233,000.
The number of Americans collecting traditional unemployment benefits rose by 36,000 the week that ended Aug. 27, to 1.47 million.
Hiring in the U.S. in 2022 has been remarkably strong even as the country faces rising interest rates and weak economic growth.
On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers added 315,000 jobs in August, roughly what economists had expected, down from an average 487,000 a month over the past year. The unemployment rate reached 3.7%, its highest level since February. But it rose for a healthy reason: Hundreds of thousands of people returned to the job market, and some didn’t find work right away, which boosted the government’s count of unemployed people.
The U.S. economy has been puzzling so far this year. Economic growth fell the first half of 2022, which, by some informal definitions, signals a recession.
But businesses remain desperate to find workers, posting more than 11 million job openings in July, meaning there are nearly two job vacancies, on average, for every unemployed American.
Inflation continues to threaten both the global and U.S. economies. The rise in consumer prices slowed modestly from June to July, bur remains historically high enough that the Federal Reserve has indicated it will keep raising interest rates until prices retreat.
Analysts and economists are expecting the Fed to raise its benchmark borrowing rate by at least another half-point when it meets in two weeks.
The Fed has already raised its short-term interest rate four times this year and Chairman Jerome Powell has said that the central bank will likely need to keep interest rates high enough to slow the economy “for some time” in order to tame the worst inflation in 40 years. Powell has acknowledged the increases will hurt U.S. households and businesses, but also said the pain would be worse if inflation remained at current levels.
Some of that so-called pain has already begun, particularly in the housing and technology sectors. Online real estate companies RedFin and Compass have recently announced job cuts as rising interest rates have cooled red-hot a housing market.
Other high-profile layoffs have been announced in recent months by Tesla, Netflix, Carvana, and Coinbase. | https://www.wboc.com/news/fewer-americans-apply-for-jobless-aid-last-week/article_beec8d7a-2f74-11ed-adc3-13486aaacaff.html | 2022-09-08T15:37:55Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/fewer-americans-apply-for-jobless-aid-last-week/article_beec8d7a-2f74-11ed-adc3-13486aaacaff.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday announced that the state of Maryland will launch a new $1.6 million grant program to provide additional support for non-public schools.
“Every child in Maryland deserves access to a world-class education regardless of what neighborhood they happen to grow up in,” said Hogan. “Through the first-ever school choice program in state history, we have provided more than 20,000 scholarships for students in need. With this grant program, we are focused on helping more schools address the learning loss caused by the pandemic.”
The governor established the Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today (BOOST) program in 2016 to provide scholarships for low-income students from areas with under-performing schools to attend non-public schools. Through BOOST, the state has provided more than $50 million to fund scholarships for low-income students.
Last year, the governor announced two rounds of Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) funding to provide financial assistance to support safely reopening schools and helping students recover from learning loss associated with the pandemic. With the leftover funding from that program, the governor is establishing a $1.6 million grant program that will cover a range of eligible expenses, including:
- Supplies to sanitize, disinfect, and clean school facilities;
- Improving ventilation systems, including windows or portable air purification systems to ensure healthy air in the non-public school;
- Educational technology (including hardware, software, connectivity, assistive technology and adaptive equipment);
- Expanding capacity to administer coronavirus testing to effectively monitor and suppress coronavirus, including conducting surveillance and contact tracing activities, and supporting other activities related to coronavirus testing for students, teachers, and staff at the nonpublic school (including the use of nursing services);
- Reasonable transportation costs.
The Maryland State Department of Education will post the grant application and conduct outreach to eligible non-public schools in early October. | https://www.wboc.com/news/hogan-announces-new-grant-program-for-maryland-non-public-schools/article_c56ad180-2f7d-11ed-88c3-83ae2c21a4ed.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:02Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/hogan-announces-new-grant-program-for-maryland-non-public-schools/article_c56ad180-2f7d-11ed-88c3-83ae2c21a4ed.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
SALISBURY, Md. - A 39-year-old convicted Salisbury drug dealer will spend seven years in prison after pleading guilty late last week to possession with the intention to distribute cocaine and violation of probation.
As part of Taurean Depre McFarlin's plea agreement, he forfeited one vehicle and $4,161 in cash. McFarlin will be placed on three years of supervised probation upon his release.
On Dec. 27, 2021, investigators from the Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office executed a search and seizure warrant on McFarlin’s home and located approximately 138 grams of cocaine, drug paraphernalia, and more than $4,000 in cash. McFarlin was placed under arrest and subsequently admitted to officers that the cocaine belonged to him, prosecutors said. | https://www.wboc.com/news/salisbury-drug-dealer-sentenced-to-prison/article_8698096c-2f7a-11ed-889f-6fcbc13d3f10.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:09Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/news/salisbury-drug-dealer-sentenced-to-prison/article_8698096c-2f7a-11ed-889f-6fcbc13d3f10.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Carl L. “Barney” Dettbarn, 85, of Horntown, VA, passed away Sunday, September 4, 2022, at TidalHealth, Peninsula Regional Hospital, Salisbury.
Born December 10, 1936, in Delhi, Iowa, he was the son of the late Elmer and Mabel (Cole) Dettbarn. Barney and his wife, Shirley (Joseph) celebrated 27 years of marriage on July 21, 2022.
To read full obituary, click Here. | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/carl-l-barney-dettbarn/article_cbb0ab56-2f6d-11ed-8702-cb39d11137fc.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:16Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/carl-l-barney-dettbarn/article_cbb0ab56-2f6d-11ed-8702-cb39d11137fc.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Fulton K. Singleton, Jr, 75, of Salisbury died on August 15, 2022, in his home. Born in Salisbury, MD on December 2, 1946, he was the son of the late Fulton K. Singleton, Sr. and Dora R. Pringle.
To read full obituary, click Here.
Fulton K. Singleton, Jr, 75, of Salisbury died on August 15, 2022, in his home. Born in Salisbury, MD on December 2, 1946, he was the son of the late Fulton K. Singleton, Sr. and Dora R. Pringle.
To read full obituary, click Here. | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/fulton-bud-knight-singleton-jr/article_d6f8b6e4-2f71-11ed-8fc9-6fd5c43d1e17.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:23Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/fulton-bud-knight-singleton-jr/article_d6f8b6e4-2f71-11ed-8fc9-6fd5c43d1e17.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
James Frederick Davidson Mumford, Sr (Jamie) died on Friday, September 2, 2022 at Tidal Health Salisbury following a brief illness. Born on January 20, 1981, he was 41 years old and the first-born son of James R. and Rebecca L. Mumford of Salisbury.
To read full obituary, click Here. | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/james-f-mumford/article_fc35461c-2f70-11ed-9964-b796d3295f5e.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:30Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/james-f-mumford/article_fc35461c-2f70-11ed-9964-b796d3295f5e.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Jefferson Davis “Jeff” Trader, Jr., 92, of Pocomoke City, Maryland passed away on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at Tidal Health Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury.
To read full obituary, click Here.
Jefferson Davis “Jeff” Trader, Jr., 92, of Pocomoke City, Maryland passed away on Saturday, September 3, 2022 at Tidal Health Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury.
To read full obituary, click Here. | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/jefferson-davis-trader-jr/article_b1af42ce-2f6f-11ed-bdbb-e394b8141a02.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:37Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/jefferson-davis-trader-jr/article_b1af42ce-2f6f-11ed-bdbb-e394b8141a02.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Randolph Paltoo, 82, of Trinidad, passed away Monday, September 5, 2022, at his home.
Born March 16, 1940, in Trinidad, he was the son of the late Emanuel and Amy (Beekhoo) Paltoo. He and his wife, Rosalind celebrated 22 years of marriage on December 21. 2022.
To read full obituary, click Here. | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/randolph-paltoo/article_48c066fa-2f72-11ed-81b4-0b52cffce600.html | 2022-09-08T15:38:44Z | wboc.com | control | https://www.wboc.com/obituaries/randolph-paltoo/article_48c066fa-2f72-11ed-81b4-0b52cffce600.html | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
An Cailín Ciúin author Claire Keegan’s 116-page Small Things Like These is on Booker shortlist
Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These, which, at 116 pages, is the shortest book in terms of pages in the history of the Booker Prize.
Wicklow-born Keegan is the author of Foster, the novella which was adapted for film as The Quiet Girl/An Cailín Ciúin
The shortest to win was the 1979, 132-page title Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald, with the prize organisers also adding that Treacle Walker is shorter by word count.
Keegan, who was brought up on a farm, published her first volume of short stories, Antarctica, in 1999 and it went on to win the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature.
British author Alan Garner is the oldest writer to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Garner, who was born in Cheshire and grew up in Alderley Edge, will celebrate his 88th birthday on the night of the award ceremony next month and has made the shortlist with his book Treacle Walker.
The writer, known for his children’s fantasy works and retellings of British folk tales, has previously said that Treacle Walker took “almost exactly eight years” from the initial idea to the final book, a fable which tells the story of young boy who strikes up an “unlikely friendship with an enigmatic, wandering healer”.
After his book was longlisted for the prestigious literary prize, he said: “Age, in itself, is irrelevant. However, as with all skills, an apprenticeship has to be served, through practice and experience.”
The shortlisted authors represent five nationalities and four continents, with an equal split of men and women featured.
Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo, who was born Elizabeth Zandile Tshele, makes the shortlist for the second time, having previously been shortlisted for her debut book, We Need New Names, in 2013.
This year her political satire, Glory, is being recognised and the author told the official Booker website previously, when asked about writing the novel, which is set in the animal kingdom and based on recent events in Zimbabwe: “Animals gave me the distance from a public drama that was often unfolding and changing shape as I was writing it (first as a work of non-fiction), and that understandably attracted so much attention it felt I was in a kind of weird competition with different commentators.”
She added: “I must say the mind-blowing absurdity of Zimbabwe’s politics also made the choice the right fit, certainly the terms of reference by my frustrated countryfolk on social media suggested the same and influenced some of my choices.”
Also on the shortlist, chosen by a judging panel chaired by cultural historian, writer and broadcaster Neil MacGregor, is American author Percival Everett for The Trees, which is described as combining “an unnerving murder mystery with a powerful condemnation of racism and police violence”.
In 2020, Everett was a Pulitzer Prize finalist with his novel Telephone.
Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka makes the list with his second novel, The Seven Moons Of Maali Almeida, a “rip-roaring epic” which is a “searing, mordantly funny satire set amid the murderous mayhem of a Sri Lanka beset by civil war”.
He told the Booker website of the book: “I began thinking about it in 2009, after the end of our civil war, when there was a raging debate over how many civilians died and whose fault it was.
“A ghost story where the dead could offer their perspective seemed a bizarre enough idea to pursue, but I wasn’t brave enough to write about the present, so I went back 20 years, to the dark days of 1989.”
Former lawyer turned author Elizabeth Strout makes the list with her novel Oh William!, which sees her return to her heroine Lucy Barton in a story about “love, loss, and the family secrets that can erupt and bewilder us at any time”.
American Strout will be familiar to audiences far and wide, having written Olive Kitteridge in 2008, which went on to win the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was also adapted into the award-winning TV series featuring Frances McDormand in the title role.
Judging chairman MacGregor said of the 2022 shortlist: “These six books we believe speak powerfully about important things.
“Set in different places at different times, they are all about events that in some measure happen everywhere, and concern us all. Each written in English, they demonstrate what an abundance of Englishes there are, how many distinct worlds, real and imaginary, exist in that simple-seeming space, the Anglosphere.
“Two – Oh, William! and Treacle Walker – are about the inner life, as a young boy and a middle-aged woman, in their particular ways, come to a new understanding of who they are and what they might become.
“The other four books address long national histories of cruelty and injustice, in Sri Lanka and Ireland, Zimbabwe and the United States, and in each case the enduring historical tensions provide the dilemmas in which the characters, like their societies, are put on the rack.”
He added: “Why did we choose these six? In every one, the author uses language not only to tell us what happens, but to create a world which we, outsiders, can enter and inhabit – and not merely by using words from local languages or dialects.
“NoViolet Bulawayo’s incantatory repetitions induct us all into a Zimbabwean community of memory and expectation, just as Alan Garner’s shamanic obliquities conjure a realm that reason alone could never access.
“Percival Everett and Shehan Karunatilaka spin fantastical verbal webs of Gothic horror – and humour – that could not be further removed from the hypnotic, hallucinatory clarity of Claire Keegan’s and Elizabeth Strout’s pared-down prose.
“Most important, all affirm the importance and the power of finding and sharing the truth.”
The winner will be revealed on October 17 at the Roundhouse – in person for the first time since 2019 – and will receive £50,000.
The 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction was won by Damon Galgut with The Promise. | https://www.theirishworld.com/an-cailin-ciuin-author-claire-keegans-116-page-small-things-like-these-is-on-booker-shortlist/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:03Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/an-cailin-ciuin-author-claire-keegans-116-page-small-things-like-these-is-on-booker-shortlist/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Appointment of second anti-EU MP to Northern Ireland Office raises eyebrows.
Some politicians in Northern Ireland have criticised the appointment of a second anti-EU MP, the self-styled ‘Brexit hard man’ Steve Baker, to the Northern Ireland Office as a minister.
SDLP MP Claire Hanna accused Prime Minister Liz Truss of sending a “destructive message” to the EU.
Optimists, on the other hand, believe there is a chance that Ms Truss is seeking to tie the critics of any likely compromise with Brussels to the end agreement.
Ms Hanna called the appointment “obnoxious” and a “red flag” and evidence that the new PM is “continuing down the diplomatically ignorant route of her predecessor”.
Like the new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton Harris, Mr Baker is a former executive officer of the so-called European Research Group, a taxpayer funded group of right-wing, anti-EU Tory backbenchers.
Mr Baker, who worked at doomed merchant bank Lehman Brothers between 2006 and 2008, organised the Brexiteer revolt that brought down then Prime Minister Theresa May and describes the Northern Ireland Protocol as “a thorn in the side of relations between us and Ireland”.
“Liz Truss could have taken the opportunity to build bridges
and make allies in the early days of her premiership.”
He supports the British Government’s plans to breach the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Ms Hanna suggested Ms Truss had foregone an opportunity to “build bridges” in her first days as Prime Minister.
“The appointment of another hard-line Eurosceptic to a senior position in the Northern Ireland Office is a red flag when issues related to the protocol remain politically sensitive,” she said.
“Liz Truss has an opportunity to make the case for a negotiated resolution with the European Union in the interests of people across these islands. These appointments seem in stark contrast to that objective.
“Privatising this issue to the DUP and ERG has not only failed in the past, it has brought down previous governments.
“Elevating Steve Baker to NIO in particular is an obnoxious decision that will send a destructive message to the European Commission and to parties in Northern Ireland.
“Liz Truss could have taken the opportunity to build bridges and make allies in the early days of her premiership. Instead she seems to be continuing down the diplomatically ignorant route of her predecessor.”
Former Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith – who is held in very high regard across Northern Ireland – congratulated Mr Baker on his new role.
He urged the new minister to work with Chris Heaton-Harris – who now heads up the department – to “push urgently for a compromise deal” with the EU to deliver a revised protocol and restore power sharing in Northern Ireland.
Related:
Northern Ireland Secretary congratulated on new role
New Northern Ireland Secretary urges Stormont leaders to form executive | https://www.theirishworld.com/appointment-of-second-anti-eu-mp-to-northern-ireland-office-raises-eyebrows/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:12Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/appointment-of-second-anti-eu-mp-to-northern-ireland-office-raises-eyebrows/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Average UK house price hit record high of £294,260 in August, says Halifax
But the bank warned that a more challenging period for house prices should be expected.
The average house price increased by 0.4% month on month in August to hit a new record high, offsetting a 0.1% dip in July, according to an index.
Across the UK, property values were up by 11.5% annually in August.
A typical property now costs a record £294,260, Halifax said – but its report warned that “a more challenging period for house prices should be expected”.
“The typical house price reached another record high in August – as it has done in seven out of the eight months so far this year.” Kim Kinnaird
Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said the latest monthly increase is “relatively modest” compared with recent times, adding: “Over the last year the rate of monthly house price inflation has averaged around 0.9%.
“The typical house price reached another record high in August – as it has done in seven out of the eight months so far this year.
“However, the annual rate of growth dropped to 11.5%, from 11.8% in July, the lowest level in three months.
“While house prices have so far proved to be resilient in the face of growing economic uncertainty, industry surveys point towards cooling expectations across the majority of UK regions, as buyer demand eases, and other forward-looking indicators also imply a likely slowdown in market activity.”
Ms Kinnaird added: “With house price-to-income affordability ratios already historically high, a more challenging period for house prices should be expected.
“However this should be viewed in the context of the exceptional growth witnessed in recent years, with average house prices having increased by more than £30,000 over the last 12 months alone.”
Across Wales, house prices increased by 16.1% annually in August, marking the strongest level of growth since early 2005, Halifax said.
This means average prices have risen by £31,246 over the past year, with an average property now costing £224,858.
The South West of England also continues to record a strong rate of annual growth, with house prices up by 14.5%, with an average property value of £313,003.
The rate of annual growth in Northern Ireland stood at 12.5%, with a typical home now costing £185,505.
A home in Scotland now costs a record high average of £204,362.
In London, average house price has increased by 8.8% annually, marking the strongest growth there in more than six years.
With a typical property costing a record £554,718, London’s average house price has risen by £44,669 over the past year.
Marc von Grundherr, director of estate agent Benham and Reeves said: “With the London market now starting to shift through the gears, this will only bolster the might of the property market further and bring an even greater boost to house prices over the coming months.”
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: “The supply of houses tightened over the summer as more people took a summer holiday for the first time in three years, which kept prices buoyant.
“We expect more properties to be listed in the coming weeks as we move from a seller’s towards a buyer’s market. Together with rising mortgage rates, this will increase downwards pressure on prices after they have appeared to defy gravity for so long.”
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at Bestinvest, said: “Perhaps those suffering the most in this uncertain housing market are the renters, many of whom are not only facing higher household bills but also rent hikes as landlords look to pass on rising costs to their tenants.
“If they are saving for a deposit to buy their own home, they might have to accept they may be renting longer than planned as other financial considerations take priority – namely more expensive energy and food bills.”
Andrew Montlake, managing director of mortgage broker Coreco, said: “Higher mortgage rates and the immense pressure on household finances will almost certainly start to temper demand in the months ahead.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “There are still good deals to be had, although rising energy bills are impacting affordability calculations and lenders are broadening their policy for higher income households accordingly.”
Nicky Stevenson, managing director at estate agent Fine & Country, said: “The outlook for the housing market may depend on the stimulus measures currently being finalised by the new Prime Minister.”
Here are average house prices in August and the
annual percentage increase, according to Halifax:– East Midlands, £244,378, 12.0%
– Eastern England, £343,507, 11.6%
– London, £554,718, 8.8%
– North East, £169,721, 9.6%
– North West, £229,182, 13.7%
– Northern Ireland, £185,505, 12.5%
– Scotland, £204,362, 9.4%
– South East, £400,528, 12.1%
– South West, £313,003, 14.5%
– Wales, £224,858, 16.1%
– West Midlands, £253,871, 13.5%
– Yorkshire and the Humber, £207,636, 12.2% | https://www.theirishworld.com/average-uk-house-price-hit-record-high-of-294260-in-august-says-halifax/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:20Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/average-uk-house-price-hit-record-high-of-294260-in-august-says-halifax/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
From Bridgerton to The Dig, Netflix is on quite the winning streak when it comes to producing its own period dramas. Now the streaming platform is adding another major project to its roster, with Emma Corrin taking on the starring role in a new adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which premiered this month at the Telluride Film Festival .
Fresh from their star-making success as a young Princess Diana in Season 4 of The Crown, followed by their West End debut in the buzzy Anna X, 26-year-old Corrin (who identifies at non-binary) is surfing quite the career wave. So it comes as no surprise that they’ve scooped up another major lead, with Netflix having confirmed their casting as Lady Chatterley last year, in what they dubbed a ‘female-focused re-telling of a classic’.
Calling all period drama fans
Corrin co-stars alongside Jack O’Connell (known for his breakout role in Skins and subsequent hits like Unbroken and Godless), and relative newcomer Matthew Duckett (who recently played Loyal in The Royal National Theatre’s production of Tartuffe), for the joint venture between Sony’s 3000 Pictures and Netflix. Netflix explained that the adaptation ‘will be the first film to be produced under the new partnership where Sony Pictures will offer Netflix a first look at any films it intends to make for streaming.’
Further cast members include Joely Richardson, Ella Hunt and Faye Marsay. | https://www.tatler.com/article/emma-corrin-lady-chatterleys-lover-netflix-adaptation-details | 2022-09-08T15:39:23Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/article/emma-corrin-lady-chatterleys-lover-netflix-adaptation-details | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
In many ways, Kim Kardashian is the ultimate multi-hyphenate. A reality TV star turned Instagram influencer turned businesswoman, she's at the helm of multiple companies. Just last December she announced that she had passed the ‘baby bar’, the first stage of her exams to become a lawyer. Now, she's dipping her toe into the world of finance, launching a private equity firm.
SKKY Partners is a joint venture between Kardashian and former JP Morgan analyst Jay Sammons, and will reportedly ‘target sectors including consumer products, digital and e-commerce, consumer media, hospitality and luxury’, according to a statement on Twitter. Sammons is something of an industry veteran, having worked for the Carlyle Group – who work with the likes of Beats by Dr Dre and Big Machine Records, who represent Taylor Swift – for 16 years.
Kardashian's motivations behind starting the firm are altruistic as well as financial. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Kardashian said: ‘The exciting part is to sit down with these founders and figure out what their dream is. I want to support what that is, not change who they are in their DNA, but just support and get them to a different level.’
The 41-year-old has proven herself to be an astute businesswoman over the years, ever since launching her career via her family's reality TV show, Keeping up with the Kardashians. She sold a 20 per cent stake of her beauty brand KKW to Coty for $200 million last year, while her shapewear brand SKIMS is valued at $3.2 billion. She also makes a sizeable amount of her income via Instagram endorsements, reportedly charging an average of $910,000 per post.
A mother of four, last year she announced her divorce from second husband Kanye West. She then embarked on a relationship with Saturday Night Live comedian, Pete Davidson, but the couple split earlier this summer. | https://www.tatler.com/article/kim-kardashian-sets-up-private-equity-firm-to-help-entrepreneurs | 2022-09-08T15:39:29Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/article/kim-kardashian-sets-up-private-equity-firm-to-help-entrepreneurs | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Battersea Power Station opens next month
At its peak, Battersea Power Station supplied a fifth of London’s electricity.
The coalfired power station’s two control rooms managed the distribution of power from Carnaby Street to Wimbledon – including Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament.
It also featured on the cover of Pink Floyd’s popular 1977 album, Animals.
The building was decommissioned in 1983 and during the years that followed, several failed attempts were made to redevelop the site.
In the intervening years Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 Vietnam movie, Full Metal Jacket, was filmed there and it launched Tim Burton’s1989 movie Batman.
Almost 40 years after Battersea Power Station’s lights were switched off, it is finally set to become one of London’s biggest retail and leisure destinations.
It will open its doors to the public for the first time from Friday 14 October.
• Turbine Hall A is lavish 1930s Art Deco glamour.
• Turbine Hall B, completed 20 years later in the post-War 1950s,
has a brutalist, industrial look and feel.
• Control Room A will be an events space and Control Room B
will be an all-day bar.
Electric Boulevard, a new pedestrianised high street, which runs from the south of the Power Station, between Frank Gehry’s Prospect Place and Foster + Partners’ Battersea Roof Gardens to the new Battersea Power Station Zone 1 Underground station, will open the same day.
The Grade II listed Power Station has been in the hands of Sime Darby Property, S P Setia and the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) since 2012 during which time it has been restored.
In 2019, PNB and EPF became the long-term commercial asset holders .
• LIFT 109 is a glass elevator experience which transports visitors
109 metres up to the top of the building’s north west chimney,
offering views of London’s skyline.
Shops will be housed in the Power Station’s two newly restored Turbine Halls, which although identical when viewed from the building’s exterior, are completely unique in their interior design.
Entertainment venues include The Cinema at the Power Station,
Shops include Hugo Boss, Theory, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Aesop, Space NK, Ace + Tate, lululemon, Mulberry, Jo Malone London, Uniqlo, and a new neighbourhood bookstore, Battersea Bookshop, from specialist bookseller Stanfords.
The Boiler House at the heart of the Grade building will be home to the 24,000 sq. ft Arcade Food Hall from JKS Restaurants which will open next year.
Other food and beverage venues inside the Power Station are Le Bab, Where The Pancakes Are, Poke House, Clean Kitchen Club, and Paris Baguette.
Bars and restaurants already open in Circus West Village include Sugen Gopal’s Roti King, Tapas Brindisa, Wright Brothers, Vagabond Wines, Megan’s at the Power Station, Battersea Brewery, Francesco Mazzei’s Fiume and Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Kitchen.
Electric Boulevard, a new high street for the local community, will offer a mix of bars and restaurants, office space, shops, a park, community hub and a 164 room hotel from art’otel.
Retailers on Electric Boulevard will include ZARA, a M&S Foodhall and a 28,000 sq. ft club from London fitness brand, Third Space.
CEO at Battersea Power Station Development Company (BPSDC) Simon Murphy said: “It has taken a lot of hard work, determination, and the continued commitment of the Malaysian Shareholders over the past ten years to bring Battersea Power Station back to its former glory. We can’t wait to welcome the first visitors, and show the local community, Londoners, and the rest of the world, the historic beauty of the Grade II* listed building, which has been transformed into London’s most unique destination for all to enjoy.” | https://www.theirishworld.com/battersea-power-station-opens-next-month/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:29Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/battersea-power-station-opens-next-month/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
The Queen has inevitably had to scale back her diary as she grows older, with her attendance at engagements now increasingly being confirmed on the day. On 8 September, Buckingham Palace released an update on the monarch’s health, revealing that her doctors have expressed ‘concern’.
The statement reads: ‘Following further evaluation this morning, The Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.’
The new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, tweeted that the ‘whole country will be deeply concerned by the news’, adding that her thoughts ‘are with Her Majesty The Queen and her family at this time.’
Twitter content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. | https://www.tatler.com/article/queen-advised-by-doctors-to-rest-balmoral-miss-privy-council-meeting | 2022-09-08T15:39:35Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/article/queen-advised-by-doctors-to-rest-balmoral-miss-privy-council-meeting | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
EU ready to be ‘flexible and responsive’ over Northern Ireland Protocol: Martin
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he looks forward to speaking with Prime Minister Liz Truss in the coming days.
Ireland’s premier Micheal Martin has said he takes “heart” from UK Prime Minister Liz Truss’s remarks that she would like to see the issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol resolved by negotiation.
Mr Martin said with goodwill the EU is ready to be flexible and responsive.
Speaking at an event in Dublin, the Taoiseach said: “I look forward to be in a position to speak to the British Prime Minister within the next day or two.
“I take heart from the Prime Minister’s comments that her preferred approach to the protocol is to have it resolved by negotiation. That is certainly our view also and that of the European Union.”
His comments come after Ms Truss told the House of Commons on Wednesday that her preference is for a negotiated solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol issues.
But she warned that a negotiated solution with the EU would have to deliver “all of the things we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill”.
Ms Truss made the remarks after Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Shailesh Vara asked her if she will press ahead with the Bill if negotiations with the European bloc are not “forthcoming”.
Mr Vara said: “It is the standard practice of the European Union that when they can’t get their way in negotiations with the UK, they play for time and wait for a new leader, who they hope will have a different view to their predecessor.
“For the sake of clarity, will my right honourable friend confirm that it is the UK’s preferred option to have a negotiated settlement as far as the Northern Ireland Protocol is concerned. But if that is not forthcoming, then we will proceed with the Protocol Bill that is currently going through Parliament?”
She replied: “My preference is for a negotiated solution, but it does have to deliver all of the things we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
“And what we cannot allow is for this situation to drift.”
Mr Martin said he would make it “very clear” to Ms Truss when he speaks to her that he believes there is a pathway to a resolution of the issues.
“There are certain issues around consumer sector and we believe, with goodwill, the European Union is ready to be flexible and responsive,” he said.
“If the European Union and United Kingdom can engage in a process, we believe there is a pathway to resolving that particular issue.”
Mr Martin added that he welcomed US President Joe Biden’s support for the Belfast Agreement.
“I do welcome the consistent interest of the US president in supporting the Good Friday Agreement, underpinning the Good Friday Agreement,” he said.
“And his interest has been genuine and I do welcome that.”
Related:
New NI Secretary urges Stormont leaders to form executive
Number 10 plays down protocol as White House plays it up
Protocol row can be resolved, says Taoiseach, as he congratulates new PM | https://www.theirishworld.com/eu-ready-to-be-flexible-and-responsive-over-northern-ireland-protocol-martin/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:37Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/eu-ready-to-be-flexible-and-responsive-over-northern-ireland-protocol-martin/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Sarah, the Duchess of York, looked the epitome of glamour last night as she rubbed shoulders with Hollywood royalty on the red carpet of the Venice Film Festival. Sarah appeared in excellent spirits as she posed on the red carpet alongside A-listers, Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern and Vanessa Kirby, ahead of The Son premiere.
Sarah, Duchess of York, joins stars at Venice Film Festival in emerald gown
Looking quite the film star herself, the duchess donned a floor-length Reem Acra gown, elevating the look with a matching clutch, silver jewellery and a diamond bracelet; she opted for black stilettos and a simple half-up half-down hairdo to complete the ensemble. Sarah's fiery red locks and fair complexion were complemented by the emerald dress, which was tied at the side with a jewelled clasp.
Sarah previously attended the film festival in 1999 alongside former boyfriend, Count Gaddo della Gherardesca. This year, the duchess arrived by boat to the 5-star Hotel Excelsior, where she is reportedly staying during the event.
Sarah married Prince Andrew, the Duke of York in 1986, though they separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996, the same year that Prince Charles and the late Diana, the Princess of Wales also divorced. Sarah currently resides at Royal Lodge in Windsor alongside her ex-husband, in what must be one of the most amicable divorces in history, although she recently bought a new home in London's Mayfair. The property, which reportedly cost her £5 million, is intended to be ‘a long-term investment for daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie'.
The Son stars Jackman, Dern, Kirby and Anthony Hopkins, in the adaptation of Zeller’s 2018 stage play Le Fils. The plot of the film follows the story of 17-year-old Nicholas (played by Zen McGrath) after he decides to leave his mother’s (Dern) home and move back in with his father Peter (Jackman), his partner Beth (Kirby) and their newborn baby. The film explores Peter and Nicholas’s turbulent relationship as past behaviour and external pressures begin to cause tensions between the two.
The property was reportedly sold to the royal by the Duke of Westminster
Subscribe now to get 3 issues for just £1, plus free home delivery and free instant access to the digital editions. | https://www.tatler.com/article/sarah-duchess-of-york-joins-stars-at-venice-film-festival-in-emerald-gown | 2022-09-08T15:39:41Z | tatler.com | control | https://www.tatler.com/article/sarah-duchess-of-york-joins-stars-at-venice-film-festival-in-emerald-gown | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Funeral for young jockey Jack de Bromhead, 13
His death has caused widespread shock among the Irish racing community.
The funeral of Jack de Bromhead took place today following his tragic death in a pony racing accident in Kerry.
The 13-year-old, whose father is Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning trainer Henry de Bromhead, died following a fall from a pony while riding at the Glenbeigh Festival in Co Kerry on Saturday.
His death caused widespread shock among the racing community.
His funeral mass was held at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Butlerstown in Co Waterford at 12 noon, followed by a private cremation.
On Sunday afternoon, there was an official notice posted online, followed by a heartfelt note from his grieving family.
It read: “On September 3rd we said goodbye to our extraordinary, beautiful 13-year-old son, Jack.
“A one-of-a-kind child who touched all our lives in the best way possible – he will be forever present in our lives. Always cherished, always loved, frozen in time with a beautiful young soul. He was an amazing son who told us he loved us every day – an over-brimming heart of loyalty, empathy, patience, pluck, courage and how he made us laugh.
“Not only the perfect, funny, loving son but also an incredible, loving brother to our beautiful daughters, his twin sister Mia and his little sister, Georgia. He always had their back and was fiercely loyal and kind. Our hearts are truly broken.
“Jack’s friendships were of the deep and
loyal kind and treasured by him,”
“He made so many friends wherever he went and they felt his special, unique and loyal touch on their lives too. We ask that they please celebrate and love him as we know he would have wished.
“Jack has lived so many more years than the 13 – he filled every moment of his days, always busy, forever curious grasping at life and new interests.
“The passion he had for his family and friends extended to all his hobbies and interests – too many to fit into 13 years and certainly too busy to spend more than a minute more than he had to in the classroom.
“It started with his work on the farm, the tractor, the cattle, the ponies and horses. He was a passionate expert on them all by the time he was 10. By 11 he was offering expert advice and consultation to his father on training horses as he developed his fathers passion for all aspects of racing.”
His parents, Heather and Henry, said he recently started a new school where he made new friends.
“Jack’s friendships were of the deep and loyal kind and treasured by him,” they added.
“Jack, you will be with us always at home in your family and friends’ hearts. Always present, always cherished with so many memories from your packed, extraordinary life.
“Deeply loved and missed by your parents, Henry and Heather, your sisters Mia and Georgia, your grandparents Andrew, Marian, Harry and Sally, your aunts and uncles, extended family and friends.” | https://www.theirishworld.com/funeral-for-young-jockey-jack-de-bromhead-13/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:45Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/funeral-for-young-jockey-jack-de-bromhead-13/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Hundreds at funeral of ‘charismatic’ Jack de Bromhead
Hundreds of mourners, including prominent figures from Irish horse racing, gathered for the funeral of the “charming, charismatic” 13-year-old jockey Jack de Bromhead, who died during a pony race in Kerry at the weekend.
Mourners heard about the colourful life and many interests of Jack, the son of Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National-winning trainer Henry de Bromhead.
Mr de Bromhead told the congregation stories of Jack’s “uncanny” knowledge of and love for pony racing that he was “blown away by”.
His death, following a fall from a pony while riding at the Glenbeigh Festival in Co Kerry, has caused widespread shock in the Irish racing community.
Large crowds gathered outside the church in Butlerstown, Co Waterford, ahead of the ceremony including prominent jockeys and trainers, while thousands more watched online.
Representatives of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and President Michael D Higgins were present.
Trainer Charlie Swan and jockey Robbie Power were among the hundreds of early attendees, while jockeys Barry Geraghty and Davey Russell were also present.
A guard of honour of students from Waterpark College lined up outside the church, organised by Grand National champion jockey Rachel Blackmore, with young mourners dressed in racing silks and boots.
One girl was seen holding a teddy pony and the funeral programme while waiting outside the church.
There was a heavy downpour as the wicker coffin was carried from the hearse into the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“I will miss your cheeky smile that made
all my friends fall in love with you.”
During the eulogy, Mr de Bromhead thanked everyone for their support, saying “every person we meet gives you a little bit more strength”.
With his wife Heather at his side, he spoke about their son’s love of surfing in Tramore, of farming and driving tractors, of showjumping and of hunting – having once won a hunting horn blowing competition.
Recounting a conversation he had with his son after a fall during a pony race, he told how the youngster had told him: “Dad, I just love pony racing, it is unbelievable, I get such a buzz out of it.”
Mr de Bromhead said: “And he did, you could see it, and this was after a fall. It was incredible. He loved it.
“I said ‘what about the fall, would that put you off a little?’ and he said ‘Hen boy, if you can’t take the falls, you can’t be doing it’. What can you say?”
During a conversation he had with his own mother Sally about Jack months ago, Mr de Bromhead said: “I was saying about school and he’s missing the odd class or whatever, and she said ‘Darling, Jack just doesn’t really have time for school’.”
His grandfather Andrew Moffat told of Jack’s interest in diggers and driving tractors from an early age, and his newfound nicknames for him “grandy boy”; and his father, “Hen boy”.
He said “his interest in tractors and trailers increased at every opportunity”, and he also recounted stories of Jack’s humour and sense of adventure.
Mr Moffat said the tragic accident, at which he and his wife Marian were present, saw “all our hopes and dreams for our beautiful, charming, charismatic, wonderful Jack shattered forever in the fateful riding accident in the dark, murky Atlantic waters washing on to Rossbeigh beach”.
He added: “His horse came down, Jack was thrown, and in an instant, the horse delivered a fateful blow to Jack’s head.
“Our 13 years with our beloved Jack will never be forgotten by his family and all our friends and colleagues, who knew the happiest, loving child you could ever hope for.”
Jack’s younger sister Georgia paid tribute to her brother during the ceremony, saying he “was the kindest, most caring big brother I could ever ask for”.
She added: “He was never scared to stand up for people and was always there for you no matter what.”
His twin sister Mia said in a heartfelt tribute: “Jack, you were the best brother ever, I got so lucky when you were born with me.
“I will miss your cheeky smile that made all my friends fall in love with you.”
Jack’s grandmother Sally de Bromhead read an extract from the author and illustrator Charlie Mackesy.
Among the symbols of Jack’s life brought to the church were a horse riding whip, goggles, a rugby ball, Ralph Lauren togs, a hunting horn, and a pair of Nike runners.
A hunting horn was played as the hearse pulled away from the church.
Parish priest Pat Fitzgerald said of Jack during the ceremony: “He knew himself to be loved and he reciprocated in a multitude of ways.
In this sense, there was a kind of completeness and perfection to his life.
“As we heard in our reading from the Book of Wisdom, length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life. In a real way, Jack absorbed and lived the essence of life.” | https://www.theirishworld.com/hundreds-at-funeral-of-charismatic-jack-de-bromhead/ | 2022-09-08T15:39:53Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/hundreds-at-funeral-of-charismatic-jack-de-bromhead/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New NI Secretary urges Stormont leaders to form executive
New Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris urged Stormont party leaders to form an executive “as soon as possible” in his first Commons appearance with his new portfolio.
He told MPs that he would be speaking to each of the party leaders in Northern Ireland about the current situation.
“I know the House shares my view that Northern Ireland needs a stable, fully functioning devolved government to deliver on the issues that matter to people most.”
The DUP is blocking the formation of a devolved, power sharing government.
A Bill to override and breach the agreed Northern Ireland Protocol is making its way through the UK Parliament, it is due to be scrutinised by peers in the House of Lords.
“Workers, families and small businesses
need our help now.”
Mr Heaton-Harris said he would prefer a negotiated settlement with the European Union but insisted the UK Government is committed to progressing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.
The European Commission has compared the bill to gun to the head.
The Northern Ireland Secretary told MPs:
“We are committed to resolving the problems in the protocol, ideally through a negotiation, but, if not, through legislation, so yes.”
Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle sought assurances that the UK Government’s position on getting Stormont up and running was unchanged.
Mr Heaton-Harris replied: “We’re very clear, the protocol negotiation is between the EU and the UK, but yes the position is completely unchanged.”
He later added: “I am very keen we try and negotiate a solution with the European Union and sort out the issues of the protocol. However, we do have legislation ready, we’ve discussed it in this House and if we do not get a negotiated solution, we will legislate.”
Sinn Féin leader in Northern Ireland and First Minister designate Michelle O’Neill tweeted: “I will meet with Chris Heaton-Harris tomorrow and will make it clear that his first priority must be getting an executive up and running.
“Workers, families and small businesses need our help now.
“There can be no more delays.” | https://www.theirishworld.com/new-ni-secretary-urges-stormont-leaders-to-form-executive/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:03Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/new-ni-secretary-urges-stormont-leaders-to-form-executive/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
New PM Truss rules out windfall tax on energy firms’ excess profits
New Prime Minister Liz Truss will tomorrow (Thursday) say just how her government plans to save households and businesses from financial caused by soaring energy bills.
At her first Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Truss rejected calls by Opposition leader Keir Starmer for a windfall tax on the estimated excess profits of £170 billion made by oil and gas companies.
She told MPs: “I will make sure that in our energy plan we will help to support businesses and people with the immediate price crisis, as well as making sure there are long-term supplies available.
“I understand that people across our country are struggling with the cost of living and they are struggling with their energy bills.
“That is why I, as Prime Minister, will take immediate action to help people with the cost of their energy bills and I will be making an announcement to this House on that tomorrow and giving people certainty to make sure that they are able to get through this winter and be able to have the energy supplies and be able to afford it.”
“I understand that people across our country are struggling
with the cost of living and they are struggling with their energy bills.”
She told the Labour Party leader: “I am against a windfall tax, I believe it is the wrong thing to be putting companies off investing in the United Kingdom just when we need to be growing the economy,” she said.
He said refusing to tax the excess profits made by oil and gas firms would leave taxpayers footing the cost of the mooted price cap or price freeze for decades.
“The Prime Minister knows she has now choice but to back an energy price freeze, but it won’t be cheap and the real choice, the political choice is who is going to pay.
“Is she really telling us that she is going to leave this vast excess profits on the table and make working people foot the bill for decades to come?”
For the first time in years at Prime Minister’s Question clear dividing lines on fiscal policy were apparent between government and opposition.
“There’s nothing new about the Tory
fantasy of trickle-down economics”
Ms Truss also made clear she intends to scrap next year’s planned increases in corporation tax for businesses from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.
She said it would deter investors and the UK cannot “tax its way to growth”.
Sir Keir responded: “Not only is the Prime Minister refusing to extend the windfall tax, she’s also choosing to hand the water companies polluting our beaches a tax cut. She’s choosing to hand the banks a tax cut.
“Add it all together and companies that are already doing well are getting a £17 billion tax cut while working people pay for the cost-of-living crisis, stroke victims wait an hour for an ambulance and criminals walk the streets with impunity.”
He continued: “There’s nothing new about the Tory fantasy of trickle-down economics, nothing new about this Tory Prime Minister who nodded through every decision that got us into this mess and now says how terrible it is, and can’t she see there’s nothing new about a Tory Prime Minister who when asked who pays says ‘it’s you, the working people of Britain’?”
The Prime Minister told him: “I will take immediate action to make sure we have lower taxes and we grow the economy, and that way I will ensure we have a positive future for our country and we get Britain moving.” | https://www.theirishworld.com/new-pm-truss-rules-out-windfall-tax-on-energy-firms-excess-profits/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:11Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/new-pm-truss-rules-out-windfall-tax-on-energy-firms-excess-profits/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Next generation of hearing aids could read lips through masks
A new system capable of reading lips with remarkable accuracy even when speakers are wearing face masks could help create a new generation of hearing aids.
An international team of engineers and computing scientists developed the technology, which pairs radio-frequency sensing with Artificial intelligence for the first time to identify lip movements.
The system, when integrated with conventional hearing aid technology, could help tackle the ‘cocktail party effect’, a common shortcoming of traditional hearing aids.
Currently, hearing aids assist hearing-impaired people by amplifying all ambient sounds around them, which can be helpful in many aspects of everyday life.
However, in noisy situations such as cocktail parties, hearing aids’ broad spectrum of amplification can make it difficult for users to focus on specific sounds, like conversation with a particular person.
One potential solution to the cocktail party effect is to make ‘smart’ hearing aids, which combine conventional audio amplification with a second device to collect additional data for improved performance.
While other researchers have had success in using cameras to aid with lip reading, collecting video footage of people without their explicit consent raises concerns for individual privacy. Cameras are also unable to read lips through masks, an everyday challenge for people who wear face coverings for cultural or religious purposes and a broader issue in the age of COVID-19.
In a new paper published today in the journal Nature Communications, the University of Glasgow-led team outline how they set out to harness cutting-edge sensing technology to read lips. Their system preserves privacy by collecting only radio-frequency data, with no accompanying video footage.
To develop the system, the researchers asked male and female volunteers to repeat the five vowel sounds (A, E, I, O, and U) first while unmasked and then while wearing a surgical mask.
As the volunteers repeated the vowel sounds, their faces were scanned using radio-frequency signals from both a dedicated radar sensor and a wifi transmitter. Their faces were also scanned while their lips remained still.
Then, the 3,600 samples of data collected during the scans was used to ‘teach’ machine learning and deep learning algorithms how to recognise the characteristic lip and mouth movements associated with each vowel sound.
Because the radio-frequency signals can easily pass through the volunteers’ masks, the algorithms could also learn to read masked users’ vowel formation.
The system proved to be capable of correctly reading the volunteers’ lips most of the time. Wifi data was correctly interpreted by the learning algorithms up to 95% of the time for unmasked lips, and 80% for masked. Meanwhile, the radar data was interpreted correctly up to 91% without a mask, and 83% of the time with a mask.
Dr Qammer Abbasi, of the University of Glasgow’s James Watt School of Engineering, is the paper’s lead author. He said: “Around five percent of the world’s population – about 430 million people – have some kind of hearing impairment.
“Hearing aids have provided transformative benefits for many hearing-impaired people. A new generation of technology which collects a wide spectrum of data to augment and enhance the amplification of sound could be another major step in improving hearing-impaired people’s quality of life.
“With this research, we have shown that radio-frequency signals can be used to accurately read vowel sounds on people’s lips, even when their mouths are covered. While the results of lip-reading with radar signals are slightly more accurate, the Wi-Fi signals also demonstrated impressive accuracy.
“Given the ubiquity and affordability of Wi-Fi technologies, the results are highly encouraging which suggests that this technique has value both as a standalone technology and as a component in future multimodal hearing aids.”
Professor Muhammad Imran, head of the University of Glasgow’s Communications, Sensing and Imaging research group and a co-author of the paper, added: “This technology is an outcome from two research projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), called COG-MHEAR and QUEST.
“Both aim to find new methods of creating the next generation
of healthcare devices, and this development will play a
major role in supporting that goal.”
Researchers from the University of Glasgow, Edinburgh Napier University in the UK contributed to the paper, along with colleagues from the University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan and Southeast University, Nanjing in China.
The team’s paper, titled ‘Pushing the Limits of Remote RF Sensing by Reading Lips Under the Face Mask’, is published in Nature Communications. The research was supported by funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). | https://www.theirishworld.com/next-generation-of-hearing-aids-could-read-lips-through-masks/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:19Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/next-generation-of-hearing-aids-could-read-lips-through-masks/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
NI Secretary congratulated on new role
He replaces Shailesh Vara who was sacked ahead of the appointment.
Politicians on the island of Ireland have congratulated Chris Heaton-Harris on his appointment as Northern Ireland Secretary.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson requested an urgent meeting with the Brexiteer to “press home the priorities for Northern Ireland”, while Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said his first job should be a functioning executive at Stormont.
Mr Heaton-Harris, 54, was appointed to the role by new UK Prime Minister Liz Truss on Tuesday night as she formed her new cabinet.
The former Conservative Party’s chief whip represents the constituency of Daventry in England.
He replaces Shailesh Vara who was sacked ahead of the appointment.
A self-described “fierce Eurosceptic” on his website, Mr Heaton-Harris was chairman of the European Research Group of pro-Brexit Conservative MPs between 2010 and 2016.
The DUP leader said he was looking forward to working with Mr Heaton-Harris “to build a more stable and prosperous future for everyone in Northern Ireland and making the Union work for all our citizens”.
In a statement, Sir Jeffrey called for Mr Heaton-Harris to take action on the NI Protocol.
He said: “Like England, Scotland and Wales, we require action with the firepower of Treasury to get businesses and households through this winter of soaring costs.
“Northern Ireland is further hampered in this cost-of-living crisis due to the NI Protocol inflating costs for businesses and consumers as well.
“This is exactly why we need to see the Secretary of State working to replace the Protocol with arrangements that unionists can support.
Sir Jeffrey also commended Mr Vara for his work in Northern Ireland, saying he had “committed himself fully to the role and ensured Northern Ireland’s voice was heard in the Cabinet”.
Mr Coveney said he had known Mr Heaton-Harris since they were both members of the European Parliament.
He wrote on Twitter: “Congratulations to @chhcalling for his appointment as new Sec of State for Northern Ireland.
“I’ve known him since we were both members of the European Parliament & I look forward to working closely with him in the coming months.
“First job – a functioning executive for NI.”
TUV leader Jim Allister said he hoped Mr Heaton-Harris would play an “active part” in delivering Northern Ireland from the “iniquitous Protocol”
He said in a statement: “Having served as a MEP at the same time as Chris Heaton-Harris and been on the same side in Eurosceptic battles in Brussels, I welcome his appointment as NI SOS.
“I always found him good to work with. I trust he will play an active part in delivering NI from the iniquitous Protocol.”
Related:
New cabinet announcements begin
Liz Truss’ Speech – Tax cuts, deregulation, broadband…and the NHS
Taoiseach congratulates Liz Truss | https://www.theirishworld.com/ni-secretary-congratulated-on-new-role/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:28Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/ni-secretary-congratulated-on-new-role/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Number 10 plays down protocol as White House plays it up
Prime Minister Liz Truss and US President Joe Biden exchanged the customary pleasantries and Downing Street and the White House issued their summaries of the exchange.
As often in the past, London made only the most fleeting reference to Northern Ireland while Washington gave the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and talks with the EU greater emphasis and nuance.
The White House said the two heads of government “also discussed their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the importance of reaching a negotiated agreement with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol.”
The Downing Street version was terser and said only: “The Prime Minister and president discussed a range of domestic issues and agreed on the importance of protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
The Downing Street Statement
The Prime Minister spoke with President Biden this evening.
The President congratulated the Prime Minister on her appointment. The Prime Minister looked forward to working closely with President Biden as leaders of free democracies to tackle shared challenges, particularly the extreme economic problems unleashed by Putin’s war.
The Prime Minister and President Biden reflected on the enduring strength of the Special Relationship. They agreed that the partnership between our countries, fortified by our shared values, has been crucial for defending and advancing freedom and democracy in the world.
They agreed to build on those links, including by furthering our deep defence alliance through NATO and AUKUS. The leaders reinforced their commitment to strengthening global liberty, tackling the risks posed by autocracies and ensuring Putin fails in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister and President discussed a range of domestic issues and agreed on the importance of protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement.
The Prime Minister and President Biden looked forward to meeting again soon.
The White House Statement
President Joseph R Biden spoke today with Prime Minister Liz Truss of the United Kingdom to offer his congratulations. The leaders reaffirmed the special relationship between our countries and expressed their readiness to further deepen those ties.
President Biden and Prime Minister Truss discussed the importance of continued close cooperation on global challenges, including supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression, addressing the challenges posed by China, preventing Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon, and securing sustainable and affordable energy resources.
They also discussed their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the importance of reaching a negotiated agreement with the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol.’
Related:
New cabinet announcements begin
Liz Truss’ Speech – Tax cuts, deregulation, broadband…and the NHS
Taoiseach congratulates Liz Truss | https://www.theirishworld.com/number-10-plays-down-protocol-as-white-house-plays-it-up/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:37Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/number-10-plays-down-protocol-as-white-house-plays-it-up/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
Queen’s family gather by her sickbed in Balmoral
Queen Elizabeth’s family are travelling to be by her sickbed at Balmoral in Scotland amid concerns the 96-year old monarch’s health is deteriorating.
Buckingham Palace announced she is under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle Aberdeenshire, and has cancelled all engagements, including. Privy Council meeting that was to be held on-line.
It said: “following further evaluation this morning, the Queen’s doctors are concerned for Her Majesty’s health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.”
The monarch has been joined by her adult children Prince Charles, who is accompanied by his wife Camilla, and Princess Anne.
Princes Andrew and Edward are said to be en route as are the next generation, William and Harry.
Queen Elizabeth is the head of the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said in a tweet: “My prayers, and the prayers of people across the Church of England and the nation, are with Her Majesty, The Queen today.
“May God’s presence strengthen and confort Her Majesty, her family, and those who are caring for her at Balmoral.”
MPs debating the emergency measures to tackle energy prices were interrupted to be told by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle of the Queen’s health.
Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April 1926. When her father died in February 1952, when she was 25, she acceded to the throne, her formal coronation was the following year in 1953.
She is the longest-lived, longest living, reigning British monarch, oldest and longest serving head of state.
Her son, Charles, 73, Prince of Wales, is first in line to succeed her as monarch. Her other adult children are Anne, 72, Princess Royal, Andrew, 62, and Edward, 58, Earl of Wessex.
Her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whom she married in 1947, died last year aged 99 (he would have been a hundred in February this year). | https://www.theirishworld.com/queens-family-gather-by-her-sickbed-in-balmoral/ | 2022-09-08T15:40:45Z | theirishworld.com | control | https://www.theirishworld.com/queens-family-gather-by-her-sickbed-in-balmoral/ | 1 | 1 | green-iguana-35 | null |
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