Steve Bannon: U.S. Proposes 6-Month Sentence For Former Trump Adviser National | Globalnews.ca
Steve Bannon: U.S. Proposes 6-Month Sentence For Former Trump Adviser – National | Globalnews.ca https://digitalalaskanews.com/steve-bannon-u-s-proposes-6-month-sentence-for-former-trump-adviser-national-globalnews-ca/
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday asked a federal judge to sentence former President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon to six months behind bars, saying he pursued a “bad faith strategy defiance and contempt” against the congressional committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Bannon, an influential far-right political figure, was convicted in July on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena.
Each count is punishable by between 30 days to one year in prison and a fine ranging between US$100 to US$100,000.
He is due to be sentenced before U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on Friday morning.
Prosecutors told Nichols in their sentencing recommendation on Monday that Bannon’s actions, including his refusal to this day to produce “a single document” to the congressional committee, led them to recommend a prison sentence at the top of the guidelines range.
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They also urged the judge to impose the maximum fine of US$200,000, which they said they based on Bannon’s “insistence on paying the maximum fine rather than cooperate with the Probation Office’s routine pre-sentencing financial investigation.”
“Throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has exploited his notoriety — through courthouse press conferences and his War Room podcast — to display to the public the source of his bad-faith refusal to comply with the committee’s subpoena: a total disregard for government processes and the law,” prosecutors wrote in their filing.
“The defendant’s statements prove that his contempt was not aimed at protecting executive privilege or the Constitution, rather it was aimed at undermining the committee’s efforts to investigate an historic attack on government.”
2:28 Steve Bannon reacts after being convicted of contempt of Congress charges
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Walker Concedes Giving Check To Ex-Partner Denies Knowing It Was For Abortion
Walker Concedes Giving Check To Ex-Partner, Denies Knowing It Was For Abortion https://digitalalaskanews.com/walker-concedes-giving-check-to-ex-partner-denies-knowing-it-was-for-abortion/
Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker acknowledged giving a $700 check to an ex-partner in 2009, but in an interview broadcast Monday, he continued to deny the woman’s claim that the money was provided to pay for an abortion.
Shown images of a receipt from an abortion clinic and a check dated days later with his name, Walker said, “Yes, that’s my check,” during the interview that aired on NBC’s “Today Show.”
Walker said it was his signature on the check but rejected the allegation from the woman, who is the mother of one of Walker’s children, that it was to pay for an abortion.
“It’s a lie,” said Walker, who has opposed abortion in all cases as a Senate candidate. “Prove that I did that. Just to show me things like that does nothing for me.”
He also said he has “no idea what that could be for” when presented with a copy of the check.
Asked why voters should trust him, Walker said, “I’ve been very transparent about everything I’ve done.”
The woman said that Walker paid for her to have an abortion in 2009 and that he ended a relationship with her in 2011 after she refused to have the procedure again. The woman has told The Washington Post that reports in the Daily Beast, which first reported the story, and the New York Times accurately described her experiences. She spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her privacy and that of her child, who is now 10.
Walker has denied that he paid for an abortion or knew about one at the time. The woman and one of Walker’s adult children by a different woman have accused him of failing to be present as a father.
Walker has campaigned as an opponent of abortion in all cases, including rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. He also has endorsed a proposal by Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) for a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks.
But Walker has shifted his position in recent days while insisting that he hasn’t changed his views.
During his debate with Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) on Friday night, Walker said he supported a Georgia abortion ban with exceptions. But days later, he denied that he was reversing his “no exception in my mind” stance.
“I will always support life, but I also support what the people’s voice is,” Walker said. “The people’s voice is the Georgia heartbeat bill, which has exceptions in it. Well, I’m a senator for the people. And I said, one of the problems we have [is that] senators in Washington forgot about the people who put them there.”
In the NBC interview, which was conducted over the weekend, Walker also defended pulling out a sheriff’s badge during a debate Friday, calling the badge “legit.”
“This is from my hometown. This is from Johnson County from the sheriff from Johnson County, which is a legit badge,” Walker said in the NBC interview.
Walker displayed the badge — which apparently is honorary in nature — during Friday’s debate after Warnock said that Walker had “pretended to be a police officer,” a reference to claims by Walker about working with the FBI and a local police department.
Rather than verbally responding, Walker pulled out the badge, drawing a rebuke from a moderator for using a prop, which was not allowed under debate rules.
“Everyone can make fun, but this badge gives me the right … if anything happened in this county, I have the right to work with the police in getting things done,” Walker said in the NBC interview.
“I never embellish,” Walker added. “I’ve never done it. I work in law enforcement.”
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The U.S. Has Never Had A Lesbian Governor. These Two Women Could Change That.
The U.S. Has Never Had A Lesbian Governor. These Two Women Could Change That. https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-u-s-has-never-had-a-lesbian-governor-these-two-women-could-change-that/
Gubernatorial candidates Maura Healey and Tina Kotek are no strangers to political firsts.
In 2009, Healey, who is now the Massachusetts attorney general, led the nation’s first successful challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, a 1996 law that prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages. And in 2014 she broke barriers again, becoming the nation’s first out lesbian elected state attorney general.
Nearly 3,000 miles west, Kotek became the country’s first out lesbian speaker of a state House of Representatives in 2013. She made history again by becoming Oregon’s longest-serving House speaker, before stepping down in January to run for governor.
This coming Election Day, these lesbian trailblazers could shatter glass ceilings once more, simultaneously becoming the first out lesbians ever elected governor in the United States.
“If I can be someone who represents and also gives others the belief that they can be anything they want to be and do anything they want to do, regardless of race, gender, identity, religion, that’s where I want to be,” Healy, 51, told NBC News. “That’s something I take seriously, and I think that’s what other LGBTQ+ leaders do as well — recognizing that we’re not just in a vacuum.”
To achieve that, Healey, a Democrat, will have to get past Republican Geoff Diehl, a former state representative endorsed by former President Donald Trump. If Healy wins — which she’s projected to do by a wide margin — she’ll also become her state’s first elected female governor.
For Kotek, who is also a Democrat, the odds are less promising. She not only faces Republican Christine Drazan, the former minority leader of the Oregon House, but also a third-party candidate, Betsy Johnson, who recent polling suggests is dividing Democratic voters.
If either Healy or Kotek succeeds, they will follow two other out LGBTQ Democrats who have been elected to lead their states: Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who is bisexual and became the first openly LGBTQ person to be elected governor in 2015, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man to be elected governor in 2018. Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey was not out when he was elected to office in 2001, though he did come out as gay during his 2004 resignation speech.
“We’ve come a long way,” Lisa Turner, executive director of LPAC, a political action committee dedicated to electing lesbians and other queer women to political office, said of how far Healey and Kotek have come. “It validates the amount of work and effort that LGBTQ women have been putting into the community, into equality fights, into the electoral process.”
Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the political action committee LGBTQ Victory Fund, which has endorsed both Kotek and Healey, said seeing more LGBTQ candidates run formidable campaigns for governorships “shows that this is not a one-and-done kind of occurrence.”
“It shows that we are indeed part of the American political experience and that we need people to continue to come out of the closet and step forward and serve their communities,” Meloy said. “That inspiration is key to making sure that we are equitably represented in government.”
Healey was born in Maryland but said she was born “over” Massachusetts: Her longtime Bay State family placed soil from the New England state underneath Healey’s delivery bed before her birth. As a child, Healey grew up as the oldest of five siblings in an old farm house in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
She first planted her seeds in Massachusetts when she attended Harvard College, where she captained the women’s basketball team. After playing professional basketball in Austria for several years, she returned to Massachusetts to attend Northeastern University School of Law.
Several years after graduating, Healey began her life in public service working for the office she would one day lead, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office. During that time, she had the opportunity to work with someone she described as one of her lesbian role models: American lawyer and civil rights advocate Mary Bonauto, who is best known for arguing on behalf of same-sex couples in the 2015 Supreme Court case, Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage across the U.S.
When asked about her time working with Healey, Bonauto said her former colleague “has a great deal of human empathy and a great sense of humor.”
“As a lawyer, and now with years of serving as the top lawyer for Massachusetts, I’ve appreciated her efforts in the state and nationally to ensure federal courts and the Congress are well-informed with all of the arguments in policy and legal contests. As I saw with DOMA, she works incredibly hard, listens, collaborates and in the end, gets things done,” Bonauto said, using the acronym for the Defense of Marriage Act.
Kotek was born and raised in York, Pennsylvania, and made her way west in 1987 to attend the University of Oregon, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies. She then went to the University of Washington to pursue a master’s degree in comparative religion and international studies.
The Oregon Democrat, who is Roman Catholic, said in a previous interview with NBC News that while many religious institutions have rejected LGBTQ people, religious teachings — at least the way she interprets them — have always played an important role in her life.
“I think God has said, ‘People are who they are. I’ve made them that way. Let’s support and celebrate people in their authentic selves,’” she said. “That’s what I believe in, and I think that’s what a lot of people believe. I know a lot of Oregon voters believe that.”
As she learned about different religions as a student, Kotek had another spiritual awakening of a different sort: She came out as a lesbian. Like her learnings about religion, Kotek said her coming out experience equally shaped her success and political style.
“When you’re coming out, you have to build a resilience of dealing with people who treat you differently for who you are, and that has made me a stronger person,” Kotek said. “It’s also made me open to saying, ‘Look, I want to understand where you’re coming from, and let’s have a conversation.’”
“I’ll talk to anybody,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, we’re all human beings.”
If elected governor, the candidates said they intend to use their bully pulpits to fight back against the historic number of anti-LGBTQ bills circulating in state legislatures throughout the country and the seemingly pervasive threats of violence the community has been subjected to this year.
This past summer, some of those threats were pointedly directed at the LGBTQ community in Massachusetts’ state capital. A Boston affordable housing project for LGBTQ seniors was vandalized with homophobic and threatening graffiti in July, and in August, Boston’s Children’s Hospital made national headlines when it received a bomb threat for providing gender-affirming care to transgender youths.
“What we’re seeing is really sad, and it’s unacceptable. And unfortunately, it’s a reflection of the hate and vision that’s out there and tearing this country apart,” Healey said. “In Massachusetts, we’re going to stand up to threats and intimidation — I’ve done that as attorney general, and I will do that as governor.”
She added, “My message to the LGBTQ community here is that I want people to know that they are valued and loved, and we will work hard to protect their rights,” she added.
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Hong Kong Protester Dragged Into Chinese Consulate In Manchester And Beaten
Hong Kong Protester Dragged Into Chinese Consulate In Manchester And Beaten https://digitalalaskanews.com/hong-kong-protester-dragged-into-chinese-consulate-in-manchester-and-beaten/
British lawmakers and rights activists called for an investigation Monday into the case of a Hong Kong protester who was dragged into the Chinese Consulate in Manchester and beaten by staffers after he demonstrated against the Chinese government.
According to the Hong Kong Indigenous Defense Force, which organized a rally to coincide with the opening of a Chinese Communist Party meeting in Beijing on Sunday, the protester was among about 60 people who had gathered outside the consulate to demonstrate against Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Protest banners and flags calling for Hong Kong independence were draped outside the consulate. One poster was an image of Xi standing before a mirror wearing nothing but a crown and a pair of boxers — a play on the fable of the emperor’s new clothes.
As one of the demonstrators began to speak, staff in riot gear emerged from the consulate and attempted to seize the poster from the protesters, according to a statement from the group. A demonstrator identified by the group only as Bob was holding up the painting when he was dragged into the consulate, where he was beaten by a group of men.
Jimmy Chen, a 19-year-old who was at the gathering, said he saw the protester pulled through a gate into the consulate where he was attacked for around 30 seconds before a British police officer intervened and dragged him back out.
“The event was calm until several people with bulletproof vests on came out from the consulate and started to tear down the posters,” he said. “Some protesters tried to stop them and got pushed back, so they ended up fighting.”
Video captured at the scene showed the men punching and holding the demonstrator down on the ground. According to rally organizers, after British police stopped the attack they set up a cordon separating protesters from the consulate staff.
The injured demonstrator was taken to a hospital and is in stable condition, the group said. The Chinese Consulate in Manchester confirmed the incident to The Washington Post but declined to comment further. The Chinese Embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment.
“If the UK police had not intervened today, or if the assembly had taken place in Hong Kong or China, I am afraid that the peaceful protesters like us would have already been … disappeared,” the protester said, according to the group’s statement.
On Monday, several British members of Parliament called on authorities to investigate the incident. Alicia Kearns, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, called for the Chinese ambassador to be summoned and for any consulate member involved in the beating to be expelled from the country. Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith demanded a full apology from the Chinese ambassador.
.@SuellaBraverman & @JamesCleverly need to urgently investigate.
The CCP will not import their beating of protestors and denial of free speech to British streets.
Chinese Ambassador should be summoned & if any official has beaten protesters, they must be expelled or prosecuted. https://t.co/q7Nh55k8fG
— Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton (@aliciakearns) October 16, 2022
Xi, who is expected to secure a third term at the party congress that began on Sunday, oversaw a severe crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement that culminated in a far-reaching national security law that has severely curtailed the city’s once active democracy movement.
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There Is A Lot More To Creative Writing Sentinelassam
There Is A Lot More To Creative Writing – Sentinelassam https://digitalalaskanews.com/there-is-a-lot-more-to-creative-writing-sentinelassam/
India is unique in terms of its cultural and linguistic mosaic. Our myths, legends and long history, help the writers to develop their creative aroma
Multiculturalism is a great help for the writers. This century is the century of the Asians who write back in confidence. College and University students are creating brilliant works in English. Creative writing should be prioritised in the universities.
A state level workshop on creative writing was organised last week at Dum Dum Motijheel College, Kolkata. The workshop was conducted in its second campus for postgraduate English. A K, Mukherjee who was formerly the controller of examinations for West Bengal State University had inaugurated the workshop and focused on the necessity of such workshops in colleges and universities. According to him, creative writing enriches the academic environment and efforts of learners are most important in promoting the creative temper.
The workshop was envisaged to inspire ‘intellectuality’ in the overall thinking process. The students seemed elated to be engaged in a research dialogue and in turn they were enriched by the deliberations of the renowned academicians present in the programme. Dr Subrata Panda, a veteran academician anchored the discussion by elaborating the methodology of research at the post graduate level. He stressed on the need for full time courses on creative writing.
Young researchers participated in the discourse by presenting their papers. Dr Jaydeep Sarangi in the capacity of Chief Guest lauded the presentations. Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee, head of the post graduate department of English along with Dr Kamal Sarkar had helped the student participants with their presentations.
Dr Bhattacharjee encouraged them by promising to publish a book on Indian English writers by accommodating the best papers selected from the thirty five papers that were presented in the programme. Dr Jaydeep Sarangi delivered a talk on the importance of creative writing in India and stressed that India is unique in terms of its cultural and linguistic mosaic. Our myths, legends and long history, he said, help the writers to develop their creative aroma. In his words, “Multiculturalism is a great help for the writers. This century is the century of the Asians who write back in confidence. College and University students are creating brilliant works in English. Creative writing should be prioritised in the universities. Writing is a commitment and translation is the heart of India. Translation is return to the mother.”
Dr Sneha Kar Chaudhuri, a young and talented academician from the English faculty of West Bengal State University highlighted the creative and critical aspects of human thinking and imagination. Incidentally, Kar’s book is going to be published soon by an overseas publisher and she is an editor cum translator by profession. She has presented a substantial number of papers in the US, Spain and UK.
According to Kar, Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee’s writings are a telling example of the creative aspects of an academician. “If we look at the academic career of Dr Bhattacharjee we find a balancing of the polarities of fiction, poetry and critical writing. He is a true example of what Arnold refers to as the ‘man of culture’ and his corpus of works combines both ‘tradition’ and ‘individual talent’ in the Eliotesque sense,” she reiterated.
There should be more courses on creative writing in the various college and university syllabi to encourage students to explore both the creative and the critical.
Two books were launched on the occasion and both the books were written by two eminent academicians. Dr Pradeepta Gupta Roy, an eminent scholar, who has published seventy three papers in several international journals of physics, had his first authorial debut with Chetanar Rang (Colour of Consciousness) which was launched in the programme. In this book he researched on the contribution of 18th Century Bengali intellectuals and their focus on science and literature. He focused on the Renaissance milieu which flourished through these great men who popularised the teaching of science through the mother tongue. Dr Jaydeep Sarangi’s tenth poetic volume ‘letters in lower case’ was the second book that was launched. This was essentially a collection of poems that were scripted on all issues of modern life and society. Each poem can be called a poetic experimentation.
The day long programme ended with a recitation of Dr Bhattacharjee’s poems. The significance of ‘resistance’ to the traditional poetic narrative in some of his poems was also analyzed.
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Post Politics Now: More Debates In Marquee Races Playing Out Ahead Of Midterms
Post Politics Now: More Debates In Marquee Races Playing Out Ahead Of Midterms https://digitalalaskanews.com/post-politics-now-more-debates-in-marquee-races-playing-out-ahead-of-midterms/
Today, candidates are squaring off in more debates in marquee midterm races: in Georgia’s gubernatorial race, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) vs. Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams; in Ohio’s Senate race, Rep. Tim Ryan (D) vs. Republican J.D. Vance; and in Utah’s Senate race, Sen. Mike Lee (R) vs. independent Evan McMullin.
In Washington, the Biden administration is touting a new rule that makes hearing aids available over the counter, without a prescription, and often at a much lower price. The move coincides with a push by President Biden to convince voters that Democrats are working to counter the impact of inflation by lowering costs of living in other ways.
Your daily dashboard
12:20 p.m. Eastern time: Biden returns to the White House.
1:30 p.m. Eastern: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. Watch live here.
6 p.m. Eastern (3 p.m. Pacific): Vice President Harris hosts a conversation in Los Angeles about reproductive rights. Watch live here.
Got a question about politics? Submit it here. After 3 p.m. Eastern weekdays, return to this space and we’ll address what’s on the mind of readers.
Analysis: Can abortion flip the most competitive House seat in North Carolina?
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In a classroom at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, eight college students sat in a circle and told Wiley Nickel what issues were important to them in this election. All but one, including three male students, listed abortion access as one of their top issues.
The Post’s Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer say that’s good news for Nickel, the Democrat running in North Carolina’s 13th District, the most competitive House seat in the swing state, and a critical pickup opportunity for Democrats in their uphill effort to maintain control of the House despite disapproval of President Biden and record-level inflation. Per our colleagues:
On our radar: Chinese hackers are scanning state political party headquarters, FBI warns
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Chinese government hackers are scanning U.S. political party domains ahead of next month’s midterm elections, looking for vulnerable systems as a potential precursor to hacking operations, and the FBI is making a big push to alert potential victims to batten down the hatches, officials say.
Writing in The Technology 202, The Post’s Josh Dawsey, Ellen Nakashima and Tim Starks report that over the past week, FBI agents in field offices across the country have notified some Republican and Democratic state party headquarters that they might be targets of the Chinese hackers, according to party and U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. Per our colleagues:
On our radar: White House touts new over-the-counter hearing aid rule
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The Biden administration is highlighting a new rule Monday that makes hearing aids available over the counter, without a prescription, and often at a much lower price.
The move coincides with a push by President Biden to convince voters that Democrats are combating inflation by lowering costs of living in various other ways.
“Starting today, hearings aids are now on store shelves across the country — for thousands of dollars less than they previously cost,” the White House said in a fact sheet distributed early Monday morning.
The latest: Walker concedes he wrote check but denies it was for an abortion
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Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker acknowledged giving a $700 check to an ex-partner in 2009, but in an interview broadcast Monday he continued to deny the woman’s claim that the money was to pay for an abortion.
“I have no idea what that could be for,” Walker said, when presented with a copy of the check by NBC’s Kristen Welker during the interview that aired on the “Today” show.
Walker later acknowledged that it was his signature on the check but rejected the allegation by the woman, who is the mother of one of Walker’s children, now 10 years old.
Noted: How the ‘Never Trump’ movement became ‘Never Trumpism’
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For many disaffected Republicans, 2022 is the year the “Never Trump” movement became “Never Trumpism.”
The Post’s Isaac Arnsdorf reports that in races across the country, former and even some sitting Republican elected officials are endorsing Democratic candidates in unusual numbers. And a crop of Republican-led groups that sprang up to oppose former president Donald Trump has now turned to persuading Republican voters not to support the party’s nominees who are imitating his divisive appeals and false clams about the 2020 election. Per Isaac:
The latest: Trump lashes out after Paul Ryan says Trump won’t be 2024 nominee
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Former president Donald Trump is lashing out at former House speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), calling him “grossly incompetent” and “dopey” after Ryan said publicly last week that Trump will not be the next Republican presidential nominee and that he would lose in the 2024 general election if he were.
In a posting on Truth Social, Trump’s social media site, he called Ryan “grossly incompetent” during the stretch they overlapped as president and speaker, accusing Ryan of doing “everything possible” to thwart Trump’s southern border wall. Trump also claimed that Ryan was “even worse” as the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012 on the ticket with Mitt Romney. (In the same posting, Trump attacked Romney as a “RINO,” shorthand for Republican in Name Only.)
Take a look: What voters in swing states are saying three weeks before midterms
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Ricardo Sanchez is a 51-year-old voter in Olmsted Township, Ohio. (Video: The Washington Post)
The 2022 midterm election is three weeks away, with control of the House of Representatives and the Senate — along with three dozen gubernatorial races — at stake.
To get a sense of which issues are most important for prospective voters ahead of the election next month, The Washington Post dispatched reporters to NFL stadiums across the country Sunday.
While some fans considered their pregame rituals too sacred to sully by talking politics, the tailgate lots proved to be a fertile ground for finding voters willing to share their opinions. Here is what likely voters had to say in Miami, Atlanta, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
On our radar: John Fetterman’s health sparks contentious debate in final stretch
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Since he suffered a stroke in May days before the Democratic Senate primary in Pennsylvania, John Fetterman and his allies have sought to make his recovery a lesson in empathy.
The Post’s Colby Itkowitz, Lenny Bernstein and Amanda Morris report that the campaign has shared messages from people who say Fetterman inspired them to prioritize their own health. After an event Saturday, Fetterman knelt and spoke with a woman in a wheelchair who had also suffered a stroke. Per our colleagues:
Republicans, including Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, have made the aftermath of the stroke central to their attacks against him. Some have called attention to his verbal struggles, reliance on closed captioning and summer absence from the trail.
The Republican National Committee last week shared a montage of Fetterman’s verbal stumbles with the caption, “Does it sound like Fetterman is fit for office?” Oz has suggested Fetterman has something to hide, recently tweeting: “John Fetterman won’t answer questions from voters, he won’t debate more than once, and he won’t be honest about his health.”
Now, in the final weeks of one of the most consequential and competitive Senate races in the country, Fetterman’s health has become a focal point for both campaigns.
You can read the full story here.
The latest: Trump attacks American Jews, posting they must ‘get their act together’ on Israel
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Former president Donald Trump attacked American Jews in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, saying Jews in the United States must “get their act together” and show more appreciation for Israel “before it is too late.”
The Post’s Rosalind S. Helderman reports that American Jews have long been accused of holding secret loyalty to Israel rather than the United States, and Trump’s post leaned on that antisemitic trope, suggesting that by virtue of their religion, American Jews should show more appreciation to Israel. Per our colleague:
Take a look: On Sunday shows, Democrats, Republicans make pitches ahead of midterms
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On Oct. 16, politicians discussed inflation, abortion and other top concerns on the minds of voters ahead of the midterms. (Video: The Washington Post)
On the Sunday talk shows, leading members of Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), made pitches for electing Democrats and Republicans respectively in next month’s midterms.
The Post’s Mahlia Posey has pulled together the highlights, which includes discussion of Medicare, Social Security, abortion and other issues.
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Democrats Are Facing Stiff Battles For Governor In These Key States KRDO
Democrats Are Facing Stiff Battles For Governor In These Key States – KRDO https://digitalalaskanews.com/democrats-are-facing-stiff-battles-for-governor-in-these-key-states-krdo/
By Gregory Krieg, Maeve Reston, Eric Bradner, Dan Merica, Michael Warren and Steve Contorno, CNN
Democratic nominees for governor are facing the stiffest competition this year as the party tries to hold on to its gains from the “blue wave” of 2018, even though Republicans are defending more governorships in November.
Democrats hold 16 of the 36 gubernatorial seats on the ballot, including in key states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Events of the past two years have brought to the fore the power of governors, who have played decisive roles in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the aftermath of former President Donald Trump‘s defeat in 2020 and new clashes over the future of abortion rights following the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Gubernatorial races are on the ballot in the five states that flipped from Trump in 2016 to now-President Joe Biden four years later. Those contests, all but one of which feature Trump-backed GOP nominees will test of the strength of the former President’s movement and his ability to boost his picks in a general election.
Meanwhile, Republican incumbents in states such as Florida and Texas could be using their reelection campaigns as possible jumping-off points for future presidential bids.
The 2022 races are also expected to mark the end of an era in states such as Maryland and Massachusetts, where two-term moderate Republican governors are on their way out — one via term limits, the other facing dissent within his own party — with Democrats poised to replace them.
As the campaign hits the home stretch, these are the 10 states — eight where Democrats currently hold the governorship — with the most consequential contests on the ballot.
Arizona
The Grand Canyon State became ground zero for Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories after voters there narrowly backed Biden and Trump-aligned state lawmakers later forced a deeply flawed partisan ballot review in Maricopa County that ultimately did not alter the outcome.
But that controversy has lingered, with Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake echoing Trump’s falsehoods that the 2020 election was “corrupt” and “stolen.” She has also stated that she would not have certified the 2020 election results in Arizona. Lake’s Democratic opponent, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who defended the state’s election systems against the baseless fraud accusations, has cast the former news anchor as a dangerous threat to democracy.
Lake is focusing on her economic agenda in the campaign’s final weeks and on her plans to address increased migration across the border — including a promise to declare an “invasion” at the border to give the state greater power to address the issue. She also has accused Hobbs of cowardice for refusing to debate her. Hobbs has centered her campaign on abortion, arguing that her GOP opponent’s extreme positions would endanger Arizona women.
The Hobbs-Lake race is one of five gubernatorial contests this cycle in which both major-party nominees are women. Up until this year, there had only been four such matchups in US history.
Kansas
Democrat Laura Kelly seized on voter antipathy for state and national Republicans in 2018 to become governor of reliably red Kansas. Four years later, it may be anger aimed at her own party that dooms her reelection bid.
Kelly faces Republican state Attorney General Derek Schmidt in a state Trump won by 15 points in 2020. Schmidt has not impressed party officials with his campaign or his fundraising — Kelly raised over $1.5 million from January to July, while her GOP opponent only brought in around $700,000 in that time frame. But Republicans are hopeful that Schmidt will benefit from the state’s natural political tilt, which they’re seizing on by tying Kelly to Biden at every turn.
Democrats got a boost this summer when a turnout surge helped defeat a ballot measure that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion in the state. The victory — with the “no” vote carrying nearly 60% of the vote — invigorated Kansas Democrats and seemingly Kelly’s reelection chances.
But Kelly has not exactly seized on abortion as an issue in her bid for a second term. On the campaign trail, she has largely focused on speaking about the economy, education and tax cuts, three more palatable issues for the independent and Republican-leaning voters she will need to defeat Schmidt.
Nevada
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak faces fierce headwinds in a state that has seen some of the nation’s highest inflation rates as well as frustration among blue-collar workers about the pace of the post-pandemic recovery. Many Nevadans in the tourism-reliant state were hit hard by pandemic-era closures and are now grappling with the high cost of gas and groceries.
Sisolak’s opponent, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, has the backing of both the GOP establishment and Trump, though the Republican nominee has said he does not agree with the former President’s false claim that the 2020 election was rigged. Lombardo has focused on kitchen table issues, including education and the expansion of school choice. He has blamed Biden and the Democrats for inflation — and accused the governor of hampering the economic recovery by being overly restrictive with school and business closures during the pandemic.
Sisolak has defended his actions as necessary to save lives, but he has also attempted to distance himself from the unpopular President. The Democrat has also pounded Lombardo for a series of inconsistent statements on abortion, which is protected up to 24 weeks under Nevada law.
Sisolak has faulted his opponent for an uptick in crime in Clark County, home to Las Vegas. At a recent debate, Lombardo said that crime went down for six years of his tenure as sheriff but acknowledged it has increased in the past two years — which he blamed on “soft on crime” policies advanced by the governor and Democratic lawmakers.
Oregon
An unpredictably close race between three well-funded women could culminate in Oregon electing its first Republican governor in 40 years.
Democrat Tina Kotek, the longest-serving state House Speaker in Oregon history, started out as the favorite to replace term-limited Gov. Kate Brown in the blue-leaning state. But independent candidate Betsy Johnson has proved to be a formidable contender who Democrats fear could act as a spoiler in the race. A former Democratic state senator with two decades of legislative experience, Johnson has powerful allies in the business community who have made it possible for her to outraise her opponents. Johnson — a gun rights advocate who relishes the fact that she is being attacked by the “woke left” and the “radical right” — has blamed liberal Democratic policies for trash-lined streets and tent cities, as the state struggles with homelessness.
Johnson’s candidacy has created a path for Republican Christine Drazan, the former state House minority leader, who is promising to bring “balance” back to Oregon while charging that all-Democratic control over the past decade has failed to hold the governor and the Legislature “to account.”
Biden made a recent foray to the state to offer Kotek a fundraising assist.
Wisconsin
Gov. Tony Evers’ bid for reelection in one of the nation’s most competitive states could hinge on what’s most important to voters: abortion rights, which the Democrat has made his top focus in recent weeks, or the economy, which could benefit his Republican challenger, businessman Tim Michels.
Evers recently called the state’s GOP-led legislature into a special session, urging lawmakers to allow a Michigan-style referendum to undo the state’s 1849 law that bans abortion in all cases except to save the life of the mother. But Republicans gaveled in and out of session within 30 seconds, ignoring Evers’ calls.
Michels, who won the GOP nomination in August buoyed by a Trump endorsement, has focused his campaign on crime and inflation. Republicans are blaming Evers for a 70% increase in homicides in Wisconsin from 2019 to 2021, and Michels has also criticized the governor’s push to cut the state’s prison population.
Wisconsin’s elections have long been hard-fought: Biden defeated Trump there by about 20,000 votes out of more than 3.2 million cast in 2020, four years after Trump carried the state by a similar margin. Evers narrowly unseated GOP Gov. Scott Walker in 2018 but he faces a decidedly different political climate this year. As does his No. 2, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is challenging Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in one of the nation’s most competitive and expensive contests.
Michigan
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has made her support for abortion rights the centerpiece of her bid for a second term against Republican Tudor Dixon, a conservative commentator.
Whitmer has positioned herself as the last line of defense for abortion rights in the state. She sued to block Michigan’s 1931 ban from taking effect after the Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion rights protections in June. She is also backing a Michigan ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.
Dixon won a wide-open GOP primary in August, benefiting from the financial backing of the family of former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and a late endorsement from Trump. She has embraced Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election.
In recent weeks, Dixon has sought to shift the focus of the race from abortion to other cultural issues. She has proposed a measure that would ban transgender girls from competing in sports with the gender they identify with, as well as one modeled after a Florida law, which critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay,” that bans discussion of gender and sexuality issues with younger students in classrooms....
Donald Trump Edges Out President Biden In Election Poll As Biden Slips Below 40% Approval
Donald Trump Edges Out President Biden In Election Poll As Biden Slips Below 40% Approval https://digitalalaskanews.com/donald-trump-edges-out-president-biden-in-election-poll-as-biden-slips-below-40-approval/
More voters say they would vote for former President Donald Trump than President Biden if the election were held today, according to a new poll from The New York Times and Siena College.
The poll of likely voters also showed Biden’s approval rating slipping below 40% for the first time since his boost in August. NYT and Siena polled 792 registered voters in both English and Spanish over cellphones and landlines from Oct. 9-12, reporting a margin of error of 4%. It found that the vast majority of Americans, 64%, believe the country is on the wrong track.
Trump narrowly beat out Biden in the election question, sporting 45% support to Biden’s 44%. Trump’s lead in that poll came despite 52% of the electorate saying they viewed him somewhat or very unfavorably.
The poll also showed encouraging numbers for Republicans heading into the midterm elections, with 49% of voters saying they were more likely to vote for a Republican candidate on Election Day, compared to 45% who leaned toward Democrats.
OREGON GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE RIPS DEMOCRATS’ SILENCE ON PRO-LIFE OFFICE ATTACK: ‘PAR FOR THE COURSE’
A side-by-side of President Biden and former President Donald Trump. (Getty Images) (Photo by Pool/Getty Images | Photo by Erin Schaff – Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the grounds of Morehouse College and Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst) (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Republicans also see an advantage when it comes to issues, with the economy and inflation overwhelming all other issues headed into November, despite Democrats’ hopes that abortion would be top-of-mind.
Roughly 26 percent of voters said the economy is their most important issue, followed by inflation and cost of living at 18%. Abortion came in third, but at just 5%. Immigration also landed at 5 percent, while crime rounded out the top five at 3%.
GOP ATTACK ADS SMASH DEMS FOR COZYING UP TO IRS: ‘THEY WILL COME AFTER YOU’
The NYT poll comes just one day after a Fox News poll found that just one-third of registered voters say they would re-elect Biden in 2024. Experts say the poll shows just how desperate Democratic voters are for a new candidate in the next presidential election.
Would you re-elect Biden in 2024 if election were held today? (Fox News)
“This is a rough measure that shows some Democrats hope for a better candidate and Republicans are firmly decided against Biden,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson who conducts the Fox News Poll with Republican Daron Shaw. “But it clearly understates Biden’s likely support in an election environment against an actual Republican candidate because we know most Democrats will consolidate behind their nominee, whoever that is.”
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“Political science research indicates that when a president is perceived as being a ‘strong leader’ they are likely to have positive ratings overall,” Shaw told Fox. “In Biden’s case, it’s hard to overcome the fact that almost two-thirds think he’s weak.”
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U.S. and World Headlines
Kyiv Hit By Multiple Blasts As Ukraine Reports “Kamikaze” Drone Strikes
Russia has hit Ukraine with a wave of attacks, including Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones on the capital, Kyiv.
The strikes hit critical infrastructure in three regions, cutting off electricity in hundreds of villages across the country, according to Prime Minister Denys Shmygal. Several people have been killed, says the Ukrainian interior minister.
A week ago, the capital was hit by Russian missiles at rush hour, part of nationwide attacks which left 19 dead.
Mr Shmygal said the Russian strikes had hit regions of Kyiv, Dnipro and Sumy with strikes.
Russia said it had hit “all designated targets” in the latest attacks, confirming that Ukraine’s “military command facilities and energy system” had been targets.
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Trump Attacks American Jews, Says They Must ‘Get Their Act Together’ On Israel ‘Before It’s Too Late’
Former President Donald Trump attacked Jews in the U.S. on his Truth Social platform Sunday, writing that they need to “get their act together” and “appreciate” Israel “before it is too late.”
“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” Trump wrote.
“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story — Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.!” he continued.
It is unclear what prompted the post.
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GOP Sees Parents’ Rights As Sleeper Issue In Midterms
Republicans are seizing on the issue of parents’ rights ahead of November, arguing it could swing key Senate and House races toward their party and help them win back power in Congress.
The descriptor covers an array of issues that bubbled to the forefront after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, but broadly argues in favor of giving parents a say in their children’s education, including where they attend school, what they are taught and how LGBTQ issues are discussed.
“Parents want education, not indoctrination, and we should expect this movement to have a major impact in the midterm elections. This is one of many issues causing voters to support conservatives — the same people who care about education care about others like inflation and crime,” Jessica Anderson, executive director of the conservative group Heritage Action, said in a statement to The Hill.
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Soaring Inflation Has Wiped $2.1 Trillion – An Average Of 25% – Off American Workers’ Retirement Savings
Inflation has taken an average of 25 percent – at least $2.1trillion – off the 401Ks of American workers, despite President Joe Biden’s insistence Sunday that the ‘economy is strong as hell.’
The analysis was done by conservative economists Stephen Moore and EJ Antoni, who said that the balance of Americans’ 401ks will ‘ruin your whole day, week and month.’
Moore and Antoni note that inflation has been going at 8 percent for the past seven months, despite the White House claiming things were temporary.
They argued that over the past 20 months, the average American family has lost nearly $6,000 in ‘purchasing power’ due to the rise in prices over wages.
The average American’s 401k plans have lost a colossal $34,000 in value – more than 25 percent of where it was a year ago – to a total of $2.1 trillion in losses.
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Five Years On, What Happened To The Men Of #MeToo?
Some of the most galvanizing early #MeToo cases suggested that a thorough and eternal discrediting would be the fate of every accused man, like the now-imprisoned producer Harvey Weinstein or former “Today” show host Matt Lauer, who has barely been seen in public since his 2017 firing. But others have reclaimed some of their careers and public esteem. And outside of a bad news cycle, others haven’t really been affected at all.
Attempts to catalogue the high-profile men accused of sexual misconduct or harassment have been exhaustive and exhausting. The New York Times counted 201 men by late 2018. Vox compiled a roster of 262 before it stopped updating the list in 2019.
Gretchen Carlson argues that the fascination with these men’s fates is misplaced.
“We talk all about rehabilitating the men,” the former Fox News host said in an interview, “but the real question is, where are all the women and why aren’t they working again?”
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Wisconsin Headlines
6 Takeaways From The Wisconsin Governor’s Debate Between Tony Evers And Tim Michels
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin and his Republican challenger, Tim Michels, clashed in a debate Friday night over the swing state’s election administration, as Michels vowed to sign into law a series of restrictive voting measures that the incumbent has vetoed.
The stylistic differences between the two nominees were on display in Madison in their first and only debate.
Evers demonstrated his technocratic approach, diving into detailed proposals to issue child care tax credits, share state government revenue with local governments, eliminate the “minimum markup” law that requires gas stations to charge at least 9% more than what they pay for gas, and reduce state income taxes for middle-class earners by 10%.
Michels was much shorter on specifics, promising “massive tax reform” without offering details. Instead, he sought to portray Evers as a weak leader.
“I’m a businessman. I understand macroeconomics. I understand how to read a balance sheet,” Michels said.
The outcome of Wisconsin’s race for governor could have significant implications for the 2024 presidential election – a contest in which Wisconsin could reprise its role as a marquee swing state.
Here are six takeaways from Friday’s gubernatorial debate in the Badger State.
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Wisconsin Has Record $4.3B Budget Surplus
Wisconsin ended its fiscal year with a record $4.3 billion budget surplus.
The state Department of Administration released the numbers Friday covering the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on Jun. 30. The state’s rainy day fund also hit its highest number in Wisconsin’s history at $1.73 billion.
“The State of Wisconsin is in the best financial shape we’ve ever been in,” Department of Administration Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld said in a written statement accompanying the release.
Jason Stein, research director for the Wisconsin Policy Forum, said the surplus was generated as the state saw higher-than-expected tax revenues, with taxes flowing into the general fund growing by 5 percent. That growth was driven largely by increases in sales tax revenues. He said that that increase was likely helped by inflation, which drove up the cost of goods, in turn pushing up sales tax collections.
“It’s a little different when you do have those really rapid rises in consumer prices, because that’s going to, in some degree, drive up the surplus somewhat artificially,” Stein said.
Although the state cut state income taxes this year, overall income tax revenue fell by less than 1 percent.
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Josh Kaul, Eric Toney And Wisconsin’s 2022 AG Race
Protecting the rule of law is central to the state attorney general election, but the Democratic incumbent and Republican challenger seeking the office offer distinct visions about what that means.
“I think public safety is the most important issue for the attorney general,” said Josh Kaul. “It’s been my top priority since I took office, and it continues to be.
“Josh Kaul has decided that’s not going to be his top priority,” said Eric Toney. “Politics has been his top priority — and that’s why we need a prosecutor and not a politician as our top cop.”
The attorney general leads the Wisconsin Department of Justice, and while that may sound imposing, the DOJ is typically not on the frontline of the fight against crime. They often play a support role, stepping in to assist local police and county district attorneys when needed.
“What we want to do is focus on Milwaukee County,” said Eric Toney, who wants a more direct role.
If elected, he plans to ask the Legislature for the authority to step in and prosecute any case in Milwaukee.
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Michigan State Outlasts Wisconsin In Double Overtime 34-28
Quarterback Payton Thorne threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jayden Reed in the second overtime Saturday to lift Michigan State to a 34-28 victory over Wisconsin.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Spartans (3-4, 1-3 Big 10 Conference). It is the first loss for Wisconsin’s interim coach Jim Leonhard who replaced Paul Chryst two weeks ago.
The game-winning throw was set up after Michigan State’s Jacoby Windmon stripped the ball from Braelon Allen on the first play of the second overtime and defensive tackle Dashaun Mallory pounced on the ball. Three plays later, Thorne hit Reed in the right corner of the end zone with the game-winner.
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Aaron Rodgers: Simplifying Things Might Fix Packers’ Offense
Aaron Rodgers thinks there’s a way to fix the Green Bay Packers’ offense.
“Simplify some things,” Rodgers said.
At this point, Rodgers said the Packers need to try something. And it’s not just because of Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the New York Jets during which they were repeatedly booed at Lambeau Field.
It has been six weeks’ worth of offensive struggles. The Packers have scored 107 points (or 17.8 per game) so far this season. That’s their fewest in any six-game span with Rodgers as their starting quarterback, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Sunday’s loss, which left the Packers at 3-3, marked the first time in coach Matt LaFleur’s four seasons that the Packers have lost consecutive regular-season games.
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Last Update: Oct 17, 2022 6:14 am CDT
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10 Things You Need To Know Today: October 17, 2022 https://digitalalaskanews.com/10-things-you-need-to-know-today-october-17-2022/
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Daily briefing
Russia attacks Kyiv with kamikaze drones as Ukraine shells Russian border region, Parisians protest France’s rising living costs, and more
Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
1
Russia attacks Kyiv with kamikaze drones
Russian forces hit Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, with Iranian-made kamikaze drones on Monday, a week after a flurry of Russian airstrikes killed 19 people across the country. Drones hit the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv hours before the Kyiv attacks. The strikes, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said were terrorizing civilians, came as more than a dozen explosions hit the occupied Ukrainian city of Donetsk and Russia’s Belgorod border region, a staging ground for Russia’s Ukraine invasion. The strikes, which Russia blamed on Ukrainian shelling, came as Russia continued an unpopular draft of more troops to send to the front. On Saturday, two men killed 11 Russian soldiers at a Belgorod military range before being killed by return fire.
2
Parisians protest France’s soaring living costs
Tens of thousands of people marched in Paris on Sunday to protest the rising cost of living. France has been rocked by expanding strikes at oil refineries and other businesses. The march intensified pressure on French President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing a crisis in the National Assembly, the lower house of France’s Parliament. Opposition parties plan to try to bring down Macron’s government this week in a fight over a budget bill, hoping for a boost from the labor disputes and public anger over gas shortages. Inflation in France has risen above 6 percent, lower than in the rest of Europe but high enough to anger French citizens, despite an inflation relief package lawmakers approved this summer.
3
Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake declines to promise to accept election result
Arizona Republican Kari Lake declined Sunday to commit to accepting the November election results if she loses her race for governor. CNN’s Dana Bash asked Lake three times on State of the Union whether she would accept the results. After initially dodging the question, Lake responded: “I’m going to win the election, and I will accept that result.” Lake, a former news anchor at the Phoenix Fox affiliate, has former President Donald Trump’s support. Lake said she would not have certified President Biden’s victory in her state, backing Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was “stolen” and “corrupt.” Lake’s Democratic rival, Katie Hobbs, said the Lake’s refusal to commit to accepting the election result is “disqualifying.”
4
Whistleblower files complaint against Trump Media
Will Wilkerson, a former executive at former President Donald Trump’s social media company, has filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, The Washington Post reports. Wilkerson alleges that the company violated securities laws with “fraudulent misrepresentations” in its effort to raise money through an investment vehicle known as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. He also said Trump pressured Trump Media & Technology Group co-founder Andy Litinsky to give some of his shares in the company, which owns Trump’s Truth Social app, to Trump’s wife, Melania. Litinsky refused, and was removed from the company’s board five months later. Trump Media said the Post‘s inquiry was “rife with knowingly false and defamatory statements and other concocted psychodramas.”
5
Fauci says he ‘gave everything’ he had to protect public health
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said in an ABC News interview broadcast Sunday that as he prepares to retire after 54 years at the National Institutes of Health he hopes people will remember him as “someone who gave everything they had” for public health. Fauci was a leader of the government’s coronavirus response under both former President Donald Trump and his successor, President Biden. Fauci has faced criticism over school closures, but he noted he had urged school districts to keep students in class as long as possible. He said he regretted that the “triple whammy” of a pandemic, political divisions, and an election campaign made the crisis get “political very, very quickly.”
6
Fire kills at least 4 at notorious Iran prison
A fire at Iran’s Evin prison, notorious for housing political prisoners, has killed at least four inmates and injured 60, an Iranian state news agency reported Sunday, according to BBC News. Sources inside the facility told BBC Persian that the toll was higher. Videos indicate that in addition to the fire there were explosions and gunfire in the prison. Hundreds of people arrested in anti-government protests that erupted last month were sent to Evin. The unrest has been building across Iran since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman detained by the country’s morality police. Activists said detained dissidents chanted anti-government slogans before violence erupted inside the prison.
7
New U.K. finance minister to reverse prime minister’s tax plans to calm markets
Britain’s new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, announced on Monday he will “reverse almost all” of his predecessor’s tax proposals, sending the British pound rising. Hunt had promised Sunday to restore public confidence in the tax and spending plans of Prime Minister Liz Truss’ government. Truss appointed Hunt on Friday after an uproar over her proposed unfunded tax cuts resulted in the departure of Hunt’s predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng. Those policies sent the value of the British currency plummeting, and forced the Bank of England to take emergency action to protect pension funds. The crisis also drove mortgage costs higher, worsening household financial troubles.
8
Gates Foundation pledges $1.2 billion to fight to end polio
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Sunday that it will contribute another $1.2 billion to the effort to eradicate polio worldwide, bringing its total commitment to nearly $5 billion. The foundation said at the World Health Summit in Berlin that it could provide the money to help the Global Polio Eradication Initiative realize its strategy to end the polio virus through 2026. The initiative is focusing on two countries where polio is endemic, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The group’s fight against polio also aims to strengthen national health systems to help countries deal with future problems. “The last steps to eradication are by far the toughest. But our foundation remains dedicated to a polio-free future,” foundation CEO Mark Suzman said.
9
Report: Radioactive contamination found at St. Louis school
A recent study found significant radioactive contamination at a suburban St. Louis elementary school, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, citing a recently released report by Boston Chemical Data Corp. Researchers said radioactive waste up to 22 times the expected level was found in soil, dust, and plant samples in a kindergarten play area at Jana Elementary School in the Hazelwood School District. The school is in the Coldwater Creek flood plain, which was contaminated by waste from nuclear bombs manufactured during World War II. “I was heartbroken,” said Ashley Bernaugh, president of the Jana parent-teacher association. She has a son at the school. The district said it will “determine next steps” with help from lawyers and experts.
10
Japan launches Unification Church investigation
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday ordered an investigation into the Unification Church, which has ties to several members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Support for the party has been falling as calls mounted for an inquiry into allegations that the church may have influenced lawmakers. In July, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated while delivering a campaign speech. The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, posted online that his mother made large donations to the Unification Church, which led to his family going bankrupt, and he blamed Abe for promoting the organization. In the wake of the assassination, police discovered that several lawmakers with the Liberal Democratic Party did not publicly reveal their close connections with the Unification Church.
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Exclusive: China's State Banks Seen Acquiring Dollars In Swaps Market To Stabilise Yuan
Exclusive: China's State Banks Seen Acquiring Dollars In Swaps Market To Stabilise Yuan https://digitalalaskanews.com/exclusive-chinas-state-banks-seen-acquiring-dollars-in-swaps-market-to-stabilise-yuan/
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Oct 17 (Reuters) – China’s state banks stepped up their intervention to defend a weakening yuan on Monday, with banking sources telling Reuters these banks sold a high volume of U.S. dollars and used a combination of swaps and spot trades.
Six banking sources told Reuters the country’s major state-owned banks were spotted swapping yuan for U.S. dollars in the forwards market and selling those dollars in the spot market, a playbook move used by China in 2018 and 2019 as well.
The selling seemed to be aimed at stabilising the yuan , with the swaps helping procure dollars as well as anchoring the price of yuan in forwards, said the sources, who have direct knowledge of market trades.
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The yuan is down 11.6% versus the dollar this year. It was trading around 7.1980 per dollar on Monday.
One-year dollar/yuan forwards fell rapidly following the state bank actions, pushing the yuan to 6.95 per dollar. One of the sources noted the size of the dollar selling operation was “rather huge”.
“The big banks want to acquire dollar positions from the swap market to stabilise the spot market,” said another source.
State banks usually trade on behalf of the central bank in China’s FX market, but they can also trade for their own purposes or execute orders for their corporate clients.
A third source noted that the state banks’ trades appeared to be managed so that the country’s closely-watched $3 trillion foreign exchange reserves will not be tapped for intervention.
At the same time, the move helps state banks to procure dollars at a time when rising U.S. yields have made dollars scarce and expensive.
China burned through $1 trillion of reserves supporting the yuan during the economic downturn in 2015, and the sharp reduction in the official reserves attracted much criticism.
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Reporting by Shanghai and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Ana Nicolaci da Costa
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Fire Erupts At Notorious Prison In Iran Killing 8 As Unrest Spreads
Fire Erupts At Notorious Prison In Iran, Killing 8, As Unrest Spreads https://digitalalaskanews.com/fire-erupts-at-notorious-prison-in-iran-killing-8-as-unrest-spreads/
Sunday marks a month since the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody, which sparked nationwide protests, led mainly by women, strikes and a violent crackdown by Iran’s security forces.
Amini, 22, from Iran’s Kurdistan region, died in custody after she was detained last month in Tehran and accused of failing to fully cover her hair and defying the country’s strict dress codes. Three days later, she was dead.
Police said Amini died after she fell ill and slipped into a coma, but her family has said witnesses told them she was beaten by officers, and it has complained about the way her death has been investigated.
A coroner’s report released this month by the Iranian Legal Medical Organization, which describes itself as independent but is part of the country’s judiciary, said Amini died from multiple organ failure, caused by an underlying disease.
The demonstrations since her death have posed one of the most serious challenges to the Iranian government since the 1979 revolution, with some people chanting slogans against the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi.
State media has reported that at least 60 people have died since the protests began. Human rights organizations believe the number is likely to be much higher.
The government has blamed what it calls “foreign enemies” for stoking the unrest.
A State Department spokesperson said late Saturday that the U.S. is “closely monitoring the concerning situation at Iran’s Evin prison and the danger it poses to its many detainees.”
“Our priority is the safety of U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in Iran. Their safety and rights must be ensured,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
In 2018 the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Evin prison for what it called “serious human rights abuses.” The Treasury Department website says prisoners held at Evin Prison are subject to “brutal tactics inflicted by prison authorities, including sexual assaults, physical assaults, and electric shock.”
A lawyer representing an American Iranian held at Evin, Siamak Namazi, who was imprisoned for nearly seven years on espionage-related charges the White House rejects as baseless, said Sunday that Namazi had contacted his relatives.
“I am pleased to report that #SiamakNamazi has now spoken to his family. He is safe and has been moved to a secure area of Evin Prison. We have no further details at this time,” Jared Genser said on Twitter.
Several other dual national Iranians and foreign citizens are held in Evin prison. The facility has long been known for holding political prisoners, as well as those with ties to the West.
During a campaign trip to Portland, Oregon, President Joe Biden addressed the unrest in Iran, saying he was surprised by “the courage of people and women taking the street” in the recent protests and that he had enormous respect for them. “It’s been really amazing,” he said.
Henry Austin is a London-based editor for NBC News Digital.
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Herschel Walker Defends Use Of 'honorary' Sheriff's Badge In Georgia Senate Debate | CNN Politics
Herschel Walker Defends Use Of 'honorary' Sheriff's Badge In Georgia Senate Debate | CNN Politics https://digitalalaskanews.com/herschel-walker-defends-use-of-honorary-sheriffs-badge-in-georgia-senate-debate-cnn-politics/
CNN —
Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker defended pulling out a sheriff’s badge during Friday’s closely watched debate in Georgia, telling NBC in an interview that aired on Sunday it was “a legit,” but honorary badge from his hometown sheriff’s department.
Walker had pulled out the badge during a discussion over support for police – in a move that was admonished by the debate moderators and led to widespread mockery from Democrats.
“This is from my hometown. This is from Johnson County from the sheriff from Johnson County, which is a legit badge,” Walker told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a clip from the interview.
A CNN fact check found Walker has never had a job in law enforcement. He has publicized a card showing that he was at some point after 2004 named an “honorary agent” and “special deputy sheriff” in Cobb County, Georgia – titles that do not confer arrest authority.
The contest between Walker and Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is one of the most important Senate races in the country, representing a key state Democrats must hold to have any chance to keep control of the Senate next year. The race has recently been rocked by allegations that Walker paid for a woman’s abortion and encouraged her to have another one – allegations the Republican has repeatedly denied and that CNN has not independently confirmed.
A survey released earlier this month, which was conducted after the allegations emerged, found Warnock with 52% support among likely voters to 45% for Walker, about the same as in a mid-September poll.
During Friday’s debate, Walker had accused Warnock of calling officers “names” and caused “morale” to plummet, but the Democrat cited a false claim from Walker that he had previously served in law enforcement.
“One thing that I haven’t done is I haven’t pretended to be a police officer and I’ve never, ever threatened a shootout with police,” Warnock said, alluding to a more than two-decade-old police report in which the Republican discussed exchanging gunfire with police.
“Everyone can make fun,” Walker said in the NBC interview, arguing that the badge means he has “the right to work with the police getting things done.”
Walker, however, later admitted it was an “honorary badge” and pushed back against the idea, which NBC’s Welker read from a National Sheriffs’ Association statement, that such badges should be left in a “trophy case.”
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Technology Makes Studying Wildlife Easier But Access Isnt Equal
Technology Makes Studying Wildlife Easier, But Access Isn’t Equal https://digitalalaskanews.com/technology-makes-studying-wildlife-easier-but-access-isnt-equal/
Studying primates and other wildlife in nature has long been a challenge owing to their diverse habitats and limitations on established research patterns.
But a pair of recent studies highlights how the emergence of new technology, ranging from camera traps to drones, has made the work easier in recent years.
Still, exorbitant costs and lack of technical know-how mean the technology isn’t easily accessible to researchers across the world.
Studying primates in the wild has historically been a tough task.
Alexander Piel knows the challenges too well. Since 2005, the biological anthropologist has been studying primates in countries like Tanzania, Madagascar, Kenya and Senegal. For one, the vastly diverse habitats made it difficult to track them: while some live in dense tropical forests, many others are found in savannas; some are entirely terrestrial, while others live in trees. Apart from the constraints imposed by location, there are significant gaps in the ability to monitor animals when researchers just aren’t around.
“The data followed researcher patterns,” Piel, a lecturer in anthropology at University College London, tells Mongabay in a video interview, referring to how the data are usually collected during the day, with most of it being what field researchers can detect themselves through binoculars and cameras. “We didn’t know a lot about what happened when we were not present, and so we had large spatial and temporal gaps.”
The emergence of newer technology in recent years, however, might be changing how data about primates are collected and analyzed by researchers. A study co-authored by Piel and published earlier this year in the International Journal of Primatology summarizes some of the tools — ranging from camera traps to drones — that researchers have adopted to ensure more efficient, continuous and non-invasive monitoring of primates.
Researchers have adopted to ensure more efficient, continuous and non-invasive monitoring of primates using tools like camera traps like drones. Image by Mokhamad Edliadi/CIFOR via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
“The conservation of primates, and vertebrate species in general, is undergoing a revolution in the way of obtaining data with the advancement of emerging technologies such as the use of drones, AI and the IoT,” Geison Mesquita, a biologist and environment consultant who co-authored another study about the rise of technology in tracking wild animals, tells Mongabay in an email interview.
Eyes and ears in the forest
Camera traps and passive acoustic monitoring — cameras and microphones — have helped provide “eyes and ears” in the forest, both being tools that enable long-term monitoring because they can be deployed over extended periods of time. Drones incorporate both functions, and give researchers valuable new perspectives. Armed with infrared-trigger cameras, they’ve also made it easier for researchers to spot primates or other wildlife that live in trees.
Fecal samples have also long been used to study the genetics and diets of primates. But with labs to analyze samples often being located far from where the fieldwork is conducted, a lot of time and money is spent on storing, processing and transporting the samples. The emergence of portable genomics labs has helped solve many of those issues, facilitating new ways to store and analyze samples.
But despite these and many other advances, the researchers interviewed by Mongabay all say they approach new technology with caution. The limitations, Piel says, are multifold.
First, not everyone has the training and wherewithal to use newer technology. Piel says that while acoustic sensors are very straightforward to set up and use, camera traps aren’t. “You need to set them up a certain way and the menus are often only in one language and so you start to see these barriers on who can use the technology,” he says. The energy-hungry nature of camera traps also makes it imperative to constantly check on their functioning.
Drone image of the rainforest in Gola Rainforest National Park in Grebo-Krahn National Park. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
Other financial, technological and often political constraints set in when it comes to the use of drones. “You get what you pay for, and the less you pay, the more likely that if you bump into a tree, you will lose your drone,” Piel says. “Plus, they are carrying technology that is not cheap, like a lidar sensor or some camera that is taking high-resolution footage of a forest. So if you lose the vehicle, you also lose your sensor and, with it, your data.”
Too much data to process
The high cost and technical hurdles aside, there are also barriers that exist in efficiently analyzing and using the enormous amounts of data collected with the use of new technology. “The amount of data we are now generating completely outpaces our ability to analyze it, as biologists at least,” Tara Stoinski, president and CEO of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, tells Mongabay in a video interview. “And so you are just sitting on troves and troves of data.”
While tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning have made data analysis much easier, Stoinski says it’s sometimes challenging to form collaborations with the right people who have the technical know-how to analyze the data. “If you don’t have those synergies already worked out, or you can’t build them because of a number of reasons, then the technology suddenly is not so useful,” she says. “You might as well have spent that time walking in the forest because then at least you have your data.”
Stoinski emphasizes the need to establish more collaborations between researchers in the field and those who have the technical knowledge. Often, the skill set or technology to perform the analysis is lacking in the countries where the fieldwork is done. That means data and samples have to be exported, often to labs and facilities in Europe or the U.S. “It’s a lot of processing and permissions and it just slows down getting your results,” Stoinski says, reiterating the need to establish more such collaborations in the Global South.
Mesquita, with the Institute Baguaçu of Biodiversity Research in Brazil, agrees. He cites cases he’s seen where the prohibitive cost and technical difficulties have prevented technology from being adopted for wildlife conservation. In Brazil, he says, very few conservation initiatives involve the use of GPS tracking, let alone drones, because of financial constraints. Increasing the availability of these technologies to researchers across the world through cost reduction and ease of use is a challenge, he says, one that needs to be urgently addressed.
A researcher installs an acoustic sensor to record bats. Image by Alison McCartney via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
“Many developing countries, where large areas of the planet’s biodiversity are usually found, are still unable to use these technologies,” Mesquita says. Given the unfolding biodiversity crisis, researchers can’t afford to lose more time attempting to find ways to collect and analyze data, he says. “The speed with which the loss of biodiversity has been occurring means we have to be more practical and fast in obtaining biodiversity data.”
Citations:
Piel, A. K., Crunchant, A., Knot, I. E., Chalmers, C., Fergus, P., Mulero-Pázmány, M., & Wich, S. A. (2022). Noninvasive technologies for primate conservation in the 21st century. International Journal of Primatology, 43(1), 133-167. doi:10.1007/s10764-021-00245-z
Mesquita, G. P., Mulero-Pázmány, M., Wich, S. A., & Rodríguez-Teijeiro, J. D. (2022). A practical approach with drones, smartphones, and tracking tags for potential real-time animal tracking. Current Zoology. doi:10.1093/cz/zoac029
Banner image: A red tailed sportive lemur in Madagascar. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
Article published by Hayat
Camera Trapping, Conservation, Conservation Drones, Conservation Technology, Drones, Monitoring, Primates, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation
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AP News Summary At 5:06 A.m. EDT https://digitalalaskanews.com/ap-news-summary-at-506-a-m-edt/
Ukraine: Explosions rock Kyiv, struck by waves of drones
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Explosive-laden suicide drones have struck Ukraine’s capital as families were preparing to start their week, the blasts echoing across Kyiv and sending people scurrying to shelters. Kyiv city Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the capital’s central Shevchenko district was hit, damaging several apartment blocks and setting fire to a non-residential building. There was no immediate word on casualties. The drones’ intended targets weren’t immediately clear but Russian strikes over the past week have hit infrastructure, including power facilities. Witnesses posted videos of drones buzzing across bright morning skies over Kyiv and of what sounded like gunshots of people trying to shoot them down.
Ukrainians’ resilience persists despite new Russian barrage
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The resilience by Ukrainians in Russia’s nearly 8-month-old war continues to be unwavering, despite a rise in the past week in attacks that have been seen as President Vladimir Putin’s vengeful response to an explosion that damaged a Moscow-built bridge in Crimea on Oct. 8. Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones struck at least 10 regions across the country two days later, targeting critical infrastructures in major urban centers, leaving 19 dead and more than 100 wounded. But the more the Kremlin threatens to make the upcoming winter intolerable, the more Ukrainians seem to unite in their intent to defeat Putin.
For Biden and Trump, 2022 is 2020 sequel — and 2024 preview?
WASHINGTON (AP) — This year’s midterm elections are playing out as a strange continuation of the last presidential race — and a potential preview of the next one. Donald Trump refused to exit the stage after his defeat and has spent months raging against Joe Biden. That’s reshaping downballot campaigns that normally function as a simple referendum on the incumbent president. The result is an episode of political shadowboxing with little precedent, as the current president and his immediate predecessor crisscross the country in support of their party’s candidates. But polls suggest voters have little appetite for a rematch.
Most say voting vital despite dour US outlook: AP-NORC poll
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Biden Has Spent More Than A Fourth Of His Presidency Working From Delaware Outpacing Trump's Regular Trips Away KVIA
Biden Has Spent More Than A Fourth Of His Presidency Working From Delaware, Outpacing Trump's Regular Trips Away – KVIA https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-has-spent-more-than-a-fourth-of-his-presidency-working-from-delaware-outpacing-trumps-regular-trips-away-kvia/
By Kate Bennett, CNN
President Joe Biden spent the weekend at his home in Delaware, where he met up with his wife, other family members and — if they followed usual practice — Willow the cat and Commander the dog.
It’s a familiar weekly ritual. As of this point in his presidency, Biden has spent more than a quarter of his time working from his home state of Delaware, either at his house in Wilmington or his Rehoboth Beach property.
Some 21 months into his term, Biden has made 55 visits to Delaware, totaling some or all of 174 days as of Sunday, according to a CNN analysis of presidential schedules and a tally kept by Mark Knoller, the longtime unofficial statistician of the White House press corps. In addition, Biden has made 19 visits, or all or part of 64 days, to the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland.
He has now surpassed even the getaway time of former President Donald Trump, so often criticized by Democrats for his regular departures from the White House to stay at one of his personal homes. At this point in his tenure, Trump had spent about 135 days at either his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, or his home at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Trump also had spent 23 days at Camp David.
“President Biden is deeply proud of his roots and his family and it has been a staple of his time in public life to never lose touch with either,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said to CNN. “Presidents of the United States are constantly on the job, regardless of their location — whether they’re on a state visit overseas or just 100 miles from the White House for a short trip to Wilmington, DE. And as all Americans can agree, it’s important for leaders to avoid becoming ensconced in Washington, DC.”
The comforts of home can be a salve for the commander in chief while carrying out one of the world’s most demanding jobs. The American president is never truly “off,” and — in fact — Biden, like all presidents, has a whole remote White House apparatus that travels with him to facilitate that round-the-clock enterprise, with the most state-of-the-art capabilities, resources and technology traveling with him wherever he goes.
Some argue that Biden can now lean into the normalcy of working from home, which millions of Americans had to rely on when Covid-19 forced isolation from offices and public spaces. “WFH” is not just a shorthand for being productive at the home office, it’s become a professional way of life for many.
“It is 2022, not 1922. If the rest of the country can work from home, so can the president of the United States,” said Michael LaRosa, a director at a DC-based public affairs firm and former press secretary to first lady Dr. Jill Biden.
“He spent (practically) every weekend in Delaware during his 36 years in the Senate, and his eight years as vice president,” LaRosa said. “This is nothing new. The Bidens have never lived in Washington, DC.”
The physical presence of a president is, however, meaningful for some, at least in ritual.
The statistics — 236 days away from the White House in Delaware and Maryland in less than two years on the job — are significant for the modern presidency. The job has been set in the nation’s capital near the Congress and the Supreme Court, in part for its symbolic power, for more than 220 years. Being in that power center brings a higher level of transparency thanks to the proximity to the national media, along with White House rules about press access and public records about who comes and goes.
Whenever the president is actually in the Oval Office, for example, that presence is honored by the solemn watch of a stone-faced US Marine posted outside the West Wing.
“A special challenge that Biden faces, because of his age, is that people will assume the worst if he’s not always visible. That is something that comes with being the oldest president in office,” said Tim Naftali, a CNN presidential historian, who notes presidents have had a “moveable Oval Office” for decades. “Perception is important in American politics.”
The optics of WFH or WFWH
A president of the United States who doesn’t consider the White House his primary home does not go unnoticed by the media, or critics. But the executive mansion’s primary residents have generally found it stifling.
“I always say I don’t know whether it’s the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the prison system,” former President Bill Clinton famously mused during a 1993 interview.
Knoller, who during his 32-year career with CBS News covered the personal habits of six presidents, concurs.
“It may look luxurious, but it can be suffocating to live and work there day in and out,” Knoller said.
Trump’s trips to Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster were fodder for op-eds and lent themselves to critics painting a portrait of a president unwilling to give up the trappings of a luxe off-duty lifestyle. And though many days were spent on the golf course — 125 or so at this point in Trump’s presidency, compared to Biden’s 19 on the links — Trump was still the leader of the free world. Biden’s former boss, Barack Obama, traveled home much less frequently while in office but was frequently dinged — by Trump, among others — for the amount of golf he played.
“(Ronald) Reagan and (George W.) Bush both spent lots of time at their private ranch homes,” said Knoller of two other former presidents who escaped the White House with regularity.
Knoller tabulated time away for presidents, he says, because the numbers “added color to my reporting and gave insight to the president’s needs and activities.”
According to Knoller’s count, George W. Bush spent all or part of 490 days — more than a year — at his Texas ranch during his eight years in office. Reagan spent nearly a year, all or part of 349 days, at his California ranch during his two terms. If Biden were reelected and kept up his current pace of trips to Delaware until the end of a second term in office, he would far surpass both Reagan and Bush in time away from the White House.
However, post-pandemic culture has blurred the boundaries of what defines a workplace.
“Our concept of being ‘on the job’ has shifted, and that may actually change the way we think about where our president needs to be,” Naftali said.
Some of Biden’s biggest political wins came this summer, after all, when he was isolating in the residence of the White House after testing positive for Covid-19. Photos showed him tie-less, often working in the second-floor Treaty Room or reading papers with his feet up on the Truman balcony, Commander by his side.
It was a view into what Biden’s work from home life may be like when he’s in Wilmington or Rehoboth.
“It’s a bit antiquated to think that because he is not physically in the White House on the weekends, that he is not working,” LaRosa said. “He never stops being President and he never stops working. Just ask the first lady.”
A weekly ritual
Biden has the advantage of a more normalized routine in his trips away from Washington.
The White House residence staff has by now perfected the choreography of managing, packing and planning the departure of the President and first lady most Fridays, the day, statistically, the Bidens normally split town.
The ushers know which bags are to be brought downstairs — it’s a light-pack, most of the couples’ needed belongings are already in their Delaware homes, a person familiar tells CNN. While Biden occasionally plays golf at a local course when in Wilmington, his other activities — seeing his grandchildren, taking casual social visits, going to church — don’t require multiple outfit changes.
In Rehoboth, he rides his bike and he and the first lady like to set up a big, blue umbrella on the sandy beach in front of their house and sunbathe or read in reclining chairs. Outside of swimsuits, joggers and polo shirts, it’s not a multiple-suitcase situation.
“The biggest issue is usually the pets,” said the person familiar with the weekend planning for a presidential getaway to Delaware.
Commander, now one year old and no longer a small puppy, and Willow, the barn cat adopted by Jill Biden, are “almost always” on the Delaware visits. While many American families leave their pets at home with caretakers for the weekend, or book them at pet-sitting facilities, the Bidens take theirs with them.
They like to be around their pets at all times — when Joe Biden was isolating at the White House with Covid-19 this summer, he was kept company by Commander; likewise, when Jill Biden had her bout with Covid, she spent the her rebound case isolation period in Rehoboth, with Willow.
The animals frequently travel to Delaware via van, with support staff, but occasionally they are in vehicles solely dedicated to their transportation, says the person. Willow, in particular, is not a fan of noisy, whirring helicopter blades, said another person familiar with the feline’s habits. In June, there was a rare sighting by White House press members of Willow in her crate, being carried by a residence staffer to Marine One for a weekend at Rehoboth Beach.
The Biden’s Delaware visits, of course, no matter how quick, have a significant footprint beyond those of the paws of their pets.
Secret Service coordinates with law enforcement on all movements — several highway exits must close for the presidential motorcade, locals in both Wilmington and Rehoboth must at times wait on traffic patterns or be swept by agents with handheld magnetometers just to walk down the beach if one of the Bidens is there, as one neighbor of the Bidens in Rehoboth Beach told CNN.
The large presidential apparatus helps ensure that the President is able to perfo...
Special Forces Vet Charged In Jan. 6 Riot Accuses Biden Of
Special Forces Vet Charged In Jan. 6 Riot Accuses Biden Of https://digitalalaskanews.com/special-forces-vet-charged-in-jan-6-riot-accuses-biden-of/
WASHINGTON D.C. — A former 3rd Special Forces Group soldier accused of assaulting officers with a flagpole during the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot is blaming President Joe Biden for impacting his ability to receive a fair trial.
Jeffrey McKellop, 57, is a decorated Army veteran and previously served with the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg.
In a Sept. 8 motion, McKellop seeks to have his case dismissed because President Joe Biden “has intentionally and irreparably poisoned the entire nation as a jury pool.”
McKellop points to Biden’s Sept. 1 address as an example.
PATCH LEADS TO CHARGES:How a Special Forces patch led to charges for former Green Beret related to Capitol riot
During his remarks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the president said of Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again supporters that “MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Biden said not all Republicans are “MAGA Republicans. Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology.”
MAGA Republicans, he said, “do not respect the Constitution. They do not believe in the rule of law.”
“They look at the mob that stormed the United States Capitol on January 6th — brutally attacking law enforcement — not as insurrectionists who placed a dagger to the throat of our democracy, but they look at them as patriots,” he said.
McKellop argues that Biden’s speech inflamed the entire nation by assuring that “Trump and the MAGA Republicans are a clear and present danger to our democracy.”
The accusations
According to a Feb. 14 grand jury indictment, McKellop is charged with:
10 counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers;
Two counts of assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers using a deadly or dangerous weapon;
One count of civil disorder
One count of entering and remaining on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
One count of disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
One count of engaging in physical violence on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon;
and one count of engaging in physical violence within the Capitol grounds.
He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
The government argues in opposition to the motion that McKellop has failed to establish that he can not receive a fair and impartial trial in D.C. or elsewhere in the U.S.
McKellop is accused of entering the Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, with flagpoles, a helmet, tactical vest, protective eyewear and gas mask and remaining in the area 90 minutes after police told the crowd to leave.
The government alleges that McKellop threw objects at officers three times from 1:02 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. before pressing toward the police line and scaffolding near the southwest area of the capitol. There, he is accused of trying to grab a can of riot-control spray from a lieutenant’s hand, throwing a bottle at a line of officers, grabbing another officer, striking a sergeant and assaulting another officer by shoving her to the side.
At one point, McKellop appeared to assist an officer who fell to the ground, then allegedly struck a captain in the face, causing lacerations and scarring, and allegedly threw a flagpole “as though it were a spear” at the captain.
McKellop also allegedly attacked from behind another officer attempting to contain rioters and he threw another object at officers, the government said.
The defense
McKellop, who retired from the Army on Aug. 12, 2010, while at Fort Bragg, served more than 20 years in the Army, including nine years with Special Forces and served with Fort Bragg’s 3rd Special Forces Group, his military records show.
In one of four motions requesting release from pretrial detention, McKellop states he served nearly 22 years in active-duty service and about a year in inactive service.
The motion notes McKellop’s military decorations, including three Bronze Stars, and states he deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.
McKellop said he was unarmed and did not intend on rioting when he traveled to Washington, D.C., to the Jan. 6 rally for then-President Donald Trump with a friend.
In a letter included in the record, the friend who accompanied McKellop, Scott Steiert, said McKellop was concerned that “anti-Trumpers” would attack him for his political views.
Steiert said McKellop brought his body armor with him as a defense against “any attack possibly from anti-Trumpers.”
“The strength of Mr. McKellop’s character is shown through his extensive and distinguished military service, his cooperation with the FBI as relates to his arrest, his lack of criminal record, his lack of involvement in (organizing) the riot, and his willingness to surrender himself and potential evidence,” the motion says.
Acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips said that “despite many opportunities to reconsider his actions,” McKellop continued his alleged assault.
“Jeffrey McKellop, weaponized his extensive military training and experience to attack the U.S. Capitol and facilitate its breach during Constitutional proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021,” Phillips wrote.
Motions to move or dismiss trial
In a March 27 motion for a change of venue, McKellop sought to move his trial out of Washington D.C.
McKellop claimed he would not receive a fair trial and impartial jury there because about “93% of voters in Washington voted against Donald Trump” and because of the media coverage of the events surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, and related arrests, criminal charges and prosecutions.
“The antipathy towards Donald Trump and his supporters in the District is obvious,” the motion says.
McKellop suggested the trial be moved to the Western District of Virginia.
“Residents of western Virginia have not been warned that domestic terrorists are threatening their hometown, nor is the area overrun by D.C. politics,” the motion stated.
In a Sept. 26 reply to the government’s opposition to the dismissal, McKellop said that potential jury members were “exhorted to hate” the Jan. 6 defendants by President Joe Biden.
Again referencing Biden’s Jan. 1 speech, McKellop said that “the president’s poisoning of the jury pool has obstructed the conduct of an impartial trial.”
“The charges against the defendant should be dismissed,” the defense wrote.
McKellop’s March request for a change of venue is pending.
LATEST:Latest in the case of Special Forces veterans, Fort Bragg soldiers who went to D.C. riot
The government argued in its response that there is “no reason to believe” that 12 impartial jurors in D.C. or the nation can’t be found, noting a legal known as “voir dire” affords both the defense and prosecution the ability to screen potential jury members and reach an agreement about who will serve on the jury.
“After a careful voir dire, this court can select a jury from those residents who either did not watch the president’s remarks or who, despite having watched the remarks, give adequate assurances of their impartiality,” the response said.
The trial is set for Feb. 14.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-385-3528.
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Europe Edges Higher As UK U-Turns Settle Nerves https://digitalalaskanews.com/europe-edges-higher-as-uk-u-turns-settle-nerves/
Europe’s markets gain as UK moves help sterling, gilts
Nikkei down 1.2%, S&P 500 edges up after slide
Dollar near 149 yen, market wary of intervention
China’s yuan falls after Xi congress speech
LONDON/SYDNEY, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Europe’s share, bond and currency markets moved tentatively higher on Monday, helped by relief that’s Britain new finance minister had quickly ripped into the unfunded tax cuts that triggered turmoil in UK assets this month.
Asia’s main markets had struggled overnight but Europe’s STOXX 600 (.STOXX) made a 0.5% early gain as both the pound and UK government bonds rallied in London. /GB/FRX
Britain’s new finance minister Jeremy Hunt is due to make a statement at around 1000 GMT. He spent much of the weekend holding meetings and doing media interviews signalling that many of the spending plans of Prime Minister Liz Truss and his predecessor, would now be scrapped.
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Bank of England Governor Bailey gave Hunt a vote of confidence on Saturday, saying they had an “immediate meeting of minds” on the need to fix the public finances, where there are estimates of a 70 billion pound ($78.72 billion) black hole.
Invesco’s director of macro research Ben Jones said the UK’s volatility would remain a key focus for global markets.
“The hope is that Jeremy Hunt is a more stable set of hands,” he said, pointing to the “relief rally” for the pound which was up 0.75% at $1.1257, and in the UK gilt markets.
“But we still need to see some follow through… and we still don’t know whether Liz Truss will still be there at lunchtime or the end of the month”.
Yields in British 10-year gilts fell 27 bps to 4.06% in morning trading, while the 2-year dropped 12 bps to 3.75%. .
Other European markets benefited too. The German 10-year Bund yield was down 9 basis points (bps) to 2.27% having hit 2.423% last week, its highest since August 2011.
That was also despite two key ECB policymakers making the case over the weekend for cutting the bank’s balance sheet and after U.S. inflation data on Friday had bolstered bets on another aggressive rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
ROTATING
Overnight, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) eased 0.6% and back toward last week’s 2-1/2 year low.
Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) shed 1.2% although Chinese blue chips (.CSI300) rose 0.4% ahead of GDP data due on Tuesday.
S&P 500 futures edged up 0.4% after Friday’s sharp retreat, while Nasdaq futures added 0.3%.
While the S&P is an eye-watering 25% off its peak, BofA economist Jared Woodard warned the slide was not over given the world was transitioning from two decades of 2% inflation to a time of something more like 5% inflation.
“$70 trillion of ‘new’ tech, growth, and government bond assets priced for a 2% world are vulnerable to these secular shifts as ‘old’ industries like energy and materials surge, reversing decades of under-investment,” he wrote in a note.
“Rotating out of 60/40 proxies and buying what is scarce – power, food, energy – is the best way for investors to diversify.”
INTERVENTION WATCH
A red-hot U.S. consumer price report and rising inflation expectations have markets fully expecting the Federal Reserve to hike rates by 75 basis points next month, and likely by the same again in December.
A host of Fed policymakers are speaking this week, so there will be plenty of opportunity for hawkish headlines. The earnings season also continues with Tesla (TSLA.O), Netflix (NFLX.O) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) reporting, among others.
Goldman Sachs (GS.N) also reports this week and the Wall Street Journal reported the investment bank plans to restructure its biggest businesses into three divisions.
In China, the Communist Party Congress is expected to grant a third term to President Xi Jinping, while there could be a reshuffle of top economic roles as incumbents are near retirement age or term-limits.
“Investors haven’t fully digested that China isn’t going to be a high growth economy any more,” said Janus Henderson Emerging Markets Portfolio Manager Ales Koutny who also expects the yuan to keep falling. “It is not going to be 5%-6% growth a year, it’s going to be 2%-3%.”
In currency markets, the dollar remains king as investors price in U.S. rates peaking around 5%.
The yen has been particularly hard hit as the Bank of Japan sticks to its super-easy policy, while authorities refrained from intervention last week even as the dollar sped past the 148.00 level to 32-year peaks.
Early on Monday, the dollar was up at 148.73 yen and heading for the next target at 150.00.
The euro was holding at $0.9733 , having put in a steadier performance last week, while the U.S. dollar index eased a fraction to 113.20 .
The rise of the dollar and global bond yields have been a drag for gold, which was stuck at $1,648 an ounce .
Oil prices were trying to bounce, after sinking more than 6% last week as fears of a demand slowdown outweighed OPEC’s plans to cut output.
Brent firmed 90 cents to $92.55 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose 84 cents to $86.45 per barrel.
($1 = 0.8892 pounds)
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Reporting by Marc Jones; Additional reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Susan Fenton
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Russia Hits Ukraine's Capital With New 'kamikaze' Drone Attack
Russia Hits Ukraine's Capital With New 'kamikaze' Drone Attack https://digitalalaskanews.com/russia-hits-ukraines-capital-with-new-kamikaze-drone-attack/
Alexander Kamyshin, CEO of state-owned rail service, said the attacks had reached an area near Kyiv’s main train station, but he said trains were still moving on-time.
For now, he tweeted, passengers were safe.
Ukrainian officials also reported rocket strikes in the southern port city of Odesa, central Dnipropetrovsk region and the northeastern Sumy region. Overnight, drone attacks were also reported by officials in the southern city of Mykolaiv, where deadly rocket strikes last week destroyed the two top floors of a residential building.
“All night and all morning, the enemy terrorizes the civilian population,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement shared on the Telegram messaging app Monday. “Kamikaze drones and missiles attack all of Ukraine.”
Head of Zelenskyy’s office, Andrii Yermak, called for more air defense systems from the West and “as soon as possible.”
Klitschko shared an image of what he said was wreckage of one of the drones involved in the attack on Kyiv, displaying a Russian name for Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that both Washington and Kyiv have accused Tehran of supplying to Moscow to be used in Ukraine. Iran has denied the claims. NBC News could not verify the photo.
Officers fire shots in an attempt to disarm a drone attack. Yasuyoshi Chiba / AFP – Getty Images
Zelenskyy warned earlier this month about Russia’s increasing use of Iranian-made drones, posing a new challenge for the country’s air defenses and causing concern among Ukraine’s Western allies over Tehran’s alleged support for Russia in the war.
The Shahed-136 drones, which have earned the nickname “kamikaze” for destroying its target by physically crashing into it, are relatively cheap and can be equipped with a small warhead, making it an effective precision weapon, military analysts told NBC News.
Its operational range is subject to debate among analysts, but could be as long as 1,200 miles, although it’s probably much shorter in practice, but still sufficient to hit any target in Ukraine from Russian-occupied areas.
Last week’s attacks were framed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as revenge for a blast that damaged his signature bridge from Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
The aerial aggression inspired renewed support from Kyiv’s Western allies. The United States will send a new wave of military aid that’s expected to include missiles, rockets and anti-tank weapons, the Pentagon announced Friday.
Last week President Joe Biden also vowed in a phone call with Zelenskyy to provide Ukraine with the advanced air defense systems it desperately wants in order to fend off attacks like Monday’s.
The White House was previously reluctant to put the technology in play in Ukraine, fearing it would be seen by Russia as a step closer to direct involvement in the war.
Dennis Romero
Dennis Romero is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.
Yuliya Talmazan is a London-based journalist.
Beatrice Guzzardi
,
Anastasiia Parafeniuk
and
Daryna Mayer
contributed
.
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Magnitude Of Under-Nutrition Among Under Five Children In Ethiopia Based On 2019 Mini-Ethiopia Demographic And Health Survey: Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) BMC Nutrition
Magnitude Of Under-Nutrition Among Under Five Children In Ethiopia Based On 2019 Mini-Ethiopia Demographic And Health Survey: Generalized Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) – BMC Nutrition https://digitalalaskanews.com/magnitude-of-under-nutrition-among-under-five-children-in-ethiopia-based-on-2019-mini-ethiopia-demographic-and-health-survey-generalized-linear-mixed-model-glmm-bmc-nutrition/
BMC Nutrition volume 8, Article number: 113 (2022) Cite this article
Abstract
Introduction
Malnutrition is a major public health problem that is experienced by many developing countries, like Ethiopia. Though some studies were conducted to identify the magnitude and determinants of acute malnutrition among under-five children, there is a lack of evidence that is representative of all children in Ethiopia. Hence, this national-level data could be representative of all targets and provide us with updated information on the nation-wide magnitude of nutritional status among children under the age of five in Ethiopia.
Methods
This study used data from the 2019 Mini-Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). Children aged 0–59 months with anthropometry data were included. Data processing and analysis were performed using STATA 15 software. Cross-tabulations and summary statistics were done to describe the study population. Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were used to estimate the association between nutritional status and explanatory variables and were expressed as an odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Model comparison was done based on Akaike and Bayesian information criteria (AIC and BIC).
Results
The magnitude of stunting was 37.71% [95%CI: 36.35–39.08], while the magnitude of wasting was 7.14% [95%CI: 6.52–7.91]. Living in Tigray [AOR = 2.90, 95%CI: 2.05–4.11], Amhara [AOR = 1.98, 95%CI: 1.41–2.79], having a child aged 24–35 [AOR = 3.79, 95%CI: 3.07–4.68], and being a rural resident were all significantly associated with stunting. Being born in Tigray [AOR = 1.75, 95% CI: 1.02–3.01], being born into the richest family [AOR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.27–0.80], and being born from mothers aged 25–29 [AOR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.55–0.96] were all significantly associated with wasting.
Conclusion
The magnitude of stunting and wasting is relatively high in Ethiopia. Region, place of residence, and age of the child were significantly associated with stunting, and region, wealth index, and age of the child were significantly associated with wasting. This result provides a clue to give due consideration to under-five children to mitigate the risks of malnutrition through various techniques.
Peer Review reports
Introduction
Malnutrition is a major public health problem that is experienced by many developing countries. It stands as a consequence of several key social and economic factors such as lack of education, inadequate health care services and ill-informed cultural behaviors, acute lack of food, a recent attack of illness, inappropriate child care or feeding practices, or a mixture of these factors [1, 2]. Malnourished children have weakened immunity, are exposed to long-term developmental interruptions, and have a range of 5 to 20 times greater risk of death than well-nourished children [3]. The problem can be a primary cause of child death or a concomitant cause by profoundly increasing the mortality rate in children hit by common childhood diseases such as diarrhea, pneumonia, or measles. Children’s malnutrition may result in unfavorable long-term health, learning, and economic achievements [4].
Globally, it was assumed that 52 million under-five children were wasted, of which 17 million were harshly wasted. Mainly in the developing nations [5] and wasting affects 50 million children under the age of five, accounting for nearly half of all deaths in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa [6,7,8]. Worldwide, one out of four children and one-third of children under five years of age in low and middle-income countries—and in Ethiopia, more than 2 out of every 5 children—are estimated to be stunted [9,10,11]. Stunting will have irreparable effects on a child’s future growth, which will increase population vulnerability and weaken its capacity to cope with episodes of food stress.
Children who are severely wasted are nine times more likely to die than their peers [6, 12,13,14]. The Ethiopian government launched an updated national nutrition program (NNP II) in 2016 to end hunger in Ethiopia by 2030 and has made various efforts to realize the Seqota declaration. One of the goals of the declarations is to overcome malnutrition among children by optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding, prevention of micronutrient deficiencies, deworming, food fortification, and management of acute malnutrition [15]. The causes of child malnutrition are numerous and multidimensional; they vary from region to region. Breastfeeding initiation within one hour after delivery was considered the primary cause of malnutrition [16]. Furthermore, acute malnutrition in children is caused by complex interactions of various factors such as diarrhea or acute respiratory infection (ARI) and the absence of toilets for households [17], household food insecurity [18, 19], not washing hands after defecation/using toilet, hand washing before food preparation, dietary diversity, household wealth index, child immunization, number of under five children in the household and MUAC of the mother [19], prelacteal feeding [16, 20, 21], antenatal care services [16, 22,23,24,25,26], time of complementary feeding initiation & age of the child [16, 19, 20, 22, 27], maternal feeding during pregnancy [16], ever used family planning [20] and treating drinking water [28]. Though some studies in Ethiopia were conducted to identify the magnitude and determinants of acute malnutrition among under-five children, most of them used small sample sizes and covered small geographic areas. Hence, this national-level data could be representative of all targets and provide us with updated information on the nation-wide magnitude and determinants of nutritional status among children under the age of five in Ethiopia.
Methods
Source of data
This study used data from the 2019 Mini-Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS), which was conducted by the Central Statistical Agency (CSA) of Ethiopia, with technical support from ICF. The data was obtained from the measure demographic and health survey program (DHS) at www.measuredhs.com after justifying the reason for the request. The surveys employ a stratified, multistage, random sampling design. Detailed survey techniques and methods of sampling used to collect data have been recorded elsewhere [29].
This study included children aged 0–59 months with anthropometry data in the analysis of determinants of nutritional status among children under the age of 5 in Ethiopia. Children with no anthropometric data from stunting conditions or wasting conditions were also omitted from the analysis.
Measurements
The outcome variables
Under-nutrition which has three commonly used indicators; stunting, wasting and underweight [30]. However, being underweight is the composite of stunting and wasting, so this study used stunting and wasting for the analysis.
Stunting
Children whose height-for-age z-score is below minus 2 (−2.0) standard deviations (SD) below the mean on the WHO Child Growth Standards [31].
Wasting
Children whose weight-for-height z-score is below minus 2 (−2.0) standard deviations (SD) below the mean on the WHO Child Growth Standards [31].
Independent variables
Individual-level variables
are sex of a child, age of a child in months, birth order, breastfeeding status, mothers current age, mothers age at first birth, number of under-five children, mother’s educational status, number of household members, number of antenatal care visits, sex of household head, household wealth index, source of drinking water, time to get to a water source, type of cooking fuel, and type of latrine.
Water sources
Categorized into improved and unimproved according to WHO/UNICEF guidelines [32, 33].
Toilet facilities
were recoded as either improved (flush to piped sewer system, to septic tank, to pit latrine, ventilated improved pit latrine, pit latrine with slab, composting toilet) or non-improved (pit latrine without slab/open pit, bucket toilet, and hanging toilet/latrine) [32].
Household fuel types
were categorized as modern fuels (charcoal, electricity, natural gas, biogas, and kerosene) and traditional fuel (wood, animal dung, and other crops and straw) [32].
Community-level variables
are residence and region.
Data processing and management
The extracted data were further cleaned, recoded, labeled. Furthermore, data were weighted so that the sample was representative of 0–59-months-old children in 2019 mini EDHS. STATA 15 software was used for data processing and analysis.
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics were conducted using frequency and percentages for categorical measurements, and mean with standard deviation and median with inter-quartile range were used to summarize continuous variables. The important assumptions such as chi-square assumption, multicollinearity, and independence of errors were checked on top of the statistical modeling. Since the nature of data was hierarchical, therefore, two-level multilevel logistics regression was applied to identify the influence of individual-level and community (cluster) level variables. Four different models were fitted; Model-I was the multivariable model adjustment for individual-level variables, and Model-II was adjusted for community-level factors. In model-III, the outcome variable was equipped with potential candidate variables from both individual and community-level variables. The model with small Akaike Information Criteria (AIC) and Bayesian Information Criteria (BIC) was selected as the final model. The fixed effects (a measure of association) were used t...
Nikolas Cruz Has Avoided The Death Penalty. Here's What's Next For Him Now | CNN
Nikolas Cruz Has Avoided The Death Penalty. Here's What's Next For Him Now | CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/nikolas-cruz-has-avoided-the-death-penalty-heres-whats-next-for-him-now-cnn/
CNN —
Here’s what we know: Nikolas Cruz, the now 24-year-old who admitted to killing 17 people in Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018, has avoided the death penalty.
A jury on Thursday recommended he be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, a decision which enraged many of the victims’ families who said Cruz being allowed to live is not justice served.
“Life in prison is NOT punishment! That is exactly what he wanted,” Max Schachter, the father of 14-year-old Alex Schachter, who was murdered in the massacre, wrote on Twitter. He said the decision means Cruz will likely be protected while in custody, be able to “read, draw, receive phone calls & mail,” while “his 17 victims suffered in fear” before he killed them.
These are the Parkland school shooting victims
There is still much we do not know about what the rest of Cruz’s life in prison will look like, most of which will likely be sorted out once he is formally sentenced early next month.
But here is what could come next:
‘Ruling is another gut punch’: Father of Parkland victim speaks after Cruz jury recommendation
01:44 – Source: CNN
The jury’s recommendation Thursday is just that: a recommendation and not an official sentence. Since Thursday, jurors have come forward about what they described were intense deliberations, and one juror reported feeling threatened; an allegation the local sheriff’s office is now investigating.
Broward Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer is expected to formally sentence Cruz November 1 at 9 a.m., but under Florida law, the judge cannot depart from the jury’s recommendation of life in prison.
Victims and family members are expected to speak before the sentence is delivered.
But as far as the sentence itself, the jury’s recommendation is final, Broward County Public Defender Gordon Weekes said in a Thursday news conference, adding in the state, “victims have a constitutional right to be heard at every stage of the proceeding.”
“The court is going to respect that right and give them an opportunity to be heard. And we appreciate that, and we recognize that, and that should be followed,” Weekes said. “However, we have to also recognize the jurors in the case sat through a number of days of very, very difficult, traumatic evidence, and they heard it all, and they weighed it all, and they rendered a verdict. We have to respect that.”
Cruz also has the right to make a statement in the sentencing if he chooses to, according to Janet Johnson, a Florida criminal defense attorney.
Cruz, who has been in jail in Broward County since 2018, also has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to attacking a jail officer in November of that year.
He will likely remain in county custody for a couple weeks after his sentence is handed down before he is then placed in the custody of Florida’s Department of Corrections and transported to one of several reception centers in the state.
On Thursday, Weekes said Cruz will likely be taken to the South Florida Reception Center.
He will spend several weeks at the reception center “getting physical examinations, mental health examinations,” Johnson said. “They’ll look at his record, they’ll look at the level of crime that he’s convicted of, which is obviously the highest, and they’ll recommend a facility somewhere in the state.”
The chosen facility is determined by “reviewing the seriousness of (the inmate’s) offenses, length of sentence, time remaining to serve, prior criminal record, escape history, prison adjustment, and other factors,” according to the Florida Department of Corrections website.
“The most serious offenders with the longest sentences and those least likely to adjust to institutional life are placed in more secure facilities,” the corrections department website noted. Based on those evaluations, the individual is then transferred to the facility deemed most appropriate.
Because Cruz is a high-risk offender, he will likely be placed in a prison with other high-profile or “very dangerous criminals,” Johnson said.
“But he wouldn’t be isolated, which of course, is a real threat for him because there may be people who want to do ‘prison justice,’ who didn’t feel that the sentence he got in court was enough,” Johnson added.
According to a corrections department handbook, there are several custody classifications of inmates, among them, close custody for inmates who “must be maintained within an armed perimeter or under direct, armed supervision when outside of a secure perimeter.”
The corrections department did not respond to CNN’s questions regarding what kind of custody Cruz may be placed under.
Lead defense attorney Melisa McNeill also hinted about the dangers Cruz will face in prison during her closing arguments in the death penalty trial, saying he will “wait to die” in a facility, “either by natural causes or whatever else could possibly happen to him while he’s in prison.”
And in a news conference following the jury’s recommendation, Linda Beigel Schulman, the mother of geography teacher Scott Beigel, who was killed in the high school, said Cruz will “have to look over his shoulder (in prison) every minute of the rest of his life.”
“I hope he has the fear in him, every second of his life, just the way he gave that fear to every one of our loved ones, who he murdered,” she said. “He should live in that fear, and he should be afraid every second of the day of his life.”
Parents of Parkland victims, including Schachter, have pointed to parts of life Cruz will still get to experience while in prison their children were robbed of.
It includes receiving mail and seeing visitors, which he will likely have the right to do, Johnson said. He could also have a tablet through which he will be able to email and text others, Johnson added.
The department of corrections website pointed out inmates and their families are allowed to communicate through “interactive, stationary kiosks available in general population housing units, as well as tablets.” Those services are available in all the major correctional institutions in Florida, according to the site.
“And you can see the argument (of the victims’) families saying, ‘We don’t get to do that,’ ” Johnson added. “And it’s understandable.”
The corrections department also did not answer CNN’s question about what kind of mental health treatment Cruz may receive while in prison.
During the trial, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office released more than 30 pages of writings and drawings by Cruz which revealed disturbing thoughts he’s had while in custody, focusing on guns, blood and death. On one page, Cruz wrote: “All I want is to go to death row. I don’t want life. Please help me go to death row.” On another, he addressed his family, telling them he is sad and is hoping to die of a heart attack by taking painkillers and through extreme eating.
Also while in jail, Cruz drew pictures of bullets, guns and people being shot. He wrote he “never wanted to be alive,” and he hopes he dies and never wakes up and “my life is painful, always has always will” be.
His defense team argued Cruz is a “brain-damaged, mentally ill” individual who, among other conditions, suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, stemming from his mother’s substance and alcohol abuse during pregnancy, McNeill said during closing arguments.
And Cruz appeared to control his behavior in the courtroom, McNeill said, because “he’s medicated, and he’s under psychiatric care. He’s being treated by the jail psychologist.”
Cruz will receive a psychiatric examination when he arrives at the reception center, Johnson said, which will help determine his diagnosis and what medication he may require.
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Biden Turning To Trump-Era Rule To Expel Venezuelan Migrants
Biden Turning To Trump-Era Rule To Expel Venezuelan Migrants https://digitalalaskanews.com/biden-turning-to-trump-era-rule-to-expel-venezuelan-migrants-4/
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two years ago, candidate Joe Biden loudly denounced President Donald Trump for immigration policies that inflicted “cruelty and exclusion at every turn,” including toward those fleeing the “brutal” government of socialist Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
Now, with increasing numbers of Venezuelans arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border as the Nov. 8 election nears, Biden has turned to an unlikely source for a solution: his predecessor’s playbook.
Biden last week invoked a Trump-era rule known as Title 42 — which Biden’s own Justice Department is fighting in court — to deny Venezuelans fleeing their crisis-torn country the chance to request asylum at the border.
The rule, first invoked by Trump in 2020, uses emergency public health authority to allow the United States to keep migrants from seeking asylum at the border, based on the need to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Under the new Biden administration policy, Venezuelans who walk or swim across America’s southern border will be expelled and any Venezuelan who illegally enters Mexico or Panama will be ineligible to come to the United States. But as many as 24,000 Venezuelans will be accepted at U.S. airports, similar to how Ukrainians have been admitted since Russia’s invasion in February.
Mexico has insisted that the U.S. admit one Venezuelan on humanitarian parole for each Venezuelan it expels to Mexico, according to a Mexican official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke condition of anonymity. So if the Biden administration paroles 24,000 Venezuelans to the U.S., Mexico would take no more than 24,000 Venezuelans expelled from the U.S.
The Biden policy marks an abrupt turn for the White House, which just weeks ago was lambasting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans, for putting Venezuelan migrants “fleeing political persecution” on buses and planes to Democratic strongholds.
“These were children, they were moms, they were fleeing communism,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time.
Biden’s new policy has drawn swift criticism from immigrant advocates, many of them quick to point out the Trump parallels.
“Rather than restore the right to asylum decimated by the Trump administration … the Biden administration has dangerously embraced the failures of the past and expanded upon them by explicitly enabling expulsions of Venezuelan migrants,” said Jennifer Nagda, policy director of the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.
The administration says the policy is aimed at ensuring a “lawful and orderly” way for Venezuelans to enter the U.S.
Why the turnaround?
For more than a year after taking office in January 2021, Biden deferred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which used its authority to keep in place the Trump-era declaration that a public health risk existed that warranted expedited expulsion of asylum-seekers.
Members of Biden’s own party and activist groups had expressed skepticism about the public health underpinnings for allowing Title 42 to remain in effect, especially when COVID-19 was spreading more widely within the U.S. than elsewhere.
After months of internal deliberations and preparations, the CDC on April 1 said it would end the public health order and return to normal border processing of migrants, giving them a chance to request asylum in the U.S.
Homeland Security officials braced for a resulting increase in border crossings.
But officials inside and outside the White House were conflicted over ending the authority, believing it effectively kept down the number of people crossing the border illegally, according to senior administration officials.
A court order in May that kept Title 42 in place due to a challenge from Republican state officials was greeted with quiet relief by some in the administration, according to officials who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
The recent increase in migration from Venezuela, sparked by political, social and economic instability in the country, dashed officials’ hopes that they were finally seeing a lull in the chaos that had defined the border region for the past year.
By August, Venezuelans were the second-largest nationality arriving at the U.S. border after Mexicans. Given that U.S. tensions with Venezuela meant migrants from the country could not be sent back easily, the situation became increasingly difficult to manage.
So an administration that had rejected many Trump-era policies aimed at keeping out migrants, that had worked to make the asylum process easier and that had increased the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. now turned to Title 42.
It brokered a deal to send the Venezuelans to Mexico, which already had agreed to accept migrants expelled under Title 42 if they are from Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador.
All the while, Justice Department lawyers continue to appeal a court decision that has kept Title 42 in place. They are opposing Republican attorneys general from more than 20 states who have argued that Title 42 is “the only safety valve preventing this Administration’s already disastrous border control policies from descending into an unmitigated catastrophe.”
Under Title 42, migrants have been expelled more than 2.3 million times from the U.S. after crossing the country’s land borders illegally from Canada or Mexico, though most try to come through Mexico.
The administration had announced it would stop expelling migrants under Title 42 starting May 23 and go back to detaining and deporting migrants who did not qualify to enter and remain in the U.S. — a longer process that allows migrants to request asylum in the U.S.
“We are extremely disturbed by the apparent acceptance, codification, and expansion of the use of Title 42, an irrelevant health order, as a cornerstone of border policy,” said Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border. “One that expunges the legal right to asylum.”
A separate lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union also is trying to end Title 42, an effort that could render the administration’s proposal useless.
“People have a right to seek asylum – regardless of where they came from, how they arrive in the United States, and whether or not they have family here,” said ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt.
Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox
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Sunburn The Morning Read Of Whats Hot In Florida Politics 10.17.22
Sunburn — The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics — 10.17.22 https://digitalalaskanews.com/sunburn-the-morning-read-of-whats-hot-in-florida-politics-10-17-22/
Heat up your day with a dose of Sunburn, the premier first read of Florida politics and policy.
Good Monday morning.
Stephanie Smith, a veteran of AT&T, Uber and Simply — and an all-around incredible person — is joining TECO Energy as vice president of State and Regional Affairs.
After taking the summer to contemplate her next move, Smith begins today. She’ll oversee government affairs for Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas and will manage external affairs and community investment.
Congrats to all-around great person Steph Smith.
“Stephanie Smith’s strategic counsel and extensive experience will guide our outreach efforts to government officials, community leaders and other key stakeholders,” said David Nicholson, vice president of Legal, General Counsel and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer for Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas. “We have a great story to tell. We’re well on our way to achieving our vision of a net-zero carbon future, and we’re excited to have Stephanie as part of the team to help us communicate our progress to stakeholders.”
Smith has nearly 20 years of experience in public affairs, government relations and communications. Smith has worked in Florida, Washington D.C. and the United Kingdom on public affairs strategies, advancing regulation and navigating complex regulatory issues for Fortune 500 companies, the experience she’ll bring with her to TECO.
“I’m inspired to join the TECO Energy team,” Smith said. “Utilities are not only essential to Floridians’ quality of life, but they also power Florida’s economy. TECO Energy plays such an important role in preparing and responding to disasters, while shaping the future of energy for our state and nation. I look forward to taking on the opportunities and challenges that come with this new role.”
Smith previously worked in the Executive Office of the Governor for two administrations: Govs. Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush.
Smith currently serves as chair of CareerSource Florida as a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee. She is also an active member of the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors and the Florida Alliance Against Human Trafficking Board of Directors.
___
U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar leads challenger Annette Taddeo in Florida’s 27th Congressional District 50% to 44%, according to a recent poll from Republican polling firm Cygnal, commissioned by Salazar’s Leadership for a Strong America PAC.
Salazar’s lead is within the poll’s margin of error and includes 6% of voters who are still undecided.
The poll, taken Oct. 9-11 among 300 CD 27 voters, comes as the Republican Salazar fights to keep her seat against Taddeo, a former Crist running mate, and as Republicans battle to regain a majority in the U.S. House.
Maria Salazar leads Annette Taddeo in a new poll but within the margin of error.
Salazar’s lead comes despite her Democratic challenger maintaining stronger favorability numbers in the district. Salazar is split at 39% favorable and unfavorable, while Taddeo is above water at 35% favorable to 28% unfavorable, according to the survey.
But she may benefit from an unpopular President.
Joe Biden is underwater among CD 27 voters, with 51% of surveyed voters holding an unfavorable opinion and 47% favorable. Likewise, just 33% of voters said the country was headed in the right direction, while 59% said it was heading in the wrong direction.
The race is likely to be tight. A previous poll from SEA Polling and Strategic Design taken Oct. 3-5 showed Taddeo in a statistical tie with Salazar, with a less than 1 percentage point advantage.
Still, Republicans are hopeful with the latest polling results.
“The rightward shift of the district has Salazar performing very well across the board. Her base is larger, and those left undecided are most focused on the economy, inflation, and national security — all issues that will push these voters Salazar’s way,” Cygnal President and Founder Brent Buchanan said.
___
With her eye on protecting reproductive freedom in Florida, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is using her newly formed political committee, “Won’t Back Down,” to support an inaugural slate of 20 pro-choice female candidates.
Fried launched the Won’t Back Down Political Committee last month. As of Oct. 7, the committee raised $35,000, including $25,000 from Fried’s committee, Florida Consumers first.
Nikki Fried wants to ensure qualified female candidates are not left behind. Image via AP.
The endorsements include federal, state and local candidates. Each will receive financial and earned media support from the newly created political committee, according to a news release from the group.
“When I ran in 2018, I made a promise that I would never back down from a fight. Over the last four years, I’ve been doing exactly that — defending our rights and fighting for our freedoms. Won’t Back Down will work tirelessly to ensure that the next line of qualified candidates aren’t left behind, and that they have the organizational support willing to step up and make sure that they are competitive and successful,” Fried said in a statement.
Endorsed candidates include:
— U.S. Rep. Val Demings — U.S. Senate
— Aramis Ayala — Attorney General
— Naomi Blemur — Agriculture Commissioner
— Loranne Ausley — State Senate District 3
— Sen. Janet Cruz — State Senate District 14
— Eunic Ortiz — State Senate District 18
— Raquel Pacheco — State Senate District 36
— Janelle Perez — State Senate District 38
— Rep. Kristen Arrington — State House District 46
— Lindsay Cross — State House District 60
— Janet Varnell Warwick — State House District 61
— Rep. Michele Rayner Goolsby — State House District 62
— Rep. Kelly Skidmore — State House District 92
— Hillary Cassel — State House District 101
— Rep. Marie Woodson — State House District 105
— Donna Deegan — Mayor, Jacksonville
— Allison Miller — State Attorney, 6th Judicial Circuit
— Donna Korn — Broward School Board, Seat 8
— Yvette DuBose — Ft. Lauderdale City Commission, District 3
— Michelle McGovern — Palm Beach County Commission, District 6
___
Richard Corcoran holds court this weekend at the 25th Annual Phil Galvano Golf Classic at The Resort at Longboat Key Club.
— SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —
—@FEMA_Deanne: This afternoon I saw firsthand the critical work our team is doing to help jump-start Floridian’s recovery at a Disaster Recovery Center in Sarasota County. Over 41,000 survivors have registered for disaster assistance in this county alone.
Tweet, tweet:
Glad to see that Two Meatballs in the Kitchen — Cape Coral is back open for business after #HurricaneIan.
Make sure to stop by: https://t.co/muQFTxduGO pic.twitter.com/qXu5GyX1Dz
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 15, 2022
—@MarkGlaeser4: Nine active 2020 voter fraud cases in five FL counties have hearings this week.
—@ESPNStatsInfo: The New York Yankees were 167-0 in postseason history when leading by multiple runs entering the ninth inning — until tonight.
—@SteveLemongello: I’m starting to think giving baseball teams byes and having them sit around for a week was a bad idea
— DAYS UNTIL —
NBA season tips off — 1; Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ release — 4; the Gubernatorial General Election debate — 7; Florida Chamber Annual Meeting & Future of Florida Forum — 98; Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Passenger’ releases — 8; Jon Meacham’s ‘And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle’ releases — 8; City & State Florida Digital Summit — 10; Early voting begins for General Election — 12; 2022 General Election — 22; ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ premieres — 25; ‘Captain Marvel 2′ premieres — 25; FITCon 2022 begins — 31; ‘The Flash’ premieres — 31; The World Cup kicks off in Qatar — 35; The U.S. World Cup Soccer Team begins play — 38; Florida TaxWatch’s Annual Meeting begins — 47; ‘Willow’ premieres on Disney+ — 47; 2022 Florida Chamber Annual Insurance Summit — 49; McCarthy’s ‘Stella Maris’ releases — 50; ‘Avatar 2’ premieres — 60; final Broadway performance of ‘The Music Man’ with Hugh Jackman — 76; Bruce Springsteen launches his 2023 tour in Tampa — 107; ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ premieres — 123; final performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ on Broadway — 124; 2023 Legislative Session convenes — 141; ‘John Wick: Chapter 4′ premieres — 158; American Association of Political Consultants Pollies ’23 conference begins — 183; 2023 Session Sine Die — 200; ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ premieres — 200; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ premieres — 228; Christopher Nolan’s ‘Oppenheimer’ premieres — 277; ‘Dune: Part Two’ premieres — 382; ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Part 2 premieres — 529; ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ premieres — 585; Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games — 648; ‘Thunderbolts’ premieres — 648; ‘Blade’ reboot premieres — 690; ‘Deadpool 3’ premieres — 753; ‘Fantastic Four’ reboot premieres — 851; ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ premieres — 928. ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ premieres — 1,117.
— TOP STORY —
“‘You have my full support’: Top Ron DeSantis aides played key roles in migrant flights” via Nicholas Nehamas, Sarah Blaskey and Mary Ellen Klas — New public records show top DeSantis aides played key roles in planning and executing Florida’s controversial migrant flight program. While the program was carried out by a private contractor, the new records show the deep involvement of Larry Keefe, DeSantis’ public safety czar, and James Uthmeier, his chief of staff, in an operation that has led to at least one criminal investigation and several lawsuits.
The records suggest Keefe traveled to Texas to oversee the program.
Operatives working for the state recruited migrants in San Antonio, offering them free flights to Martha’s Vineyard with misleading promises, saying jobs and aid would be waiting for them...
Pound Rises As Chancellor Moves To Reassure Markets
Pound Rises As Chancellor Moves To Reassure Markets https://digitalalaskanews.com/pound-rises-as-chancellor-moves-to-reassure-markets/
Image source, PA Media
The pound rose on Monday following the news that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is to make a statement later, fast-tracking tax and spending measures in an attempt to reassure the markets.
Sterling gained 1% to trade around $1.13 in morning trading.
On Friday, Prime Minister Liz Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor and said the mini-budget “went further and faster than markets were expecting”.
The mini-budget was blamed for causing turmoil in the financial markets.
The pound slumped to a record low of $1.03 and UK government bond prices also fell sharply in the wake of Mr Kwarteng’s announcements on 23 September.
The UK government bond market is due to reopen at 08:00 BST (07:00 GMT). It will be the first time since the Bank of England ended its emergency support programme on Friday.
“The chancellor will make a statement later today, bringing forward measures from the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan that will support fiscal sustainability,” a Treasury spokesman said.
It is the latest of a series of U-turns on policies announced in the mini-budget.
The announcement of the £18bn U-turn on corporation tax on Friday and the firing of Mr Kwarteng did not appear to reassure investors, with UK government borrowing costs climbing on Friday afternoon.
Investors warned that whatever Mr Hunt announces will need to “add up”.
“I think you’ll see a positive reaction to the statement, assuming that the math adds up a bit more than it did before,” Shanti Kelemen, chief investment officer at M&G Wealth, told the BBC.
“What we saw on Friday, was we had markets rise in in the lead up to the news the news that Kwarteng was resigning, but then as soon as it happened, we had a sell off afterwards.
“So I think it’ll be important that the actual content of what’s being delivered adds up and has some more meat and numbers behind it than what we’ve seen previously.”
The Bank of England stepped in to stabilise the financial markets following the mini-budget, announcing an emergency bond-buying scheme.
Ms Kelemen said that the latest moves from the chancellor showed he acknowledged the government’s role in reassuring the markets.
“They’ve recognised that the uncertainty is damaging the economy,” she said.
“You also see the Bank of England won’t be supporting markets this week. So I think it shows the government is taking a bit more responsibility rather than relying on the Bank of England to buy all the debt.”
The shift in the government’s economic policies and market turmoil in recent weeks has led to Goldman Sachs downgrading its forecasts for UK economic growth.
The investment bank revised its 2023 UK economic output forecast from a 0.4% drop to a 1% contraction.
Goldman said it expected a “more significant recession in the UK” in part due to “significantly tighter financial conditions” and the planned higher corporation tax rate from next April.
Consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics said the prime minister’s decision to appoint Mr Hunt as chancellor had “done little to shrink the risk premium embedded in UK assets”.
“Households and businesses, therefore, are still facing a huge increase in their borrowing costs,” their analysts said.
They added the forthcoming real-terms reduction in government spending looked “set to be bigger than in the 2010s”.
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WATCH: Jeremy Hunt – Hard decisions ahead
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Oil Climbs On China's Fuel Demand Recovery Hopes https://digitalalaskanews.com/oil-climbs-on-chinas-fuel-demand-recovery-hopes/
Oct 17 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Monday after China rolled over liquidity measures to help its pandemic-hit economy, igniting hopes for a better fuel demand outlook from the world’s top crude importer.
Brent crude futures rose 81 cents, or 0.88%, to $92.44 a barrel by 0642 GMT, recovering from a 6.4% fall last week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $86.33 a barrel, up 72 cents, or 0.84%, after a 7.6% decline last week.
China’s central bank rolled over maturing medium-term policy loans while keeping the interest rate unchanged for a second month on Monday.
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Analysts said the full rollover is a signal that the central bank would continue to maintain loose monetary policy. read more
The country also vowed to greatly increase domestic energy supply capacity and step up risk controls in key commodities including coal, oil and gas, and electricity, a senior National Energy Administration official said on Monday.
China will further increase reserve capacities for key commodities, another state official told a news conference in Beijing. read more
Oil found support from a combination of factors, including Chinese President Xi Jinping’s comments at the Party Congress that reassured accommodative policies for the economy, a positive sign for demand outlook, CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said. read more
China is expected to release trade and economic data this week. Although its third-quarter GDP growth could rebound from the previous quarter, President Xi’s stringent COVID-19 policy has the world’s No. 2 economy facing what will most likely be its worst performing year in almost half a century. read more
Looking ahead, oil prices are expected to remain volatile as production cuts by OPEC+ will tighten supplies ahead of the European Union embargo on Russian oil, while a strong U.S. dollar and further interest rate increases from the U.S. Federal Reserve limit price gains.
St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Friday inflation had become “pernicious” and difficult to arrest, and warranted continued “frontloading” through larger increases of three-quarters of a percentage point. read more
Member states of the Organization of the Production Exporting Countries and their allies, including Russia, lined up on Sunday to endorse the steep production cut agreed to this month after the White House, stepping up a war of words with Saudi Arabia, accused Riyadh of coercing other nations into supporting the move. read more
OPEC+ pledged on Oct. 5 to cut output by 2 million barrels per day, which will lead to an actual drop of about 1 million bpd as some members are already producing below their targets.
Despite this, top exporter Saudi Arabia will keep exports to key Asia markets steady in November.
“Tighter inventories for oil and oil products along with looming supply risks should keep prices volatile,” analysts at ANZ Research said in a note.
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Reporting by Mohi Narayan in New Delhi and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Gerry Doyle
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Zee Hindustan Hosts The Second Edition Of Education Excellence 2022 Event: Best Media Info
Zee Hindustan Hosts The Second Edition Of ‘Education Excellence 2022’ Event: Best Media Info https://digitalalaskanews.com/zee-hindustan-hosts-the-second-edition-of-education-excellence-2022-event-best-media-info/
The event acknowledged and recognised the significant contribution of educators in encouraging students towards fulfilling their dreams, achieving excellence in career and building a bright future in India
Zee Hindustan, a part of news network of Zee Media, recently hosted the second edition of ‘Education Excellence 2022’.
The second edition of the event which acknowledged and recognised the significant contribution of educators in encouraging students towards fulfilling their dreams, achieving excellence in career and building a bright future in India was hosted on October 14.
The event brought together people from different walks of life – professors, thought leaders, and policymakers. Interesting panel discussions emphasising on ‘Syllabus – for Education or Politics’, ‘Job ready Education v/s Certification-ready education’ and ‘New Education Policy effective or ineffective’, provided the audience with a unique perspective on education, career growth and economic development.
Pioneers of the education field also emphasised on the implementation of education policy, knowledge-based education, how education can help in providing a right direction to society, the importance of advanced value-added courses, and entrepreneurship, through a strategic approach and innovation.
Shamsher Singh, the Managing Editor of Zee Hindustan and Guest of Honour – Yogesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor- Delhi University, emphasised on the changing phase of education, the significant role of education in the lives of the citizens, and potential opportunities.
Shamsher Singh said, “Educators have contributed immensely to the field of education. The entire team of Zee Hindustan truly appreciates the dedicated years and efforts put in by our educators toward the career growth of every individual. This makes it our responsibility to give them a national recognition and acknowledgment to Educators- the true pillars of our society.”
The event was graced by Niranjan Kumar, Dean – Delhi University; AK Bhagi, President DUTA; Govind Singh, Dean- IIMC; Suborno Bose, Founder, and Chief Mentor, Rishi Pal Chauhan, President- Jiva Institute and MD Jiva Group; Kaushik Sarkar, Deputy Director – Sister Nivedita University; Shri Prakash Singh, Director – South Campus; AP Garg, VC Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology; Bijay Laxami Nanda, Principal – Miranda House; Rama Sharma, Principal – Hansraj College; V K Paliwal, Principal- Dayal Singh College; Mamta Sharma, Principal- Aditi Mahavidyalaya, and RN Dubey, Principal – BR Ambedkar College.
The event was presented by LIC and co-powered by Mother Dairy and SBI. Dainik Jagran was the print partner for Zee Hindustan’s second edition of Education Excellence 2022.
Info@BestMediaInfo.com
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Thousands Evacuated In Washington State As 66 Large Fires Burn In U.S.
Thousands Evacuated In Washington State As 66 Large Fires Burn In U.S. https://digitalalaskanews.com/thousands-evacuated-in-washington-state-as-66-large-fires-burn-in-u-s/
Firefighters in Ramsey Crossing, California, tackling the Mosquito Fire on Sept. 15. The biggest fire in California this year has burned nearly 76,800 acres and has been active for 39 days, but it’s now 95% contained. Photo: Eric Thayer/Getty Images
Authorities in southwest Washington ordered evacuations for thousands of homes as a wind-driven wildfire rapidly grew on Sunday.
The big picture: There’s an unusually high number of wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest, Intermountain West and Canada, as much of the Western United States faces “above normal temperatures and minimum relative humidity,” per the National Inter Agency Fire Center.
Photo: National Weather Service Seattle/Twitter
There are “record high temperatures, dry weather, wildfire concerns and air quality issues across the Pacific Northwest continues,” according to the National Weather Service.
By the numbers: Washington’s Nakia Creek Fire, near Camas, east of Vancouver, which prompted Sunday’s evacuation orders is one of 66 large fires in the U.S., according to the NIFC.
The Clark Emergency Services Agency expanded evacuation zones in response to the fire Sunday, affecting 35,000-40,000 homes, KGW reports.
Zoom in: Smoke from that Washington wildfire in eastern Clark County that’s razed some 2,000 acres was “visible throughout the metropolitan area that Vancouver shares with Portland, Oregon,” AP notes.
An air quality advisory remained in place for Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in southwestern British Columbia due to wildfires in Washington and Canada, per a Metro Vancouver tweet Sunday evening.
Photo: BC Wildfire Service/Twitter
Zoom out: 24 large fires were burning in Idaho, 22 in Montana, 13 in Washington and five in Oregon on Sunday, per NIFC data.
California and South Dakota each reported one large fire.
Context: Scientific research shows climate change is a key factor in wildfire risk.
Much of the U.S. West is in the grip of a climate change-driven drought, which has exacerbated fire risk, per Axios’ Andrew Freedman.
What we’re watching: “An upper ridge indicative of anomalous warmth will move across the Northwest over the next several days, in stark contrast to the cold in the eastern two-thirds of the country,” per a National Weather Service outlook update on Sunday night.
“Highs in the 70s and 80s in the Pacific Northwest will be 15-25 degrees above average, and potentially record setting through midweek,” the NWS added.
Editor’s note: This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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