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Oil Falls More Than 2% On Demand Fears And Strong Dollar https://digitalarkansasnews.com/oil-falls-more-than-2-on-demand-fears-and-strong-dollar/ Crude oil storage tanks are seen in an aerial photograph at the Cushing oil hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, U.S. April 21, 2020. REUTERS/Drone Base Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Strong dollar weighs as Fed rate decision looms Supply concerns limit decline Easing COVID-19 restrictions in China could lend support LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Oil fell by more than 2% on Monday, pressured by expectations of weaker global demand and by U.S. dollar strength ahead of possible large increases to interest rates, though supply worries limited the decline. Central banks around the world are certain to increase borrowing costs to tame high inflation this week and there is some risk of a blowout 1 percentage point rise by the U.S. Federal Reserve. “The upcoming Fed meeting and the strong dollar are keeping a lid on prices,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Brent crude for November delivery fell $2.29, or 2.5%, to $89.06 a barrel by 1135 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for October dropped $1.87, or 2.2%, to $83.24. A British public holiday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth was expected to limit activity on Monday. read more Oil also came under pressure from hopes of an easing of Europe’s gas supply crisis. German buyers reserved capacity to receive Russian gas via the shut Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but this was later revised and no gas has been flowing. read more Crude has soared this year, with the Brent benchmark coming close to its record high of $147 in March after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated supply concerns. Worries about weaker economic growth and demand have since pushed prices lower. The U.S. dollar stayed near a two-decade high ahead of this week’s decisions by the Fed and other central banks. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive for holders of other currencies and tends to weigh on oil and other risk assets. The market has also been pressured by forecasts of weaker demand, such as last week’s prediction by the International Energy Agency that there would be zero demand growth in the fourth quarter. read more Despite those demand fears, supply concerns kept the decline in check. “The market still has the start of European sanctions on Russian oil hanging over it. As supply is disrupted in early December, the market is unlikely to see any quick response from U.S. producers,” ANZ analysts said. Easing COVID-19 restrictions in China, which had dampened the outlook for demand in the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, could also provide some optimism, the analysts said. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Additional reporting by Florence Tan and Jeslyn Lerh Editing by David Goodman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Little Rock Nonprofit Aims To Standardize Climate Benefits For Farmers https://digitalarkansasnews.com/little-rock-nonprofit-aims-to-standardize-climate-benefits-for-farmers/ Farmers may soon have a way to get paid out of thin air, or rather what they don’t put into thin air. What’s happening: Little Rock nonprofit Winrock International will lead a $20 million pilot project to develop a standardized climate-impact reporting platform for farmers. It’ll be tested through suppliers to Arkansas’ Riceland Foods and the Intertribal Agriculture Council of Montana. The platform is one of 70 climate-smart projects valued at $2.8 billion announced by the USDA last week. Why it matters: It’s estimated that agriculture contributes about 11% of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., or about 24% globally. While farmers have been adopting more climate-friendly practices in recent years, they lack a standard mechanism to record and capitalize their good works, Winrock’s Mary Grady told Axios. How it works: Grady leads Winrock’s American Carbon Registry, the first private voluntary greenhouse gas (GHG) registry. The new online registry will use standardized USDA data so when a farmer reports planting a cover crop on 50 acres, they’ll get the same credit as a peer down the road. Credits will accumulate into GHG certificates that can be issued and tracked. A farmer will be able to sell those — much like a carbon offset — or they can package certificates with their commodity when sold, effectively giving the buyer and the buyer’s buyer — Tyson Foods or Walmart, for example — credit that can be applied to corporate emissions goals. What they’re saying: “Our objective is to reduce the cost burden on farmers to adopt a wide variety of climate-smart practices and to streamline the verification of climate results,” Grady said in a news release. “The project will demonstrate how markets can deliver value directly to farmers by putting them in the driver’s seat,” Grady added. Support local journalism by becoming a member. Learn more More NW Arkansas stories No stories could be found Get a free daily digest of the most important news in your backyard with Axios NW Arkansas. Support local journalism by becoming a member. Learn more Read More…

Police Searching For Car After Parking Deck Shootout Leaves 1 Dead, 2 Injured In Atlanta https://digitalarkansasnews.com/police-searching-for-car-after-parking-deck-shootout-leaves-1-dead-2-injured-in-atlanta/ ATLANTA — An overnight shootout in an Atlanta parking deck has left one person dead, police say. According to Atlanta police, they were called to a parking deck at the Berkeley Heights apartment complex on Northside Drive just before 1 a.m. When they arrived, officers found three people near the fourth floor of the deck who had been shot. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Channel 2′s Darryn Moore spoke with investigators on the scene who told him that one man had died and two more were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital with gunshots to the leg. Investigators say they believe an argument started in the parking deck between a father and son and the man who died that ended with both sides firing at one another. It is unclear what started the argument or who fired first. The father and son are said to be in their 40s and between the ages of 18 and 22. The dead victim is said to be 20 years old. None of their identities have been released. Witnesses told police they saw a silver sedan leaving the parking deck shortly after the shooting. Police are still working to find that vehicle and its driver. TRENDING STORIES: Longtime manager of Atlanta rapper Ludacris facing murder charges after shooting outside restaurant Georgia grandmother talks about finding bag of cash in her KFC drive-thru order Semi-truck driver charged after deadly multi-car crash on GA-400 Detectives say they were able to recover several guns and shell casings in the parking deck. Investigators are still working to learn what triggered the violence. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] IN OTHER NEWS: Non emergency calls increasing delay in response times, Atlanta 911 dispatch center says ©2022 Cox Media Group Read More Here

Analysis | Why Elise Stefanik May Be Moving Up By Moving Down https://digitalarkansasnews.com/analysis-why-elise-stefanik-may-be-moving-up-by-moving-down/ Good morning, Early Birds. Frank Zappa, John Denver and Dee Snider of Twisted Sister testified before the Senate Commerce Committee 37 years ago today. “A circus atmosphere pervaded the Russell Senate Office Building, with rock fans and foes angling for the few available seats,” The Post reported at the time. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for waking up with us. In today’s edition …  Reps. Cheney and Lofgren preview their Electoral Count Act bill … Trail Mix: Colby Itkowitz on voter enthusiasm and the Pennsylvania Senate race … What we’re watching: The CR … Rachel Siegel writes that supersized rate hikes are the Fed’s new normal … but first … Why Elise Stefanik didn’t run for whip Ambitious politicians don’t often seek a demotion. But that’s basically what Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) did last week when she announced she would run again for the position of House Republican conference chair. If Republicans retake the House, as they expect to, that position would move down a peg from the No. 3 spot in House GOP leadership to No. 4 in the hierarchy because the party would pick up the speakership. But this may be a case in which moving down would be a way for Stefanik to move up in the party in the near future. She is sure to be on the VP shortlist for 2024 or among the contender for a top Cabinet post if Republicans win the White House. Former president Donald Trump, who will be the early front-runner for the nomination if he runs, is a big fan. Her ascent in the party could be harder if she ran for and won the competitive race to be House majority whip, the No. 3 spot if Republicans win the House, because of the messy nature of the job. Stefanik made her decision based, in part, on the likelihood she would easily secure the conference chair position and due to the responsibilities that come with it, said a person close to Stefanik, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe her private deliberations. As conference chair Stefanik could continue to be a messaging machine/conservative media presence in a way that pleases the party’s base — and she wouldn’t become too entangled in trying to govern what will likely be an unruly GOP majority if the party takes back the House. Should Republicans defy expectations and fail to reclaim the chamber, Stefanik can stay on as conference chair or rethink what position she wants, or doesn’t want. Whip vs. conference chair Whips spend their time deep in the weeds, devoted to member needs with one goal in mind: securing the votes to advance the party’s agenda. The conference chair is House Republicans’ chief communicator and, depending on officeholders’ ambitions, can be an effective springboard for a high-profile job outside the House. Former conference chairs include former vice president Mike Pence, former vice president Dick Cheney and former housing and urban development secretary Jack Kemp. Stefanik became conference chair in May 2021, succeeding Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was ousted because she continued to warn that the falsehoods Trump was spreading about his election loss were a danger to American democracy. When she arrived in the House in 2015, Stefanik had a reputation as a moderate. But she began shedding that image during Trump’s first impeachment. She has blown it out of the water since becoming conference chair, using the position to appeal to the party’s MAGA base and quickly proving her allegiance to Trump and his followers. She has aggressively defended the former president regardless of scandal or controversy and has relentlessly attacked Democrats on issues such as immigration, crime, education and inflation. She has been rewarded with Trump’s trust and access. They speak regularly. “Trump has encouraged Stefanik to run again, and he is very happy with the job she’s done,” said the person source close to Stefanik. Democrats as well as Republicans opposed to Trump have criticized Stefanik’s turn from moderate to someone who has embraced the “Ultra MAGA” label Democrats use as an insult. But she’s shown no signs of turning back. There was also no guarantee Stefanik would win the crowded and competitive race for whip. Three candidates — Reps. Drew Ferguson (R-Ga.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) — have already made it known to their colleagues they are running. Stefanik officially announced a run for conference chair last week, hours after freshman Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, announced he would seek the position.  Team Stefanik believes she has the race locked up, already solidifying two-thirds of the conference and has the support of Republican leadership. “If Elise gets it, that’s fine,” said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Freedom Caucus who is backing Donalds. The whip job: politically treacherous The job of whip could have diluted Stefanik’s MAGA bona fides. A House majority is responsible for governing, including funding the government. The whip will have to balance the disparate factions of the party, including many on the right who oppose all government funding bills and those in the center from swing districts. “It’s going to be a really, really difficult job,” one senior Republican aide said of the whip position next year (if Republicans are in control of the House). As conference chair, “you’re just lobbing bombs at the administration.” Not a bad place to be if you have ambitions outside the House. Reps. Cheney and Lofgren preview their Electoral Count Act bill It’s quite possible the House votes this week on legislation to change the Electoral Count Act, the 1887 law that governs the certification of the presidential election. Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), the House Administration Committee’s chairwoman, and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) previewed their bill in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal Sunday night. “This week we will propose reforms to the Electoral Count Act to protect the rule of law and ensure that future efforts to attack the integrity of presidential elections can’t succeed,” they wrote. Here are some of the details, according to their op-ed: “The vice president (who acts as presiding officer for a joint session of Congress in a presidential election) has no authority or discretion to reject official state electoral slates, to delay the count in any material way, or to issue procedural rulings that have such an effect.” Congressional objections “would require one-third of each chamber to be entertained and majority votes to be sustained.” “Governors must transmit lawful election results to Congress.” “Federal law must make clear that the rules governing an election can’t change after the election has occurred.” The House Rules Committee is holding a meeting on the ECA Tuesday, a sign a floor vote is possible. The Senate Rules Committee announced they are marking up the Senate bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), a week from Tuesday. How much does enthusiasm matter? The tale of the Pennsylvania Senate race. Colby Itkowitz has been traveling Pennsylvania and zeroing in on some of the most important races in November’s elections. She files this week’s Trail Mix. In late May, days before Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman suffered a stroke that sidelined him from the campaign trail for most of the summer, I spent a little time with him ahead of the Democratic Senate primary at events he held in traditionally Republican areas outside of Pittsburgh. It didn’t take long to see that Fetterman was generating a lot of energy among voters who felt inspired by the nearly six-foot-nine, bald, goateed man in a sweatshirt and cargo shorts. Fetterman faced a Democratic congressman, Conor Lamb, straight out of central casting — a polished, clean-cut, ideological centrist, handpicked by the party establishment to run in one of the most consequential races for deciding the balance of power in Washington. Back then, things were not looking good for Democrats in the midterms. This was several weeks before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, when gas prices were still devastating family budgets and President Biden’s approval ratings hovered around 41 percent. But the Democrats at these Fetterman events were displaying a sort of enthusiasm often reserved for presidential elections. From my conversations with voters, it didn’t surprise me when Fetterman won his primary with nearly 60 percent of the vote. By contrast, Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, won a bruising GOP primary by less than 1,000 votes, helped by an endorsement from former president Donald Trump, whose supporters still booed Oz at a MAGA rally. I went to my first Oz event earlier this month in suburban Philadelphia and what I found was a still very skeptical GOP electorate. The voters in attendance were still not completely sold on Oz, though they were sure they’d be voting against Fetterman. Over and over, voters would say how important it was for a Republican to win, but when asked about Oz specifically, they’d hedge saying they didn’t know much about him. Polls back this up. A Franklin & Marshall College poll released in late August found 76 percent of registered Democrats supporting Fetterman and 62 percent of registered Republicans supporting Oz. Fetterman was viewed favorably by 43 percent of voters, while Oz was viewed favorably by 27 percent. Overall, the poll showed Fetterman up over Oz 43 percent to 30 percent. The race is already showing signs of tightening as both campaigns and outside groups pour millions into one of the most-watched races of the midterms. But what I’m watching as I continue to talk to Pennsylvanians over these next several weeks is whether the enthusiasm gap between the two men persists, whether Oz can overcome it i...

REUTERS WORLD NEWS: Queen Elizabeth's Funeral, Ukraine Latest, Quake Hits Taiwan, Japan Typhoon, More – The St Kitts Nevis Observer https://digitalarkansasnews.com/reuters-world-news-queen-elizabeths-funeral-ukraine-latest-quake-hits-taiwan-japan-typhoon-more-the-st-kitts-nevis-observer/ Read More Here A man sits in front of a destroyed building in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, September 18, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed there would be no let-up in fighting to regain territory lost to Russia as Kyiv said its troops had advanced to the eastern bank of the Oskil River, threatening Russian occupation forces in the Donbas. Here’s what you need to know about the conflict right now. President Joe Biden said that his predecessor Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents was “totally irresponsible” but that he is staying out of the investigation. Seeing the classified documents turned up by an FBI search of Trump’s Florida residence at Mar-a-Lago caused Biden to wonder “how anyone can be that irresponsible,” he said in an interview on CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ program. In the same interview, Biden said that “the pandemic is over,” even though the country continues to grapple with coronavirus infections that kill hundreds of Americans daily. He also said U.S forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, his most explicit statement so far on the issue. A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the sparsely populated southeastern part of Taiwan, the island’s weather bureau said, derailing train carriages, causing a convenience store to collapse and trapping hundreds on mountain roads. Typhoon Nanmadol brought ferocious winds and record rainfall to parts of Japan, as one of the biggest storms to hit the country in years killed at least one person, disrupted transport and forced some manufacturers to suspend operations. Hurricane Fiona left most of Puerto Rico without power, causing catastrophic flooding and landslides on the island before barreling toward the Dominican Republic, a government agency said. Iranian police said the death of a young woman in custody was an “unfortunate incident” which they do not want to see repeated, a semi-official news agency reported. Mahsa Amini, 22, fell into a coma and died following her arrest in Tehran last week by the morality police, sparking demonstrations against the authorities across the country. Afghanistan’s Taliban freed American engineer Mark Frerichs in exchange for an Afghan tribal leader linked to the Taliban who the United States had held on drugs charges since 2005, the group’s acting foreign minister said.

Voting Laws Are Changing. Here's How They Look In Your State https://digitalarkansasnews.com/voting-laws-are-changing-heres-how-they-look-in-your-state/ (NewsNation) — As the November midterm election draws near, voters in several states will be subjected to new laws dictating who, where, and how people may cast their ballots. Proposed voting legislation took off after the most recent presidential election, following former President Donald Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and widespread voter fraud. Below is a look at voting practices in each state and how today’s political climate is shaping election laws. Vote-by-mail Thirty-five states and Washington, D.C. allow voters to cast absentee mail-in ballots without an excuse. Eight states automatically mail a ballot to every eligible voter even if it isn’t requested, although there may still be an option to vote in person. In the early days of American democracy, people would cast their votes out loud on the courthouse steps, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Paper ballots didn’t become commonplace until the late 19th century. The use of mail-in ballots came under fire during the 2020 presidential election, after the former president claimed an “unprecedented massive amount of unsolicited ballots” would mean the election results “may never be accurately determined.” Voter fraud has proved exceedingly rare. The Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 ranked the risk of ballot fraud at 0.00004% to 0.0009%, based on studies of past elections. Last year, a federal judge struck down portions of a Florida election law that the judge said suppressed Black voters. The law tightened rules on mailed ballots, drop boxes and other popular election methods — changes that made it more difficult for Black voters who, overall, have more socioeconomic disadvantages than white voters, the judge said in his ruling. Ballot drop-off box Some states provide ballot drop boxes where voters can submit a sealed and signed envelope with their ballot — a practice that became more common in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-three states have specific laws regulating drop-box locations, how many are in each county, hours of operation and security measures. Additionally, 31 states allow someone to return an absentee or mail ballot on behalf of a voter. Those practices were recently challenged in Wisconsin, where a conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled in July that absentee ballot drop boxes may be placed only in election offices and that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person. Republicans have argued that practice — known as ballot harvesting — is rife with fraud, although there has been no evidence of that happening in Wisconsin. Democrats and others argue that many voters, particularly the elderly and disabled, have difficulty returning their ballots without the assistance of others. Supporters argue drop boxes are a better option than mailing ballots because they go directly to the clerks and can’t be lost or delayed in transit. Voter registration In the U.S., all but one state require citizens to register to vote. North Dakota is the only one without a requirement and instead allows eligible citizens to vote with proper identification. In Wisconsin, a conservative law firm is challenging the use of a federal voter registration form, saying it doesn’t meet the requirements laid out by state law. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty recently filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare the National Mail Voter Registration Application illegal in the state and order the Wisconsin Election Commission to withdraw its approval for the form because it doesn’t include places to fill in information including whether a voter has been convicted of a felony and how long they have lived in their district. Many states are required by federal law to use the form, which is provided by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, but Wisconsin isn’t subject to such an obligation because the state allows voters to register at the polls on Election Day. Residents can also register online, at their municipal clerk’s office or by mail with a state form, which is available in English, Spanish and Hmong on the election commission’s website. Photo Identification Eighteen states had voter photo identification laws in effect as of this spring, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and 19 states had identification laws that accepted proof other than photos. Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia have some of the most strict photo ID requirements. In Missouri, two groups are challenging a new election law requiring a photo ID to vote. The Missouri League of Women Voters and the Missouri NAACP are suing the state, claiming the law restricts voting rights, NewsNation’s local affiliate KOLR reported. The Missouri law allows people without a government-issued ID (not a voter registration card or student ID) to cast a provisional ballot. That ballot would be counted if they return to the polling location later that day to show a photo ID or their a election official can verify the voter’s signature. Those opposed to the requirement have said getting a state photo ID isn’t always easy and cited concerns about voters’ provisional ballots being deemed insufficient. They also argue the new law is a barrier that disproportionately affects voters of color, seniors, voters with disabilities, young voters, and low-wage workers. Proponents for the measure say it helps prevent in-person voter impersonation and increases public confidence in the election process. Opponents say there is little fraud of this kind, and the burden on voters unduly restricts the right to vote and imposes unnecessary costs and administrative burdens on elections administrators. See The Associated Press contributed to this report. Read More Here

China Values UN Relationship Despite Human Rights Criticism https://digitalarkansasnews.com/china-values-un-relationship-despite-human-rights-criticism-3/ BEIJING (AP) — As world leaders gather in New York at the annual U.N. General Assembly, rising superpower China is also focusing on another United Nations body that is meeting across the Atlantic Ocean in Geneva. Chinese diplomats are speaking out and lobbying others at an ongoing session of the Human Rights Council to thwart a possible call for further scrutiny of what it calls its anti-extremism campaign in Xinjiang, following a United Nations report on abuses against Uyghurs and other largely Muslim ethnic groups in the western China border region. The concurrent meetings illustrate China’s divided approach to the United Nations and its growing global influence. Beijing looks to the U.N., where it can count on support from countries it has befriended and in many cases assisted financially, as a counterweight to U.S.-led blocs such as the Group of Seven, which have grown increasingly hostile toward China. “China sees the U.N. as an important forum that it can use to further its strategic interests and goals, and to reform the global order,” said Helena Legarda from the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin. While holding up the United Nations as a model of multilateralism, China rejects criticism or decisions that the ruling Communist Party sees as counter to its interests. Its diplomats struck back at the report published last month by the U.N. human rights office raising concerns about possible “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang — vowing to suspend cooperation with the office and blasting what it described as a Western plot to undermine China’s rise. China had pushed hard to block the report on Xinjiang, delaying its release for more than a year. In the end, the information did come out — but just minutes before embattled U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet left office. Like the United States, China feels a certain freedom to ignore U.N. institutions when it wants: The Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of the Human Rights Council in 2018, accusing it of anti-Israel bias. The Biden administration jumped back in this year, and has made a priority of defending Israel in the 47-member-state body. Also like the United States, China leverages its influence to get its way — effectively stymieing an investigation by the U.N.’s World Health Organization into whether China was the birthplace of the coronavirus pandemic. Ken Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, said Chinese President Xi Jinping is trying to redefine what human rights are, in part by casting economic development as a key criterion. China, Roth said, “more than any government in the past, is trying to undermine the U.N. human rights system” — by pressuring U.N. officials, retaliating against witnesses and trying to bribe governments. “One of their top priorities right now — maybe after Taiwan — is to avoid condemnation by the Human Rights Council,” Roth said. The self-governing island of Taiwan is claimed by China as its sovereign territory, an issue that the Beijing government is vociferous about internationally. Shi Yinhong, an international relations expert at Renmin University in China, said advocating for the U.N.’s role in maintaining the international order doesn’t mean that China agrees with every U.N. body, citing the COVID-19 origins study and the recent Xinjiang report. “When the U.N high commissioner for human rights issues such a report, in the eyes of China, it is the same as all organizations in the world, no matter official or private, that defames China,” Shi said. But China doesn’t want its pique toward the rights office, which falls under U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to spill over to its deepening relationship with other parts of the world body that deal with refugees, climate, the internet, satellites, world hunger, atomic weapons, energy and much more. China wields power as one of the five veto-holding members of the Security Council, helping it build relationships with the United States and others who needed China’s support for past resolutions on Iran and North Korea. That influence has diminished somewhat with the overall deterioration of U.S.-China ties, Shi said. Subsequently, both China and Russia vetoed a U.S.-backed resolution in May to impose new sanctions on North Korea. Under Xi, who came to power 10 years ago, China has expanded its U.N. involvement from primarily international development early on to political, peace and security issues, Legarda said. She noted how China has had its concepts and language worked into U.N. resolutions and used the U.N. system to promote a “Global Development Initiative” proposed by Xi in a video address to last year’s General Assembly. “This is a reflection of China’s more assertive and ambitious foreign policy under Xi,” Legarda said. China has stepped into a diplomatic void created by a lack of U.S. leadership, said Daniel Warner, a Geneva-based political analyst. Former President Donald Trump shunned many international institutions, Warner said, and successor Joe Biden has been preoccupied with domestic issues. Chinese hold the top jobs at two of the U.N.’s 18 specialized agencies: the Food and Agricultural Organization and the International Telecommunications Union, where the United States has put up a candidate to succeed outgoing chief Houlin Zhao. Chinese officials also headed the International Civil Aviation Organization and the Industrial Development Organization until last year. For China, it’s a matter of prestige as well as influence, Warner said. “The United States and the Western countries were very much involved in the initial United Nations,” he said. “China doesn’t want to have that kind of leadership. They’re not talking about liberal values, but they want to make sure that their interests are defended in the U.N. system.” Chinese diplomats spearheaded a joint statement — which it said was backed by 30 countries including Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela — that blasted “disinformation” behind the U.N. report on Xinjiang and the “erroneous conclusions” drawn in it. And China’s ambassador in Geneva said Beijing could no longer cooperate with the human rights office — without specifying how. Sarah Brooks, a China expert at the International Society for Human Rights advocacy group in Geneva, said China could hold up its funding for the office — which lately has come in at $800,000 a year, far less than Western countries that give tens of millions. Still, Brooks said it would be a “huge blow” if funding from China were to stop, in part because many countries appreciate and support the causes that Beijing helps pay for. “The optics of it are really damaging,” she said. “You have a country that says, ‘Hi, I want to be responsible, but I’m so thin-skinned … I’m still going to lash out at the organization that drafted it.’” ___ Keaten reported from Geneva. Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Chinese officials hold the top position at two U.N. agencies. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 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Smith Wins LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago In Second Start With Rival League https://digitalarkansasnews.com/smith-wins-liv-golf-invitational-chicago-in-second-start-with-rival-league/ Cameron Smith celebrates with the champion’s trophy after winning the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday in Sugar Hill, Ill. – Photo by Charles Rex Arbogast of The Associated Press SUGAR GROVE, Ill. — British Open champion Cameron Smith made his decision to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf pay off Sunday when he closed with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago. Smith was only briefly threatened in the third and final round. One of the key moments was a 10-foot par putt on the 13th hole, and neither Dustin Johnson nor Peter Uihlein could do enough to catch him. Smith won $4 million from the $20 million purse for individual play. “I think I had to prove to myself and other people that I’m still a great player, I’m still out here to win golf tournaments,” Smith said. “I didn’t have my best stuff, but I stuck tough and made some putts.” Johnson (70) and Uihlein (69) each made birdie on the par-5 18th hole at Rich Harvest Farms and tied for second, each earning $1,812,500. Johnson’s birdie enabled his team to win for the fourth straight time, which was worth an additional $750,000 for Johnson, Talor Gooch, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez. In the five events Johnson has played, he now has made just over $12.5 million. Uihlein’s team — Brooks Koepka is the captain — finished second, which was worth $375,00 for each team member. With the runner-up finish as an individual and team, Uihlein picked up nearly $2.2 million on Sunday. Smith let his short game do most of the damage. He made enough birdies on the front nine to stay in front, and hit a flop shop to a foot on the par-5 11th for another birdie. Uihlein made birdie on the 13th and looked as though he might be able to trim the deficit to one shot until Smith made his clutch par. Smith left no doubt at the end, hitting his approach over the water to 4 feet on the 17th to take a three-shot lead to the par-5 finish, and then holing an 18-foot birdie putt that gave his team a tie for third with Phil Mickelson’s team. Mickelson had his best round since joining Saudi-funded LIV Golf with a 66 and tied for eighth, his first top-10 finish in five events. Johnson is the only player from the 48-man field to have finished in the top 10 at every LIV Golf event. He was coming off a playoff victory two weeks ago outside Boston. Smith was No. 2 in the world when the 29-year-old Australian signed up with LIV Golf after the PGA Tour season ended, the highest-ranked player to join. Johnson remains one of the most significant players to sign up, a two-time major champion who was No. 1 in the world longer than any player since Tiger Woods. “He’s probably the one who you look at it feeling he’s going to be at the top of the leaderboard every week,” Smith said. “I hope he thinks the same of me, and hopefully, we can keep it going.” Sergio Garcia, criticized last week for withdrawing from the BMW PGA Championship after one round and showing up on the sideline of the Alabama-Texas football game, had a 67 and tied for fourth with Joaquin Niemann (68). The next LIV Golf event is in three weeks in Bangkok. The series does not return to America until the final team event at Trump Doral near Miami the last weekend in October. Cameron Smith hits his approach shot to the 18th green from the rough and next to a tree during the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Peter Uihlein watches his tee shot on the fourth hold during the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Cameron Smith, left, and Dustin Johnson head toward the fourth fairway during the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Cameron Smith acknowledges the crowd’s applause after wining the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament over Dustin Johnson, right, and Peter Uihlein, Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Dustin Johnson watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the final round of the LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago tournament Sunday, Sept. 18, 2022, in Sugar Hill, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) Print Headline: Smith wins LIV Golf Invitational-Chicago in second start with rival league Read More Here

Stocks Struggle, Dollar Dominant Ahead Of Central Bank Binge https://digitalarkansasnews.com/stocks-struggle-dollar-dominant-ahead-of-central-bank-binge/ The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, September 16, 2022. REUTERS/Staff/File Photo Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4 S&P 500 futures slip, Nikkei futures down Fed leads pack of central bank meetings Market leaning toward 75 bp from Fed, PBOC eases Dollar firm near multi-year highs SYDNEY/LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) – Shares slipped and the dollar firmed on Monday as investors prepared for a packed week of central bank meetings which will see borrowing costs rise globally, with the chance of a super-sized hike in the United States. Markets are fully priced for a rise in interest rates of 75 basis points from the Federal Reserve, with futures showing a 20% chance of a full percentage point. They also indicate a real chance that rates could hit 4.5% as the Fed is forced to tip the economy into recession to subdue inflation. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “Asset performance during this Fed tightening cycle is very different from the norm for other rate hike episodes,” said David Chao, a global market strategist at Invesco “Usually, the Fed tightens when the economy is thriving and most assets do well. However, most assets have suffered this time, perhaps due to the surge in inflation and abrupt policy change.” Trading was thinned on Monday with British markets closed for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, but Europe’s STOXX index (.STOXX) slid 0.5% to its lowest level in two months, dragged down by tech stocks. (.SX8P) read more MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), fell 0.6%, continuing to set new two-year lows, also hurt by declining tech stocks, (.HSTECH) S&P 500 futures dipped 0.67%, while Nasdaq futures fell 0.83%. As well as the specific rate hike, investors will be watching Fed members’ “dot plot” forecasts for rates, which are likely to be hawkish, putting the funds rate at 4-4.25% by the end of this year, and even higher next year. That risk saw two-year Treasury yields surge 30 basis points last week alone to reach the highest since 2007 at 3.92%, so making stocks look more expensive in comparison and dragging the S&P 500 down almost 5% for the week. Treasuries are not yet trading, as both Japan and Britain have public holidays, but euro zone borrowing costs edged higher, with the short-dated yields not far off their multi-year highs. MARKETS SPLIT It is not just in the U.S. that interest rate rises are expected. Most of the banks meeting this week – from Switzerland to South Africa – are expected to hike, with markets split on whether the Bank of England will go by 50 or 75 basis points. read more China’s central bank went its own way, though, and cut a repo rate by 10 basis points to support its ailing economy, leaving blue chips (.CSI300) up 0.1%. The other exception is the Bank of Japan, which has shown no sign of abandoning its uber-easy yield curve policy despite the drastic slide in the yen. read more The dollar rose 0.34 to 143.45 yen on Monday , having backed away from the recent 24-year peak of 144.99 in the face of increasingly strident intervention warnings from Japanese policymakers. The euro was 0.36% lower at $0.9978 , and sterling slipped 0.3% to $1.1390 just off Friday’s 37-year lows, with traders keeping an eye on new British finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s emergency mini-budget, expected Friday. The dollar index , which measures the currency against six counterparts, was 0.4% stronger at 110.03. “We expect the USD to keep trending higher this week to a new cyclical high above 110.8pts because of the deteriorating outlook for the world economy,” said CBA analysts in a note. The ascent of the dollar and yields has been a drag for gold, which was down 0.55% $1,666 an ounce after hitting lows not seen since April 2020 last week. Oil prices slid, pressured by the stronger dollar Brent crude fell 1.3% to $90.18. U.S. crude dropped 1.3%, to $83.97. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Wayne Cole in Sydney and Alun John in London; Editing by Sam Holmes, Christian Schmollinger and Ed Osmond Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Zelenskiy Vows No Let-Up As Ukraine Says Troops Cross Oskil River In Northeast https://digitalarkansasnews.com/zelenskiy-vows-no-let-up-as-ukraine-says-troops-cross-oskil-river-in-northeast/ Ukraine says its forces advance to eastern bank of Oskil Biden says: ‘They’re defeating Russia’ Ukraine says Russia strikes Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear plant KYIV, Sept 19 (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed there would be no let-up in Ukraine’s fight to regain its territory as Kyiv said its troops had crossed the Oskil River, preparing for an assault on Russia’s occupation forces in the eastern Donbas region. Reflecting the dramatic change in momentum since Ukrainian forces routed Russian troops earlier this month in the northeast, U.S. President Joe Biden offered his strongest prediction so far that the Ukraine would win the war. “They’re defeating Russia,” Biden said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes”. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Victory would come only when Russian forces were completely driven from Ukrainian territory, and the United States would support Ukraine “as long as it takes”, Biden said. “Russia’s turning out not to be as competent and capable as many people thought they were going to be.” Crossing the Oskil River is another important milestone in Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region. The river flows south into the Siversky Donets, which snakes through the Donbas, the main focus of Russia’s invasion. Further beyond lies Luhansk province, base for Russia’s separatist proxies since 2014 and fully in Russian hands since July after some of the war’s bloodiest battles. Ukrainian troops “have pushed across the Oskil. From yesterday, Ukraine controls the east bank”, the Ukrainian Armed Forces wrote on Telegram late on Sunday. Serhiy Gaidai, Ukrainian governor of Luhansk, wrote on Telegram: “Luhansk region is right next door. De-occupation is not far away.” Ukrainian forces swept through the Kharkiv region this month after bursting through the front line, sending thousands of Russian troops fleeing and abandoning their tanks and ammunition. In recent days, the pace of the Ukrainian advance has again slowed, but Zelenskiy said this was only because the forces were consolidating and preparing for further offensives. “Perhaps it seems to some of you that after a series of victories we now have a lull of sorts,” he said in his regular nightly address on Sunday. “But there will be no lull. There is preparation for the next series … For Ukraine must be free. All of it.” ALARM OVER NUCLEAR PLANT Ukraine accused Russian forces on Monday of shelling near the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region. A blast occurred 300 metres (yards) away from the reactors and damaged power plant buildings shortly after midnight, Ukraine’s atomic power operator Energoatom said in a statement. The reactors were not damaged and no staff were hurt, it said, publishing photographs showing a huge crater it said was caused by the blast. A boy rides his scooter past a destroyed building, as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Izium, recently liberated by Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine September 18, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas “The invaders wanted to shoot again, but they forgot what a nuclear power plant is,” Zelenskiy said in a social media post. “Russia endangers the whole world. We have to stop it before it’s too late.” The strikes could add to global concern over the potential for an atomic disaster, already elevated over the fate another Ukrainian nuclear power plant, Zaporizhzhia, captured by Russian forces near frontlines in March. Moscow has ignored international calls to withdraw and demilitarise it. Since its forces were driven out of Kharkiv, Russia has repeatedly fired at power plants, water infrastructure and other civilian targets in what Ukraine says is retaliation for defeats on the ground. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians. RUSSIAN POP DIVA OPPOSES WAR Russia’s rapid losses over the past few weeks have shaken a Kremlin public relations campaign that has never veered from the line that the “special military operation” is “going to plan”. Officially Russia announced it was moving some troops out of the Kharkiv region to regroup elsewhere. But the losses are being openly acknowledged on state television, usually by commentators calling for escalation. Alla Pugacheva, Russia’s most celebrated pop diva since the Soviet era, became by far the biggest mainstream cultural figure to oppose the war, with a post on Instagram denouncing “the death of our guys for illusory goals that are turning our country into a pariah and worsening the lives of our citizens”. Pugacheva, 73, asked to be declared a “foreign agent” – a legal definition the Russian authorities impose on Kremlin critics, including her husband, a comedian who hosted Russia’s version of “Who Wants to Be Millionaire”. Russian President Vladimir Putin met the leaders of China and India at a summit last week and acknowledged their “concerns” over the conflict, a rare nod to friction with the Asia powers he has turned to amid a total break with the West. He belittled the Ukrainian advance: “The Kyiv authorities announced that they have launched and are conducting an active counteroffensive operation,” he said with a grin at Friday’s summit. “Well, let’s see how it develops, how it ends up.” As Ukraine’s forces have advanced into formerly Russian occuped territory, they have uncovered what they describe as evidence of atrocities committed by Russian troops, including a huge mass burial site near the city of Izium. On Saturday, Zelenskiy said authorities had found a mass grave containing the bodies of 17 soldiers in Izium, some of which he said bore signs of torture. Volodymyr Kolesnyk stepped between numbered wooden crosses looking for the bodies of his aunt, his cousin and his cousin’s wife, killed in an air strike on an apartment building shortly before Izium fell to Russian forces in April. “They buried the bodies in bags, without coffins, without anything. I was not allowed here at first. (The Russians) said it was mined and asked to wait. And there was a lot of them in the woods, so it was scary to come here,” Kolesnyk told Reuters. In London, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and First Lady Olena Zelenska arrived to attend the funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. Russia was banned from the ceremony along with its ally Belarus. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by David Brunnstrom, Stephen Coates and Peter Graff; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Lincoln Feast and Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

Iran To Open Fight At UN Court To Free Billions Frozen In US https://digitalarkansasnews.com/iran-to-open-fight-at-un-court-to-free-billions-frozen-in-us/ Iran’s case to free the billions of dollars’ worth in frozen assets before the ICJ comes as hopes fade of reviving a landmark deal that sought to tame Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. Iran says the freezing of the funds breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity with the United States [Getty] Iran opens its legal battle before the UN’s top court Monday to unfreeze billions of dollars in US assets, which Washington says must go to victims of terrorist attacks blamed on Tehran. The case before the International Court of Justice comes as hopes fade of reviving a landmark deal – which former US president Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 – that sought to tame Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Tehran took Washington to the Hague-based ICJ in 2016 after the US Supreme Court ordered some $2 billion in Iranian assets to be frozen, ordering the cash to go to survivors and relatives of attacks blamed on the Islamic republic. These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut which killed 299 people including 241 US soldiers, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia which left 19 dead. Iran, however, said the freezing of the funds breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity with the United States, an agreement signed before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution severed relations between the countries. Tehran argued the United States had illegally seized Iranian financial assets and those of Iranian companies – and with Iran’s clerical regime facing economic difficulties after sanctions and runaway consumer prices, resolving the case is crucial. In turn Washington had unsuccessfully tried to disqualify the lawsuit by arguing that Iran’s “unclean hands” – a reference to Tehran’s suspected backing of terrorist groups – should disqualify its lawsuit to recover the $2 billion of assets. The US announced in October 2018 that it was pulling out of the Treaty of Amity after the ICJ in a separate case ordered Washington to lift nuclear-related sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran. The ICJ is the top court of the United Nations and was set up after World War II to resolve disputes between member states. Its rulings are binding and cannot be appealed, but it has no means of enforcing them. Monday’s hearing, to which US representatives are set to reply on Wednesday, comes as hopes fade to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the West which gives Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear programme. Former US President Donald Trump pulled out of what he called the “terrible” international nuclear agreement in 2018 and began reimposing sanctions, prompting Tehran to roll back its commitments made under the pact, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Talks have been ongoing in Vienna since April last year, aimed at restoring the agreement by lifting sanctions on Tehran once again and pushing Iran to fully honour its obligations. But European powers nine days ago raised “serious doubts” over Iran’s sincerity in seeking a nuclear agreement, adding that Tehran continued “to escalate its nuclear programme way beyond any plausible civilian justification”. The statement by France, Germany and Britain came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assessed that Iran’s latest reply on the nuclear deal is a step “backwards”. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell – who had been coordinating talks over the past year and a half – told AFP last week that negotiations were in “stalemate”. The disputes with Iran include Tehran’s insistence that the UN nuclear watchdog close a probe into three undeclared sites suspected of previous nuclear work. Read More Here

DeSantis Gets Standing Ovation Over ‘heartless’ Martha’s Vineyard Flights – Live https://digitalarkansasnews.com/desantis-gets-standing-ovation-over-heartless-marthas-vineyard-flights-live/ Related video: More Migrants Arrive In D.C. As White House Slams Republican Governors Florida governor Ron DeSantis received a standing ovation from GOP voters in Kansas when he talked about the southern border and referred to reports he instigated when he flew 50 migrants from the border to Martha’s Vineyard. “This is a crisis. It’s now getting a little bit more attention,” he said on Sunday. At another event in Wisconsin he said that the migrants crisis is an election issue for the upcoming midterm polls in November. “This border is now an issue in these elections,” Mr DeSantis said. Mr DeSantis’ statements come as lawyers for some of the migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard have called for a criminal investigation to be opened and said that the migrants were “induced to board airplanes and cross state lines under false pretences”, according to The Guardian. “Individuals, working in concert with state officials, including the Florida governor, made numerous false promises [to the migrants] – including of work opportunities, schooling for their children, and immigration assistance – in order to induce them to travel,” the lawyers said in a statement. “This cowardly political stunt has placed our clients in peril,” they added. Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists Email Please enter a valid email Please enter a valid email Password Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number First name Please enter your first name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters Last name Please enter your last name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters You must be over 18 years old to register You must be over 18 years old to register Year of birth I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent.  Read our Privacy notice You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe. Already have an account? sign in Registration is a free and easy way to support our truly independent journalism By registering, you will also enjoy limited access to Premium articles, exclusive newsletters, commenting, and virtual events with our leading journalists Email Please enter a valid email Please enter a valid email Password Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number First name Please enter your first name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters Last name Please enter your last name Special characters aren’t allowed Please enter a name between 1 and 40 characters You must be over 18 years old to register You must be over 18 years old to register Year of birth I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent.  Read our Privacy notice You can opt-out at any time by signing in to your account to manage your preferences. Each email has a link to unsubscribe. Already have an account? sign in Read More Here

Tulsa Neighbors: Obituaries For September 19 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/tulsa-neighbors-obituaries-for-september-19/ Tulsa neighbors: Obituaries for September 19 Read through the obituaries published today in Tulsa World. (18) updates to this series since 30 min ago Smith , Howard, 95. Broken Arrow, Salesman and Seaman First Class in the U.S. Navy. Died Friday, September 9. Visitation will be held Thursday… Harrison BlankenshipHarrison B. Blankenship, known by many as Benny or Bud, passed away Monday evening, September 5, 2022 in Okmulgee at 86 ye… Norman DunitzNorman L. Dunitz, M.D. died peacefully at his home on September 10, 2022. He was born to Ida and Philip Dunitz, the oldest of thr… Gary Lee MartinGary Lee Martin, 76, passed away peacefully with family on September 12, 2022. A long-term Rockwall resident, Gary was a loving… Donald Rowland Sr.Don Rowland went home to the Lord in the early morning hours of September 15, 2022. Don, the youngest of nine children, was … Thomas Ray “Tom” RussellThomas Ray Russell, beloved son, brother and husband, was born July 8, 1943 in Fort Smith, AR to Lawrence Edward &… Carolyn SpringCarolyn Louise Morgan Spring was born to Bill and Louise Morgan on July 25, 1948 in Oklahoma City. She graduated from Okmulgee H… Richard WaltersWalters, Richard A., age 78, resident of Shawnee, OK, formerly of Hobbs, NM, Sand Springs, Ok, passed away Friday, September 9,… Price-Carr, Verna Lee, 97. Coweta, homemaker. Died Tuesday, September 13. Visitation 4-6 p.m. Sunday, Brown Funeral Home and service 1 p.m. Mo… Nieto, Marilyn S. , 76. Jenks, Retired Branch Manager. Died Thursday, September 15. A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Monday, S… Barnett, Suella Ann, 76. Tulsa, homemaker. Died Monday, April 20. Celebration of Life will be 3:00 pm, Tuesday, September 27th at Floral Haven… Gillilan, Alice “Jean” Gillilan, 86. Bixby, Office manager. Died Friday, September 2. Celebration of life service at 12:30 pm on Thursday at F… Watts, Beulah, 98. Broken Arrow, Retired Aircraft Fabricator with McDonnell Douglas. Died Sunday, September 11. Visitation is Sunday, from 2-4… Bishop, Walter, 80. Bixby, Ryder Brick owner and U.S. Army veteran. Died Thursday, September 15. Services will be at 10:00am on Wednesday at L… O’Brien, Marian M., 91. Tulsa, Secretary. Died Monday, September 12. Rosary 7pm Thursday, September 22 and Memorial Mass 11am, Friday Septembe… Buenzow, Duane C., 82. Broken Arrow, Safety Manager of Propane Distribution and Army Veteran. Died Sunday, September 11. Memorial service at 2… Reading, Betty, 93. Broken Arrow, First Grade School Teacher. Died Wednesday, September 14th. Graveside services at Chapel Hill Memorial Garde… Edwards, Robert W. “Bob”, 75. Tulsa, Former owner of Prairie Window Co. Died Thursday, September 15. No service planned. Ninde Funeral | Mosai… Read More Here

Remember When Little Rock’s Razorback Twin Drive-In Burned? https://digitalarkansasnews.com/remember-when-little-rocks-razorback-twin-drive-in-burned/ (Left) Little Rock firefighters battle an inferno at the Razorback Twin Drive-In on Cantrell Road on June 18, 1981. (Right) Little Rock firefighter J.P. Ward gasps for breath while he and 17 other firefighters douse a blaze that destroyed the vacant concession stand and projection room of the Razorback Drive-In. (Democrat-Gazette archives) In 1961, the Arkansas Amusement Co. spent $250,000 to erect a sprawling new attraction for automobile users on the site of the decade-old Riverside Drive-In in Little Rock. The resulting Razorback Twin Drive-In was big when it opened in June 1962 at 2700 Cantrell Road. It had two 80-by-40-foot outdoor screens decorated with a University of Arkansas Razorbacks theme — Wild Hog and Big Red. It had 10 employees, parking for about 900 cars, and a two-story, 70-by-30-foot concession house that held a cafeteria, the projection room, public restrooms, the manager’s apartment and air-conditioned ramp-seating for 250. The 15-acre drive-in also had free patio seating, a small motor-driven merry-go-round, a chainlink-fenced playground with swings and slides, and what the trade journal Boxoffice called an “eye-catching, zig-zag enclosure.” The journal noted that the “attractive accordion-like fence of sheet metal,” painted in alternating, 4 ½-by-8-foot red-and-white sections had widely spaced V-crimps or grooves that created “a horizontal paneled effect.” (See Page 6 of the Modern Theatre section at arkansasonline.com/919box.) During ensuing decades, drive-ins fell from favor until, abandoned by fans, the Razorback Twin closed. The last in a long string of B-movies played there in September 1980. It was “Prom Night,” starring Leslie Nielsen and Jamie Lee Curtis. Tagline: “If you’re not home by midnight … you won’t be coming home!” The twin screens had been dark for nine months when arsonists attacked. Photographer Clay Carson, who shot this photo, remembers that not much seemed to be happening in the Arkansas Democrat newsroom on the afternoon of June 18, 1981, so the fire report drew him, Mark Baldwin and several other photographers. They found 18 firefighters laboring in choking smoke. Police closed a westbound lane of Cantrell for two hours during the battle. Two transients were charged with arson, and the loss was estimated at $20,000. The land was owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Little Rock, which had leased it to Bruce Burrow, a Jonesboro developer, who planned to demolish the buildings anyway. A year later construction began, and today’s Riverdale Shopping Center rose from the ashes of the drive-in. Read More…

Iran President Demands US 'guarantees' On Nuclear Deal – Iraqi News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/iran-president-demands-us-guarantees-on-nuclear-deal-iraqi-news/ Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organization leaders’ summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16, 2022 New York – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi demanded US “guarantees” it will not withdraw again from a nuclear deal if it is revived ahead of his debut visit to the United Nations. With Western hopes fading for restoration of the landmark 2015 agreement with world powers, the hardline cleric said in a US television interview that he would still back a “good deal and a fair deal” But he said: “It needs to be lasting. There needs to be guarantees.” “We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior that we have already seen from them. That is why if there is no guarantee, there is no trust,” he told CBS News’ “60 Minutes” program. Former president Barack Obama negotiated the agreement under which Iran drastically scaled back nuclear work in return for promises of sanctions relief. Three years later, Donald Trump pulled out and reimposed sweeping sanctions. President Joe Biden supports a return but Iran’s call for guarantees has become a sticking point, with the Democratic administration saying it is impossible in the US system to say what a future president would do. But Raisi said Trump’s pullout showed that US promises are “meaningless.” The parties to the 2015 deal — which also included Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia — saw it as the best way to stop the Islamic republic from building a nuclear bomb -– a goal Tehran has always denied. Raisi last year succeeded Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate who spoke to Obama by telephone while visiting New York for the United Nations. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told AFP last week that negotiations to bring Iran back into the deal are stalemated, after proposals from the parties “were converging”. In early August a senior European Union official had said progress was being made on obstacles, including guarantees the US would not again scupper a deal. Three days later Borrell presented a “final” text of an agreement. A report from the UN’s nuclear watchdog earlier this month that it was unable to certify Iran’s nuclear program as “exclusively peaceful” has complicated diplomatic efforts to revive the deal. Iran is sticking to a demand that, to revive the 2015 deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency must conclude a probe launched when the agency found traces of nuclear material at three undeclared sites. Read More Here

Iran To Open UN Fight To Free Billions Frozen In US – Iraqi News https://digitalarkansasnews.com/iran-to-open-un-fight-to-free-billions-frozen-in-us-iraqi-news/ The Hague – Iran opens its legal battle before the UN’s top court Monday to unfreeze billions of dollars in US assets, which Washington says must go to victims of terrorist attacks blamed on Tehran. The case before the International Court of Justice comes as hopes fade of reviving a landmark deal — which former US president Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 — that sought to tame Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Tehran took Washington to the Hague-based ICJ in 2016 after the US Supreme Court ordered some $2 billion in Iranian assets to be frozen, ordering the cash to go to survivors and relatives of attacks blamed on the Islamic republic. These included the 1983 bombing of a US Marine barracks in Beirut which killed 299 people including 241 US soldiers, and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia which left 19 dead. Iran, however, said the freezing of the funds breached the 1955 Treaty of Amity with the United States, an agreement signed before Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution severed relations between the countries. Tehran argued the United States had illegally seized Iranian financial assets and those of Iranian companies — and with Iran’s clerical regime facing economic difficulties after sanctions and runaway consumer prices, resolving the case is crucial. In turn Washington had unsuccessfully tried to disqualify the lawsuit by arguing that Iran’s “unclean hands” — a reference to Tehran’s suspected backing of terrorist groups — should disqualify its lawsuit to recover the $2 billion of assets.  The US announced in October 2018 that it was pulling out of the Treaty of Amity after the ICJ in a separate case ordered Washington to lift nuclear-related sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran. The ICJ is the top court of the United Nations and was set up after World War II to resolve disputes between member states. Its rulings are binding and cannot be appealed, but it has no means of enforcing them. – Stalled talks – Monday’s hearing, to which US representatives are set to reply on Wednesday, comes as hopes fade to revive a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the West which gives Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear programme. Former US President Donald Trump pulled out of what he called the “terrible” international nuclear agreement in 2018 and began reimposing sanctions, prompting Tehran to roll back its commitments made under the pact, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Talks have been ongoing in Vienna since April last year, aimed at restoring the agreement by lifting sanctions on Tehran once again and pushing Iran to fully honour its obligations. But European powers nine days ago raised “serious doubts” over Iran’s sincerity in seeking a nuclear agreement, adding that Tehran continued “to escalate its nuclear programme way beyond any plausible civilian justification.” The statement by France, Germany and Britain came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken assessed that Iran’s latest reply on the nuclear deal is a step “backwards”. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell — who had been coordinating talks over the past year and a half — told AFP last week that negotiations were in “stalemate.”  The disputes with Iran include Tehran’s insistence that the UN nuclear watchdog close a probe into three undeclared sites suspected of previous nuclear work. Read More Here

Say What You Will, This Cardinal’s Sheer Bravado Is Breathtaking https://digitalarkansasnews.com/say-what-you-will-this-cardinals-sheer-bravado-is-breathtaking/ ROME – As a writer, there are times when you just know you’re about to get into trouble, and this is one. There’s something that needs to be said out loud about Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Pope Francis’s right-hand man for charity, but even as I type these words, I realize I’m going to pay for it. Here it is nonetheless: Man, that cardinal’s got cojones. I know, I know, I could have said “hutzpah,” or “grit,” or “nerve,” or any other locution not considered off-color. Yet for anyone whose sensitivities may be offended, I remind you there are still more vulgar alternatives I could have used. Anyway, sometimes the only way to say something clearly is just to say it. To recap, the 58-year-old Krajewski is not only a Prince of the Church but he also heads the pope’s new Dicastery for the Service of Charity, which makes him, more or less, the equivalent of a cabinet member in the U.S. Imagine that the U.S. Secretary of the Interior or some such official was leading a humanitarian convoy in Ukraine, at the direct request of U.S. President Joe Biden, when it came under fire from Russian forces. She’d be swarmed by her security detail, whisked off to some impenetrable bunker and then shoved onto the first flight home, never to see the light of day again until she was in airspace considered secure. Yet when the same thing happened to Krajewski on Saturday, how did he react? Not only did he continue his schedule unfazed, as Crux’s Paulina Guzik reported yesterday, he actually went door-to-door in eastern Ukraine, an active war zone, visiting unsecured private homes in the company of a local auxiliary bishop. RELATED: Escaping gunfire, pope’s top charity official declares mass graves in Ukraine ‘real’ Granted, Krajewski had a military escort, but that really wouldn’t have mattered much had the Russians chosen to start shelling the street he was on – and bear in mind that the Russians fired cruise missiles at Odesa, one of the towns he visited, the very next day. Call such behavior what you want: Tenacity, the courage of the Gospel, foolhardiness, an adrenaline junkie seeking a fix, whatever. You still have to stand in awe at the sheer bravado of it all. This is hardly the first time that Krajewski has rushed in where angels – or, at least, more delicate souls – would fear to tread. In May 2019, Krajewski was informed that the Italian government under the direction of its hardline Interior Minister at the time, Matteo Salvini, had cut off the power at a state-owned building which had been occupied illegally for years by more than 400 otherwise homeless persons, including families with children. The idea, obviously, was to drive the squatters out by denying them electricity. Other bishops upset about the situation might have issued a statement, maybe filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to force the government to reverse course. Krajewski chose a more direct response: He got into a car and headed to the building at 10:00 at night, where he proceeded to break a police seal, open the manhole cover above an electrical junction box and turn the power back on himself. An irritated Salvini, noting that the squatters owed the state around $350,000 for electricity they’d never paid for, threatened to send Krajewski the bill. Ever defiant, the Polish prelate snapped back that he’d not only pay it, but he’d also pay whatever fine the government wanted to impose for breaking the law. (In the end, Krajewski was never charged with any crime.) Just a couple months earlier, Krajewski had raged against a different machine – in this case, Italy’s ecclesiastical establishment rather than the state. Days after Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the pope’s Vicar of Rome, had decreed all churches in the Eternal City closed due to the COVID pandemic, Krajewski went his own titular church of Santa Maria Immacolata in the city’s Esquiline neighborhood and threw open the doors to the public for prayer. “It is an act of disobedience, yes, I myself put the Blessed Sacrament out and opened my church,” Krajewski said at the time. “It did not happen under fascism, it did not happen under the Russian or Soviet rule in Poland. The churches were not closed … Home should always be open to its children.” Of course, one can argue with the wisdom of any of these actions. Turning the power back on, for instance, angered many Romans who associated that illegally occupied building with drugs, crime and squalor, and had long wanted something done about it. Italy was also the first western nation to be hit by COVID, and not all Italians were thrilled with Krajewski’s defiance of anti-pandemic precautions. Even in Ukraine, I suppose one could ask whether Krajewski’s risk-taking amounts to grandstanding, with the potential to exacerbate an already delicate political and diplomatic situation. Moreover, it should also be said that flamboyance and virtue don’t automatically correlate. Part of Donald Trump’s appeal in the US, for instance, is precisely the way he brazenly defies convention, but that hardly makes him a candidate for sainthood. Still, one has to concede that Krajewski’s conduct in Ukraine amounted to next-level nerve. He wasn’t only ignoring expectations, decorum or possible misdemeanor charges, but actual risks to life and limb. Right now, some Vatican-watchers regard Krajewski as a plausible contender to be the next pope. He’s cut from the same cloth as Pope Francis, they argue, so he’d get the progressive vote, but, because he’s Polish, at least some conservatives might regard him as doctrinally safer. Perhaps. But if this weekend has taught us anything, it probably should be that “safety,” at least in the more colloquial sense, just isn’t Krajewski’s top concern. Read More Here

Kenneth (Ken) Lesley Williams, 62, Mountain Home (Roller) https://digitalarkansasnews.com/kenneth-ken-lesley-williams-62-mountain-home-roller/ Kenneth (Ken) Lesley Williams, 62, of Mountain Home, Arkansas, passed away Friday, September 16, 2022, at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Ken was born August 30, 1960 in Ruleville, Mississippi to Curtis L. and Mildred J. (Nell) Williams. In April 1970, Ken’s parents moved the family to Gassville, Arkansas, where Ken attended Cotter Schools, and graduated in 1979. Ken married the love of his life Laura Deatherage on April 10, 1981, in Clarkridge and soon after moved to Mountain Home, where he was employed by Harold Tucker Auto Parts and soon began volunteering between the Mountain Home Fire Department and Mountain Home Police Department. As fate would have it, Ken was hired on at the Mountain Home Fire Department, full time in 1987. Later in his career he was promoted to Fire Inspector until he was appointed to Fire Chief in 2003. After 17 years as Fire Chief, Ken retired in June 2020. Ken had a love of music and racing. He raced at Midway, Flippin, and West Plains for many years. He enjoyed playing music with his younger brother and sister-in-law of the Leslie Williams Band, sometimes singing a song or two, including “Amanda” by Waylon Jennings. His family, especially his sons and grandchildren were very important to him. He loved spending time with them, taking them on the lake and river and teaching his grandson, Kenson to play guitar. There were frequent fish fry’s at Ken’s home or just sitting around the fire pit, or target practicing, enjoying not only family, but good friends as well. Any other spare time he had was spent in his shop tinkering with cars or other projects and volunteering his time to Kiwanis. Ken is survived by his wife Laura of the home, sons; Justin (Kimberly) Williams, Heath (CeeCee) Williams, grandchildren; Madison, Kenson, Kelsey, Jordan and Jaycee Williams, Kaydence Estes, and Kingston Campbell, his mother; Mildred J. (Nell) Williams, sister; Pam (Curt) Dicks, brother; Lonnie (Leslie) Williams, and several nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and cousins, one aunt and one uncle both from Mississippi. He is preceded in death by his dad; Curtis L. Williams, maternal and paternal grandparents, and brother Donnie Williams. Visitation for Mr. Ken Williams will be held at the Mountain Home Church of Christ, on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.. Following the visitation, a funeral service will be at 1:00 p.m. Arrangements are under the care of Roller Funeral Home. Click here to visit the Roller Funeral Home website and sign the guest book. WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI Read More Here

Proud Boys Memo Reveals Meticulous Planning For ‘street-Level Violence’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/proud-boys-memo-reveals-meticulous-planning-for-street-level-violence/ The document is so dowdy and formal it resembles the annual minutes of a society of tax accountants. Its index lists sections on “objectives” and “rules of engagement” and carries an “addendum” that provides recommendations for hotels and parking. On the cover, two words give a clue to the notoriety of the group that produced it: “MAGA” and “WARNING”. That and the date: 5 January 2021, the day before the US Capitol attack. What goes unsaid on the cover and is barely mentioned throughout the 23 pages is that this is the work of one of the most violent political gangs in America, the far-right street fighters who Donald Trump told to “stand back and stand by”: the Proud Boys. The document, published by the Guardian for the first time, gives a very rare insight into the meticulous planning that goes into events staged by the far-right club. The Proud Boys have been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center and are alleged to have acted as key organizers of the violent assault on the Capitol. In the wake of January 6, which has been linked to the deaths of nine people, the New York march featured in the document was called off and the strategy so fastidiously laid out was never implemented. But the document remains sharply revealing. It shows the lengths to which the Proud Boys go to prepare for potentially violent encounters and then to cover their tracks – something prosecutors have stressed but that has never been seen in the group’s own words. It exposes the militaristic structure and language the Proud Boys have adopted, and their aspiration to become the frontline vigilante force in a Trump-led America. It also provides clues as to how the group continues to spread its tentacles throughout the US despite the fact that many of its top leaders, including its national chairman, Enrique Tarrio, are behind bars awaiting trial on charges of seditious conspiracy. The purpose of the document is to provide a “strategic security plan” and call to action, summoning Proud Boys members to a pro-Trump Maga march that was scheduled for New York City on 10 January 2021. That was four days after Congress was to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election – the occasion that would be targeted by the fatal insurrection. The document was obtained from a Proud Boys member by the extremism reporter Andy Campbell as he researched his new book, We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism. The book will be published on Tuesday. Campbell shared the document with the Guardian. The author of the document is Randy Ireland, who as president of the group’s New York branch, the Hell’s Gate Bridge Chapter, is one of the most prominent Proud Boys in the US north-east. The paper was circulated through Telegram, the encrypted chat app widely used by the Proud Boys as an organizing tool, to at least nine other chapters in New York and beyond. Campbell told the Guardian the decentralized structure of the group, into what it claims are 157 active chapters in all but three states, is one of the Proud Boys’ greatest strengths, as reflected in the autonomous nature of the New York planning. “Chapter leaders like Randy can create their own events, run independently of each other,” Campbell said. “Enrique Tarrio and other leaders are in prison, but these guys are going to continue what they are doing.” ‘We will not disappoint’ The language in the planning paper is overtly militaristic. Ireland designates himself “General of Security Detail”, while his underlings in the chain of command are “VPs” of “Recruiting”, “Scout Security” and “Team Leads”. The plan is for 60 or so Proud Boys at the 10 January event in Manhattan to be corralled into seven “tactical teams” of five to eight men each (they are all men, as one of the overriding values of the group is misogyny). Members are told to bring protective gear, including “knife/stab protection, helmets, gloves, boots etc” and to make use of radio channels, walkie-talkies or Telegram to communicate with each other. They are to stick together in groups and under no circumstances allow “Normies” – ordinary Trump supporters who are not Proud Boys – or “Females” into their ranks. “Their presence will jeopardise the health and safety of all those involved with Security, and simply cannot be allowed to happen!” Ireland writes. Maps reproduced at the back of the document show positions “scouts” and “tactical teams” should adopt at key points along the route of the march, which was planned to start at Columbus Circle and pass Trump Tower. “That spot is understood in a very public way to hold special meaning for us,” the paper says, referring to Trump’s home on Fifth Avenue. “WE WILL NOT DISAPPOINT!” Campbell, who has been reporting on the Proud Boys since they started turning up at Trump rallies in early 2017, describes them as America’s most notorious political fight club. In the planning paper, he sees equal parts fantasy and danger. “These guys see themselves as super soldiers, like some sort of military outfit,” he said. “On one level it’s funny, as nothing is in fact going to pan out the way they say it will. But on another level, it’s alarming because it shows how much thought they put into this stuff.” In We Are Proud Boys, Campbell traces the group from its birth in 2015-16 through to its central role on January 6 when a member, Dominic Pezzola, became the first person to breach the US Capitol. At least 30 Proud Boys have been charged in relation to the insurrection, including Tarrio and four others accused of seditious conspiracy – among the most serious indictments yet handed down. The group was invented by the British-born founder of Vice magazine, Gavin McInnes, who branded himself a “western chauvinist” and peddled in bigotry. McInnes floated the Proud Boys name on his online chatshow in May 2016, introducing them as a “gang” and inventing a uniform, a black Fred Perry polo shirt with yellow trim. McInnes was careful to brand his creation as harmless fun, a satirical male-only patriotic drinking club that later attached itself to all things Trump. But Campbell argues that from the outset political violence was baked in. A Proud Boy was an organizer of the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, during which an anti-fascist protester was murdered. The group has held violent gatherings in Portland, Oregon. Outside a Republican event in New York in 2018, several members were arrested and charged with felonious assault. ‘Street-level violence’ Proud Boys membership is structured into four ranks, known as “degrees”, the fourth granted once you “get arrested or get in a serious violent fight for the cause”, as McInnes himself explained. In an interview with Campbell for the book, McInnes denied promoting violence and insisted the Proud Boys were never proactively aggressive, only reacting to leftwing attacks. That official line is reiterated in the document published by the Guardian. Ireland is careful to portray the Proud Boys as a defensive group. He writes: “If any violence does spout off, all Proud Boys are expected to respond immediately – only so far as to eliminate and end that threat to them or others. VERY IMPORTANT: Once the threat has been neutralized, WE STOP!” But there is a glaring contradiction: Ireland presents his chapter as a non-violent organization yet it goes out seeking violence. He assigns the group, uninvited, the role of a vigilante police force. “We are there as the first line of defense for all event attendees,” he writes, then contradicts himself by saying the only role of the Proud Boys is to play a “back-up role” to law enforcement and to “force them to do their jobs”. That speaks volumes. It carries the implication that if the police will not assail anti-fascist protesters, Proud Boys will. “I’ve reported at Proud Boys events where they stood back and relaxed as police lobbed teargas and other munitions into the crowd of counter-protesters,” Campbell said. “Then the Proud Boys didn’t have to do what Randy Ireland is hinting at here – step in and do the fighting themselves.” For Campbell, the most disturbing aspect of the document is that, with its soft-lensed double-talk and contradictory meanings, it falls into arguably the main ambition of the Proud Boys: the normalization of political violence. Despite having so many leaders behind bars, the group is prospering. As new chapters pop up, Americans are increasingly inured to the idea of heavily armed gangs in public settings. Proud Boys have posed as “security details” at anti-abortion rallies, anti-vaccination demonstrations, pro-gun protests and of course Trump rallies. “The street-level violence the Proud Boys helped to create is now being carried out by regular people,” Campbell said. “You saw it on January 6, you see it at Planned Parenthood and LGBTQ+ events where people are harassed and attacked by everyday Americans.” Read More Here

How To Watch Queen Elizabeth II https://digitalarkansasnews.com/how-to-watch-queen-elizabeth-ii/   Updated 10:00 AM / September 18, 2022 How to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral service What: The funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II Date: Monday, September 19, 2022 Time: Live coverage begins at 5:30 a.m. ET Location: Westminster Abbey in London, England On TV: CBS News live coverage anchored by Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King — find your local station here Online stream: Live on CBS News in the video player above and on your mobile or streaming device    1:59 AM Queen’s lying-in-state ends ahead of her funeral A day packed with funeral events in London and Windsor began early on Monday when the doors of 900-year-old Westminster Hall were closed to mourners after hundreds of thousands had filed in front of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin since Sept 14. Many had spent cold nights on line outdoors to pay their respects at the foot of the flag-draped coffin in a moving outpouring of national grief. The closing of the hall marked the end of four full days of the coffin lying in state.  Monday has been declared a public holiday in honor of Elizabeth. Her funeral will be broadcast live to over 200 countries and territories worldwide and screened to crowds in parks and public spaces across the country. Police officers from around the country will be on duty as part of the biggest one-day policing operation in London’s history.    Updated 9:30 AM / September 18, 2022 The extraordinary life of Queen Elizabeth II Born in 1926, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was not originally destined to be queen. But that changed in 1936, when she was 10 years old, because her uncle Edward VIII abdicated to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and Elizabeth’s father, George VI, took his place. Princess Elizabeth rapidly became a public favorite. During World War II, she not only worked to raise the country’s morale, appealing to her fellow Britons on public radio to “make the world of tomorrow a better and happier place,” she also served as a volunteer in the war effort, training as a mechanic in the women’s auxiliary service. Queen Elizabeth II through the years 76 photos Her marriage to Philip Mountbatten in 1947 give a war-weary country something to celebrate. Their children — Charles, then Anne, Andrew and Edward — re-established the royal line. Her marriage to Philip lasted 73 years, until his death on April 9, 2021, at the age of 99. Elizabeth was just 25 years old when she inherited the throne in February 1952, following the death of her father, George VI. Her coronation in June of the following year was the first ever to be televised. Duty was the royal family’s ethos under Elizabeth’s reign. “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service,” she once told the nation.  It was a promise she kept longer than any other British monarch in history, celebrating her Platinum Jubilee — 70 years on the throne — just months before her passing. Queen Elizabeth honored with grand procession through London 03:58 Her reign, however, was not without controversy.  Some protesters question the value of monarchical traditions in modern times and the concentration of inherited wealth in the family’s hands. In lands once ruled by the British Empire, a painful history of subjugation and the brutality of the slave trade still resonate in current events. Queen Elizabeth II’s unlikely path to the throne and the legacy she leaves behind 05:35   Updated 9:20 AM / September 18, 2022 Royal family’s new roles A series of changes rippled through Britain’s royal family following the death of its longtime matriarch. Elizabeth’s eldest son and heir, Prince Charles, was immediately elevated to sovereign and became King Charles III. His wife, Camilla, took on the title queen consort. Among Charles’ first official acts was to announce that his older son, Prince William, who is now next in line to the throne, has been granted the title Prince of Wales, the role Charles himself held for over 50 years. William’s wife Catherine is now Princess of Wales — a title last held by William and Harry’s mother, the late Princess Diana.  Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — who gave up working as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California — did not receive new titles. But their children, 3-year-old Archie and 1-year-old Lilibet, gained the right to be known as prince and princess, as grandchildren of the monarch. Britain’s royal line of succession 32 photos   Updated 9:15 AM / September 18, 2022 Significance of Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, where the funeral is being held, has a long and storied history. In addition to being the site of Britain’s monarchical coronations since 1066, the abbey was also a special place to the late queen herself during her 96-plus years.  In 1947, at the age of 21, then-Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey’s altar. Five years later, her coronation was held here.  The flag flies at half mast at Westminster Abbey in London on September 12, 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8. MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images Family joy would follow with the marriage of her grandson Prince William to Kate Middleton here in 2011. Family sorrow would come, too, with the funeral of the queen’s mother in 2002, and then the funeral of her husband in 2021. The last time a monarch’s funeral was held in Westminster Abbey itself was 262 years ago, for King George II. “This is Westminster Abbey. This is her majesty the queen. I think you can assume that you’re going to see tradition in action — great, living tradition in action,” said the Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, who was appointed by the queen as the 39th Dean of Westminster Abbey, and who is tasked with leading the service.  “I think the job of the abbey and the job of people like me, to some extent, is to keep stitching the story together — to say it’s possible in pretty divided and volatile times to say, all this can be gathered in, reconciled, redeemed, celebrated. So, her majesty’s reign, which started in the abbey, comes to an end in the abbey. It’s a bit more of stitching the story together.” Read more here. Read More Here

Vote For The Yarnell’s Sweetest Play Of The Week (9/16/22) https://digitalarkansasnews.com/vote-for-the-yarnells-sweetest-play-of-the-week-9-16-22/ JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – An Arkansas tradition continues: The Yarnell’s Sweetest Play of the Week. Here are the NEA nominees from games played on September 16th, 2022. Jonesboro (Terrance Brown TD pass to Phillip Tilman) Nominee #1 is Jonesboro. Terrance Brown drops a dime to Phillip Tilman for the 63 yard touchdown. The Golden Hurricane beat Center Hill, Mississippi 31-17 in the home opener. Melbourne (Trey Wren TD pass to Grant Wren) Nominee number #2 is Melbourne. Trey finds Grant, the Wrens connect for the go ahead score, Bearkatz move to 4 and oh. They beat Hoxie 30 – 20 in the FFN Game of the Week. Walnut Ridge (Logan Sain TD run) Our final nominee is Walnut Ridge. Logan Sain totes it and powers his way for the touchdown. The Bobcats beat Salem 36 – 34 in a 3A shootout. VOTE FOR THE YARNELL’S SWEETEST PLAY OF THE WEEK (POLL OPEN MONDAY 8:00AM – TUESDAY 4:00PM) You can vote starting Monday at 8am on kait8.com and on the Region 8 News app. Yarnell’s will deliver free ice cream or donate money to the booster club of the winning school. Copyright 2022 KAIT. All rights reserved. Read More Here

Hong Kong Tech Leads Losses In Asia; China Cuts Rates Ahead Of Fed, Bank Of Japan Meetings This Week https://digitalarkansasnews.com/hong-kong-tech-leads-losses-in-asia-china-cuts-rates-ahead-of-fed-bank-of-japan-meetings-this-week/ Hong Kong Exchange logo Lewistsepuilung | Istock Editorial | Getty Images Shares in the Asia-Pacific fell on Monday ahead of major central bank meetings this week. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was 1% lower, with the Hang Seng Tech index down 2.04%. South Korea’s Kospi shed 1.24% and the Kosdaq was 2.14% lower. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite dipped 0.16% and the Shenzhen Component also declined 0.258%. The People’s Bank of China cut its 14-day reverse repo rates. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia was fractionally lower. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%. Japan’s market was closed for a holiday Monday. Later this week, the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan will be announcing their interest rate decisions. Traders are betting on a 75-basis-point rate hike from the Fed, with the probability standing at 82%,  according to the CME FedWatch tracker of Fed funds futures bets. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep rates on hold at ultra-low levels, analysts predicted in a Reuters poll. China’s central bank cuts 14-day reverse repo rates The People’s Bank of China reduced the borrowing cost of 14-day reverse repurchase agreements, it announced on its website. The central bank also said it injected 2 billion yuan ($285 million) through the 7-day reverse repos and 10 billion yuan through the 14-day operations. The 7-day rate was kept unchanged. — Abigail Ng Cathay Pacific shares rise on report that Hong Kong may end hotel quarantines Oil prices climb as lifting of Chinese Covid lockdown boosts demand outlook Oil prices climbed on Monday as the Chinese megacity of Chengdu exits a two-week lockdown. Both oil benchmarks each rose more than 1% earlier in the session, and Brent crude futures was last up 0.66% at $91.95 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 0.56% $85.59 per barrel. The boost in demand outlook offsets fears that potential rate hikes later this week will raise recession risks. — Lee Ying Shan CNBC Pro: This ETF carries risk — but outperforms when volatility spikes As volatility rears its head once again, investors looking for a short-term trade could opt for this ETF with a track record of outperformance in times of extreme market moves. “It is probably the prospect of very quick and sizable gains when everyone else in the market seems to be losing their shirts that I believe is appealing about this fund,” Daniel Martins, head researcher and portfolio strategist at DM Martins Research, said. Yet, despite the potential for high returns, the ETF carries a high level of risk, and is not for every investor. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong Chinese yuan has room to weaken further in the near-term, Goldman Sachs says There’s still room for the Chinese yuan to weaken further, economists at Goldman Sachs said after both the onshore and offshore yuan fell to their lowest levels since July 2020 last week. “We expect CNY weakness to persist in the near-term, underpinned partly by broad USD strength,” strategists said in a note, adding the next key level to watch is 7.20, which was last tested in May 2020. Such a move, however, will come in tandem with a “sizable” strengthening the U.S. dollar, they said in the note, adding “CNY is unlikely to weaken by 3% in isolation.” —Jihye Lee CNBC Pro: Buy these inflation-beating funds to protect your money, strategist says As inflation remains stubbornly high, where can investors hide out given that U.S. stocks and bonds alike have been volatile? There are three types of funds that look appealing right now, according to Mark Jolley, global strategist at CCB International Securities. He named his favorites in each category. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Read More Here

Baptist Health Hires New President Of Western Region (Movers & Shakers) https://digitalarkansasnews.com/baptist-health-hires-new-president-of-western-region-movers-shakers/ Jeff Carrier (Baptist Health) Jeff Carrier has joined Baptist Health as president of the Baptist Health Western Region, which includes Baptist’s hospitals in Fort Smith and Van Buren and more than 40 outpatient locations. Carrier previously served as president and CEO of Centura Health in Kansas. Bill Pack (Conway Regional Health System) Miranda Dailey, Sharon Dudley and Bill Pack have joined Conway Regional Health System. Dailey has been hired as lead content creator. Dudley has been named chief nursing officer; she previously worked at CHI St. Vincent as the interim market chief nurse executive and senior vice president. Pack has been named chief financial officer; he previously worked as a system vice president with Centura Health of Denver. Kelly Gibbs and Scott Wardlaw (GastroArkansas) Dr. Kelly Gibbs and Dr. Scott Wardlaw have joined GastroArkansas of Little Rock. Gibbs earned her medical degree with honors in research from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2016. She completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2019. Wardlaw earned his medical degree from UAMS in 2016. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston in 2019. Bryan Head (Conway Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center) Dr. Bryan Head, an orthopedic surgeon, has joined Conway Orthopedics & Sports Medicine Center. Head completed a fellowship in hand and upper extremity from the Baylor College of Medicine and an orthopedic surgery residency at Baylor Scott & White in Temple, Texas. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Bradley Hicks (Washington Regional Gastroenterology Clinic) Dr. Bradley Hicks has joined Washington Regional Gastroenterology Clinic in Fayetteville. Hicks earned his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and completed a residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He recently completed a fellowship in gastroenterology and hepatology at the Indiana University School of Graduate Medical Education in Indianapolis. Dallas Johnson and Thomas Plugge (Washington Regional) Dr. Dallas Johnson and Dr. Thomas Plugge have joined the Washington Regional hospitalists group in Fayetteville. Johnson earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and completed a residency in internal medicine at Kansas University Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Plugge earned his medical degree from UAMS and completed a residency in internal medicine at the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. Cassie Bobbitt and Sarah Mattson have joined Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield’s leadership team for government programs, which include Medicare, the Affordable Care Act and ARHOME/Medicaid. Bobbitt has been promoted to director of clinical quality analytics/government programs. She was previously manager of Medicare quality analytics. Mattson has been named director of clinical quality and HEDIS (Healthcare Effectiveness Data & Information Set). Scott Miller (IMA Financial Group Inc.) Scott Miller has joined insurance brokerage firm IMA Financial Group Inc. of Wichita, Kansas, as a producer in its Little Rock office. Miller was previously senior vice president at McGriff Insurance Services. See more of this week’s Movers & Shakers, and submit your own announcement at ArkansasBusiness.com/Movers. Read More…

Healey Holds Commanding Lead Over Diehl In Massachusetts Governor’s Race | News | The Harvard Crimson https://digitalarkansasnews.com/healey-holds-commanding-lead-over-diehl-in-massachusetts-governors-race-news-the-harvard-crimson/ Two weeks after the Massachusetts state primary, Maura T. Healey ’92 appears to be the governor-in-waiting. Healey, the state’s attorney general who won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with virtually no competition, holds a commanding polling lead over rival Geoffrey G. Diehl, the Republican nominee backed by former President Donald J. Trump. Healey leads Diehl 52 percent to 26 percent, according to a poll from Suffolk University released last week. Healey would be the third consecutive Harvard College alumni to serve as governor. The poll showed Kevin Reed, the Libertarian nominee, siphoning off 10 percent of GOP primary voters, suggesting that some Republicans are repelled by Diehl. Diehl defeated his more moderate primary opponent, businessman Chris Doughty, in the primary earlier this month. Healey has gone on the attack against Diehl, charging that he is too conservative for Massachusetts, a blue state with a history of electing moderate GOP governors. Diehl has continued to tout Trump’s support and attack Healey as being too far to the left. The New York Times reported Sunday that Diehl’s campaign declined to say whether he would accept the outcome of the election. The former Plymouth state representative also previously endorsed Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election. Healey also holds a large fundraising advantage over Diehl. She had over $4.7 million in the bank at the end of August, according to state filings — compared to a meager $17,000 in Diehl’s coffers. Every statewide Democratic candidate holds a double-digit lead over their GOP opponent, according to the Suffolk survey. Andrea J. Campbell, the Democratic nominee for attorney general, leads Republican James McMahon, 50 percent to 24 percent, according to the poll. State Senator Dianna DiZoglio leads Republican Anthony Amore by 18 points. Longtime Democratic incumbent William F. Galvin leads Republican Rayla Campbell by 33 percentage points. President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Massachusetts sits at 48 percent, according to the poll, compared to 43 percent who disapprove. Governor Charlie D. Baker ’79 holds a 70 percent approval rating, according to the survey. —Staff writer Yusuf S. Mian can be reached at yusuf.mian@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @yusuf_mian2. Read More Here

Biden Says ‘pandemic Is Over’ https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-says-pandemic-is-over/ President Biden declared the coronavirus pandemic “over,” in apparently off-the-cuff remarks that reflect the growing sentiment that the threat of the virus has receded, even as hundreds of Americans continue to die of covid each day. “We still have a problem with covid,” Biden said on “60 Minutes,” which aired Sunday night. “We’re still doing a lot of work on it … but the pandemic is over.” Biden made the remarks Wednesday during an interview at the auto show in Detroit, referencing the crowds at the event. The annual auto show had not been held since 2019. “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks,” Biden said to CBS News reporter Scott Pelley. “Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.” While Biden’s comments were extemporaneous, they may complicate his administration’s so far unsuccessful efforts to secure additional funding from Congress for more coronavirus vaccines and treatments and to take other steps intended to combat the virus. Republicans on Sunday night raised questions about why the administration would renew its ongoing public health emergency if the pandemic is over. That emergency declaration, which is set to expire next month, has allowed federal officials to pursue flexible solutions amid the crisis, including rapidly authorizing new covid treatments and keeping many Americans covered by Medicaid, the safety-net health program. The Urban Institute, a think tank that conducts economic and social policy research, has estimated that as many as 15.8 million Americans could lose Medicaid coverage after the government ends its emergency declaration. Biden’s comment that the pandemic is over came as a surprise to administration officials, according to two senior health officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment. The White House on Sunday night did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The administration for months has maintained that the virus is on the retreat, citing the growing availability of vaccines, tests and treatments to fight it and the population’s expanding immunity. Biden’s remarks came at a moment when new daily infections are down to just over 57,000 — the lowest they have been since late April — although that is probably a dramatic undercount since most people test themselves at home and do not report their infections to local and state health officials. Nevertheless, the disease continues to exact a toll, with more than 30,000 people hospitalized and more than 400 dying each day, according to seven-day averages compiled by The Washington Post. “We have a virus out there that’s still circulating, still killing hundreds of Americans every day,” Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said at a news briefing Sept. 6, warning that the emergence of new variants could pose additional risks. “I think we all as Americans have to pull together to try to protect Americans … and do what we can to get our health-care system through what might be a difficult fall and winter ahead.” The head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday warned that the pandemic was not over and that important work remains to combat it around the world. “We are not there yet but the end is in sight,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO. “We can see the finish line. but now is the worst time to stop running.” We’ve never been in a better place to end the #COVID19 pandemic, but only if all countries, manufacturers, communities and individuals step up and seize this opportunity. Otherwise, we run the risk of more variants, more deaths, disruption and uncertainty. Let’s finish the job! pic.twitter.com/wzNaQ5kF3P — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 15, 2022 In the “60 Minutes” interview, Biden said the pandemic continues to exact a deep psychological toll. “I think you’d agree that the impact on the psyche of the American people as a consequence of the pandemic is profound,” the president said. “Think of how that has changed everything … people’s attitudes about themselves, their families, about the state of the nation, about the state of their communities.” Read More Here

Trump Thumps Ryan During Youngstown Rally https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-thumps-ryan-during-youngstown-rally/ YOUNGSTOWN — Former President Donald Trump took aim at U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, calling him a “militant left-winger who is lying to your faces” during a Youngstown rally for J.D. Vance, the Republican candidate for the seat. Ryan is “pretending to be a moderate so he can get elected and betray everything that you believe in,” Trump said Saturday at the Covelli Centre. “He is not a moderate. He’s radical left.” Trump spent most of his speech airing past grievances, including falsely claiming the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from him. Trump was in Youngstown primarily as part of a rally to support Vance while also backing Republicans running for House seats throughout Ohio. Trump said when he was president, “I was always fighting (Ryan). I never liked him that much.” Trump said Ryan’s moderate approach during this Senate campaign is a lie as the congressman has voted 100 percent of the time with President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump said when he was president, Ryan voted with him only 16 percent of the time. Trump urged those in attendance to back Vance, calling him a “tough cookie.” Trump said of Vance: “This is a very important race. This is a great person who’ve I’ve really gotten to know. Yeah, he said some bad things about me, but that was before he knew me and then he fell in love.” He criticized Ryan for saying he’d end the filibuster, for supporting abortions and for “being an energy extremist.” Trump spent much of his speech complaining about the 2020 election falsely contending he didn’t lose to Biden and that the election was “rigged and stolen.” He also went after Biden, saying he was a terrible president who doesn’t know what he’s doing and if Trump was running the country, there wouldn’t have been a Russian invasion of Ukraine, high gas prices and inflation. The only reason gas prices are going down, Trump said, is that Biden and other Democrats are doing that to win the Nov. 8 election and that those prices will rise after that. There were about 5,500 people at Saturday’s rally with most of the back section of the Covelli Centre empty though there was a full crowd at the front of the facility. The last time Trump campaigned at the arena, on July 25, 2017, there were about 7,000 people in attendance. During his Saturday speech, Vance said: “We need to get back to the policies of the real Donald Trump, not fake Tim Ryan pretending he’s someone he’s not.” Vance said Ryan tries to come across as a moderate in his “nonstop fraudulent television commercials,” but it’s a lie. Vance said are two Tims out there. A D.C. Tim that votes 100 percent of the time with Joe Biden, and there’s campaign Tim who pretends he’s a moderate.” He added: “We need to kick D.C. Tim to the curb, make him go back home and get a real job for once.” Polls indicate a close race between Vance, a venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” and Ryan, a 10-term House member who represents much of Mahoning and Trumbull counties. In a campaign fundraising email after the rally, Ryan wrote: “Republicans are panicking about losing here. And Trump knows how important winning Ohio is. Him wading into our race means more attack ads, more dark money and a tougher environment in an already competitive race.” At a Youngstown event Friday, Ryan criticized Vance for having a rally Saturday at the same time as the Ohio State-University of Toledo football game, saying it shows his opponent is out of touch with Ohioans. As for the rally in the heart of his congressional district, Ryan said: “They’re trying to cut into my vote, which is a political tactic. The fact is J.D. Vance can’t carry his own political message.” In addition to the Saturday rally with Trump, Vance had Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a leading potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate, campaign Aug. 19 at the Metroplex Expo Center in Liberty, also in Ryan’s district. “He needs Ron DeSantis, he needs Donald Trump and he needs everybody else to come in and make the case for him because he can’t make the case for himself,” Ryan said. Ryan added: “Ohioans don’t want someone who’s got to rely on someone else to carry their message for him or to buttress or support them in some way I’m out here. I’m scrapping. I’m clearly the underdog here with all this money coming at us.” Asked to comment after Saturday’s rally, Jordan Fuja, a campaign spokeswoman, said: “I was too busy watching football, but I’m sure whatever San Francisco phony J.D. Vance and his out-of-state allies tried to talk about in a half-empty stadium would’ve rang hollow with all the Ohioans who were also busy turning into the Ohio State-Toledo game.” Though Trump failed to win re-election in 2020, he was only the third Republican presidential candidate since 1936 to win Mahoning County. He beat Democrat Joe Biden by 1.9 percent. Trump did even better in Trumbull County. He was the first Republican candidate to win that county in two consecutive presidential elections since Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932 before Trumbull and Mahoning counties started consistently voting for Democrats in 1936. He beat Biden by 10.56 percent in Trumbull two years ago and beat Democrat Hillary Clinton by 6.22 percent. Trump’s victories were key parts of a changing political trend in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. His success helped some Valley Republicans win elections and made a number of other races a lot more competitive than they had been in previous years. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Report: Some Census Takers Who Fudged Data Didn’t Get Fired https://digitalarkansasnews.com/report-some-census-takers-who-fudged-data-didnt-get-fired/ Some census takers who falsified information during the 2020 count didn’t have their work redone fully, weren’t fired in a timely manner and in some cases even received bonuses, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s watchdog group. The findings released Friday by the Office of Inspector General raise concerns about possible damage to the quality of the once-a-decade head count that determines political power and federal funding, Off-campus students at colleges and universities were likely undercounted since the census started around the same time students were sent home to stop the spread of COVID-19 in March 2020, the review found. During the 2020 census, The Associated Press documented cases of census takers who were pressured by their supervisors to enter false information into a computer system about homes they had not visited so they could close cases during the waning days of the census. Supervisors were able to track their census takers’ work in real time through mobile devices that the census takers used to record information about households’ numbers, demographic characteristics and members’ relationships to one another. As a result, supervisors would get alerts when actions raised red flags about accuracy, such as a census taker recording data on a home while far away from the address or a census taker conducting an interview in just a few minutes. As a quality control check, others census takers were sent back to homes to re-interview residents. The Inspector General’s probe concluded that some alerts weren’t being properly resolved, some re-interviews weren’t properly conducted and that the work of some census takers whose work had been flagged for falsifying data had not been reworked to fix its accuracy. In fact, some census takers whose work was flagged for falsifications were given more cases, weren’t fired and were reassigned to other operations, the report said. Of the 1,400 census takers who were designated “hard fails” because questions about the accuracy of their work, only 300 were fired for misconduct or unsatisfactory performance. Of the 1,400 “hard fail” census takers, 1,300 of them received bonuses ranging from $50 to $1,600 each, the report said. The census is the largest nonmilitary mobilization in the U.S. Data gathered during the census determines how many congressional seats each state gets. The numbers also are used for redrawing political districts and distributing $1.5 trillion in federal spending each year. Because of that, undercounts can cost communities funding. The 2020 census faced unprecedented challenges including the pandemic, natural disasters and political interference from the Trump administration. In response to the Inspector General’s report, the Census Bureau said it appreciated the concerns that were raised but disagreed with the conclusions that data quality may have been damaged since the report cited only a small number of cases out of the overall workload. “As a result, we asserted that the findings could not and should not be presented as a conclusive assessment of overall census quality,” Census Bureau Director Robert Santos said in the written response. Under Census Bureau rules, college and university students should have been counted where they spent the most time, either at on-campus housing or off-campus apartments, even if they were sent home because of the pandemic. Most schools didn’t provide the Census Bureau with off-campus student data, and the bureau had to use a last-resort, less-accurate statistical tool to fill in the information gaps on more than 10% of the off-campus student population when they were given the information, the Inspector General’s report said. Schools often didn’t provide the data because they didn’t have information on off-campus students or because of privacy concerns. The Inspector General recommends passage of legislation that would require schools to provide needed information in future head counts. “Although difficult to quantify, the fiscal implication of specifically undercounting off-campus students at the correct location for states and localities is potentially far-reaching,” the report said. The city of Boston, which is home to Northeastern University, Boston University and several other schools, said in a challenge to its census figures that the count missed 6,000 students. —— Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Central Arkansas Moms Work To Close Spanish Language Barriers In Education https://digitalarkansasnews.com/central-arkansas-moms-work-to-close-spanish-language-barriers-in-education/ Mamas Unidas Little Rock is making sure students that come from Spanish-speaking households have the resources and information they need to succeed. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — If you are someone who is an immigrant or know someone who is, you know that there can oftentimes be somewhat of a struggle as you work to learn the language. You are expected to function in a society, where you lack the proper abilities to do so.  One organization in Arkansas is working to help make sure those issues are a thing of the past, by helping close those Spanish language barriers.  Mayca Alvarez is the president of Mamas Unidas Little Rock for education, a non-profit organization that helps students who come from Spanish-speaking households have the resources and information they need to help them succeed. The organization began four years ago and the goal behind the organization is to help break the barriers that Hispanic families have.  Alvarez explained that she has experienced those barriers firsthand.  “When my son was a high school student, I was lost about how he could go to college,” said Alvarez. “He was a very good student he had good grades a 31 on the ACT but I do not know nothing about FAFSA about scholarships.” Alvarez found other moms that had been experiencing the same thing and together they began to make a difference for their students. “There is information on how the students can apply for scholarships, there is information on how students can apply for college,” said Alvarez Unlike many of the other members in the group, Sandra Carmona Jobe isn’t a mom, but she also knows firsthand how the students feel. “I was first generation, low income at that time I was with DACA so everything when you think about barriers, I had those,” said Jobe. Jobe has been able to help students who share her experience, through working with the organization. “They come back and say thanks to you I was able to get a full ride thanks to you I got this scholarship or was accepted,” said Jobe. Mamas Unidas has also been able to host workshops that have helped families feel seen. “We can compare applying to scholarships like cooking tamales or other crazy examples that may be funny, but make people think with better-related things,” said Alvarez. Maria Gutierrez is one of the founding members of the organization, and she hopes that their work will inspire the next generation to continue breaking barriers. Hispanic parents are typically a driving force in their household, but if they are unable to understand the resources given to their children, then they are far less likely to use them. Mamas Unidas hopes they can continue helping families, and their next plan is to follow students from the beginning of their high school career to the end. Read More…

Queen Elizabeth Funeral Today | Queen's Elizabeth Final Journey Through London | English News LIVE https://digitalarkansasnews.com/queen-elizabeth-funeral-today-queens-elizabeth-final-journey-through-london-english-news-live/ Queen Elizabeth Funeral Today | Queen’s Elizabeth Final Journey Through London | English News LIVE  CNN-News18 By the numbers: Facts and figures about Queen Elizabeth’s funeral  WLKY Louisville Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral to be held tonight  Sky News Australia What Happens Next? Day by Day After the Death of the Queen  Bloomberg The Queen’s final journey  CNN View Full Coverage on Google News Read More Here

S&P 500 Futures Inch Lower Ahead Of The Federal Reserve's September Meeting This Week https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ss-september-meeting-this-week/ Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during afternoon trading on September 13, 2022 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images S&P 500 futures were slightly lower on Sunday evening after the major averages posted their worst week since June and ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meeting this week. Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.24% in premarket trading. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.16% lower, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.47%. On Friday, stocks slid as investors reacted to a hotter-than-expected inflation report and a dismal warning from FedEx about a “significantly worsened” global economy. The Dow industrials dropped 139 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%. Investors are focused on the Fed’s two-day meeting, which will begin Tuesday. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by another three-quarters of a point, though investors are also watching for guidance about corporate earnings before the next reporting season begins in October. “As the S&P 500 hovers below the all-important 3,900 level, and the 10-year Treasury yield inches ever closer to 3.5%, the Fed-sensitive 2-year Treasury note flirts with 3.9%, suggesting that the Fed’s aggressive campaign to kill off inflation is to be taken seriously,” said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial. “The canary in the coal mine may not yet be dead, but is probably struggling to breathe.” Beyond the Fed meeting, there are just a few economic data releases this week, including August housing starts on Tuesday and initial jobless claims on Thursday. There are also a handful of corporate earnings on deck, including Costco, Darden Restaurants, General Mills and Lennar. —CNBC’s Patti Domm contributed reporting. CNBC Pro: This ETF carries risk — but outperforms when volatility spikes As volatility rears its head once again, investors looking for a short-term trade could opt for this ETF with a track record of outperformance in times of extreme market moves. “It is probably the prospect of very quick and sizable gains when everyone else in the market seems to be losing their shirts that I believe is appealing about this fund,” Daniel Martins, head researcher and portfolio strategist at DM Martins Research, said. Yet, despite the potential for high returns, the ETF carries a high level of risk, and is not for every investor. Pro subscribers can read more here. — Zavier Ong CNBC Pro: Buy these inflation-beating funds to protect your money, strategist says As inflation remains stubbornly high, where can investors hide out given that U.S. stocks and bonds alike have been volatile? There are three types of funds that look appealing right now, according to Mark Jolley, global strategist at CCB International Securities. He named his favorites in each category. CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here. — Weizhen Tan Goldman expects Fed funds rate at 4% to 4.25% this year Strategists say the most important information investors are looking for from the Federal Reserve will be what’s on the dot plot, the Fed’s so-called interest rate forecast. After the CPI release last week, the futures market for fed funds priced a big jump higher in the terminal rate, or end point where the Fed stops hiking. It had been pricing in a 4% terminal rate by April. “We expect the median dot to show the funds rate at 4-4.25% at end-2022, an additional hike to a peak of 4.25-4.5% in 2023, one cut in 2024 and two more in 2025, and an unchanged longer-run rate of 2.5%,” Goldman Sachs’ David Mericle said in a note late Sunday. “How high will the funds rate ultimately need to go? Our answer is high enough to generate a tightening in financial conditions that imposes a drag on activity sufficient to maintain a solidly below-potential growth trajectory,” he added. “We could imagine the hiking cycle extending beyond this year if additional tightening proves necessary to keep growth on a below-potential path.” — Tanaya Macheel, Patti Domm Stocks could fall below 3,700 before the next rally, says Fundstrat’s Newton Mark Newton, head of technical analysis at Fundstrat, said investors shouldn’t get too tempted by a potential bounce in the coming days as the S&P 500 could fall under 3,700 before a more meaningful rally kicks in. “September’s Triple Witching Friday close at multi-week lows is particularly negative for the prospects of a rally, and further selling still looks likely over the next couple weeks to undercut 3,700 before a relief rally can get underway in October,” he said. The S&P 500 on Friday ended the week at 3,873.33. “While one cannot rule out a 1-2 day bounce attempt given this week’s decline, I do not expect much strength until prices have reached support under 3,700 in October,” he added. “Tactically, ‘cash remains king’ and one should be patient until markets reach downside targets, and begin to show either volume and breadth divergences, or capitulation to buy.” — Tanaya Macheel Stock futures open little changed on Sunday night Stock futures opened little changed on Sunday evening, after the major averages posted their worst week since June, driven largely by a hotter-than-expected inflation report and a dismal warning from FedEx about the global economy. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by just 0.05%, while S&P 500 futures increased 0.03%. Nasdaq 100 futures were down by 0.07%. The moves came as investors were looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day September meeting, which begins Tuesday. — Tanaya Macheel Read More Here