Bawumia is the right person to salvage Ghana – Kufuor

People don't understand me, but Bawumia is the right person to salvage Ghana – Kufuor. What is former president saying ? is he part of the down fall of Ghana ? Where was he when Bawumia was damaging Ghana ? Hypocrite

Cedi rate shoots up, selling at GH¢17.20 to US$1

 

Cedi rate shoots up, selling at GH¢17.20 to US$1

 Bawumia Shame on you, When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate shall expose you it has exposed you hypocrite you can't even mention the word economy anymore what a shame.

Statement from President Joe Biden on the 51st Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

 

Fifty-one years ago today, the Supreme Court recognized a woman’s constitutional right to make deeply personal decisions with her doctor—free from the interference of politicians. Then, a year and a half ago, the Court made the extreme decision to overturn Roe and take away a constitutional right. As a result, tens of millions of women now live in states with extreme and dangerous abortion bans. Because of Republican elected officials, women’s health and lives are at risk. In states across the country, women are being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and made to travel hundreds of miles for health care.

Even as Americans—from Ohio to Kentucky to Michigan to Kansas to California—have resoundingly rejected attempts to limit reproductive freedom, Republican elected officials continue to push for a national ban and devastating new restrictions across the country. 

On this day and every day, Vice President Harris and I are fighting to protect women’s reproductive freedom against Republicans officials’ dangerous, extreme, and out-of-touch agenda. We stand with the vast majority of Americans who support a woman’s right to choose, and continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe in federal law once and for all.

An August surge, two new variants and a Barbenheimer spike: is London facing a Covid autumn?

 

Cases have surged by 17 per cent in the last week, with experts blaming waning immunity, increased indoor mixing and new mutations. For Leon Emirali, 32, the signs were subtle at first but unmistakeable. More coughs. A smattering of masks on the Tube again. The same sore eyes and fuzzy head he had last time he had Covid, then a loss of his sense of taste.

So when the marketing agency founder discovered an old lateral flow test sitting at the back of the medicine cabinet, he was pretty certain of the result to come. Sure enough: it was the dreaded two lines. “It’s silly to forget about Covid, but you do,” he says from his office in Westminster, now recovered after a week off work after what he says was a worse illness than the first time he had the virus, in April 2022. “I found a mask in an old jacket the other day and it was a reminder of what we went through. It was such a horrific time for so many people but at the same time you want to banish any memory of it. It’s clearly still among us, the virus. But I couldn’t tell you how many Covid cases there were today whereas a couple of years I could’ve done. We live in a different time now.”

Indeed we do. Like most of us, Emirali might not be able to quote the current Covid case numbers but the truth is they are rising again, fast. Estimated UK cases surged by almost a third last month, from a predicted 606, 656 on July 4 to 785,980 on July 27, according to the Zoe Health Study, which estimates figures for UK Covid infections. Government records show a 17.4 per cent increase in cases in England in the last seven days. 

Several factors are reportedly to blame for this new August wave: waning immunity; increased indoor mixing due to the poor summer weather and cultural phenomenas like Barbenheimer (yes, really); and two new variants.

The first, named EG.5.1 and nicknamed Eris, is a descendant of the Omicron variant and reportedly accounts for as many as one in seven UK Covid cases after it was reported for the first time in July. The second variant, named BA.2.86 nicknamed Pirola, is said to be highly mutated and related to the “stealth Omicron” BA.2 variant detected in the UK in late 2021 but much less widespread – or at least so far. It was first identified in Israel last month and has since been detected in countries from Denmark to the US, with the first official UK case recorded on August 18 in an individual who had not recently been abroad, suggesting “a degree of community transmission within the UK”, according to the UK Health and Security Agency.

Officials say there is currently “insufficient data” on how severe this latest Pirola strain might be but that they are monitoring it closely, with the World Health Organization recently designating it as a “variant under monitoring” and experts calling it the most striking Covid strain the world has seen since Omicron.

“There’s more than 30 amino acid changes to the spike protein, which is similar to what we saw with the emergence of Omicron,” infectious disease physician Paul Griffin said this week. “At least at that very early stage, looking at how it’s composed, that does give us some cause for concern, and certainly is one that we have to watch really carefully.” London is believed to be a particular Covid hotspot at the moment, with 12 per cent of recent infections in England recorded in the capital – only one per cent less than the proportion recorded in the whole of the south-west of England. “I genuinely know more people with Covid in August 2023 than in August 2020,” says Catherine Renton, 41, a writer from Walthamstow who can currently count at least 12 friends, family and colleagues with Covid, all of whom say the symptoms are worse than the first time if they’ve had it before.

Many say the symptoms are worse than other Covid infections they’ve had in recent years. “I’ve had [Covid] before and it definitely felt more severe this time. It took about two weeks to feel normal again and even now my heart rate is still a bit higher on runs than it was before,” says Rachel Hart*, 28, a comms consultant from Battersea.

Hattie Vessey, 27, a surveyor from Earlsfield, says: “It feels like a savage form of flu, my whole body just aches.” She fears she is going to have to cancel her bank holiday trip to Paris for the third year running as a result of Covid. “The oddest part has been refamiliarising myself with how this all works,” says Vessey. “When I shouted out to my housemates that I’d tested positive we were laughing like ‘Oh, what a throwback’. Then my housemate was like, ‘Oh, I’ve got a funeral with loads of older family members this week’, so now I’m like, ‘Do I need to put on a mask? Do I need to isolate in my bedroom? Should I let all the people I’ve seen this week know that I’ve got it? How do I get my laptop from the office?’ It’s all of these questions that haven’t been on my mind for two years.”

For others, the return of Covid has been a reminder of how serious the virus can be. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. It ended up in A&E,” says John Junior, 34, a script consultant for a mental health company in King’s Cross, who is still suffering with fatigue and a loss of taste six weeks after he was hospitalised with the virus last month. According to insiders at a particular hospital in outer London, staff are already getting fit-tested for PPE and staff boosters are on their way, with some hospitals putting Covid patients last on their ward rounds to minimise transmission.

So how worried should we be? Is Barbenheimer really to blame for this year’s pre-autumn spike – or would the new variants have caused it anyway? And, given this week’s report concluding that the lockdowns were effective at keeping Covid numbers down, should we expect more restrictions this winter?Possibly, yes, says Dr Charles Levinson, a London-based GP and medical director at urgent private healthcare service Doctorcall. But we’re unlikely to see restrictions anywhere near the severity of the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, he believes.

For Levinson and his fellow experts across the health industry, the next few weeks will be the real teller of what’s to come in this latest Covid chapter – as indeed they will every year. “September will be a key month to observe, with the reopening of schools leading to increased interactions among students and staff, and a rise in indoor gatherings as the weather cools,” says Dr Chris Papadopoulos, principal lecturer in public health at the University of Bedfordshire.

Papadopoulos believes new variants and an autumn spike are to be expected most years, unfortunately, but particularly this year, given the diminishing immunity of the general population, particularly under-50s who may not have received a booster or encountered an infection in more than a year. This, coupled with a relaxing of public attitudes to mixing and mask-wearing, two new variants, increased cinema attendance for films like Barbie and Oppenheimer, plus a rainier-than-usual summer leading to more indoor gatherings, has created an “ideal set of circumstances for the virus to thrive”. So should we all be getting a booster vaccine this winter, then? Only if you’re elderly or vulnerable, says Levinson, who would urge anyone in these groups to sign up for a booster and avoid big gatherings during Covid spikes as they would with the flu each winter. The main difference between Covid and the flu, however, is the lack of ability for the rest of the population to access the Covid jab privately. His company, Doctorcall, vaccinates staff from 700 companies against the flu each year to prevent absenteeism, and more than a million individuals opt for one privately each winter for reasons such as going to visit a grandparent or having fragile health but who do not fall into the vulnerable category.

“It’s very disappointing that that hasn’t been done yet with Covid,” says Levinson. “It doesn’t look like [a private Covid vaccine will be introduced] in time for this winter but it does look like it’s coming in for the next one. I think that’ll make a big difference [to keeping Covid numbers down each winter] when that comes in.”

In the meantime, this winter, officials are urging the public not to be complacent but not to worry or scaremonger, either. “Covid will continue to change and adapt. So we shouldn’t be shocked or worried just because new variants appear and cause increasing numbers of infections,” says Dr Simon Clarke, a microbiologist at Reading University. Instead, Levinson says he’d encourage the public to treat Covid like they would any normal winter illness and follow general NHS advice: to wash their hands, to avoid crowded or poorly ventilated areas where possible, to consider wearing a mask on public transport or in healthcare settings, and to avoid contact with others for five days if you test positive – if not to protect yourself but the NHS, which is already on its knees. Public health campaigns may well end up being a part of this, says Levinson, but “what we musn’t let happen is to make people so frightened that they don’t leave the house or have routine check-ups or go into the office”.

So what about a lockdown, then, if numbers really spike this winter? Despite this week’s Royal Society report showing the combination of lockdowns and mask-wearing did “unequivocally” reduce Covid infections, the general consensus among health professionals is that another lockdown is unlikely – particularly because of changes in people’s attitude to Covid and the loss of public trust in restrictions since the partygate scandal.

“It feels like people appear even more careless with their coughs and going out when feeling ill than they did pre-Covid,” says Polly Arrowsmith, 56, a marketing director from Islington who has bronchiectasis, a disease of the small airways, and therefore has to be careful to wear a mask in public places. “It’s as if Covid never happened and people are being more rebellious or lackadaisical.” Emirali, who worked an aide to then-Treasury minister Steve Barclay at the onset of the pandemic, believes the government would struggle to impose a lockdown because of this. There was a sense of the unknown when Covid first emerged in 2020 but we’ve seen the full impact of lockdown on the economy, education and mental health since then. In his view, Rishi Sunak would be more opposed to a lockdown than then-PM Boris Johnson was, mostly for economic reasons.

With the erosion of public trust on top of this Emirali believes a lockdown is – if not impossible – certainly very unlikely. “If the NHS is at collapsing point then I’m sure there would be a consideration [of lockdown],” he says. “But I think the public would be resistant because of partygate and the idea that the rules were being broken. If you haven’t got compliance for a lockdown, it’s pretty useless. And, frankly, I don’t think the government can afford it.”

Levinson agrees. He thinks the government has already had its its “fingers burnt” over the lockdown restrictions and would be far more likely to bring in “softer” restrictions instead: guidance about wearing masks and washing hands and an awareness campaign on how to keep yourself and others healthy.

“It’s likely we’ll have to live [with Covid] forever now,” he says, matter-of-factly. And while the word forever might sound scary, that’s already the case with the flu and common cold. “Covid-19 is a similar type of virus to the common cold and the common cold mutates endlessly, which is why we tend to get so many every winter. I think that’s what we’ve got to expect. Covid will become a winter illness that we have to live with.” This winter, unfortunately, will probably be no different.

At last 3 robbed at gunpoint in Humboldt Park spree earlier this week.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- One of three armed robberies in the city's Humboldt Park neighborhood early Tuesday morning was captured on video.

A 38-year-old man was walking in the 800-block of North California Avenue around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday when police said three masked gunmen jumped out of a dark SUV that had pulled up and robbed him. The incident was captured by a nearby doorbell camera.

"Come on, bro, I need my bag, bro," the victim can be heard telling the robbers. "You got all my stuff, bro."

One of the armed robbers grabs his takeout order before stepping back and demanding the passcode to his cell phone. He gives it to them. The victim was not hurt. Police said the trio of thieves committed at least two more armed robberies that morning in a short span of time. Police said a couple was targeted in the 1700 block of North Drake a short time later, and then just before 3:30 a.m. a person reported being robbed at gunpoint by three men in a black jeep a few blocks away in the 1900 block of North Damen.

According to data from the city of Chicago, there have been 541 robberies in the last 12 months in the Humboldt Park community where these incidents occurred. That's an 83% increase over the average number of robberies for the three years prior, 2020 through 2022. Other nearby North and Northwest Side neighborhoods have also seen an increase in armed robberies. The same city data shows that over the last 12 months in the 14th Police District, which includes the east side of Humbold Park, Logan Square, West Town, Wicker Park and Bucktown, there have been 508 robberies, which is a 55% increase over the average number of robbers for the three years prior, 2020 through 2022.

And while Chicago olice have issued some community alerts warning of the danger, the armed robbery sprees continue.

No one is in custody for Tuesday's attack and no arrests have been made.

Oil and Gas production in our Los Angeles Communities

 

Living in Los Angeles for over 20 years, I have viewed the climate injustice and environmental racism in our neighborhoods from oil and gas drilling specifically in Black and Brown communities.I have witnessed over the years the admissions of a steady stream of carcinogens, and other toxic chemicals, that have affected our neighborhood, in a very quiet and clandestine fashion. Exposure from these hazardous operations, gas and oil include constant emissions, odors, noise, light, pollution, and a persistent exposure to fracking and other detrimental activities.
The risk from volatile organic compounds or VOCs, along with noxious mixture of other air contaminants, and methane which is one of the most potent pollutants to the environment. The emission of hundreds of chemicals that often disrupt hormones, and cause reproductive and developmental harm. Contamination of our ground water and potentially drinking water is very real.
Chronic exposure to drilling sites is as harmful to the lungs as breathing freeway exhaust and second hand smoke on a constant basis. Hazardous gases also releases a mixture of dangerous, petroleum-based gases, known as BTEX, that stands for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene.
Benzene is a known carcinogen linked to an increase in leukemia and other blood cancers. Knowing all this helps, explain the prevalence of ethnic and racial health disparities to black Californians, having the shortest lifespan an experienced the highest death rate from breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer among all racial and ethnic groups in the state of California.
What are some of the solutions? We are still waiting on the protections from the landmark health and safety act California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law in September 2022. What we saw soon after was signed, the oil and gas companies wasting no time filing referendums to overturn the measure.
The California setback law prohibits operators from reworking and repairing existing wells in addition to starting new wells within the safety zone. The good news is that our local governments and activist groups aren’t willing to wait around for the enforcement of the state law.
The city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County have acted on their own to formulate stricter policies to prevent oil and gas productions moving forward. The greater news is that the Biden – Harris administration signed an executive order on April 21, that created an office of environmental justice that recognizes that racism is a fundamental driver of environmental injustice.
This is a great opportunity for all of us to get involved, through our organizations, schools, and churches. We must hold our politicians accountable to enact clear-cut, climate and environmental justice policies.
Our children and their children’s children will have an environment that they can live and thrive in.

Why I wished my mother dead- Actress Chacha Eke

 

Nollywood actress, Chacha Eke has disclosed that she developed deep hatred for her mother and even wished for her death while growing up.
She said her hatred for her mother was caused by a mental disorder “that switches your favourite to your least favourite.”
The thespian said her hatred for her mother was further compounded by fake revelations from so-called men of God who told her that her mum was after her life. Eke revealed this while celebrating her mother’s birthday via her Instagram page on Wednesday.
Sharing a video of herself and her mother, she captioned it, “This is a video of me and my biological Mom. I loved her intensely when I was younger. She was, and still is my best friend.
“However, as I got older, I began to dislike and develop deep hatred for her. I had nightmares and hallucinations that supported my euphoria. Sadly, many men of God told me after several manic episodes that she was after my life.
“And so, I went about wishing her death and spewing despicable things about her.”
The actress said she was grateful to have realised her hatred for her mother was as a result of her mental health while her mother was still alive.
She said despite her struggle with mental illness, her mother still raised a “queen.”
She advised others suffering from similar disorders to seek medical help.

Soldiers, touts clash in Lagos

Pandemonium broke out yesterday at Second  Rainbow, on the Oshodi\Apapa expressway, Lagos, after some men suspected to be soldiers attacked some touts who inflicted injury on one of their colleagues.

This is just as a tanker loaded with petroleum products rammed into a commercial motorcyclist at Alaba bus stop on the same expressway,  in the driver’s bid to avoid being extorted by touts.

There were different accounts as to how the trouble started between the soldier and the touts. A version of the account said the soldier was escorting a truck which was stopped by some touts on an extortion spree .

The soldier reportedly refused and was dragged out of the truck and gang beaten.

Another version of the account said  the  soldier in murfti was in a commercial bus heading towards Cele , when some touts popularly called agbero  clustered round the vehicle, demanding for money.

He was said to have  ordered the touts to leave the vehicle . When they refused, he  reportedly  alighted from the bus to shove one of the touts away, only to be gang beaten by over ten touts.

One hour later , the injured soldier returned with his colleagues who descended on any tout  in sight.  They were still unleashing mayhem on the touts at 8pm.

Meanwhile , tragedy struck the same day on the same expressway  when a tanker laden with  33,000 litre of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, otherwise called petrol, overturned, crushing a commercial motorcyclist to death.

Eyewitness said  the incident happened  about 6.45 pm , as driver of the truck tried to evade being extorted by touts

The impact led to the tanker overturning and spilled its content in the process.

The deceased whose identity could not be determined as of press time was later recovered and taken to the mortuary.

Permanent Secretary, of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Dr.Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, said upon receipt of the report, the agency promptly dispatched a rescue team to the scene for the recovery operation.

According to The agency responded to an incident at the above location in which a fuel-laden tanker overturned due to a collision between the tanker and a motorcycle.

“Unfortunately, the motorcycle rider was crushed to death underneath the tanker and its contents are spilling onto the road rendering the scene extremely hazardous to other motorists and passersby. Meanwhile, the agency worked in collaboration with men of the Lagos Fire and Rescue Service, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps, LNSC and the  Nigeria Police to secure the scene and carry out secondary incident containment measures while heavy duty equipment by LASEMA had been dispatched to remove the tanker from the road.

A no trousers tube ride is happening in January.

 

This January, get ready to break all societal norms by riding the tube without your trews. The annual 'No Trousers Tube Ride' is taking place again next year, on January 8 2023.

This is the first time the event has taken place since before Covid, and even more exciting, it's the first time people will be going trews-less on the Lizzie line. Why go trouser-free on the London Underground? Well, why not? What better way to usher in the new year than by taking part in an event founded on pure silliness?

To join the pantsless gang, head to the meeting place (still fully clothed at this point) at Newport Place in Chinatown, WC2H 7JR, by 3pm on January 8. Here, event organisers will lead groups to nearby tube stations. 

Once you're inside the tube station, you can whip out your Y-fronts and board the train. This is the crucial part – the whole point is to act like everything is normal, apart from you've got no bottoms on. Be nonchalant, check your phone, listen to a podcast, read a book, just do it sans trews. 

The exact route of the trouserless tour won't be announced ahead of time as organisers are keen that only true kecks-free fanatics turn up. Naturists, take heed, underwear IS required. That also means no thongs or banana hammocks, please.  Just think about the people who have to sit on that seat after you. 

Nevertheless, you’ll never feel so liberated.

'I can't afford a coffin or funeral for my terminally ill son.

 

A mum from North London whose son is living with a 

terminal illness fears she won't be able to give him a proper funeral or even afford a coffin when he loses his battle because the rising cost of living has left her struggling to get by. Donna Brady, 38, from Camden, was told during pregnancy that her son Romeo "wouldn't see his first birthday" because of a serious heart condition.

Now age four, Romeo has defied the odds but his mum says she is now struggling to make his life fulfilling while he is still with her due to squeezed finances. While she has support from a charity to give him occasional days out, she faces the constant worry of what she will do when the devastating time comes. She Said: "I was told to prepare for the worst when I was pregnant, so while everyone else was shopping for prams, I was shopping for coffins. I'm overjoyed I got many more years with him. But I'm living on my nerves and my anxiety 24 hours a day, because I don't know if I'm going to wake up and my baby's gone and how I'm going to cope when he passes. I can see the change in him now and I know the time is coming soon. "But a coffin is unbelievably expensive and all of the other funeral costs. That terrifies me to be honest. And if he passes away tomorrow I wouldn't want him sitting in a freezer while I scrape together to try and bury him. I just would want him to lay him to rest straight away." The Children’s Funeral Fund for England can help to pay for some of the costs of a funeral for a child under 18 but Donna said she would still struggle to get enough together to then claim some of it back. She said she doesn't have a large family to fall back on and is feeling the immense financial pressure right now, especially as Romeo requires 24-hour care. She has gone from paying £42 a month for electricity to nearly £100 and while trying to cut corners where possible, she needs to use a lot of energy for Romeo's feeding pump.

She explained: "He throws up quite a lot so the washing machine is constantly going and I need the electricity on all the time as Romeo has a feeding pump that needs to be permanently charged as it is the only way he can get liquid food and fluid into his body when he is unwell. "Romeo also needs his TV as often this is his only source of comfort, especially after spending a whole year in hospital and following an entire year at home during the pandemic, it is these little things in life that keep him going. The cost of travelling to hospital appointments has also risen. We use taxis or Ubers as the risk of infection is too high on public transport but these are now more expensive." Romeo was born with Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (TAPVR) which sees oxygen-rich blood return to the wrong side of his heart, mixing with blood with lower oxygen levels and affecting how much oxygen can be pumped around his body. He also has dextrocardia which means his heart is on the right side of his chest instead of the left. His mum described him as having his heart "on the other side of his body and inside out".

Donna receives Disability Living Allowance (DLA) as she is a full-time carer for Romeo, and therefore unable to work. They are also supported by the charity The Rainbow Trust, which she says has been a "godsend". The charity helps them do fun activities, like going to the zoo, much to Romeo's delight given his love for animals, particularly his own cat. Romeo aspires to be a vet and has just started school.

While the charity supports many of the estimated 86,000 children in England with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions, Donna said she is calling on the government to do more to help struggling families as she said the DLA doesn't go a long way. Donna is doing her best to give Romeo a stimulating and fulfilling life while feeling like they are on "borrowed" time. She said they try to do things together like going to the Natural History Museum, but factoring in travel and lunch can be a squeeze. She added: "He loves magazines and reading but they have gone up from £4.50 to £6.99. I have to say to him 'we can get milk, bread and butter or a magazine'. To say no to a child that hasn't got long left is really, really difficult.

"He's never going to finish school or go to college or meet someone and fall in love and go on holidays and have a job and all of that. So that's why it's really difficult for me to say no to him. Because of his condition I want to give him everything to make life as easy as possible and to create amazing memories but these are truly worrying times.

Biden to host unity summit against hate-fueled violence

 

President Joe Biden will host a White House summit next month aimed at combating a spate of hate-fueled violence in the U.S., as he works to deliver on his campaign pledge to “heal the soul of the nation.”
The White House announced Friday that Biden will host the United We Stand Summit on Sept. 15, highlighting the “corrosive effects” of violence on public safety and democracy. Advocates pushed Biden to hold the event after 10 Black people were killed at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in May, aiming as well to address a succession of hate-driven violence in cities including El Paso, Texas, Pittsburgh and Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
“As President Biden said in Buffalo after the horrific mass shooting earlier this year, in the battle for the soul of our nation 'we must all enlist in this great cause of America,'” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. ”The United We Stand Summit will present an important opportunity for Americans of all races, religions, regions, political affiliations, and walks of life to take up that cause together."
Biden will deliver a keynote speech at the gathering, which the White House says will include civil rights groups, faith leaders, business executives, law enforcement, gun violence prevention advocates, former members of violent hate groups, the victims of extremist violence and cultural figures. The White House emphasized that it also intends to bring together Democrats and Republicans, as well as political leaders on the federal, state and local levels to unite against hate-motivated violence.
Biden, a Democrat, has frequently cited 2017's white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, with bringing him out of political retirement to challenge then-President Donald Trump in 2020. He promised during that campaign to work to bridge political and social divides and to promote national unity, but fulfilling that cause remains a work in progress.
Sindy Benavides, the CEO of League of United Latin American Citizens, said the genesis of the summit came after the Buffalo massacre, as her organization along with the Anti-Defamation League, the National Action Network and other groups wanted to press the Biden administration to more directly tackle extremist threats.
“As civil rights organizations, social justice organizations, we fight every day against this, and we wanted to make sure to acknowledge that government needs to have a leading role in addressing right-wing extremism," she said.
The White House did not outline the lineup of speakers or participants, saying it would come closer to the event. It also would not preview any specific policy announcements by Biden. Officials noted Biden last year signed the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and released the nation's first National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
Benavides said Biden holding the summit would help galvanize the country to address the threats of hate-inspired violence but also said she hoped for “long-term solutions” to emerge from the summit.
“What’s important to us is addressing mental health, gun control reform, addressing misinformation, disinformation and malinformation,” she said. "We want policy makers to focus on common sense solutions so we don’t see this type of violence in our communities. And we want to see the implementation of policies that reduce violence.

Chabad: No Jerusalem land transfer to Russia till Schneerson books returned .

 

Chabad USA appealed to Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Monday to hold the transfer of ownership of Russian Orthodox land in Jerusalem until the "Schneerson collection" of books is returned from Russia

The appeal comes as tensions between Russia and Israel are simmering due to Russia shutting down the Jewish Agency. 

Israel has delayed - and may consider continuing to delay - proceedings on the ownership of the Alexander Courtyard in Jerusalem. Moscow believes it should be Russia's property. 

Reactions to Russia's strike on Ukraine's Odesa port

 A Russian strike on Ukraine's Odesa port on Saturday has threatened a deal to aid grain exports and ease a global food crisis.

 UNITED NATIONS SPOKESPERSON

"The Secretary-General (Antonio Guterres) unequivocally condemns reported strikes today in the Ukrainian port of Odesa. Yesterday, all parties made clear commitments on the global stage to ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian grain and related products to global markets. These products are desperately needed to address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in need around the globe."

UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKIY"This proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it (the grain deal)."

RUSSIA

A Russian defence ministry statement on Saturday outlining progress in the war did not mention any strike in Odesa. The ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.

However, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reposted the U.N. condemnation and said: "It is awful that UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres does not 'unequivocally' condemn also the Kyiv regime's killing of children in Donbas."

TURKISH DEFENCE MINISTER HULUSI AKAR"They (Ukrainian officials) stated that one of the missile attacks hit one of the silos there, and the other one fell in an area close to the silo, but there was no problem in the loading capacity and capability of the docks, which is important, and that the activities there can continue.
"The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack, and that they were examining the issue very closely and in detail. The fact that such an incident took place right after the agreement we made yesterday regarding the grain shipment really worried us."
UKRAINIAN INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER OLEKSANDR KUBRAKOV
"We continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports."
GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER ANNALENA BAERBOCK
"The cowardly missile attacks on the port of Odesa show that the Russian leadership's signature counts for little at the moment."
U.S. AMBASSADOR TO KYIV BRIDGET BRINK
"Outrageous. Russia strikes the port city of Odesa less than 24 hours after signing an agreement to allow shipments of agricultural exports. The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to account."
EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF JOSEP BORRELL
"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible and again demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments."
UKRAINE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON OLEG NIKOLENKO
"The Russian missile is Vladimir Putin's spit in the face of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who went to great lengths to reach an agreement and to whom Ukraine is grateful."
HEAD OF UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT'S OFFICE ANDRIY YERMAK
"The Russians are systematically creating a food crisis, doing everything to make people suffer. Famine terror continues. The world must act. The best food safetyguarantees are twofold: effective sanctions against Russia and more weapons for Ukraine."

Dead woman rotted in flat for six weeks 'after mental health team lost track.

A dead woman rotted in her east London home for six weeks after ‘appalling’ failures by her mental health team, her family say.
Sophia Yuferev, 37, who had paranoid schizophrenia, was found by police ‘significantly decomposed’ during a welfare visit on November 16, 2021.
Her family say she ‘fell through the gap’ as she missed health appointments and hadn’t seen her psychiatrist for two years.
They felt no closure from her inquest and say she ‘could have been saved’ if she had been seen ‘not just a number but a human’.
Officers braved the stench of Sophia’s flat in Hornchurch after her care coordinator told them she’d missed appointments for her anti-psychotic injections.
The artist’s mum, Maria Stockdale, of Harold Hill, also raised concerns before police stopped by the home.
Officers took out Sophia’s peephole and peeked through before entering the property.
They were met with a ‘potent and overwhelming smell’ and found the artist ‘laying on her back in a white night gown’.Sophia had gone without her fortnightly medicine for six weeks, a care coordinator for 10 weeks, and Personal Independence Payments since February 2021
She was also estranged from her mum and her financial support after their last meeting ended in shouting, the East London Coroner’s court heard.
Her care coordinator only realised her missed appointments on November 12 after picking up Sophia’s case – in a caseload of 25 – when she joined on October 25.
Due to the level of decomposition it is not clear if Sophia died within this period, though ‘there was post gathering outside the address’.
Sophia’s death remains a mystery to her family who are desperate to know if she could have been saved.
North East London Foundation Trust care coordinator Oyemike Ogunnusi told the court she first read Sophia’s case file on November 8.
That was nearly one month after Sophia’s last visit to a depot injection clinic in Upminster for schizophrenia drug Flupenthixol Decanoate.
Once alerted to the risk, she acted quickly and made two welfare checks in person – without an answer – before alerting police on November 16.
The coroner initially declined to hold an inquest, but a campaign by Havering councillor Bob Perry – backed by the Romford Recorder – forced a change of mind.
Sophie was killed by ketoacidosis – an excessive build up in the blood of a chemical called keytones – produced by the liver when it breaks down fat.
It is suffered mainly by diabetics, but it can also be caused by alcohol, medication, toxins or – in rare cases – starvation.
Dr Shirley Radcliffe admitted Sophia’s death would remain ‘extraordinarily puzzling’ due to how much the body decomposed, to her family’s heartbreak.
A toxicology report found alcohol levels consistent with decomposition and Sophia was known to be teetotal – so drink was ruled out.
A blood test carried out in June last year showed her blood levels were normal and there was nothing to suggest she was diabetic.
Decomposition also meant it was hard for pathologists to tell if she’d died of an infection.
Lawyer Andrew Perfect suggested sudden weight loss could not be ruled out, noting that Sophia had no known income after being cut off benefits.
Sophia’s family told MyLondon she ‘had not enough money, not enough energy to feed herself and look after herself, she was not responsible for herself to care for herself’.
Pathologists found her BMI to be within the normal range – but she could have stopped eating in the weeks before she died, the inquest heard.
Much to her family’s anger, consultant psychiatrist Dr Gupta admitted she had not seen Sophia since November 2019 – two years prior to her death.
But a report by integrated care director Irvine Muronzi said a bigger problem was the high use of locum and duty staff.
After her previous care coordinator left on sick leave on August 8, Sophia was on the unallocated list until October 25, when Ms Ogunnusi took over her file.
In reality, the court heard it was not until November 8 that Ms Ogunnusi read it, having been on induction and working through her caseload.
This left Sophia unallocated for 10 week, during which duty staff – mainly dealing with emergencies and high risk cases due to the pandemic – were in charge of her case.
They failed to notice when she did not turn up to an injection on October 26, the inquest heard.
This was because at her last contact with psychiatric support on October 12 her next appointment was not booked in
Mr Muronzi admitted the team had gone through a ‘difficult time’ and was ‘struggling’ to keep services running.
But he accepted that staff should have flagged missed appointments with police sooner.
Dr Radcliffe concluded that Sophia died of fatal ketoacidosis, but said: ‘We could not provide the answers the family were looking for.’
She added: ‘It’s not possible to say if an earlier follow up about her attendance would have altered the outcome.

This is what life is like in a Brazilian favela

What's a favela?
Favelas are populous neighbourhoods in the largest cities of Brazil. They are characterized by an irregurlar growth, because their humble inhabitants usually build their homes without a license.

From crime ridden to welcoming
Many favelas deal with rampant crime. Others are better controlled and even welcome tourists from various parts of the world.

How many people live in the Brazilian favelas?
In all of Brazil, up to 12 million people live in favelas. This is an approximate estimate; due to the characteristics of these slums, there is no reliable census about the number of inhabitants.

Rocinha, Rio's biggest favela ... until Fazendo Coqueiro surpassed it
Rio de Janeiro is the city with the largest number of favelas. An estimated two million people live in the mountains that surround the city. Rocinha used to be the biggest favela in Rio de Janeiro.

More than 70,000 live in Rocinha
In 1993 it was marked as a neighbourhood. Later it was surpassed in size by Fazenda Coqueiro. We are talking about a favela where the population exceeds 70,000.

Living in a favela
A high percentage of the people living in favelas is of a young age. The population growth of these neighbourhoods is higher than the country's average.

D.C. heat wave: It could hit 100 for first time in six years.

 

The District is in the midst of one of its longest 100-degree droughts.

For the first time this summer, the Washington region is in the grips of a heat wave, one that probably won’t break until late Monday. And for the first time since 2016, the District could hit 100 degrees.

Setting the stage for the heat to come, the temperature soared to around 95 degrees Thursday afternoon. It was the fourth day in a row above 90, amid stifling humidity levels. Heat index values, which take the mugginess into account, hovered near 100. The heat and humidity may modestly ease Friday before surging back over the weekend to the most extreme levels of the summer. Opening shelters and cooling centers.

Under such oppressively hot and humid conditions, people spending time outdoors are advised to hydrate and take frequent breaks. It’s also an important time to check on vulnerable groups. People most prone to heat-related illness include older adults — especially those socially isolated or sick — outdoor workers, the very young and anyone without access to air conditioning. Heat is the top weather-related killer in the United States.

Before this week’s four straight 90-degree days, the District had only strung together streaks of two consecutive 90-degree days this summer. Highs are predicted to reach at least the mid-90s through Sunday before edging downward.

Friday probably won’t be quite as steamy as Thursday. Still, high temperatures should near 95.

The sweltering conditions peak over the weekend, with highs in the upper 90s to possibly 100 degrees. Computer models generally simulate the highest temperatures and the highest chance to hit 100 on Sunday.

The National Weather Service is likely to issue heat advisories over the weekend. There’s an outside chance it posts an excessive heat warning Sunday, reserved for instances when the heat index is predicted to reach at least 110 degrees.

Low temperatures will also be abnormally warm — only dipping to near 80 in the city Saturday and Sunday nights, with 70s elsewhere.

Here are the predicted high temperatures and maximum heat index values Friday through Monday:

These temperatures — coinciding with some of the historically hottest days of the summer — will probably fall short of most records, but are still as much as 10 degrees above normal.

Washington Dulles International Airport’s record high of 99 on Sunday has a chance to fall, but Reagan National Airport’s and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall Airport’s records of 102 are probably safe.

The excessive heat is linked to a sprawling zone of high pressure, or heat dome, over the Southwestern U.S. which is flexing eastward. On Thursday, this heat dome prompted heat alerts for 100 million people from Phoenix to Boston. Washington hasn’t reached 100 degrees since Aug. 15, 2016. That year, there were four days at or above 100, including three in a row in August.

The District did hit 99 once this year — which is right around the city’s average yearly maximum temperature in the historical record.

Since 1872, Washington has posted 121 days at or above 100 — hitting the mark a little less than once per year on average. The hottest of those days reached 106 in July 1930 and August 1918.

Of these 121 recorded 100-degree days, 66 have occurred in July, 33 in August, 18 in June and four in September.

These 100-degree days tend to come in bunches. 2016 had four, 2012 eight, 2011 five and 2010 four. 1930 produced 11, the most in a single year.

Interestingly, the nearly six years (or 2,165 days) which have elapsed since the last 100-degree day in Washington ranks among the longest streaks on record:

While National has seen this prolonged 100-degree day drought, other locations in the area have not. Dulles last reached 100 on Aug. 12, 2021. BWI’s last 100-degree day came on July 20, 2020. It’s likely that National’s proximity to the relatively cooler water of the Potomac River have held temperatures back during recent heat waves.

The days when Washington hits 100 degrees share certain temperature markers over the course of the day. Typically, it reaches 95 degrees by noon and remains at least that hot until 6 p.m. — a dangerous interval of extreme temperatures.

Rich or Poor Mindset

For most people being rich or being poor starts with a mindset. Where you begin in life is based on luck, where you eventually end up is primarily based on your thoughts, beliefs, and mindset. How your circumstances, relationships, and finances trend are due to your actions and the root of most actions are based on how you think. Let’s explore the different mindsets of growing wealth and struggling with personal finances. Ramsey Solutions conducted a survey of over 10,000 millionaires, and it found that 79% of respondents didn’t receive any inheritance. The one in three Americans who do get an inheritance blow it. [1] Whether they win $500 million or $1 million, about 70% of lottery winners lose or spend all that money in five years or less. [2]
This shows the difference in mindset as there are many people born into humble situations that go on to build wealth and wealthy children that go on to squander their opportunities and end up broke. Where ever you are in life your mindset can redirect a new path.
The wealthy mindset thinks in terms or creating, building, and compounding their assets. Most millionaires own their own business, created a business with partners, or have a high income that they convert regularly to assets like a stock portfolio or real estate. Millionaires create more than they consume, they love their work more than they love vacations and buying things. Their business is their game. Sometimes their main hobby is building wealth by managing their personal finances, investment portfolio, real estate holdings, business, or cash flowing assets.
The wealthy think in terms of return on capital and risk versus reward. They are good at seeing the math in business and investing and the magic of compounded growth whether in a business or their portfolio. The typical rich mindset is one of creating products, services, investments, businesses, and jobs for others. They are the creators that make their ideas reality and create value for others. They get paid well for this process. A person can have opportunities all around them but have a poverty mindset. Negativity, victimhood, jealousy, and closed mindedness are the primary indicators of a poor mindset regardless of outer circumstances.
Here are ten bad habits to stop to replace a poor mindset with more positive one.
The poor mindset sees lack instead of abundance. They see money as a static fixed pie and everyone can only get a set amount, they think if someone is rich they stole it from someone else. They never consider that the money pie itself grows and opportunities multiply as technology advances. They have a scarcity mindset.
They can at times make themselves feel better by thinking that the situation they were born into is their lot in life. That since their circumstances are their destiny they don’t try to change for the better they go with the flow of their current life.
They believe money is bad and they don’t want it as it would make them bad. Money is neutral, you can earn it by creating value and you can use it for good like charities and gifts. Poverty is solved through money.
They believe making money is hard as they only associate it with selling their time and working for a paycheck. Working a job is only one of many ways to make money.
They have the instinct only to get money and then spend it, they don’t have the skills or foresight to save and invest their money.
They think having money is not spiritual. It is not money but the love of money that is the root of all evil. Love what money can do but not the money itself it is only a tool and for keeping score.
People with a poor mindset have never educated their self in personal finance, the financial markets, or investing.
A poor mindset is jealous of the rich instead of wanting to learn from them and be like them.
A poor mindset works only for money and not to learn or create a career or business.
Someone with a poor mindset has no budget, no investment portfolio, and no financial plans for the future. Here are a dozen things you can start to believe and do that will grow your mental wealth and change your mindset.
    Value your own time, money, and energy. Don’t waste any of these or let others waste them.
    Understand earned income should be converted to capital for investing and trading for assets.
    Spend the majority of your time creating value for others, not consuming products.
    Focus on buying assets with positive cash flow not buying consumer goods that are depreciating assets.
    Learn to create, buy, or sell cash flowing assets.
    Follow your passion and work energy. Do what you love, gamify your success.
    Focus on expanding and growing your strengths, grow your edge and manage your weaknesses.
    Write down your short and long term goals in every area of your life.
    Create systems to take you closer to those goals daily.
    Develop faith in yourself and your vision then do the research and the work.
    Believe if someone else did something you can do it to.
    Believe setbacks are only temporary as you look for another path.
Wealth creation starts with your thoughts and builds through working smart and hard for a long enough time to reach your vision.

NYC man tracks down his stolen $400K Rolls-Royce — and snatches it back

Burglars broke into an upscale Staten Island home, swiped car keys and motored off with a $400,000 Rolls-Royce convertible — till its owner beat them at their own game, cops and a report say.

The crooks with expensive taste had thrown a rock through the first-floor window of the high-end home in the Lighthouse Hill neighborhood around 4 a.m. June 12, then snatched keys to the whip, according to the NYPD.

The owner of the abode, identified only as John, 38, was awoken by an alarm and caught a glimpse of the bandits speeding off in his 2017 Rolls-Royce Dawn sedan convertible, he told the Staten Island Advance.

“I was downstairs within seconds while they were pulling out of the driveway,” said John, who lives near Saint George Road and Lighthouse Avenue. After making sure his family was safe, the home owner logged onto a computer and used the luxury ride’s built-in tracking device to locate the vehicle in real time as the crooks drove toward New Jersey.

He then activated a remote kill switch — used to  disabled the car’s ignition from any location — on the computer, stranding the thieves in Newark, NJ.

“They were attempting to turn [the car] back on, but they couldn’t because I disabled it,” John said.

He then pin-pointed the specific block where the thieves ditched the car and picked it up, he said — adding he’s still shaken by the incident.

“Obviously [my family] is a little unnerved after everything that’s gone on,” he said.

The thieves who struck his home are suspected in a string of recent break-ins and car thefts in well-heeled sections of Staten Island, including three June 12 and one Monday, according to police.

In all of the cases, the culprits swiped keys from inside upscale homes and stole — or attempted to steal — cars parked nearby, according to police.

In footage from the incident Monday, two thieves in hoodies are shown throwing a large stone through the rear sliding glass door of a home on Benedict Road and Callan Avenue before snatching car keys, according to cops. 

But a resident began yelling, and they fled empty-handed, police said.

John said he suspects the bandits targeted him after seeing the pricey car in his  driveway and the keys through the window of his house.“They had to have seen the key because of where it was sitting and that’s why they broke the window,” he said.

Car thefts are up 114% on Staten Island so far this year, and 61% citywide as of last month.

Law-enforcement officials have previously cited Newark-based crews of thieves known to use real-estate websites to locate the most expensive homes on Staten Island in order to steal luxury cars.

 

Rent for 2 Million New Yorkers Could Rise After Tuesday Vote

With landlords facing higher costs for property maintenance, a rent regulation panel is expected to approve some of the largest increases for rent-stabilized units in nearly a decade.

A New York City panel charged with regulating the rents for roughly one million rent-stabilized apartments is expected to approve on Tuesday the highest increases in almost a decade, after property owners said they were being pinched by taxes and rising expenses for fuel and labor.

The panel, known as the Rent Guidelines Board, is expected to approve increases on one-year leases by between 2 to 4 percent, and on two-year leases by 4 to 6 percent.

Many tenants argued for a rent freeze or rollback, while landlords were seeking even higher increases, but the panel had signaled its intent to support a middle-ground approach at a meeting last month. The expected vote will take place at a meeting in Manhattan on Tuesday evening.

New York City, already one of the most expensive places to live in the nation, has seen the cost of living rise amid a rebound from the worst of the pandemic. Soaring inflation has hit tenants and property owners, and the effect on the latter group’s ability to maintain their buildings was one of the major factors considered by the board. But the vote also intensified concerns about the dearth of affordable housing and the sustainability of the city’s recovery.

The annual vote is always fraught and draws intense protests and lobbying from advocates for both tenants and landlords. But this year’s vote comes after tens of thousands of renters lost their jobs and struggled to make payments during the pandemic.

It is also the first vote to take place during the administration of Mayor Eric Adams, with the board poised to approach it differently than it had under Mr. Adams’s predecessor, Bill de Blasio.

While Mr. Adams has said that he lobbied the board to adopt lower increases, he has also expressed sympathy for small property owners who need rental income to compensate for rising expenses needed to maintain buildings.

“We are hoping that the Rent Guidelines Board, an independent board, will make the right decision for those New Yorkers who are struggling, and then also look after the small property landlords, the small property landlords who are also really devastated from inflation,” Mr. Adams said during an interview on the radio station 1010 WINS on Monday. “And that is very important as we make this important decision for New Yorkers.”

Mr. de Blasio focused more on reducing costs for renters. During his tenure, the highest annual increases approved by the board were 1.5 percent on one-year leases and 2.75 percent on two-year leases. Inflation was also relatively low during his administration.

The last time there was a significant increase — 4 percent on one-year leases and 7.75 percent on two-year leases — was in 2013.

After the increases are approved on Tuesday, they will apply to leases that begin on or after Oct. 1.

New York City’s rent-stabilization system, a form of rent regulation first put in place in the late 1960s, remains a crucial source of affordable housing.

The median income for people living in rent-stabilized homes is about $47,000, compared with $62,960 in unregulated homes, according to a recent city survey. The median monthly rent for rent-stabilized apartments is $1,400, according to the survey, compared with $1,845 for unregulated homes.

And rent-stabilized rents stand in stark contrast to the exorbitant prices seen in recent months in some part of the city: The average rent on an apartment newly leased in May was $4,975 a month, a 22 percent increase from the year before, according to a new report by the real estate firm Douglas Elliman.

The expected outcome on Tuesday will be a blow for tenants, many of whom are among the lowest income New Yorkers and who were struggling to pay their rent even before the pandemic. Housing advocates had lobbied aggressively in the last several weeks for the board to reverse course and support a rent freeze or rollback.

At the panel’s public hearing last week in the Bronx, more than 60 out of roughly 70 speakers were tenants and tenant advocates who argued for a rent decrease or a rent freeze. Many of the speakers grew emotional during their testimony, expressing hopelessness in the face of any increases and frustration over the poor conditions in their homes.

Kim Statuto, 62, of the Bronx, said she has lived in her rent-stabilized home for almost 30 years, but struggles every month to allocate the money she receives from monthly disability payments to cover her $1,783 monthly rent, along with electricity, food and medical bills.

“A rent increase would further hurt my income,” she said.

The increases expected to be approved on Tuesday will also disappoint landlords, who said that buildings would deteriorate without additional rental income to make up for the increased expenses. Landlords have said they are being squeezed by tough new laws passed in 2019, which restricted their ability to raise rents when an apartment became vacant or was upgraded.

Bryan Liff, a landlord who testified at the meeting last week, pushed for rent increases of at least 8 percent, and said rental income was already too low to bring many units up to livable standards. But he said he was “demoralized” by what appeared to be a foregone conclusion on behalf of tenants, and that “decisions seem to be based on who screams the loudest.”

Both Mr. Adams and landlord groups have keyed in on the difficulties experienced by “mom and pop” landlords when arguing in favor of rent increases.

But because existing laws make it difficult to determine who actually owns any given building, it is not clear how many of the owners of rent-stabilized homes are actually smaller property owners versus landlords with much larger and more diversified portfolios.

One rough analysis conducted by the staff of the board in June 2020 suggested that more than 61 percent of rent-stabilized units were owned by landlords that owned 10 units or less.

But a separate analysis of property records released last week by the group JustFix.nyc, a technology company that tracks property ownership, suggested just the opposite: that more than 60 percent of rent-stabilized homes are owned by landlords with portfolios of more than 1,000 units overall. In contrast, about 1 percent of rent-stabilized units are owned by landlords that own less than 10 units overall.

“The data unequivocally shows that large landlords own the vast majority of rent-stabilized housing in New York City

Arrest Made in Fatal Stabbing of Woman Outside of DC Carryout Restaurant

 

A 25-year-old woman is charged with second-degree murder for the fatal stabbing of a woman outside of a D.C. restaurant, said authorities.

Police arrested a suspect in the death of Ebony Morgan, a woman who was stabbed last month while she stood outside a restaurant in Northeast D.C., the Metropolitan Police Department said Tuesday.

Police charged 25-year-old Cana Browne with second-degree murder Tuesday for Morgan’s death, police said. 

The 42-year-old victim was taking her lunch break in the unit block of P Street NE May 10 when she was suddenly stabbed in the back, her family said. After being rushed to a hospital, she died from her injuries a few days later.

The arrest was made by the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force after police obtained a warrant from D.C. Superior Court.

Information on a motive is unclear.